Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You were having a bad day.

You have been cussed out by a angry customer because you didn’t know how to write on a cake, who had the gall to tell you it looked easy to do when you knew from experience that it was not. Then a kid got sick in the deli area and puked in a bin, forcing you to throw away the product. You had gotten hit on by a drunk who acted like he hadn’t seen a female in years. On top of that the store had a surprise health inspection going on.

You were having a really bad day.

You were so thankful to be home finally, where you didn’t have to interact with anyone but your roommates.

The moment you walked through the door you proceeded to start striping, two of your three roommates present and not even batting an eye at your antics, Mandy still knitting a pair of booties for her three month old nephew and Mia was at the computer playing a game, while Tammy was probably at one of her jobs.

Mandy was a Boston native who was studying dermatology, Mia was undecided on her degree, and Tammy was a full time part-timer and considered herself too old to be going to college. You have known these woman for about four years now, and considered them like an odd group of family. Mia was like a sister, Mandy a aunt and Tammy that relative that no one talked about because you were all convinced she was secretly a crotchety old witch.

Now in just your undies, you made your way to the fridge to acquire a beer.

You wandered over to Mia who was at the jointly shared house computer, wondering what game your fellow gamer was playing. Your old computer died a few months back and you almost had enough to buy a new one. Until then though, you were stuck sharing.

 Mia loved horror genre and while you liked them on occasion the two of you had been suggesting games for the other to play. To your surprise it was Undertale, a game you had recommended. Undertale was one of your all time favorite games, one of those you’d probably would have played it a second time had you the heart to undo your fictional friend’s happiness.

“How far are you?”

Mia hummed, bobbing her head up and down. “Getting ready to face Asgore.”

“Cool.” You replied, taking a sip of your precious beer as you watched Mia make her way to King Asgore.

And both of you proceeded to watch Flowey murder him, get murdered and then you watched in horror as Mia destroyed the world. 

Mia looked confused, unsure as she stared at the screen. “What the heck just happened?”

“Did you…murder everyone?”

“You mean the genocide route? Yeah. I heard from my girlfriend that you should start with that one before playing the other two. Aside from Sans, it was kinda disappointing-” 

“Slaughtering helpless people is disappointing to you?!”

“What? Oh, not this again.” She groaned, looking irritated. Mandy just shrugged with a ‘you know she would do this’ kind of shrug.

 It was a common thing to see you getting angry and emotional over decisions in a video game. They still recalled the time you had a meltdown from having to decide on which imaginary pigeon boyfriend you should pick, or the time you wouldn’t stop crying after playing ‘Can Your Pet’. And that was just the times you played. You got really emotional when others played games and made choices you found horrible.

Mia sighed before giving you an exasperated look. “It’s just a game.”

“Where you ruthlessly butcher innocent people!”

“It’s just a game! If you weren’t supposed to do it they wouldn’t have added it!”

“I love those people, you murderer!”

You were furious. Deep down you knew it was just a game, and if you really wanted no one else to play genocide you should not have recommended it. But it made you mad that, even though they were fictional characters that your thoughtless housemate murdered them all.

You tended to relate to books and video game characters more than real people, which meant you were rarely aware of the current times unless they truly shook your personal little bubble.

It made trying to chat with Tammy and Mandy hard as one was a social butterfly and the other was a pessimist that always watched the news.

You knew you were not acting like a mature adult, getting worked up over something stupid, over a silly game.

But you have had a bad day, and you have been feeling a rant coming on half way through your shift and had intended to burn though it with beer and any puzzle game that required you to think.

“Girls.” Mandy said, scowling. “What have we said about arguing over games?”

“She started it.” Mia mumbled, looking petulant.

It took all your self-control to turn around, grab a twelve pack out of the fridge and march for your bedroom, knowing if you did not you were going to say something you might regret.

All over a silly, fictional, wonderful, beautiful game that you connected better with than with living people.

As you shut the door you heard Mia call out, “It’s just a game!”

 You had finally calmed down after four hours of playing Portal.

You stumbled back out into the living area, and it took you a few minutes to stop swaying enough to actually tell the time. Just after midnight.

You felt foolish for getting worked up over Mia’s choice. Lots of people played the genocide route and played games that required you to temporarily displace your morals. As Mia said, if you weren’t supposed to do it they wouldn’t have added it. But you tended to get angry at those choices.

You were the sort of person who would rather ruin the ending for yourself and know the secrets if it meant you could give the characters the best ending.

You would grow attach to characters, wanting to know them to the best of your ability…and then ensure they got their happy ending.

Mandy once said you were so obsessed over those games and stories that she wouldn’t be surprised if you’d rather live in those worlds.

You would never want to be a part of those worlds. You barely functioned in this world, going to a world where you may very well have to kill in order not to be killed? No, you didn’t think you could do it. You didn’t have the confidence to defend others in life. When it came to conflict, you were like a doormat; easy to step on and below notice.

You sighed, wobbling over to the computer. You’d have to apologize to Mia in the morning.

You plopped down, starting up the computer as you sipped your last beer. Damn, did you drink the whole thing? 

You stared at the monitor for a few minutes, swaying slightly in your seat. After a few tries you open Steam to see what games you could play.

Undertale was blinking red.

You stared at it, your vision swimming momentarily before you push it, trying to figure out if the blinking was a glitch or your drunkenness.

The screen blacked out, letters forming on it

Interesting. You want to go back to the world you destroyed.

Oh. This.

Despite never playing it, you have watched the genocide route online. You knew what this was.

It was you who pushed everything to the edge.

You felt offended. You did not destroy the world!

…? You didn’t?

Did you say it out loud? Was the game actually responding? How drunk were you?

No…I see. You weren’t the one. You were the one that got angry when the other did it.

Screw it, you were clearly drunk if you thought Chara was responding to you. Might as well go along for the ride.

Hmmm. You felt that it was a great injustice that the other one destroyed the world. Would you attempt to fix her wrongdoing?

“She made ‘er choice. Can't unfix it. Make my own choices.” You slurred, glaring at the screen.

What if I could let you make your own choices? Here in the world?

“Not givin’ you my soul. Still usin’ it.”

Then there isn’t really anything you could give me to bring it back, is there?

A moment of inspiration hit you. You poked at the screen as though to jab your finger into Chara.

“How ’bout my ‘umanity?”

…Humanity?

“Yesh! Take what makes me ‘uman! Almost as good as a soul. Hafta start as somtin’ other than human, yeah? Like the ‘ittle mermaid! See if I can save ‘em without being a ‘uman!”

... Alright. Consider me intrigued. Let us see what happens.

Suddenly the screen seemed to grow, and a pulling force dragged you out of the chair. Fear started to grip you as you swore the screen was sucking you in, your fear paralyzing your voice.

Rapidly you were consumed by the blackness, and for a moment you felt suffocated by it.

Then the pain started.

You felt like your flesh was melting off your bones while your bones turned to play-do. You were weightless yet heavy at the same time, like you were a tiny pebble being crushed by a bigger rock.

Just as you were certain you were going to implode, you started to drop through the blackness, like a marionette whose strings were cut. A dab of light shined and you found yourself rapidly falling towards it. Just as the light consumed you, you saw words flash before your eyes.

Tell Flowey I said ‘hi’. =)

Chapter Text

Everything hurt.

You couldn’t get up, feeling as weak as a new born and agonizingly aware of everything touching you. Everything was blurry, and you felt a hum in your body you couldn’t properly explain. 

Just how much did I drink last night? You have had hangovers before, but none ever felt this bad. This was a deep, encompassing pain.

Turning your head hurt, all your fuzzy vision could see was yellow and grayish purple, and a blurry light above you.

You took a deep breath (it felt too deep, too long, like she was filling empty space), and screamed. You screamed, and screamed and screamed (in the back of your panicked mind you wondered at how you could scream for so long without feeling the burning in your lungs, or run out of air), your screams seeming to echo and bounce off the vast place you were in.

You kept screaming, unable to move or see clearly and very much frightened as you felt trapped in your own body.

You heard heavy feet running somewhere, but you couldn’t stop screaming. It was as if all the pain you were experiencing was trying to find an outlet and that outlet was your mouth.

Large soft white gloves came into your fuzzy view, gently shaking you.

She (it sounded like a she) was talking but you couldn’t hear her over your screaming. She was talking, sounding urgent and pleading. She turned you over, and all you could make out was that she was huge and very white and purple.

Your vision blurred further, tears welling in your eyes as the pain of moving registered.

She brought her hand to your face, something shimmered and you were back in the mercifully painless blackness.

Flowey took a deep terrified breath.

He was alive.

He wilted a little, trying to get it together as feeling soon drained away from him.

This happened more often than anyone but the smiling trashbag knew. Frisk would be around a few times than Chara came through and slaughter everybody. Sometime it was dozens of timelines before Chara showed up. Sometimes they showed up a dozen times over.

Since he was here again that means Frisk either took the deal, or it’s a different named Frisk.

That happened a lot too.

It was always Frisk and Chara, but most of the time Frisk would carry a different name, and though he knew Chara was Chara he always felt compelled to refer to Chara by the name Frisk decided to wear at those times. Some were fairly normal names. Others not so much. The latest name was Mia.

It was all part of the game.

This time though, it felt different. Unusual. He couldn’t put his leaf on it but something felt out of place.

Oh well. Time to wait for Frisk/Chara to go through here again.

It should be soon, they never dawdle long near the flower bed-

A cacophony of screams filled the air, jolting the flower. It was coming from the entrance that Frisk always starts at.

Flowey was quick to appear at the entrance and peer in. It took Flowey a moment to realize that it was in fact one person screaming and it was bouncing off the walls of the ruins.

They were on the flower bed, mostly hidden by the flowers and before he could get closer to see who it was he heard thunderous foot steps. The ruckus they were making was deafening so no wonder she would hear it.

He moved away, watching as Toriel ran into the area.

He returned to the entrance, watching Toriel bending down. She blocked his view of the newcomer, who was still screaming as though they had been violently tortured.

They were so loud he couldn’t hear what Toriel was saying, and after several minutes unsuccessfully trying to calm the shrieking person down Toriel finally had enough and used her magic to knock them unconscious.

It went abruptly quite, and Flowey continued to watch as Toriel continued to fret over the person, healing magic at work.

Toriel was talking to the unconscious person telling them it was going to be okay, she had them.

̶M̶̶̶u̶̶̶c̶̶̶h̶̶̶ ̶̶̶l̶̶̶i̶̶̶k̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶h̶̶̶o̶̶̶w̶̶̶ ̶̶̶s̶̶̶h̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶w̶̶̶o̶̶̶u̶̶̶l̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶̶̶t̶̶̶a̶̶̶l̶̶̶k̶̶̶ ̶̶̶t̶̶̶o̶̶̶ ̶̶̶h̶̶̶i̶̶̶m̶̶̶ ̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶̶̶C̶̶̶h̶̶̶a̶̶̶r̶̶̶a̶̶̶ ̶̶̶b̶̶̶e̶̶̶f̶̶̶o̶̶̶r̶̶̶e̶̶̶ ̶̶̶e̶̶̶v̶̶̶e̶̶̶r̶̶̶y̶̶̶t̶̶̶h̶̶̶i̶̶̶n̶̶̶g̶̶̶ ̶w̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶.̶

Flowey couldn’t help but scoff.

He continued to watch as Toriel healed and spoke softly, curiosity keeping him in place.

After what felt like forever but was probably only a couple of hours Toriel gave an apology as she explained to the incoherent person that she needed to check on their soul for further damaged. Flowey straightened up, interest piqued as this would tell him a lot about the new person.

Toriel gently pulled the soul out and even though she was blocking the person physically along with the flower bed he saw a part of their soul.

He grinned at seeing a colored soul coming out, though due to it being partly blocked he wasn’t quite sure of the color yet. A very dark red maybe? Or a deep orange or purple? He really couldn’t tell from here, but he knew it wasn't white.

It was then that he registered that there was a strange pulsing, throbbing noise filling the area, and bizarrely murkish light emitting from the soul Toriel had pulled out.

Even as far away and blocked from seeing most of it as he was, Flowey felt a sort of…wrongness from the soul but couldn’t explain why.

Toriel let out a startled noise, jerking away from the soul that slinked back into the body. She had stumbled back looking as though she had just seen something ghastly.

That reaction was entirely unexpected and made Fowey wonder what was going on with the soul for her to react like that.

“W-what are you?” Toriel said, sounding horrified, disturbed a little frightened at the same time.

‘What’? As in you don't think it’s human? Is it human then? Flowey wondered, curiosity growing.

It took her a while before she got close again. She took off the over robe as she did so, leaving her wearing the white gown as she wrapped the injured person up.

He braced himself against the wall, watching as she hurried away. The bundle she was carrying gave him nothing to work with physically, other than the possible human was too tall to be a child.

Well…this is new. Flowey thought, a smile stretching across his face to the point of it was no longer a smile but a jagged slit.

How…refreshing.

You weren’t in as much pain this time.

Your vision was still blurry and while it still hurt to move, it was no where near the excruciating agony it was before. You vaguely remember swimming in and out of consciousness, and seeing a goat?

Gingerly you move your head.

You were in a room, cream colored walls. You were tucked in a bed that had an old knitted comforter on top. A dresser sat on the opposite wall, with a book shelf. The door was across from you, a full length mirror on it.

Where were you?

You tried to recall how you got here, how you had a bad day, got mad at Mia, drank yourself into a stupor and than…something about Undertale?

You couldn’t quite recall anything after that.

You wanted to lie there, sleep some more. But you needed answers. So with reluctance you moved to sit up pulling your arms out.

You stared at your hand, a shriek trying to worm its way out of you.

It was skeletal.

Panic gripped you as you threw the covers off and you could see skeletal feet at the end of the robe you were wearing.

You scrambled out of the bed, falling to the ground. You were feeling too much raw terror to care about the pain, crawling over to the mirror.

Where your face should have been, a skull with empty eye sockets greeted you instead.

You did the only thing that made sense to do.

You screamed.

Chapter Text

When Toriel had heard that howling scream, she had thought a human had fallen and broken something. It has happened before.

So when she found a skeleton monster on the flower bed, naked and magic lashing out everywhere she was deeply shocked. The fact she had to put the poor dear asleep just to get her to stop made Toriel feel a little bad, but ultimately decided it was a sound decision (pun intended).

Once unconscious, Toriel did a quick diagnostic check on her and was horrified to find that dust had been slowly pouring out of her, and Toriel spend hours healing the poor thing before she felt it was safe enough to move the young monster.

And that was only the physical issues she had found. The young monster’s soul was a different matter entirely.

Honestly, she had only checked it to see if the poor dear had suffered major damage to her soul since monster’s souls and bodies were connected, and well…whatever that thing she pulled out had left Toriel wondering at what exactly she found.

It had been, put bluntly, unnatural.

The skeleton looked like a monster, her magic felt like a monster…but that soul…

Toriel had decided to ask the monster in question, once they were well enough.

At least originally.

It had been a little over a month since she found the unfortunate skeleton monster, the first three weeks in which the poor dear was completely out cold. Than early one morning Toriel heard her screaming and rushed in, only to find the monster practically plastered to the wall near the bed. Her screaming abruptly stopping at the sight of Toriel. She remembered how the sockets got huge, and if she had eyeballs Toriel would have sworn they’d fall out.

She remembered the girl’s reaction and meltdown.

"No.” the skeleton monster whispered, sockets wide.

Toriel was on her knees, trying to make herself seem harmless. “It’s alright, you are safe.”

The skeleton jaw opened but no sound came out. After several moments she found her voice. “Am…Am I in Undertale?”

Her voice was small and rough from disuse, an undeniable underline of fear in it.

Toriel nodded, filing that tidbit for later.

“Underground. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.”

For what felt like an eternity, though she knew it was only a minute or two the skeleton stared with an incomprehensible look on her face. Finally, she spoke. “I’m a skeleton in the Undertale. The hell.”

Toriel decided not to correct the girl. She seemed in shock, and the larger monster didn’t want to upset her. Suddenly the skeleton monster let out a horrified gasp.

A look of fear and desperation overcame the girl’s features. “Your phone. I need your phone!”

Worried, Toriel handed the phone over.

She tapped in a sequence of numbers, waiting for someone to pick up.

“Pick up.” No one answered.

She tried again.

“Pick up.” No one replied.

Again, she tried, hitting the numbers harder as tears building in the corner of her sockets.

“Pick up!” No one responded.

She was now hitting the numbers with such force that Toriel was certain she would break the phone if she didn’t intervene soon.

“Pick up the phone!” No one answered, just a long beep that meant the phone number didn’t exist.

“Mom!” tap “Dad!” Tap “Ivan!” TAP “Mia! Tammy! Mandy!” TAP “PICK-” T-TAP “UP-” CRACK “THE STUPID-” CRUNCH “PHONE!”

The phone broke in half, magic the color of copper wavering momentarily before dispersing.

Toriel had to hold her down to keep her from running off, the girl desperately crying for her family.

It has been a long couple weeks since then.

The girl was mostly catatonic, sockets often empty of an eye-light and scarcely leaving the guest bedroom. She barely responded to anything, and Toriel had to feed her liquid foods to get her to eat at all.

She feared that at this rate the girl would fall down. If things get worse, I may have to ask my friend at the door to take her to a doctor.

Toriel felt bad for the girl. She clearly had been through something horrible a short time ago and had quite possibly lost her family in the same event. Perhaps it had something to do with the abnormal soul.

She would help where she could, but if necessary she would send the girl to a specialist, abnormal soul or not. She may no longer be queen, but she still cared for her people.

 You were bundled under the thick blanket, covering everything to prevent yourself from seeing the bones.

You spent most of your time trying to wrap your head around your situation, while also trying to recall how you ended up here.

You remember getting drunk, thinking that Chara was talking to you was a part of your intoxication…and then it gets fuzzy. You vaguely remembered a deal, you trading your humanity for something, but you couldn’t recall what. Then pain, lots of pain.

You have gone over this dozens of times, and nothing came up…but you kept at it because otherwise you start to realize you were trapped, in a foreign body in another world far from friends and family.

Oh god, your friends. Your parents. Your brother Ivan.

You were trapped in a game, in the form of a monster while they were still in your world. Did they know you were gone? Shit, how long have you been gone?

Now stop worrying, a voice that sounded like your Nana said. Stressing and fretting over a situation ain’t helping nobody. There is a lot of good in all situation if you’re only willing to see it.

You exhaled, burrowing deeper into the blankets.

Well, Nana always said that in a bad situation you should count your blessings. So let’s try that. You thought.

“One, I am still alive and healthy. That is a good thing. Two, even if this isn’t my original body…or less of my original body it is still fully functional, and I don’t appear to be hindered. Three, I am in a safe place. Four, Chara took my insane deal and made it literal.”

You shuddered at that, thanking whatever deity listened to gamers who got sucked into their favorite games for that small mercy. Had Chara not taken you literally when you stupidly sold your humanity, there was a very real possibility that Frisk wouldn’t be the only homicidal human around.

Because when it boiled down, you weren’t entirely sure that a soul and humanity was different from each other. Humanity had wide usage of ideas, ideals, thoughts, philosophies, nature and more understandings that fell under the word.

Perhaps it was simply because Chara was bored and wanted to see what a human –turned –monster would do.

Or maybe it was because Chara was supposed to be a child, and as a human child raised by monsters, Chara defined things differently. Perhaps to them, humanity stood for a race.

You dropped your head into the comforter. “Five, you still have your soul. Six, Toriel has been nice to you. Seven, you were not dropped off in the Horrortale or Underfell or any other scary offshoot of Undertale. I…I can’t think of anything else, and seven is suppose to be lucky so I’ll stop there…and stop talking to myself out loud.”

So... what now?

You could get out, leave the Underground…then what?

Even if you were still human, you couldn’t go home. Home was on a different plane of reality. You were stuck here.

You could try and make another deal with Chara but considering you still don’t remember all the details from the first one you really didn’t want to try your luck.

This was like with the little mermaid, only you don’t know what the full deal entailed, nor if you needed to complete something before you turned to seafoam…or dust.

You couldn’t go home.

So, make the best of a shitty situation, darlin’. Nana’s voice responded in her trademark exasperated way.

You could…live here. In the Underground. You’d blend in, perhaps find a market place to work at or try a new profession. You could adapt to this new life. It would be hard, but you could do it. Maybe in time you could even be happy. 

You could become a monster of the Underground.

But first…you need to be able to look at yourself without flinching.

Slowly you pull out you hand, staring at it. it was an off-white color, the phalanges long and portioned right, and when you moved it they moved accordingly but the metacarpal bones were wider and thicker than you believed it should be. It looked wrong, and you took enough classes to realize that.

That… isn’t how human bones were supposed to look.

You looked back at the mirror still hanging on the door, and with uncertainty you remove the blanket and walk in front of it. Slowly you removed the robe Toriel had given you, letting it hit the ground.

You stared at the skull in the mirror, examining it.

The more you looked, the less it looked like a human skull. Hesitantly you winked, and the socket winked back. Like Sans you had a light in your sockets, and as you looked one way it followed, proving that it was your monster equivalent of a pupil. Your mandible was fused to the cranium, the bone more pliable than humans ever would be which allowed you to still make expressions. This pliable bone also acted bizarrely like lips, hiding your teeth, though the “lips” indented themselves in a way that resembles teeth.  If it wasn’t for the empty sockets you probably would have thought you were wearing Day of the Dead make up.

You raised your hand and arm, noting how the radius and ulna were much thicker than humans were. In fact, all the bones you’ve seen so far were thicker and wider, thick enough that if you hadn’t been able to see through the gaps you would have assumed you were wearing an off-white sleeve with dark lines.

I look like I’m wearing a stylized skeleton suit. You thought, at least until you saw your spine. There, between your rib cage to your pelvis was a large empty space where only an unusually dense spine showed.

Your ribs were closer, larger. Hesitantly you felt them, your fingers gently clacking against the bone. So… am I still female? I don’t have boobs or anything between my legs, so how do I tell? Please still be female, I can only take so many changes.

Deciding that this line of thought needed to be examined at a saner time, you shelf it and continue your inspection.

Your legs were probably the least human skeleton looking of your entire body, looking more like your human legs had. You were a runner and did a lot of work on your feet which gave you toned legs, and for some reason it looked like that detail carried over in your transformation.

 Over all your skeleton looked willowier than a normal human skeleton did, with wider pelvis. You looked softer than a skeleton should look.

You took a half turn, examine you back.

On your back was…a pair of broken bones? No, wings. Skeletal bird wings maybe half the size if your hand. You could only stare at them incomprehensibly, before decided to just roll with it.

You know what, sure. Why wouldn’t I have skeletal birdie wings that look completely useless? Makes perfect sense. You groaned, deciding you were done and put the robe back on.

Looking back, you stared at the skeleton in the mirror and came to the realization that this was you, probably for the rest of your life.

You glared at the reflection.

You were done crying and screaming. This was your life now. And if you did get slapped with an invisible price tag, you’ll deal with it.

With another too deep breath, you opened the door and walked out.

Chapter Text

Shuffling down the hall, you quietly tried to think of a story to tell while trying to ignore the clacking your feet made on the wood.

What were you going to say? I’m a college student who works retail and grew up on a little farm with my family, have the social skills of a rock and would rather spend my whole day in doors on a computer than go out and meet people. Oh, and I used to be human and your world is a game from where I’m from.

Yeah nooooo.

Aside from trying to come up with a back story, you had no idea where to go after this. You had no home, no friends in this place. You didn’t even know if your skills in retail or farm work would be helpful.

If you had to be honest, you hoped Toriel would let you stay. While you were certain you’d find employment elsewhere in the Underground, you really didn’t want to leave a place you knew was safe.

Would Toriel let you stay? Only one way to find out.

You stepped into the dining room, looking around at the neat and tidy room.

“Uh, hello?” you called out, nervous.

You froze when Toriel emerged from the kitchen, all thought scattered unhelpfully at the sight of the goat monster. Luckily, she seemed to have froze too, which gave you a moment to try and come up with something intelligent to say.

“Um, hi?”

Well done kiddo, Nana voice said sarcastically. You managed say a full word without screaming it at her. Now try some more.

“Uh, um, nice place you got here.” You said wincing at your words. Really? Are you going for most awkward conversationalist ever award?

This conversation is filling you with irresolution.

Ivan would probably have dope slapped you by now and taken over conversation, or Mia would have slide in with grace and gotten good topics going, Mandy would have launched into the latest hijinks her nephews were doing, hell even Tammy who hated people could have come up with something better!

You were certain that if Nana was still alive she’d be loudly wondering how an introvert was born to a family of extraverts, with your dad making jokes to lighten the mood while mom would have just smiled and encouraged you to keep trying.

You used that image of your loved ones to bolster yourself and plunged headfirst into this awkwardness.

“I-It’s a lovely home, and I don’t know what you’re cooking but it smells heavenly, and-and- oh! Books! I love books, history is my favorite subject, as well as art and how to fix things, I used to try and replicate the things I read about, like this one time my brother and I tried to make a trebuchet and ended up breaking one of the kitchen windows, or once my Dad and I create a geyser out of coke and mentos and managed to hit one of the chickens, and I’m rambling aren’t I? Dumb question, of course I’m rambling, still am-”

Your rambling was cut off by a stifled snort, and you looked up to see Toriel holding back laughter.

You felt yourself flush, though you had no idea how you did it. You smiled though, laughter was better than you had hoped for.

Testing the waters, you decided a quick attempt at a pun might further help. “S-sorry. Nervous. I tend to be a real numbskull when it happens.”

The stifled laughter turned into an out loud laugh, and you felt a little more at ease.

Toriel shaking with laughter at your silly pun fills you with determination.

Well, it’s a start. Now try introducing yourself, A thought that sounded like Mom said.

“I-I’m Ivory.” You stuttered, pulling at the fabric of your sleeves and giving what you hoped looked like a friendly smile.

Toriel tilted her head, smiling kindly at you. “Nice to meet you, Ivory the Skeleton. I am Toriel, keeper of the Ruins.”

She then got a rather mischievous glint in her large eyes. “Ivory bet your parents had fun picking your name out, but it is rather appropriate. I’m sure it matches your complexion.”

It takes you longer than you are willing to admit figuring out what Toriel was punning about. And when you did, you groaned and buried your face in your hands. Oh god, my name is now a pun! Mom, Dad! What possessed you to name me Ivory again?!

Still, you felt a bubble of laughter trying to escape your throat…only for it to eject in peals of cackles at the realization you don’t have a throat anymore.

You knew that your laughter probably sounded a bit demented, but after all that you have gone through recently you felt that a good laugh was what the doctor prescribed, and you were determined to accept your insane circumstance. If that meat not questioning things and rolling with it, then so be it.

Toriel moved towards you, guiding you to the table. Once seated she gave you a gently pat on the back, as though she feared to put further strength into it.

Your deranged sounding laughter finally died done and you wiped away the tears that had built in the corner of your sockets, leaving you feeling embarrassed for your much-needed laughter.

You looked to Toriel who had taken the seat across from you. “Sorry, ma’am.”

The former queen smiled kindly at you. “Don’t be. I may not know your situation, but I can see you have underwent something… distressing recently.”

You wanted to laugh at that. Distressing was putting it mildly. Instead you nodded.

“You can say that again.” You murmured.

“Would you like tea?” Toriel inquired already getting up. “And how hungry are you? You haven’t been eating a whole lot since I found you.”

You have been so nervous that you hadn’t noticed you felt famished (you studiously ignored the fact you had no stomach and should not be able to feel hunger. You were a monster now, human anatomy and logic had no hold over you anymore).

“Um, yes please.”

“Where are you from?” Toriel asked from the kitchen.

You felt a wave of panic hit you. “Um, could you tell me where I am?” You asked instead. You knew where you were but acting ignorant might help in the long run.

Toriel came out with a tray of tea, and pie that had a gray sort of filling to it. Placing both tea and pie in front of you, she retook her seat, a cup in her hand (paw?). “The Ruins.”

 A spark of an idea lit in your mind. It was a bad idea, with a good chance of blowing up in your face and make things more complicated, but so long as Frisk never breaks the barrier nobody will ever be able to confirm it. And frankly, you didn’t know what else to explain how you got here.

In the most credibly confused tone you had you asked, “So…I really am in the Underground?”

Now Torel was giving you a look that made you want to rub the back of your head. “Ivory, please answer me. Where are you from?”

You wondered if Toriel was unintentionally using her queen voice because you wanted to hide under the table.

But you had a plan- a half-baked concoction of a plan- that required you lying in a convincing manner.

Remember this sweetie, the best lies are ninety percent truth. Nana words whispered, a pearl of wisdom she once told you. You never considered yourself a liar, in this case it was very much necessary.

Nervously you swiped your hand across you’re the back of your head before you could catch yourself, having momentarily forgotten you didn’t have hair. Taking a too deep breath you spoke.

“I from the surface.”

Toriel’s gaze sharpened on to you, surprise clear on her face. You hurried along, wringing your hands under the table. Ninety percent truth, was your mental mantra.

“I grew up there with my parents, Nana and brother. Grandpa had a farm and when he passed away Nana took over it with Dad. Spent pretty much most of my life there, used to help feed the livestock but mostly I just watched over my brother, Ivan. He’s seven years younger than me, so I always felt that I had to keep him safe, you know? He made it hard at times because he is adventurous and rambunctious but a sweetie nonetheless. And when Nana passed away I started doing more around the farm to help.” You knew you were rambling, but so far everything you’ve said was true. You had grown up on a farm, you had a close relationship with your brother. You just left out the fact you still went to school like any other kid and had gone off to college in a nearby town that was five hours away from home.

Toriel looked as though you had dropped an anvil on her head. Her mouth worked soundlessly for a few minutes before she found her words.

“There are still monsters on the surface?” she whispered, sounding both shocked and excited.

And here is the ten percent falsehood, you thought, silently apologizing to Toriel.

“Nana said that there were hidden communities in secret locations. But she hadn’t been to one since she was a young, preferring the farms relative isolation from, well, everyone. I haven’t ever been to one and, to be honest I don’t even know if my Dad has ever been to one either. My parents love telling me and Ivan how they met as youths and were childhood honeys but from what I gathered, Mom used to be from one of the hidden communities, but they never really talked about it. I honestly don’t know where any are.” The lie left a bitter taste in your mouth.

“How…how did you end up here?” Toriel said, looking overwhelmed.

“I…” you started before sighing. How were you going to explain this? You couldn’t very well tell her the truth.

 Oh the answer to that is simple, I got drunk and made a deal with your deceased adopted child who may or may not be an eldritch abomination.

Yeah, that would go over well.

Ninety percent truth, you thought with a too deep breath.

“I don’t know. I was at home relaxing when suddenly I was in pain, like my bones were being reduced to mush and then I woke up in your guest room.” You said, rubbing your palm on your robe.

You felt your lies crawling on your back.

The upset look on Toriel’s face made you quickly add one last truth to an otherwise heap of lies. “Outside of my family, you are the first monster I have met.”

Toriel looked both surprised and saddened by this. “I am the first?”

“Yup. I have never met a monster before you.” That least was the truth. But something nagged at you.

“You believe me? About being from the surface?”

“Why wouldn’t I? It does explain why I found you at one of the few entrances into the Underground. While it sounds unbelievable, I am trusting you are being honest, and frankly your reaction when you woke up couldn’t have been fake. But to find out there was still monsters on the surface,” she said, looking delighted, obliviously to your discomfort.

“Yeah, it does sound far-fetched.” You mumbled, taking a large sip of your tea. Now that you had your back story sorted, you had to figure out where to stay.

“Um, is there a house I could stay at?” at the look of surprise on the goat monsters face you hurried along.

“I don’t know anything about the Underground outside of stories,” and all game plying and lurking around the fandom, “and I will need a job and eventually a home. But I kinda need to stay somewhere until I can support myself.  Where am I going to go?”

“You can stay here for as long as you need to.”

You felt a surge of shock and hope. “Really?”

"Why, of course," the goat affirmed. " Originally the room you’re staying in was going to be renovated but I think it would be a better use to let you have it. And beside you have nowhere to go, and I won’t abandon you in an unknown place.”

"You are truly generous..." You spoke softly, feeling hope start to swell inside you. This was the best news you’ve had since you woke up!

With gusto you ate the pie, just now registering the strange flavor. It was delicious but odd. You wondered out loud about the flavor, to which Toriel kindly told you it was snail. It only stopped you for a moment before you shrugged. You’ve eaten weirder things.

Once the pie was devoured and tea refilled, Toriel asked you to remain seated to discuss one more thing.

“Now I know you are still recovering, but I’d like to discuss your soul.”

You tilted your head, confused at the direction of the conversation. “My soul?"

Was something wrong with it? Or…did you still have a colored one?

“I know it isn’t my business, and that you were probably being attacked when it happened, quite possibly during the same event that led you down here. I am not judging you, but I want you to be honest with me.” Toriel spoke, looking at you in a way that made you feel knee high to her, and even if you hadn’t known about the game or anything about the characters you would have immediately known from the tone alone that she was once a mother.

“Did you kill a human and absorbed their soul?”

What.

Chapter Text

You were fairly certain that you resembled a fish at that moment, staring at Toriel with a look of utter bewilderment.

Where did that question come from?!

Toriel was giving you a look you couldn’t decipher, but it made you want to dig a hole in the floor and hop in it.

“W-what? I’ve never killed anybody!”

Toriel raised a single eyebrow. “Are you certain?”

Now you were flabbergasted, and more than a little offended at the tone.

“How would I not know if I killed somebody?! I may not be the most observant person in the world but even I would remember something like that!”  You hadn’t meant to yell, or flap your arms around like some cartoon character but you were both alarmed at the string of questions and worried about what your soul looked like that Toriel’s first question on the subject was to inquire if you murdered anybody.

“I promise on my family, where ever they are, that I have never killed anyone nor harvested their soul.” That was a fact you knew was an honest to god truth. Wait, did your stats say something else? Did you have an abnormal LOVE level or EXP? If that is the problem, you may need to smack Chara if you see them again for messing with your stats.

The goat monster held up a hand in a pacifying manner. “I apologize If I offended you.  When I found you, you were badly injured and in such a state of pain I had to help you sleep. After I did everything to heal your body I wanted to ensure the damage done to you was purely physical, so I examined your soul.” She paused, looking at you like she was expecting an outburst. When you motioned her to continue her tale, she made that frown again but nonetheless continued. “My examining of your soul had left me…with questions. “

Maybe I should bolt out the ruins while I still can. You immediately discarded that thought. Sans was on that side of that door and under no circumstances did you want him near your soul. You liked him a lot (he was your third favorite character, favorite one and two will forever be Papyrus and Alphys), but he was scarily observant, and very good at reading people. If by some horrid twist of fate you ended up on that side of the door, you hoped being a monster would make him overlook you.

You stared up at Toriel, hoping the anxiety you felt wasn’t obvious. “What, exactly brought about that question?”

Toriel took a sip from her cup before continuing, eyes still trained on you. “My question came due to two reasons, but first I would like to know if you are aware you have coloring in your soul?”

A look of confusion must have swept across your skull, because she added, “Monsters can’t have colored souls… unless they took it from a human.”

“I…colored soul?” You mumbled, feeling both relieved and apprehensive over this news. Your stats might be fine (yay!), but you were a monster with a colored soul (not-yay).

You must have looked appropriately befuddled, because Toriel entire countenance softened. “Part of your soul is colored. It looked as though it didn’t know how to mix with the white part. I didn’t look at it for long.”

You nodded, unsure what else you could do. “Okay, I have a partially colored soul. Okay. Weird. What was the second reason?”

A look of discomfort settled on the goat monster’s features. “The shape of your soul.”

What? “The shape of my soul?”

“Yes, it is… unusual.”

You couldn’t help but notice the tone she used when saying ‘unusual’ was like how one would say ‘nightmarish’.

“Wh-what’s wrong with the shape of my soul? Can you pull it out and show me?”

You wonder what you said that made Toriel look at you like that (like you had just propositioned her in an obscene way), but she agreed... after asking you several times if you were sure and if you were that she was only doing this to help you and nothing more. You agreed easily, giving her a look that you hoped indicated your confusion at her insistence. She must of gotten it because while she still looked uncomfortable she no longer looking at you like you had copped a feel.

Silently Toriel gently pulled, and you felt a deeply bizarre feeling or wrongness as your soul came out, as though your soul protested at being moved from your…body.

You stared at your soul, feeling disbelief.

The color of your soul was strange enough to mark you as different as they were a vivid swirling of white and copper that would not mix, much like water and oil. But as inexplicable as the coloring of your soul was, it had nothing to the shape of your soul.

Your soul looked like an anatomically correct heart, pumping and pulsing, veiny, with the arteries, aorta and vena cava seemingly still attached to your skeletal body, though fading where it connected. You could hear it beating like a real heart, the sound loud to you and a strange pulse ran through you in time with beating of the faux-heart.

You felt nauseated just looking at it. You looked at Toriel, who too looked as though she was deeply disturbed at the sight of your soul. Truth be told, she looked about ready to shove your soul back in and do what your brother would call the ‘heebie jeebies dance’.

It must look alien to her, you thought suddenly conscious at just how different you were from the monsters. Looking back at the pulsing, beating discolored organ-like soul, you suddenly became very aware of the stare Toriel was giving you and finally had a word for the look she had been giving you since starting this conversation.

Apprehensive. Toriel was apprehensive of you because you have a freakish soul. A colored freakish soul.

Oh, shit flakes. You mentally swore. You looked back at the thing, wondering if it was like that due to the deal, or where you were from.

How the hell did that happen?! Why does it look like that?!

“I do not know the answers to either of those questions.” Toriel said, making you realize that you had voiced your thoughts out loud.

You felt yourself flush, looking sheepish. “S-sorry. Um, could you put that-that thing away? Please? I’ve seen enough of it.”

In a different scenario you might have been offended with how quickly Toriel put your soul back, but honestly you really couldn’t blame her. It must look like something straight out of a horror story.

You drained your cup, wishing it was whiskey. An uncomfortable quiet hung between the two of you, absurdity loud to you. The sound of silence indeed, you thought as you fiddled with your cup.

“Am I-” a freak of nature?  “deformed?” you croaked out, unsure how to even ask about this, or what to ask. Was there anything in this world to explain that away?

The uncertain look on Toriel’s face made your nonexistent guts churn.

Neither of you noticed the flower by the entrance of the room, if you had you would have freaked out at the way he had looked at your soul. 

Chapter Text

Mia poured herself another cup of coffee, trying to stay busy so she didn’t have to look at those pleading eyes.

It had been over two months since Ivory’s disappearance and there were still no leads. When Mia had woken that morning, she had assumed her friend had gone to work. Mia went about her day as usual, though she did pick up another pack of beer to appease her fellow gamer.

She started becoming concerned when Ivory’s quitting time had come and gone, and Mandy suggested a quick call to assure Ivory was okay.

Mia recalled the block of ice that settled in her gut when she heard Ivory’s phone going off in her bedroom. After a quick check, Mia and Mandy discovered that all of Ivory’s things were still there; phone, keys, wallet, purse and reading glasses. Everything she normally took with her was still here.

Mandy had called Ivory’s workplace, only to find out that Ivory never made it in. No call, no show, no anything.

Tammy had come home to a panicking Mia and a fretting Mandy and did the logical thing: call the police.

After that it was a bit of a blur for Mia. She remembered the police asking her questions but not the questions themselves. She remembered showing the police her friends room but couldn’t recall much after that. She remembered the police asking all three of them if they recalled Ivory leaving, heard anything the night before, if they recalled Ivory mentioning seeing anyone.

After the police did their job, they told them to inform them if Ivory returned. If not, they would keep them informed on the search.

Less than a week later, Ivory’s brother showed up. The police had informed Ivory’s family of her missing, and Ivan had refused to sit at home and do nothing. He showed up, a bag at his side, informing them that until Ivory was found he was staying, having found a job and everything. None of them had the heart to make him leave, not when he was practically begging them to let him stay so he could search for Ivory.

He had been there ever since, paying Ivory’s side of rent because he refused to leave, asking everyone who was even remotely connected to Ivory everything he could think of in his quest to find her, none getting more questions than Mia, Mandy and Tammy.

“Mia, please. Anything, anything at all.” Came the deep voice behind her, polite yet firm. Mia sighed, finally looking at him.

Mia didn’t know his exact age but did know he was older than eighteen but younger than twenty-one. He was a tall guy, easy over six and half feet, and it was pretty obvious he did manual labor at his parent’s farm as he was a thick boy, full of muscles.

“Ivan, I’ve told you and the police everything I could! I want her back as much as you do!” came the snappish reply.

Mia had known Ivory for about four years now, and thought the introvert was the closest thing she had to a sister. She had met the farm girl in their freshman year at the college, Mia having come to the class late due to the storm outside and had gotten soaked in the down pour. She had been trying to get to class when she had ran into Ivory. Contrary to Ivory’s belief that she wasn’t rememberable, Mia remembered her because at the time Ivory had dyed her hair neon pink, was carrying a worn- out backpack, had a shirt that said “Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult” with a Deadpool hoodie, while wearing cargo shorts with polka dot stockings and the world’s most ugly crocs. Ivory looked half dead from being hung over and caffeine deprived, yet in her groggy state took one look at the drenched Mia and dragged the girl to the bathroom, muttering about how Mia would catch her death in that outfit. Ivory apparently had her work uniform in the bag and handed the pants to Mia along with the Deadpool hoodie and told her to return them eventually. The pants were long on her and she practically drowned in the hoodie, but Mia thought that was a great start to a friendship.

It wasn’t the smoothest friendship she had, they bickered on certain subjects, and while Mia was loud and assertive, Ivory was more likely to just roll over and let people walk all over her (unless love ones were the ones getting harassed, in which case Ivory showed to have a spine), and that attitude irked Mia like nobody’s business, but when Mia had finally had come out of the closet to her parents and was summarily kicked out, Ivory showed more love and loyalty than Mia had ever previously known. Shortly after that they met the perpetually optimistic Mandy and the perpetually pessimist Tammy, the former a recently divorced activist who had gotten out of a abusive relationship and the later a forty-something workaholic who tended to chew people to bits. Mia counted them among her close friends and now her best friend had gone missing, with absolutely no trace.

Ivan momentarily looked like a kicked puppy, making Mia wish she hadn’t snapped at him. Ivan had bags under his eyes, and the normally effervescent guy was a ball of worry and stress. Ivan adored his sister as much as Ivory adored him. If Mia was this worried about her, she knew Ivan and his parents were worse off.

“Sorry, Ivan. I promise, if there was anything else I’d have told you.”

“Well, can you tell me what she was doing when you last saw her?” he pleaded.

“I already told you. I was playing a game, she got mad at my choices in the game, took all the beer and stayed in her room. Last I saw of her.”

Ivan wouldn’t be deterred. “Well, what game were you playing? One time, Ivory got ticked at me for killing in Dishonor and deleted the game from our system. I was so pissed when she did that.”

Mia snorted. That sounded like Ivory, the little “Happy Endings or bust” gamer. Ivory loved happy endings, and always tried to achieve those.

Mia hadn’t played anything since that night, too worried to care about gaming.

“Undertale, I think.”

Ivan sadly smiled at that. “That’s one of her favorites, though I think it’s mostly due to the fandom. Thanks Mia…sorry to bother.”

He gave a tight smile, grabbing his keys for work. “Let me know if anything changes.”

“I will. Be safe.” Mia called as he left.

Mia sighed, dumping her coffee in the sink. Now that he was gone, Mia allowed the stress and worry she kept hidden out, sitting heavily onto her chair. Ivory disappearance was frightening in many ways, not just because it meant something nefarious had happened to her best friend, but happened right under her nose. Questions she kept at bay surged at her: Why hadn't we heard anything yet? Had someone broken in and kidnapped her while we slept? Was she even alive?!

Mia forcibly pushed those thoughts away, knowing it would lead to another breakdown and she couldn't do that. Not so soon after the last one.

She needed a distraction, and without really thinking about it Mia made her way to the shared computer. She opened it, looking for the icon of Undertale. After a few seconds of fruitless searching, Mia snorted.

So, she did delete the game. Ass. Mia thought fondly. She went into the Steam account, intending to play the game again. Maybe it would allow her some calm, and maybe she’d not kill anyone, for Ivory’s sake.

Mia frowned, checking through the Steam games until she found it.

Undertale was blinking red.

Mia stared at the oddity, and moved to push it-

A loud chirping noise startled her, causing her to cuss loudly. After a quick pat down, she found her phone, answering. It was her boss, needing her to come in due to several call outs. Normally she wouldn’t have agreed but she really needed to stay busy and work was a good way for that.

She got up to get ready, Undertale pushed out of her mind.

The Undertale icon stopped blinking red.

Chapter Text

Standing outside Toriel’s room, you pulled at your sleeve and new gloves. Fidgeting in place you waited impatiently for Toriel exit her room, feeling like you were eight again and waiting for your parents to leave.

You have officially been here for two months and one week. Two months and one week since you last talked to friends and family. Nine weeks since you seen sunlight. Sixty-seven days since you were human. You liked to think you were getting the hang of it, even when your body did something you didn’t understand, still looked up in hopes of seeing sunlight, and tried hard not to cry when you remembered you were never going home tried to overwhelm you-

No. you thought with a shuttering breath how are you breathing. Positives, positive thinking. Recite the list if necessary.

The List of Blessings, as you were mentally calling it, had grown, anchoring you in the now and away from things that left you in tears. Some of the things on it were genuine appreciations (such as having fresh food and water available, and electricity) while some of it was silly (like not needing to shave, or not having to worry about your weight).

Think positives, like how everyone here is friendly, nobody wants you to leave, you aren’t affected by temperature like you were as a human, you are safe, and Toriel helped make you a robe to accommodate the wings.

That last one was a recent and constant addition. You hadn’t known wings could be so bothersome; they clacked and fluttered when you were nervous or excited, they got stuck in your clothes, it was impossible to sleep on your back, and they didn’t appear to be useful in anything other than to be a nuisance. You were grateful Toriel had created the robe you were wearing because it allowed the wings out and still zippered up around your neck like a collar without looking like a backless dress, more like a small window only downside is that everyone can see them now. It looked similar to hers but made to fit you.

You have not seen any signs of Flowey, Sans is still on the other side, and as long as nobody sees your soul Undyne, Mettaton and Asgore will not hunt you down and harvest your soul… they may still not want if they saw it but better safe than sorry, and… and… oh yeah, you got to see Home!

That thought brightened your melancholy mood.

Home, the city. The first time you saw that place had been when Toriel went shopping for food and a new phone and you practically begged to go with, having stated you really didn’t want to be left alone, and upon seeing the former capitol you had been in awe. It had an ancient feel to it, and while most of the population had left, the city was still being used by those who stayed though most of it remained empty. It also showed you that the Ruins themselves were even bigger than you thought. It baffled you how such a massive place could be created underground. You wanted to explore it but your desire to be safe won out. Toriel had seen how enthralled you had been and had promised the two of you would visit it again.

You perked when the door open, the goat monster smiling when she saw you twiddling by the door.

With a smile that made you yearn to see your own mother, Toriel asked if you were ready to leave to, you nodded after fiddling with your gloves again.

She had made your new robe but had allowed you to get the new boots and gloves when you had gone shopping with her. You stayed with wearing the robe as it covered everything, as well as a pair of leggings. Boots were something you were comfortable with, having needed them on the farm while the gloves came up to your radius and ulna, hiding them from your immediate sight and allowing you a semblance of peace at not seeing the bones. Perhaps it was a little cowardly to try and cover everything, but you needed it. In time you’d accept that you were literally all bones but now was not that time.

The two of you exited the house, you trailing behind Toriel as she did her rounds. She had offered to let you stay in the house, but you were resolute in your desire to never be left entirely alone. You hadn’t lied to her when you said you hadn’t wanted to be left alone, allowing her to draw whatever conclusion she had. Better Toriel believed you were just scared of a new place or whatever else she wanted to believe, because the truth was you did not want to have a run-in with the psychotic flower himself and it was most likely to happen if you were by yourself.

This of course meant you had to socialize because Toriel liked to talk to the locals during her rounds, and she made a point to introduce you to every single monster the two of you encountered along the way.

Toriel had introduced you as a new resident, and pretty much all the monsters had done their best to make you feel welcomed. It was rather sweet of them, especially since leaving the farm and your tiny community you hadn’t felt very welcomed in your new life as a city girl. You didn’t do well with online classes and had decided to move to the nearest city that had the community college you applied for. It was a struggle, going from one place where everybody knows everybody to total strangers. You recalled how you spent the first year nearly friendless until you met Mia, but hadn’t allowed it to bother you, not while you were too busy with both a job and education.

Here it was like joining a community similar to your old town.

You hoped you hadn’t in obvious in your gawking at the monsters you met but had a feeling you failed. You have only seen these monsters in pixelate style, which made them cute. Here in life, you had to abort certain questions you wanted to ask, like how can a astigmatism’s body reform from giant eye to grinning fiend in near seconds, or how the various monsters could move and if they had muscles as they were made from magic, how and why did they turn to dust, or how you could understand all the monsters even the once that clearly don’t have mouths. You still asked questions, but it was more along the lines of job, family, livelihood, etcetera.

This opened a new line of questions, as you found out that the frogs acted as stone masons and kept the walls of the ruins in good condition, the vegetoids could magically produce food and were the main family that supplied the ruins with sustenance, and the whimsuns tended to keep the place clean, just to name a few.

There were a few setbacks, like how you screamed at a couple of the bug monsters in fear. You did try to apologies but wasn’t very successful.

The rounds usually took about three hours, longer if Toriel had to act as a mediator in a dispute or fight. You observed the people, asked the questions you thought would be polite or didn’t shed too much light on your ignorance, and avoided all confrontations.

You were a little proud of the fact you had not actually had to fight anybody yet, an unexpected perk of looking like a monster and having the reputation of being terrified of everything. Being known as a craven coward had never felt so protective.

As you traveled, you noticed there were more Loox’s out than usual. More than all the previous encounters any way. Toriel must have seen your confusion because she informed you that the Loox’s were having a family get together.

You nodded, feeling envy they could get together. Needing something to think about you turned to a topic you normally avoided: your soul.

While you had been there for over two months, it had been two weeks since that soul reveal.

The two of you were avoiding the whole soul issue, and for that you were grateful.

Admittedly, Toriel’s avoidance of the topic might have had something to do with how you handled it after she put your soul back in…

“Am I deformed?” you croaked out, unsure how to even ask about this, or what to ask. Was there anything in this world to explain  that  away?

The uncertain look on Toriel’s face made your nonexistent guts churn.

The silence between you and the goat monster was profound and deeply uncomfortable. You squirmed in your seat, as Toriel held a thoughtful look on her face, eyes a little hazy.

Worry, disbelief, confusion, disgust and fear swirled inside you with the force of a tempest, and you felt as though the beating of that bizarre soul was still audible.

 You had to do something, anything to change the topic or at least the atmosphere of the room.

“SO!” you said, loudly, jolting Toriel out of her thoughts as you made a very clear and distinct decision to ignore the elephant in the room.

“The pie was amazing! Never ate snails before but I’m glad I tried it! I hope we can have more later, like now and focus on discussing something else entirely!” you spoke in a loud and dramatic way, having decided to throw tact out the window and channel your inner Papyrus and hoped you could pull it off.

A look of amusement graced Toriel’s face, and she showed mercy to you by allowing your unashamed attempt at changing the subject to work.

“Ivory?”

You jerked, looking to where Toriel was, noticing she was further ahead than you thought.

Walking up to her, you murmured an apology stating you got lost in thought.

Just as the two of you turned the corner a white figure drifted past, and you swore you saw headphones on it.

Was that Napstablook?

You turned to get a better look, but the figure was already gone.

Toriel was partly done with her rounds, chatting with the locals and checking if humans (or more monsters) had fallen down the hole.

She had offered to let Ivory stay behind, but the girl was obdurate about being with her as she checked on her puzzles and did her duties. Toriel had asked why the girl was so adamant, to which Ivory said she really didn’t want to be left alone, fear and anxiety rolling off the skeleton monster like a noxious cloud.

Toriel could accept that. The girl was pretty much a stranger in strange lands, with Toriel being the closest thing she had to a friend.

That being said, Toriel was determined to help Ivory feel welcomed, and had started by shopping for her and introducing the displaced monster to the other residence of the ruins.

After the first few interactions with the other residents, the Ruin keeper believed the girl’s story about Toriel being the first monster she met outside her family. The girl’s honest awe as she met these people, coupled with her questions was doing a great job in giving Toriel insight on just how little Ivory knew about her own race.

It hadn’t been entirely smooth interactions, Ivory looked scared of the Migosps and had refused to let go of Toriel when she had introduced them. Then a Whimsun accidently flew at Ivory, who proceeded to scream and run in the opposite direction. Later Ivory tried to apologize to the Whimsun, who burst into tears and fled, making Ivory look like a kicked sentry dog.

Toriel also noted how Ivory did not different between humans from monsters. Even when she had loudly defended herself from her questioning, she had not drawn any difference from the two races.

Ivory had said she didn’t kill or taken the soul from anybody, not any human.

There was also the fact that the more Toriel observed Ivory, the more she was convinced that Ivory did not identify as a monster. The girl knew she was a monster, but she had been so exposed to humanity for so long with so little monster interaction that she might view herself as more human.

 It reminded Toriel of Chara.

Chara had been six when they had fallen and taken in by the royal family. Chara fall hadn’t been an accident, she remembered how Chara once told them that they had ran away from an abusive home and was chased by their cruel parents. Chara had jumped in to escape them, saying they would have rather deal with potentially dying than getting taken back to that home.

After six years of loving and helping Chara adjust to the Underground, Toriel would reminisce how after the second year Chara stopped referring to themselves as human. They never called themselves a monster, but it was obvious that Chara thought of themselves as such. In six years Chara went from a quiet, stern faced child who often cried to a smiling happy child that wanted to help monsters.

Remembering Chara made Toriel’s soul hurt. Asriel was eleven when he died, Chara twelve. Died barely a week apart. It has been nearly two centuries since her children’s death and it still hurt, and the pain had never gone away.

“Ms. Tori? Are you okay?” Ivory’s voice broke through the despondent thoughts.

“Ah, yes. Did you need something my child?”

Ivory looked past her, and Toriel followed her sight until she saw the several Loox’s families. The adults seemed to be arguing, while the children ran around in their striped shirts. A couple were loudly bickering, taunting each other, causing Toriel to sigh. Loox were notorious for bullying others but got upset when others bullied them.

“Um, those guys appear to be about ready to come to blows and, um, there are a lot of kids here. What if the kids get in the middle of it?” Ivory said nervously, tugging her sleeve as Toriel felt the apprehension roll off the skeleton. It was potent enough that several of the adult’s present looked at Ivory in concern, stopping their conversations.

Seeing this spurred Toriel into action, and within an hour got most of the adult Loox’s to stop fighting. The only ones she was having trouble with were a couple, one Loox and the other an Astigmatism who were still bickering.

Toriel had a feeling it would be a while before she would make head way with these two, so she looked back at Ivory. She was surprised to see Ivory further away and was apparently playing with the children. In fact she appeared to be telling them a story, something about a hero of courage who had been tricked into transforming into a 'deku shrub monster' by a mischievous monster named Skull Kid (stories from the surface?).

It made Toriel smile, seeing Ivory interacting with others. Perhaps in time Ivory would feel safe around others and come clean about her past.

Toriel knew that some of the things Ivory said was falsehood. It wasn’t like Toriel believed the girl was full of lies, in fact she got the impression that Ivory hated lying and had told the truth about her origins. Well, mostly told the truth.

When monsters were babies most cannot speak till the magic in their bodies finished growing, during which the infant’s soul acted in many ways like a beacon to the parents and other adults. Baby hungry? Baby’s magic spiked. Scared? Spike. Wanted attention? Spike, and so forth.

She remembered the trial and error she had underwent with Asriel, trying to figure out some of his feelings and intents, because during those learning periods feeling and intention are everything but cyphering the need wasn’t always easy, like how once before he could even crawl he had been feeling sad and it she couldn’t figure out how to make him happy but could feel he wanted something. Asgore ended up figuring out that Asriel wanted a stuff toy he always slept with because it made him happy...

 As they got into toddler stage and older, they still rely on the magic to communicate but this also meant that while they tried to speak what they wanted, their magic was already voicing it, or saying something else entirely. Emotions and intentions were part of magic, and while the parent may only be getting an emotional feel and can’t hear the thoughts of their child, emotions could tell you a lot about what was going on in their mind.

It also meant that until they learned to control their magic, the feelings they felt constantly fluctuate revealing when someone was happy, sad, angry, afraid, confused-

- or felt guilty over, say, lying.

Like an infant or toddler, Ivory had no control over her own soul, broadcasting her feelings everywhere, and was completely unaware she was practically yelling "I feel bad because I am lying". Toriel had two theories on why she was like that; either her anomalous soul had somehow reset her to the control of an infant… or she was never taught how to control it. The latter seemed unlikely, as any loving parent would teach their child how to control their own soul (after all you didn’t want a child to broadcast their every feeling and intention to total strangers), and when Ivory did speak about her family it was always in a loving yet sad manner.

That being said, Ivory was also an adult, and unlike an infant or young child, had far more complicated feelings. There were times where Toriel felt a little dizzy at how fast Ivory’s emotions went or felt like fusions of other emotions, very much glad other adults knew how to keep their feelings from being broadcasted everywhere.

Toriel intended to tell her about it, once she was certain that Ivory wasn’t trouble. It didn’t seem that way, with how the girl seemed bent on being as untroublesome as possible for Toriel but she wanted to make sure nonetheless.

For now, Toriel would silently enjoy watching Ivory interact with the Loox children.

Toriel looked back at the still bickering couple, sighing as she tried once more to help.

“Whoa, hey!” Ivory’s sounded off, her voice pitched in a worried tone as Toriel and all the surrounding monster adults felt the skeleton magic spike with a distinct fear.

Looking to the skeleton monster, Toriel saw that Ivory was looking up, fear on her face. All the adults were looking up now, some crying out.

It was one of the Loox children. They must hace climbed the wall and had managed to get on the ceiling.

Ivory let out a startled cry as the child panicked because the adults were panicking and was clearly trying to scramble back but lost part of their grip and was now dangling from the ceiling.

Toriel and many of the adults started running, with the former queen praying the child held on until they got there, as the parents cried out for their child to hold on, and Ivory-

One moment Ivory was near a group of little ones and the next she was under the child, horizontal in the air, catching them just as they lost their grip. For a moment Ivory hovered in the air, before suddenly plummeting towards the ground. A thrumming noise filled the air, fast paced and followed by a sensation of disturbing eeriness, and in that instant Toriel knew Ivory was using magic.

The two of them collapsed into a pile, the skeleton securely holding onto the sobbing monster. Ivory groaned and winced as a hiss of pain escaped her teeth, her wings were clacking as she sat up, the tiny Loox crying as they clung to the front of Ivory’s robe and appeared to be surrounded by a coppery barrier. Gently the surface monster rubbed circles into their back, humming a soothing tune as she tried to calm the poor thing down.

As Toriel got closer she saw that the left wing was broken, dust trickling out of the wound. Her maternal instincts took over, and Toriel proceeded to check both monsters for further injury. Several Loox’s who were experienced healers aided her, and before long Ivory’s wings was whole again. Miraculously the Loox child was perfectly healthy, though not surprising as Ivory had been shielding them at her own expense. Once assured that the child was safe and unharmed, Ivory’s magic dissipated, causing those who were close by to breath a little easier.

Upon seeing the child’s parents, Ivory softly handed them over, the two adults thanking Ivory profusely for her timely rescue. Ivory smiled at them, though Toriel could feel her happiness, relief, discomfort and confusion wavering off her.

They continued to thank her, possibly too overwhelm with their own emotions to feel that Ivory was slowly but steadily getting more uncomfortable with their thanks. Toriel intervened, stating that they had enough excitement today before bidding the Loox’s goodbye. Soon Toriel and Ivory were on their way.

As they got further away, Ivory’s other emotions were steadily engulfed by confusion and anxiety. Ivory looked up at Toriel, looking a little disoriented.  “How did I…? Did I move?”

Toriel stopped, gently tugging Ivory to stand next to her. “You saved that child from falling.”

“I know that, but how did I get there? I blinked and was underneath them!”

The goat monster stilled. Ivory hadn’t meant to do that?

Ivory looked agitated, rubbing the back of her head, a nervous gesture Toriel had picked up on early since living with the skeletal monster.

“I wanted to get to the kid, wanted to get there now and then…darkness? No, it was more like blackness. A smothering kind of blackness, like I had stepped from a air conditioned room to a muggy outside and was spinning through the blackness-” Ivory abruptly stopped speaking, eye-lights shrinking to pin pricks.

“Ivory?” Toriel said, gently touching the shocked monster.

Ivory inhaled sharply, walking away at a faster stride. “It’s nothing. Not anything important.”

Toriel followed, frowning at the girl’s magic spiked, a feeling of shock, realization and guilt shot off the skeleton as well as a number of other feelings that flittered across too fast for Toriel to name.

Chapter Text

Panting filled the air, a lone figure in the room sprawled out on a comfy bed. Despite the fact you didn’t have the glands for it, copper colored sweat dripped down the side of your head.

Again. A voice that sounded a lot like Tammy when she was feeling more aggressive than usual barked through your mind.

With a groan you pulled yourself up and off the bed, though you braced yourself against it. Raising a shaking arm, you held it palm up, breathing deeply as you tried to summon your magic up. Ever since the (as you mentally called it) Loox Incident, you had spent all your alone time trying to be able to use it again.

You were not having any luck what so ever.

Firstly, you were a previously unmagical human being thus meaning you had never needed to train for this. Secondly, you and Toriel both deduced that the magic you had used had been entirely instinctual.

In all honesty you were about ready to just ask Toriel to train you, but you were hesitant due to the fact Toriel (and pretty much every monster in the Underground) looked ready to flee whenever your magic got out. You didn’t want to make her horribly uncomfortable by exposing her to that mess you called a soul.

The closest you had gotten to feeling anything was a buzz in your bones that felt similar to the feeling you get after you had lost circulation to a limb and was now feeling the pins and needles. Not painful but definitely uncomfortable, and for whatever reason it sapped you of your energy.

There was also another reason you were here, in your bedroom while Toriel had gone downstairs to “check on a door” (part of you was glad she was still chatting with Sans, another part of you wondered why she didn’t want to tell you about it, it wasn’t like she knew you were human).

You had done a short cut, or something damn close to one. You were also pretty certain the blackness was the Void, and under normal circumstances a place you should avoid.

But you had to go back. You had to. You had to control your magic, so you could take another short cut, to get there, because in that few seconds in the dark you saw home.

You saw what could only be the livingroom and kitchen, blurry as it was, and you knew that gaudy yellow table and periwinkle walls with Mia’s painting of that famous picture about dogs playing poker in a glittery pink frame anywhere.

You had seen it, close enough to touch it before you got jerked back, and you had momentarily forgotten it upon catching the kid and crashing down.

Now you had to figure out how to summon the magic, control it, send yourself back into the blackness/Void and reach for it, and maybe, maybe…

This mermaid could go back home.

You re-focused on your hands, trying to summon the magic.

Another hour passed, and you were no closer to your goal than before.

You had decided you’ve tried enough for that day, the pins and needles sensation throbbing throughout your body.

You had gone to the kitchen, intending to eat snail pie (how did something as disgusting as snails ended up being so delicious?), and drink tea.

You heard the heavy feet of your housemate before seeing her, smiling a little as you prepared a second cup.

Toriel soon entered the kitchen, looking both content and thoughtful. You nodded to her as you took her favorite tea down preparing it.

“You were gone awhile. Did the door not want to close?” you joked, Toriel smiling fondly at you.

Nodding, Toriel took the freshly brewed tea, a warm smile on her face. “I don’t just check the door when I go down there. I have this friend, he resides on the other side of the door. I’ve never actually met him in person, but we’ve been trading jokes for years now.  I needed advice and I trust his judgement.”

Of course, you trust his judgement. He’s the Judge of the Underground, scariest and deadliest bastard outside of weeds and murderous children. You thought as you quickly sipped the tea, feeling the pins and needles go away with each sip.

You momentarily wondered what Sans and Toriel talked about, before deciding it wasn’t important. Toriel still spent time with Sans and that made you happy.

Draining the cup, you quickly washed it, doing the same to Toriel’s once she finished hers. The only plans either of you had now was to check on the various traps and the rooms, something you felt you were getting proficient at, at least with the traps and puzzles.

You smiled at Toriel, keeping pace as the two of you discussed dinner plans as you walked out.

You were almost back home when an enormous frog stopped Toriel. The massive frog ribbet’ed, requesting Toriel to advise them on a dispute.

Nodding, you stood not far away, allowing for privacy without having Toriel out of eye sight.

You looked around, noting you weren’t too far from the house. You’d have to encourage Toriel to visit Sans more so you could practice more magic. You were certain you were on the edge of a breakthrough, you just had to figure out what you were missing. Like how the mermaid had to learn to walk, you would learn how to control your magic!

You frowned a little, mulling over that thought.

The Little Mermaid.

The fictional tale has kept resurfacing in your mind since you had first awoken into this strange reality. It had always been a favorite of yours, but lately you’ve been really thinking it over. Disney had been your first introduction to that fairytale, and as a child you saw nothing wrong with Ariel trading her voice for feet so she could be with her true love. It was a happy ending and you had always loved it. When you got a little older though you read the original work, and found it fascinating even though you thought the poor mermaid’s fate a horrible one. You remembered as you progressed from child to teenager how you would get lost in daydreams about being carried off to another world by a handsome prince/vampire/elf/etc., thinking you’d happily toss aside your humanity if it meant you could go off on that romanticized adventure.

If current you could talk to younger you, first you’d scare them straight and probably give her a good whack across the head before telling her to never play Undertale, and that if she still got dragged off to another world that she had better have told her family and friends how much she loved them because there would be no going back.

But there was no helping it, unlike that mermaid you were stuck here, a human in monster form-

“Yesh! Take what makes me ‘uman! Almost as good as a soul. Hafta start as somtin’ other than human, yeah? Like the ‘ittle mermaid! See if I can save ‘em without being a ‘uman!”

You jolted, the memory leaving as abruptly as it came. Wait, was that-!

“Ivory?”

You turned to where Toriel was, still conversing with the huge frog, a smile on your skull even as you screamed internally at the now lost thought. Your smiled dimmed a little at the concerned looks you were getting from both Toriel and the frog. Toriel motioned you to come forward and went obediently though still feeling a little annoyed.

You politely greeted the large frog, then turned to Toriel. The concern look on her face was still there, which was starting to worry you. You’ve seen it quite a lot in since the Loox’s reunion, and at first thought she was just worried about you and how you were adapting to your sudden new life, but now you were wondering if you were that bad at hiding your emotions, because nearly every monster you’ve encountered seemed to see past your words and purposefully neutral face skull.

“I need to help with a dispute and will be here for a while.” Toriel began, looking down at you with a hopeful expression. “The only place I need to check is the room that oversees Home. You know that side room near our home?”

You knew there was a room to the side, the one with the balcony. You hadn’t gone in there yet, Toriel having stated she only went in there once a month due to it feeling small, though the sad look she held when saying this made you think that she only went in once a month was more do to sad memories than anything to do with its size.

Toriel continued at your nod. “It isn’t very far from here. Can you please go in my place?”

“W-what?” you hadn’t meant to squeak, looking at her in alarm.

“I know you don’t like being alone, but I cannot leave here until this matter is settle. It will not take you very long to check it out and you can return right when you are finished or go home if you like.”

“But-” you started but was cut off when Toriel placed a clawed hand on your shoulder, looking imploringly at you. “Please, Ivory.”

Hon, nothing has happened. It isn’t very likely anything will happen. Besides, Tori is probably sick of you hanging around her like a shadow. Nana’s voice rang through you, making you wince. You valued your privacy a lot and hadn’t exactly been giving Toriel any for herself. Sure, you didn’t follow her to the downstairs, but that could hardly be considered alone time since she was visiting Sans. She probably wanted to enjoy a moment without you hovering near her.

Hesitantly and with much reluctance, you nodded even as a lump of lead settled inside.

Toriel smiled brilliantly, looking both happy and pleased.

 You gave a half-hearted wave before walking away while tugging nervously at your gloves, feeling suddenly vulnerable.

You kept an eyesocket out, walking speedily towards your destination. You probably looked suspicious and weird, but you were not accosted by the yellow menace, so you took it as a victory.

The doorway came into view and you hurried along, intending to make this quick.

As you entered, all thought of getting through this quickly left you as you took in the view before you.

It was breathtaking. You had seen it from the entrance into the city but hadn’t seen it from here and it showed just how massive Home - and by extension the Ruins - truly were. There weren’t many lights, which made you sad because it meant that this brilliant city was practically a ghost town, where there should have been a bustling market was an empty plaza, most windows were dark, casting a foreboding feel to the otherwise scenic view.

Maybe I should try and explore more… by myself. The thought drifted through your mind, as you peacefully watched the dark city. Perhaps… exploring wouldn’t be bad. You were trapped here, no changing that, and clinging to Toriel’s side like a spooked toddler wasn’t how you wanted to spend the rest of your life.

I won’t let a weed with a god complex keep me from living my life. You decided with a nod. Turning to leave, you saw something near you.

It was the toy knife.

A sense of portentous purpose curled around you, drawing you towards the object.

Picking up the toy, you examined it. It was old, color faded, the handle made from wood and the plastic blade had at one point been sharpened to a piercing edge.

There was dust on it.

A snarling grimace found its way on your face, and while you didn’t know if the dust was from time or from somebody, a fierce rage took you at the thought that someone had used this to kill another person. Your grip on the toy tightened, the wood started to splinter.

There will be no genocide routes, not while I am trapped here!

Coppery lights surrounded the toy, and before you realized it a resounding crack filled the air and the toy broke into multiple pieces.

The rage sizzled out immediately, replaced by startled confusion. Staring at your gloved hand, to the fragmented toy littered around you, then back to your hand you though, What just happened? How did I do that? Quick, recall every detail-

Before you could further question how you did that, a voice rang out causing all thoughts to flee as terror bolted through you.

“Howdy!”

Every fiber of your being tensed, feeling as though your soul had dropped so fast you were surprise you didn’t hear it hit the floor. Slowly and deliberately you turned, hoping what you heard was actually just you being paranoid. But alas, you were not that fortunate.

There, near your feet was the insane psycho flower himself, smiling sweetly at you in a picture-perfect look of innocence.

You reacted before you could even think to stop yourself.

“Gosh, I don’t think I’ve met you before-ACK!”

“TORIIII!”

Toriel nearly jumped at the scream, turning in time to see Ivory rushing at her, her copper colored magic shimmering around her like a malignant but very hastily constructed barrier, and like with the Loox's reunion it didn't appear to be something she was consciously trying to do.

She didn’t stop when she got to Toriel, instead nearly tackling the goat monster, causing Toriel to lose some breath as it was knocked out by the surprising force behind the younger monster. The girl was clinging to her torso, shaking so badly she could hear her bones clattering.

“My child, what-”

“I’mgonnadie, I’mgonnadie, I’mgonnadie.” Ivory said, repeating her rushed speech, as she somehow clung harder to Toriel.

 “Ivory, calm down! I have you, you are safe. What are you talking about?”

“I-I-” Ivory started, before gulping down several breathes. Once she did this she whispered, “I kicked Flowey in the face, right over the balcony…”

Chapter Text

“knock knock.”

“Who’s there?”

“etch.”

“Etch who?”

“bless you, friend.”

A chuckle escaped Toriel as she leaned against the door, listening to the deep baritone of her friend. After the incident with Ivory and the conversation after, she needed a bit of a break.

And it had started out so smoothly too…

“knock knock.” Her friend said his gravelly voice.

“Who’s there?”

“orange.”

“Orange who?”

“orange you gonna tell me what’s wrong? you sound kinda down.”

A token of a chuckle passed her mouth, before it settled into a tired frown. Truthfully, she didn’t want to talk about it, but she knew she needed t talk to somebody about this. With an exasperated sigh Toriel rubbed her eyes.

“Remember how I had asked for advice about my friend?”

“the one who recently lost her family?”

Toriel winced a little. She hadn’t fully explained the situation, just that she was young and recently lost her entire family in a terrible incident. Toriel trusted her friend, but she didn’t want to infringe upon Ivory’s privacy by telling anyone she came from the surface. That and she wasn’t entirely certain he’d believe her. It was something she still had a hard time believing. The fact that there were actual honest to stars monsters still roaming the surface had both delighted her and worried her.

She was thrilled to know her people hadn’t gotten completely trapped in here, but the more she asked Ivory, the more she was getting a bleak picture on her people still on the surface. Ivory honestly didn’t know much about her own people, and Toriel knew the girl told the truth about her being the first monster she met outside of her own family, the skeleton monster admitting that she knew more about humans than her own kind. And from what she could gather, there were entire communities hidden away so well even other monsters couldn’t find them without prior knowledge. From what she could gather from Ivory, the Underground had become a place of myth and legend to both the humans and monsters.

Had things changed so much on the surface that even her own people had come to view the War as a fable?

But what worried her more than the possibility of her people forgetting their culture and identity was their ability in magic, or potential lack of it.

After that disaster with the flower monster, Toriel had tried to get Ivory to do some simple magic exercises as a means of relaxation only to discover that her previous assumption that Ivory’s magic was messed up by what ever happened to her soul was not entirely wrong but had only been part of a bigger issue.

Ivory had shown neither understanding nor knowledge in even the most basic of magic exercises, getting more and more upset and attempting to evade Toriel’s questions. After nearly an hour of firmly questioning Ivory, the younger monster (with great reluctance) admitted to never learning magic.

Toriel had been flabbergasted, demanded to know why in the world Ivory had never learned anything about magic, only to feel as though she was verbally slapped by Ivory as she yelled back that it was due to magic being thought to be practically extinct on the surface. The girl had apologized for her outburst, but Toriel could only nod in acceptance as the two called it a day. Since then it has been strained between them, Ivory hiding away in her room as Toriel had gone on her rounds alone, feeling sadden at the lack of company.

A thousand years had passed between those on the surface and underground, and Toriel was now truly wondering just how different things were between the two. If the monsters on the surface had somehow lost most of their magical abilities outside of the most basic survival ones and reproduction, then Toriel felt a great sorrow for her people.

“you still there?” Her friend said, jolting Toriel out of her melancholy thoughts.

“Ah, yes. That is the one.” She replied, recalling his question. A part of her wish she could go into further detail, but she didn’t want to put Ivory on the spot. Not that she thought her friend would do something but considering Ivory’s past it was probably safer to keep things simple.

“kid still isn’t adjusting well, huh?”

“No, she is not.” The large monster replied, rubbing her nose.

“did something happen?”

The plan was to encourage Ivory to be more independent, to not feel that she needed to be by Toriel’s side all the time. Toriel’s friend had suggested to ween her off slowly, baby steps into it. Since the Loox incident, Toriel had been slowly but surely giving Ivory more space, visiting her friend behind the door every day, a little longer each time.

The day she sent Ivory to the balcony was to be the first step of many careful planning to further encourage the displaced monster to feel that her new home was a safe environment and would eventually feel safe enough to go exploring by herself.

Careful planning that completely backfired because Ivory was for some reason deathly afraid of yellow flowers… or flower monsters. Ivory was a little fuzzy on the exact reason but Toriel could feel the sheer terror that practically blanket the girl when she spoke of the flower monster, so whatever had happened between Ivory an this “Flowey” had been bad enough to scare the light right out of Ivory’s sockets. It felt like the Whimsun incident all over again.

The thing that bothered her was that Ivory did admit that this Flowey had not actually done anything to her and that she reacted without thinking. Toriel had scolded her for that.

With a great sigh Toriel retold what had happened as she knew it; she sent Ivory to check on the balcony room, ran into a monster named Flowey who apparently frightened her so badly she kicked him in the face with enough force to send him flying over the balcony.

As she finished she noticed her friend was quiet. She opened her mouth to ask if he was still there when he spoke.

“she… kicked him over the balcony?” He inquired, voice oddly high pitched.

“Yes. According to my young friend she ‘kicked him right in the kisser’.”

After saying this, her friend started having a coughing fit.

“that’s-cough-horrible.” He said with his voice still pitch high as he was once more overcome with another bout of deep coughing, though Toriel wondered at the sound. It almost sounded like he was… laughing?

“coughcough…kid, uh, really got on the wrong foot there, didn’t she? Poor thing probably can’t face ya, huh?”

Toriel snorted at the bad puns. “Not like she has a lot of face to show.”

“oh?”

“Never mind. What does matter is that I have a monster who refuses to leave her room for long periods of time, and I still can’t find the monster she kicked. I’m sure if they can only talk it out they can come to an understanding.”

A painful sounding snort came from the other side.

“i really doubt that.” He muttered, probably not meaning for her to hear with the way he mumbled it, but she heard nonetheless.

“You think that would be unwise?”

For a moment there was silence and Toriel felt as though her friend was weighing something. After a moment he spoke, tone still light yet it felt as if he was measuring each word.

“in this case? i can’t blame her for kicking him. probably a smart thing to do. flowey has a… let’s just say he’s been known for threatening and attacking weaker people. not enough to get the royal guards’ attention, and he has an annoying habit of never getting caught doin’ it either. chances are your friend was defending herself.”

That caused Toriel to start, worry spreading through her. It had never occurred to her that Ivory’s fear of Flowey had been justified. Ivory had even made it sound like she had kicked him due to some bizarre fear of flowers! Had he been threatening her? If so why hadn’t she said anything?

“Are you sure of this Flowey’s character?” The former queen demanded.

“yeah. let’s just say i’ve had one too many run-ins with that weed. if he has already gone after her once, he’ll probably do it again. this time though he has a motive, what with her kicking him.”

Toriel mumbled a few curses, too low to allow her friend to hear. Suddenly Ivory’s fear made more sense.

How do I show her the Underground is safe if things like this happen?! Just as she is finally showing signs of independence, she gets attacked by other monsters!

Toriel needed more help, or advice.

She could have told me. Why didn’t she say anything?

How do I help her?  

Turning to the door, Toriel came to a decision.

“My friend, is Gerson still alive?”

Her friend gave a surprised hum before answering her inquiry. “old gerson? yeah, he still lives. runs a shop over in waterfall.”

“Can you ask him to come to the Ruins? Tell him… tell him that the lady he left his post to needs his help.”

Before becoming the first guardian of the Ruins when they built New Home, before he was known as the Hammer of Justice, before even the War, Gerson had been a master healer. And not just any kind of healer, he specialized in soul healing, a profession that was all but extinct. If anyone could help her figure out Ivory’s soul it was him.

“…okay… is this monster child you have the reason you need him?” Toriel frowned a little at the way he said ‘monster child’, like he was air quoting. She shook that thought off, it must have been her imagination.

“i shell-y can’t think of why you need him. care to share?”

Toriel thought for a moment. Her friend has been helpful, and this was the first time he had asked any questions, questions that he did have right to since she was requesting quite a bit of him. She felt she could trust him with some truths.

“She is young, and I have just found out her…her soul was damaged when she lost her family.” Toriel replied, keeping it broad. “The first couple of weeks I feared she’d fall down. But when she pulled through, her soul never truly recovered.”

“kid has cracks in their soul?”

Pulling at her ear Toriel looked away.

“More like her soul is deformed. It has made her…control over her magic practically non-existent. And she was practically untaught before this all happened.”

“yikes… ok. gotcha. a untrained kid with a warped soul.”

“So you’ll get him?”

“yeah, i’ll get him. might take awhile.”

She figured. To and from Waterfall was a bit of a walk, but as long as Gerson comes she would be fine with waiting.

“Thank you, friend.”

Unbeknownst to Toriel, Sans smile twisted into a stressed filled rictus that could only be still considered a smile if the person looking was incredibly near-sighted or blind.  

Three months. This timeline has been going for three months. The longest it took Frisk was two weeks and that was because they deliberately took their time!

And if that wasn’t the weirdest thing he had to deal with, it was where in the timeline they were!

Somehow Frisk or Chara had managed to go back an entire year into the past, meaning Frisk wasn’t due for another nine months at least. It had been one of the eeriest things he had gone through, because he could hardly recall what had happened before the resets began.

Had there been a human child this soon before Frisk? The resets have been happening so long he couldn’t recall correctly. He vaguely remembered the one before Frisk, but not entirely.

The one thing he did remember about them was they took their sweet time leaving the Ruins, so perhaps this was the sixth human? He needed to recheck the records.

Toriel’s human was a new and strange angle of this timeline ( he did not buy Toriel’s whole ‘I have a monster friend’ story, mostly because he could tell Toriel was hiding something about them, and them having a deformed soul was undoubtedly her covering for their human soul) and he was interested in seeing them stay on that side of the door, if only to slow down Frisk when they inevitably returned… though he worried they just might join them instead.

No matter what though, Sans couldn’t bring himself to hope this was a new and better start, that the resets had finally stopped.

Was he to live out the next nine months reset free only to have it resume once Frisk returned?

Chapter Text

You squirmed in your chair, feeling like a little kid who had screwed up big time. Tori just stared at you from her own seat, with an expression you’ve often saw on your own mother’s face growing up. The one where you had done something stupid and she couldn’t believe a child of hers was dumb enough to do it in the first place.

“Let me see if I got this straight. You went to the balcony, ran into a flower monster, and then you 'kicked him right in the kisser’, unprovoked? My friend, why?”

“I couldn’t help it. He-he startled me. The yellow flower kinda terrifies me…” you babbled, shrinking under her gaze of incredulity.

This was turning out to be a pretty shitty day for you. You had run into Flowey, kicked him over a balcony and now you were getting grilled by Tori when you had admitted to kicking him without provocation.

“What were you doing when he ‘startled’ you?”

“I wasn't doing anyth-”

“Ivory, stop lying. I can tell when you lie. Your magic fluctuates when you do.”

Despite not having innards, you felt your gut freeze then plummet to the floor. Why in the nine circles of hell hadn’t Toriel told you that in the beginning?!

You felt a wave of panic building upon your already fried nerves.

Panic later!  Ninety percent truths!

With that new knowledge you edited your story, guilt chewing at you. “I had tried to use magic. It sorta worked, but he popped up and I lost my concentration.”

You have been squirming nonstop since you’ve been back home. You couldn’t tell Tori that Flowey was a murderous psychopath since he hadn’t even done anything to you yet .

With that Tori proceeded to go into a lengthy tirade about how you should be sorry, if he hadn’t done anything you shouldn’t have attacked him, how disappointed she was in you, and why are you afraid of harmless flowers?

The goat monster proceeded to probe you with question after question, growing more upset looking at each evaded question she asked or outright refusal to answer. You weren’t being difficult on purpose, really, but the fear you felt from the Flowey encounter and the horror you were feeling at being told that you were your own lie detector had merged together into an dread-pocked anxiety that sat in you like a spiky boulder, the need to hide in your room until the meltdown ran its course was getting to a boiling point and you need to get out of here, Copper Soul.

Then it got worse.

Toriel seemed to realize you looked uncomfortable not aware of the well contained panic attack you were experiencing and calmed down a little, suggesting you both practice some basic magic exercises, because you needed to rebuild you control and she found them relaxing.

You nodded, getting up to ‘practice’ in your room. At least you were, until she said to sit down and practice here with her because she didn’t want to end this conversation on a bad note too freaking late for that .

You forced yourself to sit, hoping you could just copy her and be done with it That is a stupid plan . if you hadn’t been panicking, you would have been able to come up with an excuse to leave. But you were panicking and not thinking clearly at all.

It became very obvious you had no idea what you were doing after ten minutes, and Toriel stopped to look at you in amused befuddlement.

“Ivory, why don’t you know these? Does the surface have different methods of learning the basics in magic?”

NO, because I’m not from this god forsaken world! Just tell her- No, you can’t. Dug too deeply, told too big a lie. Just tell her TellherTellherTellerTellherDON’T YOU TELL HER! Just say you never needed to learn because your magic was so low it was practically nonexistence or something! Rip this bandage off and hope it doesn’t reveal the real reason you can’t do it.

“I…I don’t know basic magic.”

“Well, clearly you need to remaster the basic-”

“No, I mean I…I never learned anything about magic. At all. No basic or anything.”

You really are an idiot.

For a moment Toriel look perplexed, as though she wasn’t understanding.

“But you’re an adult. You have to had learned it.”

The panic grew stronger, the festering need to scream and cry growing but you held it in, you had to! You are like a pressure cooker right now.

“It is fine, Tori. I lived this long without learning. Now please, I need to go to sleep.”

But Toriel wasn’t done. If anything, she looks both horrified and furious.

 “Why haven’t you ever learned magic?! Why hadn’t your parents taught you?!”

“BECAUSE MAGIC DOESN’T EXIST UP THERE!” you shouted as you shot out of  your seat, everything boiling over. You refused to look at her, eye sockets glued firmly to your gloves as the words tumbled out without censure.

“The only magic people see any more are tricks, smokes and mirrors! If I hadn’t gotten thrown down here I wouldn’t have ever known that it existed! Before you found me, the closest thing I’ve done to magic was card tricks and optical illusion puzzles! Magic is DEAD!”

Your world is like a graveyard in terms of magic.

Silenced reigned, only your breath making any noise. After a moment of silence, you looked up.

Toriel looked poleaxed. 

The irritation and anger that buzzed around you evaporated, leaving behind a human in skeleton bones wishing she hadn’t said anything or at least put thought into her words, instead of the emotion powered verbal bile you just expelled.

“Tori, I…” you started, but uncertain as to what to say. What could you say? The two of you just stood there, her with the most despairing expression you have ever seen and you feeling your sins crawling on your back.

You slowly backed away coward , mumbling, “I…I’m going to bed. I’m sorry. I'm sorry.”

Tori had barely finished nodding and you were already fleeing to your bedroom, quietly closing the door. You slide to the ground, balling up the hem of your robe before stuffing it in your mouth and started screaming into it, the muffled noise vibrating in your skull.

I screwed up.

How long can you keep this up? =)

 Jerking up, you inhaled a terror filled gasp. A dream, a dream about the events that had happened after the Flowey incident. You still felt guilty for how you handled it. Tori didn’t deserve your harsh words. After that, you handled it like how you always handled things that made you uncomfortable; you avoided it like the plague and tried to sleep through it, which was hard since you kept dreaming about it… though parts felt fuzzy. You chalked it up to the fact you had been panicking at the time.

You needed to apologize. You just didn’t know how. Words just weren't enough.

You curled into a ball, trying to get some kind of rest before you had to face Tori. It wasn’t easy, the ground was rocky and cold- wait. Rocky? The floor was suppose to be wood!

Straightening up you looked around, sockets widening as you realized your location.

How did you get to Home’s marketplace?!

Getting to your feet you looked around, trying to figure out how you got here. The place looked…newer? No, fuller? The market was bustling with monsters of all shapes and sizes. Torches and lamps lined ever ten feet, people wearing styles that looked to be based from the eighteenth century.

Monsters strolled around, seemingly without a care in the unusually busy market place. You had never seen so many kinds of monsters.

As you looked around, you finally spotted a familiar face, relieved at seeing Toriel here.

With an awkward smile you ran to her, calling out her name. She didn’t respond, in fact she didn’t so much as nodded at you like she usually did when you two went shopping. As you got closer you noticed that Tori looked …off.

Tori looked younger. Happier. She wore a robe similar to the one she always wore, except it was far more detailed, silver threading on the hem that made intricate designs, sleeves a silky white and poofy. On her head, covering her horns was a beautiful shimmery veil held on by a silver and amethyst colored jewel that was shaped like the delta rune.

She looked past you, a playful smile on her face.

“What about this one, Gorey?”

“Asgore is here?!” you yelped, whipping around.

Only to screech at coming face-to-navel level with said monster. Stumbling away, you stare up at the King of Monsters. Tori already towered over you, but Asgore? He made you feel like a toddler.

The behemoth known as Asgore smiled brightly, walking towards Tori with an arm full of fabrics. “I think the kids will love it, Tori.”

Kids? What…

You looked back around, noticing certain oddities. The well that sat in the center of Home’s market was working, and the pully and bucket were there, where as it shouldn’t have been due to having rotted away according to the Froggit merchant you bought your boots from. The place the Froggit store sign was clearly the same sign, but instead of the faded and chipped paint this one looked brand new.

As you looked around, more and more irregularities became apparent, with the most glaring being that Home actually looked as though it was still being used as a residence instead of the near ghost city it really was.

“Is this… the past? Am I still dreaming?” you wondered aloud, uncertain.

“Mom! Dad!” a pair of children cried out, mirth clear in their words.

A pair of children ran past you, both wearing green and yellow striped shirts. You were pretty glad you didn’t have eyeballs anymore, because you were pretty certain they would have fallen out at the sight of Asriel and Chara.

Both looked about ten, with Asriel colliding into Asgore’s leg and Chara latching onto the huge monster’s other leg.

Asgore pretended to be weighted down by them, making over dramatic exclamations and giving Tori big ole puppy dog eyes as he ‘pleaded’ for her to rescue him, Tori hiding her smile behind her sleeve.

Suddenly the world froze, the colors bleeding away until it was all blacks and grays.

It used to be a pretty nice place, huh? A young voice said, causing you to turn to the source.

An older looking Chara stood not far from you, the only color in this monochrome world. They looked fondly at the frozen royal family before turning to you, their smile turning somewhat brittle as they walked closer to where you stood frozen.

We need to talk.

Chapter Text

Alright, I get it, maybe I shouldn’t have started this conversation with ‘We need to talk’. In hindsight that was a bad move on my part, now can you please get down?

You did not in fact want to get down, even though you had no idea how you got up here in the first place, ‘here’ being roughly thirty feet vertical from where Chara was. The moment you registered who Chara was you pretty much shot straight upwards and had refused to go back down.

A part of you was worried over where you were, as the Home market place had dissolved into blackish murk, with only you and Chara as any form of color in this place, but that side of your mind was staying relatively quiet as you were more concerned over the young adolescent looking at you with a rather unamused look.

Am I in shock? I think I’m in shock, your mind unhelpfully supplied as you stared at a preteen looking Chara.

For what felt like an eternity, the two of you stared at each other with you getting further away little by little. Why haven't done anything? Chara was dangerous yet hadn't forced you down yet. Finally Chara moved, eyes rolling as the waved their hand around.

Relax. I only eat the souls of the damned and the ones made out of chocolate.

Great way to convince me to come down there. You mentally snarked, getting higher.

Will it help if I promise that you will wake up and still have complete control over yourself when you do? I really want this talk, and it’s easier if we can do it in one go than me pulling you back over and over because you keep avoiding me.

Taking a better look at Chara you realized several things about them; one, they were older then you thought they be, a preteen. Second, they seemed to have reddish iris’s and blurry looking pupils somewhere in the back of your mind you remembered a class you took that discussed ocular albinism, and how most people with ocular albinism have blue eyes, but the blood vessels inside can show through the iris, making the eyes look pink or red. Third, and most worrying, was their smile. It wasn’t a bad smile, nor was it the slasher smile many artists gave them. In fact, it was a nice smile with dimples, which combined with their open stance a rosy cheeks made them look like the picture of child innocence. It was this smile combined with those wide red eyes that made you want to squirm.

Not stopping, you went higher. “That depends.”

On?

“Are your promises any good? Can I trust them? How do I know you’ll keep them?”

Like a certain numbskull, I hate making promises. When I do make them, I really try to keep them. Besides, do you have a choice?

“Yes, I do. I can keep avoiding you, maybe even annoy you into leaving me alone.”

The look Chara gave you did nothing to hide their opinion of that idea. That…is a stupid plan.

You shrugged, sockets still trained on the child as you got further away. “Didn’t say it was a good choice, or even a smart one. But it’s a choice I can make.”

I turned you into a monster and brought you here. Chara said, the smile transforming into a huge creepy smile that spread across their face. What makes you think you are in control here?

“If you did have control over me, then why haven’t you? Why not just make me come down there?”

Chara’s face twitched, but it was all the prove you needed. You had been mostly talking to buy time but instead you stumbled onto a answer. You hadn’t thought it possible, but apparently the brat couldn’t make you do anything you didn’t want to (and boy did they look like they wanted to drag you down there by the roots of your non-existent hair). You made a point to move even further away. “You can drag me here, even change my race but for some reason, you can’t control me like you can with Frisk. Ergo, I can keep this up as long as you can.”

The child let out a huge put-upon groan. Okay, I get it. Facts and events point to me being an abomination. But right now, I really need to talk to you, and the sooner we get this over with the sooner you can go home.

That stopped you in your tracts.

“…define ‘home’.”

The black void around you suddenly shifted, and for a moment you forgot where you really were as your kitchen materialized around you. Not Toriel’s, yours.

The off-blue walls, the ugly beige counters, Tammy’s always open food cabinet, Mandy’s fruit corner that was always full of fruits for fruit smoothies, Mia’s chipped coffee cup in the sink and the stupid glitter covered picture frame of you and your brother that hung on your cabinet was all there. Even that dented fridge and eternal stain on the floor in front of the oven when you and Mia tried to make a fancy meal and ended up reducing it to burnt goo was still there, all of it looking exactly as you last saw it.

It was jarring enough that it caused you to drop near Chara.

You have an ugly home. Chara stated as they sat at the small table in the corner.

You looked around, ducking into the living room and taking it all in.

“I’m home.” You whispered, about ready to call out for your housemates when Chara spoke.

Don’t get too excited. This is all from your memories, we aren’t actually in your kitchen. Now please, will you sit down so we can talk?

The happiness you felt welling in your chest abruptly died. Looking around you noticed tiny things that stuck out, like how the computer screen looked like a black hole that didn’t even reflect light, or how there was nothing outside the windows at all, just more blackness.

Reluctantly you trudged to the table, sitting as far from the child as you could while still technically being at the table. “Well, what do you want?”

I wanted to renegotiate the deal between us.

That was not what you were expecting. “…alright, I’ll bite. Why?”

Because your very existence changed events here, and if we take advantage of it, you’ll get to go home entirely intact and my world may finally progress past this time loop.

“What did I do to change things? I haven’t even left the Ruins!”

Come on. Haven’t you noticed something off about the Underground? Like a certain human isn’t here, despite its been months since you arrived?

“I figured either Frisk was due later or I replaced them somehow.”

If only it were that simple. You went back an entire year before Frisk was supposed to arrive.

You were perplexed, giving the kid a confused look. “And why did you drop me back that far?”

I didn’t. Chara said crisply, glowering at you. You managed to do that all by yourself, and I still don’t know exactly how.

“What.” You squeaked, looking at the child like they had just told you that you had sprouted a second head. “I don’t have any control over my magic! How could I do that?!”

If I had to guess, it is because you are an Outworlder. Chara responded, summoning a cup of what looked like hot coco.

“A…what?” you asked, feeling wrong-footed. No where in the game was there any mention of an 'outworlder'.

An Outworlder. Chara spoke after sipping the drink. A human that is from outside of my world. They defined, in a tone that made it sound like they were talking to a particularly slow-witted child.

You couldn’t help but notice the special emphasize on the word ‘human’. “Is there a difference between your world humans and mine?”

Oh, good grief, yes. The humans in my world have powerful magic cores and can use it in great and terrible ways but can be reasoned with and still have their compassion even if it is a bit buried. Your world humans magically blind and deaf and numb! And your world humans are evil incarnate, hate each other for minute and stupid reasons like skin color, and suffer from god complexes and take too much thrill in genocide.

My world humans stop when they hit the ceiling. Yours? You hit that ceiling, then instead of stopping you destroy that ceiling, because you can, and don’t even stop to wonder if you should.

“Wow. What a view you have on humanity.” You muttered sarcastically, watching as the coco refilled itself. “Alright, you hate humanity. I get it. but why does me being a… Outworlder human have to do with going back in time? I mean, did you pull other poor smucks into this world after removing their humanity?”

In a manner of speaking. You must have given a pretty nasty look because Chara just sighed, putting their cup down.

Look, I have met with two other humans from your world, then brought them to the Underground. And had I known the damaged they’d cause, I’d have never brought them to my world. They are the reason I usually never drag your kind in further than the void, and always returned them…mostly intact.

That did nothing to comfort you. “Why did you pull me through? I haven’t heard of other people disappearing after playing Undertale.”

The child snorted, cup of coco transforming into a chocolate bar. Well, no you wouldn’t have. Usually I just collect their soul and leave them in your world. Genocide routes that go till the end are the easiest way to collect them, even more so if they sell their soul to reset.

If it was possibly the color drained from your skull. “Are you telling me everyone who selects to bring back the Undertale world after a genocide becomes soulless?!”

Sort of. Chara shrugged as they took a large bite out of the chocolate bar. I can’t take the whole thing as that just leaves behind an empty husk, so I take their soul, but leave them with their spirit.

That…didn’t make sense. “Isn’t that the same thing?”

Phht, no. An Otherworlder human, like you, have a two-part soul- Soul and Spirit. Soul is the culmination of a person’s being or bulk of them, while a spirit is the aspects of a human. Like the soul is the hard-outer shell while the spirit is the softer-inside. The two are so closely intertwined that humans see them as interchangeable. When I take one of your world’s souls, I leave behind the spirit. The spirit still has all the memories, the feelings and pretty much everything that makes that human them, its the mental side of the soul if you will, where is soul part is the section that allows a person to put their will into actions, like you want to run ten miles nonstop? The soul will keep you going till you finish it. But with out a soul, that human might find that they are no longer as ambitious, or have as much willpower as before. They are also susceptible to possession. There still a good amount of will there, and it rarely effects them in the long run so I can get away with it, though their ability to care about themselves is kinda compromised, sometimes along with their ability to care about others. But they can no longer can hurt anyone in the Undertale world, and Frisk is temporarily freed until the next whole soul comes by to play, so they rarely get a break from being somebody’s meat puppet.

“Wouldn’t we notice that half of our soul is missing?” you inquired, then registered the end of what Chara said. “What do you mean by Frisk being a meat puppet?!”

You Otherworlder humans are so numb to soul pain that I’m surprised it doesn’t bleed over to your physical ability to feel pain. Those guys that take my deal rarely ever notice that half of their soul is missing! They sell me the soul, I leave the spirit and they never even notice that its gone! I’ve done it thousands of times! It is even easier to get them to sell it to me when they think I am just a character in a game. Chara rolled their eyes as they spoke before adopting a sugary high pitch. ‘I think I’ll play that game where genocide is an option, just to see what happens! Tee hee, I just murdered a bunch of people! Oh shoot, I erased the world, but look I get to restart it over if I sell my soul. Tee hee, its just a game so why not?’.

You felt your soul curdle at those words. Just how many people had Chara made ‘deals’ with? Just how many souls had they taken? Its one thing when it’s just a game, but Chara was stating that every person who did a reset after completing the genocide was now soulle- No.

“Every person who did a reset after a genocide are now… soulless? All of them?” You asked, voice oddly blank to your own non-ears.

Yup. Chara confirmed, popping the ‘p’.

No.

NO.

“NO!”

You weren’t aware you had said anything, nor that you were standing. Your vision tunneled onto Chara, who was suddenly in your face, you having picked them up and was now yelling, “Give it back to him!”

What are you-

“Give Ivan back his soul!”

Ivan? Whose Ivan?!

“My brother! He did a genocide route and a reset! You took his soul and now you are going to put it back!”

Suddenly you went flying into the wall behind you, pinned. It didn’t stop you from struggling to get at the kid, who was forcibly keeping you there.

After several minutes of struggling, Chara spoke, voice strained. Alrighty. I should have guessed you’d know somebody who was stupid enough to take the deal. I get it, if somebody took Azzy’s soul I’d be ticked too. But let me explain why I do this. Let me explain why you are here. And once we are done…you can decide what to do. Okay?

You took in the coldness on their features, and how their arm shook as they pinned you, not with strain but probably from forcably keeping themselves from attacking you. It definitely looked like the kid was fighting the urge to send you through the wall. You wanted to fight, but if you were to get Ivan’s soul back you had to listen. Begrudgingly you nodded and were unceremoniously dropped to the ground. You stood up and retook your seat across from Chara, glaring at them the whole time.

Let me explain what happened the last time I allowed an Outworlder human to cross the void. The said, angerly biting a chunk of chocolate off as you glowered at them from across the table.

After my death, I ended up in here, the void, the space between worlds, what ever you want to call it. I think I got here because Azzy and I fused before his death, and it changed my soul. I discovered that the void acted as a barrier between my world and yours, and started to study your people, as well as try to figure out how to help my people. After trial and error, I discovered that I can’t directly interact with the people back home, so I tried my luck with the Outworlder humans. It took some time but after a while I finally managed to find two of your world’s humans, one with a pearl colored soul and the other a black soul. The humans on that side had no magic but an even bigger array of colored souls and those two souls were much more powerful than the average ones. So I thought if I could get them to my world, they can either destroy the barrier to escape or get killed and be used to break the barrier, a win-win situation.

Chara let out a sigh before taking another bite. They chewed for a few minutes, looking like they were trying to find a way to better explain their story before continuing. Frisk falling into the Underground gave me an opening to get them in as well. The Barrier is tied to this place so if a Outworlder human were to get into my world it would be there, and it is even easier if a human from my world goes through first, creating a small window. I figured three human souls was more than enough to break the barrier since they already had six. I thought, ‘Well this will be easy! The monsters will be free in no time!’

Chara’s face contorted, a look of rage flashing across it. I didn’t count on the two Outworlder humans getting a power boost. Or that while I could drop them in my world, I couldn’t control them. It took me a long time to figure out that while the soul can be controlled, a Outsider’s spirit prevents me from doing it.

You felt a chill up your spine at that. “So, you can’t control me because I still have both my soul and spirit?”

Bingo.

“And those power boost? What kind of power boost are we talking about?”

In my world, humans have naturally powerful souls. Each color does a form of power. Purples tend to trap people, green shield, and so forth. Red souls have the most determination and allows them to speed up or slow down time, and in rare cases even go back a couple minutes. These guys? They were on a whole another level.

Chara summoned another bar before continuing, the look on their face far too old for someone who looked maybe twelve.

I knew their souls were stronger in their world, but I didn’t take a moment to consider what their souls would do when suddenly dropped in a world full of magic. The pearl soul had a time based magic and could now create save points and could do resets at will, while the black soul could create ‘rules’ like you’d find in a game, like how you the player have to go through a certain set of missions in order to win the game? That one enforced the three routes; Neutral, Mercy and Genocide.

Now my world had two unfathomly powerful humans running loose and the only thing keeping them from slaughtering my people and conquering the world was that they disagreed on everything. The black soul was obsessed with dogs and just wanted to go home and make games, but the pearl soul…they became drunk on power. And when they decided to become a god of my world and the black soul decided to stop them? It just went down hill. The black soul and I merged to try and stop the pearl soul, and Frisk got caught in the middle of a power struggled.

It was Frisk who managed to put an end to it all, at a great cost. After a massive battle between Black, Pearl and I, the Pearl soul was grievously injured, most of their body a broken mess. They were about to do a reset again, undoing all of Black’s and mine efforts and we were too exhausted to stop them. Frisk offered to be their vessel, so they could take us out while we were too exhausted to fight back, and since Black got another power boost from merging with me, Pearl agreed, not knowing that the body was just as important as the soul and spirit. I was in Black's body which made our merging stronger, and allowed me to bypass the spirit. Frisk, on the other hand was from this world and while strong, Frisk's body was not Outworlder strong... but their Determination was. Pearl never saw the trap until it was too late. Pearl may have been able to reset and make save points, but Frisk’s determination was far stronger then theirs and won. Pearl was now stuck in a body that minimized their power, and Black and I finally had the upper hand.

I dragged them into the void and got Black’s spirit to go back home, but when I tried to send Pearl back… they tried to stay in Frisk. I had to forcibly remove Pearl and ended up tearing them into two, the soul and the spirit. I threw the soul into the void, but the spirit managed to escape back into my world, but it was harmless now, just another soul and a broken one too. I lost track of it because it would die soon in they're broken state... and I was trying to save Frisk.

At this point Chara choked a little, looking away.

…Frisk…their soul was in tatters. I patched it up to the best of my abilities and sent them back… but I made it worse. Frisk soul had been touched by both an Outworlder’s and then the void, merging into this conduit, making them the perfect host for any other Outworlder that may have come. And that is before you take into consideration that after merging with Pearl soul, their determination had absorbed Pearls resetting and save ability.

I had sent Frisk as far back as I could, the day they fell into the Underground, but something had happened in your world that gave access to my world, and now Outworlders were taking over Frisk's body all the time, and all I could do with my new powers was enforce ‘rules’ of the ‘game’ so they couldn’t do worse damage, and then if they tried to do a full genocide I was there to give them a illusion of choice…and then if they quit after that I quietly take over Frisk long enough to reset the world and give them a small reprieve, or if they wanted to try the pacifist route after a genocide route, take their souls so they can’t screw up anymore. The ones that did neutral than pacifist I left alone but kept an eye on them just to be safe. I did this countless times, more than I can keep track of and I couldn’t change any of it.

The curdling sensation you had been feeling grew worse with Chara’s story, and by now you felt both nauseous and horrorstruck. While it certainly explained Chara’s resentment towards your race, it also made you feel sympathy for the dead kid. It seemed that Chara was trying so hard to help the monsters gain their freedom but kept screwing up, each failure more devastating then the last, with Asriel and Frisk someone else seeming to pay the price each time. It didn’t stop you from feeling angry that they had your brother’s soul though.

They finally looked at you, a rueful smile in place.

Then you came along, and presented me opportunity that I never considered before; what happens when an Outworlder human soul is trapped inside a monster’s body? Your kind get weakened in a human from my world...so how much weaker could you get in a monsters? It was a little difficult transforming you from physical matter to magical matter, but after watching you scream in horror at your new body I thought it was worth it, especially since you didn’t show any changes in magic…in fact, your soul is so ill suited for your changed body, that had I gone with my first idea to simply put you in an already existing monster body I would be willing to bet you’d have either melted that body in no time or it would become a amalgamate. So, the body had to be originally yours.

It was curious, you thought as you scowled at the child. How you can sympathize with someone and still find them appalling.

Don’t give me that look, that body is pretty stable. You don’t have to worry about it falling apart on you. Chara actually sounded a bit disappointed at that.

You didn’t want to sell your soul but were fine with loosing your humanity. Truthfully, I allowed it out of pettiness; I hate Outworlder humans more than my world humans and wanted to watch you suffer in a body that can’t support your soul adequately, and weakened you incredibly. I figured once you’ve suffered enough and failed your end of the deal, I’d give you a chance to go back home, for the modest price of your soul of course.

The child glared at their half-eaten chocolate bar, grumbling, I should have realized a Outworlder like you, no matter what form you’d take would somehow cause unprecedented chaos. But unlike last time, this chaos could be used for the embetterment of the Underground…and may even free us from this mess.

I meant for you to be there when Frisk showed up. Give them either a new friend or punching bag. Instead, you somehow managed to go back an entire year in time, something I had never been able to do. Then you managed to get in and out of the void all on your own, something even that bag of bones couldn’t do until he got a working knowledge in quantum physics. I don’t know if you can pull people in here like I can, but now I know that unlike me you can leave. But at least I now know that it is easier to just pull their spirit in and chat with them while they are sleeping, like how we are talking now.

You weren’t sure what to say, so you fiddled with your hem. Chara banished the last of the chocolate bar, giving you their entire attention.

And here we are now. You know I can’t control you now, but you can’t go home without my help. I don’t like your kind, but I am willing to put my distain away and work with you to get the results I want. We are in a situation I have never been in before, and I really, really, really want things to go right this time. So, they reached out, palm open and look of desperate hope etched into their face. Can we please renegotiate the deal?

You leaned away, not bothering to hide the distrust you felt. “What exactly do you want out of this?”

To boil it down? I want to make an alternate timeline. If we change when the Barrier goes down, we change the timeline, making it branch out from this one.

“You want to make an AU?”

Yeah, exactly. I saw the weird offshoots the Outworlder humans made of my world -seriously, some of those worlds your people created are creepy- and thought, ‘If we can make a divergent point before Frisk arrives, maybe we can break the loop’.

 “Why before Frisk arrives?”

Because then Frisk will have never been possessed in the first place…and maybe their soul will be whole again.

You took a moment to stare at kid, trying to find any deceit in their expression. You wanted to believe they would be fair and squire, but their dislike- no, abhorrence of you and your kind made it hard to put trust in them. Especially since they admitted that the events of Undertale happened because they were messing with forces beyond their understanding. But if you wanted Ivan’s soul back, and a way back home you were going to have to put your feelings towards them aside. You leaned back in, fixing the kid with a stern no-nonsense look.

“I want my brother’s soul returned. That is nonnegotiable.”

Fine, figured as much.

“And you have to promise that you will get me home once I finish my part of the deal. As a human.”

Anything else?

 “…You do not get to possess me or enter my body. Not even if I am about to die. I don't care if it would make my job easier, you are never getting control of me, even temporarily.”

…Fine. So, the terms are that you will help me break the Barrier and freeing everyone in the process -as a monster- before Frisk returns. And in return for your services, your brother’s soul will be returned, and you will get to go home, human once more. While we are working together, I do not possess or otherwise entire your body, but if necessary…I will help train you in magic should I find your progress too slow.

Their hand stretched out further, palm still open. Deal?

 Hesitantly you reached for the small hand, before clasping it in your bones and giving a firm handshake.

“Deal.”

A second later magic jolted from your interlocked hands -red and copper- before dissipating.

Thank you. You won’t regret it. Chara said with a too wide smile as your kitchen dissolved into blackness and Chara’s form blurred with it.

Said the devil to the sinner. Was your last thoughts before you felt yourself catapulted from the void.

Chapter Text

Gerson groaned loudly as he made his way from his rented room at the Snow Inn to Grillby's, burrowing deeper into his coat. He always saw Snowdin as the absolutely worst part of the Underground, with its coldness and snow.

"aw, come on gerson. its not snow bad here."

The ancient tortoise gave his companion a mirthless look, which only seemed to spur the young Judge on. The residents leaves something to be desired as well.

"hey, no need to give me the cold shoulder."

Gerson groaned again, which was echoed by the other skeleton he was traveling with.

"BROTHER! CEASE WITH THE PUNS!"

"okay, okay. ice how it is."

Stars, he is almost as bad as our Queen, the ancient shopkeeper thought, hurrying along.

“Look boy, I already told you to tell her I’d be there in three days. I ain’t a young un anymore, so I’ll move as fast as my shell can!”

“already informed her. I just shell-y think you should see her sooner.”

“SANS!”

I see how they could be friends, he thought dryly. Her Majesty better have a good reason to drag my shell out here…oh, who am I kidding? She could just want a social visit and I’d still drag my creaking body there. Though, he pondered, eyes resting on the eternally grinning Judge as he drove his brother into another fit, lately he has seemed…stressed. Punning and jokes aside, he has been practically hounding me to get to Queen Toriel. Or as close to hounding the lazy bones gets. And all this over a child with a badly deformed soul… my dear Queen, what have you been doing?

 He slowed down a little as he watched the brothers interact. Papyrus was a loud and exuberant lad who dreamed of joining the Royal Guard. Captain Undyne occasionally would brag to him on how strong the lad was, and just how much control he possessed over his magic. This praise was peppered with criticism, because as strong and controlled as he was Undyne had stated she refused to let Papyrus into the Royal Guard because she believed that his general guilelessness and aversion to kill would make him ineffective at best and put him in danger at worst. Gerson didn’t personally know the boy well enough, but trusted Undyne to know. She had asked his advice on how to handle him, as she didn’t want to hurt his feelings but enjoyed his company and wished to still spend time with him.

Gerson suggested funneling his dedication towards a hobby the two of them could do, like cooking.

The older brother on the other hand, Gerson knew a bit more about due to King Asgore having monthly tea visits with him. Ol' King Fluffybuns tended to talk about all his subjects as though they were his children and he just had to brag to someone about them all, and he bragged about Undyne and Sans the most.

While he was considerably younger than his predecessors, Sans had so far been a good Judge. He may have been a punny bag of bones but he had a good head on his shoulders, with a keen sense and a pretty good judge of character. There weren't many who knew of his position (Gerson wasn't even sure Captain Undyne or the Royal Scientist knew who he was) and Gerson had gotten the impression that the boy preferred it that way. Many previous Judges had made it a point to let the populace know who they were, whether out of duty or asserting their authority. Sans on the other hand, seemed perfectly happy to let people assume he was a odd-jobs comedian who was also a lazy bum. Whether it was out of pragmatism or indifference he didn’t know, but Gerson did approve of the discretion.

He just worried the boy was starting to feel the pressure of his responsibility, as he remembered a few months back Sans seemed to have some kind of meltdown near his shop. He had started looking around like he wasn’t sure what he was seeing was right, and Gerson had noticed how he kept looking at his brother oddly, even commenting on Papyrus clothes and how it looked weird seeing him in his normal clothes. Papyrus looked just as confused as Gerson felt upon hearing that.

Gerson hadn’t told the King as Sans still seemed fine if a bit off, meltdown aside.

If he does get odder, I’ll have to ask King Fluffybuns to give the boy a vacation. Gerson vowed, finally reaching his destination. Opening the door he held it for his two younger companions, Papyrus letting out a put upon sigh as he marched in and Sans-

Sans was glaring at something further down the road, eye lights dimming. Gerson turned to see what had caused that look, but saw nothing.

With his back turned he didn’t see Sans turning his attention to the other side of the road, one of Sans’s eye lights blip out as the other filled with yellow and cyan colors, neither did he noticed the flower monster that immediately disappeared back in the snow.

Looking back, Gerson saw that Sans was once again smiling in a lax way, posture lazy as he walked in.

“you comin’?”

The tortoise nodded, feeling as though he missed something.

Chapter Text

Seeing Home marketplace was a little weird, especially now that you’ve seen what it had looked like back before the monster population went deeper into the Underground. When you had first seen the place you had been absorbed with its old world feel, like you had taken a step into the past. Now that you knew what it had looked like before you felt a little sad. The place was still enthralling to you, but now you could better understand why the locals said it looked different back in its heyday.

Speaking of locals, the shopkeepers and other buyers looked both surprised and happy to see you here, not that you blamed them for the surprised.

After all, you had walked here of your own volition… without Tori.

Though certainly not alone.

Glancing to your left and slightly up, you kept your face passive as Chara fluttered around, face lit up in childish glee.

This was a part of the deal you really could have done without. Apparently due to your reluctance to get possessed by aforementioned child, they decided that it would be more prudent to hang around you like a specter so that they could directly communicate with you instead, though they insisted it was so if you needed help in training they would be available.

Waking to that kid practically in your face had caused you to scream, making the little shit laugh. Mercifully Tori was downstairs and didn’t hear you.

After that wake-up call fiasco, you had found a paper and pen and started on an outline of what you needed to do. The main outline looked something like this:

1. You have nine months to complete your end of the deal.
2. Train your magic to control it.
3. Get to New Home so you can reach barrier.
4. Destroy barrier.
5. Go home with you brother’s soul.
6. Don’t fuck up.

A list of side notes was also included, such as;

• Apologize to Tori. She didn’t deserve you being an ass. Invoke Mission: Apology Pie.
• See if Tori will teach you magic. If not, see if one of the monsters in the Ruins would be willing. If that fails, you may need to leave the Ruins for training. I don’t care if they are being sincere, Chara is not an option. I will train under Jerry before that becomes an option.
• Avoid Flowey like the plague. If this cannot be done, hit first and apologize later.
• As getting to the barrier requires leaving the Ruins, you will inevitably run into Sans, Undyne, Mettaton and Asgore. DO NOT ENGAGE IN BATTLE! Also, do not run like a little bitch when you see them. You are a monster, not a human. They won’t attack you without reason.
• Make yourself as inconspicuous as possible.
• Make friends. They are people, not demons.
• For the love of all things holy. DO. NOT. FANGIRL. IF/WHEN YOU MEET PAPYRUS OR ALPHYS. The last thing you need to do is make them think you are a crazy stalker or something.

There would be more added at a later date, once you had a clearer idea.

The Go-Home-or-Bust List (abbreviated to GHOBL, which was now safely tucked in the bottom drawer of your desk, under lock and key) was the reason that you had decided to leave the house.

After making a list from the kitchen and taking a moment to psych yourself up, telling and re-telling yourself Flowey wasn’t going to jump you the second you stepped outside…and ignored Chara’s mocking.

Once out the front door, you made a bee-line for Home market, a list clenched in your gloved hand and ethereal brat whining that you were going too fast for them to sight-see.

Soon enough you were in the market place, looking for the ingredients you needed.

You wanted to apologize to Tori for your outburst, and words felt too cheap to fully express your regret. You had never been eloquent with words, so instead you were going to show her that you were sorry. And to do that, you were going to do something you hadn’t done since you were living with your parents.

You were going to bake an apology pie.

Once when you were still a kid you had been messing around your parent’s bedroom and not paying attention and had knocked a porcelain figurine off. The figurine had shattered, and when your parents found out, your mother had been deeply upset because that figurine had been a gift from her father, who had passed away before you were born. You had managed to find all the pieces, and with your father’s help had painstakingly restored the small delicate ornament and to further show your regret, Nana had helped you make an apology pie, stating that the best way to say ‘I’m Sorry’ was with a baked good.

The trick she said was to make the one they liked from scratch, and since Mom loved chocolate fudge pie, you had to learn how to bake it. It took you four tries to get it, but by the end of it, Mom had a fixed keepsake and her favorite pie.

After that, any time you messed up found you hitting the store for ingredients, usually with you buying enough to feed a small army in your quest to make the perfect apology pie. This time was going to be different, seeing as you have never tried to make snail pie before.

It isn’t that hard to make, Chara sighed as they drifted near you.

Dutifully ignoring them, you continued your self-imposed errands. You had to abort talking to the kid on several occasions since arriving, seeing how you were the only one who could see or hear them and you had no desire for the residents here to think you were crazy.

Looking through the list once more, checking off another item. So far you had everything but the butter… and snails.

You knew where the snail stand was due to Tori buying from them often, so you made your way there.

As usual Sativa the Parsnik was manning the stand, a Medusa-like vegetable monster that was related to the vegetoids. While he was scary looking, he was a nice elderly guy who was in a long term relationship with one if the Migosp’s that ran the fabric stand. The monster’s eyes widen at seeing you and smiled. “Ms. Skeleton! I heard you were here! And by yourself!”

“Ah, yup. Wanted to make something for Tori.” You replied honestly. Savita looked absolutely ecstatic by your reply, which made you want to hide a little. You remembered your first meeting with this particular monster and was glad he still talked to you…considering that when you first met him you had screamed, climbed Tori like a latter and had screwed your eyes sockets shut. It was embarrassing then as it was now, and you were thankful Sativa hadn’t taken it personal.

You looked over the various colored snails, unsure of which to purchase. Toriel had given you a small amount of gold to use, and this was the first time you had decided to use it. Seeing how you’d be making several of these things till you got one that was perfect, you went for the cheap brown ones.

Not those ones! Those ones taste like beets! Chara yelled loudly, causing you to jump. Savita inquired if you were alright, to which you replied that you were before trying to nonchalantly look to where Chara was. The kid swooped down to the ones on the far end, pointing to the smaller ones. Get the blueish ones, they are her favorites.

A frown marred your features as you went to the end table. The blue ones were considered the best quality but were also the most expensive.

Seeing your expression, Chara rolled their eyes. You said you needed to make a really good pie to apologize to Mom. The blue ones taste better and are her favorite. Good pies require good quality, and these little suckers are the best. The child finished, sounding extremely condescending.

You faked a yawn, hand swiping through the kid’s head. They gave you a raspberry.

Looking back over the snails, you mentally counted the amount you had on your person. You needed at least two pounds, a single pound of blue snails was six…counting out your money you had enough for that, though you’d need to come back for butter.

With your mind made up. You scooped the snails into a bag, careful not to spill any. Once done you went back to Savita, who was talking to the vegetoid that ran the fruit stand. They both smiled at you as you neared, the vegetoid saying their goodbyes before hopping back to their stand, leaving you and Savita with Chara wandering off again.

“That will be five gold for the whole order.” Savita said cheerfully as he finished bagging your order, causing you to nearly drop your money.

“Five? But the sign said six per a pound.” You exclaimed, looking back at the sign that remained unchanged.

“Usually yes, but seeing as this is the first time you’ve shopped here, I thought to give you a one-time discount.”

“B-but Tori and I have shopped here before.”

“Nah, that was Tori shopping and you tagging along. I know the difference. Besides, think of this as a ‘Welcome Home’ sort of deal.”

Seeing your bemused look, he spoke kindly. “Tori told us that you had lost your family and had nearly fallen down because of it. It was why I didn’t take any offense to your-heh-’primal greeting’ when we first met. Losing your loved ones, loosing so much hope… I don’t think I would have managed it half as well as you have. It also explained why Tori is so protective of you, after all she had-” abruptly he cut himself off and with no subtlety changed topics. “Well, anyways… think of this as an old veggie saying that he, and everyone else in the Ruins is here for you.”

Though you had no throat, you still felt a lump forming in it. A quick thank-you and you left with your purchase, torn between feeling touched by Savita’s words and undeserving of them.

You decided you have been social enough and started making your way back to Toriel’s home, feeling conflicted.

On one hand, everyone you have encountered has been nothing but kind and friendly to you (Flowey being the eternal exception to that) and you felt a kinship with the inhabitants of the Ruins you haven’t felt since you had been living at your parents. On the other hand, a part of you felt like you were being pitied, seeing as they were all under the assumption that you were a monster who had suffered a great lost…

Chara floated next to you, a puzzled look on their face. They all think your family is dead? Why would Mom…oh. Chara stopped, looking thoughtful. I guess it would be easier to explain it like that then saying you are a surface monster, and that isn’t even the weird part about you… are you going to tell her the truth?

Instead of answering you shrugged, making a ‘I don’t know’ noise.

Okay, I need to think about something else. Focus on something else! You mentally yelled at yourself, pushing away at those thoughts.

Unfortunately, your mind immediately focused on your situation, something you have been trying to ignore.

Nine months. You had nine months to break a millennia old barrier before a child who was routinely possessed got there. You succeed, not only did you get to go home but your brother’s soul would be returned. You fail… well, you would be trapped forever as a monster, possibly doomed to relive every new playthrough as Chara kept Ivan’s soul for god only knows what purpose.

Three months ago, this was all just a game, to be played as the player saw fit. Now, I don’t think I will ever touch another game console as long as I live. Had you taken control of Frisk when you played the neutral and Pacifist routes?

It was just a game, you thought with a shiver. A game that apparently allows you to actually sell your soul. Did those people notice at all? Had Ivan been different after he went through with it? You tried to think of any changes but came up with nothing.

How did something like that become a game? Were all video games like that? How-

Something tackled you, causing you to stumble back as excited squeaks of, “Miss Skeleton! Miss Skeleton!” rang out, Chara drifting in front of you with a amused smile on their face.

It took you a moment to register that there was a tiny white Loox dressed in a striped shirt and a backpack hugging your pelvis, a massive smile on their face and the bluest eye color you have ever seen looking up at you in happy glee.

“Lookie Eyewalker! You better get back here- oh! Miss Skeleton! Good to see you! Is Tori nearby?”

An adult Loox approached you, female if you had to guess by the feminine voice and long fluttery eyelashes. You didn’t know why but she(?) looked familiar.

“Ah, no. Just me today.” You replied, placing a steadying hand on the child who was stubbornly clinging to you despite their grip slipping.

The Loox eye widen in surprise before she(?) smiled wide, looking delighted.

“I’m glad you’re finally coming out on your own! Tori kept saying you just needed time to adjust! Guess living in the Ruins is different than Hotland, huh? Not as wide open I bet.”

“How did you guess I was from Hotland?” You were confused by her(???) words (where did the idea you came from Hotland come from?), so you carefully worded your question, remembering Toriel’s words about what happened when you lie.

“When you first came, Tori kept saying you came from far away, and New Home in Hotland is as far from the Ruins as you can get. That and you keep looking to the ceiling, like you expect it to be higher.”

Rubbing the back of your head, you didn’t dispute any of this. Chara reclined in the air, looking thoughtful again. Well when you think about it, it probably is better for them to think you hailed from further in the Underground. That is a logical assumption to go on. Why were you looking up- ah. You were looking for the sky, weren’t you?

Surreptitiously looking at the kid you gave the barest hint of a nod. Even though you knew you were under ground, you kept looking up in hopes of seeing the sun, the sky, the moon, the stars, anything… only to see a rocky ceiling.

Whoever erected the barrier were a bunch of asswipes and I hope they are suffering, you thought bitterly.

“Miss Skeleton! Miss Skeleton!” the little Loox -Lookie?- whined, pulling on your robe.

Directing your attention to the small child you smiled wider, hoping to convey that they had your attention. “Yes, sweetie?”

They finally let go, pulling off a backpack. After a moment of digging they looked up to their parent, loudly begging their Mom (so they are a she!) to help them find something. Their mother rolled her eye before pointing to the front pocket, Lookie letting out a triumphant cry as they dug the thing they were looking for, waving it in front of you. “Here! I made this for you!”

Why had a Loox child made you something?

Softly you took the item, examining it before a surprised laugh escaped.

It was a mask. A salmon pink paper-mache with large filmy eyes, bulging cheeks and lips that were puckered in a comical fashion. It was surprisingly well made, and you told Lookie so. The child puffed up from the praise.

“Try it on!”

With a shrug you did as they wanted, tying it off in the back. Lookie smiled widely as Chara laughed at you.

“I did a great job! Do you like it?”

She looks like a sucker fish! Chara cackled, rolling in circles as they laughed harder

Ignoring the ghost child, you replied to Lookie’s question with a amused tone, “Coolest mask ever. So, what made you want to give me a mask? Not that I’m ungrateful, I just wasn’t expecting a master mask maker to be giving me one of their wonderful creations today.”

Lookie looked both proud from the praise and bashful, scuffing their toes against the ground. “I wanted to make you something, as ‘Thank you’ for rescuing me from the ceiling.”

That’s why their mom looked familiar! She helped heal my useless wing when I crashed! Wait, this was the kid I rescued? You only remember trying to calm them down and hadn’t actually gotten a good look at the kid. That and you had been terrified out of your mind at the sudden free fall and subsequent landing.

Still, you felt like an idiot for not recognizing them.

 Lookie shyly looked up at you, “I remember that story you told about the Hero and those masks and wanted to make some, but I didn’t know what they looked like, so I made my own…” they trailed off, looking unsure. Well you couldn’t have that.

Dropping to one knee, you lifted the mask giving the biggest smile you could, hoping the kid could feel the contentment you felt. “Thank you. This is a wonderful gift, and I’ll treasure it.”

Suddenly you found yourself knocked on your tailbone as Lookie gave you a tackle hug, thanking you again for catching them.

“Alright, Lookie. We have to go home now.” Their mother said as she gently took the child from your lap.

After thanking you again the kid ran off, giggling as they went. You and the mother watched on. After a moment she turned to you, a large smile on her face.

“I’m Evah Eyewalker. I wanted to thank you again, for saving my child. I-I don’t want to think what would have happened had you not been there…”

Flushing, you started to rub the back of your head but forgot you had the mask still perched on there, knocking it back over your face. Chara and the older Loox laughed, though Evah’s was not in a mean way.

She waited till you got the mask off before speaking again, “I was hoping to invite you and Tori to dinner sometime soon. Would that be alright?”

“I, uh…I’d like that, but you’ll need to ask Tori. I don’t want to presume on her behalf.”

“Of course! Here is my phone number!”

And with a promise to call, you headed back, feeling oddly light hearted. You were still worried and scared you’d screw up, but you pushed those aside for now. Right now, you wanted to keep feeling hopeful, stay confident and keep moving forward!

Chara floated near you, waving lazily. Hey, you forgot the butter.

Chapter Text

Toriel tread through the hall, stretching as she went. She had been chatting with her friend for a good solid three hours and while it was both amusing and informative, she wanted to get back upstairs and try to coax Ivory out of her room again. She was getting seriously worried with her young friend’s reclusiveness.

If she doesn’t get out of that room soon, I’m breaking that door down. Toriel silently vowed.

Stopping at the stairs, the goat monster took a deep breath. Her friend had told her that Gerson was on the way and would arrive in about three days. She needed to tell Ivory about his arrival… and why she had requested his presence. A small part of her felt guilty for not consulting with Ivory before hand but Toriel felt it necessary due to Ivory’s previous reluctance when it came to her soul.

No, that wasn’t fair. Toriel had avoided the topic just as much as the young skeleton. Between the disturbing shape that pulsated, the creepy ‘lub-DUB’ noise it emitted and the incredible menacing presence it exuded when out or being used, Toriel had honestly no desire to get near it again.

How a soul could get warped in such a horrific manner and survive such trauma Toriel didn’t know, but she hoped for Ivory’s sake that it didn’t have some unseen side effect. Better to be on the safe side and have Gerson look her over and hope it wasn’t as bad as it looked… and if it was, Gerson would have a solution on how to help.

Still, she needed to get Ivory to leave her room. With a resolute nod Toriel climbed the stairs, a fierce look on her face.

As she got higher she started to noticed a smell. It smelled like… fresh snail pie?

Quickening her pace, Toriel was soon at the top of the stairs, the smell stronger now. Making her way to the kitchen Toriel heard Ivory puttering around, muttering loud enough to be heard but not enough to be intelligible. It almost sounded like she was arguing with someone…

Toriel got to the kitchen door and peaked in. The kitchen was a mess, with bowls littering the counters as well as ingredients, the garbage can look to have a lot of shucked snail shells in it. At the oven was Ivory wearing an frilly apron that was perfect for someone Toriel’s size but on the skeleton looked comical. She appeared to be trying to pull out a large pie from the oven, mutterings of ‘Almost, almost’ filling the air as she hefted the pie out. Ivory struggled for a moment before successfully getting it onto the stove top, sighing in relief once it was finally there and backing up to view her work, satisfaction pouring off her.

“Done! Hope she likes it… shut up, pest.” After saying this the skeleton made a hand gesture Toriel didn’t recognize to her left, annoyance spiking through the satisfaction momentarily before dissipating so quickly Toriel wasn’t certain she actually felt it in the first place.

Shock and surprise spiked off Ivory as she suddenly jolted, whipping around with an alarmed look on their skull. “Tori!”

Toriel smiled brightly, happy at the sight of Ivory actually out and about. She’s out! I don’t have to break down any doors! But… where did she get the ingredients? I haven’t shopped yet this week.

She wanted to pull Ivory into a hug but stayed where she was. Things have been tense between them and Toriel had no desire to make things more awkward by pushing her friend unless necessary. She could see her friend fidgeting as the pulled on their sleeves, a nervous habit Toriel had picked up on.

Finally, Ivory took a deep breath and smiled. It was an awkward smile but a smile, nonetheless.

“So, I made you some tea and pie… hope it’s good.”

For a moment Toriel thought that was all Ivory was going to say. But the skeleton monster just took another deep breath and continued.

“It’s an apology. For screaming at you and for my thoughtless words. You didn’t deserve that and… I really am sorry.” Ivory finished, regret, shame and genuine contrition fell off her like water from a fountain.

 Oh. Oh, Toriel was not having that.

Before she could stop herself Toriel was at Ivory’s side, hugging her tightly. Ivory stood stock still for all of ten seconds before hugging back as tightly as she could.

“My friend, you need not apologize. I had seen that my questions were distressing you yet disregarded your growing discomfort, wanting to sate my own curiosity. If anyone is at fault it’s me.”

“Still shouldn’t have screamed those things.” Ivory replied, voice muffled by Toriel’s fabric

“You only screamed because I ignored the signals your soul was sending out.”

Ivory gave an oddly wet sounding chuckle. “Let’s agree we both could have handled that better.”

The goat monster hummed in agreement, content that this had been resolved. They still needed to communicate better, and as soon as she had tried some of that pie Toriel intended to remedy that. She still had things to tell the younger monster.

Letting go Toriel smiled brightly at Ivory, who was giving off strong feelings of relief and happiness. Toriel made for the oven, eyes on the massive pie.

“Now let us try this creation of yours! I don’t recall having enough to make a pie though…”

“Well, no you didn’t. That’s why I went out shopping it.”

Toriel stopped, looking at Ivory with wide eyes.

“You… you went out by yourself to get the ingredients?” Toriel asked, astonishment and incredulity evident in her voice. This… this was even better then she hoped!

“Uh, yeah. You wouldn’t be the first person to be surprised by that. I’m fairly certain the entire market place stopped to express their shock at seeing me there by myself.”

It took all of Toriel’s self-control to glomp the younger monster out of sheer joy. Instead she allowed her own happiness to flow out, mingling it with maternal pride to let Ivory know she was so proud of her. Ivory didn’t react but Toriel was content.

She turned back to the pie missing Ivory make a face at seemingly empty air as the skeleton made a ‘cut-it-out’ gesture, looking at the golden brown crust with admiration. Grabbing a knife, she cut appropriate sizes for her and Ivory before stopping momentarily in surprise.

“Wait… is this blue snail?”

“Um, yes? I heard it was the best quality and wanted the pie to be perfect. Should I have gone with something different?” Ivory replied, anxiously tugging her sleeve as nervousness wafted off her for a moment.

“oh, no! Blue snails my favorite! I was just surprised to see it because they are so expensive- wait. How much did you spend on ingredients?”

Ivory stared blankly for a moment before speaking in a tone that was flat. “Yeaaaaahno. You are not paying me back.”

“But-”

“Tori, I wanted to bake this for you. Please just accept it and don’t try to sneak gold into my things.” Ivory gave a rather pointed look at this statement, probably recalling how Toriel had snuck gold into Ivory’s drawers when the girl had refused to take the money.

Toriel agreed, but still decided to put some gold in her room anyway. Later. When she wasn’t expecting it.

“I’ll, uh, set the table.” Ivory offered, going to the dining area glaring at a space near her head the second she was out of sight, whispering “Kid, stop being a little shit. That wasn’t funny.”

Toriel hummed happily as she finished pouring the drinks, taking both the cups and pie-laden plates with her to the dining room, just as Ivory finished setting the silverware down.

After sitting down, Toriel took a tentative bite of the snail pie.

The snails were almost too done, and Ivory must had added a little too much salt but other then that it was delicious. Looking up from her place, Toriel found Ivory watching her, concerned no doubt about the quality. Toriel smiled brightly as she gave an honest critique on the pie, adding that for a first attempt this was very good.

Ivory smiled back, promising it would be better next time.

Soon the two were talking about Ivory’s trip to the market place, and Toriel felt lighter at sharing meals again.

She never said it, but she had genuinely missed Ivory’s company. After living by herself pretty much for two centuries with only the residence of the Ruins and Home for company, who treated her as a respected elder and protector but nothing more (with each new generation being unaware of who she used to be and the elders keeping quite after she had requested them to not say anything), Toriel had gotten used to living by herself. Her friend beyond the door eased the pain of loneliness, and Toriel had been happily content and grateful for the company, even if a door separated them.

When Toriel had taken the position from Gerson, she had forced herself to get used to an empty home that rarely got visitors. She powered through her loneliness because she had a self-appointed duty to fulfill. She had vowed to be a protector of the humans who would fall, vowed to keep them safe from Asgore, a vow she failed, again and again.

Each human in the end left, desperate to go back home. The last human child to leave had stayed the longest, a full year before they left. After they left, she renewed her vow, promising that the next one would not leave, even if she had to destroy the entrance to the rest of the Underground. The monsters could rebuild, an innocent life could not be returned.

And now, Toriel thought listened to Ivory as she spoke about how she forgot the butter and had genuinely considered seducing the moldsmal trader for it, I have monsters to watch out for as well. While Ivory clearly hadn’t meant to fall down here, she hadn’t tried to leave either, resigned to her fate of being trapped down here.

Toriel felt for the girl, but after several months living together, Toriel had been thankful that Ivory fell down here because she finally had someone here to share her books with, her ideas, and accompany her on her rounds, though a small part of her felt guilty for being happy due to someone else’s misfortune. Toriel hadn’t realized just how lonely she had become till Ivory came along and had felt her friend locking herself away like a physical blow. It made her talk to her friend behind the door longer then usual, in hopes that Ivory would come out on her own, and while it had worked Toriel did not want to experience that again.

Two centuries more or less alone, and now I can’t bring myself to do that again after only a few months with good company… The former queen mused, finishing her pie.

Soon the table was cleared and the two of them started on the kitchen. Ivory tried to do all of it, stating that she should clean it up as she had made the mess but Toriel was stubborn. Soon enough the ingredients were put away (just how much had Ivory bought? There was enough here for another pie!), the counters cleared and cleaned and the two started on the dishes, Toriel washing and Ivory drying.

The conversation had died a little, but the atmosphere between the two was still lively and cordial, though Toirel did catch Ivory scowling at the wall for a moment but when asked the skeleton just waved her off.

After a lapse of silence, Toriel decided to start on the topic she has been needing to have with the displaced monster.

“I wanted you to know that I have asked an old friend of mine to visit. His name is Gerson, and he is one of the best healers in the Underground.” Toriel said, eyes on the plate she was scrubbing.

Ivory jolted, looking worried as concern bled off her. “Are you sick?”

“No, I’m fine. I asked him to come and… check up on you actually.” She finished in a gentle tone.

Confusion wafted off the skeleton. “Um, why? I’m not sick.”

“Gerson is one of the oldest practitioners of healing magic, but his specialty lies in healing the soul.”

A feeling of realization momentarily spiked by panic swirled around the younger monster. Toriel kept her focus on the dishes, allowing Ivory a moment.

Toriel didn’t see Ivory tilting her head to the left, eye sockets screaming at seemingly empty air before a look of someone listening very closely before looking back at Toriel.

After a minute or two Toriel felt Ivory’s chaotic emotions settle, calm yet cautious, and felt it was good enough to continue. “I know there hasn’t been any issues with it, but the shape and color of your soul still leaves me concerned. He won’t do anything invasive, just a better view of your STATS, over all health and perhaps give me a better idea on how to help you with your magic.”

“So…this is just a checkup?” Ivory inquired lightly, drying the plate a tad harder than necessary.

“I guess you could say that.” Toriel giggled, glad to see that Ivory wasn’t against it.

Ivory was in fact very against it, but an unseen force was making good points on why she should go for it, if only to get a better understanding of her own magic.

“And,” Toriel hesitated, knowing Ivory might not like what she was about to suggest, “it might be easier for him to get a better diagnose if he… knew where you came from.”

CRACK

What followed was a sudden an eerie cut off of all Ivory’s emotions. It was so sudden Toriel looked to the skeleton to see if she was alright.

And was greeted by skull devolved of any emotions and empty eye sockets, holding two halves of a plate.

“Ivory?” The goat monster said in a gentle motherly tone, lightly touching Ivory’s shoulder.

After a rather long silence, Ivory blinked rapidly with a deep breath, eye lights returning a apprehension and acceptance whorled around her. Dropping the broken plate in the trash, the younger monster slouched a little, hand coving her face. She nodded, as though she was agreeing to something.  “Okay. Okay. It’s a good plan. Valid.”

For some reason, Toriel felt as though Ivory was agreeing about something else entirely but brushed it aside as the skeleton let out a rattling breath. Looking up to her, Ivory had a grim yet determined expression.

“Well, if it helps I will allow him to know… as long as he doesn’t ask about my family…or makes me tell talk about the monster communities. Please.”

Toriel nodded, deciding she’d tell her old friend about the communities when he got here. Still, this was going much better than she thought it would. Finishing the last dish, Toriel removed her rubber gloves, placing a clawed hand on the now pouting skeleton.

“Thank you. He’ll be here in about three days. Don’t worry, Gerson is very good at his job! Now, I have my evening patrols. Would you like to come along?”

The skeleton shrugged but followed after, tugging her gloves back on.

“Oh, before I forget. Evah Eyewalker has invited us for dinner. Can we go?”

Toriel was pretty sure if it was physically possible, she would have burst from pride and happiness by now.

Wait till she tells her friend behind the door about this!

"Tra la la... why don't you sing with me?...Tra la...la?...it's...happening again?"

Chapter Text

The child fluttered around, red eyes rolling so hard you were surprised they actually didn’t roll out of their head. Relax. Its just a, what do humans call it? A physical? Think of it like the monster equivalent of a physical.

Sitting at your desk in your bedroom you leaned back, scowling at the annoying child who had a penchant for irritating the hell out of you. “Riiiiight. Except its my soul that is getting it.”

Chara held out a hand, voice sweet and condescending. Awwww, it’s okay baby bones. I’ll protect you from the big bad turtle. Want me to hold your hand during it?

You once more flip them the bird, something you abused ever since Chara let it slip that they didn’t know what that hand gesture meant (though they did understand that it wasn’t a nice gesture). It turned out that monsters didn’t know what it meant either, so you tended to flip Chara one often.

Chara just laughed, wandering off looking relaxed.

You on the other felt like a mess of emotions. On one hand, knowing more about your soul could help you in the long-term planning. On the other hand, your soul was such a weird thing that you actually worried he might think you were an abomination or needed to be put down or something.

“Look kid, can’t you just tell me why my soul looks like this?"

The child sighed in exasperation. I told you, that is just how the souls in your world look like. All of them look like that. They only start looking like my world’s souls if you remove the spirit part.

“How? The two shapes look nothing alike!”

I donno, they just always reshaped into them after I removed the spirit.

“How come you don’t know? You have done it thousands of times!”

Do you have any idea how many trial and errors I went through before I figured out how to do it correctly?

That silenced you really quick, horror apparent on your skull.

Aaaaaaand on that terrifying note, we switch topics! You decided, trying to think of something else other then the fact the kid pretty much just admitted to playing quack doctor on who knows how many souls.

You ignored the ever-present voice that frantically reminded you that you were now being haunted by a dead child.

Gerson was coming tomorrow. A part of you was excited to see another person from the game that you recognized but the reason behind his visit soured the experience for you.

Chara seemed to think that while your soul would raise some LOTS red flags, Gerson was going to be professional and helpful. According to the brat, Gerson was probably going to assume like Toriel that you had a mishap with some human and that you somehow absorbed the other guys soul, thus explaining why your soul was the way it was. Very few monsters had ever absorbed a human soul and most of them died shortly after, usually on the battlefield you noticed Chara didn’t mention the incident with Asriel while citing about monsters absorbing human souls. It meant that there were few to no documents on it and most of those were speculations on it at best. In short, there just wasn’t enough cases to study.

That didn’t stop you from wanting to hide in a hole somewhere until he left, even if Chara did mock you endlessly for it.

Still, you were curious to see what you could do, and admittedly a professional would aide in that.

You just hoped it went better then you thought it would.

Okay, quit pouting already! Unlike me, you aren’t cute enough to pull it off… but you are rocking the old bag of bones look. In time I bet you could even pull off the senile look as well!

You whipped around to where the kid was floating, you ‘lips’ pressed into a tight line as you glared at the kid who just grinned wider.

You weren’t aware of the coppery light that sparked from your left eye as your right dimmed to near nothing. It was gone in a handful of heart beats, but Chara still saw it.

You reached into you bag, fishing around for a moment. You had bought this for entirely petty reasons, and Chara was getting on your last nerve.

Finally finding it you held up a bar of chocolate. Chara’s grinned dropped to a ‘oh’, eyes glued to the bar as they made grabby hands at it, despite both of you knowing they couldn't actually touch it.

Maintaining eye contact, you slowly unwrapped the bar till it was half way down. Then slowly you raised to your teeth and took a big bite, then chewed with deliberate slowness. You didn’t care if it was spiteful, Chara’s dismayed face was worth it.

“Mmmm. Chocolate.”

You are pure evil.

Bratty was getting a little worried about Catty. Just this morning Catty and she had been joking around, planning to flirt with that cat monster who’s name she kept forgetting at MTT to see if he’d smuggle out a couple of burgers when suddenly Catty stopped and looked around with a scared and befuddled look on her face.

At first, she seemed fine, saying that she must have been a little confused, but through out the day she kept looking around all weird and like, saying she felt like she had a really intense sense of deja vu? On top of that Catty kept clinging to her as though she was afraid Bratty was going to disappear, saying she just happy Bratty was safe.

It was seriously weirding Bratty out, like total odd and so not like her friend.

Maybe they should call it a day, let Catty get some sleep. Maybe she was just tired. Either way, Bratty was totally there for her BFF.

Even if her BFF was acting like she had witnessed her getting dusted.

Chapter Text

He was trying something new. As he couldn’t recall ever being this far back before, Flowey had discovered he had what was basically new people to test out on, even if they were technically the same people.

He had been messing with certain people, re-reading on current events, trying to see what had and had not changed. A year into the past may not seem like a big thing, but for someone who has/had control over a very small timeloop that only he and two others were consciously aware of? It was a big thing.

He had never been able to go back this far, and even after Frisk/Chara came and took his power away they hadn’t been able to go any further back either.

Something from the last loop had changed, he’d bet his damn petals on it. He just didn’t know what. It had been a normal genocide route, Chara slaughtering everyone and the fear he felt towards them that always happened during those moments before he was crushed to death by an unseen force, he knew had to have been Chara. Pain then restart, pain and feeling drying up to nothing, the usual.

Going back this far was new. No longer knowing what was going on was new. And she was definitely new.

And dangerous, he hissed as he rubbed a leave against his face in a futile effort to ease the pain. When people attack him the pain usually only lasted a second or two, like when he gets hit with Toriel’s fireballs. It never lingered, and the damage was always gone within the hour.

That outsider’s kick shouldn’t have hurt as badly as it did, yet days after she had inflicted it upon him, he still hurt. It reminded of a bruise; it can be ignored but every time you moved that part it reminded you it was still there.

The pain should be gone already, yet it persisted. It was becoming an annoyance… and was beginning to worry him. What was wrong with her magic that even after it was gone, he felt the pain? And on top of this nuisance? He kept getting jolts of emotions.

They were little things, barely there and only spiking at random times but he kept feeling small bouts of them. He had been happy for a moment, sad in another, and even felt shame once. All randomly, and with no apparent pattern, then it would be gone just as fast. It was weird, and he knew that somehow it was her magic that was doing it.

When he had gone to her, he had intended to befriend her so he could figure how she ticked, find out what to say to get her to trust him and utilize this unknown piece in the game. He had not expected to see the raw terror in her sockets… or the recognition.

She somehow knew him, even though they never met before. It was the only thing he could think of as for why she attacked him. It meant he couldn’t fool her, but also that he didn’t have to play the sweet innocent flower around her either.

It was just another puzzle he would be enjoying figuring out.

But for now, he mused as his roots grew deeper into the cracks of the building. Let’s see how you handle this. He grinned, a jagged slit that winced as the pain in his face throbbed.

The building over looked the Market place, and it was in dire need of repair as the foundation was wearing thin. In the other timeline the Froggit masons fixed it months before the loop started. Here?

Well, I always wanted to see what happens if you collapse a building. He giggled. The only thing that would have made this better was if people still lived in it. He just needed to wait for Toriel and the outsider to arrive, to see what that bonehead would do.

His face twinge again, and he felt an odd sensation zip through him. It felt wrong, like he was going to be siCk, LiKe he wantEd TO ᔕTOᑭ wHɐt h€ wAs doing aNd ʎɹɔ  i̸’M SoRяY--

Then nothing. The feeling was gone as quickly as it came.

He pushed it aside, focusing on ensuring that the building wouldn’t collapse before he wanted it to. He had an experiment to run.

“I’m sorry, I guess you could say you’ve tickled my funny bone?”

The short skeleton actually laughed at that, and Gerson just rolled his eyes as the headache he had been developing got bigger with each thrown pun.

He knew he should have just hoofed it by himself, but the young Judge was insistent on going with. And now that he and the queen have formally met face-to-skull they have been cracking puns nonstop.

Don’t get him wrong, he was happy to see her. But he has had to endure three days of Sans popping up unexpectedly and punning over everything. He felt a deep well of empathy for Papyrus. If Sans was his brother, he might have tried to cave his head in a long time ago.

“I can’t belief ulna say that to me. pretty humerus of ya.”

By the stars and angel, enough.

“My Q-My dear, please. It is cold out here and you said this was urgent.” Gerson said in an irritable tone, hoping the skeleton didn’t noticed his near slip up.

“hey now, no need to get snappy.”

Toriel had another fit of giggles as Gerson groaned loudly. “I’m sorry Gerson, we shell-y should head back up.”

“yeah, you should turtle-ly get going. gimme a call when you get back out.” The cheeky little numbskull said with a smile as he waved before turning around and walking away as Gerson snapped out that he wasn't a turtle.

“later.”

My sympathy goes out to you, Papyrus. he thought as they watched the skeleton meander off.

As soon as the door shut, Gerson dropped to one knee, head bowed. “My Queen,” he started only to be swept up into a tight hug.

“None of that. I’m no queen anymore, and I am glad to see you again old friend.”

Gerson returned the embrace. “You’ll always be my queen, bad puns and all.”

That elicited a laugh from her. She set him back down, a fond smile on her face.

“Thank you for coming on such short noticed.”

“Well, that numbskull wouldn’t leave me be until I got here. He said you have a child in your care with a deformed soul?”

Toriel looked away, sighing. “If it was only that simple.”

Seeing the questioning look he was sporting, the former queen continued. “The one I need you to see is called Ivory. She is a skeleton monster, and if I had to guess easily in her early fifties.”

Gerson hummed, surprised there were more skeletons left in the Underground. They had taken a massive hit during the War, and the numbers had dwindled till there were only the two brothers that he knew of. He hadn’t been aware that some must have crossed over to the Ruins in the last century or two. “So not a child, just a young adult.” Around Papyrus' age to boot.

“There is more.” She said in a tone that made him stand straighter. Whether she was aware or not, when she spoke in that tone, he was immediately reminded of her status as queen (even if she insisted she wasn’t one anymore, she would always be queen). “What I am about to tell you cannot get out, no matter what.”

At his nod, she continued. “There are two things you must know about Ivory. The first and most urgent is her soul. Ivory has a colored soul.”

The ancient turtle sucked in a breath. The only way a monster had a colored soul was if they absorbed a human soul. He hadn’t personally seen what their souls looked like after the absorption he had seen the monsters in question battle. They were juggernauts of power, and it took a lot of humans to dust them.

Suddenly his Queen’s urgency made sense. This hasn’t happened since… since the prince and his sibling had merged their souls and died shortly after. There had been many rumors over that, some sad, some bad, some he dared not repeat in the same building as his sovereigns.

All they knew was that the human child had gotten sick and died, the prince absorbed their soul and walked through the barrier only to come back grievously injured before dusting in his parents’ arms. This led to his monarchs splitting due to Asgore grief-induced oath to kill all the humans, and Toriel taking his old station in order to try and protect those that fell.

Gerson swallowed hard. Had a human fallen and this Ivory killed and absorbed their soul? He didn’t think that was likely seeing as Toriel would probably never forgive the murder of a human innocent, so how had this happened? Perhaps it had been similar to what happened with the Queen’s children, a human dying and the monster taking the soul after they had perished.

“As I have never seen the result of absorbing a human soul, I do not know what happens to the monster soul. I say this because, well, I believe the absorption had warped her soul into… you’ll just have to see for yourself. I cannot put it into words.”

A shutter of horror wavered around him, mixed with profound worry. Whatever had happened had deeply disturbed his queen. “Are you certain?"

"Yes. Her injuries were extensive. I had to pull it out to check it. then after she was well enough, she had requested to see it and...well... I pulled it out for her, seeing as she doesn't know how to." Toriel replied, looking uncomfortable. Not that he blamed his queen. Unlike when pulling out humans souls, pulling another monster's soul out was something that only happened during doctor checks... and more intimate settings, such as bonding or to create a child. "Do you know how it happened?”

“No, and neither does she.”

What? The question bled into his magic, allowing the queen to feel his enquiry.

“I found her, badly injured. She had been unconscious for nearly three weeks under my care before she finally came to. Eventually she told me where she came from. And this is the second secret I need you to keep my friend.”

Toriel looked excited though he felt a thrum of sadness in it.

“Ivory is from the surface!”

He was fairly certain had he been eating or drinking something he would have choked on it. Instead he choked on air, coughing roughly before looking up at his queen in shock.

“Are you sure?!”

“Absolutely! I had her describe the sky, the moon, sun, stars, ocean! Everything! And her answers only proved her claim! And she acts like how many of us did when we were first trapped under here! She has been here for months and she still looks up for the sky.”

He sat heavily on the ground, not bothering to hide his shock. “A surface monster… our people didn’t get completely trapped down here… Wahaha!”

His laughter was a mixture of incredibility and joy. Looking back at his queen he saw her smiling but felt a wave of sadness. His magic gently probed at hers, letting her know he wanted to know more.

“Yes, we still have people up there…but… they are a shadow of themselves.”

Gerson listened as Toriel told Ivory’s tale, how the monsters on the surface stayed hidden and had successfully convinced the humans they were not real but had lost so much of not just their culture but their ability to use magic. She told him of Ivory’s completely and total lack of magical education, how she had never used magic, how the monsters on the surface had lost so much of their magic that it was considered pretty much gone.

By the end of it, Gerson was rather horrified. “By the Angel, it would have been better had they gotten trapped with us. How can they have survived so long under the assumption magic is gone? You can’t have children without it! Just how weak is this poor child that she had never felt magic before falling down here?!”

Toriel looked forlorn, but firm. She started walking away, and Gerson stood to keep up with her. “Magically illiterate she may be, Ivory isn’t weak. She is adapting better then we did when we first were sealed away. While her soul worries me deeply, as does her complete lack of control over her own emotions, she has shown to still be strong in hope even after everything she has suffered and lost.”

Well, that was something. Gerson had lost count of the sheer number of monsters that had fallen down shortly after being sealed under the mountain.

They had reached the stairs when she turned to him, looking sternly at him. “Please do not ask her about her family or about the surface communities. She still grieves their lost, and I want this to go well. She didn’t say it but she is deeply anxious about meeting you, and I think she actually fears you will think her unnatural due to her soul.”

“I understand. Can you at least give me an idea what is wrong with her soul?”

“I…I just can’t. I have never in all my life seen or heard anything like her soul.” ‘Heard’? “I ask that you do not judge her by what you feel or see when you get her soul out. She is just as lost about this.”

He ambled up the stairs after his queen, feeling both anxious and excited to meet this Ivory.

Once at the top Gerson looked around and did not comment that the place resembled Asgore’s home, just with more colors as he did not believe she’d appreciate the comparison. A lovely aroma filled the air, and the two headed for the kitchen.

Back facing them and harshly whisking something in a bowl, was the skeleton in question. From what he could tell she wore a robe similar to the queens, but it seemed to have a window in the back that showed part of her spine and rips, and to his surprise a pair of tiny wings that clacked together like a couple of small bony pincers.

 “Ivory,” Toriel spoke, catching the girl’s attention. “this is Gerson.”

He tilted his head, looking up at the lithe looking monster.

After hearing her story and about the monsters on the surface he was honestly expecting a sickly mimicry of a skeleton, but Ivory appeared to be like any normal skeleton monster, except that her bones were bleached. Probably from a lifetime in the sun, he thought as he studied the nervous monster. Sans and Papyrus’ bones were darker, not by a lot but it would still be noticeable if she stood next to them. Though, he hummed in amusement, I didn’t think I’d find a skeleton who was as short as Sans. While Papyrus was at a normal height for a skeleton monster, Sans was most definitely not, being a full two feet shorter than his younger brother. It was difficult to tell since Sans was always slouching but he might just be a little taller than her. The only thing he could tell was off about her was the fact she was not censoring her feeling, but Toriel had already told him that she didn’t seem to know how to do that.

All in all, Ivory looked like a normal healthy monster.

Holding out a hand, he gave her a warm smile.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Ivory.”

Papyrus huffed, marching once more into Grillby’s to retrieve his wayward brother, red scarf whipping behind him. Honestly, Papyrus was beginning to wonder if Sans was planning to move into the place with the amount of time he was spending here. Papyrus groaned as he found Sans at his usual spot, apparently heckling that drunk bunny on one side while holding a conversation with Jimmy Hotpants and Nacarat Jester on the side, while eating.

“BROTHER!”

Sans waved, grin widening with genuineness. “what’s up, bro?”

“THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME THIS WEEK YOU’VE BEEN HERE!”

“eating?”

“In your brother’s defense Sansy, today is Tuesday.” The red demon-like monster said, Jimmy nodding in agreement.

“SANS, YOU BUM! YOU COULD BE EATING AT HOME INSTEAD OF HERE! NO OFFENSE GRILLBY.” The fire monster shrugged, having obviously gotten used to him fetching Sans from his place.

“I’ll fry to be better about eating at home and be less of a bun.” The older skeleton replied, grinning in delight as he groaned loudly at the horrid puns.

 Papyrus acted like he didn’t like it, but he was actually happy to see Sans making puns again. three months back his brother had gone an entire month without a single pun and frankly it had scared Papyrus, and even after that he didn’t pun or joke as much as he used to.

Sans had been acting odd for these last few months, and while Papyrus hadn’t pointed it out due to not wanting his brother to feel distressed, he had also hoped that giving his brother the space and time to work though his problems would allow Sans to open up about the reason behind the abnormal conduct, but so far Sans hadn’t even tried to say anything… if he was even aware that Papyrus had noticed, which Papyrus was beginning to suspect that his older brother was in fact not aware of his own peculiar shift in behavior.

The taller skeleton readjusted his vest, Sans eye lights trained on the article of clothing. He had been doing that a lot too, Papyrus noted. Sans seemed to have developed a weird fascination with his outfits, as though he was perpetually surprised to see him wearing them.

“alright, let me finish the burg.” The shorter skeleton replied, taking a swig of ketchup much to the younger skeleton’s disgust.

Papyrus shook his head as he leaned on the counter, sharing a look with the place’s proprietor. The two had an unspoken agreement to keep a watch on Sans, grateful to see that even when he wasn’t around there was someone looking out for Sans.

Grillby had once served as part of the Royal Guard back in the day before retiring and setting up in Snowdin, and if rumors were true, he was as old as the King and had fought in the War. He was a fixture of Snowdin that never seemed to change, and he often had cared for him when he was a babybones while Sans was out doing his jobs. Papyrus may think that he ran a grease hole, but he always respected the elder monster and knew Sans was in safe hands.

“Something up, Grillby?” Jimmy said, voice rough.

The elemental shrugged, cleaning a glass. He did seem distracted, and even if Papyrus hadn’t known Grillby, he would have noticed the old elemental seemed out of sorts.

Head crackling as he shook it, the elemental spoke. “Not me, my daughter. She made me a painting for her art project, but… well, give me a moment.”

The fire monster stopped cleaning, leaving for the back room. After a few minutes he came back holding a medium size frame. Gently he placed it down for them to see. Nacarat whistled as the drunk bunny made awe noises, other people who frequent the place coming over, looking on in awe or confusion. Papryus was one of the confused. It was a city in the distance, but the back ground was a cascading color of blue, yellow and pink with a massive sphere in the distance that that seemed to exude light… and Papyrus couldn’t place why but it felt like he had seen this before but for the life of him he couldn’t place where. It was beautiful…but he felt like he had actually been there. It is the sun, Papyrus thought, though he didn’t know how he knew that.

“Two months ago, Fuku had this dream that the monsters were free and that she and I got to finally see the sun. She said it had been so realistic she had to make it. She finally finished it and sent it to me as a present. I have to admit, it does look like the sun… uncannily so.”

Papyrus continued to study the painting as others complemented the painting, some stating that she had a great imagination.

No one was paying attention to Sans, whose grin had turned brittle as he stared in shock at the painting.

“She just *hic* dreamed that? Wow… it kinda looks like a dream I had…” That drunk bunny slurred. “We got to the surface, thanks to a li*hic*little human saving us. They wore a blue shirt with a purple stripe, becomin’ our amba-ambas-emissary. We were all so happy. I even swore to stay sober!” She giggled, everyone laughing at that.

Jimmy hummed, sitting back. “Blue shirt with a purple stripe? I had a dream about someone like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah! It was weird. This person went through the Underground and killed the Captain, the Royal Scientist, Mettaton, and King Asgore. Papyrus was the last guy with any authority and was named king because of it. He kept feeding us spaghetti, and it wasn’t really so bad. He kept our hope up and was actually a pretty good ruler.”

Papyrus felt a blush bloom upon his skull. That was a weird thing to dream, but he was still flattered. Though he didn’t want to be king if it meant his friends had to all die first.

Unbeknownst to all, Sans was shaking.

Nacarat looked up at the wolf monster, her slit-and-cross like eyes widening. “Really? I had this weird dream too, but it was scary! Well, it wasn't really a dream, I was awake and everything when I experienced it. But this thing wearing a shirt like that came through the Underground slaughtering everyone that got in its path, but a lot of us survived thanks to the Royal Scientist evacuating us to a safe place. It was a creepy place, but it kept us safe from the thing that was going on a killing spree. We were so grateful we made her the new ruler. It felt so real that when I snapped out of it I stayed under my bed until Scarfy came and found me.”

Suddenly magic crackled through the air, all conversation dying abruptly.

“what.”

Sans sat rigid in his seat, the contents of the ketchup bottle all over his hand and the counter from the death grip he had on it. Papyrus watched as the lights blipped out of his brother’s sockets, his smile stretching to a painful length. It was so sudden that he and the others actually back up a little. “B-BROTHER? SANS?”

As suddenly as it appeared the “smile” was gone. Sans stood up so fast he knocked the bar chair over, drawing everyone’s attention. The older skeleton took a deep breath before addressing him. “sorry. just realized I gotta do something. later.”

And before he could say anything Sans shortcutted out, leaving him confused and worried.

“What’s gotten into him?” Nacarat asked, she and the others all looking disturbed by the face Sans made.

I don’t know, and that concerns me.

Chapter Text

Mandy was always a bit of a bright person, her brother had even jokingly said she was Pollyanna reborn (the sweet dork), because she tended to see the better side of people.

Mandy was a firm believer that everyone can be a good person if they only had a chance. Even people who others don’t believe should have them, like her late ex-husband. In the beginning of their marriage he was a good man, but somewhere along the way he had become a… a abusive man.

She had thought she could wait it out, keep caring for him and he’d go back to being the man she had loved. But after several years of this, she realized that they needed to be apart for any healing to happen and told him such. He hadn’t been happy, got aggressive about it and while that had frightened her and made her run away, she felt that it could still worked out. She met Tammy, who got her to her brother, who helped her with the divorce. Her ex… he lost his temper, and she had been caught in the ensuing fit. She had gotten hurt almost killed and her brother got her a lawyer and pressed charges. The day the divorce was finalized, Mandy had request to see him one last time before he was sent to prison for assault. He had told her he was sorry and that he would try to be a better man, and she believed in him. She hoped he would one day become the good man he once was. But sadly, he was killed, a day into his parole when a burglar broke into his home and killed him.

She knew now that you couldn’t save everyone, but she wanted to try. As much as her ex had been a bad man, she had seen him be a good man once.

Ever since the divorce, Mandy had been going to a therapist. Mandy liked her therapist. The Doctor had been recommended by her brother, back during the divorce. Doctor Halman had been wonderful, helping her through that trying time. It had taken time, but Mandy had finally accepted that her failed marriage had not been entirely her fault, that she had done everything she could to save her marriage, that her marriage (while having started out good) had been toxic.

This led to her being part of a movement to aide people who had been in abusive relationships, to help others who were like how she once was. She wanted to help people work out their relationship or if it was just too damaging, help them out of such toxic relationship.

The therapy session had finished up a while ago and she was already on her way home. The session while good, had brushed up on her more recent issues.

Mainly her homelife and the changes it had taken.

Mandy sighed a little, countenance dimming. While Ivory wasn’t a close friend of hers, Mandy was still very fond of the quiet woman and it had been frightening that she had disappeared with no trace at all. Her disappearance had affected everyone at home differently, some worse than others. Mandy worried about the fate of her friend, but Mandy was determined to keep everyone ‘s spirits up. She had a moderate amount of success. The least anxious by it was Tammy, who had said she grew up in a bad neighborhood where disappearances did happen a lot. That said, Tammy had tag teamed with her to keep Ivan from doing anything dangerous or Mia from burning out on her two jobs.

Since Ivory’s disappearance life hasn’t been the same. Mia’s girlfriend of nearly two years broke up with her, and coupled with her despair over Ivory still missing Mia had gotten a second job, entirely out of need to be doing something that left her too physically exhausted to think. Mandy had been about ready to force her to take a breather, but Tammy intervened explaining that Mia dealing with her hurt and loss in her way and if it did start to negatively affect her then they would step in.

Mandy allowed it but kept an eye on her younger friend with a promise she’d be there if Mia had another meltdown. Mia may have been able to persevere through many things, but that didn’t mean she had to do it alone.

But if Mia worried her, then Ivan made her want to wrap him up in a fluffy blanket and promise him everything was all right.

Ivan was a young man from the country and before moving in with them had never been in the city for long periods of time. He wasn’t used to how rude people could get, nor how little everyone cared that a fully-grown woman could just up and disappear without a trace. He had finally stopped asking them every question he could think of about Ivory’s disappearance and only stopped because Tammy pulled him off to the side and had in very blunt terms told him they knew nothing and that if he kept asking, she would have him packed and sent home before he could blink. While he had stopped, it didn’t mean he stopped looking. With the way he was going about though she worried he would stumble into a drug meeting or something and get killed. The boy had a strong sense of justice and integrity, probably from growing up in a small community and while Mandy saw those as good traits, Ivan was blinded by the loss of his sister which made those traits dangerous if he saw something he found morally wrong.

Tammy had been good at handling him, so Mandy had left him in her old friends care with the hopes the young man would realize he needed to be more tactful about how he handled it.

Speaking of Tammy, she has been out of sorts lately, Mandy thought as she prepared dinner.

It wasn’t obvious, and Tammy kept saying it was nothing, but Mandy liked to think she and Tammy were close friends. She had known the woman for six years and they have been living together during that time, having new roommates throughout it until Ivory and Mia came along. The two of them had gone through a great deal of hardships together, and she liked to think you don’t go through half of the things they did together and not come out as at least acquaintances. Tammy may have been rough and too blunt at times, but Mandy was certain she had never met a kinder person outside of her own family.

Something was bothering Tammy and her friend was being evasive about it. Mandy knew better than to push her for answers. Tammy would tell her on her own terms.

All this stress and worry, and on New Year’s Eve too! She thought sadly. The sadness was pushed away as a look of determination appeared on her face.

Mandy would do what she could to keep everyone’s hopes alive. She just needed to stay strong, stay brave for everyone in these scary times.

Please, she thought making her new year resolutions in the afternoon light. Let us all be safe and happy. Tammy, Mia, Ivan… Ivory.

Mia trudged home, exhausted. Absently she pulled her hair out of the bun, strands catching on the bobbies. She probably looked like a zombie and felt like one too.

It may have looked like she was completely out of it, but ever since Ivory’s disappearance she had taken precautions when walking home, the taser Ivan got her heavy in her pocket.

The large country boy had gone and gotten Mandy a bottle of pepper spray seeing how Mandy hated tasers and had given Tammy a pair of brass knuckles instead of a taser or mace, since she apparently owned six tasers and thought spraying pepper or mace into people’s eyes was for wussies.

She chuckled, thinking about how to thank the well meaning guy. He was so different from Ivory, both in looks and personality. How did two vastly different people come from the same family?

Ivory was thoughtful and enduring, while Ivan was righteousness and honesty, and their parents were just as good-hearted as their children. She loved it when they invited her over for the holidays.

This Christmas was not really awkward, but it did feel as though there was a hole. As for the last few years, she had gone to Ivory’s family for Christmas. Ivan and his parents were determined to keep things light despite the fact Ivory’s chair at the table was empty. Ivan’s mom, Nora, had tried to put the chair away, but burst into tears so they left it there. Ivory’s dad, Irwin, comforted his wife before they all sat at the dinner table, the two men in the family distracting Nora to the best of their abilities. Mia helped in any way she could, helping with the dishes and engaging Nora in conversations about any topic she could think off. Nora wasn’t stupid, Mia was pretty certain she knew exactly what the three of them were doing but didn’t comment on it.

All in all it wasn’t bad… though Irwin and Nora had told both Ivan and her that if they wanted to move into the area that they had friends who were renting, not very subtlety requesting their son to return home, and asking her to move there.

It warmed her heart, hearing them plainly asking her to please consider moving int the community. She couldn’t stop herself from asking Irwin why he and Nora encouraged her to move there. He looked her in the eye and said,

“I ask you to consider because you are family. Because I’m utterly terrified I’ll get another call telling me Ivan or you have disappeared as well. Because while I pray she will come back, Ivory is still missing… and I don’t think I could survive loosing another daughter.”

It was heartwarming as it was sobering.

And it was tempting.

Mia had come from a blue-collar family. She had been an only child, and her parents had more or less decided her entire future. They wanted the perfect daughter, a pretty doll who did what she was told, didn’t argue back and didn’t think for herself. Any time she rebelled against their wishes, they made her regret it. They never abused her, never raised a hand against her, but they made it clear that what few hobbies she had growing up were taken away, that she would be isolated from everyone and everything until she bent to their will.

She didn’t want to take ballet classes? She was no longer allowed to have a dog. She got around this by giving him away to a good family that allowed her to visit.

She cussed out her private tutors because they were assholes? Lock her up in her room until her manners improved. She risked breaking her neck by going out her bedroom window, but she thought it was worth it.

One of her father’s business partner’s groped her? She should get used to it since she was a beautiful girl, and if she played her cards right, she could become a very nice trophy wife. She had been so sickened by her parents’ words she threw up, getting her dismissed from the party.

She had a lot of guy friends? Send her to an all-girl private school. Jokes on them, she was a lesbian.

For nineteen years this was her life, until she met Ivory. Ivory was everything she wasn’t and what her parents hated and while she hadn’t known it then, Ivory would become one of Mia’s closest and dearest friends, who Mia would walk bare foot into hell for.

Quiet yet dependable Ivory had stood next to her when she until told her parents her preference, who stood between her screaming parents and her, who did not allow her parents near her ask she screamed back, who stared insolently at them as they threatened Mia and her, who with glacial calmness pulled out a folder and recorder that had just recorded their entire screaming match that included death threats at her and Ivory as well as a folder full of evidence of neglect and child abuse… and Mia could only watch in awe as Ivory calmly, carefully and politely informed her parents that if they tried anything that she had the means to destroy them socially and legally.

The looks of terror on their faces as she stated that they could keep that folder because she had copies and if something were to happen to either of them those copies would go to the police was something Mia would treasure forever.

It was what happened after that, once they left that made Mia want to stay by her friend forever.

As soon as they were back in Ivory’s car, the older woman sagged forward, letting out a terrified sounding noise, cool mask crumbling as she gibbered that she couldn’t believe that had actually worked. It was then that Ivory confessed to finding all that because she had hired one of Mia’s nicer former tutor’s (she remembered him because he got fired when he found out about how her parents treated her), and then Ivory had gone around and quietly collected further evidence. But she had lied about knowing people who could get them in trouble and had been utterly terrified when her parents threatened them.

Mia had demanded then why she took such risks (she still didn’t want to think what her parents would do if they had ever realized Ivory’s trick), to which Ivory simply stated that they hurt Mia and no amount if fear was going to stop Ivory from protecting her friend.

Mia had laughed at that, laughed at the fact Ivory had freed her from her parents through a unique blend of truth, lies and trickery.

Mia in that moment felt like lost soul who was just saved by angel, that she found a friend, a sister.

And in the depths of her soul, never to see light of day or ever be consciously acknowledged, Mia viewed Ivory as her soulmate.

After that she had a day to clear out her things, not that she had a whole lot to her name and moved immediately in with Ivory. They had been together since then, and between Ivory and her sweet family, Mia felt as though she found her place in the world.

And now I feel out of place without her, Mia thought, hands balling up into fists.

There was a part if her that wanted to move to Ivory and Ivan’s town, or get as far as physically far from this damn city as possible.

But she couldn’t, not yet.

Like Ivan, Mia was trying to find her lost friend. She wasn’t leaving till she exhausted all possibilities, all routes, all options.

Looking to the darkening sky, she made a quiet resolution for the new year.

“I will find you, and bring you back home.”

Tammy had left from work early, citing she had an early shift from her other job. She had done her work, went out shopping for alcohol, intended to drink till she couldn't see straight then go and try and sleep.

The emphasis being ‘try’.

She had felt the tickle in her throat and had left before it developed into another coughing fit.

She had barely gotten outside when she started coughing, a long, chunky and wet sound.

After finally getting herself under control she picked up her bags and continued, lighting a cigarette.

The doctor flat out told her to stop smoking, but he and several others had diagnosed her to be in the terminal stage of her cancer so what was the point in stopping now?

Small-cell carcinoma, an aggressive kind of lung cancer. She had only found out two weeks ago after she had a violent coughing fit that left her dizzy and Mandy had insisted she go for a checkup.

Helluva thing to find out that you have roughly seventeen weeks to live (and that was her most optimistic doctor’s estimation). They had given her some bull crap about how there was a small chance to increase her odds to live a few extra years, but she had just left at that point.

Tammy was going to die at forty-nine years of age and trying to spend the last few weeks of her life futilely trying to make more time was not something she was going to do.

She needed to update her will, tell Mandy and her prick of a brother Charlie soon. Mandy so this doesn’t catch her unawares and that prick to make sure Mandy doesn’t spiral down into despair.

She liked Mandy, kinda saw her like a daughter, but that optimistic hippy’s emotion swung to extremes, meaning she was one hundred percent happy or one hundred percent miserable. The woman was also far too forgiving, Tammy remembered that shit stain of an ex Mandy had. Mandy was a brave and happy soul, but her character judgment was atrocious.

The fact Mandy saw her as a friend was just further proof as far as Tammy was concerned.

And there were also the kids to consider…

Ivan and Mia were young, like she was fairly certain they were barely in their twenties young.

Ivan was built like a frickin’ bull moose and had the disposition of a German Shephard. He wasn’t dumb, but boy was he naive at times. He had a need to do the right thing, even getting upset when he couldn’t (she still remembered when he tried to take on a bunch of guys who was harassing a young woman, and how she had to save his dumb ass by pulling out her Glock. No matter how strong you are, most men will run for it when they see a firearms being directed at them). A strong sense of morals on that one, he’ll do fine as long as he had Mia or someone to keep him grounded around.

Speaking of Mia, that girl was having the rottenest of luck. First Ivory disappears, then her girlfriend dumps her, she is trying to keep Ivan from hunting every dumb criminal on his radar. They didn’t live in a bad place, far from it, but it was a big city and crime was much more common in larger cities.

It was a palace compared to the shithole she grew up in.

But back to Mia, the girl needed to get out of the city. She had noticed that Ivan and her were happier since visiting his parents. She was going to not-so-gently encourage them to move back there. To get away from this place that made Ivan twitchy, Mia miserable…

And reminded both of them what they had lost.

Ivory had been a pretty stable person, weird game/book bouts aside. Tammy hoped wherever she was, that she was safe, even though the cynic in her said that it was more likely the girl was dead in a dumpster somewhere... and that felt like it would be the best case scenario.

Even if she was still alive, Ivory would probably not be the same. Tammy would bet her death sticks that if Ivory still lived that she had underwent something traumatic that had transformed her, and was probably being held somewhere that she couldn’t escape.

Tammy shook her head, ash falling. She had too much to think about, and she was currently on a timer. She’d tell everyone next week. For now they needed cheer.

And liquor cheers me up all the time, Tammy thought hefting the bag full of alcohol up higher.

She stopped only long enough to light another cigarette, staring up at the darkened sky of New Years Eve. The time to make resolution, something she always found stupid. And yet in the coolness of a darkening sky she found herself whispering,

"I will live these last few months of my life with no regret."

Anyone at the gym would have given the back area plenty of space, namely the place where the punching bags were.

This was mostly due to the enormous muscled young man who was currently taking a lot of aggression out on the poor punching bag.

Ivan was normally a pretty chill guy, slow to anger and tried to be open and rational.

But right now he was upset and needed to vent, and since there was no manual labor for him to  do he had settled for the gym.

It was New Year’s Eve. In seven hours, it was going to be a new year.

It was irrational, he knew but he didn’t want to even entertain the idea of greeting this new year without Ivory. Every year at midnight, Ivory had woken him up, telling him it was a new year for adventures and that she would be dragging him on one. And Ivory always kept her promises, even if the adventures were silly. Even when she left, she still called with a promise to go on an adventure with him.

The knowledge that he was about to go into this new year without a promise of a new adventure (without her to greet him) filled him with anguish.

An emptiness that had been there for almost a year yawned wide open inside him, his feelings momentarily numbing. With a snarl he punched the bag, sending the bag careening off of the hook, his knuckles throbbing.

“Hey, um, buddy? I-I need you stop breaking our stuff and to leave…please?” came a timid voice.

Looking towards the front, Ivan was greeted by the sight of a young petite woman. She had a very frightened look on her face and appeared to be about ready to make a run for it.

Ivan felt his rage die, replaced with shame. After that show of rage, the poor woman probably thought he was going to attack her! He quickly grabbed the bag and tried to put it back only to discover he broke the hook.

A stammered apology and handing her money to fix it, he once more apologize for scaring her and wished her a good year before exiting.

The evening air was crisp, people already starting to drink and party. He quietly made his way back to the apartment, mentally cajoling himself to put on a happier face.

He… he hadn’t been himself lately. In the last year he felt… numb. Like he was becoming dead inside. It had been so slow he hadn’t even been aware till Ivory disappeared that he began to realize that his emotions felt… stagnated. Like he was missing something.

Enough of that, a voice that sounded like Ivory, instead, how about you think if what you are going to tell the girls about how you damaged your knuckles?

Is if on que, his hand throbbed, forcing him to look at it. Purple bruising were appearing as it swelled.

The girls are going to be so mad.

Mandy was a nice lady, who had a heart of gold and adored her brother and nephews. He didn’t know much about her, other then she got out of a abusive relationship and was extremely supportive of aiding those who can’t fight back, or something.

Tammy reminded him of his Nana before she passed away; sullen, cantankerous, not afraid to speak her mind yet still a good person. He didn’t know anything about her, and she seemed to prefer it that way. She was also the one to tell him to get his emotions out by going to the gym, stating that bottling it up was the worst thing he could do with it. Turned out she was right about that, he certainly felt calmer.

Mia though…

Mia was family.

Only a couple years older then him, yet he felt like the big brother (both physically and mentally). He knew she came from a family that was only family in the looses sense of the word, and that she had struggled for some time after to no longer answering to them, as well as undoing years of psychological manipulation and trauma they heaped upon her.

He still recalled the first time he met her, during a Christmas. She had been scared, wondering if she should really be there at all. Mom and Pop’s went out of their way to make her feel welcomed, Ivory staying close by till she relaxed a bit.

Eventually, over time he discovered that he had a baby sister (Mia hated it when he called her that, Ivory laughing so hard she got the hiccups), who just so happened to live with his older sister.

And Ivory—

Ivory—

He stopped, sucking in as much air as he could.

She isn’t gone. She can’t be. She just can’t make it home right now. He thought, trembling as a sob broke out.

“Ivan?”

He whipped around hand rubbing his eyes furiously. Once done he gave a big smile. “Sorry, dust in my eye.”

Standing not far from him with bags in her hands and a cigarette clenched between her yellow teeth was Tammy, giving him a look that clearly states she didn’t believe him for a second. But Tammy wasn’t cruel and didn’t comment on his too bright eyes, instead holding out a bag.

“None of us want to go out, but I’ll be damned if we ain’t gettin’ drunk tonight.”

As he reached for the bag, her hand shot out snatching his own. Her hands looked frail in comparison to his, thin and bony. A frown marring her lined face.

“When we get back, I’ll help ya wrap it. Next time wear the damn boxer gloves, dumbass.”

He just smiled. “Thanks, Tam.”

The two walked in comfortable silence, Ivan looking up at the dark sky where only a few stars could be seen.

This has been a terrible year, he thought. Then straightening his shoulders he made his resolution. One way or another, my family will be together again.

The yawning emptiness in his chest was back, so he trudged on, determined to keep his word.

Ivory…stay safe.

Chapter Text

Finding out that you could literally feel the magic hum in your bones when you were close to a nervous meltdown was something you really wished you had known at the beginning, because it felt similar to the time you had stolen money from your Mom and she found out; gut rolling (despite not having a gut), and feeling like you were one well placed comment away from retching all over the floor.

The only thing keeping you upright was sheer spite towards the floating devil spawn who was getting a real kick from your misery, and since you were currently being watched by Tori and Gerson you couldn’t respond or even acknowledge the snide remarks the cherub-face fiend was throwing at you.

After introductions Toriel had directed you and Gerson to the table then ducked back into the kitchen to make more tea, leaving the two (three if you want to be technical) of you alone.

Gerson was a little taller than you, and even hunched over and smiling like an elderly grandparent you could see the questions behind his eyes. Clearly, he wanted to ask you all sorts of personal questions but was refraining from it.

Taken a too deep breath, you looked him in the eye as you spoke. “Yes, I am from the surface. No, I don’t want to talk about it. Please do not ask about my family.”

Gerson chuckled. “Toriel already told me not to ask, and I respect her too much to disregard her request, even if my curiosity is demanding answers. But… if you could indulge an old monster, can you tell me if the stars are still beautiful?”

You relaxed a little, feeling a well of sympathy towards the ancient being. “It is practically impossible to see them in a city, but if you get out into the countryside, you can see them, unending and enchanting. But you know what I miss the most? The sunrise. I miss the rays of warms, the light of day as it breaks passed the… the mountains, especially when its foggy out. I miss seeing daylight.”

A melancholy feeling takes you, and you nearly jump when a massive scaly hand covers yours. Gerson looked down at you with understanding. Taking out a handkerchief he gently dabbed the tears that had build in your sockets how am I crying? as he smiled gently at you. “Its alright, my dear. I should have known better then to ask.”

You shook your head, looking at him sternly. “No, you only asked about the stars. Not your fault I got all teary eyed, um, socket.”

Toriel walked in at that moment and stopped at seeing the scene before her. Red eyes glared at Gerson who held his hands up in a pacifying manner. Before she could truly entire Mother Mode, you decided to save the poor tortoise-type monster her tongue lashing.

“Its fine, Tori. Just remembering.” Seeing the disbelieving look, you just smiled. “Besides, after he gets a look at my soul, I may have to apologize to him.”

The tortoise hummed, looking thoughtful. “Under normal circumstances, I only pull a soul if I have to. Is it really that bad?”

Toriel coughed, a nervous look on her features. “It certainly is… indescribable.”

Oh, wow. Your soul is on the same level as Papyrus’ cooking.

You aborted a hand gesture, though by the looks Gerson and Toriel shot you they felt your irritation.

“Let’s- let’s just get this over with. Just go ahead and pull the damn thing out.” You grounded the words out, before feeling bad for snapping. Toriel and Gerson were trying to help, it wasn’t their fault Chara was a little shit.

Both Toriel and Gerson looked uncomfortable at your words, and even Chara had stopped what they were doing to gape at you.

“Are you certain? I was going to check your stats before we tried… that.” Gerson spoke, looking uncomfortable.

“Um, yeah? I figured you’d be seeing it, since you’re a doctor and all.”

“I just didn’t expect you to be so…cavalier about it.”

“Well, yeah? I’m sure its nothing you’ve haven’t done before, just be gentle with me, please?”

Gerson choked, Toriel looking at you in horror.

Am I missing something? you thought, shrugging in a way that allowed you to look at Chara, flashing a questioning look.

Chara shocked expression melted to a massive shit-eating grin. Showing your soul is kinda intimate… now think on what you just said to him.

What I just- oh. OH. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH. INTERNAL SCREAMING.

You were pretty certain now that your entire skull had just turned a bright copper, because Gerson started laughing. “I DIDN’T MEAN IT LIKE THAT!”

The ancient monster wheezed another laughter, fist pounding on the table. “Just realized what you did there, huh? I’m flattered, but I like to keep things professional with my patients.”

“Gerson!” Toriel hissed, smacking him on the shoulder, though you could see amusement in her eyes.

He continued to guffaw, Chara laughing themselves through the wall as Toriel patting you on the shoulder. You barely noticed any of this as you were too busy smacking your head into the table.

“Can we- pretend I just didn’t accidentally proposition you? Please?” You begged, still deeply flushed.

It took a few minutes, but soon enough Gerson’s laughter petered out, face stern but eyes light with amusement.

“Let’s try that again. Are you certain you want me to pull it out?”

No. You didn’t… but you had a feeling it needed to come out sooner rather than later. Just-just think of it as getting a pap smear. This is just a physical, only on a soul level. As long as he doesn’t bring out the ducky, I’ll be fine. I hope.

You nodded, hoping you felt more confident than you were.

Toriel smiled encouragingly to you, as Gerson once more inquired if you were ready.

You weren’t, not even close. You wanted to barricade yourself in your room and not come back out… but with a too deep breath you gave a shaky nod, bracing yourself.

After a moment of stillness, you felt your soul exit your body, an unnerving emptiness filling you. Much like the first time you saw it, it was still beating like a real heart, colors swirling as the air around you felt like it was pulsing in time with the beat.

You dared to look at Gerson and Toriel.

Toriel looked much like how she looked the first time you asked her to pull it out, uncomfortable and ready to take a long shower.

Gerson on the other hand looked as though he was just introduced to the Grim Reaper, who then proceeded to hit on him and asked for his phone number.

Seeing those expressions directed on you made you look down to avoid it. Unfortunately, this led to you looking right at the source of disquiet itself.

God, if it wasn’t for the colors it would look like a real—

Suddenly words swam in from of you.

Ivory Ostein

LV: 1

HP: 2̶̳̮̒

AT: 0̷̢̛̥̯̝̓̄̏̔̇͝.̵̛̹̤̝̣̀̃͆̈́̒̎͛́͜͝1̶̢̲̩̱̲̭̥̪̂͂͒̓̀̓̅̓̕͝͝͠͠0̵̨̨̫̗̘͖̠̯̹̜̲̫̔̀̈̈͜

DF: 3̸̲̥̘̫͛

T̷̘̜̝̺͓͕͖̬̒̈́ͅH̶̝̠̼̙̋̅̆̆̇͝Ȋ̷͇͇͙̩͐ͅs̷̡͇͍̮͍͆̔͛̏͑ ̵͍̠̦͎͓̮͉̭̒̊́ḧ̴̢̛͈̗͕̪́̿̉͒̍Ṳ̶̬̗͋͝M̶̧͉̙̩̣͕̖̑̄̀͜͜a̶̜̭̦̺̳̻̙̪͂̅͗͜ń̷̹̫̖͔ ̷͚̦͓̲͍̄̍͂i̶̛̟͌̈́̊̋̊̄̕ș̸̨̘̏̓̐̎̒͌ ̸͖̟̰̯̊̑͒̑͝a̸̪̞̘͍̹̎̿̂͌̌̈́͛̕͘ ̴̦̿͂̽̽l̶͖͔̃͆̈́͘͘Ǒ̴͚̣͍̾͋̑N̵̖̅̅̔̄̈͝g̷̢̧̖̖̩̼̭͋̊ ̵̛̭̮̒̎̊w̵͔̆̂̊̃̆̋ā̶̡̫͎͚̝̱y̶̤͂̀̉̀͝͝s̷̹̩͌̏̐̃͋͘ ̷̧̳̯͇̤̪̘̠̫͊f̴̨̢̨̧̬̦̹͕͔̅͑͌̓͋̈̂̚r̷̻̟͚̔̎͆̓̈́Ộ̵̡͔͎̰͈͜M̸̰̣̯͉̼̰̃̆́̓̾̃̿̾̑ ̴͚̠̙͑͊͗̕͜ͅḩ̸͕͉̤̬́͑̃̅̔͌̏͜͠͝ͅô̶̞͂̉͋̈́̽̉m̴̯̥̖̙̻̙̜͚̃͋̃̏̐̚̕͝͠e̴̢̢͙̯͔̮̠̔̑̓̑̀̅̆͜͜͠

For a moment you stared at the words, incomprehensibly. Than you spoke the words you were feeling, as eloquently as possibly.

“WHAT. THE. HELL.”

Chapter Text

The tortoise monster had shoved that soul back into Ivory so fast Toriel hadn’t had time to finish buffering her courage to check on Ivory’s stats, leaving her confused. Both Ivory’s and Gerson’s reactions were worrying, and for the life of her Toriel didn’t know why.

“My q- my friend, did you see…?” Gerson started looking up to her with a abnormally blank expression, his emotions deliberately calm.

“I didn’t get the chance to check her stats. I… I was adjusting to the soul’s… presence.” The goat monster replied, wincing at the still fresh sensation of Ivory’s soul.

“Ah. I see.” Gerson replied, looking back at Ivory… whose eye lights had vanished.

Toriel moved to comfort the young monster when Gerson stopped her. “Give her a minute. She’s fine, just shocked, I think. Do you mind waiting outside or downstairs for a bit? I wish to ask Ivory some more personal questions and as a healer I have sworn to ensure my patients have privacy.”

Toriel hesitated but looked back at the younger monster. Ivory had regained her eye lights, though a shroud of apprehension surrounded her now. “Is that all right…?”

Confusion trickled through the air but the skeleton nodded, though she was giving Gerson a concerned look.

Toriel looked between them once more before heading down the stairs, wondering what exactly they had seen.

Gerson has his reasons. I’m sure it will be alright. Ivory is in good hands.

You realized the error of allowing Gerson to send Tori away about two minutes after she had descended the stairs.

The second the ancient tortoise was certain Tori was gone the world around you bled to black and white, and you were suddenly slammed into the wall and pinned there by a massive hammer.

The friendly face he had sported since entering the room was gone, a narrow-eyed scowl in place as he stood in front of your pinned form.

In a still voice he spoke, face deliberately calm. “I am only going to ask these questions once, so listen; what are you, how did you get here and what is your intention, creature?”

“W-what?” you squeaked, only to suddenly feel pressure from the hammer. Chara was next to you, smile gone as they yelled, NINETY PERCENT TRUTHS! HE'S CHECKING FOR LIES!

For a moment your mind stalled before the wheels started spinning without traction in its panic, Chara shaking next to you. You needed to tell him a technical truth!

In the back of your mind, you see the ACT button. You hit it.

Wheezing you spoke, focusing on Gerson’s terrifyingly tranquil visage.

“I-Ivory, I fell, I just want to live in peace!”

“You didn’t answer my first question.” Gerson said in a soft tone, pressure increasing.

“I did!” You wheezed.

“Your name isn’t what you are.”

You felt a tendril of rage at his soft-spoken words. You clung to that rage, encouraging it to grow.

You hit the ACT button again, the fear bubbling up inside you.

“Like hell it isn’t! It’s part of my identity, it is who I am!”

“Be that it may, you look like a monster, but that check tells me you are human. Combined with that thing you call a soul, I have no idea what you are. And while you may want to live in peace now, that can be achieved in short term, while it leaves me not knowing of your long-term plans… and frankly, with that soul you have I don’t know if I should allow you to continue living.” He said plainly, as though he was simply discussing his wares and not murder.

He’s going to kill me!

Chara was next to you, talking urgently. He doesn’t want to hurt you! He wants you to show him you’re not a danger to Mo- to everyone! Keep it up, he’s almost convinced!

Technical truths, your mind screamed as you felt as though he was about to crush your ribcage.

You hit the ACT button again, praying it works. Your eye sockets start to shine copper as tears well up in them.

“Then that makes two of us! I don’t know why my soul resembles a human heart. I don’t know how exactly I got into the Underground! What I do know is that I am trapped in a world full of monsters who I thought were make believe, I am scared out of my mind on a regular basis, so much in fact that the mere idea of leaving the Ruins has given me an anxiety attack! I just want to live! I want to be SAFE! I  JUST WANT TO GO HOME!!”

Anger, frustration, apprehension, and despair swirl inside you like a swarm of locus, consuming everything positive.

You hear a something deep within you snap, and suddenly the hammer was gone, Gerson calm façade melting to sorrow. Chara breathed a deep sigh of relief.

You stood there breathing heavily, tears running down your face, a buzzing sensation filling your head. You just survived your first encounter.

You just survived your first encounter.

The world continued to buzz, static began to encroach on your vision, and you couldn’t breathe.

Y o u    j u s t   s u r v i v e d   y o u r   f i r s t   e n c o u n t e r .

Your rib cage felt like it had the hammer back on it, pressing, squeezing—

You just sUrvIVed yoUr FIrst encoUNTer.

You couldn’t see the room anymore, and the buzzing was so loud now—

You jUst suRvIveD YOuR FIrst Eͤᶰnͨcͦoͧᶰuͭnͤtͬer.

You can’t breathe—

ˢYͨoͣuͬ ͤjͩusͥtͫ ˢsͨuͣrͬvͤiͩvˢeͨdͣ ͬyͤoͩuˢrͨ ͣfͬiͤrͩsᵖtˡ ͤeͣˢnͤcoͩuͦᶰnͭteͪrͧ.ͬ.ͭ.ᵐᵉ

Can’t breathe—

ᵖYˡoͤuͣˢ ͤalͩmͦᶰoͭstͪ ͧdͬiͭedͫ.ͤ..

B̸̞̗̺͙ͤ̈́ͅ ͎̳̔͛Rͮ͋̇̈̈͊ ̍ͫͯͦE̯̰̣̳͆͌̂͗͐̓̚ ̤͔̠ͥA̹̱̯̯̖̍̈́͊ͪ̈́ ̬͈̦͙͇̄ͪ̉Ṯ̗̙̼̪͞ ̪̠̥̠̮͓̘ͤ̾̒̌ͦͣ͞Ḧ͕̙́̒̃ͨ́̐ͅ E͆͌̂͗͐̓ ̤͔̠ͥ—

Her bones had gone from bleached to grey as she collapsed to the ground, making a rattling noise as she seemed to cave in on herself, alarming the others in the room (both living and dead). But what was more alarming was the partially melted bone barrier that seemed to spontaneously sprout from the fallen woman.  

They then watched as the skeleton seemed to completely disengage with her own body, shaking so hard the rattling could be heard in the next room and hardly breathing, and after a moment or two of watching Chara was pretty sure they knew what just happened.

Copper Soul was having a panic attack.

That dumb turtle was freaking out now, screaming for Mom who came running. The two of them were trying to get the misplaced being to respond, breath, anything to get her out of the attack she was suffering, but a half-white, half-copper barrier that looked like a melting pile of bones was keeping them from getting closer.

If it was possible, Chara would have stabbed Gerson for his action. He was supposed to be one of the harmless guys!

Ignoring their more violent desires, the child looked back at the human/monster hybrid. They were the only one who could get near but were also the least qualified to help. But they had to do something!

Chara yanked at their own hair, trying to remember what Azzy and Dad used to do when they had panic attacks during their first year in the Underground.

Embrace? Couldn’t physically touch her.

Pet their hair? Again, can’t touch her and she doesn’t have hair.

Breath or count? Worth a shot.

Chara usually kept a distance with people, a habit that didn’t go away with death. It was easier to avoid altercations if you were already out of the line of fire. Having rarely needed (or cared) to aide with emotional outbursts like these, Chara was not versed in how to correctly help, but the Copper Soul was an ally and Dad always said you should help your allies. The fact Chara had grossly miscalculated Gerson’s ability was on them, not Copper Soul. So with great reluctance they got right in the Copper Soul’s personal bubble.

The human-turned-skeleton was shaking and gasping, eye lights flickering on and off like a light switch, an occasionally burst of magic from the sockets not unlike a firework going off. Magic the color of her soul waft from the sockets and mouth, like a dragon preparing to spit fire.

Chara honestly thought she looked chilling like that.

Hey, can you hear me? Come on, buddy, breath. Breath with me. Come on, inhale... like this. Chara spoke in a gentle manner, breathing in.

For a dreadful moment Chara thought they had failed and was going to leave it to Mom to get through to the mess of a person on the floor, when Copper Soul took in an unsteady breath. Emboldened, Chara instructed the displaced being to breath with them, and was relieved to see that the pain in the coccyx was actually listening to them.

Chara ignored the wave of relief they felt as Copper Soul responded. They seemed to be pretty far away mentally but were just here enough to listen. 

Good, good. You are doing so good. Just keep breathing with me, okay pal? Chara said in a kind tone usually reserved for Azzy when he was being a bigger crybaby than usual, like the time they accidentally dropped a plate on his head and couldn’t find Mom or Dad to help to comfort him, or the time them he cried because he dropped his share of Mom’s pie, or the time when they were on their deathbed— 

It was the tone they often used on Azzy.  

It took what felt like forever (but was in actuality closer to forty minutes), but Chara was glad to see their efforts pay off as the sparks of lights and smoke like magic finally stopped, Copper Soul’s eye lights returning, though dim.       

“Cha…a…?” She whispered, blinking sluggishly. 

Hey, you had a pretty bad attack there. Can you drop the barrier, please? Mom and that dumb shell-head are getting pretty concerned looking.  

“Barrier…?” 

Yeah. They haven’t tried to break it, but you should respond to them before they decide to. You going to be okay? 

“Heh… heh… I must look pretty terrible for you to actually be concerned.” Copper Soul whispered, though due to how close they were, Chara still heard the words and snorted. 

Yeah, you really were pathetic looking. Chara replied, deciding that the human/monster hybrid didn’t need to know that her meltdown was actually pretty scary to witness.

Backing up, Chara was about to get out of the slowly crumbling barrier when a hand passed through them. Looking back, Copper Soul was bracing against the wall, looking at them. A whisper was spoken, just loud enough for them to hear. 

“Thank you, Chara.”              

Chara turned away, smiling one of their kinder smiles.   

It was a massive relief that the noxious feeling barrier started to crumble, the young monster (was she a monster?) inside unsteadily getting to her feet.

He messed up. Badly.

Toriel had warned him Ivory's soul was in bad shape, but nothing could have prepared him for that. But when he had checked her and saw the 'human' on top of everything that was the young skeleton's soul, he had acted on his gut instinct. A gut instinct that told him to protect Toriel and destroy that creature who emitted such a foul feeling and sounding soul, but loyalty to Toriel and her judgement tempered his instincts with a small amount of mercy.

He had treated Ivory as a enemy and had seriously considered dusting her, even though Toriel would never forgive him.

But the overwhelming grief and homesickness her soul had screamed at him, followed by her meltdown and sheer terror... Gerson liked to believe he was a fair judge of character, but in this incident he had grossly misjudged.

Ivory's soul was alien but she was still a person, a child practically. Everything she said had been honest.  

He kept further back as the last of the barrier fell, his queen rushing forward to the younger monster(?), her motherly instincts in over drive. Ivory was trying and failing to reassure her that she was alright, actively avoiding looking at him.

He could only hope he was allowed to apologize to the wronged girl before Toriel pummeled him.

Chapter Text

This is fair, Gerson thought as Toriel glared at him, shielding Ivory from sight. Her hand clenched like it did when she was close to fire balling someone in the face, her magic whipping around to show her displeasure and ire. But only towards him, Ivory has been getting a steady stream of comfort, though it didn’t seem to be doing any good seeing how her emotional state has yet to ebb from fear, apprehensiveness, and something else he could not identify but felt both groggy and uneven.

This was a fair reaction from Toriel after he told her what he had done though he left out what exactly he read during the check. He broke her trust, assaulted her ward and traumatized a patient.

“Get. Out.” Toriel said in a tone he hadn’t heard since the last time she spoke to Asgore.

Oh, he messed up badly.

He turned to leave when Ivory’s voice (high pitch and scratchy, like she had been screaming for hours; remembering how the magic had flowed out of her mouth, it probably had the same effect) spoke out, alarm spiking past the moss pit that was her emotions.

“W-wait, no. He needs to finish this checkup.”

Both elder monsters turned to where the skeleton was, still leaning against a wall and emitting dozens of merged emotions that left him aching just from trying to define which they were.

“Look, I get it. Why you attacked me. I… I defy everything you know about souls, right? From your stand point, I probably seem like some kind of abomination.” Gerson flinched at her (accurate) words, Toriel starting to speak but Ivory stopped her. The skeletons emotions were spiking high, becoming more potent than before, similar to when she had screamed at him.  “I get it. But if you leave and get another, who is to say that person won’t react the same? Or actually just go straight for the kill? You know now that my soul is a mess, but I need to know what I can and can’t do with it… so I am trusting you to do your job.”

“Ivory! He could have killed you!” Toriel hissed, Gerson wincing at the rage directed at him.

“I know, and honestly I don’t want to be in the same building as him now. But he knows what to expect now, and I am not going to risk another healer having a similar reaction… and I know you’ll keep me safe.”

Then the skeleton looked at him, eye lights dim but resolute.

“You… you scare me. Not just because you attacked me, but because you don’t seem like the type to attack first. In fact, I get the feeling you are the kind of guy who’d look a serial killer in the face and spit out ‘I wouldn't buy your chitzy garbage at knifepoint’, before actually engaging into battle. Like, you’d fight, but as a last resort.”

That… was a fairly apt description of him, and the fact she got that after only meeting him once said something about her intuition.

“So, if a chill guy like you's first reaction upon seeing my soul is to attack, then that just proves how off it is, right? So yeah, I really don’t want to be around you… but I need to be able to use magic, to know my ups and downs. You are supposed to be the best, and I honestly have no desire to find out how another healer would react. So, you will finish this before Tori sends you home… please?” She whispered the last word, anxiety rolling off her in droves and very nearly overwhelm him.

But it was taking her a lot of courage to ask the guy who attacked her to help, and she had even been logical about it. He didn’t think there was another in all the Underground that had his skills, nor decide to interrogate first instead of going straight for the kill. She could have had Toriel take him back to the door and left there but was willing to overlook her own discomfort in the name of understanding herself better.

Not a creature, he decided. Maybe not even a monster, but she is a person in need of aide. I will… not tell Toriel of what I saw, at least for now.

With that decided, Gerson bowed low. “I know apologies are not enough but allow me to say this; I am sorry, and I will do what I can to prove myself to you.”

A spike of surprise hit him, a tale sign that his actions had surprised the young skeleton. Slowly her fear ebbed away until it was barely noticeable. The apprehension and anxiety stayed, but he was expecting it to be there as long as he was in the same room as her.

For now, he had a patient to help.

Toriel was still tempted to punt Gerson out the door for that stunt. She had asked him to come not just because he was the best healer, but because he was, as Ivory said, “chill”.

She had figured he’d be a good first introduction to the people that lived on the other of the door, to the rest of the Underground.

Then the bastard went and attacked Ivory!

Toriel wondered if this would push Ivory back, if she’d go back to hiding in her room again once this was over was she going to have dinners, patrols, and be baking alone again? and if so how was she going to get the poor skeleton to trust her again.

Yes, she was proud Ivory decided to continue, but was upset that Ivory was more then likely right about what would happen if they went to someone else. She now didn’t know if she could trust Gerson with Ivory’s safety, but Ivory was trusting her to keep her safe. So, she gritted her teeth and allowed it.

She kept an eye on him as he went through a normal check: checking her Level of Violence (see Gerson? A solitary 1! Perfectly harmless.), hope (she only had 2?! How horrifying!), checking her attack (she and Gerson could not read it correctly), and defense (3? That was very low…) but what surprised Toriel was that apparently Ivory had a surname. Not everyone in the Underground had them, most substitute it with their ethnic species.

Still, it was overall rather worrying. All of Ivory’s stats were low or illegible.

After that Gerson went for the custom part of the checkup.

Custom checking was a normal part of it, allowing the healers to see what the patient magic specialized in, such as healing, attacking, rebuilding, defending, growing or creating.

Traditionally skeletons were well known for attacking and creating, with healing as a close third but since Ivory hailed from the surface, it was entirely possible she didn’t have these.

The first one was to be the attacking test, since neither Gerson or her could accurately see it. This meant they had to leave the house and travel a bit, since before all this Toriel had set up a couple of the tests they’d need.

As they walked, Gerson spoke to Ivory, pointedly keeping Toriel between them.

“I have already ruled out healing. No offense, but your magic does not sooth people, and I don’t think it would be wise to see what your magic could do to a wound.”

Ivory made an agreeing hum, Toriel nodding. Ivory as a healer was bound to cause more harm than good, despite her good intentions.

Rebuilding, like the Froggits was not a normal skeleton ability, but it could be learned. Though with how shaky Ivory is with her magic, it might not be a good idea. Later, when she had better control, but not now.

Defending didn’t look likely either, seeing how low Ivory’s defense was. It could be boosted, but considering how low her hope was, it didn’t seem likely.

Growing, like with the Vegatoids, was not very likely either. Skeletons had a hard time correctly nurturing plants to grow.

 Creating seemed the most likely, as skeletons were great at summoning and could create bones and other items at will. If nothing else, she’d encourage Ivory to create things.

But for now, they had to test out where her attack was at.

Finally, they arrived, Ivory giving a surprised hum.

It was the area where the dummy residing ghost lived, a place Toriel usually didn’t linger. She had asked the ghost dummy’s help with this and they were kind enough to agree.

“As we cannot see some of your stats clearly, it would be best to just test them out. Toriel has informed me that this fellow has agreed to aide us.”

“Don’t worry. We requested our friend here to be your opponent. They won’t attack you.”

“But,” Ivory stammered, pulling at her sleeve. “what if I hurt them?”

Toriel sent a tendril of comfort and encouragement to Ivory missing Gerson’s curious look at Ivory’s complete lack of reaction, as though she couldn’t feel Toriel’s emotions.

“That is why we are here. We’ll keep either of you from causing too much damage.”

Looking back at the dummy, Ivory took a deep breath. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

I really, really, really don’t want to do this.

What you wanted to do was hide in your room, get into your pj’s, make a pillow fort, eat alfredo smothered noodles and never leave.

Gerson had scared the shit out of you. You may never feel safe around him again, but you needed this done and over with. Sure, you could ask for another healer, but they may not be so restraint like Gerson had been, deciding that you was the more prudent option.

Gerson was proof just how screwed up your soul was compared to others. In the game, shopkeepers like Gerson didn’t attack you THIS ISN’T A GAME ANYMORE. The fact he attacked after seeing it just highlighted the vast difference your soul and this world's souls were.

Now you knew you could never let your soul out again. Best case scenario they react in disgust and dread like Toriel. Worst case, they will try to kill you.

Now here you were, keeping as far from Gerson as you could while still hearing him, testing out if you could attack. And they wanted you to attack the poor dummy.

While figuring your attacks was a good thing, what if you hurt them instead? You had no desire to hurt anyone.

Gerson (standing next Toriel who was giving him the stink eye), had pulled out a pen and notebook in hand. “Just attack that dummy as hard as you can.”

“Um… with my fists or magic? Because if you want magic, I am going to need you to show me how.”

Gerson blinked rapidly, like it didn’t dawn until now that you literally had no clue how to use your magic.

“Oh, right. I want you to close your eyes.”

You did, but not before shooting Toriel a look to ensure if she should. Upon getting a nod and encouraging smile, you did.

“Now focus on your soul. Think of it as a conduit of your will, your ambitions, your desires.”

You focused, trying to define the feeling of your soul. After nothing happened you heard Chara sigh.

Think of it as a feeling. You remember the buzzing sensation when you were practicing on your own? Think on that, but picture it like… like a heartbeat. The pulses are your magic flowing from the center to the rest of your body, before returning. Just like how the heart pumps oxygen out into your entire body, your soul is pumping magic to your entire body. Now picture that you need to direct some of that magic out, like your donating it to creating something.

Donating? Like blood?

You could picture that. you’ve donated blood before; the first time was rememberable because you had been stupid and hadn’t eaten or drank anything before, resulting in you getting dizzy and collapsing.

You recalled the feeling of lethargy and lightheadedness before that, and how after you felt oddly light for a few days after. Since then, you’ve donated several times, and while you had gotten better about preparing before, you still always felt that strange lightness after.

Ivan once joked that it was because you were missing a pint of blood, making you lighter the sweet dork.

You recalled the sensation of the blood leaving your body, focusing on the feeling.

A slight thrumming sensation filled you bones, and you cracked open a socket to look at Gerson.

Both he and Toriel looked uncomfortable, but the ancient tortoise nodded. “Good. I can feel that.”

Is that why he looks constipated? Chara mused.

“Now focus on creating an orb in your hand. Like this.”

Swallowing, you did as he showed you, magic trickling onto your hand, a pale copper glow engulfing it. A small white ball of magic rested in your hand, looking like a glowing snowball.

I-I did it. you thought, momentarily giddy at your success.

Now picture stabbing your enemies in the face with it.

You proceeded to ignore the stab-happy child, focusing on the dummy. You mentally told yourself that the ghost in it had given permission… but what if you do hurt it? You had no desire to hurt anyone…

Just throw it already! Chara yelled, startling you into chucking the ball at them. It dispersed before it even got half way to the smirking child.

Looking back at Gerson and Tori, the former instructed you to try and again and this time aim, while the latter gave you another encouraging smile.

You winded up, pitching it like a baseball—

And watched as it literally bounced off the dummy.

Three looks of confusions were directed at the dummy (who was giving off an air of bewilderment as well). You weren’t far behind them in confusion.

“Uhh… try again.”

Chara had gotten close, looking at the dummy closely as they motioned you to throw another. Summoning another sphere, you threw it again. Like before, it bounced off.

Chara stalled next to it, a look of disbelief on their face. You… you literally only did one-tenth of a point of damage. One-tenth of a single point. You might as well have been tickling it. Stars, you suck.

Looking back at Gerson and Tori, you found both of them with equally baffled looks on their faces.

“Um… could you do that again? With a bit more intent behind it?”

Feeling a hot flush across your face, you summoned another ball and threw it. Like before it bounced off the dummy, who despite having an inert face seemed to be quietly laughing at you.

“Again, please?”

And so, you repeated, over and over, the perplexed look on Toriel’s face making you want to hide in a hole. Gerson’s expression had shifted to a more professional one, writing furiously in the note book.

Chara, of course, was now looking torn between laughing at you and being horrified at your lack of lethalness. Congrats, you managed to finally bring it down an entire half a single point in health. At this rate the dummy will lose interest and leave before you get even a fourth of the way through.

“Well! I can safely say I have never seen anyone do so little damage before.” Gerson said, finishing writing.

“Let’s start on something else. Creation, we’ll start on creation. Ivory, please form a bone attack.”

Still embarrassed, you focused on your magic again, willing it into a bone. Like before, the copper-colored magic engulfed your hand, and slowly in front of you was a small bone forming. It was white and looked like a stereotypical cartoon bone, but it was a bone nonetheless. The fact you made it on your first try brought a smile on your face and made your eye lights transform into bright stars, not that you were aware of that but Toriel and Gerson took note of it.

“Slower than I expected, but very good. Now please create a femur.”

The bone you just create dissolved shortly after that, and you re-focused on creating a femur. It took longer, as you had to remember what a femur looked like. Soon though a real-looking femur was in front of you.

“Very good. Now make a rib cage.”

That took even longer, a whole half hour and parts of it were still see-through. You felt a bit drained.

“You are slow, but speed can be achieved with time. I will let Toriel aide you with further creations, as well as keeping the creations from dispersing. Now let’s move on to defense. Stand over there please.”

The rib cage and femur dissolved as you walked away, standing not far from the dummy (who had turned to watch).

“Toriel will throw a fireball out you and I want to see you defend yourself from it. Ready?”

No, you thought looking at Toriel. But I need to learn.

The fireball shot out, slowly making its way to you. You dodge it, wondering why Toiel didn’t at least make it go at a normal pace.

“Um, Tori? I don’t think most attacks are that slow…” you thought back at Gerson quick attack, shuddering. Focus. “Could you speed it up a little?”

Toriel frowned a little, but complied. The next fireball was faster, but you still dodged it. after a third one, Gerson stopped you.

“While I approve of you dodging, why aren’t you using your magic?”

“Because you told me to defend myself? And dodging is good at that.” Sans is proof of that.

“True, but you can’t dodge forever. Either you’ll tire out or find yourself in a situation where you can’t dodge the attack. Please form a barrier using bones.”

But…it took forever to summon up bones… and the bigger it was the longer it took!

You tried, summoning tiny bones to block the fireballs, though the bones were immediately destroyed on contact.

Gerson once more stopped you and Toriel. “Now I want you to create a large construct to shield you from Toriel’s attack.”

You felt frustration but kept quiet. Your emotions must have given you away again, because Gerson brought his hands up in a passive gesture. “I’m not telling you to do this to anger you. The little bones are a good idea, but they are very weak and are only good if the attack is coming head on, and only if you can see it. There may come a time where you need to shield yourself and others. A barrier can help you, even if it is temporary.”

You sighed, knowing he was right. But that still left you in a pickle. “How can I conjure a shield if it takes me forever to summon them? And if my defense is low, won’t that make a weak defense?”

“Practice and time. Maybe using a certain type of bone or bones to help you associate it with defense? Like in the past, femurs were often considered a very typical attack since you could easily use it like a club. Maybe you could use a wall of bones, or even a rib cage as a form of defense. As for your low defense, you are right.  All your defenses will be low, but it may help buy you time until you can get help.”

It’ll remain low until you can get your HP up, Chara stated, floating near your head. You could also raise it by increasing your LV, but I would be really furious with you if you took that route. Not that you will, you sad little bony pacifist.

You couldn’t stop yourself from flipping Chara off, even though both Toriel and Gerson looked confused by you seemingly making a hand gesture at the wall.

Before you could ask Gerson further questions, Toriel interrupted. “I think a break is in order. Ivory isn’t used to this kind of strain, and I feeling peckish.”

You smiled gratefully at her. “Can we go to the market? We can get an easy snack and then go back to this.”

She smiled, looking really happy. I think she is happy you want to go out into public even after Gerson’s attack.

Oh, right you forgot how you reacted with Flowey.

You thanked the dummy for its help (and judging by the way it shook you theorized it was saying “Your welcome”) and walked ahead of Toriel but not far enough you couldn’t keep Gerson in your sights. He stayed firmly next to Toriel, so you relaxed ever so slightly.

You honestly wanted to go to the market place because you’ll be around other people, and you hoped people would keep Gerson busy with ailments he could fix, so he’d have to rush the rest of the checkup and go home faster.

It was selfish thinking, but you really wanted him to leave.

You just wanted today to end already.

Chapter Text

 The trip to the market was uneventful, and you thanked whatever passed for a deity in this world for it (unless it really was Chara, in which case you hoped they developed a severe allergic reaction to chocolate). The three of you had stopped at one of the vegetoid stands, Gerson picking a sandwich, Toriel a pastry and you decided to munch on a tomato seeing as you didn’t have much of an appetite.

It didn’t seem very busy today, only shop keepers and a handful of people about buying. You were grateful to see some of the older resident’s had started flocking to Gerson upon realizing he was here, wanting to catch up and have the ancient healer work his magic.

All the better for you, this allowing you a chance to relax. You didn’t feel worn out, more like how one would feel after getting home from the gym. Achy but in a good way.

While Gerson was talking with the older residents Toriel had gravitated towards Sativa the Parsnik, most likely to talk about snail shipments or something.

That left you by yourself, if one did not include the parasitic apparition that was currently whining about boredom.

Ignoring them, you wandered through the market place looking idly at the wares for something to catch your eye(socket).

A smell caught your attention, and for a moment you were reminded of your parents’ home, when Nana had been feeling like making Italian food and ended up making a sauce that you fell in love with. Inhaling deeply, you followed the scent, praying it was what you thought it was.

Near the end of the market place, right before it went into the residential was a stand with another vegetoid manning it.

It didn’t take you long to find the source of the scent, and upon finding it you were practically bouncing with excitement. Looking at the vegetoid (who was giving you a rather amused look) you tried to casually inquire about the sauce.

The monster still looked amused as they said that, yes, that was Alfredo sauce you were smelling. You refrained from whooping with joy, instead you attempted to casually buy the largest jar they had.

Judging by the mirth the vegetoid was shaking with, you failed at looking (or more likely feeling) casual, but you now had Alfredo sauce.

“I’m tempted to just guzzle it here and now.” You said out loud, making the vegetoid laugh as you walked away with your prize.

Actually, why don’t I? Sans drinks ketchup, so its probably not that weird. You thought, looking the jar over. But Mom always said you can’t drink it since it isn’t healthy… buuuuut I’m not human anymore, so normal health issues don’t apply to me anymore. Oh, what the hell, You decided with a shrug. Popping the jar open, you proceeded to down its contents with gusto missing the disgusted and surprised look the vegetoid was giving your back, as well as Chara's revolted look of disbelief as you quite literally drank Alfredo sauce like it was water.

Okay, that was delicious. You thought, whipping your teeth with a sleeve. You were definitely getting more later. Putting the jar in a trash bin near one of the stands, you continued your meandering, simply enjoying the quiet.

I’m booooooored. Chara whined, floating near your head in a listless manner.

“Then go and do something.” You spoke, raising your phone to your head to give the illusion you were actually talking to someone who was alive.

But there is nothing to do. They pouted.

“Why don’t you go back to the Void? I’m sure it misses you.”

I’m not that bored.

“Shame. I was hoping for some peace and quiet.”

And deprive you of my awesome company? Perish the thought.

You turned to look at them and deliver your retort when the metaphorical air got knocked out of your absent lungs.

“Miss Skeleton!”

It took you a moment to register the small Loox child who had managed to knock you to the ground, and upon seeing Lookie Eyewalker grinning happily at you, you returned the smile.

“Hey kiddo!”

Lookie sat up long enough to yell, “Miss Skeleton is here!” before going back to hugging your rib cage. Almost immediately you were swarmed by a small herd of colorful Loox children, all babbling happily at you.

Most of them looked vaguely familiar, and you assumed they were there during the Loox family reunion. You wished you could remember their names, but settled for figuring who was who by their characteristic. A orange one in dull blue and black stripes was talking about a project they did for school (there was a school in the Ruins?), another who was a silver color with grey and pink stripes was going on about a family related drama, while Lookie refused to budge from their spot on your lap.

Suddenly a small red Loox started shouting above the rest. “Miss Skeleton! Miss Skeleton! Tell us a story!”

Immediately after saying this, all the children dropped whatever they were talking about and started chanting, “Story! Story! Story!”

You chuckled, setting Lookie down as you stood up. “I see. You just wanted me to tell a story! You really didn’t want to see me personally.”

Most of the kids had the decorum to look abashed. The little red one just shrugged and said, “Yup, that’s right. Story time now?”

You couldn’t stop the laughter at the tiny child’s blunt answer, and neither did Chara.

“Such a charmer! Ohhhh… I guess I could tell a little story. Ever hear the tale about the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh?” You said with mirth, quickly thinking of how to make it monster friendly while adding your own spin on to the Disney classic.

As soon as they realized you really were about to tell a story the kids scrambled to find a sitting place, some of the smaller ones sitting in the laps of bigger kids.

You grinned at their antics, feeling for the first time that day fully relaxed.

You began the story, starting with the (in your humble option) best musical intro the 1960’s Disney movies ever made.

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

The soldiers of the king feared his name

Scarecrow...

On the southern coast of England

There's a legend people tell

Of days long ago

When the great Scarecrow

Would ride from the jaws of hell

And laugh (Ahhh! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-haaa!)

With a fiendish yell

With his clothes all torn and tattered

Through the black of night he'd ride

From the marsh to the coast

Like a demon ghost

He'd show his face then hide

And he'd laugh

Till he'd split his side

So the king told all his soldiers

"Hang him high or hang him low

But never return

Till the day I learn

He's gone in flames below

Or you'll hang

With the great Scarecrow”

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The soldiers of the king feared his name

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The country folk all loved him just the same

Scarecrow

He would always help the farmer

When there was no gold to bring

He'd find a way

For the poor to pay

The taxes of the king

"Scarecrow"

Ev'ry man would sing

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The soldiers of the king feared his name

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

Scarecrow (Scarecrow)

The country folk all loved him just the same

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Many of the children's eyes were wide, leaning in as you started the story proper. Grinning, you began the tell the story in earnest, allowing yourself to emerge with the tale. You only vaguely noticed that Chara had drifted near your audience, watching you as intently as they did. None of you noticed the yellow flower that was listening in, looking interested at the tale you were weaving for your audience.

It was nice, getting caught up with old friends. Gerson had eventually found Toriel and his old friend Savita, chatting about snails. Toriel had frowned at him but didn’t try to keep him out of the conversation. He knew he wasn’t forgiven, but it seems that Toriel was willing to give him a chance.

Probably because of Ivory, he thought sadly, still shamed at his own actions. Savita looked at him suddenly, concern on his serpentine face.

“Is something the matter, friend?”

Oh, he must have not been paying attention to his own feelings. Sighing, Gerson looked to Toriel, looking to her for how much was to be said. Toriel looked conflicted for about a second before shrugging, a tendril of comfort touching him.

“I had requested Gerson to do a check up on Ivory.”

Savita looked concern, a ripple of worry flowing out mixed with inquiry. “Is this because of her nearly falling down not too long ago? Has she lost more hope?”

Gerson felt alarmed at this. Ivory had nearly fallen down? Stars, he knew her hope was worryingly low, but Toriel didn’t say it had been that bad. Had she been losing hope? 

She fell from the surface… you remember what it had been like the first few centuries for everyone. He thought with a wince. The first few centuries into their imprisonment had been very rough, with a massive number of people who fell down and eventually dusted from lack of hope.

They had lost entire groups of monsters, such as the blemmyaes, the gargoyles, the magyrs, and most of the fire and sun elementals. There were many more, but Gerson had for his own sanity and hope chose to not to dwell on the massive loss of lives.  

He and countless others have gotten very good at ignoring their situation, choosing to focus on how to make better the lives of others.

He watched as Toriel sent the old Parsnik a balm like palliative feeling to ease his worry.

“She is fine. But her… soul is worrisome. We think the event that lead to her loosing her family has warped her soul.”

Under normal circumstance, he would have chided Toriel for speaking about one of his patients like this, queen or no. But considering who she was talking to, he allowed it. Savita knew what it was like to nearly fall down, having suffered great loss in his time. He had recovered, though it left his soul with deep cracks.

A cracked soul was considered the lesser of two ailments, because while it was worrisome to have cracks in one’s soul, it could theoretically mend with time and care. A warped soul was worse, seeing how the soul itself was no longer in its right form, and could negatively affect the person’s mental state.

And now we have a new level of sickness, in the form of Ivory’s frankly grotesque soul.

Savita looked horrified at the news, but before he could ask more several younger vegetoids rushed past them, excitably talking out loud. One of them stopped, smiling at Savita. “Um, Savita? Can you tell my Mum I’ll be at the edge of the Market place?”

Quickly hiding his concern, the elderly veggie smiled at the young one, exuding a poised yet warm aura. “Sure, but why are you going there?”

“Oh, Miss Skeleton is telling some stories! The Loox’s won’t shut up about her stories so I really want to hear one! Thanks Savita!” And with that they were off, catching up with their friends.

The three adults watched them go before looking at each other. Without saying anything, Savita placed a break sign on his snail stand and went where the children had ran off to, Toriel and Gerson close behind.

They weren’t the only adults who seemed interested, seeing how most of the market vendors had placed up signs and went to the edge of the market place. As they got closer, the air felt charged with emotions, bright and warm.

Soon they were at the edge, where a very large crowd of children were sitting, adults lingering near the back. It wasn’t just Loox and Vegetoids either, there was a good number of Froggits, Misgosps, a few Whimsuns and even one Moldsmal near them.

In front of them was Ivory, completely focused on the audience before her, animatedly gesturing as she spoke, her emotions swirling thickly through the air, lending a sense of excitement as well as the tone of the story.

One of Savita’s serpent vines poked a Froggit, asking what the story was about.

“The story is about a monster named Doctor Syn, mild-mannered priest by day, masked avenger of justice by night.”

 “Yeah!” a Misgosp whispered. “The doctor dresses as a scarecrow monster to hide his identity, to help the poor and downtrodden while fighting against an evil monarch and his general.”

“Shhhh! I can’t hear her!” A Whimsun snapped at them, surprising those that heard the normally meek being.

Suddenly Ivory’s let out a demented sounding laugh, eye-lights glowing a vividly bright copper as anticipation filled the air. “Ahhh! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-haaa!”

The air around him practically exploded with passion as the children around the skeleton shook with excitement and motivation. Was Ivory actually displaying what she wanted them to feel?

The children excitably chattering among themselves, and Ivory’s grin was wide as she looked up—

And suddenly the grin froze, copper colored eye lights dimming to white, as the warm cheery sensation in the air suddenly scattered, shock, apprehension and embarrassment replacing it, the previously expanding sentiments shrinking tremendously.

What just happened? he wondered, felling like he just got whiplashed from the sudden change in emotional atmosphere.

“Did… did she not realize we were here? Oh roots, she hadn’t noticed we were here and is now embarrassed.” Savita whispered, looking sympathetic towards the skeleton who couldn’t even form a sentence now.

The children were emitting confusion at Ivory’s sudden change (the girl was physically folding in on herself, potent feelings of mortification flooding off her), and started looking around, many realizing that the crowd watching was much bigger than before Ivory started her story. A small white Loox stood up, glaring in what they must have meant as a fierce way but really just made them look pouty.

“Hey! Go away! Your scaring her!”

A sense of clarity rippled through the children and many of the adults, one Gerson understood. So, she gets shy when adults hear her telling stories? Or when she is in front of bigger crowds?  Looking at Ivory (who was looking anywhere but in front of her, even looking behind herself), he wondered if she was always shy or developed that due to her soul.

Suddenly the ground shook, many freezing up in dread. A cracking noise filled the air, and sheer terror griped him and countless others. Looking up, Gerson prayed he hadn’t just felt the cave ceiling starting to collapse. It had happened far too many times in his life time and was something that still terrified him to this day.

Instead of the ceiling, he looked up in time to see a nearby building crumble forward, pitching right where they all stood. Panic flooded his senses as everyone tried to run for it, adults grabbing children left and right in a mad desperate dash to safety, he himself grabbing the closest youngsters and running, though a part of him knew it wouldn’t be enough, that he wouldn’t be quick enough, but he had to try.

The last thing he saw and heard was Toriel reaching for him, and a thunderous ‘LUB-DUB’ that shook his very soul.

Chapter Text

He should just collapse the building now. That stupid skeleton was right there, and even better they were in front of a group of people! Multi kill for the win!

Buuuuut, she was telling a pretty good story… he could wait till she was done.

It wasn’t often he got to hear a new story, and she was surprisingly good at telling them.

For someone who had a habit of hiding behind his Mother’s Toirel’s skirt, she could definitely tell a great story. He could feel the tension and anticipation in the story! And unlike the ache in his face, this felt nice!

It was practically a pity she was about to get crushed to death. If all her stories were this good, he’d almost be willing to exempt her from his experiment.

Oh well. He thought with a shrug, listening to her story and coasting on the emotions she was emitting from the tale and savoring the benign sensations that miraculously soothed the ache in his face. he could feel, and it didn't hurt like the last time he had interacted with her magic. He wondered if it was because she was feeling positive emotions—

Suddenly the emotions were disconnected, causing him to jerk back at the sudden cut off.

He watched as the skeleton seemed to fold in on herself at the realization that the crowd was much bigger than she thought. He felt an odd and detached moment of sympathy for her before shaking his head. there was a small and needy part of him that wanted to stop this experiment until she was gone so he could feel those benign feelings again, but he pushed that aside in the name of curiosity.

Looking back at the task at hand, he twisted and grew his vines, severing the last of the foundation that kept the building up, tearing a large section out to make it give way in the desired direction.

With a clinical sort of impartiality, he watched as the building proceeded to sway before plunging, falling in the path that held most of the Ruins populace.

A booming ‘LUB-DUB’ filled the air, followed by a cacophony of the same eerie noise. Then a tempest of magic shot out from the beneath the falling the building, slamming into him with the same force one would feel if free falling and suddenly impacting the ground at high terminal velocity.

He wheezed, feeling crushed by the magic, recognizing the magic as hers.

Pain course through him, like his entire body was simultaneously set on fire, frozen and electrocuted, accompanied by a menagerie of conflicting and overwhelming emotions.

Stop, He thought desperately. ᔕtoP!  🅂 TØp! ρl€aşᗴ  ŞŤ¤p! ɯ,I SᵒＲⓇY!!!!

He fled, dug deep into the ground, desperate to escape.

You had never been great with crowds. Small groups like the kids? That was fine. This though? You honestly wished you knew how to correctly short cut to get away from this.

Honestly, you hadn’t noticed the rather large crowd that had emerged, having gotten so into the story and watching the kid’s reaction. But now, Lookie and the tiny red one were standing in front of you, yelling at the crowd to leave you alone.

It made you non-existent heart go ‘awwww’.

A thunderous crack filled the air, and for a moment you thought it was an actual thunder clap, but the ground was shaking, and people were screaming, pointing off to—

Where a building was collapsing.

You froze, soul felt like it dropped with enough force that you wouldn’t be surprised it had left a crater beneath you.

The world seems to slow down, you rooted to the spot as you looked around, feeling detached from the fear before looking back at the swiftly approaching building.

Can’t move. Scared. Goiᵍnͦgͥᶰ ᵍtoͭ ͦdiͩeͥ.ͤ ᵍSͦcͥᶰaᵍreͭdͦ.ᵈᶤᵉ Terror gripped your soul, tears welling in your sockets as you froze in place. ˢGͣoͮdͤ, ͫIͤ’ˢmͨ ͣgͬoͤiͩnˢgͦ ˢtͨoͣ ͬdͤiͩe…

“M-Miss Skeleton!” Lookie cried out, tears flooding his eye, as he clung to the bawling tiny red Loox, the children huddled around you tearfully crying out in panic, and for a moment a seven-year-old Ivan flashed in your head.

…and so is ev͐̋e̿r̄̋͋y̌̍ͣo͑̍͆͗ne͛͊͊ ̓̉̏el͒̑sͥe͗.ͤ̏͗.

That sparked something deep within you, something primal and deeply rooted in your very character.

The sight of these small frighten children crying for their lives filled you with a overwhelming desire to keep the young ones safe. You are filled with Determination.

You didn’t care if you weren’t strong enough, you had to do something!

Bracing yourself, you grabbed the magic thrumming within you, and ignoring every doubt this is no place for doubt you had and summoned the biggest densest bones you could think of.

Time slowed down further in your mind as bones the width of the vendor stands launched out of the ground and rushed towards the hurtling building. You spared just enough of a look around to the cluster of people around you, mentally tallying them as you summoned huge bones around them to block the falling chunks of the building. Glad to see they weren’t dissipating on impact, you kept switching your sight to the rapidly oncoming building and the groups still unprotected.

You were wheezing, feeling like you had just lost a ton of blood and desperately trying to remain standing, the children around you looking about at the bones in alarm yet hope blossomed at the sight.

It wasn’t going to be enough, you couldn’t protect them and keep the oncoming building from collapsing on top of everyone.

Panic bubbled inside you. People or building?! People but no guarantee of survival or building and still lots of crushed people?! I didn’t have time or magic—

You looked around again, spying Chara not far from you. Chara was just standing there, looking up in terror before eyes clenching shut, curling in on themselves to protect their tiny body from the debris, tearing running down their face. A wall of bones sprouted around them, you unconsciously trying to keep them safe like the rest of the kids. They looked to where you were, lips wobbling, tears running down their face and distress and panic etched in them frighten red eyes—

The sight of Chara, terrified and weeping pissed you off and triggers your instinctual desire to protect those younger than you even further. You are filled with enough Determination to nuke a small country.

Something erupted inside you, growing, burning, and pain, pain like you have never experienced before— 

—  ᶰYou feᶠlˢt likeʲ you wʷeˡrˡeᶰ dipˡpˡeʷd in nucᶠlˢear enᶠeˢrgy— 

—  lͥiʷkͥˡeˡ ᶰsͦoͭmeͣˡoˡnͦʷe ͥhͭaᶠdͧ ͨᵏseͭtͪ ͥˢyˢoͪuͥrͭ mͥarͬrͤᶠoͧˢwͤ oͭnͦ fͩiͥrͤe —

—  liͥkeͬ ͤᶠyͧˢoͤu ͭwͦerͩeͥ ͤbeͥinͬgͤᶠ ͧˢiͤmmͭoͦlˡeͤtͭedͣᶰ ʸtͦᶰoͤ dͩeͥaͤth —  

B̭̬̠͓̼̐ͬ̌u̲͉̱̮̮̲͑͆ṯ̭̫ ̫͔̲̬͔̥̗ͮ̓̀̓y͔̖̖̞̞̋̓̂̇͊ͨo̠͖̠ͮ̎̀͋̕u̫̩̫̻͈ ̄̈͏̯̤ȓ̠̺̘̠̯͎̻e̛͙̙͙̣ͩ̀̏fù͕͇̱̤͔͕̐ͬͭs̘̗̊ę̈́̐ͥd̟ d̾̀̆̄͒eͧ͐͊̎â͑ṫͨ́h̭̥̭͑ͥ.

 “FUCK THIS SHIT!”

You summoned that magma-like magic that coursed through you and unleashed it, people pinging in your head like a sensor as your quickly counted the numbers and immediately surrounded them, an idea forming quickly. Gerson said that certain bones were identified for certain uses. You knew that a rib cage was meant to protect a human’s innards. It could be used to surround a person in a similar manner. The cages were cartoony and not great looking, but it was solid and hovered over the everyone.

At the same time, you forced the still rushing bones to grow in size. They collided with the building, embedding within it, flicking your hand in a arch to make them grow bone spurs to catch on to walls inside. The building barely slowed down, so you threw another set of bones at it. you kept throwing sets of bones at the slowing building, using the last few sets to brace the bigger ones that were beginning to crack under the pressure. Finally, after over a dozen sets the building finally came to a halt.

You were wheezing through clenched teeth, your head felt like it was going to crack open and every bone in your body felt like it was melting and vibrating at the same time, you vision hazing around the edges. How you were standing was a mystery.

“Miss Skeleton…?” Somewhere you heard one of the children, but it sounded far, far away.

One of your cages was moving towards you- you didn’t see it, but you felt it moving. In fact, several cages were moving, mostly in no see-able pattern, the cages acting like blips in your head, like watching a sonar radar pinging. Someone came into view, and you vaguely knew this monster but in your current state you couldn’t even begin to identify anyone.

“I-Ivory?”

A worrying groan was heard overhead, the bones keeping the structure up cracking and fracturing.

“Get…out. People.” You managed to wheeze through clenched teeth, something slick and wet rolling down your skull.

“What…?”

“Can’t keep up… get out. Bones-breaking-getout.”

The vegetoid(?) grimaced and nodded turning to speak to someone. That someone was Toriel who moved in front of you.

“How long can you keep that up, Ivory?”

Another ominous groan overhead, dust falling thickly.

“Not sure. Not long. Geteveryoneout!”

The haziness in your sight was getting worse, and you were fairly certain if you moved at all, you’d drop dead. The pinging in your head kept going, cages moving around, Toriel’s voice sounding so far away.

Soon you felt the cages moving in one direction, some merging with others, getting further and further away from you and your area of ‘sight’. You really hoped your ‘vision’ ended where the exit out from under here was.

Soon they blipped completely out, and then another group blipped out followed by another. You focused on these blips because it meant they were alive, and it distracted you from the pain your body was in.

After what felt like an eternity with creaking and crumbling from a build that was getting harder and harder to hold up, and each blip off your ‘radar’ sounding like a victory to your agony-marinated body someone came up to you, though you hadn’t a clue who, the haze in your gaze rendered you practically blind from the pain.

“…vory…got every… those constructs… enough… you… get out?”

You tried to look at them despite your blurry vision—

[Gerson Boom]

[LV: 3]

[HP: 29/32]

[AT: 34]

[DF: 30]

[This monster is remorseful on how he treated you. He wants to help.]

Huh. That was new.

Hey, you still alive?

Of all the things you could hear clearly…

Oh good, you’re still breathing. He wants to know if you can get out before the building crushes you.

No. you can’t. You were not getting out of here on your own… but if you did move the building would fall, and Gerson would die with you. You didn’t like him, but he was needed. You’d bet your spine there was wounded.

You’ll die…

Oddly enough, it wasn’t so scary now. You weren’t sure if the pain you were in was just so bad it destroyed your self-preservation or if you simply accepted it.

“Ivory?” oh, he sounded worried…

“Ye-es. Go.” You lied, but strangely enough you didn’t feel bad about it.

For once your magic didn’t tell on you, because he left.

So how are you getting out?

“Not.”

Not…what?

“Not gettin’ out.” You were kinda proud you had formed a full sentence.

But… you have to. You made a contract.

“S’rry.”

I don’t understand. You… are you just going to let yourself die?

“Hm.”

But-but I need you. I can’t break that barrier by myself! What about whats-his-face, your brother?! Aren’t you going to save him?! WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP??!

You hadn’t heard them scream before, they sounded hurt and desperate. A rumble above told you that you didn’t have much time.

“Void.”

The seemed to stop them short. What are you going on about now?

The rumble got louder, and you felt one of your bone pillars fracture. “Void. Go.”

You are not making sense!

“Void. Go. You safe there.”

One of the main pillars broke, putting strain on the others.

“Please go. Be safe.”

You know I can’t die again. They said, but they sounded oddly soft.

The thing was you did know that out of everyone here, Chara wouldn’t get hurt. They were the least likely to acquire an injury…

…but the image of Chara, too scared to move and looking at you with tears running down their face and an expression of someone who was genuinely afraid for their life would not leave you.

You felt something in you breakdown and you just knew a good number of your bones had just dissipated.

With more effort than you ever thought you’d put into it, you managed to speak clearly. “You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts. So, shut up and get yourself somew’ere safe, Chara.”

An earth-shattering boom resounded out, multiple bones snapping under the weight of the building. Dust wafted throughout the air, as the building continued its collision course.

“VOID NOW CHARA!” You screamed, feeling like glass shards were tearing you apart from within, and you gave one last pulse of magic to get them to hurry up. The last thing you felt as the world collapsed around you was a yank on your soul before suddenly—

Silence. Silence and darkness.

You weren’t even aware that you blacked out.

Chara would be the last to admit to anyone that they didn’t always had a plan. Azzy certainly believed his sibling had plan within plans with adjacent plans to those plans. Chara liked that most people thought they plotted and schemed away, made them feel greater than they really were.

But in reality, Chara wasn’t the mastermind everyone seemed to think they were. Most of their plans boiled down to ‘do A to get B for C outcome’, which they liked. Simple plan was their main mode of operations, even if that required a bit more steps. The problem wasn’t the planning though, it was the execution of said plans.

It was becoming obvious to the lifeless child that even their most simple and straight forward plans tended to get snagged. They could see how each of their carefully laid plans got thrown out the window; the suicide jump into a hole in Ebbot Mountain, the obstinate and frankly mean behavior they exhibited towards their new family that first year to get them to show their true colors they were grateful that they were honest-to-stars good people, their plan to free everyone that failed so badly and left them in this nonliving state and Azzy worse off and their parents splitting, bringing Outworlders into their world in hopes of breaking the barrier and the hell it unleashed upon the timeline and Frisk, and the dealing with other Outworlders that used Frisk as a meat puppet they took far too much delight in tearing the soul apart.

Now here was another plan in motion, and Chara was waiting to see how kerfuffle this one would get. Because it would go badly somewhere, Chara knew this simply by the fact that if they were the one to come up with it than without fail something will go wrong.

They could count on one hand with fingers to spare how many of their actually plans went right, which was a depressing thought to think. But here Chara was hoping that whatever screwed up this time would be minor and only effect those who deserve it.

They wanted, more than anything, was to free their family and race, to let them out of their prison.

How many more failures were they going to endure before they succeeded? Chara was full of Determination, if nothing else.

What Copper Soul was full of though was anyone’s guess.

The thing Chara really hated about Outworlder souls were that they didn’t have just seven colors. Oh no, those freaks had the entire rainbow, each with their own set of abilities that Chara still didn’t know even a fraction of what they could do.

Pearl Soul had an affinity towards time magic, capable of creating save points and resets, an ability Frisk had absorbed during their merging.

Black Soul could create and enforce a set of ‘rules’ like you’d find in a game, having been inspired by the monsters check and stat and how encounters works. Chara kept this after chucking them back into their world and usually only used on those asses that went Genocide route on their populace not anymore though.

Copper Soul looked like they could be a mix of Bravery and Determination, except Chara found her to be fainthearted and irresolute at best. Copper Soul was constantly afraid and very rarely had any willpower outside of what was absolutely necessary, what they did have was pettiness, indecisiveness and a knack for blending in.

When they had dropped the newly transformed human in the Underground, Chara had figured she would have tried to leave, regardless of the fact they weren’t human anymore. Instead she put down roots and had accepted her fate with little fanfare, not even trying to fight her situation.

It had taken Chara an embarrassingly long time to discover that they had gone back in time, farther than they could ever go. Chara had thrown a fit in the Void, cursing themselves out for forgetting that even if she wasn’t human physically anymore, that newly made skeleton still had an Outworlder’s soul and if there was anything Chara had learned about Outworlder souls it was that their mere presence changed things.

But this was an opportunity Chara couldn’t afford to waste, and while they despised Outworlders they could work with them if absolutely necessary. It meant renegotiating the contract and giving up more control than they were comfortable with, but Chara was determined to see this through. Copper Soul wanted to go home with her brother’s soul, and Chara had quickly figured that as long as Copper Soul had a goal to work towards, she was determined enough.

What Chara hadn’t told the Copper Soul was that it was entirely possibly she’d die breaking that barrier, fragmenting her soul beyond repair. Chara and Black had seen Pearl shatter their soul breaking it in an attempt to escape the Underground to become a God on the surface, and for roughly an hour they were free… and would have probably stayed free had Pearl not done a save beforehand. It had been the only time either Black or Pearl tried to bring down the barrier, and it was the only thing that truly frightened them… and was the only thing that could truly kill an Outworlder.

Chara had every intention to keep their end of the deal, by sending the brother’s soul back as well as any remains of Copper’s soul… they just didn’t promise to actually return Copper’s brother to his body, nor to send Copper’s remaining soul shards into her body due to there being no mention of Copper’s body anywhere in the deal.

Was that cruel of Chara to warp the actual words of said contract? Yes, absolutely. Would they do it again to protect their world and people? Yes, absolutely.

You see, once the contract was renegotiated, Chara had decided to personally keep an eye on Cooper Soul. Humans were scum on their best days, and Outworlder humans were even worse than scum. Copper Soul may have been a weak-willed chicken, but even the most pathetic of humans could become very dangerous when left to their own devices.

Chara may have made her deliberately weak (weaker than they meant to), but they had no doubt that it wouldn’t be long before she figured out how to manipulate things to her benefit. It was only a matter of time before Copper Soul got it in her head that she could do anything (and worse, back up that belief with raw power), to realize that she was (even in monster form) so much more powerful than everyone else in the Underground. Copper Soul may have been acting like a decent person but Chara was patient. Copper Soul would eventually slip up and reveal her true colors and Chara would be there.

Chara had watched power corrupt Pearl and Black, the former more so, and if-when that happened, they would be there to drag Copper back into the Void. Or if they actually managed to bring down the barrier, Chara would reward her for her work by fulfilling the contract, but by the letter.

But if Copper Soul failed, then the previous timeline would reestablish itself and they’d be right back where they started.

But for now, Chara would watch Copper Soul, follow her around and act like the child they were and get petty satisfaction when the ticked off the transformed human, all awhile observing her.

Currently, Chara’s next big mistake was telling a rather delightful story about a renegade who wore a mask to fight against the oppression of a corrupt monarch.

And while listening to the rather enticing tale, Chara was doing a check on her stats… and trying to understand what they were seeing.

Ivory O͝stei͝n̡

͟L͞V: ̨1͏

HP̸: ͡7̨/7

A̛T:͘ 0

D͢F: 0

Th̷is͜ h͘um̶a̧n ̵loves t̢el̛li͏ng stori͞e͡s̶,̕ fįndin̵g j̕oy a͟n̶d ̢hơpe̡ ̸in͘ ͏thę s͜įmpl̸e͡ a͏ct.̡

Why had the stats changed? How in the world had her hope gone up while her defense and attack dropped to nothing? That shouldn’t be possible! Could Copper Soul change their stats at will? Or was it something else?

Suddenly Copper soul stopped telling her story, her emotions jumbling and screeching to a halt before practically withered away on the spot.

Chara looked around and realized with a startle that their were a much bigger number of people than before, with Mom and that dumb shell-head in the back.

Chara refocused on Copper Soul’s stats, suddenly curious.

Iv̸̢͝o͟ŗy̛͟ ̢҉Ǫ͏s͡ţ̕e̴i͟͝n͟

̕͜͢ĻV͠:̷͝ ͜1

̛Ḩ͟͞P͡͏:̶ ̶̷3͏͏/̸3̛

A͜͠T:̛͢ ͜͠͠1͞͏

D͏F̢̨:̨̛ 3̶͝0̴̧͡͞͡

Ţhi̸̸͢s̸̢ ̧̡h̛͏̢ưmąn ̸͘w̡̨a̡͝nt̨͘͜s ͡t͜o h͜͝id͠e̴̛͞ ou̡͘͏t̴̵͟ ͢o͝f̷ ̴e͜͞͡m̷͜b̨̛a̕͝r̸͡r̷͞a͘͢s͘s̕m̛͜͡e̶͜n̡̕t.

Situational changes? Copper Soul’s stats change depending on how they were feeling? Was that her ability? To change her stats? The only thing that hadn’t changed was the LoVe and name, but if she could harness the ability to change it at will…

Could she change her stats to godlike numbers? And if she could change it, was it just the numbers changing or her powers and skills? Sans was the single deadliest monster alive, the most skilled in all the Underground but he had the lowest stats in existence, was Copper Soul similar? Was she—

A rumble that brought back better some of their scariest memories echoed out, causing the azoic child to look around, praying they didn’t just hear the beginning of a cave-in.

Memories flood them, a lifetime ago, being trapped under rocks—

Instead, they saw a building start to fall, slowly but gaining in speed right where they were. Pieces were breaking off.

For a moment Chara froze as the people around them began to scream and panic, fleeing in all directions.

A massive piece tore away, and Chara could see that it would land right where they were floating. In the back of mind, they knew it couldn’t hurt them, they knew they were safe, but they still instinctively clenched their eyes shut and braced themselves as if it really could hurt them.

A deafening noise filled their ears as they felt like a tidal wave hit them, air whooshing past them. The noise sounded like a hammer hitting a drum rapidly just like—

—the hammering of a heart, beating in terror.

Chara’s eyes snapped opened, and for a moment didn’t understand what they were looking at. Stumbling away, it quickly became obvious that a pillar of massive bones surrounded them, having struck the falling chunk and was now holding it up.

Chara’s head whipped around to where Copper Soul was standing.

Arms stretched out and stance locked in a bracing manner was Copper Soul. Coppery magic covered her hands as her right socket was void black and her left filled with flashing copper and white light, the magic exhausting like a chimney from it.

All around them were bones of every size imaginable, surrounding people as it struck the falling debris. But it wouldn’t be enough, the main part of the building was falling too fast—

ᶰEͦveͣrͥyͬoʷnͣˡeˡ ˢwaͨˡsͦˢ ͥᶰgᵍoiͥᶰngͨ ͣᶰtͭoᵇ ͬgͤeͣtͭ ͪsqͪuͤˡiᵖshͫeͤd—

 “FUCK THIS SHIT!” Copper Soul screamed, the deafening noise of their soul somehow getting louder, to the point it vibrated through everyone with each ‘LUB-DUB’, and her right socket blazed to life in molten copper lights as her magic engulfed her entire body.

The magic held for a fraction of a second before exploding outwards, hitting everyone around her with the force of a gale. As the potent magic struck, it immediately began to form. In the span of a handful of blinks everyone – including Chara– was cocooned in an enormous rib cage construct, the pillars of bones expanding in size, rushing up to meet the collapsing building.

The bone pillars met the building head on, embedding deep within it. More pillars rushed after them, striking true with many embedding in it like the first group. A third row of pillars, a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, the building slowing with each impacted.

Finally, after the thirteenth set of pillars it stopped. Chara stared as dust and debris still fell, chunks tearing off… but the main body had been stopped. It was darker underneath the building the only real light being Copper’s slightly glowing bones. Chara grounded themselves on those dull lights, standing on wobbly legs when did they fall onto the ground?.

Shaking, Chara looked back to Copper Soul, a shaky smile on their face as they opened their mouth to… well, say something.

Any words they had died in their throat upon seeing the skeleton.

Dull rust-colored sweat rolled off of her head, teeth gritted so tight it was a miracle they hadn’t crushed them, eye sockets completely gone with the amount of light emitting from it, Copper’s whole body was shaking, the rattling barely audible over the ‘LUB-DUB’ , the noise so rapid Chara was certain if it had been an actual heart it would have ruptured.

I̷v͟or͞y O̵şt̷ein̶

̕LV: 1̡

H͢P: 6/20

AT: -5,̨00̛0̧

DF͞: 10̵,̵000͠

The world͡ said͝ ̷i̧t͘ ͡was̨ ̶tim̧e͏ ͏fo̡r͞ ̕h͡e͠r ͠tơ ̴di͏e̶.̛ ̴ But she͠ refused͝.

The Parsnik Mom liked to buy from had managed to get close, his rib cage barrier keeping him from getting too close, but close enough to talk. Chara couldn’t hear them over Copper’s soul, but whatever was said made the Parsnik grimaced but nod.

Mom got to them, and the Parsnik spoke quickly to her looking pointedly upwards. Chara looked up, head feeling fuzzy and aching from the vibrations from Copper’s soul.

At first Chara couldn’t see what was wrong, but as they focused, they soon realized that the bones were cracking, the sets of pillars having been getting progressive smaller, the last third or fourth not having met the building, instead bracing the bigger ones.

With horrified comprehension, Chara realized that Copper Soul had not really stopped the building, but rather delayed it.

Mom was barking out orders getting every adult to move. People were moving as fast as they could to get everyone out, some needing to dig out others from the fallen rubble. Those who were getting the children out discovered that when carrying others, the rib cages merged into one, making people try to move in groups.

Soon there was an assembly line of people working to get the debris off of others, Mom working hard to move the bigger stuff with the larger Froggits. Chara could see a fair amount of unconscious and wounded, but worse was the piles of dust. Chara had only spotted three, but they would bet one of their harvested souls that there were more.

Mom went to each rib cage healing who needed it, getting others to merge cages and flee. The geezer turtle was back up, face smeared in dust but awake and coherent enough to help.

A cracking noise echoed out, causing Chara to look to the bones keeping the building up, grimacing at the sight of the visible cracks that was webbing out on the main support ones.

Suddenly a swarm of flies rushed towards the cracks, smashing against it. More bugs and even frogs swarmed the various cracks in the bones, smashing into a fine paste against them. They were… solidifying?

Chara looked around again, seeing various Migosps and Froggits spitting out magic constructs that resembles flies and frogs that leaped at the fissures, but instead of damaging the bones they were hardening it, trying to keep them from cracking further. A few Looxs shot out rings of magic that gripped to the bones acting like a brace.

Oh, they are fortifying the pillars… Chara murmured, head pulsing in time with the heart beat-like magic that was coagulating the air around them. It was like swimming through jelly. Letting out a too relieved sounding sigh, Chara brushed their hair out of their face before frowning. Why was their face wet…? And how were they feeling it…?

It took Chara a moment to realize someone had stopped in front of their rib cage, but once they noticed Chara looked up, seeing their Mother standing outside. Her rib cage was more transparent than others (rather see-through), and Chara didn’t know if that was because Copper had faith in Mom, or if moving around degraded it.

At first Mom stared at the rib cage surrounding them in confusion, probably wondering why Copper had summoned one on nothing when suddenly Mom let out a startled gasp, drawing Chara’s attention to their beloved Mom.

Mom looked like she was looking straight at them, but that was impossible—

“Chara?” Mom whispered, reaching towards them, shocking Chara to their core.

Chara sucked in air, eyes wide in disbelief and hope. Mom?

And because clearly it was Chara’s typical luck and something out there clearly hated them and demanded that all of Chara’s plans and hopes get screwed in some fashion, a chunk of debris crashed through the barrier around Mom, shattering it and landing right on Mom’s head at that moment.

NO! Chara screamed rushing forward and out of the rib cage barrier.

They went right through Mom, but that didn’t stop them from trying to reach her. They had witnessed her die countless times but there was always the knowledge that it was temporary. But that was no longer the case, this was a timeline where Pearl and Black never came, their powers had been removed with the change. Mom could die and stay dead.

Mom! Move, please!

The damned turtle came over, checking Mom, the Parsnik came over as well and between the two of them hauled Mom out, Chara following behind.

“She alright?”

“Crack on the head. Looks though that the barrier took the brunt of that piece.”

“Gerson… about Ivory-”

“Later, Savita. Please. We still have people to get out of here.”

As if to prove his point, the building let out a deep broken groan, dust falling around them like murdered victims.

Once out from under the building Chara breathed easier, stopping when the turtle and Parsnik cleared the buildings area, turtle examining Mom again.

Had Chara imagined her seeing them?

They stayed by Mom as the adults rushed around, children crying and people hugging their loved ones.

Now that they weren’t under there they could think clearly. Why had the building fall? And why did Copper Soul decide to try and save everyone? She had made it clear that survival was her main motivation. Black Soul might have saved these people, if they thought of it as a mission, Pearl would have if only to get people to owe them. What was her motivation?

“Gerson, there should be only a few left now.”

“I’ll go get them and Ivory. Keep them calm, Savita.”

The turtle rushed back to the entrance into that death trap. For a moment Chara stalled, not wanting to back in there. You are the only one who can go in there and walk out. You can do this, that dumb Copper Soul probably needs you to hold her hand getting out. With a deep gulp Chara re-entered, following the turtle back to where Copper.

The Turtle had the last few survivors, but had stopped in front of Copper, who was as still as a statue.

“Ivory, we got everyone else out. Will those those constructs hold long enough for you to get out?”

When they didn’t immediately respond Chara floated close to them, taking in the wrecked looking skeleton in the torn and dusty robe.

Hey, you still alive?

A pained moan was barely audible.

Oh good, you’re still breathing. He wants to know if you can get out before the building crushes you.

The turtle called her name again, the skeleton wheezing out,  “Ye-es. Go.”

The turtle looked like he wanted to disagree, but grabbed the wounded near him and left, leaving Copper as the last living thing underneath the building.

For a moment Chara looked around, frowning. How was Copper getting out? They voiced this question and got an oddly chunky laugh for it.

 “Not.”

Not…what?

“Not gettin’ out.” Copper slurred.

Chara didn’t understand. But… you have to. You made a contract.

“S’rry.” She said, not very sorry sounding at all.

I don’t understand. You… are you just going to let yourself die? That didn’t make sense.

“Hm.”

Running a hand through their hair, Chara felt angry. No, that was too gentle a word for what they were feeling. Rage, rage was a better word. But-but I need you. You still have value. I can’t break that barrier by myself! I can’t break it at all! What about whats-his-face, your brother?! Doesn’t he matter anymore?  Aren’t you going to save him?! Why? WHY?! WHY ARE YOU GIVING UP??! HOW DARE YOU, I THOUGHT YOU WERE BETTER THAN THIS!

They hadn’t meant to lose their cool, but damnit they had thought Copper Soul at least wasn’t a quitter!

A rumble filled the air, and Chara flinched at the sound, reminding them that they were in what was effectively a tomb.

“Void.” Copper croaked out.

That stopped Chara short. What are you going on about now?

The rumble got louder, filled along with the sound of cracking. The hair on Chara’s neck stood up as they recognized the sound as bones cracking.

“Void. Go.”

What was she on about? You are not making sense!

“Void. Go. You safe there.”

One of the main pillars broke, putting strain on the others and Chara fought to not cry again.

“Please go. Be safe.” Copper sounded like she was pleading.

You know I can’t die again. they tried to sound smug but fell utterly short.

The right socket sputtered before snuffing out, many of the smaller bones dissipating with it. Copper was struggling to speak.

“You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts. So, shut up and get yourself somew’ere safe, Chara.”

A static filled Chara’s ears, staring in disbelief—

A thunderous roar resounded out, multiple bones snapping under the weight of the building. Dust billowed throughout the air, as the building continued back on its course downwards.

I̷v͟or͞y O̵şt̷ein̶̕

LV: 1̡

H͢P: 2/10

AT: ̡0

DF͞:͟ 5,863 

Sḫ̫̥̲̤ͭè ̄̏̾̇ͣͅc̈́̋ͫͣ̾aͩ̾͑řͩ̔e̪̠̼̦s͈̱̗͕̟̜ͯ ͬ̈́̉ab͚͂̀̉̄ͅo̹̠͙̟̐̓u͔͙̪̱̪ͥ̇ť̫̞̞̳̫͈ͦ̿ͅ ͔ͧ͛̈́y͉̫͕͖̆̈̊o̲̝͉̮̥͕uͭͦ̃͋͑̽̚,̫͈̔̈ͧ ̯̼̊̏́̏â̯͚̩ͣ̎ṋ̳̘̖̥̭̏d͖̲̼͈̲͙͙ͬ͗̅ ͎̼͎̹̥̜̣͆ẁ̞͎͕̤͔͇͗ͅa̹͍ͨͥ̽n̆͌̌t̓͆̾̂̚s̤͚̱̥̪͎̈́̈͐ ̗̼̼̾̎͋̿̔y̰̭o̮̱̦͉̎̾ṵ̪̖̭͕̦̄ ̥̖̩̰̭̈ͦ̓͌͆t̬̩̎̌o̩͎͉̝̰ͯ̍̂̓ ̘̹̼͍͇͈̳́̍͛b͓̪̘̟͒ͭ̅ͤͮe̝̥̙̞̟ͦ̐ ̩͇̬̟͚̃ͧͅs̹̦͑̋̇̆̂a̜̖̣̞̹̙ͬ̎ͅf̦̺̠̭̪͂̉̑̆̀̚e͌̀̏ͅ.̤̺̌ ̯͓͈̩̟͔̝̏̉̽̉ͦ̔

 “VOID NOW CHARA!” the skeleton screamed, the world shaking around them. Copper let out a push of magic that hit Chara hard, and Chara impulsively reached out and grabbed Copper’s soul, dragging both of them into the Void.

The silence of the Void was deafening after being trapped under that building. Chara struggled to compose themselves, breathing in and out in measured tones. They were safe. Nothing could harm them in the Void. They were in control.

I am in control. They whispered like a mantra. They repeated this several times, taking a calming breath each time. Finally, they calmed down enough to think clearly.

How had that happened? As far as Chara knew, that building was still standing in the looped timeline.

Not now, we’ll go searching for answers later. They muttered, shaking their head from the event they just survived went through.

Chara looked at Copper, wincing. Copper looked like wreck, sockets empty of all light. Hell, Copper looked like an actually dead human skeleton instead of a monster one. Summoning her soul, Chara couldn’t help but curse.

The beating was sluggish, the copper having darkened to a murky brown, the white grayish.

Inhaling deeply, Chara held out a hand making a grabby motion. A light twinkled in the Void rushing towards them. Soon an amber colored soul that looked battered and slightly deformed was in their hand.

With great care and focus, Chara gently brought the dissected soul close to Copper’s intact one. Then with careful precision they allowed them to barely touch before pulling it away, staring in trepidation at Copper’s.

The muddy brown rippled where the other soul touch, the color brightening as it rippled further, until the natural copper tone was back, not as bright as before but definitely there, the grey turning whiter.

Chara sighed in relief, chucking the amber soul back into the Void.

Copper was safe for now, though when she would wake up Chara didn’t know. That had been taxing for both of her body and soul.

Something moved in the corner of Chara’s eye. Instincts took over and a blade materialized into their hand as they whipped around, smile wide on their face, toothy and threatening, with red eyes melting into black dripping pools of ichor that ran down their face.

Leave, now. I don’t have the patience for your games.

He ignored them, looking in curiosity at Copper. { I thought you learned your lesson about bringing those creatures into our world?}

It’s different this time! She can free them!

{Isn’t that what you said about the last two?} He asked, sounding skeptical.

This one’s proven she’s better than them and she will break the barrier. Now leave!

The forgotten monster stared at them for a moment before fading into the Void, but not without some parting words.

{ I'm curious to see what will happen this time. It is bound to be very, very interesting.}

Chara exhaled shakily. He hadn’t tried to make contact since they screwed up by bringing the last two Outworlders.

Chara didn’t know much about him, except he and a handful of others had somehow gotten in the Void and scattered they’re souls across the Void. Mr. Goopie (as Chara tended to call him due to the fact that sometimes when they ran into each other he would start to melt) was the most put together of them, and from what they could tell he had somehow retained his mind where the others had lost theirs.

He never interfered and rarely talked to them, but something about him made Chara want to preemptively attack him with the way he tended to stare as though he was eviscerating you with sight alone.

Shaking off the feeling of the encounter, Chara looked back at Copper. They looked less human corpse-like, but still looked kinda dead.

Glowering Chara reach for the soul, shaking it.

I̸vory ̕Ost̸ein͜ ͢

L͠V:̨ ̶1 ̡

HP:̢ 0.͜5/̴2̛

AT͡:̸ 0̷

DF͘:͜ ͡1͏3

She won'͡t̷  intent̷ionally h̵u̧r͘t͢ y̨o͏u͟,̛ C͟h̶ara. 

Instincts screeched and Chara moved out of the way, barely missed getting hit by… a wing?

When did…? Oh. Right. That tended to happen when you use other souls to jump start Outworlders.

 So that’s your involuntary defense? Chara inquired, though one look at Copper was enough for them to know she wasn’t doing this intentionally. Copper’s sockets were blazing with light, and they didn’t seem entirely aware of her surroundings, still in defense mode. Something similar happened to Black Soul when Chara had to pretty much restart them… though their involuntary defense took the forms of dogs.

Okay, I’m going to send you back now. Don’t die. Chara said, picking a spot near the people so Copper got medical attention.

She blipped out, and Chara stared at the spot for a moment, frowning.

(You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts.)

(She cares about you, and wants you to be safe.)

(She won’t intentionally hurt you, Chara.)

Ludicrous, Chara murmured, moving away to figure out what exactly happened in the living to cause that building to fall.

They ignored the way their stomach churned, a tendril of guilt going through them as Copper’s words and stats echoed through their head.

Gerson was cursing himself for not staying behind. Ivory had looked terrible, and he didn’t want to think what mental barrier she had to have shattered to delve that deep to call up that kind of power. He had been knocked momentarily, before his queen got him back. But in those few minutes Ivory had done the impossible. The people surrounding him were proof of that.

He busied himself with healing, even though the air buzzed with her potent magic. Everyone was on edge due to it, and he didn’t have a bit of an idea how he was going to explain the sensation the Ruin’s residence were experiencing. With Toriel unconscious, Savita had taken charge, though his old friend kept casting him questioning looks.

The ground trembled and a billow of dust and dirt hit them, a resounding crash resonating all around.

Some had managed to cast barriers to combat the smog of dust, Gerson coughing deeply. After a long moment the dust settled, coating everyone in the stuff. Gerson was going to scrub every inch the second he could, feeling sickened at being caked it.

Savita walked to him, a disbelieving smile on his face. “Everyone is accounted for. We didn’t lose anyone.”

At that a cry went out, a hysterical laugh from a Whimsun who started babbling, “We’re alive!”

Soon everyone was crying, laughing or embracing the nearest monster, all overjoyed to be alive.

“Is Ivory…?” A young Loox said, staring at the ruined building. That effectively puncturing the good mood.

For a moment there was silence, though many of the children started to cry.

Gerson soul felt heavy, looking to where Toriel laid. How was he going to tell her-?

“Maybe its for the best she didn’t survive.” A large Loox said, many gasping at her words.

“Exssssssuse you?” Savita hissed, probably for the first time since Gerson had given the position of Keeper to Toriel. If ever there was a way to tell you pissed off a Parsnik, it was if you got them to started hissing.

“I don’t mean to insult the dead, but you all felt her soul. That thing was clearly some kind of deviant!”

The Loox’s words made him flinch, shamed at how similar his words had been to theirs. Others were murmuring, looking unsure. Others looked furious. But all looked like they were trying to forget the feeling of Ivory’s soul.

“We don’t really know anything about her… was she even a monster? No monster has magic that feels like that! What kind of freak-” the Loox didn’t get to say anything more, because one of the other Loox’s proceeded to sock her right in the eye.

“You shut the hell up! You saw what she did! You, me, all of us are only alive because she was willing to die for us! We only had one casualty and it was because she chose to stay behind to make sure we got out!”

Shouts of agreement rang through the dust-covered crowd, looking at the Loox in disdain.

Gerson agreed, but felt he didn’t have the right to voice anything. He knew he should have stayed, she looked barely able to stand, he should have dragged her out—

A strange feeling, like a vacuum sucking in filled the air, silencing the crowd as it the sensation rippled through them before focusing on a point near them. Suddenly a pale copper ball of feathers blipped into existence before them, shimmering. Were those… yes, they were wings.

The wings unfurled, revealing Ivory. She was haloed in white, sockets burning with molten copper and body tense as her soul thrummed loudly. Everyone stared in awe, the children crying her name in joy, those who had been questioning her looking contrite.

It was in that moment Gerson truly realized he had made a great mistake in his judgement of her. She was no monster, no human, not even of this world...

“…She’s the angel.” Gerson whispered, eyes bulging wide at the winged entity before them.

“…Safe?” She slurred, voice cracking.

“Ivory.” Sativa said gently to the entity before them. “We’re safe. We’re all safe. It’s okay. You don’t need to protect us anymore.”

Gerson watched as the coppery wings began to fade, going transparent until they were completely gone, her feet touching the ground. The light burning in her sockets petered out, leaving behind empty holes, the last of her magic waning out. She stood before them, in dust covered robe that was torn and snagged, expressionless in a way that worried the ancient tortoise, though he did breathe easier, the flagrant magic finally gone.

POP!

One of the children began to scream, followed by the others as they pointed to something near Ivory’s feet—

Oh.

Ivory’s wing just popped off.

Before Gerson could properly react, another ‘POP’ filled the air, her other wing falling to the ground as well.

Suddenly a series of pops rend the air, and for a second nothing happened.

Then Ivory’s head fell off, followed by the rest of her body falling apart into a disjointed pile of bones.

Gerson would deny it to the end of his days that he screamed like a total ninny that day.

Chapter Text

Four days after the building's collapsing saw Toriel tired, sore and drained. She had started acting like a queen again, though it was more because of the calamity that had befallen the Ruins. Half of the Market place was a mass of rubble, several other buildings had their structure’s integrity compromised, the Froggits were beating themselves up for not realizing just how bad the building had gotten and were now combing through every building for more weakened structures, the Loox’s were picking fights over every small thing, emotions were high and messy, and if she wanted to get the place fixed and running in the next few years there was a honest possibility she’d need to request the King for aide.

Yet despite all this, Hope was actually high. Toriel was certain it was mostly due to the fact that even though everything was a mess right now, no one had died. When she had regained her consciousness and had Gerson and Savita tell her what happen after the debris struck her, she hadn’t believed it at first. But it was, there were no deaths.

And it was thanks to the monster who was currently in dozens of pieces in her bedroom.

Ivory hadn’t regained consciousness since she had fallen to pieces. They had to bring her back in bags, Gerson grumbling about how lucky they were that Ivory wore so much clothing because it would have been a pain to collect all of her little bones, like the hand or feet. She understood, especially since one of Ivory’s boots got turned up and all of her bones scattered on the ground.

But Ivory has been, as far as they could tell, recovering. Gerson assured her that she was healing, and Ivory’s bones were slowly attaching again, the hands and feet having already reattached themselves. She just wasn’t waking, which both Gerson and she agreed had most likely been due to her actions in the Market place.

And speaking of Ivory’s actions…

While everyone was happy to be alive, a good deal of the residences was starting to ask questions. Questions she couldn’t answer, questions she didn’t know if anyone had an answer for.

Many had asked what was wrong with Ivory’s magic, some nicer than others in their questioning. While all were happy to be alive, Ivory’s magic made it impossible to forget how it felt to be cocooned in those rib cage constructs, smothered by the magic from all sides as it seeped into you.

Savita had helped fielded these questions, highlighting that strange magic or not Ivory had shown to be of unquestionable character and turning much of their attention into the rebuilding. Toriel was grateful for his aide, but knew they had to have some kind of answer before long, especially since there was a noticeable split in opinions about the skeleton. 

Some were saying she was actually a demon, her magic unable to mask her malicious nature, though mercifully this opinion was a minority. But on the other end of the spectrum...

Apparently Gerson had mention that upon her return that Ivory had resembled an angel, explained to a bunch of the kids and young adults what angel he was talking about, and now there was a growing opinion that Ivory was actually the Angel who would free them all. 

Toriel had to step down on that, feeling that Ivory would not like the comparison, seeing how the skeleton for some reason hated her wings and most forms of attention. The only thing that everyone was agreeing on, was that Ivory had bizarre magic and that she used it to save them all from certain death.

“I guess we are lucky in this, my queen.” Gerson had stated, sitting across from her during his break. “If Ivory’s magic had to came out, then it came out in the best possible way. No one can say she is evil, not after nearly killing herself to keep them safe.”

Gerson himself had been healing those who had been wounded during the collapse and looked a little worn down, yet he insisted he hadn't felt this spry in centuries.

He had though discovered something curious while healing. Everyone who had been injured (which frankly, was nearly everyone) had a unusual boost in their hope, including her and the ancient healer. It explained why everyone was feeling more hopeful, but not why or how the boost happened in the first place.

Toriel would bet her prized cinnamon and butterscotch pie recipe that it had something to do with the miasma of magic Ivory unleashed.

Toriel had known Ivory's soul was a mess, abnormal... alien. Knew this, yet hadn't considered the possibilities of Ivory having a colored soul, too busy seeing it as damaged. Colored souls were considered dangerous for a reason, seeing how even the most unmotivated of humans could cause a wide amount of damage if forced into it. Gerson had told her that Ivory's soul may cause unseen long term effects on the residence, no matter how benign her use of it was. At the moment though, it would seem that as terrible feeling as her magic was, Ivory's magic had in fact boosted everyone's Hope. How or why this had happened her old friend could not answer.

But that was a problem for another day. Right now she needed to get out there, move debris, aide those who need it and keep people moving.

She could do this just fine, feeling oddly filled with determination.

Chara was beginning to get really angry and worried about Azzy. Scratch that, they wanted to deck him and ask if he needed help, the latter feeling starting to become more dominate as they watched.

Reviewing the memories was not something Chara did often. Usually they just used it to ease others into chatting with them, just like what they did to make Copper Soul feel safer by conjuring her ugly little kitchen when they renegotiated the contract.

And what they were seeing was Azzy destroying the foundation of that building, letting it fall. While that ticked them off, it was his reaction to Copper’s magic that caught their attention.

He looked like he could feel it.

Chara followed him as he escaped, finding him in Snowdin. He had popped up near the entrance into the Ruins, gasping and crying, desperately smacking his head into the snow as though he was trying to ground himself. A sob-like scream left his mouth and he went back into the ground, only to pop up by a tree and to Chara’s confused shock proceeded to beat his head into the wood.

“Stop.”

SMACK

“Stop.”

SMACK

“Stop it!”

SMACK

“STOP IT!”

SMACK!

For a moment he swayed, as though he was about to lose consciousness, panting heavily. Then with a furious scream he renewed his efforts, bashing his head against the tree.

“MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT GO AWAY!”

Then he threw his head back, a scream of agony wrenching its way out of him as he clawed at his own face with a pair of leaves that was acting like a pair of hands, looking for all the world like he was possessed.

The fact his eyes were literally burning with copper lights only added to this image.

Chara swiped the air, banishing the memory.

With a shaky exhale they sought out Copper Soul, the haunting image of their brother’s scream and glowing eyes stamped into the back of their head.

A long time ago, his predecessor had told him that the definition of insanity was ‘Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results’. He could understand that, he could. It could even apply to what his Monarch’s adopted human was doing with that Outworlder.

But he had always been a monster of science, and sometimes you had to do the same thing over and over again to truly understand why or how it did what it did. And once you had that figured out, you could safely add a new variable to the equation to see if the results had changed.

Take the Outworlder specimen for example. On the surface, it looked like the dead royal child was repeating their earlier actions by dragging another one of those things across the Void and dumping them onto the unsuspecting populace, ready to induce anarchy and mass genocide.

But the royal brat had changed the variables, even though they only did to weaken the Outworlder. The previous Outworlders had still been human children and in full control of their bodies, and were given little to no boundaries, and any parent could tell you that children needed boundaries, humans more so than any other race. This new one had been stripped of its humanity, emotional barrier, and understanding of what it knew about its body.

He had watched, expecting the newly transformed monster to wreak havoc as soon as they could (if only to stop itself from going mad from the events it had endured), yet they did not. In fact, it had showed a level of self-control he didn’t think was actually possible from a human.

Then it proceeded to save the residence of the Ruins, and at a deep personal cost.

He had not anticipated that and found himself curious about the Outworlder-souled monster. Had it developed compassion due to no longer being in a human body?

For the first time in Angel only knows how long, he was interested in the actions of someone on the other side. So much in fact, that he was now using one of the Voids lesser known traits to review events that have already happened, echoes of memories, to review previous actions of this specimen.

As he reviewed these fragments, he was struck with a realization about the specimen.

All previous humans (his world and the Outworlder combined) had been children. This one though? A fully-grown adult.

That might explain the sheer size of the power it displayed while rescuing the residents, and from what he could tell, why it had self-control. It had also consistently showed a protective streak for others, most notably towards children. Maternal instincts perhaps? It was after all female, in both it's current and past forms.

Another thing he found curious from the memories was that it apparently knew the royal brat from before its transformation, as well as others which concerned him. He wasn’t able to view into the Outworlder’s world like the brat could, so he couldn’t find how they knew, or who it knew.

That last one worried him the most. Even though he has been erased he still had precious people on the other side that he treasured and wanted to keep safe. He could hardly do anything when the human Frisk was out as a meat-puppet, and he had no idea if he could do anything now either… though the memories had given him a surprising – and frankly terrifying – possibility.

Apparently, the specimen could entire the Void… and leave.

At first, he was excited at the possibility, at least until he discovered that the specimen was guessing at it.

It had taken him countless tries and head melting amount of quantum physics to even begin to figure out how to take a (to quote someone dear to him) “short cut” which only allowed him (and him) to travel the breadth of the Underground, and this thing had gone and done something he had spent literal centuries trying to do purely on accident.

And to add insult to injury, it was getting close to figuring out how to do it again at will.

The gall that creature had was extraordinary.

But if he could actually get it to meet him, inside the Void—

A whimper drew his attention away, the impassive countenance melting into a kinder one. One of the Forgotten was close by. It didn’t take him long to spot them, curled up and quietly sobbing.

{There, there little one.} He said gently, moving towards the being. He knew this one, they were put together than most of the others, though he wasn’t sure if they had always been armless or if their limbs had fragmented within this place.

Like most of the Forgotten, the Void had bleached them of their color, eyes pupil-less as they stared at him in sadness. He tenderly held them, letting them seek the comfort they desperately needed. A few feet away he watched as others slowly made their way towards him, looking desperate for something to ease their existence.

Cradling the smaller being, he turned back to the memories, banishing them for the time being. He’d review them later when his followers were feeling better. He had plenty of time for that later, but for now, these fragmented people needed him.

Chapter Text

Savita the Parsnik didn’t have an easy life. Being the son of a couple who had lived on the surface before imprisonment had meant he had parents that were chronically sad and with low hope, as many pre-barrier parents were. Both fell down and dust when he had been fairly young, resulting in him striving to stay optimistic no matter what, so he left the Ruins, going to live in Hotland. He had met his husband, a Pyrope, while in school, married soon after graduation, and before the year was out, they had a sweet child who took after his husband. He had been so happy, probably the highest his hope had ever been.

Then, the day before their child was to go off to school, there was a cave-in and he watched as both his beloved husband and kid were dusted.

He… he didn’t remember the next couple of decades after and was numb to all feeling.

He didn’t even remember getting to the Ruins, or apparently falling near the Keeper’s house. Gerson had been the Keeper at the time and had somehow managed to nurse him back to health, got him a support group in the form of distant relatives like the Vegetoids, and slowly over time Savita regained hope, though his soul kept the cracks, even if they were not as deep as they were.

Even after nearly four centuries he still felt the act and emptiness his family had left, but he had gotten better, he still had loved ones, he even found love again!

But it was with this loss that made it easy for him to understand Ivory’s pain. She and the former Queen were tight-tipped about what had happened to her family, but he had a working imagination and experience to draw from and speculate, but also lots of tact to never ask.

But now he was starting to wonder if her family got caught in whatever made Ivory’s magic feel like that… and If the Royal Scientist was involved in the skeleton’s unpleasant feeling magic.

It was something those that had lived in Hotland have been talking about and being retold to the other’s who have not left the Ruins, due to the lack of answers over Ivory’s magic.

Despite the many great advantages they had made (including the Core), there were always rumors about the morality of every Royal Scientists, having been stemmed from the actions the first Royal Scientist that was appointed when the monsters were first imprisoned. That one had not handled the imprisonment well and rumor had it that the incarceration of their whole race had warped their soul, twisting them. People had started to disappear, entire families, and eventually it was discovered that the Royal Scientist had been kidnapping and experimenting on the populace, trying to create something from their souls that could break the barrier. They were caught and executed for their crimes and the next one appointed Royal Scientist was kept under close surveillance, as was the next one after. Story had it those that had survived the first Royal Scientist experimentation had never been the same, with souls that left an odious magic.

These were all rumors and stories, local folklores told in the Hotland when he had been in school and had apparently persisted till today.

He wasn’t the sort to put stock into unproven rumors, but even he was beginning to wonder if the skeleton’s magic unnatural presence (and frankly insane power) was the result of her surviving a Scientist (or a quack scientist) whose morals were overly loose.

And he wasn’t the only one thinking that, though it was hardly the only theory.

Many of those who knew what Ivory had done were trying to figure out the secret behind her nebulous magic, some thinking that the loss of her family warped it completely, or that she had died and was brought back to life which caused her soul to mutate, there was that group that was maintaining that she was the Angel come to free them all, and a very small amount theorized that she was actually from another world dragged into this one by supernatural means in order to save them all. And then there was the group that wanted Ivory banished from the Ruins, though the Eyewalker’s had been mercilessly hounding them.

Nonetheless, Savita was keeping things peaceful until they got their answer, an answer that by the looks of things they would only be getting once Ivory came to. Savita was fine with not knowing, but a lot of the residents were anxious for some kind of explanation.

Regardless of what it is though Savita would support Ivory, and if push comes to shove, he could give her names of people who could help her find a home (and should she desire, an undisclosed one that allowed her to remain anonymous) beyond the Ruins.

Chara was beginning to wonder about the effects of Outworlder magic had on monster souls… and soulless vessels.

Because even though Flowey was Azzy and Azzy was Flowey, Azzy was their crybaby but beloved brother where Flowey was still him but soulless vessel. They knew he was still in there, his God of Hyperdeath form and his actions after the Pacifist Routes were proof he was.

But right now, Flowey resembled Azzy when he was begging them not to go through with their suicide plan. Tearful, eyes pleading and looking as though he was in agony.

Though he never tried to mutilate himself before, that was new and highly worrying.

He has been like this for several days now, trying to tear his own head off before rendering himself unconscious from the abuse.

 Azzy was found and had been placed in a vice-hold contraption in a glass jar to keep him from trying to crush his head, and Chara would have felt better about this if they were sure that Sans the Skeleton had altruistic reasons for saving Flowey and stashing him in his workshop.

But they couldn’t rescue him, and Sans wasn’t doing anything but asking questions while Azzy was semi-coherent, mostly asking was what was going on in the Ruins and why he was a mess and if he knew why they gone back a year, and not getting any answers due to Azzy being a babbling mess.

This did let Chara know that the smiling trash bag came back with them, and out of everyone who had come back he was probably the most out of the loop, and he looked really stressed about it. Enough to apparently motivate him and go out seeking answers.

Chara was willing to let him stay stressed as long as he didn’t try any experiments.

Currently they were watching Azzy in his glass cage, currently unconscious.

They had been alternating between Azzy and I-Copper Soul, checking on both. The skeleton had apparently fallen to pieces shortly after they dropped her back though she was pulling herself back together but had not regained consciousness, so Chara decided to leave her be and stick by Azzy for now and ignore seeing the human who was making them feel things they did not want to confront and to not see Mom because she couldn’t see them at all.

“No...please… stop, I’m sorry…”

Awwww, not again. Chara muttered, floating next to the cage.

“…stop, please, stop…”

Looking around, Chara sighed as they noticed that Sans wasn’t around.

Oh, come on. Azzy, stop it! They said, swiping through Azzy.

Or at least they meant to go through, but instead actually made contact and smacked him. Chara froze staring at the hand still on him. Azzy stopped talking, stopped moving. Slowly they he pressed into Chara’s hand, not going through it. A shutter went through him and he turned towards them, a copper glow in his eyes.

“Chara…? How?”

You can see me. Chara breathed, looking shocked and not daring to remove their hand.

“Your dead…how? Oh Stars, what is that skeleton’s magic doing to me?!” He cried, copper colored tears leaking down his face.

“I’m seeing things! Stop please! I’m sorry!”

Azzy! I’m here, you’re not hallucinating! I-Copper  Soul’s magic is just screwy and weird! Chara exclaimed, thoughts racing. Did that mean Mom had seen them? Chara never interacted with people while working with Black and had only seen how Outworlder magic effected people with intent to harm. Did Copper Soul’s magic allow them to interact with others? Did her soul cause changes in monsters?

Was something happening to the residents of the Ruins?

“…copper soul? You mean the…. the winged skeleton?” Azzy slurred, looking morose.

Yeah. I brought her here to break the barrier- Chara cut themselves off, reminding themselves this wasn’t the Azzy they knew.

“…you brought her..? Where did you bring her from, the void?!” Azzy snarled at them, face splitting into a nasty gash.

Uhhh, no? Chara replied, a little thrown at his sudden shift of attitude. He looked at them noting the unsure tone of their answer, blinked several times before tears well back in his eyes.

“Oh Stars, you did! She’s some kind of void creature! You brought a thing from the void!”

No, I didn’t! I mean, yeah, I made her body there but-

“You made her body?! How did you make a body- holy shit.”

What now? Chara said, agitated by his continual shift in emotion. Was that because of Copper Soul’s magic?

“Holy shit, I'm an uncle.” He whispered… and then promptly started cackling, freaking Chara suitably out. He kept cackling to the point it looked like it hurt, like he couldn’t stop no matter what. Chara removed their hand, about to tell him to stop and deny the parent claim when the laughing suddenly turned into shrieking.

“NO! CHARA! DON’T GO! PLEASE, DON’T GO! IT HURTS, CHARA! IT HURTS TO FEEL! MAKE IT STOP!!” Azzy screamed, looking maniacally as he stared at them, trying to tug closer to them as the coppery tears went brighter as his face shifted into multiple different types of faces.

“CHARA!”

Chara fled.

After a week of unearthing rubble, comforting those who had and had not been in the disaster, and finally finishing the estimation of what would be needed to fix the market place, Toriel had good news, and bad news.

The good news is that everyone was fully healed and the boost in everyone’s Hope was still there and was showing no signs of going down. 

The bad news was that she had ran the numbers and if she wanted the marketplace up and running in the next year, she was going to need aide from aide from outside the Ruins…. Which meant she was going to need to contact Asgore.

She had rough drafted several letters to send but had to throw them away because the first one had started with ‘Gorey, you child-murdering beast’ and really didn’t improve her intro over the next few. Gerson had offered to talk to Asgore when he went back, and Toriel thanked him.

Now here she was at home, drinking tea as Gerson had once more gone out for last minute healing. She hadn’t even gone to her patrols, having been so swamped. But things were finally starting to look up.

Now if only Ivory would wake up…

Toriel sighed, downing her tea with some alcohol that a couple of Whimsun's had brought as 'thank you for saving us', having given a bottle to her,Gerson and Ivory. In fact the Whimsun's community had brought so much alcohol she was planning on sending it with Gerson when he left (she would of course be asking Ivory for permission, as most of these were gifted to her).

Ivory's magic had become a common subject between her and Gerson, both trying to come up with a valid reason behind it for the residents while trying to make sense of it on their own. If she thought for a moment Ivory wouldn't be treated as a experiment, she would have asked the Royal Scientist to come and have a look at it.

When Ivory had fallen and her subsequent timid reaction to everyone and compete and total lack of control over her feelings, Toriel had treated her as a young monster who had been displaced, having somehow forgotten just how dangerous colored souls could get and that a good part of Ivory’s soul was human and hadn’t considered the kind of powers Ivory might tap when push comes to shove.

Gerson theorized that what they had tested Ivory, she must have either been holding back unintentionally or faking, and they had both agreed she hadn’t been faking. Gerson had also theorized that Ivory's Attacks would always be cripplingly low due to her innate desire to cause no harm to others, something she agreed with... as they had both agreed that Defense was more than likely going to be Ivory's main focus, if her actions in the market place meant anything.

She shuddered at the memory of the power display Ivory had showed in the marketplace. It had been both incredible and terrifying, but mostly terrifying.

And her power had frightened a lot of people, and there was a loud opinion that Ivory should leave the Ruins, even from those who were thankful of her saving them and knew she was a good person. Savita and The Eyewalker family had been staunchly on Ivory’s side, with the new group that was calling themselves ‘The Angel’s Aegis’ Club who were a group of people who actually believed Gerson’s story about the angel. Toriel only left them alone because it was actually helping Ivory in this instance.

Ivory had saved everyone, but the magic had caused issues as had the lack of answers. No one faulted Ivory for her actions, many saying it was proof of her heroic nature, but there were those who wanted Ivory out of the Ruins because of both the feeling her magic left and the raw power she displayed, both having been petrifying to witness.

Toriel set her echoflower-whisky laced tea aside, looking back over the papers Evah Eyewalker had brought over earlier. The young mother had been very stern and no nonsense when she had dropped by, stating that she needed to know when Ivory would be up as soon as possible to discuss the possibility of Ivory getting adopted into the Eyewalker family.

Adoption in the Underground wasn’t an unusual thing, but the adoption of an adult was. When Toriel had inquired the reason behind this and Evah had huffed, stating she had three reasons for it.

First being that the family owed her their lives, seeing how nearly the entire family had been there at the market and the Patriarch (Evah’s grandfather) would be honored to call her his daughter. Second, they wanted to give her a family to come home to (but not to replace, Evah had stressed that part clearly). And Third, to protect Ivory from backlash due to those that wanted to have her move from the Ruins because as Evah stated, if Ivory got kicked out the entire Eyewalker family was following after her.

The front door opened and closed, Gerson walking into sight not too soon after. He sighed in relief as he sat down, looking at his queen.

“How was it?” Toriel asked, sipping her 'tea'. Gerson let out a mighty groan, digging out one of the fire-brandy's and drinking it straight from the bottle.

“I think I got hounded more over questions about Ivory’s magic than I did for injuries.”

“Well, at least the injuries aren’t an issue anymore.”

“At least not outside of this home. Trying to draft another letter to the king?”

“Actually, no. Evah Eyewalker had stopped by to hand me this hand made invitation to her family dinner next week, as well as a formal request of adoption. For Ivory.”

The tortoise blinked, looking surprised. “Ivory is no child.”

“No, but the Eyewalker family have made it pretty clear they see her as family. And frankly, the Eyewalker family has been around a long time and are well known even outside of the Ruins. Ivory could benefit greatly from it.”

“But do you think Ivory would go for the adoption?” The ancient tortoise asked.

Before she could reply a soul-curdling scream broke the air, causing Toriel and Gerson to jump.

Ivory-!

Toriel was down the hall before she was even truly aware of it, 'tea' knocked to the floor in her hurry. She nearly ripped the door off its hinges with enough force that had she not been worried she might have been a little impressed, but before she could cross the doors threshold Gerson yanked her back, hissing, “Careful! The floor!”

She looked down, just in time to see one of Ivory’s hands skittering across the floor. The entire rib cage was rolling back and forth on the floor in jerky motions, and before she could properly understand what she was seeing the rest of Ivory’s bones had dropped to the floor, jumping, hopping and twitching in every direction.

Only Ivory’s head stayed on the bed, though it was hopping up and down as the skeleton kept screaming. Toriel managed to get to the bed, picking the shrieking skull up until it was level with her face.

“Ivory! Ivory, calm down! Your safe!”

It took some time to calm her down, but eventually Toriel managed. Once calmed, Ivory just stared at her, looking stricken and her familar magic tinging the air with genuine horror.  Ivory finally spoke, in a hysteria tinged voice.

“Oh god, I’m Yorick now. I don’t wanna be Yorick! Alas poor me! I knew me well!”

And then the poor girl fell into a blubbering sob.

Oh this was going to be one of those days, Toriel thought as she patted the skull in a manner meant to be comforting.

 Before the memories started reemerged, he had intended to help in the usual off-handed way he had dealt with Frisk and Chara, theorizing that it would be pointless to try and stop Frisk’s return or to try and do anything, even if they were so much farther back than he ever had been.

Then several things happened and now… now he knew he couldn’t afford to not care anymore.

Sans was looking through his old files as well as the ones he “borrowed” from the Royal Archive, marking down the dates that the humans had all fallen down on, from the first to the one before Frisk.

Something wasn’t adding up.

First and most obvious, the timeline had resettled way farther back than it had ever done. That should have been enough to get him off his coccyx.

Two, Toriel had a new ward. Originally, he thought it must have been the sixth human, but the records state that they had fallen nearly thirty years ago. Again, he should have done more on figuring who this new person was.

Exhibit C, the younger generation of monsters, like the ones born in the last century, were recalling the timelines, and its variations, with more clarity than they had ever been able to. Mercifully Papyrus hadn’t had any ‘déjà vu’ memories like the others were experiencing, though there were a noticeable number of them (mostly from Snowdin and Waterfall) that had to abort calling his brother “Your Majesty”.

He was just grateful his brother hadn't caught on to that, because it would have been hellava confusin' conversation.

Then the fourth issue arose in the form of Flowey, who he had discovered about three days ago, and was mentally a mess from the self-inflicted head trauma. Repeated self-inflicted head trauma, to the point Sans had to make him a flower-straitjacket. 

Under normal circumstances Sans would have probably been amused at seeing that damn weed beat his head into a tree, except that the flower had been emitting… something. It felt like magic, yet there was something clearly wrong with it, and it waft off the weed like some kind of miasmatic cloud until he successfully either cried or rendered himself unconscious.

Sans had taken the unresponsive flower back to his workshop and placed him in a glass box to observe the strange magic Flowey was leaking, something he would have never done if things were normal.

Except nothing was adding up.

Too much had changed, and Sans felt for once like he was completely out of the loop. The memories, the leap back in time, the so-called monster ward of Toriel, and one of the Undergrounds’ more prolific lunatics out for the count and by his own hand/leaf? Its almost like the loop had gotten broken!

Or, if his theory was correct, an alternate timeline had somehow happened.

A moan filled the air, causing the skeleton to groan before looking at the glass cage.

Flowey had been in and out of consciousness, that wrong feeling magic leaking off him every time he got too awake, and it almost looked like the magic was forcibly keeping Flowey under. The last time he was awake was about six hours ago, when Sans walked in to him screaming for Chara. It was also the only time Sans could talk to him, though perhaps talking wasn’t the right word, seeing how when Flowey was awake, he babbled, mostly about trying to stop something.

“I’m sorry… please stop it…”

Like now.

Sighing, Sans stopped his reading to look at the curled-up flower who was muttering again, body shaking. Sans gently tapped the glass, hoping to get his attention.

“hey pal? i can’t help ya if you ain’t makin’ sense. can ya try and tell me what happened?” So far it hasn’t worked, but what bits he had gotten indicated that something had happened in the Ruins. He tried calling Gerson, but he got an automatic ‘This number is no longer in service’, which was very, very worrying.

“Stop… no more… Chara… Chara, why…”

Sans sighed, pinching his nasal bridge. The normally chatty flower was currently a mess. What happened to him?

“…what did she do to me… Chara, what did she do to me…”

That was new. Leaning forward, Sans tried his luck with getting a straight answer from the distressed monster. “she? she who?”

For the first time since he found him Sans got a clear view of Flowey face, and Sans immediately summoned a small Blaster as that miasmic sensation bled into the air.

Flowey’s eyes were dripping magic that looked like molten copper, dissipating before it hit the ground but leaving tracts in his face that made it look like he was crying lava.

“… the copper soul…”

Taking a deep shuddering breath, Flowey curled back into himself, shaking. He then said something that froze the dust in Sans bones, his near perma-smile dropping.

“…Chara’s Daughter…”

Chapter Text

Entry 5:

it has been five days since i found flowey, two since he started stringing full sentences back together, though this only happens when he’s talking about “chara’s daughter” and her “copper soul”. i am skeptical to trust what he is saying, but between the changes occurring and the weird stuff he keeps oozing i’m not discounting anything yet. what i do know is that apparently there is a new person (female by the consistent pronoun flowey uses) in the ruins who had fallen from the surface and is reeeeeally reluctant to leave the ruins… and they have a very, very unpleasant feeling magic boy is that an understatement.

one thing that he has been saying is that this “daughter” was the one who put him in this condition, though not why she did this to him. knowing the weed he probably provoked her, though if that was the case i can’t think of anything he could have done to warrant the level of horror she inflicted upon him. not only has she somehow gotten him to “feel” again, but with such an intensity that it is literally driving him insane. its like taking a guy who is dying from thirst and dropping him in a sealed water tank that only has a very small amount of air; yeah he ain’t dyin of thirst anymore but he’s still in danger. and if that wasn’t bad enough he is also literally leaking the most potent magic i have ever encountered and it ain’t even the weirdest thing.

he has also called the new person “copper soul”, and if this is her magic i can see why he calls her that (note to self: figure out if copper is a red or orange colour, or somethin’ in between).

while he was in the middle of leaking the magic, i managed to acquire some. the magic is quick to dissipate so i had to work fast to get a sample. from the samples i managed to acquire, i have discovered that it has approximately a thousand times more determination in it than any human should have, and i am including frisk and chara on that list. i find this very concerning. more samples will be needed to further understand this new anomaly.

for now, i will continue to aide flowey in recovering and trying to get ahold of gerson, who i am still having trouble contacting. i also need to get in the ruins and meet this new person as soon as possible.

anyone who has the ability to make someone like flowey into a compete wreak while emitting such a detrimental-feeling magic is someone i will need to not just keep an eyesocket on, but to CHECK and judge accordingly.

Entry 5.2:

he is changing color. his petals are darker, not as yellow. i think he is actually starting to absorb the magic. i also asked pap what colour copper was. he said it’s a brown.

what the hell.

Chapter Text

I think I’m creating a pattern, you thought a little drolly, helping Toriel bake in the kitchen. After every major issue that has happened to me since getting here, I have ended up either in the kitchen or dining room. Not that I’m complaining, anything to keep busy right now.

Waking up to most of your body gone and reduced to just a head was without a doubt the most terrifying thing you have ever experienced, including the first time you had fallen down here and discovered you were no longer human. You had a strange empathy towards amputees thanks to that.

You had apparently been out for nearly a week, in literal pieces. Mercifully, being awake and coherent had apparently spurred your body into reattaching itself, and twenty-four hours after you woke up you had pulled yourself together and was now walking by yourself, though you couldn’t stop yourself from grabbing at your neck and other body parts.

Toriel had brought you up to speed about what had happened since you had fAlLen Apaяt lost conscious. There had been no casualties at all (something that made you so happy you tripped over your newly connected feet when she told you that), and that you suffered the worst of the damage (you could live with that, so long as no one else was crippled for life), the market place was going to take a year to rebuild but they had already decided where the temporary one was going to be.

She said there were other news, but they weren’t important at the moment, though she may had said that due to how hard you had been clutching your neck, valiantly ignoring the feeling you had felt before your head was back on, that strange, disembodied sensation of being able to move body parts that weren’t even remotely attached—

Nope, not gonna focus on that. Count your blessings! A voice similar to Nana snapped out before you spiraled back down the terror you had awoken to.

Taking a too deep breath it didn’t bother you as much as it used to you counted your current blessings.

One, you were back in one-piece gͦoͪdᵍ ͦdͩamͭnͪ ͣiͭtʷ ͣˢdˢoͦn’ͩtͣ ͫᶰfˢoͨcͣuͬʸs ͭoͦnʷ ͣᵏtͤhaͭtͦ!!, two, everyone made it out alive! And-and three, everyone is healthy and have recovered with minor issue! That had been the best news you had received upon awaking, momentarily stopping your count as you thought on this. After informing you of that (and quite possibly trying to distract you from your bodily issues), Toriel had announced that she was going to make cinnamon and butterscotch pie to celebrate your recovery as well as the fact there were no casualties. It had been some kind of miracle no one got dusted, and you could celebrate to that.  Though now you were concerned about the psychological damaged a falling building had on the residence you had to forcibly remind yourself to stop grabbing your neck. You yourself never wanted to step near the market place again as long as you lived or stand near anything that remotely looked like a skyscraper.  You knew that wasn’t going to happen, you knew you’d be going to the market place again, because you wanted to help in any way you could, regardless of fear and any potentially developed phobias. You just needed to ease yourself into it. Once when you were learning to drive you had gotten rear-ended, and while everyone walked away from that incident, you had avoided that particular road when driving for years. The market place was going to be another ‘rear-ended road’ for you, but unlike the road you were going to go back much sooner than you were comfortable with and help with anything you could. You just had to be careful not to trigger yourself, hence the need to ease yourself into going. 

But for now, you were in the kitchen helping make the pie, though Toriel fussed over you exerting yourself but allowed you to help anyways. Gerson was reading by the fireplace, purposefully staying away from you which you were thankful for, though with the looks they kept giving each other when they thought you weren’t looking, there was a dilemma that they hadn’t shared yet probably because it involved you.

Honestly, you were in no hurry to find out what it was. You have had too many traumas in too short a timeframe. You were pretty sure some where down the line you were going to have a private meltdown, but until that day came you were going to ignore it.

You decided to handle this potential trigger the same way you handled anything that caused you extreme discomfit, by ignoring it and keeping too busy to think about it. Not healthy, you knew that, but it was a tried and true method.

You just had to stay busy, had to focus on something other than  the near death experience you had or the fact that the only reason you and the others were alive was because you had successfully managed to defy reality and pulled something straight out of your non-existent behind, you needed to stay active as to not focus on the what-ifs that could have happened had you failed, what had happened, and above everything else you needed to ignore the odd deep ache in your soul.

As if to tell you the futility of ignoring it, you felt a deep throb in your chest. It twinges in a painful way, not overwhelming but like a muscle that had been overworked and pulled. You did not see Toriel stopping momentarily, looking at you in concern, nor did you see Gerson momentarily popping his head in, looking at you with a look that mirrored Toriel’s.

You felt… out of sorts, like your body was still getting itself back together and you didn’t know if it had been the fact that you had been a pile of bones or if it was soul related. Maybe it was just you trying to adjust to having survived and shielding a lot of people from a building falling at the cost of you pulling up every magic you had despite having no training in that? You had read about a (human) mother lifting a car to save her child back home, as well as other cases like that when in life-or-death situations. ‘Hysterical strength’ it was called if you were remembering correctly.

Was that what happened back there? You broke some kind of mental restraint that allowed you to summon enough power to temporarily stop a building? Did doing that cause this… disconnection feeling?

Sighing, you whisk the butterscotch in to stop yourself from clutching your neck again. Stop focusing on it, you tell yourself sternly.

Four, according to Toriel it’ll take about a year for the market place to get back up and running, so they are going to be opening previously closed areas of Home to make a temporary marketplace.

Five, the Froggits are going to be checking all the buildings to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Six, Toriel said that the Eyewalker’s had invited us to dinner!

Seven, you were still in one—goddamnit Ivory!

What bit you in the coccyx? A young voice said loudly, right where your ear should be.

You yelped, yanking the whisk away, splattering yourself and the counter with butterscotch.

“Ivory?” Toriel was next to you in a heart-beat, looking worried.

“I’m fine! Really, just-just fine!” You said, grabbing a towel to keep yourself from flipping Chara the bird.

Chara giggled from above you, and you felt oddly happy to hear it. Chara had been absent since you woke up and you had started to wonder where they had gone off to.

Glad to see the dead is walking among us again. The cheeky brat grinned, though they looked… off. Like something was distracting them.

Taking a moment to clean up the mess you made, you turned from Toriel to give the floating kid a concern look and mouthed ‘Are you alright?’.

Chara jerked back slightly, looking startled at the question as well as…guilty? But it was gone in a blink, a pouty look taking over their face as they floating above you.

Hey, don’t give me that look. I’m not the one who pulled a stupid stunt and almost got myself killed.

You unconsciously nodded, the dull ache throbbing. Chara jolted suddenly, looking at you intently… no, looking through you intently. After a moment they sighed, rubbing the back of their head.

Well, you are both healthy and in one piece, soul as well… as healthy as a bruised soul can be, anyways.

You opened the cupboard, grabbing a glass as you shot Chara a anxious look as you mouthed ‘Bruised?’.

It’s nothing to worry about. Take it easy, relax and like any bruise it’ll go away in time. I’m more interested as to why you fell to pieces. As far as I’m concern, that’s the real head scratcher.

That made you flinch, and you couldn’t stop your hand automatically grabbing at your neck. The child tilted their heads, an amused look on their face.

What? Having difficulty keeping your head on straight?

You groaned at the pun, releasing your neck. This apparently was the wrong thing to do as Chara’s smile somehow got wider with glee.

Toriel’s hand gently touched your shoulder, reminding you of her presence. She was giving you a concerned look as she spoke. “Are you feeling alright? Any pains? Your emotions have been fluctuating for a while now.”

“Nah, I’m fine. Just feeling out of sorts and not all together here but I figured it’ll be a while before I start feeling like myself again.”

“I’m not really surprised. You could say the event left you scrambled.” Toiel responded, a tentative smile on her face.

“Yeah, I really lost my… head…there…oh god was that an accidental pun…?”

Chara was cackling now, spinning in summersaults above you, as Toriel had a sudden gleam in her eyes that made you wary.

“I head that it was scary, but I promise we’ll get through this intact. Until then though I’ll be at you neck and call.”

The goat monster’s smile grew at your groan, which was echoed by the tortoise in the dining area. Chara looked positively delighted that Toriel was punning at you.

Certain you were fine for now Toriel turned, giving you just enough time to flip the floating grinning gremlin off while mouthing ‘I’ll get you back for those’.

What? You punned as well! I’m just saying you can’t get mad at me when you went a-head and did it too!

You must have been more annoyed than you thought, that or she was paying you more attention because Toriel turned to see what was annoying you.

Aw, don’t skull-k ! You’ll make her worry.

You knew Toriel was watching you but couldn’t stop yourself from glaring at the ghostly child.

Hey now, what I say about giving me that look? That glare is positively cranium-able!

“Okay, that’s a stretch.” You mumbled, though apparently not as quietly as you thought, Toriel looking at you in confusion.

“What is?”

You waved you off with a nervous laugh. “Nothing, nothing at all. Oh hey, what’s the next step?”

Toriel decided to show you a small mercy by allowing you your blatant attempt at topic changing, Chara looking positively giddy.

You quickly figured out why, silently twitching as you aided Toriel in baking… to the tune of head-related puns, curtesy of Chara.

Soon enough the pie was in the oven and the two of you set about cleaning the kitchen.

Hey, don’t ignore me! It might make me into a head-case, you know.

Why did Chara not like Sans again?

“Well,” Toriel started, dragging you out of your thoughts. “the kitchen’s clean and the pie has another hour. Why don’t you take a break?”

You agreed, seeing how with Chara back you were probably not going to be so out of sorts. The two of you should talk more about your soul, but that was a topic you were not going to touch for now. You trusted the self-serving gremlin to be at least honest about not needing to worry about your soul, seeing how they still needed you.

And in the sanctuary of your mind, you acknowledged that having Chara around made you happier and feel more stable.

A dead child is keeping me grounded. How messed up is that?

You walked towards your room, nodding to Gerson as you passed him.

Locking the door behind you, you made your way to the locked desk. Chara looked over your shoulder as you pulled out the GHOBL paper, opening and smoothing it out.

Grabbing one of the pens sprawled around your desk you starting writing.

• You have nine months to complete your end of the deal. 8 mo. & 1 week left.

• Train your magic to control it. Figure out how to keep everyone from freaking out when you whip it out.

• Get to New Home so you can reach barrier.

• Destroy barrier.

• Go home with you brother’s soul.

• Don’t fuck up.

• Apologize to Tori. She didn’t deserve you being an ass. Invoke Mission: Apology Pie. Success!

• See if Tori will teach you magic. If not, see if one of the monsters in the Ruins would be willing. If that fails, you may need to leave the Ruins for training. I don’t care if they are being sincere, Chara is not an option. I will train under Jerry before that becomes an option. Effective immediately, Gerson is no longer an option.

• Avoid Flowey like the plague. If this cannot be done, hit first and apologize later.
• As getting to the barrier requires leaving the Ruins, you will inevitably run into Sans, Undyne, Mettaton and Asgore. DO NOT ENGAGE IN BATTLE! Also, do not run like a little bitch when you see them. You are a monster, not a human. They won’t attack you without reason. NOTE: YOUR SOUL MUST NEVER EVER COME OUT AROUND THEM, THEY WILL KILL YOU WITHOUT PROVOCATION!!

• Make yourself as inconspicuous as possible. Thanks to the marketplace incident, this is no longer possible until you leave the Ruins.

• Make friends. They are people, not demons. Note: it doesn’t matter what race they are, kids are still easier to befriend than adults.

• For the love of all things holy. DO. NOT. FANGIRL. IF/WHEN YOU MEET PAPYRUS OR ALPHYS. The last thing you need to do is make them think you are a crazy stalker or something.

• Apparently, everyone can feel your emotions and you are your own lie detector. Technical truths are your best friend.

• Your magic is strange, creepy and induces dread. Unless its a life or death situation, you will under NO CIRCUMSTANCES DO YOU LET IT OUT.

Re-reading it once more, you looked over to Chara who was reading it. “Anything else I should add?”

For a moment it looked like Chara was going to shake their head but stopped, a determined look finding its way onto the young child’s face.

Add ‘Avoid Sans. He is aware of the timeline and will cause trouble’.

That caused you to whip around to the child, sockets widening. “What?”

Look, I went looking into stuff, and he is really confused right now.

“But-”

Look, you saw how quickly Gerson attacked you. I guarantee the second that smiling trashbag gets a look at your soul he won’t hesitate to blast you into a pile of dust.  Not to mention, he is a Judge.

That… didn’t mean anything to you, and you told Chara that which caused the kid rolled their eyes. Remember the Judgement Hall? He judges all the players who enter, because its his job. He’s supposed to go around check people discreetly, build a case and then judge them on those actions they made.

“So… important? Because it was kinda left vague on what his roll was, you know outside of the hardest and most insane boss fight in the game.”

Chara groaned, rubbing their forehead. How is it you know so much yet practically nothing? He is Monsterkind’s Judge, Jury and Executioner all rolled into one! And the Judge is the second most powerful figure in the kingdom, right after my parents! His word might as well be coming straight from my dad! Sans just happens to be incredibly lazy and apathetic and would rather people not know who he actually is.

Oh. You thought, tapping the pen against the desk top. That makes more sense about him and confirms whether or not he actually recalls the previous timelines. It was hinted but never outright stated… but—

“Isn’t he depressed though? Like cripplingly depressed because of the time loop? Wouldn’t it be better to let him in on this? If he knew that we are breaking the barrier, maybe he’d be willing to help. Especially if we stress that what we’re doing is also breaking the loop.”

Are you crazy? Sans blames me for like ninety percent of the genocide routes! He thinks I’m evil incarnate!

“Well, in his defense, I am pretty sure he only sees you during the genocide routes.”

No, he doesn’t! I told you, I’m not the one who makes Frisk violently murder their friends! I only take control when they finish the genocide routes! Everything else that happens is on you Outworlders!

“Then how does he know about you?”

Chara jolted, looking away with a frown. It’s complicated.

“More complicated than dragging a drunken human from one world to another, transforming them into a skeleton monster?”

Yes! Sure! Let’s go with that! Chara huffed, throwing their arms up. Just avoid him, okay?

“Can’t promise that. If he is aware, he’ll probably realize I stand out by virtue of him never having met me in the other timelines. Avoiding him might give him the impression I have something to hide.”

You do have something to hide.

“Yeah, but I don’t want to confirm that to him. I already know I’m going to be nervous around him, so better he thinks I’m just crippling shy or socially inept than a human in monster flesh.”

Chara grumbled but didn’t disagree as you jotted down ‘Avoid Sans when you can. Otherwise, invoke operation: obfuscating stupidity around him.’

A knock caused you to jump a bit, hiding the note out of instinct. Toriel’s voice soon was heard, telling you that the pie would be ready soon.

You agreed, folding the paper back up, stopping before you put it back in the drawer. Looking around you grabbed one of the books Toriel gave you (one about the history of the Ruins) and placed the paper inside before putting it in the drawer along with several other books that you placed book makers in at random. You stood quickly but stopped dead at the sound of your body popping. Your hand snaked up, gripping your neck as you tried to will away the phantom sensation of your body moving whiling not being connected, your hand running across your face before falling over the bed, like a puppet whose strings got all tangled up—

—The sound of the building falling on t¤p  0f _yOu A🅂  mͩoͣlͬᵏteͩnͣ ͬᵏmͤaͬgʸiͤcͭ iͩmͣmͬᵏoͤlͬatͭeͪdͤ yͩoͣuͬᵏ ᶰfͤˢrˢoᵏmͤ ͤᵖwˢiᵍtͬhͦʷiͥᶰnᵍ —

Hey! Stay with me here. Stay with me! Breath! Come on, breath with me, in…out…in…out…

You don’t know how long you stayed like that, clutching your neck in a fetal position with a vague sense that coppery magic was exiting your mouth and sockets as Chara forced you to focus on their breathing. By the time they had gotten you calmed down enough to not put the rest of the house in a tizzy, Toriel had come back stating the pie was ready and would you please set the table.

You forced gave a hoarse ‘sure’, not daring to try and say anything else.

With a final look at the mirror to see if there was any evidence left from your… episode, you made your way out, forcing yourself to feel fine as you shoved the entire thing far, far down in the depths of your mind.

Ignoring the pointed look Chara was giving, you the the dining area, finding Gerson rummaging through the alcohol that some of the Whimsun’s brought. Feinting curiosity you picked one up, reading ‘Bridge Seed Beer’.

“This looks interesting.”

Don’t you remember the last time you drank?

“Oh, Bridge Seeds are pretty potent!” Gerson informed you, seeing you eyeing…eyesocketing the beverage. “Are you even old enough to drink?”

“Yup! Been so for a while now… ah, why not?” You mumbled, twisting the bottle cap off as you ignored a voice in your head that sounded like Mia about how drinking your problems away was not a healthy solution. You took a tentative sip, testing it out. It had a bitter taste, strong and aromatic. Gerson was right in that it was potent, but you used to drink Brewmiester so you weren’t completely thrown. You weren’t expecting the tingly sensation down your spine, nor how your vision sharpened. Huh.

Inquiring Gerson if that was normal confirmed that yes, that was pretty normal for Bridge Seeds made you take another tentative sip before you deciding you liked it and that you were having it with your pie.

Setting the beverage on the table, you made your way to the kitchen to get the dishes and utensils. As you left you took a moment to eye the huge pie Toriel was cutting, the tasty aroma filling your nose nasal cavity.

Chara, realizing you were going to pretend you hadn’t just had a meltdown, wandered over to Toriel, eyeing the pie with approval.

That looks amazing! She really out did herself. Chara said cheerfully, though you noticed they looked a little sad as they watched their mother. You felt a kinship in that expression, knowing you would like to talk to your mother and family again.

I will. I just have to be patient. Just a little over eight months to go, I can do this. And once I’m back, I’m going to hug everyone! Then I’m getting a really good therapist, because I am pretty sure I have something like PTSD!

Hey, what are you plotting? Because need to keep your head out of the clouds and set the table. Chara spoke with a grin, all signs of their melancholy gone.

You ignored the re-pun-gent child damn you Chara! and continued to set the table, deciding you’ve were not going to have any further issues for today and just enjoy a calm none drama or life-threatening evening.

You were going to push all issues aside and pretend nothing was wrong, nothing at all!

Just as Toriel set the massive pie in the center of the table, a knock rang out.

“I got it!” You said sweetly, making your way to the front door. “Think one of the neighbors decided to drop by?”

Floating lazily behind, Chara yawned. Yeah, probably. They’ve been visiting a lot trying to get their facts straight about the recent events, as well as other stuff.

The knock happened again somehow sounding both hesitant yet frantic, like they weren’t sure they should be knocking yet needed to.

Shrugging you opened the door with a greeting on your currently non-extant tongue—

That promptly died as you looked down and stared into reddish-brown eyes that looked both frightened and haunted, a bandage around their head that barely stopped the blood that trickled down their forehead, a stick clutched tightly in their hand, their blue and purple sweater torn, and knees scrapped.

They backed up upon seeing you, looking scared and confused. Suddenly they relaxed, looking past you with relief as a watery smile found its way on the small child’s face.

A broken and scratchy sound escaped their lips, sounding like Chara’s name before the child’s eyes rolled into the back of their head and they fainted dead away.

You barely caught them in time, instincts kicking in as you checked their pulse. Finding a steady pulse, you looked around to see if anyone had seen the child before stepping in back inside with child secured in your arms. A sense of vertigo swept over you and before you even realized it you were standing in front of Toriel, who along with Gerson jumped at your sudden appearance.

“Tori, Frisk’s hurt! I need your healing!”

Chapter Text

A deep and content sigh left the Captain of the Royal Guards, snuggled up in her blanket on the Skeleton brother's couch. After a training incident that left the foundation of her home questionable, Papyrus had invited her to stay until they fixed it. She had considered just staying in New Home like the last time she did something to her home, but Papyrus was pretty insistent. Sans agreed as well, under the condition she didn’t cook (but Sans has always been a weird and lazy guy, so she wasn’t too offended by this condition especially since Sans was hardly around at all).

It was a pretty good deal; a warm place to go to, it kept her close to Waterfall, and if that also meant she had to listen to Papyrus fuss about his brother, well they were friends, it’s what you did.

Though she had wondered if Papyrus was exaggerating a little.

“I’M TELLING YOU UNDYNE, SANS HAS BEEN JUST WEIRD LATELY!”

“Come on, punk. Your brother’s always been weird.” Undyne waved it off, blowing on her tea.

“HE’S ACTIVE, UNDYNE. HE HAS BEEN PHYSICALLY ACTIVE. WITHOUT ME PROMPTING OR ENCOURAGING HIM.”

That caused her to pause, tea halfway to her lips. “How active?”

“HE’S BEEN AWAKE AT HIS JOBS, HE ACTUALLY WALKED GERSON TO THE RUINS DOOR, HE’S BEEN TALKING TO A LOT OF PEOPLE, AND HE HASN’T BEEN PUNNING AS MUCH AS HE USUALLY DOES!”

Ooookay, that was a little weird coming from Sans.

“AND, AND HE’S BEEN… Avoiding Me…” Papyus voice petered out, looking upset.

Oh. Oh that was beyond weird for Sans. I’m going to suplex him into a wall!

“I Don’t Even Think He’s Aware Of It Either, Like He Is So Wrapped Up In Whatever He’s Doing He Isn’t Aware Of His Surroundings.”

Biting back her vicious desire to hunt down Sans and make him apologize to Pap, she moved to pat him on the shoulder. “Want me to talk to him?” Please let me talk to him so I can throw him into the river until he realizes he’s being a idiot? I'll even be gentle as I can't believe he would ever intentionally ignore Papyrus.

Papyrus let out a sigh before he straightens his spine and smiling brightly. “NO NO! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS THIS UNDER CONTROL! NO ONE KNOWS SANS LIKE I DO, I JUST NEED TO GIVE HIM TIME! AND IF THAT DOESN'T WORK, I HAVE PLANS FOR HELPING HIM OUT OF HIS FUNK!”

Sighing Undyne agreed with a grin that was all teeth, having decided to talk to Sans anyways. Just because Pap’s says he’s got something doesn’t mean she can’t help her friend.

“I INTEND TO BE THERE FOR SANS WHEN HE’S READY TO TALK… AND MAYBE TELL ME WHY HE’S BEEN KEEN OVER THE COLOR COPPER FOR THE LAST WEEK.”

“Uh, what?”

“ABOUT A WEEK AGO HE CAME TO ME ASKING IF COPPER WAS ORANGE, YELLOW OR RED. NATURALLY I TOLD HIM IT’S A BROWN.”

Brown?  Undyne snorted, placing the tea down. “Yeah, no. Copper’s a reddish-yellow.”

“NO, IT IS A BROWN.”

“Nope, reddish-yellow.”

“BROWN.”

“Reddish-yellow.”

“IT’S BROWN!”

“NO, ITS NOT, PUNK! HOW CAN YOU GET A BROWN OUT OF THAT?!”

Frustrated, Papyrus stood up ran up stairs to his room. By the time he came back, armed with a book Undyne had finished her tea.

“HERE! IT CLEARLY SAYS IN THIS DICTIONARY THAT COPPER IS A RED-BROWN! SEE? IT SAYS, ‘A SOFT, RED-BROWN METAL, USED MOSTLY IN ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT AND FOR MAKING WIRE AND COINS’.”

“…okay, I get where you got that from, but it still is a reddish-yellow.”

“URGH. YOU SAY REDDISH-YELLOW, ALPHYS THINKS IT’S A REDDISH-ORANGE.”

“Alphys?” Undyne said with a start, flushing a little at the name of her crush.

“YES, SANS CALLED HER UP TO ASK THE SAME QUESTION. HE SEEMS TO THINK SHE’S CLOSER THE ACCURATE COLOR THAN ME.”

Alphys was getting a little unnerved with the intensity of Sans stare, and it wasn’t even being directed at her!

A few days ago, he had walked into the lab, and after a hasty greeting and a pun proceeded to ask her if copper was more of a reddish-orange or a reddish-yellow.

She had dug up some old chemical books, and between the two of them started looking into this…odd request of his. It took a couple of days for them to find it in one of the chemical books, but Sans was unusually persistent.

She was a little fascinated that most metals appear silver in color, grey metals (such as silver or aluminum) do not absorb much or any of the visible light that hits it. Most of the light is reflected and this causes very little distortion in the color of the reflected light. Copper, on the other hand, has a distinctive red-orange color. When an object absorbs one color of light, its complementary color is reflected back., red-orange, is reflected. Hence copper appears a red-orange color since its since its complementary color (blue-green) is absorbed.

Then he asked her if she could pinpoint whether that meant that copper was more red than orange before leaving.

Today he came back with noodles, asking if she had made any head way on the exact color but before she could reply Mettaton wheeled in his usual flamboyant manner. He had wanted to discuss his new form (ignoring her stuttering’s about it only being half done) and showed her a picture he drew that he hoped to incorporate and… it looked exactly like his EX body but with a thin and baggy purple and blue sweater over it.

“You like it darling? I had this strange dream where I was wearing this body but had this adorable little child on stage with me and they helped boost my rating beyond anything I’ve ever seen! I was just so inspired by it, that I had to add the sweater.”

Alphys was a little amused by her friend’s sudden zeal for purple and blue sweaters… at least until she looked back at Sans who was giving a smile that looked more like a death rictus, eyelights dull and entirely focused on Mettaton.

“Um, S-Sans?”

That seemed to snap him out of his rather intense stare down, smile looking less strained but eyelights not brightening.

“sorry, just don't really like the color purple."

"R-really?"

"yeah, i hate it more than blue and red combined."

It took Alphys an embarrassingly long time to figure out that pun, Mettaton on the other hand just tsk-ed in disapproval.

"sorry alph, i just remembered something, really blue from my mind. can we talk about this later?”

Alphys barely agreed before Sans about-faced and left the room.

She and Mettaton watched him go, Mettaton leaning a hand on his side. “What was that look for? He can hardly critique me on fashion since he still wearing the same ratty hoodie every day.”

“I…I d-don’t think it had anything to d-do with that.”

Sans was getting frustrated. He just wanted to know which color was dominate, which color he had to defend against when the Copper Soul finally got tired and left the Ruins. He was a veteran with fighting Determination, but the other soul colors? Yeah, he hadn't needed to, and now there was a potentially duel-souled human running amok that was also possibly raised by Chara.

Even when they weren't being entirely possessed by Chara Frisk was dangerous, he didn't even want to think about what this one could do with or without being possessed.

And if the human did have reset powers, he'd need to find a way to fight it without dying. A part of him desperately wanted the human to not be a genocidal psycho, but the cynical part of him told him not to get his hopes up. He also needed more samples of the copper magic to better study it, maybe give a sample to Alphys. She might see something he missed.

Theoretically, if Chara had create an artificial human it should be Determination soul, but the possibility it had a secondary soul trait meant he had to know which one it was so he could defend against the lesser color. If Chara had somehow made a soul that was a mix of Determination and Bravery, or even a Determination and Justice—

A wail rented the air, and Sans almost gave in to his desire to smack his skull against the counter. Flowey was getting worse, with mood swings that frankly were becoming really annoying.

With a deep sigh he walked over to the shrieking Flowey. His petals were still yellow, but a dark yellow. It wouldn’t be long before it started to turn orange-y.   

“I want this to stop!” Flowey yelled.

“we both do, pal.”

“I hate this!”

“same here.”

“I want to… to… I don’t know! I want to hurt her and tell her I’m sorry!”

“why are you sorry?”

“Shut! Up!”

“don’t feel like it.”

“I want you to shut up, you idiot! I want this to stop! I want to not feel anymore! I…I… I WANT A HUG!”

“…okay. now you’re scarin’ me.”

“Hug?”

“noooooope. not happening.”

“But I need a hug!”

“…backing away now.”

“WhY wOn’T yOu HuG MeEeEe…?”

The skeleton than proceeded to quickly walk away from the mewling flower who was still demanding him to come back and hug him. Sans was certain he was going to get nightmares about this.

Entry 11:

flowey is now demanding hugs. while this is new, it is also kinda creepy. if this lasts, i’ll get him a plushie toy.

Chapter Text

When the human child showed up, she healed them (Gerson tried to help, but Ivory had given him a empty-socket look with the most chilling sensation to go with it) and once healed Ivory proceeded to request for a large shirt that could be used as a make shift pajama’s until the child woke, and then took a damp cloth and cleaned the child up. Seeing how all three bedrooms were being used Ivory tucked the child into her own bed. Before taking a water bottle and a slice of pie with her, stating she was going to keep the child company, despite the child being unconscious.

Toriel had stated that she didn’t need to do that until Ivory pointed out that she knew the child and didn’t want the poor dear to wake up alone and uncertain of their location like she did when she first arrived.

Having recalled the screaming, gibbering mess the skeleton had been when she first arrived, Toriel had to agree.

That was this morning and Toriel and Gerson had returned from ensuring no one had seen the child, Frisk, falling. Turns out with all attention had moved to the reconstruction at the market place which left the corridors mostly abandoned, allowing the small child to make it to Toriel’s house undisturbed, though Toriel had no idea how Frisk made it through some of the puzzles.

As she went to make tea Gerson sat heavily in the chair, looking troubled. “what are the odds of a human that Ivory knew falling down here?”

Small, Toriel knew. Even smaller than she thought, and a part of her wondered why she never thought about it before. But more importantly Toriel believed Ivory when she stated that Toriel was the first monster she met outside of her family and Ivory clearly knew how to interact with people, even if a couple of times started with her screaming at the person in question. This indicated that Ivory already knew how to socialize, despite not knowing other monsters.

“Why hadn’t it occurred to me that Ivory might have had human friends?” Toriel said in an irate voice, feeling stupid for not thinking of it in the first place for not questioning why the first surface-born-and-raised monster she encountered in nearly a millennia who had no monster friends or acquaintances yet possessed people skills and seemed educated… which now that she thought of it, sounded slightly bigoted.

“Well, with our background it would be a silly and downright absurd thing to consider having human friends, and frankly until that kid came I was under the impression that Ivory had no friends outside of her brother before she fell.” Gerson replied, taking the tea Toriel handed to him as she sat down with a huff. “I may not have known her long but Ivory doesn’t seem very sociable, if you don’t consider the children.”

That didn’t make Toriel feel any better, but she understood what Gerson meant. Ivory was extremely timid when she was first introduced, and even after three and a half months here she wasn’t very talkative.

Though now some of Ivory’s questions and actions made more sense…

While Ivory might have been near completely silent when it came to the monsters of the surface (and Toriel did believe it was mostly due to ignorance on Ivory’s part), Ivory spoke of many things about humans; the various cultures, foods, educations, even religions and pass times, all in a way that indicated that Ivory thought them common knowledge.

While that may have been an interest in the species, she was too knowledgeable for someone who was still in hiding from humanity, and seemed almost like she identified with humans more than monsters… and Toriel recalled that she had said three more names when they first met and Ivory accidentally broke her phone in a desperate bid to call her family, but had not mentioned them after that.

Which would make sense, if Ivory understood that having human friends might be a danger in the Underground.

Toriel felt foolish, a feeling she didn’t experience often. She had been so focused on Ivory’s origins and lack of monster understanding and culture that she didn’t even consider that the kind of background Ivory had pre-fall. Ivory had probably known more humans than Toriel had in her entire millennia.

Well, I at least can be certain Ivory won’t let any harm fall upon an innocent. Toriel thought, remembering how protective Ivory was of Frisk. Draining the last dredges of her tea, Toriel stood up. “I’m going to check on them.”

“You do that. I on the other hand will not so much as look at the kid directly, least I bring Ivory’s wrath upon me.” Gerson said with a shudder. “If that girl ever learns to control her emotions, I hope she never finds reasons to use it against me.”

Toriel chuckled, though she couldn’t help shutter little at Ivory’s frigid feelings when Gerson got too close to Frisk. It felt like death had treaded on her dust.

Toriel had barely knocked when the door was wrenched open, Ivory looking panicked as she held the child.

“Idon’tknowwhatIjustdid,butIthinkIaccidentlykidnappedsomeone!”

It took her a few minutes to decipher what Ivory said, during which Toriel realized that Frisk was standing on the bed looking surprised.  If Frisk was there, then who-?

Looking back at the child in Ivory’s arm, Toriel felt her mind sputter at the weeping greyish-white monster child in Ivory’s arms.

“Where-what-Ivory-?”

“Toriel! What’s all the noise-”

Gerson had sped to them, stopping at the sight of the monster child in Ivory’s arms. He looked puzzled. “…is that MK?”

You didn’t really like the void. It was too black, too quiet and Chara lived here when they weren’t haunting you.

Right now though you were ignoring your dislike of the place and were doing everything to make yourself as harmless and friendly as possible to the kid who was currently keeping Chara between the two of you.

To your surprise Chara let them, looking kindly at Frisk as the kid’s hands rapidly went through signs. You did look at the fluid motions, even though you had no idea what was being said.

The second you had Frisk healed and cleaned up you insisted that they needed a bed and had placed them in yours. Toriel was understanding of your desire to stay, having believed you when you said it would be better if Frisk had someone they knew when they woke up. As soon as she left, Chara told you that you and they were going to have a chat with Frisk before blipping away. Barely ten seconds after that, you felt the strange sensation that occurred every time you ended up in the void, but this time without it being an accident or momentarily.

Soon you were with Chara and Frisk, the former gently talking to the latter. Frisk looked scared, reddish-brown eyes peeking through brown hair, one hand clenching onto Chara’s as they signed with the other. Standing next to each other also made rethink your (admittedly hasty) evaluation of Frisk’s age. You had thought they were close to Chara’s physical age but seeing as Frisk barely came to Chara’s shoulder made you think that the child was actually closer to six or seven, the baby fat on their face adding to this thought.

Chara had apparently given Frisk an abridged version of what was going on and had told them where you were from, and once it was confirmed you were a Outworlder the child had given you the most terrorized look in creation.

Hence your attempt to not further traumatize the kid by broadcasting your every move, staying a good fifteen feet away from them, and trying to appear as dangerous as a whimsun.

The fact Chara was actually vouching for you came as a surprise, even if they did it in the most backhanded complimentary way possible. At least until they realized you couldn’t read sign language, at which point Chara and Frisk proceeded to speak completely in. So, for a good hour you spent watching Chara and Frisk talk, hands a blur of motions, facial expressions aplenty and even animated body language in what you assumed was a heated discussion.

Finally Frisk gave a jerky nod, Chara practically wilting with relief. The older child turned to you with a strained smile.

Well, the good news! Frisk is all caught up!

“That’s good. The bad news?” You asked in a gentle tone, not wanting to give the younger one a reason to think even more poorly of you.

Remembering that you played the game that used Frisk as a meat puppet… well, you now understood the phrase “You can feel your sins crawling on your back”.

The bad news is since they are here, the old deal between us is null and void.

That… was true. Finishing before Frisk arrived was the whole point of the old deal. Going home with Ivan’s soul was the end result…

…it still could be.

“Okay. Okay. We can still do this.” You mumbled, looking at the wary-eyed Chara and half-hidden Frisk.

“So the last one is a bust, yeah, but if Frisk is here that means we have a wider time limit, right? The timeline can still be altered, hel-heck, it has already been altered. We just have to work with it. It can even be exactly like the old one but with some obvious differences.”

…huh. I figured I’d have to twist your arm a bit to get you to agree to another deal.

You snorted at that, rolling your eyes lights.

“I still want to go home, Chara. And even more importantly, I want to get my brother’s soul home.”

Well with some of the stunts you pulled… Chara trailed off, that faux smile back on their face. It made you feel a little relieved seeing that brat’s condescending sneer of a smile after the roller-coaster of a week.

“I don’t regret saving those people.”

The smile turned a little sincere. You don’t, do you?

Frisk tugged on Chara’s sleeve and once they had the older child’s attention started signing again. Chara hummed a little, nodding along.

Frisk is going to help with the deal. They have the second longest seniority out of the three of us when it comes to the Underground, and knows pretty much everyone. Take all of their advice ad you’ll be breaking that barrier down in no time- NO. 

That made you jump a little. Chara was not looking at you, but rather behind you.

You whipped around and came face to face with a white skinned thing. You don’t recall how you went from being fifteen feet from the two children to in front of them, but you credit it to your big sister instincts.

It took you a bit longer to realize that you had been face-to-face with…Goner Kid.

The small (Frisk small) mono-colored monster was just standing there, head tilted at an angle.

**…are you real…?** Goner Kid said, voice staticky. Despite having no pupils, you swore they were looking at you.

Go away. Chara snarled, stance aggressive.

Instead of doing that, Goner Kid started stumbling over. **…you feel like him…**

Okay, we’ll regroup for the next meeting! Chara snarled, disappearing with Frisk. You felt that sensation of being pulled back—

**W-wait! Don’t go!** Goner Kid pleaded, tripping over their feet trying to reach you, big fat tears falling down.

—and you reached out, catching them before they could hit the non-existent ground just as you were pulled back.

You landed on you back, hissing in pain as your wings dug into your rib and spine. You were a little disoriented and something heavy was on you. Once your vision wasn’t swimming from the head jarring you saw Chara floating above you with Frisk peeking over the bed.

Chara looked horrified while Frisk looked confused, and before you could ask what was those looks for, the weight on you groaned. You were sitting up before they finished, and you couldn’t help but stare at the person in your lap.

Goner Kid was curled into you, breathing heavily and looking in pain.

What. Did. You. Do?  Chara hissed, looking panicked.

Rubbing Goner’s back in an attempt to sooth them, you could only helplessly shrug.

He had rushed to save the Forgotten that had wandered too close to where his Monarch’s adopted human, the human Frisk and the Outworlder specimen was. Usually the Forgotten's didn’t get too close to others, but lately whenever the specimen went into the void even momentarily, they started to try and follow her to her last location. He had no worries over the dead royal child and Frisk doing anything to the Forgotten but he had no idea what the specimen would do to one of his people.

He had just arrived when he witnessed the specimen catching the small Forgotten before shortcutting again. Cursing he reached out through the void, trying to pin where she had gone. Failing that he tried to see where the specimen landed in the waking world, theorizing he could go the approximate area that it was near in the waking.

Instead he watched in mounting shock as the Queen fussed over the little Forgotten who was rapidly gaining color back in their body, already a light green though the clothes remained white and black, old Gerson checking them over as Frisk stayed next to them while the specimen… was holding the little Forgotten, murmuring soothing words to them as she rubbed their back and rocked them gently. The little Forgotten’s tail was wrapped around the specimen’s arm, head buried into the crook of the skeleton’s shoulder.

This… this was no momentary thing, no thinning of the void that only gave temporary leave of this place. The little Forgotten was completely and utterly out…and he could see fragments of their soul piecing itself rapidly back together like a jigsaw puzzle.

He… he needed to sit down.

He needed to think.

He needed to meet the specimen.

{There’s a way out.} He breathed, and for the first time in so very long he was grinning with genuine joy, so happy his form was actually solid.

She couldn’t stop crying. At first she didn’t know why, but memories flooded her mind, memories of both of her children. Her husband wasn’t any help, he had started crying as well. She helped him dry his tears just as their not only child ran in, tripping on the door frame before forcing himself back onto his feet. Her sweet child looked stricken, tears welling in his eyes.

“…Mom…Dad? What happened to my twin?”

Chapter Text

When had my life become this insane? You couldn’t help but question.

Toriel had chewed you out for stealing a child, that was until you in vague terms stated you were pretty certain you just rescued them, a statement that was only reinforced when the former queen tried to take the small green monster who proceeded to scream bloody murder and bit down on your shoulder in order to keep from being removed from you, mumbles of pleading to not go back heard around the clavicle they were biting down on.

Toriel had to use magic to get the child off you, easing them into sleep. Gerson checked them over, infirmed you of their low health and that they were a girl, and shortly after that had apparently gotten a massive headache and needed to rest.

Frisk stayed by Toriel’s side the whole time, looking uncertain and a little scared.

Chara had not stopped screaming profanities and insults at your intelligence, your sanity, and general character.

Now you were alone with the kids, slightly chewed and no less confused as to what just happened. Chara was floating above you, still spewing profanities, while Frisk sat near the unconscious Goner Kid, both wearing a shirt from Toriel who had gone out to get clothes for them.

You still don’t get it?! You dragged someone who didn’t exist back in existence! Chara screeched, Frisk nodding in agreement.

 “But Goner Kid was going to fall! I just reacted!”

Goner Kid? You already named it?! Chara seethed.

“No, that’s what they are called back home!”

That caused Chara to stop short, a puzzled look on their face. They exist…?

“Back home, yeah. I don’t know exactly how you meet them in the game, except you need to hack it. When you do, Goner Kid and a bunch of other black and white characters show up randomly.”

Frisk waved, getting both of your attention. Their hands flew through a series of signs, Chara looking both thoughtful and uncomfortable.

So, you have met them? Urgh, this is so annoying. Wait, have you met— Chara abruptly stopped talking, hands moving in quick fluid movements, to which Frisk frowned but nodded.

I really need to learn sign language, you thought glumly as you watched their conversation.

You looked at Goner Kid, studying her reptilian face. Her scales were minty green, and like Monster Kid she had no arms and when her pupils came back, they were a darker more forest green. She was currently curled into a tight ball, eyes shut tight. You gently pulled the blanket higher, hoping she wasn’t cold.

If Goner Kid exists, did that mean the others did as well? And if they too existed, did that mean…Gaster was on the other side? The game had always been extremely vague when it came to him, and the fandom was very divided about him. Was he even a skeleton like so many thought he was, potentially related to Sans and Papyrus? And just how dangerous was he? River person warned against him, but you weren’t certain why as Gaster was a unperson. And if he was bad news, could you get the others out of the void without alerting him?

Maybe if I meet him, I can reason with him? You thought, looking down at Goner Kid. If the others can be freed- if he can be freed, surely, he’d be alright with working together?

Goner Kid’s frantic plea not to go back echoed in your head, the bone she bit throbbing in phantom pain as you strengthened your resolve. Regardless of his nature, I’m going to help the other ones.

Chara sighed loudly again, drawing your attention. They looked unhappy as they ran a hand through their hair. Okay, you- they pointed at you- are banned from the Void.

Irritated, you stood up, glowering at Chara. “Excuse you?”

You are banned from stepping into the Void. If I need you in there, I’ll pull you in when your sleeping. Should have just done that in the beginning.

“No. I’m going back.”

Chara jerked back, looking surprised before matching your glower. This is not up for discussion. You are not allowed back in there.

“I’m not discussing this with you, I’m informing you that I’m going back.”

No, you’re not. I’ll kick you back out if you try.

“You’ll be wasting a lot of time then because I’ll just keep returning.”

I’ll outlast you.

“I’ll make you rage quit.”

I’m serious! You can’t go back there!

“Chara, you’re not being reasonable-”

I’m not being reasonable?! Anybody else were told they weren’t allowed physically in the Void would be relieved. You on the other hand are stupid enough to try and get back in there! Why would you even want to go back?

“So I can pull the rest of the other lost souls out!”

Chara’s face went white, eyes wide. No! Nobody else is getting pulled out!

You tried to come at this from another angle. “Chara, the more people we pull out, the more we are altering the timeline! By the time I destroy the barrier, we could have a timeline that is barely recognizable to the old one!”

Chara shook, eyes melting away to black dripping pools of ichor, their smile ripping their face practically in half.

I Ş̶A̷͏I̶D͝ ̨N͟O͏̵̕!!

You were pretty certain Chara could feel your fear and see the way you trembled at the terrifying face Chara made, but you stood your ground. Why were they making such deal over this? Unless…?

“Are you saying that because I did something wrong, or because I might meet Gaster?”

Chara’s demonic face faded, a look of confusion replacing it. Sans’s weapons?

“No, the guy the blasters are named after.”

Who?

“Gaster? Dr. W.D. Gaster? Former royal scientist? Creator of the Core?”

There’s a guy like that in the Void?

“…possible skeleton or humanoid monster? Man Who Speaks in Hands? Leader of these guys?” You said, pointing at Goner Kid.

The last one apparently was the one that Chara recognized, as their face twisted in disgust. Mr. Goopie?

That got a snigger out of you. “You call him that?”

Yeah, because he looks like a huge pile of goop- wait. You know him too?

“I know of him, yes. Anything that involved him was always super vague.”

He’s just a creep that lurks around, acting all high and mighty.

“He served your parents and is a genius. If he is still around, and sane, maybe we can reason with him?”

No.

Frisk jumped up standing between you two, hands signing rapidly. Chara’s face pulled into a unhappy scowl as the stared at Frisk.

It’s too- Fris- hey! That’s low- but- Frisk, it’s a terrible idea- well, no, but- but- we can’t- AAAARRGH! Fine! You win!

Jerking back towards you, the deceased child snarled. You get one chance to convince him. One. And you don’t get to wander around unchaperoned in the Void.

Relief flooded you, a grateful smile on your skull as you turned to Frisk. “Thank you.”

Your smiled died as they tried to hide behind the floating Chara, looking very much like they did not want to be closer to you than necessary.

And you couldn’t blame them. You may not have killed anyone during your play of Undertale, but you still used the kid like a marionette. It didn’t make it better that you were doing it unknowingly.

As tough sensing your thoughts, Frisk looked at you, scared eyes peeking through brown hair…

Monster! Those eyes screamed at you, and not the race kind either.

Do…do you remember me, Frisk? When I played the game?

She has been awake for a while, ever since her Angel and creepy soul-harvesting child started yelling each other. Her Angel’s emotions were all over the place, like someone had removed her ability to managed them. Maybe she gave that up for her ability to walk the Void without it trying to consume her.

Her memories were still coming, but she remembered enough. She was Monster Kidsam, twin to her sweet brother Monster Kidwen, her father was Monster Kidelam and her mother was Cheslias, sister of Jenny, cousin of Susan. She lived in Snowdin with her family but liked to visit her aunt and cousin in Hotland. Her favorite food was macaroons.

She had fallen into the Core hide and seek with her twin and cousin.

Then everything fragmented, like her entire life had leaked out of her, leaving only a overwhelming desire to seek comfort from the nothingness. He helped ease it when it got truly unbearable.

But then she found her Angel, shining like the rocks in Waterfall, loud and vibrant. She rescued her from the Void, gave her back her memories.

And now she was going to save the others, save him. Her Angel was going to save them all.

She burrowed under the blanket, still listening to both her Angel’s voices.

She will set us free.

{She… she knows my name…?}

Chapter Text

Gerson had left for the market already, saying he’d return around lunch unless his headache forced him back. Toriel was gone as well, returning to her patrol with the intention of returning by noon to help with lunch despite your assurance that you’d make it.

Last night had been productive in that you had convinced Chara to let you try and rescue the other lost souls and Gaster, as well as sat down with Toriel and Gerson.

You had procrastinated enough now and needed to try and move forward and started on leaving the Ruins.

The first step had been talking about your immediate future with Toriel and letting Gerson voice ideas. The official statement they were going to go with over the incident in the marketplace was that you had a warped soul that damn near fragmented due to your desire to save everyone, making your already messed up soul even worse than it really is. They in turn told you about the divided view the residents had, which was mercifully mostly on your side due to your actions. You had told Toriel that if it was necessary for their peace of mind, she’d leave the Ruins you didn’t say that you’d be a terrified mess but you’d leave for their sake.

It was Gerson who suggested that Toriel makes you her apprentice for the Keeper job, to give you a better claim to staying in the Ruins, citing that this way you’d get to stay in your new home with people you know and care about, finding a place to call your own and give Toriel a chance to retire and become a school teacher like she wanted… and could keep any future humans (and surface monsters) safe and hopefully ease their adjustment into their new life.

And like that, you found yourself as the newly minted Apprentice of the Keeper. Toriel had promised to not only teach you what your new job entails but to give you magic training as well.

The only hiccup that came up from that conversation had been Toriel’s concern over you learning more race-based powers and thinking of asking Sans to train you. Both of them looked deeply concerned at the panic you no doubt emitted and had luckily played it off as worried about meeting someone not from the Ruins you didn’t feel even a smidgen of guilt when you looked at Gerson, who looked deeply ashamed at the jab.

Gerson again surprised you by stating that Sans wouldn’t be a good choice as he already had three or four jobs and had lately been showing signs of stress. He did recommend Sans brother as he only had that patrol job and wasn’t qualified for a position in the Royal Guard you damn near snorted at that though while trying to keep your fangirl thoughts in check, and seemed like a better instructor overall as he didn’t get irritated often and got along with most people. Toriel asked him to relay the job offer when he went back, which sparked the next part of your plans.

You then discussed leaving the Ruins in order to return the little displaced monster (Kidsam, Gerson called them Kidsam after examining them before he got a nasty headache).

The plan would be that you would leave in a week with Gerson to return young Kidsam to their family, leaving Frisk in Toriel’s care. You insisted on being the one to return her, saying you found the child and you were responsible for their well being.

That and every time Kidsam was awake she would cling to you like a barnacle.

After all this you had also been updated with other events that had taken place and were very surprised at the Eyewalker family’s desire to adopt you.

They had a family get together tomorrow and you had requested that Evah and her father Nakin take a moment out of there to speak with you, Toriel coming with for support and Frisk and Kidsam would go spend time with Lookie and the other kids. You were hoping that Lookie and their cousins would encourage the two living children in your care to go and play, which would make Chara stay away from the talk and allowing you a chance to talk with just adults with no commentary from your undead peanut gallery.

Still, for once everything felt like it was finally moving forward with no bumps.

Breakfast had been a hearty meal of pancakes, and as soon as Toriel and Gerson left, Chara, Frisk and you went into planning mode, Kidsam having fallen asleep shortly after breakfast.

Gerson stating that he was concern at the exhaustion Kidsam was showing and had Chara not explained that the kid probably hadn’t slept since they first fell in and was probably catching up on much needed sleep you’d be worried too.

After nearly three hours, it was decided that a break was in order, and you had just returned with drinks and snacks as Frisk and Chara did one of their rapid hand-sign talks. You were happy enough that Frisk was doing better after their meltdown earlier, though they had refused to speak verbally to you since.

“Crackers, Frisk?”

Instead they had pretty much just spoke in sign and if they did speak to you, it meant that Chara acted as translator, and you just knew that they were deliberately not translating Frisk’s words either entirely or were flat-out editing them.

They said ‘No’.

“They literally spent a good five minutes signing. There is no way it took that long to say ‘No’.”

They stuttered a lot. Chara lied cheerfully, Frisk giggling next to them.

You groaned at the kids as they fell into a giggle fit, secretly happy.

Not even an hour ago the air had been heavy. You had tried to talk more directly with Frisk, who kept ignoring you like you didn’t exist, with you trying to get them to respond to well, anything. You…you admit you should have handled it better, or at least thought out your words better.

“Frisk, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me how-”

“You want to help?” A raspy voice sneered out, jolting you into silence. Chara looked deeply concerned as Frisk stood, red eyes glowering at you.

“How could you help? You are just as guilty as-as them!”

Frisk pushed their bangs out of their eyes, tears welling in them as they stared at you with hysterical fury.

“I..I was a puppet. I couldn’t move on my own. I was strangled by invisible wires, with people like-like YOU PULLING THE STRINGS!”

You jerked away, shocked at Frisk sudden yelling. The kid didn’t stop, if anything Frisk looked like they had just unleashed something they had been holding back for years.

“I listened to people like you laugh, jeer and cry, do good, neutral and bad, show mercy and genocide and reset and reset and reset and RESET! Over and over! Why did you play?! Why did so many people play?! Because my suffering, the violent death of  my love ones and false freedom we were granted was…just. A. Game.”

“Frisk, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m just trying to fix-”

“I’M NOT BROKEN!!”

You damn near jumped through the ceiling (like Chara had) when Frisk screamed those words, their voice raspy and cracking.

“ I’M N͡OT͟ ̴B̶̷R̡̡̛OK̛͘E̡̢͠N̷͠!̛ ̷Y̷̡̢O̢U̵̵ ͡HA̕͢VȨ͘͡N̸͢'̕T̶͢ B̸R͘͞O̢͟KE̸N ̕ME,͘͢ T̡̕H̛E̴͝ ̷ŖE̕Ş͝T͟͞ ͘OF͘ ͢T̷H͢E̵M̢̢͝ ̴͞HA͢͟D͟͡N͏'T͏ BR̵͠O̢K̡E̴͡N̨ ̷͝M̛͟͜E̡̨! ̷A̵̴N̶͟Ḑ̴ ͞͞I͘͘ ̢͡WI̷͢L͘͟͠L ̨N̢͞E̷͞V̸̢E͝R͢ ͠L͠E̵̷͢T͢ ̵̛Y͟O͝͡U̵̵!̷͟!”

Chara rushed over, standing in front of the crying Frisk. You aren’t, Frisk. You are still strong. I believe in you.

Frisk inhaled shakily, looking anywhere but at you, whispering in a small watery voice. “I’m not broken.”

Silence filled the room, with only Kidsam small snoring breaking the silence.

Chara floated up, clapping their hands and plastering a large fake smile on their face. So! We’ve agreed that we’ll renegotiate the contract right before you return Monster Kid…sam.

You didn’t pay Chara attention, sockets locked onto Frisk’s red orbs.

You…you wanted to protect them, to somehow fix things between you two. How do you apologize to someone you never knew you hurt?

“When we renegotiate the contract, I’d like to add something.” You said in a rush, not breaking eye contact with the young human. You bulldoze through Chara’s objections, “Until I break down that barrier, I would like to be responsible for Frisk’s care and safety. I will not knowingly allow any harm to come to them, nor let them be neglected. Should I fail that... Frisk can have decide whether I go back or not.”

Seeing Frisk’s startled look, you quickly amended it with, “So long as they agree to this, but if they would rather have me stay away from them that fine too...”

Feeling the stares, you suddenly wished you had thought that out a bit better. Why in the world after that explosive rant would Frisk trust you with their safety?

What else could you offer?

You rubbed the back of your head, feeling shame. “I just… I had hurt you, Frisk, and frankly you just confirmed my suspicions. I may not have knowingly did it, but that doesn’t change the fact I did. I don’t know if I can ever make it up to you, but I am willing to do whatever it is you need me to do for your peace of mind.”

Silence followed your words, Chara staring incredulously at you as Frisk stayed firmly behind them, as though Chara could physically stop anyone from getting near them.

Finally, a small, scratchy voice spoke, and you struggled to hear it.

“I’ll give you my answer when we do the contract.”

You pushed the not-so-long-ago memory away, focusing on your task of getting tea.

Frisk has also said that because you are crap at keeping secrets, they will be doing all of the negotiations and sweet talking from now on.

 “I can keep secrets just fine.” You pouted.

Ah, yes. Surely we can trust the living self-lie detector from giving anything away. Chara groused, arms folded.

Annoyed, you summoned a ribcage without thinking around Chara. The child dropped to the floor, still glaring at you. What, are you trying to put me in timeout?

You on the other hand was too busy being shocked at having managed to successfully summoned a rib cage without a life or death situation forcing you to. A low thrumming noise could be heard, a dull heartbeat that you were now associating with your magic.

“I did it…” You breathed, momentarily forgetting for a moment that you were the butt of a couple of preteens joke. Chara on the other hand was just rolling their eyes.

Congratulations, you not entirely useless.

Annoyed at Chara’s mockery of your accomplishment you reached in and swiped your hand through the child.

…or at least that’s what should have happened, instead your hand connected with Chara’s head, a loud smack silencing the room.

Nobody moved, and you didn’t know who looked more shocked in that moment. Frisk was the first to move, getting in the ribcage. Slowly they reached out, and when their fingers didn’t go through Chara they made a strangled noise before throwing themselves at Chara, knocking them both into the spine.

Frisk clung to the shocked Chara, who was looking at you with confusion. How are you doing this?

You just looked confused, staring at the construct. How did you make Chara solid? Were they alive? With that thought you reached into the construct ribs, beckoning Chara out. Still confused, Chara and Frisk walked out, only for Frisk’s hand to close around air. Floating up, Chara returned to the rib cage, falling back down to their feet. Frisk was at their side again, holding their hand.

Chara looked thoughtful, eyeing you with a gleam you didn’t like.

I feel alive, I can feel Frisk. I’m alive, as long as I’m in the cage.

“But why? What am I doing to keep you alive?” You spoke with frustration and a small edge of hysteria in your voice, running a hand over your skull. “It’s supposed to just protect, keep you safe! Not bring someone temporarily back to life, like an insane summoning or boost-”

A thought stuck at you. Temporarily. Boost. Barrier. Immunity. Buffs. Damage. Area effects. Toriel said everyone got a boost towards their hope from my barriers… If Black Soul could rewrite and enforce rules like this was a game, and Pearl Soul could make save points and manipulate time, could I be…?

“Chara? Could you step back out for a moment please?”

The child obliged, floating towards you once they were out.

“Can I…can I try something on you? I think I know what my abilities might be, but I need to test it out.”

Chara gave you a puzzled look but nodded, Frisk moving to sit next to the still sleeping Goner.

You focused on your magic, thinking on how to do this. Intent, everything boils down to intent, you thought as you refocused on Chara. You felt an odd sensation around your right eye socket as copper magic engulfed you hand. With deliberation, you reach out to Chara, magic beating around you quietly. A small, finger wide bone slowly came into existence, but unlike the other times where it immediately turned white, you made it stay copper color.

With far more gentleness than was probably needed, you pressed the copper bone onto Chara’s shirt, willing it to do what you were trying to do. Then, slowly, you watched as Chara absorbed the bone, making both children cry out in shock.

Chara stopped floating, standing there before you with a confused look as you motioned Frisk to try and touch Chara. They made contact, both kids grinning.

“Now we need to wait. See how long it lasts.” You breathed staring at Chara intently.

Last? Chara asked, not letting Frisk go.

“If humans of my world saw this as a game, maybe its because our souls act like game mechanisms. If that is the case, then its possible that I am can boost people, or am someone who can effect areas and do stat-buffs.”

You circled the kids, looking thoughtful. “Tori said I made a permanent boost in everyone’s HP, what if I can bring you back? Would it be permanent or like a temporary summoning? Right now, I’m just seeing how long you’ll say here-”

A startled gasp wrecked your train of thought, causing you to whip around to the door which your stupid coccyx forgot to close after fetching snacks and stared at Toriel who eyes were glued to Chara’s form. You looked around, feeling frantic, more so when you realized that Kidsam was awake and sitting up in bed, looking at you.

Toriel’s mouth worked wordlessly as Chara looked torn between hiding under the bed and running to their mother, you moving to stand near Kidsam (who immediately attached themselves onto you, forcing you to carry them) as Frisk stood at the end of the bed.

Mom? You can… see me?

As though hearing her child words had unfroze her Toriel started moving towards them, almost robotically. Then as though she did one of Sans short cuts, she was holding Chara tightly, shaking as tears fell from her red eyes. Chara didn’t move or respond for a full ten seconds before they too gripped onto Toriel, looking both elated yet terrified.

As mother and child reunited, you felt a strange ripple go through you but ignored it in favor of watching the happy scene and trying to come up with a plausible way to explain to Toriel how her centuries long dead child was standing before her that didn’t make you sound like a complete lunatic.

It didn’t hurt as much anymore, and the feelings weren’t as consuming as before. Maybe it was because the magic was weaker after a certain amount of time, or maybe it was because he was getting used to it. He didn’t know which it was, and frankly he didn’t care anymore.

The smiling trash- no, Sans, his name is Sans, had managed to drain some of the magic out, making it easier for him to think. To rationalize. To feel.

He was currently experiencing one of his rare bouts of clarity and it made him feel sluggish, but he’d take it over the miasma of undefinable moods and feelings he had been subjected to for the last near two weeks. Sans had said he was absorbing the magic now, a possible side effect after of being marinated in his niece’s magic for half a month.

That was something he was still struggling to wrap his head around.

How had Chara created a daughter? And more importantly, why had they created a daughter? Wasn’t the genocide routes enough? Was this done out of boredom or insanity?

And why hadn’t he told Sans that his niece wasn’t human? No, he knew that reason.

Loyalty. Even though he’s dead and soulless, he still felt loyalty to his long dead sibling.

His long dead, insane, haunting ass of a sibling who is evil inCɐяNaŤ€ aⁿD—

Snarling one of his roots shot out, wrapping around the only other thing in his cage, squishing it tightly and pressing it into his face, he calmed.

No, no no.

Taking a deep breath, he held the plushie Sans got him closer, hugging the soft toy tightly.

No, he would not go down that train of thought.

Yes, he was still loyal to Chara… but this was getting weird. And dangerous.

If his niece could do this to him without any real intention, what else could she do if she actually focused?

What could a monster with a human soul do?

What could a human soul do with a monster body?

Flow-no, Asriel, his name was Asriel, was going to keep his niece and sibling from causing more damage.

Even if it meant working with the paranoid Judge.

Entry 16:

something has happened. the machine reading the spacetime continuum went crazy, had to unplug it just to stop the noises it was making. it hasn’t been reacting a lot until now, only blipping at random in ways that already were too strange from before. last thing it read was ‘timeline rerouting’.

it has never said that before. in any timeline.

and just recently a lot of people all over snowdin and even waterfall have gotten serious migraines, some flat out bedridden.

once I finish this report, i’m heading directly to the ruins. if tori don’t let me in…or can’t let me in, i’ll shortcut. its time I met ‘chara’s daughter’ and get some damn answers.

NOTE: flowey’s emotions has stabilized yet he still kinda a mess. the plushie i got him seems to actually be helping.

still won’t hug him.

Chapter Text

Logically, you knew you should have stuck around and waited for the questions Toriel no doubt was going to ask. You knew you should have stayed and helped Chara with crafting a story to plausibly explain how Chara was alive and here as well as to continue to monitor said child in case your magic wore off and they returned to be a ghostly vestige of themselves.

Knowing this didn’t stop you from leaving the room while mother and child were too busy to notice, taking Kidsam and Frisk with you as you all but fled the house.

Bravery was never a strong trait of yours, and you lacked the care to feel ashamed over it.

You barely prevented yourself from running, Kidsam’s weight in your arms grounding you in the now as you tried to keep a respectable distance from Frisk but not leave them in the dust as your wings clacked together like a pair of insect pinchers.

You were still reeling from the fact you successfully brought Chara to life! Would it last long? Could you keep it permanent? Were there any downsides to keeping Chara here? What would the long-term consequences of bringing someone back from the dead? The short-term consequences, as well as the personal ones?

Could you bring Asriel back as well?

A tug stopped you, and you cautiously looked down at Frisk who still had a hand gripped in your robe.

They were giving you a disappointed look, head tilting back in the direction of the house.

“Nnnnope. Not happening. Let Chara and Toriel get their reunion, we can go… somewhere else.” you finished lamely.

Frisk crossed their arms, pouting up at you.

“Look Frisk, no matter how I do this, it will end with me having to lie through my teeth. As you, or rather Chara had said, I am a self-lie detector. And frankly, I have no idea how to even begin explaining this mess to Toriel.”

“Angel…?” Kidsam whispered, tail tightening around your arm. You weren’t fond of the nickname the little monster used, but all things considering it could have been worse. You hummed as you rubbed her back, letting her know she had your attention. “Can we… go get snacks…?”

That sounded like a great idea. You looked to Frisk for approval, to which the kid nodded even though they didn’t stop giving you dissatisfied looks.

Soon you were heading deeper into the Ruins, taking the long way so you didn’t have to go near the former marketplace. Even from afar you could still see the remains of the fallen building, Froggits working to taking it down and out of the way.

The new marketplace was further in the city, inside an approved building to house the vendors. The building looked like a fairytale tower, the kind that made you want to yell for Rapunzel to throw her hair down from. The entrance had a couple of Loox’s standing sentry, both of who cheerfully welcomed you and the kids in.

Soon enough you were climbing the stairs, going to the first floor where most of the food vendors went.

You had barely entered the room when suddenly everyone was cheering your name, rushing towards you. You felt Frisk suddenly cling to your robe and Kidsam attempt to burrow deeper into your arms as you were swarmed by a happy crowd, all talking over each other to talk to you.

It had just occurred to you that you hadn’t left the house since the Market Incident and had only seen a few people due to them visiting the house.

And that Gerson and Toriel apparently downplayed how thankful the residents were.

“Ivory! Thank you!”

“Ivory!”

“She’s here! She’s here!”

“Welcome back, Ivory!”

“Tell us how you did all that!”

“Ivory!”

You felt overwhelmed, trying to not show it but knowing your emotions were likely giving you away even now.

“Gosh, you had us worried!”

“How can we ever repay you?”

“Ivory!”

“Our Angel has returned!”

“Ivory!”

“Ivory!”

“Ivory!”

“S-STOP IT! CAN’T YOU SEE YOUR SCARING HER?!”

You almost dropped Kidsam, not having expected her to scream, as she had before now only spoke in a low voice. Everyone was staring at the little monster, who had turned in your arms to glare at the crowd around you.

“Stop and back up…please.”

“The little one is correct. Ivory’s getting overwhelmed, let’s give her space.” A familiar voice spoke out, and you were glad to see Savita. “I’m sure she’ll answer any questions we have… at her own time. We weren’t the only ones traumatized by that event.”

A lot of people looked contrite, the crowd dispersing. Savita stayed, a serpentine smile on his face. “Glad your back, Ivory.”

You smiled at him, thankful as you readjusted Kidsam whose shyness reemerged and had buried her head into your shoulder.

You walked back to his stand with him, Frisk trailing behind as they looked around in awe. Had they ever been this far into Home? Wait, have they ever actually stepped into the city?

“How have you been, Savita? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“I had not, but I feel like I should be asking you that. I watched you literally fall to pieces. I may not have met many skeletons in my life, but even I know that if that happens its…not a good sign.” He replied, eying the children. Especially Frisk.

You saw the recognition in his eyes and felt a sudden need to stand between him and the child. He smiled as you did just that, humming in a way that sounded approving.

You turned to Frisk, waving to catch their attention. “Hey, sweetie? Want to go get a snack? The guys over there are selling sandwiches and cakes. Pick what ya want, my treat.”

“Can I have cake too?” Kidsam whispered. You nodded as you handed Frisk money, before making a snap decision. You placed the monster on the ground and tried not to feel bad at the startled look on her face.

“Why don’t you go with Frisk? That way, you can pick what kind of cake you want.”

Frisk looked surprised but was quick to walk up to Kidsam, smiling brightly. It dimmed though, at Kidsam’s look of sheer panic as the armless monster proceeded to try and hide in your robe. You knelt, looking the green monster in the eye with a gentle smile on your skull. You forced yourself to feel serene there is nothing wrong, we are perfectly safe as you calmed her. “It’s okay, sweetie. I’m right here, you’ll be able to see me from there. See? It’s like thirty feet away. Thirty-five, tops. Frisk could probably throw a lettuce at me with ease from there.”

Kidsam eased a little, looking shyly at Frisk who was smiling encouragingly. You gently rubbed her back, hoping to ease their discomfort. “I won’t move from this stand. When you finished, I’ll be right here, waiting for you.”

“P…Promise?”

“Promise.”

Kidsam looked like they were going to refuse, but hesitantly she nodded, moving to follow Frisk. Frisk offered their hand, and after a moment Kidsam wrapped her tail around it. The two walked to the stand, Frisk patiently pausing every time Kidsam stopped to look back at you, with you giving a thumbs up every time the green monster looked back. Soon they made it to the stand, and Kidsam became distracted with the various cakes.

“Shy little thing, isn’t she?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. She recently… well, she recently was rescued from a terrifying situation, was taken from her family and kept a prisoner. I’ll be taking her back to her family in a couple of days.”

“If I may inquire how this happened?”

You did, though you were kinda proud at the sheer vagueness you put into making Kidsam’s story as ambiguous as possible while still telling it honestly, Savita frowning the whole time.

“-and she’s scared and doesn’t want to be left alone, I mean I get, I’d be terrified to be left alone too if that shit happened to me. But she’s seems to be recovering, at least according to Gerson and Toriel though I’m still worried about the long-term effects this could have on her.”

Savita hummed, looking back at the children. “And the other child? Frisk was it? What’s their story?”

Panic bolted down your spine, and you blurted out the first thing that came to you. “They’re my cousin! Once removed!”

The look he gave you might as well have been the physical embodiment of ‘seriously?’, and if you could have felt his emotions it would have probably smacked you in the back of the head after hearing such an obvious cover.

“Cousin.”

“Yeeeeeeees. Cousin. Recently lost their family.”

“Really.”

“Yes.”

“Huh. They look like they had fallen down right before you got custody.”

You thought you felt something like sweat falling down your head after hearing that. Savita took mercy on you when he raised a vine in a pacifying manner. “The child’s origins mean nothing to me, I’m just glad they have family to turn after such a terrible loss. I’m glad you found it in your soul to protect them, even though you have been struggling with your own loses.”

You relaxed, relief running through you.

“Well, now that my curiosity over the kids is sated, are you sure you’re alright?”

“Um, yes? Why?”

“It’s just…well, I’ve gotten used to feeling you. Now it’s like your blank.”

“…what?”

“Your emotions? I can’t feel them…aaaand you have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

“No…?”

“Well, usually it’s impossible to not feel you, but right now it’s like you’re not even standing there. If you weren’t standing in front of me, I’d have never known you were here.” His face took a concerning expression, worry showing through.

But…Gerson and Toriel felt you this morning. Why weren’t you—

Before you could respond or even try to puzzle that out the kids return, Frisk and Kidsam looking cheerful, the former with bags of sandwiches and cake and the latter with what appeared to be chocolate smeared across their mouth.

“Angel! They have chocolate! I forgot what chocolate tasted like!”

That made your confusion turn melancholy, knowing that wasn’t a hyperbole. But you plastered a bright smile on your face, pushing back the confusing reveal Savita just made.

Is this really happening? Am I dreaming? Chara thought, clutching their mother who had finally stopped sobbing but continued to tremble. Chara had no idea how long they had been standing there, consumed with joy and shock. Joy because for the first time in nearly two centuries they were hugging mom but panicking due to not knowing how to explain this. They couldn’t reset anymore, so no trial and errors runs could be made to best sort this out they never thought they’d miss that particular part of their powers.

Chara looked around for the skeleton responsible for this mess with a futile hope that the only other adult here had some idea how to explain this, only to find that the room was currently only occupied by Mom and them.

Did I-Copper just up and ran away?

That…was perfectly understandable, all things considered. Chara would have likely ran away too if the position was reversed. Still, this meant Chara had to be the one to come up with a plan and explanation since that chicken-winged bag of scaredy-bones ran away. At least she took Frisk and the other kid with her.

Still, what could Chara say? The truth was out of the question, especially since Chara still didn’t fully understand what Iv-Copper had done.

So Chara held their mother tightly, trying to think up plausible scenario’s that could hopefully explain this whole mess away.

Mom… They started but stopped as nothing else came out. Mom stilled, moving back just enough to look them in the face while still holding on. She had a look of puzzled disbelief mixed with frightened hope in her red eyes, as though she wanted to believe her eyes yet not wanted to give in out of fear of disappointment.

Mom… They tried again, hugging tighter.

Their mother gave them a broken smile, whispering. “Chara… how…?”

Um, that’s complicated, and I really don’t know how C-Ivory did this-

“Ivory? Ivory did…this?”

Y-yeah, I don’t know how exactly, we’re still figuring it out… Chara petered out, oddly at a loss of words.

“Then…oh stars, you really were at the marketplace when the building fell.” Mom spoke in hushed horror. “I-I thought I was seeing things!”

Chara was held tighter at this revelation, and they really couldn’t fault Mom for it, since if Chara had stayed in the cage back then, they might have been crushed.

I thought I just imagined you seeing me.

“Why did Ivory…?”

It wasn’t her fault, Chara defended. I don’t think she thought about trying to protect me when it happened. I mean, I was pretty safe being dead and all-

Mom shuttered, and Chara dropped that sentence like it was on fire. Stupid, don’t remind her of that!

“It’s-it’s fine, Chara.”

The child stilled, eyes widening. I…forgot you could hear me…

“Oh.”

I mean, well, besides Frisk and Ivory I’m not used to being heard or seen-

“They can see you?” Mom interrupted, looking lost.

Yeah? Being not-alive means I wander a lot.

“How? You’re not a ghost…are you?”

Not really, more like a specter? I think they can see me because Frisk is a red soul like I was, and Ivory…well, I think their soul is to blame, like it’s so weird that she sees stuff that shouldn’t be. Chara said, rolling the idea in their head before deciding to run with it. It was more or less true, and it would allow Copper to tell it without hopefully giving herself away.

Ivory met me after that hostile flower monster. I don’t usually get to talk to people, and she seems to actually like having me around. Even if she can’t really talk back at me when she’s around you or others.

“Oh- wait. All those times she was glaring or swatting at the air was her responding to you?”

Yup. It was really amusing.

“Hee hee…but how are you here? What did Ivory do to bring you back?”

I’m not sure, she had some kind of theory and had asked to test it and the next thing I know I’m here.

Suddenly they felt lighter, their arms going through their mother.

Chara realized that they were back to their spectral state just as Mom registered that they just disappeared.

And all hell broke loose with a bloodcurdling scream as Chara tried and to frantically calm their mother, who just tore the door off the hinges and was running, screaming for Ivory. Gerson was home and the poor turtle was in the line of fire as Mom’s magic lashed out.

Chara fled, going to find the one person who could help them return.

Gerson sighed deeply, rubbing his temples. Ever since Monster Kidsam showed up, his head has been hurting. The first time he saw her and her rapidly changing scale colors had caused a massive headache, and for the life of him he wasn’t sure what was going on anymore.

The second he figured out who she was, it was like someone had started inserting wedges into his mind, forcibly pushing memories that he swore were already there yet couldn’t recall them before right into his skull. The first day he downplayed the pain he was in, memories of the Monster Kid-twins running around and laughing as they passed his shop forcing him to go to bed early. All throughout the night blips of Kidsam and MK Kidwen kept popping up. Not a whole lot as he wasn’t close to that particular family, but enough to make him wonder what had happened to Kidsam that she had somehow gotten removed from his memory.

Trying to figure out this only begot more headaches, so he treated her as just a child living at Toriel’s and a resident of the Ruins. Besides, Kidsam wasn’t the only person who he was trying to figure out.

The human Frisk was an oddity of their own. He knew for a fact he hadn’t seen a human in almost eight decades (mostly because he tended to avoid them when word got out there was one on the loose), yet he felt that he had met the kid before. He couldn’t explain why, but something about them made him remember the surface, sunsets…and death. It made him melancholy, but he didn’t fault the child for this.

He was glad that the child hadn’t tried to leave the Ruins, even though he could tell they wanted to. When they thought nobody was looking, they’d give the stairs to the entrance a strangely longing look before determinedly walking away from it. He didn’t fault them; they were still young enough to not understand how trapped they were and probably still believed their elders knew everything.

He hoped for both Toriel’s and Ivory’s sake that Frisk doesn’t decide to leave.

A grimace crawled across his face and for once it had nothing to do with the blighted headache Kidsam’s existence caused.

Ivory.

That woman was a migraine all on her own. That perplexing skeleton seemed hellbent on challenging everything he knew about monsters and humans. She was somehow both very weak yet frighteningly powerful, undetermined yet resolved. If allowed Ivory probably would have been a hermit, hiding deep in the abandoned parts of Home…and if he had no control over his magic and emotions like her, he’d would have left society too. Mercifully her control over magic was (slowly) getting better.

The Marketplace Incident seemed to have caused her to actually gain a measurement of control, so she could sort-of command her magic. Her emotions on the other hand, could still be felt by even the most closed off of monsters, leaving everyone around her dizzy at the cocktail of sentiments and feelings she exuded like a walking miasma.

And her soul… her soul… well, it wasn’t bruised anymore. But it still looked like it came right out of some horror story but there wasn’t anything they could do about that.

He sighed deeply, glad he was heading back to Toriel’s. He was pretty much counting the days till he could go home again. Don’t get him wrong he loved spending time with Toriel and catching up with the residents of Ruins, but this past two weeks had been far more excitement than he wanted to handle. The moment he got home he was going to curl up on his sofa, drink his tea, ignore everything and then go back to his shop.

After everything was settled, he’d start piecing a more accurate patient case for Ivory from all the notes he took, in case her soul destabilizes or something else happens… or the unlikely-yet-still-horrifyingly-possible event of some other poor monster dropping down here with a screwed-up soul. He truly didn’t think it was likely, but like hell was he going into that blind again.

He had entered the house, breathing a sigh of relief as he meandered to the kitchen for some leftover pie.

All thoughts of pies and headache inducing people fled his mind as a soul shattering scream rented the air.

He had just reached Ivory’s door when it blew off its hinges and went through the wall across from it, Toriel standing there with a wild look in her eyes as her magic lashed out in desperate panic.

“IVORY!”

“Tori, what-”

Ignoring him, she passed him as though she couldn’t see him, eyes frantic as she bellowed out the skeleton’s name again.

“My Queen-”

“IVORY!”

“Toirel, stop-”

Magic unleashed all around him, fear, hope, desperation, fury, agony and other emotions he struggled to place hit him like a vortex, pictures and furniture thrown around the rampaging former queen.

“IVORRRRRYYYYYY!!”

You were humming a little ditty, arms laden with bags from an oddly successful shopping trip. Successful in that you managed to successfully haggle prices with vendors, who tried to give you their stuff for free. You understood that they wanted to show their gratitude, you really did, but you knew you couldn’t accept it. They were hard working people who had just lost their workplace and you couldn’t in good conscience take their merchandise without paying for it.

Savita had just chuckled at you when you stated this, having left his stand for a “lunch break” to follow you around, chatting with you between vendors as Frisk and Kidsam wandered from stand to stand while staying within sight.

Savita and a couple of the Loox’s and Vegetoid’s look positively giddy when you informed them of your new position as Toriel’s apprentice, Savita stating their hadn’t been one since Toriel, and was only an apprentice for like a year before Gerson handed the position and left the Ruins to retire.

After nearly an hour you had left with more goods than you had meant to get, including six jars of alfredo sauce (it was seven jars, but you had decided to treat yourself, ignoring Frisk look of disgust and Savita and Kidsam both going “Ew!” as you guzzled it down).

The only hiccup was when you went to buy some spices and the Loox’s manning it refused you service.

“Get lost, fiend!”

It had made you jerk back in shock, Savita suddenly in front of you hissing. “Don’t be rude.”

“Why shouldn’t I? You felt that soul! And now she’s hiding it because she knows she’s evil!”

You shuffled the kids away, trying to direct their attentions away from the angry Loox.

“You can hide and pretend all you want, but we know! You are an evil-souled freak! And nothing-ACK!”

Savita had one of his vines wrapped around the Loox’s face, snarling something as a couple of other monsters came up and chewed the Loox out. At that point you decided it was time to leave, hurrying the kids to the door before anyone could stop them.

You tried not to think on the Loox’s words, even though it stuck to the back of your mind.

You had passed the wrecked marketplace and was well on your way home when both of the kids staggered like they just got hit with something.

“You two alright?” you asked, concerned.

Frisk shook their head as though to clear it, while Kidsam looked relieved.

“We can feel your emotions again.” the armless monster said happily, Frisk giving her a funny look.

“Huh. Wonder why it turned off like that.” You muttered, disappointed. You had actually hoped it would stay that way, even if its unnerved people that they couldn’t feel or know what you were feeling.

The three of you continued your track when you were forced to stop again, this time by Chara popping into existence in front of you.

Get back to the house! Chara yelled, looking frenetic. I disappeared and now Mom’s freaking out! She’s literally tearing the house apart!

Swearing, you scooped Kidsam up, careful not to jostle the bags and took off, Frisk close on your heels.

You had gotten to the area right before the house when you nearly ran into Gerson, who looked badly shaken. “Oh, thank the stars! Toriel’s been looking for you!”

“What-”

“I don’t know why, buts she’s practically feral! Screaming, magic lashing out, I don’t think she was actually aware of my presence!”

Swearing, you handed him the bags and went to put Kidsam down. The child latched on, looking scared. “No!”

“Honey, please, I gotta. Tori’s scared and confused, and I can help her.”

“Don’t leave me!”

“I don’t want to, but I have to. I need you to stay with Frisk and Gerson, they’ll keep you safe.”

“But-”

“I’ll be right back! I’ll just calm her down, and then I’ll be right back. But I need you to stay here where its safe. Can you do that for me? Please, Kidsam. Please.”

The child’s lips wobbled, tears welling in her eyes. “Why…?”

“Because Tori needs me. I gotta help her.”

Something shifted in her eyes, like she was making a revelation. With a jerky nod she whispered. “O-okay.”

“That’s my brave girl. I’m not going far, and I’ll be back soon.”

You let go and with a final smile took off, pelting down the road to the house. Chara flew next to you, looking distressed. I told her you and Frisk can see me, Frisk because we both have red souls and you because of your soul being weird and that we met after you kicked Azzy in the face. You are going to have to make shit up when you explain this later, so please Copper, don’t mess it up!

You barely got inside the door and called for Toriel when suddenly you were picked up by the hysterical goat monster who was shouting at you as she shook you like a maraca.

“IVORY! BRING THEM BACK! BRING THEM BACK NOW!!”

“I-I w-will, j-just p-put m-me d-down!” You manage to say between each rough shaking.

Promptly Toriel dropped you, a wild look in those red eyes.

Shakily you turned to Chara, who looked about freaked out as you felt. You exhaled, calming yourself as you focused on the task.

Your socket felt odd, a sensation you were suspecting as a feature of your magic as your hand was engulfed in coppery magic. Focusing on Chara you reached for them, a small finger wide bone the color of copper coming into existence and was pressed against Chara, willing it to anchor Chara back into the physical realm. Like before, they absorbed it and stopped floating. You knew it worked because Toriel gave a cry of relief and was hugging Chara tightly.

You sighed in relief, glad to see you could replicate it again as you watched them embrace. You turned, intending to return for the others—

…only to find that the door was still wide open, and that Gerson was on the other side, gapping at you and Chara as Frisk smacked their forehead and Kidsam rushed to your side, burrowing into your leg.

Fuck my life.

The conversation that followed was every bit as awkward and cringeworthy as you imagined it, worse so due to Chara not being able to yell ideas at you on how to handle the questions.

Chara was practically glued to their mother’s side as Toriel had refused to let go after that scare, eyes still rather wild.

Frisk took a page out of your book and disappeared into your bedroom, which apparently no longer had a door as it was currently embedded in the opposite wall. Kidsam had been torn between hiding with Frisk and avoiding the mess and latching onto your person, eventually going with Frisk after you encourage her to go though you were pretty damn certain they were listening.

Gerson looked like he sincerely wanted nothing more than to get utterly shitfaced right now, sitting across from you with the world’s most ‘I am so done’ expression on his face.

You had been forced to explain what you had done, going step by step on how you came up with how to bring Chara back, stressing that it was mostly fumbling steps and wild mass guessing while completely glossing over anything concrete about why you came to this theory.

In order to keep them from asking the hows or too many whys you had emphasized that your interactions with Chara had not been positive at first as you were under the assumption you had either lost your mind and was hallucinating the kid (which wasn’t untrue, though it had last for all of ten minutes instead of the weeks you were hinting at), or that somehow the state of your soul put you in a strange medium between here and wherever the dead went, making it sound like you had hypothesized that the event that put you into the Underground had truly been a near death experiment and the resulting trauma might had had a hand in shaping you soul (utter bullshit, but you had treated the whole thing like a class debate you used to have back in college, a potential and theoretical idea rather than fact).

Judging by the way Chara was giving an encouraging smile that actually looked sincere, you had hopefully managed to pull this all off.

But the more you talked about the shit you had been up to, the more you felt like a walking freakazoid.

I don’t make sense, you thought as you spoke. You haven’t made sense since you were dropped here.

Will I still feel like this when I go home? Like a freak?

You are an evil-souled freak!

Both elder monsters were quiet after you finished, and it made you nervous. Toriel was the first to speak, the wild look in her eyes fizzling out into a carefully neutral look. “So… let me see if I understand. You had started seeing Chara, and instead of telling us so we could help, you kept it to yourself because you were worried we’d think you insane.”

You nodded, forcing yourself to maintain eye contact with her ever increasingly blank stare.

In her defense, I was very against her telling anyone about me. I couldn’t think of any way to prove she wasn’t crazy, and I think she was still half convinced she was going a little insane by seeing me floating around. Chara pipped in, the first time since you were forced to explain, though that was probably because they didn’t want to contradict anything you said.

Gerson looked like he wanted to rip his eyebrows off.

Toriel’s face remained blank, though you were pretty sure she just tightened her grip on Chara. “And when you finally figured out Chara was real and not a figment of your imagination, the two of you decided to practice magic together as you still had no way to call it intentionally at the time.”

Again you nodded, Chara joining you this time.

Gerson took a deep sigh of frustration.

“And then after the building collapsed and you saved everyone and nearly destroyed yourself by forcing your magic to…how did you say it? ‘Pull a goddamn deus ex machina out of your ass’?”

You flinched, suddenly wishing you had explained it better or at least with less expletives. You totally didn’t fault Chara for giving you yet another look that made it clear they found your intelligence and ability to explain things questionable at best.

Gerson actually snorted, probably the only sound he had made since this talk.

“Then Frisk showed up, who Ivory knew from the surface, and they could see Chara too. Which as far as you can tell is due to both of them having red souls, but you aren’t sure.”

Your wings clacked together in a nervous manner as Chara spoke. Mom, its literally the logical thing that makes sense about that. You prayed no one felt that momentary spike of satisfaction you felt at Chara’s ability to spin tales that were technically true without once actually telling the truth.

Gerson had gotten up, walking towards the alcohol pile and started pilfering through it.

Toriel breathed deeply. “And Kidsam was what happened when your experiments to try and teleport went wrong, and you ended up somewhere black and creepy, and accidentally rescued her from what appeared to be a ‘goopie mess of a monster’.”

That was the easiest way to explain what had happened. Chara and Frisk both had stressed that telling people that Kidsam actually came from the void was waaaay worse, as the void was (from the way they described it) the monster equivalent of hell/purgatory, and she’d probably be treated as some kind of demon or anathema if they did tell others where she came from.

Gerson had found a bottle of firewhiskey and was now drinking it straight from the bottle.

“And now, your most recent experiment was to see if you could bring Chara back to life, because they could exist in one of your rib cages but not outside and you wanted to know if you could create a more permanent situation. It works, but only temporarily and you did this by feeding Chara your own magic.”

You hadn’t fed Chara magic…unless having them absorb it counted as feeding. This was probably an issue you didn’t understand, as Chara had closed their eyes with a disgusted wince.

Gerson was muttering something about how you apparently had a knack for violating the laws of physics and magic.

“Did I miss anything?”

You very deliberately did not look at Chara. “Nnnnnnnno, I think you summarized that up pretty well. ”

“I just… don’t think I’m not grateful Ivory. My Chara is back and I’m so thankful, but what possessed you to bring them back?” Toriel asked, sounding both frustrated and confused.

You answered honestly. “Because they are my friend. Sure, the discovery was an accident, and they drive me nuts and insult me at every chance they get, but I still care about them. Why wouldn’t I try to help them?”

Chara gave you a started look, incredulity evident in their red eyes.

Gerson belched, letting out a tiny fireball that dissipated quickly. He turned back to you, a look in his eyes that made you want to duck behind Toriel.

“How are you blocking your emotions now?”

Uh, what?

Toriel couldn’t remember the last time she had panicked so hard she couldn’t remember anything.

Certainly not to the point she destroyed her own house and apparently lashed magically out at others.

The moment Chara disappeared from her arms, something broke inside her. A two hundred-year-old wound that never truly healed tore open, and despair and terror momentarily consumed her.

Then she remembered Chara’s words, that Ivory brought them back and suddenly the despair twisted into frantic hope as she hunted for the elusive skeleton.

She felt shame burn inside her at how she treated Ivory and Gerson and would apologize later. Maybe with an Apology Pie.

Once Chara was back, it struck her that she literally just saw Ivory bring Chara back from the dead.

Gerson had witnessed it as well, and with a quickness she hadn’t seen him use in centuries had everyone inside, the windows covered and Frisk and Kidsam shuffled off to Ivory’s room. Then he directed everyone else into the dining room and ordered Ivory to explain what the hell was going on she hadn’t heard him make an order with that much authority since the War.

What came next was Ivory explaining how she met Chara, how the two decided to try and figure out Ivory’s magic and the results of them (Chara’s advice that apparently saved the residence during the Market Incident, Kidsam’s accidental rescue), Frisk’s apparently seeing Chara and Ivory’s complete and total guessing of how her magic works and testing out if it was possible to bring Chara back… by feeding them her own magic which the skeleton obviously didn’t understand the significance of since she looked confused over her emphasizing on it.

How the hell had Ivory survived without even this most basic of knowledge? No matter, Toriel would explain, and then see if Ivory could teach her how to bring Chara back… and if it truly was something unique to Ivory, Toriel would aiding her in this, and seek to re-adopt Chara the second they could stay in the living unassisted.

All awhile she and Gerson listened to this she clung to Chara, looking back down at them every few seconds out of fear they would disappear again. She knew they were going to disappear again as Ivory was still figuring things out and it had already proven temporary.

Ivory had during her explanation promised she’d keep bringing Chara back until they didn’t need her to anchor them, probably to comfort Toriel.

It was when Gerson dropped his own question did Toriel realize that during the entire talk that she couldn’t feel Ivory at all.

This led to the reveal that apparently Savita couldn’t feel her either, and that Frisk and Kidsam only felt her just prior to Chara showing to tell them of Toriel’s… reaction. And Gerson then told of how he stopped feeling her all together after he saw Chara appear.

With Ivory’s permission they checked her stats, and Toriel felt something hollow build up inside her at them.

███████

LV:  █

HP: █

AT: █                                             

DF: █

██ ███ ██ ██████ █████ ███

She was barely coming to grips with what she was seeing when Chara disappeared, and both elder monsters got hit straight on by Ivory’s panic and shock.

Ivory Ostein

LV: 1

HP: 1

AT: -100̴                                        

DF: 6 0̸̡̛̕0̷̧͘0̴͡

I͏vory ͘has no idea what’s going on `anymore.

Upon seeing both the return and different stats, Gerson proceeded to chug the rest of his firewhisky and loudly decree that he is going to bed and that Ivory better start making sense tomorrow when he re-checked the stats and then looked Toriel straight in the eyes and told her that they were not to re-summon Chara until they could see if bringing Chara back from the dead was having a negative effect on Ivory.

Toriel had wanted to argue that but Ivory’s redacted stats and empty presence forced her to keep quiet, telling herself that no matter how badly she wanted Chara back she would not sacrifice Ivory to achieve it.

Toriel left the room after that, avoiding Ivory (who had kept the fact she could talk and interact with her own child a secret) as she fled for her bedroom, stopping momentarily at Ivory’s room, looking at the door embedded into the wall and then to the pair of young eyes looking up at her in surprise. Her gaze lingered on Frisk before she continued to the sanctuary of her on room.

Sleep evaded her that night as her mind was plagued with so many thoughts and feelings, and she probably would have spent the whole night staring at the ceiling if there a gentle knock on the door. She knew it was Ivory, she could feel her nervousness even through the door and genuinely thought to ignore her, a part of her angry at the secret the skeleton kept yet she still wanted to talk to Ivory about all this.

Opening the door revealed Ivory, dressed in a tank top that allowed her wings to stay out and long ugly brown sweats and a pair of fuzzy slippers that she got on sale, looking as anxious as the feelings she was emitting.

“Um…hi. Sorry ‘bout the late call but can we go for a walk? Just the two of us?” Ivory requested as she aborted a hand gesture in what Toriel now knew was Ivory talking to Chara (jealously churned inside Toriel, wishing she could see her child). Ivory sighed deeply, turning to look above her head.

“Yes. Just us. Stay with Frisk and Kidsam- Chara, please, I need to talk to her. Alone. Because there are some things I can’t talk to you about, okay? Just, please…stay.”

After a moment (in which Toriel fought the stupid feeling of jealousy over Ivory being able to talk to her child whenever she wanted), the skeleton nodded, sighing a deep ‘thank you’ before looking at Toriel with a strained smile.

With a slow nod, Toriel walked after her, looking into Ivory’s bedroom as they passed by, both children curled into each other and snoring just loud enough to be heard.

It wasn’t long before they were outside and walking, silence between them uncomfortable. Ivory kept looking around for someone only she could see (why couldn’t it be her that could see Chara). With a deep sigh that felt like it was tinged with the melancholy she was feeling, Ivory finally spoke.

“I know you have questions. Go on and ask. Chara isn’t around, so you don’t havta edit your words.”

Toriel started, not expecting the skeleton to actually just go right to the topic. Still she was right about Toriel having questions, and now that Ivory’s emotions were back Toirel would be able to know the truth better a small part of her felt guilty for using Ivory’s own weakness to get answers, but dammit Toriel needed answers!.

Toriel gave it some thought, uncertain of which she wanted answered first. She decided to go with something easy, since Ivory was cooperating.

“Do you feel any difference when you summon Chara?”

“Nope. Nada. I am completely unaware of any changes until others had pointed it out.”

Alright then.

“What’s is your relationship with Chara?” Toriel was curious are you trying to steal my child? and hoped that it was positive.

“Honestly? When I first met them, I thought they were the most annoying little snot ever. They would insult me, knowing I couldn’t always respond back. And the puns. That kid would tell head puns when I came back together after the Incident, one after another.”

Toriel giggled at that, remembering how she and Chara would pun so much Asriel and Asgore would literally leave the room.

“And now?”

“Now, I feel like I acquired another younger sibling. One that I enjoy heckling, because I know they can handle it.”

That… was a relief. It made her next question come out not as bitter.

“What made you think feeding Chara magic was a good idea? I understand you were just trying to bring them here, but why that method?”

“…I take it that means something down here?”

Toriel sighed deeply, hating and relieved that she was right about Ivory’s ignorance. “It’s only done between parents and their children. Usually to help wean them off of the parents magic.”

“…I’m sorry, but did you just say ‘wean’ like as in ‘weaning’?”

“Yes.”

“As in like how babies need to be weaned off a mother’s milk?”

“Mother’s milk-”

“Humans wean their babies off of mother’s milk in order to start them on eating other things.”

“Oh. Yes and no. Usually weaning them off the parent’s magic is to ensure that they are no longer dependent on their parent for magic, showing that the child’s magic is stable enough to thrive without feeding off the parents own soul.”

Horror streaked from Ivory. “Feeding…off…soul…?”

“Nothing dangerous usually. I take it your parents never gave you the Magic and the Soul talk?”

“Magic and the Soul- oh god, is that the monster equivalent of the Birds and Bees?!”

“The Birds and Bees…?”

“Oh my god, does this make Chara my child?! Is that why you were looking at me like that when I explain how I got them here!? Holy shit, I can’t be a mother now- does that still make you their mother?! How does that work?!!”

“Ivory! Focus!”

“Is Chara my child?!!”

“Normally I would say no as they are human, but as it looks like you brought them back with magic? Probably. Gerson could probably answer that once he has a chance to look at them.”

Ivory looked utterly horrified. Toriel couldn’t stop the snicker at the sight.

“Can-can we talk about this later? I’m sure you have other questions!”

Toriel decided to put a pin in that topic, as it was more of a theory than fact.

Besides she did have other questions.

“Alright, but don’t think I won’t be giving you the talk later. Honestly, not knowing where babies come from at your…age… How old are you?”

It had just occurred to her she had no idea how old Ivory actually was. She looked to be in her somewhere in her seventies, but maybe she was younger?

Ivory shrugged, still feeling anxious over the last question and what followed, and without thinking answered.

Toriel blinked, stunned momentarily. She could not have heard that right.

“Can you repeat that?”

Ivory did, not realizing the significance of her answer.

“I-Ivory…”

“Hm?”

“There is no way you are that young.”

This led to an argument between them, Ivory claiming that yes, she was the stated age while Toriel was quite certain she must have been mistaken.

At least until Toriel ask about her parents ages and listened with horror that both of Ivory’s parents were in their early fifties and that her grandmother had been seventy-nine nine years old when she passed away.

Angel and Stars! What kind of horror had the surface monsters endured that even their life expectancy had been cut to a paltry number?! And Ivory said most members of her family usually didn’t live past eighty, which she considered to be old age! Does this mean Ivory is going to grow and die before most of the kids in the Ruins even make it to adulthood?

Toriel explained, delicately, to Ivory that the average life expectancy of most skeleton monsters was well into their hundreds, a few recordings pre-War showing that they could live for a thousand years even. Ivory didn’t look surprised, stating she figured there would be major differences between her and any other skeletons still around.

Toriel chose to change the topic, deciding that was a subject she would need to have later, preferably with Gerson present.

Instead she chose a question that had bothered her since Chara’s return.

“How long had you’ve known about Chara being my child?”

Ivory blew out a gutsy sigh, rubbing the back of her head. “Since they dragged me into a dream that contained memories of their childhood. So awhile.”

That answer only fostered more questions. “‘Dream that contained memories’?”

“You and I assume to be your husband were at the marketplace buying stuff. Chara and their brother Asriel showed up looking all happy.”

At Asriel’s name, Toriel’s soul froze. Quickly she turned Ivory towards her. “You saw Asriel?!”

If she saw Asriel…and could talk and even summon Chara- could she have both of her children back?

As though hearing her thoughts, Ivory shook her head with a morose look on her skull. “I’ve only ever seen him in that memory-dream, and I had only ever met him once. He didn’t look anything like he did in the memory and wanted to hurt me.”

That juddered her thoughts off-kilter. “Asriel would never-”

“How did he die?”

A sickly-sweet sensation emitted from Ivory, as though the question itself offended her.

“W-what?”

“Back on earth, there are legends that tell of those that died in a horrible manner or with great regret, and how they can’t find peace. It twists their soul until they are only a figment of what they once were. Chara never talked about their death or past, but I can figure it wasn’t a pleasant way to go because they are still here, two hundred years after their death. Something keeps Chara here… and Asriel. Chara hides it well but there are moments where they don’t look human anymore and I can’t help but think that they had suffered in a way that left them traumatized.”

Toriel was reeling. Regret twisted around Ivory like roots.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. But I want to help Chara… and Asriel, though I’m not sure I can with him. He’s… a mess.”

Toriel couldn’t help but feel that Ivory was severely downplaying how bad Asriel was.

They kept moving, Ivory’s regret churning around them as Toriel hesitantly told her things she had spend centuries removing herself from. Her true status as a queen in self-appointed exile. Her ex-husband and children.  Chara’s sickness and death, followed by Asriel’s own death. Asgore’s vow to destroy humanity and her moving to the Ruins to protect the humans that fell. Her failure, time and time again to stop them from leaving.

By the time she finished they had entered the final room, the one with the flower bed that Ivory and so many others had fallen onto. Ivory’s emotions churned slowly, a turmoil of potent emotions Toriel hadn’t bothered to try and decipher.

The two monsters stood in silence, Toriel looking at the tiny hole above that barely was visible, Ivory staring at the golden flowers in contemplation.

“…I don’t know what I’m doing anymore.”

Toriel looked down, Ivory’s gaze never leaving the flowers. “When I first fell, I had resigned myself to never seeing home again. No sky, no sun, no wind and most importantly, no family or friends. If you hadn’t offered to let me stay in your home, I was going to find some secluded hole in the wall apartment, a job and try to move on.”

The churning emotions swelled, before it started to fluctuate.

“I was determined to remain ordinary and unremarkable, but the more I found out about myself and my magic, the more I was coming to realize just how strange I am in comparison to everyone else. Then Chara came and made me think I could help people, that could save them! And-and…god, I don’t know what’s going on anymore. The second I think I am getting the hang of things, life throws something at me.”

The emotions were bubbling and fluctuating at an alarming rate, and with a start Toriel realized that Ivory was trying to suppress them and failing badly. Like trying to bandage a papercut by smacking a it with a hammer.

“Now I’m trying to save m- to save Chara, help Frisk adjust without getting them to hate me more, get Kidsam home which is in a place I’ve never been to and requires me to leave the Ruins, I’m terrified of people, of places and most importantly I’m terrified of my own damn power!”

Ivory was still attempting to suppress, completely unaware that her feelings had boiled over and Toriel had actually stepped back at the miasmic sensations.

“I stopped a building! I can step into places without meaning to and straight up teleport! I can take people out of places and returned them here! I brought someone BACK FROM THE FUCKIN’ DEAD AND-and…I’m guessing at everything and all I want to do is …I want to go home…” she petered out, eyelights dimming greatly, the maelstrom dying abruptly, replaced with something oily and eerie.  

“…heh…heh… I’m a real freak, aren’t I? Freak soul, freak body, freak everything! God, what would happen if I actually became some evil murdering thing like…” she muttered, like she forgot Toriel was there.

Toriel felt guilt spike though her, any previous anger over her ability to see and interact with Chara at the monster forgotten. How long had Ivory felt like this? How long had she hidden it?

“Ivory. Ivory, look at me.”

The skeleton complied, looking up at her with darken lights. “I can’t fathom what you are feeling.” True, both metaphorically and literally, since Ivory’s feelings were too infused with other emotions to even begin to explain what she was feeling. “But listen to me. You are not evil. You have never done an evil thing that I know of, in fact you do opposite! You help me with patrols, you chat with everyone and are always trying to help people. You are constantly concerned for the wellbeing of others and will -and have- put the safety of others before yourself. I don’t think you are capable of murder, even in self-defense. Yes, you are shy and clearly don’t like crowds or socializing but honestly those aren’t real faults, just facets of your personality.”

Pulling the younger monster in, Toriel embraced the shaking monster. “Anyone who dares to call you an evil freak will get a fireball to the face. You are part of my family, and I defend my family.”

Ivory started bawling, clinging to her with a surprising strength.

Toriel comforted her, deciding that other questions and answers could wait.

Gerson was in the kitchen when the front door opened and closed, nursing a hangover.

He had hit up on a theory over Ivory’s origins during the night, sloshed as he was. He had jotted it down before passing out, and apparently drunk him was a lot smarter than sober him, and that Ivory herself had come up with the theory, seeing how she too thought all this was due to a near death experience that was a lot closer to death than they realized.

Ivory was a human that almost got killed but was either rescued by a monster who gave her their soul right before the void could claim her and threw her down the hole to further save her, or she had died, and somebody decided to experiment on her corpse with a captured monster soul then threw her down the hole as a weapon meant to destroy them.

If it was the latter, a fat lot of good it did them! Ivory was more likely to destroy herself than harm a single hair on a living soul!

All of her insane and confounding abilities was the result of a human soul touched by the void before getting forcibly meshed with a monster one, resulting in what was effectively a new life form that was Ivory, though the human memories and morals where undoubtfully influenced by the monster soul.

He had no plans to ask her which it was either. Not unless he absolutely had to. As perplexing and maddening as she was, Ivory had proven her character time and time again, and he was more than willing to let the human-turned-monster live her life in peace.

Toriel had found a loyal friend, one that Gerson could clearly see would willingly ignore his advice to not summon them, because it would make Toriel happy. His Queen would have the most dedicated apprentice, and he felt that the Keeper position would thrive once Ivory took it. Frisk, providing they didn’t decide to attempt to leave, would have a loving and protective guardian that would ensure they found their place in the Underground.

Chara was the only problem he foresaw. The part of him that was Toriel’s friend hope they could find a way to keep Chara around without compromising Ivory’s already worrying soul, but the healer in him was willing to sit Toriel and Ivory down and explain that this may very well kill Ivory if they continued it, especially since they had no way of knowing if they could keep Chara alive.

Gerson was pretty damn certain that if Ivory were to die, Toriel would never forgive herself. Especially if it proved all in vain and they couldn’t keep Chara around.

He walked to the doorway, just in time to see Ivory picking up Kidsam and Toriel heading downstairs, Frisk giving another longing look to the stairs.

Ivory looked tired, as though she hadn’t slept… and he didn’t really fault her, he hadn’t slept much either.

The skeleton maiden and children walked towards him, no doubt to get to the kitchen for breakfast. He moved out of the way, deciding that Ivory was fine enough he would never admit the relief he felt at feeling her again, there was just something eerie about seeing someone but not feeling them, like they were dead…or gone.

No, he was going to follow his queen, see if she needed someone to talk to.

He kept his soul quiet, not wanting her to feel him unless she looked like she needed company.

He wandered down, pass the halls. Finally he stopped in the room with the door to the Ruins. At hearing her voice, hiding by the corner.

“Who’s there?”

“nobel.”

Sans?

“Nobel who?”

“nobel…that’s why I knocked!”

“Hee…hee.”

Even Gerson could hear the lackluster quality of his queen’s laugh.

“…is…everything alright? are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“has something happened? because i tried callin’ gerson, but i kept getting a sound that according to my brother is the noise it makes when a number is no longer in service.”

Whoops, Gerson thought. He didn’t use his phone often and had hardly noticed it was gone after the Market Incident.

“No, he’s fine. He’ll be heading out the day after tomorrow.”

“really? that’s good, there has been some kind of epidemic happin’ over here.”

“An epidemic?” Toriel said, unknowingly voicing Gerson’s thoughts.

“nothin’ major, just a lot of people getting’ headaches and stuff. no known cause though, so people are a little worried.”

Gerson mentally cursed.

“Oh geeze...” Toriel whispered, and Gerson could imagine her rubbing her nose.

“nothin’ to rush over here for, really. but back to my previous question. are you alright?”

“I’m…physically fine.”

A sliding noise could be heard, and Gerson wondered if she was sitting against the door now.

“That monster I asked you to get Gerson for? She’s… she’s going through a lot.”

Understatement of the century, my Queen.

“She’s… her magic is just baffling thanks to her very, very badly warped soul, she is homesick, and she is just so ignorant of so many things. And now it looks like she’s having existential crisis.”

Oh, Gerson thought with a start. He hadn’t considered that, but of course she’d have an existential crisis, her very race was changed!

“that sounds…bad.” Sans replied, sounding very worried.

“Yeah. But she’s a good person, even though she struggles to believe it!”

Gerson listened as Toriel proceeded to compliment Ivory, praising her qualities and telling Sans of his fellow skeleton’s good deeds.

Sans sounded oddly skeptical. “she sounds too good to be true.”

Toriel huffed. “Yeah, I guess if you’ve never met her, she does sound that way. Don’t get me wrong, she has her flaws. She hides and avoids social activity if she can help it, drinks way too much for her age, and tends to panic rather easily. Not to mention she will run away from anything that makes her uncomfortable or scary.”

“so she’s a coward?”

Gerson felt his Queen’s irritation and instinctively straightened up as Toriel’s voice took on a stronger quality.

 “No, not a coward. Fearful, easily frightened by the unknown? Yes, but Ivory is no coward! We had an incident not long ago, a building integrity was compromised and had fallen on top of the market place. Ivory reacted and managed to stall the building long enough for us to evacuate everyone from under. No one died because she stood there and nearly dusted herself to save us! I have no doubt she was terrified, but she still stood her ground!”

Gerson remembered those torch-like sockets that were burning with raw power, still felt the hammering of her magic as it coated everyone in a protective barrier, remembered how she very deliberately chose death over failure to save them, including him! And he had nearly killed hours prior to this!

He remembered the sight of her hallowed in magic, wings stretched out and refusing to stop until she had confirmation that everyone was safe and alive, and only then did she fall to pieces, sheer will alone keeping her together.

 Silence filled the air after Toriel’s passionate backing.

“tori, may i come in?”

Surprise spiked from Toriel, and Gerson suddenly remembered that Sans was the Judge. Sure, he was probably more concerned than anything, but Gerson distinctly remembered his own reaction to seeing Ivory’s soul. He at least hesitated to kill her but would Sans? As lazy as he portrays himself, Gerson was very aware that Sans was highly competent at his job.

Sans was still speaking. “I’m just really worried, ya know? I don’t hear from ya in almost two weeks, couldn’t contact gerson, and now it sounds like the monster your caring for is really messed up… unless they aren’t a monster?”

For a horrifying moment Gerson feared that Sans had figured out Ivory’s origin. Then he reminded himself that Sans hadn’t met the girl and couldn’t know she wasn’t a real monster… and that they had Frisk.

“its fine it that’s the case. i only gotta worry about humans if they leave the ruins. but if she stays in the ruins, welp not my problem.”

That was an oddly interesting distinction he was making. And allowed him a lot of wiggle room in terms of judging.

“i don’t even need to meet her. i just want to see my friend, maybe have tea and pie with you?”

Gerson felt a little bad for Sans. The skeleton was a workaholic (contrary to what everyone thought), yet he clearly made time to talk to Toriel. A friend he only got to meet face-to-skull when he dropped off Gerson and then hadn’t heard from her in two weeks. The poor guy was probably worried sick something happened.

“You… mean it? If, hypothetically I do have a human on this side, you won’t bother them?”

“absolutely. i’ll even make a promise; i will not intentionally hurt a human in your care.”  

“And if they leave?”

“like I promised ya way back when, i’ll protect any human that leaves the ruins.”

He actually promised that? Gerson thought bewildered.

“I don’t remember asking you to protect any humans that leaves. But thank you! For both promises!”

“o-oh, right. glad we got that settled.” Sans said, voice pitched oddly high.

Gerson decided it was time for his presence to be known.

“Toriel-” He spoke, pretending he had just arrived. Toriel turned to him, a firm look in her eyes that said she had known he was there the whole time as she whispered. “Ivory is going to be leaving soon to get Kidsam home. Best find out if she can handle someone as benign as Sans before sending her out there.”

She held up a hand to stop him prom protesting. “Ivory said it herself, she needs to leave eventually. But her fear of others is crippling her. As long as her soul doesn’t get put out and we explain that Ivory can’t control her emotions due to a warped soul, she’ll be safe.”

“And if something happens? If Sans actually finds reason to attack her?”

Toriel gave a snarl. “Friend or no, I’ll burn him to a crisp.”

“Besides,” Toriel continued, snarl gone and replaced by a work smile. “meeting another skeleton would do Ivory good. And Sans is very mild and friendly.”

He would have agreed with her, had Sans really been as mild and benign as Torie thought him to be, and he had no doubt Sans would be assessing Ivory as soon as he meets her. Oh well, at least she isn’t stupid enough to just let Sans check her stats. If Ivory can interact with the Judge, she should be able to interact with anyone.

He blatantly ignored the guilt he felt at the fact he and Toriel were pretty much forcing Ivory to sink or swim. At least if this fails, he can keep her safe and take Kidsam home in her place.

Toriel opened the door, revealing Sans who looked like he hadn’t slept since Gerson arrived. He must have been very worried about Toriel.

“Ah, is something the matter?”

“aside from a mild illness goin’ ‘round snowdin and waterfall, not much. you doin’ aright? you hadn’t answered your phone, a lot of people got shelly worried about you.”

And they were back at the infernal puns again.

“Sans will be staying for snacks and to catch us up on what’s been going on.” Toriel said happily, giving Gerson a look from over Sans head. One that told him to stall Sans. “Why don’t you two chat for a bit? I’m going to make some tea and see how the children are doing and to let Ivory know we’re having a guest.”

She left in a regal walk, not looking at all like she had anywhere pressing to hurry to. Gerson hobbled along, keeping it slow.

He almost booked it when Sans started punning. But he endured it, not speeding up like he desperately wanted to in order to give Toriel time.

It felt so long before he finally saw the last set of stairs and stopped just before it. As much as he wanted to run up there, he needed to set some rules.

Turning he gave Sans his best Keeper face, and Sans, being the smart lad he was, caught on that Gerson wanted to talk. He stopped punning, smiling widely at the ancient elder with a relaxed posture and hands in his pockets.

“Alright, Judge,” Gerson started, which might to his pleasure caused Sans to snap out of his lazy posture, “I’mma ‘bout to lay some rules down, and I and Toriel expect you to follow them. One, you will not harm any of the kids. If Toriel doesn’t get to you, Ivory will and frankly I don’t think she’d hesitate to attack you if it means protecting the children. Two, as you’ve guessed, we do have a human child with us so I hope your promises mean something because Toriel will never forgive herself if you do something to Frisk.”

The name caused Sans to start, sockets widening. “frisk?”

“Yeah, that’s the human’s name. Three, due to her soul being warped, Ivory can’t censure her emotions. You will be bombarded with feelings and sensations but as long as you don’t overwhelm her, she won’t overwhelm you. Four, thanks to my stupidity, Ivory has a negative view on anyone from outside of the Ruins and will most likely be afraid of you. Don’t make any sudden moves, broadcast all physical intentions, and for all the stars in the sky don’t ask about her past. Five, Ivory’s a sweet, kind girl and if I catch you being mean to her you better hope I get to you first, because Toriel might set you on fire. Six, you are not allowed to go anywhere with Ivory, so keep your magic to yourself.”

Sans was giving a confused look, his smile dimming a little before it came back, amusement reaching his eyelights.

“are you giving me the shovel talk?” The Judge actually chuckled at that, shaking his head a little.

Gerson grinned, delighted at the idea and deciding this was the best way to get at Sans for all the puns.

“Damn straight I am!”

 “uh, what?” Sans replied, looking utterly confused now.

“She’s a wonderful girl with wide hip and strong leg bones, a healthy pallor, and a very ignorant thanks to being raised in isolation! I ain’t taking any chances, and you can bet your femur I ain’t going to let you try to woo her and seduce her into having lots of little babybones with you!”

Now Sans looked horrified. “i-i’m not-”

“So I better not see you pawing her! Or playing ‘where’s my magic’ with her!”

Sans suddenly took off, running up the stairs with such speed Gerson usually never saw him employing.

Grinning unrepentantly, Gerson leisurely walked up the stairs.

So smug at getting Sans to run away, he almost ran into the male skeleton.

Sans skull was completely slacked, looking to where Toriel was calming down Ivory, who hadn’t noticed them.

Sans sockets were trained on Ivory, jaw practically unhinged.

You were panicking.

Today had already been long, though that might have something to do with you forgoing sleep to talk to Toriel. You had done it in order to help Toriel, but ended up letting your fears spill over. What should have been about Toriel ended up being about you.

Next time, you vowed as you finished making pancakes. The last twenty-four odd hours had been one mess after another and frankly you were very much looking forward to going to the Eyewalkers dinner tonight, if only to distract yourself. Tomorrow night was the rewriting of the contract, and frankly you still didn’t know how that was going to go. Was you going to the void in your sleep different that just walking into it?

Kidsam was snuggling on your lap with Chara floating around and talking to Frisk when Toriel walked in.

And proceeded to inform you she had invited her friend from behind the door over for tea and snacks.

Frisk looked happy.

Chara looked at their mother in abject horror.

You felt oddly numb, which apparently spooked everyone enough to talk at once. Well, Toriel, Kidsam and Chara anyway. Frisk almost succeeded in bolting past you, and you only caught them due to Chara yelling at Frisk to get back here.

You took a deep breath, grip on Frisk as you placed Kidsam down. Frisk pouted as Kidsam immediately tried to burrow into your robe.

“When is he going to be here?” You asked, feeling oddly detached.

“As soon as Gerson gets up here.”

“Ah.” You walked pass her, still hold Frisk as Kidsam followed close enough to almost hinder your walking.

Toriel realized you were heading for the front door and stopped you, giving her reasons on why she did this.

You could understand it. Really. Unfortunately, you actually knew that Sans was dangerous and was therefore, panicking.

A sharp inhale caught your attention, and you regrettably looked to the stairs, and immediately felt your soul plummet into the wooden floor.

Standing by the stairs stood what was potentially the single most dangerous monster in the Underground, the Judge himself.

He was looking at you in what you could only guess to be surprise, iconic smile absent.

He stepped forward, allowing Gerson to walk pass, standing by Toriel and Frisk, who Toriel had taken from your slackened grasp.

Sans’ smile finally emerged, though his sockets narrowed in a way that made your (non)insides squirm.

“…huh. when you said you needed gerson for a monster, i thought you were talkin’ about an actual kid.”

Toriel shrugged, looking worn out as she kept Frisk on her other side.

Kidsam pressed into your side, whimpering. Chara hovered close to the wall directly behind Sans, mouthing something at you but like hell you were going to look away from the potential threat in front of you. Were they afraid Sans might actually hear them?

The Judge moved, drawing your attention back to him, and you were fairly certain everyone could feel your anxiety going through the roof.

Sans the Skeleton held out his mitten covered hand, smiling pleasantly as he proceeded to introduce himself, though you didn’t hear it over the hysteria and passion warring inside you, pounding like a heartbeat, and oh that must be your magic flaring because his sockets just narrowed something fierce and Toriˢeͭlͦᵖ ᵖaͣᶰnͥdͨᵏ ͥᶰGᵍeˢrͭsͦᵖoᵖnͣᶰ ͥlͨᵏoͥᶰoᵍkˢeͭdͦᵖ ᵖwͣᶰoͥrͨᵏrͥᶰiᵍeʲdͧˢ ͭanͥᶰdͭ ͬwͦeͩrͧeͨ ͤmʸoͦvͧiͬˢnͤˡgᶠ—

The noise that escaped you weren’t words, in fact it sounded like it better belonged to a chicken or something equally squawky when terrified.

Sans the Skeleton’s bone-brows rose, smile dropping a few inches, giving him a look that was somewhere between amused and bafflement as he (and everyone else) were now giving you looks as though they were trying to wrap their heads around the fact you had just made a deranged fowl shriek at another person.

“…uh, I mean…um?”

The silence after that was deafening.

Then a giggle filled the air, and out of the corner of your socket you saw Frisk clamp a hand over their mouth, shoulders shaking as their muffled giggles continued to rent the air. Soon Toriel was joining them and even Gerson was chortling.

Chara looked absolutely dumbfounded by your stupid bone-ass.

…snrk!...ahem, i’m sorry, could you repeat that? be-squawk I didn’t catch what you said.” The male skeleton inquired, grin stretching slightly.

Kidsam was sniggering into your robe, her laughter shaking your leg as you barely heard her whisper, “What was that noise…?”

Well, they were already laughing at you, might as well give them more.

“That…was the sound of a chicken saying hello. Obviously.”

The giggles intensified, Sans smile reaching his sockets.

“Frankly, I think I did an egg-cellent job saying ‘hello’.”

Toriel proceeded to cackle as Frisk lost the war against the giggles and was doubled over with laughter, Gerson had turned his head to hide his laughter. The heavy air dissipated, and you felt both relieved and drained.

“you kinda clucky, huh?” Sans mumbled, looking torn between amusement and disbelief.

You couldn’t stop, high on relief. “Coo-kooky bird, that’s me. All bones and pigeon-toes. A sad sack of feathery yaks.”

A snigger escaped Sans, who was now shaking his head. “a funny bird, huh?”

“A regular comedi-hen!”

Sans proceeded to do something you hadn’t expected, and by the way Chara was gaping and Frisk’s wide-eyed surprised, neither did they.

Sans was laughing. Not a chuckle or a chortle, a full-on belly laugh, doubled over and everything.

But what really got you about this whole scenario was just how hard he was laughing, like he was releasing something that had been held back too long and it was all coming out.

As you watched Sans continue to laugh his non-existent ass off, you made eye contact with Chara, who looked thoroughly creeped out and shrugged.

And this is my life right now.

how is this my life? Sans wondered, struggling to stop his laughter.

He had come here fully expecting Toriel to be completely wrapped around a Chara-clone and being forced to put the fear of himself into it and its progenitor as he forced answers out of them, perhaps being forced into an encounter.

Instead, Toriel looked worn out and upset over something, Gerson was giving him the shovel talk, and Frisk was here!

…as well as two monsters he could not recall ever meeting.

The first one looked like a shy green version of MK, hiding behind the other monster…

…who happened to be a skeleton.

That was enough of a reason to give her his attention. Sans knew full well that the Underground had a population of TWO skeletons, him and Papyrus.

And then to his growing shock, Toriel introduced her as the monster she called Gerson in for.

This wasn’t a child.

This wasn’t even a human.

The newly introduced ‘Ivory’ (and he couldn’t help but wonder if that was really her name, or if her parents were as bad at naming as the King was) looked terrified, and her emotions were everywhere, building the closer he got.

Her expression looked forced, reminding him of the monsters who had gone up against a possessed Frisk during the Genocide Routes. Only it wasn’t being directed at Frisk (who Toriel was shielding, probably in some belief that she was protecting them), but at him.

She looked (and felt) like she one sentence away from having a total meltdown.

Out of reflects, he checked her stats…and couldn’t help but snort a little at both the numbers and what her soul apparently was thinking as she looked at him like a frightened Whimsun.

Ivory Ostein

LV: 1

HP: 2̶̳̮̒

AT: -100̴0                                               

DF: 3̸̲̥̘̫͛000

A̷̘̫͠Ǎ̸̘̭́Â̷̬̇Ǎ̷̘Ḁ̸̢̈́A̸͚̩̔̒A̶̯̎͠Ă̴̞Ȁ̵͇͜Ȃ̷̪A̷̪͒Ā̶̤̜Ą̶́̔A̷̠̰̋̉A̴͙͚̿̆A̴̯͚̎̿A̸̝͛̕H̶̫̮̿͗H̵̯͗͋H̴͒ͅH̶̪̚H̸̬̉Ĥ̸͖̖̄H̴̩͊H̶̟͔̒H̴͉̾͝!̴̻̇̕!̶̣̂!̸̙̈́!̴̎͌͜!̴͙̹̔!̶̨̫!̵̠́

He barely got his introduction out when he got bombarded by a maelstrom of emotions, a near amalgam of hysteria and terror that was building even higher—

Aaaaaand then he was caught completely off guard when she proceeded to squawk at him like a chicken that got stepped on. It had effectively killed the storm that was building, replacing it with shock, disbelief and overwhelming embarrassment.

To his shock Frisk began to giggle, and it just escalated when ‘Ivory’ proceeded to make jokes at her own expense.

It wasn’t until her last pun that he saw it.

Wings. She had little bone wings, that fluttered up and down, clacking gently against themselves.

Suddenly her jokes had an extra layer of meaning to them, and all the stress of the last few months and anxiety of meeting Chara’s ‘daughter’… just poured out.

He still was struggling to regain his composure, and he knew he probably looked crazy but after all his worrying and carefully crafted defenses, the big bad ‘Copper Soul’ was really a nervous wreck of a skeleton monster who couldn’t even censure her own emotions and had little useless wings.

He looked back at her, tears welling in his socket from the failed attempt to regain his composure, and just burst into more laughter after checking her stats again.

Ivory Ostein

LV: 1

HP: 2

AT: -100̴0                                      

DF: 3̢͢͜͞0̸̡̛̕0̷̧͘0̴͡

I͏vory ͘thinks ͢she b͜roke ̷you.

Chapter Text

Chara was practically in the wall at this point, but it was a better alternative than Sans seeing them. Which knowing their luck he would be able to see them, the walking trashbag.

Honestly, they didn’t fault Copper’s perfectly sound attempt at running away, especially since she had the presence of mind to take Frisk with her and only wish they could have known that Mom would have invited that guy in ahead of time. But really, why would they believe Mom would let anybody in when they had countless of timelines of her refusing entry into the Ruins?

Now here was Sans, in their Mother’s home and while they couldn’t see the front of Sans skull they could feel his confusion at seeing another skeleton, one he probably knew for certain shouldn’t exist because Sans knew the timelines, and was currently aware that something had changed, and Chara was only really shocked that he had apparently mustered the motivation to actually go and investigate in person the only place he could think of getting answers from.

In hindsight, they should have seen that coming. Sans still had Azzy and since they hadn’t got close after that first physical contact, they had been avoiding the place. Who knows what Azzy has been babbling in his less lucid moments?

Poor Copper, she looked (and felt) terrified. And that was before she saw sans. Now she had somehow spiked to new levels of fear and Chara couldn’t risk even talking to her.

Then when Chara was certain Copper was about to have another panic attack, she let out a sound that was a cross between scared little girl and deranged fowl. It was so random and utterly unexpected that everyone had stared at her in various shades of disbelief.

And then, perplexingly enough, Copper started to pun at her own expense, resulting in everyone laughing, though Sans laughter…

It was a laugh. An actual laugh. Not his usual one, where it came out as a huff of breath or a mellow ‘myeh heh heh’, but a full blown ‘help I can’t breathe because I’m laughing too hard’ kind of laugh that was quickly approaching ‘hysterical laughter of the unhinged’.

And Copper was feeling very worried. Not for herself, but for Sans.

She cautiously walked forward, and timidly placed a hand on his shoulder. “Are… you alright?”

The words were spoken with genuine concern, and perhaps that was why Sans finally pulled himself back together. He gave a shuddering sigh, smile haggard.

“i have been having a really rough couple of months.”

Chara felt Copper’s concern and a flash of realization, the look in her sockets softening. “Yeah, me too. I’ve been sort of… displaced. From life, everything, family. But I’m getting better. Do you… want to talk about life? Point of views?”

“right now?” Sans huffed, shoulders tense.

“Whenever is convenient for you. And I’ll be as honest as you can be.”

Chara looked back at Copper, wanting to demand what she was doing as Frisk shot around Mom and stood between the two skeletons. Their hands flew in quick motion that was impossible for Chara to make out from their position, Sans feeling surprised as Copper sighed in resignation.

“Still don’t know what you’re saying, Sweetie.”

Frisk stopped, looking embarrassed before directing their words at Sans. He stared at them momentarily before giving the slightest of nods to Frisk.

Sans cocked his skull in a way that made Chara certain he was checking Frisk stats. Then with a gutsy sigh and a sag Sans spoke again though this time he directed it to Copper.

“you know what? yeah, i could use a fresh point of view. though gerson doesn’t want me to be left alone with you.”

Gerson huffed, but like everyone else was just staring at the two skeletons that seemed to be having a moment in the hallway.

Copper looked up at her audience, a peculiar expression on her skull as her emotions swirled in a mess of too many feelings before settling on a sort of clarity sentiment. Then she nodded, as though coming to an internal agreement. She leaned down to where Kidsam was trying to become one with her leg, whispering something to them. The green monster looked like they wanted to protest but nodded halfheartedly. Satisfied, Copper moved Kidsam to Gerson before glaring straight at them, a sensation hitting them head on. Do not follow.

Chara stared for a moment, trying to figure if Copper had intentionally meant to send that as Copper spoke. “Chara, stay here. I need adult time.”

Sans whipped behind, eye socket flashing colors before suddenly he was getting yanked towards the door by Copper, causing him to stumble.

“Welp, there is nothing to do about it. Gerson clearly doesn’t want me making friends, so I’m just going to have to kidnap you for a walk.”

Making friends?! You were literally about to piss yourself at meeting him! Chara yelled before slapping a hand over their mouth in horror. Sans turned to them and made eye contact—

—and was promptly yanked out the front door, Copper practically dragging him away.

Chara gapped at the open door, trying to figure out what just happened. Looking around, they were relieved yet frustrated to see that everyone else looked just as flummox as they were.

Except for Frisk, who looked as though they wanted to chase after them but was forcing themselves to stay put.

What just happened? They asked as they looked at Frisk, who just shrugged.

Okay, not one of my brighter moments, you thought as you quite literally were dragging Sans away from the house.

Most residents were either in Home or the new marketplace, meaning it was relatively people free. The only people you were concerned about listening now was Chara or Flowey, the former hopefully staying back and the latter had been a no show since you kicked him in the face.

“Hey, pal,” you spoke, readjusting your grip, “stop dragging your feet. It’ll take even longer to get away from the house if you do that.”

“yeeeeah, i ain’t exactly sure i wanna be left alone with you.” Sans groused but stopped his dragging anyway.

“This walk is for us to get to know each other, a sort of point of view exchange. Or if you’d rather, we ask questions and we answer to the best of our abilities. If you are worried about my intentions being of a more licentious nature, rest assured my good sir, your virtue is mostly safe from me.” You replied dryly.

A choking noise made you look back even though you didn’t slow down. Sans was staring at you with a blueish blush across his skull.

“and he was worried about me doin’ somethin’?” Sans said low, clearly not meaning to be heard. He waved you off when you tried to ask, changing the topic. “so how long have you been here?”

“Oh, going on four months? Has it only been that long? Feels like it’s been so much longer…” Tugging gently you twisted around, walking backwards so you could look him in in the faceskull.

He looked stressed and didn’t seem very happy to be tugged along by you, but he wasn’t trying to yank his arm away from your grip, so you took it as a good sign.

“How long have you been here?”

“my whole life.”

“I meant this current timeline.”

His eyelights sharpened in shape, blue flickering from his socket before abruptly leaving, kinda like your dread at seeing.

“ah…wasn’t expectin’ you to just admit to it.”

“So roughly about the same? And why wouldn’t I?”

“figured your ‘parent’ wouldn’t want you to chat to me about. feelin’ rebellious?”

“My…parent? You talking about Toriel?”

“chara.” He all but spat the name out.

That made you stop, a startled laugh forcing its way out of you as you looked at him in disbelief. “Chara? A parent?”

He nodded tentatively and you started giggling uncontrollably. “Oh god! Why did you think that? Holy shit, first Toriel thinks I’m trying to be Chara’s mother and now you think I’m their daughter?!”

“…because flowey called you that?”

That effectively killed your mirth. “I don’t know why he’s calling me that, I kinda been expecting him to poison one of my pies after I kicked him in the face.”

“wait, was that almost two or so weeks ago?”

“No, during the first or second month I got here.”

“huh.” He didn’t elaborate on that, looking perturbed. “he called you copper soul.”

“That,” You sighed, continuing you trek and encouraging Sans to follow with a gentle tug, “is an unfortunately true fact about me. So why are you here? I don’t think you have ever been to the Ruins…?” You left the question hanging.

There was silence for a moment or two before Sans spoke again. “well, i came here for answers, and you have been very straightforward so far. mind answering another?”

“Sure. shoot.”

“how do ya know chara?”

You let out a long groan as you bypassed a couple of traps. “Long story short, they dragged my ass out of my home through my computer, stole my skin and organs, stuck useless wings on my back, and dumped me down the hole that leads to the Underground. We are currently working together to destroy the barrier without triggering a reset.”

At the lack of response, you looked back at him. He looked just… lost in that moment, like he had no idea what to think and was desperately trying to keep it together… coupled with the canon fact he was severely depressed, you were fairly certain he wasn’t far from a meltdown, if he hasn’t experienced one already.

It was part of the reason you dragged him off in the first place. When he had laughed that disturbingly long laugh, he had looked as lost and conflicted as you have been feeling, that like you, he had no idea what he was doing and was feeling frayed and worn out. Unlike you though, he hadn’t had anyone who knew what he was going through to talk about it with.

And…And you wanted him to have that and were perfectly happy to be that person that he could talk to… even though it was for very selfish reasons.

Chara and Frisk were helpful and wonderful, but you have had to alter a lot of the words and ideas for them because they were still kids, kids that have not grown up even once in the many, many resets they had survived. And while they clearly had a lot of experience… they did not possess adult experiences or understandings.

And you needed that. You needed a buddy who you didn’t have to watch every single word around while still knowing what the hell was going on with you, the barrier and the kids. Toriel was great, but you still didn’t know how she would react to your origins…and frankly, you were terrified to lose her, or worse, lose her yet only being allowed to stay to keep Chara around.

Sans on the other hand didn’t know you, and honestly you didn’t know him enough to be afraid of his censure. But he was clearly aware that things were different, he could see Chara, and he could help you achieve your goals. And frankly? You had decided that Sans deserved that kind of honesty.

You had finally reach the last room when you quietly inquired, “Would you like the long version of the story?”

You let go, hoping he realized you were giving him the choice to stay or go. He stood by you with a conflicted expression. Then he took what felt like the deepest breath in the world, and exhaled a shaky, “yeah.”

So, you talked.

You talked about your past, about who you were before all this.

You told him about your game hobby and your love of the game Undertale.

You told him of the day before you were taken to Undertale after a drunken chat with Chara.

You told him of you desire to stay out of trouble and problems but finding it anyway and the changes you knew of.

Of your second meeting with Chara and the deal you made.

Of your first meeting with Gerson and the marketplace destruction, of your fragmented recollection of stopping the building.

Waking up in hundreds of pieces, and how that still affected you even now.

Of Frisk’s arrival and Kidsam’s rescue.

Your desire to get the other lost monsters out of the Void and destroying the barrier.

The feeling of inadequacy you have felt for this task, and the choking self-doubt you possessed, along with the tangible fear of failing this, and the consequences of said failure.

It all came out like a bile flavored enema yet it was the first time you actually had the chance just talk honestly you spoke so many truths out of fear of being called a liar or getting caught in a lie, yet you never felt very honest and it was both freeing and embarrassing.

You had no idea how long you’ve spoken, words streaming out of you as you stared at that accursed flowerbed. All awhile Sans just watched you and listened, not saying a word.

Eventually the words trickled to a halt, silence settling between them.

Finally, Sans spoke. “that… has got to be the most insane truthful thing i’ve ever heard, in any timeline. holy shit, kid.” 

“Not a kid.” You said without heat, staring at that yellow flowers.

He gave a choked laugh. “no, no you’re not. geeze, i have so many questions—okay, you know what? fuck it.”

You turned to him, shocked at the swear. He was pinching the tip of his nasal bone, like it would stave off a headache.

You suddenly felt terrible for unloading all that. He came for answers, not your life story!

“hey,” he spoke in an admonishing tone, “stop that. you can feel bad if you want to.”

Embarrassment coursed through and he frowned. Literally just a frown, and somehow it made him look so much older.  “stars lady, you really can’t control that, can you?”

You rubbed the back of your head, feeling your skull flush as you groused, “Nnnno.”

“your gonna knock someone on their ass with that.”

“I’m not trying to let everyone and their grandma know what I’m feeling…”

He frowned in confusion before it cleared up, nodding. “you didn’t feel that at all, didja?”

At your confused look Sans groaned. “hell, you can’t control it and you can’t feel when others are trying to emotionally talk to ya. fuck, why did chara- nope, I’ll just ask them myself.”

You grabbed his coat as he made a move to turn, stopping his progress. “Don’t fight with them. Please. They’re just a kid.”

Sans skull twisted in anger. “you of all people know what they are capable of.”

He cut you off before you could say a word. “they kidnapped you, screwed up your very humanity, tricked you into a deal, WHICH,” he all but shouted the word, making you flinch back, “they didn’t need to do but did anyway because they are an evil control freak, and have convinced you they are a good person and your friend! How Do You Know They’ll Help You Get Back Home?” Something in his tone changed, and you were reminded that Sans could kill you with minimal effort. “You Don’t!”

You felt (or heard?) something ring out, and Sans right socket light disappeared as the left exploded into flashing blue and yellow. Frustration, rage, anxiety, and a strange protectiveness bled into you as Sans snarled. “You Are Relying On a Homicidal Abomination To Do Right By You, When They Can’t Even Do Right By Frisk!”

“BECAUSE THEY ARE TRYING!” You screeched, a familiar ‘LUB-DUB’ echoed out, the strange menagerie of emotions flowing and absorbing you. You could feel your left socket emitting magic, but you didn’t care.

“They are the biggest dumbass I have ever known! They have a history of failures so long it could span the entire Underground! They are the rudest most antagonistic little shit I have ever met and yet they still try! They try to protect Frisk from the people from my world! They love their Mom deeply! They walked me through several meltdowns and are a helluva lot nicer now than when we first met! They regret so much and are trying so hard to fix everything that they had swallowed their contempt for people like me because this is the first time they had a chance to fix everything without dragging Frisk into it!”

Ringing and heartbeats echoed around you with the swirling convoluted emotions as you got as close to Sans as you dared and looked him in the flashing eye.

“If you can’t trust them can you trust Frisk?”

His expression faltered and you took ruthless advantage of that.  “Because they trust Chara a lot more than they trust me. If taking my word is too much, then talk to Frisk.” You recalled the look of joy on their face when they heard Sans was coming. “Please talk to Frisk, Sans. They clearly miss you.”

You then back up, feeling drained as the heartbeat disappeared but still oddly emotionally pumped. Sans kept his flashing socket on you for a moment longer before it dissipated.

Now he looked as emotionally drained as you felt, the emotions that had been coursing through you withering away now that the magically charged air was cleared.

“what… do you need?” Sans asked, grimacing at your confused look. “i ain’t pledgin’ any help till frisk and I had a talk, but i’m not leavin’ you to fend for yourself.”

“I…” for a moment you blanked, tired and just wishing your day were over already. Between yesterday’s events, your all-nighter with Toriel and this, you were both physically and mentally exhausted. But you knew what you wanted.

“I need help… but I want a friend. Even if you decide you want nothing to do with this mess and would rather just observe, can we hang out and just… I donno, chat? Discuss the weather, eat food, tell jokes, swap embarrassing baby brother stories and just for a few hours pretend we aren’t the only adults aware of how screwed up our situation is?” You proposed, holding your hand out to him in hope.

“Let me do this properly: Hi, my name is Ivory Ostein. I am a cynical introvert that is haunted by a chocolate loving fiend and have no control over my emotions, barely any for my magic and my soul make absolutely no sense. Would you like to be my friend?”

Sans stared at your gloved hand, eyelights drifting to yours. Slowly he took you hand, shaking it. “charmed. sans the skeleton. punster, napper and loving older brother. oh, and an unfortunate time looper, but i tend to ignore that. i would like us to be friends.”

The walk back was a quiet one and while he had so many questions, Sans refrained due to the exhaustion Ivory was radiating. Not a physical exhaustion either, no this was the sort of exhaustion that went clear to the soul. He knew that exhaustion on a personal level, not that he’d ever show anyone.

He still struggled to wrap his skull around everything she said. In her world, his world was a game. That was a trip to think about, and made him wonder if hers was a game in his? Perhaps among the humans? That was a conversation they were going to go into great detail in, because he had so many questions!!

The greater concern though was the fact Chara was messing with things they shouldn’t be and had been kidnapping and dissecting souls. And had somehow accidentally chucked Ivory even further back than they should have been able to in time. Yeah, they were going to have a looooong talk once he caught them.

Contrary to what Ivory believed, he could hold a conversation with the parasite. Occasionally without it resulting in violence too!

First though, he was talking to Frisk. When they had jumped in to talk, Sans had been shocked at the emotions he was seeing and feeling. Usually Frisk felt (and looked) like a marionette, lifelessly moving about. And they were so happy to see him.

It had been a long time since Frisk had looked like an actual child, he almost forgot what his kid looked like as a person.

And its because this lady shouldn’t be here, he thought, lights drifting to Ivory. Her story was insane and completely true. He spent the entire time at the flower bed observing her stats, watching as it fluctuated insanely, but it told him nothing but the truth.

It was also why he was willing to wait before hunting Chara down for that talk. He owed both Toriel and Frisk that small tribute, even before Ivory made her case but the displaced hybrid certainly made him consider being kinder about it.

Maybe exposure to Ivory had made Chara more tolerable.

doubtful, he thought, but if flowey’s any indication, it’s still a possibility. now to figure out what ivory did to him. can’t ask though as i don’t think she’s even aware he’s half insane thanks to her magic.

though i can see why, he slumped as the house came into view, her magic is crazy.

As she entered the house, he stayed back for a moment, looking at the tired woman who had stopped when she realized he had and turned to face him, looking at him in concern as she asked if something was wrong.

He shook his skull, following after her even as a as he mentally made a plea. please, he thought looking at Ivory’s profile as she waved off Toriel and Gerson’s concern. please, don’t break this trust i’m placing in ya.

“-Eyewalker’s dinner is tonight, but if you’re not feeling up to it, I can tell them you’re still recovering-”

“Nah, I’m good,” Ivory reassured with a wave, “just let me get a snack and a nap and I’ll be right as rain for tonight.”

Did she always say such idioms? Sans wondered, looking around for the kids when the other skeleton tugged him towards a room.

“Come on, lets eat something.”

Now that he thought about it, he was hungry, so he didn’t stop her from directing him to the kitchen

The kitchen was big, definitely made for Toriel’s size in mind, and Ivory seemed even smaller in here as she rummaged through the fridge. “We got pie, veggies and snails.”

ohhhhhhhhhhhh hell yes, he thought, he hasn’t had anyone new to see him drink ketchup in ages. Fighting to keep his smile lax as he made his request. “got ketchup?”

Ivory looked up at him with an expression that was both stunned and disgust as she handed him the bottle of ketchup, and he kept his smile in anticipation to her response to his ketchup habit. Popping the cap off he proceeded to drain it, watching her reaction.

He savored the appalled look she had as she shook her skull, smiled genuinely at the gagging noises she was making for a good thirty seconds, and wish he could somehow frame that look she was sported on a wall. Yup, definitely was enjoying this friendship so far!

“You really do just drink that stuff straight. That’s so gross!”

The male skeleton chuckled, about to reply when she proceeded to pop the jar of an Alfredo sauce…

… and chugged the whole thing down in like fifteen seconds.

Sans lost all ability to speak for a good minute, smile dropping in favor of complete revulsion. He made a retching sound, trying to comprehend what she just did. “what- why- did you just- oh my magic! that was the most disgusting thing i’ve ever seen!”

Ivory gave a look that perfectly mirrored the disbelief she was exhibiting. “You have got to be shitting me! Me drinking Alfredo sauce is what grosses you out?!”

“what sane person drinks alfredo sauce?! aurgh! i can feel my magic clogging from just watchin’ ya!”

“That’s rich coming from a guy who just drank ketchup!”

“ketchup is delicious and vinegary ambrosia! that was vomit fuel!”

“No, Alfedo sauce is amazing and goes on lots of different types of foods! Ketchup is fake tomato sauce in a bottle!”

Sans proceeded to spend the next half hour arguing condiments and sauces with her, oblivious to the two elders watching them. If he had, he would have been very wary of the look Gerson and Toriel shared, smiles spreading across their faces.

Chapter Text

Frisk wasn’t sure what was going on anymore and was quite happy about it.

Okay, not in the first three and a half months but now that they were among their people again, with Chara and Sans still here and remembering and Frisk had free will, so the eternally seven-year-old was quite happy with this new timeline.

When Frisk first awoke, they had… issues. They had been back much further than ever, and in a place Frisk only vaguely remembered.

Frisk was an orphan, sole survivor of a car crash at the ripe old age of two weeks and had been cared for by Grandpa until he passed away. Frisk had been in an orphanage for a year when they had been dared to go up Ebott.

It still perplexed them that they had, once upon a time, been so easily swayed by a bunch of children.

This led to countless lives in the Underground, nearly all that Frisk could not control. Only Sans and Chara seemed aware that they were possessed, though the former was under the impression it was Chara.

So waking up a whole year back in time and not as a puppet had done a great deal for Frisk’s sense of wonder, though not without its own price.

Frisk could not remember the names or faces of the other orphan or the care takers. Even Grandpa was a fuzzy recollection at best and the sun felt weird after literal decades (maybe centuries?) stuck on loop. The orphanage in return could not understand how Frisk went to bed a perfectly normal seven-year-old and awoken as a deeply traumatized mute with ancient eyes.

The first month was Frisk just getting used to having the ability to move of their own volition, while dealing with well-meaning adults who were genuinely concerned for them and their seemingly overnight personality shift.

Frisk might have accidentally scared them when they walked out to see their ward outside pass midnight, running in circles.

Around the building.

Flailing their arms around and howling at the moon.

And occasionally laughing “NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” and then sob-howling again.

That first month was a bit of an adjustment period.

But Frisk spent those months relearning how to move on their own, waking screaming from a recurring nightmare that this was just a dream and that they were about to go back to being a prisoner in their own body, and trying and failing to connect to long forgotten people…

All awhile trying not to give in to the siren call of Home. Because that was what the Underground was to them, their Home. They had family there, and they missed them terribly but was afraid to go back where they may never be in control of their body ever again… but a small niggling little voice whispered, Then who will save my family?

So after three months Frisk gave in, their love stronger than their desire to be free. They had left armed with a strong stick and fresh bandages, practically trembling the whole way to the hole, and had jumped in after much pep talking.

They should have realized something was wrong the moment they hit the flower bed, because they had hurt themselves by not making the landing quite right. Nothing broken but definitely hurt worse than before.

The second wrong thing was that Flowey and Toriel never showed. Frisk had wasted half a day there waiting for them to show, which prompted Frisk to rush through the puzzles, fear that something had happened to them. Frisk had gotten hurt on some (why were these here? Toriel didn’t have puzzles here!) but that was what the bandages were for.

Then Frisk started panicking at the complete lack of anyone showing up, and only could consoled themselves that they hadn’t seen any piles of dust anywhere.

By the time they made it to Toriel’s, Frisk was about to pass out from both the pain of the fall and the unexpected puzzles but was determined to find someone.

So when someone answered the door Frisk was relieved, though it died quickly at the sight of a unknown skeleton.

One that felt like THEM.

Frisk didn’t remember anything after seeing Chara with the skeleton, and everything after that was, well, history.

And Sans is here now! Frisk thought with glee, ignoring the un-enthused scowl Chara was sporting as they watched Sans and Ivory argue over drinks from behind Toriel and Gerson.

I don’t like it, Chara groused, arms crossed. Sans could kill her without a single ounce of remorse, and we’ll be back where we started! Maybe even worse off since Pearl and Black never happened here!

‘Sans is a good judge of character, and he’s crafty. Look, he’s already gotten her to drop her guard’. Frisk signed, feeling confident.

He could still kill her! Chara hissed, turning so they could look Frisk in the face. Frisk, we can’t reset. Not like before, not as extreme as back then. There are no save files. You might be able to SAVE but I don’t know for sure.

‘He won’t, not unless she gives him a reason to kill her’.

Chara snorted, rolling their red eyes. Yeah right. Copper is such a goody two shoes and a coward that she’ll do whatever she can to keep on Sans good side.

‘Then by your own admittance, Ivory isn’t going to be a problem. But Sans is my friend and I trust him’.

He’s killed you more times than any other person.

‘I’m pretty sure Undyne has claim to that’, Frisk signed with a grinning at Chara’s angry scowl. ‘Besides, if anyone could see warning signs of an impending homicidal entity, it’s Sans.’

Still would rather she and that trashbag were on separate sides of the Underground, Chara snarled, glaring at the still arguing duo.

‘At least they look like their having fun’, Frisk admitted, staring back at the skeleton’s with pursed lips. Despite the heated words, Frisk could feel even from here that Sans was actually enjoying himself, the irritation having bled out into honest amusement as Ivory too seemed amused, albeit in a puzzled sort of way.

Chara on the other hand felt suspicious, angry, worried and… possessive?

That last one made Frisk study their companion, noting the thin line that made their mouth like they were biting back a nasty comment, red eyes practically glowing with ire, fixed completely on the arguing duo. It almost felt like Chara was…

“Are you…jealous?” Frisk whispered, voice scratchy yet failing to hide the incredulous tone.

Chara’s head jerked back to them with a audible ‘SNAP’, eyes wide in horror as their emotions became a conglomerate of shock, denial and dread, but not the scary kind of dread but the ‘I have a secret and oh stars you just guessed it’ kind, mixed heavily with a sort of perplexity that indicated that Chara thought the idea laughable. Frisk leaned back, both due to the expression Chara was making as well as the incomprehensible noise the older kid made.

NO, I’M NOT! Chara shrieked before slapping a hand over their mouth, head wiping towards the skeletons.

Both Sans and Ivory’s head turned towards them but only until Ivory tugged on the male skeleton’s sleeve and making wild gestures with her other hand, drawing his attention away from them, which Frisk begrudgingly admitted was a point in her favor.

Chara started rubbing the back of their head with an embarrassed expression. I’m not jealous, just… we need her alive. Outsider souls can break the barrier without needing other souls, we saw that with Pearl.

‘Pearl died breaking it, and only came back because they made a SAVE before hand’.

Y…yeah. Chara mumbled, their guilt flashing through Frisk so fast they wasn’t sure they felt it before Chara's emotions suddenly sealed off.

Frisk stared at them, a hollow pit forming in their gut. Has Chara… grown attached to Ivory? Was that even possible? Was it earnest attachment or had Ivory manipulated their friend?

Suddenly Frisk wanted to step between the two skeleton’s and push Ivory as far away from Sans as possible.

But what if she is a good person?  Niggled at the back of their mind, causing Frisk to frown as they watched the skeletons finally call it a draw and Toriel began making her way to Sans, Gerson stopping Ivory for something.

Then… I will trust Sans judgement. They thought with a nod, because if both Chara and Sans (two people who hated each other and struggled to say anything nice about the other) said Ivory was a good person, then Frisk would just have to trust that there was an Outsider who could be good. They wouldn’t trust her, but they could work with her.

And if she were a manipulative person with nefarious designs on their love ones, Frisk will kill her.

Chapter Text

Sans would be lying if he said that having a stupid argument over sauces and condiments had been a waste of time. Being in a time loop meant you’d exhaust every topic and conversation one could think of and after doing that for years, Sans could safely say he could quote pretty much everyone in Snowdin. Even having gone a year back hadn’t changed a lot of those conversations, and those that were new were from people he’d gotten to know over a very long time and could reply to these new conversations with minimal issues as he had very accurate dossiers of pretty much the entire monster population.

It's because of that stable time loop that he wasn’t used to having a new conversationalist, especially one that knew who and what he was and didn’t think her quirks were all that weird.

And honestly, Sans could not recall the last time someone caught him completely by surprise OR grossed him out. And to make it better, she used his own method (though clearly she had some nasty tastes, because who drank alfredo sauce?! mustard he could understand, but alfredo!? the vulgar savagery!) to get a reaction out of him, though he had walked away from that conversation under the impression she thought her drinking habit was perfectly ordinary.

Despite being one of the dumbest arguments he ever had, he had utterly enjoyed it because it was refreshingly new!

After that stupidly invigorating squabble, Ivory had picked up MK Kidsam, heading for her bedroom for a nap and Toriel and him sat down for tea. She started asking about more personally questions about him which was fair, they hadn’t exactly told each other about their personal lives (in this timeline anyway), and he patiently answered her questions, like his education, passions, hobbies, and oddly enough his dating history she… wasn’t coming on to him, right? No, no she was just being motherly before she answered a few of his own questions about life in the Ruins as he had never truly gotten a chance to explore this side of the door.

And sitting right between them was Frisk, looking amused and happy.

Now that he could look at them without Toriel getting upset, he took Frisk’s appearance in subtly. At first glance they were exactly the same, yet not. The purple and blue sweater was gone, replaced by a sweater that looked like Toriel’s dress with the deltarune on it but with white and purple sleeves, and purple pants, their hair was shorter, more bob cut and less Chara looking.

But more importantly, Frisk’s eyes were open and bright, and they were emoting.

Sans could count on one hand with phalanges to spare on how many times he could recall Frisk with their eyes open. And he had even less on the amount of times he remembered them acting as an actual child.

Soon enough though Toriel stood up with a expression Papyrus oft wore when he forgot to do something, and this was proven right when she said, “I forgot to start dinner! I need to get in the crock pot to slow cook while we’re away, mind watching Frisk for me?”

“sure, no problem.” He affirmed, wondering why she wanted Frisk watched.

“Make sure they stay up here.”

Ah, that’s what she were worried about. “trust me, there will be no kidding around while i’m on the job.”

She giggled at the stupid pun as she walked into the kitchen, though he was more delighted at hearing Frisk groan good-naturedly at it. Toriel had barely turned the corner when Frisk hoped down and practically tackled him in a fierce hug, and Sans was frozen for a solid ten seconds at the reality that Frisk was voluntarily embracing him. he didn’t get the chance to return the hug when the child pulled back, smiling brighter than the first time he had seen the sun.

‘I miss you’ Frisk signed, looking happy.

‘I miss you too, kiddo’ he signed back, and Frisk visibly perked at him using sign language.

‘I’m glad you’re here, it’s been weird couple of months’ Frisk signed, to which he agreed because it had been weird. Frisk then without any prompting told him of their life since awakening in this timeline, and Sans felt his soul cry a little as Frisk explain the first month and the genuine fear of something being wrong when they first got here.

And then he unhappily learned that Chara had plans, and that Ivory was needed for said plans. Frisk didn’t go into detail, but he could tell by their harsh swiping hands they weren’t happy about it.

‘Sounds like Chara really messed things up again and dragging more people in to their crap.’ He finally said, not happy at all with that brat.

‘You’ll be nice to Chara, right?’ Frisk requested, not bothering to correct him on Chara’s actions. though whether that was because they agreed that they fucked up or knew better than to defend them to him, he did not know.

‘i will talk politely with them. ivory already requested that i be nice too.’

Frisk’s face curled into an irritated sulk, hands swiping furiously, ‘I don’t trust her.’

Sans already knew from Ivory Frisk didn’t like her, but to see such a nasty look on the kid’s face was jarring. ‘ivory told me how you two knew each other. want to tell me your beef with her?’

Frisk spent several minutes angrily signing, motions swift and almost vicious as they told him what Ivory and her people had done. By the end of it, he understood Frisk’s rage, but it also made Ivory’s remorse much more obvious.

 ‘has it occurred to you she might actually regret what happen?’

‘Yes, but how am I supposed to just forgive and forget?’

‘you don’t need forget; stars I don’t think you could forget. But she wants to make amends and is remorseful over what happened. i doubt she’d have touched the game if she had known she was hurting anyone.’

He was cautious in his feelings towards the human-turned-monster, but that was something he would bet his dirty socks on.

‘But what if she’s dangerous? Or manipulating you!’ Frisk hands jerked through the words, clearly distraught at the idea.

‘unless that p-chara fixes her ability to feel, i really don’t think ivory can hide any bad emotions.’ There, he was already trying to be cordial to the parasite, go him. ‘i get the feeling ivory just wants to live an uninteresting life and is willing to work to achieve it.’

Frisk frowned, fingers twiddling together in a nervous manner before signing again. ‘I don’t trust her, but I trust you.’

Oh, way to make his soul melt kiddo, he thought as he messed with their hair.

‘Promise me you’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything bad?’

‘you know I hate making promises.’

Frisk looked torn at that, pulling at their fingers. “Please, Sans. Promise you’ll keep an eye on her?”

Sans felt something melt inside at hearing Frisk’s voice, something he hadn’t heard in what felt like centuries. It was hoarse and quiet, clearly not used often yet Sans treasured hearing all the same.

He didn’t think long at all before speaking, “i promise, i will watch her.”

Frisk sighed in relief, leaning into Sans. He didn’t think twice before hugging them, grateful that his kid was back to themselves.

Nap time was pleasant, even without the door. Kidsam had snuggled into your side, and Frisk was with Toriel, ‘getting to know’ Sans like they have never met. Gerson too decided he needed a nap, having wandered into his room shortly after you had. Chara had disappeared, though you suspected that was going to happen every time Sans was nearby.

You were a little surprised Chara hadn’t invaded your sleep. You weren’t complaining, just surprised.

That probably meant you were going to have an all-night talk with them and Frisk.

You had things to think about anyways. Like Sans saying you guys hadn’t needed the contract, and how this bothered you more than you wanted to admit.

You had been using that contract as a way to set goals, believing that somehow it would magically send you home once all was said and done, giving you hope where before you had quietly resigned to life as a monster in the Underground.

Now you were almost upset at Chara for giving you that hope.

You were going to let them explain themselves though. You knew full well Chara was a little shit but you firmly believed they weren’t an evil one, no matter what Sans thought.

Dreaming brought you to the Void, and you hated it because there was absolutely nothing for you to do and you swore something was watching you. It meant you woke up still tired but rested, Kidsam having somehow gotten up near your skull and had wrapped her tail around it.

“Oy, wakey wakey, Sammy.” You groaned, poking her in the side.

“Don’t want to. Let’s stay here.” The child said, far too clearly to still be napping.

“Don’t be like that, there will be games and foods and other kids to play with.”

“Will you tell a story?” Kidsam murmured into your skull, squirming when you poked them in the side again.

“Sure thing, kiddo. But only when we get there.”

With a deep and very put-upon sigh she released your head, pouting as you stretched, causally saying, “I bet there will be chocolate cake there.”

That seemed to brighten Kidsam’s mood immediately, hopping off the bed and standing by the door with a now eager face as she impatiently rocking back and forth.

Soon enough you were out, not looking surprised at all that Toriel and Frisk were ready to go as well, Toriel stating that Gerson had decided to take a long nap and would not be joining them. Sans was leaning on the dining room entrance, looking like the textbook definition of lazy.

“You coming with, Sans?” You asked, wondering how the Eyewalker’s would react to him. He just lazily shook his skull, deceptively relaxed.

“i’m gonna nap if it’s all the same to ya.”

“Okay. My bed’s free if you want it.”

“thanks, i might take ya up on that.” He replied cheerily, eye lights drifting pass you and Frisk and for a split second they shifted from white to cyan before returning.

You followed Sans gaze, startling a little at seeing Chara just floating by the staircase as they kept eye contact with Sans.

Go on, they shooed you, eyes steady on the smiling Judge, we have stuff to discuss.

“If you’re sure…?” you asked, sounding concerned.

Frisk and you shared a concerned look, and Chara scoffed. Really, we’ll be nice and not attack each other. Right, Sansy?

Sans smiled wider. “absolutely.”

Toriel, bless her soul, was completely oblivious to the double conversation and cheerfully said her goodbyes, ushering you and the two children out.

Looking back at them one last time, you walked out and hoped you didn’t regret it.

Sans smile didn’t waver even as the others left, lights trained on his least favorite determined soul. To the brat’s credit they maintained eye contact, spine straight with a snarling sort of smile on their face, showing more teeth than necessary. The brat floated downstairs, clearly intending for this to be a private conversation. He followed, making sure Gerson was still in his room before making the descend to the bottom.

Chara eventually stopped down the hallway, right before the door that led to the rest of the Underground. For a long time, the two stared at each other, daring the other to blink first. To his surprise Chara deliberately blinked, exhaling sharply through their nose.

What did she tell you?

“everything. even the part where all this, the entire underground is just a game back in her world.”

Huh, with how tight lip she is I’m surprise she blathered at all. The brat reply, shrugging carelessly. She is terrible at lying, so she either doesn’t talk or tells technical truths. What did you threaten her with to get her to talk?

“ironically, she asked if i wanted to hear her story and i offered to listen. funny how much people will talk when you do that.” No need to let the parasite know he had originally came here with the intention of forcing answers out of their ‘daughter’. He had the moral high ground and damn it, he’s keeping it. 

Really? Because she’s rightfully terrified of you.

“before we talked, yeah. what I’m still tryin’ to figure out is how you managed to convince her that you are her friend.”

Sans never blinked when talking to questionable people because it unnerved them and allowed him to see thinks that one could normally miss otherwise. Chara had a blink and you’d miss widening of the eyes, a flash of something before it was gone.

We are not friends. We are merely working together.

 “not according to her. the fact you dragged her out of her world, shredded her humanity and then tricked her into a contract that only really served you doesn’t seem to have phased her at all.” He shrugged, lights focused. “not even the fact you have straight up mutilated souls seem to have dampened her belief in you being a good person, which either means she isn’t as nice as she seems,” which was a genuine possibility, most people had a darker side. Except Papyrus. “has come to believe it can’t be helped,” especially if all her information was coming from Chara, “or thinks you can be redeemed.” Ivory’s argument for Chara made him think this was the most likely scenario, though it was possible it was all three.

He didn’t know Ivory well enough to properly judge her, something he would be remediating as soon as possible. He had always been good at reading people, and he was pretty damn certain Ivory wasn’t a bad person. A horrible judge of character, but not a bad person.

Bad people didn’t give children the power to decide whether they could go home or not, nor defend the demons that hurt them.

I have not lied to her. She knew my faults and still went with it. It isn’t my fault she’s an idiot. But you really shouldn’t worry about your new buddy, they spat the word ‘buddy’ out like it was some nasty phlegm, she is a shockingly good person for her race and keeps exceeding my expectations.

“you mean you keep expecting her to be as cruel and manipulative as you are, but she never is.”

That caused the smile to twist harder, literally reaching their ears as their eyes disappeared into black pools of ichor. Just because she is the first genuinely good person from there doesn’t mean the rest of those humans are good. The words were hissed out, jarring through the air. I’ve seen and met hundreds of thousands from her world, each a waste of space and hardly worth a second chance!

“and that gives ya the right to dissect their souls and leave them in a state worse than death?”

They used Frisk like a meat puppet! Somehow kept that loop stable and well used! You’ve killed hundreds upon hundreds of them, thinking they were me!

“because they all thought this was a game. a rpg game, from what she said.” Sans reasoned. It was a fucked up reason, but what person played games and thought there were actual consequences for just playing?

And that makes it better? Because it doesn’t!

“so you are gonna hold a world full of people in contempt because someone else made a game that had hidden consequences they didn’t know about?”

Of course, they knew! I gave them the option to decide! I even made you the point of no return! Chara snarled, the ichor dripping steadily off their face and fading away from it hit the ground.

“explain.” The Judge ordered, dread filling him.

Your fights in the Judgement Halls! If you make them quit, they leave with their soul intact! If they kill you, I force the world to reset! And if they want to try again? They have to sell their soul.

The dust in his bones froze at those words.

Chara wasn’t finished though. I don’t even sugar coat it or anything! I literally tell them if they want to continue, they have to sell it, and it is frankly disturbing how many of them chose to go through with it.

“and they just let you? you can’t tell me they don’t feel the difference.” Surely Ivory’s people wouldn’t just let an abomination take their souls, right?

Their eyes emerged, smiling notching down as they snorted in contempt. That’s the screwed-up part! They don’t feel it! Like at all!

“how has no one died playing?” Because there was no way Ivory’s people survived playing the game. People, monsters or humans, could not survive without a soul.

Chara groaned, rubbing the back of their head. Outsider humans have a second section to their essences, the soul and then the spirit. Take the soul away and they don’t notice it, and you can store it in the Void without worrying it’ll fade or crumble away. Take the spirit on the other hand and they die pretty quickly, and it corrodes inside the Void. Picture a book, with the soul being the cover and the spirit the pages. The soul can tell you what is inside the book and what to expect, the spirit the story itself.

but… if the soul is the cover, what’s protecting the pages? Sans thought, suddenly worried. “ivory isn’t-”

No, Chara cut him off, swiping their hand down, that abnormal sensation everyone feels when she uses magic? That’s the spirit. As far as I can tell, it feels wrong because fundamentally Ivory is from another universe and we can feel she isn’t part of this world. Then Chara’s eyes widen, a rippling shock shot between them before being stifled.

What did they just realize? Sans wondered, though he was relieved. “still don’t explain why you tricked her into a contract… or prevented her from feeling others emotions.”

Chara sighed, the smile falling completely off. She was this drunk human that gave me an idea. I was bored and irritated enough to try and see what a new variable would do. Sans watched as their gaze drifted to where the door to the rest of the Underground stood. I admit, I removed her ability to feel others emotion out of pettiness. I figured it would be a form of hell she’d have to endure, except I forgot it isn’t normal for humans to communicate with feelings, so she didn’t noticed anything until M-Toriel told her monsters could feel emotions. As for the contract…

They blew a strain of hair out of their face, looking more agitated.  When I dropped her here, I… I didn’t expect the consequences, like the possibility a reset could be triggered that could go this far back. I had waited for her to run amok but instead she gave up barely a week after awakening and joined the community. But humans get bored easily, so I thought ‘I’ll get her to agree to a contract, I can use her to break the barrier and when she goes on a rampage, I’ll have the means to stop her’ but she never did!

Chara paced in front of him, looking restless. She wants to help! Is genuinely good and weirdly nice and-and doesn’t care about herself when others are on the line! She’s like a real monster instead of a human! Nothing like Pearl or even Black!

“who?”

Chara froze, and the dread he had been feeling somehow tripled.

Toriel held Frisk’s hand as they walked into the residential side of Home, pointing out various places to the young human who was drinking in all the sights, Ivory carrying Kidsam a few steps behind them.

What a busy two days, Toriel thought tiredly. Less than a day ago she had spoken with her child and discovered so many things that it still made her head hurt. And tomorrow, Ivory will go with Sans and Gerson to bring Kidsam home.

It would be strange without Ivory around, even temporarily. Once she returned Toriel was going to start her official training as a Keeper of the Ruins, as well as start homeschooling Frisk.

And should the trip prove favorable she’d also would gently nudge Ivory to visit outside the Ruins more. Maybe encourage her and Sans to spend more time together, as she believed it would do both skeleton’s good to make friends in their age group… well, mental age group. If she had to guess, Sans was probably a century and three decades old and he did say his brother was in his seventies. Still, she was happy they had gotten along, though she was curious over what they had talked about to result in Ivory going from sheer terror to tired acceptance.

Gerson had said that maybe she was tired of being afraid, and perhaps had just decided enough was enough and dived headfirst into greeting a newcomer, but she wasn’t sure about that. Sans laughter had deeply unnerved her, not because of how deranged it sounded but because she had felt (if only for a few moments) the sheer pain he was in, and as emotionally blind as she was, Ivory had understood his pain.

Ivory was always empathetic towards others, and perhaps she just felt it in her bones that Sans was heading for a breakdown. Even Gerson told her Sans had been getting worryingly stressed lately, and perhaps Ivory could see it and sought to alleviate his problems. What those problems were she did not know but she would not bring them up unless Sans decided to.

Soon enough they were standing outside the Eyewalker building, a large well-structured place that had been home to them for going on four centuries.

They had barely walked pass the door when Ivory got swarmed by a horde of Loox children, Ivory having comically raised Kidsam above her head as the tide of colorful and excitable children flocked to her, Frisk giggling at the sight of their ‘cousin’ getting crowded by happy kids. The cacophony of children voices rang out in a deafening conglomerate before Evah and a couple other adults came and shoo’d them away, saying they’ll scare the skeleton away if they overwhelm her. all but Lookie wandered back to their respective families, the young Loox staying firmly by their mother. 

“Sorry about that. They are simply happy to see you safe and in one piece.” Evah explained to Ivory, who wasn’t bothered by the greeting though Kidsam’s tail was now tightly around the skeleton’s arm.

“Dinner will be out in the hour, and the kids are starting some games. Frisk and Kidsam, was it?” She inquired, getting two nods before continuing, “The wee ones are always happy to include new people in their games, so why don’t you go along with Lookie? They’ll introduce you to the others-”

“NO.” Kidsam yelled, causing the adults and the two other kids to jump. Kidsam attempted to burrow into Ivory’s chest, emitting obstinateness.

Ivory, bless her soul, good naturedly patted Kidsam’s back as she asked, “Why not?”

“You’ll leave.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“YES!”

“Why?”

“Because the blackness might come back!”

The blackness? Toriel thought, feeling concerned and momentarily confused. Hadn’t they said they rescued her from a ‘black and creepy’ place?

Ivory kept a calm expression that matched the serene feeling she was emoting. “It won’t. Even if you went back, I’ll just get you back out. Besides, do you want to live the rest of your life afraid of trying anything?”

“I don’t need to be brave, I have you.”

Ivory laughed a little, a mordant sort of amusement flowing off her. “Oh sweetie, I’m the biggest coward you’ll ever meet.”

“No, you’re not!” Lookie yelled, looking greatly offended at Ivory’s words, Kidsam nodding in agreement.

“But I am. If things were different, I’d be a hermit that only came out for supplies because I get scared easily. He-Stars, the first time I met a Whimsun I screamed in terror and ran away.”

“No, you didn’t.” Lookie denied, and all three of the kid’s were looking at Ivory like she was the biggest liar. Toriel giggled at the sight before speaking.

“That actually happened. Ivory was very shy and fearful during the first month or so of living here.” Kidsam reminded her of Ivory in that way, recalling how Ivory stuck to her like glue and being genuinely scared of a lot of things.

Ironically, it was the little Loox before her that started Ivory on her path of interacting with the others more after she rescued Lookie from the ceiling.

Evah laughed at that. “Oh, I heard of that! Poor Melvin sobbed about her shrieking at him and running away.”

“I-I apologized!” Ivory blushed, coppery and embarrassed before looking back at Kidsam with compassion. “But yeah. I stuck to Toriel’s side for ages. But eventually I… met someone who pretty much kicked me in the pants and told me to stop being such a scaredy-cat. Well, not quiet in those words or any of that phrasing… and I was kinda a jerk to them, but only because they were a jerk to me first.”

“Chara?” Kidsam inquired, and Toriel fought back the keen sense of anguish at having her child so close yet so far. Though, them telling someone to stop being a coward does sound like Chara, Toriel mused as Ivory emotions waffled a bit before smoothing out.

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

Kidsam frowned mutinously. “I don’t like them.”

“I didn’t like them when I first met them either.” Toriel bit back a response, remembering how abrasive Chara could be when they didn’t know people. Chara when they first fell had been a difficult child, angry, bitter and agnostic towards anyone who showed them even a scarp of kindness. Even once they came out of their shell, they tended to question people’s motives. Toriel never took offense to this, she and Asgore had discovered their adopted child had come from a harsh environment that had not provided a lot of love or compassion.

“But Chara showed to be a good person. There had been… incidences where I’d get panic attacks and Chara had couched me through them,” Toriel remembered Gerson’s attack on Ivory and Ivory’s scary meltdown after, “and while they do tend to be mocking, they give great advice on how to do thing. But it is because of them I try to be brave, even when all I want to do is make a blanket burrito and hide from the world. Because if I did that, I’d have never met any of you because I had allowed fear to eat me.”

“But the blackness can’t eat you, your immune to it. I’m not.” Kidsam whispered, tail (or the bones it was tightly wrapped around) creaking.

Ivory looked a little lost, clearly realizing her talk wasn’t having the desired effect before a sense of inspiration rippled through the skeleton. “Excuse me, Evah, but I need to try something with my magic.”

Evah grimaced but consented before bracing herself, as did Toriel, Frisk and Lookie.

Ivory’s right socket light blipped out as copper flashed through her left, magic exhausting from it. Other adults looked on, frowning but not stopping her.

A thin copper bone appeared, and Ivory focused on it longer than on the one used for Chara. Slowly it bended into a circle, the knobby ends twisting oddly before it dropped into Ivory’s hand. setting Kidsam, Ivory placed the circular bone around the green child’s neck, clicking the knobs together like a clasp.

“There! Now I know exactly where you are no matter what!”

“What?” Toriel said, uncertain as to what Ivory had done. The bone had change color to a bleached white, the usual noxious miasmic feeling Ivory’s magic had disappearing with the color. Ivory shrugged, feeling rather proud.

“If your holding it, I can feel it. Well, not quite feel it. More like see it but… not? Like with the rib cages, I could feel-see where everyone was even when my vision went out.”

Toriel suddenly wished she had asked more about what Ivory and Chara experimented with, because that sounded terribly similar to Asgore’s. She remembered how while training Asgore would keep his eyes closed the whole time, and still win. They’d go into deep into that topic when she returned from taking Kidsam home.

Kidsam looked torn, like they were happy with Ivory’s gift yet still would prefer to be with Ivory. Frisk moved forward, holding their hand out with a smile. The human child kept looking between Kidsam’s face and new bone accessory, and if Toriel didn’t know better she would have thought Frisk was doing a stat check.

Ivory nudge the green monster child towards them, smiling encouragingly. “Go on, I won’t be far.”

“Promise?” big green eyes stared up, nervousness waving around her, only dissipating once Ivory gave a firm nod.

“Promise. And once I finish talking with the adults, I’ll start another story-”

“STORY!?” Lookie squealed, stars shining in their eye. Before anyone could say anything the tiny Loox grabbed Kidsam and picked her over their head and rushed off, rapidly chanting ‘STORYSTORYSTORY!”, Frisk chasing after them as Kidsam looked frightened of the speed, tail wrapped around Lookie’s face in a bit to keep from falling.

Ivory was still kneeling, looking at where the kid’s had been to where they took off before shaking her head. “Sammy is not happy with your kid, Evah.”

“Well, they did pretty much kidnap her.” Evah said with a shrug, and Toriel winced unseen at that. Evah seemed to realize what she said as her eye widened. “Oh I’m so sorry! I forgot she was kidnapped! Let me go get them-”

“It’s fine, she knows it isn’t the same- wait, how did you…?” Ivory trailed off before huffing a laugh. “Savita told you, didn’t he? He’s literally the only person I spoke about her with.”

Evah confirmed this, before directing them to the front door. “I will stress to the others to get consent before taking her anywhere. Now, Ivory? You had requested my father and I to discuss the adoption?”

Evah took them to a side room, where Nakin Eyewalker, a dull red Loox sat in a chair. He slowly rose, giving a slight bow.

“Greetings Keeper and Apprentice. Evah, refreshments!”

Evah groused that the old codger should get it himself before leaving and returning shortly after with tea and cakes. Evah inquired about Ivory’s recovery, and if Toriel had gotten word on additional aide for the Marketplace’s reconstruction before Nakin harrumphed loudly.

“Alright, small talks over. I would like to formally ask you to become my adoptive daughter.”

Toriel said nothing, only there for moral support as she sat by Evah and hiding her anxiousness as Nakin Eyewalker towered over Ivory.

Ivory, though her skull calm was a torrent of emotions, good and neutral. Toriel could tell she had won some respect because she refused to not look the large Loox in the eye. Nakin frowning a little as Ivory said nothing. “Toriel did tell you, didn’t she? I know I talked to Gerson about-”

“Oh they did! It’s just I… honestly half expected you to rescind the offer by now…” Ivory trailed off, a sensation of embarrassment waving off her.

He smiled widely, sharp teeth that made him look more dangerous. “The Eyewalker’s do not jape about such things, young one.”

“No offence was meant,” the skeleton assured, gloved hands up in a pacifying manner, “I understand the honor you are bestowing upon me but… why? I’m not important, I make everyone wince any time I use magic, and my emotions fluctuate and are pretty much impossible to turn off… except in very complicated ways that I have been informed is just as jarring and…” Ivory trailed off, doubt swirling around her. she took a deep breath before speaking again. “I want to say yes, but I’m… I’m not even sure I’ll be here in the next couple of decades, thanks to all this,” she emphasized, pointing to her chest, “and I can’t in good conscious agree to an adoption where you may very well have to say goodbye to your own child before your grandkids even make it to adulthood.”

Her two children, young and happy, a bright future ahead of them only to die in her arms.

“I…I thank you, but you’ll be happier if you didn’t. I… I couldn’t do that to another family.” Ivory spoke, voice warbling at the end.

For several minutes, no one said anything. Finally Nakin spoke, unexpectedly gentle.

“Did you know nearly my entire family had been there at the marketplace when the building collapsed?” He inquired quietly. He must have felt her surprise because he continued. “My daughters, grandchildren, nephews, cousins and even my sister had all been there. Do you know what they all told me? ‘We are alive because of Ivory, she almost died saving all of us.’. The others have said similar things, the Vegitoids, Mygosps, and Froggits praising your actions, even the Whimsun’s get vocal when you are brought up.”

He placed a clawed hand on her shoulder, looking as soft as he felt. “My family lives because of you. I know you haven’t been part of our community long, and that you have suffered loss before moving here, but to call you my child would be a great honor, no matter how short it would be. I am not trying to replace your family, merely add to it.”

Coppery tears welled up in Ivory’s sockets, happiness and gratitude and understanding swirling around her thickly.

“Why don’t you give it some more thought? It is a big decision.”

“I’d… like to think it over.” Ivory allowed, wiping her sockets.

“But of course!” Nakin confirmed jovially, thumbing her on the back with enough force that Toriel heard her rattle. “Besides, little Frisk will get a lot of cousins if you agree. Gerson said you two were cousins and that they recently lost family too. We’d be happy to call you both kin!”

Ivory nodded, before freezing in place. “Shoot! I promised them story time!”

Evah stood up, nodding sagely. “Ah, yes, you better get going with that before those brats stage a riot and start taking hostages.”

Ivory nodded her thanks with a smile, leaving the room quickly.

Nakin stopped Toriel, waving Evah out. His face was grim. “I know she can’t lie, but how badly is her soul? Is she in danger of falling down again?”

Toriel thought of her mutant soul, sighing. “I can’t answer that. I know her family had a history of progressively shorten life spans, which I think was more Hope related. Between the state of her soul and that, I… I don’t believe Ivory will survive to see her hundredth year.”

She couldn’t tell him that Ivory was so much younger than she looked and may not even see her eighth decade, not when she looked like she was in her seventies. If he asked for her age, Toriel would tell him to ask Ivory.

Nakin grunted, looking more determined than Toriel had seen him in a long time. “I know she seeks to keep from hurting us, but as far as my family cares she’s already one of us. Regardless of her choice, the Eyewalker’s will always consider her kin.”

The two elder monsters walked out, the dinner party at full swing, various adults chatting and arguing over everything.

And like a glowing crystal in the middle of the cave ceiling was Ivory, her talking to the kids with Kidsam once more in her arms. The kids gave a cheer and Kidsam was placed down, sitting at the front with Lookie with Frisk sitting in the back with the older kids.

“Let me tell you a tale with race cars, lasers, and aeroplanes! Where you might solve a mystery or rewrite history! In a place called Duckburg where the richest duck in the world lives!”

Toriel kept out of sight with the other adults, watching happily as for the moment, everything was well.

He had watched this maybe a dozens times now, but considering it was a memory of his son from just this morning he thought he could be forgiven. After all, he could not remember the last time his eldest looked genuinely happy.

Even if it was over a stupid argument about ridiculously disgusting drinking habits.

The specimen was proving to be a good influence on both his Queen and her adopted child, especially the latter who seemed to finally be developing a conscious. The Little- Kidsam was showing signs of dependency but the specimen was trying different ways to wean her off, a point in the maternal human-turned-skeleton favor. He had already decided the next time she was in here they were going to talk. It was over due, especially now that he knew she was the key to his and his peoples freedom, both from the Void and the Barrier.

She was going to need all the help she could get, and who better than the former Royal Scientist? It would be the least he could do, since she would be rescuing him and the others. Perhaps he'd even figure a way to help her complete her goals without her getting killed doing it. Food for thought, as they say.

And besides, he was curious about her... especially if she was going to be around Sans a lot.

Chapter Text

“alright, to summarize your summery, you had dragged a pair of ivory-world humans in to try and break the barriers, unaware of the differences between that world’s humans and ours. and this happened when frisk fell the first time, since when a human like frisk goes through the barrier it allows a small window to drag the other world humans completely through.” Sans spoke in a chipper tone, Chara trying not to flinch at his expression and the skeleton got a perverse feeling of satisfaction at the sight.  

“but upon dragging these two humans in, not only did they get an insane power boost, but you could no longer control them. the pearl soul could control time and make save points, black could enforce reality till it only followed a certain set of rules, which created the routes. the saving grace here was that these two hated each other and were constantly fighting, so you joined the lesser of two evils in order to get rid of both of them, but frisk got caught in the middle of this shitshow and ended up saving the day by trapping one of them in their own body that fragmented both of ‘em.”

Sans was pretty certain he looked like he was about to give the little demon in front of him a bad time. He certainly felt close to giving them a bad time.

“you managed to knock most of black back home but could only tear pearl in half, trapping the soul in our world and the spirit in the void. frisk, broke and tattered, absorbed the pearls time and save point powers but was reduced to a meat suit with their conscious still aware, trapped in their own body and a walking inversion point for other humans like ivory, and you still had blacks ability and tried to fix it but was stuck in a timeloop thanks black’s previous messing with reality. so now that you had fucked over the world and frisk, you decided the best way to do damage control was harvesting every soul that used frisk to do a genocide route.”

He could honestly say he couldn’t remember the last time he felt this murderous. Last time probably involved the parasite in front of him as well.

“and now you, supreme master of poor life making decisions, had dragged another reality warping human through out of pettiness and boredom, only this time you managed it by stripping her of everything that made her human with the exception of the soul (you know the important part?) and fully expected her to cause hell, only she didn’t. you somehow managed to not completely fuck up this extremely poor choice by acquiring an actual mentally stable adult instead of another mentally unstable kid, despite the fact what you did to her would have driven a lesser being insane.”

Here he leaned in, dropping his tone to the cutting edge.

“and now you want to put a leash on her to hang herself with, but only after she frees everyone. and this is despite knowin’ she is a good person who genuinely wants to help and is remorseful over accidently taking control of frisk in what she assumed was just. a. video. game. Did I Leave Anything Out?”

The soon-to-be even deader than dead brat shook their head, glaring defiantly at him.

Sans laughed, a sharp incredulously furious sound. “wow. just… wow. what does frisk and ivory see in you?”

The brat’s lips thinned out, looking very much like they were refusing to say anything else out of spite. That was alright because if they did say anything right now, he might very well try and punch them.

They were hiding something. He could tell by the odd expression they made at his question on the effects destroying the barrier would have on Ivory, and how they pretty much said anything could happen.

it would be safer to just get rid of them, he thought, eying them with a critical sort of mental vivisection. He wasn’t certain he could do anything to them in this state, but he was if nothing else really good at finding other people’s weaknesses. Hell, he could probably even figure out how to make Chara into a monster ghost and kill them like that and damn the consequences.

Except… Frisk trusted them, and Ivory was convinced that the little dogshit was trying to do better… but was it a good enough reason to allow this pest to exist just because of his kid and his tentative friend’s word? Especially now that he had the laundry list of fuckuptry this brat has been up to?

He studied the demon spawn and did the math on how quickly he could remove them from existence and grimaced at the numbers.

He would need time to figure out a way to either exorcise Chara or bring them closer to the living in order to get rid of them for good, time he was in short supply of now that he wasn’t stuck in a loop. And even if he found a viable method, would Ivory have already destroyed the barrier by then? And more importantly, what would happen to Ivory if she destroyed the barrier?

Too many variables, too many ways for all this to go wrong. If he could just get this miserable pile of bad decisions making skills to leave everything alone….

“okay, this is what we’ll do. We,” he stressed the word, “are now going to stop attacking, sabotaging, or getting in each other’s way. A… truce, if you will.”

A truce? From you? Chara sputtered, looking at him with suspicious eyes.

“look, i got enough problems without adding you to the list. now if you want, we can continue making each other’s lives hell, and by proxy frisk’s. or we can ignore each other and even tolerate each other for frisk and tori’s sake. You won’t have to worry about me attackin’ ya… so long as you don’t hurt frisk or drag or manipulate ivory or any other poor unfortunate soul dragged here. meanin’ no contracts.”

Figured you’d want something. the brat griped but looked intrigued. Fine. We can… co-exist. For now.

It was the flakiest and most fragile truce he’d ever proposed, but if it meant he could keep an eye on everyone without Chara sabotaging him he’d take it.

And maybe, just maybe he could figure a way to permanently get rid of them.

The Eyewalker party was, as far as Frisk was concern, a success. While they only remembered some of the Eyewalkers from previous resets, they honestly had no idea just how big the family was. There had to be at least fifty members, not including the other children!

And while Frisk was much older mentally, it was refreshing being just a kid among kids.

Even Kidsam was having a blast. Scared and twice shy, she was slowly enjoying herself.

And to Ivory’s credit, the human-turned-skeleton was deliberately staying within sight of little green monster.

Frisk wasn’t going to trust Ivory anytime soon, but they could at least admit (to themselves anyway) that the Otherworlder took her responsibilities seriously.

And, Frisk begrudgingly thought, she knows some good stories. It was pretty clear that if nothing else, Ivory knew how to spin a tale in a way that enraptured her audience.

Which was a bit ironic considering just how bad she was at lying, though that might have been due to Chara tinkering with her mortal coil.

At the thought of their friend, Frisk wilted slightly as a frown tugged at their lips. They really hoped Chara and Sans didn’t come to blows during their “friendly chat”… or destroy the house.

The destruction of the house was a bit more pressing concern in all honesty. But Gerson was there so it shouldn’t happen. Hopefully.

A tug on their sleeve drew them back to the present, and Frisk smiled softly at Kidsam who was not quite hiding behind them but not quite next to them either. The green monster had a look of concentration as Lookie tried to explain the game (some kind of version to tag). The concentration only broke when Kidsam looked back to the cluster of adults, eyes seeking out Ivory’s form before refocusing on Lookie.

Frisk knew they were planning on returning Kidsam tomorrow, but they were not sure if Kidsam would go along with it. The tiny monster was deeply attached to Ivory, as the once-human was her rescuer and protector. The Void was an all-consuming vacuum of nothingness that souls barely existed in, dead or otherwise. For Ivory to be able to just walk in and out without a) ceasing to exist and b) have seemingly no issues was a miracle to most. Frisk was certain it was entirely due to her alien origins, having a soul that doesn’t make sense in Frisk’s universe and thus can’t be subjected to the same rules.

According to Chara they could make her subject to the laws of their universe, but that required removing the spirit, which Frisk would truthfully admit they didn’t understand. For all they knew, the spirit was a Outworlders sanity and under no circumstances did Frisk want to see another person from that world going mad, accidently or otherwise.

And there was still Ivory’s… “request”.

Until I break down that barrier, I would like to be responsible for Frisk’s care and safety. I will not knowingly allow any harm to come to them, nor let them be neglected. Should I fail that... Frisk can decide whether I go back or not.”

“So long as they agree to this, but if they would rather have me stay away from them that fine too...”

That was a damning thing to offer. One that pretty much gave Frisk full leeway to ensuring Ivory got the worst of it.

And she will get the worst of it, since her breaking the barrier will be an instant kill for her. Frisk thought carelessly, half listening to the rules.

But if she does destroy the barrier… I’ll make sure Chara frees the others, especially her brother. Frisk mentally promised.

Another tug and Frisk refocused on the kids around them, noting that they have been set into teams. Frisk and Kidsam were on one team by virtue of the others being mindful of Kidsam’s need for familiarity.

One of the older kids yelled out “Ready, set, go!” too fast to be fair and the many Loox kids ran in every direction. Frisk grinned, tugging Kidsam along as they avoid members of the other team.

Running along, the two of them giggled as they made their way towards Toriel and some of the elders before Kidsam tugged hard on their arm, causing Frisk to nearly loose balance.

Because of course, Kidsam had tried to go straight to Ivory, causing both of them to nearly fall when they had both gone in different directions. Frisk snickered, not really upset and allowed the smaller monster to take them to the skeleton.

Ivory’s sockets widened with her smile at their approach, excusing herself from the conversation. Kidsam wasted absolutely no time trying to burrow into the skeleton’s leggings covered femur just as one of the opposing teammates ran up, booped Frisk on the nose and ran off cackling. Frisk let go of Kidsam, running back towards the others with a wide grin on their face as they rushed after others to tag out.

I like this, Frisk thought happily as their gained on one of the bigger kids, laughing breathlessly and for once they didn’t feel the crushing burden of their past trying to bury break them, I like being a kid again.

That was by far one of the most pleasant conversation they had ever had with that trash bag, a low bar to achieve but still an achievement. Considering the topic that was discussed, that probably made it all the more an incredible accomplishment.

Sans kept his smile firmly in place even as his eye lights darkened to near nonexistent, a nonverbal sign he was pissed and seriously considering hitting Chara with a blaster.

The only reason he wasn’t resorting to violence was because Frisk and Iv-Copper had asked him not to.

They had told him about Pearl and Black, about how Frisk got caught up and why they needed Ivory. Chara never lied to him, mostly because dead or not Sans was disturbingly good at spotting liars.

Luckily, Chara had centuries of experiences with technical truths. They told him that Ivo-Copper could destroy the barrier on her own, no need for the other human souls, that Pearl had destroyed the barrier previously but reset to maintain their power, never stating that Pearl had died destroying it because he didn’t ask.

Chara for some reason felt oddly filthy after telling him that, their nonexistent inners squirming almost painfully at the thought of allowing Iv-Copper to unknowingly sacrifice her life for their people’s freedom.

To their eternal shock Sans proposed a truce, stating he had enough problems to deal with without adding Chara to the mix. He’d leave them alone so long as they didn’t hurt Frisk or Ivor-Copper… and no contract between them and anyone else.

Chara would be an idiot not to take that deal even with no contract, and soon enough both of them were back upstairs. They still didn’t trust each other, but they could work around that.

Chara didn’t know how long they were down there but apparently it was longer than they thought because everyone returned by the time they got back up.

They watched Sans greet everyone back, SHE looked at them… and smiled happily, emitting how happy and relieved she was at seeing them.

“Productive nap?” SHE asked, lights blinking between them and Sans.

“yup.” Sans replied, popping the ‘p’.

“That’s… good.” The female skeleton said s she readjusted Kidsam, looking anxious and feeling genuinely concerned.

Toriel walked in after Frisk, smiling kindly at the trash bag before stating she was going to check on the crock pot she left on.

But not before asking Sans to help Iv-Copper with checking on the puzzles, and that they could leave the kids here so they can have some adult conversations… while giving them a playful wink.

Chara felt something akin to horror as they leaned towards Frisk, whispering, Did Mom just give the trash bag her blessing to date I-Copper?

Frisk was looking equally appalled at the thought, eyes wide in revulsion as they harshly signed, ‘Sans and Ivory? Gross! He can do better!’

Chara looked over at the skeletons, hoping to see the same look on Copper’s skull. To their relief and tentative optimism, neither one of them seem to see Mom’s actions as an attempt at matchmaking. Maybe Chara had just misinterpreted Mom’s meaning? Yes, they just misread Mom’s intention, that had to be it. Surely Mom wasn’t trying to hook those two up. Contrary to what Frisk belief, Chara was older and wiser and thus knew Sans to be a certified creep that was unfit to be in a relationship with anyone, let alone someone like Ivory.

Hey, when you get back, can we talk? Frisk, you and I? Chara shot forward to Ivory, drawing the female skeleton’s attention, and earning a glare from Sans. We have to discuss stuff. Quit glaring at me, I have already agreed no deals between me and everyone else.

Frisk’s head snapped towards them, eyes widening at that. ‘What?’

We have reached a… truce. Chara informed, Sans giving a jerking nod.

Both Frisk and Copper stared between the two of you, the faux monster radiating baffled disbelief enough for the both of them.

“A truce? Between you two?” Frisk rasped, having clearly decided this required a verbal acknowledgment.

Again Chara and Sans nodded.

Frisk signed, ‘Are you both feeling well?’ at the same time Iv-Copper whispered, “Are either of you currently possessed? Blink three times really slowly for ‘yes’.”

Frisk proceeded to shock everyone by smacking Ivo-Copper in the ribs before signing severely ‘That’s not funny!’.

“I… still have no idea what you said, but I can guess thanks to my poor wording. Sorry.” Copper apologized, looking as guilty as she felt.

“uh, kid? you know she hadn’t meant anything bad by that.” Sans gently chided, giving Frisk a concerned look.

Frisk flushed, not making eye contact as their fingers moved. ‘I know. Just don’t like reminders.’

“yeah, i getcha. but hitting her isn’t the solution.”

‘yeah. sorry’

“they said their sorry.” Sans informed the other skeleton.

The pseudo-monster accepted this, stating that once she was done with the patrol she’d be over to chat.

After brief comforting and gentle prying of Kidsam into Mom’s care the duo left, much to the green monster’s sadness. Mom soothed them lovingly, asking Frisk if they wanted to read anything before bedtime. Frisk shook their head, stating they were just heading to bed anyway.

Chara agreed to pull Ivory Copper in so Frisk could catch up in sleeping. They were agitated by Sans and their talks and irritated by Ivory CoPper… though the latter person hadn’t done anything too annoying.

Then why am I upset over her? Chara whispered, glaring at the door the skeletons had left through.

He wasn’t happy about the conversation Sans and the dead royal child had, as enlightening as it was. Sans had clearly been furious and exercised a great deal of control when no one would have blamed him had he hit the royal brat, as useless as that would have been.

The truce was a bit of a surprise, and he felt proud knowing that even when faced against a despised entity his son could judge clearly.

Watching the rest of the day had also yielded results and variables he was already planning to incorporate into acquiring the specimen’s aide in freeing the people trapped in the Void.

The once Royal Scientist reviewed the memory from just an hour ago, smiling as Sans and the specimen called Ivory Ostein traded anecdotes of their day with each other, Sans giving an edited version of his talk with the royal brat. Sans looked like he was actually relaxed for once, not that fake thing he did out of habit to not worry Papyrus.

Speaking of his youngest, he was probably still training with Undyne. Hopefully he was properly distracted and wasn’t looking at his phone forlornly as he indecisively considered calling Sans as this was probably the longest that they not seen each other.

If he had a corporeal body, he’d scolded Sans for his negligence.

Instead, he was watching Sans try and be delighted in failing in guessing Ms. Ostein’s various personal facts, looking more genuine than he had in a disquietingly long time.

He was… a little concerned at how quickly his son had attached himself onto the specimen, but as she was something new and exciting to his son that was currently starved for mental stimulation, he refused to think too hard on it. Sans was an adult and was an exceptional judge of character, and too smart to allow himself to become emotionally compromised by a pretty skull.

The two made quick work of the patrol and had returned in a prompt fashion. He tried very hard not to read into the Queen’s disappointed expression at their quick efficiency, and mentally glossed over her telling them they should have taken their time and enjoy themselves and that maybe next time they should go out and enjoy a dinner together.

Sans and Ms. Ostein didn’t seem to think the Queen’s words were strange if their lack of reaction were anything to go by so neither would he. And he definitely didn’t wonder if Sans and the specimen were that thick or just didn’t take her seriously because there was nothing in the Queen’s words to be insinuating over.

Nothing at all.

Instead he focused on Ms. Ostein as she took young Kidsam and meandered to her still doorless room and plopped into the chair by the occupied bed, tucking the small monster in and humming a lullaby he didn’t recognize. Once the little one had drifted off to slumber, she leaned back into the chair, her boots on the edge of the bed. Once she was comfortable, she dozed off.

And he watched in fascination as she physically popped out of existence.

Well, that was interesting to witness. It was a lot smoother than when she rescued Kidsam too.

He drifted to the area he felt the royal brat accommodate for their meeting, staying just outside of their senses yet close enough to listen.

The royal brat was groaning on about how his son and his truce and how unfair it was that he would limit their aide (aide? What aide? Entitled bratling) the human Frisk looking torn.

The specimen, Ms. Ostein seemed to be musing over something before coming to a decision.

“Soooo Chara can’t make deals.”

That’s just what I said, moron. The brat groused, and while he was loath to agree with them, he felt a sense of irritation towards the specimen. Hadn’t his son already told her that?

“Just confirming the exact wording.” The woman replied, before knocking him and the two younger children metaphorically on their bottoms. “Did he say Frisk was forbidden from making deals?”

Frisk can’t… wait… the brat stumbled, looking at Frisk in befuddled interest. Can you make deals?

The kid shrugged, looking concerningly interested in the prospect.

Right, he did not want another human child suddenly developing jevil-like powers of dealmaking. Best to nip that in the bud.

He deliberately stepped within the brat’s sphere of awareness and they bristled like a cat-monster that got dunked in cold water. Casually yet cautiously he walked to them, keeping his steps leisurely and his form solid.

{Greetings,} he started civilly. It never hurt to be polite, giving a half bow to the specimen. {I suspect you already know who I am.}

“Dr. W. D. Gaster…?” The Outworlder exhaled breathlessly, looking oddly torn between wariness and delight.

A surprised laugh escaped him, a look of delight on his liquid-like face. {Oh! I don’t remember the last time someone called me that.}

“Wow… I did not expect you this soon.” She gapped, wings clacking together in what he knew was a nervous habit.

{My apologizes. I had planned on making a better introduction, but then I overheard you three planning something stupid.}

The specimen gave a rather dry look. “Is everyone that lives in the Void a bunch of sassy jerks?”

Judging by her tone she had wanted to use much more vulgar words but refrain due to the presence of children. Such a maternal soul, he mused with a smile.

{How else are we to get an intelligent conversation around here?} He asked, form solidifying further as he got closer to the specimen. Did she have some kind of area effect that stabilized monsters? {Besides, you know you don’t need a deal to destroy the barrier.}

“Are you… stalking me?”

{Stalking would indicate I follow you everywhere. I do not, but I do pay attention when someone can walk in and out of the Void with no ill effects. Usually, I don’t bother others but in this I cannot abide.}

He drew himself up He had forgotten how tall he was compared to everyone else and stared at the trio. {A contract is useless now that you three are being somewhat more open. There is no need to bind yourself to something that can hurt you so.}

The specimen was now looking at the royal brat, who seemed to have finally met someone they couldn’t meet the eyes of. “So the contract was a dud from the start.”

It wasn’t! But… the adopted Dreemur started, pushing their hair out of their eyes with a frustrated gesture. I didn’t know if you were trustworthy at the time and while I did make it more beneficial to me, I intended to keep my end of the bargain if you kept yours. Contrary to what that smiling trash—

{Language, Dreemur.} He said lightly, his skull starting to melt in fury at the brat’s disrespect towards Sans.

…to what the Judge says, I keep my word. I just, you know- wasn’t certain if you would keep yours.

The woman stared at the brat for a long time before sighing deeply. “Yeah, that’s a crap reason for pulling a fast one on me. But I entered that contract knowing there were strings attached.”

{And now you don’t need it to do your task.}

“It’s more… complicated than that. I… kinda needed it.”

He wasn’t the only one staring at the woman like she was talking senseless nonsense. The specimen blushed copper as she spoke.

“A contract… would help me focus. If I have a deadline, an agreement will keep me motivated and focus. I work better and harder and- If I go at this like it’s a- well… I want to give Frisk the choice… since the choice was taken from them many times over.” The specimen replied in a soft voice, not looking anyone in the eye.

{A gallant yet ultimately futile action. A contract will not ensure anything but your premature demise, and none of us want that before you break the barrier.} he stated firmly, giving the children a look that conveyed that he was completely aware of what the consequences of a Outworlder breaking the barrier was, causing both of them to look at him in shock.

“Then I’m not doing a contract then.”

Good, she wasn’t completely irrational—

“But I’m still letting Frisk decide my future.”

Never mind, she was clearly a nincompoop.

She was going to get herself killed this way. He needed her alive, at least until she freed the Void victims and broke the barrier. He was perfectly aware she’d die anyways once the barrier was destroyed, but he hadn’t considered she would be foolish enough to endanger herself.

“Frisk, I want to help. Contract or no contract, I will give you the last say. Once that barriers down, you can choose where I go.” The skeleton said, Frisk not showing any signs of being perturbed by this arrangement while the royal brat felt like something was trying to strangle them from the gut out before erecting a barrier around their feelings.

What a guilty conscience that one possesses, he mused as he focused on the fool specimen. It wasn’t a logical reason, and once more he was wondering at how in the Stars he was stuck helping a foolish sentimental Outworlder.

Oh right, because he didn’t trust the dead royal brat or the human Frisk.

Frisk was giving a look that clearly stated that they thought the specimen was an idiot too, and he voiced what they both were no doubt trying to understand.

[Why are you insisting on helping them? You owe neither anything, in fact Dreemur owes you for the many horrors you suffered through in the last several months.} He inquired, frankly curious.

“Because they both are my friends. Sure, they drive me nuts and insult me at every chance they get, but I still care about them. Why wouldn’t I try to help them?”

Somehow the Void was even more silent than before she spoke.

Frisk stared at the skeleton for a long while before deliberately nodding, and he felt the bindings of a shaky deal being struck with the dead royal child and himself acting as witnesses.

What a foolish illogical choice to make, betting your freedom for another’s comforts. To put yourself in potential harm’s way just to protect another. He thought grimly.

No wonder Sans likes her so much.

As soon as the deal was struck, Frisk fled. Not that Chara could blame them.

Gaster gave Copper a reproachful look. {It was foolish to give Frisk control like that. I hope you don’t come to regret it.}

“I probably will, but it gives them a sense of security so I’m alright with it.” She shrugged in a ‘that’s life’ sort of way.

{Still foolish. Please refrain from further infringement upon your personal freedom. Know that I’m extremely invested in your success, and will wish to speak to you about helping the other leave this place when you return from delivering the Little One home.}

And with that, Goopie dissolved away, leaving just them and the terminally stupid human-turned-monster.

I hate to say it, but I agree with him. Chara replied, scowling at the winged menace. You shouldn’t have done that. Frisk is way more likely than I am to hurt you.

“I know. It’s just…” the skeleton sighed, rubbing the back of her skull. “I can’t think of a better way to help them. Being responsible for them, keeping them safe and giving them the say in my future is all I can offer.”

Okay, but you didn’t have to sell out like that. You won’t be able to return if you keep that up. The fib slid off their tongue with ease, yet their guts churned. Frisk wouldn’t compromise their one golden chance to free their people but even Chara wasn’t certain their friend would refrain from lashing out at a member of a race that had used and abused them for countless years.

“As long as Ivan’s soul goes home, I think I live with the consequences.” Their soul trembled, and Chara could feel the lie she was telling herself.

Swallowing thickly the specter of a child spoke. As someone who could arguably make a career out of living with their consequences, don’t do it. Chara said quietly, adding, please.

“Heh, don’t worry about me,” she said with a shrug that was probably meant to be casual but fell utterly short. “I… I promised to save as many as I could. That includes you and Frisk, you know.”

Then SHE looked at Chara with that friendly weird big sister expression they only ever seemed to utilize around Kidsam and them—

Chara shoved the skeleton back into the waking world, their absent inners writhing and something that felt like remorse slithered around in their soul. Why did they feel that? What had that smiling trash bag done when they weren’t looking?

It didn’t matter, things were progressing nicely for once, they had a truce with the Judge, Frisk was safe, sane and happy, and the barrier was well on its way to getting permanently destroyed. So what if they had to sacrifice one person to achieve it? I-COPpER wasn’t important to the grand scheme of things! Sure, it was nice to finally talk to their mother…. and it would be nice to talk to father… and if they asked she would gladly try and save Asriel… and Chara knew she was going to try to keep Chara among the living… and CopPER! seemed to genuinely like and care about them, just like Asriel had... and… and…

(You’re still a kid. Adults like me protect kids, even if they’re ghosts.)

(She cares about you, and wants you to be safe.)

(She won’t intentionally hurt you, Chara.)

( I don’t regret saving those people.)

(Until I break down that barrier, I would like to be responsible for Frisk’s care and safety. I will not knowingly allow any harm to come to them, nor let them be neglected. Should I fail that... Frisk can decide whether I go back or not.)

( Because they both are my friends. Sure, they drive me nuts and insult me at every chance they get, but I still care about them. Why wouldn’t I try to help them?)

Ludicrous, Chara sniffled, vision burring as they felt a lump in their throat. Just ludicrous.

The following morning was oddly tense, Toriel feeding everyone a massive breakfast as Frisk helped make pancakes, Gerson telling you once more you didn’t need to bring Kidsam home because he and Sans could, and you thanked him but firmly told him you could handle it, and Chara had yet to reappear after unceremoniously pushed you out of the Void and onto the floor.

The hardest part was Kidsam.

The little monster girl had hidden under your bed when you told her it was time to go home, tears in her eyes as she cried out “Nononononononono!”

You tried very hard to be patient with her as your skull ached after last night’s events.

You had, despite everyone telling you it was unnecessary, entered a second contract, this time with Frisk.

Trying to explain your reason was difficult. In part you needed goals to move forward, otherwise you dithered. Yet giving Frisk that bit of control had not been easy for you, and everyone would and will call you stupid for doing that (and ironically, you agreed).

Yet… You needed to make amends to the kid and giving them the choice if you stayed or not was the best you could do. You may want to return, but you also knew you could make a life among the Underground residents. You could survive and adapt should they choose.

Though in truth? You truly didn’t think Frisk would let you stay in their world longer than necessary, their animosity towards your world species vivid even to blind people. So while it was a possibility, you were pretty certain Frisk would have Chara ship your meatless ass back to your world the second the barrier was down for good.

But until then, you had other things to worry about, starting with the coaxing a tiny armless monster out from under your bed.

“Come on, sweetie, we have to go.”

“No!”

“But we are going to go see your family. Don’t you want to see your family?”

“…yes. But you’ll leave!”

“Not always. I plan to visit a lot. And think of how happy your family will be that you are back! How relieved your safe, and all the hugs you’ll give them and thanking every god you can think of that you got to see them again, and-and promising y-you’ll never take them for granted ever ag-gain…” Your voice warbled, blinking tears away. No! Now is not the time to be feeling homesick!

You must not have been successful at hiding your longing because the child popped her head out, looking at you in sincere concern. She crawled out from under, sitting on your lap with her head pressed into your sternum, tail wrapped around your arm. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry!”

“O-oh honey, you didn’t. I… I just miss my family.”

“…Are they gone? Like I was?”

“There still out there. Just well beyond my reach.”

“Is there a way to see them again?”

“Yes. I’m… I’m working on it.”

The two of you stayed quiet, you ignoring the specter that appeared not far from you and Kidsam oblivious to his presence as her back was faced towards him.

Gaster had started showing up at odd intervals, looking shocked the first time he appeared. When he successfully repeated it, he had what could only be described as maniacal glee on his face.

When you had asked how he was doing this he theorized that acting as witness linked him into the deal, allowing him access to the world. You hadn’t known how to feel about that and hadn’t told the others yet, as he pretty much disappeared the moment anyone came into the room.

Right now, you could see the concern look on his melted face, a hand with a circular hole in the center raised as though he wanted to give comfort but didn’t know if he could.

“…if I go home… will you stay?” The tiny monster girl asked plaintively.

“In spirit, yes. I still plan to visit you often.”

“But…” Kidsam started, clinging to your arm. “But what if something happens? I don’t want to go away and not be me again.”

“I will come then.” You’d come to her as fast as possible, even if that meant nagging Sans to teach you how to short cut. “Call me, and even if I have to run the entire way, I’ll be there.”

The green child looked lost for a moment before clarity washed over them. “Will you be saving the others?”

You didn’t need to ask her who she was referring to, not with Gaster lurking just outside your vision. “That’s the plan.”

They looked anxious but determined, nodding hesitantly. “…okay. You’ll rescue everyone, right angel?”

You ignored the nickname, hoping she didn’t feel how that bothered you. “As many as I can.”

Kidsam stared into your sockets with a firm expression then. “…okay. Let’s go home.”

Gaster disappeared before she turned, and you once more silently wondered why he was hiding but ultimately didn’t care.

Now that Kidsam was not actively fighting the return home you acquired a much-needed breakfast. The only chair available when you entered the dining area was next to Sans, so Kidsam ate pancakes on your lap.

Toriel asked if you had everything you needed three times before you finished eating, and you tried not to get irritated by it. She was nervous, rightfully so as she was entrusting you to return a lost child to her family without accidently traumatizing said family with your inability to control your emotional output.

Gerson was absolutely ready to go home and if the several bottles of pilfered firewhiskey was any indication he was going to get completely smashed when he got there.

Sans looked possibly the most put together that morning, despite the fact he was still wearing the clothes he showed up in.

You had decided to wear the official Apprentice of the Keeper robe since you were technically on Ruin business, which was similar to Toriel’s robe except that the sleeves were black and due to your size, it was cut in a similar design to a to a cheongsam, with a thin window in the back for your wings. Add your standard gloves black leggings and boots and you were as official looking as possible.

The table was cleared in record time, Sans and you volunteering to do the dishes before leaving, giving Toriel chance to say goodbye to her old friend.

“Excited to be seeing Papyrus again?”

“absolutely.”

“Mind introducing me? I am a big fan of his.”

“heh, papyrus popular back in your world?”

“Only one person was arguably more popular than him.”

“seriously? ain’t no way anyone is more popular than pap’s.”

“Hey, Papyrus and Alphys are my absolute favorites. I just hope I don’t embarrass myself in front of him.”

“you? embarassin’? noooo. but seriously, who could be more popular than my cool bro?”

You chuckled, taking of the rubber gloves. “You. You are arguably more popular than Papyrus.”

The look he gave you caused you to giggle at the sheer disbelief he was showing.

“…yeah right.”

“I shit you not, you are!”

“I’m callin’ yer shit, lady.”

“I mean I get it. You are funny, laid back, mysterious, intimidating when you wanna be, and if it wasn’t such a PC rating you would totally have the angsty love interest thing going-”

“you are so full of shit!” he laughed, leaning again counter with the most amused disbelieving expression on his skull, eyelight’s bright with mirth.

“But in all honesty, you are very popular.”

“as if i needed further proof yer race is weird.” He snickered, heading out of the room as he shook his head. He stopped at the entrance to see if you were following and you waved him off, saying you had something you needed to do before you left.

You counted till ten before softly calling for Chara, hoping they didn’t decide to ignore you. You were in luck as they popped up in front of you, face a mask of irritation.

What now? Chara snapped, looking extremely petulant.

You ignored the snappy child momentarily, focusing on creating a ribcage. It was larger and denser than you have ever intended but if you were lucky it stay longer as a result. You thought about turning it white but decided against it. You wanted Chara to stay physical and didn’t have time to test out their reaction to a white bone so you left a coppery one instead. You gave a ‘ta-da!’ gesture to it, looking Chara in the eye.

“I don’t know how long it’ll stay but this way you can talk with Toriel without blacking out my stats!”

…why? Chara drew the word out, looking oddly at war with themselves.

“Because it isn’t fair that you can’t talk to Toriel, and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”

It’ll probably disappear as soon as you reach the entrance. They stated yet stared at the ribcage with consideration.

“If that happens, then we’ll know the reach and plan accordingly for next time. But for now, enjoy this.” You replied, heading for the doorway. “Until I can figure out a more permeant solution, it’ll havta do.”

You didn’t see the troubled expression on Chara’s face at your words, nor the way their emotions waged war behind their eyes.

Kidsam waited until you got to the steps before giving you that expression that indicated she wanted to be picked up, which you happily obliged, Gerson and Sans now ready to go that you were.

Frisk and Toriel said their goodbyes at the top of the stairs, Toriel holding Frisk’s hand firmly as though she feared the tiny human would dash after them, Chara floating next to them with a strange expression on their face. And behind them, blurry and almost mirage like was Gaster, giving you a curt nod of support.

Gerson hobbled ahead of you, Sans behind like an honor guard as you took the steps to the rest of this world, and though you had no heart in this form you still felt like you could feel it thrumming in anticipation.

The walk to the entrance felt longer than it should have, and everyone was strangely quiet the whole way. Soon enough though you all were at the door, Gerson opening it.

“you alright?” Sans whispered, hands in pockets but eyelights alert.

You took a too deep breath before giving an affirmative response, bones feeling oddly clammy. you readjusted Kidsam, prayed you didn’t feel as nervous as you felt… and marched out the door leading to the rest of the Underground.

Chapter Text

Well, that went better than expected, Tammy thought as she sat on the steps to the apartment, taking a long drag from her cigarette.

She had dithered long enough in telling the others of her condition and called them all into the shared living room to tell them.

Maybe it was too blunt, but she honestly could not think of a gentler way to tell a trio of kids she was going to drop dead in a few short months and just straight up told them, “I got like fifteen weeks to live.”

Mia had asked all the medical questions like what she had, how far along it was, if there was a way to medicate it or something similar, all questions she answered to her best. She straight up told them she wasn’t going to take any treatments as she could not see any point in delaying the inevitable.

Ivan looked like he might just burst into tears and Tammy was almost worried he’d start sobbing on her. Instead, he asked if there was anything they could do, make her final moments easier on her. She appreciated that he wasn’t trying to fight her on her choice to not get treatment, even though she could tell he wanted to.

Mandy was of course the one she was worried about. The girl had turned pale, head shaking back and forth like she was trying to tell reality ‘no’. Without saying a word, she stood up and all but fled to the kitchen and started stress baking.

Mia and Ivan left shortly after, Ivan probably to go destroy some poor defenseless punching bag and Mia to the nearest bar to drown the news she just got. She watched them both leave together, Mia hugging Ivan in comfort as they left.

Pity the girl prefers pussy, her and Ivan would have made a cute couple. She thought dispassionately, knocking the ash from her death stick. Instead, the boy is worried sick for his sister, and Mia has a broken heart. Though whether it got broken by her now ex-girlfriend or from loosing Ivory I don’t know.

Yeah, Tammy was pretty damn certain Mia was in love with Ivory, even before her disappearance. Mia’s entire countenance always brighten when Ivory was around, and she constantly gave Ivory those lovesick expressions people give others when the object of their feelings isn’t looking. Ivory either wasn’t interested or was that oblivious to Mia’s feelings, and having lived with the woman Tammy was certain it was the latter.

Dumbass kids, all of them. She thought fondly, putting the butt out.

Best make sure Mandy isn’t trying to make a deal with the devil to keep me around, Tammy mused, trudging back inside.

She sat in the gym near the punching bags, having decided to forgo drinking by herself right now. Ivan really didn’t look well right now and she wouldn’t want him to be alone with the news he just got.

Mia nodded to the nervous looking gym worker, understanding their wariness. Ivan looked like MMA fighter and clearly had the strength to fuck somebody up if he so chooses to.

A complete contrast to his Golden Retriever personality, but since he was currently wailing on a punching bag with a frankly disturbing ferocity, she really could understand it.

God, if Ivan isn’t handling this well, Mandy must be beside herself in anguish. She thought, reading through articles on her phone.

Mia herself was in the quiet numb place she has been residing in since Ivory’s disappearance, not quite processing Tammy’s health announcement yet functional enough to pass as a human being. Ivan needed her, and she intended to stay right here as he beat his demons out on the bag in front of him.

And then once he calmed down a bit… maybe look into convincing him to move in with her. He was stubborn like herself and would not leave this city until he unearthed every possible avenue and venture that could lead him to Ivory. And she would be right there with him.

Tammy was encouraging them to move to the Ostein’s, but Mia couldn’t. Not only would Mandy need support in the coming months years, but Tammy wasn’t going to die alone. And if she were honest with herself? Leaving now would feel like they had given up on Ivory. Not until she could say she tried and exhausted everything option she had, then and only then would she talk Ivan into leaving this city.

We’ll find her, she renewed her vow, watching as Ivan broke another bag and smiling fondly as he panicked and apologized profusely to the worker and pulling out money to replace it, one way or another, we’ll find her.

I got like fifteen weeks to live.

The words echoed through Mandy’s head, dough she was knitting taking the brunt of her feelings over this. She checked the cookies in the oven, tsking.

Tammy had called an emergency house meeting and in her typical manner dropped a bomb on their laps. Mandy was still struggling with the news while Tammy had already made plans to help them get a new place, straight up told Ivan and Mia they should probably head back to the Ostein’s farm until they could stand on their own feet and encouraged Mandy to tell her brother and see if he would house her until she could get her own apartment… except Mandy was still dealing with the fact her mother figure was in the terminal stages of cancer and had only now told them when she barely had months to live.

Ivan looked crushed, Mia kept looking between a grim-faced Tammy and her and Mandy just fled to the kitchen after that.

Was this what Ivan and Mia felt? This crushing desolation of impeding loss? No, they still had hope Ivory was alive. Tammy was firm in her approaching expiration.

No! She would not get down over this! She’d make Tammy’s final months the best of her life! Get her medication that’ll stop the hurt! Call Charlie and ask him to recommend some good doctors! And maybe, just maybe delay Tammy’s end…

The phone broke through her melancholy thoughts, face twisting in irritation as she recognized the ringtone.

Mary, her biological mother was trying to call. This was the fourth attempt this morning and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with her, so she ignored it.

“Seriously? Ain’t gonna pick that up?” Tammy asked, entering the kitchen. Mandy felt her heart hurt at the sight of her dear friend. She didn’t look any different from before she made her announcement, yet Mandy couldn’t help but think she somehow actually looked frail…

“Nope.” She replied, popping the ‘p’. She ignored both the phone and Tammy’s health issues, focusing on her dough. “She hurt too many good people for me to want to include her in my life.”

“Same could be said about your ex, yet you still tried to ‘redeem’ him.”

“That’s different!” Mandy squawked.

“Really? Because both your ex and mother were abusive pricks that hurt their spouses, only difference I see is that your old lady never tried to murder your Dad.”

“No, she just drove him to suicide.” She hissed, the dough feeling her rage as Tammy lifted a brow in surprise at her tone. Mandy would never understand how Charlie could forgive the woman who hurt them so badly. He had even taken her away shortly after Dad’s death, refusing to let Mary raise her after that, yet kept in contact with that woman.

Besides, Mary and Kyle weren’t really alike! Your ex had redeeming qualities and was actually sorry for hurting you! Mary never was!

“And so far, she has respected your desire to not contact you. That’s the fourth time she’s tried calling you in the last hour. It might be important.”

Mandy didn’t think anything she had anything to say that was important. The phone went off again and Tammy grunted.

“Answer the damn thing and I won’t smoke anymore today.”

Bribe heard and accepted. Mandy thought, glaring as she answered.

“Mary, I told you never to call me-”

“Mandy! Oh thank god you picked up! It’s Charlie! He’s- He was in a-” a sob-like sound came through the speaker and she pushed pass her distaste for the woman at her brother’s name.

“Mary? What’s going on? Are… are you crying?”

The woman (the one she flatly excluded out of her life after Charlie took custody of her) was crying, and she patiently waited for her to make sense.

“Charlie’s been in an accident! He and his wife- the kids-” the world fuzzed around her, the weeping voice on the phone oddly louder than everything yet she was only registering pieces of the sentences, Tammy looking at her in clear alarm. 

“…Charlie was killed on impact…”

“…his wife died on way to hospital…”

“…older son suffered multiple laceration-condition unstable, getting him into surgery…”

“…Infant injured…”

“…-ospital, come quick please!”

Mandy’s world tilted on its axil and as Tammy yelled her name her world went black.

Chapter Text

Sans watch Ivory and her charge from the corner of his socket, smiling at the nervous but excited feelings emitting from the other skeleton. The woman stopped and looked directly up, craning herself back so she could see the roof of the place, and Sans chuckled at the way her eye lights grew and shined.

He stopped when he caught Gerson eying him in a way that screamed "Shovel Talk 2.0", barely stopping himself from rolling his lights.

Gerson kept giving him looks like that while Tori kept looking at him and Ivory the same way Undyne and Alphys would look at anime characters that they were hoping would end up together. It was annoying and something he was not used to (Papyrus was the handsome and charming brother, Sans was just a guy filled with exhaustion, spite and ketchup) but he pretended not to notice since Ivory didn't point it out either.

In fact, Sans was fairly sure she hadn’t noticed Gerson and Tori's actions since she was preoccupied by trying to help where she could and caring for small children, both dead and living and Sans was perfectly content not to point it out and make things awkward.

He was still figuring this friendship thing out, no need to add to the drama like it was another of Mettaton’s B-rated plots.

Still, as he watched and felt Ivory’s excitement over leaving the Ruins he couldn’t quite stop the genuinely tilt to his smile.

When was the last time he'd seen someone be actually excited to travel through the Underground? Sure, Ivory was clearly wary of leaving the Ruins yet that didn’t stop her from looking around like she hand entered a wonderland from another world.

… Okay, to her she had, but that was beside the point.

They had just crossed the bridge (Ivory having stopped in the middle so she could lean over and stare at the ravine far far below) and Ivory stopped long enough to giggle at his station and conveniently shaped lamp before continuing to walk, Kidsam walking besides her with her tiny green tail holding onto Ivory’s gloved hand.

It was when they got to the folk in the road that led to the fishing spot and dimensional box that Ivory stopped and looked around, lights lingering on the spot where the save point would have been.

Seeing her looking for it was strangely comforting, as Sans had freaked out when he discovered they were gone. That had been before he realized that the world had gone back further, that Frisk wasn’t a meat puppet, that Chara had apparently been playing god-

“Hey Sans!” Ivory called out, breaking his train of thought. She was standing by the dimensional box staring into it with Kidsam. “How does this thing work?”

Gerson felt the urge to remind Sans not to get any funny ideas with Ivory, watching how the boy watched Ivory like she was a bright spot in a otherwise dull room. Toriel seemed to think they could be a cute couple, but Gerson was more practical and knew better than to put people together just because they were the same sub-species. Or seemed to be the same sub-species any way.

Gerson had no idea what Sans and Ivory had talked about after that foul introduction (he shuttered at the unintentional pun, blaming having spent a long period of time with his Queen) but it had ended with both in the kitchen having a friendly argument and Toriel looking like the current Royal Scientist after having only three hours of sleep due to marathoning human cartoons and was now giving a detailed speech on why these two specific characters were destined to be together.

Sans he was pretty certain had no desire to be in a relationship, having stubbornly remained a bachelor for a hundred and thirty years, while Ivory had yet to see her third decade (a shocking and frankly horrifying thing to discover, yet Gerson wasn’t sure if that was Ivory just counting her human’s years or not and if her currently state o existence changed her life span along with her everything).

The age gap wouldn’t be an issue normally (it would hardly be the first relationship that had sub-species of different life spans joining in a relationship) yet he could not think of a relationship working between them due to just how different they were, not to mention if Ivory could even see monsters in a romantic light. Friends, sure. Lovers, not without a lot of work involved. Work he just could not see either skeleton really putting much effort into, considering they were approaching this unusual friendship with all the care of a scientist trying to defuse a bomb they accidently made after 500 hours of uninterrupted consciousness.

Papyrus on the other hand, he could see with Ivory. He was bright, friendly, charming and always eager to make people happy. Not to mention by skeleton standards very good looking and tall. He’d help Ivory out of her shell and be patient with her. But that was his opinion and knew better than to force those on others especially since for all he knows, Ivory wasn’t interested in monsters (could be more attracted to humans thanks to her creation) and that fan-crush Papyrus has on Mettaton could go somewhere (not very likely but who knows the future).

Bah, look at me, thinking like some old matchmaker, the tortoise thought in amusement, trudging after the others at a sedate pace.

Gerson was not happy about being in the cold, but he was entertained by Ivory’s honest joy in her surroundings. Maybe it made her feel more at home, being surrounded by trees?

The young woman was delighted at the crunching snow beneath her boots, the massive pines (she had even stopped by one just to smell it, feeling nostalgic), and the genuine curiosity of how far the ravine went or how high the cave ceiling was.

He was going to treasure the childlike awe she was showing, because eventually she would stop feeling wonder once she remembered that she’d never see the sun or stars again.

Sans seemed content to watch her too, though Gerson was certain he had never seen Sans eyelights that bright in years decades, nor look so sincerely happy. Sans usually only looked (and felt) happy around Papyrus, but that always felt like…

…like he was looking at the only thing that truly mattered in his life… that was the only thing keeping him going, Gerson realized, a spike of cold comprehending setting in him.

How had he missed that?

Gerson stared at the young male, suddenly recalling moments, moments where Sans would say or do something that should have been a warning sign had he not played it off as a joke, and Gerson foolishly allowed it because Sans wasn’t showing stereotypical signs of depression.

But… hadn’t Sans started to get worse in the last few months? He had thought the stress of so many jobs were getting to him but what if Sans was already at the point he didn’t care about his own health? He recalled the meltdown the boy had not so long ago outside of his shop, contained as it was. Wait, didn’t Papyrus complain a lot about how much Sans slept? Shit, that was one of the early signs-

When was the last time he had gotten Sans in for a check-up? One, maybe two decades ago? He kept pestering him to come in but the boy always waved it off or had a excuse on hand for why he wasn’t going to see him. And Sans had worryingly low stats then, how bad were they now?

He proceeded to do something he should not, considering how intrusive it was but he’d rather be sure and ask for forgiveness than be left unsure.

Sans

[LV: ██]

[HP: 2]

[AT: 1]                                      

[DF: 1]

Sans… had a blacked-out stat. Sans had a blacked out stat like Ivory did when she brought Chara back-

Then the rest of his stats registered, and suddenly Gerson was clamping down on his emotions because Sans stats were almost as bad as Ivory’s- no, Ivory’s Defense was always higher than anything else including her own Hope, Sans was just two hits from dusting-

“Hey Sans!” Ivory called out, breaking his runaway train of thought. She was standing by the dimensional box staring into it with Kidsam. “How does this thing work?”

And Sans moved next to her and proceeded to give a surprisingly enthusiastic explanation about the box, amusement and passion gently wafering off of him.

Once the explanation was given, Ivory started looking around for something to put in the box to test it out. Sans handed her a bottle of ketchup, the young woman staring unamused at him even as exasperated fondness flowed off her.

“Of course you keep a bottle of fake tomato sauce in your pockets. Make perfect sense.”

“don’t you dare mock me, you alfredo-chugging heathen.”

Sans

[LV: ██]

[HP: 4]

[AT: 1]                                    

[DF: 1]

Oh, Gerson thought staring at the skeletons now sniping at each other in a friendly manner, Kidsam looking between them like it was a funny TV show.

And because he had already did it once, he checked the other skeleton’s stats as well.

Ivory Ostein

LV: 1

HP: ͢15

AT: -50                                      

DF: 100̸̕

I͏vory ͘is ͢happy.   B͘u̡t S͢ans̡ ͠still ͜h̸as ba̡d͡ taste i̕n sa͝u̧ceş.

That was easily the highest he had ever seen Ivory’s Hope. And Sans… Sans Hope jumped up while interacting with the woman.

Maybe Toriel was on to something after all.

Kidsam was torn.

On one hand, she really, really, really wanted to go back to her family.

On the other hand, she wanted Angel to stay with her.

It was selfish to want her only for herself because she knew Angel had to leave so she could save the others and free the Underground.

But at least Angel promised to call and visit. Kidsam felt better about that because Gerson said she might get anxiety from the separation.

But she was going to be strong! And Angel would still be there!

She just wished she wasn’t physically leaving.

Sans was funny, cracking puns at Angel who good naturedly groaned at them, trying to pun back but wasn’t as good at it as he was.

He felt lighter around Angel. Maybe he needed saving too?

Kidsam tried to keep paying attention, meeting the Canines Units was fun (how fuzzy! And Angel wouldn’t stop petting them), but a niggling doubt kept her from enjoying anything.

What if her family couldn’t remember her? What if they decided they didn’t want her anymore? How long has it been since she seen her family?

After meeting the last of the Canine’s (Angel was so bright in her happiness to meet them, making the Dog Monsters happy to be noticed) that they made it to the bridge that would lead to the Town of Snowdin.

Lead to her family.

“You okay, kiddo?” Angel asked, voice soft. She slowed down so Sans and Gerson was ahead, though both men stopped at the bridged.

“Nervy.” She replied, not lying. Angel always told the truth, so she would to.

“Yeah, I bet. You haven’t seen you family in… a while.” She trailed off, melancholy flickering through her just like it always does when she thinks about family.

“It’s just,” She started, but paused, not sure how to proceed.

Angel waited for her to figure her words.

“It felt like forever in-in that place. What if my twin and parents are as old as Gerson now? Or… or what if they can’t remember me? O-or don’t want…” the last word died before it could be said, a lump forming in Kidsam’s throat.

Angel understood nonetheless, a sad sort of clarity pinging before smoothing away. Angel puled her back, just enough to look her in the eyes.

“If they can’t remember you… or don’t want you… then I’m taking you back to the Ruins. You’ll be cared and loved no matter what.” Angel vowed, her soul firm and vibrant.

Kidsam smiled, relief flooding as she burrowed her head into the bony shoulder.

If that were the case, she could do this. No matter what.

She’ll be strong and brave like Angel.

Snowdin, like the Ruins, was a lot bigger than the game showed.

There were more houses than the game showed, more shops and streets. The air felt alive, people greeting Sans and Gerson with cheer.

Gerson had excused himself after a couple came to him about headaches, and you smiled ruefully. Poor guy just isn’t getting a break. Sans directed you around, introducing you to various people, Kidsam tucking her head in your collar. As you passed Grilby’s you asked to go in, after you got Kidsam home.

“sure thing, i’ll even introduce you to more of the locals. maybe even my brother.” Sans replied, smiling as you got visibly excited at the idea of meeting Papyrus.

Ohhh that would be awesome! I wonder what he sounds like? How much taller is he to Sans? Will I get to hear his laugh?!

“wow, if the mere idea of meeting him excites you that much, actually meeting him might implode you.” Sans chuckled, politely not commenting on how you skull turned copper with the blush.

Man, that’s embarrassing. I just gotta play it cool when I meet him- “Crap, what if I get a fangasm?”

“a… what?” Sans asked, startling you.

Oh shit, um, you thought, rubbing the back of your skull as you realized you said it out loud. You said that out loud to Papyrus’ brother.

Here lies Ivory Ostein, she inserted her foot in her mouth and choked on it.

“It means… to experienced extreme excitement, usually like-like, uhhhh… Mettaton! Like how excited his fan get at meeting him in person!”

Sans snorted, looking amused. “and you are worried you’ll ‘fangasm’ all over my brother?”

You cringed. “Oh god, I regret using that word.”

The bastard proceeds to grin so wide his sockets somehow crinkled, absolutely gleeful at your pure embarrassment. He’s friends with Alphys! He probably knew what the hell that word meant!

“Let’s get Kidsam home!” You decided, very loudly and took off in a random direction, child on hip. After five minutes, Sans very helpfully pointed in the correct direction, smile edging into shit-eating territory.

The path to Kidsam’s family did take long and before you knew it you were in front of a house in the far back of Snowdin. You put the child onto the ground, looking her in the eyes. “Okay, Sweetie. You ready?”

The tiny green monster shook her head but turned to face the door. “No but go ahead and knock.”

 “That’s my brave girl. No matter how this goes, I have your back.” You promised, knocking on the wooden door as Sans stood back from the two of you.

After a few minutes the door swung open, a minty green dinosaur like monster greeting you. “Hello, can I hel-”

The words died upon seeing Kidsam. They stared, looking like they’ve seen a ghost, clawed hands gripping the doorknob so tightly it creaked. They didn’t react when a second figure walked by them, a gold-brown armless monster that had a deep voice.

“Hun, close the door your letting the hea-”

Like their spouse, words died upon seeing Kidsam, jaw going slack at the sight of the child.

“Mama… Papa…” Kidsam breathed, looking at the adults in hesitating hope. The adults seemed frozen, eyes wide and barely breathing, like if they made any sudden movements Kidsam would disappear before them.

Then crashing pass the shocked adults came MK, barely stopping themselves from crashing onto the ground. The two children stared at each other for an eternity before Kidsam quietly, shyly whispered, “Kidwen?”

Like a bullet train the yellowy monster was suddenly rushing forward, crashing into the green monster child.

“Kidsam!” they cried, joyous and disbelieving yet so happy, and like a spell being broken the parents rushed in, tears running down their faces.

the parents held the children tight, weeping as they looked and touched their daughter like they were unsure she was real but too terrified to let go in case she was, MK-Kidwen hugging their twin with all their might.

And behind Sans, barely visible was Gaster, looking happy. He blipped out before you could properly look at him, which was fine.

You watched, with an aching sort of yearning as Kidsam was reunited with her family, Kidwen’s tail wrapped around her in a tight hug as the two children were encompassed by their parents in tight hugs.

Soon, you vowed as you watched the happy reunion, I’ll be able to do that again as well.

It took several hours to explain (with Sans help) to the family everything, while still not completely explaining all of it (Sans and Chara were oddly of the same mind that you should not inform anyone that Kidsam had been in the Void), eventually you got all the important info to them. It took another hour but Kidsam allowed you to leave without a fuss, her parents and twin profusely thanking you for returning their lost one to them and vowing to repay you. It made you uncomfortable, but you endured it because they needed it. You said your goodbyes (feeling a little sad to be losing Kidsam but glad she was with her family), promising to visit and call Kidsam as often as possible before you left with Sans.

The two of you walked back the way you came, Sans pointing out places, and you drank in Snowdin with the kind of enthusiasm of a fan being allowed to visit places she never would have gotten the chance otherwise. Was this what fans of Movie or Rock Stars felt like when they got to visit places that meant something important to the source of their fixation?

They continued, Sans about to take you into Grilby’s when he spotted Gerson…  and Undyne.

Undyne was here. Holy shit.

Holy crap, its Undyne! Shit, she’s waaaay bigger than I thought she be- she has no nose. Huh. And holy smokes, look at those muscles, she could break me in half like a glow stick-

Sans nudged you, looking amused. “hey now. don’t get all hot and bothered, it might look fishy.”

You couldn’t even groan before Gerson and Undyne turned to look at you.

“Ah, Ivory! Excellent timing! Did delivering Kidsam go well?”

“About as well as can be expected. I’m still going to call her every chance I get.”

“I expected as much. Now come over here, I have someone I want to introduce you to.”

You timidly approached, looking warily at Undyne. The captain looked you over before whistling.

“You were not kidding about her not being able to control that.”

“I rarely jest when it comes to my patient’s health. Ivory, meet Undyne, the Captain of the Royal Guards. Undyne, meet Apprentice Ivory. She is the current Keeper’s protégé.”

The massively tall monster stuck a hand out and you couldn’t stop flinching, only to realize she was holding it out with the palm open. Undyne didn’t seem offended by the flinch, smiling like a shark.

“Hiya! Gerson was telling me about you.”

“Good things, I hope. I’ve heard about you too!”

“All good things, I hope.” Undyne mimicked back, looking amused.

“Y-yeah! Is it true you are called Undyne the Undying?” You asked before mentally slapping yourself. That only happens in Genocide Routes!

And judging by how Sans tensed a little by your side, he knew it.

The fish monster laughed, looking delighted. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called that! But that’s awesome! And badass! Imagine if a human heard that? They’d be scared shitless, thinking they were about to be killed by an immortal!”

You chucked nervously, hoping Undyne just took it as you are a very shy and anxious person by nature. That’s because you are a pile of anxiety, you thought uncharitably at yourself.

Gerson, bless his soul, changed the topic to having Undyne explain how she runs the Royal Guards, a subject Undyne was deeply passionate about explaining.

Sans looked a little bored, like he’s heard this hundred of times, so you decided to ask some very silly questions like; Were the Canines getting enough chew toys in their training? How many Dogs could fit in Greater Dog’s armor? Were they getting the maximum amount of necessary belly rubs to promote good health?

On and on you asked asinine questions to which Undyne and Gerson were giving you a very askew looks but Sans was looking deeply amused, so win.

After dozens silly questions, you decided to stop and see if Sans would be okay with walking you back home when a loud voice cut through your thoughts.

“SANS!”

“hey bro.” Sans greeted, smile turning soft.

“DON’T ‘HEY’ ME! YOU SAID YOU WERE ONLY GOING TO BE GONE A DAY, NOT SEVERAL!”

“o-oh. i did, didn’t i?” Sans replied, suddenly looking guilty.

“Now, now Papyrus,” Gerson soothed, “your brother was actually helping me and the Ruins Keeper and acting as a guide to this young lady here.”

You didn’t respond, gawking at him like an idiot.

The tall (so very tall) skeleton looked down at you, surprise on his skull before he smiled like the sun, greeting you.

“OH HELLO! YOU MUST BE THE PERSON FROM THE RUINS I HEARD WAS VISITING!” Papyrus said, smiling brightly at you.

You continued to gawk at him like an idiot.

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT, MISS?”

Oh.

My.

GODS!!! IT’S PAPYRUS!!! HOLY SHIT, IT’S PAPYRUS IN THE FLESH!! HE’S EVEN COOLER IN PERSON- IS THAT A VEST HE’S WEARING?! AND SKINNY JEANS??! HOLY SHIT HE LOOKS EVEN COOLER THAN I IMAGINED!! PLAY IT COOL, PLAY IT COOL, INTRODUCE YOURSELF- OHHHHHH MAN!! IT’S PAPYRUS!! WILL HE LET ME HUG HIM?! I WANT TO HUG HIM—

Suddenly you were almost violently turned around, abruptly breaking your thoughts as you were forcibly turned to face Sans.

Who looked panicked and eyelights was flashing cyan and yellow. He leaned down to where your ear would have been, hissing, “Stop Fangasming Over My Brother!”

What? What- ohhhhhhhhhhh, you thought, daring to look back to where Papyrus stood.

The poor skeleton looked like he had been pinned to the wall behind him by an invisible force, sockets wide in comical bewilderment at you. He slowly started sliding downwards, making a graceless heap in the snow.

A groan dragged your attention to where Undyne and Gerson was, the Captain flat on her back and Gerson rocked back and force on his shell, an utterly dazed expression on his old face. And beyond them, other residents of Snowdin were groaning in piles on the snow, looking as though they had been knocked down by a mighty force.

Sans, you belatedly realized, was the only one standing, though he was heavily leaning on you for support.

“…everyone felt that, didn’t they?” you asked in a small, timid voice.

“Yeah.” Sans practically wheezed, looking very much like he wanted to sit down now. “you know, i was jokin’ ‘bout you implodin’.”

A gibberish noise left you, embarrassment flooding you with great intensity as the world blackened and swirled, Sans suddenly cussing up a storm before you were no longer vertical. A sudden drop and color returned to your vision, right about the time you landed face first into Sans sternum.

It vaguely occurred to you that you were laying on top of Sans, but the sheer amount of embarrassment you were feeling overwhelmed anything else at the moment. You did recognize that you were in your room back in the Ruins though, and with that rolled over the bed, hitting the floor with a loud clack as wood met bone.

You had just gotten halfway under the bed (to hide for the rest of your life, because oh god I just knocked over half of Snowdin thanks to a fangirl attack) when Sans yanked you back out by your ankles, bones somehow a sickly grey.

“did you just short cut us through the void?!”

Chapter Text

**He looks happier than he usually does though, yeah?**

Gaster turned, seeing one of the Forgotten Ones standing by him, face almost undecipherable against the Void, the smile all but lifeless.

{He does.}

The Forgotten nodded, holding out a squirming fragment. **You dropped this.**

Gaster sighed but accepted it, glad it hadn’t gone too far this time.

{Thank you, my friend.} He glowered at the wiggling piece before forcing it back into his person. He hated it when he lost pieces of himself.

The Forgotten One stood still next to him as they watched Kidsam reunited with her family, his some and the specimen standing by, waiting before explaining how she came into Ms. Ostein’s care. He had followed mostly to see the specimen return the Little One, thankful she could do what he couldn’t, but he was also hoping to see both his sons as well.

**That Outworlder seems sincerely nice.** They said suddenly, sounding more coherently than usual. **Do you think she will help us?**

{I think she has a strong sense of integrity. If she promises to help, I honestly think she will.}

The Forgotten watched on for a few minutes more before turning away, wandering back into the Void.

**Ask her to get my bestie out next. He’s been going to those spots where the line between reality and the void is thin, fazing in and out of reality for so long that I don’t think he even remembers why anymore.**

Gaster grimaced but nodded. The Forgotten faded from view as he returned to watch Sans and the specimen who had just been introduced to Papyrus friend Undyne.

Then Papyrus came up, and he was beyond thrilled to see them both healthy and doing well…

…and then Ms. Ostein had in the span of fifteen seconds knocked half of the town on their bums, her sockets glowing like nebulas, as she her soul nearly became audible until Sans, who had quite clearly anchored himself with magic in order to stand, got her to stop, sockets returning to orbs of lights. Apparently she was a huge fan of Papyrus and had just informed most of the nearby residents of this fact.

The secondhand embarrassment is astonishingly strong. He thought, wincing at the spectacle he was witnessing.

And then Gaster nearly reduced himself to a puddle out of soul shattering terror when the woman blipped out of existence with his son, spun past him, his eldest holding onto her for dear life when in a moment that felt like time had slowed down Sans turned and looked right at him, sockets going wide, a ugly string of swear words escaping as he reached out towards him before he and the displaced Outworlder blipped back out of the Void.

It might have taken ten seconds at most yet to Gaster it felt like it last so much longer.

Solidifying himself he followed where they emerged, not surprised they ended up back at Toriel’s. He winced when the specimen landed directed on top of Sans, who looked like his life had flashed before his sockets (obviously because it had). Ms. Ostein then rolled off the bed, bones clacking almost painfully as it impacted wood.

Sans swore again, throwing himself out of the bed and landed next to Ms. Ostein, who was in the process of hiding under her bed most likely out of embarrassment.

Gaster would deny forever at the horrified squawk he made when his son proceeded to yank the woman back out by her ankles.

{Sans! I taught you better than that!} He yelled even knowing they couldn’t hear him. {It’s very improper! What if you accidently see her ankles? Or worse, her socks?!} Alright, that was admittedly unlikely considered Ms. Ostein very sensibly wore more layers than Grilby had during the first century of Underground’s existence.

“did you just short cut us through the void?!”

Why did that surprise him- oh. Oh dear. Gaster winced, suddenly recalling that the Royal brat and the specimen never went into detail how she short cut… or how that Chara had nothing to do with Ms. Ostein’s rescue of Kidsam.

Teleporting was a skill set nearly all skeletons were capable, allowing them to act as spies and food suppliers during the war, usually in a form that allowed large group movement but at the sacrifice of being less imprecise in the location. Gaster and many others had gone into centuries long studies to try and create a way around the Barrier, becoming more desperate as the skeleton’s numbers dwindled. The version Sans used was a modified style of the one Gaster used, which relied heavily on knowing both your location and the ability to create minor portals that acted like a window between location A and B. A tunnel connected to multiple tunnels if you will.

Created a physical portal large enough to bypass the Barrier was the last major project he had been doing with his team before… before the accident.

Where he and Sans relied on knowing the locations and being unable to leave the Underground due to having no way to “tunnel” out, Ms. Ostein “short cuts” where like taking a sledgehammer against reality and forcing her way through. She could theoretically bypass the Barrier—

Gaster’s thoughts screeched to a halt, not entirely paying attention to his son and the specimen as something clicked into place.

She could, theoretically, bypass the Barrier. It would require a lot of experiments and testing, but if he were right, they could get everyone out without needing to let her die breaking the Barrier.

She’d get everyone else out of this place, and he could test out his hypothesis—

He was brought out of his thoughts when Toriel came into view, and he must have missed quite a bit because Sans was trying to calm the specimen down, who appeared to be trying to smother herself with a very long pillow, making a dying animal sound as her skull turned a vibrant copper. In fact Sans was engaged in a bizarre tug-a-war with with Ms. Ostein over the pillow, him trying to pry it out of her grip and her trying to become one with the pillow.

{Children.} He tutted, looking exasperated.

Chara sat in the rib cage, waiting for the stupid thing to disappear with no small amount of trepidation.

Mom found the cage and was elated to have a way to talk to Chara that didn’t cause Copper’s soul to blank out. Chara had made it clear the cage would go away once Ivory was far enough but so far, the thing was still standing even after three hours. Frisk was happily watching them interact, looking like this was a dream come true for them.

Mom has been holding their hand for most of those hours, and Chara wasn’t looking forward to loosing the ability to feel.

And wasn’t that a weird thing to experience, to feel. The last time they were solid had been a high-strung day and Chara couldn’t really enjoy it as Mom, Gerson and Copper were all in various stages of freaking out.

Now they were marveling at the sensation, as well as gravity applying to them once more.

They weren’t a fan of breathing though, as Mom started punning and suddenly Chara couldn’t stop laughing and had to be told to breath because they, you know, forgot to. Frisk (behind Mom where she couldn’t see it) signed that they were glad breathing was a automatic action, otherwise Chara would have dropped dead again.

That caused Chara to do something they hadn’t intentionally meant to do.

Charam without thinking, flipped Frisk the middle finger. Just like how Copper would flip Chara off when Mom wasn’t looking.

That freaked them out, so much Frisk deliberately distracted Mom for a few minutes to give Chara a moment to compose themselves.

Then before they could talk to Mom again, a sudden violent burst of undiluted mortification smacked into the three of them, knocking the cage back a bit.

“Wha-Ivory?” Mom sputtered, looking in the direction that the wall of ignominy came from.

Come on, Mom. Chara tugged, getting ready to leave the cage. Sounds like Ivory needs you.

Mom hesitated but seeing as they and Frisk were getting ready to investigate, she relented. Chara stepped out and became incorporeal once more floating towards the doorless room. Chara heard them before they saw them.

“ivory, was that my-” Sans said but was cut off by a wail.

"ivory, stop-"

“Leave me here to die!”

“u-uh, it wasn’t that bad-” He sounded very unconvincing about whatever ‘that’ was.

“I can never show my face outside of Ruins ever again!”

“you don’t have a face to show anyway-”

Ivory made a dying whale noise that was suddenly muffled, Sans words becoming audible. “ivory, please stop tryin’ to swallow the body pillow, i need ya to answer my- stop that!”

Chara zipped ahead and was greeted by the sight of the smiling trashbag on his haunches, trying to yank the body pillow out of Iv-Copper’s hands. She appeared to be trying to inhale said pillow, though she might be trying to hide her embarrassment.

Sans must have lost his patience because he finally stood up and wrenched it sharply, causing Copper to hit the bedframe.

Her respond to this was to try and drag herself and the pillow under the bed, but as Sans still had the other end of the pillow she didn’t get far.

“stars, lady! stop tryin’ to hide for five minutes and talk to me-”

That was when Mom came in, looking confused at the sight of two adult skeletons fighting over a body pillow, one pulling upwards with his slipper propped on the bed, the other’s skull buried in said pillow and was partly hidden under the bed.

Chara wasn’t sure they wanted to know what happened.

Thud.

He was Asriel Dreemurr. Son of King Asgore and Queen Toriel. Brother to Chara.

The flower monster clutched to his plushie, staring at his reflection. He was more orangey than yellow now, and he could see actual emotions in his eyes. Emotions he could feel, coursing through him, yet…

Thud.

Yet it was diminishing. What ever his niece had done to him, was finally fading. This should have been relieving, but…

Thud.

But he could feel again, just like when he had a soul. Maybe that was her power? Create artificial souls? He didn’t know, but what he did know was that he didn’t want to go back. Not to who he was before.

Not to Flowey.

Thud.

Sans hadn’t been back in a while. He missed him. Sans was a jerk sure, but he was honestly trying to help him. he even talked him through the worst of his episodes and got him a toy to help.  He told him before he left, he was meeting his niece. Like a coward a too loyal brother, he didn’t tell him anything that could be helpful. Was Sans even alive?

Thud.

He… he…

Thud.

Asriel had to get out, had to find Sans to make sure he was alright, get his niece to attack him again so he doesn’t lose this soul no matter how fake it was…

Thud-crack.

Maybe the girl-skeleton was irredeemable freak, maybe she was an innocent like so many others that got in Chara’s way. Asriel would refrain judgement until he got to know her better. He really hopes she is a good person, he’s lost enough family. Maybe they could be friends? Chara on the other hand…

Crack.

He will stop Chara, no matter the cost.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

He was Asriel Dreemurr. Son of King Asgore and Queen Toriel. Brother to Chara.

And he was going to fix this. No matter the cost.

SHATTER!

Chapter Text

Right, so apparently Ivory has been holding back before now, Gerson thought, somewhat horrified as he checked on another dazed resident of Snowdin.

Over twenty people had gotten flattened by Ivory's... episode, the ones further away recovering though a little wobbly.

The ones closer were sitting down, disoriented and too dizzy to stand.

Undyne and Papyrus were laying down, the Captian groaning while Papyrus looked like someone clubbed him over the skull. 

He wasn't sure how but he managed to regain his bearings a lot faster than anyone else, especially since he was as close as the Captian was. 

Grillby was bundled up and helping out, getting everyone teas and snacks to help. Gerson kept an eye on him as he was a fire elemental out in the snow but not really concerned as Grillby had lived literal centuries in the frozen tundra that was Snowdin.

Gerson would be needing all the help he could get, especially if Ivory accidently did what she did when the building collapsed and caused permanent changes to everyone's stats.

He was going to thank Sans for getting her out of here, the poor human-monster hybrid had been clearly mortified once she regained control of herself.

Gerson had assumed the girl incapable of limiting what she felt, but looking around was proof that Ivory had been keeping herself calm before now.

Thank the the stars they never encountered her as a child, if she could do this as an adult than child Ivory could have knocked half of the Underground over by her enthusiasm alone.

A low pitiful whine escaped Doggo, having been one if the closer monsters. 

"Gerson, what...?" He mummbled, looking confused.

"A monster from Ruins was visiting. She has a ailment that prevents her from being able to rein in her emotional output." And that was the story they all agreed to.

"Why do I have this overwhelming urge to hug Papyrus...?"

That... that was something he was going to have to deal with, wasn't he?

Undyne giggled, literally giggled at Doggo's question.

"Emotional spiking. Little kids and babies do it all the time when they need something, makes everyone around them trip over themselves to help. Sometimes it causes people to feel a imprint in the intention behind the emotional spiking." The captian replied, mirth etched into the words.

Gerson grimaced but nodded in confirmation. What Ivory did though was less a imprint and more a sucker punch in the vitals.

Undyne looked to Papyrus, smiling in glee. "And she reeeeally wanted to 'hug' Papyrus here!"

The poor skeleton's skull erupted into a deep blue, having refused to look at anyone since Gerson pried him off the wall Ivory accidently pinned him to.

"Papyrus got a faaaaan~" Undyne sang, sounding very drunk (another lesser side effect with some of the monsters, mostly the ones that were fish-based). "A fan who really really reeeealy likes him~"

"Stop teasing the poor lad, Undyne." He gently scolded, keeping his amusement to himself.

Doggo nodded in understanding though he looked annoyed. "Am I the only one that wants to hug him?"

There was a quiet choir of negatives, all the affected monsters raising their hands, paws, claws, and limbs to show they all wanted to give Papyrus a hug.

The poor monster's entirely skull was blue now and he looked ready to crawl away from this if he had too.

Garson took pity on him and quickly dissuaded the group from trying anything, though Grillby's sudden aura of menace probably helped.

Grillby had been the Skeleton brother's foster parent when they appeared one day in Snowdin, having lost their parent (though Gerson wasn't sure if they even knew who their parent was as as no one seemed to know where they came from and Sans couldn't tell them anything about their parent as he struggled to recall anything about them. Gerson had long believed their parent had abandoned them) and even with both adults the elemental still was protective of them as he saw them as much his children as he saw his daughter Fuku.

After another half hour Gerson deemed everyone well enough but wanted all affected to go home a sleep, Gerson taking to the owner of Bunny's Inn to let Undyne stay there.

"You know," Undyne slurred, looking thoughtful. "Sans looked really pissed when that happened."

"Considering his brother was the object of Ivory's emotional spiking I can't say I'm shocked."

"Well yeah, but he was even closer than we were and still standing once he snapped her out of that thing she did. And and I felt him, you know? Must've really caught him off guard for that, he never let's anything feel anything unless he wants ya too. And man he felt... stabby." She finished, mulling over what happened.

Gerson would feel 'stabby' too if anyone showed THAT much ardent feelings towards one of his beloved relatives too.

He hoped those two were safe, he'd give Toriel a call once everyone was situated here.

You wanted to run away right about now, maybe go hide in a deserted part of Home and only interact with the locals when you needed substance.

Unfortunately, Sans had a deceptively tight grip on your hand and was not taking no for a answer. Add Toriel, Frisk and Chara and this was a conversation you would dearly have liked to avoid.

After giving a brief explanation to Toriel on why you teleported posthaste back into your bedroom, the former queen looked both sympathetic and embaressed for you. 

Sans of course was quick to question you, once he could get you to stop trying to smother yourself with the pillow.

Which led to everyone going to the living room and you feeling like you were stuck at a interrogation table rather the dining table.

"so just clarifyin'," Sans started again, sockets dull and smile strained. "you... 'shortcut'," the air quotes were strong around that word, "back here, completely unintentionally without any prior math to navigate and pretty much was just guessin' your direction."

"Yup." Monosyllable answers were your friend right now.

"and no one taught you how to do this, you just heard it was a skeleton thing and went with it?"

"Yeah." Don't fail me now mono syllable answers!

"despite knowin' you could get lost and never come back?"

That was a polite way of asking if you were aware of the Void's ability to erase people.

"Yes." All hail the monosyllable answer!

"please explain to me what exactly went through your noggin' when you decided to pull that stunt."

"Uh." Monosyllable answers, you've failed me!

Knowing her it was probably something like 'Run away! Flee while you can!'. Like the absolute scaredy bones she is. Chara oh so helpfully replied from where they floated next to Toriel.

Sans eyelights ever so briefly flickered to Chara, a blink and you'd miss it grimace before he refocused back on you.

The grip he had on your arm was stronger now, as though he knew you wanted to get away and was keeping you from fleeing (or back in the Void, which was really starting to become preferable to this conversation).

Maybe you could detach the arm? You already knew it could detach but was unsure I'd you could do it intentionally.

"I wasn't thinking anything other than 'Oh fat Buddha, please get me out of this place before I spontaneously combust from sheer embarrassment'."

Sans snorted at that, skull loosing some of the harshness though grip remained firm.

"yeah, i can see that. are you aware of just how dangerous it is to blindly guess your way through the void?" He bluntly asked, looking very much like he wanted to find a ditch to nap in.

"Someone might of explained some if the dangers to me." Don't look at Chara, don't look at Chara-- fuck, I looked at Chara.

Toriel must have realized why your eyelights looked towards her (or more accurately, above her) and looked upset and concerned, Frisk all but burrowed into her side.

Sans looked like he would fight the God of Hyperdeath in nothing but his slippers if he gave him a chance to punch Chara.

"Look, I panicked and did a stupid thing. I'm sorry and will apologize to everyone I accidently knocked over when I visit Snowdin again." In the far, far, far future when everyone no longer recalls the event. Shit, how the hell am I ever going to look any of them in the eye after they felt me fangirling over Papyrus so hard it smacked everyone onto their collective asses?!

"okay. whatcha doin' tomorrow?" Sans asked, throwing you off with the random question.

"Uh, patrolling with Toriel?" 

"anything after that?"

"Noooo...?"

"great, we'll start teachin' you actual short cuts then."

"Wait, what?"

"no need to thank me, I Am Just Making Sure My New Bestie Doesn't Do Something Stupid Like Get Lost In the Void." He said almost cheerfully, eyelights sparking cyan and yellow as something buzzed through the hand he was holding prisoner.

"But-" Unfortunately Sans was already looking to Toriel and getting a time settled, both looking very determined.

You shared a look with Chara, who looked unhappy. Hate to say it but he's got a point.  You need to learn this sooner than later.

You tugged at the still captured hand, scowling at him when he refused to budge.

"Can you let go so I can grab something to eat? I need comfort Alfredo sauce."

Sans, once done plotting with Toriel, gave a disgruntled look. "fine, we can go get your sacrilegious drink that tastes like human armpits."

Toriel giggled at that, leading Frisk away to get ready for the evening.

"You clearly never had Alfredo sauce if you think it tastes like armpits." You dryly replied, annoyed he still wasn't letting go.

You led him to the kitchen and located your sweet ambrosia, generously handing him a ketchup bottle before chugging the sauce and valiantly ignoring the gagging noises coming from Sans.

He slowly drank his, still looking grossed out at your drink of choice.

A thought came to you. "Hey, question? Can you get drunk off that?"

The look Sans gave told you in detail how he thought of that question.

"no, i can't get drunk on ketchup. it's a condiment, not achohol. do humans get drunk on condiments?"

"Nah, just a bit of fandom back in my whole where you and Papyrus could get drunk on them." 

Well, Swap!Papyrus and SwapFell!Papyrus anyway. You thought, trying to get a few more drops out of the container. "A lot of speculation was done on it, so I was curious. I'd like to know what is and isn't fanfiction. Like in some of them Papyrus likes honey way too much."

A noise like a container being squeezed too tightly got your attention, the ketchup bottle having been crushed in Sans grip with it spilling over and onto his hand and the floor.

But it was the look of abject horror on Sans face that made you pause.

He did not hear that.

Please, any entity that ever gave a shit tell him he did not hear Ivory correctly.

"you read... fanfiction" He mumbled, though the word fanfiction was almost spat out like a particularly disgusting loogie, "of my brother."

"Uh, yeah." She sounded so embarrassed, which would be hilarious if not for the fact Sans just got confirmation that she read fanfiction of Papyrus.

"okay. right. just, slice of life, action and adventure shit?"  please don't be the creepy badly written shit Alphas writes, he would never be able to look Paps in the eye socket if Ivory read some of that cringy shit Alphas wrote.

He still never forgave Alphas for guilting him into proofread her self insert with the King. He was fairly certain he lost IQ points for every time she substitute a word to describe sex.

How she managed to use the word "purloin" to describe penetration would forever haunt him.

"Yeah, mostly just adventures of life on the surface." Well at least she was being honest, but why was she blushing-

And the erotica, don't forget the erotica! Chara said, head popping through the wall with a shit eating grin.

Ivory's skull turn molten copper as she shrieked, whipping around and chucking a plastic cup at Chara. It futile went through them and the little demon cackled as they left, damaged already done.

Sans was pretty sure he was experiencing a seizure, maybe a magical aneurysm. His eyelights bore into Ivory who was actively trying to look anywhere but at him.

"erotica. fanfiction." He said, and he would have been more embarrassed at how high his voice got as he said but was too mortified by his friend's past habits. "please tell me chara was being a little shit and you have never read read erotica fanfiction of my brother."

"Uh, um. Okay, uh, sure, I has most definitely never read anything starring your brother. Ever." She virtuously lied, her emotions telling him the truth unwillingly.

He took a moment to go through all the stages of grief before settling on acceptance.

"right. okay. you are never allowed to be left alone with paps." His baby brother's virtue would not be tarnished!

"I would never do anything to him!" Ivory squawks with deep offense and mortification.

"I know, because I Will Never Allow It To Happen." He vowed, mentally preparing ways to keep his friend and brother far away from one another.

He will not be made a uncle before Papyrus's first century dammit!

Chapter Text

"well. shit."

Really, what else could Sans say as he stared at Flowey's destroyed glass case?

He had left his new friend(?) at Tori's and shortcut home for a much needed nap (okay, he felt way more energetic than usual but at the same time Ivory exhausted him in a way he hasn't been in a long time. Who knew making friends with a human/monster hybrid with a penchant for being a embarrassing disaster could be tiring?) and had gone to make sure Flowey hadn't concussed himself to sleep again only to find the cage was broken.

Not a good sign, especially since he has been rambling about Ivory a lot. Best give her a call to be on the look out for him.

He really hopes Flowey was still dealing with all his emotions. It would be easier to handle him if he was too out of his mind to plot.

Still, Ivory was going to freak out when he told her. Maybe he should call Tori first to keep Ivory from  freaking out so bad she shortcut into the void. Again.

He shortcut to the kitchen (he was going to need comfort ketchup for this) and had just grabbed a bottle when the front door opened and slammed closed, Papyrus sounding winded.

Concerned, Sans looked out the kitchen and his concern cranked up at the sight of his baby brother leaning against the door as though to keep someone out, sockets wide with a look of someone being hunted.

"paps? you okay there?"

Papyrus flinched, skull whipping towards him as a spike of panic was quickly muffled.

His brother had flinched. In fear.

Someone was getting their asses kicked into the Core.

"SANS! HI, HOW ARE YOU? IS YOUR... FRIEND HERE?" Papyrus asked in a high pitched, bordering on hysteria voice and Sans did not miss the way Pap's emotionally spiked when he said friend.

"you mean ivory?"

"YES. HER." Papyrus confirmed, a sense of discomfort underscoring his curt words.

"nah, she's back in the ruins hiding from sheer embaressement."

"Oh thank the stars."

Sans concern immedately transform into alarm and he was suddenly next to his brother. Papyrus very rarely used a inside voice anymore.

His brother opened his jaw to speak again when there was a knock on the door, someone yelling his brother's name.

Papyrus, his sweet brother who still needed to be read bedtime stories, suddenly unleashed a torrent of filthy words he knows Papyrus had never learned in any of the previous timelines. Before he could comprehend that Papyrus just swore (creatively and with the kind of ease that says this was a normal part of his vocabulary), Papyrus fled the room, taking the stairs two at a time and hissing, "IM NOT HERE! DO NOT LET THEM IN HERE!" and then bolted into his room.

Sans stared in incomprehension as the sounds of furniture being moved could be heard. he's barracading his door. what the fuck.

The knocking happened again, and Sans nearly tore the door off when he opened it.

There was a dozen people outside his front door, neighbors that were pretty chill (ha) and kept to themselves in most timeloops. 

Right now they were all exuding a air of starstruck Mettaton fans, only somehow ten times worse as he nearly choked on the sheer amount of awe and feral enthusiasm they were giving off. Before he could even ask what the hell was going on, one of the bunny sisters was talking rapidly at him.

"Is Papyrus home?!" Squeeled the bunny, almost getting drowned out by her sister.

"Can we see Papyrus?!"

"Sansy can we see Papyrus?" Wasn't that the storekeeper? What the-

"Papyrus! I adore you!" Nacarat yelled, practically vibrating.

"I NEED TO HUG PAPYRUS!" Jimmy Hotpants rumbled, tail wagging so hard Sans was sure it pop off.

A disturbing chant of hugging his brother went off and Sans suddenly understood why Papyrus was barracading himself in his bedroom.

"ENOUGH!" A voice crackled over the creepy chanting, mercifully silencing it.

Not far from the deranged group was Grilby, bundled up and burning bright in a way Sans knew meant he was furious.

"I know you are all suffering from the emotional spiking imprint-" say what now? "-but that does not mean you get to chase Papyrus around the town and assault him!"

"We aren't assaulting him! We just want to hug him!"

"Without his consent." The fire elemental crackled, and Sans was glad he was dealing with them because he was very tempted to give the whole lot a Bad Time. "You are currently hyped up on emotions. Go home and quarantine yourselves, Gerson said it should clear up in a day or two. Then once you are better, all of you will apologize to Papryus for your behavior. Now go home!" He ordered, looking ready to fight anyone who thought to test him.

The group left in shame (though quite a few gave Papyrus's window a longing look that might have caused him to chunk tiny bones at them), and Grilby exhaled a plume of dark smoke once they were gone.

"Sorry about that. Gerson said a new monster from Ruin came to visit and-"

"oh i know. i'm the only who took her home." Well, she took him home, but whatever. "she's probably not coming back for a while after accidently knockin' so many people over."

"And emotionally spiking and imprinting on them." Grilby said dryly before explaining what Gerson told everyone.

Sans cringed as Grilby told him how a lot of the people hit by Ivory's... "outburst" had been fine for a little while before suddenly everyone caught in the blast zone was trying to hug Papyrus. His brother took it in stride until they started to refuse to let go, some of the monsters looking slightly unhinged when he pried them off and trying to re-hug him with renewed vigor.

Apparently Gerson had to sit on Undyne when she tried to hug Papyrus in a manner similar to a suplex.

This led to Papyrus breaking out legitimate evasive maneuvers the Sans once taught him as kids to avoid them, leading them on a chase until he could get to his house.

On one hand, Sans was pissed at Ivory for causing this. On the other hand, he knew once he told her she'd be beating herself up for it. 

Then Grilby began to grill him on Ivory. What was she doing here (dropping off a kid that got stuck on the otherside of the door home), what her intentions were (to be the least inconvenient person alive), did he Judge her a good person (yes he did, disaster prone as she was), and if she ever leaves the Ruins again can he please get a warning because holy shit (yeah, he knew exactly what he meant by that).

"don't worry, grilby. ivory ain't a malicious skeleton."

"I trust your judgement, but I am concerned by her severe reaction to your brother."

"gril, imma 'bout to tell you something and take it as you will. i'm the first skeleton she's ever met."

Grilby's face twisted in a manner that Sans knew was surprise, a sense of confusion wavering off of him as well as a nudge to continue.

"i don't know everything but since she lost her family she hasn't seen any other skeletons. i get it, we're a dying breed down here and i don't know enough about her family to know who was who. but i do know my brother and me are the first skeletons she met."

It was true, he didn't know what her family was like. But insinuating only one of her parents was skeleton was easy enough without Grilby asking more since Sans wouldn't honestly know.

It wasn't uncommon for two completely different monsters to have kids together, or for a monster to have a kid on their own so it was totally plausible for her to take after which ever had carried her.

Sans and Pap were born of two different monsters, Gaster having carried both of them.

Sans wished he could remember who his other father was but when Gaster was taken in the accident, Sans lost a lot of memories tied to Gaster and only recalled Gaster decades later after the loops started.

He had no way to confirm it since the data kept getting corrupted when he tried to test it but he was almost positive it was Grilby. Grilby had been the only adult he felt safe with as a newly orphaned child with a baby brother, and Grilby always said they were like the sons he never had, always feeling sad and vaguely confused when he said this.

Here Sans leaned in, amusement tinging his words. "first time i met her she squaked like a chicken and looked ready to bury herself out of awkwardness. instead she turned it around and managed to joke about her hen-inous first impression. and ivory? she can't feel others emotions but she has proven to be intoned with others feelings in someway, and really connects to kids. she's scared easily, is a absolute nervous wreck, knows shit about magic and has the worst taste in drinks i have ever seen. but she's a good lady and i'd be willing to bet my ketchup stash she'd never hurt- or take advantages of- anyone. she's much more likely to get taken advantage of instead." He grumbled that last bit, thinking if Chara and their endless plotting.

Grilby was quiet for a moment. "Why did she react the way she did to Papyrus?"

because back in her home world, he's a huge thing. Sans thought, trying not to shutter at the fact Ivory read fanfiction of his brother. Instead he sighed, looking up to his foster father.

"i may have hyped him up a bit since she's a skeleton. add the fact pap's looks like he stepped out of a fantasy book and poor ivory went overboard in her excitement."

It wasn't even untrue. Sans was very short in comparison to skeleton monsters of old, and pretty plain in looks.

Papyrus though looked like one of those ancient knights during the War, tall and powerful with a skull that was angular and expressive and thick boned. Sans was pretty sure if there had been more skeletons around, he'd be beating them off his brother with a femur.

Sans remembered how monsters practically drooled after his father, and Papyrus was the spitting image of Gaster. It was Sans duty to keep people from trying to woo his too hot for his own good brother until Paps develop enough pessimism or common sense to know everyone wanted to jump his bones. Sans knew this because he distinctly remembered scaring off several people the following weeks after Papyrus turned legal.

Grilby sighed, rubbing under his glasses. "A bit of a extreme reaction, but Papyrus is a handsome boy. Are you sure she will behave herself if she returns? Its been a long time since I gave someone The Talk but Im fairly certain I can give her a good one if necessary."

Sans snorted at that. Yeah, even if Ivory was attracted to Paps, she'd never get Grilby's approval. Especially after this whole mess.

"don't worry, she's not interested just stupidly excitable and easily embaressed. she tried to smother herself with a pillow when we got back to her mentor's place, and wailed about how she was never going to leave the ruins ever again. i'll get her to visit your place next time, promised her i'd treat her to good food."

Surprise curled off of Grilby at that. "You're not one pay for others meals. Even when you say you are you claim to be broke and get them to pay instead." Or stick it on his tab, knowing Gribly won't press him into paying it.

"yeah well, i"m trying to be a... friend to her."

"You hesitated there. Do I need to talk to her like I had to with that madjick boy that was harassing Fuku?"

Yikes no, that madjick was just a punk who thought annoying his crush was a good idea. Fuku complained and Gribly responded, and while he had no idea what he did to the kid he knew Grilby scared the ever loving hells out of him and Fuku was pissed at Gril for weeks after.

"no no, ivory's just... strange, and different. but she gets me in a way i'm... not used to people getting." Sans continued when he felt Grilby's encouraging nudge.

"don't get me wrong, i have friends and paps is the best... but ivory? she understands... things i don't usually talk about with others. like the first time we met? she asked me if i was okay and if i could use a fresh point of view." Sans felt a soft emotion he didn't know how to label at the memory, recalling how nervous she was yet wanting to help him even though she was understandably scared of him.

"she's weird like that, but her soul is in the right place. but she's lived through things that make it easier for her to understand things i've gone through, and we just click in a way i haven't clicked with anyone else. It's Strangely Nice." 

Yes, it was strangely nice to have someone who understood the damn loops, who understood he couldn't keep smiling every second of the day, who- while not expirencing it herself- could understand the hell he and Frisk had been stuck in.

And there was the breathtaking relief that he could be 10000% honest with her, never having to edit his words. And she was so damn new that he had little to no idea what her response was going to be, which was amazing as it was annoying because while he wouldn't know what to say to appease or manipulate her (yet, he'd learn her ticks in time), he got new conversations and new ideas and theories and new amusements from that easily flustered and pretty woman.

Grilby let out a sharp astonishment that was quickly stifled, though not quick enough for Sans to feel it and the undercurrents of hope and delight.

What caused that?

"Ah. I'm glad your making friends and are taking time to spend it not working or napping. I worried you'd work yourself into a early grave." Grilby japed, feeling a family sense of pride at that old joke. 

Sans rolled his eyelights, smiling widening. "yeah yeah, working myself to the bone."

"Hmhmm. Do let me know if your friendship with this Ivory deepens. I like knowing what goes on in my children's lives." Grilby asked, a sense of meaning in his voice that Sans didn't understand.

"sure thing. imma gonna go and let paps know his fanclub is gone now."

"Yes, that be a good idea. Poor boy was cussing up a storm as he fled them."

That brought up Sans short. "you knew he swore?! he's never swore before! ever! if undyne been sayin' these things around him-"

Grilby gave a rather unimpressed look. "I'm pretty certain he picked it up from me."

"....gril, you don't swear either."

"Yes I do, I just don't swear casually like you do. Also, Papyrus is an adult. He is more than old enough to swear if he feels like it."

"nope. he can't swear for at least two more decades."

"Sans, don't infantize him."

"i'm not! but being a adult is not a valid reason for him to swear. and seventy-five is barely legal, he was still a minor a year ago."

"... Sans, he's turning eighty this year."

"since when?!" Paps was eighty?! Since when was he... fuck, damn loop, he never bothered to keep track of people's ages since no one aged in a stable timeloop (and he persanally did not want to try and guess how old he or anyone was suppose to be given the near endless amount of loops he was forced to live and because then he'd wonder if they counted if you kept getting murdered-- Nope. Not Thinking About It At All). 

Had Papyrus really been over eighty before the loop?

Great, just another thing he was going to have to check.

Grilby was giving him that look he used to give him when he was a baby bones when Sans would get sucked unto something so interesting he lost track of time.

"Maybe you should take a vacation? Unwind, rest your weary bones."

Before he could reply a distressingly familar maniacal cackle-sob broke the air, just in time for Sans to see Flowey running out his front door... on viney and leafy legs, viney and leafy arms holding his plushie above his head as he screeched how he was going to stop his evil sibling and niece.

(Why was he hiding in his house? Why and how did he create limbs? Were those Rocky's sprinkles on Flowey's face? Did that fucker eat his pet rock's food?!)

And then Sans registered that over two-thirds of his petals had turned copper since he last saw him.

Sans swore and chased after the deranged flower, ignoring Grilby's questions as he did the mental math of how fast he could catch him with a shortcut before Flowey dived under ground.

Watching his eldest son go chasing after a monster that really shouldn't be running around in snow (seriously, he was a plant monster, they did better in Waterfall) Grilby thought over everything he learned.

Gerson had said Ivory Ostein was a good kid who just needed support and confidence though Grilby was skeptical of anyone that so clearly wanted to "hug" his his youngest son.

Sans had always had a good sense on people and so Grilby wanted to hear his thoughts on her (getting rid of that pesky group that was chasing poor Papyrus was a good enough reason and showed Sans the new girl had caused discord in town and discomfort in Papyrus).

He was a bit surprised by him vouching for her, but his reasons were solid and Sans was certain Ivory had no nefarious intentions towards Papyrus.

He lost sight of Sans and the plant monster (he really hopes that Sans caught the guy, creep was in their house), his thoughts on the way Sans felt as he explained his friendship with Ivory.

The way Sans's normal emotions softened, the swell in his candidness, a raw sense of a shared perception that left Grilby quietly grieving at the thought that Sans had ever felt like nobody understood him before he met this one monster. 

How his fondness for Ivory was evident, a gooey tenderness sticking to his words as his eye lights momentarily burst into bright cyan stars with yellow flecks.

Individually, these could be seen as Sans admiring someone.

Together?

He'd bet his top shelf liquor Sans was expirencing a crush. Quite possibly his first one, knowing how disinterested Sans has always been when it came to romance.

And Grilby was certain the realization wouldn't hit his eldest but rather creep up on him until one day it just occurs to him and he shrugs, adding it to his mental profile.

A strange sense of melancholy echoed through him as for a moment a strange skeleton-like figure with holes in his hands popped into his mind, freaking out and giving Grilby the single most cringey yet soul-felt love confession ever, W̷̙̥̙͌̽̆̇ͅi̵͈̜̫̙̾̾̽ͅn̵͙̣̻͉̬̭͒g̶̲͕͆ ̷̨̡͍̮̗̞̀̒͑̆̌̈D̴̡͈̦̠̿̆į̵͓̣̯͈̯̌́̆̓̎n̸̬̪̲̙͙̿͘g̸͈̫͖̑͘̕̕ looking so nervious and panicky as he told him he loved him and wanted to spend forever with him. As soon as it came though the memory was gone, like it never existed

It be good for him, the fire elemental decided. Sans needed to get out more, work less. He has always been a responsible monster even as a child but Grilby was getting concerned that Sans was getting burnt out, if he wasn't already. 

A crush/new friend could keep him interested and focused, pulling him away from his back-to-back jobs and allowing Sans to get his skull in the here and now (maybe even get him to drop some of his jobs, he really didn't need that many, especially since he was the damn Judge) and maybe reconnect him with his old friends, like Alphys.

And maybe start seeing his brother as a adult that is capable of adulting.... though he knows Papyrus encourages Sans behavior as he believes it helps ground Sans and swears he doesn't mind it.

And he believes Papyrus, he does, but he also was certain Papyrus would eventually come to resent the treatment, or worst, decide to try and keep it up out of some misguided sense of helping Sans.

Yup, best let Sans get distracted with Ivory while Papyrus dips his phalanges into figuring himself out without needing to be his brother's crutch.

Besides, he wasn't as worried about Sans in a relationship as he was Papyrus. Sans was a century and three decades old, he could handle a little crush even though he wasn't aware he had one because he was good at reading people. Add Ivory's inability to hide anything from anyone and Sans was safe from any nefarious plot she may have.

And if something did happen between them? Grilby was a millenia old and one of the few to survive the War. He can ensure she is properly warned to never hurt his boy. And if she ever does? Well, dusting was the least of her problems.

Grilby nodded in satisfaction, heading tonthe front door and let himself in. It was cold and he had a standing invitation to come in when ever he wished to, and he was glad Fuku was spending time with her friends in Hotland and not befriending or getting accidently assaulted by disaster hermits from Ruin. No, she was absolutely not causing him to ash at all and he was thankful for that.

All three of his children having a crisis would be too much even for him.

"Papyrus? The group is gone. I'm going to make dinner while your brother is running a errend." He called out, loud enough he could be heard upstairs.

The sound furniture moving could be heard before a door creaked opened. Papyrus's skull looked over the banister, looking harassed.

"I'm going to make pasta. Want anything special on it?"

"UM... I HAVE THIS WEIRD CRAVING FOR ALFREDO? DO YOU MIND MAKING THAT? THOUGH, UM, WE DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY OF THAT..."

"I have some at the bar. Be right back."