Chapter Text
The delicate balance of timelines, a subject not many dare to brave.
Have you ever considered them to be incomprehensible?
Have you ever considered these to be eternal?
. . .
If you have or if you have not shall matter no more.
As both of these feeble acts in a timeline?
Shall tear them apart by the seams.
The very thought of their existence proves these concepts are in direct opposition of what exists and what does not.
Ah.
Does your mind not get it?
I shall conjure an example.
If something would attempt to exist for eternity, it would shatter apart would it not?
Everything has a beginning and an end.
Yet if you decide to take one of those things away it shall be impossible to sustain.
Without an end there can simply be no beginning, without a beginning there shall be no end to come.
Taking one of these compartments away shall eventually break the cycle, break the thing, break the world and it shall no longer exist.
Now, if you cannot comprehend something, is it truly still there?
The lack of comprehension means the lack of evidence, the lack of evidence means the lack of existence.
Through every calculation, every error, every twist and turn shall you not to be comprehended you shall no longer be able to exist through the world itself rejecting your very being.
Without a world, without a timeline, does one really still exist or has one been reduced to the same level of the concept of nothing itself.
A concept that does not exist yet exists at the same time.
Which shall make you break and splinter into something that no longer functions.
Now.
Shall I present a hypothetical?
One that’s truly peculiar.
Do you suppose that if we would be to take something shattered by eternity.
And something broken by something that could not be comprehended.
We would get a reaction?
.
.
.
Ah I see.
That statement is far to vague.
Shall I present a clearer picture?
Imagine that our objects are not simply something like rocks.
But Timelines instead?
Things and concepts made specifically to bring forth a form of existence.
If those things were to break in two different ways, in two different times and places close to each other.
Would you suppose something interesting would happen?
Ah.
Yes.
Of course there would.
If you compare timelines to glass, you could compare this dilemma to two broken windows with their pieces mixed together.
Do tell me.
How would you react to this?
After all.
I find this.
Very.
Very.
Interesting.
Cracks tore buildings, people and skies apart, mangled time and space back to what it once was going back before breaking and going to the future where they’d started out and trying again.
Frisk could feel it, their body being torn apart, sent back, put back together, sent forth, melting and looping over and over.
Perspectives mingled into one, Frisk could feel thousands of things at once… then they got untangled into how they started out.
Again.
And again.
And again once more.
A beginning that can’t exist.
An ending that doesn’t make sense.
Frisk didn’t know exactly what was going on, but one thing was sure.
This was their fault.
One moment they knew, the other they forgot, then they knew them again in slightly different ways.
Something was breaking.
They could smell the seams of their world rotting.
Would this have always been how it ended up?
Perhaps they wouldn’t have chosen this path if others were possible… though this world was always destined to collapse wasn't it?
Warfare, peace and warfare again, endings, beginnings, beyond comprehension, beyond possible.
If this could splinter a timeline, it would’ve been inevitable.
Frisk felt nothing, then everything, then nothing, then a horrid mix of both and the breaking apart of their body.
Yet it didn’t hurt, not for more than a moment at least.
Their body shattered and dusted and fell and broke and scattered and—
Frisk shot up from the bed they had been sleeping(???) in, body taking shallow rapid breaths as adrenaline kicked in for a threat that… didn’t exist?
Where…
Where did they end up?
How did they end up here- they… they were in some kind of bed?
Deep breaths.
Frisk took deep breaths.
Hah..
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
OH! THEY HADN’T COME SO CLOSE TO KICKING THE BUCKET SINCE THE SICKNESS!
But at least then the horrible feeling never settled in, they were very VERY aware they were about to die and become nothing this time around and it wasn’t even funny.
Frisk looked at the bed they’d been resting on… It sure was yellow…?
But at least it was comfortable! Much more comfortable than the flower bed in the ruins.
Slowly but surely Frisk looked around the room they’d somehow ended up in.
A children’s room? Had they finally become delusional?
The room was pretty large aswell, but maybe that’s because there were supposed to be a lot of kids, there seemed to be four beds- two bunk beds each bed with their own colour.
A yellow and a mystery colour one, the yellow bottom bunk was the one Frisk was sitting on.
The other beds were blue and pink.
There was a box shaped old crusty television in the corner next to the second bunk bed, on a mystery color drawer in the shape of a circle.
On the other side of the room next to the bed Frisk was in were two dressers, one with a lamp and a few framed pictures and the other with a box of mechanical parts and relatively unused dusty crayons.
Then there was a toybox opposite of the drawers, grown to be dusty and everything inside was forgotten by time except for a few music boxes placed on top of it.
In the last corner of the room was a set of stairs going down to… somewhere Frisk didn’t know, but there was a trapdoor beside the railings making them question if someone had fallen down them enough times for them to have to have been installed.
There was only one more peculiarity, between the beds was a circular blue rug with someone laying on it, a young fox monster that was staring at the ceiling in a way that looked like they were contemplating all of their life choices.
It seemed the moment Frisk laid eyes on them they shivered and something in their demeanor shifted as their head slowly turned to Frisk.
Brown dull eyes staring straight into their soul, the pristine thick white fur that indicated that this monster was suited for snowdin which had seemed to have accumulated more around their neck (neck fluff??) and chest seemed like a complete mess, likely due to their conversation with the floor.
Their hair and clothes were almost identical to someone they lost.
But.
Unlike Clover their hair had purplish tips and were tied back by a red bow.
The monster sat upwards revealing they had been laying on their tail in a rather uncomfortable way, their expression twisted from one of contemplation to one of amusement.
Mouth- snout?? Curled into a smile too wide to seem natural and the air around them- an air Frisk was used to utilizing to sense their LV seemed distorted in a way.
<Good Morning~ slept well after pushing me to the ground, or do we both suffer from future back problems on this fine day?>
/. . .\
Frisk didn’t reply, as much as they wanted to considering how reminiscent this person was to Flowey it wouldn’t be worth the energy to do so judging from the general energy surrounding this person.
Especially since after that trip of a dream? They’re not at their peak of composure.
<… You know usually people are decent enough to reply when spoken to right?>
The monster got up and made a huffy sound before stretching.
Frisk didn’t know if normal monsters had bones but this one’s back still popped before they brushed off their clothes.
<. . .>
/. . .\
<Well?>
/It’s for water.\
<. . . What?>
/A well. Is. For water.\
<???????>
The monster and Frisk stared at each other for a good few minutes, the monster blinking in confusion.
Frisk would’ve mimicked them if their eyes had actually been open.
<Love the energy for you, hate that it’s directed at me.>
/Isn’t that just hypocrisy?\
<Of course it is, but I never said I wasn’t a hypocrite did I?>
/Do you greet all human strangers like this?\
The monster's eyes widened a little, a devilish grin twisting onto their snout.
<So~>
They spoke in a sugary sweet tone.
<I assume you haven’t looked at a mirror let alone just down at your own ‘hands’ yet?>
Frisk paused, they threw the blanket they were peacefully sleeping under to the side and swung their legs off of the bed looking down at what they could see of their new appearance.
Sandy coloured paws covered in mystery colour vines, they wore an oil stained apron covering their long sleeved clothes and— the shirt they were was gold and mystery colour but honestly if they were a monster now they had a nagging feeling it was either red or green without them being able to tell.
They also wore grey longed pants with wide pipes, they wondered what they’d been doing before this to go to bed in day clothes.
<Got a good look?- honestly I’m surprised you didn’t notice this.>
/I can live with not being human.\
After being just goop for a long time it isn’t the easiest thing to remember how your original body should feel like.
<. . . So you’re not gonna->
/Nope.\
<Okay.>
The monster walked over to the bed Frisk was stationed on and sat down next to them.
<So!!! Don’t you think we should introduce ourselves?>
/No, I think we should stay strangers.\
<Har har har, we’re in the same situation with the same knowledge, like it or not we’re in an alliance- uneasy or not.>
/I was being sarcastic.\
<Awfully hard to tell with that stone cold face of yours.>
The monster poked at Frisk's face for a moment before getting swatted away, making them roll their eyes.
<How about I start then, I am Reset, I am supposed to be the seventh fallen human.>
They didn’t reach out a hand or try to make any kind of polite gesture while doing so.
Interesting, the seventh fallen human… Did they know about Chara or was this just a coincidence and someone fell into the underground instead of Frisk?
/I’m Frisk, the last fallen human and before this reset ambassador of monsterkind.\
Reset looked Frisk up and down with a skeptical expression before standing back up.
<No wonder you reset, a small child as ambassador of a kingdom full of people with brains of even smaller children is destined to end up being a disaster.>
/You know you’re one of those people now right?\
<Who cares, every rule has its exceptions.>
/So you’re the exception of the rule that dictates someone needs a soul to live?\
<HAH I wish, I’ll be looking around the room, go and sit back and not get in the way or something.>
Reset waved their paw dismissively as they walked away, Frisk couldn’t help but note the wobble and lack of balance in their movements.
They should go help- or atleast find clues themself for if Reset doesn’t share anything.
As much as they’d like a reliable ally it’s painfully clear they don’t have anything remotely close to that.
Frisk jumped off of the bed finding the floor to be farther away than expected, once they were standing on their own two feet they noticed. . .
They were definitely shorter than before the reset, have they been scammed out of their height?
Rude.
They took a step forward and!!!
Immediately noticed there was an unusual weight in their back marking them stumble back and grasp onto the bed for dear life.
They have done and were gonna do a lot of things in their life… but making a fool out of themself within the first minutes of knowing an unreliable ally was not going to be one of them.
With a bit more care Frisk tried to leave the safety of the side of the bed again, it was slow but steady.
This way they wouldn’t fall and they’d get somewhere at the same time.
. . .
Even if it took longer than they’d hoped, it didn’t matter they weren’t in a rush.
Frisk walked over to the drawers of the dresser, upon opening it there were clothes.
Wow.
Surprising.
Usually people have random stuff in their drawer but they were actually clothes.
They weren’t going to think about how clothes in a dresser was surprising to them because it probably shouldn’t.
They moved on to the other drawers, just more clothes and for some reason some dog food in the one with pink-ish clothes???
With slight disappointment they turned away to continue searching, but it seemed Reset had found something and took a drawing off the wall.
Frisk waddled over and tugged on their cowboy vest.
Reset took a glance at Frisk and then back at the drawing before crouching down to show it to them, it had six figures scribbled on it in a colorful environment that probably wasn’t really based off of anything.
One that looked like Reset, one that looked like a fennec fox looking monster with multiple tails wearing an apron over clothes similar to the purple fox and with dark brown hair with orange streaks.
Then there was the brown fox again next to a significantly longer one wearing a tutu and ballet shoes over fancy-ish clothes having their dark hair tied up with a red bow.
Lastly the largest figures were an orange and purple fox.
All the characters were labeled, the one that looked vaguely like Reset was labeled Clover, the fennec looking fox was Frisk (their name??? Is that what they look like??? They should find a mirror) the brown fox was labeled Kanako, the bat eared fox labeled Crochet and the two largest foxes mom and dad, their actual names Ceroba and Chujin written in brackets with a neater pen having fixed a spelling mistake.
<Wow. Who fixes a spelling mistake in a kids drawing?>
/Probably someone who’s kid asked their name specifically for a drawing.\
<Of course Chujin would correct it himself and not let his kid just write it herself.>
/Do you know him?\
<Of course not.>
/Then don’t talk like you do.\
<I wasn’t, you might have big ears but you sure are deaf.>
Frisk repressed the urge to punt their kind of sibling???
How was this Clover?
They remember the decrepit old man saying something along the lines of other timelines but they didn’t really care to listen.
This just proves to them their actual sibling is dead and replaced by whatever Reset was supposed to be.
You know what they’d rather believe Clover is dead than that this is actually their original sibling, they’d like to think their family would’ve recognized their name.
They looked back at the drawing, everyone looked happy.
They wonder where the other two children are if not here.
‘Kanako’ and ‘crotchet’. . .
/Oh right, Kanako, I remember her.\
<You knew her?>
/Not that well, I got ‘sick’ on the surface and some of her matter was used to help me before I reset.\
<. . . So it’s your fault we’re like this.>
/It could just as easily be your fault.\
<I highly doubt that.>
/Didn’t you just recognize one of the foxes names?\
<No I didn't.>
/Don’t gaslight me.\
<I’m not.>
/You are.\
<No way.>
/Yes way.\
<You're being delusional.>
/I’m pointing out things you’ve said.\
<Are you sure that’s what I said?>
/yes.\
<Then you need to get your ears checked.>
/No I don’t.\
<You obviously do.>
/we’re getting sidetracked.\
<Because you wanted to argue about something that didn’t happen.>
/i'm not arguing about something that didn’t happen if it happened.\
<okay but it didn’t.>
/it did.\
<incorrect buzzer.>
/is that even an argument?\
<it is now>
/argument.\
<You can’t just say argument and expect that to work.>
/You said incorrect buzzer.\
<Okay, I’m ending this here we have better things to do.>
/coward.\
Reset put the drawing back in its place on the wall, almost as if it’s never been touched.
That’s what Frisk assumes anyways they weren’t keeping track of it.
/So, that drawing says you are Clover.\
<Technically.>
/What does that mean?\
<Whatever you think it means, I’m as much Clover as you think I am.>
/Do I have to strangle you to get a straight answer?\
<No because that implies strangling me would work, I’m Reset. End of conversation.>
/But that—\
Frisk was cut off as their body froze in its tracks, they heard someone coming up the stairs.
A larger figure but not like Asgore because the steps were neither light nor heavy.
One of the adults in the drawing? Reset had gone silent as well, must’ve also noticed.
The steps became louder and louder as the person walked up the stairs at a calm pace.
The trapdoor got gently pushed open and a purple fox wearing red-green goggles and similar yet more vibrant clothes in comparison to Frisk’s (though without the apron) walked into the room.
According to the drawing this should be Chujin.
He looks more unkept than Frisk expected, was it because he just woke up or?
“You kids are already awake? What special occasion am I waking up to?”
Frisk got a chill sent down their spine as they felt the unsettling air around Reset shift almost as if a switch was flipped, they smiled almost sheepishly when Chujin looked at them for answers.
<Hehe… It’s nothing, I just fell out of bed and woke Frisk up.>
Chujin raised an eyebrow.
“You’re not covering for Frisk throwing you out of bed again are you?”
Reset made a little sound, avoiding the older monster's eye contact.
<hm? . . No I’m not.>
Chujin sighed fondly walking over to the two and ruffled their hair.
“You’ve never been very good at lying you know? You’re too young for that. Come on, breakfast is almost ready, I promise I won’t tell your mom if it doesn’t happen again okay?”
Chujin headed back downstairs, at least his mood seemed to have improved.
The moment he was out of sight Reset let out a sigh and reverted to how they’d been moments ago, that’s so uncanny how easily and convincingly they do that.
If it wasn’t used against them it might be a good asset.
<Wow. I really thought that guy was dead.>
Frisk’s head snapped towards them.
/You do know that guy.\
Reset rolled their eyes and placed a paw on Frisk’s back and pushed them towards the stairs.
<No. of course I don’t, I just said I thought he was dead, now come on you don’t want to feel the wrath of a mother now do you?>
/You infuriate me.\
<don’t worry, it’s mutual darling.>
Frisk didn’t entertain them any further, they were either getting enjoyment out of driving them insane or genuinely just this annoying without even trying.
Almost like Mettaton.
Frisk started to carefully go down the stairs, now they were getting used to balancing with tails it was starting to become easy… How many tails did they even have? Three? Four?
Probably four but they don’t trust their own counting capabilities.
After a long suffering struggle with stairs Frisk found a few framed papers? Certificates? Rewards?
Frisk inspected a few of them, the first one was in Chujin’s name, a school diploma as far as they could tell, they recognized the names to be one of the more prestigious ones they had to see students of while they were ambassador.
Seems this school already existed before the surface, they never noticed but it made sense.
The next one was strangely in Frisk’s own name, but with a different last name ‘Ketsukane.’
They really were part of this family here last name and all.
It was about completing a beginner course on making junk robots in the steamworks.
Truly.
A masterpiece.
The third was a cowboy permit, did cowboys need permits to be cowboys?
Why did none of the cowboys in any movies they watched have any?
It was in Clover's name…
Heh, they deserved it.
The last thing that hung from the wall was a trophy paper congratulating Ceroba on completing the advanced course on corn cuisine.
Wow.
There were two empty spaces on the wall, like something had been hanging there until recently.
Frisk heard a series of thuds and slowly turned to look, Reset stood there casually brushing off their clothes looking considerably less tidy than before.
/. . . Did you just fall off the stairs?\
<Does it look like it?>
/Yeeee-\
Reset pulled out a toy gun and pointed it at Frisk.
/eeeeee-No.\
They’re not dealing with that today, there are better things to focus on than trying to not get shot and some stupid stairs.
<Exactly.>
Reset put the toy weapon away again, Frisk knew how stupidly dangerous regular objects with the intent to hurt could be.
They weren’t entirely sure if they wanted to risk finding out if they could still load this early on.
Frisk wanted to go and explore a bit more, they haven’t seen this place during their journey in the underground.
But much to their own dismay Reset had already walked through the door to the living room and left it wide open so they couldn’t exactly sneak around or find out for themself.
The room looked like a pretty cozy eastern themed living room, a kotatsu on a rug in the middle of it and a fireplace with some decoration being the most notable things Frisk could think of.
<Goodmorning.>
Reset sat down at the Kotatsu opposite of the orange fox- Ceroba.
Frisk decided to sit down next to them, there was food on the table, it looked too hot to eat.
Ceroba looked surprised for a moment at Frisk and Reset's arrival.
Chujin looked almost proud at their appearances.
“See dear? I told you they’d listen to me if I asked them to come down.”
“Color me surprised, I didn’t think you’d be able to get them out of bed… (Now the chowder’s too hot for them)”
Frisk cocked their head to the side a little, did they make a bet on getting them out of bed or something.
/We’d already gotten out of bed when you came up though. . ?\
Ceroba slowly turned to Chujin with a suspicious look, Chujin turned away.
“Ah, so it wasn’t because of your claim you can get our darling children to get out of bed faster on your own?”
“I don't know what you’re talking about love of my life.”
Frisk felt like they just accidentally betrayed who should be their father, it felt satisfying.
Besides them Reset was poking at the chowder, stirring the hot substance.
<I heard you whispering about something earlier.>
They commented with a bit of curiosity in their tone before giving a small smile.
<What were you two talking about?>
Ceroba waved one of her paws dismissively.
“It’s nothing you should worry about, what you should be worrying about is eating a proper meal before uncle Starlo runs you ragged.”
Frisk raised an eyebrow.
Did it run in the blood to deflect questions?
Well considering Reset was human before this that wouldn’t make sense, along with the fact this was done way more naturally than the blunt gaslighting strategy Reset used.
Chujin lightly tapped Frisk’s bowl, it seemed to have become less hot..?
What a convenient usage for ice magic, they should’ve invested more time into learning more about using magic outside of battle.
Frisk picked up their spoon and took a bite, it was warm, but not too hot either.
Nice.
They should ask something right?
Maybe just to get some more information, Reset didn’t seem to be getting anymore out of them anyways.
/Mom, dad?\
Ceroba and Chujin looked up at them from their individual meals, somehow already a bit tense.
What could they ask… the empty beds? Siblings? It would be a gamble to ask…
Eh, why not, gambling addiction free subscription here we go.
/When will our siblings be back?\
Ceroba chuckled awkwardly and Chujin gave a nervous smile.
Did they make a mistake?
A moment of silence passed before Ceroba responded.
“Like we said yesterday, they’re in the lab getting better and doing all sorts of fun things.”
Chujin nodded before taking another bite from his meal and speaking in a gentle tone.
“Don’t worry about them Frisk, when you see them again they’ll be better than ever and you can all play together again okay?”
Frisk just held their head down and gave a small nod, they weren’t stupid.
This body might be younger than they were before the reset but that didn’t mean their mind suffered the same fate.
The four sat there eating in silence, to some awkward to others relieving.
They all had things to do today, some just were less aware of it than others and some needed this grace of silence more than others.