Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Frisk’s eyes darted to the clock at the top right of the register screen. Just five minutes to go.

“That’ll be twenty dollars fifteen, thanks,” she said through an obligatory smile.

The man standing opposite her pulled a large, expensive-looking phone from his back pocket and touched it to the card reader. He stood out from the locals of Emerald Springs with his designer sunglasses and trendy haircut. Maybe he was just passing through on his way to the coast, or she might find him at The Fox and Flower on Friday night. It was the most expensive bar in town and a tourist magnet.

“Thanks,” the stranger said with a nod. “See ya.”

There were no more customers waiting in line and Frisk watched him leave with his bag of groceries. Just four minutes left.

“He was cute!” Juniper said from the register opposite from Frisk, in what was meant to be a conspiratorial whisper but was definitely louder. “You should have asked for his number!”

Juniper was much older than Frisk; definitely old enough to retire, but she thrived on town gossip from local customers. They had a good working relationship but Frisk could never confide in her about anything. She had made that mistake before.

Before Frisk had the chance to reply to Juniper’s comment, three customers approached the registers at once. By the time she had scanned their orders it was past six. Time to go.

“That’s me,” she said, placing a sign on the conveyor belt and signing out of the register.

“Have a good night!” Juniper chirruped, and Frisk slipped away as more customers lined up at Juniper’s counter.

She stepped out of the Emerald Springs grocer and into a warm summer evening. The main street buzzed with activity despite the heat: tourists were weaving in and out of air conditioned stores, lining up for ice cream or taking photos of Mt. Ebott. The mountain towered to the east of Emerald Springs, resplendent in the setting sun. It was usually obscured by cloud, so when the mountain showed its face everyone stopped to admire it. Frisk snapped a few pictures on her phone before heading down the main street towards it. Her parents’ house was just a ten minute walk away.

Emerald Springs was one of many small settlements circling Mt. Ebott. The region was famous for its produce and the natural springs after which the town had been named. The water here was rumored to have magical healing properties, and desperate people from all over the country visited to drink or bathe in the water. Some found a cure for their ailments, others did not. Frisk, like the other residents, had grown up drinking the spring water and they were distinctly ordinary.

The crowds thinned when she stepped off the main street, walking uphill to her parents’ house. Her mother was working at a summer camp for the rest of the week, but her father would be home already, preparing dinner. As she approached the house, Frisk could already smell meat and vegetables searing on the barbecue. Lunch seemed so long ago.

She let herself in through the back gate and her father met her with a huge, silly grin. He was a big man, tall and broad, with handsome blond hair and a beard. Growing up, Frisk had loathed looking so much like her mother. Even now she wished that she had at least inherited her father’s golden hair.

Frisk walked over to him and he wrapped her up in a huge bear hug. He smelled strongly of barbecue smoke and fertilizer. She laughed when her father finally released her.

“Dad, you’ve got to stop doing that! It’s too hot!”

“I’ll stop doing it when you stop laughing, kid,” he replied. “Now, would my favorite child like to join me for a beer and a burger on this fine evening?”

“You’re my favorite dad so I guess so.”

Frisk walked inside and retrieved two chilled cans from the fridge. On the way out she picked up plates and cutlery, and set the table while her father made the burgers. The western flank of the mountain blushed gold as the sun finally set. Frisk had always been drawn to its imposing form. It rose up from the gently undulating fields like a castle.

“She’s looking fine today, isn’t she?” her father remarked, placing a plate of food before Frisk.

“You always call it a ‘she’, why is that?”

“Mt. Ebott has always been beautiful and terrifying. Just like your mother. And her mother. And my mother. And my grandmother…”

Frisk sampled the beer. As a bored country kid she had tried it when she was underage, but now that she was old enough to legally drink she still wasn’t sure that she liked it.

“How was work today, bud?” her father asked.

“Same as always,” she replied through a mouthful of food. “Loads of tourists coming through, and Juniper wanting me to ask them out. I’m too tired to do anything after work except watch TV.”

“Mmm,” her father agreed. “How many more weeks?”

“Two weeks before I need to drive back.”

Her father sipped at his beer pensively. “Your mother and I miss you when you’re gone,” he said. “But we know this place isn’t your home anymore. You’ll go on to do great things - whatever you set your mind to, you’ve got the determination to achieve it. We’ve always known you were special.”

“You and mom aren’t ever going to leave, are you?” It was not a question.

Her father played with his empty can, rolling it along the table.

“We like the slow life. I have my flowers and your mother has her students. We’re happy here, but you always have a home with us.”

Frisk reclined in her chair, which squeaked as she shifted her weight. She sprawled out, trying to cool off. With a beer in hand, she watched the stars blink in the darkening sky.

“Are you working again tomorrow?” her father asked after a while.

“No, I’ve got a day off. My first in two weeks. I thought I might stay at home in the aircon, maybe go for a walk if the weather’s nice.”

“Why don’t you walk up Mt. Ebott? You’ve got your car, you can get there easy enough. And the temperature’s a lot cooler on the mountain. Well, whatever you decide, I’ll pack you lunch.”

Mt. Ebott was now a dusky blue, rising cool and silent above the sweltering lowlands. Ever since Frisk had moved away she had wanted to climb it, but hadn’t found the time. Maybe she would go there tomorrow.

That night, Frisk had a strange dream. She was walking to Mt. Ebott from Emerald Springs - a journey that would normally take several hours on foot - but she arrived at the mountain and hiked up the trail. Once she reached its barren peak, the earth began to tremble and the ground cracked open to reveal an abyss underneath. Screams bubbled up from inside the mountain: people were crying out for her to save them! Their pleas mingled with the rumbling and grinding of rock against rock as the earth continued to shake.

“I’ll get help!” Frisk screamed down to the wretched souls trapped underground. But she was overwhelmed by the enormity of her task as she stared helplessly into the breach. The truth was that she couldn’t do anything. Their pitiful cries echoed over and over, like they were stuck in some sort of hell down there.

Frisk thought about the nightmare over her morning toast and coffee, and decided that beer did not agree with her.

Her father had already left for the day, but true to his word he had packed her a sandwich and fruit for lunch. Frisk sent him a thank you message. She was so lucky to have loving and supportive parents, and she shuddered to think what her life would have been like without them.

The day was already heating up, so she changed into a t-shirt, shorts and sneakers. After shoving a few necessary items in a small backpack she walked out to her car. The black ‘97 Avalon was parked on the road outside her parents’ house, under the shade of an old camphor tree. The drive to the trailhead would take about thirty minutes, on backroads through crops and pasture. Frisk knew all of the farmers around Emerald Springs, but on the drive out she only passed a battered old flatbed belonging to Mr. Stone. They exchanged a wave as they sped past each other on the narrow road.

At the car park there were three other vehicles, all unoccupied. Frisk didn’t recognize any of them, and she was grateful not to run into anyone else she knew. Being back in Emerald Springs reminded her of how much she had hated growing up in a small country town.

The Avalon crunched to a stop on the loose gravel and Frisk stepped out into a cloud of dust. There was only one trail on the western face of the mountain, as the other had been closed after a rock fall. After a swig of water, Frisk started up the path. The mountain’s feet were wrapped in a dense, dry forest. Invisible birds called out in the canopy above, and a light breeze ruffled the leaves. Here the trail was littered with cigarette butts, broken beer bottles and plastic trash. There had been a bin at the trailhead once, but it had been burnt years ago and the council had never replaced it. Frisk resolved to pick up the litter on the way back.

The trail was steep in parts and Frisk had to stop to catch her breath: she had lost her fitness since starting college. She passed one couple as they walked back to their car, but otherwise there was not a soul around. Frisk didn’t mind solitude sometimes, especially after so many days of working. She only had two more weeks left of her summer break and she felt like it had been wasted. Her few friends in Emerald Springs were either out of town or working, and she was too shy to form any lasting friendships with the summer tourists.

She missed college: her dorm, her friends, the local coffee shops, and even the classes. Maybe she would stay on campus over the winter: next summer would be her graduation. By then she would have everything figured out. Right?

Frisk walked along the trail, deep in thought, when she stopped in her tracks. The trees were thinning out, the forest replaced by huge boulders that cluttered the western slope of the mountain. She stared left and right. Something was off, but she couldn’t pick it. Frisk backtracked and stepped off the path, weaving through rocks and fallen logs until she found it: the other trail. It used to cross the main path here, but the council had filled it in with debris to discourage people from using it. Satisfied, Frisk turned back to the main route. She stopped - there it was again. A thin call, faint, but definitely not belonging to a bird or animal. Her skin crawled. Frisk knew the urban legends about this place. But what if someone was out there, lost and alone?

Trying to ignore the blood pounding in her ears, she listened out.

“Heeeelp!”

She followed the old trail, or what was left of it, to the source of the voice. Icy dread clutched at her heart. Had the creepy dream from last night actually been some sort of premonition?

“Help! Please!” the voice cried. It was high-pitched, shaking with fright. What was a child doing all alone out here?

Frisk scrambled through the bush, twigs and rocks scraping at her exposed legs. She flinched when a thorny vine hooked into her ankle.

“I’m coming!” she gasped, “just hang on!”

The path had totally disappeared, and though the midday sun shone overhead the boulders trapped cold air between them. Frisk shivered as she squeezed though a narrow gap, and turned a corner. A wide-mouthed cave yawned before her, stalactites and stalagmites forming rows of sharp teeth. But it was strangely airy inside, lit by the sun from a gap in the ceiling.

“Over here!” called the child.

Frisk stepped into the cave and her heart skipped a beat. The floor fell away into nothingness. Vines snaked over the ground to form a thick mat: she would need to be careful not to trip on them. She edged over to the gap and peered inside. It was like a black hole, swallowing up the sunlight, and so dark that Frisk could not see the bottom.

“Hey kid, where are you?” she called out.

“I’m in here!” said a voice from inside the pit. “Oh, I’m so glad you came. I’m stuck down here. Can you help?”

“Um, I don’t have any rope but I’m sure I can find something. Do your parents know you were climbing the mountain?”

“Yes, they’re stuck down here too!” the voice replied. “We split up. Can you help us?”

“Yeah, um, I just need to think…”

She swallowed the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her. Maybe the vines in the cave would do the trick? She hunted for a live vine among the dead ones. Her backpack was hindering her, so she removed it. After a few failed attempts, she finally ripped up a long, green vine. It gave her at least thirty feet to work with, but even that might not be long enough.

Frisk began feeding it over the edge.

“Can you see it yet?” she called.

“No… wait, yes, it’s coming down! Keep going!”

Frisk peered over the edge, but could only see a murky darkness.

“Almost there!” the child cried out, their voice trembling with anticipation.

Frisk was almost out of vine when a gentle tug sent a ripple up into her arm.

“I got it! Can you pull me up?”

Stupidly, Frisk hadn’t thought about this part. The vine seemed sturdy, but could it actually support the weight of a child? She had no idea how heavy they were.

“Um, I’ll try! If the vine starts to fray let me know, alright?”

Again, Frisk didn’t know what to do if the vine snapped. Clearly she hadn’t consumed enough coffee that morning.

She moved her legs a shoulder’s width apart, and dug her toes into the matted vines surrounding the pit for added stability.

“Here goes! Hang on, kid!”

Frisk pulled with all her strength, but to her surprise there was a massive weight on the other end. A moment later she was pulled smartly forward, tipping over into the void. She screamed as she plunged head-first into the icy darkness under the mountain.

Chapter Text

When Frisk’s eyes cracked open, her vision was filled with light. She felt comfortable here, very comfortable. She wanted to go back to sleep, but something stirred in her.

Danger, it warned.

Frisk blinked awake properly, and when her vision came into focus she was staring at the sun. She squinted and sat up. Her whole body ached, and she groaned in pain. Frisk realized that she had landed on a flower bed, and she was surrounded by beautiful golden-yellow flowers. They were like nothing she had seen before on the surface: these blooms were the size of dinner plates.

Something shifted in the corner of her left eye. A hulking shape crouched in the shadows, beyond the pool of light.

“Welcome back,” it purred in a deep, insidious voice.

Frisk was too surprised to reply or even move, and she froze when a huge, clawed hand materialized from the gloom. The skin stretched over it was black and bubbling, like it had been burnt, and it dripped with a foul dark liquid. Before its owner entered the light, the hand shrank back into the shadows. Frisk felt the menacing presence retreat. A faint, white glow appeared in the corner of her right eye, and she turned her head to look at it. The spectre grew in size as it approached, moving with astonishing speed as it rushed to the spot where the other creature had been. When Frisk realized what it was she cried out in terror. The ghostly light was actually a massive, disembodied skull, flying through the air. It looked wolfish, with its long muzzle and mouthful of sharp teeth, but the horn-like protrusions and split lower jaw were reptilian.

The skull hovered several feet off the ground, but when it reached the place where the shadowy monster had been, it lowered itself to inspect the area. With a low growl of exasperation it looked up, its gaze firmly fixed on Frisk. It had large eyeballs, white and faintly glowing in its sockets.

“No! No, wait!” she cried. When she tried to scoot backwards a savage pain radiated from her right ankle up her leg.

“Aargh!”

The skull, miraculously, did not approach her. It hovered at the edge of the light, with something like curiosity in its gaze. Maybe it was sizing her up before it bit her head off.

There was a faint pop nearby, followed by footsteps scuffing on the stone floor.

“nice of you to drop in,” said the stranger, a hint of laughter in his voice.

The stranger entered the light, and they were definitely not what Frisk had been expecting. A humanoid skeleton with a short and stocky frame appeared, a wide grin on his face. He was dressed in casual clothes: a blue hoodie, white t-shirt, black knee-length shorts, and… fluffy pink slippers?

A light hovered in each empty eye socket, white and glowing like those of the floating skull. The skeleton looked down at Frisk, wondering what to make of her. Meanwhile her eyes darted between the skeleton and disembodied skull. She must have had a bad concussion to be seeing all this!

“the name’s sans. sans the skeleton,” the stranger said. Surprisingly, his jaw did not move as he spoke. His mouth was stuck in a rictus, but Frisk could not be sure if he was actually cheerful or not.

“i see you’ve already met one of my sentinel skulls,” the skeleton continued. “they keep an eye out for trouble, and this one found you.”

Frisk just stared up at Sans and the sentinel skull mutely.

“…do you have a name or do i need to guess?”

Her mouth was so dry that she coughed first before speaking. “F-Frisk,” she croaked.

“sounds like you’ve got a froggit in your throat. heh. so you’re human, right? that's hilarious.”

Unsure of how to reply to the skeleton’s comment, she backed away a little, to put some more space between herself and the strange monsters before her.

“tough crowd… i'm no sawbones but that ankle of yours looks broken. i've got something that’ll fix it up.”

Sans removed his left hand from the front pocket of his hoodie, holding something that looked like a candy bar. When Frisk did not take it, he waved it tantalizingly in front of her.

“not going to hurt ya, bud. it's chocolate.”

What good was a chocolate bar going to do for a broken ankle? Whatever her thoughts on the matter, Frisk’s situation was hopeless and she was at the mercy of these creatures. With shaking hands she took the bar from Sans’s grip, unwrapped it and took a bite. The chocolate vanished in her mouth before she could chew. The pain in her ankle and the stiffness in her body ebbed away.

The skeleton chuckled at the obvious disbelief on her face.

“come on. let's get you out of here.”

Sans extended his empty hand and Frisk took it. An enormous fart ripped through the stony silence. Mortified, Frisk blushed while the skeleton gave a hearty chuckle.

“heh heh. didn't think you’d fall for that trick so easily, even if you do exceed at falling. ya gotta keep your wits down here. no more brain farts, alright?”

Frisk pulled a face and grabbed the skeleton’s hand again. He lifted her up half-heartedly.

“that's the spirit. walk with me and stick close. i've got an errand here before we can leave.”

The sentinel skull turned and drifted into the darkness and Sans followed it, Frisk in tow. Though the skeleton had the voice of an adult, he was no taller than a child.

“Um, Sans? Where are we, exactly?”

“this place used to be called ‘home’ but now everyone knows it as ‘the ruins’. for obvious reasons.”

As they left the pool of sunlight behind, and the shock of the fall wore off, Frisk began taking in her surroundings. The sentinel skull lit the way with its faint glow. As her eyes adjusted Frisk noticed piles of crumbling rock, covered in scorch marks. The stench of burning lingered in the still air.

They entered a large hall, completely dark except for a single yellow light at the other end.

“not much further now, human,” Sans said. “then we’re outta here.”

The skeleton and disembodied skull ignored the light, passing it without a glance. Frisk, on the other hand, was drawn to it. She stopped and stared.

“that old thing?” said Sans, walking back to her, “they're everywhere in the underground. have been for hundreds of years. nobody knows what they do, or if they ever had a purpose.”

The light hovered above the ground like the sentinel skull, twinkling an invitation to Frisk that she could not resist.

“you can touch it if you want. maybe it will illuminate us both.”

Frisk made another face. The puns were getting worse!

She reached out with her right hand, moving it into the golden glow. A pleasant sensation spread up her arm and through her body. She felt incredible! Sans stepped forward and waved his hand around inside the light, unimpressed.

“eh. nothing,” he said. “but it has done something to you.”

“Yeah! I don’t know what happened but I feel amazing!”

“huh. could be that this thing only works for humans. can’t test my theory though, not a big enough sample size down here.”

“I’m the only human? But I swear a child was calling to me earlier?”

Sans shifted uneasily beside her.

“uh, let’s finish this conversation another time. can you feel that?”

The hairs on Frisk’s arms and the back of her neck stood on end. The darkness seemed to writhe around them.

“we're being watched. but don’t worry, it won’t bother us with my sentinel on the lookout. let's keep going.”

Frisk shivered, remembering that creepy hand reaching out to her. Had the cries for help been a trap? A trick to lure her in? Or maybe the kid had been killed by the monster. Whatever the case, she was now stuck underneath Mt. Ebott. She groaned aloud, remembering her backpack. It was still sitting in the cave. But, if she was lucky, a search and rescue team would find it and send someone looking for her.

They walked up a flight of stairs, stepping over rubble and gaps where the rock had been shattered. All the while the wolfish sentinel skull patrolled around them, occasionally darting into the gloom. Once she heard something like a hiss from a room they had just walked through. The grinning skeleton at her side remained silent.

When they reached another large room, this one with water channels hewn into the floor, Sans finally stopped beside a large, flat stone. He began removing more items stuffed in his pockets. There was candy bars, instant noodle packets, three live snails, and something that looked like a hot dog. Sans placed everything on the stone and walked back to Frisk.

“ok bud, let’s go-”

“Wait! Oh, Mr. Skeleton! Please wait!” cried a reedy voice. The sentinel hovered over to investigate. With her heart in her mouth, Frisk wondered if it was the lost child that had called out to her earlier. But the skull’s glow revealed a spider, no bigger than Frisk’s palm, scuttling towards them while waving its front legs for attention.

“i haven’t seen any spiders here for a while,” Sans said, walking over to it.

“Oh, it’s been horrible! We scattered after the old lady set fire to the ruins. Please, can you get me out of here? It’s so cold, and there’s a creature lurking in the dark…”

“we know. it's been following us. but it’s your lucky day, we were just about to head out.”

Sans stooped low to the ground and the spider crawled up his sleeve and settled in his hood.

“Thank you!” squeaked a tiny, muffled voice.

“frisk, i have a shortcut out of here but you’ll need to take my hand. no childish pranks this time, okay?” he said sternly.

She grabbed the skeleton’s hand once again. His eyelights flicked to the food pile, and Frisk wondered who it was for. The sentinel skull backed away, watching them.

“alright, step forward with me on three. one, two, thr-”

As she shifted her weight forward to take the step, the fabric of the universe folded around them in a dizzying rush of light and color. Noise screamed in Frisk’s ears, but only for a fraction of a second. Her right sneaker crunched into snow, and she stared, open-mouthed, at their new surroundings.

They were standing on the outskirts of a cute little town, sometime in the early afternoon. Everything was covered by a neat layer of crisp snow. In the distance, Frisk could see some of the residents. Many were animals that she was familiar with - bears, rabbits, dogs and deer - walking upright and fully clothed. The others bore little resemblance to anything on the surface.

“this is snowdin,” Sans said. “me and my bro live here, but i'll give you the tour later.”

They had appeared before a well-kept, two story timber-clad house. Frisk’s teeth were already chattering by the time Sans unlocked the door. Sadly, inside was not much warmer.

“It’s f-f-freez-zing here!” Frisk said, hugging her chest and stamping her feet. Her t-shirt offered no protection from the cold.

“maybe it’s the way you’re dressed,” Sans replied with a hint of sarcasm. “we have spare clothes upstairs.”

Everything inside the skeleton’s house seemed normal enough. She caught a glimpse of a tiled kitchen with a sink, fridge, and oven, and the living room had a flat screen TV and a squishy green couch.

Frisk shivered as she followed Sans across the room and up a flight of stairs. She hoped that Sans’s brother was a bit taller than he was, otherwise none of their clothes would fit her. But did magical skeletons even own winter clothes? Did they need them?

Sans paused at the top of the stairs. The door was plastered with yellow barricade tape that said DO NOT CROSS in bold black letters. There were an assortment of notes and signs that told them in no uncertain terms to keep out.

“he's working right now,” said Sans. “also, you should know that my brother’s kinda obsessed with humans. but he’s a pretty cool guy so don’t worry.”

“Sh-should I b-be worr-ied?”

Sans shrugged.

He opened the door to a tidy kid’s bedroom. Inside was a red race car bed, an old desktop computer, and a bookcase. A Jolly Roger flag was pinned up on the far wall, watching over a table of action figures. Alarmingly, there was a box of bones next to the door. Sans ignored it all and led Frisk across the room to the closet, opening it to reveal… clothes and shoes.

“no skeletons in here, heh,” Sans joked.

He rummaged through the clothes, pulling out two knitted sweaters. One was white with a large orange basketball on the front, and the other was orange with a pattern of white bones.

“the white one is too small for him now, but it looks hilarious when he wears it. guess it’s orange for you.”

Sans passed it to her and Frisk quickly pulled it over her head. It fit perfectly, and it wasn’t just comfortable - it was actually warm! It felt like a hug from a loved one.

“Wow, this is great! It’s so warm!”

“the other monsters in snowdin make these from shed fur. orange you glad your teeth aren’t chattering anymore?”

“…that was terrible.”

Sans chuckled and Frisk smiled. They walked back to the living room.

“how's the temperature for you, miss spider?” Sans asked out loud.

The spider appeared from his hood and crawled onto his left shoulder.

“Brrr! You may call me Charlotte. Your house is colder than the Ruins, Mr. Skeleton!”

“the name’s sans. i don’t have any fire magic to warm you up, but the human has warm blood. i read about it in a book.”

Frisk shrank away, alarmed by Sans’s throwaway comment, but Charlotte waved her arms.

“Oh, I wouldn’t hurt you, dearie!” the spider said. “May I please borrow some of your blood to stay warm until I find a more suitable home?”

“Uh… I can’t give you any of my blood,” said Frisk. “But if you promise not to bite me you can stay in my sweater?”

“Heavens! I would never bite anyone. How uncouth. Are you a human who squashes spiders?”

Frisk frowned. “No. Spiders eat bugs in my dorm. I like them.”

“guess it’s settled, then,” said Sans. “i've got to head out for a bit. y’know, pretend to do some work so no-one gets suspicious. can you two stay out of trouble until i get back? one of my sentinels will make sure nobody bothers you, and vice versa.”

He clicked his bony fingers and another sentinel skull appeared beside them with a pop. Frisk winced when she came face-to-face with its wolfish grin and bulging white eyes.

“This thing is tame, right?” Frisk said faintly, frozen in its gaze.

“it's under my control. mostly,” he replied. “alright, have fun you three. no house parties unless i'm invited. and if you have the time can you play with rocky jr.? we've been neglecting it, so it’s acting out.”

At Frisk’s puzzled expression, Sans shuffled to the table by the front door, with a single plate on it. On that plate was a rock.

“Rocky Jr. is a… pet rock?”

“yeah. it’s a chip off the old rock. it’s been fed twice already today so don’t let it convince you otherwise.”

Sans lifted a hand to Charlotte and the spider climbed on, allowing herself to be transported to Frisk. The spider jumped onto her outstretched palms and shivered. Charlotte had a cute little purple bow behind her eyes.

“see ya.”

Sans walked to the front door without a backward glance and then he was gone, leaving Frisk alone with a talking spider, a floating skull and an overfed pet rock.

Chapter Text

“I’m afraid that we have not been properly introduced,” said the spider in her hands. “My name is Charlotte. Charlotte the spider.”

“And I’m Frisk… the human.”

“It is lovely to meet you. May I please go into your warm sweater?”

“Oh, right! On my shoulder is probably best.”

Frisk lifted Charlotte up and the spider scuttled under the collar of the orange sweater.

“It’s so warm and cozy in here,” piped a voice from her right shoulder. “Thank you, Frisk the human!”

Frisk smiled to herself, and she looked around the living room again. The sentinel skull was watching TV, while Rocky Jr. was busy being a rock. Frisk walked over to it. The grey rock was covered in colorful sprinkles. She poked it, nervously, but it didn’t react. Yep. Just a rock.

“Alright, um, Rocky Jr.,” she said aloud, feeling like an idiot. “Let’s… go into the kitchen.” She picked up the rock, and almost dropped it when it hummed in her hand. Maybe it wasn’t just a rock after all.

Following a nervous glance at the skull, which was still engrossed in a colorful TV show with a dancing robot, Frisk walked into the kitchen. It was clean and orderly inside.

“This is a nice kitchen!” Charlotte commented, lifting up the collar of Frisk’s sweater to look around. “Would you like to do some cooking? We could make something for Sans for rescuing us from the Ruins and letting us stay at his house.”

Frisk remembered the monster in the darkness, but she had no idea if Sans was truly benevolent.

“He did get us away from that creature,” Frisk said, “but I have this feeling that there’s something else going on.”

“Don’t worry, dearie, I’m on your side. And remember, at the core of every monster is love, hope, and compassion. We will only fight if we feel that the cause is just.”

“…that isn’t reassuring.”

“Well, let’s get cooking to brighten your mood! How about we check out the cupboards and fridge. I want to see what we’ve got to work with.”

Frisk bit her lip. “Are you sure it’s alright? I wouldn’t want them to get angry at us for using their stuff.”

“Oh no, guests are expected to make themselves at home when visiting a monster house.”

Frisk placed Rocky Jr. on the counter, and walked over to the fridge. On the left side of the fridge were five bottles of ketchup, a bottle of ‘spider cider’, and an opened pack of hot dog buns. The right side was stuffed with over a dozen containers of what looked like spaghetti.

“Hm. Cupboards next,” said Charlotte.

Among the pots and pans were a few types of flour, a box of something called ’Temmie Flakes’, cooking oil, and tea. The modest pantry reminded Frisk of living at college.

“Oooh! How about we make some spider doughnuts?!” Charlotte said, wriggling in excitement. Frisk did not share Charlotte’s enthusiasm for a food made from crushed up spiders, but she retrieved the ingredients anyway.

“Okay! Let’s wash our claws and get started!” Charlotte chirruped, moving out from the warmth of Frisk’s sweater.

Frisk looked around the kitchen. She blinked hard, feeling stupid again.

“Hey Charlotte, I can’t see a sink in here?”

“I think it may be on top of that tall cupboard next to the fridge!”

Frisk stood on her toes and could just see a tap. She couldn’t reach it without a ladder.

“Weird…”

She opened the cupboard door to see what was inside. There was nothing at eye level except for plumbing, but when she looked down a small but very fluffy white dog was staring up at her. She jumped.

“Jeez! You frightened me, little guy!” Frisk gasped.

The dog yapped a reply, tail wagging.

“What are you doing all alone under the sink? You should stretch your legs!”

The fluffy dog hopped out. How could the skeleton and his brother keep their dog shut away like that?

“You’re so cute!” said Frisk. “Do you have a name?”

The dog looked up at her vacantly.

“Uh… we’ll find out when Sans gets back.”

The dog trotted out of the kitchen and Frisk followed it into the living room. She joined the sentinel skull in watching the dog as it bounced upstairs and vanished into the kid’s bedroom. The door did not even open. A moment later it re-emerged, looking very smug with a bone in its mouth.

“Crap,” said Frisk. “I hope I haven’t screwed things up by letting that dog out.”

“Those bones look like spent magical attacks,” Charlotte reassured her. “Don’t worry about it, dear.”

Frisk was about to walk back to the kitchen before she remembered that they did not have a functional sink to use.

“We still have to wash our hands!” she said. “There must be a bathroom in this house somewhere!”

She walked across the living room, past the sentinel skull and the dog, and up the stairs. Down the hallway from the kid’s bedroom were two more doors. The nearest one had something strange happening on the other side; a rainbow of light spilled out from under the door and onto Frisk’s sneakers. She tapped on the door, and when there was no reply she tested the handle. It was locked. The third door had a cold draft coming under it, and to Frisk’s dismay it led to an outside balcony. She stuck her head out to look around, and noticed that the balcony wrapped around the back of the house.

Frisk stepped out into the cold. The sentinel skull and the fluffy dog followed behind her. They walked around the corner to the end of the balcony, which stopped halfway at the back of the house. It ended with a door, and to her relief there was a bathroom and laundry inside.

She considered using the toilet, except that there wasn’t one. Frisk sighed and washed her hands in the icy water. Charlotte joined her briefly before retreating back into the sweater.

“Anyone else need to use the sink?”

The sentinel skull and the fluffy dog looked at her blankly.

Back in the kitchen, Frisk followed Charlotte’s instructions to make the doughnut batter. The spider sat on her shoulder, waving her front legs excitedly as she spoke. Rocky Jr. sat quietly on the counter, helping out in its own way. On the other end of the counter the small dog had jumped up and was gnawing on the bone it had found. The sentinel skull joined them too, hovering uselessly around the kitchen.

Frisk wrinkled her nose in disgust at some of the ingredients, but when the doughnuts were frying on the cook top the kitchen was filled with a delicious aroma. Even the sentinel skull hovered beside the pan, watching the doughnuts bubble and brown.

Just as she began rolling the first batch of hot doughnuts in cinnamon sugar, there was a pop in the living room and Sans walked into the kitchen.

“just in time,” he said. “can i have one?”

“Of course! We made them for you and your brother, to thank you,” Charlotte replied.

“nice," he said, picking up a doughnut before Frisk could warn him that it was too hot. But the skeleton took a bite without flinching.

“i haven’t had a spider doughnut for ages,” he said. “thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Sans!” the spider said. “Frisk is a good student. It was a team effort.”

“not bad, human,” said Sans. “also, my brother papyrus is will be here in a sec. he's going to be excited to see you, so play it cool, okay?”

Frisk remembered the box of bones in Papyrus’s bedroom and swallowed nervously. The sentinel skull floated over to Sans. He patted the bridge of its nose and the skull turned to white light and disappeared. Sans then picked up his pet rock, ignoring the dog on the counter.

“you’re a happy lil’ rock now, huh?”

Before Rocky Jr. could reply, the front door flew open on its hinges, bringing a gust of cold air from outside. A tall skeleton barged in dramatically. His unusual outfit caught Frisk’s eye: he was wearing a white and gold chest plate, red gloves and knee-high boots, and a fabulous red cape.

“SANS YOU CAN’T WIN A RUNNING RACE BY TELEPORTING! LAZYBONES!”

“hey bro,” Sans replied, leaning against the counter behind Frisk. “i made some new friends today. this is charlotte the spider and frisk the human.”

“…WHAT.”

“yeah bro. i wanted to surprise you.”

“OH MY GOD, SANS,” Papyrus said. “FOR ME?”

“i haven’t arrested the human yet.”

The taller skeleton raised himself up to his full height, throwing out his chest.

“FRISK THE HUMAN!” he cried, “I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM HEREBY ARRESTING YOU! NYEH HEH!”

“What?! Why am I being arrested?” said Frisk.

“FOR THE CRIME OF BEING HUMAN, OF COURSE!”

“That’s not fair, I can’t help being a human!” she shot back.

“they’ve got a point, bro,” Sans interjected.

Papyrus paused for a moment, thinking it through. “YOU’RE RIGHT, BROTHER! I CAN’T ARREST SOMEONE BEFORE CHALLENGING THEM TO A MIND-BENDING PUZZLE! VERY WELL! HUMAN FRISK, PREPARE YOURSELF FOR THE GREATEST BATTLE OF YOUR LIFE! NYEHEHEHEHEH!”

He bounded upstairs and into his bedroom.

“he’s pretty cool, right?” Sans said.

“I… have no idea what just happened.”

“you'll get used to it. hey, i have a favor to ask: can you let him win? it would mean a lot. in return i’ll answer all of your questions. deal?”

“But I don’t want to be arrested!”

“eh, it’s more of a formality.”

Before Frisk could object further, Papyrus returned with a square of paper in each hand.

“NOW! WE SHALL SEE-”

He froze mid sentence. He was looking past Frisk at the dog on the countertop, chewing on one of his bones.

“WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?” Papyrus cried, his eyes bulging.

“I did,” Frisk said defiantly. “Why was your dog in the cupboard under the sink?”

“IT’S NOT MY DOG! IT JUST LIVES HERE, STEALING MY BONES!”

“you could say it’s a bone-afied thief,” said Sans.

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING!”

“but i tickled your funny bone.”

“YES AND I HATE IT! YOUR BAD JOKES DESERVE TO BE BURIED!”

“there's a skele-ton more where that came from.”

“UGH! IGNORE HIM, HUMAN, AND PREPARE YOURSELF! HERE IS YOUR CHALLENGE!”

Papyrus handed her a pencil and the piece of paper. On it was printed a word jumble puzzle. Frisk looked up at Sans and he gave her a wink. Were they being serious?

Papyrus walked over to the couch and sat down, chewing on the end of his pencil while deep in thought. Frisk looked back at Charlotte, and the spider gave her a tiny thumbs up. The dog stopped gnawing on its bone and barked an encouragement to no-one in particular.

Frisk sighed and sat down on the kitchen floor, pondering if Alice had seen anything half as weird in Wonderland.

“SANS! I GOT ONE!” Papyrus called from the living room.

“nice. what was it?”

“THE WORD WAS ‘OBLIVIOUS’.”

Sans chuckled. There was a moment of silence before Papyrus piped up again.

“DID YOU HEAR THE ANSWER I JUST SAID, HUMAN? THAT WAS TO HELP YOU OUT.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks?” Frisk said aloud.

“YOU’RE WELCOME.”

There was something child-like about Papyrus, but not necessarily immature. More like, enthusiastic and forgiving. There wasn’t an evil bone in his body.

“Sans,” Frisk whispered.

The skeleton scuffed over to her.

“what's up?”

“If I let Papyrus win you’ll answer all of my questions?”

“yeah.”

“Promise?”

“i promise.”

“SANS ARE YOU HELPING THE HUMAN?”

“yeah bro, they need it. at this rate you’re going to win for sure.”

“OH BOY!”

Sans shuffled out into the living room. Frisk completed the first two puzzles and gave a third an incorrect answer, just to look like she tried. Time crawled past, and she began nodding off when Papyrus gave a triumphant cry.

“A-HA! NYEH HEH HEH! I HAVE CONQUERED JUNIOR JUMBLE!”

The two skeleton brothers appeared at the kitchen threshold.

“HUMAN! TIME IS UP! HAVE YOU FINISHED?”

“You’re right, it was hard!” Frisk said. “I only got three.”

“YOU HAVE FOUGHT VALIANTLY!” Papyrus replied. “BUT WITH SANS AS OUR WITNESS I AM THE WINNER. YOU ARE NOW MY PRISONER. NYEHEHEHEHEH!”

Frisk held her hands up in defeat. “You got me.”

“VERY GOOD. NOW I MUST TAKE YOU TO THE CAPITAL! THEN I WILL JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD AND I WILL BE POPULAR AND HAVE LOTS OF FRIENDS!” Papyrus declared.

“are you sure you want to go now, bro?” asked Sans. “it's getting late. asgore will be reading in bed, probably.”

“THAT IS A GOOD POINT, BROTHER! LET US KEEP THE HUMAN HERE TONIGHT! I WILL MAKE A CELEBRATORY PLATE OF SPAGHETTI FOR US TO SHARE!”

“uuh. that won’t do. hate to break it to you, but humans are allergic to spaghetti.”

“WHAT? IS THIS TRUE, HUMAN FRISK?”

Sans nodded frantically behind Papyrus’s back.

“Yes. Yes! Deathly allergic,” said Frisk. “You wouldn’t want me to die before we get to the capital, right?”

“OH NO! BUT WHAT WILL WE EAT?”

“let’s go to grillby’s,” Sans said. “i’ll put it on my tab.”

“YOU GO THERE ALL THE TIME, BROTHER!”

“that’s because all the coolest monsters hang out at grillby’s.”

“THEY WOULD BE COOL AFTER A DAY OUT IN THE SNOW!” Papyrus quipped. “NYEH HEH. LET’S GO!”

Chapter Text

With Rocky Jr. safely back on its plate and the spider doughnuts in the fridge, Frisk walked with Sans and Papyrus down the main street of Snowdin to Grillby’s. Charlotte was back in her usual hiding place in Frisk’s sweater, while the small white dog trotted beside her, the bone still in its mouth.

“I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU HAD TO BRING THAT DOG WITH YOU, HUMAN FRISK.”

“You can just call me Frisk. I didn’t bring the dog, it invited itself. Does it have a name?”

“NO. DO DOGS USUALLY HAVE NAMES?” Papyrus asked.

“Yeah. Humans name their pets.”

Papyrus stopped suddenly and Frisk almost ran into him. “HUMANS KEEP THESE THINGS AS PETS?” he gasped.

Frisk smiled at the earnest look on his face. “Yep! In fact I used to have one, a long time ago.”

“HOW STRANGE…”

“what are you going to call it?” Sans asked.

“I can’t tell if it’s male or female, but it looks like Gabe so that’s what I’m going to call it.”

“WHAT IS ‘GABE’?”

“Gabe the dog. He’s famous on the surface.”

This time she did run into Papyrus.

“THERE ARE FAMOUS DOGS?!” he cried as Frisk bounced off him. She choked back a laugh at his devastated expression. His whole world had been turned upside down.

Sans chuckled, “that’s hilarious.”

They stopped outside a bar. There was a warm, inviting glow in the windows, and inside it was packed with patrons. When Frisk entered she breathed in sharply. The place was alive with monsters. Dog monsters in armor. Rabbit, bird, and fish monsters. A punk hamster with lime green hair. A plant-like monster with a mouthful of jagged teeth. And the barman was literally on fire.

“Sans I don’t think-”

“Sansyyyy!”

Frisk noticed a rabbit monster by herself at a booth near the door. She sprawled across the table, her eyes glazed over after too many drinks.

“The l-life… of t-the paaaaarty!” she slurred.

“heya buttercup,” he said. “i can’t join you for a drink tonight, sorry. got some family here. i’ll have to take a rain check.”

As they walked to the bar Frisk heard a plaintive, “Come back and sit with meeee…”

“she’ll forget i was even here,” Sans told them.

The fire monster - or the monster that was on fire? - handed them a menu each. There were two choices: burgers or fries.

“Fries for me, please,” Frisk said. The barman nodded at her. He looked to Gabe, who had taken the seat next to Frisk. Its bone was gone, but it did not request any food.

“hey grillby, we’ll have a double order of burg,” said Sans.

“CAN MINE HAVE AN UMBRELLA ON IT?” Papyrus asked.

With another wordless nod the fiery barman walked through a door behind the bar. Charlotte emerged from Frisk’s sweater, crawled down her arm, and jumped onto a coaster.

“It’s warm in here!” she commented. “I think I’ll have some spider cider!”

“i’m gonna hit the sauce too. anyone else want a drink?” Sans asked.

“Just water, thanks,” said Frisk.

“you won’t find that here,” Sans replied. “or tea. you can have what i’m having unless you like crushed-up spiders?”

She remembered making the doughnuts and felt bile rising in her throat. “Sure.”

Sans reached behind the bar and pulled out four bottles. Two of spider cider and two of… ketchup? Frisk stared at the bottle when Sans placed it in front of her.

“try it.”

Without waiting, Sans unscrewed the lid of his bottle and took a long draft. Frisk grimaced, but followed his lead. The taste was not what she had expected. It was something like a Bloody Mary: a peppery punch with a tomato aftertaste.

“not bad, huh?” said Sans.

“It’s better than I thought it would be. It's really smooth.”

“heh, you should slow down, human. it’s stronger than you think.”

Frisk blinked hard. The lights in the bar were softening, and the background noise dimmed to a pleasant hum. Definitely time to back off the sauce. Meanwhile Papyrus assisted Charlotte, who was struggling to open her cider bottle. He poured some of it into a shot glass for her.

“Thank you Mr. Papyrus!” Charlotte chirruped.

“YOU’RE WELCOME, MISS CHARLOTTE.”

Sans took another swig of ketchup. “ya know, i think you made a friend, pap.”

Papyrus's eyes sparkled, and a red blush rose in his cheekbones.

“WOWEE, REALLY? ARE WE FRIENDS, MISS CHARLOTTE?”

“Of course, deary!” said the spider. “You let me stay at your house and use your kitchen, and you even helped me to open my cider bottle. We are good friends!”

Frisk smiled at the intense excitement on Papyrus’s face. But did he really not have any friends?

Grillby returned with their food. The chips weren’t too bad, though they did leave a greasy aftertaste in her mouth. She shared her chips with Charlotte, who only managed to finish two. Gabe showed no interest in her food at all: it was definitely the weirdest dog Frisk had ever met.

“So, Sans, what’s your job?” she asked.

“sentry. same as my bro.”

Papyrus sat up straight in his chair, clutching his burger between gloved hands. “WE KEEP A LOOKOUT FOR HUMANS, THEN WE JUMBLE AND SCRAMBLE THEM WITH PUZZLES!”

“But why do you need to keep a lookout in the first place?”

“OUR KING HAS DECLARED WAR ON THE HUMANS.”

Frisk’s heart sank. “Oh.”

“you’re a p.o.w., sorry,” said Sans, taking another bite of his burger. He did not sound sorry about Frisk’s predicament.

“Why is there a war?” she asked the skeleton brothers.

At that moment the door opened, bringing a gust of chilly wind and a few snowflakes. A hulking monster squeezed through the door frame. This one looked like a werewolf, with a coat of shaggy grey fur, a black mane and tail, and haunting white eyes. It was met with a chorus of greetings from the other monsters: the wolf monster was clearly one of the regulars. It prowled towards the bar, the other patrons shifting around its bulk.

“hi anton,” said Sans, and the wolf monster nodded in return.

“Sans. Papyrus,” he said in a gravelly baritone. “I was going to tell you that I scented a human, but I see now that you already captured them.”

“THIS IS FRISK THE HUMAN. I BESTED THEM IN A PUZZLE!”

Anton’s lip quirked in a smile. “Good job, Papyrus. Your work will be recognized by Asgore.”

Frisk wondered who this ‘Asgore’ was. She had heard the name earlier. Was he the monsters’ leader?

“Welcome to the Underground, Frisk the human,” said Anton, addressing her directly. Frisk nearly wilted under his intense gaze. “We have been waiting for you for a long time. Our hopes and dreams rest with you.”

Without another word, Anton turned and stumped back out of the bar. More snow swept in as the door closed behind him.

“anton usually walks off like that. he can’t take too much time off or otherwise we all die.”

“What?!”

“HE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR COOLING THE CORE. IF IT OVERHEATS IT WILL EXPLODE. YOU CAN SEE THE CORE TOMORROW WHEN WE TAKE YOU TO MEET KING ASGORE.”

Frisk swallowed nervously. “What business does your king have with me?”

“he probably just wants to talk. i wouldn’t worry about it. asgore is a big fluffy pushover.”

“But why did Anton say that your hopes and dreams rest with me? I don’t get it.”

“EVERY HUMAN THAT FALLS DOWN HERE BRINGS US ONE STEP CLOSER TO FREEDOM. WE ARE ALL TRAPPED HERE BY A MAGICAL BARRIER BUT ONE DAY WE WILL REACH THE SURFACE AGAIN.”

“only humans can break through the barrier. specifically, the strength of their soul is what allows 'em to pass through.”

“So let me get this straight, I’m a prisoner of war because your king needs my soul to destroy a magical barrier.”

Sans chuckled. “sounds kinda crazy when you put it that way, but you’re right.”

“I’m not going to give him my soul!”

“NEVER FEAR, FRISK!” Papyrus cried, gesticulating wildly so that bits of burger flew through the air. “MY BROTHER AND I SHALL ACCOMPANY YOU TO THE THRONE ROOM! FOR YOU SEE, WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO BE OUR FRIEND! KING ASGORE IS VERY KIND AND WISE AND HE WILL FIND A WAY TO SAVE US ALL.”

Frisk looked around at the other patrons, nervous of the attention after Papyrus’s dramatic, tipsy outburst, but they were preoccupied with their own conversations. They must have been used to it.

“alright kids, i’m tired,” said Sans, slapping his hands on the bar. “we should head back - we have a big day tomorrow. hey grillbz, can you put this on my tab?”

With a silent nod the barman accepted his request.

Charlotte staggered up Frisk’s arm, tripping over her own legs and almost falling to the floor. Even those small shot glasses of cider had been too much for her. She burrowed under Frisk’s sweater, her abdomen and two rear legs sticking out.

Papyrus, intoxicated from the cider and chuffed at making a new friend, led the way out at a goose step. Frisk walked behind him with Gabe at her side, while Sans drifted after them. The smaller skeleton looked tired, his shoulders slumped and his eyes downcast. But Frisk knew that Sans was not all that he appeared.

Snowdin was dark now, save for the warm glow of lights from inside the houses and shops that lined the main street. It looked like there were faint stars above them, but that couldn’t be right - Frisk was certain she had seen a rocky ceiling earlier that day. She frowned and stopped walking, squinting upwards.

“crystals,” Sans explained, appearing beside her. “they grow on the ceiling and absorb light from the town during the day. when we turn off the streetlights they glow; it’s the closest thing we get to stars in the underground. only asgore is near enough to the surface to see the real thing.”

“You haven’t seen stars before?”

“…i have. i sneak into the throne room sometimes when asgore is asleep. heh, haven’t told anyone that before. seeing glimpses of the night sky made me realize how close we are to freedom. i know it’s what gives asgore strength to do what he feels is necessary.” Sans sighed. “as for me, i just want to be outside, on the surface. i want all monsters to be free.”

Frisk looked over at Papyrus, marching ahead without a care in the world. Gabe followed him at a bouncing trot.

“You promised to answer all of my questions,” she said to Sans in an undertone. “Is Asgore going to kill me?”

“depends,” he said with a shrug. “depends if you’re going to fight him or walk away. you can give him your soul or he can take it by force. or maybe you’ll kill our king and destroy all hope of us being free. it’s your choice.”

“That makes no sense - how do I have a choice in any of this?!”

“you have a very powerful soul. you are a match for the strongest of us, and asgore will meet you in a fair fight.”

“I don’t want to fight him!”

Sans glanced away. “then you’ll be stuck down here for the rest of your life.”

“SANS? SANS!”

The skeleton looked up and winked at Frisk.

“looks like he made it home already. let’s go.”

Frisk followed Sans to his house on the outskirts of Snowdin, mulling over their conversation as she followed his footprints through the snow. She guessed that the skeleton brothers had plenty more secrets hidden behind their broad smiles.

Chapter Text

The skeletons’ timber-clad house was no warmer inside, and Frisk’s bare legs turned to gooseflesh as the ketchup’s effects wore off. She wondered if Papyrus had spare woolen sweatpants that she could borrow, but before she could ask he sped upstairs to his room.

“you’re on the couch tonight,” Sans said to her. “one of my skulls will make sure that creature from the ruins won’t bother you.”

He clicked his fingers and another floating skull appeared. Or was it the same one? Regardless, it still creeped her out.

Papyrus bounced down to the living room and thrust a blanket into Frisk’s arms.

“THIS IS FOR YOU AND CHARLOTTE,” he said. “AND I DON’T MIND IF YOU WANT TO KEEP MY SWEATER WHILE YOU ARE IN SNOWDIN. AS FOR ‘GABE’, IT CAN STAY INSIDE BUT MY DOOR SHALL BE LOCKED TO PREVENT FURTHER THIEVERY!”

“Um, I don’t think that's going to stop Gabe,” Frisk replied, thinking of the many strange things the dog had done already.

“NO MATTER, I SHALL REMAIN VIGILANT!”

“don’t worry about it bro, bonedacious will keep gabe away from your bones.”

“BONEDACIOUS? DID YOU NAME ONE OF YOUR SKULLS AGAIN?!”

Sans shrugged in reply.

“THAT’S A BONE-SHATTERINGLY BAD PUN,” Papyrus said, “BUT WE SHOULD STOP ARGUING AND GO TO BED.”

“good call, pap. see ya in the morning, kid.”

“GOODNIGHT FRISK!”

“’Night,” she replied with a yawn.

Papyrus leapt up the stairs again, two at a time, while Sans stumped after him. Frisk carefully removed a groggy Charlotte from her sweater, and removed that too. She lay the sweater out on the floor and placed the sleepy spider inside. Frisk then lay down on the couch, but she was too tall to lie comfortably. She alternated between curling into a fetal position, or lying with her feet resting on the arms of the couch. The lights turned off, probably with magic, leaving her wide awake in the darkness.

She would not sleep tonight. Even with her eyes closed she could feel ‘Bonedacious’ watching her. Or maybe it was Gabe? Frisk lifted the corner of the blanket to see the dog fast asleep on the floor next to Charlotte, snoring gently with its legs sticking up in the air. She moved the blanket from her face and discovered the floating skull staring at her. She glared at it until it got the message, and it hovered into the kitchen.

Frisk had been ignoring her bladder all day, and now it was about to burst. She resolved to wait a little longer before sneaking out. She preoccupied herself by thinking of what the monster king might be like. The human kings she had learnt about in high school history were all mad and power-hungry. Talking to Sans had only left her with more questions. Did she really have a choice in fighting Asgore to keep her soul? Or maybe Sans was trying to give her some sort of hope in a hopeless situation.

As the minutes crawled past the pain in her bladder became unbearable. Frisk got up and, carefully stepping over Gabe and Charlotte, she tiptoed to the front door. The skull followed her, as expected, but she fiercely told it to look away while she ducked into the bushes behind the skeleton brothers’ house.

Snowdin was utterly quiet and darker than before, now that its residents had gone to bed. Frisk kept an eye out for the skull, but it didn’t move from the front of the house.

She walked back to the door, feeling much better. The skull was hovering close to the house. It looked alert, its jaws hanging open and its creepy eyes glowing brighter.

“Did you see something?” Frisk whispered. The skull didn’t answer, and when she looked out into the gloom she couldn't see anything unusual.

Frisk ducked around the skull and pushed the front door open. She stubbed her toe on the threshold, but when she tried to raise her foot it would not budge. She overbalanced and fell heavily onto her knees and hands with a cry of pain. Frisk flipped over and sat on the front step to examine the damage. In the dim light she could see a spiky vine coiled around her ankles.

Above her, the skull opened its jaws and a ball of white light grew inside. The light became a white-hot laser, firing out of the skull’s mouth. The force of the blast knocked Frisk back and the light seared painfully in her eyes. She pushed herself up, staring wildly at the place where the skull had fired. The light from the attack was fading fast, but with a jolt of cold fear she saw it - the beast from the ruins! It was on all fours this time, around seven foot tall at the shoulder. Horrible spikes jutted from its limbs and back, and its mouth was a jagged mess of teeth. It stared at her.

Frisk froze in horror, her skin crawling. More vines appeared from the ground to lock around her wrists. The spikes - or were they thorns? - dug into her skin until she bled.

Gabe showed up next to Frisk and began to bark. It sounded too cute to scare the creature away, but at least it was trying to help.

The skull fired again, bleaching the darkness and half-blinding Frisk. The pain worsened in her ankles and wrists as she struggled to break free. The light inside the house flicked on.

“Stay calm, I’ll get you out!” Charlotte cried, appearing by Frisk’s right hand. The spider grabbed the vine with her claws and bit into it. Frisk cried out as the vine spasmed, tearing at her skin, but its grip did falter. Charlotte bit it repeatedly until the vine finally released Frisk’s bloodied wrist and slithered back into the darkness.

Outside the ground rumbled, and dozens of bones speared up from the road. Some of the bones presumably hit their mark, as the creature screamed in pain. Frisk’s hair stood on end at the high-pitched cry. It sounded like a child.

The vines holding Frisk released at once, so swiftly that Charlotte nearly bit her by accident. It was all over. The skull rushed across the road to investigate the last place the creature had been before it vanished.

“Oh dearie, you’re hurt!” Charlotte said. Frisk looked at herself properly, and she was a mess. The thorns had left deep, bloody gashes on her body, and her knees had already started to bruise.

Tears pricked in Frisk’s eyes. Her body stung and ached, and she trembled from the adrenaline and the freezing air.

“that was a prickly situation,” said Sans as he crouched down next to her, studying her wounds. He was wearing the same clothes he wore during the day, including the pink slippers.

“HAVE SOME OF THESE DOUGHNUTS I FOUND IN THE FRIDGE!” said Papyrus. “SPAGHETTI IS THE SUPERIOR FOOD, BUT SINCE YOU’RE ALLERGIC...”

Papyrus was dressed in cream pajamas with a colorful race-car pattern. He was still wearing his red mittens, his thumb hooked through a doughnut. Frisk almost cracked, desperate to admit that she wasn’t allergic to spaghetti so she wouldn’t have to eat a cold, spider-filled doughnut, but she took it anyway with a shaking hand. It tasted of cinnamon sugar, with a spicy hit at the end which she guessed was from the spider cider. The doughnut actually tasted alright, and she ate the whole thing. The wounds and bruising disappeared.

Gabe shoved through the skeletons’ legs, dragging the blanket, which it deposited on Frisk’s lap.

“Thanks Gabe,” she said. “Thank you, everyone. You saved me.”

“DO NOT MENTION IT, DEAR FRISK,” Papyrus said. “BUT WHY ON EARTH WERE YOU OUTSIDE?”

The skeletons, dog, and spider watched her intently.

“I, uh, had to go to the bathroom,” she said in a small voice.

“BUT THERE IS A BATHROOM UPSTAIRS. SANS, DID WE FORGET TO SHOW FRISK THE BATHROOM?”

“yeah i think we forgot, pap.”

Frisk shifted awkwardly, hugging the blanket. “…it’s a human thing.”

“I’VE HEARD THAT HUMAN FOOD IS INFERIOR TO MONSTER FOOD. BUT NOW THAT YOU’RE EATING MONSTER FOOD YOU WON’T NEED TO GO OUTSIDE TO USE THE BATHROOM.”

Sans was struggling not to laugh. “let’s get frisk inside,” he said in an uneven voice.

The skeleton brothers offered her a hand each, and she let them lift her up. The doughnut had healed her wounds but she was still not back to normal. She was exhausted. If only their house had one of those magical floating lights from the ruins! The sentinel skull emerged from the darkness and followed them in.

Frisk collapsed on the couch and sighed. Charlotte jumped up onto her lap.

“good job, bonedacious.”

The skull hovered over to its master and Sans gave it a pat on the nose. It didn’t disappear this time.

“I know that’s the same creature that followed us through the ruins. What is it, exactly?” Frisk asked Sans and Papyrus.

“honestly, no idea. it kinda looks like a monster, but what i do know is it doesn’t have a soul.”

A grave silence followed Sans’s comment.

“BUT THAT SHOULDN’T BE POSSIBLE,” Papyrus said, a nervous edge to his voice.

“It is. Sans is right, it doesn’t have a soul,” Charlotte said. “Before the old lady torched the ruins, myself and the other spiders tried to fight it. It was stealing the food that we were selling to raise money so that we could leave the ruins. We tried talking to the creature, of course, but it dusted poor little Penelope instead of explaining why it was stealing from us. The rest of us attacked it in retaliation for Penelope, but there was no soul inside for us to appeal to. It dusted three more spiders and the rest of us ran away. It’s been toying with the survivors ever since, picking us off.”

Frisk frowned. “When you say ‘dusted’, you mean…?”

“when a monster is killed they turn to dust,” replied Sans.

Charlotte dabbed at her many eyes with the corner of the blanket.

“I’m so sorry about your friends,” said Frisk. “It was really courageous of you to help me.”

“I told you I was on your side, dearie,” Charlotte sniffled. “We have to face that creature together.”

Papyrus rubbed his chin in puzzlement. “I STILL DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW A MONSTER CAN EXIST WITHOUT A SOUL.”

“i don’t understand either, pap. it’s definitely unnatural. maybe alphys has some ideas.”

“NYEH! GOOD IDEA, BROTHER! SHE CAN HELP US!”

“Who is Alphys?” Charlotte asked.

“the royal scientist. she has a lab in hotland.”

Charlotte jumped up in delight. “Hotland! That’s where the rest of the spiders live!” she said. “Can we go there? Please?”

“i don’t think we need to take frisk to asgore just yet,” said Sans. “we can see alphys tomorrow. i know a shortcut.”

“NEATO! THAT WAY WE CAN SPEND EVEN MORE TIME WITH FRISK!”

“alright. now that’s settled, i’m going to bed. i’ll put another skull outside so we don’t have any more uninvited guests.”

“BUT SANS! YOUR MAGIC-”

“don’t worry about me, bro,” he said. “i just need to sleep and i’ll be fine.”

Sans snapped his fingers. Nothing happened, but Frisk guessed that another one of his disembodied sentinel skulls were now patrolling outside.

“YOU SLEEP TOO MUCH ALREADY!” Papyrus quipped. “GOODNIGHT AGAIN, EVERYONE!”

Sans yawned and flicked his wrist with a lazy wave in parting.

“’Night, and thanks again,” Frisk said.

“Goodnight Sans and Papyrus,” Charlotte said, and Gabe offered them a single goodnight bark. On the nearby table, Rocky Jr. said nothing.

The skeleton brothers walked upstairs and disappeared into their rooms. Frisk tucked Charlotte into Papyrus’s orange sweater again, and they wished each other a good night. Bonedacious drifted into the kitchen.

Frisk finally curled up on the couch, beneath the blanket. Gabe jumped up and settled against her shins. She finally found peace, and sleep. These monsters really did care for her.

Chapter Text

Frisk woke up the next morning with something breathing on her. Gabe had migrated over the blanket in its sleep and was snoring in her face. Its breath smelled of sushi and stale coffee. Weird.

She carefully extracted herself from the blanket and over-familiar dog, and stretched. Her spine popped in a few places, but it was a good stretch.

Papyrus’s door slammed open.

“NYEHEHEHEH! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM READY TO COOK BREAKFAST.”

Frisk stared at him mutely, still groggy from sleep. The skeleton bounced downstairs with far too much energy for this time of day. He was dressed in the same flamboyant outfit as yesterday.

“GOOD MORNING, FRISK!” he said exuberantly. “DID YOU SLEEP WELL?”

“Yes, thanks,” she said with a yawn. “You?”

“I DREAMED THAT I WAS DRIVING A RED SPORTS CAR ON AN OPEN ROAD, BUT SANS OVERTOOK ME ON A TRICYCLE!”

Frisk snorted with laughter. “I’m sorry.”

“I WILL GET HIM BACK IN MY NEXT DREAM,” Papyrus said, and walked into the kitchen. Frisk wanted to help, but her limbs wouldn’t obey her. She was exhausted. So she sat on the couch, listening to the skeleton humming to himself and rummaging through cupboards. Charlotte slept on, as did Gabe. The little dog’s front legs pedaled in its dream: Gabe was either running or typing something out.

Bonedacious floated out of the kitchen and stared at the blank TV. Frisk found the remote on the couch - she had slept on it - and turned the TV on. The show with the robot was back. Its name was Mettaton, and it was hosting some kind of breakfast show. The only news reported was that a human-like creature had possibly been spotted in the underground. The show quickly moved on to segments including Monster of the Day, a cleaning competition between odd little monsters that looked like blue bathtubs with green feet and faces, and a cooking segment.

Papyrus ran out of the kitchen, a bowl and spatula in hand. Some of the bowl’s contents slopped out onto the carpet.

“THIS IS MY FAVORITE PART OF THE SHOW.”

Mettaton began baking a cake. The first ingredients seemed normal enough: eggs, milk, and sugar. Then the robot started getting creative, adding live snails, a steak, and instant noodles. Frisk remembered cooking the spider doughnuts yesterday; by some fluke they had turned out to be edible. Maybe that was just how monster cooking worked.

“looks like you’re both flat out making those pancakes, huh?” drawled a voice from above. Sans was leaning on the railing, still wearing the same clothes. He watched them watch TV.

“MAYBE YOU SHOULD MAKE BREAKFAST FOR ONCE, LAZYBONES!”

Sans yawned. “no way, that’s a bad idea and you know it.”

As he walked downstairs into the living room, the cooking segment finished and became a snail race. Papyrus walked back into the kitchen, humming a tune and oblivious to the mess on the floor.

“how’s it going, frisk?” Sans asked as he sat on the couch beside her.

“I’m so tired. I slept alright, but I feel like my body is made of rock.”

Sans scratched his temple absentmindedly. “Yeah, even after sleep your health hasn’t fully recovered from the attack last night.”

“How do you know?” Frisk asked, suddenly curious.

“i can show you. may i?”

Frisk nodded in wary agreement, unsure what he had in mind.

Sans held up his left hand again, and moved it back in a beckoning motion. Frisk didn’t feel anything, but a red light shone from her chest. She stared in amazement as a heart-shaped object appeared. She attempted to touch it, but the heart was made of red light and her hand passed through.

“nice soul you got there,” Sans remarked. “and no exp. that’s good.”

“What’s ‘EXP’?”

The warmth in San’s smile vanished. “execution points. humans get them when they kill monsters.”

A chill ran up her spine.

“your soul is a bit dull,” Sans continued, “and there are some tiny cracks in it. that guy got you pretty good, huh.”

It wasn’t a question, but Frisk murmured an agreement, unable to tear her eyes away from her own soul.

“monster souls look different. here’s mine.”

Sans called his own soul from his chest. It was formed of pure, white light, but the heart was upside down.

“It’s beautiful,” breathed Frisk.

“eh, i’m nothing special. monsters are made of magic, so a bright soul means more magic, and vice versa. In humans, soul brightness is a health indicator.”

“WHY ARE YOU CHECKING STATS?” Papyrus barked, startling them both. The taller skeleton was halfway out of the kitchen, scowling at them.

“What?!” Frisk yelped.

“YOU AREN’T GOING TO FIGHT IN MY CLEAN HOUSE, ARE YOU?! PUZZLES ONLY!”

“relax, bro. i was just showing frisk the difference between human and monster souls. how’s breakfast coming along? frisk’s soul is still damaged from last night.”

“NOT MUCH LONGER! I’M ABOUT TO FLIP! THE PANCAKES, THAT IS.”

Papyrus ducked back into the kitchen to check on their breakfast.

“my bro is so cool.” Sans leaned back on the couch, his soul disappearing back into his t-shirt to rest somewhere in his rib cage. Frisk’s soul returned to her body.

“Why did Papyrus think we were fighting?” Frisk asked him in an undertone.

“we just did a stat check on each other - health and battle statistics. monsters usually do it before or after a battle. one of the reasons why i knew that creature didn’t have a soul is that i couldn’t check its stats.”

Frisk remained silent, remembering the attack just a few hours ago. Both the dog and spider were somehow still asleep despite Papyrus’s outbursts, and Bonedacious was transfixed by Mettaton’s show. Rocky Jr. said, and did, nothing at all.

“NYEH HEH HEH! BREAKFAST IS SERVED!” Papyrus sang as he burst out of the kitchen, startling Frisk again.

The skeleton carried a plate in each hand, stacked high with pancakes. When the plate landed in her lap, Frisk realized that the pancakes were shaped like skulls - Sans and Papyrus’s faces grinned up at her from under a treacly syrup.

“These are cute,” Frisk said. “Did you use molds?”

“YES, BUT MOSTLY MAGIC,” Papyrus replied proudly. “THAT’S WHY MY SKULLCAKES ARE SO LIFELIKE. NYEHEH!”

The skullcakes were a bit burnt, but the taste was delicious - something like toasted caramel and vanilla.

“Mmmm, these are good,” Frisk said.

“yeah bro, the human’s right. these are good. those cooking lessons with undyne are paying off.”

“OH HO! I AM STILL A STUDENT: SHE IS THE MASTER. I STRIVE TO MATCH UNDYNE’S PASSION FOR COOKING.”

Sans chuckled. “i think that’s literally impossible, but it’s good to have goals.”

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”

“i’ve seen her cook. she’s very… enthusiastic. more food ends up on the ceiling than the plate. you should sit down, pap.”

Sans got up, plate of skullcakes in hand, and walked across the room. He leaned against Rocky Jr.’s table, and sprinkled a few crumbs from his plate onto the rock. Papyrus returned with his own plate of skullcakes and began to eat.

“Can you tell me more about Alphys?” Frisk asked after a mouthful of food.

“SHE’S THE ROYAL SCIENTIST! UM, I DON’T KNOW WHAT SHE DOES THOUGH.”

“the royal family have always employed a royal scientist to oversee r&d in the kingdom. no idea what projects alphys is working on right now. it’s top secret but probably something to do with breaking the barrier to get us out of here. as you can see, the research hasn’t been successful so far.”

Frisk hummed in agreement. “So that’s why you think she might know about the creature that attacked me.”

“alphys is the logical place to start.”

After breakfast, both Sans and Papyrus returned to their bedrooms. Frisk washed the dirty dishes in a bucket of water in the kitchen. She insisted on helping out - she already felt so much better after a plate of monster food. Bonedacious hovered nearby, watching her work.

Charlotte and Gabe woke up while she was cleaning. Charlotte must have been starving because she managed to eat an entire skullcake by herself. Gabe ignored a plate of cooked food, but it ate the mess off the floor with gusto. After just a few mouthfuls there was no trace of batter on the carpet. At least that was one less thing to clean.

Frisk felt disgusting - she had not changed in a day and her clothes were getting pungent. She pulled on the sweater.

“you won’t need that where we’re going,” said Sans from the stairs. “hotland is kinda hot.”

“Oh. Right.”

She removed it as Papyrus and Sans joined her by the front door.

“IS EVERYONE READY TO TRAVEL TO HOTLAND WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND HIS EQUALLY-GREAT BROTHER SANS?”

Frisk picked Charlotte up off the floor and placed the spider on her shoulder. She held Gabe securely under her left arm: who knew what mischief it would get up to if left alone.

“okay, frisk on my left and papyrus right.”

Sans held out his hands and Frisk took his left one. Bonedacious watched them from the kitchen.

“step forward on three.”

Frisk swallowed nervously, remembering her previous experience of teleportation. Had that really just been yesterday? It felt like she had been here forever. She held onto Gabe tightly.

Sans counted aloud, and the three took a step forward into a rush of sound and color. A shocking burst of heat washed over them as their feet landed on a road paved with red stone.

Charlotte sighed happily. “This is more like it!” she said in Frisk’s ear.

They were standing in a massive cavern, on a platform of rock surrounded by magma. The air shimmered with heat. Hotland was barren and empty, but one large, grey building dominated the cavern.

“that’s the lab,” said Sans, stating the obvious. He led the way at a stroll.

Frisk had to place Gabe on the ground - its fluffy fur made her skin prickle uncomfortably in the heat. She worried that it might suffer in Hotland, but Gabe didn’t even pant. In fact, the one suffering the most was Frisk. The scorching heat surpassed even the hottest summer day on the surface. She was being slow cooked here!

“NOT MUCH FURTHER, FRISK,” Papyrus encouraged her.

The walk to the lab only took a few minutes, but her clothes were soaked with sweat when they reached the building. Sans, Papyrus, and Gabe were unfazed, while Charlotte was actually enjoying the Hotland climate.

Papyrus rapped smartly on the door to the lab. Frisk looked up and around: there were no windows offering a glimpse inside. After a long minute, the door slid open and revealed a gloomy interior. To Frisk’s relief, a cool breeze rolled out from within. Before them, hardly taller than Sans, stood a squat, yellow monster. Alphys had reptilian features: clawed hands and feet, a thick tail, and a fleshy head crest. She was wearing a lightly-soiled lab coat with a name tag, but with no shoes or gloves. Alphys was bent over like an old woman, as though she wanted to fold in on herself with embarrassment.

“H-h-hi S-Sans,” she stammered through her buck teeth. “Hi P-Papyrus. C-can I h-help you with s-something?”

“hey alphys. i think you can, but let’s talk inside. our friend here isn’t used to the heat.”

Alphys squinted through her round glasses, appearing to notice Frisk for the first time.

“Of c-c-course! C-come in!”

Alphys turned and scuttled back into the cool darkness. Frisk walked in and breathed an audible sigh of relief in the air conditioning. The fluorescent lights flickered on, revealing a massive room. It was so huge there were two escalators inside.

“S-sorry, I d-don’t have anywhere for you all to s-s-sit,” Alphys stammered. “I h-have a f-f-few chairs around the place.”

She wrung her clawed hands anxiously for a moment before dashing up the escalator on the far side of the room.

“Where’s the lab?” Frisk asked. She had expected the entire building to be a laboratory. Instead, it looked like Alphys’s office.

“hidden away. like i said, it’s top secret.”

“Then why does the building say ‘LAB’ on the outside? That doesn’t sound top secret to me. And there isn't any security either.”

“heh. dunno.”

“WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING?” Papyrus asked her.

“Hasn’t anyone broken in to find out what’s inside? What about lab staff, hasn’t there been any information leaks?”

“MONSTERS WOULD NEVER BEHAVE LIKE THAT!” said Papyrus. “WE TRUST OUR KING.”

“But then why would the lab itself need to be hidden away?”

Alphys returned before Sans or Papyrus could answer. She had a desk chair in hand and nearly tripped over her lab coat in haste.

“O-only f-five more to g-go-”

“don’t worry about it, alphys. we won’t stay,” said Sans. “we wanted information about someone. or maybe ‘something’ is the right word.”

Alphys frowned, her beady eyes darting between them.

“W-what do you m-mean?”

“you can tell her, frisk.”

Frisk immediately felt uncomfortable with everyone’s eyes on her. “Last night I was attacked by a monster, but it was not like any of you. Sans and Charlotte said it doesn’t have a soul. It’s huge, covered in spikes, and it sent out vines to trap me. It also stalked me through the ruins after I fell down from the surface.”

Alphys’s eyes opened as round as saucers.

“From t-the s-surface! T-t-that means…”

“yeah, frisk is a human,” said Sans.

The yellow monster’s attitude changed. She vibrated with excitement, her eyes sparkling. She was starstruck.

“T-the rumors were true!” Alphys gasped. “A h-h-human is in the underground! Oh. My. God!!”

Frisk blushed.

“SANS AND I CAPTURED FRISK YESTERDAY,” boasted Papyrus. “WE’RE GOING TO SEE ASGORE SOON, AND THEN I’LL BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!”

“I s-see,” said Alphys. “W-well it is w-w-wonderful to meet you, Frisk!”

“any ideas about that thing that attacked us?” Sans said. “you know more about this stuff than any monster in the underground.”

A troubled look crossed Alphys’s face. “N-n-no soul, you said?”

“Yes, Doctor Alphys,” Charlotte piped up. “And it’s a murderer. It dusted some of my friends.”

“Oh, I’m s-sorry to hear that,” Alphys said. “How s-s-strange. H-h-how can a m-monster exist w-without a soul?”

“WE WERE HOPING YOU COULD TELL US.”

The yellow monster adjusted her glasses, deep in thought. “I d-d-don’t know. A m-monster’s soul c-can’t exist without a body, and l-logically a monster’s b-body c-can’t exist without a s—s-soul.”

“that’s what we’re trying to figure out.”

Alphys rubbed her temple. “I’m s-s-sorry,” she said. “W-without seeing this creature myself and r-r-running s-some tests, I c-can’t help you.”

“IT IS VERY STRONG AND CUNNING,” Papyrus said. “I DO NOT THINK EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, COULD CAPTURE IT ALONE. MAYBE A FEW OF US WORKING TOGETHER COULD BRING IT HERE.”

“I-it’s already d-dusted s-several monsters,” replied Alphys. “Y-y-you should s-stay away from it.”

“That’s good advice, Doctor Alphys,” said Charlotte.

Sans chuckled. “heh, you don’t have to tell me twice. well, we should probably go. don’t want to keep you from your work any longer.”

Alphys wrung her hands again. There was a desperate loneliness in her eyes.

“I-I d-don’t mind if you want to s-stay for a while, b-but I understand if you have somewhere else t-t-to be,” she said, looking at the ground.

“WE HAVE TO WORK TODAY. BUT YOU SHOULD VISIT US IN SNOWDIN, ALPHYS,” Papyrus said kindly. “THERE’S A COUCH FOR GUESTS.”

She looked up and smiled at him. “Th-that’s really n-nice of you, P-Papyrus.”

“you’ll have to eat my brother’s cooking, though.”

“SANS YOU SAID I WAS A GOOD COOK THIS MORNING.”

“just joking bro… i thought you had a thicker skin…”

Frisk snorted and Alphys giggled. Papyrus narrowed his eyes.

“WE SHOULD LEAVE NOW TO SPARE YOU FROM ANY MORE OF MY BROTHER’S CEASELESS PUNS.”

Alphys walked them all back to the front door. She looked a little better than before.

“P-please come back to visit, w-won’t you?” she asked, her voice wavering.

“sure.”

“OF COURSE! I’LL ASK UNDYNE IF SHE WANTS TO JOIN US NEXT TIME. I KNOW SHE LIKES COMING HERE.”

Frisk noticed a faint blush rise in Alphys’s cheeks.

“T-that would be g-g-great. S-s-see you soon. And you are a-always welcome h-here too, F-Frisk.”

“Thanks Alphys. It was great to meet you.”

Alphys smiled toothily and let them out. The heat outside was somehow even worse than before. The door closed behind them with a hiss, cutting off the last of the cool air.

“Can we teleport from here?” Frisk asked.

“yep. i’m ready to go when you-”

“Wait!”

Charlotte wiggled her forearms to get their attention.

“I’m going to stay here,” she said, “to live with the other spiders. I want to thank you for your hospitality, and for saving me from the Ruins. I’m going to miss you all.”

There was a pang of sadness in Frisk’s chest. In the short time they had known each other, Charlotte had been a good friend to her.

“I’ll miss you, too,” Frisk said, and she meant it. She would probably never see the plucky little spider again.

“WE WILL STILL BE FRIENDS, WON’T WE?” Papyrus asked.

Charlotte smiled up at him. “Of course! Please visit us whenever you like. There will always be tea and freshly-baked food for my friends.”

Frisk could not imagine eating hot food in Hotland. Sweat poured from her brow.

“if i find any more spiders in the ruins i’ll bring them here,” Sans said. “break a leg. or eight.”

“Thank you, Sans. And thank you Papyrus and Frisk! You too, Gabe. Be a good dog, okay?”

Gabe stared off into the distance, but wagged its fluffy tail.

Frisk walked to the road’s edge. She lifted Charlotte from her shoulder and carefully onto a nearby rock. The rock was hot enough to fry an egg, but Charlotte didn’t even flinch.

Frisk returned to Sans and Papyrus, scooping Gabe up into her arms. She took Sans’s outstretched hand.

“Goodbye, everyone!” Charlotte called, waving her front legs. She looked so tiny, dwarfed by Hotland’s massive magma chamber. Frisk knew that Charlotte could handle herself, but she worried about the spider finding her way home.

Frisk, Sans, and Papyrus stepped forward, the universe splitting apart and folding around them in an instant.

Chapter Text

Snow had begun to fall by the time they reappeared in Snowdin, and Frisk hurried inside from the street into the skeleton brothers’ house. Gabe bounced out of her arms and immediately headed upstairs to Papyrus’s room. Teeth already chattering, Frisk pulled on Papyrus’s orange sweater that she had left on the couch. She sat down and wrapped the blanket around her bare legs. These extreme temperature changes were going to make her sick! The skeleton brothers were less worried about the inclement weather, and sauntered in after her.

“NO LUCK WITH DOCTOR ALPHYS,” Papyrus sighed aloud. “OH WELL. WE SHOULD GET READY FOR WORK.”

Sans flopped on the couch next to Frisk.

“why, bro?” he droned. “we’ve got a bone-afied human here already. no need to look for any more.”

Papyrus looked aghast. “THAT DOESN’T MEAN ANOTHER ONE WON’T FALL DOWN TODAY. MAYBE THERE’S A DIFFERENT HUMAN WALKING THROUGH SNOWDIN ALREADY?! OH NO!”

Sans chuckled. “seriously, it’s fine pap. i have a sentinel skull in the ruins to look out for anything unusual.”

“YOU DO?” said Papyrus. “BUT THAT MEANS…”

“our puzzles are a complete waste of time. heh.”

Papyrus fell silent, his face downcast. Sans’s perpetual grin faltered for the first time, and he sat up on the couch.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?” said Papyrus in a small voice, clearly heartbroken.

“…i’m sorry, pap. i wanted to, but i couldn’t find the right moment. honestly, i never expected a human to actually fall down - there hasn’t been one for decades…”

“A HUMAN WOULD NEVER GET PAST ONE OF YOUR SKULLS… I WAS NEVER GOING TO GET INTO THE ROYAL GUARD…”

Sans stood up.

“that’s not true! we’ve got a human here, right now. i don’t want any credit for finding and capturing frisk. you beat 'em with a puzzle, remember?”

Papyrus sniffed. “I DID, DIDN’T I?”

“yeah bro, you’re the best there is. we can take frisk to asgore now if you want.”

The two skeletons glanced pityingly at Frisk. She wanted to sink into the couch and disappear.

“NO! I CAN’T!” Papyrus wailed. “I MUST DELIVER FRISK TO UNDYNE OR ASGORE, BUT THEY…”

Frisk cleared her throat, her eyes meeting theirs. “It’s alright, I know. Sans told me,” she said quietly.

Now they were all deeply embarrassed.

“frisk, there’s something else you should know,” Sans said, not meeting her gaze. “there are only two ways to access the underground from the surface. in the ruins, where i found you, and the barrier beyond asgore’s castle. anything and anyone can enter, but only sound can escape through the barrier. to leave the underground you will need your human soul, and a monster soul.”

Frisk stared at them in horror. She wouldn’t take someone’s life to secure her own freedom. Never.

“WE’RE SO SORRY, FRISK,” said Papyrus.

“But… my dad knows I walked up the mountain. And I left my bag in the cave… someone will be looking for me.”

Papyrus and Sans shared a look.

“I… I’M SORRY TO GIVE YOU MORE BAD NEWS,” Papyrus said after a moment. “BUT NO-ONE FROM THE SURFACE IS COMING HERE TO LOOK FOR YOU.”

Frisk frowned. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t they?”

Sans shuffled awkwardly. “uh. they’re not going to come here because they’ve… forgotten you.”

Frisk thought they were both joking, but the sorrow in their voices was genuine.

“it’s the barrier,” Sans continued. “humans sealed us in here hundreds, maybe thousands of years ago. don’t you think that someone would have finished us off while we’re trapped and vulnerable? it’s because you’ve all forgotten that we exist.”

“HUMANS HAVE FALLEN DOWN HERE BEFORE, BUT IT WAS ONLY EVER ONE AT A TIME. THERE WERE NO SEARCH PARTIES THAT CAME LOOKING FOR THEM. IF A GROUP OF HUMANS HAD MADE IT UNDERGROUND, WE WOULD HAVE ALREADY ACQUIRED ENOUGH SOULS TO BREAK OUT OF HERE. OR THEY WOULD HAVE KILLED US.”

Blood pounded in Frisk’s ears, and her hands trembled. The skeletons weren’t lying. She really was stuck down here.

“Why… why are you telling me all of this?”

Papyrus sniffed again. Tears were running down his cheeks. “I WANT US TO BE FRIENDS. I CAN’T HURT YOU. YOU DESERVE TO KNOW THE TRUTH.”

“speaking of which,” Sans interjected, “i think alphys knows more than she let on.”

“REALLY?”

“yeah. but a hunch isn’t going to get us far - if we pressure alphys for information she will just hide away. we need to look elsewhere.”

Frisk focused on breathing, trying to quell the fear flooding her chest. There had to be a way out that didn’t involve murdering someone.

“If I’m going to be stuck here for a while, we need to find out more about the soulless monster,” she said, as evenly as she could manage. “It’s going to keep attacking me, so we either have to kill it or at least convince it to leave me alone. You and Charlotte mentioned an old lady who lives in the Ruins. Maybe she could help us?”

“i don’t think that’s going to work. sorry.”

“Why not? She torched that creature, so they’re obviously not friends. If we can get her to talk I’m sure she would be able to tell us something useful.”

Sans scratched the back of his skull in thought. “that’s a good point. the problem is that the old lady has been in there for who knows how long, so she knows all the best hiding spots. after she burned the place down she moved deeper into the old city. my sentinel rarely sees her, and when it does she’s already gone by the time i get there: she’s acting like she doesn’t want to be found.”

“THAT’S SAD,” Papyrus said. “IF I WAS TRAPPED IN THE RUINS I WOULD WANT TO GET OUT.”

“she must have her reasons. but we have no other clear leads, and since we’re out of a job let’s try to find her. if we find any more spiders hiding in the ruins maybe they could help us too.”

“You said she doesn’t want to be found, but she might need help,” said Frisk.

“SHE MIGHT WANT SOME FRIENDS, TOO,” Papyrus agreed.

“yeah, you’re right. i’m ready to go when you two are.”

Frisk’s skin prickled at the thought of returning to the ruins, but Sans and Papyrus had already proven themselves a match for the creature. They would make sure nothing happened to her.

“I’m ready,” she said.

“I’M… NOT READY,” Papyrus said, his eyes narrowed. “GABE HAS BEEN SUSPICIOUSLY ABSENT. I THINK IT HAS FOUND MY BONES AGAIN!”

He raced upstairs, followed by Sans and Frisk. When he opened the door to his bedroom, Papyrus gasped. Bones were strewn everywhere, with some even stuck to the ceiling. They had interrupted a tug-of-war between Gabe and Bonedacious. The two froze, wide-eyed and watching the doorway.

“WHAT IS THIS SKULLDUGGERY?! OUT, FIENDS AND THIEVES!”

The two intruders didn’t need to be told twice. Bonedacious disappeared with a faint pop, and Gabe scampered under Papyrus’s bed. A flash of white appeared in the corner of Frisk’s left eye - the dog had somehow appeared outside of the bedroom. It raced downstairs, the bone still in its mouth as it bolted across the living room and passed through the front door.

Sans leaned against the door frame, wheezing with laughter.

“Papyrus!” Frisk scolded. “You scared it away!”

“IF ONLY WE WERE SO FORTUNATE,” he said. “THAT MISCHIEVOUS DOG WILL BE BACK. AND SANS, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER.”

“hey, bonedacious does what it wants. i’m not controlling it.”

“YOU GAVE YOUR SENTINEL SKULL A NAME AND AUTONOMY?!”

“hehehe. as long as they do the task i give ‘em, i don’t care what else my skulls do. i can’t be bothered keeping track of ‘em all the time.”

“I DON’T WANT IT IN MY HOUSE IF IT’S GOING TO STEAL MY BONES AGAIN.”

“relax, pap, i’ll give bonedacious a rap on the knuckles when it reappears.”

“UGH! I’LL GIVE YOU A RAP ON THE SKULL IF I HEAR ANOTHER TERRIBLE PUN. LET’S GO TO THE RUINS AND FIND THIS OLD LADY.”

Frisk blinked a few times, her eyes adjusting to the gloom. Sans had taken them to an empty hallway. The stone floor was covered in a fine layer of dust, and Frisk sneezed as it was stirred up by their feet. Papyrus summoned a long bone, which glowed faintly in his hand. Sans led the way.

A white light appeared at the far end of the hallway, and as they walked towards it Frisk recognized it as one of Sans’s wolfish sentinel skulls.

“hey, shin,” he said, addressing the skull directly. “we need to find the old lady. can you pick up a trail?”

The skull turned and sped into the darkness. Papyrus grumbled something about Sans naming his magical attacks.

“right now we’re at the entrance to the ruins,” said Sans. “we can work our way in so she can’t slip past us.”

Frisk hugged her chest: despite the warm sweater, the Ruins were freezing. How could anyone live here alone in the cold darkness and not go mad with despair?

They walked for a long time through empty hallways. Her eyes now fully adjusted to the gloom, Frisk noticed empty sconces and withered, crumbling vines. Papyrus and Sans were silent, both listening out for any signs of trouble. Her breathing seemed unnaturally loud in the still air.

The trio reached a staircase and found themselves in a small house. It had been abandoned for some time. Trash lay strewn across the floor, covered with a fine layer of dust and ash. There were mounds of books and broken furniture. Pictures had been ripped from the walls and flung across the room, and vases of dried flowers lay shattered on the floor.

“huh. this used to be her place. shin moved through already so we know she’s not here. let’s keep going.”

Frisk had to set her curiosity aside and follow the skeletons out through the front door. Outside the house towered a large, dead tree. It must have been nourished by magic because it would have never seen sunlight here. But now its caretaker had gone, vanishing into the ruins of the old city.

“SANS, WHY DID YOU PUT A SENTINEL IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE?” Papyrus asked. “I THOUGHT YOU DIDN’T CARE ABOUT CAPTURING HUMANS.”

“heh. it’s a long story, but we have time,” he said. “the old lady and i knew each other before she burned the place down.”

“YOU NEVER MENTIONED ANYTHING ABOUT HER.”

“yeah. thing is, she never wanted the underground to know she was there. i said i wouldn’t tell anyone, and i didn’t. until now.”

“NOT EVEN YOUR OWN BROTHER?”

“sorry pap. but i told her all about you. she said you sounded like a pretty cool guy. she said she wanted to meet you one day.”

Papyrus stood tall, taking long strides with a giddy smile on his face.

“heh. so, a long time ago i was bored on one of my patrols and i went exploring,” Sans continued. “i found this really old door, deep in the forest outside snowdin. it was huge. i tried to open it, but it was sealed from the inside. with nothing better to do, i decided to practice my knock knock jokes: all the better to torment you with.”

The smile disappeared from Papyrus’s face. “OH NO.”

“so one day, i’m knocking ‘em out, like usual. i knock on the door and say ‘knock knock’, and suddenly, from the other side… i hear a woman’s voice. ‘who is there?’ she says. so, naturally, I respond: ‘dishes’. ‘dishes who?’ she says. ‘dishes a very bad joke’.”

Papyrus groaned aloud. Frisk smiled to herself.

“then she just howls with laughter, like its the best joke she’s heard in a hundred years. so i keep ‘em coming, and she keeps laughing. she’s the best audience i’ve ever had. then, after a dozen of ‘em, she knocks and says ‘knock knock’. i say ‘who’s there?’. ‘old lady’. ‘old lady who?’. ‘oh! i did not know you could yodel!.”

Papyrus groaned louder, walking faster to get away from them.

“hehe. needless to say, this woman was extremely good. we kept telling each other jokes for hours. eventually, i had to leave - papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story-”

“ONLY SOMETIMES.”

“she told me to come by again, and so i did. then i did again. and again. she wasn’t always in the mood to tell jokes, or listen to them, so we talked about other things. i don’t know her name, but i feel like i know her. does that make sense?”

“I think so,” Frisk agreed. “She must have her reasons for living here and not telling you her name. Something terrible must have happened to her.”

“yeah. so, getting back to the reason why I put shin in the ruins. i remember i was talking to the old lady one afternoon. she went really quiet, then she said something strange. ‘you do not scare me’. she was really quiet when she said it, i almost didn’t hear. so i said, ‘is everything okay?’. she said, ‘oh, i am sorry. please do not worry about me.’ i didn’t ask her about it ‘cause i didn’t want to scare her off. but she left soon after that.

“a few days later i went back to the door. she wasn’t there, but i practiced my jokes anyway. suddenly, i heard a screech, like something scraping on metal. i listened next to the door, and i heard a voice i didn’t recognize. ‘you’re pathetic,’ it said. i knew it was talking to me. i asked the voice where the old lady was, but it just laughed. i was really worried, so i teleported into the ruins for the first time. it was a lot brighter inside, and neater than it is now. the old lady had been looking after the place. i walked along the same corridors we just walked, and that thing attacked me. it tried to trip me up, and crush me with its vines. i defended myself and it vanished into the walls. the strange thing was that i fought it off easily enough. like it wasn’t trying to kill me.

“i called out: ‘hey, lady, are you there?’. i heard that voice from earlier, mocking me: ‘old lady… who?’ it echoed. this creature had been listening to us. it creeped me out, so i summoned a skull and sent it into the ruins to look for the old lady for me. i didn’t hang around.”

Frisk shivered. “Did you find her?”

“yep. but she couldn’t figure out why shin wouldn’t talk back to her. the old lady looked nervous, so i sent it away to find and destroy the creature that had been tormenting her. in the end it was fruitless - the creature just melted out of sight when shin tried to attack it.”

“WHAT DOES SHE LOOK LIKE? THE OLD LADY.”

“she’s tall - taller than you, pap - with white fur and long ears. she’s wearing a purple robe, or what’s left of one. you can’t miss her.”

Frisk had not known what to expect, but Sans’s description of the old lady was completed different from what she had in mind.

“WHAT HAPPENED THEN?” Papyrus asked, his exasperation quickly forgotten.

“eh. for a few months, not much. i left shin in the ruins to hunt the creature, to keep it away from my friend. in retaliation, it decided to attack me in my own bed. it wrapped its vines around me while i was asleep. but again, it vanished after i fought back. i knew its game by then: it was trying to wear me down. i kept an extra sentinel skull around snowdin for a while after that. all of my magic was exhausted keeping them going. i only removed the skull from snowdin after the old lady burnt down the ruins. i thought she finally killed the creature, but i was wrong.”

Shin flashed into view ahead of them, nose down in its relentless quest for a trail.

“Do you know why she did it?” Frisk asked.

Sans shrugged. “i guess that dirty little snotbag provoked her until she lost it. at first i was worried that she died - there was dust everywhere after the fire - but i’ve caught a few glimpses of her since.”

“Dust? As in-”

“yeah, dead monsters that didn’t escape.”

“NO WONDER POOR CHARLOTTE WAS SO TRAUMATIZED,” Papyrus said. “HOW SAD.”

“a bunch of monsters survived, though. i found ‘em after the fire, took ‘em somewhere safe.”

“YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING YOURSELF TO THE BONE, BROTHER. YOU KNOW, ASGORE WOULD PUT YOU IN THE ROYAL GUARD IF HE KNEW WHAT YOU DID.”

Sans chuckled. “no way, bro. that would require me doing real work for a change. and who would sell hotdogs to the good monsters of hotland?”

Papyrus laughed. “VERY WELL! IF YOU KEEP TELLING BAD PUNS I WILL REPORT YOUR GOOD DEEDS TO ASGORE.”

“welp, guess i’ll have to stop being so humerus.”

“STRIKE ONE.”

Sans stopped suddenly in his tracks.

“shin’s got a trail.”

Chapter Text

Sans led the way, his pace surprisingly swift and silent.

“no more talking. we don’t want to scare her off,” he said in an undertone.

Papyrus and Frisk hurried after him. Frisk struggled to keep up with them both, and had to steady her breathing so she wasn’t gasping like a fish out of water. Every time they reached a crossroads, Sans already knew which path to take. The ruins were like a maze - there was no way Frisk would have made it out of here on her own.

After a few minutes Sans slowed to a stop. Shin grinned before them, glowing bright with anticipation.

“you go first,” Sans panted. “she might lash out if we corner her. we can’t let her escape, but don’t hurt her.”

Shin gave its master a brief nod in understanding, turned, and moved into the darkness. The light from the sentinel skull dimmed to almost nothing, so as not to alert the old lady to their presence. The glowing bone in Papyrus’s hand disappeared too.

Frisk and the skeleton brothers tiptoed behind Shin, with only the soft scuff of footsteps ruffling the silence of the Ruins. The fire had destroyed everything here. The walls, floor and ceiling were scorched - if there had been any tapestries or vines they were all gone now. In the bleak, featureless hallways of the old monster city they quickly lost track of time.

Sans stopped suddenly, and Frisk ran into him. Fortunately, neither made a sound. They could hear someone laboring away just ahead. Shin was moving very, very slowly now, sneaking around the old lady to flank her.

Sans summoned his soul from his rib cage. Its light was weak, his magic exhausted from teleporting and keeping the sentinel skulls functioning.

“Who is there?” came a frightened voice, cracking from disuse.

“you’re supposed to wait for me to say ‘knock knock’ first,” Sans replied.

A soft gasp followed. “That voice…”

Frisk followed Sans and Papyrus around a corner into a cavernous room. The weak light from Sans’s soul illuminated a lone figure among piles of rubble. Some of the stones were stacked neatly on top of each other, as though she was trying to repair the damage. As they approached, the old lady backed away, only to collapse in exhaustion and fear. She was completely, utterly helpless. Her robes were scorched and torn, her fur dirty and her face gaunt. She looked like she was about to die.

“you didn’t think i’d given up on you?” Sans said softly, approaching her.

The old lady’s sunken eyes looked up at him, searching desperately for something. “Is it really you?” she asked.

Hot tears pricked in Frisk’s eyes. She blinked them away.

“yep. we came here to get you out.”

“Oh. But, I cannot leave. My home-”

“will be fine without you. you’re not well.”

“MA’AM, WE HAVE A HOUSE NOT FAR FROM HERE, IN SNOWDIN,” Papyrus said. “PLEASE COME WITH US. IT’S NO TROUBLE.”

“But-”

“sorry, lady. i’m not going to leave you here.”

The old lady put her hands on the ground, attempting to push herself up but with no success. Frisk and Papyrus walked over to her, clasped an arm each and lifted her gently to her feet. She could not muster up any resistance. The monster was indeed tall, but shockingly light for her size. With her drooping ears and a pair of stubby horns on her forehead the old lady reminded Frisk of a goat or cow. She had a kind face.

As Frisk wondered how Sans was planning to get them all out, he answered her question before she could ask it. The skeleton turned, his back to them, and sliced horizontally through the air with his left hand. Then, using both hands, Sans widened the gap like tearing a piece of fabric. When it was wide enough he raised his left foot and placed it on the tear to drag it down. Frisk, Papyrus, and the old lady watched in wonder as the portal opened into the skeletons’ living room. 

Sans’s soul dimmed to almost nothing, and the breath whistled through his teeth as he panted in exertion.

“take her through,” he gasped. “quickly.”

Frisk and Papyrus wasted no time in whisking the old lady through the portal, and they emerged instantly, blinking in the light. They had forgotten that it was daytime in Snowdin. Frisk and Papyrus looked back just in time to see Sans step through the tear, and it snapped shut behind him with a crack. The skeleton fell to his knees, his soul and eyelights vanished.

“SANS!”

Papyrus hurried to his brother’s side, leaving Frisk to support the old the lady. The monster was incredibly frail, and in the light she somehow looked even more awful. Papyrus hoisted Sans into the air, a hand under each armpit, and moved him onto the couch.

“YOU CAN SIT HER DOWN HERE, FRISK,” Papyrus said. “I’LL GET SOME FOOD.”

Frisk was going to suggest that they get medical attention first, until she remembered that monster food was medicine. So she kept her mouth shut and walked the frail monster over to the couch.

The old lady struggled to put one massive foot in front of the other, but she managed, and Frisk helped to lower her onto the seat next to Sans. The monster laid back and closed her eyes in relief. Her mouth fell open, revealing long canines on her upper and lower jaws. Maybe not so goat-like after all.

Frisk noticed a fine, silvery powder on her hands, which she brushed away instinctively. Then she remembered what Sans had said last night: monsters turned to dust when they died. Maybe they had come too late to rescue the old lady after all.

Sprawled on the other half of the couch, Sans looked equally as ghastly. His eyes were shut and his breathing shallow. He didn’t seem like the heroic type, but the revelations of this morning suggested that he did care about those around him. Just how many more secrets did he have?

Papyrus dashed back to the couch, food flying everywhere in his panic. He had brought out everything from the fridge: spaghetti, ketchup, spider cider, doughnuts, and hot dog buns. Papyrus dropped everything in a pile on the ground and fed Sans a doughnut. Frisk thought she had better help the old lady, if she wasn’t already too far gone. So she picked up one of the hot dog buns.

The monster was asleep, a serene expression on her sweet face. Normally, Frisk would have let her rest, but she had to wake the monster to save her life.

“Ma’am?” she said. “We’ve got food for you here.”

The lady dozed on, and Frisk gently shook her arm. “I’m sorry, but you have to wake up now.”

“Mmm. Goodness,” the lady sighed. “Where am I?”

Frisk held the hot dog bun up to the monster’s muzzle.

“You need to eat this.”

The old lady didn’t protest, her huge hands shaking as she took the bun from Frisk. The change was instant and miraculous. With each mouthful, more warmth and life returned to the injured monster. Sans had also been brought back from the brink, and was already on his third doughnut.

“SANS YOU REALLY RATTLED ME THIS TIME,” Papyrus cried, shoving a bottle of ketchup into his brother's empty hand.

“hey, i’m the one with the bad jokes, remember?” Sans said, after taking a swig. “anyway, we’re all back home and safe. that’s what matters.”

“What did you do back there?” Frisk asked him.

“made a portal.”

“I know, but how?”

“heh. it’s kinda like a slowed-down version of how i teleport. usually my shortcuts take a fraction of the time and effort, but by making a portal i could be sure you all made it through. if we traveled the usual way and the old lady stumbled, she might not have made it here in one piece.”

Frisk remembered the portal snapping shut and her skin prickled.

“THAT WAS DANGEROUS!” said Papyrus.

The old lady coughed politely. She was watching them, her brown eyes finally clear.

“I am sorry to intrude. Your name is Sans, is it not?” she asked timidly.

“that’s me. and you are…?”

A red glow rose in the monster’s cheeks. “Oh no, I have forgotten to introduce myself. Please forgive me. My name is Toriel, and I am the caretaker of the Ruins.”

“nice to have you with us, toriel. this is my brother, papyrus, and frisk the human.”

Toriel’s eyes grew round with amazement.

“Incredible! I have heard so much about you, Papyrus. I am pleased to finally meet you. And Frisk, it is lovely to meet you too. I see that these skeletons have taken good care of you - I am sorry that I was not there when you fell.”

“I’m okay, don’t worry about me!” Frisk reassured her. “Are you alright?”

“I-” Toriel began, but the words died on her lips. A haunted look returned to her eyes.

“YOU ARE SAFE HERE WITH US,” Papyrus said quickly. “YOU SHOULD EAT SOMETHING ELSE.”

He picked up the last of the doughnuts, and Toriel took it.

“Are these spider doughnuts?” she asked, turning it over in her palm. “I have not eaten one of these for some time. The spiders used to sell them in the ruins, before…”

Sans took another swig of ketchup. “it’s okay. you don’t need to explain anything,” he said. “but when you’re feeling better we need your help.”

“I am not much use to anyone.”

Without thinking, Frisk reached out and touched the old lady’s forearm. She didn’t even know this woman, but the heartache in her voice was too much. Toriel smiled sadly at Frisk.

“YOU CAN USE MY BED, MS TORIEL. YOU ARE TOO TALL FOR THE COUCH,” said Papyrus.

“I cannot-”

“it’s fine. really,” Sans reassured her. “we can sort it out.”

Papyrus helped himself to a container of spaghetti. “SANS, YOUR ROOM IS NOT FIT TO BE SEEN BY ANYONE SO YOU CAN STAY THERE,” he said candidly. “AND FRISK, YOU CAN SLEEP ON THE COUCH AGAIN.”

“what about you, pap?”

“I’LL, UH, SLEEP ON THE FLOOR.”

Toriel cleared her throat awkwardly. “If it is alright, I do not wish to be alone. I am sorry to be a burden.”

“hm,” Sans deliberated. “hey pap, think you could take the couch upstairs into your room for frisk? that way you'll have lots of space to set up a tent in the living room.”

Papyrus’s eyes sparkled like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. “I FORGOT WE HAD SLEEPING BAGS AND A TENT!! THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST NIGHT EVER! NYEHEHEHEHEH!”

This brought a cheery smile to Toriel’s sweet face.

“okay. well, i’ve had too much excitement for one day,” Sans yawned. “i’m going to turn in. i’ll leave bonedacious outside to guard the house.”

“Who is ‘Bonedacious’?” said Toriel.

“heh. one of my skull attacks. you’ve seen them before.”

“Oh. Yes.”

“SANS, WILL YOU BE ALRIGHT?” Papyrus asked anxiously.

“yeah, i’ll be fine. might need some more food though. want to help me take it upstairs?”

Sans stood up. There were dark circles under his eye sockets, but he otherwise looked normal. Definitely an improvement on a few minutes ago. Papyrus grabbed an armful of the leftover food, and hurried upstairs. Sans gave Frisk and Toriel a wink and a lazy wave before disappearing into his room.

“Goodness. This has been a strange day,” Toriel said aloud.

Frisk couldn’t agree more.

Toriel finally ate the doughnut she had been holding on to. She looked even better now, though her shabby robe would need to be replaced.

“Frisk,” she said, “when I moved into the Ruins I promised myself that I would take care of any human that fell into the underground. I hope that you can forgive me for failing my duties.”

“It’s okay, really,” Frisk replied. “Sans and Papyrus have been looking after me. Well, they were going to take me to the monster king, but now I’m not so sure.”

Anger flared in Toriel’s brown eyes. “NO! You must not go to Asgore!” she cried.

Frisk tensed at the sudden outburst and Toriel covered her mouth in shame.

“Oh, my child, I am sorry,” she said. “But it is my duty to take care of you. No-one will take your soul. No-one.”

“WHO IS TAKING WHOSE SOUL?” Papyrus asked, walking downstairs.

“Ah, Papyrus. I wanted to thank you - both of you - for taking care of Frisk,” said Toriel, “but their well-being is my responsibility now. Once I am recovered we will find a place to live. You and Sans do not need to worry about them any more.”

“OH. BUT I WAS HOPING THAT FRISK AND I WOULD BE FRIENDS SOON.”

“You will be allowed to see them, but their soul is not to be taken.”

Frisk cleared her throat. “Um, I have a home on the surface. I don’t want to live underground forever.”

Toriel gave her a pitying look. “Frisk… there is a terrible price-”

“I know. Sans and Papyrus told me, but I can’t give up without even trying. There must be a way that doesn’t involve someone dying.”

Both monsters watched her intently.

“WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS LATER,” Papyrus said. “I’M GOING TO GET SOME GROCERIES. DO YOU NEED ANYTHING? DO EITHER OF YOU WANT TO COME WITH ME?”

Frisk looked to Toriel.

“I think we should stay here,” Frisk said to Papyrus. “But if it's not too much trouble, could you please find us some more clothes?”

Toriel tried to protest, but Papyrus had already dashed out the front door, enthusiastic for an afternoon of shopping.

“I-I do not have money to pay for new clothes,” Toriel said in a small voice. She averted her eyes in shame.

“I don’t either,” Frisk reassured her. “We can work out a way to pay them back. Don’t worry about it. You need to focus on getting better.”

“I am afraid,” Toriel whispered.

Frisk put a hand on Toriel’s massive paw. “Me too,” she confessed. “But we can get through it. I know you’re strong. Sans told us about you.”

“Oh, Sans,” sighed Toriel. “He is my only friend - I was so lonely in the Ruins. Now he has saved my life. I do not know how I can ever repay him.”

“He might need your help one day.”

Toriel smiled sadly. “What use is a mad old woman? But, perhaps you are right. Would you tell me about your home on the surface? We have not seen humans in the underground for a very long time. Most of what we know about the world above is from the trash that falls down here.”

Frisk told Toriel that she had grown up in Emerald Springs. Now she lived at a college two states away, but had returned to her parents’ house for the summer break. Toriel was particularly interested in Frisk’s mother, a school teacher, and confessed that she loved books and wanted to share her knowledge too. Frisk told her about Emerald Springs, and the other towns circling Mt. Ebbot. She also spoke about new transport and technological advances, and, although history was not her forte, she told Toriel about great wars that had been fought on the surface.

“Did you know that humans used to have magic, too?” Toriel said, during a lull in their conversation.

Frisk stared at her. “What?”

“Yes. They sealed us in here with magic, long ago. But do you know what happened?” Toriel had a faint smile on her lips.

Frisk felt stupid: she had never thought to ask where the barrier had come from.

“No, what happened?”

“Humans began to lose their magic,” the monster said. “They forgot that we were the source of it, and your ancestors doomed themselves as well as us. Talking to you now, I realize that it has completely disappeared from the surface. Even if we found a human sympathetic to our plight, that knowledge and power has been lost and they could not break the barrier. With a spell, anyway.”

“Can you tell me about the other humans that fell down here? Did you know them?”

Frisk immediately regretted asking the question. Toriel’s eyes lost their warmth, and she folded her arms defensively. “I am sorry. It is too painful.”

“No, I’m sorry. You should get some sleep, you’re safe here.”

“Mm. Yes, I am tired. Would you stay with me?”

“Sure.”

Toriel curled up, somehow still taking up half the couch, and quickly fell asleep. Frisk lay back, staring at the ceiling, wondering how she was supposed to get back home.

Chapter Text

Papyrus returned with armfuls of shopping bags later that afternoon. He was so excited that he kicked the front door open, startling Toriel and Frisk awake.

“NYEH HEH HEH!” he cried, “THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS FOUND YOU BOTH SOME FASHIONABLE OUTFITS! NOW YOU WILL LOOK ALMOST AS FESTIVE AND FABULOUS AS ME.”

From one very large bag he pulled out a mass of red fabric with a pretty pattern of white flowers. When he lifted it up Frisk realized that it was actually a Toriel-sized dress. The monster gasped in delight.

“Oh my! Papyrus, it is lovely!” she said. “Wherever did you find it?”

“THERE’S A SHOP IN WATERFALL THAT SELLS CLOTHES,” he replied. “THE CLOTHES HERE WOULD BE TOO WARM FOR YOU.”

Toriel looked down at her knees in shame.

“You did not need to go all that way for me.”

“DON’T WORRY! I RAN THERE AND BACK - IT’S GOOD EXERCISE. AND I BROUGHT YOU SOMETHING TOO, FRISK.”

She expected some outlandish monster clothing, but Papyrus stuck his hand in another shopping bag and retrieved a pair of jeans. Then he handed her a cream-colored sweater with a cute pattern of blue mushrooms and flowers. Frisk lifted them up, examining them. The fabric was high quality with perfect stitching, but there was no denying it: the clothes were over-sized and shapeless.

“These are really nice, Papyrus,” she said. “But I don’t know if they’ll fit me?”

He waved a hand dismissively.

“ABSOLUTELY, THEY’RE MONSTER CLOTHES. JUST TRY THEM ON. IN THE MEANTIME I’M GOING TO MAKE TEA. I HAVE SOME OF THE KING’S BLEND HERE - ONLY THE BEST FOR MY WONDERFUL GUEST-S.”

Toriel stiffened. Her eyes narrowed and her mouth set in a hard line.

“IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?” Papyrus asked, his brow creased in worry.

“I… the king’s blend, you said?”

“YES. IT’S THE BEST IN THE UNDERGROUND. HE MAKES IT FROM GOLDEN FLOWERS. YOU SHOULD TRY SOME!”

Toriel’s expression softened. “That would be lovely. Would it be alright if I changed in your room, Papyrus?”

He nodded. “OF COURSE!”

Frisk remained doubtful of Papyrus’s assurance that the clothes would fit, until Toriel walked downstairs wearing the red dress he had bought her. Frisk couldn’t help but stare: the dress fit perfectly, complimenting her figure. She was a different woman to the one they had found cowering in the ruins earlier that day.

“Wow, Toriel, that dress looks great on you!” Frisk said.

A red blush rose in her cheeks. “Oh. Thank you.” She had clearly not received any compliments for some time.

Papyrus strolled out of the kitchen, and his eyes boggled when he saw Toriel.

“WOWIEE!” he said. “YOU DO LOOK INCREDIBLE, MS. TORIEL.”

“I, err, how is the tea coming along?”

“JUST A MINUTE LEFT. HOW ABOUT YOU TAKE A SEAT?”

Papyrus turned to Frisk. “YOU CAN USE MY ROOM NOW, IF YOU LIKE. BUT DON’T TAKE TOO LONG OR YOUR TEA WILL GET COLD!”

She agreed, and gathered up the clothes he had bought for her. In Papyrus’s room she pulled off his orange sweater and her purple t-shirt - it smelled terrible - and slipped on the cream sweater. Somehow, and she could not explain it, it fit beautifully. It did not pinch or stretch. The jeans were the same: they were probably the most comfortable pair she had worn in her life, even more comfortable than sweatpants! She instantly felt warmer too, like the clothes could respond to her needs. They really were amazing, and they must have been expensive.

“I love these clothes,” Frisk said as Papyrus brought out their afternoon tea into the living room. “Is there a way I can pay you back? I don’t have any money but I could probably get a job or help out-”

“NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!” he cried, “IT IS A GIFT! TO BOTH OF YOU! I HOPE THAT WE CAN BE FRIENDS ONE DAY!”

Frisk smiled at him. “You didn’t need to buy me anything, you've already been so generous. We should definitely be friends.”

Papyrus gasped in delight.

“NOW I HAVE TWO FRIENDS?!”

“I think you have more than that,” said Toriel with a knowing smile, after a sip of her golden flower tea.

The skeleton raised his hands to his mouth. “REALLY?”

“I have only just met you, yet you have saved my life, welcomed me into your home, and fed me. You even bought me a lovely dress. You see? We are friends already.”

Papyrus jumped up, unable to contain himself. He almost upended the small table between them with all of their tea cups and sandwiches on it.

“I HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS NOW! NYEHEHEHEH!”

Frisk and Toriel shared a quick smile.

After tea, they helped Papyrus tidy the room and move the couch upstairs. Then he disappeared into the garage next door and returned with a huge, messy bundle of fabric. The tent looked a bit shabby after being forgotten about and stuffed into storage for so long, but it was comfortable enough. They pitched it in the living room in no time at all. It was so enormous that Toriel would have been able to sleep comfortably inside. Her gentle, red-brown eyes filled with wonder as she stepped inside.

“YOU CAN JOIN ME IF YOU LIKE?” said Papyrus.

“I am sorry. I do not mean to impose, but a bed would be very welcome tonight. I have been sleeping on the ground for quite a while, you see.”

Papyrus’s expression fell as he remembered finding her in the ruins, mere hours ago.

“YOU’RE NOT IMPOSING AT ALL. I’M HAPPY TO SLEEP IN MY TENT FOREVER! IT’S AN ADVENTURE!”

“That is very kind of you. You are a good friend, Papyrus.”

The skeleton’s cheekbones flushed pink with pleasure.

Toriel retired to bed early that evening, while Papyrus and Frisk sat inside the tent and watched TV. Bonedacious opened the front door and drifted inside to join them. Gabe showed up too, but they didn’t know it had returned until Papyrus opened the tall cupboard under the sink.

Gabe jumped out, between the skeleton’s long legs, and dashed upstairs. It disappeared into Sans’s room.

“I TOLD YOU THAT DASTARDLY HOUND WOULD RETURN TO HOUND ME!”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about Gabe,” Frisk replied. “You’ll miss the rest of the show.”

Papyrus raced back to his spot in front of the TV.

The quiz show host, Mettaton the robot, shuffled a handful of question cards while the camera panned across the three contestants. All three were blushing. One of the monsters looked like an airplane, and another like a small volcano with four feet. The third was a horse-fish… creature with too many abs. He flexed his sizable biceps and winked suggestively after each answer.

“AARON’S GOT TO WIN!” Papyrus cried. “HE’S COMING LAST BUT I KNOW HE CAN DO IT!”

“My money’s on Vulkin,” said Frisk. “He’s relaxed. Aaron’s not focusing.”

Sure enough, Aaron became entirely obsessed with flexing and did not answer any of the questions - not that they made much sense to Frisk anyway. The airplane monster, Tsunderplane, became so flustered by Aaron’s flexing that it flew away before the end of the round. Vulkin won by default.

“NYOO HOO HOO!” Papyrus wailed. “I BACKED THE WRONG HORSE.”

“The wrong fish-horse, you mean,” laughed Frisk. “Hey Papyrus, I think I might go to bed.”

“VERY WELL! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WISHES YOU A RESTFUL NIGHT!”

“Thanks, see you in the morning.”

Bonedacious watched her walk up the stairs. Just before Frisk entered Papyrus’s room she looked back to see that the floating skull had taken her spot in the tent. Papyrus did not seem to mind its toothy grin.

Frisk opened the door quietly, and was surprised to find the light on inside. Toriel was sitting at the foot of Papyrus’s race car bed, reading one of his books.

“When I saw these books I could not resist!” the monster whispered conspiratorially. “Papyrus has quite the collection. I have not read any of these before.”

“You did mention that you liked books,” Frisk said. “Do you have any favorites?”

Toriel closed the book she had been reading and placed it on her lap.

“I could not choose just one, they are all like friends to me,” she said. “However, there were some books that I read more than others. For example, I used to own a book of 101 snail recipes. I read it so many times that it fell apart. I had the recipes memorized, but I kept all of the pages in a box underneath my bed. I owned a few joke books and novels, even though I had memorized them all I guess I still enjoyed flicking through the pages. And I also liked reading the books that my… that my children used to read.”

She sighed sadly, but looked up at Frisk with a smile.

“Let us not dwell on that. If you would like to choose a book and read for a while I am sure Papyrus would not mind.”

Toriel opened the book on her lap and began to read. Frisk noticed that she kept it at an arm’s length, and she wondered if monsters had the same eye problems as humans.

Frisk picked up an illustrated book from Papyrus’s collection called ‘Monster Pirates’. She sat on the couch and read through it. The pirates weren’t really pirates at all, just monsters dressed up in torn clothes and eye patches. They sailed through the underground in a wooden boat looking for adventures and helping other monsters. On one of their adventures they discovered a human, except it was actually a monster pretending to be a human.

After she had finished reading the book - it only took fifteen minutes - she stretched out on the couch. Frisk closed her eyes. Through the walls she could hear distant jingles and chatter from the TV, and jazzy trombone music from Sans’s room. Toriel hummed softly to herself.

Frisk could have been at her parents’ house on the surface. It all felt so familiar.

“Oh, Frisk,” said Toriel softly. “You are tired. I will continue reading tomorrow.”

Her eyes cracked open.

“No, it’s okay-”

“I am tired too.”

Toriel waved her hand and the bedroom light began to dim.

“I am glad that you are here with me. Sleep well, child.”

“You too, Toriel.”

The light in the room continued to fade as they settled in for the night. Papyrus’s bed was still not big enough for Toriel: her huge feet stuck out over the edge. The monster sighed again, and her breathing slowed as she fell asleep. Yet even after the light vanished completely, Frisk remained stubbornly awake. Random thoughts kept intruding, keeping her mind ticking. She realized that she had not needed to go to the bathroom all day, nor did she need to go now. Monster food was unusual, but it had its advantages!

Soon the TV fell silent, and only the distant jazz music and Toriel’s light snoring disturbed the silence.

Frisk’s thoughts once again turned to finding a way to the surface. Again and again her ideas hit dead ends. She just didn’t understand enough about this world to think of a less violent way of getting through the barrier.

Her heart ached. If what Sans and Papyrus said was true, her parents had forgotten about her. Everyone had forgotten about her. She had to trust that these monsters, now her only friends in the world, had her best interests at heart.

Frisk must have fallen asleep, because she woke up to a stabbing pain in her mouth.

Frisk’s eyes snapped open in fear and a muffled cry spilled from her lips. She couldn’t see anything in the darkness.

“Ssssh,” purred a voice from somewhere near the ceiling. “They’re all sleeping soundly, you don’t want to wake them now, do you?”

The creature from the ruins! She couldn’t see it, but she felt it crouch down, moving its massive muzzle next to her ear. It stank of decay and burnt flesh.

“Let us start over,” it whispered. “No need to introduce yourself, I already know your name is Frisk. Frisk the human. Frisk the savior. Frisk the murderer. Frisk the coward.”

She struggled, unable to move. Her body was wrapped in spiky vines, including one across her tongue. She tasted blood.

“Just so we're clear, I can take your soul anytime but I enjoy watching you squirm,” said the creature, its hot breath on her cheek. “As for my name… you should know my name, but I know you’ve forgotten. You’ve forgotten everything, haven’t you?”

Frisk couldn’t answer, but she stared up at where the creature’s eyes should be.

“Ha. Pathetic. Well-”

The room filled with a burst of orange light, and a fireball smacked squarely into the creature’s flank. Frisk could see all of its spikes now, its long muzzle crowded with sharp teeth. It howled in pain as flames engulfed its body.

“YOU WILL NOT HURT THEM!” Toriel shrieked, hurling another fireball at the creature. The fireball exploded on impact, scattering tongues of flame across the room. The look on her face could have sent the devil back to hell.

The vines that had been keeping Frisk captive slackened, and she pulled them off. Embers rained down from the ceiling and flames licked at the couch.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” Toriel screamed.

“Toriel!” Frisk gasped. “I’m alright.”

Sans and Papyrus appeared in the doorway at the same time. The creature had disappeared, and Papyrus’s room was alight.

“WHAT HAPPENED?” Papyrus yelped.

“no time for that, let’s get out of here,” said Sans.

The flames spread quickly, and Frisk and Toriel got out just in time as the ceiling in Papyrus’s room collapsed.

They raced downstairs, Gabe leading the way as they sprinted to the door. Sans grabbed Rocky Jr. from its plate on the way out. Bonedacious was nowhere to be found.

They collapsed in the snow, watching helplessly as magical fire devoured the skeleton brothers’ house.

Toriel hugged her knees and wailed.

Chapter Text

The roar of the inferno woke up Snowdin’s other residents, who, despite the late hour, hurried out of their houses to help. Anton the wolf monster appeared first at the scene, and immediately hurled armfuls of snow at the house. The flames hissed and sizzled as they died. Other monsters joined him, using ice or water attacks to put out the fire.

Frisk hugged Toriel, both to express her gratitude and to calm the panicky monster. Toriel was a mess. She trembled violently, tongues of flames sputtering at her fingertips. Tears flowed unchecked down her face.

“It’s okay,” Frisk soothed, blinking back tears herself. “You saved me. I’m okay. We got out. You’re okay.”

“I- I burnt-” Toriel sobbed.

“Don’t worry, we’re safe. You’re safe.”

Sans and Papyrus stared at the ruins of their house in stunned silence. Once the fire had been fully extinguished, the other monsters gathered around them.

“Is everyone alright?” Anton asked in his gravelly voice.

“I THINK SO,” Papyrus said after a moment. “WE ALL MADE IT OUT.” He looked around to confirm.

“What happened?” said the wolf monster.

Sans and Papyrus looked to Frisk - Toriel would not be able to provide a coherent answer.

“We were attacked,” said Frisk. “I was attacked, and Toriel saved me. But she got really angry and I the fire got out of control.”

“What kind of lowlife attacks someone in the middle of the night?” Anton growled.

“they’re a different kind of monster,” said Sans. “a real piece of work.”

Anton grimaced and looked back at the ruined house. A few others looked back too.

“don’t worry, it won’t come back tonight. and it won’t bother any of you either. it’s after the human,” Sans reassured them.

“Very well,” said the wolf monster. “You are welcome to stay in my house. I will be working for the rest of the night.”

“THAT’S VERY KIND OF YOU, ANTON,” said Papyrus. He cast a quick glance at Sans, and Frisk and Toriel. “WE WILL LOOK FOR A MORE PERMANENT SOLUTION TOMORROW.”

The other monsters, who had been watching in silent pity, helped them out of the snow and onto their feet. Anton supported Toriel on the walk to his house, while Papyrus helped Frisk. Her wounds stung. Blood blossomed through her new clothes, and embers from Toriel’s fire had left scorch marks.

“Ugh. My clothes,” lamented Frisk. They were brand new!

“IT’S NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, DEAR FRISK! MONSTER CLOTHES ARE VERY RESILIENT. YOU’LL SEE. HOW ARE YOU FEELING?”

The adrenaline was wearing off now, and each step brought with it a fresh stab of agony.

“Not so good.”

Sans and Gabe appeared at her side.

“hey, one of those lights is next to the inn,” said Sans. “let’s make a detour.”

Frisk had no idea what he was talking about, but allowed Papyrus to steer her down the main street of Snowdin. Monsters peeked through windows or watched from doorways. One mouse-like monster gave a little cry of sympathy. They must have been a sight. And Frisk realized then that Papyrus was still in his pajamas. All of his other clothes were gone.

They crunched towards a golden light hovering between the Snowed Inn and the town’s general store. It was identical to the one in the ruins. Frisk almost tripped over her own numb feet as she strained towards it.

“FRISK, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? IT’S JUST A STREET LIGHT.”

“you’ll see, bro.”

Frisk grimaced as she reached out and thrust her arm into the light. Her body filled with its warm glow and the pain disappeared. She sighed aloud. Relief, at last.

“WOWEE! YOU’RE ALL BETTER! THAT’S AMAZING.”

“told ya,” Sans said with a wink.

“Are you sure it doesn’t work for monsters?” Frisk asked, thinking of Toriel. But Sans and Papyrus could definitely benefit from some healing magic too.

“nope, just you,” replied Sans. “while we’re here i’ll get some food if you two want to walk ahead. i think toriel needs it.”

They parted ways with Sans and retraced their footsteps down the street. Gabe bounced ahead, leading the way.

“I’m really sorry about your house, Papyrus,” said Frisk.

Tears glistened in the corners of the skeleton’s eye sockets. “I AM GOING TO MISS THAT HOUSE. BUT I AM GLAD THAT WE ARE ALL OKAY.”

“I don’t know if ‘okay’ is the right word,” Frisk replied. “We all got out, but Toriel’s really traumatized.”

She remembered Toriel screaming and the ferocity of her fire, the gleam of her fangs and the rage in her eyes. A chill ran up Frisk’s spine. Toriel didn’t just hate the creature: she loathed it with every fiber of her being.

Anton’s home was a just around the corner from Grillby’s, behind the main street. Papyrus opened the front door after a cursory knock. It was a simple, one story building, and despite Anton’s bulk the interior was tiny. The house contained a small bedroom, bathroom, living room and kitchen. Frisk, Papyrus and Gabe found Anton sitting with Toriel on the edge of his bed. Toriel cradled a mug of tea, but wasn’t drinking it. Her eyes stared ahead at nothing.

“TORIEL!” Papyrus said, but his voice died when she looked up at them. She had cried out all her tears and now her eyes were devoid of any emotion.

“My friends, I must get back to work,” Anton said heavily. “Will you be alright? If you need company I can bring some other monsters over to keep watch.”

Frisk and Papyrus looked at each other. “I THINK WE’LL BE FINE, MISTER ANTON,” said Papyrus. “SANS IS RIGHT, THAT CREATURE WON’T COME BACK. THANK YOU FOR LETTING US STAY IN YOUR HOUSE.”

“Anytime. If you need anything you know where to find me.”

Anton patted Toriel’s arm, and with a nod to Frisk and Papyrus he let himself out. They sat with Toriel on the huge bed, unsure of what to say. Gabe watched them in silence. A clock ticked loudly from the living room.

Sans trudged in a few minutes later with a shopping bag in each hand.

“got something for you.”

He handed them each a soft bread roll shaped like a rabbit. Toriel didn’t take hers at first, so Sans pretended to make the cinnamon bunny hop through the air. A tired smile pulled at her lips.

“Sans. You have always been a good friend to me,” she said, taking the roll from him. “I know it was you who left food in the Ruins.”

“yeah. i couldn’t let you starve, even if you didn’t want to leave.” He took a bite of his own cinnamon bunny. “mm, not bad. eat up, it’s been a rough night.”

Frisk felt fine after touching the light earlier, but she ate her roll anyway. It was sweet and spicy and utterly delicious. Toriel and Papyrus ate theirs too, and both looked a little better for it.

“TORIEL,” Papyrus said, “WE WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT WE DON’T BLAME YOU FOR WHAT HAPPENED. YOU WERE PROTECTING FRISK. I SHOULD NOT HAVE LEFT YOU ALONE-”

Toriel shook her head, her long ears swishing. “You have already done so much for me. All of you. But if you had been in that room I could have hurt you. I almost hurt Frisk. I am so sorry, I just… when I heard it talking to Frisk, standing over them, I just- I lost control.”

“hey, we don’t blame you so don’t blame yourself either, okay?”

“I suppose.”

Toriel sipped at her tea, and couldn’t look any of them in the eye.

“we should try and get some sleep,” Sans said. “bonedacious is patrolling the town, if it makes you feel any better.”

“YOU CAN TAKE THE BED, TORIEL,” said Papyrus. "WE WILL SLEEP ON THE FLOOR.”

Toriel was too emotionally exhausted to argue, and finished her tea in silence while Sans and Papyrus searched for extra bedding. They found a pillow, two comforters and a blanket. Frisk helped them to spread the comforters on the floor, and Papyrus gave Frisk the pillow and blanket to use.

Sans stretched out on a comforter with a sigh and an easy smile. He did have a convincing poker face.

Papyrus waited to make sure that Frisk and Toriel were both comfortable before lying down between Sans and Frisk.

“I SURE AM GLAD TO BE SURROUNDED BY MY FRIENDS,” said Papyrus. “GOODNIGHT EVERYONE.”

They all murmured a response - even Gabe sneezed a goodnight. Any animosity between Papyrus and Gabe had disappeared, now that there were no more bones to steal.

Surprisingly, Frisk went to sleep in no time. But she had a nightmare about the creature crushing her soul between its jaws, and woke up just before dawn. Beneath the ticking of the living room clock, and Gabe’s tiny snores, Frisk heard Toriel sobbing quietly into her pillow.

Frisk woke up again when she heard heavy footsteps in the kitchen. Anton was back. Judging by the glow around the window shutters, it was close to lunchtime. She sat up and found herself on the floor, alone except for Gabe who was snoozing beside her, its stumpy legs in the air. Toriel was still in Anton’s bed, and Frisk knew she was awake, but unwilling to face the day.

Frisk got up from the floor and stretched. Despite everything, she felt great. With a backwards glance at Toriel, who was facing the wall, she walked to the kitchen. Anton was making toast and tea. Her heart skipped a beat when he turned and looked at her with his white eyes.

“Hello, Frisk,” he said. “You look well today.”

“Thanks Anton, I’m fine but I don’t know about the others. Have you seen Sans and Papyrus?”

“Yes. They’ve been running errands this morning, but they said they needed to talk to you. If you go outside I know you will bump into one of them sooner or later, Snowdin is a small town.”

“Are you able to stay here while I’m gone? For Toriel.”

The wolf monster took a bite of his toast. “Of course. I have finished my shift - my sister, Lovell, has taken over my duties. But before you go, I have something to give you.”

Anton rummaged through the kitchen cupboards and pulled out a pair of black oven mittens.

“You can use these as temporary shoes,” he explained. “They’ll keep the snow out.”

The wolf monster also gave her some twine to secure them. He crunched on his toast as Frisk stepped into each mitten and tied it up. It was a clumsy effort, but at least she would not be walking around in the snow barefoot.

“See you soon,” Anton said.

Frisk stepped out into clear, crisp day. There was so much magical light inside the cavern that it really did look like daytime on the surface. She walked back to the main street, following it past the library - or ‘Librarby’ - to the skeleton brothers’ house. It had collapsed sometime in the night, and smoke curled from what was left of the building.

Papyrus popped his head out of a pile of rubble.

“FRISK!”

She jumped. “Jeez, you scared me, Papyrus,” she said. “What are you doing?”

“I’M LOOKING FOR ANYTHING THAT SURVIVED. BUT, THERE ISN’T MUCH LEFT.”

Frisk didn’t know what to say.

“THE GARAGE IS FINE, THOUGH!” the skeleton continued. “I FOUND SOME OLD CLOTHES THAT I CAN WEAR UNTIL I CAN GO SHOPPING AGAIN. MAYBE UNDYNE WILL FINALLY GIVE ME A ROYAL GUARD UNIFORM!”

“You should come out of there, something might fall on you,” Frisk said. “Anyway, Anton said you and Sans wanted to talk to me?”

Papyrus extracted himself from the bones of his house, and once in the street he brushed the ash off his clothes. He was wearing an outrageous, sporty-looking outfit, with shorts, a headband, and a t-shirt with the words ‘Jog Boy’ printed on it.

“HE’S AT GRILLBY’S,” said Papyrus. “I HOPE HE HASN’T HAD TOO MUCH KETCHUP.”

The two walked back down the main street. Other monsters greeted them, and couldn’t help but stare. Frisk didn’t blame them; Snowdin was like every other small down she knew on the surface, including Emerald Springs. Papyrus returned their greetings but did not stop to chat.

Sans was sitting at the bar at Grillby’s, ketchup bottle in hand.

“OH BROTHER!” Papyrus said.

Sans looked up at them.

“eh, i’m good,” he said. “jus’ needed to do some thinkin’. hey, grill-by, can you put this… on my tab?”

The barman, who was still on fire, nodded in agreement.

“thanks bud.”

Sans jumped off the bar stool and swayed a little. He allowed Papyrus to steer him outside.

“YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO TALK TO FRISK ABOUT SOMETHING,” Papyrus prompted.

“not here. river.”

Papyrus sighed and lifted Sans up, a hand under each armpit.

“i’m fine, really…”

But Sans fell asleep while Papyrus carried him past Anton’s house and towards a wide blue river. At the river bank Frisk crouched down and scooped up some of the water - her mouth went numb from the cold but it was incredibly sweet and pure. Papyrus dropped Sans into the snow.

“ALRIGHT, BROTHER, WE’RE AT THE RIVER NOW. WHY ARE WE HERE AGAIN?”

Sans shrugged. “nice view. and no-one’s going to overhear us.”

Papyrus scratched his chin. “BUT WHAT’S WITH ALL THE SECRECY?”

“it’s about toriel.”

Frisk and Papyrus shared a quizzical glance. Sans sat down in the snow.

“haven’t you figured it out yet?”

“Figured what out?” Frisk asked.

“heh, i don’t expect you to know. but papyrus, you’ve met asgore. surely you’ve noticed some similarities between him and toriel?”

Papyrus began to pace. “WELL, SHE LOOKS LIKE ASGORE’S CLONE. AND THEY SPEAK THE SAME.”

“yeah, ‘cause they’re both boss monsters.”

Frisk frowned. “What’s a ‘boss monster’?”

“they’re some of the most powerful monsters in the underground,” Sans explained. “there used to be a lot more of ‘em before the war, but because boss monster souls are special the humans killed most of ‘em. there’s only asgore that we know of, and now toriel. and asgore wasn’t always alone - he used to have a wife and children, centuries ago. after his children were murdered by humans, his wife disappeared and was never seen again.”

Papyrus stopped in his tracks. “SANS, ARE YOU SAYING…”

“heh. toriel is asgore’s ex. she’s queen toriel.”

Papyrus’s jaw dropped.

“NO.”

“He’s right,” Frisk said, surprising herself. The skeletons looked at her.

“Toriel mentioned her children. She didn’t say much, it was painful for her.”

“and did you see the robes she was wearing when we found her?” Sans said. “they had the delta rune crest on them.”

“JUST LIKE ASGORE!” Papyrus cried.

Sans chuckled at the confusion on Frisk’s face. “the delta rune is usually associated with royalty. it’s based on an old legend, though some say it’s a prophecy. The legend goes that one day an ‘angel’ who has seen the surface will return to free us all.”

He leaned back.

“I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY WE NEED TO KEEP THIS A SECRET,” said Papyrus. “WOULDN’T THE OTHER MONSTERS LOVE TO SEE THEIR QUEEN AGAIN?”

“think about it, pap. she’s been living by herself for a long time. she doesn’t want us to know who she is, and we need to protect her identity until she’s ready. we need to protect frisk, too - we don’t want to broadcast to every single monster in the underground that a human is here. it could cause mass hysteria, or mobilize the entire royal guard. unless toriel and frisk are willing to fight, i’m not sure we could take ‘em all on, bro.”

“OF COURSE WE COULD TAKE THEM!” Papyrus boasted. “BUT I AGREE, DISCRETION IS THE BETTER PART OF VALOR.”

“with these things in mind, what do you think we should do next?” Sans asked.

Papyrus looked to Frisk.

“I don’t know,” Frisk said. “I still can’t leave the underground. Toriel might be willing to tell us more about the creature, but not until she’s recovered. And now you’ve both lost your home.”

“WELL, THE SENSIBLE THING TO DO WOULD BE TO FIND SOMEWHERE TO STAY,” said Papyrus, tapping his chin in thought. “AND THEN WE CAN WORK ON THOSE OTHER PESKY PROBLEMS. WHERE SHOULD WE GO, SANS?”

“i don’t think we should stay in snowdin,” he replied, “but i’ve got a contact in waterfall who may be able to help us.”

Chapter Text

They could hear Anton’s booming laugh from the street. Frisk and the skeleton brothers found him sitting at the kitchen table with Toriel. Both were clutching at their sides and wheezing with laughter. Anton slapped the table.

“Ms. Toriel, I don’t know why I’m laughing,” he said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. “Your jokes are so terrible!”

“OH NO! NOT MORE PUNS!” Papyrus groaned.

“hey, they’ve got to pun-ctuate the boredom somehow,” said Sans.

Everyone groaned.

“You win, Sans. That’s the worst pun I’ve heard in my life,” Anton said.

The skeleton chuckled. “at least toriel’s jokes are pun-derful.”

Toriel cackled like a chicken. She looked much better already.

“Oh my. I have not laughed like that for some time,” she giggled. “But I should let you sleep, Anton, you have been working all night.”

“I’m fine,” he replied. “But what are you going to do now?” He looked around at his guests.

“WE’RE GOING TO WATERFALL,” said Papyrus.

“You’re leaving Snowdin?” Anton said with a frown. Clearly he had been expecting them to stay.

“yeah, the human doesn’t like the cold.”

The wolf monster scratched behind his ear with a massive paw. “That’s too bad.”

“WE’LL COME BACK TO VISIT!”

“Please do,” said Anton, “this place will be a lot less interesting without you.”

“…I’LL TAKE THAT AS A COMPLIMENT.”

Sans leaned against the door frame. “hey toriel, we’re ready to go when you are. we don’t exactly have too many things to move.”

“Oh! Sorry! Yes, I am ready to go. It is midday already and we have a fair way to walk.”

She turned to Anton with a sweet smile. “Thank you. I will not forget your kindness and it will be rewarded.”

The wolf monster looked away bashfully. “Any other monster would have done the same.”

“But it was you who helped us. Take care, Anton.”

“You too, Ms. Toriel. Sans and Papyrus, I hope you find a new house soon. Come back and visit anytime.”

Anton looked at Frisk with his pale eyes. “Frisk. I have never met a human before, but I know that you are special. Whatever decision you make will be the right one. Good luck. By the way, you can keep those oven mittens.”

Gabe was chasing Bonedacious along the street outside Anton’s house. Two small, blob-like monsters were cheering them on from the sidelines. Bonedacious could have outstripped Gabe easily, but the skull hovered just out of the dog’s reach.

“knock it off you two,” Sans said.

“Yes. Knock Knock it off,” said Toriel.

“whose there?”

“Nobel.”

“nobel who?”

“Nobel… that is why I knocked!” Toriel giggled.

Sans snorted with laughter. “good one.”

Papyrus threw his arms up in the air. “AND I THOUGHT LOSING MY HOUSE WAS BAD! COME ON FRISK, LET’S GET OUT OF HERE.”

Bonedacious led the way, followed closely by Frisk, Gabe and Papyrus. Sans and Toriel trailed behind at their own pace. To Papyrus’s chagrin, they continued swapping bad jokes.

“THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING,” Papyrus said.

“Um, how about we play a game to pass the time?” Frisk replied. “We can’t do any crosswords, but how about I Spy?”

“NYEHEHEH! LET’S PLAY! I WILL BEST YOU, HUMAN, FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS THE I SPY MASTER!”

The road out of Snowdin ran alongside the river, where huge chunks of ice thrown in by Lovell floated past. Frisk correctly guessed that Papyrus’s first object, which started with ‘I’, was ‘iceberg’. The skeleton had a harder time guessing Frisk’s ‘S’ clue. She eventually revealed that it was ‘S’ for ‘skull’, pointing at Sans’s sentinel skull.

As they walked the snow receded to reveal a gravel road, and the trees thinned and vanished altogether. On their right water gushed through cracks in the ceiling and tumbled down. The waterfalls spilled down the cavern and disappeared into the ground.

The enormous cavern underneath Mt. Ebott that contained Snowdin, the Ruins, and the forest came to an abrupt end in a wall of solid rock. The river veered left, taking the ice chunks with it.

The road continued ahead, through a dark tunnel hewn into the bedrock. Frisk could see Bonedacious’s faint glow as they entered, but Waterfall was not completely dark. Once their eyes adjusted to the gloom, veins of crystals in the walls lit the way with a delicate blue light.

Toriel and Sans caught up with Frisk and Papyrus, eager to play I Spy too.

The first building they found in Waterfall was a sentry station. But Frisk didn’t care about that - one of the same lights from Snowdin and the Ruins twinkled beside it. She bolted to it and stood inside the light. The now-familiar rush of healing energy was better than any cup of coffee.

“Goodness!” Toriel said. “I had no idea those lights actually did anything!”

“my guess is it’s a human soul thing,” Sans replied. “it fully restores frisk’s health. dunno if it does anything else.”

Sans walked over to the sentinel station and started rummaging through the rubbish strewn around it. Curiously, the station roof was covered by a thick layer of snow.

“WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR, SANS?”

“we’ll need it to continue. there it is.”

The skeleton stuck his hand in a pile of empty ketchup bottles and chip packets and pulled out a hot dog, complete with a bun and condiments. He took a bite, relishing Papyrus’s groan of exasperation as much as the food itself.

“SANS!”

“what? i needed something to eat, and now we can continue.”

While the brothers were bickering, Frisk thought she could hear voices nearby. They appeared to be coming from the tall, electric blue flower that was growing beside the healing light. It had stubbornly pushed up through the gravel road. She crouched down to look at it properly, and Toriel joined her. There was something eerie about it.

“That is an echo flower,” Toriel explained. “It repeats the last sound it was exposed to.”

That is an echo flower. It repeats the last sound it was exposed to, echoed the flower.

“Does it do anything else?” Frisk asked.

Does it do anything else?

“No, unless something has changed since I was here last.”

No, unless something has changed since I was here last.

“FRISK IS SO BEFUDDLED BY YOUR ANTICS THAT THEY ARE TALKING TO FLOWERS,” Papyrus said to Sans. “HOW MUCH FURTHER AWAY IS THIS ‘CONTACT’ OF YOURS?”

FRISK IS SO BEFUDDLED BY YOUR ANTICS THAT THEY ARE TALKING TO FLOWERS. HOW MUCH FURTHER AWAY IS THIS ‘CONTACT’ OF YOURS?

“a few hours walk, maybe.”

a few hours walk, maybe.

“IT’S GETTING LATE, WE SHOULD CONTINUE! NO MORE DELAYS FOR SNACKS!”

IT’S GETTING LATE, WE SHOULD CONTINUE! NO MORE DELAYS FOR SNACKS!

Papyrus’s outburst continued on repeat from the flower as they walked away, until it finally faded beneath the rushing water. True to its name, there were plenty of waterfalls in Waterfall. They filled the air with a cool, fresh mist. The tunnels were almost completely barren, save for the echo flowers and some clusters of glowing mushrooms.

Frisk walked beside Toriel while Sans and Papyrus led the way. The monster’s soft paws made almost no sound on the road.

A short distance from the sentry station they reached the banks of a river that tumbled down on their left and fell away into darkness on their right. It was so cold that it contained chunks of ice. Bonedacious crossed the river with ease. Papyrus lifted Sans with one arm and Gabe with the other, and carried them across. The current pulled at Frisk’s jeans, and when she stumbled Toriel gave a little gasp. The monster moved to Frisk’s right side, shepherding her across the river.

“I DON’T KNOW WHY YOU COULDN’T JUST TELEPORT US ACROSS,” said Papyrus.

Sans yawned. “i’m lazy. and i’m still a bit light on magic. you know how it is.”

Frisk was surprised to learn that her new monster clothes had other magical properties. Her ‘shoes’, jeans, and Toriel’s dress were dry within seconds of leaving the river. Frisk realized then that all damage from the previous night had disappeared. The clothes had repaired themselves.

They continued ahead through more tunnels. One brimmed with grass almost as tall as Papyrus. Another room housed four massive, spiky seeds that bloomed when arranged together on water. The waxy flowers were sturdy enough to walk across.

The skeleton brothers moved at a fast pace, set by Papyrus, and they soon left Toriel and Frisk behind.

“Err, Frisk?” said Toriel softly. “Are you alright? After…?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. But if you weren’t there- I think it was going to take my soul.” Frisk shuddered.

“I saw it talking to you,” Toriel whispered. “It has spoken to me too. Pay it no mind.”

“It said some strange things. Things I don’t understand,” Frisk said.

Toriel placed a comforting paw on her shoulder.

“It was trying to scare you,” she said. “It said horrible things to me, and I am ashamed to say that it succeeded. I lost myself to fear. It mocked me… in the voices of my fallen children.”

Frisk stopped in her tracks and looked up at Toriel in speechless horror. The monster gazed ahead at Sans and Papyrus in the distance. “You must understand,” she said firmly, “that I intend to kill it. Mocking me is one thing. Mimicking my poor children, that is unforgivable. I will not let that terrible creature harm you or anyone else.”

Frisk could almost see the fire burning in Toriel’s eyes.

“We should continue,” said the monster, her expression softening. “We have fallen behind.”

Papyrus waved at them from further down the corridor. As they approached he folded his arms in disapproval.

“FRISK AND TORIEL! WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER!”

“bro, we left them behind,”

“I- WE DID, DIDN’T WE? SORRY FRIENDS! BUT WE SHOULD STICK TOGETHER FROM NOW ON!”

After navigating through another large room with the floating, spiky seeds - Toriel called them Bridge Seeds - they entered a long corridor filled with echo flowers. A voice echoed against the stone walls.

You think you can escape me? said the nearest flower.

You cannot escape the past! You cannot escape death! echoed another.

Toriel’s paws filled with flame, Papyrus summoned a long bone in each hand, and Bonedacious glowed brighter with a menacing grin.

I’ve been watching you, said a distant flower.

I WILL have your soul!

“alright, time to go,” Sans said. “i’ll get us out of here. frisk, it’s you and the annoying dog first.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. She scooped Gabe up in her left arm and took San’s outstretched hand. They stepped forward on three, and found themselves in a cavern that branched away in multiple directions. At its centre sparkled another healing light. Bonedacious appeared before Frisk with a faint pop.

“i’ll be back with the others in a moment. stay here.”

Sans vanished, and Frisk hugged Gabe tightly. The dog squirmed in discomfort.

“Sorry!” she said. She was just so nervous. Frisk put it on the ground just as Sans, Papyrus and Toriel appeared. Beads of sweat shone on Papyrus’s brow, his eyes darting anxiously around the cavern. Toriel’s flames had disappeared, but she looked ready to strike at any moment. Sans, as usual, hid his emotions behind a smile and a shrug.

“’blook’s house is this way,” he said, and started walking to a distant building. “napstablook and i go way back,” Sans continued. “we’ve been performing at the mtt resort in hotland for years. one artist to another, they’ll help us out.”

Toriel walked beside Frisk, so close that she nearly stepped on Frisk’s feet. The monster was just trying to protect her, but how could they escape something that could melt away like a ghost?

They neared two buildings standing side by side. The tall, thin houses leaned away from each other at an alarming angle. The house on the left was painted pastel blue and the one on the right a dusky pink. Sans led them to the blue house.

Sans rapped smartly on the door and stood back. Frisk did not expect the house’s owner to float through the front door to greet them. Napstablook was a ghost, similar to the ones made from a sheet with eye holes cut out that kids in Emerald Springs wore at Halloween. They were hunched over, like the house they lived in, with wide, sad eyes.

“oh…” they said softly. “sans… and friends… hello…”

“hey ‘blook,” Sans said. “you know papyrus, right? he’s my cool brother. and this is frisk, toriel and gabe.” The skeleton pointed them out, and Frisk gave Napstablook a nod in greeting. The ghost’s eyes remained downcast, stuck in a permanent thousand-yard stare.

“hi everyone…”

“so, ‘blook, sorry about the late notice but can we stay at your place for a few days? our house burnt down.”

The ghost looked up at him. “oh no… that’s terrible…” they said. “i want to help… but… i don’t have much room… i don’t get many visitors…”

“Napstablook, who lives in the house next door?” Toriel asked.

“my cousin… but he doesn’t live there any more… i guess… he forgot about me…”

The ghost began to cry. Fat tear drops spilled from their eyes and vanished into the ground.

“DON’T WORRY, NAPSTABLOOK,” said Papyrus, his brow creased in concern. “WE CAN FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE.”

“oh no… i’ve made this awkward… please don’t go…”

“thanks for helping us out, ‘blook,” Sans said. “i owe ya. since your cousin isn’t living next door how about we stay there?”

The ghost stopped crying. “oh… of course… just go on through…”

"is it unlocked?”

“oh… you'll need a key... i forgot… come in, i know i have a spare key somewhere…”

The ghost disappeared back into their house. Sans opened the door and led them inside into a single, dilapidated room. The bare wooden floorboards creaked alarmingly, and the plaster walls seemed to crumble as Frisk stared at them. The only furnishings inside were a fridge, TV and desktop computer. It was definitely too small for six - seven if Frisk counted Bonedacious.

The ghost disappeared into the old blue fridge. A moment later the door opened from the inside, and Napstablook emerged holding a key in their translucent hand. They passed it to Toriel.

“i found it… you can go inside mettaton’s house… whenever you want…”

“Thank you, Napstablook,” said Toriel.

“DID YOU SAY METTATON?” gasped Papyrus. “YOUR COUSIN IS METTATON? THE METTATON!?”

“oh… i guess so…”

“NEATO! HE’S SO COOL! I WATCH HIS SHOWS ALL THE TIME.”

Napstablook hunched over a little more. “yes… he’s a star now… but… i miss him…”

Frisk remembered the flamboyant robot dancing and preening on TV. Mettaton and Napstablook could not be more different.

“I am going to look at Mettaton’s house,” said Toriel.

“I’ll come with,” Frisk said.

“ME TOO!”

“heh, guess we’re all going.”

They left Napstablook’s house and walked next door. Papyrus bounced with each step, looking just as excited as when he discovered his new friendship with Frisk and Toriel. 

“WOWEE, I GET TO SEE METTATON’S HOUSE!” he said aloud, eyes sparkling.

Toriel fumbled with the key, partly because of a very enthusiastic Papyrus standing beside the door and partly because the key was so tiny in her huge paws. She eventually stuck it in the lock and pushed the door open. Frisk was one of the last ones to step inside. The decor was overwhelmingly pink. Pink wallpaper, a pink bed, pink curtains, and even a pink TV. Books were scattered all over the floor.

“oh… his journals… i’ll move them…” sighed Napstablook. The ghost hovered around, collecting the journals into their invisible arms.

“let me know if you want anything…” they said.

“This is wonderful, Napstablook,” said Toriel. “You are very kind, thank you.”

A pink glow appeared beneath the ghost’s huge eyes.

“oh… i’m glad… that i could help…” they said. “i’ll leave you to settle in… there’s a shop nearby if you need anything… i’ll be next door… working on my tunes…”

The ghost hovered out through the open door, still carrying the journals.

Sans stretched, his joints popping. “i might do some work on my next routine too.”

“OH NO!” groaned Papyrus. “NOT MORE JOKES!”

“hehe. where can you find a brainy skeleton?”

“I do not know!” said Toriel.

“at a tibia night.”

This sent Toriel into a fit of giggles.

“FRISK, WOULD YOU LIKE TO GO FOR A WALK WITH ME? OR SUFFER THROUGH AN AFTERNOON OF JOKES?” said Papyrus. “I’M GOING TO STRETCH MY LEGS.”

“I’ll walk with you,” she replied, looking around Mettaton’s small house. It was cute but a little claustrophobic with so many monsters inside.

“Have a nice walk!” said Toriel.

“heh, don’t stay out too late kids.”

“If you return after dark we will have to tell you our worst jokes as pun-ishment!” Toriel chortled.

“POINT TAKEN, MS TORIEL,” said Papyrus. “FRISK IS SAFE WITH ME.”

Papyrus, Frisk, and Gabe walked out of Mettaton’s house, leaving Sans and Toriel chuckling at their own private joke.

Chapter Text

The two friends retraced their steps away from Mettaton’s house. Frisk glanced up and around, fascinated by Waterfall's eternal twilight. There were no glowing crystals or mushrooms here, but a dim blue light illuminated the corridors and caverns.

“Hey Papyrus,” Frisk asked, “do you know the time? How will we know if we’re back ‘before dark’?”

The skeleton opened his mouth to answer, then frowned.

“THE GREAT PAPYRUS SUGGESTS THAT WE ENJOY A BRISK WALK AND RETURN PROMPTLY. WE DON’T WANT TO BE SUBJECTED TO ANY MORE JOKES THAN NECESSARY,” he said.

They approached the floating light where Sans had teleported them earlier. This time Frisk walked over to it, waving her hand inside and relishing the sweet relief flooding into every cell in her body. She stepped back.

Papyrus waved his gloved hand through the light, and sighed.

“ALAS! THIS ONLY ENLIGHTENS HUMANS.”

“But you're lucky that you only need to eat monster food to heal,” said Frisk. “I don’t have magic - no humans do. When I got injured on the surface my body had to heal itself.”

Papyrus gasped.

“WHAT? THAT’S TERRIBLE! HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO HEAL? IS IT PAINFUL?!”

Frisk shrugged. “Sometimes it can take a long time. Pain is a pretty normal part of being human.”

Papyrus scratched the back of his skull in thought. “HUMANS REALLY ARE TOUGH,” he said after a while.

He walked away from the light, and Frisk and Gabe hurried after him.

“I KNOW THIS AREA LIKE THE BACK OF MY GLOVE,” he boasted. “UNDYNE LIVES NEARBY AND I GO TO HER HOUSE FOR COOKING LESSONS. SHE’S THE BEST!”

Frisk had heard the name a few times now. “Who is Undyne?” she asked.

“I FORGOT TO TELL YOU! UNDYNE IS THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND SHE IS VERY BRAVE AND STRONG. BUT SHE WON’T LET ME JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD. SHE SAYS I NEED MORE TRAINING. I JUST NEED TO FIND A WAY TO CONVINCE HER THAT I’M READY!”

“That’s why you wanted to capture me, right?” said Frisk. “Because catching a human will get you into the Royal Guard?”

“EXACTLY! HOWEVER, I DID NOT REALIZE THAT MY CHARM AND WIT COULD BE SO EFFECTIVE AGAINST HUMANS! NOW THAT WE ARE FRIENDS I WILL NOT TAKE YOU TO ASGORE OR UNDYNE, UNLESS YOU WISH TO MEET THEM FOR TEA.”

They walked out to a spit of land surrounded by glowing water. The soil had been washed away, leaving a gap in the road. With his long legs Papyrus easily jumped across the gap to the other side. Frisk looked down at Gabe - its stubby legs would not be able to make the jump. But before she could catch it, the dog bounced across the gap like a fluffy grasshopper. Frisk made the landing too, and Papyrus led the way through the caverns. They passed the occasional lone monster on their walk, but this part of Waterfall was largely empty. Gabe trotted at Frisk’s heel. She felt safe here.

“FRISK, NOW THAT WE’RE FRIENDS, CAN I TELL YOU A SECRET?”

“Of course! You can trust me. I won’t tell anyone.”

Papyrus wrung his hands together. “I… I HAVEN’T SEEN SANS THIS CHEERFUL FOR A LONG TIME. BEING AROUND YOU AND TORIEL HAS REALLY BROUGHT HIM OUT OF HIS SHELL.”

The skeleton stopped walking and Frisk did too.

“SANS LIKES TO DISAPPEAR FOR HOURS,” he continued. “SOMETIMES TO HIS ROOM, SOMETIMES TO GRILLBY’S, AND OTHER TIMES I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE HE GOES. I KNOW HE’S LOOKING FOR SOMETHING BUT I HAVEN’T FIGURED OUT WHAT IT IS YET. I’VE ASKED HIM BUT HE WON’T ANSWER OR CHANGES THE TOPIC. I THINK HE’S TRYING TO PROTECT ME, BUT HE’S SUFFERING. I WANT TO HELP HIM. I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO.”

Frisk thought about it for a moment, recalling a similar situation from her own past.

“I know you’re worried,” she said. “But Sans knows that you care about him, and you’re there if he needs you. You might feel like you need to do more, but everything you’ve done is appreciated, and it is enough.”

“MAYBE YOU’RE RIGHT,” Papyrus sighed. “BUT IT’S TOUGH. HE’S MY ONLY FAMILY.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m sorry I don’t have any better advice for you.”

They resumed walking in silence. The dim light faded and disappeared as Papyrus led Frisk into a cavern with a marsh inside. The water glowed electric blue, the same color as the echo flowers and mushrooms that dotted the marsh. Frisk and Papyrus strolled across islands of rich, black soil, connected in a path by wooden bridges. In the water, the lily pads and rushes looked normal enough. Gabe raced ahead to sniff at the mushrooms and flowers. It was a quiet, serene place.

Papyrus remained uncharacteristically quiet, and when Frisk looked at him the skeleton appeared deep in thought.

“UM, FRISK? CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?” he said, after noticing her concern.

“Sure, is everything alright?” she replied.

“I HOPE SO. I JUST WANTED TO ASK: DO YOU STILL WANT TO GO BACK TO THE SURFACE?”

Frisk was taken aback. Wasn’t it obvious?

“Yeah, my whole life is on the surface. My parents are there, my friends, my dorm, my job…” she trailed off.

“OH.”

Frisk’s heart dropped. Was there more bad news? Papyrus flinched at her expression.

“I AM SORRY TO MAKE YOU WORRY, DEAR FRISK!” he said. “IT’S NOTHING.”

Frisk stopped walking. “You can tell me.”

“I… I AM GOING TO MISS YOU!” he wailed, and covered his face with his hands.

“What do you mean? I’m not going anywhere soon! I don’t even know how I’m going to cross the barrier-”

“BUT WHEN YOU CROSS OVER YOU WILL FORGET ABOUT ALL OF US,” he sobbed. “EVEN ME! AND YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND!”

Frisk wrapped a comforting arm around Papyrus until he stopped crying.

“If I can find a way out, then I can find a way to remember you,” she reassured him.

“DO YOU MEAN IT?”

Frisk stepped back. “I do. I want to tell you something that I haven’t told anyone else. On the night before I fell down, I had a dream that there were voices calling out to me for help. I understand now that it wasn’t just a dream - I know I was meant to be here.”

This cheered Papyrus up a little. “I THINK YOU WERE MEANT TO BE HERE TOO,” he said with a smile.

The soil turned to gravel under Frisk’s makeshift shoes. Papyrus had led them in a meandering loop through the marsh. Gabe bounced ahead as they retraced their steps to Mettaton’s house.

“WATERFALL IS NICE, BUT I MISS MY HOME,” said Papyrus.

“I don’t miss being cold, but yeah, I miss it too.”

They walked along the road with the section washed away. But this time, they were not alone. A tall, slim woman watched them approach from the other side.

“Hey! Papyrus!” she called.

“UNDYNE!”

Frisk edged a little closer to Papyrus. She had not reckoned on meeting the captain of the monster guard so soon. Undyne had marine-blue skin that glittered in the light, and flaming red hair swept back in a severe ponytail. She was wearing a dark tank top, khaki trousers and heavy boots. Undyne looked normal enough except for her face. Her right eye was yellow, with a slit pupil like a cat’s eye. Her left eye was covered by a patch. Frisk swallowed nervously at the mouthful of jagged teeth that flashed when Undyne smiled.

“Haven’t seen you for a few days! We need to catch up on some lessons. Who’s your friend?”

“THIS IS FRISK! THEY ARE SMART AND FUNNY AND TOUGH! I THINK YOU SHOULD BE FRIENDS BECAUSE YOU’RE BOTH SO COOL!”

Undyne leapt easily across the gap, landing cat-like before them. When she stood up, she froze, her yellow eye flashing dangerously.

“Hey, Frisk, are you new here?”

“Um, yeah. I’ve been living with Sans and Papyrus at their house.”

The trap had already been set and was closing in around her.

“Huh. So two of my sentries posted near the barrier entrance suddenly have a new friend. And I also heard a rumor of a human in the underground. That is an interesting coincidence, don’t you think?”

“NYEH! THAT IS INDEED A FASCINATING CORRELATION!” Papyrus cried desperately. “WHY DON’T WE DISCUSS IT OVER A CUP OF TEA!?”

“Hand that human over now, Papyrus,” said Undyne quietly. Her tone sent a cold shiver of dread down Frisk’s spine.

“N-NO! I WON’T! FRISK’S SOUL IS NOT FOR YOU, OR FOR ASGORE!”

“We need that human soul to be free. Just one more soul. You are denying every other monster in the underground that right.”

“FRISK IS MY FRIEND! AND YOU ARE MY FRIEND TOO, UNDYNE! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!”

Undyne flicked her hair back. “I’ve always admired your fighting spirit, Papyrus. If the human is that important to you, fight me for their soul.”

In response the skeleton summoned a long bone in each hand, stepping in front of Frisk. Somehow he looked taller. Gabe barked in encouragement.

“Yes!” Undyne roared. “Show me what you’ve got!”

Frisk scrambled back to a safer distance just as the fight started. Undyne summoned a glowing spear and hurled it at Papyrus. He struck it off-course with one of his bones, deflecting the spear harmlessly into the water.

“Don’t hold back! Nyaaah!”

Several spears shot up from the ground and others flew through the air at Papyrus, but he dodged them all. At first he hesitated to attack, but a cluster of bones sprung up around Undyne’s feet and one grazed her calf.

“I DON’T WANT TO FIGHT YOU!” he said. “I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THIS!”

“You’ll never join the royal guard with that attitude!”

This clearly struck a nerve. Papyrus sent forward a barrage of bone attacks and Undyne had to jump into the water to avoid them.

“Hah! That’s what I like to see. Give me that human, punk, before you get hurt.”

“NO! MY TEACHER TOLD ME TO NEVER GIVE UP!”

An ugly look flashed across Undyne’s face. “Then I’ll have to teach you another lesson.”

Her attacks came faster and faster, with both Papyrus and Frisk ducking and leaping out of the trajectory of dozens of wickedly-sharp spears. One struck the skeleton’s foot and he yelped in pain.

He fought valiantly, shielding Frisk as best he could while sparring with Undyne. Sans was right - Papyrus was a really cool guy.

Frisk only realized she was in trouble when it was too late. While watching the fight she had let her guard down, and Papyrus couldn’t deflect all of Undyne’s attacks.

Time slowed as an errant spear plunged into her chest.

Frisk knew she was done for. At least she couldn’t feel any pain.

She fell to her knees.

The last thing she saw were their faces: Undyne’s rage had turned to disbelief, and Papyrus spun on his heel. He dropped the bone in his hand, his face contorted in horror.

“FRISK!!”

Papyrus waved his gloved hand through the light, and sighed.

“ALAS! THIS ONLY ENLIGHTENS HUMANS.”

Frisk tensed. They were both standing by the yellow light close to Napstablook’s house.

“UM, FRISK?” Papyrus asked. “IS EVERYTHING… ALRIGHT?”

The skeleton looked a little confused, but otherwise unshaken. Frisk glanced around wildly. Undyne was nowhere to be found.

“Where is she?! I just-”

“WHERE IS WHO?”

“Undyne! She was right here! Over there!” Frisk pointed at the distant river.

“UMMM. I CAN’T SEE HER? MAYBE I NEED GLASSES.”

Frisk stared at Papyrus, then at the golden light twinkling before them.

“Hey, Papyrus, did we walk through a glowing marsh earlier?”

“WE HAVEN’T WALKED THROUGH IT YET BUT I WAS GOING TO TAKE YOU THERE! IT’S PRETTY AND COOL - PRETTY COOL!”

Frisk chewed her lip. “You told me a secret about Sans. Do you remember?”

Papyrus tapped his chin with his gloved finger. “NO! HOW ODD! I’M CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT I SAID. BUT NOW THAT YOU MENTION IT, I HAVE A FEELING THAT SOMETHING IMPORTANT JUST HAPPENED! I WONDER WHAT IT COULD BE.”

He really didn’t remember, but she could. Had this light kept a record of this moment in time? But why did she have memories when Papyrus didn’t?

“So you don’t remember Undyne attacking us?” Frisk asked.

“NO, THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN. ARE YOU SURE YOU’RE ALRIGHT?”

“I don’t think so. I might walk back to the house, sorry.”

“LET ME COME WITH YOU!”

“No, it’s alright, you should go for your walk.”

“I WOULDN’T DREAM OF IT! SOMETHING HAS RATTLED YOU AND I MUST ENSURE YOUR SAFE RETURN. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS THERE FOR HIS FRIENDS, EVEN WHEN IT MEANS HE MUST SUFFER THROUGH TERRIBLE JOKES.”

Frisk smiled at him despite her shock. “Thanks for looking out for me. I owe you.”

“IT’S GOOD TO HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS,” said Papyrus when they started walking. “I WONDER HOW CHARLOTTE IS GOING IN HOTLAND. EVEN THOUGH SHE IS WITH THE OTHER SPIDERS I’M SURE SHE MISSES ME. WE SHOULD VISIT HER BEFORE YOU GO BACK TO THE SURFACE.”

Frisk, Papyrus and Gabe returned to Mettaton’s house, where Papyrus knocked on the door and opened it.

Sans, Toriel, and even Bonedacious had not moved since Frisk and Papyrus left.

“Oh! You are back so soon!” said Toriel as they entered. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m not feeling so good,” Frisk replied.

When her gaze met with Sans, his grin faltered. A flicker of understanding passed between them. Inexplicably, the skeleton knew something had happened and that Frisk was behind it. But how much he knew was another question. Toriel and Papyrus, meanwhile, acted like nothing untoward had occurred.

“Did one of my jokes upset you?” Toriel asked Sans worriedly.

“heh, not at all,” he said, regaining his composure. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “i’ve used more magic over the last two days then i have for months. don’t worry about me.”

“AND ALL OF US HAVE HAD TOO MANY NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES SINCE FRISK ARRIVED!” said Papyrus. “I PROPOSE A QUIET EVENING HERE TO RECUPERATE.” 

“I agree with you, Papyrus,” said Toriel. “Let us watch the television for a while.”

She checked around the room for a remote, but gave up and switched the TV on manually. Papyrus joined Sans and Toriel sitting on the bed, enthralled by another one of Mettaton’s game shows. Gabe curled up on the pink oval rug in the centre of the floor.

Frisk sat down on the floor too, away from the others with her back against the wall. She didn’t dare look any of them in the eye. She stared at the TV, watching the colorful images flash on the screen but not following the story.

She had just died! A vision of the spear buried in her chest replayed in her mind. Frisk saw Undyne’s surprise, and Papyrus’s pain. And then she had woken up, at an earlier time and place where she was still alive. How was this possible? Even the monsters didn’t realize what had just happened, and they knew much more about magic than she did.

“It is getting late,” said Toriel, after what seemed like an eternity. “I will go and buy some food.”

She stood up from the bed and paused. Her face turned bright red in embarrassment.

“Oh no. I forgot that I do not have any money.”

“THAT’S ALRIGHT! I- DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY EITHER!” said Papyrus. “SANS, DO YOU HAVE ANY GOLD LEFT?”

“yeah, i have a few coins. but the rest is in our account in the capital.”

Sans stuck his hand inside one of the pockets of his hoodie and pulled out a handful of gold coins. “this is all we’ve got, bro.”

“WORRY NOT, BROTHER! I CAN TRAVEL TO NEW HOME TOMORROW. LET’S GO, MS. TORIEL!”

She wrung her hands together. “I am so sorry, I am costing you so much money.”

Papyrus shook his head. “ABSOLUTELY NOT! PLEASE DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT! WE HAVE A LOT OF SAVINGS!”

“I promise that I will find a way to repay you. There is some money hidden throughout the Ruins. Frisk and Sans, would you like to come shopping too? Are you feeling better?”

Before Frisk could reply, Sans spoke for her. “i think the kid and i should stay put: hold down the fort until you get back. i’ll keep my sentinel skull here so we don’t have any trouble.”

“SANS ARE YOU SURE YOU’LL BE ALRIGHT?”

“yeah bro. don’t forget that frisk is a human - they’re stronger than all of us monsters put together. we’ll be fine.”

Papyrus and Toriel walked out of Mettaton’s house, but not without a worried backwards glance at Frisk and Sans. Frisk had not moved from her spot on the floor, still processing her own death and subsequent resurrection.

After they had gone, Sans sent Bonedacious outside. The skull let itself out and nudged the front door shut.

Sans stretched out on the pink bed, folding his arms behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

“so… gonna tell me what happened?”