Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was late at night and a kid around the age of 10 was in their room on their computer playing a game called Undertale. They have played this game multiple times, doing a genocide run of it during their first playthrough out of confusion and the rest being true pacifists, but they were still not satisfied. They have just completed their sixth pacifist run, they stare at the screen as the credits roll by, and the characters from a game they love live their life happily on the surface.

"Something is still missing," they thought to themself as they continued to stare at the screen.

They've seen this ending so many times whether it be them getting it themselves or by watching someone else do it, but no matter what it never satisfied them. They didn't know why, everyone was happy, Frisk was able to free the monsters from the underground, and it was safe to assume the humans and monsters now lived together in harmony on the surface, it was the best outcome to come from their adventure so why were they not satisfied. Was it the desire to see something more or was it jealousy, being jealous that they could not enjoy a happy ending with characters they have grown an attachment to?

*Knock Knock*

They were drawn away from their thoughts when they heard a knock on their bedroom door.

" ███ it's late, go to bed, I don't want to hear you complaining in the morning about not getting enough sleep when you're up until almost one in the morning playing some game." The person on the other side said, sounding very annoyed.

The child realizing how late it has gotten decides that they should head to bed. "Sorry, I'm going to bed right now".

"Thank you, honestly I don't see how..." the person replied as they walked away continuing with their rambling.

The kid started to get ready for bed, so they turned off their computer to head out, but as they were about to do it they were hit with a blue screen.

They were a bit weirded out by it, but they decided to ignore it since they were going to head to bed and that it would hopefully solve itself in the morning or I guess the morning when the sun comes up, but as they were going to turn away the screen turned dark and then white. Then weird symbols started to display.

The kid started to get scared they didn't know what they were saying. Maybe this was all in their head they thought maybe they were just hallucinating because of their lack of sleep. Or maybe not.

The brightness from the screen started to increase enveloping the room in the blinding light so bright that it started to the child's eyes forcing them to close them.

They passed out

When they woke up they weren't in their room. They woke up in a dark abyss that seemed to be endless. They started to panic, at first they started to frantically run and look around trying to see if they could feel a wall or something. Thinking that maybe they were still in their room and that it was just too dark for them to see.

Their panic grew as they couldn't feel anything, not a wall or any kind of furniture, they even started to question whether even the ground they were standing on was real. Their breathing started to get more rapid and tears started to escape their eyes.

"Someone please help me... I just want to go home!" They said as more tears fell down their face.

During their breakdown, however, they didn't notice the figure that started to appear in front of them.

Chapter Text

Inside a cave on the top of Mt. Ebott, there is a hole that leads to the underground, the home of the monsters, who were sealed away by a powerful spell long ago after losing the war against the humans and their suffering from the humans continues since they are now trapped in an endless cycle because of one.

Standing near the hole was a red-haired child, staring deep into it. The hole looked bottomless like if someone were to jump into it they would just keep falling forever.

"Here we go" pushing away their fears they jump into the hole, being consumed by the darkness of the pit.

*Thud*

The child hit the bottom of the pit and landed in a bed of golden flowers. They studied their surroundings, looking up at where they had jumped from. They were now in the underground, there is no turning back now.

They got out of the bed of flowers and went towards the door that led them out of the room they were in.

As they left the room they were in they entered another room similar to the one they left except it had a patch of grass in the center. As they walked closer to the grass a yellow smiling flower popped out from the ground to greet them.

"Howdy human! My name is Flowey, Flowey the flower!" the smiling flower said excitedly.

"Hello Flowey" they replied

"You're new to the underground, aren't cha? Golly, you must be so confused"

The child nodded their head in confirmation.

"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to."

The child continued to listen patiently, with a smile on their face, as Flowey talked.

"Ready? Here we go!" Flowey said as he and the red-haired child entered into a battle.

"See that heart? That is your soul, the very culmina-." Flowey cut himself off as he stared at the child's soul.

Their soul was unlike any human soul he had seen before, at the center of the soul lay a small red heart that matched the look of a human soul, the red meaning that it was filled with determination. The rest of the soul however had an outer layer of darkness covering the heart. This is what caused the flower to lose his words.

While Flowey was stunned in confusion the kid walked up closer to him and grabbed him by the stem.

"Hey! Wait! What are you-" Flowey was cut off again as images started to fill his mind. Flashes of his past life living as Asriel Dreemurr with his family living a peaceful life, getting killed after begging for his life by someone he thought was his friend, being defeated over and over again by the same human in his Omega Flowey form.

"Please don't hurt me!" He shouted in fear of what was going to happen to him.

As he came to his senses however he noticed that he was not being harmed by the child instead it looked like they had taken him out of the ground and placed him into a flower pot.

Him realizing this his fear was quickly replaced with anger. "Human! What do you think you're doing?!" He yelled at the child, his voice filled with rage.

The child kept their composure as the flower yelled at them not even so much as flinching.

"Listen, if you dare talk to me like that again I will tear you apart petal by petal." They threatened back in a demonic tone.

Flowey went silent, no other human has ever threatened him like that, and he has never met a human like this before either. The only humans he has met were the ones that had attacked him when he was still Asriel and the previous ones that have fallen into the underground, but they didn't look anything like this one. Their bright red hair, light gray skin, and the whites of their eyes being completely dark make their red irises more prominent.

The red stripes on there, - oversized to the point of looking like a dress - black sweater, signifying that they are a kid since only kids in this world wore striped sweaters, and their black pants and hiking boots helped complete their look.

"Anyway, as you can see I am not the human you are used to, I am neither Chara nor Frisk, you can call me Player." The child stated.

Flowey, still confused, didn't comment on what the person calling themselves Player had said to them.

"But don't worry your friends are not gone, you will see them again in around a month, give or take, so until then I will be your friend," Player said as they exited the room Flowey in hand.

Flowey remained confused wondering how did this person know who Frisk and Chara were and what did they do to him that caused him to remember moments from past timelines, but his feelings of confusion were quickly replaced with rage as soon as he realized what they had said.

"My friend!?"

What was this human thinking wanting to be his friend after scaring him like that and then embarrassing him by putting him in this dainty little flower pot.

"Fine, you want to be my friend then here have this token of my appreciation!" Flowey yelled as he summoned some of his 'friendliness pellets' and attacked the Player.

Flowey attacking the Player causes them to enter a battle. The Player didn't dodge the flower's sudden attack, but when the bullets hit them they didn't even flinch.

The bullets didn't do any damage to the Player. Flowey checked the Player to see why his attacks did not affect them.

The Player grabbed onto one of Floweys petals and started tugging at it, making sure not to pull hard enough that it would pull it off.

"So I offer you my friendship, but instead you decide to attack me," the Player said, the demonic tone returning to their voice. "So as punishment for your betrayal"

Flowey's nonexistent heart started racing. Was he going to die right here right now? "Wait no, I'm sorry, please don't!" He begged.

The Player pulled out a pink ribbon from the pocket of their sweater. They wrapped the ribbon around Flowey's flower pot and tied it into a bow.

"Ta-da," they said as they finished tying the bow to the flower pot, trying to draw Flowey's attention to it.

As Flowey looked down at the bow he went back to his state of confusion.

"What is with this human, they were just threatening my life now there are all cheerful again"

"Oh dear, a child!"

Flowey's thoughts were interrupted as a goat lady in a purple robe entered the room with a worried look on her face.

"Did you just fall down here? Are you hurt?" She said while checking the Player for any injuries.

She was relieved as she saw that the child didn't seem to have any injuries.

"Sorry if I startled you I just wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt from your fall down." She said, giving a comforting smile. "Well I should introduce myself, I am Toriel the caretaker of these ruins."

"Greetings Toriel, thank you for helping me." The Player replied innocently.

"You are welcome my child, I'm glad that I was able to help you and your friend," Toriel said referring to Flowey

Flowey didn't look at Toriel when she addressed him and just looked down toward the floor.

"Come, I will guide you through the catacombs" Toriel left the room with the Player and Flowey trailing close behind them.

Toriel guided them through the Ruins, helping them through the various puzzles, making sure none of the monsters down there attacked them, and even gave them their own cell phone. Now they have finally made it to Toriel's house and she is currently showing the room that the Player is going to stay in.

"Here it is, a room of your own. I will let you get settled in and rest for the night." Toriel hugged the Player goodbye as she went to attend to some business and left the Player to get settled into their new room.

The Player and Flowey entered the room and looked around it for a bit, Flowey saw that the room hadn't changed since he used to live there, even the pictures were still there.

The Player set Flowey on the nightstand in the room and they went to sit on the bed.

"So what are you trying to do here?" Flowey said deciding to break the silence

"What do you mean?"

"Oh come on the old lady's gone so you can drop that innocent act. You obviously know what's going on here, you made me remember those things, you know who Frisk and Chara are, and where the hell did you even get this flower pot from?!"

"I just want to be everyone's friend." The Player replied cheerfully.

Flowey had to hold back a yell when he heard their answer not wanting them to go back to their demonic tone.

The Player starts taking off their boots and tucking themselves under the covers of the bed. "Toriel's probably telling Sans about me so I'm gonna rest here for the night."

"How do you know-"

"Goodnight Flowey." The Player, not giving Flowey the chance to finish his question, fell asleep.

"Wait! You think I'm some kind of idiot, don't you? You do know what is going on here!" The Player continued to sleep completely ignoring everything Flowey was saying.

Flowey realizing that they couldn't hear him, stopped his yelling, contemplating what to do.

"What am I even doing here? It's kill or be killed. I should just kill them now and take their soul."

But for some reason, something was stopping him from doing so

Meanwhile downstairs by the door that led to the exit of the ruins, there was Toriel who was having a conversation with someone on the other side of the door.

"what's the matter? you seem quiet today." The person on the other side of the door asked

"May I ask you something?" Toriel asked

"lay it on me."

"If a human child comes through this door can you promise to watch over them and protect them?"

The person on the other side of the door went quiet trying to think of what to reply.

"I know that is a big request, but please just keep them safe."

"yeah..., sure thing"

Toriel let out a sigh of relief, knowing that if the child she decided to take care of wanted to leave, at least they would have someone else out there to protect them.

"Thank you, this means a lot."

As they finished up their conversation Toriel went back upstairs into her home. She went to the room that the Player was currently staying in and smiled softly as she saw that they were fast asleep.

Chapter Text

It was now the next morning in the ruins. The monsters that lived in the ruins were starting to wake up, Toriel had gotten up and started to do her daily task, and it was starting to be just a regular day down in the ruins.

In the room, Player was sleeping in they also started to wake up. They woke up slowly, looking around the room a bit trying to get aware of their surroundings and remembering the events from yesterday. They sat up in their bed yawning and stretching trying to wake up the rest of their body to get ready for what the day had planned for them.

"Good yawn morning Flowey. Did you sleep well?" They asked him in a cheerful and innocent tone.

Flowey didn't reply to them, not wanting to fall trap to their innocent act.

They hopped out of bed and started putting on his boots. After slipping them on they picked up Flowey in his flower pot and exited their room.

They went into the hallway and walked towards the living room part of the house. As they walked into the living room they didn't see Toriel anywhere, but they did hear the sound of humming coming from the kitchen. Taking a guess that is where Toriel is, they enter the kitchen.

When they walked into the kitchen, they were met with Toriel by the stove cook, but using fire magic to cook instead of the stove, and humming to herself not noticing that Player and Flowey have entered the room.

"Ms. Toriel?" Player said, trying to get her attention.

Toriel stopped her humming and noticed that Player and Flowey had entered the room. She stopped her fire magic and started to address them.

"My apologies for not noticing you. I'm used to taking care of children that prefer to sleep in, so I thought I would have to go and wake you up myself." Toriel said, giving a gentle smile. "As you can see I was planning to make you and your friend a meal to start your day but it's not ready yet, fire magic is great for cooking, but you can't overdo it or else you might accidentally cook your house as well". She finished giving a light chuckle at the last part.

"Since you're up you wouldn't mind helping me, would you? Would you set the table for me? It hasn't been properly set for a while though so it might be a bit dusty."

"Don't worry we'll do it, no problem?"

They quickly went into the living room and placed Flowey on that table then went back into the kitchen to grab a cloth to clean the dust off of the table.

"Are you really going to do this?" Flowey asked

"Set the table?" Player replied

"Whatever plan you got going on. Can't you just skip all of this stuff and just do whatever you want, or is housekeeping a big part of your master plan"

Player finished dusting off the table and went back into the kitchen and got some plates and cups. They went back to continue their conversation with Flowey as they continued to prepare the table.

"Not everything someone does has to have some hidden reason behind it."

"Everything someone does has a reason."

Their conversation was interrupted as Toriel called out telling them that their breakfast is ready and wanted the Player to wash up a bit. So they went to the bath to quickly wash their hands and when they came back they saw that Toriel had placed the food on the table, even giving some to Flowey.

During their breakfast, Toriel talked about all the things that Player could do during their stay in the ruins and some things about monsters. Toriel did ask Flowey a few questions trying to get him to join the conversation, but he didn't answer any of them. Player covered for him saying that he was just shy and isn't used to talking to new people.

When they were done and had everything cleaned up Player asked if they could go and explore the rest of the ruins. She let them, happy that they wanted to explore their new home. So they grabbed Flowey and headed out the door saying goodbye to Toriel.

They walked a bit away from Toriel's house and stopped at a section of the ruins where there weren't any monsters around.

"What are you doing? Did you get lost?" Flowey said sarcastically.

"No, just want to make sure no one was around that could tell Toriel I was gone "

"What?"

Before Player could answer Flowey's question they started to glitch out and red particles started to form around them as they teleported away leaving a few of these particles behind before they faded away.

They appeared outside the door that led to the exit of the ruins and at the beginning of the Snowdin forest.

"What was that?!"

"A magic trick."

"How do you have magic?!"

"I'm a magician."

"That doesn't explain anything!"

"Yes it does, what you're talking about is magic, but magicians use 'magic'. It's a bit hard to tell the difference at first but you'll get it eventually." They said, giving a little smirk at the end.

"Wait so you could have just skipped all that other stuff!? We didn't have to go through that. I thought you were going to kill that old lady when she wasn't looking and take her soul but you just did all of that for nothing!?"

"It wasn't for nothing I was hungry and I always wanted to try Toriel's cooking"

Flowey was stunned

"Anyway I'll answer your questions later, but I need you to keep quiet right now. Sans usually knows when to do his thing when he hears the door to the ruins close, but since we didn't go through the door I don't know if he can hear us right now."

Flowey listened to them and stayed quiet as they went through the path in the forest. They made it to the stick laying in their way and walked past it without breaking it. As they walked a few steps away from it they heard the sound of the stick breaking behind them. They continued walking until they made it to a bridge with a gate around it that seems to have bars that are too wide to block anyone out. Before they could walk across it they heard the sound of someone's footsteps crunching in the snow coming towards them.

"Human."

Before they had time to finish what they were going to say, Player quickly turned around to face them and grabbed their hand to shake it. When they did they were met with the sound of a whoopie cushion going off.

"heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick…"

In front of Player and Flowey and the person behind the trick was a skeleton. He is at least a foot taller than them, and his face had a permanent smile due to his lack of lips, not looking like any of the traditional skeletons that they have seen. His outfit didn't even look like what one would wear in this type of environment, he wore a pair of pink slippers, black basketball shorts, and a blue zip-up hoodie with the hood part being white and fluffier than the rest. But him being a skeleton however he wouldn't be affected by the weather like how anyone else would.

"wait a sec… have you heard it before or something? you turned around before I said to…"

Player nodded their head in response to what the skeleton asked them in a very cheerful way.

"...weird, but whatever. you're a human, right?

Player nodded their head again.

"that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

Sans continued to give his whole talk about how he doesn't care about capturing humans, but that he has a brother who is obsessed with finding humans.

"too bad he's not in the area at the moment. he's at his special royal guard training, but don't be worried if you do come across him though he's not dangerous. so you can go do whatever you want, just don't go off and start stabbing people." Sans told them, saying the last part jokingly.

As Sans ended their conversation Player took it as it was their time to leave. So they left the area until they knew Sans was out of sight and listening range.

"Well that was weird, I knew some things would be different but I thought it would only be small things, not key moments."

"Don't talk to me like I should know what's going on here. At least now you know how I feel."

"Still I know I'm here before Frisk, but I thought everyone had a routine. Like how Toriel checks every day to see if someone has fallen down, I thought that would be the same for Sans and Papyrus. Do you remember any of this happening before?"

"Do I look like their secretary? Why would I want to know what that smiling trash bag and his idiot of a brother are up to when I have other things to worry about."

"But I thought you and Papyrus were friends, didn't you guys exchange numbers or something," Player said as their face gave a smirking expression.

Player and Flowey continued to go back and forth with each other as they made their way to Snowdin town. When they finally made it to the town however Played stopped there arguing with Flowey and started to look around the town in amazement. There was a big difference between looking at it through a screen and seeing it for yourself. They liked the cozy feeling that the town gave off and the festive look it had.

"Did you realize how stupid you look"

They snapped out of their little trance when they heard Flowey's remark. They quickly went behind a building with the word 'Shop' on a sign above the door, then looked around to see if anyone had noticed them. When it looked like they were clear they put Flowey down on the snow and sat beside him.

"Welp, time to think of a new plan" Player said as they let their head rest in their hand with a slightly aggravated expression.

"Are you kidding me? This whole time you've been trying to act like some mysterious badass with some secret plan that no one can find out about, but instead all you did was goof around and now you're all upset that nothing is going your way! Not to mention you basically kidnapped me and forced me to come along on your little disaster!" After letting his frustration out Flowey started to calm down a bit. "For someone who wants to be my friend you're doing a terrible job at it."

Hearing what Flowey said made Player realize that they haven't been a good friend to him and he was currently the only person they could really talk to. And if they plan to become everyone's friend that also includes Flowey.

"You're right I have been a terrible friend," Player said looking very shameful. "How about this, I stop threatening you and tell you everything to the best of my ability and all you have to do is keep coming along with me and my little disaster… and can you stop yelling… please."

Flowey had to think about the deal that was being proposed to him wondering if should trust that they are telling the truth.

"...Fine"

They felt relieved that Flowey decided to stay with them. A smile returned to their face and they perked up getting ready to answer all of his questions.

"So what do you wanna know or what do you want me to start with?"

"Who are you and what are you trying to do here?"

"Well what I'm trying to do is stop the resets"

"You know about the resets?"

"Yeah, it's basically the entire reason I was sent here in the first place." They paused for a bit trying to think of the best way to tell their whole situation.

"Let me try to summarize this a bit. So I'm not from this world and I don't mean the monster world, I mean the whole world that doesn't have monsters, magic, or any of this soul stuff. I don't really know if it's like some type of alternate universe or world. So someone who I can't name right now… sorry, brought me to this world so that I could stop the resets." They paused so that they could see if Flowey was still listening.

"My original plan was to go through the same events Frisk goes through when they come down here and befriend everyone that way, but when Sans said that Papyrus wasn't with him to look out for humans I kinda miny panicked a bit and didn't think of what to do if things aren't exactly how I planned it."

Flowey decided to interrupt them. "Wait, so you can travel from another world but you can't keep up with someone's schedule?"

"I know what's gonna happen I just don't know when they happen, only from here for things that happen from now until Frisk gets here though after that whether they decide to kill or save everyone, I know exactly what's gonna happen."

"So the reason you're in this mess is because of your bad planning skills," Flowey said as he copied the same smirk that Player would wear.

"It's not my fault the person that brought me here didn't give me much to work on, yeah he gave me some cool 'magic tricks', but he only gave me information on what to do with the reset once I get it the rest is basically up to me." They argued back.

"Who even is this mysterious person if they have the power to give you the ability to take away why can't they just do it themselves?"

"I'm sorry that's all I'm allowed to say, but you gotta believe what I said was the truth."

Flowey stayed quiet thinking over everything they said, deciding whether he should believe them or not.

"Fine, I'll believe you for now. I don't think your from some other dimension or whatever, you're probably just another one of those failed lab experiments."

Player smiled happily at Flowey's response and they also felt a little bit of weight lifted off their chest now that they wouldn't have to be so secretive around him.

The sound of a phone going off quickly broke the silence, startling them both a bit. Guessing that it was Toriel on the other end they decide that it is best to head back to the ruins. So just like before Player started to glitch out and teleport away.

However as Flowey and Player were talking they didn't notice the figure that hid in the forest listening to their conversation.

Chapter Text

They arrived back at the ruins landing in a room hosting a spider bake sale and scaring the spiders that worked it. Player picked up their ringing phone and answered it, hearing Toriel's voice on the other end.

"Hello"

"Hello my child, how is your tour through the ruins going? You haven't gotten lost have you?"

"Oh, it's going good. We're actually on our way back home right now."

"That's good to hear I will be home waiting for your arrival."

They said their goodbyes to each other and ended the call. Player and Flowey made their way to Toriel's house bickering along the way, with Flowey making guesses on who sent Player here. When they arrived Toriel was in the living room part of the house sitting in her chair reading a book. When she saw them walk in she gave them a warm welcome. She started to ask them how their trip through the Ruins was, but they didn't reply instead they put Flowey down and went up to hug Toriel.

"My child. Are you alright? Is there something wrong?" She was concerned about why they hadn't said anything. Wondering if there was something that scared them. They gave her a reassuring smile to show that there wasn't anything wrong.

"Oh, I see. Next time you want a hug though you can just ask." Their hug ended with Player being the first to break away.

"Thank you Toriel, but there are some things that I have to do first. " They started to glitch out a little with some particles starting to form around them again. Toriel stood there in shock, not having seen anything like this before.

"I wish I could stay, but hopefully I'll be back when all of this is over." They completely glitch out teleporting away leaving their phone behind but taking Flowey with them.

"M-My child…" Toriel was in disbelief about what just happened has never taken care of a child that has ever done this before much less a human child. So she continued to stay there in silence trying to gather her thoughts.

Player and Flowey appeared back at the beginning of the Snowdin forest by the door to the ruins.

"I'll miss Toriel," Player said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Well, I'm glad we ditched her. I'm not going to jump around back and forth just so that you can play house."

They ignored his comment and walked through the forest hoping to go through their interaction with Sans again so that they could go through the events of the game. Thinking maybe leaving Toriel might have triggered something.

They were thinking of an excuse to tell Sans why they were going through this way again, but their thoughts were interrupted as they felt something grab onto their soul and throw them into the forest off of the trail.

They made an impact with the side of one of the trees causing them to land face-first into the snow.

"What's happened?! Where am I?!" Flowey asked frantically as when they were thrown it caused him to be placed upside-down in the snow and have trouble getting up due to the weight of the flower pot on him.

As Player got up and tried to get aware of the surroundings and what was going on. They felt their soul being grabbed again and they ended up getting pinned to a tree.

"Is this even fair?! Battle encounters aren't supposed to happen like this!" They yelled out, also frustrated about what was happening.

As they said that Sans appeared in front of them making it clear who the person behind this attack was. "fairness wasn't on my list of priorities."

"I hear that smiling trash bag! He did this, didn't he!"

Sans ignored Flowey's yelling and continued to keep his attention on Player.

"you know at first i thought you were someone else and that they just decided to change your look"

"Look Sans, whatever you may think, we aren't trying to hurt anyone."

"well, now that i have a better look at you it doesn't seem that w-"

He was interrupted as Player grabbed him causing Sans to have scenes of past timelines enter his mind. He saw himself during a pacifist route playing pranks on Frisk, annoying Papyrus, and finally making it to the surface. Then he saw himself fighting the human that he promised to protect and one who he used to call a friend after they had killed many monsters that lived in the underground including his brother. It finally ended with him having the slash of a knife going across his chest.

Out of panic he summoned one of his blasters and fired them. Player was able to dodge his attack and went over to pick up Flowey out of the snow.

He started to get back to his senses when he realized it wasn't real, he turned towards Player as they tried to get some leftover snow off of Flowey.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, but it was the fastest thing that would stop your attack."

"how where y-

He stops mid-sentence as he hears a voice call out his name. "SANS SANS I HEARD ONE OF YOUR ATTACKS ARE YOU ALRIGHT? SANS WHERE ARE YOU?"

He sighs to himself. "thanks for the check up bro."

"let's continue this somewhere else." He teleported himself, Player, and Flowey into King Asgore's castle in a corridor that led to the throne room. The room looked golden with the sunlight shining through the windows that covered the side of the room.

"Let me explain so that you can understand"

"no need to explain, i heard you and your flower friend talking earlier. saying that you are some 'magician' could stop these 'resets' and at first, that's what i was attacking you for, don't want some kid running around twirling a magic wand causing trouble. but then i got a better look at ya…"

He entered a battle with them checking them and showing off their soul and checking the stats again to make sure he didn't imagine it. "what i wanna know is why is your love so high?"

They thought for a moment about what to say trying to think of a convincing lie to tell him since they didn't even have a clear understanding of why their love was so high. "I don't have an answer for that."

"understood" Sans got ready to attack them again, with one of his irises becoming blue as he summoned a ring of his blasters around them.

As Sans' blasters started to charge up Player didn't try 6o make any attempt to dodge instead they threw Flowey in the air away from the blasters firing range and as they went off they all hit the Player. Sans saw that as the blasters hit them they didn't seem to do any damage to them.

As the attack ended Player had glitched out a bit causing a few of those red particles to form but quickly disappearing as they caught Flowey as he came down. "He almost hit me, you trash bag! You should just go and eat trash!" He yelled out.

"I understand you don't trust me, but you have to believe me all I want is to be everyone's genuine friend and help everyone make it out of the underground. There's no point in fighting since your attacks don't hurt me and I have no intent on hurting you."

Sans' iris went back to normal and he stopped his attack, therefore ending the battle.

He let out a sigh realizing that they were right. "fine i won't fight ya, but tell me why do you want to be everyone's friend? you said that you want to stop the reset, but what does that have to do with making friends?"

Well since you heard our conversation then you know I'm from another world. In that world, I was able to watch Frisks' journey here. As I kept watching I became attached to this world and I wanted to be friends with everyone instead of watching Frisk make friends."

"man, you humans sure are weird. saving a whole world just because ya thought it looked cool."

"It's the truth"

"so there's no point in attacking and it's not like i can just put ya in a room and let you sit there. so i have no choice but to believe ya. for now you pass the judgment."

They all get teleported out of the corridor and back into the forest. "You won't have anything to worry about. I'll make sure that you and your friends get the happy ending you all deserve."

"heh… thanks kiddo but…" He started to trail off, getting a little nervous. "you aren't gonna do that remembering thing with everyone right? you made me remember so many terrible things and that's something friends do.

"My apologies, I'm not gonna do it to everyone but I think as friends we should also not hide the truth from each other."

He snickered to himself not believing that they were completely telling the truth.

"sure, whatever you say" He started to make his way out of the forest and towards the path with Player following behind him cheerfully with Flowey still in hand.

Chapter Text

They made it back to the path and started to head toward Snowdin Town. Nobody said anything as they made their way toward the town. When they arrived at the town a few of the monsters there tried greeting Sans as he made his way through, but stopped themselves as they noticed he was not in the best of moods and turned their attention to the Player. They started to talk amongst themselves about what could have happened, remembering when Papyrus came through and asked everyone if they saw his brother. They both were able to notice this and guessed it wouldn't be long for word to spread out of town and to the rest of the underground that a human had arrived.

They finally arrived at their destination, Sans' house. As they went inside the house Sans called out his brother's name to see if he was there but discovered that no one else was there. He decided that it would be best to go look for him.

He told Player and Flowey to stay here until he gets back, Player asked him what they would do until he came back. He quickly looked around the room and saw the tv remote lying beside his pet rock. He grabbed the remote and tossed it to them as he went out the door and left the house without saying a word.

"So are we going to leave now?"

"Nope"

They started to look around a bit to get a better look at the house. While they did the meanwhile in Waterfall Sans was asking around to see if anyone has seen his brother. Thanks to the echo flower explainer he learned that his brother was in the area. So he looked around taking a few shortcuts, he stopped near Napstablook's house as he heard a familiar voice. At the local snail farm, he saw his brother talking to the residents.

Sans started to walk closer to the farm and called out to his brother to get his attention. "so are they recruiting snails now?"

The taller skeleton turned his attention to who was calling out and looked happy as he saw that it was the brother he was looking everywhere for.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" He started asking many questions as he ran over towards him. "I HEARD ONE OF YOUR ATTACKS GO OFF IN SNOWDIN SO I WENT TO GO CHECK ON YOU, BUT WHEN I ARRIVED YOU WEREN'T THERE. IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?"

"sorry about that i just had some work to do"

They started to make their way out of Waterfall by heading towards where the river person would give monsters rides to and from different locations.

"well be warned he's a human so he's a bit weird."

"SANS, YOU SHOULDN'T SAY THAT ABOUT PEOPLE ESPECIALLY NEW FRIENDS. NOW HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF- WAIT DID YOU SAY THAT THERE HUMAN?"

"yeah, i think so at least. like i said before, he's kinda weird."

"WHERE ARE THEY NOW? ARE THEY ALREADY AT NEW HOME!?"

"nah i left them back at home"

As they waited for the river person to come, Papyrus excitedly continued to ask questions about Sans' new human friend. Things ranging from how he was able to capture them to if they went through any of the puzzles.

Sans did his best to come up with a convincing story, thinking of which scenario would be the best. What he ended up coming up with was that when the human showed up he got startled which caused one of his attacks to go off and it caused the human to run away and that the whole time he was missing he was just out searching for them.

The river person then arrived to take them back to Snowdin. When they arrived there Papyrus hopped off the boat and excitedly ran towards their home dragging Sans along. The locals were happy to see that he was able to find his 'missing brother' and to see that Sans seemed to be in a better mood.

At their home Player and Flowey were using the remote and seeing if there were any interesting shows on since they have finished searching the house not finding anything new. They were startled as Papyrus busted through the front door causing both of them to jump in their seats and Player even letting out a little yelp.

"WOWIE, EVEN MY FLOWER FRIEND HAS MET THE HUMAN." Flowey looked down at the floor, not wanting to be associated with the skeleton right now. "GREETINGS HUMAN ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

Player got up from where they were sitting, adopting a more cheerful and innocent demeanor. "Hello Papyrus, it's nice to finally meet you. Sans has told me a lot about you so I hope that we were able to be friends."

Papyrus' face lit up upon hearing that. Wanting to make a new friend was one thing to be excited about, but knowing that person was also looking to be friends with you as well was another level of joy. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND WORDS HUMAN, BUT DON'T JUST BEFRIEND ME BECAUSE OF MY RELATIONS. I WILL PROVE TO YOU WHY I SHOULD BE YOUR FRIEND."

Papyrus started to show Player around their home telling the story behind some of the things they toured the house. Even though Player had already looked around the house they still let him continue with his tour. While they were in Papyrus' room continuing their tour Flowey and Sans were left in the living room.

"Do you really trust him already?" Flowey said, breaking the silence.

"nope," Sans went over to the couch and sat down beside the flower. "so you gotta plan on what to do once he starts to 'clear out' the underground?"

"Why are you asking me? I don't care what he does to any of you, I just don't want to be a part of it!"

"man that kid must've shaken you up."

"Oh shut up! Don't start to act all high and mighty you know you're scared of them. You aren't going to even get a chance to stop something that is impossible to defeat." He hissed out even having a demonic smile spread across his face.

"ya know you're really not helping your case here buddy."

Papyrus and Player came back both looking just as cheerful as they did when they left. Sans was happy that it looked like they didn't do that remembering thing on their brother. He started to talk about the story Player had told him about how they became friends, sounding nothing like what actually happened. Even making Flowey a bit upset from how pitiful they made him sound.

As they spent the time talking they realized how late it had gotten meaning that they would have to depart. Papyrus suggested that they stay the night and have a sleepover since it was an activity that friends do, but Sans quickly turned that idea down making up a story about how they already have a place to stay and how someone is probably looking for them as he pushed them out the door. Then he closed the door behind them leaving Player and Flowey in the snow.

"So what are you going to do now, make a bed out of snow or are you going to cry your way back to the ruins and see if the old lady will let you stay," Flowey teased.

"The inn should still be open, we can just stay there."

"So what sob story are you going to tell that rabbit lady so that she'll let you stay? Are you going to throw in some fake tears as well?"

"No, I'll use money. I'm not some kind of scam artist."

"I don't see any monsters around that you could fight so how ar3 going to get money? Unless you're planning to steal it."

As he said that Player summoned a red file of code causing him to go silent. They messed with the code a bit and then made the file disappear. As it disappeared a bag of G was summoned and landed in their hand.

"See now we can go to the inn and buy a room." Flowey continued to stay silent.

They made their way toward the inn. When they arrived they were greeted with the warm smile of the innkeeper. After giving the bunny lady the money for a room she handed them a key and they went upstairs to the room.

They put Flowey on the little nightstand as they took their boots off and placed them at the end of the bed. As they sat on the bed letting their feet dangle off the side.

"Now, that we got the easy part out of the way, got any ideas on how to handle the others? I know Asgore will probably be another easy one, but I

"I don't know! Why does everyone keep coming to me for answers!"

"Well, you are the second most informed person here about the different events that happen here."

"Then go and ask whoever is the most informed then!"

"But you said you would help me."

"I said I would believe you, not help you. I'm still technically a bystander in all of this."

"Maybe if you helped me you could also make friends."

"Me making friends with everyone wouldn't change anything."

"When you were able to 'Save' like Frisk could did you try making friends with anyone?"

"No, since you seem to know everything you should know I can't feel love so making friends would be completely pointless."

"Maybe if you actually tried-"

"There's no use in trying if my own parents can't make me feel anything that makes you think some random monster would!" He yelled out, causing them to go quiet. They spent the rest of the night in silence with only the snoring in the room next door being the only sound.

Meanwhile, at the skelebros house, they were also setting in for the night Papyrus had gone to do his last patrol around Snowdin to check up on the residents and see if he could maybe run into his human friend again.

While he did that Sans stayed home and turned in for the night. As he dozed off and had fallen asleep, he saw himself waking up but in a location that wasn't his room.

He saw that he was in a dark endless abyss that he was somewhat familiar with. As he looked around in confusion a figure appeared in front of him. It was a man that towered over him looking even taller than his brother, he wore all black almost blending in with the darkness around them with the only parts of his body visible being his white hands and a face that looked like it was melting.

Sans didn't do anything but just stood there in fear even causing his eye sockets to go dark. He met this person before either through dreams or maybe getting a quick glance at him through the side of his 'eye', but this was the first time they had an up-close encounter with him.

He didn't seem hostile since he didn't try to attack him, but the aura he gave off. It made him feel nothing but complete dread and misery.

The man started to bend down to his height and got up close to his face looking him right in the sockets.

Sans tried to process what he said, his voice sounded like it was broken. With some of the words cutting out halfway and due to some of his face being melted it also had a gurgled overlay on it. Sans almost had half a mind to ask him if he could repeat himself, but before he could the man disappeared looking like he had vanished into the darkness.

The darkness around him started to disappear and be filled with light. As it filled the space it became overwhelming, causing him to cover his sockets with his hands.

As he tried to open them to see if it was good to look he saw that he was back in his room. He started to look around to make sure everything was fine, and to see if all this was real. As he saw the snow fall lightly out his window he realized that he was back at his home.

"all of this is just… so weird"

Chapter Text

As the new day arrived Player and Flowey were starting it off by getting a tour of the rest of the Underground from their new friend Papyrus with them making their way towards Waterfall. They weren't going to look for Undyne, Papyrus not wanting his new friend to be captured or wanting their soul taken. The other two however didn't mind if they did happen to come across her, since she really couldn't do any harm to them. They were going through though to do some sightseeing. Player knew that the Underground had many secrets which they wanted to find out for themselves and to also explore more of its beauty.

Yesterday while Papyrus was doing his last patrol for the day he heard that they were staying at the Inn. He didn't want to disturb them so when morning came he went right over there to check up on them. Of course, after going through his morning routine, they were very surprised when coming into the lobby seeing Papyrus there waiting for them. He started asking them questions about how their stay went on, and what they wanted to do during their time here so they settled on getting a look at the rest of the underground.

Right now they were passing through the heavy snowfall that acted almost like a border at the end of Snowdin and into the entrance of Waterfall. The ground beneath them went from a blanket of snow to more solid ground. Papyrus started to go on a ramble about the history of Waterfall and all the different types of monsters that resided there Flowey tried his best to tune out everything the skeleton was saying, Player tried their best to listen but would get distracted as they would look at the gems that where embedded into the stone floor and walls. Looking into the dark water that flowed next to them watching as the huge cubes of ice went by.

You guys made it to Sans' sentry station except he was not there. They guessed that he was probably at a different one or back at his home. Papyrus started to tell a story about how he was going to make a puzzle here at the entrance of Waterfall involving some echo flowers, but he decided against it as it was harder to have echo flowers keep codes and hints.

The group manage to make it across the small waterfall being able to avoid getting hit by any of the rocks. Making their way across the bridge of flowers. Player wondered whether that quiche would be under that bench by now, thinking they should come back to check. But as they walked into an area with some echo flowers, a telescope, and a sign that was on the wall that said 'Wishing Room'.

The skeleton had started to tell them about the wishing room as he looked up at the dark ceiling with the only thing visible being the shine of the gems all together replicating the look of stars shining in the night sky. Talking about all of the wishes that he had made and how some of them even came true. Player also looked up at the ceiling impressed by how similar to the real night sky it looked, they giggled to themselves a bit as they thought maybe they could have some bugs fly around to look like airplanes.

"WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO WISH FOR?" Papyrus said, interrupting their thoughts. Player looked at him in confusion since they were too desecrated to hear what he said.

"EVERYONE ELSE HAS MADE A WISH IT IS ONLY FAIR THAT YOU MAKE ONE AS WELL." They thought for a moment it wasn't hard to think of what to wish for as it was their main goal.

"I wish that I could be everyone's genuine friend." Flowey made a gagging sound upon hearing that while Papyrus' face lit up with excitement. All though their wish did surprise him a bit as he expected them to wish about making it to the surface.

"DO NOT WORRY, WITH MY SKILLS IN FRIEND MAKING I'LL MAKE SURE THAT EVERY MONSTER IN THE UNDERGROUND SHALL BE YOUR FRIEND." Player smiled at his statement, but it caused Flowey to make another gagging sound.

After that little conversation, the group started to leave the wishing room and continue with their tour hearing the echo flowers repeat their conversation. As they entered the other area they saw more signs on the wall that started to tell about the war between the humans and monsters. Of course, Player already knew about this, but they also wanted to know if there was something else that could have started the war other than the human being afraid of getting their soul taken as they read one of the signs. As Papyrus was currently not paying any attention to them, they looked down at Flowey to see if maybe he knew.

Flowy noticed that they had turned their attention to him. They pointed at the sign talking about why the humans attacked the monsters. "I don't know anything about that war you're acting like I was there." They let out a disappointed sigh and just continued walking on with their tour.

The group walked across a bridge that went over more of that dark water and then back onto the stone ground. Player however notice that up ahead they saw that the ground looked like it was glowing, a glow different than the glow on the gems they've seen. As they got closer however they saw that it wasn't the ground but instead water. Papyrus had told them to go wait beside another one of those telescopes as he ran off to a different area.

When he returned in his hands it looked like he had ice cream. He had three in total with two that were like ice cream sandwiches while the other was in a cup. He led the group over to the glowing water, sitting crisscrossed on the ground. He handed Player one of the sandwiches and gave the cup to Flowey. Flowey wasn't as appreciative as Player was but he still ate the ice cream anyway.

"SO ARE YOU ENJOYING YOUR TIME HERE IN WATERFALL?” The skeleton asked

"I like the scenery," Player replied as they took another bite out of their sandwich. They looked around the area seeing the other monsters that were nearby somewhere in groups laying on the ground like they were stargazing, but they seemed to be the only group to be conversating.

“We aren’t bothering them are we?”

“OH, DO NOT WORRY THIS IS A TYPICAL PLACE FOR MONSTERS TO COME AND SOCIALIZE.”

“You are, they're probably just too scared to say anything,” Flowey grumbled under his breath. Player who heard him flicked him on the side of his face. Going unnoticed by the skeleton.

As they finished their ice cream and cleaned themselves up they started to continue on their journey giving a little goodbye to the monsters that laid about as they went. Going through the darker areas of water with the only sources of light being the water that glowed and the bioluminescent mushroom-like plants. The echo flowers repeated what the skeleton would say as the group continued with their journey.

They soon arrived at a circular area with two other paths connected to it. One is a path up north while the other continues to the east. A sign was located by the north hallway entrance reading 'The northern room hides a great treasure'. As Player looked down the hallway they saw a familiar piano set up against the wall. They turned the skeletons' attention to the piano as they started to walk toward it.

"AH YES, THE PIANO. BACK WHEN I WAS PREPPING UP DEFENSES IN SNOWDIN I HAD SUGGESTED THAT UNDYNE PUT A FEW IN WATERFALL AS WELL. JUST IN CASE THE DAY A HUMAN ARRIVED IT HAPPENED TO BE ONE OF MY SICK DAYS." Player pressed one of the keys to make sure that it wasn't suffering from any type of damage. With it playing a low note allowing their worries to pass.

"ALTHOUGH… SHE NEVER DID TELL ME WHAT THE TRUE PURPOSE OF THIS PUZZLE WAS." They started to think about whether or not they should complete the puzzle. I mean it's not like you have to complete the puzzle to finish the game so it wouldn't hurt anyone if they did it themselves right.

They started to press the different keys trying to figure out which ones sounded right, it didn't help that they lacked any experience with a piano. Placing Flowey on top of it the piano hoping that two hands would be easier than one. Since Papyrus didn't know the solution to this problem so he joined them in pressing different keys.

Flowey started to wince at the display in front of him. The combination of the two attempts wasn't very pleasant on the flower's nonexistent ears with the added echoing of the area only making it worse.

"Just let me do it! I'm surprised you two didn't break it!" Flowey returned to Player's arms and started to guide them to the correct keys. As the final key was pressed, the bare wall opened up to reveal a hidden area.

They congratulated the flower for his achievement as he sported a grin on his face from the compliments. They started to enter the new room that had opened up for them.

When entering the room they were only greeted with a pedestal that held a red sphere that was almost the same size as a basketball. It didn't have any dirt or blemishes of any kind it even had some sort of shine to it as if someone was making sure that it was in pristine condition.

As they got closer to the artifact a fluffy white dog came out of nowhere and jumped onto the pedestal that the artifact laid on. The dog looked at the group before turning his attention to the artifact. They laid on top of the artifact as if it was a bed to lie down on. Papyrus was about to start yelling at them to leave the artifact alone, but suddenly the artifact phased into the dog as they had somehow absorbed it into their body.

Papyrus started at the dog sockets wide and confused. Player had expected this to happen but thought the dog would just eat it, not literally absorb it. The dog got up and gave a little yap as it jumped off of the pedestal, onto the ground, and started to run out of the room.

As the dog ran out of the room the group started to chase after him to try and get their artifact back. As Papyrus yelled at the dog telling them to return the artifact, stating how Player and Flowey worked hard to solve that puzzle while they tried their best to keep up with the skeleton. Flowey shouted at him trying to tell him that there was no use, but he didn't seem to hear the flower and continued with the chase.

While the group was in Waterfall, Sans was in Hotland paying a visit to the local scientist. He had gotten a text from her earlier in the day when his brother had said his goodbye as he went off to Waterfall with his new friend, with their flower friend in hand.

Although in the text she never specified what she needed him for, he could take a good guess on what it was about. His arrival startled the scientist as instead of taking the front door he took one of his shortcuts, showing up right beside her.

While she regained her composure she internally insulated herself from getting startled as this wasn't a first-time event. "Sorry for spookin ya."

"N-no, it's fine. I should've been m-more alert."

"S-so, um about the human... I-I've done some research about humans that can perform m-magic." She changed the display of the monitors going from showing the different areas on the underground being recorded on camera to displaying different documents with pictures that look like they were taken from books.

"It's been doc-documented that humans can only gain m-magical abilities if they have some kind of item or artifact th-that possesses some kind of magical pro-properties.’ Back when humans and monsters lived together peacefully on the surface, monsters would give humans magical items as gifts ranging from necklaces and charms to staffs and cloaks. Sadly as the war broke out these items would be used against the monsters.

"But w-who knows, m-maybe things have changed since then." As soon as the monsters were sealed up into the underground it seemed that all the magic on the surface had vanished as all their artifacts were rendered useless.

"S-Sorry for r-rambling. Y-You probably already knew this. I-I just wanted to know if he looked like he h-had something on them or c-carrying something that looks out of place." Sans had forgotten about that piece of history but he couldn't think of anything they had on them that looked magical unless you can count that bow they had tied around that flower's pot.

"maybe he's a monster." That was something the skeleton did believe whether it be metaphorically or literally.

"I don't think - well there is that conspiracy that there are monsters still on the surface but if that is true would their offspring already look this close to humans?" She started to think to herself looking through the documents of information she had gathered. "I'll have to do some more research."

Sans took this as a sign for him to leave. "are there any questions you want me to ask him for ya?"

"U-Um, y-you can ask him about his magic or-or just about the s-surface if you don't want to be too s-straightforward." She continued to look gathering the books that she used to help her make the other documents as the skeleton left the lab.

Chapter Text

Oh Frisk, the eighth human to have fallen into the underground, the second one to possess the red soul, but the first one to be able to make the underground become empty. Though their arrival had caused the underground to fall into a loop, using their ability to cause their world to be in nothing but a constant loop for who knows how long now.

Their last run, however, was different than the others. It was marked by a longer duration of living on the surface with the monsters, a time extended far beyond the usual period before the world would restart. But this time, Frisk hadn't triggered the restart. They couldn't quite explain it, but something felt different. Something felt... wrong.

Instead of waking up in the bed of golden flowers, they found themselves on the surface in their bed back at the orphanage where they had lived before they decided to take a trip to Mount Ebott. The familiar yet distant surroundings disoriented Frisk. The dim room was filled with the peaceful breathing of the other children sharing the room, each in their own beds. Specks of sunlight started to shine through the window curtains, shining gentle rays that added some light into the dark room.

Frisk sat up, heart pounding. Their mind raced through the possibilities. Had it all been a dream? Was the underground, the monsters, the battles, and the friendships all figments of their imagination? Their friends. Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and, Asgore, where were they now? Had they been returned to their own lives? They touched their chest, feeling the steady thump of their heart. It felt real enough. Slowly, they stood up, careful not to wake anyone. Frisk tiptoed to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Outside, the orphanage grounds looked serene in the early morning light. Dew settled on the grass, and birds chirped in the trees. Everything seemed normal.

Determined to find answers, Frisk quietly dressed and slipped out of the room. The halls of the orphanage were still and silent, amplifying the creak of the floorboards under their feet. They made their way to the common room, where they were greeted by Miss. Harper, the head caretaker, as she sat by the window with a cup of coffee in hand looking up as she noticed Frisk’s arrival giving them a warm smile.

“Good morning, Frisk. You're up early,” she said. Her demeanor reminding Frisk of Toriel. At the end of their runs, they never got a chance to give the caretaker a proper goodbye, being busy with the monster and human relations and having Toriel handle the adoption situation. So, there was some comfort in seeing someone who had been the first person who was the closest thing to a mother.

Frisk responded with nodded, trying to mask their inner turmoil. “Good morning, I just ended up waking up early and I couldn’t fall back asleep.”

“Oh my, well I hope it wasn’t a nightmare that woke you,” she said giving a faint sympathetic smile “But if you need something to do you can help me set up for breakfast” she added now giving a more reassuring smile.

“Yeah, I can do that, no problem” Frisk replied, forcing a smile. They had to figure out what was going on, but for now, blending in was their best option. As they helped set the table for breakfast, Frisk's mind was a whirl of questions. Why had they returned to the orphanage? Was this some kind of test or a cruel trick? And most importantly, how could they get back to the underground and their friends?

“She seems nice” a familiar voice spoke knocking them out of their thoughts. As Frisk turned seeing Chara behind them in their ghostly state. Frisk's breath caught in their throat. “Chara?” they whispered, glancing around to make sure no one else could see or hear their spectral companion. “What are you doing here?”

Chara started to float around the dining area, getting a good look at their new surroundings. When they first met, Frisk was scared of Chara, thinking they were the one that made them kill all the monsters in the underground, the one that was controlling them. But after many runs with Chara by their side, they realized this wasn't the same Chara that wanted to delete the world. Sure, they had their moments of trying to scare Frisk, but throughout their journey, they had also shared knowledge about the underground. Frisk tried to open up to them, wanting to hear about what their time living in the underground was like or how they felt about their situation, but Chara always refused to answer.

“Don’t know,” Chara replied, their voice holding a mix of confusion and frustration “One moment, everything was normal. Well, as normal as it gets for us so if I’m here it's probably something you did”.

“But I didn’t do anything,” Frisk argued trying their best to keep their voice low. “We were all happy, there was no reset, and I didn’t choose to start over. I promise it just all ended and now I’m back here”.

Chara floated closer, their ghostly form shimmering slightly in the sunlight. “Well, something had to trigger this.”

“Frisk, is everything alright in there?” Harper called out as she walked into the dining area not being able to see Chara much like everyone else besides Frisk.

Frisk quickly turned to face her. “Yes, ma’am I was just talking to myself.”

Harper gave a small, understanding nod. “Oh, that's quite alright dear I will admit I’ve been caught rambling to myself plenty of times.” She walked over into the kitchen and came back with a tablecloth in hand. Frisk went over to help her spread it across the table as Chara watched sitting on a nearby windowsill looking outside waiting for the two to be done. While Frisk tried to focus on the task at hand, setting the table with plates, utensils, and cups.

As breakfast came, the other children and caretakers filled the dining area, their chatter and laughter creating a lively atmosphere. Frisk sat mechanically eating their food, their mind racing with plans and possibilities. Amidst the noise, Chara floated around, playing harmless tricks on some of the children causing a cup of juice to spill, or a toy to move slightly. Frisk ended up ignoring them as they were lost in thought thinking what would be the best course of action. Should they try to get back to the mountain, but what if this was a sign to stay away from there to end the constant cycle that everyone has been stuck in, or what if this was the final run, the one that would finally end the cycle? They were able to notice that their ability to reset was gone which was understandable since it was only something they could do after they went into the underground but why was Chara here? Shouldn’t they be bound to the underground as well?

“Listen if you're trying to look normal maybe you shouldn’t look like you're about to start crying,” Chara said sounding like a mix of teasing and genuine concern.

Frisk blinked, realizing they had been staring blankly at their plate. They quickly wiped at their eyes, though no tears had actually fallen. Taking a deep breath to steady themselves, they muttered under their breath, “I know,” glancing around to make sure no one else noticed their moment.

“Just keep it together alright,” They continued “Panicking will get us nowhere.” Frisk nodded slightly, trying to focus on the present. The atmosphere of the dining room gave some sense of comfort but also a bit disorienting.

As breakfast ended Frisk joined in the usual activities at the orphanage, helping with chores and playing with the other children providing a bit of a needed distraction so that they don’t end up frying their brain. As outside makeshift baseball game was in full swing as Frisk watched with a small smile as the children ran around the grassy yard giving them a sense of nostalgia. As Chara sat beside them noticing their amusement.

“So, you just lived here your whole life?” Chara said trying to spark some kind of conversation.

Frisk nodded, still looking at the scene that played before them. “Yeah, pretty much,” they replied, “I've been here for as long as I can remember.”

Chara floated closer, their ghostly form shimmering in the sunlight. "Must have been... interesting," they remarked, their tone holding a bit of curiosity. "Just don’t see how you're able to live in a place with so many people."

Frisk chuckled softly, "It's not too bad, actually," they replied, “It's nice in its own way with so many people you don’t have to worry about being bored but I guess that could also just be me being used to it.”

"I guess I can see the appeal," Chara admitted “Still with Asriel he wanted us to do everything together so there wasn’t much alone time, so I find it hard to believe you're getting much privacy”,

The smile on Frisk's face grew as the conversation progressed. Even though there was a debate between them on which name they should use when addressing Flowey. Frisk wants to respect their wishes and see them as Flowey from now on but Chara says that it doesn’t matter since he is still their brother. “Yeah, I guess you're right but when you're used to it you can find space.”

Chara layed down in the grass having their hands lay under their head as they looked up at the sky, “Must be a perspective thing then”.

Frisk nodded, glancing up at the sky as well. "Yeah, it probably is.” They watched the clouds drift lazily, feeling a strange sense of calm wash over them. Chara's eyes softened as they continued to watch the sky. Everything felt weird but in a good way like it was normal or natural for them to be out here talking like this. They had moments like this in the underground watching as the water flowed in Waterfall or staring at the pools of lava in Hotland. Even in the end where they would stand at the mountain looking into the sunset with all their friends but this just felt new, something so mundane yet so…

“So why did you leave?” Chara said breaking the silence.

“Huh,” Frisk responded being brought back to reality.

“You seem to like it here so why did you leave to go climb the mountain?” Chara said bluntly. Frisk took a moment to gather their thoughts, Chara's question catching them off guard. They shifted their gaze from the sky to Chara, considering their response.

"Well," they began slowly “I guess… I just got bored with every day being the same, doing the same routine… and growing up we were all told stories about the monsters so they’ve always wanted to see if they were true”.

“But you're in a routine now” Chara interrupted “Going around making friends with everyone and breaking the barrier it's just the same routine the only difference is that you control when it starts over.”

Frisk paused at their words, they couldn’t explain why they used their abilities to keep everything in a constant cycle. It wasn’t something they wanted they enjoyed showing their new monster friends what the surface was like all the fun times they had but something compelled them to start it all over again to go through the same fights, confrontations, and revelations over and over unable to break this cycle.

"I don't know," Frisk admitted, their voice holding a mix and sadness and frustration. “I want everyone to be happy, I just can't stop myself–”

“Now what are you doing back here all by yourself,” Harper's voice interrupted their conversation once again as the caretaker approached. Now having changed into a more practical outfit, with a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved blouse. “Have you gotten hurt?”

“No, I was just thinking again” Frisk replied, looking up at her. As she sat beside them, Chara turned their attention back to the clouds.

“Sorry if I’m pestering you, it's just that you seem a bit off today,” she continued keeping her voice a gentle tone “If you’re tired from being up early, it’s fine if you want to take a little nap.”

“No, I’m not tired,” they paused trying to form a good excuse for their behavior. “It's just I had a dream about the monsters, the ones that everyone says are trapped under the mountain.”

“Ah, I see it wasn’t a nightmare was it?”

Frisk gave a small smile. “No, not at all. Some of them didn’t like me at first, but we all ended up being friends, and in the end, everyone was free… and happy.”

She smiled warmly as she lightly ruffled their hair “That sounds like a lovely dream.”

“Yeah it was,” They glanced over at Chara who was still looking at the clouds completely uninterested in the conversation. “Do you think I could actual do it, free the monsters?”

“Well…” Harper paused, considering her words carefully. She wanted to be supportive but also realistic. “Well if it is true that the monsters are still under the mountain then I believe someone as kind as you could definitely do it.” She pulled them into a gentle hug. “But you aren’t trying to get into anything are you?”

Frisk hugged back “No just asking”

“Alright then, just don’t forget me when you get all famous and have to travel the world for meetings.” She said giving a little chuckle as she gave Frisk one last squeeze before letting them go. Frisk felt a slight ping of sadness at that comment but was able to let out a light chuckle.

“Now come on” Harper started to get up brushing off pieces of grass “Can’t let a nice day like this go to waste.” She grabbed Frisk's hand helping them off the ground. As they both went to join the others as Chara just stayed in their spot not following behind this time. Lost in thought on what could have caused Frisk to leave a place like this and the conversation that just took place definitely didn’t help.

Chara always just saw Frisk as being just like Asriel. At times it was scary at times how Frisk's actions, expressions, there optimism reminded them of their brother. Always being by Asriel’s side in life and now being by Frisk in death. If they didn’t know that their brother wasn’t currently a flower they would probably have half a mind to think that Frisk was their reincarnation. Making them think how things could have been if Frisk was around during the time they lived with the Dreemurr’s, how much would their family have changed, how differently certain events would have played out.

Either way Frisk spent the rest of the day playing with the other children not going inside until the sun had started to set. With Frisk’s worries from before seemed to have faded away adapting a more genuinely happy demeanor as they joined the other kids in getting cleaned up to enjoy their dinner for the night. Sitting down at the table partaking in the various conversations around them and as dinner came to an end the caretakers sent all the children to bed to bed and as time passed with all the children fast asleep Chara looked at the stars with the only thing they could do now was wait for the sun to rise.

“Is everyone asleep,” Frisk whispered being the only sound in the silent room

Chara turned to Frisk, as they faintly shimmered in the moonlight. "Yeah, seems like it.”

“Alright,” Frisk got out of their bed trying to stay as quiet as possible as they started to get dressed.

“What are you doing?” Chara asked, their voice able to carry throughout the room, but luckily, the others couldn’t hear them.

Frisk finished putting on their shoes. "I'm going to the mountain," they whispered back. They grabbed a small backpack and began to pack a few things as they left the bedroom, quietly making their way through the rest of the building to gather items they might need: a flashlight from the supply closet, some snacks from the kitchen, and a small blanket.

Chara floated beside them, watching as they tried not to be heard. "So you really aren’t staying?"

Frisk shook their head, glancing at Chara. "Well no, I mean, everyone is still down there. We have to get them out." They swiftly left the building stepping outside and taking deep breaths as the cold air filled their lungs as they pulled out their flashlight.

“So you’re really just going to leave here like it’s nothing,” Chara said, their voice holding a bit of frustration.

“It's not nothing, everyones trapped and I have to help them like I did before.” Frisk replied, firmly “Why are you against this?”

“Because you're not going to free anyone. You're just going back into the cycle,” Chara retorted, their voice rising slightly. “You’re going to do nothing but go down there, go through the same events, and act all surprised. You’ll walk around pretending it’s all new, even though this is what your twelfth time now.”

“No, this time is different we didn’t wake up in the ruins so this is probably a sign that this is the last run after this everyone will be free and-”

Chara cuts Frisk off, their frustration evident. “And what if it’s not? What if this is just the universe telling you ‘Hey Frisk, how about you leave everyone alone’.” Frisk looked down, staying silent as Chara spoke.

“Just face it as soon as you go through everything all over again and make it back up here you're just gonna get bored and hit that reset button again, and again, and again.”

Frisk to a deep breath before they responded “Then… you can be in control…”

Chara was taken aback, their expression shifting from frustration to surprise. "What do you mean?" they asked, their voice softer now.

Frisk looked up, their eyes meeting Chara’s. “When we go into the underground, you can take over. You can make the decisions. You can stop me from resetting.”

For a moment, Chara didn’t know what to say. The frustration and anger from before were replaced with confusion. Chara liked the feeling of being alive and having people besides Frisk acknowledge their existence, but on the other hand, the last time Chara was in control, people ended up dead. “Are you serious?”

Frisk nodded, “Yes I’m serious, you want to end this you want to free everyone so I trust you to do it.” They kept their voice steady as they spoke “So, do we have a deal?” They extended their hand.

Chara hesitated for a moment before grasping Frisk’s hand. “Yeah, deal.”

With the agreement in place, the two continued their journey toward the mountain, leaving the orphanage behind them. They entered the woods, following the familiar path with their flashlight lighting the way. The silence between them was heavy only focusing on the task at hand. The forest was eerily quiet, the only sounds being their footsteps and the occasional rustling of leaves, luckly no animal encounters had taken place.

Eventually, they made it to the top of the mountain and entered the cave that held the hole leading into the underground. As they stared down, it was completely dark, even as they shined the flashlight down, they were unable to see what was at the bottom.

“Are you ready?” Frisk asked

“Are you ready?” Chara retorted as they floated beside them.

Frisk took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the moment. Without further hesitation, Frisk took the leap, diving into the darkness and feeling the cold air rushing past them. They blacked out as they were completely enveloped in darkness.

When Frisk woke up, they found themselves in a familiar bed of golden flowers, but something was different. They were now the ones taking up the form of a ghost, floating beside Chara, who was now in control of their body. Chara slowly got up, taking a deep breath and adjusting to the sensation of their heart pounding in their chest.

“Are you alright?” Frisk asked

Chara took a moment to steady themselves, “I’m fine,” they said confidently and took a step forward, then another, gaining confidence with each movement. As they both went on into the next room.

Chapter Text

The two entered the room with the familiar patch of grass in the middle, where Flowey usually appeared. As the two stand there waiting in silence, their eyes fixed on the grass, seconds ticked by. The grass remained still and undisturbed, and it became apparent that Flowey would not appear.

"It's late. Maybe he's sleeping," Frisk said

Chara rolled their eyes. "He's a flower. He doesn't sleep."

They moved past the patch of grass and continued down the corridors of the Ruins. Toriel was not there to greet them as usual, likely asleep like all the other monsters. There was complete silence, with the only sound being the slight echo of their footsteps. Everything was still familiar to them, as Chara was able to go through the puzzles easily. When they finally reached Toriel's home, they walked up to the door and tried to open it, but the door didn't budge.

They started to knock a couple of times, but it seemed that no one was coming to answer. They went towards both side windows to see if either would open, but sadly, they were just as still as the door.

With no other way for them to get into the house without Toriel, Chara sat on the ground with their back against the door, thinking of what they should do next. Frisk sat beside them, "Don't worry, she'll probably wake up eventually."

Minutes passed as they sat in silence until Chara got up and dusted themselves off. "It's pointless to stay here all night doing nothing," they said, as they walked away from the house

Frisk watched them go for a moment before getting up and following. "So, what do you want to do instead?"

"Find another way out,"

"But Toriel always said she guards the only exit."

"And you believed that," Chara interrupted. "Did you really think that if a monster wanted to leave the Ruins, they'd have to go through her house?"

"No, I just thought -"

"What? That she'd fight every monster that tried to leave, too?" Chara mocked. "Do you really think she's out here wrestling every Froggit and Whimsun that wants to move out?"

"No," Frisk said as they crossed their arms. "She's the caretaker, so I think it would make sense for her to keep track of who stays and leaves here."

"Sure, sure," Chara said dismissively, but their smile widened as they giggled to themselves. "Just imagine every night an army of Froggits storm her house, and she's just fist-fighting all of them."

Frisk gave them a look but couldn't help the small smile creeping onto their face. "You're ridiculous,"

"And you're predictable,"

The slight tension seemingly faded as Toriel's house was now out of view. The silence returned, but at least it was no longer as heavy as before. "So where is the other exit then?"

Chara shrugged

"Guides are usually supposed to know where they're going," Frisk pointed out.

"Hey, I know this place better than you and I'm not going to sit there all night just so I can go through that 'Prove to me you are strong enough to survive' nonsense" Chara responded mimicking Toriel's voice during the last statement.

"If we get lost, then we won't be able to leave

"Even if we get lost, it will be morning, and some monster will find us and probably tell Toriel."

They walked back through where they came, seeing if they could find a way out, going through the hidden areas they knew about to try and see if they would lead anywhere else. When they made it back to the room with the levers, Chara was visibly frustrated from all the dead ends. The tiredness was also setting in for them with the lack of sleep combined with having to run around the ruins.

Frisk tried their best to convince them that it would be better to sleep until morning, even suggesting that they should lay down in the bed of flowers from where they fell from, but Chara was too determined.

They kept flipping the switches over and over, causing the spikes to retract and extend. Frisk kept trying to tell them to stop before they ended up breaking something but it was too late as the constant movement from the spike caused the floor to crack and give out from under them causing them to fall deeper into the Ruins.

They were able to make contact with the ground this time without passing out so as soon as they hit the bottom they sat up from the patch of flowers as they were now on the lower level of the Ruins. From a quick glance, it looked emptier and more abandoned than the upper level. With vines growing out of the cracks in the ground and walls.

"Where are we? Have you been here before?" Frisk asked as they looked around the area.

"Mm... Maybe" Chara looked around."I know the Ruins has levels, but I can't really tell how far we are."

They walked around with caution, making sure they didn't accidentally fall through any other cracks. As they continued, the area became much more lively as the monsters wandered around, but even then, the area was still quiet. At least it gave Frisk a bit of comfort knowing that they weren't the only ones down here, but sadly it was short-lived as out of nowhere a monster pounced in front of them causing a battle to start.

The monster which according to the panel was called a Seemew was one Frisk had never seen before but looked like some kind of cat-like monster with its eyes being closed while spots on its fur blinked and stared at Chara. It didn't look too hostile, just looked like it was on high alert waiting for them to make a move.

"Don't hurt them,"

"I wasn't going to, and you don't even know them. Everything's different now. Would it even matter if they got hurt?."

"I don't care. No one is getting hurt."

"I'll get hurt,"

"But you won't die,"

The Seemew stood there waiting for them to make their next move.

"Listen, I don't feel like going through all of this, so can you just let me find the exit and leave?" Chara asked them tiredly slightly annoyed

The Seemew didn't seem to care. "Shh... Shh.. disturbing the peace..." It whispered as the inner part of its ears opened up like small mouths, causing a wave of sound to be sent out as an attack.

Chara jumped back narrowly, avoiding the attack. "Disturbing the peace? I didn't do anything!"

The Seemew finished their attack and took their position from earlier waiting for the next move.

"Fighting would be much easier"

"If anyone gets hurt, I'm taking control again,"

"Fine, fine."

"I'm trying to leave! So can you leave or tell me where the exit is!" The monsters nearby were startled by Chara's outburst, causing all of them to leave the area. It also seemed to upset the Seemew as now its eyes were fully open and its 'spots' were closed.

"No peace... No peace..." The Seemew ran away before they could get the option to spare, dropping 12 gold which Chara picked up and put it in their pocket ending the encounter.

"It wanted you to be quiet,"

"So, they didn't get hurt or anything and look, everyone ran away, so now no more battles."

Frisk let out a sigh they were right. At least they could hope the yelling didn't cause any permanent damage to anyone. And as much as they wanted to explore the new area and make more friends, they had to focus on their plan.

They continued forward, and it seemed that Chara was right as they continued they didn't get into any more battles. As they navigated through the Ruins, it seemed to have puzzles similar to the upper level, but none too difficult for them. Navigating through the darker areas did seem to be an issue. Even with their flashlight, they were able to look far combined with the risk of falling in made it a situation where Frisk had to go first. They eventually came across an entrance as two doors stood in front of them as they went through they were in some type of house. With a thick layer of dust covering the area along with how empty and quiet it was safe to assume it was abandoned.

They passed through the house, and at the back, they were met with a lone wooden door. They peeked through seeing a long hallway and, at the end, was an archway with a bright light and snow coming out of it. As Chara was about to walk through the door, Frisk stopped them.

"See, the exit is right there, so if you just sleep, we can go through the rest tomorrow."

Chara wanted to argue, they wanted to just get this whole task over with, they wanted to get to the end of this journey and finally break the cycle but even now they were too tired to argue. Even if they had enough items, they wouldn't be able to get through many battles if they could barely keep themselves awake. So Chara nods tiredly as they walk away from the exit door and back into the house to see if there is a good spot to rest.

They found a bedroom in the house and were lucky the previous owner didn't take it with them. It was dusty from years of being unattended, but it didn't look damaged. Chara brushed off as much of the dust as they could before they laid down.

It didn't take long for Chara to fall asleep to Frisk's relief; they didn't know what they would have done if Chara had kept going. Would they be able to take their body back and go to sleep that way, but then Chara would get mad and might stop listening to them or even start killing monsters. But they had to shove those thoughts away, Chara was resting now, and they were going to continue their journey in the morning.

Frisk sat at the end of the bed even though they didn't get physically tired they felt drained. So they sat there and let themselves rest, letting their eyes close and their body relax.

"Frisk, Frisk!" Chara's voice broke through the silence as the shook Frisk around.

"What's-" Frisk opened their eyes and saw that they were no longer in the bedroom and were currently in the middle of a dark empty void.

"Where are -"

"I don't know, and I didn't do anything! I just woke up here."

Frisk stood up and looked around. There was nothing in sight, just complete darkness. They were surprised they were even able to see Chara with the lack of light.

"Is this a dream?" Ever since Frisk entered the Underground, they haven't had any dream, just falling asleep and then waking up, but with everything they have gone through, maybe it was better that way.

"You don't share dreams,"

Suddenly, the 'ground' in front of them bubbled and rippled as a figure rose from the darkness. However, it was one they were somewhat familiar with as during one of Frisk's past travels through Waterfall, they came across a mysterious grey door that they hadn't seen before during their other travels. They had opened the door and went inside it out of curiosity. The room was just as grey as the door being empty beside the figure that stood in the center of the room.

Although it did startle them at first but it didn't do anything until Frisk walked up to it, but it just smiled and disappeared, not making a sound. It was a strange encounter for them, but nothing threatened like the one they were having now.

The two stood frozen as the figure spoke, not understanding what it said as its voice was so distorted they couldn't even tell what tone it was speaking in.

A battle was triggered as the Frisk didn't react in time as Chara selected fight using their hands to punch the figure, but they phased through the figure, not dealing any damage.

The figure came closer towards them, causing them to step back as they thought it was coming to attack them, but its hand rested on their fight button. The button started glitching, particles started to pull away as its grasp on it tightened the button breaks. Floating in front of them glitching out and completely broken while the other buttons stayed intact.

Frisk and Chara both woke up, back in the abandoned room

"We're leaving. This place is haunted." Chara got out of the bed and started to make their way out of the room and towards the exit

"Wait,"

"Nope, no waiting, I'm wide awake now, so let's go."

Chara sprinted towards the exit and opened the exit door, being greeted with cold wind and snow. As the two left the Ruins to continue their journey. At the Hotland entrance, Papyrus was continuing his tour.

“WORRY NOT MY FRIENDS I’LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU GET A PRIZE FOR YOUR EFFORTS.” Their chase after the dog wasn’t successful with it ending with them losing track of the canine.

“There's no need besides the puzzle was simple” Player still holding on to Flowey as they tried their best to keep up with the taller skeleton.

“We deserve something for making us have to chase after you” Flowey muttered just loud enough so only Player could hear.

“I DON’T THINK ANY ANNOYING DOGS SHOULD BE IN HOTLAND, THE HEAT…”

Papyrus' movements started to slow down, his animated gestures becoming stiff and his voice started to trail off into silence until coming to a stop everything around came to a halt and everything around lost its color becoming shades of grey. Player was the only one that wasn't affected as they stopped realizing what was happening. Moving Flowey around to see if they could get any reaction but he stayed frozen in place.

"(Your friends are here)"

Player turned around to be greeted by a familiar figure this time. Its form looked more put together than how he did during his other encounters.

"Oh... hi, Doctor," Player tried to keep their usual tone but they were genuinely concerned and with the doctor having the stoic expression that they were used to it was hard for them to tell how he felt at the moment. "Did I mess up?"

"(No, you did nothing wrong, just another case of things not going as planned)"

"So... is everything ruined now?"

"(No, both humans have just left the Ruins. Which means we won't have to wait any longer, but it also means they are no longer under your control, making them unpredictable)"

"Well... I mean, the worst thing that could happen is they start killing everyone, right? So I can easily just stop them."

"(No, they no longer have the ability to fight, and yours should follow along as well)"

"How will I be able to tell?"

"(You'll know when you see it)"

And like that, the doctor disappeared, and as he did, everything went back to normal. As the greyscale slowly bleeds back into vibrant colors. Papyrus' voice returned mid-sentence as if nothing had happened.

"...WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR THEM"