Chapter Text
A million questions race through your mind. Where are we? What are you? What happened? Eventually you settled on starting with a kinder version of what that thing was, “Who are you?”
“Many things.” Well wasn't he being vague.
You scrunched your face in annoyance and said, “Fine, I'll start. I'm Frisk Dreemurr.”
“Now that isn't all you are, is it?” He replied making you even more angry.
“I'm Frisk Dreemurr,” you huffed as you got more angry only to notice there wasn't really air where ever you were and it wasn't hurting you, “I'm a human, and I'm an ambassador. Are you happy now?”
There was a twinkle in the being's eyes. “I didn't mean to upset you. Think about this, you aren't a Dreemurr yet, nor are you an ambassador.” He patted your head kindly, “But calling yourself a lost soul would undersell yourself, wouldn't it?”
“Well yeah”, you reply unsure if it was the correct response or why you truly cared if it was the correct or incorrect response.
“And some things don't last, do they? You are a student but one day you won't be, you are a child, sometimes you managed to be a teenager, but that would have changed in time as well.” Upon realizing this conversation wasn't going anywhere fast you sat down on the not-quite floor. “And that is why I say I am many things. In some time lines I am a father, in others a brother, in others yet neither. I have been a scientist, I have been a noble, and I have been a nobody.”
You found yourself getting more and more used to be bizarre being's communication and found a bit of your normal diplomacy returning. “Well yeah”, you said in an attempt at kindness, “But you must like some of them more, or think of one as what you really are. Like I said, I'm Frisk Dreemurr, and you said I'm not yet but that isn't something that goes away for me.” After a momentary pause you added, “At least can I get your name?”
“WD Gaster.” He replied kindly. “And I've been watching you closely. You're an interesting one Mx Dreemurr. Our world is so dependent on you. Sometimes you save it, sometimes you destroy it, sometimes you leave and cause the seat of power to change, but over countless time lines you have never left the Underground the same as you left it.”
“I've never destroyed the Underground!” Sure eventually most monsters left it back when you broke the barrier but that wasn't destroying, that was just a migration.
“Child, you're still focused on your own timeline, branch out a little if you will.” Gaster clapped his hands lightly and static began to appear in the holes in his hands. The static was soon enough replaced by rapidly flashing images that part of you knew were going to fast to comprehend, but that also resonated with a part of you that you were unaware of ever having. “That's what this place is. It is a void and through it I see every time line that has been, will be, and can be. I've lived all those time lines as well and if you stay here within time you'll find you will as well.”
“Living a time line where I destroy the Underground doesn't sound like fun,” you complain.
“You'll also live the time line from which you came. You learn to take things as they come, you can't influence time lines,” he paused for a second, “Indeed there are time lines I regret, so many of them. Eventually you find you have to accept the bad you've done along with the good, and that's where you have to find your solace.”
“How long have you been stuck like this?” You ask.
“Time..time doesn't matter anymore to me.” He replied.
“So too long then.” All these years you'd thought you had saved everyone and you even visited Flowey time and again to make sure the poor soulless thing wasn't doing too poorly but apparently you'd missed sometime. “How do I fix that for you?”
Gaster's eyes flashed with surprise at that question and he took a few steps back, “You can't child. I didn't leave a trace. You always influence the Underground so I doubt you could understand but I was there one day and gone the next.”
“But”, you continued unsure of yourself, “Everyone has someone that cares.”
“The few traces I left vanished long ago,” Gaster joined you sitting and placed an arm around your shoulder, “See, there were people I worked with. Suddenly I was gone so they were gone as well and the world moved on. There was one exception,” he kindly booped your nose, “Sans. He kept trying even as the others vanished until one day I asked him to stop.”
“Is that why he has that room?” You find yourself leaning into Gaster and his mass shifting slightly to accommodate, much more comfortable now you knew that Sans trusted this man.
“I made it for him, it was made to anchor his memories. He anchors other things as well inside of it, but it was my last gift to him given with thousands of years of effort to make sure that I at least made a little difference.” Gaster sighed loudly. “The memories weren't perfect but they were there. He remembers enough in nearly every time line to know someone important to him was lost due to researching these things-”
“And that's why he wouldn't help me.” You finish, “Because he didn't want me to become this. But why didn't he just tell me?”
“Like I said child, people who remember me vanish.”
“Ah,” you say sadly, “So how long until they forget me?”
“It takes time,” Gaster stood and offered you a hand to help pull yourself up, “Hopefully enough to make good of my studies.”