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Chapter Text

Timebreaker

Prologue

Sweat was pouring down the twenty-year-old’s face and neck, their lungs screaming as they ran. Pursuing them were deafening sirens and disconcerting beams of light, accompanied by shouts and walkie-talkies. In fact, their pursuers were gaining on them, well equipped for the mountain hazards compared to the runaway’s hospital dress. At that point, escape was a far-off dream.

Just a little farther…

They didn’t really know where they were going, only to get away—away from the men in suits, lab coats, and uniforms. Too long was the young adult a prisoner to their tests and experiments; their poking and prodding; their need for answers. The thoughts racing through the captive’s head filled them with DETERMINATION to escape.

With a great burst of unrivaled energy, the patient sped up ahead of the men in leaps and bounds. The sirens and lights got dimmer and dimmer as they escaped into the dark mountain forest, diving through the bushes and leaping over ledges like an agile mountain lion. Apparently there were some advantages of wearing just a hospital dress.

Finally, for the first time in 3 years the patient felt free. The deafening sound of their captors was replaced by the joyous beating of their heart.

Free.

The refugee felt tears well up in their eyes as they closed them and let out a long exhale.

Oh to be fr-!!!

Time seemed to slow down as their bruised foot landed on thin air, and they tipped over into a horizontal positon, faced with a dark gaping abyss below them. In slow motion, the human spread out their arms out as if they were flying. If death was to be their savior, then so be it. They didn’t care anymore.

They wanted to scream, to give one last call to the living world. To scream out to let their captors know that they were no longer their hostage.

But they couldn’t scream… They were mute…and they were swallowed by the darkness in total silence.

Chapter Text

Timebreaker

Chapter 1: Death is an interesting concept isn’t it?

Death is an interesting concept isn’t it? Thump-thump The idea that anything can just- poof! – be gone in the blink of an eye! Thump-thump However… death is picky. Thump-thump It strikes when you least expect it, and spares the most unlikely of people Thump-thump… like you… my dear…

The human feels as light as a feather, tranquility surrounding them, completely numb to pain of any kind. Is this death? If so, then the human welcomes it with open arms. It isn’t long however before they grow curious, opening their eyes to find they are surrounded by total darkness, only illuminated by a dim glow emitting from their chest.

Thump-thump …Wait. A light?

Curious about the source of light, they move into an upward position like an astronaut in space, in order to investigate this phenomenon. Meeting them was a…. heart. Not the actual organ, (for they well know what that looks like) but the geometric shape, which compresses and expands like the real deal. Fascinated, the human reaches down to touch the luminous white heart to-

“Wake up my child.” a husky voice echoes into the abyss. The human suddenly begins to plummet- falling, falling, fall-!!

The human’s eyes snap open and they gasp desperately for air, all their senses overwhelmed with sounds, smells, sight, and-of course- pain. They quickly sit up, wincing at the soreness of their back before noticing that they are lying in the brightest, most beautiful patch of Golden Flowers they have seen. Puzzled, the human looks up and around, realizing that they are in a cavern of sorts, and the only light present is shining down upon them. The escapee shields their eyes and looks up at the opening of the cavern. How did they survive?! They must have fallen 50-no- 100 feet! Not to mention, the walls are smooth sheer rock. The human is trapped, but free, which it finds rather poetic of them to think.

It truly is incredible how such beautiful flora can survive in such a desolate place, and it fills the human with hope to think in some way, the flowers are a sign that they too, can survive. On that note, the human realizes that the flowers have most likely grown from the sunlight they receive from above: however, Mount. Ebott’s rainfalls are heavy and frequent, meaning that the rain had to run off somewhere for the flowers to not have been washed away or drowned. Also, the flowers needed nutrients, meaning the soil was unused and rich, or that something was decom-

A familiar tingling sensation runs up the human’s spine, ripping their thoughts away from their hypothesis. They can’t explain how they know; how they know when something beyond the physical world is present, but it had to do with their heart feeling like a limb that has fallen asleep. With slim, quivering, and bruised limbs the human quickly stands up and stumbles out of the patch of flowers. They turn back around to look at the seemingly-innocent flowers, the sensation weakening significantly as they back away. But it doesn’t fully go away.

The human’s blood pounds in their ears; their mind racing, trying to understand why that happened; and how-

Things just keep interrupting the poor 20-year-old’s train of thought: a rock trips them, causing them to land on their butt with a hard thud…. right in front of a crumbled archway. After the human gets up and brushes themselves off, they marvel at the moss-covered architecture, going as far as to run a hand along a barren spot. They feel a fleeting moment of déjà vu.

'Why is this here? How could-… is that…a light up ahead?'

There is another cavern through the archway with an area lit by a sliver of light, yet as soon as they step over the threshold, they are hit with a wave of dizziness, teetering to the side while trying to regain their lost footing.

'Not now… not now…'

Whilst fighting to regain their senses they find themselves stumbling toward the illuminated earth, before finally tripping over their own two feet and landing about a foot away from the light. The prickling intensifies again.

Without warning, a full-grown Golden flower erupts from the middle of the lit ground. The human’s face contorts into shock, as a face appears on the flower’s center. It looks around in confusion, only seeing the human when they decide to scramble backwards onto their feet.

It immediately smiles widely at them, saying cheerfully: “Well Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the uh-…” it briefly fades off, looking them up and down. “…flower.” It must of have been looking at the human’s filthy figure...right?

The human’s vision distorts for a second, glimpsing a different flower with a grotesque smile, cackling at—

“Hmm… You’re new to the underground aren’t ya?” The human snaps back to reality to see the joyful flower again, looking happy to be here. Yet their heart still speeds up slightly, unable to understand why they want to run away, to kick it in the face, to scream.

‘Patience. Play along and you will learn its intentions,’ the human rationalizes in their head.

“Well golly! I guess it’s up to me to teach you how things work around here!” the carefree tone sends shivers down their spine, however, the flower doesn’t seem to notice and it cheers: “Ready? Here we go!”

The human’s tingling heart numbs completely, the atmosphere thickening enough to cause the human to shudder violently. They feel a tug at their chest and nauseating dizziness before-pop! It was like breaking a glow stick. Now something is glowing in the human’s chest, and while they see a colorful light out of the corner of their eye, they refuse to look away from the flower.

The flower smiles widely in ‘sly’ satisfaction before the smile instantly drops as its brow furrows in disgusted confusion.

“W-What? That’s not what a soul looks like!” It exclaims in what sounds like annoyance, its image distorting once more for the human.

'This isn’t a part of their…"intentions".'

So curiosity getting the best of them, the human looks down at whatever the flower is fussing about. In their chest was the heart like from the dream before, but instead of white, the heart is a beautiful mosaic. In the middle was a bright red heart, framed with 6 smaller pieces, all of which are different colors. The human then looks back up at the irritated flower, who quickly realizes his mistake and smiles sheepishly. The human isn’t sure why they started referring to the flower as ‘him’, it just felt like the flower was a boy.

“I-I mean uhm... I wasn’t talking about your soul! I was uhm-…talking about the soil! Yeah! The soil beneath me isn’t all that…nice” the flower covers pathetically.

'Wow. Is he this bad of a liar or is he flustered?'

The flower is flustered indeed, seeming to be having an argument with itself before remembering the human still exists. It immediately begins to smile again. “Whoopsie! I spaced out there! Here, have some of my… friendliness pellets as an apology!” He waves his leaves as if they are arms, and what seem like white seeds, materialize in the air around Flowey.

'What the-?!'

“Get as many as you can!” he sings, the pellets floating toward the human slowly.

Don’t touch them.

With a small skip the human dodged out of the way, causing the flower to frown deeply. “Hey buddy! I said get them all not dodge ‘em! Let’s try this again…” He then does the same thing, heading for the human.

Now to be fair, the human, taking pity on the frustrated creature, tries to catch one, but still dizzy from the atmosphere, trips out of reach.

Now the flower looks outraged: “RUN. INTO. THE BULL-FRIENDLINESS PELLETS” and he waves his leaves again, even more pellets incoming Now the human knew something is terribly wrong, barely dodging out of the way, Flowey freezing.

There’s a long pause of silence, before his face contorts into that terrifying grin that’s filled to the brim with dirty teeth, sneering at the human. It was the face of the flower they saw before.

“You know what’s going on here don’t you?” The human’s heart skips a beat, and they slowly begin to back up. “In this world, it’s KILL OR BE KILLED.” The flower then lets out a bone-chilling laugh, bullet seeds surrounding the human on all sides, and closing in fast. Trapped, the human lets out a silent scream for help then-

Boof! Flowey was hit by some sort of fireball, and he cried out in surprise, before quickly disappearing back into the earth. They coward and cover their face, only catching a glimpse of a massive figure coming toward them. Though they cover their eyes, they can hear padded feet going “thump, thump, thump” and swishing of a robe.

“What a horrible creature, torturing such poor innocent youth” a woman’s voice murmurs, right in front of the trembling human.

The human slowly looks to their savior, their soul’s light fading and disappearing back into their chest. A large anthromorphic goat-like creature looms over them, with shaggy white fur, floppy ears, and two small horns. She looks down at the small human, reminding them of a mother they saw on the television. Once again the human feels a flash of déjà vu as the female creature smiles softly at them.

“Do not be afraid my child, I am Toriel, Gate-Keeper of the Ruins,” she slowly rests a large anthromorphic paw on the human’s shoulder, “I come by here every day to see if anyone has fallen down, I am… very glad I found you when I did.”

Unsure how to react or reply, the human decides to give her the ‘a-ok’ hand gesture, making a circle with their thumb and index finger, their body still shaking violently from being so close to death. Toriel seems at a loss over the gesture, but her attention is brought quickly to the human’s condition, and immediately she seems immensely concerned.

“My child… you are shaking!” she exclaims worriedly, pulling the human close to her and hugging them gently. She feels like a large pillow or stuffed animal. “There there, you are safe now, but my! You are covered in bruises and scrapes! And your clothes are…” she tries to find the least offensive word possible “…unsatisfactory”. The human flushes, looking down at their thin, torn, and filthy hospital dress, jumping slightly when they feel Toriel’s paw gently press into the small of their back. They look up at her to see her giving them a comforting smile. “Come with me child, it’s not safe to wander around the Ruins! You can live with me.” She then leads them away into the dark caverns; away from the painful life that they have lived, and into a brand new one. The human can’t help but smile to themselves, Dr. Vancouver’s words ringing in their eardrums.

Death really is interesting isn't it?

Chapter Text

Timebreaker

Chapter 2: Knock Knock

            Although there is no sun in the Ruins, the luminous crystals scattered along the ceilings and walls seem to be on a schedule, giving the illusion of day and night.

These very same crystals now slowly begin to brighten, monsters living in the Ruins waking along with them. In the single home inhabited, Toriel is already up and moving about doing her daily chores, preparing breakfast being one of them. Just down the hallway from the kitchen, the first room to the left, is a children’s bedroom, filled with stuffed animals and toys. In the dark room, a figure shifts in the small twin sized bed, fighting to go back asleep, but lo’ Toriel is not the quietest early bird, and the figure finally sits up and rubs their eyes in defeat. After a few moments of sitting there, they stand up and open the door out into the bright hallway. They squint at the sudden brightness as they cross to the other side of the hallway to the washroom, closing the door behind them and flicking on the light.

In the mirror is an adult female human, with almond-shaped eyes, soft brown skin, and bed-ridden hair. The hair is a dark brown, short, and naturally wavy, coming down to just above her shoulders if it was straightened. However, because of its curl, it reaches just below her chin, which when brushed will frame her face and only be moderately tousled. But right now- it is a monster of its own.

The female human leans in closer to the mirror, moving her head this way and that, her fingers running over the scabs and scars that litter her face and neck. She frowns slightly, realizing that the scars are here to stay. But another part of her is proud of them, reminding her of the life she successfully escaped.

Meet Frisk, the 8^th human that has fallen into the Underground, and by far the oldest.

A couple of weeks ago…

After rescuing her from certain death, Toriel took in Frisk as her own daughter, and taught her how battles in the world of Monsters worked, as well as how they (the monsters) came to live in the Underground. Frisk was fascinated to hear that monsters were sealed underground by magical means, after fighting a long bloody war between the two races. Toriel also briefly mentioned the Ruins were called such as the other monsters decided to move on and find a new home, but when Frisk tried to ask more about it Toriel quickly changed the subject.

“Ask” as in expressing curiosity with her face.

It wasn’t until the two reached Toriel’s home, when the motherly monster said: “Oh! Forgive me my child! What is your name?”

Frisk signed it to her, which made the woman’s furry brow furrow, and her muzzle to become flushed with embarrassment.

“I-I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I do not speak in hands.”

Knowing that this was likely, Frisk is undeterred, and after much searching in her home, she finds (an extremely large) pen and paper and scribbles: “Sorry! I’m mute. My name is Frisk.”

It was her luck that Toriel also read in English, instead of some ancient language. Her eyes brightened with understanding, before she looked at Frisk in horror.

“You’re mute? Oh you poor dear!” monster clasped her large paws together fretfully, to which Frisk smiled at. To have this much attention--not for your assets but out of compassion--felt truly amazing.

After a day or so, Toriel came home with a “slightly” smaller pen and a notepad for Frisk to use to communicate, meanwhile through the weeks the two devised a whistle system for long distance communication.

Deep down Frisk appreciates her muteness, even if it can be annoying sometimes. She can silently watch, listen, and think about the things she has been told by Toriel. She also doesn’t risk the chance of saying something she will regret as much as others, and is stealthy by default. While it’s cheesy, she is starting to understand how silence is the loudest.

Frisk discovers that Toriel is also a fine knitter when she decides to knit a periwinkle and magenta sweater of her own, as she noticed that Frisk did not seem to look the green sweaters in her room (not to mention they were too small). She also sowed Frisk a knee-length brown skirt, with yellow fabric petals making up the bottom. Frisk was absolutely delighted, and as she twirled around in front of the fireplace, she saw Toriel wipe tears away out of the corner of her eye. She still can’t help but wonder how long this kind woman has been alone.

Frisk’s hair has previously been out of control—long, tangled, mismatched on the sides, and downright hopeless—so a week or so after she began living with Toriel, she decided to cut it off, symbolizing a fresh start.

Frisk has been happy with her new life so far; scouting for snails, helping Toriel around the house, and learning about the world of monsters. But curiosity has been nagging at her. She knows that Toriel has been hiding something, especially when she informed Frisk that the basement was strictly forbidden. She has done her best to ignore it but she can’t help but wonder-

“Frisk! Breakfast!” Toriel calls merrily, ripping Frisk out of her thoughts. She puckers her lips together and whistles a ‘high-low!’ note as to reply “got it!” before taking one last look at her reflection. After making sure her hair at the least looks decent, she smiles a breath-taking smile before stepping out of the bathroom and flicking off the light. She’s wearing purple silk pajamas, which were apparently Tori’s “when she was a kid” (SEE WHAT I DID THERE). She rubs her eyes when she walks into the joint living/dining room, smiling at Toriel in her pink nightgown.

“Good morning my child,” Tori greets softly but beaming. Frisk had explained to her that she was technically an adult, but never had the heart to correct the lonely woman.

Frisk gives her that warm smile, as if to say ‘good morning!’ before sitting down at the table, using her fork to move the delicious food onto her plate.

They both eat quietly, well, only because on is mute. Tori actually discusses their plans for the day with Frisk, who nods, whistles, and signs in agreement. She had taught Tori a few basic hand signs (yes, no, maybe, good, great, bad, worst) not long after she got a notepad and pen, and that was the day that Toriel was no longer the only educator in the vicinity. Soon enough, a lot of the monsters still living in the Ruins knew some basics, and Frisk was now able to have a conversation with them. Toriel seems really proud.

After eating breakfast, she and Toriel go on their daily errands: laughing together when Tori makes horrible puns, hunting snails, chatting about the Ruins’ magic, and garden work. Time has flown by these past couple of weeks, and before she even realizes it, the warm colors that the crystals shown begin to cool down into blues and purples. It’s dinner time and Frisk is tired.

She still remembers her first night at Tori’s, when Toriel had gone to prepare supper and Frisk had found the children’s room, and had decided to lay down in the twin-sized bed. When she woke up, all the lights were off, and there was a slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie laying in the middle of the floor. She remembers getting up and then kneeling back down in front of the pie, her hands shaking as she took the slice in her hands, tears cascading down her face as she ate. It was the nicest thing somebody did for her in a very long time.

Tonight was a repeat of history, as Frisk could barely keep herself awake after the delicious meal, telling Tori ‘thank you’ in sign language for the meal, before whistling goodnight to her. It’s a good thing she’s a good whistler.

After slipping on her pajamas and brushing her teeth, the young (adult) human turned off her lights and curled up underneath the covers, almost immediately drifting off to sleep.

            Frisk found herself standing in a dark world, silence surrounding her, nothing in sight. A faint wind moved past her, disrupting the ash floor, like leaves in autumn. She heard voices on the wind; voices that were calling out to her; begging and pleading to be free from the agony, before they faded away into the abyss, leaving her with the rhythmic pulsating that filled her whole body.

She instinctively looked down, seeing the mosaic heart—her soul—beating in her chest. She wouldn’t be alarmed if she didn’t know that when it was showing, she was engaged in a fight.

As if on queue, her feet suddenly began to sink into the murky ground, and she reached desperately for something to hold onto, but all she grabs onto is ash, which blows into her face and makes her cough and sneeze. The hole progressively gets wider and in a matter of seconds its already up to her waist, the idea of escaping already bleak. She tries to call for help.

But nobody came.

As her torso submerged under she looked up to see something forming out of the darkness. His whole body was a mass of shadow, leaving only his white, cracked skull and a single glowing pupil to gaze upon her with a carved smile.

All that comes out of his mouth are distorted vocal noises, but somehow it translated in her head: “That is your soul, the very essence of your being…” he approached her in one gliding motion. With only her head left above the ground and sinking still, she couldn’t do much to fight back.

He looms over her, a floating skeletal hand moving towards her face, fingers outreached. “And it WILL be mine.”

Before his hand reached her, Frisk bolts up in her bed, gasping for air and clutching at the fabric over her chest. She can feel herself shaking uncontrollably, sweat perspiring on her brow. It’s been awhile since she’s had that dream. After a few minutes of recovering she gets up, knowing that she won’t be able to sleep anytime soon.

Under normal conditions, she would just have to pretend she was asleep, as she was recorded 24/7, and she certainly didn’t want to show them how badly that dream bothered her. They would interrogate her on a regular basis; what the mean looked like, what the scene was, down to the very last detail. Every time they would ask what the man meant, and every time she just shook her head. She didn’t know what the man meant, she didn’t understand why—

‘Enough, stop thinking about it,’ she scolds herself as she creeps out into the hallway. That didn’t matter anymore, now she can get a glass of water, a book, or—

Thud thud.

She freezes mid-step, in front of the railing of the basement staircase. Her heart immediately begins to pound as silence follows.

Thud thud.

It’s faint, but it’s coming from the basement. Should she go investigate? Curiosity is tugging at her, begging her to go and investigate. She knows she isn’t allowed but; what if it was something dangerous? Maybe she should wake Toriel—no.

Thud thud.

Frisk’s fists clench as she breathes in through her nostrils, moving to stand directly in front of the staircase and stair down into the darkness. Though her legs are shaking, Frisk is filled with BRAVERY, confidentially marching down the stairs and down the hallway. But since the hallway is so long, she eventually resumes a normal walk, squinting to see the huge door. Now the sound gets progressively louder, and more and more it sounded like someone knocking on the door but only twice.

As she got closer, she realizes someone is talking.

Knock Knock

“Who’s there?” someone asked, on the other side. Frisk’s brow knits together in perplexed confusion.

“Iva” wait it’s the same-?? “Iva who? “Iva sore hand from knocking!”

This… this person… is making Knock knock jokes…to themselves!! It sounds like a male, who chuckles weakly at his own joke.

“Knock knock” he says out loud, not bothering to knock this time.

“Who’s there?” “Izzy” “Izzy who?” “Izzy one there?” after another weak chuckle, Frisk notices he sounds exhausted. How long has he been doing this? He is silent for a few moments before she hears him let out a dejected sigh.

Knock Knock

She hears his audible gasp and she can’t help but grin widely.

“Old lady is that you?”

‘Old lady?’

After a moment of silence, he chuckles again, “giving me the silent treatment eh? Alright, who’s there?”

‘Shoot,’ Frisk didn’t think this through. She panics, and knocks again. She hears him snort on the other side.

“Hey now, you skipped the punchline.” Frisk let’s out a loud sigh, frustrated that she is unable to vocally answer.

“…Pal? Still there?” he asks, sounding not at all concerned. She knocks again, but 3 times. “Hey now, you only knock twice you goof!” Frisk silently laughs before having an idea, turning and sprinting off up the stairs as fast as she can. She isn’t supposed to talk to strangers but this one is interesting, and there was a door in between them.

A few minutes later she runs back, gasping for air, thanking the stars that Toriel is a heavy sleeper. In her hand is her pen and notepad, which she doesn’t use all that often.

“Welcome back chum,” the mystery man greets, “I’m guessing you’re not the old lady, since you run pretty darn fast for a goat woman.” Frisk snorts loudly and silently laughs, keeping her ear to the door. The guy seems to be encouraged by her snort, and he goes “Hey pal, you never finished your joke. That’s simply adoorent.”

Frisk knocks twice before going to try to write quickly, but this man is making it hard for her as he replies immediately: “I already asked who’s there.” There’s a moment of silence as Frisk gets down on the floor, finding a crevice beneath the door slipping her paper under.

“Did you leave again b-huh?” she hears a crunch, as if the guy is standing on snow, and is shifting his feet. She smiles as she sees the rest of the paper disappear.

“…orange who?” He reads out loud and she can imagine him grinning. She’s ready this time, and quickly slips under another paper which he picks up. He laughs and out loud reads “Orange you glad I answered your knocking?” After calming down it sounds like, he then says “What’s dah matter bud? Afraid to wake the old lady? Cause I know for a fact that an earthquake couldn’t wake her up.”

Grinning, Frisk scribbles something down and then knocks twice.

“Who’s there?” he goes, before taking the slip of paper from other the door. He grunts in surprise “changing jokes eh? Hm… what do you call a cow that can’t speak?”

She hears the paper flip over and she waits in anticipation.

“Moot!” judging by his laughter, he must find it somewhat funny. “Come on pal, that’s milking it a little don’t you think?”

Frisk instinctively claps a hand over her mouth, even though breath just comes out. The guy is presumably thinking before he suddenly goes: “So you’re mute huh? I was wondering why you never said a word to me!” She snorts loudly.

‘Very funny’

“Come on, I ain’t trying to have a beef with you.” Frisk rolls her eyes to herself.

‘Have you been practicing all your life for this moment?’

“Heh! I’m just something to ‘adoor’”

‘Why are you awake? You sound tired. Your puns are slipping too’

“Hey! That’s what happens when you live in Snowdin, it’s a slippery slope! I could say the same for you, kiddo.”

‘Snowdin…’

‘Knock, knock.’

“Who’s there?”

‘A little old lady.’

“A little old lady who?”

‘I didn’t know you could yodel.’

“Knock, knock.”

‘Who’s there?’

“Adore.”

‘Adore who?’

“Adore is between us. Open up!”

‘Knock, Knock’

“Who’s There?”

‘Impatient cow.’

“Impatient cow wh-?”

‘Mooooo!’

That could really sum up the rest of the night, the two progressively getting more and more tired but still laughing, smiling and giggling on their respective sides.

“Uh-oh. Crystals are waking up.” The mysterious fellow finally mumbles, slumped against the door on his side.

Frisk panics, quickly slipping a note reading: “Gotta go! Tori will be up soon!” and going to run off before—

“W-wait! Hold up pal!” the guy calls after her, making her stumble to a stop and turning back around.

“W-will I be seeing ya tonight?” Frisk blinks in disbelief, feeling her face flush. Someone is willing to stay up to talk with her, even if it is just jokes.

She slips a note under the doorway, smiling widely before running off.

            On the other side of the door, a bony hand grabs the last paper left behind by their new pal. Had they really spent the whole night telling knock-knock jokes? Heh, that was one all-nighter this skeleton didn’t have a problem with. Sure they couldn’t hear them laugh but they could almost feel them laugh, even when he doesn’t even know what they look like.

Unfolding the paper, the skeleton’s smile grows as the paper reads ‘I would love to meat again tonight’.

Chapter Text

Timebreaker

Chapter 3: It’s simple really...

            “My child? Are you sure you’re alright?” Toriel’s concerned voice rips Frisk out of her thoughts. She and Toriel are snail hunting, and Frisk realizes that she’s crouched down with a net in both hands and simply staring at a snail crawling away right in front of her. She’s been absent-minded all day, her brain working and thinking about the night before.

After talking to the man at the door for most of the night, Frisk had raced back to her bedroom as quickly and quietly as she could, knowing Toriel would be up soon. She didn’t even bother closing her bedroom door behind her before she did a run and jump onto her bed and scrambling under the covers, closing her eyes. She was just in the nick of time too, as mere moments later she heard Toriel’s door open, and the soft thumps of her feet moving down the hallway. But then she stopped, right in front of Frisk’s bedroom.

‘Oh no…’ Frisk thought as she heard Toriel walk over to her bed, stopping right in front of her. Frisk resisted the urge to move away or flinch, her heart pounding wildly. Frisk suddenly felt a paw gently stroke through her hair, and heard a small sniffle.

Was Toriel… crying?

The paw pulled way before it even registered in Frisk’s mind, and there was a series of footsteps before she heard the door close. Once the coast was clear, Frisk had sat up, and she started crying. She cried out of disbelief, guilt, shame, and fear. The uncontrollable fear that it was all another sick test, an illusion to see how she would react to a family, a home, to love. She grew up in an orphanage all her life, and a year before she would have been free to start a life and family of her own, those people came and took her away for testing and observation. Why? Why did they—

“Frisk?” Frisk jumps when she feels a paw on her shoulder, and realizes that she spaced out once again. She looks up to see Toriel looking down upon her with worry all over her face.

What has she done to deserve such a loving woman?

She disobeyed her, and Toriel was completely unaware that she stayed up half the night talking to a stranger on the other side of the door, and was pretending that she was asleep?

Frisk feels so guilty for misusing the monster’s trust, but still can’t bring herself to tell Tori the truth.

She stands up and looks up at Toriel, physically exhausted, but her brain still wide awake. She couldn’t keep herself from asking anymore.

‘Toriel may I please ask you something?’ she writes before showing the very concerned Toriel.

Toriel’s eyebrows raise curiously, “Of course, you can ask me anything.” With a deep breath Frisk works up the courage to write it and show her.

‘What is outside of the Ruins?’ She watched with great trepidation as Tori’s smile fades and her deep crimson eyes darken. She then sighs remorsefully, looking away from Frisk.

“I knew this day was coming…” she begins rather ominously, Frisk tensing up. She feels Toriel place her paw on her back and guides her back towards Home, silent for a few moments before explaining:

            “The Monsters outside of the Ruins are not like the ones here. They… Asgore… will kill you. In order for the barrier to be broken, Asgore needs seven human souls. He already has six… and I still wonder if he ever got the seventh…” her voices quavers and Frisk moves her hand to clutch her paw tightly, encouraging her to continue. Tori looks at Frisk, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I tried to stop them but… they were so… determined to leave. I never saw them again.” She then laughs coldly “I bet Asgore has already broken the barrier, that pitiful welp… He’s probably already declared war on humanity once more. Even though he despises war…” she shakes her head. “Big wimp.”

Frisk pats her arm sympathetically, trying to comfort her. Toriel seems to snap out of it, and she wipes her tears away with her free hand.

“Oh goodness... I got carried away,” she gives the young human a sorrowful smile and sniffs. “I guess I’m afraid of losing another one…”

Not sure what to say or do, Frisk just pulls the large monster into a big bad hug, Tori hugging her back tightly, neither saying anything. Sometimes words cannot express what’s in the heart

After what felt like forever, Tori lets go and smiles. “Thank you…I…really needed that.” Frisk smiles warmly at her, before they both continue home in silence.

Exhausted, Frisk goes to bed straight after dinner, too tired to process what all she was told. Once collapsing onto her bed, her eyes close and she falls asleep in a matter of seconds.

Frisk found herself standing in a sea of golden flower petals, the petals flying in the soft breeze and into the purely white sky. The dream was the exact inverse of her nightmare, and completely new. She was torn away from her thoughts when she realized that her soul is floating away from her, pulsating rhythmically. She tried to grab it but it was already just out of her reach, and it stopped mid-air. She took a step toward it and it inched away just out of her grasp, and with each step she took it moved away. She then began to chase it, her mosaic soul also speeding up. Too focused on the heart, Frisk is led right into a thick fog, which completely envelopes her, making her skid to a halt as a small figure stands some distance away, her heart floating toward them and landing in their open palms.

‘Please wake up…they need you.’ A child’s voice whispers in her ears before she snaps awake, finding herself heaving a large breath as if she hasn’t breathed in centuries. After getting her bearings she slowly sits up, running a hand through her afro.

‘Oh no. The door guy!’ she suddenly remembers, praying that she didn’t sleep through the whole night. She gets up and opens the door, letting out a small sigh of relief when she finds the hallway dark. She quickly grabs her notepad, before checking the time to see it read ’12:44’.

‘I hope he’s there…’

Once tiptoeing down the basement steps, she stops in front of the large door, knocking on it.

Silence.

After a few moments she leans against the door and sinks down.

‘I’m probably too late. I fell asleep and-

“Who’s there?” her heart leaps and she sits straight up.

‘Avenue.’

“Avenue, who?”

‘Avenue knocked on this door before?’

He laughs as he reads it out loud, making Frisk grin widely.

“Knock, Knock”

‘Who’s there?’

“A herd.”

‘A herd who?’

“A herd you were home, so I came over!” She snorts at his reference to the cow joke she made the night before.

‘It’s nice to hear from you again’ she replies honestly, adding: ‘You’re the first person I have spoken to other than Tori in weeks.’

“Eh! What can I say, I tickle peoples’ funny bone! Hey, why did the skeleton stay out in the snow all night?”

‘Why?’

“Because he was a numbskull!”

‘Ha ha! Why do skeletons hate winter?’

“Because the cold goes right through them!” he finishes the joke for her, not even bothering to open the slip of paper with the answer inside.

‘Hey! That was my joke!’ she protests on another piece.

“Sorry kid, I guess I’m just bad to the bone!”

The skeleton jokes continued, until: “Why didn’t the skeleton go to the dance? Because he had no body to dance with!”

Frisk’s heart skips a beat, a memory welling up in her mind. When she had first arrived at Toriel’s, she had snuck into her room and read her diary, only to find that it was mostly filled with bad jokes. But she remembers one in particular and it was that exact same joke. This comedian has also mentioned before that she was a goat, and calls her “The old lady”.

The guy is already in the middle of another skeleton joke, when she slips a paper under the door, making him pause.

‘Do you know Toriel?’ he is silent for a long pause, and Frisk feels the comedic atmosphere change.

“Yeah I know the old lady, we usually exchange jokes, but haven’t talked to her in a few weeks. Now I know why.” He replies evenly, but something in his tone sounds…. off.

‘Why did she never tell me about you?’

“Cause I’m a bad influence, bad to the bone ye know?” Frisk isn’t buying it, and she isn’t going to let him get out of this.

‘Why?’

“Gosh you sure are persistent kiddo.”

‘I will soon be 21, so why.’

“21? And here I thought you were just another human kid Toriel took in.” Frisk’s blood runs cold, time seeming to slow down. It abruptly dons upon her… that this monster…this living being… might not even hesitate to kill her if he saw her on the other side.

‘There were humans here?’ She wants to sound clueless, maybe get information on what the other side is like.

He’s silent for what feels like hours, before finally sighing in defeat.

“Chum…Listen.” His tone is actually serious, making a chill go down her spine. “Has… Tori explained about the barrier?”

‘Yes. Anything can get in but nothing can get out.’

“Right… ok… but did she tell you how the barrier could be broken?”

‘She said someone could get through if they had both a monster and human soul’

She hears him chuckle, but it sounds cold and almost mocking. “The barrier can be broken if someone obtains seven human souls. We have-er- had six…you know what that means right?”

Frisk suddenly feels nauseous, and her heart goes numb. Her breathing quickens, as she feels like there’s a pressure on her chest. ‘They killed six human children?’

“You got it pal.”

‘Why?’ she is glad she can’t stutter in a note, but her handwriting becomes shaky. She quickly crosses out the question and writes: ‘Did you help? Help them kill them?’

He sighs again, “No….no I didn’t kid. I-…” he fades off a moment “I promised Toriel that I would protect the next human child that came through…and I did. They got out safely…” She can detect a hint of guilt in his voice, and major discomfort. But her heart lifts a little at hearing that the 7^th child got out safely.

“But when they left they…-the souls-… all disappeared and were lost.” Her heart sinks, her mind coming up with the horrid thought of imagining the six children as lost souls.

‘Why didn’t Tori ever tell me that…’ she writes, hand shaking. Did Tori lie to her?

“Because she doesn’t know. I never told her what happened. I can’t tell her that Asgore…” he fades off. “What’s important is that Undyne is ruler of the Underground now...”

Frisk feels like the room is spinning. She feels her heart go numb, and she swears she can hear faint whispering around her.

“After the last kid left, she became the ruler, and now has a law that says that all humans who enter the Underground must be destroyed… heh… she really hates humans.”

Frisk feels sick to her stomach, the guy had said it all in a cool and calm tone, as if he was talking about water sausages and not death. If she ever leaves the Ruins, she will be killed in cold blood, for no reason other than she was human. Why this makes her eyes tear up and overflow is a mystery for her. Because it’s simple really: she doesn’t leave the Ruins, stays with Toriel until the end of her days and lives happily, maybe even takes care of a few lost children.

So why does she feel like she has to go into the world of pain and tyranny?

“Hey pal, you ok?” Frisk realizes that she has been breathing loudly and quickly, and that she hasn’t responded at all.

Her hand shakes violently as she writes: ‘I’m fine, just thinking.’

“I never got your name buddy, mind givin’ me a clue?”

‘My name is Frisk.’

“Frisk, huh? Name’s Sans, and I’m quite the comic.”

‘Haha! Nice one.’

As Sans continued to make jokes that night, Frisk thanked the stars that he couldn’t see the tears silently flowing down her cheeks, or the agony she felt in her heart. It was like a children’s chorus of pain and torture, which tortured her dreams later that night after she informed Sans she was tired, and needed to go to bed.

She does, however, continue to meet Sans on a nightly basis, exchanging jokes, and puns as if they’ve been lifelong friends. However, Frisk has to quickly become conservative with her paper, as Toriel begins to notice her notepad quickly running out, and she doesn’t use it all that often. But it certainly isn’t a bad thing, as Sans turns out to be quite skilled in Origami, and sends back her paper in little folded shapes that can be squeezed under the door.

“My bro took an Origami class once,” he explains one night, “he was amazing at it, but Spaghetti is more or less his passion, so he gave it up.”

It’s simply really: she has befriended Sans in order to learn more about the other side. Nothing more, nothing less. She wouldn’t let herself become attached to a stranger that might get her killed in two minutes right?

But it’s not like she’s going to leave. That would be absurd. Right?

And yet… with each passing day the tingly feeling in her heard gets louder, and louder, and every night she sees the same child figure, in the same place, in the same fog, holding her soul before she wakes up.

Until finally, one night, the fog clears, and standing before her is a child wearing a periwinkle sweater, which makes her short-sleeved blouse; having yellowish skin, but a normal skin color nonetheless; and dark brown hair cut in a cute bob. The child has a red heart glowing from its chest, and it happily holds her own soul out to her, a smile on its face.

“Please protect my friends… tell them I’m sorry.” The child tells her, with pleading brown eyes. Her soul then suddenly bursts into a swirl of colors.

“Kindness is the key.”

“Do what is right!”

“Be brave!”

“But make sure you are ready.”

“Trust your instincts!”

“D-don’t give up…”

“Stay Determined.”

The voices surround her on all sides before she wakes up, and that’s when it finally hits her.

Because it’s quite simple really: She needs to leave the Ruins.

Chapter Text

Timebreaker

Chapter 4: Why.

            “That’s much better my dear, but- could you try harder?” Doctor Vancouver asked coolly, paying no heed to the panting Frisk as he writes something down on his clipboard. When was this going to stop? Frisk was exhausted, with sweat dripping off of her forehead, her hands resting on her knees. He always wanted more, always wanted to push farther.

“Ready to try again?” he inquired with a gentle smile, yet she could see right through him. He mocked her with that question, because he knew that she couldn’t say no.

            Frisk groggily treks to the basement door, knocking on it before slumping down against it. She hopes Sans is here tonight, she could use a few laughs.

Her nightmares had been vivid and gruesome, making her relive her past. Now her whole body is trembling whilst she’s drenched in cold sweat, and her breathing irregular.

Sans is the only thing she has to the outside world- outside the door that is. They have gotten close in the few weeks that they have spent together telling jokes. At least, Frisk thinks so. She isn’t very familiar with having friends, but she feels like she’s known Sans her whole life. In truth she knows very little about his life outside the door, and he knows very little about her, but something about him is just…

“Who’s there?” came the familiar voice after a few moments.

‘Sans! :D’

“Sans who?”

‘Sanswich!!’

“Wow pal, I didn’t know you carrot that much”

‘I’m just wyvern a good time!’ He snorts at that.

“Come on, that was a stretch.”

‘Sans when can I see you?’ the note is already under the door before Frisk even realizes what she wrote.

“I dunno bro, maybe when you decide to lettuce in.” She snorts loudly at the corny joke (GET IT), covering her mouth.

“Did you know that your laugh is adorable?” He comments in amusement.

Frisk feels her heart skip a beat. Did he just flirt with her?

“For a mute person I mean,” he quickly adds with a small cough. Frisk lets out a sigh of relief, although she feels a twinge of disappoint…wait, why did she-

“Why didn’t the skeleton cross the road?”

‘why?’

“Cause he didn’t have the guts!”

‘That’s funny. What do you call a scaredy cat?’

“What?”

‘A human!’

“Pfffftahahaha!” he cracks up at the lame joke, and she can even hear him slow clapping, “Boney points on originality!” She can’t help but smile widely, her cheeks warming. She wishes she could see his smile for herself.

‘Thank you very much. But Sans…when will I get to see you?’

“You already asked that bud…” he sounds a little disheartened and Frisk cringes.

‘I’m sorry. I forgot.’ She doesn’t hear a response.

She still doesn’t understand why, why she needs to leave. Perhaps it’s just restlessness, claustrophobia of the same routine…

No. It’s much more than that. She remembers the child that looked at her and smiled with tears in his eyes.

“Please.” The child had begged, dressed in a dirty white t-shirt and baggy jeans, with red curly hair and freckles. “Please protect my friends.”

“Knock knock.”

‘Who’s there?’

“Aloe”

‘Aloe who?’

“Aloe you…” he answers it quietly, his voice husky and soft.

It takes Frisk a moment to process the answer before her face heats. Did he… mean it?

Even if he did…he doesn’t know she’s human. Frisk feels the smile fade from her lips. She’s leading him on. He probably despises humans, even if he didn’t take a direct part in killing the ones before.

“Please protect my friends…” Did he help kill the child that came before her? Or did he help them escape?

‘Sans…are you afraid of humans?’

“That’s a funny question” he gives a half-laugh, but it sounds forced, “Nah, Undyne things every single one is bad but…I know there’s gotta be some good humans out there.”

Frisk’s gears turn in her head as she tries to pick apart his words. Did the humans before her hurt people? Did they even…kill someone?

“Why do you ask?”

‘Just curious.’ She again thanks that he can’t hear the imaginary quaver in her voice or the hesitation in her words.

“Heh!”

‘I think I’m going to come across.’ She squints at the words she wrote in a few minor strokes, hardly realizing she wrote them with her mind on other things. Should she send it…?

‘I need all the help I can get.’ She rips the paper out and slips it under the door. If she is going to leave, she’s going to need a guide. She just hopes that he will be willing to help a human.

“I’ll arrange a welcoming party for ya.” He jokes, making her silently giggle.

‘Ok Sans, I expect it to be all-out, anything less and I’ll walk right back through the door. ;)’

“Would you expect anything less of me?” he responds lazily, “And here’s your invitation.”

Frisk hears a crumpling of paper and sees something slip under the door. Picking up curiously, she realizes it’s an origami flower. He truly is something.

‘I’ll be leaving in the morning. So you better be ready! Goodnight Sans.’ She gets up once she sends it and brushes herself off.

“Goodnight…Frisk.” Her stomach does a flip. He’s never used her name before except for jokes (like frisky). She hopes in her heart that they’ll still be friends, even though she’s human.

‘That’s not important right now.’ She shakes her head slowly and walks down the hall, lost in thought as she listens to the swishing of her silk pajamas.

What’s important is making sure she can do this.

Even if the reason is still unknown to her.

‘Why?’ Frisk shakily signed to Doctor Vancouver, tears streaming down her face, ‘why are you doing this?’

He looked at straight at her, his grey eyes piercing through her soul. “You know why.”

Frisk picks at her blueberry pancakes with her fork, chin propped in her right hand. She knows in her heart that the pancakes are delicious, but she just doesn’t have an appetite, too busy thinking about the man-…monster, on the other side of the door. She made a clip out of the origami flower, clipping it into her hair. Sure the lily made out of shimmering (magic) yellow paper was tacky, but she liked it. He didn’t sound old, maybe in his mid-twenties. Then again…well that wasn’t the point.

The point was that only in the morning did Frisk fully realize that she had put her safety in the hands of a stranger.

It became clear long ago that Toriel hadn’t want Frisk to know about Sans... Perhaps he was actually dangerous, and he was lying about exchanging jokes and welcoming her once she crossed the doorway. But that wouldn’t explain all the skeleton puns in Tori’s diary, which Frisk had read not long after she started living with her.

Curiosity is one of Frisk’s weaknesses.

“Are the pancakes not good?” Frisk looks up from her brainstorming to see Toriel looking her over with great worry. Toriel, for better or for worse, always seems to bring Frisk back to reality.

She forces a smile and shakes her head, writing: ‘They’re delicious mom, I just don’t feel well.’ Frisk started calling Tori ‘Mom’ a couple weeks ago, as it seemed fitting.

“Not feeling well? Oh dear!” her adoptive mother’s paw reaches over to feel Frisk’s forehead, “Hmm, no fever…”

‘I just didn’t sleep well last night.’

Tori nods in understanding, but still looks worried. At least she doesn’t ask any more questions. But Frisk…Frisk had million questions.

Frisk knows that the monsters have been here for a few centuries, simply from the minor details that Tori gave her of the War, and the fact that no humans remember the monsters. Perhaps that was the intention. But there are still blank spaces in the history. From what she has learned in the weeks she’s known Sans, there is a town called ‘Snowdin’, an area called ‘Waterfall’ and a volcanic region named ‘Hotland’. The way he explained it made it seem so vast and endless in Frisk’s mind, but from his joking of overcrowding and boredom, that wasn’t the case.

Not only had the monsters been living underground for centuries, but it sounds like power has shifted rather recently, with the mysterious death of their King, Asgore Dreemurr, to a female monster by the name of Undyne, who now rules the Underground with an iron fist.

“So I was thinking that we will go out and pick berries today, and maybe look for some more snails, as we are ah… running low.” Judging by her guilty expression Tori had eaten a lot of them… overnight. Frisk can’t help but smile slightly in amusement slightly before frowning.

‘Actually I need to talk to you…’ she feels her heart begin to race.

She watches the goat-woman’s brow furrow in concern and…fear? Shame bubbles up in Frisk’s throat as the monster smiles weakly.

“What is it dear?” she asks gently

Frisk hesitates as she starts writing. Maybe this is a bad idea. There’s no reason for her to leave the life that she has, why must she destroy it?

‘You know why.’ His words echo in her head.

‘How do you exit the Ruins?’

If the snowy momster could go pale she would have, as she visibly reads and rereads the words.

“W-why do you ask my child?” her voice quavers, a haunted look clouding her deep crimson eyes.

‘Toriel, mom, I need to go.’ Frisk can feel her face grow hot and her eyes begin to tear up. She could have just said “I’m curious” or “Just wondering,” but somewhere deep in her heart she felt that she needed to be honest with her adopted mother.

She watches with silent anguish as Toriel’s large fork drops from her paw, landing on her plate with a loud clatter, and she abruptly stands up.

“E-excuse me I need to do something,” her voice is barely above a whisper, a far off look in her eyes as she swiftly exits the dining room. Frisk can hear her pawsteps thumping down the basement stairs. Frisk gets up from her own chair, grabbing the packed bag in her bedroom before pursuing her, adrenaline beginning to run through her veins.

Something is going to happen. Is she opening the door? Will she let Frisk go peacefully?

It doesn’t take long for Tori to come into view, the woman walking slowly with her back facing her. The hall suddenly feels foreign and unfamiliar to Frisk, a dark and foreboding atmosphere weighing down on her.

“This door exits to the ruins,” Toriel’s voice is cold and distant, not even looking at her, “I’m going to destroy it.”

Frisk’s stomach drops as her hopes of a peaceful departure are dashed. She hears herself let out a strangled cry of protest with the little amount of sound she still possesses. The monster woman doesn’t even react, continuing to move forward and shaking Frisk off whenever her hands would grab her robe in desperation. What has Frisk done?

“Go back upstairs. Do not try and stop me.” A pang of déjà vu courses through Frisk momentarily, making her stop in her tracks. By the time she regains her senses, Toriel has turned the corner and is almost to the door.

‘NO!!!’ with a rush of energy, Frisk charges after her, the room distorting and shifting in front of her eyes before-

Bam!

She collides with something head on and she falls back on her butt. She looks up to see Toriel slowly turning to face her, standing in front of the doorway, her way out.

“This is your final warning.” Toriel’s face contorts deeper into a scowl as she glowers at Frisk. There’s a look of pain in her eyes.

Frisk shakily gets to her feet, a wave of nausea overcoming her as her heart goes numb.

Why is she doing this? Why can’t she just be happy with her new life?! Toriel doesn’t know what she’s capable of, she doesn’t understand what she’s been through but has given her more love and affection than Frisk could have ever dreamed of. Now she is trying to abandon her, and deep down Frisk understands why she’s doing this:

Because she loves her, and deep down, Frisk knows she loves her too.

But she has to do this, her heartbeat getting louder and louder until she wonders if Toriel can hear it.

Frisk forces herself to lift her chin up in defiance of Toriel, sniffling a little as her fists stay clenched against her sides. There’s a quiver in Toriel’s voice, hurt in her eyes as she sees Frisk persist to defy her demands.

“You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others.” Frisk can feel the air crackle with some sort of energy… “There is only one solution to this…” her large paw slowly raises, a deafening crack like lightening making Frisk wince and cover her ears.

“Prove to me you are strong enough to survive!!!” her voice booms and surrounds Frisk, the human feeling a familiar tug at her chest. She’s fighting Toriel!

Frisk blinks rapidly as she tries to grasp the reality of the situation, why is this so-

Fwoosh! A fireball flies right past her ear, the heat burning the tips. Frisk checks her origami clip to make sure it wasn’t burnt off, and is relieved to find that it is unharmed. Now it is Frisk’s move.

What an irony, the monster that taught her the value of life and sparing those who try to fight you, is now attacking her.

‘What should I do? Fight back? Run off? Try to talk to her?’

She decides to try and speak to her, but her mind is frozen, and she can’t think of any conversation to try and sign to her.

Toriel’s face remains unchanging as her paw sweeps across the air in front of her, fireballs forming and mimicking her movements-except towards Frisk.

Then she feels it.

That painful sickening feeling that sends her whole body numb, toes up.

Her chest constricts and her neck stretches out as long as it can possible go, Frisk clenching her jaw as her pulse gets louder, and LOUDER, in her ears. She always hated when this happened.

‘Control. Control. Control. Control.’ She can see the fireballs heading for her, unable to move. The largest one is incoming, its simmering surface inferring that impact would mean great injury. She lets out a small cry as a smaller one burns her arm, searing the sleeve of the sweater. She sees a crack form in her soul, and her eyes go wide as she focuses in on her doom.

Then it freezes mid-air.

The invisible force releases her, causing her to slump over and wheeze for air, a deafening ring in her ears. She covers her mouth and coughs into it, before checking her hand. Good, no blood.

She looks around her, the magical fireballs frozen in place, Toriel included. Tori is frozen in place with her hand out to guide the fireballs towards Frisk, her face cold and distant.

Frisk realizes what she must do.

Even with tears streaming down her face from the emotional and physical pain, she forces a smile on her face and gives a bow of respect. She will teach Toriel the power of mercy.

Toriel’s brow furrows, and she doesn’t say anything as she prepares her next attack. Frisk looks up as fireballs rain down from the ceiling above. She ducks her head and does her best to dodge, however one lands on her back, burning it. The crack in her heart grows bigger.

She faces Toriel as the Ruins keeper prepares another attack. She repeats the sparing process, watching as Toriel’s brow furrows deeper into her face.

Tori attacks again, Frisk managing to dodge before sparing her once more. She does this again before she realizes Toriel looks… perplexed by her consistent mercy.

“What are you doing?”

Spare “Attack or run away!”

Spare “What are you proving this way?” her voice cracks and her lower jaw quivers.

Spare “Fight me or leave!” Frisk takes hit after hit, the crack spreading across her soul. It will only take one more hit to break it.

Spare “Stop it.” Her eyes grow wide as her paw trembles, her fireballs starting to swerve around Frisk.

Spare “Stop looking at me that way” she whispers, expression becomes guilty, her eyes shifting away from Frisk. It takes two more turns before she speaks again, her voice cracking.

Spare “I know you want to go home…they did too but…” she raises her paw, Fireballs intentionally missing Frisk.

Spare “B-but please…please go upstairs…” She pleads, her voice shaking. Frisk slowly shakes her head at her before bowing, her whole body trembling violently.

Spare “I-I promise I will take good care of you here.” Tori gives her a sad smile.

Spare “I know we do not have much, but…” the monster’s eyes tear up.

Spare “We can make a good life here.” She insists, but her smile fades

Spare “Why are you making this…so difficult?” her attacks have become little dots, too small to do any damage.

Spare “P-please go upstairs…” she begs in a whisper. Frisk shakes her head again.

Spare “Ha, ha..” she doesn’t even have the energy or heart to laugh now. A smile once again grows on her muzzle, mocking herself. “Pathetic is it not? I can’t even save one child.”

Spare She stops completely, her paw lowering as she takes a deep breath “No… I understand. You would be unhappy living here forever… The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to stay in a place like this… My expectations…my loneliness…my fear… For you, my child… I will put them aside…” Tears begin streaming down her face as she forces herself to smile at Frisk, before she bursts into a sob.

Once Frisk’s damaged heart fades back into her chest, she limps over to Toriel in her determination. She gives her a big hug, the adoptive mother quickly hugging her back, crouching down and crying over her shoulder to create a big puddle of salty tears.

“Th-thank you…” she shakily whispers to Frisk, Frisk using her toothpick arms to rub the woman’s back, “For…showing me w-what mercy really means…”

Frisk isn’t sure what she meant by that, but she decides to overlook it for now. This was more important. She feels tears dripping off her own cheeks. She doesn’t want to leave Toriel.

But something calls her.

The two finally part and Toriel wipes her dears away with her left paw, while the other rests on Frisk’s unwounded shoulder.

“I’m so sorry that I hurt you… I-I needed to make sure that—“ Frisk raises a hand and gives the woman a reassuring smile, shaking her head. Tori seems to relax a little at Frisk’s understanding. “Please, have something to eat before you go, and take some of my pie with you…” Toriel pleads, and Frisk nods, happy to accept her offer…one last time.

In no time the two were standing at the door once more, Frisk with her messenger bag slung over her shoulder and her wounds all healed. She puts away the slice of pie that’s wrapped in tinfoil, as well as the spider cider and donuts (made by real spiders). She and Toriel exchange smiles, before Toriel faces the door and waves her paw, breaking the magical seal.

“I ask you…” she heaves a deep breath, folding her paws in front of her, “To not come back…” she looks to Frisk, sorrow in her eyes.

While it hurts to hear those words, Frisk nods before turning to leave. With one hand on the large door, she watches Toriel walk back down the hall before letting out a whistle. Curious, Toriel turns to face her.

Frisk smiles brightly at her and signs ‘I love you’. Toriel doesn’t understand but is flattered anyway, and she nods in respect before continuing. Frisk looks back to the door and takes a deep breath, using her other hand to adjust her strap.

This is it.

“Kindness is the key.”

“Do what is right!”

“Be brave!”

“But make sure you are ready.”

“Trust your instincts!”

“D-don’t give up…”

“Stay Determined.”

She pushes open the door as the voices from her dream fade off, and she lets the door close behind her, locking with a click.

She doesn’t know why she’s on this journey, but she doesn’t have much to lose. Not even time.

Frisk the Human realizes that she’s in a snowy forest, dead trees lining a path that leads to some structure in the distance. She looks up in wonder as snow falls downwards from an unseen ceiling. Amazing. The cavern either must be large enough to have weather…or it’s magic. Frisk shifts her focus and starts walking, the snow crunching under her little boots (uggs) that she found in her size (tiny feet ye know).

She abruptly notices how quiet it is. She shivers not from the cold, but from this weird feeling that someone’s watching her. She swears she sees someone out of the corner of her eye, but when she turns to look nobody is there. She hears nothing but silence.

As she nears the structure, confusion bubbles up, as it looks like a large gate over a pit, a bridge under the strange wooden contraption.

Snap!

Frisk steps on a large branch in her path and it snaps under her weight, it startling her immensely so that she stumbles forward in fright. Her breathing quickens as she forces her legs to keep moving forward, but at a slower, more cautious pace, keeping toward the structure. Her spine is crawling with the feeling of being watched.

‘Calm down, calm down.’ She tells herself, stopping in front of the bridge. Suddenly there's a crunch of snow behind her, and the hairs on her neck stand up. Fear prevents her from turning around to face her stalker.

“H U M AN” they begin in a booming voice, making her jump in place. She closes her eyes and bites her lip. Less than five minutes outside the Ruins and she’s already going to be killed.

“S H A K E   M Y   H A N D”

Chapter Text

Timebreaker

Chapter 5: A skele-ton of pun!

Frisk lies face down in the cold snow, with one hand propping herself up and the other curving under her and holding the bloody wound on her stomach. Her soul pulsates dimly from her chest, several cracks in the delicate structure. She can feel the life draining from her as she struggles to remain absolutely still whilst staring up at the anthromorphic dog. He stands in front of her, not realizing she is below as he looks around the area with shifty eyes.

“Where did the moving thing go?” he grumbles out loud in a deep voice, scratching behind his ear with his duel swords in hand-er paw. She can see his lower lip pucker in concentration, shifting the dog treat to the other side as he chews on it. “Hmmmmm.”

This is it. This is the end of her.

Frisk felt herself tremble, her hands balling up into fists, her eyes squeezing themselves shut. She kept them close as she turned to face doom.

She didn’t even last five minutes.

She juts her hand out into the cold air, which is then clasped by another one, and then!- Poooooot!

She snapped open her eyes in bewilderment at the farting sound, which was followed by a familiar snicker. She glanced down to see a bony-no-skeleton hand that clasps her own before it pulls away to reveal a miniature whoopee cushion in the palm of its hand. Slowly, she looked up to find a skeleton, who was barely taller than she was, had a wide grin and small white pupils illuminating its dark eye sockets.

Oddly enough, the skeleton somehow looked… chubby; wearing pink bedroom slippers, black gym shorts, and a faded blue parka. What was the most interesting was how his bony structure seemed to grow and stretch like an ordinary face. Well, they were monsters after all.

“Heh. The old whoopee cushion in the hand trick, works every time” the skeleton chortled, seeming pretty proud of himself.

In that moment it hit Frisk; The skeleton puns, the familiar voice, the joking demeanor; it’s-!

“Hey human, you ok? You’re making a weird-oof!”

The skeleton stumbled backward from the impact, his arms flying out for balance. Frisk felt happy tears bead up in her eyes as she squeezed his layered mass. She finally got to see him. She finally got to see Sans and he wasn’t going to kill her, and-

There’s an awkward clearing of his throat, jerking the human out of her thoughts. Oh! Frisk! What are you thinking?!

She hurriedly let go of him and took a few steps back, flushing in embarrassment at her impulsive actions. Frisk pauses at the light dusting of blue crowning the skeleton’s face, who averts his gaze and puts his hands in his pockets.

‘I’m so sorry, I just got really excited and—‘ The human halted mid-sign, remembering that most people did not know sign language. She closed her eyes and let out an audible sigh, her hands lowering to her sides.

“Hey, I know that I’m quite a comic, but most people aren’t that excited to see me. Really snows if you ask me.” The monster responded lazily, making Frisk open her eyes to gaze upon him in total disbelief. Oh yeah, it was Sans.

‘You can…understand me?’ she signed hesitantly, barely daring to hope. He watched her with half-lidded eye sockets and a Cheshire grin, his posture slightly slumped over.

“Nope.” He bluntly replied, his face remaining unchanged. Frisk let out a sigh of disappointment before it struck her.

‘Hey!!’ she scowled at him disapprovingly, which only earns her an amused smile and a satisfied chuckle.

“Hey what? No need for all that flurry” he jokes, just as a flurry of snowflakes fell from the hidden ceiling. She couldn’t help but giggle as his snow puns (for now at least, because if the weather was always like this, she was about to learn a whole lot more).

“Glad to find someone who appreciates my jokes, my brother isn’t very chill about them” he actually winks at her, surprising her so much that she burst into another fit of snortles.

“But, before you get the wrong idea, he sure is chill about his Spaghetti” he added like it was an inside joke, and Frisk couldn’t help but feel she was about to find out.

“And another thing he’s chill about, is his blue attacks which—“

“SANS!!!!” a shrill voice screeched into the tranquil snowy forest, making Frisk nearly fall off the bridge. In contrast, Sans had no reaction, standing there wearing his permanent grin and waiting for Frisk to get back on her feet.

“Heh. There he is right now.” He states the obvious. Panic began to brew in the human’s stomach. If she wasn’t wrong, Sans had told her at one point that his brother was a human hunting fanatic, which wouldn’t fare well for her.

‘Hide me please!’ she begged him desperately as the stomping got closer.

“Eh. I think the lamp is too big for you. (Wait, what lamp?) So I guess you’re just gonna have to wait ‘til he gets here. Just get him talking about spaghetti and you’ll be pasta him. But hey, while we’re waiting, these trees have been here since before the monsters were, and they look alive don’t they? They’re super thick too, and can hide a skele-ton of people.”

Trees?! Frisk couldn’t believe this. She knew Sans was lazy but this was ridiculous!! His brother’s loud thomping was getting closer and closer and he wanted to admire the fossilized trees that were-oh.

Frisk stumbled her way clumsily into the tree line and plastered herself against one of the tree trunks. She clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her breathing quiet and nonvisible.

“SANS YOU LAZY BONES! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING THERE?!” Papyrus shrieked. Frisk couldn’t help but wonder if he realized how loud he actually was.

“Just practicing my jokes on the trees bro, they plant resist me.” Sans responded evenly. What was he doing?! Was he trying to get her caught?

“SANS! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH?” Frisk could hear a small putt from a foot slamming into the snowy earth.

“Uh- I dunno.” The human could imagine Sans shrugging his shoulders non-chalantly. “I guess I’d just leaf them alone.”

“SANS!!!!” his brother protested in fury.

“Come on bro, you know I’m all bark and no bite.”

“SANS I SWEAR I WILL HARM YOU” the other (assumed) skeleton threatened.

“You canopy serious.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH! IM LEAVING!!!!”

Frisk had to clap her other hand over her mouth in order to prevent herself from busting into a fit of snort. She listened to loud stomping as the furious brother marched away, seemingly seething. It felt like an eternity before she worked up the courage to peek out from her hiding place, smiling in relief to find Sans waiting for her amiably.

“You coming kiddo?” he had grunted as Frisk shuffled back over, hugging herself as the cold finally began to seep into her body.

“Hey bud, you look chilled to the bone there.” She bit her lip as she hesitated before nodding vigorously.

“Uh…I’d give you my jacket but…” His demeanor immediately changed, his gaze averting and his hand lifting to rub the back of his skull. “But… oh who am I kidding, here.” He took off the jacket and held it out to her in a matter of moments. Frisk looked at him in surprise.

‘You are giving me your jacket?’ she signed in disbelief.

“You were making a face. I couldn’t say no” he shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. “Better take it chum. My arm’s getting tired” he joked good-naturedly as she continued to stare at the large pale blue parka.

Frisk snapped out of her trance and quickly took the exceptionally large jacket, putting it on clumsily before looking down at how it compared to her small frame. She couldn’t help but giggle, the jacket falling all the way down to her knees, and she had to roll up the sleeves at least a hundred times in order to see her hands. The jacket smelled of…French fries. No it wasn’t French fries; ketchup! It was Ketchup! She snortled a little more at the thought of all of Sans’s ketchup puns. She still couldn’t believe it was him, and she finally got to meet him in the flesh-er- bone. She offered him a bright smile once getting herself situated, signing ‘thank you’. He seemed temporarily disarmed, staring at her for a few moments before just snorting.

“Heh. Get outta here” he shoo’ed her with one skeletal hand, grinning playfully.

She rolled her eyes in response, turning to continue her journey when Sans abruptly went: “Uh. Hold on pal.” There was a hint of nervousness in his voice, making Frisk turn back curiously. Her Soul throbbed as she watched Sans... hesitate.

It’s an odd sight…and normally when a skeleton with a permanent grin hesitates, you don’t exactly notice… but she saw his white pupils waver in uncertainty. She could feel his hesitation…somehow.

Then his white pupils disappeared completely, leaving only dark empty sockets. The sight sent shivers down the human’s spine, having nothing to do with the cold.

“Things aren’t…how they used to be…” there was no jovial laziness in his voice, only cold seriousness. Frisk felt herself instinctually step back as he carefully thought over his next words.

“Ever since Undyne became Empress… she’s convinced everyone that humans are pretty bad, and should be uh…gotten rid of. Pretty crummy situation if you ask me” his pupils suddenly reappeared, and the foreboding atmosphere lifted without a trace...except for Frisk’s trembling legs.

“Heh. Anyways. Don’t worry. I’ll be keepin’ an eye socket out for you kid, but it’s best you make like a banana and split. Just don’t kill anybody, and you’ll be fine.”

‘Kill?!’ Frisk couldn’t believe it. That wasn’t a joke, that was actual advice! Killing someone?! The only reason she would kill is by self-defense! She looked ahead over her path, which possible leads her straight to her death.

He must have noticed the look on her face, since she heard him chuckle half-heartedly. “Welp. I better be getting back to my nap. See you ‘round pal.”

When she looked back, she was surprised to find that he had all but disappeared, not even leaving behind a trail of footprints. How… strange.

She should have listened to the sign. The sign that had read ‘ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO MOVING’.

But she didn’t, and now she’s lying here at the mercy of some sort of dog monster. If she even breathes too loudly, she’s dead.

He had sensed her, and she panicked and tried to run away.

She holds her breath as blue spears pass through her body, making her cracked soul shiver.

She didn’t understand Blue Attacks, so when she tried to move out of the way of the blue spear, it got her right through the stomach. But she didn’t die…for some reason.

She looks up, realizing it’s her turn. She feels a crazy idea pop up into her head when her eyes land on the blunt of his dog treat. She slowly reaches up with her blood-stained hand…

[Frisk used PET]

“WHAT!!! I’VE BEEN PET!” Doggo roars in his perplexing predicament, looking around wildly. Frisk can’t help but smile weakly at his confusion, her lungs screaming for air as she remains still through the spears. Then-

[Frisk used PET]

“WHERE IS THAT COMING FROM!”

[Frisk used PET]

“THERE’S NO END TO IT!!” He yowls in agony.

[Frisk used PET]

“WELL, THIS IS THOROUGH!!!” Now it seems he’s enjoying it more than he is scared of it.

[Frisk used PET]

“OK. That’s enough” the dog sounds satisfied, and Frisk smiles widely as she feels her Soul warming up. It’s time.

[SPARE]

Frisk nearly face-snows from relief as the battle ends, leaving an injured human and a very disturbed dog.

“S-S-S-Something pet me…something that isn’t m-m-m-moving… I’m gonna need some dog treats for this!” He then hurries fearfully to his nearby Sentry Post, where he leaps in over the counter and out of sight.

Frisk waits for what feels like an eternity before heaving herself to her feet as quietly as possible, and making her way toward Snowdin.

“Hope it wasn’t a human.” She heard the dog grumble as she passed.

Gravity becomes heavier with each step, her boots sinking into the snow deeper and deeper for her to yank out.

‘So... cold’ the human hunches over against the cold wind that stings her face with icy pellets, weakly clutching the large jacket enveloping most of her body. She glances at her hand that was holding her pierced stomach, grimacing at the fresh blood on her hand. She needs help.

Not only does she need serious medical attention, she needs a map. She’s lost in a snowy tundra, with drop offs into the dark cavern abyss below. One step too far can be her death. No-she has to stay positive, she has to stay determined. Self-pity is not going to help her.

She has to avoid monsters, but if she continues like this she’s doomed- wait. Didn’t she…?

On one particular day in the Ruins, Frisk had been taking a morning walk when she stumbled upon a room she hadn’t noticed before. It was a plain room with the Ruins’ signature purple bricks, with a small white pedestal upholding a holy bowl of candy. Curious, Frisk approached it, finding a small notecard that read ‘Take one’.

Frisk smiled and took a piece, popping it into her mouth, and letting it fizz over her tongue. It dissolved too fast, and she wanted more for later. She looked around suspiciously before swiping another piece of candy. She immediately felt disgusted with herself, but she couldn’t resist swiping yet another and pocketing it into her sweater sleeve. She felt like the scum of the earth. She resolved she would only take one more, but in her haste she knocked the bowl onto the floor.

‘Now look at what you’ve done’ she had thought shamefully before rushing out of there before anyone saw her crime.

Frisk falls to her knees and sheds off the jacket, hastily unzipping her small bag. She ignores the bloodstain, too busy rummaging desperately through the bag’s contents. She lets out a small cry at the sight of the candies, her frozen fingers tearing desperately at the wrappers before shoving the candies into her mouth one by one.

Almost immediately, the candies begin to fizz on her tongue, which spreads through her whole body, making her feel tingly and light headed, of course, that could just be the cold. But nonetheless, she instantly feels much better, the searing pain in her abdomen fading until it’s nothing but a dull throb.

Frisk slips the jacket back on, letting out a visible puff of breath as she looks around herself. She’s lost. But then again…where was she going in the first place? These alien impulses still aren’t making any sense. Not to mention the thoughts that aren’t hers. Oh wait, that’s right, they diagnosed her with schizophrenia. She’s used to the thoughts, but not the feelings. But maybe…maybe they can help her.

For the first time in years, Frisk willingly calls upon her blessing…and curse. She stares straight ahead of her, on her knees, counting the seconds while each breath becomes slower…and slower. The snowflakes dancing across her vision, visibly matching her breath as they become slower…and slower…until they finally come to a still. The young woman breathes in through her nostrils deeply and exhales, her breathe forming into a puff but never dissipating, the snowflakes remaining frozen in mid-air. She can’t help but feel a little proud.

Frisk is no time traveler; she cannot reverse it, she cannot speed it up, only click the pause button. She can move around; she can do whatever she pleases. But there is time within time. She can only do it for so long, because the universe is always changing, moving, breathing, and when you take that away from it…it fights back.

Right now, by pausing time, she’s giving herself time. But it’s been so long since she’s frozen time in such a humongous environment. For the past several years, she’s been confined to a small bright box with observation windows and-

She shakes the thought away, making a Frisk-sized tunnel in the flurry. It sure is nice to walk on the designated path instead of lurking in snow-covered tree line. As she walks along, she finds the most interesting of…systems, most of them broken down. They mainly include buttons of some sort, which change when they are stepped on but do not offer any sort of reward other than a sense of achievement. Like puzzles…but already solved.

The young human eventually comes across a sign, which she has to reread after taking a glance and reading ‘dog marriage’.

“Yes. You read that right.”

Huh.

She is so lost thinking over the sign that she runs right into a massive floof of white fur, making her stumble back and look slightly up.

It’s another dog, looking more dog like than the other one, with large black eyes and a tongue lolling out. It has a sword and shield, and is decked out in plated armor.

Lesser-Dog

Great, there are those thoughts again. Though they usually say one particular name.

Frisk hurries past the… ‘Lesser-dog’, and continues onward, past a duo of two dogs dressed in dark robes and holding matching battle axes. She giggles as they are frozen while smooching affectionately.

Dogamy, Dogaressa

Frisk continues on, hopping over snow-poffs to come face to face with a bridge. She frowns and chances a glance over the edge, her legs immediately going weak under her. She turns to look behind her. Maybe she can find another way around or…

An excruciating pain makes her bend over, her hold on the universe snapping as snow immediately begins to pelt her face.

She’s out of time.

A high pitched yipping of a dog makes her look up from her bent over position, her eyes widening as a small Pomeranian-dog barks at her from out of a snow-poff. Then suddenly, a massive body much too large for a snow-poff emerges, a large paw holding a spear with a…dog face on it. The dog is frowning, disturbing Frisk down to her core.

Greater Dog

Frisk turns tail and flees, not really caring for another fight, she races across the bridge as the small dog in large armor lumbers towards her. He reaches the edge of the bridge and doesn’t pursue her: instead, he barks continuously as she scrambles to the other side. His bark is filled with cold malice no longer playful and care-free…

Wait, when was it in the first place?

She starts running, the bark following her relentlessly, echoing throughout the cavern and alerting others to her presence. Panic swells in her stomach, making her heart hammer against her chest. Adrenaline courses through her veins as she runs as fast as she can, feeling like something is following her, chasing her, and she didn’t dare to look back.

“Welcome to Snowdin” a sign decorated in colorful lights reads ahead of her, and she throws herself behind it and into the soft snow, wheezing for air. Only now does she realize, after taking a peek from behind the sign, that the barking had stopped long ago…and nobody had been following her.

Or so she thought.