Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sans and Papyrus, of Snowdin Town, were proud to say that they were the only skeletal Monsters that lived in the area. They were the first Monsters you'd expect to be involved in anything strange, because, to the Monsters of Snowdin, they could sometimes be the epitome of strange.

Papyrus aspired to be a member of the Underground's Royal Guard, which hunted the humans that fell underground and protected the king. He was a tall, thin-framed skeleton that almost always had his long, red scarf wrapped around his neck. Sans was short and big-boned and was always wearing his blue hoodie.

One fateful day, Sans was walking through the forest just outside of Snowdin. He had just gotten to the Doorway, the only way into and out of the Ruins, when he heard the sound of bones rattling. Cautiously, Sans looked through the Doorway to see a little skeleton sitting under one of the few places that natural sunlight actually came through.

Apparently, the skeleton saw him, because they curled in on themself, their right eye glowing green and their left glowing blue.

Making sure to make his voice as soothing as possible, Sans took a step forward. "hey, easy…are you ok? cause tibia honest, you look a little rattled."

A small giggle escaped from the little skeleton, but they was still on edge. They lifted their skull slightly as the bright colors in their eye sockets died down to just twin white pinpricks. A small crack was visible in the center of their forehead, as though they had fallen head-first.

"i'm not gonna hurt you. i promise."

"p-pinky promise?" the skeleton, whose childish voice was still unmistakably male, asked, cautiously holding out his pinky.

Sans's eye sockets widened for a split second before going back to their usual state. He slowly made his way closer to the young skeleton, his left hand's pinky extended. "…pinky promise."

Six years later . . .

Mistral was sprawled across the couch, staring vacantly at the ceiling. With a sigh, he held his hand over his head. Two dots of light that served as the skeleton's pupils darted from bone to bone as he attempted to mentally review them. He lost interest within seconds. The short skeleton sighed again as he got up and walked out the front door.

Immediately, the wind hit him, forcing him to backpedal. Mistral forced the door to close before sighing once more. "guess i'm taking a shortcut," he grumbled. The skeleton focused on mentally summoning his magic. His eye sockets closed for a moment –

– and when they opened again, Mistral was standing at a sentry station filled with bottles of mustard, relish, and ketchup. Mistral's skull contorted into a frown. Why did his brother even try to sell hotdogs so far away from town? The only ones that went out so far were those that were on pa-

"yeah, go right on through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Mistral's pupils shrank. He dived behind the sentry station, hoping that he hadn't been spotted by his brother.

"hey, misty! what're ya doing out here?"

Hesitantly, Mistral stuck his head up enough to see his brother and a… "w-what's that, sans?" he asked nervously.

The older skeleton pulled a hand out of his blue hoodie's pocket to wave. He winked. "guess there's snow way of getting out of this. y'might wanna hide. pap's coming."

Mistral ducked, not wanting to be lectured again by Papyrus for being so far away from Snowdin.

"quick, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp." Silence. "uh, ok, i guess you don't have to."

The sound of snow crunching under the feet of someone with a quick stride caused Mistral to crouch down more, not wanting to be spotted. "SANS!" Papyrus yelled. "HAVE YOU FOUND A HUMAN YET?!"

"yeah."

"REALLY?! WOWIE! GUESS THAT'S SETTLED!"

Mistral blinked at the sudden silence. Did Papyrus seriously just…

"that worked out, huh?" Sans asked.

The young skeleton stood up and leaned on the sentry station's side. "yeah."

The human merely stood in place, staring straight at Sans. Unknown to those that couldn't read Sans's expressions (i.e. everyone but Mistral and Papyrus), the grinning skeleton's look became forced. "…are you just gonna stare at me, or…?"

With a shrug, the human began to walk in the direction of Snowdin. Before they got too far, Sans spoke again. "well, i'll be straight-forward with you. my brother'd really like to see a human…and no, i'm not talking about you, misty!"

Mistral's pupil lights pointed heavenwards. "i h-hope you aren't, you n-numbskull."

His smile a little less forced than before, Sans continued, "so, y'know, it'd really help me out…if you kept pretending to be one." With that, Sans gestured for Mistral to follow and began walking in the direction of the Door.

The younger skeleton sent one last glance the human's way before bolting after Sans. Once they were out of the immediate area, Sans grabbed Mistral's arm and pulled him off the path. Mistral glared at his brother, unconsciously rubbing the sleeve of his dark green turtleneck. "do you really trust that…that human?!" Mistral spat the last word.

"nope."

"i mean, i have a hard time reading LOVE and even i can see that human has already slaughtered countless innocents!"

"yep."

"i don't know about you, but there's no way in hell –"

"language."

"– that i'm letting that creature anywhere near papyrus!"

"no matter what we do, they'll get to pap. we can't stop it from happening."

Mistral's eye sockets narrowed. The grayish-black, hooded cloak that the younger skeleton almost always wore was pulled more tightly around the skeleton's thin body. "and how do you know that?" For a brief moment, the lime green strip that ran around the middle of his turtleneck was visible under his cloak, reminding Sans of how his world-wearied brother was still only ten years old.

Sans sighed. "trust me, misty. if i could, i would change it in a heartbeat."

"at risk of sounding like papyrus, now isn't the time, sans," Mistral groaned as his right hand met his face.

"there's always time for puns. no need to get all misty-eyed on me."

Mistral grimaced. "i'd like it better if the universe was sans that pun."

The two brothers shot puns back and forth, cheering each other up as they disappeared.

"MISTRAL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS FAR AWAY FROM THE HOUSE?!" Papyrus asked worriedly the second he spotted the youngest brother. As the years had gone by, not much had changed about Papyrus, personality-wise. However, Papyrus had made an imitation of the Royal Guardsman's uniform and wore it every day.

"i was with sans earlier. you didn't see me?"

Papyrus's face contorted into a frown. "IT IS POSSIBLE THAT I HAD JUST BEEN TOO EXCITED ABOUT SANS ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING TO NOTICE YOU. SPEAKING OF SANS DOING SOMETHING…SANS! WHEN'S THE HUMAN SHOWING UP? I WANT TO LOOK MY SUNDAY BEST…OR AT LEAST MY TUESDAY PRETTY-GOOD."

"don't you only have one outfit?" Sans pointed out.

"YEAH, BUT I COULD STYLE MY HAIR!"

"what hai-omph!" Mistral was cut off by Sans's hand covering his mouth.

"oh. right. good idea." Sans glanced over to the right for a moment. "say, why don't you look over there?" Mistral glanced over and narrowed his eye sockets. Human.

Mistral pried Sans's hand away from his mouth just as his two older brothers began spinning. "…what." When the two stopped spinning, the brothers pulled Mistral in to join them in a small huddle.

"SANS! OH MY GOD!" Papyrus yelled excitedly. After a moment, his voice returned to normal. "I'M DIZZY. WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?"

San's grin only grew as he gestured in the direction of the human. "behold."

Papyrus grew excited once more. "OH MY GOD!" He looked unimpressed once more. "WHY ARE YOU TELLING ME TO LOOK AT A ROCK."

Mistral did a double take, then snorted. Sure enough, there was a rock a few feet behind the human.

"hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

Excitement. "OH MY GOD! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT IS."

"well, it's not a rock."

"and it's n-not a skeleton," Mistral added, his slight discomfort causing his voice to waver.

"NOT A ROCK OR A SKELETON…?" Papyrus said, looking curious for a moment. "OH NO! BY PROCESS OF ELIMINATION! THAT MEANS IT'S A HUMAN!" The skeleton cleared his non-existent throat. "HUMAN! PREPARE YOURSELF! FOR HIGH JINKS! FOR LOW JINKS! DANGERS! PUZZLES! CAPERS! JAPERS! BEING CAPTURED! AND OTHER SORTS OF FUN ACTIVITES."

"because a g-game of 'capture the human' is a-always fun," Mistral said sagely.

"REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED…IF YOU DARE!" With that, Papyrus ran away laughing.

Sans's shoulders slumped slightly. "…and you don't even bat an eye, huh?" He grabbed Mistral's hand and dragged the smaller skeleton off in the direction Papyrus went in.

"hey, papyrus!" Mistral called as he and Sans finally caught up to the middle brother.

"hey, bro."

"WHY DID IT TAKE YOU TWO SO LONG TO GET HERE?! YOU'RE BOTH LAZY! SANS, YOU'RE A BAD INFLUENCE!"

Sans shrugged. "c'mon, kids love me."

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets. "BOTH OF YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"

"i think that's called…sleeping," Sans said.

Mistral nodded. "usually, it involves lying in bed doing nothing, waiting for the urge to sleep to finally overwhelm you."

"SEE? MISTRAL UNDERSTANDS!"

"actually, i love sleep. it usually just takes forever for it to come."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!" At the sound of snow crunching, all three skeletons turned to fact the human that had just walked into the general area. "OH-HO!" Papyrus yelled happily. "THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU…MY BROTHERS AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE…QUITE SHOCKING!"

Mistral's eye sockets narrowed as he watched the human walk into the center of Papyrus's puzzle. Unconsciously, he moved in front of the childish skeleton.

Papyrus began sweating. "FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS…THE, INVISIBLE…" The skeleton looked confused. "UHHHHHHH…? HMMM…YOU MUST BE HAVING CULTURE SHOCK."

The youngest skeleton glanced at the oldest skeleton. They then shrugged in unison.

"YOU SEE, WHERE I COME FROM, IT'S A LOVING TRADITION TO SUFFER THROUGH HORRIBLE PUZZLES FOR NO REASON.

The human walked right up to Mistral, who began twitching nervously.

"SO, UH, JUST WALK BACK THERE, AND…" Papyrus fell silent, waiting for the human to follow his instructions. When nothing happened, he sighed. "WHY COULDN'T WE GET A HUMAN THAT LIKES PUZZLES?" With that, he walked away, dejected.

The second he was gone, Mistral backed away from the human, wanting as much room between them and himself as possible. Unfortunately, they walked towards him, then stared as if they expected him to say something. Finally, he spoke. "just for the r-record, i don't t-t-trust you."

Shrugging, the human moved to Sans. The skeleton, although not visibly, was glaring. "it would make my brother happy if you played along."

The human tilted their head, shrugged again, and walked off.

…

"who would've guessed that you don't trust them?"

"…no comment."

"I JUST DON'T GET WHY THIS HUMAN DOESN'T SEEM TO LIKE MY PUZZLES…" Papyrus sighed as he stared in the direction he knew the human would be coming from.

Mistral cleared his non-existant throat. "weeellll…"

Sans shot his youngest brother a look that screamed 'tell him and you're dead'. Turning back to Papyrus, he said, "c'mon, maybe they'll like mine."

Papyrus perked up. "YOU'RE RIGHT! MAYBE IT'S JUST A MATTER OF PREFERENCE!"

The youngest skeleton, who had been staring down the path as his brother spoke, felt his pupil lights go out. "human's here."

"HUMAN!" Papyrus said without hesitation. "I HOPE YOU'RE READ FOR…" Papyrus looked at the area before him and frowned. "SANS! WHERE'S THE PUZZLE!"

"it's right there," the lazy skeleton replied. "on the ground. trust me. there's no way they'll skip this one."

The human walked right passed the puzzle. Mistral discreetly moved in front of Papyrus once more.

"SANS! THAT DID NOTHING!"

"whoops," Sans replied, not sounding sorry at all. "knew i should have put down junior jumble instead."

"WHAT? JUNIOR JUMBLE?!" Papyrus shrieked. Mistral blinked. How was he getting mad about that? "FINALLY, SOMETHING WE BOTH AGREE ON."

"a-and i'm n-not important anymore?" Mistral asked.

"WE AGREE ON MANY THINGS, MISTRAL. IT ISN'T AS MUCH OF A CHALLENGE TO FIND THEM."

"ah."

Papyrus, satisfied with Mistral's answer, walked away. The human walked up to Sans and waited for the skeleton to speak. "guess you don't like word searches, huh? me neither. i'm more of a funny pages kind of guy."

Surprisingly, the human nodded before turning to Mistral. The skeleton stuttered as he spoke. "y-you were c-c-covered in it before, b-but now I kn-kn-know it's real…i watched you k-kill snowdrake."

Seemingly satisfied, the human stalked after Papyrus.

"i seriously hate that human! we need to do something before they get to snowdin!"

"i'm sorry, but i can't do anything until –"

"until they get to the judgment hall," Mistral finished dejectedly. "c'mon, let's go find papyrus before that human does something he'll regret."

"papyrus!" Mistral yelled, twin streams of blue and green tears flowing from his eyes. "thank god, i didn't think we'd get to you in time!" He raced forwards and, in an unusual display of affection, threw his arms around Papyrus's legs.

Papyrus blinked, confused by his brother's fear. "YOU DIDN'T THINK YOU'D GET TO ME IN TIME FOR WHAT? IS THE HUMAN ACTUALLY GOING TO PARTICIPATE IN A PUZZLE?"

"not quite," Sans said as he walked up to his brothers. "they've…they're killing everyone, pap." His eye sockets looked hollow, despite the fact that his pupils were still visible. "i saw them kill snowdrake! you know, the kid that picks fights so he can have captive audience?"

Fear flashed across Papyrus's face for a moment. "SANS…MISTRAL…YOU BOTH ARE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS. NEITHER OF YOU HAVE TOLD A SINGLE PUN."

"papyrus…we need to get home, hide upstairs…" Mistral sobbed. "i'm not losing you two just because that…soulless husk!"

"seriously, papyrus. We need to get home."

Slowly, the tall skeleton shook his head. "NO, GIVE ME ONE LAST TRY. IF THAT FAILS, THEN WE WILL GO HOME."

Papyrus's grin was one of pure relief as he saw the human approach the grayscale tile board he had set up. "HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN! YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE!"

The human walked to the center of the board.

"IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT…ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

Mistral nodded. "there's j-just no reasoning with them!"

"I AGREE!" The skeleton turned to his older brother. "SANS! HELP! THEY KEEP WALKING THROUGH MY PUZZLES! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO LET ME EXPLAIN THEM! THEN THREATEN AND BAFFLE THEM WITH DANGEROUS JAPES."

"well, maybe they don't like japes," Sans suggested.

"EVERYONE LIKES JAPES!"

"n-not if they're d-directed at me," Mistral muttered.

"what about undyne?" Sans asked. "doesn't she hate puzzles?"

"SHE HATES PUZZLES, BUT SHE LOVES JAPES," Papyrus said, making sure to press the difference between the two.

Sans shrugged as Mistral snorted. "that makes sense."

"HUMAN! WHAT DO YOU THINK? PUZZLES OR JAPES?"

Mistral sighed. "they're not g-gonna answer, p-papyrus."

Papyrus stood silently for a moment, waiting for the human's answer. When none came, he sighed. "THIS IS NORMALLY THE PART WHERE YOU EITHER AGREE OR DISAGREE, AND DEPENDING ON YOUR ANSWER, WE SAY SOMETHING GREAT IN RESPONSE."

The human remained silent.

Papyrus faked a smile. "HERE, WHY DON'T YOU DO THIS PUZZLE YOURSELF." He set down the puzzle's instructions in front of the puzzle's control box before beginning to walk away. He stopped by Mistral and said, "MISTRAL, CAN YOU STAY WITH ME FOR A WHILE? I FEAR SANS MAY BE CORRUPTING YOU WITH HIS PUNS."

Mistral was about to disagree, but then he caught the look of sorrow and fear in his brother's eyes. "sure, pap. sans c-can be by himself for a b-bit." The tall skeleton held out his hand for Mistral to take. He took it quietly and allowed himself to be led away.

The human saw a large patch of ice that was set up like a puzzle. They glanced to their right to see a pathway. They took it and found a ledge with three snow sculptures.

The first one was a muscular figure with Papyrus's head.

The second was a lump of snow with 'Sans' written on it with red marker.

The third one was what looked to originally be a cartoony, upside-down heart that was colored almost completely with red marker. It looked as though it had been cracked right down the center and split in two.

It was pathetic.

The human crossed a very long rope bridge without any problems. When he got to the other side, he found a piece of paper tacked onto one of the posts holding the bridge up.

It was a note from Papyrus…

HUMAN!

I REGRET NOT BEING THERE TO SHOW YOU MY MOST DANGEROUS PUZZLE: THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR, BUT MY BROTHERS INSIST ON ME NOT BEING THERE TO SHOW IT TO YOU! SANS CLAIMS THAT HE WILL BE SHOWING IT TO YOU, BUT I DON'T BELIEVE HE WILL!

NYEH-FULLY YOURS,

PAPYRUS

"say, i've been thinking…"

The human showed no emotion as they turned to face Sans, despite the fact that they hadn't noticed him before.

"seems like you're gonna fight papyrus pretty soon. yeah, i know he's gonna keep trying, even though me and misty are trying to stop him."

The human shrugged, the biggest answer Sans had seen them give all day.

"here's some friendly advice," he said with a wink. He closed his eye sockets. "if you keep going the way you are now…" He opened his sockets, revealing them to be pitch black abysses. "you're gonna have a bad time."

The human's vision flickered momentarily. When their eyes cleared again, Sans had vanished.

Mistral sprinted down the road, tears flowing freely from both eye sockets. "nonononononononononono-" His chant continued endlessly as he ran, hoping against hope that Papyrus wasn't –

Shortly after Mistral and Papyrus had made it safely home, Papyrus had insisted on going into Mistral's (organized) chaos of a room. That was Mistral's first mistake.

After making sure that the front door was locked, Papyrus's eyes had begun glowing a steady orange. Since skeletons sometimes had a harder time emoting than other Monsters, they all had evolved the ability to force their eyes to glow. In doing so, they were able to calm others down. Naturally, with how stressed Mistral was, he welcomed the soothing, orange glow. That was his second mistake.

Making sure that Mistral was calming down, Papyrus picked up the younger skeleton, who had begun to fall asleep, and carefully tucked him into bed. Mistral hazily watched as his older brother, the Great Papyrus, sent him a look of apology as he silently left the room. Because of his foggy mindset at that moment in time, Mistral began to doze even more. That was his third and final mistake.

When the skeleton woke up, Papyrus had not only left the house, but had already left Snowdin. That is what led to Mistral running as though his life depended on it.

"W-WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED…"

Mistral's eye sockets widened in horror as he caught sight of the human and his brother. NO! He watched as Papyrus's body disintegrated into dust. The skeleton's head fell into the snow.

"BUT…ST…STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO!"

The human, no, Brother Killer took a step forward, their expression hidden by their hair.

"I…I PROMISE!"

The Brother Killer's foot came down on top of Papyrus's skull, easily destroying it.

The still-living skeleton clamped his hand over his mouth to muffle any noise he might have made. He watched as the Brother Killer stared down at Papyrus's dust pile for a moment before continuing onwards. Once he was sure they were out of sight, Mistral ran up to his brother's corpse and kneeled down. Hesitantly, he pulled his cell phone out of one of the many pockets sewn into the inside of his cloak and dialed a number.

"misty, where the heck are you? i get to the house and both of you are gone!"

Mistral froze up for a moment before letting a choked sob escape.

"…mistral, where are you? did…did it happen?"

"j-just outside w-waterfall entrance…" Mistral managed to get out before wailing. His phone slid from his hands as he buried his face in his palms.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but when he fully began processing his surroundings again, he realized that Sans had his arms wrapped around him, and was just letting Mistral let it all out. His left eye was glowing blue in an attempt to help that wasn't reaching him. Finally, the younger of the two remaining brothers calmed down enough to speak.

"i-it's all my fault."

"no, it's not."

Mistral glared at his brother. "if I hadn't fallen asleep, he'd still be here!"

Sans narrowed his eye sockets. "if you hadn't fallen asleep, he would have found some other way to get out! it's not your fault!"

Mistral bowed his head and pulled himself out of Sans's arms. He scooped his cell phone off the ground and placed it back in its pocket. "i'm gonna go warn undyne," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "hopefully she can stop that brother killer, right?" He pulled up his cloak's hood for the second time since he had gotten it.

Sans smiled sadly. "dirty brother killer," Sans agreed. He handed Mistral Papyrus's scarf, which had still been lying in the dust pile. "take it," he said firmly. Without complaint, the skeleton wrapped it around his neck.

A few stray tears still falling from his sockets, Mistral pulled up on the edge of his cloak, turning to have it billow out. It blocked Sans's view of his brother for a moment before vanishing in the cold, winter air.

Undyne looked up the second her vision went black, summoning a spear in case of ambush. When her sight cleared to reveal a short, cloaked figure with glowing tears barely visible under his hood, she immediately dismissed her weapon. "Hey, punk! What's with the waterworks?" She gasped as twin pinpricks of light, both filled with sorrow and rage, met her eye.

"th-there's a human in the underground. sans and p-papyrus decided that they wanted to g-go through a couple puzzles to trick them before capturing them."

The Captain of the Royal Guard narrowed her eye. "They didn't report it immediately?!"

Papyrus's brother flinched, his pupil lights trained on the floor. His bones were rattling loudly. "w-we noticed something off about that…human. i t-tried to point it out early on. it w-was wearing stripes and it already had an LV of 5!"

Undyne gasped. "You mean they –"

The skeleton nodded fearfully. "i w-watched them slaughter snowdrake and chilldrake. they…they k-killed him! i tried to stop him, but they killed him! it's all my fault!" The small Monster fell to his knees, tears streaming down their face.

"Hey, who'd they kill?"

As if terrified to say, the skeleton tried to curl in on himself. He kept repeating, "i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i'm sorry…"

"PUNK!" Undyne snapped, breaking the little skeleton out of his stupor. "It's not your fault. It's that human's fault!"

The skeleton jerked back, as if flinching. "p-papyrus…and now that dirty brother killer's on their w-way through waterfall."

The fish monster stiffened as she heard the sound of grass shifting. She made her way to the edge of the cliff, summoning a spear. She watched for a few moments, waiting for movement, before backing off.

When she turned to continue questioning her best friend's little brother, he was gone. Her eye narrowed as she stormed off. "I've gotta tell Alphys to evacuate everyone!" She felt her Determination course through her for a moment before she pushed it down. "No, that's gotta wait until the fight."

"sans, i'm in b-between waterfall and h-h-hotland. undyne is d-dead. i'll t-try to hold that dirty brother killer off as l-long as i can, but they'll just k-keep resetting, right? look, just c-come f-f-find me. don't stop the fight, just…if i d-die, i'd rather you g-grab my soul than that monster."

The human was grinning as they walked into the mountain with the mountain. They had only died twice while fighting Undyne the Undying and were finally going to enter Hotland! After the dustbath there, they'd be able to fight Asgore and get his soul!

"hey, brother killer."

The human looked up, surprised to see a short, hooded figure before them. No light penetrated the hood of the cloak, making him seem all the more dangerous. A long, red scarf was wrapped loosely around his neck, trailing behind the short figure. The human cocked their head at the figure.

"so…LV 12 now, huh? think you're all t-tough because you've slaughtered every innocent in sight?"

They blinked. It was the youngest skeleton, they knew that. What they didn't know was the fact that he could drop his ever-present slurring. Wow, when it did drop, he sounded terrifying.

"now, i'm usually p-p-pretty laid back, kinda like sans in that way, i guess. more like p-papyrus when i'm excited about something. b-but when you hurt those close to me…"

The human's red soul flew out of their chest as the world became shades of black and white. Two white pinpricks became visible under the cloak's hood, as well as a large, white grin. "well, you're d-definitely gonna r-regret it. i won't let m-my fear make me b-back down!"

The human frowned as they heard a new song play, not like the fight's they'd been in before. As they had discovered, each fight had a song that would begin playing…unless the Monster they were fighting was more powerful than usual. Those ones were unique in some way. This one sounded like Papyrus's theme mixed with Sans's.

Deciding to play it safe for their first turn, the human checked the skeleton's stats.

"Mistral," a voice recited, making the skeleton cock his head in confusion. "3ATK, 1DEF. A pushover, just like his brother."

The pinpricks vanished. "oh, i'll show you what this p-pushover can do."

Without warning, Mistral's right arm shot out from under the cloak as his left eye glowed blue. His pupil was a black slit as his arm gestured downward, forcing the human's soul to the ground. The left eye flickered out as the right eye lit up a bright green, freezing the human in place. Before they could react to the sudden changes in color, several waves of bones rushed them. The human smirked, knowing that the bones were spaced too closely together to do anything…and then the waves hit.

Mistral grinned at the look on the human's face, a little more confident. "what, you've never been in a fight before? i find that very hard to b-believe. or maybe it's because i'm supposed to just be a pushover, huh? i'll be the first to admit that usually, i am, but let's just say…"

Both souls popped out as colors faded. The song began playing once more. "I've got a bone to pick with you."

Immediately, the human kicked out at Mistral, but missed as the skeleton leaned to the side. "you've torn families apart with your little s-s-slaughterfest," Mistral said harshly as his eyes did a delayed flicker once more. A solid wall of bones appeared on all sides of the human, boxing them in for a moment before rushing them.

"do you regret it?" Mistral asked as he dodged yet another kick. He lazily sent another wave of bones, forcing the human to back off.

The human didn't respond other than to glare.

"i mean, you tore friends, f-families apart…all because you wanted to go on a killing spree? You could've j-just asked if you wanted a little LOVE."

The human was dragged up to the ceiling as Mistral's left eye turned blue. Before they could react, several bones rushed out to meet them.

"so…this is number 152, right? you're seriously not all there in the head if you still wanna k-kill them all."

The human felt themselves be pulled to the wall. Reorienting themself, they forced gravity to let them fall faster. Once their feet touched, they pushed off, narrowly missing a wall of bones that tore through the solid rock.

Mistral frowned as he felt something dribble down his skull. He couldn't force his magic into giving him a nervous sweat like Papyrus can…could, so that would mean…no. That couldn't be happening. He had to end the fight, before anything else could happen!

A lucky bone stabbed the human through the chest, giving the skeleton a brief respite before they reset.

He pulled out his phone, dialing in a familiar number. "sans."

"misty, i've been trying to get to you! the timeline keeps jumping back and –"

"i've b-been holding off the human, trying to get them weak. just k-killed them for the…hundred fifty-third time, now. heh…did you know that too much d-determination is a bad thing for me and undyne?"

Sans sounded panicked. "don't even joke about that, mistral! i don't know what i'd do if i found you as a…"

"u-undyne's soul overloaded with determination," Mistral said shakily. "she m-melted. heck, i'm starting to melt. i'm c-calling you to make sure you get here next reset. i…i don't think i'm gonna make it, and there's no way i w-want that dirty brother killer to accidently absorb my soul!" The skeleton stopped as he noticed a faint glow from the human's corpse. "they're about to reset, sans! you've g-gotta get over here as soon as you can! alphys knows what t-to do!"

Mistral chuckled as he saw his hands slowly melting like candle wax. "and that is why i never t-try too hard," he joked half-heartedly. He threw the human into the far wall, hoping to get some distance in between them for a moment. "my kind…everyone thought we were a m-myth, you know. freaks, dual-bloods, whatever you want to call us…me and undyne were the only ones d-down here, not that anyone really knew outside of a select few." The skeleton launched another wave of bones, forcing the human back again. "my aunt and u-uncle, you wouldn't know them, they hated me. they h-hated me even more when i started looking a bit too…skeletal's a g-good word."

The human glared at the skeleton, gesturing for him to get to the point.

"they threw me d-down here, hoping the fall would kill the 'deformed freak', as they called me. sans and papyrus…they took me in, actually showed me that there was k-kindness, love, in the world. because of you, my b-brother, one of the only family members i ever truly had, is dead!" The skeleton's eyes both flashed at the same time.

The human felt the pull of gravity getting stronger and stronger, pulling them to their knees, then to their stomach. Then, it stopped. They looked up to see Mistral hunched over in pain, a pool of white forming from under his cloak.

"no!"

Two pinpricks, still visible underneath the cloak, flicked to the doorway behind the human. In it stood Sans, a horrified expression on his face. "i know i'm not going to last much longer," Mistral said softly, knowing his words were still reaching his brother. The fearful stutter in his voice had vanished completely, as if he realized that there wasn't anything worse that the human could do. "i also know that sans isn't an idiot that'll fight you right now out of grief." He glared at Sans, hoping he got the point across. "most of all, i know that if you keep this up…" The pupil lights died completely, leaving only a pure white, melting grin visible underneath the cloak's hood. His last words dropped all hints of his slur, leaving his voice monotone and emotionless. "You're gonna have a bad time."

Sans's eye sockets widened as he watched the cloak flatten out over the ground. The human stared down at it for a moment before continuing on. Once he was certain that that…that Soulless Husk was gone, Sans rushed forward and gingerly picked the gray cloak and red scarf up. Underneath was a small, inverted heart colored a bright green, covered in a spider web of cracks, but still barely holding together. It slowly lifted up from the puddle of white (which was definitely not there), twirling slightly as it moved towards the last of the skeletons. He slowly reached forward, hugging the soul to his rib cage.

s-sans? is that you?

Sans laughed.

The human walked into a room lit by the light of the setting sun. They poked a small star that glowed near a dimensional box, saving their game. A smirk on their dusty face, they began the long trek down the hallway.

"heya." A figure stepped out from behind one of the pillars, a gray cloak stained white hanging around his shoulders. A long, red, dusty scarf was wrapped loosely around the figure's neck. The figure's blue hoodie had its hood pulled up, partially obscuring his face. A large grin was stretched to its limits, as though the figure was trying his hardest to force it. "you've been busy, huh?"

The human stared at him. Sans.

"so, i've got a question for ya. do you think even the worst person could change…? That everyone can be a good person if they just try?"

sans, they don't care. humans never care about anything that they don't think is normal. why should this one be any different?

Sans ignored the voice niggling in the back of his mind. When the human didn't respond, he sighed. "question two. do you regret what you did…? tearing apart families and friends for the sake of power?"

The human took a step forward.

The skeleton laughed. "all right. final question. do you wanna have a bad time? 'cause if you take another step forward…you are REALLY not gonna like what happens next."

Unsurprisingly, the human took another step forward.

Sans closed his eyes, accepting the finality of what was to come. "welp, sorry, old lady. i guess misty was right."

With that, the human's soul popped out of their chest and the world turned grayscale.

They frowned as they fought the skeleton. Over the past 413 tries, Sans had been saying the exact same things over and over again. They had been spared by him once, during which they actually gave into the temptation to surrender…only for them to be speared from all angles.

Now, however, he had started differently. "you know, if you reset, this could all stop."

That alone was enough to make the human hesitate. Seeing the pause, Sans had his bones set to destroy them, but took the human's lack of reaction as a cue to go ahead.

"almost no one would remember, kid. you could make a few friends, maybe even get tori to adopt ya." At the human's look of shock, Sans chuckled. "misty might not remember past timelines since this is the first time he's been here, but i do. if you keep doin' this…there's no going back. it's over. but…" The skeleton held out his hand. "if ya let me kill you, then you reset, we might even become…friends? your call."

Tears welled up in the human's eyes. They dropped the knife in their hands, letting it fall to the floor with a clatter. They fell to their knees, burying their face in their hands.

"is that a yes?"

Firmly, despite every fiber of their being screaming 'no', the human nodded.

"can…can ya try to get a timeline where misty's around? he's a nice kid, just didn't have the greatest time with humans. he deserves the chance to know they're not all terrible, and i don't know if his family killed him before or –"

The human nodded again, cutting the skeleton off.

The skeleton pulled his hood down, a lone tear trailing down from his left eye socket. He smiled softly. "see ya on the other side, then."

As they were impaled, a serene smile sat across the human's face.

(Do you wish to continue or reset?)

(Reset.)

"i'm not gonna hurt you. i promise."

"p-pinky promise?"

"…pinky promise."

Chapter Text

Mistral was sprawled across the couch, staring vacantly at the ceiling. With a sigh, he held his hand over his head. Two dots of light that served as the skeleton's pupils darted from bone to bone as he attempted to mental review them. Suddenly, the pinpricks disappeared without a trace.

The young skeleton jolted upright, green and blue tears flowing down his face. "oh god!" He stared at his hand, his perfectly solid, (definitely not melting) hand. Mistral choked a sob as he held the hand to his chest. He…he had died! He had liquefied due to wanting something too much! He was a bubbling puddle in Hotland, not alive and in his home! He had to get Sans and –!

"oh, god! papyrus!" Without hesitating, the skeleton pulled on his magic to form a shortcut, closing his eye sockets for a moment –

– and opening them again at Sans's sentry station/hotdog stand.

"yeah, go right on through. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone."

Without thinking, the young skeleton vaulted over the station's counter-like wall and tackled his brother in a hug. "s-sans! what's going on? i-i died! i saw you watch me die! how the hell –"

"language," Sans managed to choke out as Mistral held him in a death grip.

"i don't care!" Mistral snapped. "i died! how did –" He gasped when his pupil lights landed on the Brother Killer. The skeleton screeched, trying to use Sans as a shield. "get that thing away from me!"

Sans sighed. "misty, i'll explain in a bit. get behind my station. human, behind that conveniently-shaped lamp."

Mistral ran as fast as he could before launching himself over the counter. His impact caused a few jars of relish to shake. He poked his head up, his eye sockets black, to see the Brother Killer standing behind the lamp.

The sound of Papyrus's quick footsteps caused Mistral to gape in shock. He had never been so glad to have a fused jaw line along with his completely movable mouth. Over the years, Papyrus's jaw had actually dropped to the floor many times when he was startled or stunned.

"sup, bro?" Sans asked, grinning.

"YOU KNOW WHAT 'SUP', BROTHER!" Papyrus yelled. "IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!"

"staring at this lamp," Sans said, hoping to appeal to Papyrus's 'he's too lazy for this to be important' senses. "it's really cool. do you wanna look?"

Papyrus began stomping his foot angrily. "NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?!"

"then they'll b-be in for your p-puzzles!" Mistral called out, standing up casually. His pupil lights returned, but just barely.

Papyrus turned on his heels. "MISTRAL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING SO FAR AWAY FROM SNOWDIN?! IT'S DANGEROUS OUT HERE WITH THE ROGUE HUMANS!"

Mistral shrugged. "ask sans."

The tallest skeleton turned again, this time glaring at Sans. "WELL?"

Sans shrugged as well. "we've been staring at this lamp. it might just help you."

"SANS!" Papyrus yelled. "YOU ARE NOT HELPING AT ALL! YOU LAZYBONES, YOU ARE CORRUPTING MISTRAL! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERY DAY!"

Mistral blinked in realization. He knew why Sans was so lazy. If what he thought had happened had actually happened…if everything could be undone within seconds…

Suddenly, he sympathized a lot more towards his oldest brother's habits.

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today." A smirk crossed Mistral's face as he realized what was happening. "a skele-ton." Mistral laughed as Sans turned towards him and the lamp, winking.

"SANS!" Papyrus reprimanded, unable to keep himself from grinning.

"come on. you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT!"

Mistral glanced back at the lamp and noticed that the Brother Killer was still giggling at Sans's joke. He narrowed his eye sockets suspiciously, making the 'I'm watching you' motion. The Brother Killer tilted their head slightly.

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself…down to the bone." Sans shrugged in Mistral's direction again, making the cloaked skeleton chuckle.

Papyrus groaned. "I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES! AS FOR YOUR WORK, SANS, PUT A LITTLE MORE…BACKBONE INTO IT!" With that, Papyrus ran off, 'NYEH-HEH-HEH'ing all the way. As an afterthought, he ran back for a moment, yelled a final, "HEH!", then ran off.

Sans and Mistral were quiet for a moment, Mistral staring at the Brother Killer with empty sockets once more. Finally, Sans declared, "ok, you can come out now."

The Brother Killer came out from behind the lamp, immediately going over to talk to Mistral…who backed away. "h-hey, stay back!" When they took another step, Mistral bolted, charging off in the direction of the Ruins.

Sans sighed, turning to the saddened human. "sorry, misty's not the most open skeleton…especially with someone that hurt people he cares about. he's just a little on edge…and a bit bonely, tibia honest."

The human nodded and began walking away.

Remembering something, Sans called, "actually, hey…"

They stopped, turning to face Sans.

"hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking…misty and paps have both been kind of down lately…papyrus's never seen a human before, and seeing you might just making his day…and, y'know, seeing paps happy might make misty's day, too."

A look of fear crossed their face.

"don't worry. paps isn't dangerous, even if he tries to be. mistral, on the other hand…" Sans trailed off, hoping he got the point across. "thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." With that, he walked after Mistral.

He caught up to his brother fairly quickly. Hesitantly, Sans rested a hand on his shoulder. In almost a whisper, Mistral spoke. "w-why am i still here?"

"the kid killed everyone," Sans said softly, looking dejected. "i was the last line of defense between them and asgore. i was barely managing to hold them off, even with your soul." The skeleton closed his eye sockets solemnly. "then…they gave up."

Mistral blinked. "w-what?" he asked, shocked.

"they dropped their knife. said they were gonna to reset. i had to kill 'em, then they'd try again, making sure not to kill anyone."

"that…that brother killer can rewind time?!" Mistral yelped.

Sans sighed. "the kid's promised to not hurt anyone…sure being around them chills me right down to the bone, but did ya see their LV?"

"no, i was a bit busy freaking out about the brother killer being a few feet away!" Mistral yelled sarcastically. He took a deep breath, despite not needing oxygen, and said, "and now's not the time to be telling puns."

The grin on Sans's face became strained. "look, all i'm asking is for you to give them a chance. can ya do that?

Mistral pulled up his cloak's hood, mumbling something.

"i'm sorry, i didn't catch that."

"…i won't run screaming in the other direction."

Sans sighed. "well, it's a start."

"MISTRAL!" Papyrus yelled as he saw his brothers come into view. "UNDYNE CALLED ME EARLIER ASKING WHEN YOU WANTED TO HAVE THAT COOKING LESSON!"

The youngest skeleton gaped for a moment, still thankful for his fused jaw. "aren't i the one teaching undyne how to cook?"

"NONSENSE! YOU MAY BE ABLE TO TEACH UNDYNE HOW TO COOK SURFACE FOOD PROPERLY, BUT YOU STILL DON'T KNOW THE FINE ART OF INFUSING ENOUGH MAGIC INTO FOOD THAT YOU CAN EAT IT!"

"actually, i'd say he's doing just fine."

"no, i'm not, sans," Mistral dramatically sighed. "i just find it a little hard to drop the flavor that others would usually taste. in fact, you could say that i find it a little…impastable."

Sans chuckled as Papyrus groaned. "SO…" Papyrus said, hoping to get back on subject. "AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE..."

The snow crunched, startling the three skeletons. The Brother Killer was standing on the path, waving at them. Mistral stared at his brothers, unamused, as they began spinning. Once the two stopped, the skeletons pulled Mistral over to join them in a huddle. "OH MY GOD! IS THAT…A HUMAN?!"

All three of them turned towards the Brother Killer. Sans peered behind them. "uhhh…actually, i think that's a rock."

Mistral snickered, but kept his eye sockets on the Brother Killer.

Papyrus's shoulders slumped. "OH."

"hey, what's that in front of the rock?"

The tall skeleton perked up as he noticed the human. "OH MY GOD! IS…IS THAT A HUMAN?"

"…why not."

"yes."

"OH MY GOD! SANS! MISTRAL! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL…I'M GONNA…I'LL BE SO…POPULAR! POPULAR! POPULAR!"

Mistral coughed into his hand, bringing Papyrus back to reality.

Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat before putting on his 'scary' face. "HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN…THEN!" Papyrus blinked, looking confused. "I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT. IN ANY CASE…CONTINUE! ONLY IF YOU DARE!" He turned on his heel, letting his grin show, before running away, laughing.

Sans chuckled. "well, that went well."

Mistral nodded.

The Brother Killer looked at the two skeletons uneasily, thrown off by Papyrus.

"don't sweat it, kid. we'll keep an eye socket out for ya. right, mistral?"

The younger of the two skeletons stiffened, his pupil lights vanishing. "y-y-yep!" he stuttered nervously.

Satisfied, Sans began walking away, Mistral bolting after him.

"y'know, i wasn't joking about you trying to be civil with the kid. they're making friends left and right."

"…"

"…i saw 'em actually hugging snowdrake earlier."

"…"

"look, can you promise me something, misty?"

"…what?"

"if the kid doesn't hurt anyone by the time they get by pap, you'll at least give them a shot?"

"…whatever."

"jeez, misty, you're already starting to act like a teen, and you're not even 11 yet!"

"…10 years, 11 months, 15 days."

"…and it's been almost 6 years already, too…you're gettin' old!"

"still younger than you, bonehead."

"hey, i resemble that, numbskull!"

"WHY DID YOU TWO TAKE SO LONG TO GET HERE?" Papyrus asked as he saw his brothers approaching.

Sans shrugged. "decided to walk."

"IT SHOULDN'T HAVE TAKEN YOU TWO SO LONG IF YOU WERE WALKING!"

Before Sans could say anything, Mistral spoke up. "we might have dozed off for a bit."

Papyrus stared at his brothers for a moment before getting yelling once more. "YOU BOTH ARE SO LAZY! YOU BOTH WERE ALREADY NAPPING ALL NIGHT!"

"i think that's called…sleeping."

"everyone does it, papyrus."

"EXCUSES, EXCUSES!" The snow crunched, alerting the skeletons to the arrival of the human. "OH-HO! THE HUMAN ARRIVES! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY BROTHERS AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES!"

"question."

Papyrus brought a gloved hand to his face. "YES, MISTRAL?"

"i didn't d-do anything."

"I DECIDED TO GIVE YOU CREDIT AS WELL SO YOU WOULDN'T SEEM AS LAZY AS SANS! AT LEAST HE SET UP HIS PUZZLE…I THINK."

"uh…paps?"

"YES?"

"the human?"

Papyrus grew excited once more, a huge grin spreading across his face. "MY APOLOGIES, HUMAN! AS I WAS SAYING, I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS PUZZLE…QUITE SHOCKING! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE…ELECTRICITY MAZE!"

As Papyrus went over the instructions, Mistral fixated on the Brother Killer once more, seeing a small smile on their lips. For a moment, the human made eye contact with Mistral. The youngest skeleton's pupil lights vanished and his brow bones furrowed momentarily. They flinched slightly.

Sans, who had been observing the human as well, looked at his brother and glared. The lights automatically reappeared in Mistral's sockets as he looked at his feet sheepishly.

Papyrus, who had been oblivious to the entire exchange, held up the key to the puzzle, a small orb, announcing, "OK, YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW." Hesitantly, the human took a step forward…and Papyrus to get electrocuted. Papyrus began stamping his foot again. "SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"

"i think the human has to hold the orb," the skeleton supplied helpfully.

The bad mood Papyrus was in was gone in an instant. "OH, OKAY." He walked through the maze, leaving a trail of footprints. When he got to the human, he said, "HOLD THIS PLEASE!" He threw the orb into the air, letting it land on the human's head, before charging back to his brothers. "OKAY, TRY NOW!"

The human giggled before following the footprints through.

Papyrus put on his scary face again. "INCREDIBLE! YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED IT SO EASILY…TOO EASILY! HOWEVER! THE NEXT PUZZLE WILL NOT BE EASY! IT IS DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I AM!" He ran off laughing once more.

Sans grinned and waved the human over. "hey, thanks…my brother seems like he's having fun. by the way, did you see that weird outfit he's wearing?"

Mistral frowned, realizing what Sans was doing.

"we made that a few weeks ago for a costume part."

A snicker escaped from the shorter of the two skeletons.

"he hasn't worn anything else since. hey, misty, what's he keep calling it, again?"

Mistral's laughter stopped. "his 'b-battle body'."

Sans nodded. "man…isn't my brother cool?"

Grinning, the human nodded before continuing on.

"misty, they're really trying, but you're making it harder than it has to be."

"what? i don't know how you can do it, but i'm not gonna forgive a dirty brother killer just because he tried to spare a few Monsters."

"mistral…"

"…look, i'll be at home if you need me. if you want me to willingly be near that human without insulting them in some way, i want to know for sure that they regret it."

"mi-damn it…i just mist him."

Sans grinned as he watched the human walk over to him, eating their nice cream. Since he knew that the kid was going to actually show a sense of humor, he could pull his usual pranks. "i've been thinking about selling treats too. want some fried snow? it's just 5 gold."

The human thought for a moment, then nodded.

"did i say 5 gold? i meant 50 gold."

Still the human nodded.

The smile on Sans's face only grew. "really? how about 5000 gold?"

Nod.

"50000 gold. that's my final offer."

They bowed their head, shaking it.

"what? you don't have the money? hey, that's ok. i don't have the snow."

A smile spread across the human's face, before turning into a confused look. To Sans's surprise, a text box appears right above the kid's head. *You ask where Mistral is.

Sans's grin shrank slightly. "d'you remember the last reset at all?"

Nod.

"…so you remember how mad misty was at you, then?"

Nod.

"he still remembers everything up to his death…poor kid's been terrified that you'd backstab us while me and pap were bein' friendly."

*You ask what Sans means by 'kid'.

Sans sighed. "yeah, misty's just 10, but he'd fight ya if he heard you call him that."

The human froze for a moment before more words flashed into the black text box. *You apologize for killing Mistral during the last timeline.

"kid, i'm not the one to be telling that to. misty's the one locked up in his room right now so he doesn't have to be near you."

They flinched. *You ask Sans how to get there.

"look, misty made a promise that if you don't dust anyone before you fight pap, he'll at least try to be friendly. think you can make it?" The last sentence was said jokingly.

Nod.

The human was gave a silent scream as they fell off of the icy puzzle and onto the snowy ledge below. They noticed that there were three snow sculptures made, lined up in the middle of the platform.

The first one was a muscular figure with Papyrus's head.

The second was a lump of snow with 'sans' written on it with red marker.

The third one was a cartoony, upside-down heart that had been scribbled all over with red marker. Small, hairline cracks littered the icy surface of the heart, but it seemed determined to hold itself together…

The human shook their head, smiling softly as they walked back up to the puzzle. It would be rude of them to keep Papyrus waiting for very long, after all.

They almost cried out in joy as they saw a large sign reading 'Welcome to Snowdin'. They made a bee-line for the shop, knowing it would be best to warm up as soon as possible. When they entered, a rabbit-like Monster, who was standing behind the counter, nodded to them.

*You say hello. The text box appeared, but the rabbit appeared to actually hear something instead of seeing the text.

"Hiya!" she replied. "Welcome to Snowdin! I can't remember the last time I saw a fresh face around here." She gave the human a once-over before frowning. "Where did you come from? The capital?" The bunny-Monster noticed the stripe on their shirt, her expression softening. "You don't look like a tourist. Are you here by yourself?"

The human decided not to answer the question. *You ask the Monster what there is to do here.

"You want to know what to do here in Snowdin? Grillby's has food, and the library has information… If you're tired, you can take a nap at the inn. It's right next door – my sister runs it. And if you're bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing." The human smiled softy. "There's three of 'em…Brothers, I think. The older two just showed up one day and…asserted themselves. The younger one showed up a few years later. The town's gotten a lot more interesting since then."

*You ask why the younger skeleton showed up later.

The shopkeeper shrugged. "No one really knows…I think the first time I saw him was when the lazier skeleton dragged the younger one into Grillby's. He was petrified…like he'd never been inside a restaurant before. Crazy, right?"

The human frowned as they processed that new information.

Mistral raised a bony eyebrow as he watched Papyrus charge excitedly through the front door. Muting the movie he often watched to calm himself down ("c'mon, dragons are cool! they get to actually be in the sky!" "i never said they were lame, misty."), he stared at his brother. "what's got you so happy?"

Before Papyrus could answer, the door opened and the Brother Killer stepped through it. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Even the ambient theme had died, leaving the room in total silence.

"…oh. so papyrus i-invited you here, then?"

They nodded.

Mistral sized the human up, staring right at their chest. After a few moments, he visibly relaxed. "cool," he said, the unease and defensiveness almost completely gone from his voice.

At that, the tension in the room seemed to lessen significantly and the theme began playing once more, as if nothing had happened. The human walked around the living room, looking at different things. They seemed fairly amused by Sans's Quantum Physics/Joke book, as well as the sticky note argument Sans and Papyrus had been having over a single sock left by the TV. Seeing a mess of loose papers surrounding a rock on a plate, they picked one up. It was labeled Bonetrousle.

Papyrus, seeing what it was, grinned widely. "AH…MY SOUL'S FIGHT THEME. EVERY MONSTER HAS THE ABILITY TO CREATE ONE BASED OFF THEIR NORMAL THEME, BUT ONLY A SELECT FEW ACTUALLY PUT THE TIME AND EFFORT INTO COMPOSING A FIGHT THEME. AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ONE OF THEM!"

The human tilted their head curiously. *You ask what Sans's and Mistral's fight themes are.

Papyrus scanned the text box that had appeared out of nowhere, deciding not to question it. "SANS IS TOO LAZY TO ACTUALLY COMPOSE HIS FIGHT THEME. SINCE MISTRAL IS SO YOUNG STILL –"

"and is still in the room."

"– HE WOULD NEED TO SEE SOMETHING REALLY TRAUMATIZING FOR HIS TO EVEN BEGIN TO COME TOGETHER."

Mistral stiffened, not liking where the conversation was going. The theme paused once more. He pulled up his cloak's hood before standing. "if you need me, i'll be practicing." He bolted up the staircase. Now that the human was paying attention, they noticed that there were three doors on the second floor, the bone picture missing entirely. The young skeleton picked the middle door and walked in, slamming the door behind him.

…

Music filled the house once more.

*You ask Papyrus what Mistral is practicing.

"OH, MISTRAL DECIDED TO TAKE UP THE PIANO A FEW MONTHS BACK. I BELIEVE HE WAS INSPIRED WHEN SANS PICKED UP AN INSTRUMENT."

*You ask Papyrus what instrument Sans plays.

The skeleton shuddered. "PLEASE, DON'T REMIND ME OF…"

The human nodded before turning to the kitchen. Their eyes widened as they saw how tall the sink was.

"IMPRESSED?" Papyrus asked, making the human jump. "I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK. NOW I CAN FIT MORE BONES UNDER IT! TAKE A LOOKSY!"

They opened the cabinet (if something that big could even be called that) to see a small, white dog chewing on a bone.

"WHAT?! CATCH THAT MEDDLING CANINE!"

The dog zipped between Papyrus's legs, fleeing the house.

"CURSES!"

Sans and Mistral each poked their heads out of their respective rooms, Sans with a trombone at hand. Mistral, who had his back to the doorway, had somehow moved a large piano just inside of his door The older of the two played a three-note phrase that almost everyone knew meant failure, while the sound of a piano playing a more complex version of the same notes drifted from Mistral's room. Once the notes were finished, both doors closed once more.

"SANS! MISTRAL! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!"

Mistral grinned as he used magic to close his door once more. Luckily, he could easily hear Papyrus over his piano. He was still secretly glad that Undyne had agreed to teach him more than the basics he had learned over the years.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to focus on practicing anymore with Papyrus and the human hanging out downstairs, Mistral's eye flickered blue and the piano lifted off the ground and hovered into the corner of the room. Once it was set down, the skeleton glanced at the pile of books that covered most of his room's floor space before picking out a single one and beginning to read it.

"AUGH!"

Mistral jumped, banging his skull against the wall. He dropped his book to clutch the throbbing area as he quickly got to his feet and ran to Papyrus's room. His left eye began to glow blue, and his right green, fearing the worst had happened. He threw open the door to see that…Papyrus was wearing his 'date' outfit and the human had their red SOUL bared. Stunned, both of Mistral's eyes flickered before leaving behind empty eye sockets. "…papyrus, what the heck is going on in here?"

"I'M DATING THE HUMAN!"

The younger skeleton blinked once, then twice, his pupil lights reappearing in the process. Deciding that he would be able to hear anything that would happen from downstairs, Mistral sighed. "i don't wanna know. if you need me, i'll be making dinner."

He trudged down the staircase and into the kitchen, pulling out all the ingredients that he knew he needed. Using his magic, he lifted a large soup pot out from the counter's hidden cabinets and up to the sink. Mistral magically turned on the water until he thought it was at a good level before flicking it off and hovering the pot onto the stove. The step-stool that was present in one of the kitchen corners moved itself to stand in front of the oven, allowing the short skeleton to see into and actually work with what would be in the pot. He was just about to pour an opened box of spaghetti noodles in when Papyrus came bursting into the room, human tucked under his arm.

"MISTRAL! THE HUMAN AND I ARE GOING TO ASSIST YOU WITH DINNER!" Papyrus proclaimed, posing heroically.

"…hey, isn't mettaton's show on right now?" Mistral tried, hoping to distract his brother. He didn't want to be near the human, but that didn't mean he wanted the human to suffer from almost tasteless food.

Papyrus's eye sockets widened dramatically. "YOU'RE RIGHT! COME, HUMAN! WE MUST WATCH THE TV TOGETHER!" He charged out of the kitchen. Shortly after, Mistral heard the TV turn on.

Mistral released the breath that he didn't have to hold before continuing on the meal.

"hey, papyrus!" Mistral yelled. "i'm about to do the thing, and you and sans said not to do the thing without one of you in the room, so can you get in here?" Mistral had put the spaghetti and the tomato sauce he had thrown together into two separate bowls, only a few inches away from each other on the counter. Two glasses of milk stood there as well, along with a bottle of ketchup.

"OH, THE HUMAN MUST SEE YOU DO THE THING! COME, HUMAN!" Papyrus sprinted into the kitchen, the human following behind him. "YOU MAY DO THE THING, NOW. I WILL STOP YOU IF IT DOESN'T GO WELL."

The younger skeleton flinched. "o-ok." Mistral closed his eye sockets for a moment in an attempt to focus. The air around him began glowing a faint green, throwing everything into an eerie light. The young skeleton opened his eye sockets once more to reveal that his right eye was glowing a bright green. Slowly, Mistral gestured towards the food, the green aura surrounding him slowly flowing in the direction of the food. It sank into the dishes before slowly fading. Mistral's pupil lights both flicked back to their usual white. "so…h-how'd i do?" he asked nervously.

Papyrus frowned. "I DON'T THINK YOU USED ENOUGH MAGIC. CAN YOU TRY TO ADD A LITTLE MORE?"

Mistral flinched, as if second-guessing his decision. "i-i wanted to m-make sure that there's still s-something left for the human…i'm p-pretty sure they c-can't digest magic very well." The 'I'm trying my best' was left unsaid, but both Papyrus and the human heard it.

The older skeleton looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "GREAT THINKING, MISTRAL! I KNEW YOU COULD BE FRIENDLY TO THE HUMAN!"

"yeah…heh heh…h-hey! could the human head upstairs and d-drag sans down here for d-dinner?"

"I DON'T KNOW…" Papyrus said, frowning. "I THINK THEY'D LIKE TO HELP SET OUT THE FOOD YOU WORKED SO HARD TO PREPARE…"

Mistral grimaced, something that didn't go unnoticed by either Papyrus or the human.

"…WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO RETRIEVE SANS, HUMAN?"

Nod. Without saying a word, the human walked out of the kitchen.

An awkward silence grew between the two skeletons as Mistral tried to avoid Papyrus's gaze. Finally, he mumbled, "i'll clear off the table," before bolting.

Papyrus followed his brother, sighing when he saw Mistral actually going through all the sheet music by hand to make sure it was organized. Mistral cleaning something up without prompting only meant one thing. "…WHAT'S WRONG, MISTRAL? AS THE GREATEST BROTHER, I AM REQUIRED TO BE INFORMED OF THINGS THAT ARE IRRITATING YOU."

"s'nothing, papyrus. don't worry about it."

"HOW CAN I NOT WORRY WHEN MY LITTLE BROTHER IS SO OBVIOUSLY NOT ALL RIGHT? YOU ARE CLEANING, MISTRAL!"

The younger skeleton blinked, then stared at the floor. He mumbled something so quietly, Papyrus wasn't able to pick it up. "I APOLOGIZE, WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

Mistral bowed his head. "m'not hungry n'more," he muttered, slurring more than usual. "l'be in m'room." With that, the skeleton set the papers he had been organizing back on the table before sprinting up to his room. At the top of the staircase, he bumped into the human and Sans, but didn't pay attention.

As he watched his brother's retreating form, disappointment and sorrow flashed through Sans's eye sockets. If the human hadn't been paying attention, they might not have even noticed the subtle flicker. Immediately, the text box opened. *You ask if Mistral is going to be okay.

For a brief moment, Sans's mask shattered, revealing the depressed soul underneath. "to tell the truth? i dunno…too much pain from a group kinda makes you hate 'em. i just hope he…" Sans blinked, the mask instantly reassembling. "hey, that's enough 'doom and gloom' for now, huh, kid? i dunno about you, but thinkin' like that gives me a skullache."

A scream of frustration was heard from downstairs.

Sans waved for the human to follow him down the staircase, his usual grin plastered back on his face, before walking down. The human moved to follow, but hesitated as they noticed what appeared to be a small pulsating ball of light present outside of Mistral's room.

(The need to help Mistral fills you with determination. Would you like to save?)

(Saved.)

Chapter Text

Papyrus was troubled.

Mistral had raced up to his bedroom a little over two hours ago and hadn't come down since. A plate of spaghetti that he had brought up to his brother's room earlier sat untouched outside the door, the heat having been leeched out by the surrounding air shortly after.

He might have been naïve and energetic, but he wasn't an idiot. He could see how terrified Mistral had originally been by the human, how worried he had been for the safety of his brothers. The youngest skeleton's eye sockets were always dim with fear when his eye lights passed over the human.

It wouldn't do for the Great Papyrus's brother to be afraid of one of his friends, now would it?

"HUMAN?" Papyrus asked.

The human looked up from the TV, which had Mettaton wheeling across the screen, making a quiche. *You ask Papyrus what he needs.

A grin spreading across his face, Papyrus got up from his spot on the couch. "WOULD YOU BE WILLING TO COME WITH ME UPSTAIRS FOR A MOMENT?"

Nod. The human got to their feet and brought their plate over to the half-cleaned table. They set it down and nodded once more to Papyrus.

Papyrus and the human quietly went upstairs so as to not disturb Sans, who had passed out on the couch. Once they had gotten outside of the center one of the three bedroom doors, Papyrus knocked on it. "MISTRAL? YOU ARE STILL IN THERE, YES?"

The doorknob began glowing green in response.

"MISTRAL, USING YOUR MAGIC IN SUCH A WAY IS BOTH LAZY AND UNCALLED FOR! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ONLY WISH TO SPEAK TO YOU ALONE!"

Slowly, the light surrounding the doorknob died down, leaving behind its usual brass. The knob promptly turned blue, turned itself, and was pulled back enough to open the door a crack.

Papyrus took it as an invitation to enter, pushing the door the rest of the way open. The room's curtains were drawn, and the light was off, leaving the only light in the room to be streaming in from the doorway. The second he was inside the door, he pulled the human in. "ALSO, THE HUMAN IS HERE!"

The door glowed blue for a moment as it slammed shut.

"NOW MISTRAL, DO NOT BE LIKE THAT! I, AS THE GREATEST BROTHER, ALWAYS KNOW WHEN SOMETHING IS BOTHERING YOU. AS SUCH, I BELIEVE THAT YOU AND THE HUMAN NEED TO 'HANG OUT', AND GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER! ONCE YOU GET TO KNOW THE HUMAN, THEY WILL NOT BE AS SCARY TO YOU!" As he monologued, Papyrus inched towards the left side of the door and began feeling the wall. With a whoop of victory, he flipped the light switch, allowing the room to become visible.

A neatly made bed at in the corner of the room with a spotless desk next to it. Two bookshelves were organized alphabetically by each one's author's last name. Any dirty laundry that could be found in the room was in a cloths hamper by a closed closet door.

Papyrus's grin dropped for a moment before he walked up to the closet and opened it. Inside hung several striped shirts. On the floor sat a small skeleton that was doing his best to curl into an invisible ball. Papyrus slowly reached out, only for Mistral to flinch and throw his hands up to defend himself.

The human's eyes widened. Seeing Mistral like this reminded them of someone they knew…and long thought dead. Forgoing the use of the text box, they held up their hands and signed, Free? Both skeletons heard the human's not-voice echo in their skulls, automatically translating for them.

Mistral seized up for a moment as a long-forgotten memory hit him.

Little four-year-old Mistral, still with his skin and flesh, was running again. He bolted around the park's swing sets as he heard his cousin yell for him to get back. Mistral looked over his shoulder to see the pig with a blonde wig that was his cousin…Diddykins?

The split second that he looked back turned out to be too much, because when he looked forward again, he crashed into another kid. Immediately, he helped the kid to their feet. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you. Are you okay?"

The kid hesitated for a moment before nodding. With both their hands, they began signing, I'm fine. What were you running from?

Mistral heard the motions translate themselves in his head. Before he could reply, though, Diddykins shrieked, "Get over here so I can hit you, Freak!"

Diddykins ran at the two children, but the kid stepped in between Diddykins and Mistral. Leave him alone.

"I'm sorry, I don't know how to speak freak," Diddykins spat before trying to shove passed the kid. Operative word: tried.

The kid stood their ground, easily staying holding his own against the overweight bully. Go away.

Diddykins scowled at Mistral for a moment before stalking away.

Mistral decided to speak up once he was certain Diddykins was gone. "Thanks for that. My name's Freak."

My name is –

"frisk?" Mistral asked, stunned. "i-is it really you?"

Frisk grinned. Your aunt said your cousin was an angel, but you thought he was a pig with a wig.

Papyrus loudly cleared his throat and began inching out of the room. "I WILL GET YOU A FRESH PLATE OF SPAGHETTI, WHILE YOU AND THE HUMAN SPEAK, MISTRAL!" Before either of them could object, Papyrus had bolted out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

The pupils returned dimly to Mistral's eye sockets as tears began streaming from them. "w-why'd you k-k-kill everyone?"

Frisk bowed their head. I was so scared…I killed a froggit while I was in the ruins. Once I killed them, I lost control. I'm so, so sorry, Free. If I had fought back harder…

Mistral uncurled from the ball of bones he had formed. He slowly got to his feet and looked Frisk in the eye. "if you didn't have control, how did you reset?"

When Sans was talking to me, he helped me realize just how far gone I was. When I knew what was going on, I managed to break free enough to die and reset completely. I'm so sorry, Fr-

"m'name's mistral, now. it's been more of a name than 'free' ever was, frisk," Mistral said, slurring more than usual. "n'it's gonna take a while for you to earn m'trust again."

Frisk nodded slowly. I understand.

"besides…" Mistral said, a grin on his face, "at least i know m'best friend isn't dead, right?"

Eventually, Papyrus had come back into Mistral's room to see the two talking as if Mistral hadn't been petrified at the thought of the human earlier. Naturally, he took credit for the accomplishment and proclaimed that Frisk would be staying the night. When morning came, Mistral decided to give Frisk a tour of Snowdin 'from a native's perspective'.

Frisk was surprised when Mistral led him down to the ledge with the different snow sculptures on it, asking if they wanted to make one. They smiled warmly before nodding.

"well, first things first, we've gotta know what we're building!" Mistral said excitedly, practically bouncing with joy.

…Do you wanna build a snowman? Frisk signed, giggling slight.

Mistral stared at him, confused. "what's so funny about building a snowman? just because you haven't met one doesn't mean they're something to laugh about. an army of snow people can easily overwhelm a snow fortress!"

Frisk laughed even harder, signing, I'll show you once we get back to the surface.

The skeleton stiffened, unconsciously pulling up his cloak's hood. "frisk…do you really want to go back up there? after everything the humans put us through?"

They nodded firmly.

"w-why?"

Frisk gave Mistral a determined glare. Because all the Monsters deserve to live on the surface, too.

Mistral didn't reply, instead turning to look at the snow sculptures that had been made.

The human tapped his shoulder, causing him to turn enough to see them sign, Sans and Papyrus deserve to live on the surface.

Mistral flinched back as if struck. The two of them stood in silence for a few moments before Mistral finally spoke. "do you know who made which sculpture?" he asked softly.

Papyrus made the Snow Papyrus, Sans made the lump, and you made the heart?

The skeleton chuckled humorlessly. "close. i made the soul. my soul. it's not the right color, but i wanted to have it be something special. you remember how it was broken…last time around?

Nod.

He reached out and placed a hand on the upside-down heart. His phalanges and metacarpals stood out in stark contrast to the red-dyed snow. "i was just so…angry when i saw you dusting my friends. heh…it was kind of ironic, really. or would it be symbolic? i broke my snow soul, then i broke my real soul. you were the one fighting me, but my rage, my determination to make you suffer, is what killed me in the end. not you."

Frisk remained silent. They honestly didn't know how to respond. Sure, they hadn't known how to react properly during the first few resets, but that had been so long ago. They knew that if they did something wrong, Mistral would remember it, and there no amount of resets would change that.

"…to be honest, i don't even know how to formally fight."

The human's eyes widened. So that's why you never gave me my turn!

Mistral pulled his hood a little lower. "heh, guilty as charged. monsters aren't taught how to fight until after they turn 13. if i had talked to sans earlier before we fought, he probably would've stopped me."

Why thirteen?

He shrugged. "sans and papyrus won't tell me. something about it being a secret until after it happens. none of the younger monsters know, really."

Frisk frowned, snapping their fingers to get Mistral's full attention. Once the skeleton had turned his head so fast, Frisk was sure he would have gotten whiplash, they signed, Aren't you human, too?

"…yeah," Mistral grudgingly confirmed. "it doesn't mean i have to lump myself with them. no offense, but humans are terrible creatures."

None taken.

Both human and Monster ceased talking, merely standing silently in the snow. Finally, Frisk asked, Do you still want to make that snowman?

Mistral cracked a grin. "sure, frisk."

"hey, frisk! th-this is my friend snowdrake!" Mistral announced as he led the human up to said Monster.

Snowdrake, who had been speaking to Chilldrake, turned to face the skeleton. The second his eyes landed on Frisk, a smile somehow worked its way across his beak. "Hey, I know you! You're the person that was laughing at my jokes yesterday! Man, it's great to see you again!"

Frisk grinned back. The text box appeared above their head. *You ask to hear a joke.

The Monster's face lit up as he began stuttering through puns, Frisk's silent laughter encouraging him more and more.

Mistral took a few steps back and watched Frisk closely. He wanted to trust them, he really did, but…at the same time, he would be trusting someone who had gladly murdered him and Papyrus before. He just needed a little more proof before deciding…

What are these, anyway? I saw them earlier, but…

"it's a snow poff!"

But is it an insight into modern life? A metaphor for human ignorance? A hidden flag for equality?

"…it's just a pile of snow. you're reading too deeply into it."

"when did all these snow dogs get here? what the hell is wrong with them?"

I was petting Lesser Dog, and –

"ah. say no more."

Why does Sans have so much ketchup and mustard here?

"oh, this is his sentry station. he runs a hot dog stand out of it, but no one ever buys anything. why would someone come all the way out here for a hot dog when they could just go to grillby's for a burger?"

Grillby's? That restaurant in Snowdin?

"…i'm done with this conversation."

The next morning, Frisk was sad to leave the home of the skeleton brothers, but they knew that they had to keep going. All the Monsters had been through too much…they deserved to see the surface. Papyrus was reluctant to see them go, but he understood. Mistral had merely nodded his acceptance before racing back up to his room. Sans…Sans shrugged before promptly falling asleep on the couch, much to the annoyance of Papyrus.

They were terrified when they had first entered Waterfall and heard Papyrus speaking with a knight that they assumed was Undyne. When they had moved, they could feel Undyne's eyes upon them, almost daring them to move. No matter how many times they did that, they were always scared by that.

Frisk had just gotten to Sans's Waterfall station when they saw that both Sans and Mistral were there. Sans was leaning against the inside of his station, hi eye sockets closed. Mistral had somehow gotten onto the roof of the sentry station and appeared to be taking a nap as well. When they approached, though, only Sans opened his sockets. He grinned at the confused expression on Frisk's face. "what? haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?"

The human raised an eyebrow. Really?

"fortunately," Sans continued, "two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks. i'm going to grillby's. wanna come?"

What about Mistral? Frisk asked, pointing up at the slumbering skeleton. As if he could hear (or rather see) himself being mentioned, the quiet snoring that was coming from him stuttered slightly before continuing on.

"he'll be fine. he slept through paps yelling and tryin' to shake him awake, once."

Hesitantly, Frisk nodded.

"well, if you insist…i'll pry myself away from my work…" Sans walked out of his station before walking towards the exact opposite direction of Snowdin. "over here," he said. "i know a shortcut."

Frisk followed him. They blinked momentarily, and when they opened their eyes –

– they were inside the warm interior of Grillby's. The music that always seemed to play when Sans was around sounded echoed through the building. Sans's permanent grin seemed to have grown a bit wider. "fast shortcut, huh?" Seeing everyone looking at him, he added, "hey, everyone."

"Hey, Sans."

"Hi, Sans."

"Greetings, Sans."

"Hiya, Sansy~!"

A fish-like monster that was sitting at the bar frowned. "Hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?"

"nah, i haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour. you must be thinking of brunch."

The music stopped completely as a rimshot played and everyone started laughing.

Sans grinned widely before gesturing towards one of the two empty seats at the bar. "here, get comfy."

Frisk sat down and a loud fart cut over the music. They looked at Sans knowingly.

"whoops, watch where you sit down. sometimes weirdos put whoopee cushions on the seats," Sans said, his voice smug. "anyway, let's order. whaddya want?"

Could I have a burger?

Sans grinned. "hey, that sounds pretty good." He turned to Grillby, who had been absent-mindedly polishing a glass. "grillby, we'll have a double order of burg." Grillby nodded before going to the back room. Sans began combing his skull. "hey kid, what do you think of papyrus?"

He's cool.

"of course he's cool. you'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day," Sans said, his face lighting up. The lights that served as his pupils were glowing more brightly than usual. "he'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to. oh well. at least we washes it. and by that i mean he wears it in the shower."

Before Frisk could reply, Grillby came back out with two burgers. He silently set them down in front of them and went back to his glass polishing.

"here comes the grub. want some ketchup?"

Frisk shook their head, grinning.

"oh well. more for me." Sans promptly began chugging the ketchup. Once he had finished, he looked back at Frisk, who had begun eating. "so you and misty've been makin' friends?"

Nod.

"it's…it's been nice having him around. paps can only do so much to keep me goin' somethings, y'know? besides, i don't know if you noticed, but paps doesn't really like putting up with my sansational puns."

They sat in silence as Frisk finished off their burger. Once Sans saw the last morsel disappear, he said, "hey, i wanted to tell you something."

Everything inside the bar froze save for Sans and Frisk. Even the music stopped. "i know you remember the resets, so i won't give you the spiel about the flower. what i wanted to do was thank you."

Why thank me?" Frisk asked bitterly, their head bowed. I tried to kill everyone.

"yeah, you did. you screwed up. but you reset."

Frisk looked up to see Sans smiling softly at them.

"you coulda killed me, asgore, and all of humanity, but you didn't. you stopped yourself. you managed to land in a timeline where mistral is down here with us… he's only a dual-blood, born on the surface. his parents died a few months after he formed, and…his relatives were pretty abusive. i don't even know if misty survives in the timelines where he never makes it down here…"

The human pulled Sans into a hug. After a moment, they released him, signing, He would have survived. He has magic.

Sans sighed. "yeah, but that might not've been enough."

I don't mean Monster magic. I mean human magic.

"a dual-blood kinda needs human magic to be a dual-blood, kid," Sans replied, chuckling. "me and paps both know misty would've been a sage if he didn't have monster blood, but we don't care. no matter what species you are, magic tends to be weak when you're only a few years old."

That's not what I meant.

Suddenly, the music started again and everyone began moving once more. Sans ignored Frisk's last statement, instead getting up from his seat. "welp, that was a long break. i can't believe i let ya pull me away from work for that long." He began leaving, but paused as he remembered something. "oh, by the way, i'm flat out broke. can you foot the bill? it's just 10,000g."

Frisk stared at him, wide-eyed.

"just kidding. grillby, put it on my tab." Sans walked towards the door again. Just before he could exit the building, he turned on his heel. "by the way… i was going to say something, but i forgot." With those final words of wisdom, he left the bar.

Undyne was seething as she chased after the human. They just kept…running! They wouldn't even FIGHT! As she passed by Sans's sentry station, she did a double take. Sure enough, Sans was asleep at his post. His youngest brother, whats-his-face, had somehow gotten on top of the station and passed out. The captain of the Royal Guard stopped. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"

Whats-his-face jolted awake, tumbling down to the left of the station. He rubbed his hood-covered head. "i don't even work for you…"

Sans didn't even flinch at the screaming.

The fish Monster roared in frustration before continuing her chase. Silently, she vowed to make Sans's life hell later.

Frisk smiled as they walked up to the boat that seemed to be the only one to ever use the Underground's river. Before they could even get on the boat, they were stopped.

"Tra la la. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman…? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?" The river person's voice was completely devoid of emotion, and yet they still seemed to sing their words.

The human nodded to the person in the dark purple cloak. They stepped on, barely even rocking the boat.

"Where will we go today?"

The obligatory text box popped up, but the river person shook their head.

"Tra la la. You don't need to do that."

Almost immediately, the box vanished. Hesitantly, Frisk signed, Could you take me to Waterfall?

"Then we're off…"

The boat moved swiftly through the water, not even creating a ripple.

"Tra la la. Beware the man who speaks in hands."

Frisk frowned, but didn't get a chance to question the river person's strange words before they pulled up alongside the path to Waterfall.

"Come again some time. Tra la la."

The human nodded before leaving.

Frisk stared at the window that Papyrus had jumped through, still surprised that he would be willing to do that. Undyne's voice pulled them roughly from their thoughts. "So why are YOU here? To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate me even further? IS THAT IT?" As she spoke, Undyne was becoming more and more aggressive.

Immediately, the human shook their head.

Undyne's shoulders slumped. "Then why are you here?" Suddenly, her face darkened with realization. "Wait, I get it. You think I'm gonna be friends with you, huh? Right?"

Nod.

The fish Monster burst out laughing. "Really? How delightful!" she mocked. "I accept! Let's all frolic in the fields of friendship!"

Frisk looked hopeful for a moment. Maybe she meant it…?

"NOT!"

Or not.

"Why would I EVER be friends with YOU?! If you weren't my houseguest, I'd beat you up right now! You're the enemy of everyone's hopes and dreams! I WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND!" Undyne was on a roll. She took a deep breath before saying in a voice that could be compared to the calm before the storm, "Now get out of my house!"

The human bowed their head, feeling the familiar sting of rejection.

"DANG! WHAT A SHAME…" Frisk whipped their head in the direction of the broken window to see Papyrus looking smug. "I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE'S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE." With that, he ran off once more.

Undyne was livid. "CHALLENGE?! What?! Papyrus! Wait a second!"

Said skeleton was either too far away to hear, or didn't care.

"Darnit! He thinks I can't be friends with YOU?!" Undyne yelled. "Fuhuhu! What a joke! I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day! I'll show him!

Frisk gulped nervously at the dangerous look in Undyne's good eye. "Listen up, human. We're not just going to be friends. We're going to be…BESTIES. I'll make you like me so much, you won't be able to think of anyone else! Fuhuhu! It's the PERFECT REVENGE!"

Silently, Frisk wondered if every version of Undyne was this scary.

Undyne forced a cheerful grin. The song that had played while Frisk was 'dating' Papyrus echoed through the house. "Why don't you have a seat?"

Frisk cocked their head before going to examine a few things around the room. They walked up to the piano.

"If you know Papyrus, you know his little brother, right?" Undyne asked. Before they could answer, she continued. "I've been trying to teach him how to play the piano, but he's IMPOSSIBLE to understand. Usually, Sans comes over to translate, but he tends to just fall asleep on the table…"

The human nodded before sitting at the table.

"Comfortable?" Before they could reply, Undyne added, "I'll get you something to drink." The fish Monster went over to the fridge and began placing different items on the counter. "All set! What would you like?"

Frisk had barely twitched before Undyne hurled a spear of blue magic at them, cracking the table in two. The music stopped entirely.

"HEY! DON'T GET UP! YOU'RE THE GUEST! SIT DOWN AND ENJOY YOURSELF!" Realizing that she had started screaming, Undyne took a deep breath and, visibly straining herself, said, "Um…why not just point to what you want? You can use the spear!" Almost hesitantly, the music picked up where it left off.

Knowing exactly what to do to keep the hangout session moving, Frisk pulled the spear from the ruined table and pointed it at a set of boxes near the fridge.

"Tea, huh? Coming right up!" The room was dead silent as Undyne prepared a pot of water and placed it on the stove. "It'll take a moment for the water to boil."

Silence persisted in the room until the water boiled.

"Okay, it's all done." Undyne finished preparing a cup of tea before bringing it over to the human. "Here we are." She walked to the other side of the table and sat down. "Careful, it's hot."

Frisk nodded, hesitantly blowing on the tea to cool it off.

"It's not THAT hot! Just drink it already!"

They took a sip of the tea and immediately regretted it due to how hot it still was. Despite the heat, they still thought it was pretty good.

"It's pretty good, right?" Undyne said, forcing a grin. "Nothing but the best for my ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS FRIEND!"

Frisk smiled back and slowly sipped their tea again.

Finally, Undyne broke the silence once more. "Hey… You know, it's kind of strange that you chose THAT tea. Golden flower tea… That's Asgore's favorite kind. Actually, now that I think about it, you kind of remind me of him! You're both TOTAL weenies! …sort of."

She took a deep breath and tried to avoid looking at Frisk. "Y'know, I was a pretty hotheaded kid. You know Gerson, right? When I…he took me in, when I was a kid. He didn't think I would be able to survive without his help. To prove I was strong enough to, I tried to fight Asgore. Emphasis on TRIED. I couldn't land a single blow on him! And worse, the whole time, he refused to fight back! I was so humiliated…" A smile ghosted across Undyne's face. "Afterwards, he apologized and said something goofy. 'Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?' I said yes, and from then on, he trained me. One day, during practice, I finally knocked him down. I felt…bad. But he was beaming." She began laughing. "I had never seen someone more proud to have their butt kicked. Anyway, long story short, he kept training me…and now I'm head of the Royal Guard! So I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight! Like, uh, Papyrus."

Little did either of them know it, but a cloaked figure stood watching from the broken window. His eyes were fully concealed under his hood; his mouth had been covered by a dark green strip of fabric. No emotion could be read from him as Undyne explained her reasoning for not letting Papyrus into the Royal Guard. He did, however, giggle slightly when he saw Undyne start to lecture Frisk for a cooking lesson.

Deciding that they could handle themselves, the figure began walking away. Gripping onto the edge of the cloak, he flicked his right wrist, making the long, dark gray fabric billow around him. In the flurry of gray, Mistral vanished without a trace.

"Tra la la. Care for a ride?"

The human nodded before hopping onto the boat once more.

"Where will we go today?"

Could you take me back to Hotland?

"Then we're off…"

Silently, the river person's boat began moving through the water. Somehow, they managed to sound like they were still singing, despite their ever-present monotone.

"Tra la la. Try to defend the old when in someplace new."

Frisk blinked. That was new. What –

"Come again some time. Tra la la."

"MISTRAL! THE HUMAN JUST CALLED ME AND SAID THAT THEY WERE ABOUT TO GO AND FIGHT ASGORE! WE HAVE TO STOP OUR FRIENDS FROM FIGHTING!"

"wait, what?!"

"MISTRAL! ARE YOU STILL THERE? MISTRAL?"

"nononononononononono-"

For the second time in his memory, Mistral was running to make sure that someone wouldn't get turned to dust. This time, however, he was far from Snowdin.

He entered the elevator, his nervousness building for every second that passed. After what seemed like an eternity, it opened. Mistral barreled out of it, charging toward the throne room. Empty. He sprinted for the barrier, hoping he wasn't too late.

The second he entered the room, he boomed, "no! don't fight!" When he noticed the five pairs of eyes on him, Mistral was very glad that he had his hood up. "…please?"

A Monster that appeared to be a female version of Asgore smiled warmly. "Hello! I am Toriel. Are you one of my child's friends as well?"

Before he could reply, Mistral was shoved aside by a gloved hand. "HEY! NOBODY FIGHT ANYONE! IF ANYONE FIGHTS ANYONE…THEN I'LL! BE FORCED! TO ASK UNDYNE FOR HELP!" Mistral face palmed at his brother's words, knowing that they were one hundred percent true.

"Hello!" Toriel exclaimed, grinning.

"OH! HELLO, YOUR MAJESTY!" Not even lowering his voice a little, Papyrus crouched down by Frisk and began questioning them on who Toriel was.

Mistral decided to take a moment to see who exactly was there. Asgore, Toriel, Papyrus, Undyne, and… "question for the one standing by undyne."

The lizard Monster's eyes widened. "Y-yes? Y-you mean m-me, right?"

The skeleton nodded. "yeah. who are you?"

"I-uh, I'm Alphys, the r-royal scientist."

"nice to meet you, alphys the royal scientist."

"hey guys," Sans said, announcing his arrival. "what's up?"

Toriel's face lit up. "That voice!" She pushed her way by both Papyrus and Mistral. "Hello, I think we may know each other?"

"oh hey…i recognize your voice, too." Sans's grin seemed less forced.

"I am Toriel. So nice to meet you."

Sans winked. "the name's sans. and, uh, same."

"Oh! Wait, then…these must be your brothers!" Toriel said happily, turning to get a good look at the other two skeletons. "Papyrus and Mistral! Greetings! It is so nice to finally meet you two! Your brother has told me so much about the both of you."

Mistral nodded, his glowing pupils very visible under his cloak as they landed on his eldest brother. "so much about us, huh?" Somehow, despite only his pupils being visible, Sans could feel the irritation of being spoken about emanating from his little brother.

Unlike his brother, Papyrus was ecstatic. "WOWIE…I CAN'T BELIEVE ASGORE'S CLONE KNOWS WHO I AM! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

Toriel grinned mischievously. "Hey, Papyrus… What does a skeleton tile his roof with?"

Realizing what was going on, Mistral grinned back, his teeth glowing white in the shadow caused by his hood.

"HMMM…SNOW-PROOF ROOF TILES?"

"No, silly! A skeleton tiles his roof with…SHIN-gles!"

Papyrus looked like he was about to scream. "I CHANGED MY MIND! THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

Mistral pulled his hood down, feeling a bit more comfortable in the situation he was in. "did sans tell you that?" he asked jokingly.

Undyne, who had been trying to console, Asgore through the whole exchange, continued. "Come on, Asgore! It's gonna be OK!" She sent a glance Alphys's way. "There are plenty of fish in the sea…"

"Y-yeah, Asgore! Undyne's totally right about that fish thing! S-sometimes you've just got to, uh…s-stop going after furry boss monsters and, uh…j-just get to know a really cute fish…?" Alphys seemed to visibly shrink at the strange looks she was getting from both Undyne and Asgore. "It's a metaphor."

"Well," Undyne said, "I think it's a good analogy."

Mettaton (who Mistral hadn't even seen come in) struck a pose. "OH MY GOD! WILL YOU TWO JUST SMOOCH ALREADY?! THE AUDIENCE IS DYING FOR SOME ROMANTIC ACTION!"

"HEY, SHUT UP!" Undyne shrieked back. "Man, the nerve of that guy! Right, Alphys?"

Silence was Undyne's only reply.

"Uh, Alphys?"

Finally, Alphys spoke up. "No. He's right. LET'S DO IT."

Undyne, for the first time since Mistral had met her, looked extremely uncomfortable. "Well? Uh? I guess? If you want to? Then? Don't hold anything back!"

The two began to close in for a kiss, but Toriel ran in between them. "W-wait! Not in front of the human!"

Alphys began sweating nervously. "Uh, right! S-sorry, I got a little carried away there."

Seeing that everyone was moving to face the human, Mistral retreated to Papyrus's side.

Toriel giggled. "My child, it seems as if you must stay here for a while. But looking at all the great friends you made…I think…I think you will be happy here."

A look of realization crossed Alphys's face. "H-hey, that reminds me. Papyrus…YOU called everyone here, right? Well, besides, uh, her. Uh, anyway, if I got here before you…how did you know how to call everybody?"

Papyrus smirked. "LET'S JUST SAY…A TINY FLOWER HELPED ME."

"A tiny…flower?" Alphys asked, trembling with fear.

A vine burst of the floor, wrapping up each of the Monsters in its spiky grip and incapacitating them. Tears began flowing freely down Mistral's eye sockets from the intense pain he was in. A high-pitched voice began speaking from somewhere below. "You IDIOTS. While you guys were having your little pow-wow, I took the human SOULS! And now, not only are THOSE under my power, but all of your FRIENDS' SOULS are gonna be mine, too!" The voice giggled. "And you know what the best part is? It's all your fault. It's all because you MADE THEM love you."

No! Frisk's voice echoed within Mistral's soul.

Despite this, the voice bragged, "All the time you spent listening to them…encouraging them…caring for them…without that, they wouldn't have come here. And now, with their souls and the humans' together…I will achieve my REAL FORM."

Why are you doing this, Flowey?

"WHY am I still doing this? Don't you get it? This is all just a GAME. If you leave the underground satisfied, you'll 'win' the game. If you 'win', you won't want to 'play' with me anymore. And what would I do then? But this game between us will NEVER end. I'll hold victory in front of you, just within your reach…and then tear it away just before you grasp it. Over, and over, and over." The voice giggled again. "Listen. If you DO defeat me, I'll give you your 'happy ending'. I'll bring your friends back. I'll destroy the barrier. Everyone will finally be satisfied. But that WON'T happen. You! I'll keep you here no matter what!"

It was silent for a moment before the voice, Flowey, spoke again, his voice full of rage. "Even if it means killing you 1,000,000 times!"

Mistral heard Flowey cackling maniacally along with the sounds of various attacks hitting something. The last one, however, sounded like it was blocked.

"What?"

"Do not be afraid my child," Toriel spoke through her pain. "No matter what happens…we will always be there to protect you!"

Flowey tried to attack again, only to be blocked two separate times.

"THAT'S RIGHT, HUMAN! YOU CAN WIN! JUST DO WHAT I, WOULD DO…BELIEVE IN YOU!"

"Hey! Human! If you got past ME, you can do ANYTHING! So don't worry! We're with you all the way!"

"huh? you haven't beaten this guy yet? come on, this weirdo's got nothin' on you."

Attack. Block. Attack. Block.

"Technically, it's impossible for you to beat him…b-but, somehow, I know you can do it!"

"Human, for the future of humans and monsters, you have to stay determined!"

Mistral managed to gather enough strength to crack his eye sockets open. A little yellow flower was sending another attack at Frisk's bright red soul. He created a single bone to block the seeds. He winced at the effort, as well as noticing the very high LV that the little flower had. The skeleton could feel all eyes/eye sockets on him as he managed to talk through the pain he was in. "hey, you can do this. if you can take down a bitty bones that has no knowledge of formal fighting, you can take down this stupid f***ing flower."

Although he couldn't see it, Mistral could tell from the tone of Sans's voice that his pupil lights had gone out. "how do you know that word?!"

"piano lessons."

Before Sans could fish for more answers, almost every Monster in the underground began flooding the room, telling Frisk how they believed in them. The little flower began to look nervous.

"Urrrgh…NO! Unbelievable! This can't be happening…! You…YOU…" Suddenly, the flower's cheerful voice took on a dark tone. "I can't believe you're all so STUPID. ALL OF YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!"

The pain running through Mistral increased a hundred-fold. It blinded him for a few moments before he passed out.

He felt his memories begin to slip away. Good moment after good moment, each one vanishing from existence. The horrors he lived through demanded his attention, pushing away any remaining happiness.

Instead, there was fear, and anger, and loneliness, and self hatred.

The soul was…lost.

A voice called out an unidentifiable name, but the soul still felt compelled to answer. When he saw what had called him, he flinched away in fear.

The human (friend/murderer/defender) took a step towards them, and a voice echoed within his soul. Would you cook something for me?

"Freak! Get in there, and don't you dare burn breakfast again!"

The Lost Soul looked down at his feet. His voice wavered. "I'd only ruin it like I ruin everything else."

They frowned. Do you wanna build a snowman?

"Get him!" Cold snow pelted at him from all directions. Rocks and ice embedded in the snowballs easily bruised his body.

"Snow is bad. It hurts people…"

Another frown, this one followed by a look that screamed determination. Can you show me some magic?

Immediately, the Lost Soul froze up from the sheer amount of memories associated by that one word alone.

"There's no such thing as magic!"

"If I hear you say that word again, you'll be worse off than without food!"

"Mum! The freak said the 'm' word again!"

"Th-th-that's a b-b-bad word," the soul cried out, pulling up the hood of his cloak without a second thought. He retreated into the comforting darkness, but it only made him more anxious.

They realized that they weren't getting through to the Lost Soul. Desperately, the human called out for help…

"Who would ever help a freak like you, boy?"

"No one ever comes," the soul stated bitterly. "Why would they start now?"

Before the human could reply, they felt something squeeze their shoulder. They turned their head to see a tall skeleton with two long cracks in his mask-like skull. He was wearing a black robe, and had a large hole in the center of each hand. Two semi-transparent hands appeared at his sides and began gesturing as he spoke in complete gibberish. Somehow, the combination of the two managed to brush the human's soul, letting them understand what was being said. "THANK YOU FOR PULLING HIM THIS FAR FROM THE MADNESS OF LOSING ONESELF. MY WIFE AND I WILL TAKE IT FROM HERE."

He walked forward, closely followed by…the river person? The river person pulled down their hood to reveal a skull with a separated jaw, just like Papyrus's. Their, no her, hands flew up in an attempt to cover her mouth as her eye sockets trained on the Lost Soul. She tried to rush towards the soul, but the taller skeleton held her back. "what are you doing?! my baby bones needs me!"

"L.D., WE HAVE TO TAKE THIS SLOWLY, REMEMBER?" The river person nodded, staying perfectly still as the taller skeleton released her. Slowly, he lowered himself to his knees before holding out his arms. "I ASSURE YOU, LITTLE ONE, THAT MY WIFE AND I WILL NEVER INJURE YOU, AND WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO PROTECT YOU FROM THEM."

"relax, kid. my family won't hurt you." He sighed. "look, i don't make promises often, so can you tell that i mean it when i promise that they won't hurt you?"

"THERE IS NO REASON TO FEAR US, LITTLE ONE. IT WOULD BE WRONG OF US TO EVEN THINK OF HURTING YOU. PLEASE…I UNDERSTAND THAT YOUR TRUST IS NOT EASY TO GIVE AFTER WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN THROUGH…BUT CAN YOU AT LEAST TRY?"

"i know why you don't want to trust me…but if you want, i'm always in here around this time, if you want me to teach you how."

"LITTLE BROTHER! I, THE GREAT … PROMISE TO YOU THAT I WILL BE THE GREATEST BIG BROTHER TO HAVE EVER LIVED! COME, AND I WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO PRANK OUR MOTHER AND FATHER!"

"DO NOT WORRY, LITTLE ONE. THOSE HUMANS WILL NEVER REACH YOU, SO LONG AS I LIVE."

Suddenly, memories came rushing back to him, the veil over his face lifting. Mistral's pupil lights were almost taking up his entire eye sockets when they landed on the taller skeleton. "d-dad? is that really you?"

Somehow, the mask-like skull managed to grin even wider. "YES, BUT I WILL NOT BE HERE FOR LONG. IT IS TAKING ALL OF MY STRENGTH TO EVEN MATERIALIZE ON THIS PLANE OF REALITY."

The river person stood on the tips of her phalanges, reaching up to swat the taller skeleton on the back of the head. "you're gone for years, leaving me out of my mind, and you think you can just pop up for a few minutes with everything being ok?! oh no, wingding, it's time you and i had a talk!"

Wingding flinched. "L.D., DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS IN FRONT OF MISTRAL?"

Mistral grinned. "actually, i'd like to know this as well."

The taller skeleton's hand projections seemed to fizzle for a moment, like they were on a TV with bad reception. Wingding's small pupil lights were full of fear as he began signing and speaking faster than before. "I DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME, BUT I KNOW ONE OF – " Glitch. "–FAMILY WILL FIND A WAY. TELL SANS AND PAPYRUS THAT I LOVE THEM, AND I'M–" Glitch. "–I WASN'T ABLE TO SEE THEM AS WELL. I SPEND EVERY MOMENT ATTEMPTING TO FIND A WAY BACK, AND I…I…" His form seemed to flicker. Hurriedly, he pulled L.D. and Mistral into a hug before fading out completely.

Mistral's eye sockets met the human's, Frisk's, eyes. They were as cold as ice. "make that creepy psycho flower suffer."

The world faded for Mistral once more, but not before he heard his adopted mother cry out in pain as her soul mate shattered into the infinite timelines once more.

When Mistral opened his eye sockets again, he was surprised to see hundreds, if not thousands of souls, floating through the room and back to the rest of the underground. An upside-down heart he could see was a fiery orange landed beside him. It glowed slightly, before forming an orange body of pure light. The light slowly faded, revealing the teal scales of Undyne. She slowly opened her eye, amazed at the sight before her. "What…just happened?"

Mistral smirked. "i believe i now owe frisk more trust."

Two more souls separated from the migrating wave. One began forming a lanky, greenish-blue body while the other formed a short, dark blue one. In perfect sync with each other, the light faded to reveal both Papyrus and Sans, looking just as stunned as Mistral and Undyne.

Over time, three more souls landed, reforming into Alphys, Toriel, and Asgore. Surprisingly, everyone was so star-struck at the sight of the mass soul migration, it wasn't until the last one had left that Toriel noticed that Frisk was lying on the ground. She gave a yelp, which startled the other Monsters into noticing.

Hours went by, the seven Monsters all trying to wake up the small human. They all could see how terrified they were.

"Frisk!" Toriel called out steadily, holding the human's hands in her own. "This is all just a bad dream! Please, wake up!"

Almost immediately, Frisk's eyes flew open.

"Oh! You are awake! Thank goodness!" Toriel exclaimed, throwing her arms around the human in a hug.

"W-we were so worried!" Alphys stuttered. "It felt like you were out forever!"

"Yeah!" Undyne agreed, a smile on her face. "Any longer and I would have freaked out! Tell us next time you decide to take a nap, okay?!"

Mistral grinned. "you were freaking out."

Undyne glared at the skeleton, who tactfully retreated behind his brothers.

"yeah," Sans agreed. "you made papyrus cry like a baby. and misty was looking a little misty-eyed."

"WHAT! I DIDN'T CRY! I DON'T CRY!" Papyrus yelled indignantly.

"neither did i, sans."

"I JUST…CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE."

Sans grinned. "what did you catch?"

"TEARS!"

"Now, now," Asgore said, trying to refrain from laughing. "The important part is that Frisk is all right." He crouched down, handing the human a cup. "Here, Frisk. Why not drink some tea? It'll make you feel better."

Toriel looked uncomfortable. "Err…why don't you give them space, first? They must be very exhausted. Though from what, I am not certain." She blushed. "Frisk…we do not remember exactly what happened. There was a flower…and then, everything went white."

"i already told you, toriel!" Mistral exclaimed. "the creepy psycho flower came, stole the souls of everyone in the underground, then frisk here saved us!"

The goat-like Monster chuckled. "My, what an overactive imagination. No matter what happened, the barrier is gone. When you are ready, we will all return to the surface. It seems the door to the east will lead us there now. But before then…perhaps you might want to take a walk? You can say goodbye to all your wonderful friends. Do as you wish. We will all wait for you here."

Frisk glanced over all the Monsters, wanting to see what their opinions were on the matter. Each one gave them a supportive smile, except for Mistral, whose expression was completely hidden by his hood.

Noticing Frisk's gaze, he slowly pulled the hood down, revealing the proud grin on his face. "i'm sorry i doubted you, friend."

The human smiled back before backing out of the room. There was something that they wanted to check before they left. A small point of light in the corner of the room drew their attention. Without hesitation, they walked over to it.

(Knowing that the monsters are finally free, but still have a long way to go, fills you with determination. Would you like to save?)

(Saved.)

Chapter Text

A smile was spread across Frisk's face as they entered New Home once more. This time, however, they knew they wouldn't be attacked, and that…that… The human cocked their head. Why could they hear Sans's and Papyrus's themes playing together?

They rushed through the living area of Asgore's castle, towards the music. It seemed to alternate back and forth, the two songs building off each other. Frisk ignored the short tremors that sometimes vibrated the floor, instead focusing on finding out what was going on.

The human entered the Judgment Hall and was surprised to see Sans and Papyrus both trying to attack Undyne. Why hadn't they been sto-oh. A wall of blue bones was covering the doorway leading to Asgore's throne room.

A frown on their face, Frisk willed a text box into existence right in between the fighting Monsters. *You ask Sans, Papyrus, and Undyne what they are fighting about.

Undyne glared at the skeletons, who had finally halted their attacks. Sans's left eye socket was still glowing blue and Papyrus's right eye socket a bright orange; the overlapping songs still played, but were more subdued than before. "I say ONE thing wrong around the punk during piano lessons and THESE TWO TRY TO KILL ME!"

Sans's perma-grin seemed slightly insane as he replied in an emotionless voice, "This isn't the first word that Mistral has picked up from you."

Papyrus nodded. "A baby bones is not supposed to hear that kind of language," he agreed in the same tone.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOW HE WAS SWEARING UNTIL SANS TOLD YOU, PUNK!" Undyne shrieked. A cyan spear formed in her hand.

*You tell your friends to stop fighting.

*You ask if Mistral would want them to fight over something like this.

Immediately, the lights in the skeletons' eye sockets died. A look of horror crossed Papyrus's face, and Sans's grin looked extremely forced. They both ran for the door, the blue bones all vanishing into thin air. Frisk ran over to Undyne, who had let her spear dematerialize before falling to her knees.

Frisk shrank down the text box, having it form right in front of Undyne. *You ask Undyne if she is hurt.

A grin threatened to split the fish Monster's face, but the effect was ruined as her left arm twitched and she grimaced. "You seriously think this is enough to hurt me? You're such a nerd! I've been hit with worse when –" Undyne cut herself off, her good eye wide with fear.

*You tell Undyne that you already know what she is.

The fins on the sides of Undyne's head drooped. "So…so you know…"

Nod.

"…my dad was jealous of me," Undyne started, clutching her left arm. "He was from a family of sages, but didn't have magic, so they cut all ties to him. When he had me, and I started showing that I had magic, can you imagine how pi-uh, peeved he was. When my scales started showing up, he thought of Mt. Ebott. He dumped me near the top after I hit four. Tripped over a vine, then, well, you know the rest…"

Frisk nodded before pulling Undyne into a hug.

"Hey punk, what do you think you're doing?!" she hissed, trying to wriggle free without injuring herself further.

The human let go and backed away. *You ask if Undyne wants you to go get Toriel.

Undyne shrugged. "Does she know healing magic?"

Nod.

She grinned widely. "Then by all means, bring her in!"

Frisk nodded again before walking to the back room again. Inside, Mistral was lecturing a distraught Papyrus and an unapologetic Sans while Alphys, Toriel, and Asgore watched. "you numbskulls could have turned her to dust! it doesn't matter that you were mad at her!"

"I…I TRULY AM SORRY, MISTRAL. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE IF I HAD…" Papyrus bowed his head before posing heroically. "IT DOESN'T MATTER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS CANNOT CHANGE THE PAST, BUT I CAN DO MY BEST TO MAKE UP FOR IT IN THE FUTURE! I MUST MAKE UNDYNE APOLOGY SPAGHETTI!"

Sans somehow managed to smirk without changing his expression at all from its usual smug grin. "to express your regretti?"

"NO! I AM OFFICIALLY DONE WITH YOU, SANS!"

Frisk giggled silently as they walked over to Toriel. They lightly tugged on her dress. She beamed down at them. "Yes, my child? I thought you were going to visit your friends."

*You tell Toriel that Undyne is hurt.

Toriel scowled in the direction of the three skeletons. Mistral's hood was down, so it was easy to see that his hand was placed against his forehead in exasperation. Sans was grinning like a madman. Papyrus was stomping his foot in irritation. "Will you lead me to her, Frisk?"

Frisk took Toriel's hand and led her to Undyne.

Meanwhile, Asgore was watching, amused, as the three skeletons bickered good-naturedly. "T-they're always d-doing stuff like that. It's l-like they have a system or s-something."

Asgore looked down on his left to see Alphys smiling softly. "Oh?"

"Y-yeah, Sans tells a p-pun, which P-Papyrus gets annoyed b-by, which either m-makes Mistral laugh or sigh, w-which e-encourages Sans."

The King of the Monsters watched the trio for Alphys's observations. Sure enough, whenever Mistral reacted to Papyrus's over-the-top fake anger, Sans's grin would grow almost unnoticeably wider. "It is good that he has his brothers, after all that has happened to him… They seem to keep each other going."

"Y-you're actually p-partially right, y-your M-Majesty," Alphys stuttered.

"How so?"

Alphys began to sweat nervously as she explained. "I-it's not m-m-my research, b-but I found s-some old n-notes in the lab w-when I s-started. W-when souls are related, a b-bond of trust and k-kinship is there, r-right? S-skeletons were j-j-just forced b-by humans to d-develop that more than other m-monsters. H-humans hated them f-for existing, so they h-had to s-stick t-t-together. Y-you saw Sans a-and Papyrus fight, r-right?"

Asgore nodded. "There were a few gaps in the bones."

"B-before the barrier was m-made, skeletons had t-to b-b-band together to s-survive. O-only a f-few monsters c-c-can fight in sync l-like that, and s-skeletons can do it as l-long as they're r-r-related and their emotions a-are in sync! I-it's incredible!"

The King nodded again. "I am glad that Mistral was able to be accepted by them. If only half of what L.D. explained to me was true…it is extremely fortunate that Mistral was found when he was."

"ALL RIGHT, PUNKS! FRISK SAYS WE'RE GOING TOPSIDE!" Undyne yelled as she entered the room. Her eye flew over to the skeletons.

Papyrus took that as his cue to step forward. "UNDYNE…I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DO HUMBLY APOLOGIZE FOR MY ACTIONS. I…WASN'T MYSELF. NO, I UNDERSTAND THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE, BUT –"

Mistral threw his elbow very not-so-discreetly to his right, hitting Sans lightly, but still painfully, in the ribs.

"owwww…yeah. we didn't do it on porpoise."

Poke.

"ow. misty, that's as reel as it gets. stop fishing for apologies."

Mistral visibly rolled his visual orbs. "don't give me that line, sans. i think you can do bait-er than that."

Papyrus screamed. "OH MY GOD! CAN YOU TWO NOT DO THIS IN FRONT OF THE OTHERS?!"

"sorry, paps."

"…yeah, we're not sorry."

"AAUGH!"

Toriel frowned sternly. "Sans, Mistral, you are both upsetting Papyrus."

Papyrus smiled triumphantly. "THANK YOU, CLONE ASGORE! I DO NOT KNOW WHA-"

"Besides, I believe you two cod do batter."

There was a moment of silence in the room before Mistral and Sans both started cracking up. Papyrus yelled, "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!"

The female Boss Monster looked down when she felt a tug on her dress. "Yes, Frisk? Are you ready to leave this place?"

Frisk nodded, their eyes twinkling with determination. Slowly, as though savoring the last few moments of their long exile, the Monsters followed the human through the room that the barrier had once stood in. Each Monster gasped in awe as their eyes (or eye sockets) gazed upon the world before them.

Toriel was the first to find her words. "Oh my…"

Her words seemed to bring Asgore to speak as well. "Isn't it beautiful, everyone?"

"Wow…" Alphys said, stunned. "It's e-even better than on TV. WAY better! Better than I ever imagined!"

"Frisk, you LIVE with this?!" Undyne exclaimed. "The sunlight is so nice…and the air is so fresh! I really feel alive!"

"HEY SANS…MISTRAL…WHAT'S THAT GIANT BALL?"

"we call that 'the sun', my friend," Sans replied, truly sounding at peace.

"THAT'S THE SUN?" Papyrus asked, his voice full of joy. "WOWIE!

Mistral was smiling softly, the corners of his eye sockets glowing blue and green. "at the end of the day there's another day dawning and the sun in the morning is waiting to rise," he quoted, remembering the words from one of the few movies that he and his brothers had managed to scrounge up over the years. Sans glanced at his youngest brother before reaching out to squeeze his shoulder.

Papyrus, oblivious to the exchange, continued excitedly. "I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!"

"I could stand here and watch this for hours…" Asgore said wistfully.

"Yes, it is beautiful, is it not?" Toriel agreed. "But we should really think about what comes next."

Asgore's shoulders slumped slightly. "Oh, right. Everyone…this is the beginning of a bright new future. An era of peace between humans and monsters." He sent a glance in the human's direction. "Frisk…I have something to ask of you. Will you act as our ambassador to the humans?"

Frisk grinned. Nod.

"YEAH!" Papyrus cheered. "FRISK WILL BE THE BEST AMBASSADOR! AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE THE BEST MASCOT! I'LL GO MAKE A GOOD FIRST IMPRESSION!" With that, he sprinted down the mountain.

Everyone was silent for a moment before Sans spoke up. "welp. someone's gotta keep him from getting into trouble."

Mistral nodded grimly. "definitely. it'll find any of us too easily up here."

"you're coming, then?" Sans asked, turning his head to face his little brother.

"yes," Mistral said in a clipped tone, leaving no room for argument.

Sans nodded. "well, see you guys." He took Mistral's hand in his own before walking back into the mountain.

Undyne groaned. "Man, do I have to do EVERYTHING? Papyrus, wait!" She charged in the direction of her friend.

"Hey, Undyne! Wait up!" Alphys called out, chasing after her girlfriend.

An awkward silence fell over the cliff. Finally, Asgore spoke up. "Whoops."

Silence.

Asgore cleared his throat. "Uh, should I do something?"

Toriel glared at him.

The king took the hint. "Well, gotta go!" He raced after the other Monsters.

Once she was sure Asgore was gone, Toriel said, "It seems everyone is quite eager to set off."

Frisk nodded.

"Frisk…you came from this world, right? So you must have a place to return to, do you not? What will you do now?"

Without hesitating for a second, the familiar text box appeared. *You tell Toriel that you want to stay with her.

"What?" Toriel asked, surprised. "Frisk…you really are a funny child. If you had said this earlier, none of this would have happened. It is a good thing you took so long to change your mind." Toriel giggled. "Well…I suppose. If you really do not have any other place to go…I will do my best to take care of you, for as long as you need. All right?"

Frisk nodded happily.

Toriel smiled. "Now, come along." She took Frisk's hand. "Everyone is waiting for us!" Toriel began to lead Frisk down the mountain.

"Stupefy!"

"Get up, you bloody monster!"

Mistral winced as he was jarred into consciousness by a swift kick in the ribs. He cracked open his eye sockets and froze. A tall human was staring down at him, a disgusted look on his face.

The human scowled. "On your feet!"

With a whimper, Mistral complied. His hands flew for the hood of his cloak only to meet empty air. His…his cloak. Where was his cloak?!

As if reading his mind, the human sneered, "The cloak you had was very bad. We took it so it wouldn't hurt people."

Mistral's arms wrapped around his rib cage as he ducked his head nervously. He received jolt, which he quickly assumed had come from the stick the human was holding.

"Come on! I don't have all day, you freak!"

Flinching, the skeleton began following the human, which he assumed was a sage. He was led at the tip of the stick through several winding, foreboding hallways. Eventually, the sage forced Mistral through a doorway, slamming the door shut behind him.

"fudge, do you seriously wanna have a bad time? 'cause my little bro definitely didn't get that scared just from being stunned."

Mistral's eye sockets widened as they landed on Sans. Immediately, he rushed over to his brother, seemingly torn between giving him a bear hug and hiding behind him.

"h-hey, easy. just because some humans –" he stopped, as if he were taking a moment to glare at someone, " – can't keep their promises doesn't mean others can't."

A hand rested on Mistral's shoulder, which he jerked away from. "Oh my…my apologies, Mistral. It was not my intention to startle you."

Mistral forced himself to look up, doing his best (and failing) to keep his expression completely neutral. "i-it's fine," he said as he saw the guilty face of Toriel gazing upon him. "really. h-humans just set m-me on edge."

Toriel didn't look convinced, but a tug on the edge of her dress alerted her of Frisk's want for her to drop the subject. "Nevertheless, I should not have scared you, on purpose or no."

"Perhaps it would be best if we made creating housing for these kind souls our top priority for the time being."

The unfamiliar voice made Mistral automatically try to use Sans as a shield. Cautiously, he poked his head out from behind the t-shirt (where had his brother's hoodie gone?) in front of him. Two humans stood in the room, both of which had been standing silently during the exchange. The one who had spoken, a very elderly male wearing a neon orange and yellow robe, seemed to be waiting for a reply.

"Yes," Toriel agreed diplomatically. "I believe that would be best as well."

"th-there's a catch," Mistral said, narrowing his eye sockets. Everyone fell silent for a moment, as if realizing the weight his words carried. "there's always a catch."

"Mistral, it is rude to –"

"You're quite observant, Mistral," the man said, his eyes twinkling. "There is one catch, but I think it would benefit the monsters more in the long run. I would like for a few monsters to come as first years to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A few new classes would have to open as well, seeing as how the masses will have to learn about monsters," he added with a glance at Toriel.

The younger of the two skeletons stared at the human, unable to process what he had just heard.

Toriel smiled. "That is a –"

The door was thrown open. "THERE YOU TWO ARE! I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER FIND YOU! DID YOU SEE HOW BIG THIS PLACE IS? THE ELEVATOR IS ALMOST LIKE THE ONE IN HOTLAND!" Two skeletal arms wrapped themselves around Sans and Mistral, effectively surprising everyone in the room.

"so, where's me and my bros' stuff?"

"I-it has been placed under quarantine. There's so much magic trapped in the fabric, we need to make sure they don't have any curses or –"

"Actually, Minister Fudge, we monsters are made of magic. In the time I have known these three skeletons, Papyrus has never taken off his scarf, Mistral his cloak, nor Sans his hoodie. They have been worn so often that the fabric absorbed some of their ambient magic. There is no harm in letting them keep their things."

"But –"

"fudge, misty needs his cloak. not up for debate."

"...Very well…"

Through much negotiation (and a few pleas from Mistral against), it was worked out that the elderly human, who had introduced himself as 'Professor Dumbledore' (and swiftly nicknamed 'Bumbles' by Sans) would work to get housing set up at the base of Mt. Ebbot. The other human, who was balding despite being younger than Dumbledore, had been too overwhelmed by the fact that the Monsters were there to speak, had to be prompted by Dumbledore to work on getting citizenship for the Monsters.

Five days of moving from the surface to Asgore's castle (where the entire group had been invited to stay) and back again later, multiple buildings had been set up. Several had been claimed by various Monsters, with Frisk and their closest friends choosing housing close to each other.

No one commented on how Mistral seemed a little too ecstatic to go up to his new room.

"knock knock."

Mistral glanced at his bedroom door momentarily before going back to the book he was reading.

"knock knock."

With a sigh, he halfheartedly complied. "who's there?"

"when."

"…when who?"

"when you comin' out, misty? we're all getting pretty worried."

He glared at the door. "i'm fine. is it wrong to want some time to myself?"

"usually, no. when it's been over a week since you left your room? yeah. you've always been skin and bones, but you haven't been eating."

"yes i have!" Mistral snapped, slamming his book closed. Technically, he wasn't wrong. He had snuck down to the kitchen a few days back to snag some food. He hadn't been able to bring himself to eat anything, though.

"…you're turning 11 tomorrow, misty. the others have a surprise for ya, but you'll have to come out to see it. okay?"

"…fine."

On the morning of July 31st, a skeleton was woken by a quiet tapping on his window. He cracked his eye sockets open to glare in the direction of the tapping, but his scowl quickly turned into a look of shock as Mistral took in the brown owl tapping on his bedroom window. He pulled himself out from within his nest of blankets and walked over to open the window.

The second the window popped open, the owl flew in. It circled around the room once before landing on top of a small pile of haphazardly-stacked books. The owl then proudly held out its leg to Mistral, showing off the letter tied to it. Mistral cautiously reached out, and when the owl didn't react aggressively, he carefully detached the letter and read it, barely noting the intricate seal on the front.

Mr. M. Pianissimo

The Second Smallest Bedroom

21 New Snowdin Street

Newer Home

Derbs

Mistral blinked once at the preciseness of the address before breaking the wax seal that held the envelope closed. Once open, he began to read.

Dear Mr. Pianissimo,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Due to Clause Three of the Code of Wand Use, we must inform you that, despite your acceptance to Hogwarts, you will be unable to carry a wand, and will have to use your magic in creative ways to mimic what is required for classes. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Mistral blinked once, then twice. "who the hell is minerva mcgonagall?"

"make sure you bring your letter, misty."

"YES, MISTRAL, YOUR LETTER IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE ON THIS TRIP!"

"still think it would be nice to know where we're going, guys."

"NONSENSE, MISTRAL! THAT WOULD RUIN THE SURPRISE!"

"yeah, and what kind of surprise would it be if we patella you?"

"SANS!"

"sorry paps. come on, i've got a shortcut."

Mistral frowned as he entered through the doorway of a dingy-looking, silent bar. Several humans were scattered around the interior, the drunk bunny that usually hung out at Grillby's being the only Monster present. The second the three skeletons entered the room, the already quiet bar seemed to grow tense. "Want some help getting through?" a human standing behind the bar asked.

Papyrus shook his head. "WE APPRECIATE YOUR KIND OFFER, BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE MY WAYS OF GETTING IN! NYEH-HEH-HEH!" With that, said skeleton charged to the back.

Sans grabbed onto Mistral's hand. He flashed a large grin that may have been a bit more dangerous than usual to the humans in the room before following his brother to the alley.

When they caught up to Papyrus, the tall skeleton was grumbling to himself, holding out his right hand to the brick wall at the back of the alley with his right eye glowing faintly. With a nod to something unseen, he thrusted his gloved hand forward. Suddenly, the bricks of the wall began peeling back, forming themselves into a perfect archway leading into a packed street.

The eldest skeleton let go of the youngest's hand and attempted to ruffle the top of his skull as if it were hair. "welcome to diagon alley, misty."

"…diagon alley," Mistral said, as if tasting the words. "diagon alley, dia-gon-alley, dia-go-nal-ly, diagonally. wow. the sages name things just like king asgore. the alley is even kind of diagonal. seriously."

"there's a street farther down called knockturn alley," Sans informed, smirking.

"don't tell me…they sell stuff that the sages think are 'dark'."

Papyrus gasped, his hands pressed up to his face. "HOW DID YOU GUESS THAT, MISTRAL?"

Enter, stranger, but take heed

Of what awaits the sin of greed,

For those who take, but do not earn,

Must pay most dearly in their turn.

So if you seek beneath our floors

A treasure that was never yours,

Thief, you have been warned, beware

Of finding more than treasure there.

Mistral gaped as he finished reading the poem engraved into the marble of the building. He knew that Muffet, one of the Monsters from the underground, was overprotective of her wealth, but these…Monsters seemed to take it to a new level.

He barely noticed as Sans and Papyrus led him to the counter at the end of the hall, too focused on observing how much the Monsters seemed to love their work. It wasn't until someone cleared his throat that Mistral pulled his head out of the clouds. The Monster at the counter was staring at him. He ducked his head down, longing to pull up his cloak's hood, but refrained from doing so. "sorry, it just isn't often that you see someone, let alone a group of people, that genuinely enjoy what they do."

The Monster gave a sharp-toothed smile. He cleared his throat again before speaking in something the three skeletons easily felt translate in their heads. {I understand, pianissimo. The wizards do tend to force others unwillingly into various positions, don't they? I apologize that my kind were unable to do anything to help.}

Mistral frowned. "you weren't around when my kind was locked underground, so you have no reason to be sorry."

"YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE SO HARD ON YOURSELF, TELLER GOBLIN!"

Sans shook his skull. "that's not what he means."

{No, it isn't.} The 'teller goblin', as Papyrus called him, looked Mistral directly in the eye sockets. {We were able to detect the influx of monster-oriented magic near Mt. Ebbot six years ago to this day. I and my clan could have stepped in to defend you, Dual Blood, but we were unable to make it in time.}

As the goblin spoke, Mistral tilted his skull slightly. "why are you beating yourself up about it? even if you had, i would have always been an outcast. it's better that i got to meet my family. without them…life would have been a lot harder."

The goblin nodded. "As you say," he replied, switching back to English. "Pianissimos and fortissimo, do you wish to withdraw money today?"

"we're here to exchange, actually. how much do first years at Hogwarts usually pay, minus the wand?"

"First years usually pay roughly 150 galleons for all their supplies, but some of the human shopkeepers will raise their prices because you are not human, so I would estimate the total cost at about…400 galleons."

Papyrus and Mistral watched as Sans nodded. "and how many pieces of monster gold is a 'galleon' worth?"

The goblin grinned again, switching out of English. {The wizards believe that it is ten gold to a galleon, but monster gold is rarer than we let on. Truthfully, it's the other way around.}

Papyrus frowned. "BUT ISN'T THAT –"

"papyrus," Mistral cut him off, "humans are greedier than muffet. if they can make some quick money, even at the expense of others, they'll do it. this nice goblin is trying to help us."

"BUT –"

Sans shook his head. "it's already happening, paps." To emphasize his point, he handed 40 gold coins over to the bank teller. "here."

The goblin nodded, quickly examining the coins for authenticity before retreating through one of the many doors that opened into the lobby of Gringotts.

"BUT –"

Mistral shushed him. "just let it happen, papyrus."

The skeleton brothers entered a shop called Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, taking in the sights as they went. The small witch that worked there seemed to tense up when she saw them. "Yes? How may I help you three?" she asked nervously.

Sans nudged Mistral, silently prompting him to speak up. Mistral, who had pulled up his hood while they were outside, forced himself to lower it once more. "i…i'm g-going to hogwarts in the f-fall, and i n-need robes for it."

The woman nodded hesitantly before directing Mistral to stand on one of the many stools situated around the room. A human child stood on a stool nearby, looking considerably paler than would be considered healthy. "W-what are those undead doing in here?"

Sans glanced at Papyrus. "hey paps…why don't you go look at the pet store across the street? there're a ton of animals over there…"

Papyrus scowled, knowing what was coming next. "NO, SANS! DON'T SAY IT!"

"…a skeleton."

The tall skeleton groaned. "THAT'S IT! I'LL BE AT THE PET STORE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DO NOT WISH TO ABANDON YOU WITH SANS'S PUNS, MISTRAL, BUT IT APPEARS I HAVE NO CHOICE." With that, the skeleton marched out.

The second the door closed, Sans was staring at the kid with empty eye sockets. "listen, pal. we might look like human skeletons, but we're our own monsters. if i ever hear of you saying different, you're gonna have a bad time. got it?"

Nervously, the kid nodded. He remained silent as the woman, who the skeletons assumed was Madam Malkin, finished Mistral's robes. The two skeletons paid, then left to go find the tallest of their trio.

"SANS! MISTRAL! LOOK AT THIS WHITE FEATHERED CREATURE! IT SEEMS TO REALLY LIKE ME!"

"…i think we have enough for it, paps, if you really want it."

"hmm…the sages do use owls to deliver mail. it could let us talk when i'm at hogwarts."

"NYEH, YES, RIGHT. WHILE YOU ARE AT HOGWARTS, AND WE ARE AT HOME. MISSING YOU. BECAUSE WE WON'T BE THERE."

"yo shopkeep, how much for this owl?"

"Sh-she's 50 g-galleons, sir."

"…we'll take her."

"why are we getting… 'ice cream'? is it like nice cream?"

"YES, BUT THEY DO NOT COME WITH MOTIVATIONAL PICTURES AND PHRASES."

"yeah. i guess you could say it's a pretty –"

"NO!"

"– chill place to be."

"you're right, sans. it does seem –"

"NOT YOU, TOO!"

"– like it's pretty cool."

"UGH! I WILL STAY AND BUY OUR ICE CREAM, SINCE THERE IS A LINE! WHY DON'T YOU GO HELP MISTRAL GET HIS SCHOOL BOOKS, SANS?"

"you got it, papyrus. sorry to snowflake out on you like this, but –"

"STOP! WITH! YOUR! HORRIBLE PUNS!"

"actually, i'd say his puns aren't horrible. i'd say they're pretty…"

"PUT THAT PAPER BACK IN YOUR CLOAK, MISTRAL!"

"…tearible, papyrus."

"GO AWAY NOW! BOTH OF YOU!"

"you're smiling, paps!"

"I AM AND I HATE IT!"

"there isn't a single book on science in this entire store…"

"and none of these even mention monsters existing. it's like we were erased…from…existence…"

"…misty, you ok? misty?"

"huh? oh, i'm fine. just…felt like i was forgetting something important."

"heh, yeah…"

…

"hey sans?"

"yeah, bro?"

"do you remember what our dad's name was? i can't for some reason…"

"wingding gaster. you remember ol' wingding, right?"

"…yeah, i do. do you think he's ok? and that mom's going to be ok?"

"our ol' man's determined, misty. as soon as he pulls himself together, mom'll be able good again, too."

…

"do you promise?"

"i promise."

Chapter Text

Six times a year, Platform 9 3/4 at the Kings Cross Station was packed with witches and wizards. Families ran through the pillar that lead to the muggle section of the train station. Parents side-along apparated in, leaving their children to feel disoriented. This time, however, something was different.

This time, Monsters walked among the humans. A child made of green fire was hugging her father, a man made of orange fire. Two proud parents that were akin to armless dinosaurs were leaning over to nuzzle their equally-armless son. And in the middle of the crowd…

"I AM SO HAPPY THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO GO TO HOGWARTS WITH MISTRAL, FRISK! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW THAT YOU WILL DO WELL!" Papyrus was practically vibrating with excitement as he gushed over the small human, who merely watched him with a smile.

"I wish I could go," Undyne said. "I mean, a school of sages? I think I'm better off with my job now, though. WHO ELSE IS GOING TO TRAIN THOSE NERD AURORS, RIGHT?"

Alphys twitched nervously. "Uh, I w-wish I could go, too, but m-my j-job's been going well. I-I can't just l-leave it."

Asgore bowed his head slightly. "Sadly, I must remain at the Ministry of Magic. Hopefully, I will be able to convince the Wizengamot to allow us more rights."

A hand placed itself of Frisk's shoulder. "Do not worry, my child. I will meet you at the school. Oh, I do hope the human children are not too difficult to teach…"

Frisk grinned up at their adoptive mother. A small text box appeared over their head. *You tell Mom that she will do fine.

Toriel crouched down and wrapped her arms around the human. "Thank you for saying that, my child. It truly means a great deal to…see you say that."

"heya." Every head whipped around to see Sans and Mistral walking out from behind one of the many pillars scattered throughout the station. Barely audible over the crowd, Sans was projecting his soul's relaxed theme. Sans grinned smugly at Papyrus. "told ya we wouldn't be late."

Papyrus raised a bony eyebrow. "WHERE IS MISTRAL'S TRUNK?"

"here." Mistral mirrored Sans's grin as he moved over slightly, revealing the trunk sitting on the ground behind him, a cage with a snowy owl in it positioned on top.

Frisk frowned. The text box appeared in front of Mistral. *You ask how Mistral did that.

If anything, Mistral's smile grew. "magic!" he practically sang.

The tallest of the three skeletons squatted until he was able to look Mistral in the eyes. "I…I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU , MISTRAL. YOU ARE GOING TO A NEW PLACE THAT IS FILLED WITH HUMANS, AND YET YOU ARE NOT PANICKING."

Mistral shrugged. "i think i'm in a state of near-permanent terror now. i'm only used to the constant fear. sans is helping a bit, too."

"NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT, YOU ARE FACING YOUR FEAR! THIS IS GOOD PROGRESS, WORTHY OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"You're doing great, punk, but do you think you can survive the year?" Undyne asked, trying to remain upbeat, but her worry shining through slightly.

Alphys gave an encouraging smile. "Y-you'll d-do fine, M-Mistral. Her voice wavered at the end, as though she was trying to reassure herself.

"Do not worry, Mistral," Toriel said kindly, "for I shall be waiting for both you and Frisk at Hogwarts."

Frisk nodded in agreement.

"Golly, would you look at the time," Asgore sighed, his eyes fixed on one of the clocks jutting out from the pillars. "The train is going to leave in a few minutes. Mistral, Frisk, you two must board it before it leaves."

Toriel's eyes widened. She crouched down and pulled both children into a hug. "I know that I will see you in a few hours, but it still pains me to have to leave you like this."

"it's fine, toriel," Mistral said softly. "really."

*You tell Mom that you will see her soon.

The second Toriel separated from the two, Undyne swooped in and delivered a spine-crushing hug. A cringe-worthy creak actually did sound from Mistral's spine. "Don't worry. Me and Alphys're coming in about a month to visit. IT'S NON-NEGOTIABLE!"

"U-Undyne means that we'll ask P-Professor D-Dumbledore if we c-can come," Alphys stuttered. She smiled awkwardly before her eyes widened in realization. "Th-that's right! I still h-have your gift!" She reached into her lab coat (which she still wore everywhere) and pulled out a small, hastily-wrapped package. Alphys shoved it into Mistral's hands. "M-make sure you open it on th-the t-train, okay?"

Mistral cocked his head slightly. "uh, sure, alphys."

The fish Monster released Mistral and Frisk. Sans waved lazily to them. "i'll see you two soon. stay outta trouble on the train."

"trouble?" Mistral asked in a fake-hurt tone. "why, by barri…uh…why would you think i'd get in trouble?"

"because lots of people seem to have a bone to pick with monsters," Sans replied.

Papyrus flinched. "I AM GOING TO PRETEND I DID NOT HEAR THAT. BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, KNOW YOU WILL MISS ME. WHILE YOU ARE AT HOGWARTS. WITHOUT US THERE. DEFINITELY."

Mistral blinked. "what?"

"WHAT?"

"…you know what, papyrus? never mind," Mistral said, deciding that it would be easier to just go with it. "i'll miss you, too."

Asgore smiled sadly. He picked up Frisk's trunk and heaved it over his shoulder. "Do you require help with your things, Mistral?"

"nope. i got this." Mistral picked the cage off the trunk, earning a disgruntled hoot from the bird inside. His right pupil went out as his left one grew and turned blue. With a look of intense concentration, he held out his left hand. His trunk began glowing blue as it lifted off the ground.

"where the hell did that come from?" Mistral's eye sockets were dark, but Frisk could tell that he was focused on the flower pot in their hands. Or, rather, the flower in the pot.

Frisk and Mistral had boarded the train without incident, barely managing to find an empty compartment. Once Mistral had gotten their trunks taken care of, Frisk had opened theirs and pulled out…

"Well, howdy to you too, Creepy Dual," Flowey said in his usual sickly-sweet voice.

Mistral's face dropped all emotion, seeming to freeze entirely. "What did you call me?" he asked, no tone or inflection in his voice at all.

Flowey's face darkened. "Oh, yes. I know what you are, Creepy Dual. I didn't realize it while I had your soul, but now I know…you're a half human freak, aren't you, Dual Blood?"

The skeleton stood up without warning before calmly walking for the door. Frisk set down the flower, reaching out to put a hand on their friend's shoulder.

"I do not wish to be in the same room as that…thing," Mistral said. "If you need me for anything, I will be…exploring the train." Mistral yanked his hood up and walked out of the compartment, closing the door in an eerily calm way.

"Well, that went well," Flowey announced, grinning widely.

Frisk glared at him.

Mistral, surprisingly, was able to find another empty compartment fairly quickly. Once inside, he closed and locked the door. He plopped onto the seat, put his feet up, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

"C'mon, Lils, it's Halloween. We're not having any visitors, and it's not like we'll get any trick-or-treaters."

"...I suppose you're right."

"What? Me, actually being right about something?"

"VERY FUNNY, JAMES. YOU KNOW THAT I-"

"Lily, you're beautiful to me no matter what..."

...

"...Lily! He's here! Take Harry and run!"

"NO, PLEASE! NOT HARRY! KILL ME, BUT LET HIM LIVE!"

"Half-human freaks like you and that filth don't deserve to live! Avada kedavra!"

...

"The creature couldn't even handle death properly...no matter. Avada keda-"

The loud sound of something solid hitting glass startled Mistral into falling unceremoniously to the floor. Disgruntled, he got to his feet only to freeze. Glaring murderously through the compartment window was the pale human Mistral had met in Diagonal Alley. He seemed to be yelling something, but the skeleton wasn't able to make it out. Eventually, the human gave up, storming off with two other humans trailing close behind.

Mistral stared blankly at the door for as moment before remembering the package that Alphys had given him. He pulled it out from within his cloak and removed the paper without tearing it to shreads. If it could have, Mistral's mandible would have dropped to the floor. In his skeletal hands, he held a sleek, thin device that he had heard Alphys talking about when she went over to Undyne's house during a piano lesson.

A laptop.

Carefully, Mistral opened the device. A sticky note on the bottom right corner announced his username and temporary password. Since the laptop had automatically lit up when he had opened it, Mistral quickly typed in the required information.

The laptop chimed as a picture of the delta rune appeared as a background. Noticing the Undernet program mandatory for almost all Monster electronics, he to double-clicked on it.

The rather bland Undernet main screen opened, waiting for Mistral to log in. Once on, he saw that ALPHYS had sent him a chat request. He immediately accepted and smirked.

skelemist04: you do know how skeletons usually contact each other, right?

ALPHYS: ...what?

ALPHYS: oh no don't answer that

skelemist04: by boney express

skelemist04: thanks for the laptop, btw

ALPHYS: no problem. just check in sometimes and tell me how its working

skelemist04: sure thing

The two chatted for a little longer before Alphys said she had to go. Once his friend had logged out, Mistral began scanning the list of friends he had online. Nope, they weren't on. He closed his laptop and slid it back into his cloak.
A sharp rap on the door made his skull whip around to face it. A fermale human with extremely bushy hair was gesticulating wildly. Cautiously, he got up and unlocked the door. "yes?"

The human seemed to speak without breathing. "Excuse me, have you seen a toad? Another first year, Neville's lost one."

"nope."

She huffed. "Can you speak more than one word sentences?"

"yes."

Shed waited for him to continue, but he didn't. "Why does it seem that most wizards won't even look at me, let alone speak?"

Mistral cringed, not that the human could see more than his pupil lights shrinking slightly. "sages don't s-seem very open to o-outsiders. at least they aren't after y-you b-because you look d-different. now, if you n-need me, i w-will be t-taking a n-nap." At the look she gave him, Mistral sighed. "look, there's a k-kid farther along in a c-compartment with a f-flower with a f-f-face. tell them m-mistral sent you, and they'll h-help."

The human blinked. "Thank you, but how do you know he will do it?"

"they c-currently owe me a f-favor." With that, Mistral silently closed the door in the humans face.

"Hello. I've been looking for another student's toad, and someone named Mistral told me to ask you for help."

...

"Are...are you speaking in sign language? I'm sorry, I've tried to learn it, but haven't had the time lately.

...

"...the kid says they'll help you."

"Wait, are you really a talking flower? Are you sentient?"

"Mistral, seriously?!"

As the train began to slow down, Mistral cracked his eye sockets open. He was already wearing his robes, which Papyrus had painted several gray, horizontal stripes on, so he merely stood up and began heading for the door. The skeleton kept his cloak on,his hood up, and his hands gripping the inside of the cloak, despite the fact that it wasn't part of the uniform.

The train stopped with a low hiss, and a voice announced that everyone was supposed to leave their luggage on the train. With a nod to the dissemboded voice, Mistral hopped off the train. In the distance, he could see a tall figure waving a bell and yelling, "Firs' years, firs' years over here!"

Misty?

The skeleton jumped as Frisk's not-voice echoed in his skull. "jeez, frisk. don't sneak up on me like that."

Frisk sped up so they could walk with him. I'm really sorry about Flowey! I didn't know he knew!

"s'fine, frisk. you didn't know the creepy psycho flower would set me off like that. so did you help out that human?"

Deciding not to question the nickname, Frisk nodded. I did, but Flowey decided to translate for me.

Mistral scowled at the mention of the flower. "where is that creep, anyway?"

I put him back in my trunk. He'll be fine.

"'Scuse me," the tall human with the bell said, startling Mistral, "but ye can' be wearin' yer cloak. S'against the rules."

Mistral's orbs vanished entirely under his hood. His voice dangerously low, he growled, "if you want my cloak, you will have to break my soul in two and take it from my settling dust. i will not take it off willingly, and i will put up a fight. got it, human?" Not waiting for an answer, Mistral grabbed Frisk's arm and yanked then into one of the many empty boats set up behind the man. They were closely followed by Monster Kid (whose robes had no arm holes) and a reluctant,fire monster.

Mistral's pupil lights glowed warmly as he held out a hand for the fire monster. "it's ok, fire girl. look." He stood up and firmly stomped his foot. The boat didn't even sway. "see? it won't tip. you won't get hurt."

~...I don't know, Mistral...~ the girl said in a series of crackles and hisses.

"c'mon, you trust me, right?" Mistral asked, his left hand yanking down his hood to reveal a confident smirk, a look Frisk had never seen on Mistral before.

Hesitantly, Fire Girl reached out and let the skeleton help her into the boat. Once she was settled, the man with the lantern yelled, "Everyone in? Right then! FORWARD!"

With a whimper, Fire Girl latched onto the person next to her, which happened to be Monster Kid, as the boats advanced through the glassy water. The dinosaur-like monster awkwardly angled his head in an attempt at a hug.

Doesn't she have a name?

Mistral frowned, confused at the human's question. "no, she's not old enough to. why?"

Frisk signed rapidly. Aren't monsters named at birth?

The skeleton stated uncomprehendingly at them for a moment before laughing uproariously. "what would give you that crazy idea?"

But humans are named at birth! And you have a name!

Mistral wiped a pale green tear from his eye socket. "yeah, i have a name, because i'm a skeleton."

What do you mean?

Mistral glanced over his shoulder to make sure the others were busy before trying to dodge the question. "most creatures are born with a blank slate of a soul, their magic's completely undeveloped. only monsters can check souls, so only they can scan older souls for their true name. remember snowdrake?"

Nod.

"he used to be called snow kid, 'cause of how he was a snowbird. snowy vanished for about a week and bam! he was bigger and allowed to start mock fighting. and he won't tell me what happened!"

Frisk frowned. It seemed like Mistral was a dead end for that. Deciding to change the subject, they asked, What makes skeletons different?

Mistral swiftly yanked up his hood. "ohheylookslikewe'rehereguesswegottastoptalkingnowletsgo!" Sure enough, the little boats were pulling themselves onto a shoreline inside as...when had they gotten into a cave? The skeleton bolted faster than Fire Girl, whose flames were flickering a slight yellow.

Monster Kid grinned at Frisk. " Yo! Don't worry about Mistral! Skeletons can go on and on about others, but they don't really like to talk about themselves!"

*You say that Papyrus is a skeleton.

"Yeah, but Papyrus is the Great Papyrus!" Monster Kid argued. "He's too cool to not talk about himself!"

Frisk nodded, a smile set on their face. How could they argue with that logic?

"Everyone here? You there, you still got yer toad?"

...

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

"What are you even doing here, monster?"

Mistral ignored the jeering voice in favor of continuing his trek. He knew he had heard that particular voice before, but where?

"Look at your betters when they are speaking to you, skeleton!"

Immediately, the skeleton turned his skull to face the speaker, an extremely pale human with equally pale hair. "what is it, human?" he asked, his pupils mere pinpricks within his hood.

The human looked shocked for a moment before quickly regaining his composure. "You can't learn magic, skeleton. You can't even use a bloody wand! Why is your kind even here?"

Under Mistral's hood, nothing was visible. "i am here because my brothers asked me to be here. why are you here?"

The human scowled. "I am here because my mother doesn't want me going abroad to Durmstrang! Durmstrang is much better than Hogwarts. My father wanted me to go to Durmstrang, naturally, bu-what are you laughing at?!"

Mistral was chuckling humorlessly as memories of many, many disagreements flitted through his skull. "enjoy what you have while you have it," he advised sagely. "you never know when it will all be ripped away." He sped up, leaving the human speechless.

...

"Crabbe? Goyle? What the bloody hell just happened?"

"I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly."

Mistral smiled softly, having seen the light green the human's soul had cast off from the moment she had laid eyes on the first years. There was no doubt in his mind that Monster Kid and Fire Girl had seen it as well. The human...no, the woman, obviously cared for them already. She wanted them to do well.

Suddenly, several humans began screaming. He followed their terrified gazes upward to see...beings that shouldn't have existed. "it's true," Mistral said in awe. "human souls can survive after death..." Ghosts were currently hovering over the first years.

The one that looked like a plump monk was speaking. "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance - "

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?" a ghost wearing a nobleman's garb interrupted. "He gives us all a bad name sand you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?"

All was silent. A text box appeared in the air in front of the ghosts. *You say that you are all first years and were told to wait.

The Friar, as well as a few other ghosts, gasped. "I haven't seen silent magic on that scale in years! Who was that?"

Frisk, who was in the back of the group, proudly raised their hand.

"Move along now," a voice called from the door forward. Professor McGonagall was standing, waiting fort the first years. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start. Now, form a line and follow me."

The first years nervously followed the professor into the next room. Every single one of them was stunned by the room.

Four dining tables ran the length of the giant room; a fifth stood at the far end. Hundreds of students filled the room, illuminated by thee light of thousands of floating candles. At the far table, a group of humans dressed in different colored robes sat. Toriel sat on the far end, wearing her usual purple robe. Two empty places on the other side of the table peaked Mistral's curiosity for only a moment before his eye sockets caught a glimpse of the ceiling. A veil of stars glittered in darkness, high enough above the soft candlelight to be easily spotted. So lost in the majesty of the stars above he became that he almost didn't pull his head out of the clouds until McGonagall cleared her throat.

Said professor was standing next to a stool with a ragged hat perched atop it. She held a partially-unrolled scroll in he'd hands. "When I call your name," she explained, "you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted. Abbott, Hannah!"

A blonde, female human stepped forward, following McGonagall's instructions. She sat for a moment before the hat called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
The students at a single table cheered, announcing them as the Hufflepuff house. Mistral thought he saw several areas of the human's robe turn black and yellow.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

McGonagall steadily went down the list until shed finally reached, "Dreemurr, Frisk!"

A huge grin on their face, Frisk confidently walked up and placed the hat on their head. It sat there for about five minutes in complete silence before calling, "GRYFFINDOR!". The grin still present, they took off the hat and placed it back on the stool.

More names were called, including "Grillby, Fire Girl!" the Ravenclaw and "Larry, Monster Kid!" the Hufflepuff. Finally, they got to the P's. "Pianissimo, Mistral!"

Hesitating for only a moment, Mistral stepped forward and, leaving his hood up, placed the hat on his head. A quiert voice in the back of his skull whispered, "Let's see here...a great love of learning, to the point of fishing books out of the dump..."

Mistral chuckled nervously at that memory.

"You're loyal, all right, but only to those you trust. Not a problem, but your trust isn't easily given..."

Memories of fearing his parents' intentions skimmed on the surface of Mistral's mind.

"My, not very ambitious, are we? Well, not unless it's for someone else..."

Tracking down Frisk, wanting them to pay for what they did to Papyrus, and what they would do to Sans.

"Ah, bravery far outweighs the others, to the point of idiocy..."

Mistral flinched. Not backing down as he faced them despite knowing how they had just killed an evolved version of the strongest monster in the underground.

"And for that, I think you would be best suited for GRYFFINDOR!". The skeleton took off the hat and slowly made his way over to Frisk.
" Potter, Harry!"

Whispers broke out in the crowd, all about 'Potter, Harry'. No one stepped forward, so McGonagall called out the name again. Nothing happened besides an increase in whispers, so the professor reluctantly moved on.

Within a few minutes, the last of the first years had been seated. The old human at the center of the table, who Mistral recognized as Bumbles, stood up. "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like tho say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" He took a bow. "Thank you."

The room burst into applause as he sat down. Mistral saw movement and was stunned at the sheer amount that had phased through the table. He frowned before tapping the arm of a badge-wearing human next to him. "e-excuse me?" he asked nervously.

The human stared at him. "Yes?"

Mistral looked at his empty plate in embarrassment. "uh...how much magic is infused into this food?"

"Sorry?" the human said, confused.

"h-how much m-magic is in the f-food?" he asked again, more nervous than before.

"Um...to my knowledge, magic is used to prepare the food, but-"

Mistral swore softly, knowing that, despite not being there, Sans would be able to hear him if he spoke too loudly. Seeing the human turn back to his food, Mistral pushed away his plate and glass and pressed his skull against the table.

Misty? Said skeleton looked to his right to see Frisk holding out a plate of spaghetti. Papyrus's spaghetti. Take it.

His eye sockets widened. "a-are you sure?" Every fiber of his being was screaming at him to accept the plate, but he automatically held back.
Frisk nodded firmly. You didn't eat on the train, and it's nearly impossible for me to eat Papyrus's spaghetti.

Hesitantly, as if expecting it to be ripped away at any second, Mistral took the spaghetti and placed it in front of him. Once he saw that Frisk wasn't planning on taking the food back, he began scarfing it down. He smiled sadly as he ate, the flavor bringing back memories of-
"WOWIE! I DIDN'T REALIZE YOU LIKED MY SPAGHETTI THAT MUCH, BROTHER!"

Mistral froze, his fork halfway into his mouth. Slowly, his pupil lights landed on Frisk. They nodded.

"THAT MEANS THAT I NEED TO COOK FOR YOU MORE OFTEN, THEN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WOULD NEVER KEEP YOU FROM YOUR FAVORI-OOF!"

The youngest of the skeleton brothers had practically sprung up from the long bench against the table, propelling himself backward into the exposed spine of Papyrus. He mumbled something incomprehensible as he hugged Papyrus.

Grinning widely, Papyrus patted Mistral's back. "I APOLOGIZE, BUT THE QUEEN WISHED FOR IT TO BE A SURPRISE...AND SANS DECIDED TO TAKE HIS TIME GETTING READY..." He glared in the direction of the room's exit.

"hey, you said it started at 7." Sans sauntered over to them, looking pleased with himself. Immediately, he was yanked into the hug as well. "aww, you really mist us, didn't you?"

Mistral laughed. "it's pretty sansational to see you two. why are you even here?"

"THAT IS THE GREATEST PART OR THE SURPRISE!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS-"

"and me."

"-AND SANS ARE GOING TO BE TEACHING!"

Everyone in the Great Hall (save Frisk, Toriel, and Dumbledore) watched the exchange in pure confusion.

Chapter Text

Bumbles stood up once more as the last of the desserts vanished from the tables. Immediately, the Great Hall fell silent. Swiftly, Papyrus gave Mistral one last hug, hooked his arm around Sans, and rushed up to his place at the head table.

"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered," Bumbles announced. "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." He glanced at a pair of identical humans sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors." Mistral flinched, knowing that he would always be breaking that rule.

"As you may have heard, over the summer a species that has been trapped underground for quite some time has resurfaced. To help integrate them fully into society, it has been decided to have several of these 'Monsters' both teach and learn here. They are just as human as you or I, and are to be treated as such.

"On that note, there are a few changes to our staffing this year. Taking over for Defense Against the Dark Arts is Professor Quirinus Quirrell." A man with a turban wrapped around his head stood up for a brief moment before sitting back down. "To teach a new elective for third years and up, Monster Culture, we have Professor Toriel Dree-"

"Just Toriel," Toriel cut off the headmaster, her expression strained. "Just Toriel is perfectly fine."

He nodded. "Professor Toriel. Our last two new additions, Professors Papyrus Fortissimo and Sans Pianissimo, shall be working together to teach Soul Magicks."

Papyrus was practically glowing as he jumped to his feet. His soul projected his theme loudly, letting it echo through the room. "HELLO! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND THIS IS MY BROTHER, SANS! SAY HELLO, SANS!"

Sans, who was still sitting, waved lazily. "hello, sans."

The energetic skeleton groaned. "WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST TO GIVE A TERRIBLE FIRST IMPRESSION?"

"because you tell me to put more backbone into it."

"THAT DOESN'T MEAN SHARING YOUR HORRIBLE SENSE OF HUMOR WITH EVERYONE WE MEET!"

Sans put a hand over his ribcage in mock-hurt. "come on, my puns aren't bad..." He slowly pulled a piece of paper with 'puns' written on it in comic sans.

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE, SANS!"

Riiip. "they're tearable."

Papyrus began screaming.

Bumbles cleared his throat, silencing the two skeletons. Papyrus sat down and his theme awkwardly died down. "Continuing on, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams would contact Madame Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Mistral grinned and pulled a small phone out of one of his cloak's many inner pockets and texted Sans.

mistral: 50g says once undyne hears, she goes and takes whatevers there head on :)

big bro: bet paps not me. i know when its not worth it :P

mistral: k

Grinning mischievously, he texted Papyrus.

mistral: 50g says once undyne hears, she goes and takes whatevers there head on :)

tall bro: MISTRAL, YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU GAMBLING!

Nope. Mistral stopped that conversation right there. He didn't need to feel his brother's crushing disappointment. Instead, he texted Alphys.

mistral: 50g says undyne does something potentially dangerous in the 1st 20 mins shes here

alph: you're at a school I accept

Mistral grinned before texting Sans once more.

mistral: got alph

Sans chuckled, earning a glare from Papyrus

"This is the Common Room. You will be spending any time not in classes, at meals, or in the library, here. Dormitories for boys are up the staircase to your left. Girls, the same on the right. Any questions?"

"w-what about f-frisk?"

"What about Frisk?"

"frisk needs a room, too."

"Frisk, are you as boy or a girl?"

"they're neither."

"Mistral, was it? I believe Frisk can speak for...himself. Frisk, you're a boy, right?"

"no, they're not."

*You say that you will room with Mistral.

"y-you sure, frisk?"

You should at be with at least one person you know while we're here.

"...thanks..."

Through the first week, it was discovered that, yes, monsters could mimic the wizards' version of magic to an extent. Monster Kid was given a pass on the rule against magic in the halls so he could levitate whatever couldn't fit in his bag. Toriel didn't have many children in her class, but she was more than happy to teach those who were there. Papyrus showed Mistral the location of his and Sand's living space during breakfast on the first day, and all three skeletons had taken to eating their meals there.

On the first Tuesday of the school year, a high-pitched yell broke the morning stillness. "HELLO, CLASS, AND WELCOME TO YOUR FIRST MANDATORY SOUL MAGICKS MORNING EXERCISE CLASS!"

Practically everyone groaned at the sheer amount of energy Papyrus had so early. Said skeleton was wearing his jogboy outfit, and seemed too cheerful. The class had almost every Hogwarts student gathered, save...

"Where are the bloody monsters?" a redheaded first year asked, irritation obvious in his voice.

The curse went completely over Papyrus's skull. "MONSTERS AND HUMANS AREN'T THE SAME, FROM WHAT I'VE HEARD. HUMANS CAN BENEFIT FROM EXERCISE AT ANY AGE, BUT THE MONSTERS ENROLLED HERE ARE TOO YOUNG FOR IT TO HELP THEM, SO THEY ARE NOT HERE."

One of the older redheads raised his hand. "Is their age something that should stop us from pranking them?"

Papyrus shifted awkwardly. "IT WOULD BE BEST TO NOT INCLUDE THEM...BUT IF YOU MUST, BE SURE NOT TO INVOLVE MAGIC."

A pale, blonde first year snorted. "What makes the freaks so weak?" he jeered.

For the first time since he had come to Hogwarts, Papyrus snapped. "SAY WHAT YOU WILL ABOUT ME, BUT DO NOT." Papyrus marched up to the student. "CALL." His skull froze in a dark glare. "MY BROTHER." His right eye socket lit up orange. "A FREAK. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

The human whimpered something about his father.

"Do you understand?"

The human ran for the castle, screaming in terror.

Almost immediately, Papyrus's cheery disposition had returned. "NOW THAT THAT IS OUT OF THE WAY, LET'S BEGIN!"

"Why the bloody hell do the monsters get to sleep in while we don't?"

"You heard the skelly, Ron-"

"-honestly, do you want to scar-"

"-little versions of our dear old-"

"-Professor Papyrus-"

"-for the rest of their lives?"

That afternoon, Mistral was the first one to enter the classroom chosen for Soul Magicks. He sat at one of the desks near the front of the room and swiftly fell asleep.

Slowly, more Gryffindors trickled in. Most steered clear of the student that had yet to show his face, but Frisk and the human from the train happily sat by the sleeping skeleton. The seconds ticked by, bringing the class closer and closer to starting.

Fourteen after one came, and there was still no sign of either of the elder skeletons. At exactly 1:15, the door flew open and an almost 8-bit bass line began blaring. "HELLO, HUMANS AND MISTRAL!" Said skeleton jolted into awareness, nearly falling out of his seat. Entirely ignoring his brother's antics, Papyrus marched to the front of the room and wrote his name on the classroom's blackboard in large, uppercase, papyrus-font letters. "I APOLOGIZE FOR SANS NOT BEING HERE, BUT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT NOT EVEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ABLE TO CONTROL."

The Gryffindors seemed torn between shock and laughter. Almost no one could tell whether he was joking or not. Finally, the female from the train raised her hand. "Professor Fortissimo?"

Papyrus leered in the direction of the door, as if trying to see something through the wooden panel.

Mistral cleared his nonexistent throat. "hey papyrus!" he called out. "a human's got a question for you!"

"HEY! IN CLASS, I AM PROFESSOR PAPYRUS!" the older skeleton corrected indignantly.

"the human's still got a question." Frisk could hear the deeply hidden amusement in Mistral's voice.

"OOOH! YES, HUMAN? WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION?" Papyrus closed the distance between himself and the human in two strides. He posed heroically before the desk. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL DO MY BEST TO GIVE YOU AN AGREEABLE ANSWER!"

The human leaned away nervously. "Y-yes, I was wondering if you could t-tell us the course aims?"

"tibia honest, we're winging it."

All heads turned to the short skeleton sitting in the front of the class, his feet up on the teacher's desk. "I AM VERY GLAD THAT YOU ARE HERE, SANS, BUT THE RULES OF HOME ALSO APPLY HERE."

Sans flashed his perma-grin to the class before closing his eye sockets. "ok."

Papyrus groaned. "THAT MEANS YOU CANNOT HAVE YOUR FEET UP ON THE FURNITURE."

Mistral grinned under his hood as Sans repeated, "ok."

"MOVE YOUR FEET!"

"ok." Sans's feet shifted an inch to the right.

"YOU KNOW THAT IS NOT WHAT I MEANT! PUT THEM BACK ON THE FLOOR!"

Sans complied. "ok."

"AND DON'T PUT THEM BACK!"

Feet up. "ok."

"SANS!"

Frisk grinned. Passive aggressive arguments?

Mistral smirked back. "you can't escape them that easily."

"Dumbledore's mental if he thinks those monsters can teach us anything!"

"I, for one, think that Professor Sans and Professor Papyrus need to focus more if they want to teach us properly. They don't even have a set plan in place!"

*You say that Sans and Papyrus are great teachers.

"yeah! they're both trying their...well, papyus is trying his hardest!"

"Who asked you three, anyway?

A white sock was discovered right outside the Great Hall as students and teachers alike began filing in for dinner. When Toriel noticed it, she kindly informed someone who would do something about it...who then grabbed the person responsible and held him over the sock as though he was a dog being shown the bad they had done.

"SANS! PICK UP YOUR SOCK! IT IS BAD ENOUGH THAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS AT HOME!"

"ok, paps."

"NOW, SANS!"

"i'll do it later."

"NO, YOU WON'T!"

"shame. guess it's staying there, then."

Filch came around later to pick up the sock only to find it impossible to pick up.

It was still there the next morning, despite the nonstop efforts of teachers (read: not Sans or Papyrus) to remove it.

At Hogwarts, each teacher seemed to have their opinions on the monsters in their classes. Some, like Professor Sprout and Professor Sinistra, didn't seem to care what race their students were so long as they worked hard. Professor Flitwick had made sure to treat his less-than-human students nicely, giving them more leeway than humans if they were unable to perform a certain charm.

During the first Transfiguration practical lesson, Professor McGonagall kept a close eye on the monsters. To Mistral (and Sans and Papyrus, when they both tried), it was simple enough to transfigure a pin into a needle. Later on, however, he found out that both Monster Kid and Fire Girl were unable to shape their magic in such a way to get it to work. McGonagall was able to spot their inability and allowed the two to drop the course.

When the dreaded Potions class finally came, Mistral was nervous. During his time studying in the library, he always heard the older students warning the first years of his favoritism of Slytherins, and of his hatred of Gryffindors. Not only that, but Mistral had no idea how the human would react to monsters, so he would have to remain on guard for most of the class period. If only Fire Girl and Monster Kid didn't have Potions Friday afternoon...

Professor Snape, the Potions master, was a tall, pale human with greasy, black hair. He seemed to glare at all of the Gryffindors equally, so Mistral was thankful for that. When he got to Frisk, however, he paused. "Frisk Dreemurr," he said, "our new celebrity, seeing how Harry Potter was unable to grace us with his presence this year."

Frisk smiled and had a text box appear over the workstation they were sharing with Mistral. *You tell Professor Snape that you are here.

The professor remained emotionless as he stared at them. After a few moments, he broke his gaze and continued down the list. Finally, he reached another name that pulled Mistral from his thoughts. "Mistral Pianissimo...Gryffindor's monster."

Mistral nodded, grateful that his hood was up and able to block the stares he knew were directed towards him. "i am here," he said simply.

"Mr. Pianissimo, I do not allow students' faces to be hidden during class," the teacher hinted.

"i...i'd prefer to have my hood up, professor snape."

Almost everyone watched the exchange with wide eyes. If Mistral won the argument, a student would have gotten away with talking back to Snape. If Snape won, they would, for the first time, be able to see Mistral with his hood down.

"That was not a request, Mr. Pianissimo."

Mistral narrowed his eye sockets, not that anyone was able to seem more than his pupil lights. "i am leaving my hood up."

"Five points from Gryffindor, Mr. Pianissimo," Snape said coldly.

"i apologize," Mistral spat in an equally cold tone, "but i don't care about points."

Snape frowned almost imperceptibly. "You will take off your hood, Mr. Pianissimo."

"i will leave it up, Professor Snape."

The professor glared daggers at Mistral. The skeleton met his gaze for a few moments before having to break it. Hesitantly, he brought up his gloved hands and pulled down his hood.

Almost immediately, Mistral felt almost every set of eyes in the classroom land on him. A quick glance around the room told him that the Slytherins were disgusted, and the Gryffindor reaction was...mixed. A human girl that Mistral recognized as the one he had pointed in Frisk's direction on the train looked fascinated, while the others were either shocked or amazed. Frisk merely stared at their friend worriedly. Unconsciously, Mistral began reaching to pull his hood back up.

"Hood down, Mr. Pianissimo."

Flinching, Mistral let his hands fall into his lap.

It was official. Snape was a mean human.

"...do you think it eats?"

"Eats? How do you think it moves?"

"It's bad enough that there are two skeletons teaching one of the classes, but I have to share a room with a bloody corpse!"

"I think it's rather interesting. How would it be held together? How does it think, because skeletons obviously don't have brains."

"Who asked you, Hermione?"

Golden beams lit up the hall in a perpetual twilight, almost as though signifying the end of a long day. Mistral thought it seemed almost poetic; the journey of the Brother Killer  was coming to a close. Either they would press on, finishing their eradication of the monster species, or they would die. Again.

Mistral clearly remembered watching Sans kill them well over a hundred times, but whenever their soul shattered, the world would warp back to a point before the Brother Killer  entered the entrance to Hotland.

At the thought of his eldest brother, he absentmindedly started rubbing the cuff of the blue, dusty hoodie he wore under his cloak. Mistral's other arm reached out from his cloak's comfort to latch onto the end of the pale red scarf wrapped around his cervical vertebrae. To think, his brothers had been laughing with him merely hours before, only to be nothing.

The dull, steady thud of footsteps echoed down the sunlit corridor, and Mistral forced a solemn tune to begin playing. "do you love being killed, dirty brother killer?" the skeleton taunted, feeling only slightly drained.

The footsteps stopped. Mistral looked up, his eye sockets void as they met two red orbs.

"because of you, monsterkind is as good as extinct. you remember sans, right? that second brother you killed?"

No response.

"he was lazy, yes, but he was a good brother. he tried his best to keep me happy...brought me and papyrus, my other brother, all over the underground for spontaneous trips. i knew what he was doing, though..."

An irritated glare was directed at the skeleton. He pointedly ignored it.

"of course, sans couldn't keep me away from the human this time. he just had me promise to not confront you...i guess i've been breaking that one, huh? the way i see it, this is going to end in 1 of 2 ways: 1, you dust me and go on to destroy everyone else. 2, i dust you, you stay dead, and i fall down in a few days."

Silence.

"hey, don't look so shocked. my brothers are d-dust, and they were the only ones that c-cared a-about me." Mistral's voice wavered, as though stating it made it seem more real. "what do i have to live for with those who c-cared about me, huh?" Tears had started running down his skull, his right pupil glowing a sickening green.

The music playing stopped. Suddenly, a foreboding tune, Bonetrousle, Sans's relaxed theme, and a lone trumpet all began playing at once in a symphony of discord. The parts fought for control before stopping completely, then playing as a song that Napstablook had told Mistral was called The Song That Might Play When You Fight Sans.

The Brother Killer's soul was ripped from their chest, immediately flashing from red to green. Through sheer determination, they forced a magical shield to appear on their arm to protect them from Mistral's attacks. Without warning, Mistral's left pupil lit back up and they were sent flying into the bone-covered ceiling. There was a small ding as their soul shattered.

"please," Mistral muttered, "let me fall in peace."

Reality warped. The Brother Killer stalked into the hall, a scowl set on their face. The knife in their hand gleamed menacingly despite the thick layer of dust covering it.

"...you know, i've had people, no, humans, call me a lot of different things before I fell down here. boy, monster, worthless, freeloader...there's bone title that i believe is better suited for you, though. Freak." Mistral's pupils vanished and a grin eerily similar to Sans's froze itself onto Mistral's face. "I know now that I am not as freak, because one of the true freaks of the world is standing before me. And I am not going to left you f***ing pass."

The four songs began playing once more. This time, however, the one song that didn't seem to fit was trying to overpower the others, throwing them all into disarray. Sans's theme backed off within seconds while Bonetrousle and the trumpet piece (which was something that Mistral thought he should have remembered) began fighting for dominance.

As the songs warred with each other, Mistral fell to his knees, screaming in agony. His soul, a pale green, upside-down heart with a faint line down its center, was forced out of his rib cage.

Confused, they checked him. "Mistral," the voiced recited. "3ATK, 1DEF. His soul is tearing itself apart."

The skeleton's soul was, in fact, beginning to splinter and stretch, distorting the small, weak thing. Mistral's vision blurred for a moment before clearing. Standing before him were Papyrus, Sans, and a sad-looking skeleton with two deep cracks in his skull. Both Sans and Papyrus remained in place, but the third skeleton stepped forward and gripped Mistral's shoulders. " I AM PROUD OF YOU, BUT YOU MUST REST NOW...SON. "

Wearily, Mistral smiled. "yes, father." He walked towards his brothers, each step making his head feel clearer and murkier at the same time. He leaned into his brothers' welcoming arms, too far gone to feel his body disintegrating.

Mistral was dust before he hit the floor.

Mistral jolted upright in his bed, blue and green tears falling freely. He yanked his cloak up from its position as a blanket and wrapped it snugly around his shoulders. Even with his cloak's comfort, the soft snoring of the several humans also in the room set Mistral on edge. He just couldn't stay there.

With a nervous shiver, Mistral vanished from his dorm.

Chapter Text

Through the weekend, the trio of skeletons weren't seen once. Not even Papyrus had been spotted. The closest thing to a sighting was from Hermione Granger, one of Frisk's fellow first years. Even that, though, was the tail-end of a blue hoodie disappearing around a corner.

When Monday hit, it began. Snape had bright pink hair, as well as neon green robes as he stalked into the Great Hall for breakfast. His scowl seemed deeper than usual as he plopped down at the head table...and sat on a whoopee cushion. After quickly eating a light breakfast, the seething human walked out of the Hall. As he passed through the doorway, his hair shifted to teal and his robes to neon orange.

Everyone instantly agreed to never speak of the incident to Snape.

Mistral showed up to his classes, but he avoided speaking and making contact with anyone. Frisk was getting concerned.

During lunch, Papyrus entered the Great Hall for the first time since the Start-of-Term Banquet, the theme he had become known for blaring strangely absent. He marched proudly up to the clashingly-colored potions master. "HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, REQUIRE YOUR AID IN THE SOUL MAGICKS MORNING EXERCISE CLASS!" Papyrus posed heroically.

Snape stared, unamused, at the skeleton. "Sans helps teach your class. Couldn't you ask him to help?"

Papyrus laughed as if Snape had told a hilarious joke. "NO, SANS WOULD NOT BE HELPFUL...HE WOULD EITHER NAP OR TELL THOSE HORRIBLE PUNS OF HIS...STILL..." Papyrus shuddered before leaning over the table. He smiled in a way that seemed a bit sadistic as he muttered in Mistral's voice, too quiet for anyone to hear but Snape, "that wasn't a request." To emphasize his point, his right eye socket glowed a faint orange.

Stunned by the seemingly-naive skeleton's bluntness, Snape growled, "Is that a threat?"

Papyrus smirked, a look that didn't belong on the energetic skeleton's face. "maybe."

The potions master sighed. "Very well, Papyrus."

Immediately, the skeleton's demeanor brightened exponentially. "WOWIE, THANK YOU, HUMAN! I WILL MEET YOU BY THE LAKE ON WEDNESDAY FOR CLASS!" With a 'NYEH!', Papyrus began running from the Great Hall.

"Wait!" Snape called after him. "We need to meet before then to-"

"DO NOT WORRY!" Papyrus yelled back, turning only his skull to face Snape. "I WILL PREPARE EVERYTHING FOR THE CLASS!"

Snape scowled as he left the castle on the crisp Tuesday morning. How that childish skeleton managed to seem that intimidating, Snape would never know, but he knew better than to go back inside and pretend it never happened. Any second now, Papyrus would spot him, and-

"HUMAN! I AM GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU MADE IT!"

Snape internally groaned and turned to face the skeleton. "I am here," he replied, doing nothing to hide the annoyance in his voice. "What do you want me to do?"

"MERELY STAY HERE, AND I WILL EXPLAIN WHEN CLASS STARTS. IF YOU WOULD EXCUSE ME, I HAVE A CALL TO MAKE!"

Snape blinked in confusion at Papyrus's word choice. "You will not be able to use a telephone," he pointed out.

Papyrus ignored him, pulling his cell phone out of nowhere. He swiftly dialed a number and began tapping his foot. He grinned as the call went through. There was a slight pause before he spoke. "IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I AM CALLING TO MAKE SURE THAT THE DOG IS SECURE."

Pause.

"...ARE YOU SURE? I DO NOT WANT HIM TO RUIN MY CLASS."

Pause.

"ARE YOU CERTAIN YOU CAN RESTRAIN HIM PROPERLY? I CAN GET SANS TO HELP YOU-"

Pause.

"I DO NOT DOUBT YOUR ABILITIES, ALPHYS! THAT...THAT ANNOYING DOG IS JUST SUCH A SLIPPERY SNAIL THAT I KNOW HE WILL FIND A WAY TO ESCAPE!"

Pause.

"YOU HAVE THE GRATITUDE OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS THIS DAY. I WILL BE SURE TO CALL TO SAY WHEN YOU MAY RELEASE HIM ONCE MORE." Papyrus ended the call and turned to face his slack-jawed colleague. "IS SOMETHING WRONG?"

Recovering quickly, Snape frowned. "The magic surrounding Hogwarts renders all electronics useless, and yet you have a portable telephone that is able to work without interference?"

Papyrus nodded proudly. "THE FORMER ROYAL SCIENTIST, DR. ALPHYS, DESIGNED THEM! I DON'T KNOW VERY MUCH ABOUT HOW THEY WORK, BUT - OH, HELLO, TINY HUMAN! IS...IS SOMETHING WRONG?" Halfway through his sentence, Frisk walked up to the conversing teachers, sadness clear on their face.

Frisk shot a glance at Snape before doing a series of gestures that the potions master didn't recognize.

Papyrus obviously understood, because he replied, "AVOIDING YOU? BUT YOU ARE HIS ONLY HUMAN FRIEND! WHY WOULD HE AVOID YOU?"

"Who, exactly, has been avoiding you, Mr. Dreemurr?"

At Frisk's uncomfortable twitch, Papyrus stepped in. "THE TINY HUMAN IS IND. DREEMURR, NOT MR. DREMURR, HUMAN. IT IS WHAT THEY PREFER."

"Mr. Dreemur," Snape snarled, "is registered as male. I will not accommodate his senseless plea for attention."

Papyrus looked like he was about to say something in return, but stopped immediately when Frisk began signing behind his back. He looked away from Snape before laughing sheepishly. "GREETINGS, HUMANS! I APOLOGIZE FOR NOT NOTICING YOU SOONER, BUT WE MUST START THE CLASS NOW. YES, THE HUMAN NEAR THE FRONT!"

A first year Gryffindor that Snape remember as Hermione Granger lowered her hand as she spoke up. "Professor Papyrus, why is Professor Snape here?"

"Yes," Snape chimed in, "why is Professor Snape here?"

Papyrus grinned. "AN EXCELLENT QUESTION, TINY HUMAN! PROFESSOR SNAPE IS HERE TODAY BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO SHOW YOU WHY BEING IN SHAPE IS AN IMPORTANT PART TO LEARNING SOUL MAGIC!"

"And why, dare I ask, aren't Sans or Mistral aiding you?" Snape asked blandly.

"MISTRAL IS NOT OLD ENOUGH TO FIGHT," Papyrus stated as if it were obvious. "SANS IS TOO...FRAGILE FOR A FULL FIGHT."

Snape sighed. "Since it seems I have no other choice... I am ready to begin."

Papyrus shook his skull. "NO, WE MUST GO TO THE...QUAD-DITCH ARENA! WE WILL FIGHT WHILE THE CLASS SITS IN THE STANDS!"

Once every student was seated, Snape stared Papyrus down. The two stood alone in the center of the Quidditch field, Snape with his wand drawn and Papyrus merely grinning at him. "HUMAN!" Papyrus's called out. "I WILL NOW ENGAGE YOU IN BATTLE!"

Before he could reply, the world through Snape's eyes turned black and white, save for a rust-colored, cartoonish heart that hovered in front of his chest. The song that everyone was beginning to associate with Papyrus began playing. Snape watched Papyrus carefully, waiting for him to make the first move.

They stood there for a few moments before Papyrus said, "UH...HUMAN? IT'S YOUR TURN."

Snape frowned before jabbing his wand in Papyrus's direction. "Stupefy!" Nothing happened.

"HUMAN, HUMAN MAGIC IS TOO WEAK TO USE IN A SOUL MAGIC FIGHT! OBSERVE THE ATTACK OF I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

Several bones rose from the ground and charged Snape. Two of them hit him, each direct hit bringing a green bar that was slowly turning red to his attention. Somehow, he instinctively knew that he only had 110/120 HP. Frustrated, he wordlessly used magic to yank several blades of grass from the ground. Midair, they grew harder and more solid before they launched themselves at Snape's opponent.

Papyrus expertly dodged each blade save one. When it hit, Snape knew he was a goner. 676/680 HP. "YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO TRY HARDER THAN THAT! NYEH-HEH-HEH!" Another wave of bones, this time in a different order, flew at Snape. Three hits. 95/120 HP. A look of concentration set itself on his face. He was determined to beat this egotistical skeleton!

"How is Professor Papyrus doing so well? Professor Snape is a trained dueler!"

*You tell Hermione that Papyrus was trained by the former captain of the Royal Guard.

"Yes, but Professor Snape should be doing just as well as Professor Papyrus!"

*You tell Hermione to watch Snape, then to watch Papyrus.

...

"Professor Snape looks uncoordinated... and Professor Papyrus is...fighting to the song?"

*You tell Hermione that Nyeh Heh Heh! is Papyrus's song, and that it is playing from his soul.

"So he doesn't just seem to be fighting to the song, the song is helping to dictate his fighting style? Fascinating! How do they-"

Drums seemed to add themselves to the song.

"What just happened?"

*You tell Hermione that Papyrus just got serious.

*You tell her the song is called Bonetrousle.

"It does seem...fitting, for Professor Papyrus."

Snape was down to 45 HP, while Papyrus was still in the high 590s. Shortly after the song had altered itself, Papyrus had turned the rusty heart a deep blue, which made it harder to dodge. As the fight progressed, Papyrus's eye socket began glowing a brighter and brighter orange. Currently, it had a trail of magical residue curling up into the sky. Snape had stopped throwing attacks long ago, hoping only to dodge long enough to survive.

As Papyrus attacked, he called, "DO YOU KNOW WHY I INSISTED ON THIS, SNAPE?" More bones rushed towards said professor, who barely weaved through them without a scratch.

"No, because you refrained from telling me!" Snape snapped.

A large, skull-like thing began to form behind Papyrus, causing Frisk to whimper at the familiar object. "MISTRAL HAS BEEN THROUGH TOO MUCH FOR HUMANS LIKER YOU TO ADD TO IT. I SWORE NO HARM WOULD COME TO HIM..."

The skull-like construct's googly eyes wiggled menacingly as it fired a beam of white light at Snape. He was hit head-on, and was brought down to 1 HP. He glared defiantly at the skeleton.

Suddenly, a cage of blue bones formed around the potions master, effectively trapping him. Papyrus strode forward, a bone equivalent in length to a staff forming in his hands. He jabbed the tip at Snape, only stopping a few inches from the human's defenseless throat. "I CAN'T SPEAK FOR THE REST OF THE MONSTERS, BUT UNLIKE HUMANS, WE SKELETONS protect our own." With that, the bones disappeared and the music stopped. Papyrus's eye socket dimmed. "CLASS IS DISMISSED!" he shouted as he marched out of the stadium.

"MISTRAL? WHY HAVE YOU BEEN AVOIDING FRISK LATELY?"

"..."

"uh, paps? i got this one. i think i know what's going to on."

"WELL...IF YOU ARE SURE YOU HAVE IT HANDLED...THEN I SHALL GO MAKE MY HAPPINESS SPAGHETTI TO CHEER MISTRAL UP! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"

"...would hiding from frisk have anything to do with the last timeline?"

"...no..."

"then what's with the sudden fear of them?"

"..."

"you know, i have dreams, sometimes, that i just can't shake...me and paps being the last two monsters in the underground...tori taking over after the kid dusted asgore, only for undyne to overthrow her..."

"..."

"tibia honest, only the most recent one's even had you in it."

"...papyrus was killed outside of snowdin. you told me not to confront the human...then fought them yourself."

"it was just outside the entrance to hotland. they had just killed undyne, and i had just sent you home so you wouldn't see the fight."

"i snuck out anyway around the 390th time everything jumped back a few minutes. you were on your last legs."

"heh, yep. that's around the time they got me."

"after they...i went to that last hallway before the throne room. i...i don't know how long i fought for. i had tried to fight them again, but something went wrong..."

"too much determination?"

"no...i don't know how to describe it...the songs didn't... mess, like they were supposed to."

"backlash. it's the reason why i didn't want you fighting."

"...it was tearing my soul apart. then i saw you...a-and papyrus...and d-d-dad..."

"sheesh, sorry that had to be the first alternate timeline you saw. i hope i never find out what happens in some of them...i don't need an underfell you or...ugh...that one."

"what one?"

"nope not saying that version of paps is more than enough i do not need that version of you in my head."

"frisk! wait up! i'm sorry i've been avoiding you...nightmares just get to us all sometimes, y'know?"

I understand, Misty. Do you want to walk to class together?

"uh...if you don't mind my brothers coming with us."

I don't mind.

When the Soul Magicks class entered the classroom, they were surprised to see a golden flower smiling at them from atop the professors' desk. Once almost everyone was sitting, the flower spoke in a sickly-sweet voice, "Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" A light, simple tune could be heard at the flower's first word.

Bored already, some of the students mumbled halfhearted replies.

"Golly, those skeletons haven't taught you anything yet, have they?"

Hermione spoke up. "No, they haven't, but-"

"Gee, I guess little old me will have to do! Does someone want to volunteer for a demonstration? Why not you, with the red hair?"

Ron Weasley looked around the room for a moment before pointing at himself.

"Yes, you," Flowey said with a hint of annoyance. "Come on up!"

Hesitantly, Ron walked up to the front of the room.

Flowey smiled. "Are you ready? Here we go!"

A pale, violet-gray heart appeared before Ron.

"This is Ron's soul, the very culmination of his being. Right now it's weak." Flowey shot a glance at the soul. "Very weak. But it gave grow stronger by earning LV!"

"Flowey?" one of the students asked. "What does LV stand for?"

"Why, LOVE of course!" Flowey announced as though it was common sense. "Ron, you want some LOVE, don't you?"

Someone pounded on the classroom door, which, to the shock of the students, was closed and covered in vines. "don't listen to that weed!"

"FLOWEY, WHAT YOU ARE DOING CONCERNS US! PLEASE LET US IN!"

"ignore the creepy psycho flower, guys! he's bad news!"

*You tell Flowey to leave hour housemates alone.

The flower stared at the text box that appeared before him. "Frisk? You're seriously siding with the skelechumps over me, y o u r  b e s t  f r i e n d?" Flowey's face turned demonic, eliciting a shriek from the students within the classroom. "Of course you would, you still don't understand that in this world, it's-"

Frisk tackled the flower off the desk, barely avoiding shattering his pot.

Sans stepped out from the corner of the room. "rule #1 of this class: never trust that flower."

"Mr. Pianissimo, stay for a moment."

"yes, professor mcgonagall? did i do something wrong?"

"You are a very bright young monster, Mr. Pianissimo, but I have received multiple complaints about your handwriting..."

"oh...oh! the professors can't read my font!"

"Your...font?"

"font, typeface...it's how i speak and how i write. if they can't understand the font, they can't understand me. that would explain why some teachers never call on me..."

"Is there a way to not use your...font?"

"my voice would become flat and emotionless while i slowly start being overwhelmed by the amount of magic still building up at a normal rate. i would also slowly lose the ability to speak and understand languages. so...i apologize, but no."

"Very well...I will explain the situation to your professors."

"Mr. Pianissimo, a word?"

"y-yes, professor?"

"Do you know why I told you to leave your hood down in class?"

"n-n-no..."

"I told you to leave your hood down because potion making is a dangerous art. If your attention wavers for even a moment, you could ruin the potion."

"s-sorry for a-asking, but what d-does that have t-to do with m-my hood?"

"It is for the same reason as paying attention."

"s-safety?"

"Exactly. If I am unable to tell where your eyes are while you are brewing, I wouldn't be able to see you eyeing an ingredient that could be deadly until it is already in your cauldron. Do you understand?"

"y-yes, i u-understand, professor."

"Good."

Whoever was pranking Snape was never discovered, but the pranks continued to happen once a week. The Monday after Snape spoke to Mistral, though, a song that the monsters and Frisk knew only as Dogsong seemed to follow Snape wherever he went.

The fact that Sans had been spotted by a few of the portraits exiting Snape's chambers at roughly 3:00 a.m. that Monday was forgotten entirely.

Chapter Text

"wait, so you're telling me that we're going to be flying on broomsticks?"

Everyone has to do it, whether we want to or not-

"we're going to be flying on broomsticks?"

Misty? Are you okay?

"by the barrier, do you think they'll let sans and papyrus try to? we're going to fly! we're gonna fly! woo!"

Madame Hooch, as it turned out, was one of the staff members at Hogwarts that could not, in fact, understand Mistral. Frisk, however, was able to translate the idea well enough that Hooch was happy to oblige. Since Friday's flying lesson was at the same time as the second year Slytherin Soul Magicks class, the skeletal professors agreed that Sans would participate in the Friday class while Papyrus would join in on the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw flying lesson.

Mistral, as excited as he was, was nervous about having to be near the Slyterins more than usual. Sensing his brother's nervousness as the time of the class shrank to mere seconds, Sans decided to put the extra effort into projecting his soul's theme. The shorter skeleton immediately slouched, as though actually relaxing. He let the magic shrouding his face in darkness thin around his mouth, letting the grateful smile on his face being seen.

A whistle blew, gaining the attention of everyone. Madame Hooch looked intensely from person to person before her gaze landed on Sans. "Would you mind toning it down a bit, Pianissimo?"

"toning what down, madame hooch?"

Hooch gave both Mistral and Sans an unamused glare. "I may not be able to understand you, but I can understand sass just fine. You know which one of you I was speaking to."

Mistral flinched. "sorry, madame hooch," he muttered.

"misty says he's sorry."

Hooch sighed. "I don't have to let you do this, Pianissimo."

The theme quieted down, but didn't stop. "kinda have to keep it going, hooch."

"Just...just move to the right of your brooms."

Sans raised his hand.

The witch sighed. "Yes, Pianissimo?"

"i'm left handed."

"Then go to the left side of your broom."

Sans complied, quickly followed by Mistral. Frisk was confused. I thought you were right handed.

Mistral shrugged. "i'm ambidextrous. i figured that since i channel my gravity magic with my left hand, it would be easier."

Frisk shrugged back.

Madame Hooch blew her whistle. "Hold your dominant hand over your broom and say, 'Up!'"

A chorus of 'up's rang out through the courtyard, the Slytherin gathered away from the Gryffindors smirking as their brooms almost immediately flew into their hands. Sans's left pupil momentarily flickered blue before the broom began lazily levitating into his hand. "that...felt strange."

Mistral, who had hesitated, frowned before mumbling, "up!" What happened next made him cringe.

He felt a weak tendril of magic brush his soul. Unbeknownst to him, his pupils began glowing blue and green from the moment it touched. Mistral could feel the intent of the magical device, and that it was requesting a bit of his magic to work. In return, it would be able to fly. Hesitantly, he nodded.

The weight of his broom jolting into his hand brought Mistral back to reality. His pupils faded to white pinpricks. "...what just happened?"

The bone around Sans's eye sockets crinkled into his version of a huge grin. "guess me and paps mist telling you about magic-imbued items."

Mistral gave his brother a deadpan look. "that was not needed, numbskull."

"look, magic stuff needs magic from its holder to work. us skeletons are so in control of our magic at all times that we can deny stuff the magic it needs to work," Sans explained. "different things feel different, and nothing changes the first time."

Hooch blew her whistle again to regain the attention of the class from the skeletons. "On the count of three, I want you all to push a few feet off the ground, hover for a few seconds, then bring down the tip of your broom to lower yourselves to the ground. One...two..."

Before she hit three, a Gryffindor took off, flying twenty-five to thirty feet in the air, constantly ascending higher into the sky. Sans attempted to catch the Gryffindor and the broom with his magic only to miss the human. Mistral dropped his broom and attempted to use blue magic to slow the human's fall. Failure. Mistral seemed to teleport to where the human hit the ground, ignoring Hooch's calls for him to back away. The human's wrist was bent in a way Mistral knew wasn't natural.

It was his fault, just like Papyrus. He could have done something. The human had cried out in fear, begging for anyone to help...

But nobody came.

And it was all his fault!

His right eye socket began glowing green as he reached out to grasp the human's hand. "i...i can fix this. i can fix this!" As he chanted what had almost become a mantra, an opaque ball of neon green energy surrounded the two, keeping everyone out.

Neville was confused. He was surrounded by light so bright, it made him seem nothing more than a dark silhouette. The pain in his wrist made him look down and gasp. A shadow of a miniature sword was perpendicular to his wrist, appearing to disappear into it.

In the distance, Neville saw a figure forming. It seemed skeletal, and had a long sheet of darkness billowing behind it. The figure moved closer, cautiously reaching for Neville's impaled wrist. He blinked, then let the figure see it.

If the figure was surprised by the blatant display of trust, it didn't show it as it focused its efforts on fiddling with the sword. It suddenly fell to its knees as the sword disintegrated, leaving Neville's wrist feeling as good as new.

Everything faded to white...

For five minutes straight, the courtyard was in hysterics. Gryffindors were panicking about the orb of light their housemates were trapped in. Slytherin were laughing at the panicking Gryffindors. Madame Hooch was attempting to calm everyone down.

Sans was waiting patiently for Mistral's first go at healing magic to finish.

"SANS! WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE? SOME OF MY STUDENTS HEARD A COMMOTION OUT HERE AND ALL I SEE IS YOU BOONDOGGLING AS USUAL!"

Sans didn't even have to turn to know who was running up to him. "i'm waiting for misty to finish up."

Papyrus stopped in his tracks. "MISTRAL? THEN YOU MEAN MISTRAL IS..." The skeleton gazed at the light in awe. "WOWIE! HE TRULY WILL SOMEDAY BE CLOSE TO THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"Merlin's beard, what is going on here?" Professor McGonagall yelled, signalling her arrival on the scene.

"a kid fell off a broom," Sans said. "misty just figured out how to heal. he wasn't told to do it. just did it outta the kindness of his soul. he's pretty cool."

McGonagall's eyes widened. "Mistral is healing someone when he has no experience in healing? That child could die!"

Sans grinned at Papyrus, who had run up to the light and started trying to communicate with Mistral and the human. "nah, it's not in his soul to hurt. worst that'll happen in light of the situation is the kid coming out as injured as before."

The transfiguration professor nodded, then glared as she heard Papyrus scream in anger. "Did you just make a pun at the expense of those children?"

Before the comedic skeleton could reply, the light began dying down. It faded to reveal the human student sitting on the ground, staring at his wrist in awe while Mistral swayed. Suddenly, he fell to his knees, then onto his face.

Immediately, Sans and Papyrus were on him, Frisk hovering a short distance behind them. "MISTRAL! CAN YOU HEAR ME?" Papyrus asked as he flipped the younger skeleton onto his back.

Mistral weakly pressed his hands against the sides of his skull. He hummed a tune that Frisk didn't remember hearing before. What's he humming?

The humming grew faint as Mistral closed his eye sockets and fell asleep. Papyrus scooped him up in his arms. "I AM TAKING MISTRAL UP TO MY ROOM!" he announced before running off.

Sans grinned at the crowd that had slowly gathered. "misty'll be back before he can be mist. just give him a few hours to sleep on it."

No one laughed.

"jeez, my puns are puttin' you all ta sleep, huh? whatever. if you need me, i'll be with my bros." Sans walked off in the opposite direction Papyrus had gone off in.

Your brothers never told me what happened yesterday.

"magical exhaustion. i used too much magical energy at once."

What were you humming?

"...i was humming? i don't remember that, but i think i heard a bit of a song playing. it was pretty faint, though."

"y-you're teaching about soul colors on wednesday, right?"

"yeah. frisk's already agreed to wear their heart on their sleeve, so we have a human soul. i'm gonna have ta show my soul-"

"i can do it."

"...misty, you already know what i'm gonna say."

"but i can help! you're letting frisk help-"

"frisk isn't a dual-blood!"

"..."

"look, i've looked into how the sages treat anything that isn't the same as them. humans are lower than them, and any magical creature is worse off. you know what they think of half-humans?"

"..."

"half-humans have less rights than full magical creatures and humans. they're thought to be too smart to be treated like an animal, but too dumb to be human. if you're intelligent but don't look the same, you're gonna have a bad time if they know."

"but sans, they don't know what souls look like! besides, you'll be too busy to explained your soul properly!"

"my soul might be mostly integrity, but i've got more patience than you. i could keep this up all day."

"...you know, humans say that patience is a virtue."

"...and?"

"it's a virtue that i obviously don't have."

"heh...i think it's about time you went to bed."

"yeah, you're probably right. good night."

"...why don't you stay in your dorm tonight? i'm sure you made at least one friend today."

"but it's already after curfew. i can't be in the halls now."

"misty, you know how to take shortcuts. you'll be fine."

"..."

"...you wouldn't dare."

"papyr-omph!"

"OK, last week me and paps told you how monsters fight, right?"

Several students hesitantly nodded, surprised to see Sans, of all people, taking charge of a class.

"good." The skeleton rolled the muggle chair he had somehow acquired out from behind his desk, not moving to stand up. He swivelled the chair so that he was facing the board. Sans's left hand snaked out from his hoodie pocket and began to glow blue, his eye matching the hue. The chalk resting next to the board flew up in the air and began scribbling on it in comic sans font. "today we are going to be talking about soul colors: what they mean and how they can be changed in battle." As he spoke, the chalk wrote his exact words on the board.

Mistral glared daggers at Frisk as they walked up to the front of the classroom. Sans lazily grasped in Frisk's direction, pulling out a cherry red heart from Frisk's chest.

"that's frisk's soul, the culmination of their very being. later on this year, if you want, me, paps, and tori'll be willing to show you your soul. after that, it'll be your choices whether to keep or drop this class. now, can anyone guess why frisk's soul is red?"

Three hands shot up.

"wow, either the human that lives with monsters, the monster that's been raised knowing this stuff, or someone who'll actually learn from this. granger, you're up."

Hermione Granger, not even bothering to put her hand down, said, "Red stands for determination. It's the will to do things your way, and can sometimes be called stubbornness."

"thanks, kid, but i think you were persevering a bit too much to give me that answer," Sans said with a wink, earning a giggle from Frisk and Mistral pointedly looking in the other direction. Mistral could see the amethyst glow of the sage's soul easily. It was almost as bright as Frisk's, for crying out loud. "anyone know anything else about determination?"

Hermione raised her hand again, this time not waiting to speak. "Determination is a state of mind that, if strong enough, can push a mere human to new limits, such as in cases of muggle women lifting cars off their children."

"close, but you crashed. determination is a type of soul magic that both humans and monsters can use, but monsters are slowly poisoned by it."

Mistral flinched, remembering the last timeline. "they melt into a puddle of goo...unless they...yeah." Right. He had to remember the amalgamates, too. "either way, it's not a fun way to go...if you go."

"humans are different from monsters because they are made mostly outta physical stuff while monsters are mostly magic." The chalk drew a diagram of a boss monster standing next to a human. "each race has their strengths and weaknesses, but only humans can use determination without dying. lucky for us monsters, most of us can't produce the stuff, so most determination mishaps happen through artificial means."

" that's... 390 now, huh? you're a real sicko. look, what've monsters ever done to you? "

"s-sans?"

" heheheh...guess it was only a matter of time before this happened... "

"misty? mistral, can you hear me?"

"n-no, this c-can't be happening!"

" no...look, you dirty brother killer , you may have got me and paps, but there's one you're always going to have mist , no matter how many times you do that. he'll hide, and he'll live. "

"c'mon, look at me, buddy. eye sockets up here. frisk, go get pa-!"

" no matter what, you're not gonna take my little bro! "

Oh, what makes you so sure of that? You're already melting, just like Undyne. What can a useless puddle do?

" mistral, run! go to the place, and don't let that brother killer catch you! "

"in, out. in, out. that's it, misty."

The relaxing sound of Sans's theme faded into hearing as Mistral ran from his brother and the murderer. But...Sans was dead. Mistral watched him die!

"nah, i'm not leaving that easy. i gotta say, though, you nearly made me jump outta my skin when your pupils started flickering in class. neville and hermione, you remember them? they got the others out, to keep anyone from getting hurt."

When Mistral blinked, he he thought he saw his brother in front of him, letting him squeeze his hand.

"there we go! c'mon, mistral, you can do this."

Mistral blinked again, reaffirming that the Sans in front of him wasn't an illusion. With a sob, the younger skeleton threw his arms around the elder.

"What do you mean he BROKE DOWN IN CLASS?!"

"I MEAN EXACTLY WHAT I SAID, UNDYNE. SANS MANAGED TO HELP HIM THROUGH IT, BUT...I WAS UNABLE TO GET THERE TO HELP BEFORE IT PASSED."

"ALPHYS, WE'RE TAKING HALLOWEEN OFF TO GO VISIT THEM!"

"UNDYNE, THAT MIGHT NOT-"

"See you on Halloween, punk!"

Chapter Text

Saturday, October 31, 2015 was recorded as the first time all three skeleton brothers actually showed up for breakfast at Hogwarts. Sure, Papyrus had brought their food for them, but it was a step up from how reclusive they usually were during meals. Unfortunately, only they were warned of the events to come.

The second Mistral sat down with his food, all the surrounding Gryffindors (minus Frisk and, strangely, Hermione) scooched away. Hermione, confused, asked, "You can eat?"

Mistral stared at her for a moment before giving a slow nod. "yes."

Hermione's raised an eyebrow. "So you're eating...spaghetti."

Another nod, followed by the odd, seemingly impossible feat of a skeleton slurping a noodle. "my brother is really good at cooking, and we can't eat most kinds of food."

"Why?" Hermione asked, staring in attempt to see where the food was going. "Are skeletons allergic to them?"

A ghost of a smile overrode his usually neutral expression. "no."

Frisk rolled their eyes, knowing exactly what was coming.

"it goes right through us!" Mistral stated before chuckling softly.

Frisk shook their head, having a tiny text box appear in a way that kept Mistral from reading it. *You warn Hermione not to question it.

Hermione was at a loss for words. "Did...did you just...?"

Frisk let out a silent groan, their palm connecting to their forehead.

Mistral felt his soul quiver in anticipation. A human that wasn't Frisk...actually being nice. Sure, he had been nice first, on the train, but still! Nervously, he replied. "yes, i did. even i've got a funny bone." He waited expectantly, hoping that it hadn't been a mistake to try to open up.

His fears were dashed, however, when Hermione let out a giggle. "I can't believe this. A skeleton telling skeleton puns."

Mistral grinned widely. "have you heard sans? he's got at least a skele-ton more."

Hermione laughed a little louder. "My parents will never believe that I made friends with a skeleton!"

Immediately, Mistral's face fell. "d-does it matter that i'm s-skeleton?" he mumbled.

Hermione's eyes widened. "No! Of course not! You're nicer than practically everyone here!"

Mistral brightened up almost instantly. "let's be friends, then!"

Before Hermione could open her mouth to reply, the doors of the Great Hall slammed open. "WE'RE HERE, NERDS!"

Mistral pulled out his phone and took pictures of Hermione's and Frisk's shocked faces as a blue fish monster with red hair, better known as Undyne, charged up to Papyrus and began noogying him. A cry of "PLEASE DO NOT NOOGIE THE SKELETON!" echoed through the room.

"oh, yeah," Mistral said, his grin threatening to split his face, "undyne and alphys are coming today."

"It is very good to see you once more, Alphys! How has your job at the Ministry of Magic been?"

"I-it's great! The m-minister put me in ch-charge of a new r-r-research d-division! The O-Office for the A-Adaptation and Integration of M-Muggle Artifacts!"

"Oh my! That is wonderful, Alphys!"

"Th-thanks! I...those cell phones I p-perfected underground? They're g-going to mass produce them! U-Undyne managed to c-convince the m-minister to let all p-proceeds go back to the m-monsters!"

"That is truly wonderful, Alphys. I-oh. What is this?"

"O-one of the first made. It's extra tough, and extra large so y-you can use it..."

"O-oh. Alphys, you did not have to-"

"B-but I w-wanted to! For m-my friends!"

"Why, that is very thoughtful of you, Alphys. Thank you."

"Hey, punk! Heard you had a panic attack in class the other day!"

"p-p-please, undyne, can we n-not talk about it? p-please?"

"I just have one question that I need you to answer. AND YOU'D BETTER ANSWER TRUTHFULLY!"

"w-w-what?"

"...are you okay, Mistral?"

"..."

"Hey, take it easy. I-OOF! You're stronger than you look."

"...yeah."

"Was it...them?"

"no, not them. it hasn't been them in a point time. it was...all just a bad dream, that kept coming back to me."

"Punk, don't worry! Sans and Papyrus...well, Papyrus can protect you! And since I'm here, too..."

"gah! undyne! don't noogie me! let me go!"

"NEVER! NGAAAAAHHHHH!"

"oh, right! third floor, right hand side, there's something that bumbles calls 'a fate worse than death'."

"Are you challenging me to check it out?"

"yes, i am!"

"I'M GONNA DO IT! NGAAAAAH!"

"undyne, did you have to suplex the chair?"

"hey, granger, mind comin' with me for a walk?"

"O-Of course not, Professor Pianissimo!"

"relax, kid. outside'a class, i'm just sans."

"Right, Profe-er, Sans."

"...so, i saw you getting pretty chummy with my little bro earlier. whaddaya think of him?"

"He was really nice, even after I asked him if he was even able to eat. I'm glad I spoke to him, and I hope he wants to be friends."

"yeah...he's been having trouble lately, what with the humans and all. he's under a skele-ton of pressure right now."

A giggle. "Mistral used that same pun earlier..."

"heh...he's pretty cool. if you ever hurt him, though, you're gonna have a bad time."

"I u-understand, Profe-"

"we're outside'a class."

"...Sans."

Undyne grinned as she approached the place Mistral told her about. If it was anything like he said, she was going to have so. Much. Fun.

Her good mood died the second she tried the door's handle. "ARE YOU F***ING KIDDING ME?! OPEN UP, YOU STUPID DOOR!"

"Hmm...doesn't this look suspicious, oh brother of mine?"

"Why, yes it does. A strange fish lady frying to bust into a banned room?"

Undyne's ear fins twitched. She knew those voices, but where had she...

"She sure is a pretty one-"

"-and look! She likes us!"

"Yes, isn't my little girl just the sweetest little thing?"

"I dunno...what do you say-"

Undyne whirled around, an electric blue spear forming in her hands. She used it to pin one of the humans behind her against the wall. "You're not Fabian, and YOU!" She glared at the other. "You're not Gideon!"

The Gideon look-alike began talking fast. "No, they were our uncles! I'm George, and that's Fred!"

Undyne blinked, then scowled. "THEY DIDN'T HAVE SIBLINGS!"

"W-wait!" Fred choked out. "George, remember how Uncle Fabian and Uncle Gideon would tell us about Mafalda-"

"-and promise to take us to see her one day-"

"-and how Aunt Kasey told us that Mafalda was taken to Mount Ebbot by her dad-"

"-and...and she went missing..."

"...but no one ever found the body..."

By this point, Undyne's jaw had dropped in shock and her spear had faded into nothingness. "I...I'm not gonna get all emotional about my finding my family. I'm just gonna focus on breaking this door! NGAAAAAHHHH!" On her scream, she resummoned her spear and attacked the door again.

Fred looked at George. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Forge?"

George grinned back. "I believe I am, Gred."

Making a show of stepping forward, Fred stepped forward. "May we-"

George stepped up as well. "-help you-"

"-in the opening-"

"-of this door? It'll-"

"-make whatever you're doing-"

"-so much easier."

Undyne narrowed her eye. "Why should I trust you punks?"

"Because, my dear relative-"

"-that door is locked with magic-"

"-which means only magic-"

"-can open it again, and not-"

"-the magic of stabbing it-"

"-with a spear."

The fish monster weighed her options. On one hand, she could fight with the door for the entire time she was there, because she sure wasn't going to back down. On the other hand, she didn't trust those two...but she needed to get in there!

"i think you should go for it."

Undyne stiffened before turning to glare at Mistral, who had appeared behind Fred and George. The twins looked behind themselves before jumping as well. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU AND SANS DO THAT?!"

Mistral mockingly put a phalange to his hidden mandible. He pretended that the answer hit him and shrugged. "mmmagic!"

Her ear fins twitched as her face fell. "It's good to see you doing better, punk," she groaned.

The grin under Mistral's hood became slightly visible. "i'm glad to be baiter, gill."

Fred and George's faces lit up. "Wow! It's like-"

"-there's a miniature-"

"-Professor Sans!"

Immediately, Mistral flinched, as though remembering the presence of the two humans. "i...i'd a-ask them for help, u-undyne. it'll quicker."

Undyne jabbed her spear at the door again before screaming in frustration. "Fine, but make it quick!"

Identical grins spread across the twins' faces as they stepped between Undyne and the door, pulling their wands out in sync. Each pointing their wand at the offending (yet still completely unharmed) wooden door, they both said, "Alohomora." The door unlatched with a soft click.

"...That's it?"

Fred, George, and Mistral slowly looked over to the fish monster. She looked positively livid.

"I could have just SAID A SINGLE F***ING WORD to get that DAMN DOOR OPEN?!" With a roar of frustration, Undyne opened the door so hard, it cracked the stone wall it banged into. She then charged inside.

No one spoke as screaming, growling, and barking was heard inside the room. After a few moments, they worked up the courage to glance inside. Mistral leaned away once he saw what was inside, pulling out his phone from one of the many pockets within his cloak.

mistral: hey guess who just won the bet

alph: what no way there's nothing here

Mistral angled his phone so that he could take a picture of the fight, ignoring the confused looks of the Weasley twins. Once he had the picture, he sent it to not only Alphys, but Sans as well. Alphys's response was immediate.

alph: NOOOOOOO!

mistral: yeeeeessss!

Sans took a bit longer to respond.

big bro: heh cool. you tell alph?

mistral: yep

big bro: cool

When lunch came, the monsters (and Frisk) gathered in Toriel's rooms. As she had requested, there was a large room that was able to serve as both a living room and a dining area. Pressed up against one wall was a kitchenette filled with monster-made appliances. Her bedroom door was off to the side, a room for Frisk and a room for guests near it.

All in all, Mistral thought it was definitely cleaner than his brothers' rooms.

Toriel made several dishes for everyone to share, and Papyrus (who had inexplicably vanished shortly after breakfast) had entered the room excitedly, holding a gigantic bowl of spaghetti, announcing that he had been working all morning on it.

Mistral hated to be a picky eater, but he knew from experience that Toriel didn't put enough magic into her food after preparing it for him to digest it properly, so he was forced to stick with spaghetti.

As the meal went on, Undyne boasted about how she was "finally getting those punk-a...punk-butt aurors" to shape up. One auror in particular seemed to like her quite a bit, if only for the fact that his words of "constant vigilance" were actually given a point.

Alphys talked about how she had been showing wizards how to build electronics and how to make it so they ran on ambient magical energy.

Toriel spoke of how her classes were usually very well-behaved, but there were a few who tried to not listen...and were quickly set straight with a glare.

Frisk had excitedly signed about their classes, and how they'd sometimes hear some of the other Gryffindors whispering about a hairy potter, which made no sense to them.

The Great Papyrus went on and on about how amazing the school was, how he had been able to fly on a broomstick, and -

"misty's been sticking up for himself more," Sans interrupted, earning a shriek from Papyrus.

"Sans," Toriel said disapprovingly, "stop tormenting your brother. Besides, I think that he is-"

"PLEASE DO NOT, YOUR MAJESTY!"

"-branching out to the other students quite nicely."

Once Papyrus had calmed down, everyone looked to Sans for how he had been. Said skeleton shrugged and said that his room was finally done.

"so you finished the new self-sustaining trash tornado?" Mistral asked curiously, his pupil lights glowing a bit brighter.

Sans's grin grew wider. "yeah, since the one in snowdin was a winderful accident, i had to figure out how to recreate it."

Alphys looked confused. "S-Sans? Why d-do you even n-need a tornado in your r-room?"

"why wouldn't i need a tornado in my room?"

When no one could come up with a good reason (or rather, a reason that Sans didn't shoot down immediately), the conversation topic was dropped. Finally, they got to Mistral. "i...i've tried opening up more to the humans in my classes, but...sometimes, i feel like a whimsun that can't escape."

"well, you know what they say."

Papyrus scowled at his older brother. "NO."

"you whimsun, you lose some."

"EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE!" the tallest skeleton screamed.

The gathering of friends lasted right up to the feast. It would have lasted for longer if not for Toriel noticing the time. So Mistral was sitting in the Great Hall with Frisk, looking up and down the Gryffindor table to find Hermione. For some reason, though, she was no where to be seen.

"frisk?" he asked his friend. "have you seen hermione?"

Frisk shook their head.

Frowning, Mistral turned to the boy next to him, who he recognized after a few seconds as Neville. "have you seen hermione anywhere?"

Neville shook his head. "No, I haven't. Lavender might know where she is, though."

Both fell silent for a moment before Mistral asked, "and which one is lavender?"

The boy pointed at a girl farther down the table.

Mistral nodded as he got to his feet. "thanks, neville!" He made his way down to Lavender, everyone he passed falling silent. Mistral, the kid that only spoke to a few people, was actually approaching someone.

When he stopped behind Lavender, said girl nervously turned around. "Yes?

"do you know where hermione is?" he asked, his worry for his friend overriding his fear of humans for the time being.

Lavender nodded. "She's in the girls' toilets. Ron Weasley said something mean earlier and she's been there ever since."

As Lavender spoke, the lights in Mistral's eye sockets died. "thank you," he said lowly before walking towards the doors of the Great Hall.

"Mr. Pianissimo!" Dumbledore's voice cut over the noise of the Great Hall, silencing everyone. "Where are you going?"

Mistral turned to face the headmaster and pulled his hood down. Despite the neutral expression on his face, the lack of light in his eye socket screamed to practically everyone in the room to back away. "i am going to find my friend." Before anyone could argue, he left.

Not five minutes later, Professor Quirrel threw open the doors of the Great Hall. "Troll..." he gasped, "in the dungeons...thought you ought to know..." He fainted.

As the Great Hall fell into a panic, Papyrus was already bolting out the door, Sans tucked under his arm. After a few seconds, Undyne ran out the door as well, an electric blue spear forming in her hands.

"hermione?" Mistral called out from the entrance to the bathroom.

A muffled sob was his only reply.

"hermione, i'm coming in, ok?"

Another sob.

Mistral entered, and looked from stall to stall, trying to find her. When he found the stall with Hermione in it, he sat down. They sat in a silence that was occasionally broken by the soft sound of Hermione's crying. After a few moments, Mistral had an idea. He knocked twice on the stall door.

"...what?"

"no," Mistral said, fake-exasperated. "you're supposed to ask me who's there. now let's try that again." He knocked on the door again.

"W-who's there?"

"car."

"Car who?"

"i car about my friends, hermione. a-and we're still friends, right?"

Hermione giggled. "I-if you still want to be."

Mistral grinned. "then we're friends." He was silent for a few moments before he knocked on the door once more.

"Who's there?"

"weasel."

"Weasel who?"

"what did that weasel say to you?"

Hermione fell silent.

Mistral immediately backpedaled. "uh, you don't have to answer that if you don't want-"

"'It's no wonder no one can stand her'," Hermione quoted sadly. "'She's a nightmare.'"

...

"Mistral, are you still there?"

"...the next time i see that weasel, he is going to regret what he has done."

"No, it's honestly fine, Mistral!" Hermione said, unnerved by the tone, or lack thereof, her friend had.

Mistral opened his mouth to argue, but stopped when he saw the hulking figure stumble into the room, trailing its club behind it. When he finally found his voice, he smiled warmly. "hello!" he said happily. "who are you?"

Chapter Text

"Students are to report to their respective Common rooms! Prefects will lead their-Professor Toriel, what are you doing?"

"While my child is perfectly capable of caring for themselves, it would put my mind greatly at ease to hated them stay with me tonight."

"Professor Toriel, this is hardly the time to-"

*You tell the professors that you wish to stay with Toriel tonight.

"Very well. As for the rest of you..."

"SANS, NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOU TO BE FALLING ASLEEP!" Papyrus exclaimed as he dashed through the corridors, trying to locate his younger brother.

Sans didn't reply, his eye sockets closed in sleep.

With a groan, Papyrus slowed momentarily to shift his brother from under his arm to a two-armed carry, which the sleeping skeleton immediately reacted to by wrapping his arms around Papyrus's cervical vertebrae.

(Somewhere in the school, a group of witches squealed.)

Papyrus picked up his pace again, earning a frustrated swear from Undyne (who had just managed to catch up) about the skeleton's lack of muscles. Unhearing, he sped through the hallways, screeching to a halt when he heard a familiar-sounding voice. "WHAT?!"

He stopped outside of the door the voice had come from. Shifting his brother so that he could to a one-armed Sans carry, Papyrus cautiously opened the door. Once he saw what was inside, he blinked in confusion.

[I told you, the human that smells of death used human magic to bring me to the human-made cave!] the troll grunted in its native tongue.

Mistral, who was grinning up at the troll, was standing in front of a very confused Hermione. "really, they shouldn't have done that to you," he said perfectly in a younger-sounding version of Sans's voice. "could you tell me what the human looked like?"

[My eyes can't see well,] the troll replied. [The back of its head was big, but it wasn't human magic.]

"thank you, bert, Mistral replied. "i'm sorry that they did that to you."

Papyrus's jaw fell to the floor with a clatter, waking up Sans and alerting both the troll and Mistral to his presence. The troll nodded at him. [Greetings, skeleton. It is an honor to meet you and your clan this day.]

After carefully setting his brother down and clicking his jaw back into place, Papyrus posed heroically. "AH, SO MY REPUTATION PROCEEDS ME! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, UNDERSTAND THE AWE YOU FEEL TO BE IN MY PRESENCE!"

Sans grinned up at the troll, his pupil lights twinkling mischievously. "so...you must be life of the party, huh?"

The troll blinked, confused. [What do you mean, skeleton?]

Sans's grin grew. "people must love hangin' out with you when you go clubbing." He turned to Mistral. "so...any reason why you're speakin' my language, misty?"

Mistral tilted his head. "what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm curious about this as well," Hermione said shakily, unnerved by the troll her friend had been so casually speaking with.

"WHY MISTRAL, IT MEANS YOU ARE SPEAKING IN SANS'S FONT, OF COURSE!" Papyrus exclaimed.

Mistral looked stunned. "wait...that's actually possible? since when?"

Papyrus puffed out his rib cage proudly. "WE SKELETONS HAVE ALWAYS HAD THE ABILITY, MISTRAL! IT IS LIKE THE MAGIC THAT IS OUR FONT...BUT IT ALLOWS US TO COPY ANOTHERS' FONT SO THAT WE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD!"

[Skeleton Mistral, it is known by all in my clan that skeletons can speak to all,] the troll interjected. [Many generations ago, they helped keep peace by translating for those who did not speak as I.]

Hermione frowned. "What did he say?"

"he said that skeletons were translators," Mistral explained.

"Skeletons were...translators?"

Surprisingly, it was Sans who answered. "translator, diplomat, and guard all rolled into one. who needs to guess someone's intentions when your translator has the ability to see how much LOVE everyone has? we were the neutral third party."

"really?"

"SANS IS RIGHT," Papyrus said with a nod.

Mistral and Bert the troll were enraptured by the history lesson, neither knowing just how much skeletons had mattered. Hermione saw an opportunity to learn more. "Why did the skeletons stop? So many wars could have been stopped if only someone could have readily helped with international politics!"

The bathroom fell silent, both Sans and Papyrus bowing their heads. Bert automatically followed their lead. Hermione seemed to realize that she said something wrong, because she immediately tried to backpedal. "Sorry, you don't have to answer tha-"

"I...SANS...ERM..." Beads of sweat formed on Papyrus's skull. "COULD...COULD YOU EXPLAIN?" At the looks of surprise from those around him, Papyrus forced himself to perk up. "I WOULD EXPLAIN, BUT I MUST BRING THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HOGWARTS STAFF HERE TO SORT OUT OUR SITUATION!" Before anyone could react to the skeleton's sudden change in emotion, Papyrus had fled the bathroom.

Bert, surprisingly, was the first to break out of his daze. [Will Skeleton Papyrus be sound in mind? He looks sad.] Quietly, Mistral translated for Hermione.

"he'll be fine, no bones about it," Sans punned, his smile forced. "so...ya wanna know why we stopped helping, kid?"

Bert and Mistral waited silently as Hermione nodded.

Sans closed his eye sockets and sighed. "a peaceful skeleton village was attacked. 200 or so dead, no survivors. lucky that it's nearly impossible for a human to take a monster soul, amiright?"

The reactions were immediate. Bert tightened his grip on his club. Hermione gasped in both horror and shock. Mistral subtly inched away from Hermione.

Despite the responses he received, Sans continued, knowing that Mistral had to find out eventually (and would push a lot harder than Papyrus would to be told). "'cause skeletons are a type of monster-"

"Isn't that the politically incorrect term?" Hermione interrupted. "Aren't you Magical Creatures?"

This time, Sans translated what she said before picking up on Bert as he spoke. [No. Skeletons and those like them have no true name for their clan. Most called them 'Children of Magic', but scared humans began calling them monsters. When the monsters vanished, humans took the honor of 'Children of Magic' for themselves.]

"wow," Sans said, his expression as unchanging as usual. "didn't know that."

"The story?" Hermione prompted.

Sans paused for a moment before simply replying, "nope."

Mistral frowned. "why not?" That was when he heard a familiar song blaring. "oh no..."

The door separating the bathroom from the hallway as the song looped again, the booming kick emphasizing the beat. "You're going down...troll?" The music sputtered and died as Undyne stood in the doorway, confused. The spear in her hands faded out of existence.

Several teachers followed her, their wands raised, putting Bert on the defensive. McGonagall cleared her throat. "Back away from the troll. It isn't safe."

"NO! BERT IS NICE AND WE MUST HELP HIM TO GET HOME!" Papyrus yelled from behind the professors. He pushed his way to the front before posing, the ends of his scarf fluttering in the wind that wasn't there. "DO NOT FEAR, FRIEND BERT, FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ASSURE YOU THAT MY HUMAN COWORKERS WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU TO GET HOME!"

"It is just a troll, Fortissimo," Snape said flatly. "It will not be able to-"

To the shock of the professors (minus Sans and Papyrus), the troll dropped to one knee, his head bowed. [I thank you for this, skeletons. It comforts me that the true Children of Magic live and are just as Shaman William told.]

"and how exactly did he say we were?" Mistral asked curiously.

The troll smiled softly, although on his face, it looked more like a grimace. [Understanding, willing to listen, kind. Until we met, I had never seen a small one greet one of my clan with no fear.]

Mistral smiled back. "glad i didn't disappoint too much"

McGonagall decided to try to gain control of the conversation. "Professor Sinestra, Professor Flitwick, would you please escort..."

"bert," Mistral supplied.

"...Bert, to Professor Dumbledore with instructions to get him...home..." As the teachers retreated with the troll, McGonagall, as though seeing Mistral and Hermione for the first time, glared at them. "You two are both supposed to be in the Common room! What was going through your heads?"

"lady, if i could interrupt your rant?" Sans broke in. "misty went to look for the kid before turbs started screamin' about a troll. the kid was in here 'cause one of their housemates practically said to her face that she had no friends. tibia honest, i don't see why a bullied kid and their caring friend should be punished for something they didn't know about."

Snape scowled. "Pianissimo, just because Mistral is your son-" Before he could get any farther, Sans, Papyrus, and Mistral all began laughing.

"i'm gonna crack a rib!" Mistral choked out, to which Papyrus nodded an agreement.

Sans recovered the most quickly. "misty's my little bro, just like paps."

"What?" Hermione asked almost silently, stunned about both revelations.

Papyrus, not hearing the young human, frowned down at his little brother. "MISTRAL? HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SPEAKING IN SANS'S FONT?"

Mistral shrugged. "since a few seconds after i met bert. why?"

"...MISTRAL, IT WOULD BE BEST IF YOU STAYED WITH SANS AND I TONIGHT," Papyrus said, his voice wavering slightly with emotion. "OR MAYBE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, DEPENDING ON HOW LONG THIS TAKES."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "How long what takes exactly?"

Before anyone could react, Papyrus had lunged forward and tucked Sans under his right arm and jstral under his left. "WOWIE, IT'S GETTING RATHER LATE! IT'S PAST MISTRAL'S BEDTIME AND HE STILL HASN'T EATEN DINNER! I MUST RECTIFY THIS IMMEDIATELY!" With that, Papyrus ran off, leaving several very confused professors, an amused student, and a fish monster that was just comin out of her shock of seeing a creature she had been told was a dangerous killing machine having a friendly conversation with her friends.

"MISTRAL, I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS! FOCUS IS KEY!"

"yeah, c'mon, misty. just do it."

"IGNORE SANS AND HIS MEMEING, BROTHER!"

"okay, so i just keep talking like this and i'll just switch? WOW, THIS IS REALLY WEIRD. HOW AM I EVEN DOING THIS RIGHT NOW? DID I GET IT?"

"...little too far there. you went caps lock."

"YOU SOUNDED LIKE ME FOR A MOMENT, BUT THEN SWITCHED TO...WHATEVER IT IS YOU ARE SPEAKING."

"CRUD. LET ME JUST TRY AGAIN..."

"NO! IT PUTS TREMENDOUS STRAIN ON ONE'S MAGIC TO SWITCH FONTS THAT MANY TIMES IN A ROW! YOU MAY NOT TRY AGAIN UNTIL TOMORROW!"

"BUT-"

"paps is right. magical exhaustion isn't very humerus."

"THANK YOU, SANS! I AM VERY GLAD THAT...SANS!"

"TIBIA HONEST, I FOUND IT FUNNY."

"AAAAGH!"

Chapter Text

"OKAY," Mistral said to himself as he stood outside of the Great Hall. "I CAN DO THIS. IT'S JUST A SMALL MAGIC CONTROL PROBLEM. I WON'T BE ABLE TO SPEAK ANYTHING BUT WINGDINGS, BUT I HAVE TO CHECK ON HERMIONE." He sighed. "MAYBE I COULD...NO, I HAVE TO DO THIS." With that, Mistral pulled his hood up and walked in.

Hermione halfheartedly played with her eggs as Frisk's constant stream of reassurances popped up one by one out of the corner of her eye. She had seen Mistral back away from her, even after talking down the troll. One of her only friends (Frisk had ambushed her shortly after she had gotten to the Common room the night before, asking to be her friend) was terrified if her and she didn't even know if she'd ever get the chance to apologize.

Suddenly, Hermione noticed the lack of black text boxes appearing in her vision. She looked at Frisk and was surprised to see Mistral standing near them, a large grin threatening to split his face. Frisk scooched over, letting Mistral sit between them and Hermione. Happily sitting, Mistral opened his mouth to speak only for a series of unidentifiable noises to escape him and his hands to gesture erratically.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

Mistral's eye sockets widened for a moment before he held up a finger and pulled a piece of paper and a pen out from within his cloak. He quickly scribbled down a note and proudly handed it to Hermione.

"Um...Mistral?" Hermione said. "Are these Wingdings?"

The skeleton stared at the paper for a moment before giving a groan and dropping his skull onto the table with a loud thud. Without warning, he jolted up again, pulling a laptop out this time. He opened a web browser and began chicken-pecking the keys with his left hand while he grumbled and gestured with his right

Curious, Hermione leaned over to see what he was doing. Whenever Mistral typed in a letter, however, it was readable for only a moment before warping into a wingding character. She had to ask about that later.

After a display of the fastest chicken-pecking Hermione had ever seen, Mistral hit 'enter', bringing up a page of images on a well-known search engine. He clicked one, bringing it to full screen.

It was a Wingdings-to-English conversion chart. Grinning widely, Mistral pointed at the note he had written, at Hermione, then pushed the laptop towards her, nearly taking out Frisk's pumpkin juice in the process.

Getting the idea, Hermione took the pen Mistral had left on the table and began translating the note. Once she had finished, she read it over.

Sorry, Hermione. Last night was the first time I had ever changed font, even on accident, and I have no idea how to change it back. I'm going to try again tonight (with Sans and Papyrus watching) and hope I can get from a barely understandable font to a semi-understandable font!

Sorry for panicking last night, by the way.

"Your...font changed?" Hermione asked. "Like writing fonts? Oh..." Her eyes widened. "Professor Papyrus...he writes in papyrus! Yours is mistral, obviously, but what is Sans?"

Mistral was laughing silently at Hermione's outburst. Once he calmed down slightly, he took the paper back, wrote a bit, and handed it back.

What did the skeleton say after laughing at a joke?

That sure was humerus ;)

Hermione's face became neutral. "Is he honestly...?"

Frisk stared in confusion as Mistral nodded.

*You ask Hermione what she means.

Hermione looked conflicted between laughing and sighing. "Sans's real name is Comic Sans."

Can you ask Frisk if they're still planning on coming for lunch?

"Frisk? Mistral's wondering if you're still coming for lunch."

*You tell Mistral that you are.

*You ask if Hermione can come, too.

If she wants to.

"I-I'd love to. What would we be having?"

*You tell Hermione about Mistral's spaghetti.

Heads up, Papyrus is cooking.

"Mistral says that Professor Papyrus is...why are you making that face?"

Hermione wasn't sure what to expect when she entered the skeleton professors' rooms, but it definitely wasn't what she saw.

The first thing she noticed was a laid-back song that seemed to resonate through the room. The second thing was the TV set up against one of the walls. "Does your telly work?" Hermione blurted.

A deep chuckle from behind her made the switch jump. "monster-made. it takes some of the magic from the air to work. the royal scientist before alphys figured out how ta do it."

Hermione struggled to suppress a scowl at Sans's actions while Mistral started laughing. He said something unintelligible, which had Sans chuckling again.

A tap on her shoulder reminded her that she had to move away from the doorway to let Frisk in. Once they could get in, Frisk casually walked by her and headed for the small kitchenette.

The cooking area was normal enough, with Papyrus happily preparing food. Any other details were lost when Hermione saw the sink, which was easily taller than Papyrus could reach. Without realizing it, she gaped. "Why...?"

Seeing Hermione's confused expression, Frisk began gesturing. Papyrus paused his cooking, turning his skull to face them. "WHAT? WHY WOULD SHE BE? IT IS PERFECTLY NORMAL TO INCREASE THE HEIGHT OF YOUR SINK!" Frisk gestured more in a way Hermione recognized as...

"Frisk?" the inquisitive Gryffindor asked. "Are you using sign language? How did Professor Papyrus know what you were saying without looking?"

Nod. A text box appeared before Hermione. *You tell Hermione, "Mmmmmagic!"

Hermione frowned, obviously displeased with the response. Before she could speak up, however, Papyrus ran up to her, his modified 'Kiss the Cook' apron (read: 'Kiss the' crossed off and 'is Great' written in underneath) clearly visible. "THE SINK HAS IN INCREASED HEIGHT, MUCH LIKE THE ONE AT MY HOME, SO THAT I MAY STORE MORE BONES UNDER IT! WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE?"

Caught off guard by the fact that a skeleton could successfully do the puppy dog eyes, Hermione could only nod.

"VERY WELL, HUMAN! PREPARE TO BE AMAZED!" Papyrus opened the cupboard under the sink to reveal a white dog gnawing on a single bone. "HEY! HOW DID YOU GET IN THERE?" The dog tensed up before making a break for it. "CATCH THAT MANGY DOG!"

Somehow, despite lacking both height and opposable thumbs, the dog opened the door and disappeared into the rest of the school.

Papyrus stamped his foot on the ground. "CURSES!"

The doors to two side rooms opened, revealing that, at some point, Sans and Mistral had retreated to them. Sans held a trombone in his phalanges while Mistral had somehow managed to lug a huge piano in front of the door. They each played what Hermione knew as the universal trombone song of failure, with Mistral improvising to add to each note. The second they were done, both doors closed.

"SANS! MISTRAL! WHY DO YOU TWO INSIST ON PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC?!"

"WHAT? OF COURSE I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, DIDN'T ADD TOO MUCH!"

Hermione watched from her place on the couch as Mistral, from what Papyrus was saying, attempted to be a backseat chef. The youngest of the three skeletons seemed to have taken it upon himself to make sure that Papyrus did...something to the spaghetti that he was cooking.

A few minutes after the Dog Incident (which Papyrus had made her swear never to mention outside of the skeleton brothers' rooms), Frisk had pulled Hermione over to the living room area and sat down on the couch. They had turned on the TV, much to Hermione's shock ("But electronics don't work around magic!" "DR. ALPHYS AND THE ROYAL SCIENTIST BEFORE HER HAD MANY YEARS TO PERFECT THE ART OF SHIELDING TECHNOLOGY FROM MAGIC, HUMAN!"), and watched as a...metallic box on a unicycle appeared on screen, singing about his forbidden love.

When Hermione asked what the box was, Papyrus started lecturing her about a celebrity she had never heard of called 'Mettaton'.

She didn't really pay very much attention to the many exploits of Mettaton, instead watching Papyrus cook with Mistral, who somehow appeared silently during the middle of Papyrus's rant.

The tall skeleton appeared to have finished what he was cooking, because he carried two bowls over to the table set up in the corner, yelling, "HUMANS, SANS, I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, HAVE COMPLETED LUNCH!"

Frisk seemed to shudder momentarily before getting to their feet, confusing Hermione. She stood up as well, seeing that a lone seat was still empty. Hesitantly, she took it just as Papyrus scooped a large portion of spaghetti onto her plate. It sparkled as though it was covered in glitter. Hermione grinned nervously. "Uh...it looks wonderful, Professor."

Mistral grinned widely, speaking again and bobbing his head.

Sans chuckled. "yeah, think you got the balance right, bro."

Papyrus brightened, if that was even possible. "REALLY? WOWIE, I MUST TRULY BE GIFTED TO BE ABLE TO MAKE MY LEGENDARY COOKING EVEN MORE AMAZING!" He finished placing the pasta onto everyone's plates. He sat down and immediately began shoveling spaghetti into his mouth.

Frisk followed slowly, their face scrunching up on reflex.

Hermione decided to take a bite as well, feeling body attempt to recoil on instinct. The taste was indescribable.

Mistral spoke up, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. Despite how impossible the language sounded, the older skeletons seemed to understand perfectly.

"after lunch, ok misty? wouldn't be fun for you to be bone tired before you can start."

The youngest of the skeletons sighed sadly, bowing his head.

"seriously, you mutt be kidding me, misty," Sans said, shaking his skull. "you've been spending way too much time with the royal guard if you can pull off a kicked puppy look like that."

Mistral shrugged before saying something back.

Papyrus tried to scowl, but the huge grin on his face made it hard to believe. "MUST YOU TWO ALWAYS DO THIS WHEN WE ARE EATING?"

"c'mon, you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT!"

Frisk grinned mischievously, a text box appearing in front of their plate. *You tell a bad pun about pasta. Somehow, Hermione got the sense that Frisk had honestly told a terrible pun.

Papyrus must have felt it as well, because he groaned loudly, getting to his feet. "THAT IS IT. I AM GOING TO WORK ON LESSON PLANS FOR THIS COMING WEEK." He picked up his empty plate and walked over to the kitchen.

"paps, it's pasta time for that!"

Mistral pitched something in that Hermione was still unable to understand.

"'sides, we gotta help misty, right?"

The skeleton placed his dishes on the counter before posing heroically. "YOU'RE RIGHT! WHAT KIND OF BROTHER WOULD I BE IF I WASN'T THERE TO HELP MY YOUNGER SIBLING WORK THROUGH THIS GROWTH IN MAGIC?"

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean, a 'growth in magic'? Magical cores develop over time, but they don't hurt the one they're within as they grow-"

"girlie, we're monsters, not wizards," Sans cut her off. "s'just how we work." He stood up, taking his dishes ("When did he even eat?") over to where Papyrus's were. Mistral followed him, bouncing on his calcanei.

Mistral said something, a hopeful look on his face, making Sans laugh.

"yeah, bro. you can do the thing."

Immediately, a look of intense concentration crossed Mistral's face as he began talking. At first, it was intelligible, but quickly transitioned to understandable. "-I MEAN SERIOUSLY, HOW HARD CAN IT BE TO SWITCH BACK TO MY FONT, RIGHT? IT'S JUST so irritating that I've been stuck like that and now i...wait, i did it!"

"GOOD JOB, MISTRAL!" Papyrus praised. "NOW YOU MUST KEEP YOUR FONT STEADY. YOU CAN DO THIS!"

Mistral grinned widely, "i think i've got it now, papyrus."

"B-but how did you do that?  You switched when you were speaking with the troll-"

"bert."

"-and then you switched again overnight, and now you're speaking in your normal accent-"

"font."

"-again?"

"there's an explanation that sans and i have been using a lot lately."

"And that is...?"

"mmmmagic!"

"You're insufferable, Mistral!"

Chapter Text

"Huh? Mistral, what are you doing here? You never eat meals with us."

"i...i haven't really had a reason to eat here before, but...i've been kinda hiding behind my brothers outside of class. even underground, i tended to stay by myself, but here, i have 2 friends i don't wanna see hurt."

*You tell Mistral that he sounds more relaxed than usual.

"Yes, you do sound different, Mistral."

"hey, if 2 humans are willing to watch my back, maybe i can let my guard down at least a little, right?"

"what the hell is a 'quadpitch'?"

"It's quidditch, not quadpitch, and it's a Wizarding sport that involves two teams of seven players, three goal posts per team, and four balls. It's...honestly rather confusing. Perhaps actually watching the game will make more sense."

"...hermione? i have a dumb question."

"Yes, Mistral?"

"what's a sport?"

"that was supposed to be a game? it was nothing like searchers, or humans & monsters, or snow war, or-"

"Wait, what was that?"

"snow war?"

"No, before that."

"searchers?"

"No, the one in the middle."

"humans & monsters?"

"Yes, what is that? I've never heard of a game like that."

"frisk? can you help get some of the humans together? i'll grab monster kid & fire girl. we're gonna play humans & monsters!"

"Wait! I still don't know what that is!"

"...and that's basically it. any questions?"

*You ask Hermione what her question is.

"So...this game is like Cops and Robbers?"

"uh...frisk?"

Nod.

"then yes, it is. any more questions?"

*You point to the Weasley twins.

"Yes, hello, Mistral-"

"-and Frisk! We would like-"

"-to know what Cops-"

"-and Robbers is."

"uh...hermione?"

"Frisk? You can speak in sign language, right?"

*Yes.

"It's easier for you to use it, to get your point across?

*Yes.

"Could you teach me how to sign?"

Definitely!

"Is that a yes?"

The cool of fall turned into the oh-my-god-it's-so-freaking-cold of winter. Students hurried between classes, hoping to limit exposure to the chill that settled into almost every inch of the castle. Humans, monsters...basically everyone was wearing layers to attempt to stay warm. Everyone, that is, save three monsters.

"That's it!" Hermione exclaimed, slamming her hands onto the dining table. Frisk jumped slightly, their reaction not quite as...extreme as Mistral's.

Said skeleton, who had been eating a Tupperware container of spaghetti, immediately tried to back up, which only succeeded in tipping himself over the back of the bench, his skull hitting the floor with a loud crack. Realizing that he was receiving a multitude of strange looks, Mistral got back to his seats, relieved that his hood was still up. Then, as if nothing had happened, he asked, "what's it?"

"How are you not freezing?" Hermione asked, irritated. "It's almost zero degrees outside of classes, but you haven't even worn any extra layers!"

Mistral narrowed an eye socket, making it look like he was raising an eyebrow. "1, it's more like 32. 2, i'm a skeleton. you could say it goes right through me."

Hermione huffed at the answer before going back to her breakfast. Mistral had just started eating when he heard, Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard. He turned to see a worried Frisk staring at him expectantly.

Mistral nodded, cringing slightly at the jab of pain in the back of his skull. Before he could be asked anything else, he shoved his half-finished spaghetti into his cloak, announced, "i have to go to the bathroom", and bolted from the room.

Frisk groaned, their head thumping onto the table and narrowly missing the butter.

Hermione frowned. "Frisk, what's wrong? Mistral is just going to the bathroom."

Frisk sat up, shaking their head. Slowly, they signed out, Monster slang. Means "leaving place now".

Taking a moment to translate the broken sign language, Hermione asked, "What do you mean?"

Taking a leaf out of Mistral's book, Frisk bent over and pulled a sheet of parchment and a quill, scribbled something down, then handed the sheet to their friend.

It's slang. It means "I'm escaping this situation", but it's supposed to be polite.

The young witch frowned. Was Mistral hurt?

Mistral swore as soon as he knew the bathroom was empty. He yanked down his hood and reached up to feel the back of his head. A small spiderweb of cracks reached out from the impact point, a small piece of bone missing from the very center.

"it's...it's fine, everything is fine," Mistral mumbled. "right, i can fix this. i don't need to bug anyone." Focusing intently, he hovered his hand over his injury, forcing it to give off healing energy. When it didn't do anything, Mistral sighed, giving up. He yanked his hood back up. "ok, this is fine. it'll just...heal naturally. sans and papyrus won't know as long as i keep my hood up." Nodding, as if to confirm his plan, Mistral left the bathroom.

"so, today, we're going to play snow war!"

"And how do you play snow wa-AGH!"

"ok, frisk! help me make the fort!"

"You'll pay for that, Pianissimo!"

I found something last night.

"oh really? i thought toriel didn't wanna have you wandering at night."

That's not important. What is important is that I found something really cool!

"lemme guess: you wanna show me tonight."

Who knows if it'll still be there when we come back from break! Come on, Misty!

"...fine."

Mistral gaped at the size of the mirror that dominated the otherwise empty classroom. His pupil lights scanned the intricate designs along the edges, fixating on the writing at the top. Automatically seeing the translation, he read, "i show not your face but your heart's desire."

Frisk stood in front of the mirror, signing, Look! Everyone is free...and my human parents are proud of me...

"uh, frisk?" Mistral said. "sorry to burst your bubble, but everyone is free. also you're staring at your reflection."

Come here! Frisk reached out and grabbed Mistral's forearm, yanking him in front of the mirror. Look into it!

Hesitantly, Mistral looked into the mirror. His eye sockets lit up blue and green as foreign magic prodded his soul. It seemed almost child-like, like it was asking to show him something about himself. He nodded, his pupil lights fading back to white dots.

The surface of the seemingly-normal mirror rippled momentarily before clearing to reveal that Mistral was standing by Sans and Papyrus. Behind them were two couples, one with a blacked-haired human male and a female skeleton wearing a pale green ribbon around her cervical vertebrae, the other couple with a female skeleton wearing a robe a few shades lighter than Mistral's and a male skeleton wearing a black robe. Amazed, he reached out to the skeleton couple only to be stopped by the glass barrier.

Movement in the corner of his vision drew Mistral's attention away from the reflections of his parents and towards the other couple. The human had sky blue eyes hidden behind glasses, and a large grin on his face. The skeleton seemed no less enthusiastic, if not a little exasperated. She had a partially-fused jaw, her toothy grin stretching wider as she acknowledged Mistral.

He stared, unable to tell who the two were. Seeing his confusion, the female skeleton put a finger up to her teeth. Her form shimmered before turning into that of a red-haired human with her left eye electric blue and her right emerald green. Her eyes closed, them opened to show them both being green. She brought up her right hand and signed out a name. L-I-L-Y-P-O-T-T-E-R. Pointing to the man next to her, she added, J-A-M-E-S-P-O-T-T-E-R.

Mistral nodded, confused about the show of magic within the mirror, but happy for the information. He stepped to the side, disrupting the reflection's magic and making everyone vanish. "frisk?" he asked softly. "could you help me do some research tomorrow before we leave?"

Nod.

"how can there be no information on 2 humans? even the underground had better records than sages do!"

Why don't we just ask Hermione?

"...frisk, you're a genius!"

"Wait, you're trying to find who?"

"lily & james potter," Mistral said. "i heard their names &wanted to know who they are."

Hermione was stunned. "The entire Wizarding World knows who Lily and James Potter are! How do you not know?"

Frisk waved, getting the witch's attention, before signing, M born.

Hermione blinked, then looked at Mistral. "Frisk, I can understand, but how does a magical creature-"

"monster," Mistral corrected.

"-not know about the Potter family?"

Mistral gave her a deadpan stare. "3 words, hermione. barrier, underground, trapped."

"W-what?" Hermione deflated. "You were trapped underground?"

"yeeeeah," Mistral drew out. "all monsters were. we only were freed over the summer."

"Really?"

"i kid you not."

Hermione sighed. "Lily and James Potter were the last two people to be killed by You-Know-Who before he was destroyed by their son, Harry."

Instead of the recognition she expected, the reaction Hermione received was the skeleton narrowing an eye socket. "who no who?"

"You know..." Hermione's voice dropped to a whisper. "Voldemort?"

Mistral blinked. "who's the jerk that named their kid 'flight of death'?"

"hermione, d'you think you might be able to come over during the break? there's a tradition that monsters have-"

"I'd be honored to come, Mistral. Would my parents be able to come, too?"

"definitely!"

Chapter Text

When Tom and Jean Granger first found out their daughter was a witch, they were stunned. Magic wasn't real, it was just a fairy tale...but then Professor McGonagall showed definitive proof that it existed by making a book left on the coffee table levitate with nothing more than a wave of her wand, their shock turned to amazement. Their daughter, Hermione Jean Granger, was going to be able to learn how to do the same!

Several months later, when Hermione came home and told them that one of her friends had invited all three of them over for the holidays, they were more than happy to oblige. She warned both of them that the family they were visiting was a magical family that didn't look quite as...human, but had hurriedly assured them over and over that no, they and their neighbors weren't dangerous in any way, shape. Jean had nodded her understanding while Tom waved his daughter off, prepared for whatever happened.

As it turned out, neither of them were expecting what trusting Hermione led them into.

A stone wall surrounded the rather large community that was at the base of Mt. Ebbot, an almost three hour drive away from London. Much to the shock of the Grangers, a large dog on a suit of armor was manning the gate, and let them through the moment Hermione said that they were going to visit Frisk and Mistral.

On their way to New Snowdin Street, everyone in the car was transfixed by the variety of designs the houses had. Some looked completely normal while others looked entirely unique (they stopped so Jean could take a picture of a house that looked like a giant blue fish). Almost everywhere, heavily-clothed children were playing, either throwing snowballs, building snow sculptures, or just chasing each other around. When one turned so that they faced the street, however, Tom slammed on the breaks in shock.

A little dinosaur-like creature, lacking both arms, had noticed their car and ran up to the side. Hermione rolled down her window. "Yo! I didn't know you were coming to Newer Home over break!"

Seeing her parents' twin expressions of confusion, Hermione grinned. "Mum, dad, this is Monster Kid. He's not in the same house as me, but he goes to Hogwarts as well. M.K., this is my mum and dad."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Granger!" Monster Kid, or M.K. as Hermione had called him, said excitedly.

"M.K., do you know where we could find New Snowdin Street?" Hermione asked, hoping for at least some directions.

The monster nodded. "Yo, that's where I live!"

"And we're trying to find house twenty-one as well-"

Monster Kid's eyes lit up. "You're going to visit the Great Papyrus? Yo, he's so cool! He's already told me that he would help train me to be as cool as him!" He jumped away from the car, angling his head away. "Follow me!" With that, he began running down the road...then tripped over nothing, falling flat on his face.

"Is...is he all right?" Jean asked her daughter.

"He does this all the time," Hermione replied.

As if to prove her point, Monster Kid hopped to his feet with no problems, yelling out, "I'm good!" before continuing down the road.

When they reached New Snowdin Street, Hermione was surprised to see the amount of Christmas decorations covering the houses. She had asked Mistral what he was doing for the holiday roughly a week earlier, but he had only looked confused at the mention of it.

"Yo, we're here!" Monster Kid said, shaking Hermione from her thoughts.

She and her parents got out of their car. "Thank you for helping us, M.K."

"No problem! I'm just doing what any cool dude would do!" the monster replied. "Nyeh-heh-heh!" Before anyone could react, Monster Kid ran off.

Hermione's parents stood there for a moment, still trying to fully process the lizard-like monster obviously trying to act like someone. They were broken out of their shock by Hermione clearing her throat. Tom looked sheepish. "Sorry, Hermione. We shouldn't be standing on their doorstep like this."

The trio made their way up to the porch, Tom reaching towards the door and knocking. Almost immediately, the door flew open to reveal a tall skeleton in a set of what looked like armor, a red scarf wrapped around his cervical vertebrae. "HELLO, HUMANS!" he shouted over a piano that was being played somewhere inside. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS! YOU MAY COME IN IF YOU WISH!" He backed away from the doorway, allowing the three of them to enter. The piano stopped being played.

"Hello, Professor Papyrus," Hermione greeted. She saw the second skeleton out of the corner of her eye, and nodded to him as well. "Hello, Pro-...Sans."

Sans, who had been lying on the couch, sat up enough to see who was at the door. "heya, girlie," he said. "misty's upstairs. want me ta go get him?"

Hermione smiled and nodded, ignoring the state of shock her parents were in from the spooky, scary skeletons before them. "That would be wonderful, Sans. Thank you."

The short skeleton winked his left eye socket. "it'll just take a spell to get him down."

"SANS!" Papyrus shrieked as the older skeleton retreated up the staircase, chuckling deeply.

Mrs. Granger was the first of Hermione's parents to break from her shock. "Did...did he just make a magic pun?"

"He did," Hermione confirmed. "Sans seems more partial to skeleton puns in class, though."

Mistral grinned widely as he played his piano for the first time in what felt like months (because, in reality, it had been). Because he and his brothers hadn't lived in their new house for very long, no music played in it naturally, so Mistral had taken it upon himself to fill the house with his own. Hence why he was playing through a stack of loose sheet music pages filled with the themes of different monsters and areas of the underground (don't ask).

The overly dramatic notes of Spear of Justice echoed through the house as those that listened felt the soul of the one playing pour into the music. The song was only contested when a loud voice yelled over the music, "HELLO, HUMANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!"

Phalanges froze midnote as Mistral recalled the exact same phrase said in an entirely different context. Involuntarily, multiple variations of a scene that he had only seen play fully in his nightmares continued, only audible to his ear canals.

"W-WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED..."

"HUMAN...Y-YOU...MWEH-HEH-HEH, Y-YOU SURE S-SUPRISED ME..."

"H-Human? I-I thought w-we were f-friends..."

"stop it!" Mistral hissed, striking the heel of his hand against his frontal bone, just to the side of his scar tissue.

"BUT...ST-STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO!"

"Y-YOU DON'T HAVE TO KEEP ON THIS PATH, HUMAN! EVERYTHING CAN BE SO MUCH BETTER!"

"I-I forgive you, though...everyone c-can change..."

Mistral yelped as a hand rested itself upon his shoulder. "yo misty, your friend's here. don'cha wanna go say hi?"

It was only Sans. It wasn't a genocidal maniac that was going to slaughter everyone. Putting on a fake grin that didn't quite meet his eye sockets, Mistral nodded. "yeah, i'll head down in a sec."

Sans narrowed his eye sockets. "you doin' ok? ya know you can tell me."

Shaking his skull a little too quickly, Mistral said, "nope, everything's good! i'm gonna go talk to hermione!" With that, he bolted.

"Oh! There you are, Mistral! Mum, Dad, this is Mis-"

"heyhermionehowreyoudoingthatsgreatletsgogetfrisksowecanplayoutsidecmonletsgo!"

"MISTRAL? WHY ARE YOU IN SUCH A RUSH?"

"hipapyrusbyepapyrusgoingtofrisksbebacklater!"

"...Papyrus, is Mistral always that...excitable?"

"NO...USUALLY, HE SPEAKS MUCH SLOWER SO PEOPLE HAVE AN EASIER TIME UNDERSTANDING HIM..."

"Mistral, stop!" Hermione exclaimed as she attempted to yank her wrist out of Mistral's tight grip. "What on earth has gotten into you?"

The skeleton gave to indication that he had heard her, only quickening his pace as he pulled her down the street.

"Mistral, you're hurting my wrist!"

At that, he flinched, loosening his grip enough for the witch to escape. He stopped entirely, bowing his head. "...sorry."

"Honestly, Mistral! What happened to cause you to act like this?" Hermione asked, turning him to face her.

Hermione saw the skeleton's pupil lights lower. "...bad memories. don't worry about it." He pulled away from her and began walking once more. "i'm heading to frisk's. you coming?"

"You can't run away from the past, Mistral!" Hermione yelled, striding to keep up with her friend. "What happened?"

He chuckled darkly. "who said they were of the past?" Mistral asked bitterly. He walked faster, Hermione trying her best to keep up with him. They turned a corner-

-and Mistral led Hermione inside, yelling, "hey frisk, toriel, i'm here with hermione!"

The patter of little feet echoed through the house for a few moments before Frisk appeared at the top of the staircase, a flower pot in their hands.

"aww, why'd ya have ta grab that?" Mistral whined childishly, his attitude having done a complete one-eighty from a few moments ago.

Frisk glared at Mistral, signing frantically with one hand.

The flower (Wasn't his name 'Flowery'? Hermione thought) rolled its eyes. "Why the hell is Creepy Dual here? It's bad enough when Smiley Trashbag comes over."

As if expecting a negative response, Frisk's free hand reached behind them, coming back into sight to reveal of spray bottle filled with water. They spritzed the flower, making it hiss like a cat.

"Hey, stop that! Cut it out, Frisk!" Flowery snarled, only to be sprayed again. Frisk held up their index finger, shaking it at the flower.

Mistral giggled at the sight, earning water to the face. "hey, whadid i do?"

In response, Frisk waggled their finger at him as well.

"So...how long have you two been together?"

"uh, we're not-"

"SANS AND I HAVE BEEN TOGETHER EVER SINCE THE DAY I WAS FORMED, HUMAN. HE IS OLDER, AFTER ALL."

"paps, he meant-"

"You mean monsters are formed as adults? But then why are there children running around?"

"we're not-"

"WE FORM AS BABIES, HUMAN, JUST LIKE TINY HUMANS! INSTEAD OF BEING HUMAN, HOWEVER, MY BROTHER AND I WERE BABY BONES!"

"Wait...you two are siblings?"

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I thought-"

"if i were you, pal, i wouldn't finish that thought."

Chapter Text

"Oh, Mistral, it is wonderful to have you visit. And...Hermione Granger, was it? I do hope I said the correct name, it is hard to remember those I have yet to teach. Either way, feel free to make yourself at home."

"Professor Toriel? Frisk is your child?"

"Yes, they are. To think, they went through so much trouble to reach the surface only to stay with a worrying old woman like me!"

"hey toriel? papyrus said that he and sans would be coming over later with hermione's parents."

"Well, if that is the case, I must begin preparing dinner! I apologize, Hermione, but I did not expect you and your parents to be here as well!"

"I...I honestly didn't expect to be here myself, Professor Toriel. To my knowledge, my family and I were supposed to be spending the night at Mistral's house and eating there."

"heh...yeah, you don't wanna eat at my house. frisk knows what i'm talking about."

*You shudder at the mention of Papyrus's cooking.

"hey, my brother's a great cook! it's just nearly impossible to balance out the magic in the food for both humans and skeletons!"

*You disagree with Mistral.

"Frisk is right, Mistral. I have seen you eat food that I have prepared before, and I use no more magic than any other monster."

"yeah, i've tried to eat your food. it's really good, toriel, but...i can't...uh...mmhmhmm..."

"You cannot what?"

"i can't digest it. i can get all the taste, just nothing that'll help my soul keep going...sorry, toriel..."

*You tell Hermione to follow you.

"What? Why?"

…

"Silence isn't an answer, Frisk."

*You tell Hermione that the children of Newer Home are going to the playground to play a few games.

"Oh, is that where Mistral's run off to?"

*Yes.

…

…

"...okay, let's go then."

"Hey! Friends! Over here, I'm here, waving on the monkey bars!" a voice called out from across the playground, startling Frisk and Hermione.

The two stared at each other in confusion. "Was...was that Mistral?"

Frisk shook their head. *You tell Hermione that Mistral never sounded like that before.

Slowly, the humans looked over to the monkey bars to see Mistral grinning down at them. His cloak fell behind his shoulders, as if it was attempting to mimic a cape. Surprisingly, his hood was down as well. His brightly-glowing pupil lights skirted over them as if they weren't even there before he did a double take. "Huh? Granger?" he asked, genuinely confused. "Why are you here? You make fun of Asriel every chance you get. And Chara, what's with the wardrobe change?"

Hermione frowned, oblivious to Frisk's shocked look. "Who's Asriel? And aren't you thinking of Ronald Weasley picking at Monster Kid and Fire Girl?"

Mistral cocked his head. "Monster Kid? Fire Girl? Fire Girl wasn't part of the group going to Hogwarts, Skateboard Girl was. Waaaait a second..." He jumped down from the top of the monkey bars, doing a backflip and landing on his feet. Leaning towards Frisk, he narrowed his eye sockets and frowned slightly. "Chara, let me see your eyes."

Hesitantly, Frisk lifted their eyelids from their usual half-squinting position, revealing their dark brown color. Misty, don't say that name!

"Okay, so you're not being possessed again..." he muttered, rubbing his mandible. "And Granger is in Sanctuary for some reason..."

"Actually, we're in Newer Home," Hermione corrected. "Are you feeling well?"

Mistral blinked. "You're...you're worried about the well being of a monster?" he asked, stunned. "Okay, now I know something is wrong. Granger, Chara-" Frisk flinched at the name, "-do either of you know where Papyrus would be right now?"

Frisk frowned, but nodded. Something was really off about Mistral...

Meanwhile...

Mistral scanned the playground from under his favorite tree, watching for his friends to come in. He froze, though, when he saw Ron Weasley walk by him with Frisk, who was wearing a green and yellow striped sweater instead of their usual magenta and blue. "what are you doing in newer home, weasley?" he muttered, narrowing his eye sockets. Keeping to the shadows, he followed the two.

"Where could have he disappeared to? Are you sure he said the playground?" Ron asked, sounding very...Hermione-like.

Frisk shrugged. *You tell Ron that Mistral said that he would be on the monkey bars.

Mistral frowned. The bad part about Frisk speaking with text boxes was the fact that it was impossible for him to ever get a read on their emotions when they did.

He looked over the crowd of kids playing again, this time noticing something...off. Monster Kid wasn't even there, instead there was a strange Boss Monster running around. Fire Girl was holding a pair of roller skates while talking to Skateboard Girl, who, surprisingly enough, had no skateboard. "...what the hell?"

"Mistral! There you are!" Ron exclaimed as he ran towards him, throwing his arms out and enveloping the skeleton in a hug.

Immediately, Mistral began panicking. "h-hey, let me go!"

Ron let go, taking a step back. "Mistral?" he asked slowly. "Are you feeling okay?"

In response, Mistral's left pupil light grew, glowing blue, while his right lit up green. "why are you here, weasley? did you do something to mk?" Frisk stiffened, making Mistral turn to them. "and what's with the wardrobe change? i mean, you're allowed to have freedom in your choices, frisk, but you never take off your sweater!"

Misty, don't say that name! Frisk signed rapidly, a look of fear crossing their face. My name is Chara, not that!

Mistral's eye sockets widened. His gaze shifted from Ron to 'Chara' multiple times before he bolted, yelling, "nope, i am not dealing with this right now!"

Without hesitating, the two gave chase. When he turned a corner, they followed only to see that it was a dead end, and that Mistral was no where in sight. "I hate it when he does that," Ron said, irritated.

Frisk led Hermione and Mistral into the skeletons' house, not even bothering to knock. Hoodie! Scarf! Misty needs you two!

A shriek was heard from upstairs before Papyrus's bedroom door slammed open. "BROTHER, DO NOT FEAR!" As the skeleton's voice echoed through the house, Papyrus ran down the staircase, stopping in front of the three of them to pose heroically. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO AID YOU!"

Mistral blinked once, then twice. "This...is not something I ever expected to see."

Papyrus froze, confused, before bending over to look the younger skeleton in the eye sockets. "WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU DID NOT EXPECT?"

"You...being energetic, not being lazy, and, a big thing here, not smoking," Mistral said, much to the shock of everyone else in the room. "Papyrus, do you feel the urge to go to Muffet's?"

"WHAT?" Papyrus asked, confused. "MISTRAL, YOU KNOW FOR A FACT THAT MUFFET IS STILL ATTEMPTING TO EXPAND HER BAKE SALE TO THE SURFACE!"

Mistral stared at Papyrus, dumbstruck, before his pupil lights faded. His body went limp as he fell backward.

Sans sighed as he looked around the newly-finished New Grillby's (Asgore's naming skills hadn't improved). The usual patrons from the underground were there, all enjoying their burgers and fries. No new faces really showed up, save for a few monsters that had lived too far off for the boat ride to be considered worth it.

It had been the first time in a while that he had visited the bar/restaurant, but it felt like he had never left. The interior was an exact replica of the version underground, so it was easy for Sans to settle into his usual place at the bar. A jukebox in the corner (that actually worked) was playing sans. on loop, showing that yes, it was still broken at least somewhat.

He had just lifted his bottle of ketchup up to take a swig out of it when an alarm began going off in the back of his mind. Sans sighed again as he set down the ketchup. "what'd misty get himself into this time?"

Mistral closed the door behind him as he entered his...house... "this is not my house," he mumbled, "but it's right where my house should be. but my house doesn't have an ash tray by the couch..."

Hesitantly, he made his way up the staircase, his eye sockets narrowing as he went. Papyrus's room, the closest to the staircase. The door was bare of designs, and locked. Farther down the hall, Sans's door was covered in police tape and signs of various sizes. Mistral's door, strangely enough, looked exactly the same, with its "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here" sign (don't ask) still tacked to it.

Mistral slowly opened his bedroom door, worried about what he would find inside. What he saw made him stare in shock. "s-someone...c-c-cleaned my r-room?"

"actually, that'd be your doing. or, i guess, other you's doing?"

The cloaked skeleton froze at the voice in the doorway. It sounded familiar, but at the same time, out of place. Either way, Mistral couldn't bring himself to turn around.

"look, i know you're not my mistral, and you know you're not my mistral, so let's make this easy. what au are you from and where's my mistral?" The sound of magic bringing several bones into existence made Mistral flinch.

"w-what do y-you m-m-mean?" Mistral asked, not wanting to anger the speaker. "i'm mistral."

"yeah, you're a version of mistral. original's from the misttale au instead of the full-blown undertale, so what are you from? i won't ask again."

Chapter Text

"so...what you're telling me is that misty's not actin' like himself."

"YES...HE SEEMED SURPRISED TO SEE ME, AND EVEN ASKED IF I WISHED TO GO TO MUFFET'S."

"wait, what?"

"I KNOW! HE SHOULD KNOW THAT MUFFET WILL NOT BE EXPANDING TO THE SURFACE UNTIL AFTER WE ARE FINISHED AT HOGWARTS FOR THE YEAR!"

"no, that's not it, bro. it's that i think i know exactly what happened."

"...Sans? What did happen?"

"eh, nothin' ta worry about, girlie. just know that if a certain skeleton hurts my little bro, he's gonna have a bad time."

Papyrus blinked as he watched the alternate version of his little brother shrink down on himself, too terrified to reply. "maybe i should dial it down a bit..." he muttered before raising his voice again. "look kid, if you just tell me where you're from, this'll all blow over, i can find my mistral, and we can all go home happy, capisce?"

The version of Mistral looked like he was attempting to hyperventilate. As it was, Papyrus had to strain to hear his voice and attempt to pick out individual words from how much the little skeleton was slurring. "s-snowdin, b-b-but now i l-live in n-newer home..."

"ok, not underswap," Papyrus mumbled. "that doesn't narrow it down much, but it's a start. defintely not underfell from the way he's acting." He cleared his throat. "who's the leader of the monsters?" This was the defining thing. There hadn't been very many aus that had formed yet, so asking him who was king would help determine from the remaining two where he was from.

"k-king a-asgore," the version of Mistral said, confusion evident in his voice.

Original. Papyrus sighed in relief, letting the integrity magic he had holding the skeleton in place lift. "sorry 'bout that, mistral, but you can't be too careful."

Slowly, the skeleton turned to face Papyrus. Now that he had turned, Papyrus could see the younger skeleton's cloak shift open to reveal green and blue clothing underneath. Confirmed original. Papyrus shifted his gaze to Mistral's face to see blue and green tears welling up in his widening eye sockets. "y-you're not p-paps," he hiccuped.

Dang it. He made the poor kid cry. Getting down on his knees, he put a hand on Mistral's shoulder. "well, that's where you're wrong, pal...i'm kinda papyrus, but i'm kinda not."

Mistral cocked his head in such a way that his cloak's hood covered more of his face. "that...d-doesn't make sense." Papyrus noticed how the skeleton was pulling his cloak closed as tightly as he could, as if he was using it like a security blanket. Just like his Mistral would do when he was trying to hide his fear.

"ok...how do i explain this?" Papyrus muttered, hooking his hand over the top of his mandible. Much to his surprise, Mistral giggled. He pulled his hand out of his mouth. "what's so funny?"

"papyrus does the e-exact same thing w-when he's thinking hard," the little skeleton explained, still giggling slightly.

Suddenly, it hit him. "i have quite a few of your papyrus's habits," Papyrus said. "there are a few from some aus, too, but i'm mostly like your sans."

Mistral looked at the floor, his voice trailing. "does thmnyrammhmmph?"

"sorry, what?"

A little louder, Mistral repeated himself. "does that mean you're a punny guy?"

Papyrus froze, trying to process what he had heard. Once it clicked, he chuckled. "yeah, pal, it does, no bones about it."

Mistral laughed a little more openly, completely letting go of the edges of his cloak. Good.

Carefully putting an arm around the shoulders of the younger skeleton, Papyrus began walking toward the staircase. "c'mon, your bro should be tryin' to contact us in a few, so why don't we play some video games while we wait?"

"what are video games?"

Sans enveloped 'Mistral' in a cocoon of gravity magic and carefully moved him onto the couch. Once he was set down, Sans walked up the staircase, well aware of his two followers and the slower-than-normal version of Papyrus's theme playing from the kitchen. He turned into his room, opening the door-

-and closing his work space's door behind him, most likely surprising Hermione and irritating Frisk. Sans would have chuckled at the thought if not for the fact that he was on a mission. He walked over to the corner of his work space and pulled the sheet off of the large machine he kept there. It was only during the past summer that he had finally felt inspired to finish it, and he had managed to finish it roughly around the middle of August. Starting it up was no problem as he felt its usual attempt to connect to his magic. Seeing as how he only felt its intent to aid him, he let it connect.

Using the machine as a way to both help visualize and make what he was doing easier, Sans began reaching out mentally, sweeping the multiverse for the soul that was his brother's. After a few minutes of searching, Sans found the exact version he was looking for. "underswap 5047; mistral anomaly 1," Sans read off the screen of his machine. "so mistswap 1." He entered his findings into the machine's makeshift keyboard, making sure to save them into the system. Once set, he pressed a button on the side of the keyboard that looked like a blue call symbol. "you'd better pick up, carrot..."

Hermione wiggled the doorknob despite knowing perfectly well that it was locked, quietly mumbling curses at the skeleton that had locked it. She wasn't able to use magic to try to unlock it or risk expulsion, and she didn't have a key, so all she could do was keep wiggling the handle and hope that Sans gave in on the other side.

A tap on her shoulder made the witch stop and turn towards Frisk. They held up a small, yellow and red touchscreen phone with a keychain attached. Six keys were on it, but one was specifically separated from the others. "...This is the key, isn't it," Hermione stated, unamused.

Nodding, Frisk handed her the keychain and phone. She stuck the key in the lock and turned it, hearing the satisfying click of the door unlocking. Shoving the keychain back into Frisk's hands, Hermione opened the door.

Inside the room, it was if no natural light existed. Hesitantly, remembering both Mistral and Papyrus claiming on multiple occasions that Sans's room was worse than a pig sty, Hermione walked inside...and kept walking. "How big is this room?" she asked, amazed.

Frisk hit the light switch before groaning silently.

Hermione stopped walking immediately, letting the treadmill she had been walking on carry her over to the floor. The room was honestly fairly clean, save for the pile of socks in the corner, the ball of sheets on the lone mattress, and the... "Is that a tornado?" Hermione asked.

Frisk nodded. *You tell Hermione that it is a self-sustaining trash tornado.

The young witch ran up to the tornado, getting as close as she dared go as she examined it. Frisk merely sighed in irritation, wondering where the heck Sans could've taken a shortcut to.

Papyrus let his version of the Multiverse Scanning and Contacting Device (or Multiscan for short) latch onto his magic with an unpleasant ping. Almsot immediately, the screen lit up to reveal a short skeleton in a blue hoodie. "heya," Papyrus said, giving him a lazy salute. "to what do i owe the pleasure?"

"your bro's passed out on my couch," Sans said. "any idea why?"

"probably the same reason that your bro's playing portal 2 with blueberry," Papyrus shot back lazily.

Sans's pupil lights glowed a little brighter. "good. your bro kinda talked to my paps for a bit and crashed, by the way."

"what? how'd he do that?"

The bigger-boned skeleton shrugged. "guess your bro didn't expect to see someone that looked like you acting like your older bro."

"guess that makes sense," Papyrus said, shrugging as well. "so...guess that you know more than one mistral exists, you're gonna give 'em both nicknames, then?"

"since we've officially made contact? yeah," Sans said. "i don't know enough about your mistral to make up one for him, but mine's just gonna be misty."

Papyrus snorted. "yeah, because he's the original. of course he's gonna have a nickname he already has."

"what d'you think'd be a good nickname for your version?"

"BROTHER, YOU AREN'T DOING AS WELL AT THIS AS YOU USUALLY DO. ARE YOU FEELING ALL RIGHT?"

"i-i'm fine, p-sans. really, i am."

"YOU ARE ALSO MUCH SOFTER-SPOKEN THAN USUAL AS WELL..."

"nothing's wrong, sans. R-really."

"RON AND HIS FAMILY ARE OVER AT CLONE TORIEL'S HOUSE RIGHT NOW...AFTER WE FINISH THIS LEVEL, LET US GO THERE AS WELL! I, THE MAGNIFICENT SANS, HAVE ALREADY FINISHED THE TACOS TO SHARE!"

"...ok, that sounds like a...good idea. why don't i go find papyrus?"

"EXCELLENT! ONCE WE FINISH GETTING THROUGH THIS COURSE, WE CAN-ARGH!"

"what is it, sans?"

"WHY MUST YOU ALWAYS DO THIS WHENEVER WE PLAY THIS GAME?"

"do what?"

"DO NOT PLAY INNOCENT! YOU DROPPED THE BRIDGE AS I WAS CROSSING IT!"

"sans, i'm hurt that you would even suggest such a thing!"

"papyrus, please please please please be in here!"

"yeah, i'm down here, misty."

"so that's what swap mistral looks like? heh, i just thought of a nickname for him!"

"How did you even know this was back here?" Hermione asked, surprised to see the small door at the back of the skeleton family's house. Because of how narrow the alley behind the house was, if she hadn't been led back, Hermione would have never found it.

Frisk grinned mischievously, signing, Don't snoop behind houses. You might be mistaken for a trash can.

Hermione slowly translated her friend's words in her head before frowning. "What does that even mean?"

Music, Frisk signed before selecting a key and unlocking the door. They silently made their way down the staircase inside, Hermione following close behind them. As they got farther down, several voices became audible.

"-how to get you back. it won't be that hard now that we've got contact."

"but there's the question on how to get plum to calm down. he doesn't know you guys."

"just promise him you're trying to help. he'll see that you're like his papyrus and, if he's anything like me, he'll trust you."

Hermione gasped. "Is that-"

Frisk threw their hand over her mouth, putting a finger up against their lips.

"did you guys here that?"

Hermione's eyes widened in fear as Frisk adopted a stoic expression. After a few moments of complete silence, Sans spoke up. "nah, s'probly nothing."

The witch gave a sigh of relief only to see both her and Frisk's souls pop out of their chests, turn dark blue, and send them flying into the wall passed the staircase. Frisk reoriented quickly, landing feet first while Hermione smacked into the wall. Both souls turned ninety degrees, yanking their owners down to the floor. The hum of something powerful being charged up echoed through the room.

"sans, stop! it's frisk and hermione!"

"what?! we don't need that demon here screwing up everything!"

"uh...frisk isn't a demon. what the hell are you talking about?"

"language."

Slowly, Hermione looked up to a confusing sight. On what appeared to be a computer monitor, a smoking Papyrus in an orange hoodie was jokingly arguing with a Mistral in a deep purple cloak (as opposed to his normal half-faded blue-violet). In front of the monitor, Sans stood with his left hand outstretched, his left eye socket glowing blue and a large dog/dragon skull hovering behind him, a white light charging within its maw. Sans, upon realizing who he had just thrown around, let the skull vanish and the blue of Hermione's soul fade to a vibrant purple. "mind tellin' me why you two were eavesdropping?" Sans asked, shoving his hand back into his hoodie's pocket.

Frisk, their face still neutral, merely pulled up a text box. *You tell them that this isn't what it looks like.

"really? cause it looks to me like you two were chilling on the stairs, waiting for the right moment to help us start planning."

Hermione blinked in surprise and Frisk grinned widely.

Chapter Text

Mistral cleaned his (not his) bedroom, partially to have some semblance of neatness, partially to find his Monster Gaming console so he could play something, anything, to help calm his nonexistent nerves. Any semblance of normality, even Hermione picking on Asriel again (well, maybe not that far), would be a welcome sight compared to the foreign place he was in. Even his cloak, which he never took off, was a dark blue violet instead of its bright plum! It just wasn't right!

He had just finished picking up all the books in the room and placing them on the bookshelf in alphabetical order when the a lazy knock came from the door. "Come in," the skeleton called out, doing his best to keep his voice from wavering in fear.

The door opened to reveal the skeleton that was like Sans, but not. Sure, he was big boned and only a few inches taller than him, but the hoodie-wearing skeleton was more like Papyrus than Sans.

It freaked Mistral out to see his oldest brother NOT acting super hyper and instead see that personality in his laid back, smoking brother.

"heya plum," Sans said, his voice low. "me and carrot've gotta plan to get you and misty back where you're supposed to be."

Mistral cocked his skull, widening one eye socket more than the other to mimic raising an eyebrow. "Uh, my name isn't Plum, and I have no idea who Carrot is."

"s'your nickname around other versions of mistral, so no one gets confused. carrot's your version of paps."

"Why Plum, then?"

"reasons," Sans said, his perma-grin less forced. "like how your sans is blueberry."

Mistral blinked. "...I still don't understand why are nicknames are Carrot, Blueberry, and Plum."

Sans chuckled. "it'd take a while to explain, but we don't have the time. someone'll explain all this later, but if we wanna get ya home, we gotta do it as soon as we can."

Mistral frowned, his eye sockets narrowing. "And how do I know that you're going to help me?"

"plum." Sans sounded dead serious, all joking gone from his voice. "i promise that me, your bro, misty, hermy, and frisky bits have a plan to get you home."

The younger skeleton's mouth fell open. He...promised, and if he's like Papyrus, then... "Okay, fine, I'll go with you, but who are hermy and frisky bits?"

"...ulna, radius, humerus, clavicle, scapula, rib cage, femur..." Mistral listed as a way to calm himself, gesturing halfheartedly at the bones as he said them. Despite how mind-numbingly boring it could be to do, it gave Mistral something to focus on that wasn't the current situation. So far, he had gotten through his axial system as well as his arms, hands, and torso, but it was only a matter of time before he ran out of bones to count. After all, out of his 121 bones, he had already said over half of them.

Carrot gave a yelp, startling Mistral from his recitation. The hoodie-wearing skeleton quickly activated the machine dominating the lab, bringing up Sans on the screen, as well as...

"this is very confusing to see," Mistral said, staring at what, for all intents and purposes, was him. The skeleton had his cloak's hood down as well as the main part of it shoved back behind his shoulders, as if it were a cape.

"You're telling me," the other Mistral said, trying to figure out why the other him had his hood up and cloak covering his body.

Sans and Carrot both chuckled at the shock on the two skeletons' faces. Frisk and Hermione, who were standing off to the side, were focused more on the exchange. After a few moments of a silence only broken by the laughter of the older skeletons, Frisk frowned and signed, Hoodie, we need to start.

"right," Sans agreed before waving Plum to move towards the screen. "ok, so plum, what's the last thing you remember before universe-hopping?"

Plum grinned widely. "I was heading over to the park to meet up with Ron and Chara, but my skull started aching, so I sat under a tree for a few minutes to rest my lights. When I opened my eye sockets, I was at the park and people were different."

Carrot nodded. "good. we have plum's side of what happened. misty?"

Mistral ducked his skull slightly. "i...i went ahead of frisk and hermione to the park, s-so i thought i'd wait under one of the t-trees. i closed my eye sockets to take a nap, and when i opened them, something seemed...off."

"wait a sec..." Sans said lowly, his pupil lights fixating Plum. "why was your skull hurting?"

Plum frowned slightly before perking up again. "Ron scared me out of my chair in the Great Hall a couple weeks ago. I cracked my skull on the ground, but Papyrus and Sans were more than happy to heal it."

"misty, y'know we weren't able to do it fully, right?" Carrot asked, looking awkward about Plum talking about the crack,

Hermione gasped. "If Ron is the other version of me, then that means...Mistral, you really did get hurt!"

Mistral grinned nervously, his voice becoming quieter and more mumbled as he spoke.

Sans narrowed his eye sockets. "look, misty, if it was bad enough on the other side that plum hadta get it healed, we need to check it out here, too. thought you two had an injury in common, but this...plum, c'mere for a sec."

Hesitantly, Plum walked over to the older skeleton. "Yeah, Sans?"

"mind turning for me? i just wanna confirm somethin'."

Mistral's already stark white skull seemed to pale even more as Plum turned, making Sans's eye sockets narrow. He slowly began backing away only to have a hand land on his shoulder. Looking up to see who it was, he was surprised to see Carrot's pupil lights staring down at him, both glowing a bright orange. "don't. y'need t'fess up, misty."

He flinched before feeling his pupil lights glow green and blue in return, releasing a good amount of pent up magical energy that he had accumulated. Relaxing into the skeleton's side, he watched as Sans fumed over the hole in the back of what was currently Plum's skull.

"misty, the hole's big enough for me to see into your skull. you shoulda told someone!"

The hooded skeleton flinched again, seemingly trying to get as small as possible. "i...i didn't wanna bug you guys over something not important. there was no reason to-"

"no reason to what, misty?" Sans said, wishing that he could frown. "me and paps? we care about ya! it's our job ta make sure you're ok!"

The room fell into an awkward silence on both sides of the screen, no one wanting to speak. Finally, grinning widely, Plum asked, "Hey, is it okay if I turn around? I'd like to see my brother."

Sans blinked. "huh? oh, yeah. sure." He took a step back, giving Plum enough room to turn around.

Plum grinned widely at his brother, as if he was trying to mimic Undyne. "So Papyrus," he said, "what's the plan? I'm pretty sure Sans and Misty aren't going to spill it any time soon."

"...That's seriously it?"

"yep."

"All the build-up you've put me through, all the panicking from being in a different universe...and all I seriously need to do is call on my magic and fall asleep at the same time as Misty?"

"pretty much, yeah."

"That's...so simple."

"trust me, i didn't believe them at first, either."

"...Okay then, why not? Let's give it a shot!"

"jeez, for someone who's supposed to be a lot more optimistic than me, you sure are doing a good job at being sad."

"Pff-fih-fih...it's not my fault that I've been freaking out almost every second that I've been here."

"pffih, yeah...i know the feeling. hopefully, this won't happen again."

"yeah, it won't, 'cause the second you're back, i'm healing your skull, or at least going to get paps to do it."

Chapter Text

"wait, so what you're telling me is that humans have a tradition where they put presents under trees?"

"Yes, we call it 'Christmas'. I thought that was what we were celebrating, but it is a few days early..."

"we're not celebrating 'christmas', hermione. we're celebrating gyftday."

"...Gyftday?"

"yeah. back in snowdin, some of the teens decided to prank gyftrot by decorating his antlers. since gyftrot's always kinda irritated, some of the adults started putting presents under trees near his house as a peace offering. then king asgore saw the humans' 'santa claus' and decided to dress up like him."

"So it's like Christmas, but with less religious aspects tied to it?"

"christmas is a religious thing?"

Mistral smiled as he, Frisk, and Hermione walked into the Dreemurr household. They had gone back to the park once Papyrus had healed Mistral's skull and played a few rounds of Snow War with the monster children. Now the game was over, and the humans were ready to eat.

"Hermione! There you are!" Mrs. Granger said nervously from the purple, flower-print couch that sat in the living room. She got to her feet before rushing to the door to greet her daughter. Mr. Granger, seeing the commotion, seemed to come out of the woodwork to see Hermione as well.

"Mum! Dad!" Hermione said, giggling, "I only left with Mistral a few hours ago!"

Mr. Granger chuckled. "We've just been missing our favorite daughter while she was away. Can you really blame us for that?"

Before Hermione could reply, a large, pure white figure rushed out of the kitchen, holding her arms out. Giggling silently, Frisk rushed forwards, wrapping their small arms around Toriel in a hug. The boss monster laughed, hugging them back. "Did you have fun, my child?"

Frisk nodded, a text box flitting into existence before them. *You tell Toriel that you made a few new friends.

Toriel blinked in surprise. "Truly? But you already know everyone who was in the Underground..."

Mr. and Mrs. Granger smiled at the exchange, Mr. Granger leaning over to quietly tell Hermione, "It's never too soon to be excited about seeing your children."

Mistral lowered his skull slightly as he watched the parents and their children. Clearing his non-existent throat, he asked, "did sans and paps get here yet?"

Toriel shook her head. "No, they did not. Papyrus called roughly an hour ago, saying that he and Sans will be here as soon as he finishes making his spaghetti."

"thanks, toriel!" Mistral said before retreating to the living room. He plopped down on the couch and pulled his flip phone out from under his cloak. Opening it, he texted Sans.

me: so paps is busy cooking?

big bro: yep.

me: cool. should i warn the grangers?

Sans took a few moments to reply.

big bro: let frisk warn em. if they dont they can try the magic of papyrus's cooking

Mistral snickered before sending back an 'ok'.

"YO PUNKS! WE'RE HERE!"

"U-Undyne, you d-don't have to k-kick the door in whenever we g-go to a friend's h-house!"

"Undyne! You will leave my house and enter properly. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Queen Toriel. Sorry."

"T-Toriel, I'm sorry, but did...Undyne just say you were a queen?"

"Please, I have long renounced the title of queen. I am merely Professor Toriel, and Frisk's mother, at that."

Several hours later, all of Frisk's friends (and Hermione's parents) had gathered in the living room to watch a deer of some kind with a glowing nose save a human holiday. The monsters really didn't understand it very well, but it made Frisk and Hermione happy, so they went with it. The Grangers had gotten (somewhat) used to the monsters, but both of them remained fairly silent as Mistral, Undyne, and Alphys occasionally commented on the movie.

Just as a large, white-furred creature started roaring and fighting the main deer, there was a loud, repetitive knocking at the front door. Hermione's parents watched, shocked, as Mistral's face contorted into a large grin. The skeleton shot up and bolted for the door, making everyone jump. He threw open the door before standing aside to let those waiting in.

"HELLO, FRIENDS!" Papyrus said as he walked through the door, several large, covered bowls of spaghetti in his arms. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE COME BEARING SPAGHETTI!"

Sans came in behind his brother, merely raising his left hand in a half-wave. "sup."

"Oh, I thought I heard you two!" Toriel exclaimed as she poked her head out from within the kitchen. "Papyrus, would you be willing to help me set the table?"

Papyrus, despite the fact that his arms were laden with heavy bowls of spaghetti, somehow managed to pose heroically. "OF COURSE, CLONE ASGORE!"

Jean Granger frowned before leaning over to Hermione. "'Clone Asgore'?" she asked her daughter.

Hermione shrugged. "They've mentioned an Asgore once or twice, but I've never met him."

Tom Granger tried. He really, truly tried not to stare. There was only so long that he could go, however, before he finally blurted, "How are you able to do that?" All three skeleton brothers stared at the human in silence, making him feel like he had said something wrong. "Uh, I mean–"

"maaagic," Sans cut him off, waving a hand in a semicircle above his skull before dumping more ketchup on his spaghetti. "s'literally all that's happening. magic."

"But...but you're only bones...?"

"yup."

"i'm at least 95% sure i'm all bones," Mistral chimed in.

Papyrus nodded vigorously, "YES, I CAN CONFIRM THAT I AM A SKELETON."

"...but..."

"Dad?" Hermione said quietly. "Please, just let it drop."

As reluctant as he was, he let the topic drop. With a sigh, he took a bite of his spaghetti, which was tasteless to the point of being cardboard. "What on Earth is in this?!"

"WHY, I AM VERY GLAD YOU ASKED, TALL HUMAN..."

"You honestly don't mind? We wouldn't want to be imposing."

"Nonsense! The skeleton brothers' house is quite a distance away; it would be foolish to send you off when you are planning on coming back tomorrow!"

"Are you sure?"

"pal, tori's got her soul set on this. nothing's gonna change her mind. 'sides, our house is kinda the bare bones when it comes to human needs."

"SANS! ARE YOU PLAGUING THE OTHERS WITH YOUR PUNS AGAIN?!"

"he's fine, papyrus! he's just trying to tickle my ribcage!"

"MISTRAL, NOT YOU AS WELL!"

"Uh...are they always like this?"

"Truly? I cannot say for certain, but from what I have seen of the three of them together, this is fairly normal."

After a long night that involved plenty of holiday movies, pie ("What kind of pie is this?" *You tell Hermione that it is Buttspie.), and tea, Hermione had easily passed out on one of the two air mattresses set up in Frisk's room. Her parents had taken a guest room for themselves, Undyne and Alphys claimed the other, and Sans and Papyrus had set up in the living room. Mistral had taken the other air mattress, but he seemed fairly nervous about the situation. He had seemed to have fallen asleep before the two humans in the room, but Frisk had told Hermione that they had doubted it.

Sure enough, the next morning, Mistral wasn't on his bed, or anywhere in the room. It wasn't until Hermione had dragged herself out of bed and trudged into the living room that she saw him. Mistral, however, was the last thing on Hermione's mind when she saw the room.

The small fireplace on one of the walls still had a fire crackling merrily within, but it was lined with large evergreen branches. A pine tree stood in the corner of the room, a multitude of simple ornaments and Christmas lights adorning it. At its tip, a blue stone that seemed to twinkle in the fire's light was perched.

"it is beautiful, isn't it?"

Hermione jumped, whipping around to see, surprisingly, Papyrus. After a few moments, she nodded. "That stone is very pretty."

Papyrus grinned widely. "UNDYNE-er, undyne brought it with her from waterfall, and it was only fitting that it be placed atop the tree."

"Why," Hermione asked curiously, "do you sound like Sans?"

The tall skeleton pointed his thumb in the direction of the couch, where a bluish-purple lump was positioned on top of Sans. "when mistral is unable to sleep, he tends to sleep with either me or sans. mistral tends to awaken around the same time as the person he is with, and both he and sans need their slee-"

A door loudly slammed down the hallway, causing the lump to jolt off of Sans and onto the floor, revealing Mistral as he hit his skull on the coffee table on the way down. "ow."

A pair of eyes seemed to pop out of Papyrus's eye sockets as he ran forward to help his brother up. His voice back to normal volume, he asked, "MISTRAL! ARE YOU INJURED? YOU APPEARED TO HAVE HIT YOUR HEAD RATHER HARD ON THE TABLE, AND YOUR SKULL IS STILL HEALING..."

Mistral immediately sat up, cringing lightly as his hand flew to the back of his hooded skull. "i'm fine, papyrus, really-"

Papyrus gave Mistral a deadpan stare. "I JUST WATCHED YOU REACT AS THOUGH YOU WERE IN PAIN. I'M NOT AN IMBECILE."

Before Mistral could object, Sans stretched out from his spot on the couch. "misty, let paps look."

Sighing, Mistral hesitantly pulled down his hood, bowing his head so as to let his brothers see it. Hermione caught a glimpse as well, and it didn't look very pretty. Half-healed crack lines spiderwebbed out from the center of the back of his skull, a second, obviously new set rebreaking some chips off. Papyrus tutted loudly, leaning over with his gloved hands glowing a bright green.

This is what Undyne walked in to see.

Mist, how did you even manage to hurt your skull again?

"ugh...frisk, do we really have to talk about my skull right now?"

"Y-yeah, Frisk, the past is the past, so let's not focus on it!"

"Undyne, what ever are you nervous for?"

"i think something seems a little fishy here."

"SANS!"

"U-Undyne, what d-did you do?"

"What're you talking about, Alphys? I didn't do anything!"

"heyihaveanidealet'sfinisheatingandgounwrappresents!"

"Uh..."

"MY BROTHER SAID THAT HE WISHES TO FINISH EATING SO THAT WE MAY OPEN PRESENTS, AND I WHOLEHEARTEDLY AGREE! WE MUST HURRY SO THAT WE MAY SEE WHAT SANTA HAS BROUGHT US!"

Everyone was scattered around the living room, and a pile of colorfully-wrapped boxes sat under the tree. No one moved to grab the the presents, confusing the humans. Finally, Mr. Granger decided to break the awkward silence. "What are we waiting for?"

Toriel smiled kindly. "Why, Santa of cou-"

"SANTA!" Papyrus yelled excitedly, bouncing up and down on the couch, shaking his brothers as well. "HE'LL ONLY BE A FEW MORE MINUTES, I'M SURE OF IT!"

Mistral grinned. "yeah, it's going to be great!"

"yep," Sans agreed, a look on his face that practically broadcasted that he knew something his brothers didn't.

A knock on the door had both Papyrus and Mistral flying to their feet. Papyrus sprinted for the door, throwing it open to reveal...Asgore in a Santa costume. "SANTA! YOU CAME!" Papyrus exclaimed before giving the boss monster a hug.

Mistral, however, looked like he was shocked. Frisk could practically see the pieces coming together within his mind. The skeleton didn't say anything, though, most likely for the sake of his brother.

'Santa' laughed. "Yes, Papyrus, I am here, and I come bearing gifts for you all!" His eyes slid towards Toriel, who merely glared back. His full blown laugh turned into a nervous chuckle in a matter of seconds. He slowly eased Papyrus off of him before heaving the large sack he was carrying over his shoulder. "Feel free to come forward and take your present!"

Papyrus practically vibrated with excitement as he jumped to position himself before Asgore once more. Mistral halfheartedly followed to second, with Frisk taking third and Hermione fourth. Asgore handed the tall skeleton a colorfully-wrapped box. "THANK YOU SANTA!" Papyrus yelled before running back to the couch, waiting patiently to open it.

"thanks, santa," Mistral said dully as he took his present.

Frisk grinned widely as the received theirs. *You thank Santa for the present.

"Thank you...Santa?" Hermione asked more than said as she was given a present.

Asgore laughed with a bit more confidence. "Why, you are welcome, human!" He gazed over to the living area, where the adults (and three of the four children) were sitting and gestured for them to come over. "I have presents for you as well!"

Several presents handed out later, 'Santa' was slinging his sack over his shoulder once more. "Well, I'd best be off! After all, there are many more monsters that are receiving presents from Santa this year! Happy Gyftday!"

The monsters echoed the red-suited king, leaving the humans confused. "But...aren't you celebrating Christmas?" Mrs. Granger asked.

Every monster stared blankly at her. Finally, Undyne spoke up. "What the hell is Christmas?"

One overly long explanation of the Christian religion later, the gathered group began passing Gyftday presents to their recipients. Mistral, as he did every year, hesitated before accepting each gift given to him. Once everyone had received their presents, Mistral spoke up. "so...who's youngest?" At the confused look of the humans in the room, he elaborated. "youngest gets to open the first present."

Toriel nodded. "Mistral is correct."

"Yeah, punks! It's TRADITION!"

"U-Undyne," Alphys stuttered, catching the fish monster's attention. "you've a-always said t-tradition was stupid. W-what's with the sudden ch-change of h-heart?"

Undyne grinned widely. "I might not be one for traditions, but Gyftday is definitely one I can get behind!"

Hermione sighed. "Well if it's a tradition, then I am probably won't be the first one. My birthday was in September."

"BUT HUMAN!" Papyrus said. "IF YOUR BIRTHDAY WAS IN SEPTEMBER, THEN YOU WOULD BE THE YOUNGEST ONE HERE!"

"Yes, that would be the case, if it weren't for the fact that it was my twelfth birthday."

"ok, girlie," Sans said, stretched out as much as possible on the couch without overlapping his brothers. "guess that means it's either mistral or frisk."

As usual, a text box popped into existence before Frisk, startling both Mr. and Mrs. Granger. *You tell everyone that you will be turning twelve in March.

Everyone's (save Hermione's parents) eyes turned toward Mistral, who was doing his best to become one with the couch. "i-uh-well i-uh..."

"YOU ARE UNABLE TO SELECT A PRESENT?" Papyrus grinned widely before shoving one of Mistral's presents into the youngest skeleton's hands. "HERE YOU ARE, BROTHER! NO NEED TO THANK ME!"

"th-thanks, p-p-papyrus," Mistral said before slowly beginning to unwrap the present.

"THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO IT!" Undyne shrieked, moving to jump to her feet. A pupilless glare from Sans, however, froze her in her tracks. "Uh...What I meant to say was for you to take your time."

Mistral pulled off the wrapping paper to reveal a plain, cardboard box. When he opened it, his pupil lights grew. "is...is this...?"

"Y-yeah, it is!" Alphys said as proudly as she could. "Th-the first ever v-video game system d-developed f-for monsters! The M-Monster Gaming Console is c-cross-compatible w-with every human s-system, and isn't b-becoming available u-until early J-January!"

"whoa...thank you, alphys," Mistral said, genuinely shocked that someone would be willing to go to such lengths for him.

"Okay, now that THAT'S finally out of the way," a certain fish monster said, "LET'S OPEN PRESENTS!"

Chapter Text

Overall, the rest of the holiday break was uneventful. Hermione had left the day after Gyftday for her home, but Frisk had walked over to Mistral's house almost every day (most likely to play with the new gaming system). It hadn't been long, though, before it had been time to board the train to Hogwarts once more. Once they got to the school, surprisingly enough, Mistral had actually decided to spend the first night back in the dorm. Of course, he waited for everyone else to fall asleep before finally heading to bed, but it was the though that counted.

"Toriel, may I have a word with you?

"Oh, of course, Headmaster. What is it that you need?"

"Please, Toriel, Albus is fine. I wanted to ask you and see if you would be willing to investigate something for me during your free time. You see, something has been killing the unicorns in the Forbidden Forest as of late..."

Sans knew that the grin on his skull was real when he entered the classroom that he and Papyrus shared. "alright, you all have a good break?"

Several humans replying with various degrees of enthusiasm were his reply. The two monsters at the back of the room nodded, their forms alight with joy.

"good. now we've got a bit to cover today since it's the start of the new semester. First off, you remember that thing that me an' paps told ya about having one of the monster professors on campus pull out your souls?"

The majority of the class nodded, but there were a few that stared at him blankly.

"well if ya wanna continue this class, you gotta get that done if ya haven't already. we gotta know if your soul can handle it before we start the real magical part of this class." Those that got the pun either laughed or groaned, making Sans chuckle softly to himself. "papyrus isn't here today since he said, and I quote..." Sans cleared his throat before doing a spot on impression of Papyrus, "SANS, YOU NEED TO TAKE MORE RESPONSIBILITY IN THE CLASSROOM. THEREFORE, YOU WILL BE TEACHING TODAY SO THAT I CAN WORK ON GRADING THE ASSIGNMENTS YOU SHOULD HAVE GRADED BEFORE THE BREAK!"

A few more people laughed, knowing the two skeletons well enough to know that yes, that was probably what had happened.

"today, we're gonna talk about green magic..."

I'm going to visit Giant later, if you want to come.

"huh? who's giant?"

One of my friends. He lives by the forest.

"i mean actual name, frisk."

H-A-G-R-I-D.

"hagrid? oh...i can see why you gave him that name now."

So will you come?

"...sure, why not?"

Mistral had never been more relieved by the fact that he couldn't eat regular food.

The rock cakes that Hagrid had been more than happy to offer looked like they could live up to their name easily. Nevertheless, Frisk had taken one immediately and somehow managed to eat a portion. When they signed to him under the table, however, Mistral understood. Better than Scarf's cooking.

Hagrid, not noticing the reluctance of two of his guests to eat his cooking, happily spoke of how things were going in the forest, the recent acquires of the school that would be added to the forest, and asked how things were going up in the castle. Frisk listened with a neutral expression that Mistral had only seen when they were determined about something underground. Just as Hagrid started asking about the holiday, a loud tapping sound echoed through the room.

Ignoring his company, Hagrid rushed for the fire, which had had a pot of...something over it for the entire time Frisk, Hermione, and Mistral had been in the hut. The huge man slid on a pair of oven mitts before reaching into the pot and pulling out an egg of some sort. Mistral stared at the egg for a moment before whispering, "how did you come across this?"

The egg shuddered violently, but Mistral only moved closer as everyone else backed away slightly. Hagrid frowned at the skeleton's closeness to the egg. "Uh, Mistral, I don' think that's the best idea-" Suddenly, the shell split, shattering in various directions to reveal the small dragon within. "Isn't 'e beautiful?" Hagrid said, reaching to pet the dragon.

Frisk nodded, their old neutral look heavy on their face. Hermione, however, was in awe. "Is this what I think it is?

Mistral nodded. "it's a dragon, that's for sure. pretty sure it's poisonous, too," he said as the dragon nipped at Hagrid's fingers.

"Rubbish," Hagrid brushed off the skeleton's concerns. "'E's playin', see?"

"hagrid, your house is made of wood and is at the base of a forest of wooden trees. you might wanna think about that for a second."

After roughly two hours of debating, Hagrid finally agreed to owl a former Hogwarts student about coming and retrieving the dragon so that it could go to a preserve. It would be much safer for everyone involved (despite Hagrid's worries about 'Norbert' being bullied).

Frisk walked through the dark corridors, their (almost irritatingly) slow pace making no noise as they moved along. The urge had finally driven them to do something similar to what had happened shortly after they had first met Toriel: purposely go out of their way to do the major thing they were forbidden from doing.

They were going to get into the forbidden corridor, and they were determined to not let anything stop them.

Almost halfway down a staircase that they knew would move to attach to the corridor, Frisk heard a small meow, followed by the feeling of their SOUL getting pulled out.

*Mrs. Norris jumps out of the shadows.

Frisk blinked. *Act → Talk

*You tell Mrs. Norris that you only wished to explore.

*Mrs. Norris looks unimpressed with your excuse.

The cat meowed at them once before running away.

Well crap.

They began moving down the staircase, slightly faster than before. Luckily, it was already attached to the landing they required, so they just kept walking. As if trying to help them or to urge them onward, both the staircases attached moved away the second they stepped off theirs.

Good. That would give them a little more time before Filch descended upon them.

Frisk hurried down the hallway until they found the door on the right side. Naturally, it was locked, but that never stopped Frisk. They just had to find a key. There was no doubt that it was...in the...

They facepalmed. Taking a moment to pull out their wand, they waved it in the pattern needed for the spell to unlock doors (they never spoke the spells, so why should they be able to remember the names? It just took up time). The door opened with no effort whatsoever, so they entered the room.

Almost immediately, they heard a low growling. They looked up to see a huge, three headed dog towering over them. Frowning, they did something they hadn't let themselves do since the end of their incomplete genocide run.

They initiated a confrontation with the cerberus.

(Do you wish to Continue?)

(Yes.)

Sans wished he could frown as he entered the classroom that he and Papyrus shared. "you all have a good break?" he asked, sounding more tired than usual.

There were a few murmurs of affirmation, but one voice stood out. "Yo, are you okay, Sans?"

"i'm fine," he waved it off. "don't worry 'bout it, kid. now papyrus isn't here today 'cause he's grading papers i was supposed to grade over break, so i'll be teaching alone today. green magic is known as the most benevolent magic..."

Mistral sighed as he walked with Frisk and Hermione into Hagrid's hut. Hermione, it seemed, hadn't even realized that they were repeating the same actions. Frisk, though, had schooled their face into their default blank stare. The same one they had kept throughout almost their entire journey through the underground.

He thought he had every right to be suspicious if that face was in effect.

Most of the visit to Hagrid's was exactly the same, save for one thing that happened before the dragon egg was brought up. *You ask Hagrid how to calm three-headed dog.

"I...er...I dunno what yer talkin' about, Frisk."

*You tell Hagrid that it would make sense for him to know. He is the gamekeeper, after all.

It was hard to tell whether Hagrid was blushing or not underneath his beard. "Well...there is one way I know...but yeh three got ter promise not ter tell a soul."

"promise."

"I promise."

*You tell Hagrid that promise not to tell a soul.

"Yeh got ter play it a song. Play anythin' soothin' an' it'll go righ' ta sleep."

*You thank Hagrid for telling you.

Frisk left a little later on their trip to the third floor, managing to avoid Mrs. Norris all together. The stairs were still attached to the third floor landing, strangely enough, when they got there. They got to the bottom and, just like before, the staircases moved away.

Going through the motions from the last reload, Frisk entered the room and approached the cerberus. This time, however, when they initiated the confrontation, they began humming the lullaby that Shyren had taught them. The cerberus was out like a light.

Still humming, Frisk explored the room, trying to figure out why the beast had been trapped there. After a bit of walking around, they found a trapdoor near the slumbering dog's front paws. They pushed the paw over and opened the trapdoor. Still humming, they dropped down.

The vines retracted as they were set on fire. Mentally, Frisk apologized.

/\/\/\

Frisk gazed at the many winged keys flying above them as they entered the next room. The majority of them were small and golden, easily lost in the crowd. A glance at the doorknob gave them something to go off of: the key was probably big, silver, and old-looking. Looking up, Frisk could see the key standing out in the flock. They grabbed a broom that had been lying conveniently by the door. They were filled with Determination.

They frowned as they approached the giant chess board, seeing the chess pieces on each side. Frisk tried to walk across, but quickly saw their path blocked by several stone swords. Taking a leap in logic, they took the place of the black queen and began to play.

(Do you wish to Continue?)

(Yes.)

(Do you wish to Continue?)

(Yes.)

(Do you wish to Continue?)

(Yes.)

(Do you wish to Continue?)

(Yes.)

Frisk grinned widely as they finally beat the opposing side. They passed through the chess pieces still standing, going to the opposite side of the room.

They opened the next door and were surprised to see a large troll that looked vaguely familiar. *You ask the troll if their name is Bob.

The troll's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the small human before him. He grunted something back.

Frisk recognized the sole occupant of the next room as well. Luckily, the occupant also recognized them, and had warmed up to them enough that they didn't have to have a confrontation.

It was a good thing too, seeing as how Frisk had never truly been able to beat the Mad Dummy.

They frowned as they thought about the puzzle in the next room. It wasn't one that they were used to, seeing as how it was written down instead of physical, but they knew they would be able to get it. Even if they couldn't figure it out, it was just a matter of time before they got it right.

Frisk swallowed all that was within the tiny bottle that they had guessed was the correct one. A shiver ran down their spine as they drank, chilling them to the bone. Only hesitating for a moment, they made their way through the wall of black flames before them.

…

It was a room with a mirror.

That was literally the thing they had gone through all that trouble to see?

A mirror...wait...Frisk knew that mirror. The writing on the top was the exact same as that of a mirror they had seen earlier in the school year. They looked into it and saw their reflection move without a cue from their body. It reached into its pocket, pulled out a blood red stone, and put it back in. Frisk felt a weight appear in their own pocket. They looked and found the stone they had seen their reflection hold.

Deciding that was enough insanity for the night, Frisk began to leave the underground rooms, their face completely blank.

Chapter Text

Toriel looked grim as she made her way across the dark grounds of the school. Dumbledore had explained what little that he knew of the situation, but that little was enough to set the boss monster on her guard.

Despite how long the monsters had been locked underground, those that were old enough to remember the time before the war remembered fondly the beautiful unicorns. Being one of the few creatures that embodied magic given a solid form, unicorns were easily seen as the most pure of all beings. It was common for monsters, in old times, to forge mutually beneficial relationships with the magical horses.

She smiled at the thought of her unicorn friends from when she was but a child, and idly wondered if any of their herd was still in the area.

"'fessor Tori!" a rough voice called out from up ahead. Ah, Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper. He was a nice man, if a little eccentric in his ways from time to time. He stood a little ways ahead still, his figure visible thanks to the faint light of his lantern and the glow coming from within the windows of his hut.

Toriel sped up so as to not keep the man waiting. "Good evening, Rubeus. I take it Headmaster Dumbledore has informed you of what has happened?"

Hagrid nodded. "Yeah, I've 'eard. Only 'ope that yeh can do somefin 'bout it."

"I hope so as well," Toriel agreed softly. "I will go into the forest alone. Would you be willing to find aid if I am not back within two hours?"

"Bu' Tori-"

"Do not be afraid, Rubeus. I will be perfectly fine. I merely ask this of you so that, if I am overwhelmed, someone will gather a search party. That would not happen if we were both incapacitated, would it?"

Hagrid sighed. "Okay, Tori. I dunno 'ow I feel 'bout yeh doin' this, but I can' stop yeh."

Toriel smiled slightly. "If it does anything to make you feel more at ease, Rubeus..." A fireball ignited in Toriel's hand, easily illuminating the area. "There is a reason that my kind are known as 'boss monsters'." With that, she began walking into the forest.

With the aid of her fireball, Toriel was able to see perfectly through the trees, and was slightly unnerved by how silent they seemed. In her childhood, despite the lack of light within, the forest had always been full of life noise. Something truly evil had to be taking up residence, at least temporarily, to silence everything so effectively.

As Toriel walked along, her eyes caught a glimmer of silver among the leaves. She stopped and kneeled, frowning as she tried to figure out what the silvery liquid was.

A young Toriel, just barely a teenager, wandered through the forest with a peaceful smile on her face. A frightened whinny, however, shattered the peace. Following the noise, she was stunned to see a beautiful white unicorn, obviously in pain. A single, black arrow was lodged in its side, allowing a trail of silver blood to flow free.

Toriel gasped as she recognized the blood for what it was. She immediately got up and began following the trail, extinguishing the fireball and allowing the heavily-filtered natural light to keep the silver path visible. She hoped that she would not be too late.

The unicorn looked up at her, fear in its eyes. Toriel lightly stroked the unicorn's mane, hoping to calm it. "Do not be afraid, pure one. I am not going to harm you."

A whinny of fear and a headbutt from the magical horse, knocked Toriel back just in time for an arrow to whizz through the air her head had been less than a moment before. "Dammit!" a voice swore.

Toriel's eyes narrowed as she turned her head to face the source of the voice. Up in a tree, a man dressed in a brown tunic and green trousers was perched, drawing another arrow from his quiver. She reached out with her soul, tugging harshly on the man's own and initiating a confrontation.

The man froze with fear, his fingers curled uselessly around his bow. In fear, he swung out, missing entirely. He obviously wasn't used to melee combat.

A fireball formed in each of Toriel's hands before they flew out at the man, each one hitting him for ten damage. "You dare to attack such a noble creature, just to lure out my kind?"

He fell to his knees, attempting to swing and failing again.

"You truly are despicable, human," Toriel said as another fireball flew from her hands, finishing the human off.

The silvery blood led to a small clearing within the forest, where a pure white body lay almost still on the ground. A black form was hunched over the unicorn's neck, almost as if it were...

Toriel wanted to throw up, but refrained from doing so. "Stop!" she called, her regal voice surprising the figure into standing up. A glimmer of silver reflected the moonlight off of the figure's face, proving Toriel's suspicions to be correct. Her signature twin fireballs formed within her hands. "Do you realize what you have done, creature?"

The figure remained silent.

"You have hunted multiple unicorns in this forest, and it was no doubt for the blood that is now trickling from your mouth. Do you have anything that you wish to say to defend yourself?"

Silence.

"Very well, then." Toriel triggered a confrontation, seemingly surprising the being before her. The boss monster, however, was more focused on the soul of the creature.

The soul should have been light blue; that much was certain. However, it appeared that a piece of a blood red soul had latched on, draining the light blue so that it was so faded, it was almost white.

"W-What have you done to your soul?!" Toriel gasped in horror.

A grin visible thanks to the unicorn blood still in the figure's mouth was her reply. "Avada Kedavra!"

Toriel smiled down at the unicorn. "Thank you for saving me, pure one. If you will allow it, I will return the favor." The unicorn stared at her for a moment, the pain still evident in its eyes, before giving a weak nod.

Green magic lit up Toriel's hands, the sparks created from the light flowing into the magical horse's wounds. They knitted closed almost instantly. A weaker smile crossed Toriel's face as she fell to her knees. "You are...better now...are you not?"

In response, the unicorn cautiously stood up. It tilted its head to the side, before giving a nod. It bent down, holding its neck out next to Toriel.

Toriel stared in surprise for a moment before allowing the unicorn to help her back to her feet. "Thank you...pure one. I apologize, but...would you accompany me...back to my home?"

The unicorn snorted as though it thought her even asking was absurd, but bobbed its head nevertheless.

Hagrid perked up as he heard the sounds of something moving around in the forest. He got his crossbow at the ready as he called out, "Yeh alrigh' there, Tori?"

Toriel's voice shouted back, "I am...fine, Rubeus. My friend...has decided to aid me." She gave a weak laugh. The half-giant watched carefully as Toriel stepped out of the forest, supported by a...unicorn?

"Wha...bu'..." Hagrid was at a loss for words.

"I...drove the creature off...my friend was injured, but I...healed him...all the same...I am more winded...from the large amount of healing...magic I had to do..." Toriel laughed once more. "It confuses me...that the hunter...was using green spells...with such evil intent...why would someone...do that?"

Nudging the boss monster's side, the unicorn began to lead her forward again. "Yes...thank you my friend...Farewell, Rubeus..."

With that, the boss monster and the unicorn made their way up to the castle in silence.