Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Alright, I’m just going to help y’all understand my vision here.

The planet Ximia E3QP is a planet that Comet-tale is NOT taken place in, it’s a planet that a character named Astra is from (you will meet them soon😈). The planet is a few lightyears away from the solar system. They have their own solar system of 10 planets, the planet being the fifth from the sun (the planet comet-tale is from is second). The temperature on the planet Ximia E3QP is quite cool, no wind and all you would need to wear is a jacket to go outside. Their oxygen is Neon (Ne) in a gas form. Their planet is mostly full of rocks but there are unnatural-like animals that the species feed on. During the Egyptian time the aliens were studying earth. Their discovery on how there was another life in the universe other than them left them curious. They essentially helped humans build their pyramids, and in the meantime fell in love with cats, so they stole a few and kept them as pets for themselves. Now they have a leader who is an alien with a cat head. There are of course multiple races on that planet similar to earth, there are three types of colored skins: putrid green, sky of magritte (color that is in between blue and cyan) and moderate cyan.

The reason why Frisk can survive on Comet-tale’s planet is because: if the gravity, oxygen (there are traces of oxygen molecules on mars and venus so I can do the same with the planet) and if it's in between the temperature that the human can withstand then it may be possible.

Now I do not have a degree in anything since this is just for funsies so y'know bear with me here and let’s make it seem that it makes sense.

Now the characters, am I lazy? Yes but I don’t care nor am I creative. I prioritize the writing instead of designing the character because—plot twist—I have aphantasia, which means I cannot visualize my imagination, which makes it very hard to design things.

Color theme: purple and dark blue.

By the way the sign on the royal guards uniforms, toriel’s outfit etc is just a star in this au.

Toriel: she wears a long dress with an apron on front which has a yellow star on the chest, her dress is blue and the apron is white.

Asgore: his cape is blue with a nebula design, the armour is gray and the accessories are mostly purple. His casual outfit is a yellow Hawaiian shirt and some jeans.

Alphys: with an astronaut helmet + white lab coat and glasses.

Sans: my babs drew Sans for me🤤 Basically just Outer sans with the jacket being dark plum and the stripes dark magenta, the fur on his hood was beige and his shorts have a streak of purple. His magic is purple and his eyelights are white but when he's using his magic they turn purple

Papyrus: Mostly blue like in outertale but the yellow in his outfit would be beige like Sans has on the fur on his hoodie.

Twinkly: It wouldn't make sense if Flowey was a flower so just like outertale Flowey is a star, Twinkly the star.

Mettaton: when he is a robot he has a gray metallic box figure with a purple and blue screen though in his Mettaton EX form he is the same as in the undertale AU though the pink is replaced with magenta.

Frisk: purple and blue sweatshirts with light blue overalls.

Chara: sweatshirt is the same color but the colors switch places and no overalls, only brown shorts.

Asriel: same as outertale but Comet-tales color theme.

Grillby: His flames are a blue to purple gradient and his outfit is dark yellow.

Undyne: Her armour has a helmet which stores water (so she can hydrate) and has a tiny hole in the back so her ponytail can flow through. Her casual is jeans and a magenta tank top. I was thinking of having her carry a water bottle with so she wouldn’t have to have a helmet with water in her casual outfit too

Muffet: I REALLLYY like outertale muffet so we’re gonna steal that idea😈 switch the yellow in her outfit to purple.

Every other monster’s design is like outertale with the color theme (I’m way too lazy).

Chapter Text

Long ago, two species ruled the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.

One day, a war broke out between the two races.

HUMANS banished monsters from earth, trapping them on another planet far from the solar system.

A powerful force field was erected, and the monsters were sealed in, making humans declare victory.

Many years later… 

EARTH

271X

Legends say that whoever flies to said planet via spacecraft never return.

A human spaceship was exploring deep space when it happened. No one knows exactly how it malfunctioned—but the human child, Frisk, knew that one of the crew members, Larry, had planned something. He had been hanging around the machines a lot lately, turning off the radiators, which meant that the spaceship would eventually overheat and every running machine would explode. 

That was the last thing Frisk remembered before they lost consciousness. 

Frisk sprung up when a loud bang was heard, it was only the ship’s door falling off its hinges, landing a few meters away from them. They laid back down onto the pavement, exhaustion taking over them, though they knew that they had to move away from the ship—just in case.

Frisk heaved themself up on their feet, hand on their head while they walked. They were extremely nauseous. So nauseous that they could barely focus on their injuries.

Suddenly, a twinkle shone in the corner of their eye. Upon looking up, they saw a small star hovering in front of them, with a… face? The star looked very happy, unnervingly happy.

“Howdy! I’m Twinkly, Twinkly the Star!!” They spoke in a jovial tone, though Frisk knew something wasn’t right—Twinkly’s smile didn’t reach his eyes.

“You’re a little lost, aren’t you?” The creature asked, inching closer, Frisk backed in return.

“Well it’s a good thing I’m here, someone oughta teach you how things work around here!!” they grinned before the world faded to black. Suddenly Frisk was startled by four buttons in front of their SOUL: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM and MERCY.

“See that heart? That’s your SOUL, the very culmination of your being” Frisk’s gaze stayed on the red SOUL in front of them, pumping with determination. 

“Your soul is an important part of you, and needs LOVE to sustain itself” he paused as little star shards circled them.

“We share happiness through little… Happiness shards .” He smiled innocently as the happiness shards inched closer, Frisk relaxed and kept their eyes on them. As soon as they cut through Frisk’s skin and they jumped back in surprise the star started laughing menacingly.

“In this world, it’s kill or be killed” he smirked as star shards hovered around them.

“Did you really think I would let this opportunity pass? How hilarious. Die.” His laugh echoed through the room as the shards inched closer—but not before fireballs acted as a shield around Frisk, knocking Twinkly away.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth” a voice chimed in front of them, Frisk looked up—eyes landing on a tall goat lady standing in front of them.

“Have no fear, little one—as I am Toriel, overseer of the ruins.” Toriel inched closer, inspecting their injuries.

“Follow me, child. There is so much I intend on teaching you.” Toriel smiled softly, taking Frisk’s hand, leading them through the hallway.

Damn it took a long time to go through the ruins, Frisk’s muscles were aching despite Toriel healing their injuries. Frisk had been complaining about said ache many times to Toriel but she reassured them that it was almost over, though now it was only them—as Toriel soon left to attend some “business”, which Frisk doubted was true.

There were a few puzzles on the way and definitely some encounters, though most loosened up once they befriended them, sparing them. 

It satisfied Frisk, though they wondered if it would continue being like that. This place looked very isolated, with few types of monsters with vague words about “HIM”, whoever he was. 

Frisk’s thoughts were cut short as they reached a house, with Toriel waiting in front of the door. “Oh little one, there you are! Did you go through the puzzles? You look injured” Toriel inched closer, healing them.

“Oh it was foolish of me to leave you alone” she shook her head, leading them to the house. “Come, you shall rest”

Frisk reluctantly followed and Toriel quickly showed them a bedroom, it looked… used, like memories were frozen in time. Though Frisk ignored the feeling, thanking Toriel for the room.

“Oh, no need to thank me! Rest now, I’ll be waiting for you once you wake up” Toriel waved them off, nudging them towards the bed, a clear sign she wanted them resting as soon as possible. 

They sighed and bid her goodnight before crawling into bed, already sinking into the mattress.

Fire. everywhere. 

Frisk was running, stumbling through the smoke-filled corridors of the ship. They had already seen their parents — lying dead on the ground — and they knew deep down there was nothing they could do to save them.

A good friend of their father grabbed Frisk’s arm, dragging them towards the exit. His arms were covered in cuts and blood, pants torn from rubble and debris. 

“Run” he cried out, shoving an oxygen mask into their hands. “Get out. Survive. For us.” 

His hand trembled as he lifted Frisk and hurled them over the flames—toward safety.

Chapter Text

When Frisk woke up, the first thing they noticed was that their body was sore and the ground was weirdly comfy. Looking down, they remembered everything that had happened—the crash, Twinkly, Toriel, puzzles and the encounters. A groan escaped their throat as they rubbed their eyes, glancing out the window. 

This was the first time that they had gotten a good look at the sky. It was beautiful, stars twinkled beautifully in the sky—or was it the sky..? They could see nebulas, planets and even galaxies. It looked like Earth’s night sky without any light pollution. It was simply breathtaking.

Frisk sat up, still a bit dazed, admiring the view before glancing around the room they were in. A butterscotch pie sat neatly on the floor—odd placement, but Frisk shrugged and tucked it into their inventory.

Frisk had gone through the clothes in the closet, surprisingly they were just a size bigger than them, though Frisk felt like it didn’t really suit them, especially the sweater: it was purple with blue stripes, the opposite of theirs. Frisk decided on “borrowing” the brown overalls that lay on the bottom and walked out of the room—the first thing they saw were… fried snails? Frisk quietly gagged at the sight though was interrupted by Toriel.

“Did you sleep well, little one?” She asked with a smile on her face, eyes leaving a book she was reading.

Frisk nodded, telling her that they had a peaceful night—while leaving out the details about the terrifying nightmare they had just a few minutes ago.

“Splendid! I am reading a book about snails, would you like to hear some interesting facts?” Toriel patted the arm of the chair, wanting them to stand by her side.

They shook their head, explaining to her that they wanted to go—her smile faded and waved it off with a slight stammer.

“Home? C-could you be more specific…child?” She nervously looked away, her hand wanting to grab Frisk’s, though she stopped herself.

Frisk firmly answered with the fact that they wanted to go home and asked when they could return, Toriel sighed and mumbled “Please wait here, child. There is something I must do” before she stood up and hurriedly walked away.

Frisk raised an eyebrow, following after her.

As kind as Toriel was, the idea of spending an eternity here—with a stranger—felt wrong. Too wrong. They did enjoy this motherly instinct of hers, though Frisk just didn’t feel like she belonged here—especially with the fact that they got into encounters left and right.

It really got them wondering, are the monsters outside of these ruins worse? Would the SAVE button be there too? Frisk noticed those SAVE buttons around the ruins—yellow and shining—looking at them like they wanted them to SAVE—it was very tempting, and they had no idea why they got this overwhelming feeling that they really should save.

Toriel tried multiple times to stop them along the way, from being stern and ordering them to go to bed—to pleading with them to stay, but Frisk stayed firm, walking only a few steps away.

At last, Toriel came to a halt at a large door, sighing as she turned around “Forgive me, my child, But I cannot allow you to leave.” Her frown ceased into a stoic expression, the world around them darkened until the familiar layout of an encounter popped up.

Toriel - ATK 80 DF 80

*Doesn't want to harm you.

Frisk froze for a moment, should they fight back? Plead? Spare? They didn’t want to kill them, so maybe sparing would work?

The first few of Toriel’s attacks were hell—figuratively—the fireballs burned their skin and no matter how much they tried to dodge another fireball always seemed to be right behind them.

I have places to go, Toriel, I want to go home. Frisk was practically pleading with Toriel at this point, though Toriel stayed firm, not even speaking a word back.

Frisk’s frown deepened, they really didn’t want to deal with this, and Toriel seemed really hurt too. They let out a huff, they were only left on 5hp after all those fireballs and there was not much left to do other than just hoping she would listen—so they waited, their movement going to a halt and Frisk’s eyes avoided hers. 

What surprised them, was that Toriel’s attacks avoided Frisk, and while yes she continued firing them they all flew past them. They glanced at Toriel with confusion spread across their face.

...

She huffed, rambling about how she didn’t have much but could make it work, if they stayed of course. But after seeing Frisk’s firm decisions she couldn’t help but break down, wrapping her arms around them tightly.

“Please, my child, do not let him take your soul, don’t let him get his way” she sobbed into Frisk’s hair and Frisk could feel them getting healed by her warm hands.

“Goodbye, little one” she retreated her arms, giving them one last pat on their head before walking towards the hallway, her eyes glancing at them one last time before she disappeared into the long and dark hallway.

Frisk didn’t wait for long, going forward towards the light. Entering a room similar to the one they met Twinkly in, it gave them a deja vu of some sort. But before they could shake it off and continue their way Twinkly popped up. Great.

“So, you played by your own rules. Sparing the life of every monster, oh I bet you feel great” Twinkly spoke in a mocking tone, “But what if you come across a serial murderer? You’ll die and die and die… And soon enough you’ll tire yourself out, then what? Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you simply give up?” He giggled menacingly, floating higher in the air.

“This will be fun.. I’ll be watching!” He winked, flying away, little stars twinkled after him.

So innocent looking for someone so cruel..

Frisk thought to themselves, continuing their way down the bridge between the Outlands and… something, they weren’t sure of themselves anymore—Toriel had talked about him going to steal your soul which made it sound like he was a vampire hungry for souls of sort—nevertheless, with how the outlands were, whatever laid beyond couldn’t be worse.

Could it?

Chapter Text

It was cold. Really cold.

The sweater didn’t do much, and the overalls weren’t any better.

Still, it really got them thinking:

How is it even snowing?

They tilted their head back. Above them wasn’t a cloudy winter sky—just endless black space, speckled with stars. No clouds. No sun. Just… night.

What else could be hiding out here? they wondered.

Couldn’t be that bad… right?

SNAP.

Frisk stopped dead in their tracks, slowly turning their head in the direction of the sound. A branch behind them, the one they’d stepped over earlier, was broken clean in half.

Not stepped on. Snapped.

Someone was following them.

A chill far colder than the snow crept down their spine. They quickened their pace.

They stopped at a dead end—literally—the walking path just stopped and there was nothing underneath. They peeked down, trying to see how far it went, though they only saw the darkness.

“H U M A N.” 

A voice spoke from behind them, startling them in the process—Frisk froze, not exactly sure if it was safe to even acknowledge the voice.

“don’t you know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand.” 

And found themselves face-to-face with… a skeleton?

He was short, with a toothy grin, and he held out his hand like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Frisk swallowed hard, then reached out and shook it.

PPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

The whoopee cushion squealed for an uncomfortably long time. Frisk stared at him, wide-eyed. He stared back. The silence stretched… and stretched.

“heh, nothing like a good whoopie cushion” the… skeleton? Chuckled—how does he laugh if he doesn’t have lungs?

“you’re a human, right?” Frisk nodded “fantastic. i’m sans, sans the skeleton” he greeted, winking at them, which raised questions for them—no eyelids yet could blink?

“my job is to capture humans-” he started and Frisk could feel a knot forming in their stomach. 

“but yknow… i have better things to do” he shrugged “my bro, Papyrus, on the other hand… he would love to capture one—in fact, I think that’s him right there” his eyelights were fixed on something behind them and he took a step towards them.

“i have an idea, jump over the gap will ya?” hesitantly, Frisk jumped over, almost losing their balance, following closely behind Sans.

“quick” Sans whispered “hide behind the conveniently shaped rock” 

Conveniently-shaped was an understatement—it hid their entire body perfectly. Frisk crouched low, peeking out as a much taller skeleton came into view.

“sup, bro” Sans spoke up.

 The tall skeleton—Papyrus, Frisk guessed—whipped around.

“YOU KNOW WHAT’S UP, BROTHER!” the taller skeleton crossed his arms, clearly amused by his brother’s antics.

“IT HAS BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T… RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING????” Frisk flinched, covering their ears. How can he even speak that loud?! He doesn’t even have vocal cords!

“nothing much, just admiring this rock. it’s really cool, wanna take a look?” Frisk shot Sans the sharpest glare they could muster.

“NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?! I WANT TO BE READY” Papyrus stomped, clearly irritated. Frisk couldn’t tell if this was sibling rivalry or if Sans was just very incompetent.

Then came the rant.

“I WILL BE THE ONE!! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN. THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE!!!!! RESPECT, RECOGNITION.. I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD. PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE MY FRIEND AND I WILL BATHE IN A BATH FULL OF KISSES EVERY MORNING”

Frisk blinked. That… sounds unsanitary.

“hmmm, maybe this rock will help you,” Sans’ grin widened.

“SANS!! THAT WON’T DO ANYTHING YOU LAZYBONES” Papyrus groaned, “YOU ARE CAPABLE OF SO MUCH.. YET.. YOU SIT AROUND AND DO NOTHING!!! WHY DO I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE TO DO SO MUCH FOR RECOGNITION??" 

While Papyrus seemed to be more irritated at the fact that Sans barely did anything all day, it seemed like he was a bit.. Worried—about Sans not doing anything with his life, and the fact that he himself had to spend most of his time thinking about capturing a human so he could finally feel seen.

“heh, perhaps you should focus more on, well..

the gravity of the situation” Sans winked and Frisk quietly giggled at the pun.

Both of the skeletons froze, glancing at the rock.

“SANS, WHAT WAS THAT??”

“what was what?”

“NEVERMIND!! I’M GOING BACK TO MY PUZZLES, YOU SHOULD PUT A LITTLE MORE BACKBONE INTO IT” 

With a triumphant “NYEH HEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus dashed off.

“ok kid, you can come out now” 

Frisk stepped out, brushing snow off their knees.

“he’s gonna come back soon y'know, i would get going if i were you” 

Frisk nodded again, taking a step before glancing back at Sans, who seemed to read their mind.

“there’s nothing to be afraid of—he may seem scary at first but he’s the nicest guy you’ll meet. trust me.”

They believed him. Papyrus seemed… harmless. Loud, sure, but harmless.

“hey, before you go—could you do me a favor? paps has been kinda down lately. seeing a human might cheer him up.”

Frisk answered that they would greet him if they came across him, and Sans thanked them a bunch right before disappearing.

They had to do a double take at Sans’ direction—or well his direction before he just vanished—Frisk shook their head.

Monsters are really.. Out of this world.

Minutes later…

After just a few minutes of walking and encounters (and touching the save button), they saw the brothers again. It surprised them that they saw them again after just a few minutes.

“AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE-”

Papyrus froze. His sockets widened as he looked at Frisk, then at Sans, then back at Frisk. Back and forth, faster and faster, repeating a couple of times.

“SANS!!! OMG!! IS THAT…. A HUMAN?!?!?” 

Sans tilted his head, “Uhhh, actually, i think that’s a rock.”

Frisk raised an eyebrow, briefly wondering if Sans was having a stroke. Then they noticed his eyelights weren’t on them, but focused on something behind them—a rock. They shot him an unamused look.

“but, hey, what’s in front of the rock?” Sans asked, his eyelights drifting from theirs to glance up at Papyrus.

“OMG IT’S A HUMAN!!” Papyrus shrieked, his tone very energetic and.. Loud, to say the least. 

The rest was a blur—Papyrus screaming about capturing them, about becoming a Royal Guard, about respect and glory.

“SANS WE FINALLY DID IT!! UNDYNE HAS TO LET ME INTO THE ROYAL GUARD NOW!!” Papyrus looked very very happy to catch a human, it made Frisk ponder if it was a bad thing.

“NOW ALL WE HAVE TO.. TO.. I’M FORGETTING SOMETHING AREN’T I?”

“the speech?” Sans reminded and Papyrus nodded, clearing his throat dramatically.

“AHEM. HUMAN!!” Papyrus started, taking a step forward. “YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!!! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU AND YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL! THEN! THEN! I’M NOT SURE WHAT’S NEXT” 

Frisk stared, not sure whether to laugh or run.

“IN ANY CASE, CONTINUE… ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”

And just like that, he bolted, laughter echoing into the distance.

Silence stretched through the atmosphere for a few seconds before Sans woke up.

“don’t sweat it, kid.” He shrugged, hands still resting in his pockets “i’ll keep an eyesocket out for ya.”

Sans winked before walking away, disappearing into the mist.

Chapter Text

Puzzles, indeed. So many puzzles and... encounters.

Well maybe Frisk was overreacting, but before they entered Starton there were a hell lot of puzzles Papyrus wanted them to try—and then they failed and somehow made it extremely easy for Frisk to go through, which bamboozled Papyrus.

The last one, The Gauntlet of Deadly Terror was the most amusing to watch—Papyrus was hesitant to activate and in the end said, in his words, “NO, NO—I REFUSE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! AND THIS CHALLENGE IS.. IS.. TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH!!”

Then darted without a second thought.

Almost as if... he didn’t want to hurt them.

There were a hell of a lot of dogs they had to spare too.

Encounters were the worst part. Frisk was already exhausted after just a few hours of wandering around the underground and "fighting" monsters.

They weren't necessarily fighting them, more like dodging them. But damn, they take up a lot of energy.

Starton itself had a lot less encounters; it made Frisk feel a lot more welcome than in the ruins—but the monsters were wary, like they were waiting for something. 

By the time they found the SAVE point outside Starton’s shop and inn, they were trembling. Not from the cold. From exhaustion. From Paranoia

Their stomach grumbled while they walked through town—must be time for food; it had been quite some time since their last meal anyway—their eyes landed on Grillby’s—a bar-looking facility—perhaps they could eat there? 

No, what if someone attacks them while they’re off guard? The thought was shrugged away as they saw a flicker of light

Click. The screen in their mind whispered: HP fully restored.

Frisk hated that sound. Hated the sinking weight in their chest every time they touched a SAVE. Why did they even need it? Why did dying—and coming back—feel so wrong?

“You’re taking longer than I thought.”

A voice, bitter, spoke up from behind them, he had this fake grin on his face, a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. 

Frisk froze. A voice behind them. Bitter and sharp.

Twinkly.

He hovered in the air, his grin wide and hollow. “Using the SAVE point, huh? Won’t save you, kid. They’ll kill you over and over again. Then you’ll give up.”

His shards began to form, glittering like broken glass.

“You’re weak. Unlovable. Worth nothing. Your family’s dead—probably glad they don’t have to deal with you anymore.”

Each word sank claws into Frisk’s chest. They couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe.

“Give up already.”

The first shard shot forward—

—and shattered against something blue. A star.

More followed, slicing the air in a whir of cyan light. They weren’t Twinkly’s. They were sharper, faster—like glowing shurikens.

“Stars, do you attack every foreigner you see!?” 

A voice, fierce and feminine, cut through the snowy wind. Frisk turned around, seeing a tall figure by the corner of the shop they stood in front of. The figure had dropped bags of trash upon witnessing the sight. They grabbed Frisk’s arm, sending Frisk stumbling behind them onto the pile of trash.

She stood tall, shuriken spinning between long fingers. Her skin was pale green. Antennas curled from her head, glowing faintly. Black eyes locked on the star.

“Stars? You’re still hanging onto your past, Astra.” Twinkly spoke, his voice spiteful.

“Doesn’t matter, you’re hurting an innocent…. Boy? Girl? Human, you’re hurting a child and I won’t allow it to happen. Go find someone else to taunt, someone who can and will fight back.” 

“You act like I’ll listen to you—”

The shuriken left her hand in a flash. Twinkly dodged with a snarl. Astra took the chance to shove Frisk through a nearby shop door and slam it shut.

For a moment, all Frisk heard was their own heartbeat.

Then Astra turned to them with a warm, crooked smile—eyes darting over their body for injuries, pausing at the sight of their scars. “He’ll never leave newbies alone, huh?”

She sighed, smoothing down a few stray hairs on Frisk’s head, “I just.. Kind of don’t understand why monsters want to capture humans—y’all are fine in my opinion. Maybe it’s their history with your kind, but trust me, you did nothing wrong, sugarplum.”

The shop smelled faintly of cinnamon. Frisk perched on the counter, still shaky, as Astra scanned them for any new injuries, trying to ignore the old ones—and maybe the trash, which Astra of course picked out of their hair with an apologetic look.

Frisk couldn’t help stare at the alien, it was a bit strange seeing the alien with all of the conspiracy theories that they were real.

“Right when I get off shift, huh? I guess I can spend my lunch helping a human.”

She looked exactly like how you would guess an alien looked: light green skin, 

black eyes, antennas—yet, she was dressed like a human: shorts, tank top, jacket.

She glanced up at Frisk, noting their silence. Of course she didn’t pry, but she didn’t want there to be an awkward silence the whole time.

“It’s quite rude to stare, babycakes. Never seen Ximians?” 

Frisk sheepishly shook their head, though she didn’t judge. Her hand gently grabbed theirs, guiding them to sit on top of the counter.

“Figures. You humans like to call us aliens, but that’s like… your version of calling someone weird. I personally don’t mind. Name’s Astra.”

Frisk managed a quiet introduction. Told her about falling here. About wanting to go home. Only stopping due to hunger

“Mhm, I’ve heard humans get real hungry after a while. We mostly get nutrients from our animals, no healthy vegetables” she smiled, her sharp canines poking out.

Frisk hesitated, then asked how she knew so much about humans.

Astra looked at them confused, hands on her hip. “Humans don’t tell you? Ximians visited Earth during the Egyptian time and helped you humans build the pyramids. History says that we stole a few cats and humans to keep as our own; that’s why we look a little like humans.”

Frisk looked a little bewildered at Astra, who looked a little like humans. It did make sense, but.. Why did Ximians look so human-like?

“Point is: Only reason why me and a friend of mine are here is because our planet got destroyed while we were out in space, had to find another planet to live on—which is here”

Before Frisk could ask more, the bell above the door jingled.

“Astraaa!! Are you going to finally tell me how it was jumping his bones-”

“NOT IN FRONT OF THE CHILD PLEASE.”

Astra cut the person off, her face and antennas already another color due to embarrassment.

The person Astra had silenced looked a bit different from her but nonetheless looked like a Ximian. Periwinkle colored skin this time, shorter antennas but unlike Astra her iris was a lightish eggplant color with star-like pupils. 

She wore a pink low cut shirt and some jeans, topped off some fancy shoes. The other one also had a tail, something not seen on the first one—it reminded Frisk a lot of how human races worked at home, and their bodies looked a lot like humans.

Frisk pretended to study the shelves, not really wanting to know what they were talking about.

The other Ximian—Soraya—winked, then strutted out with a laugh. Astra groaned.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” she muttered. “Ignore her.”

Calming down, Astra shook her head disappointingly, not explaining what the blue alien said, continuing like nothing happened. 

“So yeah, we’ve lived here for like three years? No four years. Gotten to get a little close to the other monsters. The person that walked in? She has a thing with a purple cat named Catty—I’ve tried, but Burgerpants wasn’t the best choice.”

Frisk nodded and asked who Burgerpants was.

“He’s my ex. Catty and her best friend, Bratty, were using him for free food. He and I started talking, and that ended up making Bratty not really try to get close to me since he and Bratty aren’t exactly friends—Catty got closer to me either way because Soraya is dating her.” Astra explained, hands moving in rhythm with her words.

“We broke up because he smoked too much stardust—say no to drugs, sugarplum.” She shook her head disapprovingly, pulling on Frisk’s cheek gently. “You won’t believe what he did when I told him I wanted to break up-”

“Astra, what did I tell you about gossiping to the customers!" A purple bunny lady had walked in, most presumably her boss. She glared at Astra for a while, who apologized with a sheepish look, explaining the situation—the bunny lady just sighed and just walked to the back.

“Anyway..” Astra started, their gaze leaving the bunny lady and going to Frisk. “Whatcha wanna buy? We have a tough glove, manly bandana, Nice-moons and starry buns—only buy tough glove if you want to fight.”

Frisk looked over their options, deciding on getting a manly bandana and a few bisicle and cinnabuns.

“Good choice; you never know when you’ll stop next if you’re going to continue your journey.”

She smiled, taking the G’s from Frisk, watching as Frisk heaved their backpack onto the counter and stuffed the items in.

Astra leaned closer, stuffing a few bandages into their backpack, “just in case.”

Magic crackled through the air as Sans teleported right behind Frisk, the magic radiation causing Astra’s antennas to vibrate and glow slightly.

“heya, starlight-” His words caught in his throat when his eyes landed on Frisk, and he cleared his throat before ruffling their hair.

“heya kiddo, see you’ve met astra.” His eyelights shifted towards Astra, who just winked at him and leaned against the counter.

“This little sugarplum has been such an angel right here; they were just stocking up on some snacks.” She patted their backpack, which was now filled with Cinnabons, Monster candy, and a bandana.

“Why don’t you grab yourself a phone? You need to communicate?" She pointed at an old phone lying on a counter in the back—once they left, she focused on Sans.

“Do they have a place to stay?” She asked, taking a glance at Frisk; he shook his head.

“kiddo has only been in Starton for a few hours; it seems like they’re not planning on staying here for too long, so don’t ya worry.” 

He patted her arm in a comforting manner as Frisk walked back, eyebrows raised while eyeing the two, who pulled away from each other.

“So, sugarplum, are you going to The Foundry, hm? You have to go up ahead and then to the right, okay? The girl that was here a few minutes ago lives there; her number is on that telephone as Sori, so if you need any help, call me or her.”

Astra handed Frisk their backpack, patting their shoulder. Frisk tried to echo her directions, awkwardly asking her to repeat.

“I wish you luck on your journey; remember to act with mercy, and they’ll do the same sooner or later.”

She smiled towards Frisk, but her smile faded a bit as she leaned closer.

“I know you’ve met him too, and quite frankly he’s annoying but he’s dangerous so listen closely. Twinkly will never act with mercy; we both know that. Just try to survive if he tries something. Here, if anything happens take this”

Her hand reached out—empty—though a slight glow emitted from the center of her palm as a star shuriken formed, the same thing her antennas did when Sans appeared.

She fastened the shuriken on the side of their backpack, somewhere they couldn’t accidentally hurt themselves with but still within easy reach.

“good luck, kiddo” Sans patted their head one last time before backing away, now leaning against the counter.

“Good luck, sugarplum.”

Snow crunched under Frisk’s boots as they left the warm glow of the shop. Astra’s words echoed in their head:

Dangerous… Never act with... 

What was it again?

Nevermind. Frisk knew well enough that Twinkly wasn’t the greatest, but dangerous? Astra did come here from another planet, so she must know him better than Frisk.

Continuing on, walking through the town they couldn’t help but admire what the monsters had built while being stranded on a planet.

Taking another step, many little shards flew past them, some cutting their legs in their path, causing them to trip. 

Twinkly hovered above, laughing.

“Getting cozy with the alien, huh? Don’t bother. She’ll die. Or you will. It’s kill or be killed, kid. You think they actually like you?”

Frisk’s gaze hardened, explaining that they would never hurt anyone and that there were some monsters who didn’t attack them.

“That’s because they’re waiting for someone else to kill you, don’t you realize it? No one cares about your stupid little human life—we’re monsters, we hate humans with our whole soul, everyone is pretending to like you” The star’s smirk widened into a cruel smile.

Twinkly’s grin widened. “That little alien won't stay for long, will she? I’ll make sure of it. She’s useless. I tried to make her work with me, but she was so foolish she started getting friendly to the other monsters—it’s like she lacks the intelligence her kind are said to have”

“I’ll have her dead before you can see her again.”

Something inside Frisk snapped. They grabbed the star shuriken and hurled it at Twinkly—catching him off guard. Backing up, his HP dropped by six, the shuriken was infected with Astra’s magic, causing his movements to slow down due to the unfamiliar magic in his system.

Taking their chance, they jumped up on their feet, sprinting away—further away from starton and closer to the Foundry Astra had been talking about.

Frisk ran until their lungs burned and their legs shook. Ran until a tall figure blocked their path—Papyrus, standing in the snow like he’d been waiting all along.

“HUMAN.”