Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

In the infinite expanse of darkness, a fleeting consciousness would stir as it drifted aimlessly.

It lacked any sensations or a body, merely fragments of awareness spiraling through the void. It was like a dream without a wake, barely lucid yet turbulent amidst it's motion. Memories with blurred faces, voices with muffled words, it all melded together into a cacophony of confusion and lack of stability.

Was it real? Did it exist? What was it? A flicker of self awareness would spark against the darkness, before dying out like a candle and returning to its dream-like state. At some point, it became aware of a speck of light in the distance, quickly approaching due to it's momentum carrying it. Of course this light didn't reach any sensory organs, but it felt it drawing closer.

As it approached closer to the light, the fog surrounding it's being began to fade and its self awareness began to return. It was… a person. A man in his twenties, who lived a rather uneventful life before his death. 

Oh yeah, he had died.

That explained the lack of a body.

Was he a soul then? 

As the blinding light drew closer, his life flashed through his consciousness. 

Nathaniel Walker had grown up the youngest of 3. There was his eldest brother, his older sister, and then him. They all got along fairly well, with his brother eventually going to college and moving out while his sister graduated high-school and got married to her childhood sweetheart after a couple years, moving in with him once he could afford his own place. He, on the other hand, stayed with their parents and stuck around to take care of them. Nathan's father was a rugged bear of a man that always sported a frown and seemed to keep himself busy with something. He also hated change, but would accept it begrudgingly with enough convincing (especially if it was their mother who suggested it) and was rigid but not inflexible in his thinking. His mother on the other hand was such a sweet and spontaneous soul, often going through hobbies like seasonal clothes. She was the complete opposite of their father, always seeking a new thrill or adventure in something. Opposites attract as they say.

Of course he had thoughts of independence, but by the time he was old enough to move out their parents were already getting close to being elderly, and he didn't want to put them in a retirement home and leave. It would feel like he was abandoning them, and so he opted to take care of them as they did for him when he was growing up. 

Skipping college, Nathan went straight to work out of high-school, going into construction. His end had actually come on the job, having been walking along the job site when steel beams from above suddenly came hurtling down towards him. He didn't even register any pain before he was gone, his life snuffed out like a candle.

While he didn't feel much pain due to his swift end, he felt like something deep within his being had shattered and sent fragments in all directions like glass. Now, all those fragments were hovering near each other and approaching the light. A flicker of grief rippled through him. His parents, his siblings, his friends. He didn't even get to say goodbye, or know how they would fare without him. Who would take care of his parents? How would everyone take the news of his passing?

It hurt to think about, and his regrets left an ache in his nonexistent heart.

He didn't want to die.

Sure, getting up early in the morning and coming home late exhausted after a long day sucked, but he didn't hate his life by any means. He was loved by his family, had friends, and had a decent job that made his life quite fulfilling. Although he did have a dreadful lack of romance due to working all the time. He didn't need any grand ambitions or accomplishments, just the simple life of bliss. 

…Which was now gone.

Nathan… didn't want things to end like this. He begged and prayed for whatever god that existed to undo his fate. Sure he wasn't perfect and free of any sin, but this felt unjust. Indignation welled up in his being, he couldn't stand being torn away from his life so easily, without a fight.

No.

That voiceless protest slowed his momentum, the light now blinding but not engulfing. Behind him, the void still stretched endlessly while the light shone before him.

Not like this.

He was now motionless, stuck between the light and the darkness. His being resting between the twilight. He hesitated. What was he doing? Could he actually change anything? He might be passing up on an opportunity to go to heaven or something by getting all worked up like this. He had a difficult choice before him.

[Continue] [Turn Back]

…

[Go Back]

Nathan didn't hesitate for long. He refused to continue, and as if in response to his decision, the fragments began to drift backwards…

Before suddenly losing their strength and beginning to fall. He felt himself scattering, drifting apart. 

He was losing lucidity again, the clarity of the light fading in tandem with its decreasing proximity, making his mind become muddled again. 

No.

Stop.

Nothing changed, he continued drifting apart and spiraling into the abyss. 

Why?

Why was this happening?

Another flicker of grief danced across his scattering being. Was this his punishment for clinging to a life that had ended? Probably. Did he regret it though? No, he'd fight until the end for his loved ones. Consequences be damned.

Loved ones…?

Who…?

Shit, he was fading fast.

Panic filled his being, at this rate he'd disappear completely! Think! Think! What could he do?!

Yet, no matter how hard he tried, it was a futile effort. He lacked the strength. He was too weak to keep himself together.

In the end, his fragments scattered, and his fogging consciousness faded into nothing.

…

….

…..?

Nathan felt clarity suddenly return to his mind, his consciousness sharp and lucid all of a sudden. He searched his being, and found himself whole again! Well… Not quite. His fragments had been reassembled, but felt… off. Like they were put back together wrong. Before he could study himself further, he felt a sensation.

Pain.

The skeleton snapped their eyesockets open, gasping sharply and filling their nonexistent lungs with air. Their wide eyesockets were blank, before a blink caused two white dots to appear in their depths. They sat up, a bony hand held to their ribs as the pain in their soul faded.

“What… What the fuck…?”

A strange voice that wasn't his own came from his mouth, voicing his shock and disbelief as he took in his form. He was… nothing but bones. He poked a finger through his ribcage, and even an eyesocket, but felt nothing. He was literally JUST bones. How the hell was he even moving around? This defied all logic and science he'd ever learned!

Blinking again, he lifted his gaze from his skeletal body and took in his surroundings, finding himself in what appeared to be a room of some sort. The room was featureless and white, like something made for a lab rat. It only had a door lacking any handles, a bedframe with a mattress, and a large window-shaped mirror that was likely one-way. Sliding out of bed, Nathan got to his feet and walked over to the mirror.

If the bed was still around the size of a normal one, Nathan realized that he was significantly shorter than when he was alive. Standing at the mirror, he stared at his reflection. Looking back at him would be a short bare skeleton lacking any clothes, sporting large eyesockets with white eyelights within. The lights were rather large and round, giving him an almost childish look when paired with his large eyesockets.

Wait.

Double checking his height compared to the bed, he realized that he WAS about as tall as a child.

“The fuck is going on…?”

He muttered under his breath, curiously touching his face.

Behind the mirror, unbeknownst to the small skeleton, a group of researchers in lab coats watched the subject with interest and took notes on its behaviour upon waking up.

“Subject appears capable of speech, and seems to already have knowledge of profanity. However it seems to lack awareness of it's own physiology. Further observation is required.”

Standing ahead of them all would be another skeleton wearing black pants and a turtleneck beneath a white lab coat, except he was much taller and clearly an adult. On his chest would be a nametag.

[W.D. Gaster (Royal Scientist)]

Chapter Text

Deep underground would be a lab facility, accessible only to authorized personnel via an elevator. Walking about the place would be researchers, all working under the Royal Scientist Wingdings Gaster. He was a brilliant mind ahead of his time, being the one who drafted the blueprints of the core and bringing power to the entire underground.

This achievement cemented his position as the Royal Scientist and led many other innovative minds to join him as researchers in their goal to break the barrier and free monster kind. 

This was a story that you probably knew all too well.

However, there's been a slight change.

A bird monster with green feathers wearing a lab coat would approach Gaster from the side, the tall skeleton not looking away from the subject behind the glass. However he did acknowledge them.

“What is it?”

“Sir… while making another skeleton is an amazing feat, what purpose does it serve in destroying the barrier?”

Gaster finally took his gaze away from the glass, looking down at the bird monster. 

“The core didn't have enough power to destroy the barrier, meaning that brute force won't work. So we must take a different approach, human souls. However, we lack the means to truly duplicate them, and must instead try and make substitutes.”

He gestured at the small skeleton behind the glass that was studying their own body.

“We need to make an artificial soul strong enough to compare to a human soul, before replicating it enough times to destroy the barrier completely. Souls carry a different power than mere generators and batteries, so this is a difficult task.”

The bird monster listened quietly, before speaking.

“But… your hand…?”

Gaster's eyelights flickered out, his expression remaining the same but clearly displeased by the subject. He raised his hand and touched it thoughtlessly, a large hole in his palm, perfectly circular. His other hand lacked such a marking.

“A necessary sacrifice. Skeleton monsters may not be the most physically powerful but they are quite adept with magic as result. This partially translates into their souls, so I was the best candidate for this.”

“Sir…”

Gaster turned finally, fixing a blank glare at the bird monster.

“I wouldn't ask for such sacrifices from any of you, so do not entertain the idea. This is for all of monster kind, remember that.”

He placed a hand on the bird monster's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before walking past him. 

Left standing alone, the bird monster sighed. He respected Gaster a great deal, but he along with many others felt like he was too hellbent on achieving success by any means. Many still had reservations about him removing a chunk of himself to clone another skeleton, and those reservations increased when that skeleton came out of incubation still a child.

It was merely a clone, something artificial. Still, looking at that childish wonder as the small skeleton poked and prodded at itself in the mirror, they questioned if they were doing the right thing. In the end it was Gaster that convinced them to proceed.

‘Either we do this and sacrifice a couple of artificial lives, or wait until seven human children fall down. One only looks like a child, while the other truly is. Your choice.’

Many stopped protesting after that, and instead did their best to dehumanize the subject in their minds. Not even giving it a name and just referring to it as ‘subject’. ‘This was for the greater good’ they told themselves.

…

Nathan eventually became familiarized with his new skeletal body and height, having moved around the room a bit and prodded at himself in the mirror. It was strange, he lacked any eyes and could poke his finger right through the eye socket, but felt nothing. Of course the intrusion blocked his vision, but that was about it.

Same went for where his lungs used to be. He could breathe somehow, but lacked any actual reason to do so as he had no lungs. Regardless, he kept doing so out of habit from when he was a human. Just as he walked over to the bed and sat on it, a slot at the bottom of the door lifted and a tray of food was slid inside. Nathan was startled by the sudden noise, flinching back before staring at the tray as the slot closed behind it.

“Food?”

He got up and walked over to the tray, finding what looked to be a bowl of porridge with a spoon resting on a tray. Glancing at the mirror, he picked up the bowl and spoon before bringing a spoonful to his mouth. He wasn't exactly hungry, but it couldn't hurt to eat.

Plop.

Some of the porridge spilled down his ribcage.

He had… forgotten he was a skeleton for a moment, and failed to account for the lack of lips or tongue. Taking another spoonful, he sent it straight into his mouth and swallowed, the porridge disappearing somewhere in his throat. His soul felt a bit warmer, like how his stomach would feel upon drinking warm soup as a human.

The porridge was bland, but it was warm which made it easier to go down. Before he realized it, the bowl was empty. Setting the empty bowl and spoon back on the tray, he went back over to the bed and used a corner of the blanket to wipe the small bit of porridge off his ribcage, not having anything else to clean himself with.

It didn't take long for the tray to be retrieved, leaving Nathan alone with his thoughts. So where was he? He knew who and what he was (albeit with MANY questions about the what) but everything else was a mystery. The layout of the white room and obvious one way mirror screamed that he was a prisoner of some sort, and the bland food only strengthened that idea.

However his body was that of a child albeit skeletal. Did he possess some sorta corpse and was whisked away to a government research facility? Maybe he could communicate and cooperate with them in exchange for some more freedom and information. Nathan got up and approached the door before knocking on it.

“....Hello?”

He really couldn't get used to the sound of his voice. It sounded so different compared to his old one, but he wasn't about to start making random sounds to explore the pitches of his voice, not when he was likely being watched behind that mirror.

He was met with silence, and frowned before turning to head back to the bed.

…When suddenly the door opened.

Chapter Text

The door opened by sliding horizontally out of sight.

Nathan blinked and turned around, looking up at what appeared to be an anthropomorphic bird with green feathers wearing a lab coat. His eyelights shrank to dots, because that was DEFINITELY not a human! He took a small step back as the bird monster entered the room with a slightly conflicted expression.

“Hello there little one… Did you like the food?”

They crouched down in front of him, likely to put him at ease and figuring their height was the source of the scare. Nathan was still reeling from the shock, but noticed the lab coat they wore and confirmed that he was probably in a facility of some kind but certainly not the government!

“I-It was good…”

His voice came out smaller than he intended due to his shock of seeing a literal bird person, but he managed to respond.

…

The bird monster felt like their soul strings were being tugged. They had lingered by the window after the subject was fed, but just as he was about to leave there was a knock at the door and a childish voice called out. He wasn't emotional by any means but something stirred his maternal instincts, and before he knew it he was inside the room crouched in front of the subject.

It's artificial, don't get attached.

His reasoning screamed at him, but seeing those bright and curious eyelights stare up at him with a mixture of fear and wonder made his soul feel like it was being squeezed. Did this little thing really come from a piece of Gaster? 

“Glad you liked the food. You can call me Dr. Reed.”

Simon Reed smiled and reached out, petting the skeleton atop their skull which made it tense up. This was normal, it's basically only been born recently. Although knowing how to talk was strange, they chalked it up to some basic knowledge having carried over from Gaster. He was one of the smartest people in the underground after all.

“Dr… Reed.”

The skeleton repeated the name slowly, which made Reed chuckle.

“Dr. Reed, where am I?”

That question made his smile fall, and he sighed.

“You're… home right now. You were born here, and will be raised here. You're very special, and must grow big and strong for us alright?”

The skeleton stared up at him with those wide trusting eyes, but for a moment he swore they flickered out and went blank before returning. Reed blinked, before standing up.

“In any case, just wanted to check on you. Get some rest, tomorrow we'll be doing a checkup to make sure you're healthy.”

“Okay Dr. Reed.”

The skeleton nodded as the door shut.

…

Nathan didn't trust Reed one bit. While he looked and sounded like a child, he wasn't. He could tell that the truth was being avoided and whatever truth he was told ended up heavily sugarcoated. He knew better though, he was a prisoner.

The realization must have made his expression change because Reed had quickly left once he figured it out. Thinking to himself, Nathan went over to the bed and laid down, facing the wall as his expression darkened, his eyesockets empty. He needed to escape from this place, but couldn't act carelessly lest they terminate him or something.

He'd seen plenty of movies and comics where prisoners or lab rats that were too smart or resistant ended up disposed of. He'd play it safe, and use his child-like appearance to his advantage and get out of here.

In that aspect, he and the researchers had the same goal for now.

As Reed has put it, he had to grow big and strong.

Closing his eyes, Nathan let himself rest and gradually drift off to sleep. The warmth of his soul after the porridge assisted the approaching slumber.

…

As Nathan slept, he dreamt about his old life.

His family, his friends, the tiring days spent on the construction site. How he'd spend his free time playing videogames in his room or reading comics online. Honestly he'd been a bit of an introvert outside of his close circle, and didn't go out much except for work. If he knew life was so fleeting, he probably would have put himself out there more, spent more time with those he cared about.

Opening his eyesockets, he sat up and blinked groggily. For a moment he didn't recall where he was, before his memory caught up to him and he sighed. He got off the mattress and found clothes by the door, resembling an oversized shirt.

‘Some pants would've been nice or something.’ Nathan grumbled inwardly, picking up the shirt and putting it on, the shirt ending at his thighs due to his small size.

Well, at least he wasn't naked anymore, despite his lack of… well, anything. Once he was dressed he began to pace around the room aimlessly, wanting to stretch his legs a bit. Fortunately he didn't have to wait long before the slot opened and he was given another serving of porridge.

This pleased him, since he was actually a bit hungry after waking up which was a bit odd considering that he ate right before going to sleep.

…That's until he remembered that he was technically a child again, meaning that his metabolism was probably pretty high due to still being growing. So, sitting on the floor he'd eat the porridge while trying not to think about how weird it was to eat as a skeleton. When the meal was finished and the tray retrieved, Nathan waited patiently, sitting on the edge of the bed.

After what felt like an hour, the door opened and Reed entered. He smiled and greeted the subject, avoiding the use of a name.

“Hello little one, are you ready for today's checkup?”

“Yes Dr. Reed.”

“Great, come with me.”

The bird monster took his small hand and led him out of the door, and Nathan finally saw what the exterior of his room looked like. Frankly, it was a smaller room just outside of his own, and to the side of the wall he could see into his room like a window, viewing from the transparent side rather than the reflective one. Currently the secondary room was empty, but he shuddered to think that anyone could be watching him at any time. 

The lack of privacy was unsettling.

Walking out of the secondary room, the two entered a corridor and walked past many halls and doors. Researchers busily walked about, glancing at him as he passed and having a myriad of expressions. Mostly pity, worry, and curiosity. Nathan looked at them all curiously, having seen different types of creatures that left him questioning what sort of place this was.

If everyone here wasn't human, why was he being treated like a lab rat? What made him different? However without any information about how this place worked or the purpose of him being studied, he had no leads.

…

Reed led the subject into a room full of various medical equipment suitable for a basic checkup, but with some differences.

“Sit on this stool for me.”

The small skeleton complied, looking around curiously. What followed was a checkup on his eyesight, weight, height, and various other aspects of his physique. At some point, the doctor brought his hand to the skeleton's ribs.

“Everything seems in order, now to just check one last thing.”

A pulse of magic went through his palm and into the subject, seeking to check the condition of his soul.

…Only for the magic to be violently rejected, causing Reed to feel a sharp jolt of pain as he withdrew his hand, frowning.

“How odd… Are you doing that on purpose?”

“Doing what?”

The small skeleton blinked up at him, and Reed shook his head. Yeah, there was no way. He was basically a newborn, and had no way of using magic yet. Still, he tried again and suffered the same result. This was very interesting, so he recorded his findings and escorted the subject back to its room before heading off to report his findings to Gaster.

…

Nathan frowned when he was alone in his room, touching his chest. When the bird monster touched him, he felt a sudden rush enter him. However when it came into contact with his soul, a strong sense of rejection welled up within and purged the foreign feeling. It wasn't purposeful, but instinctual. 

It was like flinching, something he could avoid if he was prepared, but would otherwise happen outside of his will. Still, he had no idea what Reed was doing so whether this effect was good or bad had yet to be shown. 

Eventually, he was given two more meals that day at fixed intervals he recognized to be lunch and dinner, and ate before lying back in bed. He was now suffering from extreme boredom, as he already studied his body and every inch of the room. So now there was nothing to do.

Closing his eyesockets, he did his best to recall everything he'd seen outside of the room, trying to build the layout he'd traversed in his head. He wasn't planning on pulling a jailbreak anytime soon, and was simply doing so to keep his mind busy.

The next couple of days were mundane, but Reed would visit every now and then, often bringing him various things like a rubix cube, a box of puzzle pieces, and even a book of fairy tales after confirming he could read. These things alleviated the boredom somewhat, but didn't exactly hold a candle to the entertainments of his old life.

On what he measured to be a month from his first day waking up (counting the days via every 3 meals) there was a sudden change, as a new visitor entered his room.

This time it was a skeleton much like himself, but wearing a lab coat.

Chapter Text

Gaster hadn't been sleeping well lately, the burden of expectations from everyone giving him stress to produce results even in an almost impossible endeavor like breaking the barrier. However with the subject being so young, it might be a while before its soul grew strong enough for its intended purpose. He considered using his other hand to make another, thinking that perhaps he could try accelerating the growth during the second attempt.

However during his contemplation, Reed had brought him some interesting news. Due to making unauthorized contact with the subject previously, he had been basically placed on babysitting duty as punishment, tasked with keeping the subject healthy in both body and mind. 

During the first checkup of the subject, it was discovered that its soul was highly resistant to foreign magic. He had merely tried to check the condition of the soul for any cracks or abnormalities but was rejected. He had later tried healing magic, only for it to be purged as well.

This wasn't within his expectations.

Was it perhaps a feature of an artificial soul? Or something else? Regardless, he eventually visited the subject for the first time.

…

Standing in the room, Gaster looked down at the subject as they sat up upon the bed. They studied him cautiously, also seeming very curious, likely due to how similar they looked. They eventually approached him, likely not fearing him due to getting familiar with Reed.

That was good, future compliance would be easier.

Gaster raised his hand and sent a pulse of magic through the air, attempting to lock onto the subject's soul to use blue magic. 

However, as described, the magic was rejected by the soul and purged. 

“How very interesting… Come with me.”

Gaster grasped the subject by the arm and pulled it along, leaving the room. The subject stumbled, but did not resist.

…

Nathan wondered where the tall skeleton was taking him, inwardly complaining about the grip on his arm practically dragging him along. Eventually he was brought into a large empty room with what appeared to be a weirdly shaped training dummy.

“I want you to try manifesting your magic.”

The tall skeleton whose nametag read ‘Gaster’ instructed in a firm voice, looking at Nathan expectantly… only to receive a confused blink in return.

“Magic?”

Gaster sighs, forgetting that despite his ability to speak and write, he lacked any sort of common sense or knowledge of the world. So, he began to explain.

“Magic comes from your soul, and can be used to manifest various abilities within monsters for combat or daily life. It is both our weapon and sustenance, as the food you eat contains magic.”

Gaster took Nathan's hand and sent purple colored wisps of magic into his arm.

“Try recalling this feeling and replicating it.”

It felt cool but charged like adrenaline, maybe a bit prickly? The sensation crawled up his forearm and to his elbow before fading at his bicep. The magic didn't touch his soul and therefore wasn't purged.

“Oh…”

Nathan opened and closed his hand once the feeling faded and his hand was released. It felt… odd. Was he actually capable of summoning such energy? Closing his eyesockets, he tried willing the same energy from within onto his arm. He felt his soul flicker before there was a faint tugging feeling.

He opened his eye sockets and looked at his hand, seeing the faintest wisp of yellow dance across his palm before flickering out.

…

Gaster watched with interest as the subject manifested their magic, with it being yellow in color rather than purple like his own which was normal for skeletons, their magic color often resembling their innate trait rather than being some familial resemblance. However he noticed a problem quite quickly.

The subject had very poor levels of magic, but this wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed. It was still growing, and its magic reserves could be trained like a muscle during development. Still, to not be able to conjure even a weak attack was disappointing.

Gaster gave a few more pointers to assist in manifesting magic, before giving the subject a goal: to conjure a bone before their next meeting. The reward was a delicious meal that tasted better than porridge, which seemed to entice the subject. With the subject capable of practicing on their own, Gaster led it back to its room. Seems he didn't need to prepare a training room, because the subject couldn't even summon a single bone to attack with.

Still, despite the little magic reserves, its ability to purge foreign magic from the soul was interesting, and if they could utilize that property right, it could be the key to destroying the barrier.

A gleam flickered in Gaster's eyesockets, he saw a glimmer of hope in this subject.

…

Nathan sat on the edge of his bed and conjured more wisps of his yellow colored magic. It felt weak and fleeting (a feeling he was familiar with during his time in the void) but each use became a bit easier. 

The only problem is that after several uses, he started feeling drained and tired. Gaster did mention that monsters use magic as sustenance, so maybe it was like burning calories in humans when exercising? That would explain the exhaustion. 

Not to mention he was small and got hungry quickly, being so young likely meant he went through magic faster similar to metabolism.

Nathan yawned and settled into bed, blinking his eyesockets tiredly. Well, he had time to practice. Not to mention that magic was new and interesting, meaning he wouldn't be too bored practicing it in the upcoming future. He closed his eyesockets.

He was looking forward to that reward Gaster promised, the porridge was so damn bland. 

…

Nathan spent the next three weeks practicing with magic, often having to stop and wait for his meals to be served before he could continue. Occasionally Reed would drop by with some more things to entertain himself with, but they often ended up neglected since magic was far more interesting.

Of course, he still made sure to show his appreciation and thank the bird monster. Couldn't start burning bridges now could he?

Nathan would have a checkup every week of the basic stuff like height, weight, eyesight, memory, and reaction speed. The mental tests were done in the form of games like color matching or repeating something after hearing it once. Everything seemed in order according to Reed, but Nathan was most pleased by the fact he was growing taller! Yeah only a couple of inches but still, he was getting weary of his small size.

He'd made decent progress in his magic training, now able to conjure a single bone. It was small, being only about a foot in length and able to be waved around with some slowness as if he were swinging it through water. Still, he felt genuine pride at meeting the criteria! 

However… Gaster didn't visit after he succeeded. Figuring he finished the task early, he decided to just keep practicing his manifestation and control.

…

Asgore was a mess, left distraught and grieving after his encounter with the first fallen human in his throne room. When the ordeal was done and the soul was contained, the man broke down. He questioned if he had done the right thing, if the blood on his hands was justified?! His emotions were in turmoil, and with his family gone, he could only rely on his closest and trusted friend Wingdings to comfort him and listen to his woes as he recalled the battle.

Asgore had initially been sympathetic towards the child, but the fury from losing his children to humans was fresh in his heart. So, he greeted the human.

…Before bidding them farewell, and conjuring his trident.

The human child wielded a toy knife for mostly intimidation, their cyan eyes reflecting a still patience to endure what lay ahead and wait for the right time to act.

The king threw the trident at the human, the large red weapon whistling past them and embedding into the wall behind them as their surroundings flickered to monochrome and their battle started.

That was a warning throw, showing the human that there would be no mercy in this fight.

Despite this display of hostility, the human still proceeded to act rather than fight, trying to appeal to the king's better nature. Asgore did his best to shut them out, affirming his decision. Tell himself he had to do this. However a voice in his mind kept whispering otherwise, and he didn't know if it was his own subconscious or the human speaking to him.

Regardless, he kept attacking while the human evaded.

Eventually the human child began to retaliate when their words failed to reach Asgore.

The king spun his trident before swinging it in an arc towards the human, his attack being evaded with a backwards jump. The human dashed in and swung their toy knife at him diagonally, the plastic weapon dealing negligible damage against his armor even as he made no attempt to block or evade. He raised his trident and stabbed it into the ground, conjuring flames around him that surged forward like a tide.

The human child sprinted to the side, jumping at the last second to escape the sea of flames but not without some minor burns. They rolled along the ground to break their fall and quickly consumed a piece of monster candy, the treat dissolving in their mouth and filling their soul with warmth as their burns healed.

The exchange continued relentlessly, both now engaging the other with everything they had since only one of them would be leaving the throne room. The human child fighting for their freedom, and Asgore for the sake of monsterkind.

Eventually, the fight came to an abrupt end when the king's red trident pierced the human child through the torso and held them suspended in the air before they could dodge again. Their health dropped instantly, and their body went limp. The ferocity in the king's eyes faded and was replaced with grief once his anger no longer clouded his vision. His trident was dismissed and he caught the limp human in his arms, they laid there on the verge of death.

“Human… Forgive me…”

He closed his eyes, and retrieved the human's soul before it could shatter, snuffing whatever life remained in their body as their cyan soul now hovered in his palm. Memories of his children went through his mind, twisting the knife in his heart as he walked over to an empty container out of the seven and stored the soul. 

Then, carrying the limp human body, he took them elsewhere to give them a proper resting place within a coffin. His footsteps were heavy, and his shoulders sagged with burden as a shadow was cast over his face.

Could he really do this six more times…?

…

Gaster had eventually returned to the lab once Asgore was in a better headspace, having never seen his friend so distraught since the death of his children and the disappearance of the Queen. He sighs, slumped at his desk. 

He really needed to break the barrier soon, before his friend had to stain his hands with more blood. Theoretically one soul would be enough for a monster to pass through the barrier like the Prince and Princess did to collect six more souls, but he knew the king wouldn't do that. He was too soft, too merciful. Even when he had to take a life, he wept afterwards as though he were the one dying.

He knew Asgore would rather wait and hope that no human falls down, leaving their freedom to chance rather than his own actions. Gaster understood his emotions as an individual yet didn't fully agree with his actions as a ruler, but didn't wish to push the King more than he'd already pushed himself.

So, he'd find another way. 

Through the subject.

…

Nathan was playing a game of chess with Reed today, the bird monster having ‘taught’ him the rules before they played a game. Of course, Nathan held back a bit and let some opportunities pass him by before losing the first time they played.

On the second time however, he didn't hold back and metaphorically thrashed the green bird monster. He did it to display that he was capable of learning and intellectual thinking. The more capable he was, the more they'd invest into him right? Either way it was worth a shot, and seeing Reed stare at the board in surprise when he achieved checkmate was amusing.

During the third game, Gaster had visited. Reed greeted him and quickly explained that this was an exercise to improve the subject's thinking capacity (like he wasn't just playing a board game to let them have fun), but Gaster didn't seem to care about that. He wanted to see the results of their magic practice.

Nathan beamed with anticipation and raised his hand before conjuring three small bones above his hand. They remained stationary before slowly spinning around with his hand in the center like a gear.

He felt pride in his accomplishment, having worked hard to raise his limit and even gain some more control over his magic once it was manifested. 

This seemed to please Gaster, and he sent Reed to retrieve a meal from the canteen. Leaving the two of them alone. As they waited, he was asked some questions about the current limit he reached, and he answered honestly, finding no merit in hiding anything when these researchers likely wanted him to improve.

Gaster took some notes, and left once Reed returned with a plate of spaghetti. Nathan blinked and stared at the plate offered to him, before his white eyelights seemed to dilate even larger than they already were.

It was real food!

He was left alone to enjoy the meal, almost crying tears of joy once the flavor hit his nonexistent taste buds.

He'd have to work harder to get his hands on more pasta. 

Chapter Text

Nathan had gradually entered a steady routine during his time in the lab. 

He'd eat three meals a day, and would train as much as he could between each meal, resting when exhausted or playing with whatever was in his room if he got bored of training. Each week had a checkup, and he was steadily growing in height and weight. His bones were also thickening, gradually becoming more robust.

He learned that he was created at the age of ten years old, and it had been 4 months since he had awoken. As time went on, he began to develop a relationship with Reed and Gaster, who were the only researchers he came into contact with. He saw others at times, but they never interacted with him.

Reed was something of an uncle, taking care of him, answering his questions, and even sneaking him pieces of candy at times when he performed well. However he also maintained a slight emotional distance from Nathan that didn't really let him see the green bird monster in a parental light. So, he was more like an uncle than anything.

Gaster on the other hand? He was hard to read, and didn't know if it was something unique to him or skeletons in general. Regardless, the man was very to the point and logical, sometimes even forgetting that Nathan was supposed to be a child and giving complicated explanations before simplifying it when he received a confused stare. They hardly interacted without a reason, so Nathan saw him as a professor or something. Paid to be here and teach, but not to care.

He didn't exactly mind, as despite everything he still didn't fully trust these two, the nature of his living conditions was not forgotten despite the treatment and passing time.

…Eventually, a whole 2 years had passed, with Nathan turning twelve. Not a lot had changed aside from his growth into a slightly taller skeleton. However he was still much shorter than Gaster and Reed, being a child and all. He made great strides in his manifestation and control of magic, now able to create dozens of bones and move them with little delay. The speed was quick too, able to move them as fast as a grown man swinging their arm at full speed.

…

At some point, Gaster had taken him back to the training room which he hadn't seen in a long time, and instructed him to attack the oddly shaped dummy using his bones.

Following his instructions, Nathan would raise his hand towards the dummy, using his palm as a direction for his attack as his magic coalesced around him and formed a couple of bones, each one being a few feet long and aimed horizontally at the dummy. 

With a tugging feeling on his soul, he mentally threw the bones at the dummy as hard as he could, and with little delay they whizzed past him and embedded themselves into the general area of the dummy. Only one had pierced the dummy with the rest hitting the wall or floor. 

…Seems he needed to work on accuracy.

“Seems you need some accuracy training.”

Ya think?! 

Nathan almost gave Gaster a snide and sarcastic remark at his obvious statement, but kept it inside. He was supposed to be a child, not a teenager.

…Yet, anyway. 

After that, Gaster would have Reed bring Nathan to the training room once a day to practice his accuracy, only permitting him to use attacks when in the training room so that he didn't destroy his room. Of course, he obeyed, not wanting to get a shock collar put on him or something if he was unruly.

Besides, he liked the food they gave him for performing well. Best stay on their good side right?

Time continued ticking on, with Nathan gradually getting better with magic and growing under the care of Reed and the guidance of Gaster.

….Until this steady routine was shattered one day.

Reed was no longer permitted to see Nathan, and Gaster took over. He was now the sole person in charge of Nathan, and that came with many changes.

First and foremost, there were experiments now instead of checkups.

…

The experiments began suddenly, as did the abrupt disappearance of Reed from Nathan's life. It was only around this time that he truly felt like a prisoner. 

Gaster wasn't gentle previously, just to the point with his words and actions. Efficient would be the term to describe him. Now though? He was pretty sure the man was crazy.

Gaster had one day taken him from his room and to what looked to be a large room full of various machinery. He was put on a table and strapped down, much to his own alarm.

“I-Is this some sort of training? These are a bit tight…”

Gaster didn't answer, instead lowering a strange contraption from above to hover over Nathan's ribs. He was muttering something under his breath, and turned on the machine. It hummed to life…

Before blinding pain assaulted Nathan's entire being. 

He heard a large piercing sound over the machine's hum, and it took him a moment to realize that it was the sound of his own agonized screams. He strained hard against the restraints, his soul attempting to summon magic amidst his panic, only to find itself assaulted by large waves of foreign magic.

It wasn't able to emit its own magic while purging the foreign magic, so his attempts at using magic failed. 

The agony gradually subsided, his screams eventually dying down until he was left silent, his bones rattling violently as his eyesockets were blank. Yellow tears stained the side of his eyesockets, having of course shed some tears due to all the pain.

…Even when Gaster released him from the restraints, he didn't move. He felt so… exhausted. Drained. In the end he was carried back to his room and placed on the bed before being left alone. 

For a long time, he didn't move. He just lay there, the shock of the pain gradually fading until he felt like he could breathe again.

He didn't leave his bed except to eat for the next few days, not even practicing magic. Thankfully Gaster didn't come to make him train with the dummy, so he was able to rest and recover from the harrowing experience.

….But not for long, as he was eventually taken back to the same room as before and subjected to another agonizing wave of foreign magic drowning his soul. 

It hurt just as much as the first time, and he was just as weak afterwards.

Nathan began to dread seeing Gaster, flinching whenever the slot at the bottom of his door would open, wrapped tightly in his blankets and trembling like the child he was. He tried to will himself somewhere else, anywhere else.

He missed his family, his friends, and his old life. 

Hell, he even missed Reed a little.

…

Gaster had initially intended to wait until the subject had grown to a decent level of maturity over the years before beginning intensive experimentation with its soul, but another human had fallen. The king was torn up inside, and the sense of urgency had increased. 

He had been too passive, relaxed. He let himself grow complacent, which was the bane of innovation. He decided to proceed with experimentation despite the subject now only being 12 years old.

Reed objected heavily, having grown attached to the subject despite Gaster's warnings. In the end, he had to dismiss Reed from the project due to being a liability. He was instead put to work in the maintenance team of the core.

To test the power of the subject's ability to purge foreign magic, he used a magical output device to send pure magic into the subject, which seemed to cause it visible pain.

However Gaster cared little for the tears of an artificial creature. It was created for this purpose, and he wasn't as merciful as Asgore.

Thus, the tests continued. There seemed to be no change in how the subject reacted to large amounts of foreign magic, whether the output was increased or decreased. Anything beyond a small amount caused extreme agony.

Using machinery to monitor the subject's vitals showed that its life wasn't in any danger but did indeed put heavy strain on the soul. It was like a filter that cleansed dirty water, so a large amount of oil was bound to put it under extreme stress.

So, Gaster continued to decrease the output until the subject no longer felt pain, before slowly increasing the output until it began to feel pain once more. Upon finding the stress threshold, there were a couple tests run to see if it could be improved… to no avail. Even when the subject's magic capacity was increased, its ability to purge foreign magic remained the same.

Its soul was too weak.

It needed to be stronger to break the barrier, like a human soul.

The purging trick wasn't enough.

Unless…?

Gaster sat up on his desk, hit with inspiration. If he could extract what made human souls so powerful, and try injecting it into the subject, he could achieve a breakthrough and improve the strength of the soul. 

Excited, he quickly left the lab to request a soul from the king for study.

Chapter Text

Nathan was once more brought into the testing room, his eyelights gone and his eye sockets blank. He knew it was pointless to resist, run, or beg. He'd tried before, but Gaster always caught him quickly. At one point he even tried attacking Gaster to escape, but his attacks were far too weak and inaccurate compared to an experienced adult. He was quickly subdued and dragged to the room.

So now, he didn't resist anymore, just shuffling along like a prisoner on death row. He also stayed in bed most days, only leaving to eat and otherwise huddled in his blankets. Nathan had grown to despise and fear Gaster, the man now seeming more like the grim reaper than a researcher in his mind. 

He mentally prepared himself for today's experiment, even though he knew it would be the same as always, painful magic being flooded into his being.

Except… Gaster didn't turn the machine on today. Instead, he approached with what appeared to be a syringe full of red liquid.

Was that… blood? How exactly was a skeleton supposed to get a blood transfusion? However his question was quickly answered when the needle pierced his Radius bone, and the red substance was injected into his marrow. Immediately, Nathan strained against the restraints as what felt like liquid fire flooded his bones. It crawled up his arm to his shoulder, before spreading through his ribs and skull.

He shut his eye sockets tightly, clenching his jaw as the feeling engulfed his entire body. It was almost as bad as the previous experiments. However, a cool feeling erupted in his chest and the burning sensation began to fade, his soul not purging whatever this was… but welcoming it.

The burning sensation was neutralized by the cool sensation in his soul, and it felt like something shifted into place. Like a key turning in a lock, and that distorted feeling that was in his soul upon first waking up (that he had honestly gotten used to by now) had felt relieved somewhat. Immediately, the previous pain was washed away and the world felt more… vivid. 

“Interesting…”

He shuddered, looking at Gaster with a fearful expression. Nowadays any expression of excitement or interest from him meant more pain was to come.

Surely enough, he was right. The machine was turned on as usual and the machine bathed his soul in magic, but this time… it didn't hurt as much. Rather than being overwhelmed like a pebble at the bottom of a stream, his soul felt like it could resist the current a bit better. It was as if it was angled now, reducing the pressure put on him and by extent the pain.

…

Gaster grinned widely, his experiment was a success! The determination he extracted from a human soul was the key he needed! It strengthened the subject's soul, and it was more tolerant to the high magic output. Even better, it's soul didn't reject determination, likely due to it not being foreign magic. 

Regardless, he had made a breakthrough! 

The following days were spent injecting the subject with more and more determination, their ability to resist high magic output improving with each dosage. Eventually, the subject reached a point where they no longer felt any pain from the high magic output machine, but that's when a problem started to arise. 

The subject's soul began to purge determination, likely having reached its limit in how much it could be strengthened.

Regardless, Gaster had gotten the data he wanted. 

Pleased with the result, he brought the subject back to its room and left. He'd have to start working on a blueprint for a device that could harness the power of the subject's soul and use it to purge the barrier, or at least attempt to.

…Unaware that making such a device would spell the end of the entire world.

…

Nathan awoke to blaring alarms, bolting from his slumber and scrambling around in a panic.

Yellow magic erupted from his soul and formed a small fence of bones around himself protectively, his hands held out as if to stop some invisible attacker. When he blinked and noticed that the noise was coming from outside his room, he dismissed the bones and walked over to his door and pressed a nonexistent ear to the surface, listening to what sounded like faint shouting and heavy footsteps. 

Eventually, one of those footsteps approached his door and opened it, prompting him to retreat a few steps out of fear. Lately the only person to visit him had been Gaster, so when he saw Reed standing there, his eyelights lit up with joy.

“Reed! It's you!”

However Reed wasn't smiling, he looked grim as he picked Nathan up and hurried away from the room, carrying him while running past researchers that were in a panic. They paid him no mind, far more focused on something more urgent. Through snippets of conversation, he heard that something called the ‘core’ was about to explode and they were struggling to stabilize it.

Well, whatever was going on was a blessing in disguise, because Reed was taking him into an elevator for the first time.

…

Reed had been in a terrible mood ever since he and Gaster had an argument over the subject. The Royal Scientist wanted to move forward with experimentation so soon, which he strongly opposed. In the end, he was reassigned to core maintenance. This left him irritated for the next few weeks.

However, one day while delivering data to one of his colleagues, he overheard that they had begun building a machine to extract the subject's soul and use its purging properties to try and bypass the barrier.

It was still so young… How could they? 

He knew it was created artificially, but if he didn't know any better he'd say it was no different from any other monster. If it was some empty husk, that would be fine.

But the subject… It looked, sounded, and behaved like every other child would. It was bad enough every one of them wasn't allowed to speak about the subject outside of the lab, the experiments were where Reed drew the line and had ended up being taken off the project. Hearing about the machine pushed him past his breaking point, he couldn't allow this to continue.

So, he sabotaged the core to trigger the emergency alarm. Amidst the chaos, he retrieved the subject and headed straight for the elevators to get it out of this forsaken place. He wanted to better the lives of monsters, not sacrifice them. He wouldn't compromise his morality for salvation, and the surface be damned if he had to walk over the dust of innocent monsters to reach it.

However, the things he heard from his colleagues during their escape made him grow nervous. The core wouldn't really explode right? He didn't even mess with it all that much. 

Suddenly, the elevator along with the entire facility began to quake.

Chapter Text

Gaster had never felt so close to success than he did now, the machine was pretty much complete after many sleepless nights working on it. The data he'd acquired was just what he needed, and with the machine pretty much complete all that was left was to test it out.

With a glint of anticipation in his eyesockets, Gaster would activate the machine as it began to hum to life. Of course it didn't have the subject's soul in it yet, so it was merely a performance test to ensure it was operational as intended.

“Great! Everything is in order.”

He looked back at the researchers standing nearby, pride at the accomplishment welling up in their souls. They would be known in history for having a hand in breaking the barrier! For a moment, the future looked bright with hope.

…Until the core's emergency alarms began to blare throughout the facility. Everyone began to panic, because the core was vital to operations in the underground. They scrambled to fix the issue, with Gaster quickly making his way to the core to personally resolve the problem.

…Leaving the machine unattended, as the humming sound it made began to grow louder until—

KABOOM.

A fiery explosion tore through the room as the machine imploded from being overloaded by the malfunctioning core, instantly killing the researchers within as they dispersed into dust amidst the scorching flames.

Gaster, who was only down the hall, would turn around with his eyesockets wide in shock.

“NO!”

He tried to run into the blaze, but was held back by his fellow scientists. There was no way to reach the machine through the fire, and the researchers within were likely dead from the blast. He needed to prioritize stabilizing the core, and after a moment of thinking, he grit his teeth and rushed to the maintenance sector for the core.

However before he could reach it, the entire facility began to quake, tremors making everyone stumble. Cursing under his breath, Gaster persisted and ran through the shaking corridors until he reached the maintenance sector, followed by a couple of researchers. When they got there, they saw that the monitor had static on the screen and the control board was sparking. 

“What's going on?!”

Gaster focused on one of the staff members that was crouched under the panel and trying to fix the scorched wires.

“The core was malfunctioning due to some parts being misaligned, but due to a sudden power surge it's caused the systems to overheat and now the core is in critical condition! We can't shut it down! We need to evacuate!”

Gaster clenched his fists, his soul pulsing with frustration. Just when everything was going well…! 

“The machine must have… Shit! SHIT! Fine, evacuate all research personnel. Everyone else, help me stabilize the core. It's the heart of the underground and we cannot afford to let it explode.”

After giving out instructions, everyone moved quickly. An announcement was made over the stuttering intercom throughout the facility, ordering an evacuation. Meanwhile, Gaster went down to the core himself to try and fix the issue directly since the maintenance sector was basically useless.

As he walked along the metal walkway, he could see smoke billowing from parts of the core. Frowning, he picked up the pace until he reached the massive core. Checking the smoking parts, he found fried wiring and scorched gears. Cursing, he did his best to fix and replace the damaged parts, taking from the inactive parts of the core to fix what was most dire. He knew the machine better than anyone, and could prioritize certain parts over others without worsening its condition.

However it was no use, one of the panelboards he was working on sparking violently, and making him stumble back. Regardless, the man was stubborn, desperately trying to fix the situation even as rocks began to fall from the ceiling and splash into the molten magma below. 

“Come on… come on…!”

Gaster's eyelights glowed a dim purple amidst his distress, trying to find some way to stop the core’s worsening condition before it-

CRASH!

The world tilted, and Gaster stumbled, grabbing onto the railing for support as he looked back to see that a large rock had fallen onto the walkway and made it tilt, the steel beams groaning dangerously. If only he had a little more time! 

Gaster hesitated, looking between the distant door and the smoking panel board. In the end, he decided to continue. He'd come too far to go back now, and wouldn't give up on his life's work. He had too many people counting on him, his mind and hands moving quickly as the facility rumbled around him dangerously. 

In the end, he wasn't able to stop it in time. The core began to light up, its large power going haywire before erupting. 

An explosion of pure energy ripped from the massive machine and engulfed Gaster as he was thrown back, and the wave swept through the facility and claimed every researcher that hadn't escaped in time. 

…

Nathan and Reed had been experiencing worrisome tremors in the elevator, but had been ascending just fine for a while.

…Until they weren't, the elevator coming to a sudden halt that made Reed stumble. He put Nathan down and opened the panel board on the elevator, finding it fried, and frowned. He was about to try and fiddle with it when the elevator suddenly began to fall abruptly. The two fell to the elevator floor as they felt themselves descending down the elevator shaft rapidly.

Reed grit his teeth and grabbed Nathan before jumping towards the elevator ceiling, conjuring a transparent green hexagon shape above them before using it as a ram and crashing through the elevator. Breaking through the ceiling, he'd conjure another hexagon beneath them and stood on it as the elevator screeched down into the dark elevator shaft. Looking down, Reed frowned as he dismissed the barrier above them.

“This… This isn't good.”

He muttered under his breath, and concentrated before summoning multiple hexagon barriers, forming a tight spiral staircase. He walked up while carrying Nathan, dismissing the steps he used and making new ones ahead of himself. It was an impressive use of his defensive magic, but wouldn't last too long as 10 minutes in, he already seemed to be a bit drained from the constant usage. Reed even had to support their weight with his barriers, adding to the strain.

Nathan felt nervous, because if they fell down the elevator shaft they were sure to die. He wasn't confident in his magic being able to do much in this situation, as summoning bones wouldn't prevent his actual bones from shattering.

Suddenly, Nathan's eyesockets widened as he felt a sudden sense of doom while the dark elevator shaft grew brighter. He looked down and saw a surge of white speeding up towards them, and he grasped onto Reed more tightly before looking at him for reassurance. He didn't want to die a second time.

“...Reed?”

Reed noticed the surging energy as well, but didn't say anything. He also stopped forming a staircase beneath them. Instead, he stood on a single platform.

“....I'm sorry, this is all my fault. You didn't deserve this.”

With those parting words, he encased Nathan in a geometric sphere made up of green hexagons to try and protect him as the energy washed over them. 

Nathan's eyesockets widened as the energy washed over them, Reed disappearing from view and the green barrier fracturing heavily before shattering like glass. The energy engulfed his being and he saw nothing but white… 

Before everything went black.

Chapter Text

Asgore was tending the flowers in his garden with a somber expression when one of the Royal Guards entered the throne room, prompting him to turn around. He offered a soft smile as he set down the watering can.

“Hm? Oh, howdy! How may I help you? Is there something to report?”

The Royal Guardsman shifted in their armor uncomfortably, before sighing and relaying the news with a heavy heart.

“Your majesty… There's been an accident in the labs. There was an explosion in the core that caused a cave in and a power outage throughout the underground. Currently we are using the backup power contingency that was in place, and fortunately it should last us long enough to try and clear a path to the core and hopefully fix it.”

Asgore felt his soul drop into the pit of his stomach, and he quickly rushed over to the guard, grasping them by the shoulders. His grip was firm, but not tight.

“What about the researchers inside? What about Gaster?”

The Royal Guardsman didn't say anything, their expression unreadable behind their helmet. However, they lowered their head and spoke softly.

“....I'm sorry your majesty, there were no survivors. Everything is caved in, but the places we could access… were filled with dust.”

Thud.

Asgore had fallen to his knees, his large fluffy hands slipping off of the guard's shoulders before his face buried into them. He weeped, something he probably shouldn't have been doing in front of one of the Royal Guards but the grief and loss was overwhelming.

He'd already lost so much throughout his long life, and each time he lost someone it felt like a part of his soul was being ripped away. The king was far too benevolent to become numb to such pain, incapable of bringing himself to stop caring. 

Still, after the loss of his close friend Wingdings, he was devastated.

Silently, the Royal Guardsman turned and left, giving the king time to grieve alone.

…

Nathan was back in that infinite expanse of darkness again, except this time he actually had a body. He blinked, looking down at himself to find that the oversized shirt he wore like a hospital gown was gone. Well, he was starting to grow into it anyway. Soon it wouldn't have covered much past his pelvis.

Unlike last time he was here, he didn't struggle to remain lucid, and his soul felt… complete. The painful injections of what looked to be blood gradually fixed that feeling of wrongness until he felt like every misaligned piece of his soul had shifted back into place. Beyond that point, the injections fortunately stopped working.

Looking around, Nathan tried to see if there was that familiar light. After all, he most likely died in the elevator shaft from that explosion. Yet… there was no light, just endless darkness. Frowning, he decided to wait. Maybe it would take time.

….After what felt like forever, he became restless and decided that the light wouldn't be appearing. So what could he really do? 

He thought back to the previous experience, and found that he had basically fallen and scattered into nothing before waking up as a skeleton. So maybe… he was supposed to do the same thing again to get out of here?

Since Nathan was already floating, he willed himself downward with his soul, recalling the sensation he guided himself with previously. Slowly, he began to descend, or at least it felt like it. It felt like he was sinking underwater slowly.

The longer he descended… the more suffocating the darkness became.

However he persisted, surely this is the way out?

…

…

…

Nathan stopped, and instead began to ascend as fast as he could. He felt like he was suffocating, like the deeper he went the more the surrounding emptiness tried to seep into him and make him hollow inside.

However, ascending was much harder than descending. So he struggled against the stifling feeling and inched his way upward, time feeling like a foreign concept and having nothing to measure how far he was traveling.

Did he reach his original point? 

Was he already past it?

How much longer?

Fear began to well up in his soul, because his situation was starting to feel hopeless. Did he even know what he was doing?

Nathan was scared, and started to become desperate. He tried to ascend faster, his soul pulsating with his intent as his speed barely picked up. 

…

…

…

After some time… his white eyelights flickered out, and he smiled bitterly. Was this it? Was this hell? It would make sense if that was the case.

Nathan stopped moving, and just let himself float in place. He'd given up ascending anymore. It felt futile.

He sighed and closed his eyesockets, the sound muted yet infinitely loud in the silent void. His second life was quite shitty in his opinion. He was created as a lab rat, experimented on, and right when he was about to escape he got obliterated by an explosion? What garbage luck was this? It was almost amusing.

Ah, but Nathan did enjoy hanging out with Reed. Gaster could burn in hell, that psycho. The green bird monster was nice to him, and even if they weren't extremely close, at the very end he'd protected Nathan. Reed was a good person, and for the longest time when they were apart he missed the guy's company. Although it was a given, considering that the alternative was torture from Gaster.

After reminiscing on his very short life as a skeleton, he thought about his life as a human. His parents, siblings, and friends…

He missed them everyday. 

They were the sole reason he didn't go into the light, too attached to his mundane yet fulfilling life to move on so easily. After everything, he knew one thing deep in his soul.

He didn't want to die.

CRACK.

His eyesockets flew open, and he saw fractures in the darkness around him. His soul pulsated, and he recognized this feeling, it was the same one he had when it purged magic.

He focused on the feeling, and with another wave of pressure the cracks grew. With one more push containing all of his will to stay alive, the darkness shattered.

Immediately, Nathan fell and collapsed onto his back, the hard surface beneath him and the surprise sending pain through his spine. He groaned and rolled over, massaging the part of his hip he landed on. Standing up, he found that he was actually in a small featureless grey room. Ahead of him was a hall leading to a door.

With literally no other option, he proceeded down the hallway and opened the door, stepping out into what appeared to be the outside. High above, light twinkled in the dark like stars, and bright magical water flowed between the walkways ahead of him. Blinking, Nathan reached back to shut the door behind himself only to find it gone. It was now just a smooth stone wall.

“Huh… weird…”

He looked forward and began to slowly walk down the closest path hesitantly. He was in a new place yet again, but was still a skeleton this time (albeit naked). Eventually, he came across a bench with a couple of blue flowers surrounding it. He decided to sit down and rest, gathering his thoughts while gazing at a massive waterfall in the distance.

Chapter Text

Nathan gazed at the distant waterfall, before sweeping his gaze across the distant fluorescent blue flowers and flowing water. The place was serene, calming his weary mind. Closing his eyes, he finally let the recent events catch up to him, feeling a sense of grief in his soul over Reed's death. The guy had tried to save him, but they both ended up dying in that huge wave.

Well, sort of. Nathan was still here, but he'd cheated death before so it wasn't anything new. He began to wonder what that void place really was, because at first he assumed it to be a limbo of some sort, but then he had somehow broken it with his purge ability. Well, the term broken was visually accurate, but in terms of the feeling it was like pushing the oppressive surroundings away. Still, actual death wouldn't be so easy to defy, so the void had to be something unique…

Suddenly there was the sound of movement nearby, and Nathan's eyesockets snapped open and he was on his feet, whipping around towards the source of the noise warily. He couldn't help but be jumpy, he had no clue where he was or if the people here were exactly friendly to strangers.

“Huh, well ya don't see that everyday.”

Standing off to the side of the bench would be a green turtle monster wearing a tan shirt and brown shorts, with a tan pith hat. His right eye was shut as if he were winking, the left one fixed on Nathan while his eyebrows were raised in surprise.

“Uh, you can relax youngin, ain't nobody tryna hurt you.”

The stranger offered a crooked smile, showing off his yellow teeth. Nathan blinked, before letting out a sigh of relief and relaxing, but was startled to find his magic retracting from around him. A quick glance revealed that he had subconsciously manifested a couple of bones behind himself, poised to be launched like projectiles at the first sign of danger. 

Something was… off, about his magic but he could figure that out later. Looking at the turtle monster, he spoke.

“Sorry about that. I uh, don't know where I am.”

The turtle monster stroked his cream colored beard, chuckling.

“Ah, never left home much eh? That's alright, where do ya live? I'll take ya home youngin.”

Nathan tilted his head in confusion. Surely, it couldn't be that easy right? He was about to respond when the turtle interrupted him.

“Ah, but it is a surprise to see a skeleton around. Haven't seen em since the war, and was certain that the last one was the Royal Scientist.”

The words of his human address died in his throat, and he realized that this wasn't a new world. It was the same one, he was just outside of the lab.

“Do you mean Gaster?”

The turtle monster blinked, before nodding.

“Yeah, I think that was his name. You two related?”

“You could say that.”

Gerson's eye suddenly filled with pity, and be approached Nathan before he pat his shoulder.

“Well, I'm sorry for your loss. I know it ain't easy handlin loss. He was probably a good man.”

Nathan wondered what the hell the turtle was talking about, when he remembered the explosion. Everyone was probably killed in it, Gaster included. Good, that bastard deserved it! However, judging by how Gerson spoke of him, he had no clue.

“He was… Gaster was my father, but we weren't very close. I just hung around in the lab while he worked, but went for a walk on the day of the explosion. It saved my life, it seems.”

Gerson squinted for a moment, before giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Well, if you don't have a home, how about you come stay with me? However I don't take in freeloaders, so you'll have to help around with chores.”

“Really?! I mean yes! I'd like that!”

Gerson nodded, and took his hand off of Nathan's shoulder before turning and walking off.

“Follow me, it's this way. Name's Gerson by the way, youngin.”

“You can call me… Nathan.”

It felt good to tell someone his name after so long.

…

Gerson was a bit suspicious of the small skeleton child he had run into in Waterfall. He was pretty good at reading people, and could more or less tell when someone was lying.

When he saw the boy, he had thought it was the bones of a fallen human or something gruesome like that but was fortunately mistaken as the skeleton had whipped around ready to fight. Their attacks seemed much more potent and stable than they should've been for someone his age, but he didn't get to take a good look before they were dismissed.

The old man didn't know too much about skeletons, but was pretty sure they wore clothes, and wondered why this one was naked. Still, he suppressed his curiosity and spoke to them. When asked about their origin, that's when the inconsistencies began to appear.

Gerson knew that the accident in the lab happened a week ago, so for the small skeleton to be lost for an entire week was simply unbelievable. Not to mention “taking a walk” conveniently when the lab exploded was very suspicious. However they didn't seem to be a bad person, so he offered to take them in.

Upon reaching his house, he stopped at the doorway with his hand on the handle.

“Ah, I almost forgot. There's another youngin I'm looking after, she's a bit of a handful but means well. She's not here right now but will probably drop by soon. I'll introduce the two of you when she does.”

With that, Gerson pushed open the door and entered, the small skeleton following behind and looking around in wonder at the cozy little home. Dozens of trinkets sat on the shelf, alongside keepsakes and pictures from over the years. Heading down the hall, the two would pass by a reinforced door that looked like its hinges had been replaced with steel bolts and a cracked doorframe around it.

That was Undyne's room, the door having to be reinforced to prevent her from kicking it down every morning or throwing her alarm clock through it. She was a pretty strong kid, reminding him of how he was at that age.

Gerson stopped at the end of the hall and reached up, tugging a cord to make a trapdoor on the ceiling open and a ladder descend. He climbed up with Nathan right behind him.

Inside the dark and cobwebbed attic, Gerson would switch on the light to reveal a dingy attic full of old boxes.

“It'll need some serious cleanup, but this will be your room. I uh, don't have any remaining bedrooms in the house. Getting you some stuff for the room won't be too hard after the cleanup though. Let's get crackin!”

“Yeah!”

…

After having moved all of the boxes to the end of the attic, getting rid of the cobwebs, and sweeping the whole place (yes, walls and ceiling too) the attic finally seemed like a place someone could sleep in without suffocating on the dust. However…

“Still needs a wash.”

Gerson spoke, turning around and starting to descend the ladder. He returned shortly with a bucket of water and a mop, handing it to Nathan who promptly began mopping the place, needing to be thorough.

…One everything was done, he looked at the cleaned space with pride, feeling a sense of accomplishment and familiarity in something so mundane. 

He missed doing chores with his siblings when they all still lived with their parents. 

As he reminisced, something was suddenly thrown into the side of his face. Snapped out of his thoughts, he pulled it off and looked to see… clothes! More importantly, pants! Nathan looked at Gerson with twinkling eyelights much to the old man's amusement.

“Heh, I'm sure it must be breezy between the bones so make sure to cover up.”

“I will, thanks for the clothes.”

He eagerly got dressed, changing into the brown pants and purple sweater. Once he was dressed, he turned to see that Gerson had moved some boxes into a rectangle shape, going back and forth from the attic and the ground floor to get pillows and blankets. In the end, he assembled a makeshift bed by placing pillows on the boxes for Nathan to lay on, and a blanket for him to wrap up with. Innovation!

Gerson chuckled and started to descend the ladder, speaking to Nathan.

“Phew, I'd say that's a job well done. Ya hungry? I'll whip us up something.”

Nathan smiled, something he didn't realize that he'd gone so long without doing. Glancing back at his new room one more time, he followed the old man down the ladder as they walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

“...Yeah. You got any spaghetti?”

Chapter Text

Nathan and Gerson sat at the dining room table and ate some pasta that the old turtle monster had prepared, and it had left him a bit emotional. Is this what freedom tasted like?

Once the meals had been finished, Nathan took the initiative to collect the plates and head to the kitchen sink to wash them. He was grateful to Gerson for giving him a home in this unfamiliar place, and would do whatever he could to repay even a fraction of what the old man did for him. Watching him, Gerson would chuckle before shuffling over to the living room.

“I'll be heading out to grab some stuff from Snowdin. Feel free to explore the house or walk around outside. Ah, but don't get lost or cause trouble, and be back before nightfall. I'll introduce you to the other person staying here before dinner.”

“Alright, have a safe trip Gerson.”

The door clicked shut, and only the sound of running water and clinking dishes filled the silence. Eventually, the plates were cleaned and put away. Now alone and able to do whatever he wanted, Nathan decided to go up to his new room and check something.

After climbing the ladder and standing in the middle of the attic, he'd look down at his skeletal hand. Narrowing his eyesockets in concentration, yellow magic would seep out of his soul and coalesce into dozens of sturdy bones, each about 3ft in length. This surprised him, because the last time he practiced magic, his bones were slightly thinner and only 1ft long. 

That's when he remembered that he'd never tried practicing magic ever since Reed stopped showing up and the painful experiments began. Although he did attack Gaster once, and was still weak. What changed…? Nathan paced around a bit, before it clicked. 

The injections!

The red injections from Gaster were always painful, but made his soul feel more and more complete until any sense of discomfort in his being was completely gone. He wished he could've checked somehow and see what it did to him, but the end result was clear. It strengthened his soul, making his purge ability less painful against large amounts of foreign magic, and apparently his magic had grown stronger too. 

Curious, he focused on his soul to get a feel on his reservoir of magic… Only to find that it was vast! It was over triple the size of what it used to be. He was pretty sure it was comparable to adults, and he was only twelve!

Excited, he rushed out of the attic and went downstairs. He intended to get a feel for his new level outside! Jogging over to the door, he enthusiastically pulled the door open and rushed outside-

Only to smack into someone, the both of them yelping in pain and stumbling back.

“ARGH!”

“Ow!”

Nathan winced and clutched his face, opening one eye to see a blue fish girl around his height. She had short red hair that was tied back into a ponytail that didn't go past her shoulders. They both looked at each other in confusion, her yellow eyes and black slitted pupils suddenly narrowing as she bared her teeth in a snarl. 

“INTRUDER!”

She held out her hand and summoned bright blue magic into her palm before gripping it, the magic materialized into a spear that was about the length of her arm. 

“Woah woah! Just hold on a second!—”

CLANG!

Her spear was jabbed straight at his chest, only to be parried to the side by a sturdy bone, holding it in both hands on each end and using the middle to shove away the tip of the spear. 

“I'm not an intruder! Gerson brought me-”

He suddenly had to duck, as the spear was swung at his head. Frowning, he rushed in with his shoulder to shove the girl away, colliding with her and sending her tumbling to the ground.

…Only for her hand to snatch the front of his sweater and yank him down with her, rolling onto her back and pressing her boots into his stomach before launching him over her, sending him flying overhead and tumbling along the ground outside. He groaned, pushing himself up off the ground and looking up only to see a spear flying at him. 

Instinctively, his magic surged into the ground beneath him and dozens of bones erupt in front of him haphazardly, stacking together in a barrier that was compacted into a dense wall, the spear stabbing into the wall of bones and lodging inside. Just when he relaxed, a shadow was cast overhead and he had to quickly scramble to the side as the blue fish girl crashed onto the spot he just was with a heavy stomp.

“NGAAAAH!”

She shouted out a battle cry, a metaphorical fire burning in her eyes as she summoned another spear in her hand.

“I won't let you get away with breaking into our house! Now DIE!”

“Tch, give me a break…”

Getting annoyed, Nathan prepared to start fighting back, potent magic welling up in his soul as he raised his hand. If she wasn't going to listen, he'd have to make her.

The girl raised the spear and pulled her arm back, preparing to chuck it at Nathan before something metallic went hurtling through the air and smacking into the side of her head. She yelped and clutched her head, the spear disintegrating into blue particles as the frying pan that hit her clattered to the floor.

“DAMMIT UNDYNE! WHAT I TELL YA ABOUT ATTACKING PEOPLE?!”

Groaning, she rubbed her temple.

“Argh… Uh, go for the weak spot?”

The girl who was apparently named Undyne offered a feeble response, only for Gerson to huff and cross his arms.

“No! It was to TALK first! If you jump to conclusions, you'll keep attacking the wrong people, and then they go complaining to me!”

“I'm just trying to be a hero like you were, old man!”

“Heroes save lives! Not endanger em! You're just causing trouble waving that spear around all willy nilly!”

Once Gerson finished scolding Undyne, he turned to look at Nathan.

“Sorry about that, I told you she was a handful didn't I?”

Nathan blinked, before pointing at Undyne.

“You mean to tell me that…”

Gerson grinned, and nodded.

“Yup, she's the other youngin I'm lookin after. I see you two have met so I'll be quick with the introductions. Undyne, this is Nathan, and he'll be staying with us from now on. Nathan, this is Undyne, the rascal I gotta keep my eye on so she doesn't cause trouble. Why don't you two move past the misunderstanding and shake hands eh?”

The two stared at each other awkwardly, before shuffling towards one another. Undyne's frills drooped from embarrassment while Nathan seemed troubled that he had almost attacked his new housemate. What a great first impression huh?

The two shook hands, and Undyne cleared her throat. 

“Uh, sorry for throwing a spear at you. Thought you were an intruder or something.”

“It's no problem. You're uh, pretty strong.”

That seemed to please her, as her frills no longer drooped and she beamed, tilting her head up slightly. 

“Heh, of course! Someday, I'm gonna be a cool hero just like the old man was!”

Nathan turned to glance as Gerson, raising a questioning and nonexistent eyebrow. Gerson simply scoffed and waved his hand dismissively.

“It's all in the past youngin. Now come inside, we're having curry for dinner.”

The two of them perked up, and quickly followed behind. As they went into the house, Nathan asked Undyne about Gerson's past as a hero, which she was more than happy to start rambling about.

After listening for a while, Nathan was shocked. Apparently that old geezer used to be a badass war hero! They both turned their heads and looked at Gerson with twinkling eyes full of awe.

Gerson however, shuddered under their gaze even though he was facing away from them. He could feel the weight of their admiration crawling down his back, and muttered under his breath.

“Not another one…”

Chapter Text

Gerson, Nathan, and Undyne all ate dinner together in the dining room. It was pretty lively thanks to Undyne being a chatterbox, the girl being thirteen, only a year older than him yet quite strong. Or maybe Nathan was just weak in the physical department due to a lack of muscles, he couldn't tell. He hadn't met many monsters to be able to confirm.

The two chatted about Gerson's heroics, but when the topic switched to why Nathan had come to stay with them, he felt a bit of distress. Unlike Gerson, Undyne had less of a reign on her curiosity, meaning that Nathan had to improvise and keep any inconsistencies in his story from appearing especially in front of Gerson.

Dodging her questions was harder than her attacks, and he regretted not simply saying he had amnesia or something. 

Fortunately, Gerson interfered in order to save him the trouble, scolding Undyne for being so nosy. This made her pout, but relent much to Nathan's relief. After that, the topic switched to anime which Nathan had an easier time keeping up with, but noticed that all of the anime Undyne had watched was… extremely old! Like the sorta stuff his otaku ancestors watched. He only recognized two of the shows she mentioned.

However it was a relief that the anime was the same from his life as a human, meaning there was a small chance that he didn't transmigrate and was simply somewhere else on the planet like reincarnation.

Once they had finished their dinner and their “japanese cartoon talk” according to Gerson, Nathan took the dishes and began to wash them, being quick so that Gerson couldn't do it himself. He felt obligated to make himself useful however he could, and so far dishes were the only thing he got the opportunity to do. So he'd take it when he could.

Gerson stood up from the table and stretched, his bones popping as he grunted before reaching back and rubbing his shell with a chuckle.

“Well, it's getting late and I gotta open up shop tomorrow. So I'll be heading to bed youngins, don't stay up too long.”

“Goodnight old man!”

“Sweet dreams, Gerson.”

Undyne and Nathan both responded, bidding him goodnight as Nathan finished the dishes and headed into the living room. Glancing at the clock, he realized it was pretty late, but once he started to lower the ladder, Undyne approached with her head tilted.

“You sleep in the attic? Isn't it dusty and full of boxes?”

“Yeah, but we cleaned it up when I first got here.”

“Move! I wanna see!”

Nathan was promptly shoved aside by Undyne as she enthusiastically scrambled up the ladder and poked her head past the trapdoor to look around the cleaned attic.

“Woah! It's so much cleaner! Is that your bed over there in the corner?”

She climbed up and looked around with wonder, having not been up here too much because the dust irritated her gills. Behind her, Nathan climbed up with a slight frown, not appreciating being pushed but letting it go since Undyne was just excited and curious. He had to remember that while they both were kids, he was mentally in his twenties and was mature enough to let go of small things.

Unfortunately, he had found that his emotions seemed tied to his physical age, a flicker of irritation sparking through his soul despite his logical mind not being bothered. It was a bit odd to maintain mental maturity but regress emotionally, but it was able to be handled just fine as long as he kept himself in check.

“You can explore the attic some more tomorrow. I'm a bit sleepy, so scram!”

He spoke playfully, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder at the trapdoor. Undyne huffed and went over to the trapdoor in annoyance, standing at the edge of the ladder.

“Fine, but in exchange you gotta spar with me tomorrow! Gerson doesn't fight me, and most people just run when I ask them to fight!”

Nathan raised a nonexistent eyebrow, somehow not surprised that the aggressive fish menace was avoided. Her heart was in the right place, but her spears didn't always seem to be if Gerson's words were anything to go by.

“Don't you have friends or something? Why not spar with them?”

Undyne seemed to deflate slightly, her frills drooping as she timidly rubbed the back of her neck.

“I uh, don't have any. Anyone I play with tells me I'm too rough, and avoid me afterwards. It's not my fault everyone is a wuss…”

She muttered that last part, her gaze cast to the side. Nathan blinked, surprised that Undyne in all her high energy, didn't have any friends. 

However it was understandable, as most people her age likely had little magic capacity if his previous growth rate was anything to go by, with the two of them being exceptions due to them both training from a young age. For Undyne it was to get strong like Gerson, but for Nathan it was simply something he was instructed to do. On top of that his weak magic capacity had been strengthened to a level comparable to an adult, while Undyne seemed to mainly fight with her body and use her magic as a physical weapon.

They both were pretty strong for their age, so it made sense why Undyne with her hero complex had a hard time meeting others with the same interest. In the end, the problem was Undyne's approach.

“...In that case, sure. We can spar tomorrow, but be warned I won't take it easy on you!”

Undyne perked up, before flashing her teeth in a wide grin.

“Ha! You'd better not, otherwise I'll suplex you into the dirt!”

She turned and jumped straight down the trapdoor, skipping the ladder and landing on her feet with a heavy thud. Nathan winced at the sound, imagining that shock feeling going up his legs. When he glanced down the trapdoor, Undyne was completely fine as she marched to her room. 

Chuckling, Nathan shut the trapdoor. She was a little intense, but was fun company. He was looking forward to sparring her and getting a decent handle on his new magic capacity. Switching off the light, Nathan would be plunged into darkness.

….Only to immediately turn it back on, his eyelights shrinking to pinpricks and his bones rattling violently. 

Back in the lab, the lights had always been on, and he had grown used to it. As a human he'd also slept in the dark plenty of times. So why was it that the moment he entered the dark as a skeleton, his soul screamed in terror?

….Nathan knew why. It was the void, he was scared of that place, scared of finding himself in there again and unable to escape for eternity. The void was dark and endless, so he panicked when the room went dark. He understood this, and the logic was sound. He knew there was nothing to be afraid of. It was just his body's emotions getting the better of him.

…Yet he still couldn't bring himself to turn off the lights, instead shuffling across the room and getting onto the makeshift bed. He wrapped himself in the blankets and sighed, closing his eye sockets and trying to relax.

Thankfully, the warmth of the dinner he had just eaten helped him settle down and eventually fall asleep.

…

Nathan dreamed about his older brother that night, remembering how much he looked up to him and followed him around when they were kids. His brother was a reliable yet stubborn guy when he believed in something, being an immovable idiot at times but more often than not a solid pillar of support when he was needed. 

As he grew older, he gradually taught Nathan to stand on his own feet, because although he was a great pillar of support he was his own person and sought independence. 

When he moved out, Nathan didn't feel ready for it. 

However his brother reassured him that he would still be around, and would come running if he was ever needed, but reminded Nathan that he had to learn to stand on his own so that if anyone ever needed HIM, he could do the same.

That conversation was the spark that made him think more seriously about taking care of their parents in the future, especially when his older sister had moved out as well. They had been everyone's support for so long, and as the youngest he wasn't relied on but instead taken care of. He felt like it was time to repay them for all the love and support, and decided to stay and take care of them. 

Nathan never told them his reasoning for staying, and never figured out if they knew. In the end he didn't regret it in the slightest.

He just regretted not being able to say goodbye.

…

…Nathan woke up with a deep sadness in his soul, opening his eye sockets and looking at the ceiling. He sighed and sat up, stretching before getting out of bed. 

These heightened emotions were really getting on his nerves.

After a filling breakfast of pancakes, Gerson bid the two farewell and headed off to open his shop somewhere in the caverns of Waterfall. He gave Undyne a stern warning and Nathan a request to keep her out of trouble as best he could. Nathan made no promises but guaranteed he'd try.

Once Gerson was gone, Undyne grinned and practically dragged him out of the house by the back of his sweater.

“C'mon! It's time to Spar! Gerson would kill us if we damaged the house, so I know just the spot!”

Nathan chuckled and steadied himself before following behind, a bit excited to explore more of Waterfall and get familiar with the area around his new home. As they walked, he thought about his dream, and thought about his older brother's words.

He'd then look at Undyne, thinking that if he couldn't be a pillar for his parents, then maybe he could support someone else who needed him.

By the time they reached the large open field for sparring, Nathan had made up his mind.

He'd help Undyne get some friends someday.

Chapter Text

The sparring match began abruptly, with Undyne taking the initiative to charge in while conjuring a spear in her hands. Once she got close enough, she swung at Nathan in an arc which he evaded with a duck. The attack was familiar from their first encounter, and he wondered if this was her opening move or something. 

He didn't have much time to think about it because Undyne had started to thrust her spear forward at him in rapid succession, forcing him to jump backward to leave her spear's range. Watching as Undyne dashed in to close the distance, Nathan decided to counterattack and materialized a row of bones between them which forced her to momentarily back off before going around to continue attacking.

Those couple of seconds are all he needed, raising his hand above his head and materializing a dozen bones angled in her direction before swinging his hand downward and launching them at her from above. Grinning widely at the rapidly approaching projectiles, Undyne took the attack head on, raising her spear defensively while planting both feet into the ground. The bones that would've hit her collided with the spear and bounced off harmlessly, the rest hitting the ground around her.

Nathan blinked, surprised that she defended rather than evaded but quickly readied himself as Undyne spun her spear and threw it at him. Chuckling, he sidesteps the spear, watching as it sped past him.

“Are you just using the same set of moves or something? There's nothing differe-”

THWACK.

He felt a heavy impact hit the side of his skull, causing him to stagger to the side and place a hand to his head. Bewildered, he looked to see Undyne had gotten close while he was distracted and had punched him in the face. 

“Don't get distracted, bonehead!”

She charged in and swung her fist again, forcing Nathan to raise his arms and block as her heavy blows rained down upon him. Each punch had a ridiculous amount of strength behind it, making him grit his teeth in pain as he was pushed back upon every collision, struggling to maintain his balance.

No wonder his first instinct was to dodge or block with magic, he wasn't very durable as a skeleton.

Nathan never had any sort of hand to hand training and didn't know how to dodge punches from such small proximity like in the movies, so he simply jumped backward upon receiving one more punch, letting the impact carry him further than normal to make distance.

Quickly, he manifested more bones between them in a much wider wall to keep her away, not wanting to experience another beating. He stopped for a moment to wince and rub his sore forearms, the bones looking bruised but thankfully not cracked. However, a blue glow appeared beneath his feet, confusing him.

“Wh-”

A blue spear thrust out of the ground and grazed his ribs, making him yelp and stumble back, clutching his chest with one hand as his sweater had been ripped and exposed the bone underneath. Looking up, he saw Undyne with both of her hands on the ground and a triumphant smirk on her face.

“Woah! I didn't think that would work!”

“Ergh… What do you mean?”

Undyne stood up and placed her hands on her hips, puffing her chest out with pride.

“That thing you did before, where your attacks came out of the ground. I had a vague idea of how it worked and wanted to do it too! So I tried it out just now, and it bam! Didn't even see it coming!”

Undyne flashed her teeth at him in a wide grin, making Nathan feel an irk of annoyance, but also curiosity. He hadn't exactly meant to do that before, it was like a reflex to being attacked when he was prone.

Deciding to try again, he sent his magic into the ground through his feet, letting it travel near Undyne before materializing it. Instantly, a couple of bones erupted out of the ground around her, but only one had gotten close to hitting her. The fish girl jumped back in surprise, before cackling and pointing at the closest bone.

“Where were you aiming huh?! You missed a stationary target! Your aim needs some work chump!”

Nathan's eye socket twitched. Accuracy was a sore spot that he had finally moved past, only for it to rear its head again to mock him once more.

Dismissing their attacks, the two started sparring once more. Grumbling, he decided to stick to projectile attacks from above, flinging bones her way and using walls to slow her down and keep her at bay. He found himself moving a lot, needing to backpedal often to get some distance from Undyne as she charged in tirelessly. 

At times she threw her spear or attacked from below, and it kept Nathan on his toes. Fortunately she didn't have a whole lot of magic, and could only summon a single spear at a time so he just had to keep an eye on her and the spear at all times. 

While he had more magic to throw around than her, it surprisingly didn't give him all that much of an advantage. Undyne blocked his attacks and constantly sprinted towards him, going around the bone walls keeping him on the defensive for most of combat.

That's when he had a moment of inspiration. 

When Undyne charged towards him again, he didn't summon a bone wall to slow her down. Instead, he raised his hand like he was about to attack. Undyne glanced up, ready to block should bones come flying down, but she saw no bones materializing. Confused, she looked down towards Nathan only to suddenly feel her foot catch onto something and cause her to trip. 

Her eyes widened and she tilted forward, her momentum making her tumble along the ground a bit before coming to a stop a few feet away from Nathan with a groan. 

He chuckled, having simply diverted her attention upward with a false attack so that she didn't see the short bone wall that he materialized along the ground between them. He felt it was pretty clever using body language to mislead the opponent.

“ARGH! YOU DAMN CHEATER! THAT'S AGAINST THE RULES!”

She huffed and got to her feet, shouting loudly while waving her spear at him angrily. Seems she didn't share his sentiment. Still, Nathan decided to be a bit cheeky and shrugged his shoulders while looking to the side with the most smug grin on his face.

“What? All I did was trip you, not my fault you didn't see it coming. Guess your awareness needs some work.”

Undyne exploded with anger at the provocation, hurling her spear at Nathan with a bit more force than she should've. Since he was looking to the side, he was a bit late to react and turned to see the tip of the spear mere inches away from him.

Panic surged through his soul and he tried to react in time but-

CRACK.

Nathan's eyesockets went empty while his expression twisted into pain, the spear harshly stabbing into his ribs, breaking a few and cracking the surrounding ones as it lodged into his ribcage. The momentum made him stagger back, as he stared at the spear protruding from his chest with shock. 

Was he… going to die?

The pain was intense, but not as bad as it should've been likely due to shock and adrenaline. Looking up, he saw Undyne still mid-throw, her snarling expression evaporating into horror.

Thud.

Nathan felt himself lose the strength in his legs and dropped to his knees, bringing trembling hands to the spear as Undyne rushed over, stumbling over her words from sheer panic.

“NATHAN! OH MY GOD OH MY GOD! ARE YOU OKAY?! I'M SO SORRY! I DIDN'T MEAN TO THROW IT SO HARD! HEY! TALK TO ME!”

She shook his shoulders, not knowing what to do at first before looking around and shouting for help. Hot angry tears began to spill from her eyes in distress, feeling helpless and guilty.

Nathan's eyelights flickered, but ultimately remained absent as he grit his teeth and groaned. The pain was starting to catch up slowly, and it hurt so much. He didn't even realize he had stopped breathing, and fortunately he didn't really need to. He had no organs or anything like that, but having a spear lodged into your ribs was still very painful.

“Ugh…”

He managed to make a sound amidst the pain, showing Undyne he was still conscious at the very least. She continued to alternate between shouting for help and shaking Nathan as though to prevent him from falling asleep, not that he felt like he would. The pain was too intense.

At some point she remembered to dismiss the spear, the extent of the damage being shown to be a hole punched into his ribs while cracks spread out from the point of impact. The damage was done to the left side of his ribcage.

When a couple minutes passed and no help arrived, Undyne decided to go and find help.

“Crap! CRAP! Okay, just stay here and stay awake! I'm gonna go find someone who can heal you! Don't you dare die!”

She squeezed his shoulders in her grasp before letting go and sprinting off faster than he's ever seen her run. He slowly blinked before he realized that the corners of his vision were growing dark. This sent a pulse of terror through his soul due to the assumption that he was dying.

If he died, he might end up back in the void again! So, he struggled against the creeping darkness and did his best to remain lucid and awake despite the pain that came with it.

…

Undyne sprinted down the pathways of Waterfall, shouting for help. This got the attention of a couple monsters who approached to see what all the fuss was about. Upon hearing that someone was injured, they became worried. 

In the end, it was a yellow anglerfish monster with glasses dressed in a tuxedo that accompanied Undyne back to the field, able to use healing magic. His name was Shef, “pronounced like Chef” according to him. Shef introduced himself as a soon-to-be famous pianist.

Upon arriving at the field, they saw Nathan lying on his back motionless with his eyes closed. They rushed over, and saw that he was still conscious when he opened an eye socket to look at them, the eyelight flickering and faint.

“T-Took you long enough…”

Shef wasted no time, kneeling down over Nathan and placing his hands to the wound and sending a steady pulse of healing magic into the skeleton. 

“OUCH!”

He recoiled, shouting in pain when his magic was violently rejected by the skeleton's soul. He frowned, looking down at them.

“What was that? Are you resisting the healing magic?”

The skeleton's eyesockets went wide as if he had just remembered something.

“....Shit.”

Undyne and Shef glanced at each other, wondering why Nathan had cursed.

…

….Nathan was screwed to say the least. He had forgotten what happened when people tried to interact with his soul and send magic into him. He hadn't gotten injured before, the experiments always causing pain but not leaving lasting damage. 

He looked at the anglerfish monster that tried healing him, the pain making it hard to think and he kept fading in and out dangerously. 

“Could you… try again?”

The monster nodded, and sent his magic into Nathan. He noticed that healing magic was green, much like Reed's magic was… No, don't get distracted! Nathan focused, concentrating on the sensation of the foreign healing magic entering his body. However his soul had pulsed again, and this time he willed it to stop. 

It… was stifling to say the least. His soul writhed and shuddered with extreme discomfort as the healing magic was allowed passage.

Slowly… his ribs began to heal, setting back into place and mending.

Nearby, Undyne sighed in relief, but Shef knit his eyebrows in confusion as he healed the small skeleton. 

After all, monster souls weren't usually upright.

Chapter Text

After Nathan was healed, he stood up and checked the condition of his body, noticing that the bruises on his arms from blocking had been healed as well.

“Woah, healing magic is pretty useful! Never really experienced it before.”

He blurted out his awe of the magic, but quickly regretted it when Shef and Undyne gave him worried looks. Shef opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Undyne who shouted first.

“WHAT?! You've never been healed before this?! Haven't you gotten injured in your life?!”

Nathan winced slightly from her volume, looking to the side sheepishly.

“Well uh, nothing as bad as this so it was never really necessary.”

It technically wasn't a lie, as he hadn't taken damage from anyone other than Undyne funnily enough, even Gaster's torturous experiments didn't threaten his life, merely causing pain. Undyne seemed to relax a bit, but Shef still had an unusual expression on his face.

“Your soul… has it always been like that?”

Nathan blinked, confused by what he meant.

“My soul?”

Shef hesitated, before placing his hand to his chest and concentrating, then he withdrew his hand. Following his hand would be an upside down heart, pure white and glowing dimly. The feeling Nathan got from it was a friendly and amicable vibe, but also a slightly lonely undertone. He stared at it with wonder, before raising his hand and pointing at it.

“Is that…?”

“Mhm.”

Shef nodded, glancing down at it before placing it back into his chest.

“That's what monster souls look like. You'll learn to summon yours as you grow older and gain a stronger sense of self. Usually they resemble a white upside down heart, but yours looks so strange. I've never seen a soul like yours.”

Nathan felt a rush of panic spike through his soul.

“You saw my soul? What did it look like?”

He was curious and worried, after all he'd never seen it himself but also alarmed since souls were quite important as far as he knew.

Shef deliberated a bit before speaking.

“It looks like a monster soul, but upright and yellow. It had a very strange feeling to it…”

Nathan felt a bit of concern, not because his soul was different but that it could be so easily accessed by others. Well, not that easily now that he thought about it. There was that purging effect, and if he didn't hold it back Shef wouldn't have been able to heal him much less see his soul.

“Can you try and describe that feeling?”

Shef chuckled, shaking his head.

“I only healed you, so at best I just got a glimpse and a faint feeling from your soul. To get a good read on it, you'd have to bring it out. Although I don't recommend doing it in front of strangers, your soul is the culmination of your being laid bare so it's kinda a show of vulnerability.”

Undyne tilted her head, confused.

“Didn't you show us your soul though?”

“You two are children, and this is to teach you about them, not have a heart to heart.”

Nathan nodded at the explanation, and asked the burning question that was on his mind.

“How do I summon my soul?”

Shef beamed, the bulb on the end of his anglerfish lure lighting up.

“Easier done than said kid, just gotta focus on the place your magic is stored and draw it out. If your magic is the water, your soul is the bucket! It might be difficult since you're so young but do give it a try!”

Nathan placed a hand to his chest like Shef did and concentrated, visualizing what the anglerfish monster had described, a yellow heart. Suddenly, he felt a familiar tugging feeling, the same as when he willed himself to move through the void.

Drawing his hand away from his ribcage, he saw it. His soul.

It hovered over his skeletal palm, and he felt a strong sense of familiarity to it despite never seeing it. It was like looking in the mirror… It was him.

The soul was a bright yellow as Shef had described, and had a strong sense of righteousness coming off of it. However there was an undertone of bitterness and grief. Nathan sighed, knowing that it was pretty accurate. He always wanted to do the right thing, especially by those he cared about. However ever since waking up as a skeleton he's been plagued with nothing but regrets and sadness over his old life.

It was the truth, and he felt a bit of discomfort having it out in the open. Even if not put into words. 

Satisfied, he dismissed his soul and looked up to see Shef and Undyne having gazes of awe. 

“Woah! That's so cool! Me next! Me next!”

Undyne perked up, eager to try as well. She focused and copied the motions just as he did, but struggled to call forth her soul. The attempt left her straining and grumbling, and ultimately failing. After all, she was still gaining a sense of self unlike Nathan, currently chasing after her impression of Gerson in her hero complex.

Shef chuckled and ruffled her red hair.

“It's okay, it's really rare for children to be able to do it before they become teens. Monsters often gain the ability to display their souls once they go through physical maturity, but emotional or mental maturity helps a lot too.”

Nathan rubbed the back of his neck. Seems being in his twenties mentally was the key behind this. Or maybe it was the fact he used to be human? He had no clue how human souls looked and if he had one, only having monster souls to go off of.

“In any case… thank you for healing me, I'd probably be a goner if you hadn't gotten here soon.”

Nathan wholeheartedly expressed his gratitude, touched that a stranger would be so willing to help and even teach him something.

“Heh, it's quite alright. I just did what anyone would in this situation.”

Shef waved off the gratitude with a bashful blue glow on his face, happy at the appreciation but feigning modesty.

“Oh, I don't think I caught your name. I'm Shef by the way, soon to be the greatest pianist in the world.”

Shef extended a hand with a wide smile, showing off his rows of needle-like teeth.

Nathan quickly took his hand and shook it, wondering if all residents of Waterfall were reptilian or fish in some way. He'd only met Gerson, Undyne, and now Shef and they all had scales. The people from the lab didn't exactly apply since the location was different.

“I'm Nathan, nice to meet you.”

With introductions out of the way, Shef asked another thing that was on his mind.

“If you don't mind me asking, how did you get such a terrible wound?”

Undyne spoke up this time, albeit at a much lower volume which Nathan didn't think she was even capable of.

“Uhm… We were sparring and I accidentally hit him too hard because I got angry….”

Her frills were drooping, which he noticed tended to kinda reflect her feelings in some manner. Stepping forward, Nathan placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a light squeeze.

“Hey, don't beat yourself up. I'm supposed to do the beating, it's what training is for after all. Besides it's also my fault for getting distracted. Your frustration and my carelessness led to this situation, so we both have things to work on.”

Undyne looked at Nathan for a moment, before nodding her head.

“Yeah… Yeah! Learn to take hits better bonehead!”

“That wasn't what I meant Undyne-”

“It's your fault for being too wimpy in the end! We gotta whip you into shape so you can take some hits!”

“Undyne please-”

“Let's go for round 2!”

Nathan glanced helplessly at Shef, glad that Undyne cheered up but a bit exasperated that she missed the actual point. They were both at fault due to their behavior, but she seemed convinced it was due to his physical frailty. Was this a kid thing or an Undyne thing? He wasn't sure.

“Keke, you two be safe now! I'd love to stay and watch but I've got to get back to practicing the piano. History won't write itself! In musical scores no less!”

Shef's anglerfish bulb blinked a few times as he bowed, and then left the area while waving.

Nathan and Undyne waved back with bright smiles.

“With that said and done, its time for round 2!”

Undyne turned to face him with a grin, conjuring a spear.

“Alright, but this time I have a proposition.”

She tilted her head at Nathan's words.

“Hm?”

The skeleton crossed his arms, closing an eye socket as he smirked at her.

“Let's swap styles. You have to use projectiles while I fight in melee. It'll be fun to see how we fare.”

“Sounds fun! Let's do it!”

…It ended up NOT being fun. Undyne didn't know/couldn't launch her spears as projectiles aside from thrusting it out the ground, and Nathan wasn't as physically strong as Undyne, most of his attacks able to be blocked with her bare hands. 

The attempt left Nathan physically drained and Undyne magically drained. Seems their weaknesses in these aspects were quite steep. They laid in the grass on their backs, spent.

“Ugh, this sucks! How do you have so much magic? I can barely make a dozen or so spears in a single fight, and I end up holding them!”

“Wish I knew! I'm more jealous of your strength. It's easier to land a punch than flinging bones at people, my accuracy is terrible, trash talk aside.”

The two chuckled, gazing up at the artificial stars above tiredly. For the first time since he left the lab, Nathan stopped worrying about the future. Instead, he just enjoyed the present. Closing his eyes, he inhaled and exhaled, the twinkling stars above, the weariness in his bones, and the presence of Undyne filled his soul with content.

“...Since our strengths and weaknesses contrast each other, wouldn't that make us unstoppable together?”

Nathan opened an eyesocket to glance over at Undyne beside him, chuckling at her words. 

“Yeah, I guess it would.”

Chapter Text

Since the day Nathan and Undyne sparred together, things began to gradually settle into a comfortable routine. 

Nathan and Undyne would spar during mornings before exploring Waterfall, letting him gradually grow familiar with its layout and even meeting more of its residents. Nathan had a much easier time making friends than Undyne due to his more calm approach, and it was thanks to this that he managed to convince some people their age to warm up to the loud blue fish and stop running away from her.

….With limited success, due to how difficult it was to get Undyne to tone down her energy as well as how skittish some of the monsters were.

Unlike Undyne's slowly expanding social circle, time seemed to pass quickly in the presence of the peaceful and entertaining routine.

The sparring sessions helped Nathan work on his lacking accuracy, while Undyne worked diligently on her magical capacity and control, aiming to eventually use her spears as projectiles outside of wielding them as weapons.

At some point they asked Gerson for help, in which he gave some surprisingly insightful advice. He told Undyne that she was focusing too much on the quality of her spears, and to instead aim for quantity. An arrow didn't need to be as durable as a blade, as it instead relied on momentum.

When it came to Nathan's lack of accuracy, Gerson recommended that he simply practice. After all, there wasn't anything else he could really do to improve it. Still, with the newfound direction the two worked harder than ever to become stronger. Undyne for her dream of becoming a hero, and Nathan for the sake of not being helpless ever again.

…

Asgore sighed, setting down the watering can and walking through the garden or golden flowers he had been cultivating, shuffling over to the throne and sitting down. The large monster's shoulders sagged with burden, his gaze compassionate yet tired. He hadn't been sleeping well ever since Gaster's death, and having no one to truly open up to made the stress and guilt start to really get to him. 

These feelings only got worse with every human that fell down, many of them being brought before him due to being captured by the guards while others managed to journey all the way to him personally. 

With each human child slain and every soul captured, the weight of his actions pressed down upon him heavier and heavier. He'd even begun to have nightmares about the humans he killed, because the compassionate king remembered their names, faces, and final words.

However, before all else Asgore was a king, he would do what he needed for his people. Standing up from the throne, the man would make his way to the barrier where the souls were contained, his weary expression gazing at the 7 glass containers before the barrier.

…4 of them were filled, and 3 were empty.

“Soon… We shall be free.”

Asgore muttered under his breath, but regardless of the hope that the future presented, he didn't feel all that much eager. Rather, he felt dread. To destroy the barrier he'd need to kill 3 more humans, and with everything that's happened it was only a matter of time before he reached his breaking point. 

His compassion and kindness made his soul ache and grieve, as well as rage and burn. These emotions prevented him from gaining any sense of detachment, and sometimes Asgore felt a hint of regret over this.

…On the bright side, the destroyed lab had been cleared and repairs were being made, the core eventually being fixed and powered up. 

Fortunately some engineers that hadn't been present during the accident could handle the maintenance as well as teaching the new personnel. The biggest issue was that all of the researchers had been caught up in the accident, so the new Royal Scientist would essentially be starting from scratch aside from whatever documents could be salvaged.

The position would be empty for now, but would hopefully be filled soon if someone capable stepped forward.

Asgore walked up to the barrier and placed his hand against it. No matter how many people he lost along the way, and no matter how many lives he had to take to get there, he'd ensure that monsterkind had a future on the surface.

He'd come so far and given so much, he couldn't go back now.

Yet… going forward was so difficult. Asgore sighed once more, something he'd been doing a lot lately. Taking his hand off of the barrier, he'd turn around and head back to the throne room. Perhaps he'd make some tea to try and clear his mind.

…

…5 years had somehow trickled by before Nathan even realized it. The small skeleton with wide eyesockets and large eyelights had grown from a child to a teenager, shooting up to be rather tall. Now 17 years old, Nathan was much lankier with longer limbs, his wide eyesockets remaining the same but his large eyelights having shrunk gradually before settling at a smaller diameter. Now, his resting expression seemed a bit more mature compared to the innocent one his large eyelights had previously given others the impression of.

Undyne grew alongside him, but much to her dismay her height couldn't match up to his. As such, she often suplexed him into the ground if he ever called her short despite only being only a head and a half shorter. Not much changed about Undyne aside from her red hair growing longer, and as a result her ponytail now being a foot past her neck.

Surprisingly, Gerson didn't seem to have aged a day aside from having a wrinkle or two more. When asked about why, he explained that unlike the two of them he had been long done with growing and wouldn't really change much as he got older. 

The daily life of the 3 was mostly the same but with some differences. Nathan had started helping Gerson with his shop, having convinced him to let him handle it from time to time. The two had even had a small argument about the pay, with Nathan willing to work for free since he was living with Gerson, but Gerson insisting that he pay Nathan.

In the end, they compromised and Nathan let Gerson pay him for working at the shop, but not after haggling down his wages to something he was comfortable with. Undyne on the other hand had joined the Royal Guard, albeit as one that was considered “in training” due to her inexperience.

Fortunately Undyne's fiery personality was somewhat reigned in over the years, being less indiscriminate and instead more tame. Of course she let it out in full force when it came to those she was close with, but stopped being the local menace that she was as a kid.

Due to now working, the sparring matches of the two had become a bit less frequent. However they both made great strides in their combat ability.

Undyne was now able to fight with her spears in both melee and projectile forms, her prowess being one of the main reasons she was accepted into the Royal Guard. The other reason being her strong sense of heroism. She was disappointed that Nathan didn't seem interested in joining along with her, but didn't pressure him.

As for why Nathan didn't join the guard, he wasn't keen on working another job that required physical exertion. He had plenty of that as a construction worker, and preferred the calm and relaxed shop clerk profession. Not to mention, he felt indebted to Gerson and wanted to give the old turtle some time to take things easy at his age.

Nathan himself was actually quite strong now, his physical durability improving as he grew older, able to take a bit more of a beating but still being quite frail due to his skeletal nature. As for his magical capacity, it grew in tandem with him. It went from comparable to an adult to now well above an adult's capacity.

It was a bit overwhelming, since he never got close to using all of it during sparring sessions even when Undyne was left exhausted and spent. On the brighter side, his accuracy was now finally decent after working on it tirelessly. Not much else changed aside from that, his skills becoming stagnant when his only offense and defense were bones. 

You could only get so creative with them.

Nathan also explored beyond Waterfall after becoming familiar with the layout, having gone through most of Snowdin and only a few areas of Hotland. Whenever he saw the distant core, he felt discomfort and tended to avoid the place. Once he learned that the labs were located in Hotland he lost any desire to become familiar with the place.

Snowdin on the other hand was surprisingly cozy despite the cold, its residents being quite friendly with most of the monsters resembling mammals unlike the many fish-like or reptilian monsters in Waterfall. If they were cold blooded as he believed, it made sense why they didn't live in such a cold environment.

Between his exploration of the underground and the customers visiting Gerson's shop, Nathan met plenty of monsters and became acquainted with them. It was surprising how kind many of them were, being inherently compassionate in their own way. Somehow they were more human than the ones in his old life.

Sure they had flaws and some were outright annoying, but they weren't bad people. It gave him a sense of fondness for the monsters he met, and made many friends over the years because he grew to enjoy their company.

Just as Nathan was feeling content with his new life, he met someone in Snowdin that completely shattered his complacency.

A fallen human.

Chapter Text

Nathan had been strolling through Snowdin forest while humming an upbeat tune, enjoying how the place made him feel closer to nature. Being underground for so long started to feel a bit stifling after awhile, but he wasn't too bothered. While he was lost in thought, he heard what sounded like a large door slamming shut. Turning his head, he blinked.

There were no doors out in the forest as far as he knew, so he followed the sound before seeing a large purple brick wall with a massive set of doors. Nathan tilted his head, confused. He'd never seen this place before, but before he could ponder further his eyelights focused on the individual walking away from the doors.

It was… a human! A child at that. Their height went up to Nathan's waist, so they were definitely young. The human wore a red long sleeve shirt and tan cargo pants, with brown shoes. They shivered and hugged themselves in face of the cold, shuffling away from the door with what seemed to be a downcast expression. The most notable thing about them was the long orange hair that went down their back, a sun hairpin tucked in their hair.

…

Helena shuffled through the cold, rubbing her arms while starting to shiver. She felt conflicted inside over her decision, but it was too late to turn back at this point. 

When she had run up Mt. Ebott, she wanted to simply get away from everything and didn't want to face the harsh reality that the world imposed. Before she even realized it, her foot snagged on a root and she was sent hurtling down into a large hole in the side of the mountain.

When she came to, a kind and motherly goat monster was taking care of her, having found her unconscious on a bed of golden flowers beneath the opening. The monster introduced herself as Toriel, and welcomed her to stay as long as she wanted. Helena was distrustful and on guard at first, but was quickly won over with cinnamon pie and Toriel's gentle assurance.

The two spent a couple of days together, with Toriel showing her the ruins, catching snails together, and baking pies in the kitchen. At night, Toriel would tuck her into bed before retiring to bed herself. It was… peaceful. However, Helena found herself struggling to accept this comfortable life, because of what she had run away from before. What she had left behind.

…Her grandmother's passing.

The event left her distraught and grieving, as her grandmother was someone she cared for deeply. Overcome by her emotions, she refused to go to the funeral and instead fled into the woods, not wanting to accept that her grandmother was gone when her parents tried to explain things to her.

Her foolish behaviour led to the current situation, and forgetting about everything and just spending time with Toriel was nice at first… but the distraction didn't last long. She missed her parents, her home, and most of all her grandmother. 

So, one day when Toriel was out for a walk through the ruins, Helena left a note to thank her for everything before going down into the basement to exit the ruins. She felt bad for not telling Toriel face to face, but didn't want to risk changing her mind and staying. 

So, mustering up her courage, Helena decided to be brave and face what lay ahead. She'd go home to her parents, and would have to deal with the loss of her grandmother when the time came.

So, she continued down the pathway, snow crunching beneath her boots. She had heard from some of the monsters in the ruins that she could escape the underground if she journeys to the Capital and gets to the barrier. So, that was her objective. 

…She just wished she brought some warmer clothes, sniffling as the ruin doors got further and further behind her. Just as she was about to cross the bridge, a voice spoke out from somewhere behind her.

“Heya kid, looking a bit cold there. Need a jacket?”

The small girl whipped around in alarm, not having noticed someone had approached her from behind. Looking up, she saw a tall skeleton about two feet away.

The skeleton wore dark grey pants, black boots, and sported a black coat with cream colored fur around the rim of the hood. The only thing that gave away his skeletal nature were his exposed hands and face, the white dots within the eyesockets seeming to be eyes of some kind.

Cautious, Helena took a small step back, her eyebrows burrowing.

“Who are you?”

The skeleton blinked, before lifting a hand to rub the back of his skull.

“Ah, right, where are my manners? I'm Nathan, nice to meet you.”

He smiled and extended a hand, which Helena didn't take at first, but remembering how kind Toriel was, she decided to take a risk and stepped forward, shaking his hand.

“...Helena.”

“That's a nice name. You came out of the doors down that way right? What's behind them, if you don't mind me asking?”

“I heard they're called the Ruins, why?”

“Just curious.”

…

Nathan withdrew his hand, and unzipped his coat before taking it off. He leaned down and put it around Helena, since she seemed to need it a lot more than he did. He'd be fine against the cold since as a skeleton he didn't really perceive temperature nor was affected by it too much. His coat was merely a fashion choice as well as a habit from when he experienced snow in his old life.

“Here, this should keep you warm until we reach Snowdin.”

“Snowdin?”

“Yeah, it's a cozy little town up ahead. Let's grab some food and something warm for you to wear.”

He stood up straight, now only in a purple turtleneck sweater.

“On the way, you can tell me about how you got down here. I haven't seen a human in…”

Nathan paused to remember, before blinking.

“7 years…”

He frowned slightly, remembering that he woke up here at 10 years old, meaning it had almost been a decade now that he was 17. How time flies.

The two set off down the snow path, and after a bit of awkward silence, Helena began to explain her circumstances. How she ran away from home because she couldn't accept the death of a loved one, and ended up falling down into Mt. Ebott before finding herself in the ruins with Toriel. Eventually she left, having heard that if she wanted to escape, she needed to reach the Capital and face Asgore.

Nathan's eyelights glinted, because this was the first he'd heard of any escape method. He knew Asgore was the king, but wondered why monsters didn't just leave the underground if the capital held the method to escape.

“What's in the Capital that would let you escape?”

“The barrier. I was told it's what keeps monsters underground. Apparently human wizards made it a long time ago after the war.”

Nathan nodded, his confusion cleared. He heard about the war from Gerson, but never knew that the end result was the barrier. He was a bit too focused on the cool heroics to think about the end result. If that was the case, then it seemed only humans could pass in and out of the barrier freely.

…What a naive thought.

The two strolled down the path, chatting about random topics. When passing by the canine sentries, Nathan would simply greet them and the two walked on by without much issue. This was due to them recognizing Nathan's scent and voice, while Helena was wrapped in his coat and wasn't noticed.

Eventually, they arrived at Snowdin, and Helena seemed to really warm up to him, and in general thanks to the coat. A flicker of amusement went through Nathan's mind.

Was that a pun he just thought of?

“Welcome to Snowdin Helena. Let's stop by the shop and grab you a coat before heading over to Grillby's for some food. Sound good?”

“Yeah!”

Helena beamed, and skipped along beside Nathan as they went off towards their next destination, seemingly much more upbeat now that she had a friend to help her on the journey to the Capital.

…

One shopping trip later, the two sat in Grillby's at one of the tables with Nathan's coat returned to him. Now, Helena wore a puffy orange coat of her own and was enjoying some hot chocolate. Nathan was simply eating some fries, which fascinated the small girl, because he was a skeleton. How was he eating? 

She voiced this question, and Nathan chuckled, amused.

“How do I eat? Magic of course.”

Helena tilted her head a bit, but accepted the vague answer since she didn't know too much about monsters. So, she just sipped her hot chocolate once more, feeling the warmth spread through her body and sighing with content.

Smiling, she looked out the window at the vibrant town outside and felt something deep within her being resonate. She didn't have to be scared of the uncertain future, she would make it home.

Helena was filled with bravery.