Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"SANS!! DID YOU REMEMBER TO PACK YOUR SOCK THAT YOU FAILED TO MOVE?!" Papyrus shouts to his brother as they unpack their belongings with Toriel and Frisk.

* hmm... let me check.

Sans looks in a box, then back to his brother.

* no.

"URRGH, HOW COULD YOU FORGET TO PACK IT?! I TELL YOU TO MOVE IT EVERY SINGLE DAY!!"

* not my fault you failed to remind me the day that frisk dropped by.

"YES, I DID! I SPECIFICALLY SAID “SANS, REMEMBER TO PICK YOUR SOCK UP BECAUSE WE'RE LEAVING FOR THE LAST TIME”, BUT YOU DIDN'T LISTEN!! AGAIN!!!"

Toriel, who'd moved in with the skeleton brothers, hoists a large box from the table and sets it on the ground neatly.

"To be fair to Sans, he has only checked one box, Papyrus." Toriel admits kindly.

"SO LAZY, AM I RIGHT?!" Papyrus scoffs, shaking his head dismissively.

* chill your spine, bro. i'll look at another box later. all this moving stuff is making me tired.

"YOU'RE ALWAYS TIRED, SANS!!" Papyrus shouts. "WE NEED TO GET ALL OF THIS DONE BY TONIGHT, SO THAT FRISK CAN GO TO SCHOOL SOON!"

The area suddenly flashes pitch black, and when it isn't pitch black anymore, everything is packed up, set up, and put away, with Sans laying down on the couch, asleep. Dumbfounded, Papyrus looks around and huffs, arms crossed.

"IF I KNEW WHAT JUST HAPPENED, I WOULD ASSUME THAT SANS HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH IT." Papyrus admits. "GOOD ON HIM!"

"He certainly works hard, for the amount of work he actually does." Toriel giggles.

Frisk smiles and nods. Papyrus claps his hands once, getting everyone's attention.

"SO! WHO WANTS SPAGHETTI??" Papyrus asks, with Frisk happily raising their hand. "NYEH HEH HEH!!! THEN AWAY I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, GO!"

Papyrus runs off, with Toriel following at her own pace. Frisk exhales silently while Chara, as a red spirit, fades into view next to them, arms crossed and floating in the air.

"He seems happy." Chara chuckles.

Frisk nods and smiles widely at Chara, who smirks.

"Yeah yeah, thanks for freeing the monsters. You're a better person than I am, Frisk. That's for sure." Chara admits. "To be honest with you, while I WANTED to free the monsters, that was while they still hated the humans for the war. So I thought they would just eradicate humanity, and I could be the only one that would survive."

Frisk tilts their head to the side. Frisk begins making hand signs, while Chara blushes, disgusted.

"D-don't look at me like that!! I don't even wanna know how reproduction works with monsters anyways!" Chara whines while Frisk silently laughs. "Urgh, you're lucky I'm bound to your SOUL, otherwise I wouldn't want to be anywhere near you."

Frisk points to themself, then to Chara.

"I know I'm a human too, but I jumped for a REASON. I HATED humanity, and I wanted to run away before anything worse happened to me than what had already happened." Chara snaps. "I respect you, but that doesn't mean I like you. Yet."

Frisk pats Chara's head, but their hand phases right through, as Chara is a spirit.

"Don't touch me." Chara barks.

Frisk keeps their hands to themselves, and the two eventually sit down on the floor in front of each other, playing patty-cake. Sans opens an eye socket and spots this, smiling a little wider.

* havin' fun?

Frisk nods, but misses Chara's hand, so Chara flicks them on the forehead, and Frisk puffs their cheeks out at the taunting Chara.

* that's nice.

Sans yawns and adjusts himself on the couch, scratching his skull with his mittened hand.

* still though, it's kinda odd. chara's around, the flower is in frisk's room, most of our friends are farther away than a simple walk through snow or damp areas, or even a literal giant volcano.

Chara crosses their arms, glaring.

"What's your point?" Chara asks.

* nothin'. except for the fact that it's weird you're here.

"For your information, I didn't have a choice." Chara scoffs. "And no matter how hard I try, I can't use Frisk's SOUL to make me... me."

* 'cuz they aren't letting you yet. or your trust isn't strong enough. give it time, you'll get there.

Frisk looks at Chara, then down at themselves. Frisk then shrugs and smiles again, moving about to a song in their head.

* you two crazy kids go do whatever just as long as it doesn't break anything, alright? i'm gonna lay down and take a well-deserved nap.

Frisk walks over and hugs Sans, who chuckles, rubbing Frisk's head.

* why not go check on the trouble twins in the kitchen, frisk?

Frisk smiles widely and runs off, slipping on a sock, but not falling down. Frisk enters the kitchen, spotting Toriel and Papyrus hard at work in the kitchen, with Papyrus failing to follow the instructions that the chef in the video on his phone explains.

"HOW CAN THIS ONE HUMAN COOK AS WELL AS HE DOES?? THIS GUY MUST BE A MASTER OF HIS CRAFT!" Papyrus admits as he drains the excess water from the bowl containing the cooked noodles into a strainer.

"According to his many books and the internet, he has been cooking for more than 40 or so years, so this man is expected to be exceptional at cooking!" Toriel chimes. "Perhaps even better than yourself!"

"HA! THAT'S A CLEVER JOKE, LADY ASGORE!" Papyrus chimes.

"I tell you, my name is Toriel." Toriel mutters.

"LADY TORIEL!" Papyrus reiterates.

Frisk tugs on Papyrus's tattered scarf, causing him to look down at them.

"AH, HUMAN! JUST IN TIME!! THE PASTA IS ALMOST READY!" Papyrus chimes. "I MIGHT NOT EVEN NEED TO LOOK FOR THIS MEAL!"

"But you probably should." Toriel quickly interjects.

"RIGHT, OF COURSE." Papyrus nods, slightly embarrassed.

Frisk looks at the food and back to Papyrus before smiling yet again.

"Frisk, how about you walk around town and interact with everyone? While we get dinner ready?" Toriel asks, and Frisk nods.

Frisk heads over to the door, getting their boots on, then opening the door to a bright, sunny day. Stepping out of the house, Frisk looks left, then right, spotting houses and trees and grass, and cars driving past. Frisk runs their hands through their long-ish hair, then places their hands on their hips, smiling and nodding to themselves, then walking off.

Chara appears next to Frisk, travelling with them.

"You OK?" Chara asks. "You're being kinda quiet."

Frisk gives Chara a dead stare, with Chara laughing.

"Bad joke, bad joke, haha! But for real though, you haven't really talked to me since we left the Underground." Chara admits. "I know you legit can't, and nobody we know knows human sign language so you never learned, but... we used to talk. And I guess I missed that."

Frisk exhales and makes some hand motions, with Chara understanding.

"I know I taught you monster sign language but I assume it's very different from human sign language, Frisk. Thank God you can speak some type of language, though." Chara chuckles, with Frisk laughing as well, only silently.

Frisk continues to walk on before stopping as soon as they spot a glowing cyan spot on the ground. Then three. Then 16, before spears shoot up from the ground, and Undyne drops from the sky, landing in a superhero landing while the spears fade away, and Undyne stands up, her hair flowing in the wind.

"Hey, Frisk! You headin' around town?" Undyne asks, and Frisk nods, using hand movements. "Toriel told you to? Man, she's a nice lady. I already got myself a nice lady, so..."

Undyne smiles to herself, but shakes it off briefly and places a hand on her hip.

"Well, I'll leave ya alone. I just wanted to see what was up." Undyne admits before taking off running, then leaping from rooftop to rooftop, careful to not break anything.

Frisk continues walking down the sidewalk, exploring the area around them. After a bit of exploration, Frisk finds a few kids, around their age and a bit older too, in an alley, minding their own business. Thinking nothing of it, Frisk moves on, but they're grabbed by the shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?" A boy's voice asks aggressively.

Frisk takes a deep breath and removes the boy's hand from their shoulder without looking at him, then continuing to walk away.

"HEY! Don't you run from us!" The boy scoffs. "You're Frisk, am I right? That chick who freed the monsters?"

Frisk stops walking and turns around, spotting that the boy has brown, messy hair with sharp green eyes, and he's moderately tall, with a skinny body to boot. Him and the other kids have a devious energy about them, almost a red haze misting over their eyes.

"Frisk, these guys are hooligans. Just go." Chara snaps. "They misgendered you, big whoop. People do that all the time with others. It's just how humans are."

Frisk crosses their arms, and the boy approaches with his gang of mostly males, with one or two females; Frisk can't really tell, due to haircuts and facial structure. The fact that they were misgendered suddenly makes sense to Frisk, who huffs through their nose.

"Why would you bring those freaks back up here?!" The boy shouts.

Frisk exhales with exasperation and shakes their head in disapproval, frowning. With a condescending finger wag and a tsk tsk tsk, Frisk earns the boy's ire rather quickly, seeing as he thwacks Frisk upside their head.

Chara immediately eyes this, almost like a robot sensing danger.

"They're MONSTERS! They deserve to stay under that volcano for all eternity!" The boy continues.

Frisk, realizing they cannot speak, atempts to, only making a quiet, airy croak, before stopping, and Chara shrugs.

"I can't help you here." Chara admits. "...unless... you let me take over your body?"

"Well?! Answer me!!" The boy orders.

Frisk nods, and Chara smiles.

"I understand, no other options." Chara nods.

Chara slowly fades into Frisk, with Frisk's eyes opening, and glowing red irises are in place of their rather wide eyes. This fact does not escape the boy, however, who makes a mental note of this.

"OK, listen." Chara begins, lightening their voice to be almost sweeter, and adding the slight, slight, slightest hint of some sort of accent, unknown to even themself. "I freed them all because they were miserable. They made jokes to keep hope alive that they didn't even know they still had. And the monsters I've come to accept as my family are all wonderful people, with actual lives. Even though most tried to kill me to start out with, they came to trust and love over time, and in turn, I ended up helping them in a majorly big way."

Sneaking up behind them, a member of the gang with a lead pipe is at the ready, silent.

"So... yeah. If that's all, I'll be on my way." Chara adds. "And to add onto that, it's just like humans. There are black humans, and white humans. Why judge monsters based on appearance? For something they can't help?"

"Just because they're nice to you doesn't mean that they deserve to go free. What about the other six kids that fell down there?!" The boy asks. "And why bring up race theory when they are not even of the human race?"

"The six humans were killed, sadly, as seven human SOULS were needed to break the barrier. I was the last one they needed, but a little flower monster took them all, including all of the SOULS of the monsters in the underground, and... it's a lot to take in, and to explain." Chara explains. "King Asgore wanted seven human SOULS to break the barrier when he really only could have used one to pass through, then gotten six more to break the barrier."

The kid behind them swings the pipe, and Chara avoids it easily without looking, shocking the other kids.

"And about that “race theory” thing." Chara continues. "Let's be honest here. If there were a monster that looked enough like a human as to where everything about them was human except for, like, a tail or something, you wouldn't give a god-damn. Anime has tons of those, right?"

The boy struggles to argue because Chara is right, in his mind.

"Well!! I...! You!! Shut up!! You're just defending them based on your experience with them!" The boy shouts. "If it were any of US, they would have hated us!"

"Because at least I have the decency to judge people based on personality and actions, and not just appearance or how scary they are." Chara snaps. "I gave them a chance to be nice. Because you hate them, they'd probably be dust on your palms."

Chara suddenly leaves Frisk's body, with Frisk's eyes closing, and their throat suddenly feels parched. The boy looks to the kid with the pipe, and the kid nods before swinging again, but Frisk avoids it, turns around and grabs the pipe from the kid, tossing it into the alley.

Frisk attempts to speak, but this only causes their throat more torment. Chara, saddened by this, feels their own chest.

That feeling... I was about to take Frisk's body from them. I shouldn't rob them of their happy future. Chara thinks before one of the kids swings at Frisk, who easily avoids it.

"...l... lea...v..." Frisk manages to say before they cough violently, getting on their hands and knees while blood comes out of their mouth.

The gang all smile at each other before grabbing a weapon each (be it a metal pipe, a stick, a shard of broken glass, etc.) and brandishing them. Chara looks worried as they all manage to shove Frisk into the alley.

"Now, let's try and clear this up, OK? What hurts more?" The boy asks with a wicked smile, lifting the knife in his hand to strike Frisk. "A, or B?"

The boy slashes Frisk's back with the knife first, causing blood to spill, then he stabs them in the back, ripping it out afterwards.

"A." Frisk answers, their voice still croaky and hoarse.

This earns the boy's ire.

"Alright, gang. Have your way with her." The boy scoffs.

The gang all chuckle and begin to harshly beat Frisk, blood spilling, bones snapping, ears ringing, eyes fading. Chara repeats apologies left and right, beginning to cry, and the boy steps forward.

"I'm finished with her now. Kill her." the boy orders.

The members of the group all look to the boy with utter shock, as if this is completely new.

"You.. you want us to kill her?? Anthony, I thought we were just gonna rough her up a little..." another member of the group states.

"Jason, if you wanna be a little bitch, then let ME do it and save me the trouble of having to listen to you whine." Anthony orders, taking the metal pipe from his hand.

Chara, upon hearing these words, has an epiphany, and remembers something long repressed that causes them to scream in rage, and Chara shines brightly, causing the gang to look directly at them, and Frisk's heart begins to beat harder in their chest.

Realizing that they can be seen, Chara instantly swirls around them all and stops in front of the boy.

"Your name. Now."

"A... A-Anthony."

"Anthony. Let me tell you something." Chara begins.

Chara then puts on their creepy face, a black liquid escaping their mouth and eyes.

"If you or any of your little gang members here lay another grubby little mitt on Frisk again, or misgender them again, I will PERSONALLY show you Hell..."

"Pfft, and who the hell do you think YOU are? Casper the Menstrual Cyclist?" Anthony asks, getting a laugh from his gang while Frisk attempts to stand.

One of the other members stomps on Frisk's back, keeping them on the ground as they wheeze once more.

"I am the demon that comes when people call its name. It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter where. Time after time, I will appear. Especially in your case. You manage to attack a helpless child, who only wanted to free those they befriended. You are SCUM." Chara monologues. "WORTHLESS scum. Not worth the blood off of your stepfather's boots."

Anthony turns pale at this accusation, and Chara, though they don't show it, is surprised.

I actually hit that on the money? Huh. Chara thinks to themselves, keeping up the act.

"I will give you one chance to turn away now. Or I WILL kill you."

Anthony looks to his friends, then back to Chara, and they begin to laugh their heads off, greatly angering Chara, who begins to laugh maniacally. This silences the members of the gang, who look confused or horrified. It instantly stops after about ten seconds, and they go to Anthony's ear.

"Tell Klarense I said “hi”."

Anthony, absolutely horrified at the fact that Chara knows his stepfather's name, runs off, and the other kids follow him as Chara instantly tends to Frisk.

"Are you alright?!" Chara asks, and Frisk collapses. "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God... no no no no no no no, come on... don't pass out now! I can barely go 20 feet away from you!"

Frisk doesn't say anything, or do anything. Chara begins to cry, shaking Frisk, as they can touch them now.

"Get up, get up! Please!" Chara sobs, sniffling. "You're the only good thing I have left!"

Upon hearing those words, Frisk's wounds begin to glow red, and they slowly fade away, along with their shirt recovering from the injury. Frisk slowly stands up to spot Chara crying with their hands on their face. Frisk smiles and hugs Chara tightly, with Chara hugging back.

"I... I thought you were really hurt..."

Frisk steps back and makes hand motions for a moment.

"It hurt for a minute, but when you heard me say what I said, you had the determination to see me smile again?" Chara asks, and Frisk shoots finger guns at Chara, who crosses their arms. "Whatever. Don't even flirt with me either, I didn't mean what I said."

Frisk smiles smugly.

"DON'T YOU GIVE ME THAT LOOK!! I... I was just, uh... practicing Shakespeare!" Chara argues.

Frisk snorts, and Chara flicks Frisk's forehead again, causing Frisk to flick Chara's forehead, and Chara winces.

"Fri~isk!!" Chara whines petulantly. "Ow!!"

Frisk giggles silently and heads out of the alley, walking along while Chara follows, being a brighter shade of red, even in the sunlight. Chara begins to him a 13 note melody to themself, with Frisk smiling and sitting on a bench so they can listen to Chara. Chara then begins to sing to themselves.

"♫It's not fair to be alone, after what you've been through. So let me just ease your pain, please let me stay with you.♫"

Chara stops and suddenly fades away, a sad expression on their face. Frisk, however, brings their SOUL out, touches it, and Chara fades into view again. Sniffling, Chara sits next to Frisk.

"We... we can talk about it." Chara admits. "I was thinking about Asriel again."

Frisk smiles and wraps an arm around Chara's shoulder.

"Th...thanks for, uh... being s-so nice to... to me."

Frisk nods and leans their head onto Chara's shoulder, who allows this. Chara then begins to smile widely, closing their eyes. Chara mutters something, but because of the blush on their face, Frisk chooses not to ask about it. Frisk exhales, and Chara looks at them, blushing as well.

"Are... are we having a moment?" Chara asks.

Frisk pauses, but shyly nods. The two look at each other, and Chara begins to shine brightly, their hearts beating as one. Frisk quickly realizes what's happening and sits up, quickly signing "sorry".

"You're OK, Frisk! It's fine!" Chara admits. "...I kinda enjoyed being comfy like that."

Frisk's squinted eyes go a bit wider before they smile a bit, and they adjust themselves on the bench.

"...if you want me to lay my head on your lap, you can forget it." Chara snaps, arms crossed.

Frisk pats their own lap with a smug smile, and Chara groans.

"FINE." Chara snaps, laying down.

Frisk smiles and begins to stroke Chara's head. They look down at Chara, who goes wide-eyed in surprise at this before quickly looking away, eyes shut tightly. Frisk taps Chara's shoulder and gets their attention before making hand movements.

"I-I AM NOT ACTING LIKE AN ANIME CHARACTER!!" Chara whines, punching Frisk's arm.

Frisk holds up one finger, and Chara scoffs.

"I'm done." Chara grumbles, going to sit up, but Frisk makes frantic signs. "Relax, we can do this back at the house where it's comfortable and not, like, a thousand degrees and we're sticking to each other."

Chara sits up, and Frisk stands up.

"We still have to walk around town some more until mom calls us and says dinner's ready."

Frisk looks at Chara with a troubled expression.

"If those kids come back, I'll show them pain. Count on that."

Frisk smiles and turns around, walking off. Chara follows, hands in their pockets. Yawning, Frisk stretches with their arms above their head.

"Tired already?" Chara asks, with Frisk looking at them and making signs. "Almost forgot about those little brats."

Frisk makes a few hand signs and movements again.

"I KNOW they look the same ages as us!" Chara snaps. "I just... I really hate it when people bully others! ...reminds me of what happened with me in MY past."

Frisk makes horns on their head with their fingers.

"No, the Dreemurrs were the best parents I ever had." Chara admits. "It was my OLD parents that made me feel that way."

Frisk nods and yawns again before cracking their neck to the sides. They accidentally bump into someone, who looks at Frisk.

The person they bumped into is taller than Frisk and Chara, with messy dark maroon hair and a golden-yellow skin tone. They wear a long-sleeved lime shirt with a single horizontal yellow stripe, and nondescript pants and shoes. The upper half of their face is overshadowed, which blocks visibility of their eyes.

Frisk quickly tries to sign "sorry", but the person chuckles and pats Frisk's head.

"You're fine." The person chimes, their voice being too deep to be a female's and too light to be a male's, but also mumbley and monotonous.

Chara crosses their arms.

"Frisk, if you're done talking with this creep, let's get a move on." Chara snaps.

The person looks right at Chara, which spooks them a bit.

"...can you see me?"

"Yep." The person nods. "Name's Kris."

Frisk smiles.

"That's an... interesting name. As you know, this is Frisk, and I'm Chara."

"Nice to meet you. Also, what are you? 12? 14?"

"We're 12, yeah."

"Cool. And Toriel has us in the same class, since students of all ages are in the same classes rather than in specialized learning groups like how schools are supposed to be." Kris exhales, rubbing their face.

Chara blinks, and after a double take with Frisk, they look back at Kris.

"You know mama too??"

"Yeah-huh. How can I explain this... I'm not from here. It's kinda the same as this, but... a bit different. Where I'm from, I was adopted by Toriel and Asgore, before they split. Now I'm here with a few of my friends, and the youngest's legal guardian after some fucky-wucky bullshit." 

Frisk, listening in, feels like they're being watched, so they look around.

"Something up?" Kris asks.

Frisk signs, and Kris hums.

"I don't think anyone could be near us, bud." Kris mutters, looking around.

"Move all that hair out of your face and find out for yourself." Chara scoffs.

"Nah." Kris replies.

"KRIS!" A gruff female voice barks, causing Frisk to jolt, and they look behind themselves.

They spot what looks to be a tall, purple, vaguely reptilian monster with freckles at the sides of her face and yellow teeth, being followed by a short creature wearing a wizard's outfit, complete with pastel-green tints on his clothes.

He also has a long magenta scarf wrapped around his neck and dons a pair of green colored glasses, and the purple girl has messy aubergine hair that hangs over her eyes, a long purple jacket, a white shirt with blue trims, a pair of torn jeans and a pair of black shoes.

The wizard has no hat and pink antlers, and he looks very similar to a Boss Monster. So much so that Chara can't stop staring at him.

"Thank goodness we found you! Why did you run off like that??" The wizard asks, his voice being strangely feminine for being a male, yet it's posh, elegant, and polite.

"I tried to find something to eat and I didn't wanna interrupt Susie's flirting with Noelle, OK?" Kris retorts.

The purple girl blushes at the accusation and puts Kris in a headlock.

"Shut up! It wasn't flirting! I was just asking her how the weather was!" Susie snarls, giving Kris a noogie.

Kris, however, gets out of her grip and flicks their hair back into place.

"And conversations lead to--" Kris argues before the wizard stands between them.

"Enough, you guys! We're scaring them!" The wizard complains, and Frisk, standing next to Kris, is not afraid whatsoever.

Looking down at them, Susie exhales roughly.

"Ah, jeez... I am NOT good with kids.." Susie grumbles, scratching behind her head. "this is a real pain in the neck..."

Susie then turns to the wizard.

"Ralsei, aren't you good at being friendly? Why don't YOU try and cheer them up??" Susie asks, arms crossed.

"M-me??" the wizard, named Ralsei, asks, incredulous, before he smiles. "I'd say you've gotten much better at being a friend!"

"They're fine, actually." Kris states simply.

Ralsei and Susie turn to Kris, and then look at Frisk, who's looking up at them. Ralsei smiles and claps his hands a bit.

"Well, that's even better! Now NONE of us have to try! Everyone wins!!" Ralsei cheers.

Chara, bored aleeady, groans.

"This guy reminds me so much of Asriel, it's not even funny." Chara scoffs. "But if he were even more of a weenie than usual."

"Did you tell 'em why we're here, Kris?" Susie mutters, and Kris nods. "Good."

Frisk walks over and hugs Ralsei, and Ralsei, surprised at this, hugs back awkwardly before they stand up and separate.

"Kris, Frisk seems like such a nice young... uh.. human! I hope we get to meet them again!" Ralsei chimes.

Ralsei whispers something to Kris, who nods at Ralsei, and Ralsei exhales in relief. Chara, having overheard them and inquisitive upon what a “Lightner” is, pockets this information for later use.

"We'll see 'em again. They'll be at that new school soon." Kris admits, with Ralsei smiling.

"Hooray!" Ralsei cheers, clapping his hands quietly.

"Anyways, we gotta bounce. Rouxls, that legal guardian, told us to find Lancer a while ago, and we haven't had even a trace of him yet. We've been looking all over town, and haven't found him." Kris explains.

Frisk attempts to use their words, but they just manage to croak, coughing again. They then clear their throat and attempt to sign.

"The reason we lost him is because he got on his bike a few hours ago and proceeded to ride off, the fire at the back if it actually propelling it into the air, and we figured he has to land somewhere by now." Kris explains before a small shadow casts upon the middle of them all.

A short and rotund black, blue and white creature with a teardrop-shaped head suddenly falls onto the ground, a cartoonish splat coming out of his landing. The upper half of his face is hidden by a large, spade-shaped shadow that light cannot pierce. He has a large mouth and a prominent blue tongue that he sticks out.

"Owchies."

"Lancer?! How the hell did you get that high into the air?!" Susie asks as she helps the creature, presumably “Lancer”, up.

Once Lancer stands up, he spins around and hits a pose.

"I dunno! I actually landed a while ago, but I climbed on top of a house and rode off, but I landed here!" Lancer explains. "I don't know where my bike is though, but—"

Lancer is interrupted by his bike landing on the street, and it's run over by a car passing by.

"Found it." Kris chuckles.

Lancer sulks at this, and Frisk slowly backs away before turning around and walking off. Chara follows, and Frisk's phone buzzes. They check it to see that it's a text from Papyrus.

' GREETINGS, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE FINISHED COOKING!

FEEL FREE TO COME BY AT ANY TIME!

...WELL, NOT ANY TIME. IT'S GOING TO GET COLD IF YOU COME BACK TOO LATE.

COME BACK IMMEDIATELY!!! >:D

NYEHFULLY YOURS, PAPYRUS'

"Did he type that as he was thinking and didn't bother to hit the backspace button?" Chara thinks out loud.

Frisk smiles and starts running, with Chara following again, placing their hands on their spine to try and crack it, cursing themselves out when they fail to. When they arrive at the house, they step inside, getting their boots off at the front door.

"Ah, my child! Welcome back!" Toriel cheers. "How was your little adventure around town?"

Frisk, remembering the kids in the alley, suddenly frowns, and scratches their arm nervously. Toriel, immediately realizing something is wrong, looks worried.

"Is something the matter, my child?" Toriel asks.

Sans simply appears next to Toriel, hands in his pockets.

* yeah, what's eatin' ya, kid? i haven't seen you this worked up since you got done fighting mettaton.

Frisk exhales and attempts to explain, but shakes their head.

"DID SOMETHING BAD HAPPEN WHILE YOU WERE AWAY??" Papyrus asks from the kitchen.

Frisk looks at Chara, who crosses their arms.

"I... I don't want to talk as you again. I'm not taking over your body."

Frisk rubs their face, but is comforted by a nice warm soft hug from Toriel.

"Relax, my child. Allow me to make everything better." Toriel coos, with Frisk hugging back. "I do so very much enjoy hugs, tee hee."

Papyrus comes out of the kitchen, a plate of spaghetti in both hands.

"PERHAPS THIS STORY CAN BEGIN ONCE WE BEGIN OUR FEAST!" Papyrus chimes.

Toriel turns to him and nods, smiling.

"An excellent idea, Papyrus." Toriel replies softly.

Everyone takes their seats, and Papyrus leaves to get the cheesy garlic bread he managed to bake and not burn. Frisk takes this opportunity to try to explain everything that happened, but their monster sign language isn't the most advanced, nor do they know many words. The main idea gets across, however, and Toriel gasps, placing her hands over her mouth, and Sans' pupils disappear for a moment.

"Oh my goodness! Are you harmed?" Toriel asks.

Frisk shakes their head, and Sans exhales.

* i'm just glad that YOU didn't start anything this time.

* come to think of it, you never really do, huh?

Frisk nods, resting their chin on the table with their folded arms under it. They jolt and frantically sign, causing Sans to laugh a bit.

* hey, relax. undyne won't know until you're ready to tell her yourself. lord knows we need THAT headache right now.

Frisk exhales deeply as Chara pats Frisk's shoulder, and Sans smiles wider at this.

They're trying, that's for sure. Sans thinks, chuckling.

"What is so funny, Sans?" Toriel asks.

* heh heh, my bad. just thinkin' to myself.

Frisk looks at Sans, whose pupils shift to Chara for a moment, then back to where he was looking prior. Papyrus returns with more plates, and sets them down in front of those who don't have a plate yet before sitting down himself.

* bone appétit.

Toriel, Chara and Frisk all laugh at the joke, and Papyrus' extremely dramatic and negative reaction.

"SANS!! DO NOT RUIN THIS AMAZING MEAL WITH YOUR JOKES!!" Papyrus snaps.

* c'mon bro, you can't be mad at me for making bad jokes when you made more jokes than i did when frisk was underground. count 'em.

Realizing this, Papyrus chuckles.

"YOU FAIL TO REALIZE THAT BAD PUNS AND CLEVER WORDPLAY ARE ENTIRELY DIFFERENT BEASTS TO CONQUER, SANS!! THE VERY ESSENCE OF HUMOR IS COOKED MUCH LIKE A PLATE OF THE FINEST BOLOGNESE YOU CAN GET FROM THE LOCAL SUPERMARKET!" Papyrus begins, standing up on his chair and posing about dramatically. "IT TAKES WIT! TIMING!! INTELLIGENCE!! AND A DECENT SENSE OF HUMOR, TO EXECUTE PROPERLY! AND YOU, DEAR BROTHER OF MINE, LACK ALL OF THAT, SAVE FOR INTELLIGENCE!!"

* puns ARE wordplay, bro.

"SILENCE!!" Papyrus immediately shouts, bending down considerably to poke Sans on the head.

"Papyrus, please calm yourself, hee hee." Toriel chimes. "Sans is correct, and as are you. Humor, though subjective, is an artform. Like cooking."

Papyrus plops back down in his seat, smoothing his nonexistent hair back with a flippant sigh.

"I HOPE YOU'RE RIGHT... AS MUCH AS I DISLIKE SANS' PUNS, HE SIMPLY MAKES TOO MANY FOR THEM TO TRULY BE ENJOYABLE." Papyrus explains. "...SOMETIMES."

* "sometimes"?

"WELL, WHENEVER I, PAPYRUS, AM HAVING A BAD DAY, SHOCKING, I KNOW, I SIMPLY REMEMBER THE FUNNIEST THING YOU SAID IN RECENT MEMORY, AND IT MAKES ME FEEL A LITTLE BIT BETTER. JUST DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK WHEN IT COMES TO MORE AFTER THIS STATEMENT." Papyrus explains.

Sans pats Papyrus on the shoulder of his battle body, smiling wider than usual.

* don't worry, bro. i'm not gonna torment you anymore, as you would put it.

"I NEVER SAID YOU HAD TO STOP FOREVER! JUST, TONE IT DOWN A BIT! WE'RE ON THE SURFACE NOW, SANS!!" Papyrus admits. "AND BESIDES, NOW YOU CAN PURCHASE A BOOK OF JOKES TO ENHANCE YOUR HUMOR!"

* that's a good point. let's eat, then discuss this later. frisk had a bad day today walkin' around town, and i figure they just wanna hit the hay.

Papyrus gasps, his hands flying to his skull immediately.

"OH NO! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Papyrus asks frantically.

* apparently, a few brats recognized them, misgendered them, and got a lucky shot in trying to attack them. all because they didn't like monsters too much. it's called "racism".

"I KNOW WHAT RACISM IS, SANS. I'M NOT A FOOL! AND I WOULD LIKE TO DECLARE THAT IT IS THE TRUE ROOT OF ALL EVIL!! I HOPE THE GUARDIAN ANGELS SENT ONE FOR YOU!!" Papyrus exclaims. "WE ALL NEED ONE IN THESE TRYING TIMES, AM I RIGHT?"

Chara smiles and begins to shine brightly, unbeknownst to them, and all eyes (or eyesockets) are on them. Toriel's eyes widen significantly at this, and Papyrus smiles.

"WOWIE! THEY DID SEND YOU ONE!!" Papyrus chimes, and Chara realizes they're being seen, and they instantly fly off. "MUST BE SHY."

Toriel freezes in place. "Was it me, or did that spirit look... awfully familiar?"

* it's probably you. i mean, it could just be frisk's determination manifest.

Toriel, suspicious, sadly puts a hand to her chin and looks down.

"I.. suppose..." Toriel admits.

"IF I KNEW WE WERE GOING TO HAVE COMPANY, I WOULD HAVE MADE MORE SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus chimes.

* you need to ask undyne to teach you more pasta to make, bro.

"LIKE WHAT? MACARONI AND CHEESE?" Papyrus asks. "YOU KNOW WHY I SWORE OFF LASAGNA."

* nah, nevermind. don't need you past-ing away from overeggsertion.

"WHAT DID WE JUST TALK ABOUT?!" Papyrus groans in agony as Sans, Toriel and Frisk chuckle.

After they finish eating, Frisk walks upstairs to find Chara in the corner.

"Go away."

Frisk smiles and pats Chara's shoulder.

"Leave me alone."

Frisk hugs Chara from behind, and Chara exhales, crying.

"FRISK. Toriel SAW me. I can't go back down there. She didn't even recognize me, which is a start. But the fact stands that she SAW ME." Chara snaps. "She could remember the genocide runs via timeline fuckery."

Frisk rubs Chara's shoulders, and Chara allows this.

"I just... I just want her to forget I existed. I wasn't a good person. I'm still not a good person. If she ever finds out I am who she thought I was when she saw me, I don't know what's gonna happen."

* little too late for that.

Frisk and Chara turn around, and Toriel and Papyrus are with Sans, while Toriel has her hands over her mouth.

"...my child? Is.. is that truly you?"

Chara explains everything they did, why they exist, and how they're connected to Frisk. Toriel and Papyrus listen intently, as Sans already knew this, and more.

"I... I cannot believe that you exist... in some way..." Toriel sobs.

Chara exhales, rubbing their face.

"I understand why you're crying, but please don't. I don't deserve them. I made dad sick. I made monsters hate humans as much as I do until Frisk came along." Chara explains. "I made that stupid plan for Asriel to absorb my SOUL. I made that stupid mistake of asking him to take me back to the flowers in my village."

Chara then tearfully begins to blabber, their words becoming unintelligible. Toriel approaches, kneels down and opens her arms for a hug, which Chara accepts in a heartbeat.

"It is alright, my child. I am here." Toriel utters.

Chara, unable to hold her tears back, merely continues to sob. Toriel smiles and chuckles pathetically, shaking her head.

"I see." Toriel says in a soothing voice. "You do not need to shed any more tears, my darling Chara."

"...OK."

"It is getting late. And you have school in a few months. Go to bed, and we will discuss this at a later date." Toriel orders calmly.

"OK, mama."

Frisk enters their room, and lays down on their bed.

"Welcome back. After not talking to me all day." Flowey grumbles.

Frisk ignores Flowey and closes their eyes to sleep.

"Don't you ignore me!" Flowey shouts.

Chara enters the room next.

"Shut up, Asriel. They've had a long day." Chara snaps.

"Like I care." Flowey snaps. "Sleep if you want, just don't bother dragging me to school with you."

Chara crosses their arms.

"You're going."

"Says who?"

"Says ME."

Flowey begins to laugh hysterically until Chara grabs Flowey's stem (the closest thing to his neck) roughly, and Flowey winces in pain.

"OK, OK! Jeez, I don't have a lot of HP as a flower, you know!" Flowey growls.

"That's better. Sleep tight, Azzy."

"No."

Chara fades away, and Flowey looks outside the window, his eyes fixated on the moon.

"The surface..." Flowey says to himself. "...at least everyone's free now."

END OF CHAPTER ONE