Chapter Text
It was time.
...
Frisk walked into a grand hall, sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows. They must be close to the surface now, for that to happen.
Someone was standing there, waiting for them - Sans, an easy grin on his face and his hands outstretched to sign his words.
*You've done a great job, getting this far,* he signed, making Frisk beam with pride. *Just got a couple last things to tell you, then you can go on your way, okay?*
...
Frisk kept their stick in front of them, using it to make sure that they didn't bump into anything. As they stepped into another room, they could feel some kind of warmth.
They paused for a moment, taking it in. Sunlight. They could feel sunlight shining in on their skin. They must be nearly there. Hopefully, Flowey would show up soon.
The child kept walking forward, directly past the skeleton that was standing there, observing them.
He did not say a word, and neither did Frisk.
...
Chara ran, determination fueling their way. Nothing was going to stop them now. They didn't even stop to take a second to appreciate the beauty of the grand hall they had stepped into, they just kept moving.
Papyrus was standing in front of them, a nervous Sans hovering by his side.
"kiddo - "
But Chara didn't stop, running right past them. Sans reached out, as if to try and stop them, but Papyrus shook his head.
It was already too late for that.
...
Chara moved purposefully, neither rushing nor walking slow, and entered the hall with a calm certainty surrounding them.
They were almost at the end. Temmie would be there, as they had promised. Chara had nothing to worry about, and they would repeat it to themself as many times as they had to.
There was no one else in the hall, and Chara moved on unimpeded.
...
Frisk walked into the throne room, brow furrowed as they pondered what Sans had told them.
Love, not LOVE, huh? To be honest, the whole thing had kind of gone over their head, since they had no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed very passionate about it, so they had tried their best to listen.
Now, however, they had something else to deal with.
Standing in front of them, a gentle expression on his face as he watered the flowers, was the King.
Asgore.
He noticed them approach, and his smile faltered. No words needed to be spoken - they both knew why they were here.
Setting the watering can aside, Asgore nodded to them, a little sadly. Frisk only smiled.
They were going to get through this. And they would do it without anyone getting hurt, or killed. They repeated that enough times in their mind that it had to be engraved there, and their determination pushed them onwards.
Frisk followed Asgore as he walked forward, and he vanished through one final doorway. Floating next to the doorway was another golden star, and Frisk poked it almost compulsively, feeling a rush of determination as they did so.
They were ready. As ready as they were ever going to be, at least.
"Forgive me, child," Asgore said gravely, looking down upon them when they followed him into the room. Behind him, the barrier glowed a brilliant white, and seven soul containers raised from the floor. "But for the future of monsterkind... This must be done."
In his hands appeared a huge trident, the color of blood.
"Goodbye."
...
Frisk kept walking, even though Flowey had yet to appear. He said that he would be there, so they would just have to trust that he would keep his word. Eventually, they turned into a room, and stepped on something... soft.
They sniffed the air lightly. There was something sweet, a scent that they couldn't quite place for a moment. But then it came to them - flowers.
"So, you have arrived..." a voice rumbled. "Follow me."
Frisk gripped their stick a little tighter, fighting back the urge to run away. Flowey wasn't here yet, but he would be. He would be.
They followed the sound of Asgore's footsteps, heading out of the throne room. At one point, they passed by another one of those heated spots.
Frisk backtracked a little, reaching out to wave their hand through the spot like they had before. Somehow, it just seemed... important.
But then they kept moving, stepping into the room where Asgore was waiting. There was a strange humming in the air, and a pressure that kept Frisk glued to the spot.
"This is the barrier," Asgore said. "The prison that is keeping all monsters trapped underground."
Frisk heard a click and a hissing noise, indicating that something was rising from the floor. There was a loud clang, and Asgore slammed his summoned weapon against the ground.
"And now, the barrier will finally be broken!"
...
With adrenaline still running through their veins, Chara slid into the throne room, panting from exertion.
The Queen was there, and she observed them silently for a long moment, before sighing.
"Come," she said formally, sweeping her robes out behind her in a big gesture as she walked out of the room. "It is time we end this."
Chara scowled, feeling rather insulted at being ordered around like that, but they obeyed. They remembered Asgore's words from the beginning of this whole mess, and kept one hand on their knife.
Were they ready? If they wanted to leave here, they would have to kill the Queen. Could they do that? Could they trust themself to go through with it?
They didn't know, but they were sure as hell going to try. Chara slashed their hand through the golden star that they passed by, not even slowing down. In the next area, Toriel was waiting, a solemn expression on her face.
"Child..." she began, fire beginning to circle her hands. "I do not want to hurt you. I have never wanted to cause harm to anyone. But the circumstances of this place leave me with no choice. I hope you understand."
Chara snorted, brandishing their knife at her. Sure, they understood. They understood that Toriel had been under pressure to fix things, and had decided to take the easy way out. Killing children really solves the problem quick, doesn't it?
But they weren't going to just roll over and die. Chara was going to win.
...
When Chara stepped into the throne room, calling out a polite greeting, they were met with a large goat woman in ornate robes. The Queen.
She had a crown that seemed to weigh heavily on her head, and sad, sad eyes.
"Child..." she mumbled, staring at Chara without making a move, as if putting any more effort in would cause her to dust instantly. "You should not have come here."
"Is this not what I am meant to do?" Chara said quietly. Some part of them almost felt guilty for disturbing her, but this was truly the only way. Chara could not stay in the Underground, and the monsters didn't want to either.
However way this ended today, it was going to end.
"Very well," Toriel sighed, getting up from her throne and beginning to walk away. "We might as well get this over with. If you decide to run, I will not hold it against you."
"Thank you for the offer," Chara said, dipping their head slightly in respect. "I don't plan on it, however."
She only blinked morosely, as if she had expected such a thing, but had been hoping for the opposite anyway.
Toriel lead them along, and Chara chanced a glance around, wondering where Temmie was. Didn't they say that they would be here? Hadn't they promised?
They didn't see Temmie, but they did see another one of those golden stars. Casually, Chara swiped their hand through it as they walked by, feeling a surge of determination as they did so.
Temmie or no Temmie, they were going to do this.
Toriel lead them directly in front of the barrier, and she raised her hand, causing seven strange containers to rise from the ground. They had small, floating hearts in them, all but one.
Human souls.
Chara took this in with a calm expression, and then shifted their gaze to Toriel. The Monarch's gaze turned to steel, despite the tiredness still present, and she reached out with hands wreathed in fire.
"This is the end."
...
Frisk dodged and dodged and dodged, never striking out but still trying to reason with the King. Asgore, whether he could actually read their frantic signing or not, didn't respond, his expression merely becoming tight as he threw waves of fire and struck at them with his trident.
At one point, while trying to dodge another swing of his weapon, Frisk accidentally stumbled to the side - directly into the path of Asgore's fire.
...
Frisk stayed perfectly still, and was speared through by a red trident in the first second.
...
Chara struck out, cleaving line after line into Toriel's body, ignoring their own blood that was starting to cake their hands.
They ignored the fire burning them, the way their vision was getting blurry, everything. They could only concentrate on their goal. If they did anything else, they would -
Blood dripping from their mouth, Chara finally didn't manage to dodge in time.
...
Chara did not attack, but didn't stay idle, either. They were stalling, trying to make time for Temmie to fulfill their promise.
Temmie did not come, but Toriel's fire did.
...
The four of them met up again, staring at each other in silence for a moment.
Then they spoke, with one translating for the blind Frisk. They spoke about what they had been through, what they thought was happening, what they thought they should do.
One Frisk signed the word mercy, and the other shrugged helplessly. Both of the red-eyed children fingered the knives in their grip thoughtfully, and thought about what they could do.
Then, as one, their determination surging, they returned to the barrier, in front of their final enemy.
...
They woke up in the dark place again.
Chara signed Asriel's story, and the other one shared their suspicions about Temmie. Frisk spoke about Flowey, about the connection between them. The last child did nothing, for a long time, and then signed about the skeleton brothers, and Undyne, and Mettaton and Alphys.
They signed about Muffet and the spiders, the monsters they had talked to, everyone. Frisk told the rest about their Mother, about the nice ice cream man, about the things that were waiting for them on the surface.
Frisk told them the one thing that they all knew - they had to keep going. They had to try again.
...
And again.
...
And again.
...
Frisk was crying, and maybe Chara was too, maybe they all were, but they still hadn't given up. Not yet, not yet.
...
It had been who knows how many times, and Frisk was starting to lose hope, and then -
Then, a huge wave of fire appeared in front of Frisk, blocking off Asgore before he could even attack.
Frisk spun around, eyes widening in shock. This had never happened before.
Standing before them, her face set with a determination that could be matched by no other, was Toriel.
...
Frisk wasn't giving up, Flowey had said he would come so he would, they knew he would -
But when Asgore's attack was blocked off, they didn't even have to fake their surprise. Flowey didn't use fire attacks, they could feel the heat coming off of it. So, who...?
"That's enough," Toriel's strong voice said, and Frisk was frozen in shock when the woman gently brushed past them, planting herself firmly in Asgore's path. "There will be no more death. No more killing. I will not allow it."
...
Before Chara could even have a chance to draw their knife once more, a giant fluffy paw on their shoulder stopped them. For one wild moment, they thought it was Asriel, but then they looked up.
Asgore was standing there, a severe expression on his face.
"I will not allow this to continue any further," he rumbled, facing down Toriel, who couldn't help but falter in the face of his conviction. "You have done enough, and I have not done nearly enough. This must end now."
...
Chara took a deep breath, trying not to lose their nerve after everything. Temmie may have left them, or maybe something else was going on, but it didn't matter.
Those other kids... They were all trying their best too, and they didn't have allies there to back them up. Chara would not let them down, would not forsake the agreement they had all made when they met in the dark place for what they hoped would be the final time.
Chara raised their knife, preparing to rush Toriel before she could get in a good hit.
But then - they stopped, a furry paw catching their elbow.
"Thank you, child," Asgore said, giving them a small nod before he swept forward, facing a startled-looking Toriel. "But I will take it from here."
...
Monsters gathered in support, showing up one after the other. Some grudgingly, some only because they wanted to see what would happen, but they all came.
One way or another, they wanted everything to end today.
...
"If I let this go on, what would I say to our dear children when I go to meet them someday? If we truly want to live in peace, we must start here."
...
"Fighting like this... it has only weakened us. Continuing on this path will not give us anything but more grief. Please, Asgore."
...
"Toriel... Please. We have changed. Everyone has, including the humans. There is no need to continue on a pointless crusade that has only hurt us, and taken the lives of six innocent children."
...
"What good does this do us? You can kill the child, yes. And then what? Return to the surface in victory? Think that the humans will not retaliate for their dead children, as we have for ours? If we wish to return to the surface and actually stay there, we cannot end this with violence."
...
"It must end here."
...
"You know what?" a new voice said, drawing everyone's attention.
Someone shouted in dismay - pointing. Look! It was a monster, breaking open the soul containers.
"You're absolutely right," this monster continued, giving the gathered assembly a wicked grin. "It ends here!"
...
Everything faded away - but this time, it came to white, not black.
When Frisk looked to the side, trying frantically to figure out what was going on, they could see a faint afterimage of Chara, scowling as they brandished their knife to what looked like a huge, scary version of Monster Kid.
In front of them, Asriel smirked, the dark lines on his fur making the expression more menacing than it had any right to be.
"At first, I thought you were Chara," he said, making Frisk jolt in surprise. "But then I realized... You're just an idiot. You think you'll be able to change things like this? Help the monsters? You're wrong. And by absorbing everyone's souls, I'll be able to prove it. I have the power of a god now! No one can stop me!"
...
"Flowey..." Frisk whispered, their voice trembling. They recognized the one that was speaking and they had no idea what was going on. Why would he do this?
"No," he said, voice strong and confident in a way that Frisk had never heard from him before. "My name is Asriel. And I'm going to bring an end to this world, this world that has caused everyone so much pain and suffering. I'll remake it! I'll change things so that everyone can be happy, including you Frisk!"
...
"You fool..." Monster Kid sneered, a positively ugly expression on their face. "Did you really think that you would win?"
Chara outright snarled at them, trying to reconcile this creature with the happy and kind monster that Frisk had told them all about.
"You may have been able to rally the other monsters around you, even my stupid brother, but that won't change a thing," they continued, floating high up into the air. "I'm going to end everything! I'll destroy this world that dared to take my sibling away from me and left me to suffer this way!"
...
"Please, forgive me," Monster Kid cried, tears streaming down their face. They had shed the guise of 'Temmie', revealing their true form once again.
Chara only took a deep breath, and faced them. "What do you plan to accomplish with this?"
"I want to... I want to change things!" they said, throwing their arms out. "I can make this world into something better, something that will finally allow all of us to know peace! So, please - "
...
"JUST LET ME WIN!"
...
..
.
[ S A V E ]
.
...
...
Asriel was the one crying now, losing his intimidating form and falling to his knees.
"I'm so alone, Chara..." he whimpered. "You left, and now I'm all alone!"
Someone patted him on the head, gently. He looked up to see Frisk standing there, with a smile.
*You're not alone,* they signed. *Just look around!*
And so, he did.
Somehow, standing near them was another version of himself, and another Frisk. And... Chara. There was two different versions of Chara, both standing next to a monster that greatly resembled Monster Kid.
They all crowded around each other, the monsters looking utterly baffled while the human children gave each other knowing looks.
"It's alright," one of the Chara's said soothingly. "We can explain everything. And I think that you all will actually be able to help fill in some of the gaps."
The Monster Kid standing next to them sniffled, clinging to their sleeve. "O-Okay."
All of the human children took turns explaining what they knew, with the monsters interjecting once in a while to ask questions or share astonished exclamations at what had gone on.
Eventually, they came to some kind of conclusion.
Four different timelines, four different universes, crossing paths in such a strange and profound way. An event nexus like no other.
They decided that they had to come up with a name for these universes, something to keep them separated so they could make the distinctions easier. They bickered about what to call them for quite some time, but eventually settled on a naming theme that they were all happy with:
Undertale, Underfell, Underswap, and Swapfell.
Frisk, the one from the newly-dubbed 'Undertale', thought they had a nice ring to them.
"So, what do we do now?" the Asriel from Underfell said quietly, holding one of his Frisk's hands. He had been translating for them, since they couldn't see the sign language that two of the other children used. "Do we just RESET? Would that even help anything?"
"Don't be an idiot," scoffed the Underswap Monster Kid. "RESETing wouldn't fix the problem, since the problem is the barrier. And we can't hold all of these souls inside of us for long. We'll return to our former useless bodies soon enough, so if something is going to happen, it better be quick."
"We should break the barrier," the other Monster Kid blurted out, before shying away somewhat as everyone stared at them incredulously. "I-I mean, we should have enough power, right? And if we all work together..."
The original Asriel, the one from Undertale, had been silent for a while. He was still trying to wrap his mind around things, trying to process the fact that in another universe, there was versions of his sibling that were still alive and well.
"If we break the barrier..." he said slowly, catching their attention. "What would happen to all of us, here? Would we go back to our own timelines and never see each other again?"
There was a stark silence.
*I don't know,* Frisk signed. They really did seem regretful, but despite everything, they were still determined. *But we have to try. Even if we don't see each other again, we can be happy knowing that everyone is living on the surface, finally able to see the sun.*
Everyone glanced around, looking at reactions and waiting to see if anyone would interject. No one did.
"Okay... okay. Let's do this."
...
"It's time... for monsters to finally go free!"
...
There was a sudden sound, like someone dropping a plate, or breaking a window, or cracking open the space between worlds.
The barrier shook, stubbornly resisting up to the last moment, before it finally shuddered and broke right down the middle.
And there was -
Sunlight.
...
Chara let out a grunt, pushing away whoever had decided it was a good idea to elbow them in the kidney, only to be met with Frisk's shocked face. What?
They sat up, looking around, and it was true!
Asgore was standing there, but so was three other Asgores all looking equally confused. They could see different versions of the skeleton brothers, different Undynes, different everyone!
Everyone was here, together. They had done it.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" a very angry version of Sans yelled.
The one that Chara was more familiar with, wearing a blue bandana, squawked with outrage. "LANGUAGE!"
That was the moment that everything exploded into chaos. Weapons were drawn, but thankfully no one attack just yet, more confused than anything.
"Wait, wait!" the other Chara called out, holding their hands up in surrender. By their feet, Temmie was cowering into themself.
At the reminder, Chara looked down and saw the Temmie that they had encountered when they first fell to the Underground. Temmie glanced up and stuck their tongue out, but made no move to attack, so they were just going to take what they could get.
"Um, I think we may be able to explain some of this..." Frisk said timidly, holding Flowey in their arms as they stepped forward.
The Toriel from that universe bristled when everyone's focus went to them, moving in front of the child with their arms outstretched.
"If the children believe that they can help, we will let them," she said severely. "If anyone thinks to interfere, they will know the fury of my flames!"
Everyone nodded eagerly, not wanting to get on her bad side any time soon. Amusingly enough, Chara noticed the Toriel from Undertale watching her counterpart and nodding in agreement.
Swapfell Chara gestured for the other children to come closer, and they all did so. Together, they spoke to the gathered monsters in front of them, and Chara noticed that one of the robots, a pink one not unlike Napstaton, was broadcasting the entire scene. He must have a TV station, like Napstaton, so he was letting everyone know what was going on.
Haltingly, and in bits and pieces, the children told everyone what they knew, if not the specifics of it. They mentioned meeting with their counterparts when they first fell to the Underground, and how confused and lost they all were.
Chara signed their part of the story, ignoring Sans and Papyrus' startled looks when they did so. The other Chara did most of the talking, however - not only did they seem polite and nice, they were really good at bullshitting.
No one mentioned the times that they had died, or any other horrible experiences they'd had while Underground. They mentioned only the kindness that they had witnessed, the times when they had been helped, and helped others in return.
The children from the 'darker' universes went out of their way to emphasize their gratitude, towards all monsters but their companions especially.
Frisk spoke candidly about how their blindness had always made things different for them, but how Flowey had worked together with them to make sure that they stayed safe, never making them feel dumb or invalid. The monsters from Frisk's universe all reacted with shock when they realized that Frisk was blind, making Chara want to question their intelligence a bit.
Frisk never opened their eyes!! What other explanation could there be?
But still, the children all worked together, trying their hardest to make everyone get along, and understand just what it meant that they were together now.
Things were going to be so different, but they were free!
On that note, Chara also made sure to bring up what they were planning to tell the humans about all this.
Some of the monsters had protested, saying that they were going to wage war against humans, so what did it really matter? But they were brutally shot down, not only by monsters from the 'kinder' universes, but also by their own Rulers.
"There will be no more bloodshed," the dark-robed Asgore said, giving his Undyne a disapproving look. "Nothing will be gained from it. Nothing that we want."
Chara silently let out a sigh of relief. It would have been a huge fucking waste to go through all this, only to end up in an apocalyptic wasteland afterwards.
"Hey..." Frisk spoke up in the ensuing silence, turning to where the other children had been standing. Automatically, Chara reached out their hand and patted the other child on the shoulder, letting them know that they were all still standing here. "I know that we're all together in here, but which universe is it going to be on the outside?"
That was... a legitimate question.
"Let's go find out, shall we?" Chara said calmly, regarding them all with a smile that looked almost genuine. They turned to the Asgore and Toriel from their universe, gesturing for them to go on. "Would your majesties like to do the honors?"
Asgore rumbled out a low laugh, and even the exhausted-looking Toriel cracked a grin.
"Why not have you children go first?" she suggested gently. "You have earned this, I believe."
Chara smirked, and their counterpart did the same.
"Thank you."
As one, the small ragtag group turned, making their way for an exit marked by sunlight. Behind them, all of monsterkind was following.
Chara stepped through the doorway, and was back out on top of the mountain.
Everyone else was still there, they hadn't disappeared or otherwise vanished. This wasn't a dream, or a nightmare.
It was really over.
...
Or so everyone would have liked to think.
Man, Sans thought wryly, humans sure liked to be bureaucratic about things, huh?
He stuffed his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, leaning back in his chair. It felt like they had all been here for a month already, even though it had only been a couple of days. Had to hand it to them, though - the humans were working as fast as they could, trying to get everyone a temporary citizenship card and a place to stay.
Sans had been skeptical at first. Were the humans really gonna go out of their way to try and help monsters?
But, so far, it had been pretty legit. And besides, Frisk had gone out of their way to help monsters, hadn't they?
...Frisk. Sans let out a sigh, shoulders drooping. The humans had been accommodating about everything else, but not that.
As soon as the news had broke, as soon as they had explained that they were not here to try and take over the world or anything of that nature, the kids had been whisked away, and not one of them had been seen yet.
He knew that Tori was spitting mad, and the one from Underfell was too. The 'swap' Asgores weren't too happy about it either, and becoming increasingly unhappy every time their request to see the children was denied.
See, that was one thing that Sans didn't get - they had managed to frame this whole thing as weird magic bullshit, so nobody knew that all the monsters were technically from four different universes. But upon learning that this was Frisk's (their Frisk, the one that he adored) native universe, the kid had been quick to claim that the other children were their siblings, who they had left to try and find.
'Left'? What did that mean? Sans knew that the kid must have a family up here somewhere, but had the kid run away or something?
He didn't know, but he did know that right after that happened, several stern-looking police officers had come in and taken all four children away.
The humans had been nice and understanding about everything else, but not that. They wouldn't explain why the children had been taken, or where they were now.
One of his counterparts, the one from Swapfell, was especially angry, always complaining about Temmie keeping him up with their crying, or something like that. Sans could tell that he was just concerned, though.
And, man, wasn't that a weird thing to witness? After everything that had been happening to him recently, alternate universes wasn't even the weirdest thing, but it was still definitely up there.
Still, though... He was more worried about Frisk. Frisk, who was so kind and gentle, and tried their hardest to be a good person no matter what. Frisk, who had looked so utterly devastated when the police officers had pulled them aside.
He didn't know what was going on, but he was going to find out.
...
Frisk had a confession to make.
They had always known that their mother was dead.
They didn't want to admit it. Not to anyone, and especially not to themself. They would have rather been in denial, and died after jumping off a stupid mountain, just like they planned.
It may seem stupid, but... You have to understand.
Frisk was deaf. They had been since the day that they were born. And their mother was everything to them. She was the sun and moon, she was all the stars in the sky. For a long, long time, she was the only voice that Frisk had, the only one who would look at them instead of looking through them.
Frisk knew that they still weren't very old, but they were old enough. Old enough to know to know that when someone stops moving, and isn't breathing, and won't wake up whatever you do...
They're dead.
Frisk knew that. They were many things, but an idiot was not one of them.
But what else could they do? Accept it? Accept that the only good thing in their life was gone forever, and about to be replaced by a parade of faceless people that would take Frisk in for a few months in order to look good for the neighbors before being dumped onto someone else?
No. Frisk would rather die.
Which was what they had set out to do, really.
The others weren't so different. Underfell Frisk claimed that they had gotten lost, had wandered onto the mountain by accident, but they weren't an idiot either. No one does that accidentally, no one goes literally all the way up to the mountain's peak before saying, hey, maybe this isn't the park after all.
Chara had signed, hesitantly and with a dash of embarrassment, that they didn't really remember how they had gotten up the mountain. They only remembered being really angry and upset, and then waking up at the peak. They didn't answer why they had fallen into the mountain, and Frisk got the feeling was that it was because they were too ashamed to say that they had jumped.
Swapfell Chara, that same strange smile on their lips, had merely said that they had been running away from home, trying to teach their parents a lesson. Well, ha, guess it really worked now, they added, sounding just the tiniest bit bitter.
Yeah, that was another thing - one that Frisk couldn't help but feel secretly grateful for. The other kids had families, families that were alive and mostly around and maybe even looking for them, but they could never go back.
Chara would never see their father again, and Frisk would never get to see the foster family that had taken them in again.
Frisk didn't like to admit it, because it made them seem cruel and nasty, but they were glad. If they could not have their mother, they really didn't want the other kids to have theirs, as bad as that sounded.
Of course, they didn't say any of that out-loud. And to their credit, none of the other children made fun of Frisk for what they had revealed, about the depths to which their delusion had gone. Chara had even signed, gruffly, that they had done plenty of worse things, including literally stabbing people, so there wasn't much room for judgement.
That, more than anything else, made Frisk grateful. This was not the situation that they wanted, not really the ending that they had hoped for.
But it was probably the best one, even though their mother wasn't there to share it with them.
...
Papyrus was tired. This wasn't exactly a grand revelation, or a new development, but it was particularly pertinent right now.
After all, digging through police files without getting caught was not an easy feat by any means, and he'd really had to work his non-existent ass off to find out what he now knew.
"SO, WHAT IS IT?" demanded the Swapfell counterpart of his brother, making Papyrus shoot him an irritated look.
"i have it right here, keep your shorts on," he drawled, waving his phone to show the photos he'd taken of the police reports.
Swapfell Sans looked ready to blow a gasket, but the Underfell Toriel quickly cut in, bringing everyone back to reality.
"There is no need for antagonizing, on any side," she said severely, giving both of them a warning look.
Queen Toriel, the one that he knew, sighed and nodded. "Yes, we must work together in this trying time. And I know that we are all concerned for the children, but fighting amongst ourselves will not solve the problem."
Papyrus didn't say anything more, merely scrolling through the photos as if looking for where to start. In reality, he was stalling. He hadn't read everything on the files when he had gone through them, but what he had read was enough to turn his non-existent stomach.
It was bad enough that he still felt guilty over Chara. That whole situation had been an utter mess...
He'd thought that he had it under control. The kid was doing the puzzles, and maybe not enjoying them, but at least humoring him. He had noticed them listening to his brother, as well, so he had been hoping that Sans would let them go by without a fight.
He was wrong.
That first time he had seen the human walk past the house, he had thought nothing of it. He knew that Sans was waiting, and he figured that the two would probably come back to the house after their 'battle' to warm up a bit. He even got the hot chocolate all ready to go.
But then... Then, an hour had passed by, and they still hadn't returned. Papyrus had expected at least Sans to be home by this time, so when the clock kept ticking with no one coming, he had set out to find them.
The scene he had come across was horrifying.
Blood spilled out over the snow, the human's crumpled body laid there in a heap. Sans, too, had seemed to be in shock. The human's soul was no where to be found, and even as Papyrus stood there numbly for a moment, just watching, nothing happened.
When Papyrus stumbled forward, Sans' eyelights snapped to him.
"It shattered," his brother said hoarsely, not even bothering with his usual brash tone.
"what?" Papyrus said, even though he feared that he already knew the answer.
"The human's soul," Sans said blankly. He seemed like he was two seconds away from completely shutting down. "It appeared after I killed them, but then it immediately shattered. I never even had a chance to grab it."
"so..." Papyrus said, his temper rising with every moment. "what you're saying is that you killed a child, and it wasn't even worth it? a child is dead, and their sacrifice means nothing?"
He was practically shaking in his rage now, even as Sans flinched, looking down at the ground.
"I-I... I didn't mean to," he whispered, and he looked close to tears. Normally that would have been enough to extinguish Papyrus's ire, never having been able to stay mad at his elder brother for long, but right now he was just furious.
"didn't mean what?" he barked. "didn't mean to kill them, or didn't mean for me to find out?"
The way Sans flinched told him all he needed to know.
Papyrus had never been so goddamn angry in his entire life. But before he even had a chance to berate his brother, the world spun, and he was back at at the house again.
Papyrus sighed, bringing himself back to the present. Chara, understandably, hadn't wanted anything to do with them since.
The child had, once everyone had been enjoying the sunshine on the surface, wandered over to punch Papyrus lightly on the arm before walking away, so that had to be worth something, but they were still in an awkward spot, not at all helped by the fact that Sans was trying his very best to pretend that he had no memory of what happened, even though Papyrus knew him better than that.
But really, that didn't matter right now. Now, they had to try and work together to make up for everything they had missed in the past.
Papyrus cleared his throat (unnecessarily), and began to read.
"frisk, age ten. deaf from birth, no hospital record. previously lived with... their mother," Papyrus said, using the correct pronoun when the records didn't. "no home address, apparently lived in the city park, often moving around during weather changes. two days ago, frisk was reported as missing after their mother was, uh... found dead, and frisk ran away from police custody and seemed to disappear."
"And we all know the rest of that story," the Sans from Undertale said, frowning lightly. His brother seemed to be close to tears, wailing about the 'poor human'.
Papyrus gave them a second to think this over, and then continued with the next kid, the Underfell one.
"frisk, also aged ten. blind from birth, no hospital record. according to the reports, the kid is related to the other frisk, but we know that's not true, so most of their background is unknown. the police are assuming that they lived on the streets with frisk. if we wanted to know more, we would probably have to ask," he mused, making the Toriel from Underfell let out a deep sigh.
"I would be happy to do so if they would just let me see the child," she muttered angrily.
"We're getting there," Asgore soothed, making Papyrus smile reflexively. Man, to think that his friend from behind the door had been the former king all along!
His smile soon faded, however. It was time to move on to Chara, and this was where a lot of the bad stuff hit, as if it hadn't been bad enough before.
"next is chara, age ten," he continued, grabbing everyone's attention as he went back to work. Next to him, his brother flinched. "mute... but as a result of, um, 'outside influence'."
There was a tense silence.
"Meaning?" Asgore said in a near-growl, making Papyrus scramble to explain.
"chara was apparently rendered mute in some kind of attack," he explained, shifting uncomfortably with all their eyes on him. "they refuse to tell the police why, or how it happened, but the report says that the scar left on their neck indicates that the cut was too deep and profound to be anything but deliberate. they don't know whether it was actually the result of someone trying to kill chara, or anything like that, but it seems to be the most likely option."
Sans looked like he was about to faint and also throw-up, nearly drowning in the guilt of what he had done. No, the muteness wasn't even remotely his fault, but killing the kid probably hadn't helped anything.
"it also says..." Papyrus hesitated for a moment, wondering if this was too personal, before ploughing on ahead anyway. This was medical information, and it would definitely come in handy in the future. "well, the report said that they were looking into possibly getting some form of surgery for chara, to reduce the scarring. there's not much of a chance that they could get their voice back, but the scarring that they do have could possibly cause a lot of problems down the road, like something about restricting blood flow, or causing mood-swinging. they're not sure, it's all quite theoretical right now."
"I doubt we would have to worry about that anyway," Asgore sighed, rubbing his forehead. He looked about ten times older than he was, in this moment. His son Asriel was standing next to him, and had a very similar look on his face. "Chara would never agree to have surgery, regardless of the possible injuries. They're a very independent child, and I don't think the vulnerability in such a situation would agree with them."
Asriel nodded, shifting his poncho to be a bit more comfortable. "Yeah, I think he's right. There's nothing that we can do about it right now, anyway."
"So, move on to the other one!" the other Asriel spoke up impatiently. The Swapfell Temmie was sitting in his lap, looking increasingly distraught.
Apparently, Temmie was actually the deceased sibling of Prince Asriel, and the form they took had once been their favorite toy, which Undyne had sweated greatly about when it was revealed. But both Asriel's had been happy to have at least some form of their sibling back, and the Swapfell one refused to let go of Temmie under any circumstance.
He seemed to be holding a bit of a grudge against the Chara of his universe for 'stealing' Temmie in the first place, but he was at least trying to be nice about it.
"i'm getting to it," Papyrus said, quickly pulling up the right file on his phone. "okay... here. chara, aged ten. has, um, excuse me if i pronounce this wrong - 'congenital insensitivity to pain’? their nerves are pretty much shot, apparently. they can't feel extreme temperatures, or basically any kind of pain."
Most of the monsters from the Swapfell universe reacted with surprise, including Alphys who started yelling incoherently about 'tricks', but the skeleton brothers made no reaction.
The Asgore of that universe noticed it, because he glanced at them with shrewd eyes. "You knew?"
All attention went to Swapfell Sans, and he shrugged, glancing at his brother for a moment.
"WE DID NOT KNOW OF THE NAME, OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, BUT WE SUSPECTED," he admitted.
"How?!" Alphys yelled, practically shaking her lieutenant by the shoulders. "UGH! No wonder that little punk didn't react when I threatened to kill them!"
Sans pushed her off of him, giving her a reproachful look. "WE KNEW BECAUSE WHEN THE HUMAN WAS IN SNOWDIN, THEY BROKE THEIR ARM. BONE WAS POKING OUT AND EVERYTHING, BUT THEY BARELY REACTED."
The other Papyrus nodded, speaking up. "it's true. the only real concern they seemed to have was whether temmie was okay."
The monster in question only shrugged. "Chara said that they couldn't feel pain, but I wasn't sure how serious they were being."
"Alright..." the Undertale Toriel said, sighing. "So, now we know more about them, but why are they being held?"
"IS IT NOT OBVIOUS?" the Papyrus from Underfell scoffed, ignoring the warning glance that his own Toriel shot him. "THE HUMAN POLICE FORCE BELIEVE ALL OF THE CHILDREN TO BE RELATED. AND AS FAR AS THEY KNOW, THEIR ONLY LIVING RELATIVE IS DEAD. THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND SOME PLACE TO PUT THE CHILDREN. AN ORPHANAGE, MOST LIKELY."
Papyrus blinked, a bit surprised at such concise words coming from his counterpart that had really only screamed and complained about shit since he got up here.
"uh, yeah," he said slowly. "the kids don't have any living relatives left, as far as they can find. they're gonna try and place the kids in some kind of temporary home for now, but apparently they're putting up a bit of a fight."
"Really?" that strange flower monster from Underfell said, perking up. He had been silent this whole time, merely absorbing the information presented. "They're protesting it?"
"yep," Papyrus nodded. "the reports don't say why exactly, they just say it's 'behavioral issues' but i would bet you anything that it's because they want to be back with us, and for whatever reason, the humans won't allow it."
"that's bullshit," the Sans from Underfell grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. Papyrus almost expected his brother to scold him for his language, but when he glanced over, Sans looked like he was in agreement. "they're the ones who lost the kids in the first place, why do they get a say in who they stay with?"
"I'm sure it is an important part of their laws," Queen Toriel said, though she also didn't seem too enthused by the whole thing. "We must remember, they are humans, and human children. As much as we may wish to be with them, to help care for them and repay them for all that they've done, right now it is not our place."
Her words left a strained silence throughout the room. Nobody wanted to admit that she was right.
Honestly, Papyrus had been considering a little jailbreak idea of his own, but he knew deep down that it would only exacerbate the issue. Things were going well right now with the humans, much better than any of them could have expected.
They couldn't sacrifice the wellbeing of all monsters just for the sake of four human children.
...Even if those children were the ones to save them in the first place.
Papyrus let out a sigh, sticking his phone back in his pocket and scrubbing his hand over his skull. It had been a long day, and he had the feeling that it was only going to get longer.
...
"I want to be with the monsters," Frisk insisted, trying to seem resolute even when their voice was shaky. They were fidgeting in the chair, picking at their hands since they didn't have anything else to do. Someone had taken their stick away from them, saying that it wasn't safe. Frisk hoped they would get it back, though they doubted it somehow.
"I know, sweetie," the therapist said. She did sound very sympathetic, but sympathy wasn't what Frisk needed right now - they needed action. "But the monsters aren't even official citizens right now, so they can't adopt you."
Frisk frowned, wondering when they had said anything of the sort. "I don't need them to adopt me. If you're just going to place me in a temporary home anyway, why can't I be with them?"
Even if the thought of being adopted was a nice one, they knew that right now was hardly the right time. Besides, most of the monsters in the Underground had tried to kill Frisk, and they didn't think that Flowey would be able to adopt them at all, even when he did become a citizen.
Well, maybe if they were able to convince the others that he was an adult... But Toriel probably wouldn't let that happen.
"It's not the same," she explained patiently. They had honestly been going around in circles for a while now, but she still hadn't given up. "They would have to be certified to do that anyway, and there's a lot of red tape involved in that kind of thing. We're not sending you to just any random place, but one that has certain qualifications for you and your siblings... needs."
Frisk scowled, taking courage from Chara, who had been able to get their therapist to back down yesterday with nothing more than a few pointed signs and an impressive glare.
"You're not sending me anywhere!" they snapped, crossing their arms over their chest. "I'll stay in the police station if I have to, but I'm not leaving Ebott!"
They knew how the game worked - though they didn't technically exist in this universe, they had been in foster care for many years. They would send Frisk far enough away that the monsters would have trouble contacting them, and hope that Frisk would forget about the whole experience soon enough.
They didn't think that it was an entirely malicious thing, but it was one that had certain biases.
"Frisk, I know that you're upset," the therapist began, which was an okay start until they ruined it with their follow-up. "But we don't actually need your permission."
"I'll run away," Frisk said immediately. "You can't keep me anywhere I don't want to."
And they had run away before, when a home had become too much for them. They'd been caught by CPS pretty quickly, but they knew how to do it, and what to look out for (metaphorically speaking). They had no doubt that their counterparts would be able to escape easily as well, especially Frisk, who had been homeless before, and was therefore very good at roaming around unnoticed.
The therapist fell into an uneasy silence, and Frisk felt rather triumphant. They knew that the others had also been arguing against placement, no matter the concessions they were given.
Frisk had never had a family, not like the others. They weren't sure if the monsters were really the destined family that they had always hoped for, but they were certainly the only ones who had actually made Frisk want to try.
...
Chara paced back and forth, a sense of vague uneasiness plaguing them.
Thanks to support from the public and other activists (and in no small part due to Napstaton and their counterparts for endearing monsters to the humans with their programming), all the processes for monsters had been streamlined. They had received full rights and citizenship last week, and today was the day that the children were finally able to go home with them.
Chara's counterparts were all wandering the hotel, saying goodbye to the staff they had gotten to know during their stay.
There had eventually been a compromise, where the four children who were being touted as responsible for breaking the barrier were allowed to stay in the hotel that was currently the residence of all the different members of monster royalty, along with a lot of other government officials that were working together with the monarchs of the Underground to make legislation and the like.
But now, with the help of magic, enough houses had finally been completely for monsters to move in.
During that wait time, Chara had been... uncharacteristically restless. They still weren't really allowed to interact with anyone outside the hotel, which meant that their visits with Temmie had been sparse and secretive, but...
It wasn't just that.
For some, strange, completely inexplicable reason... Chara was missing their parents. There was no real explanation for it - they had been emotionally abusive towards each other and Chara, never able to hold their tempers even as they tried so hard to pretend to be the perfect parents.
Maybe that was the problem, though. How long can you pretend to be something before it starts to become real?
Chara's parents had been a wreck, stuck in a relationship that they should have undoubtedly dumped years ago, and feeling obligated to stick around because they had a child who had a 'chronic illness'.
Did Chara feel guilty? Yes. Was any of it really their fault? No. But they couldn't help thinking about the what-ifs, about what they could have done to be a better child, or possibly tricked them into being better parents.
They knew that it wasn't their job to convince their parents not to yell at each other, or throw plates, or anything like that, but still...
And the real issue here was that they would never get the chance. They had run away from home in a fit of mischief and the tiniest dash of anger, and there was nothing that they could do to take that back.
Chara was never going to see their parents again. Maybe they wouldn't have wanted to, maybe they would have wanted to tell their parents to screw off and leave them alone, but now they would not get that choice.
Really, Chara was happy. Chara was happy that they were now living in what was apparently the best of all choices they could have made, happy that they would be able to spend time with Frisk and their other counterparts without it being because they had just kicked it, happy that they saved the monsters and were able to bring sunlight back to them again.
But... But. Some part of them still wished that they could start all over again and decide to stay home that time, just to see what would have happened.
"What are you moping around in here for, peasant?" a voice snapped from behind them.
Chara turned, and raised their eyebrow. It was Asriel, of course. He was the only one who referred to them like that.
"Oh, hello your majesty," Chara greeted with the slightest trace of sarcasm, enjoying the way his eyes narrowed suspiciously as he tried to figure out their intentions. "I'm sorry, am I disturbing you in some way?"
"Yes," he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "The car is here, and everyone is ready to go except for you. What have you even been doing all day, just lollygagging about?"
"Yes, it's my new hobby," Chara said dryly, though they couldn't help the amusement they felt when he groaned dramatically.
Asriel really wasn't such a bad guy when you got to know him, though he was definitely still a total brat.
“C’mon,” he said gruffly, gesturing for them to follow him. "You can do more of that at home."
Home. Chara gave the crown prince a genuine smile, stooping to grab their bag and following after him.
That sounded pretty nice, right about now.
...
"so, the mystery is all complete, huh?" Sans mused to himself, looking up at the night sky as he smoked a cigarette. he chuckled lowly, eyes fixed upon the brilliant stars that were shining down on him. "guess you were right after all, old man."
His counterpart laughed too, an easy grin on his face. "i can still hardly believe it... determination can do some amazing things, huh?"
Sans merely grunted. It was astonishing, what those kids had done, and he didn't think they even realized the scope of it.
He stubbed out the remains of his smoke, getting to his feet with a groan. "about time to turn in, i think. we wait any longer and boss will be out here screaming at us for missing movie night."
"no kidding," the other Sans snorted, though the sound was fond. Papyrus was Papyrus, after all.
The two headed in together, seeing everybody set up in the living room. Well, almost everybody.
"the kids not joining tonight?" he asked, catching Tori's eye.
She shook her head, smiling at him. "No, it is a bit too late this time. We just sent them off, you can go up and say goodnight if you want."
Sans nodded, and left the room without another word, heading up the stairs.
Despite the amount of monsters who were in this house daily, it wasn't incredibly big. The royals, the weird flower and toy kids, and the human children lived here.
By their own request, the kids shared a room, so Sans was able to check on all of them at once, which... he did, more often than he would like to admit.
Frisk, his Frisk, was a sweetheart. He felt a bit protective over them, especially after seeing them get an axe to the back like they had. Learning that they were blind had only exacerbated his feelings, and he would get anxious if he didn't see them at least once a day.
Slowly, his feelings for the other kids had morphed towards that too. They were all good kids - sometimes mischievous, sometimes volatile, but hell - if anyone knew how to deal with that, it would be Sans.
Frisk and Chara, Chara and Frisk. Four very different children, who had made very similar choices. Sans honestly had no idea what they would have done if those kids hadn't come along.
They wouldn't be here certainly - in a nice house, in a surface world that at least tolerated them, and was working hard to embrace them.
Humanity was... not as awful as he had expected. Humans had changed over the years, just like the monsters did. In some good ways, and some bad ways, but they had to work with what they had.
That was something that Sans excelled in, at least.
His mind was still swirling with all these thoughts about timelines and universes and what the choices we make say about us as a person, but he took the time to carefully crack the kids' door open, peeking inside.
The lights were off, but for a split-second, he could have sworn he saw a figure standing in the middle of the room, between the two bunk beds.
The figure turned to him, his cracked bone face revealed for only a second before he faded away, like he had never been there in the first place.
Silently, Sans shut the door.
Then he slid down to sit in front of it, muffling his laughter with the sleeve of his jacket.
"thanks, old man."
Seemed like there was a lot to be thankful for.
...
Toriel looked proudly over her kitchen, smiling softly at the image presented. Bustling with children and friends, her home was never quiet for long.
And she absolutely loved it.
"Pass me the butter please!"
"I'm using it right now!"
"You've been meticulously buttering your toast for the past five minutes, hurry it up already!"
It was only eight in the morning, but the house had already descended into bickering, the children ribbing each other good-naturedly as the adults watched on fondly.
They had a couple of guests this morning - the Alphys from Swapfell, who was regaling her Chara with tales of her exciting youth, which conspicuously only had incidents in which she climbed mountains or beat up unnamed bad guys with her bare hands. Chara seemed amused, which was pretty much their default state, but the child's eyes were soft, and their smile was kind.
The Undyne of Toriel's own universe was there as well, patiently teaching Frisk how to play the piano. Toriel had been a little worried about that at first, for several reasons - one, Undyne had admitted to trying to spear Frisk at one point, and two, Frisk was deaf.
But Undyne had done a lot of research once Frisk had expressed an interest, and worked hard to show them the correct notes, and how to 'feel' the vibrations they made in the air. So far, Frisk was doing splendidly, and looked forward to it every week.
The Chara of Underswap had... mellowed out, a little bit. They still tended to get twitchy and nervous if things went too far off-schedule, and sometimes they looked so much like the Chara that Toriel had once knew that it made her soul ache, but they were getting better.
They had started to insist on spending a lot of time with their Sans and Papyrus, too. They seemed to think of it as some kind of challenge, but the skeleton brothers just seemed thrilled that Chara was willing to hang out with them in the first place. It had been tense in the beginning, and there had been many a time when Chara had stormed home by themself, but they always seemed a little bit happier now when they were there.
The Underfell Frisk had been spending a lot of their time reading, absolutely thrilled when they discovered that Toriel and the other adults were more than happy to buy them some braille books. Toriel often witnessed them sitting in the living room, reading aloud to Flowey - sometimes both of them.
Everyone was recovering, everyone was finding peace. It wasn't was by any means. There was still some days that Toriel could not bear to look her former husband in the face, and she could only spend so much time with the Flowey of her universe before it began to ache, but she was recovering.
She was moving forward, just as they all were.
Together.