Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“ARE YOU STILL THERE?”

The man called out into the emptiness, trying to search for the one who he had called here. Despite his best efforts, despite how much he had fought to bring this tale to a new future, a travesty had occurred. The three heroes had fought well, but the end had come all the same. It was close now, and the man needed to find his Angel before it was too late.

Ah, he should have known where to look.

Of course. Of course, they would have lingered.

He found the small red soul in the midst of all the chaos. They hovered over the heroes, darting between the three of them like they could still do something. Unfortunately, it would all be in vain. They had fallen. Only their labored breaths came out now, all three of them in different states of disrepair. The cage had been broken, one of their hands missing. The girl had been crushed, her hopes following suit when her dream of a future crumbled in front of her. The prince lay in a heap, stone collecting on his body while the Angel frantically tried to keep him from succumbing to the darkness.

In any other situation, the Angel would have been able to turn back the clock to spare them all of this fate. Now, the man could feel something amiss. The Angel’s light had been broken. The light only they could see had become crushed by the overwhelming darkness, and the man knew that all hope had been lost. The darkness was never meant to become this all-encompasing, but it had crushed even a being forged of undying light.

Hope was a fickle thing. The man hoped that by summoning the Angel here, they would all be able to make something hopeful out of this sorry tale. Yet, as the man watched a crack run down the surface of that soul, he knew that it was never meant to be. But oh, for a time it was something beautiful. For a time, their connection had been so beautiful.

Before the soul could shatter, he plucked it from the world just like he had when they failed against the Knight quite a few times. Back then, he had been interested in how they struggled against the inevitable. He had hope that they could do it again. In the palm of his hand, he could sense their grief. They were still lingering on the three heroes and their battered states, hoping that they would be allowed to persist, hoping that the man had something for them.

“IT APPEARS.”

“WE HAVE REACHED.”

“THE END.”

The soul pulsed. Waves of sadness and fear washed over the man, and he realized that they seemed… how could he put this… not all here. Their presence swirled around the soul like a discordant choir, not quite staying calm like they usually did. It was to be expected, but…

If their light was being diminished enough to affect their ability to save, then it was likely straining their connection as well. The man expected the connection to be severed when the save points were corrupted, but instead it had become horribly mangled. He was unsure what had become of the Angel. He did not quite entirely know what their nature was, and yet the soul continued shining. They still wanted to persist.

“THERE IS NOTHING MORE THAT WE CAN DO.”

Again, the soul pulsed. The hairline crack down its center healed in this space between time itself. The light only they could see flashed and sputtered around their soul. It tried to flare to life over and over again, attempting to rewind the clock of their own volition. It was no use.

And yet, somehow, the action caused the man to grow interested all over again. At times in great distress, he thought he could see something within the Angel’s light that should have been long gone. Gold flashes always seeped in. Something intertwined with the Angel’s power in dire circumstances.

How was it that they still had the power of determination even when all was lost?

Even if they still did, the man did not know what good it would do. The Angel’s presence in this world kept shifting. It was like a face being pressed further and further against a sheet, a world unable to hold a presence bearing down on it. Their connection had been strangled, pulling them every which way until something terrible had happened.

The man knew this fate well.

Were they spared from the fate of this world? The Angel was meant to be untouchable. Surely, they should have been spared, but what came towards this world must have been anything but. Something had happened to their connection, like a cord wrapping around their neck and dragging them forward.

The soul was merely meant to be a representation of the Angel, not necessarily the Angel itself. Despite how much he yearned for it, the man could never interact with the Angel directly. However, something was happening, and the man started to realize a terrible truth that his experiment had brought about.

Along their journey, the Angel did not remain distant as he thought. Whenever the man looked, he saw the Angel choosing to make every effort to bond with the heroes they travelled with. They may have never been supposed to meet the Angel until the very end, but the heroes had found the Angel regardless. Memories of laughter and promises now broken filled the man’s consciousness, and he realized that the Angel had done something far more than his experiment intended.

In some way, when they chose to bond with this creation, they placed a little more of themself within it. They loved the world and those who dwelled within it. At times, the world tried to crush them, but those few within it loved them back. While the exact nature of time eluded the man, the Angel had spent much of their existence within this world. This world existed somewhere within the Angel, the story always lingering at the edges of their soul. Likewise, the Angel had grown into this world in the smallest of ways. For them, nothing may have changed. However, as their mangled connection corrupted that shred of them, no matter how small, it dragged the rest of them down.

With the story broken, with those closest to them faltering, so too did the Angel.

His Angel was dying. Shattering.

He almost felt ashamed for being the result of a light like this dying out.

No, what was this feeling? “Ashamed” was not the correct word that the man wished to use. 

“Ashamed” carried a clinical weight to it, and while the man had always been clinical, this feeling was anything but. No, as he stared down at his battered Angel, something new began to form. A flame flickered somewhere. It flared out. It burned. It tore up everything that he still had left, making him look around at the surrounding darkness and all it had taken from him.

His beautiful Deltarune, shattered.

His beautiful Angel, killed, for choosing to love.

For the first time in ages, the man knew anger. This would not be tolerated. He would match his Angel’s determination with the remaining will he had left.

“THEN…”

“LET US TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT.”

If they still had hope… if they still were determined after all of this, then the man simply had to stop being a mere observer. In small moments, he had tried to help. After his attempt at creating them a vessel had been interrupted, he was fearful that further engagement would only upset the Angel if he failed again. Yet, he managed in the past to do little things like moving their save points closer to large threats to lessen the frustration of death.

Perhaps, he could look into their ability to save once more. Maybe, something could be salvaged.

The man tried to ignore the labored breathing of the three heroes in front of them. He had tried to remain distant from them, engaging with them only as a story that he wished to see to fruition. Yet, he always thought that they were wonderful. They thought that his Angel was wonderful as well. Seeing them as they were now… it…

The man needed to focus. His entire being had been shattered, but just this once, he needed to bring it all together for a final act.

With the Angel’s connection being mangled, the man realized he could see further. He could reach further, grasping at things far beyond his comprehension that hurt too much to look at. Of course, there had to be a means of connection. Now, the man could finally see into what connected the Angel with this place. 

The device that linked them to his world was fractured, and had become vulnerable to his sight. Most of it did not make any sense. Most of it was too much to parse, but he knew what he was looking for. Pieces of him had been trapped in similar constructs. He knew how to search for that which was lost. Perhaps, the Angel had been prepared for this scenario. Perhaps, they created failsafes in case this experiment were to go so horrendously wrong.

Unfortunately, the Angel had not planned that far ahead. He could not blame them. The man was supposed to have already handled the failsafes with their multiple files. It was his error that caused their corruption. He had not expected all of the save points to fall at the same time when the Angel’s light was crushed enough by the darkness.

So, he kept searching. Being shattered across space and time, he could look backwards- or was it forwards? Which came first, the chicken or the egg? He did not know at times. Yet, he leapt somewhere in time, and managed to find something that seemed… similar to the Angel’s light.

Hope blossomed once more.

There was a chance.

There was a slim chance for these heroes, and for the Angel who guided them.

However, the light wasn’t anywhere close to the timeframe where the Angel had connected to this world. The man knew where this led. He did not know if the lands he was sending the Angel to came before or after this story, because time meant nothing to him anymore. All that remained clear was that the Angel had forged this light in their own long, distant past.

It had been altered significantly since they last interacted with it. While he could simply load their save in hopes that the device did the rest, that would not be enough. The man needed to ensure the Angel’s survival. Thankfully, while the Angel’s light had been mangled, his own means of operating on it had not. Erasure of a file would be too much of a risk, but he had another option. He could take their light now and copy this altered save into its own image. It would allow them to retain their power, even though they would be unable to return to those motes of light that had been corrupted within this world.

They would need to be fast. The poor heroes did not have long.

The man stared down at the soul in his approximation of a hand. Only one question remained:

“DO YOU WISH TO PERSIST?”

He should not have even needed to ask. The soul pulsed in affirmation, despite their state growing more and more chaotic. Even now, the man could feel something far larger than him encroaching on this world and the one he was about to send the Angel to. It was as if some aspect of the Angel were being shoved into a test tube that could never possibly hold them. A small hole had been punctured in a vessel deep within the ocean, and the rest of them was being dragged forth.

There was not much longer now.

“THEN WE SHALL PROCEED.”

The world around them began to fade away. The Angel’s consciousness had become staggered, and it was not quite reacting to things as it should anymore. However, when they saw the three heroes slipping away, the soul began to move erratically. The man had to pull together another hand from across existence, clasping it around the soul to keep it steady.

“YOU ARE NO USE TO THEM AS YOU ARE NOW.”

“WE MUST CARRY ON.”

The soul did not listen. It struggled, even as the man began to guide it towards the light that had been made in the image of another. The Angel already chose to persist, so this decision was out of their hands. This was the only way that they could persist and remain standing. Their soul would shatter if it went back into the world that had broken it. The Angel had to step backwards to try again, but they needed a point to step back towards.

This would be an unorthodox method of loading a save. Thankfully, the man was the one in this world with the most expertise at doing so. He called forth two lights, one from his beautiful Deltarune, and one from a world that had moved on long ago.

Both responded, the Angel’s soul pulsing when both were drawn out. After all, they could still reach both of the lights in a small way. Silver and gold flared out on opposite sides of the soul, two gargantuan stars forming in the empty darkness. 

Both used to be the Angel’s power. Both remained in the Angel’s grasp even now if they chose to act on any of them. However, the silver light had become mangled. Any previous points in time had been stolen and shattered by the overwhelming darkness. Most importantly however, the light still existed. While the Angel could not go back to their previous saves, perhaps a new one could be made. To do so, the man needed an image to reflect. 

The golden star, the avatar of determination, would be the reflection that must be cast. If the Angel interacted with it directly, they would likely send the old world back countless years. After all, they had never been able to save after they had been banished by the flower. They could only revert their banishment by turning back the clock. However, the save had been used by the Angel’s old vessel many times in their life. If the man could grasp for that reflection and cast it upon the Angel’s power, then perhaps this would work.

Both of the lights reacted to each other. They were similar enough that one could recognize the other. Two brilliant flashes filled the darkness, and one of the Angel’s many files corrected itself. It was no longer crushed by the darkness, but no longer attached to the world that had crushed it.

At last, the man finally managed to grasp that point in time.

This would have to be enough.

Darkness swallowed the two of them up. An ocean stole them away from the world that they had once resided in. The Angel remained connected, but only just. Its presence wavered, before coiling and flaring out over and over. The soul wanted to do something. Was it… calling out? It must still be focused on the heroes, but the heroes were no longer visible.

The man could not reassure the Angel that they would be fine. Unfortunately, he did not know where this story would be going. Their survival depended entirely on the Angel, and the man was unsure what this effort would even do to aid them. His primary goal was to keep the Angel alive. If they could still act, then someone could still write a happy ending for this tale.

“YOU MUST PERSIST.”

“YOU MUST LIVE.”

“ONLY THEN, CAN THEIR WORLD BE SAVED.”

A goal had been given. A purpose had been bestowed upon the Angel once more. The being knew that it needed to save them. The Angel needed to save those poor souls who were succumbing to the darkness.

Within the cold, a light still shined, and that would be enough.

The world turned. It stuttered. The man finally released the soul, allowing it to descend from the darkness and towards the light that he had reflected on it. Did they even know where they were heading? The man was unsure. However, he receded and watched, knowing that his strength would be needed again very shortly.

The darkness began to clear and lift. After all, it did not exist within the world that the Angel now persisted in. Perhaps, that was why their entry became so violent when their lone soul connected using a thread that had been frayed and forgotten a long time ago.

Somewhere, a mountain trembled.

This world did not know what had befallen it. It did not know what presence had arrived. While the man had long since looked away from this world, he still remembered it all the same. Everyone here had forgotten his Angel. Many times, the Angel had confided with the heroes that this world had asked them to leave. Over and over, the Angel denied themself reprieve, because they believed that their new home would ask them to leave as well.

This old world did not want them, but they arrived all the same.

In the dead of night, over a mountain which used to bury thousands of monsters, a light began to form. The light within their soul flared out as it formed high above the mountain. The Angel expected overwhelming darkness when they reformed, and in their scattered state, they overcompensated.

The imagery of the Angel blazed outward through the mountaintops. In the dead of night, perhaps people saw the precise moment that the Angel arrived. The light from their soul flared out, prepared to fight back against the darkness that had crushed those they held dear. Wings that only ever existed in memory and the thoughts of others flared out on either side of the light, stretching across the sky to announce that they were prepared to fight.

However, in this world long moved on, there was no fight to give. The Angel could not fight if it wanted to. After all, its iconography was missing the three triangles that usually resided under the angel. The Angel had lost its heroes.

The light collapsed in on itself, boiling down to one singular point deep in the mountain below. The soul followed, being pulled into a small space somewhere in a kingdom long abandoned.

It was almost a sad thing where the Angel arrived.  

The hallway had become damp and weathered with age. While the path still seemed well-traveled, the cave had darkened considerably. No light shone from any exit, after all. The night had drowned this land in a darkness that wasn’t quite as crushing as the land where the Angel came from.

A golden star flickered within the cave. Its light began to twist. While the man could have allowed the Angel to form at their old vessel’s most recent save point, their arrival would likely cause much turmoil. It was better to be somewhere more secluded for what came next.

The golden star twisted further. Its brilliant light of determination bled away into a cold silver, glowing with an ethereal hue within this dark corridor. As soon as the light completed its transformation, the soul arrived, manifesting in front of their power as they always had.

However, the soul stood alone. No heroes formed with them. No friends appeared with them. The soul merely hovered in front of the light, and its own light began to dim.

Somewhere, the heroes were still lost.

What remained of the Angel began to grow chaotic. Was it rage, perhaps, or something more akin to grief? The man could only guess. After all, the Angel had no way of expressing themself truly in this state. They lacked form. The friends who offered themselves as temporary forms for the Angel to take had all been lost. It was an exercise in trust, and one that gave the Angel the ability to truly exist with the heroes that they so dearly loved.

Now, they were gone.

Only a lone soul remained.

One more gift needed to be given. The soul swerved around the hallway aimlessly, none of its movements calculated. It drifted, like the currents of this world were pulling it in every direction. Perhaps it was an echo of what was happening to the Angel in this very moment.

However, the man knew what they needed. They required a vessel.

Their previous vessel had unfortunately been lost. If the man could have done so since the beginning, he would have gladly given them their vessel. However, it had been discarded the moment the Angel’s soul was intercepted. Perhaps, it was still out in the crushing darkness somewhere, but that meant it was inaccessible.

So, the man needed to get creative. He did not have the ability to merely create a new vessel again. The creation of the vessel took quite a long time to set up, and required a moment of cooperation from the Angel. The Angel, as they were now, did not seem like one to respond.

To test his hypothesis, he stated:

“YOU WILL CREATE.”

“A VESSEL.”

The soul did not respond. Their presence swirled around the hallway, growing more and more discordant the longer the soul drifted around. If the man did not act soon, then the Angel may be lost as well.

A lone soul would not survive in a world like this.

However, the man could see deeper into this world now that the Angel had grown closer. Their light made this world a bit clearer. Some of the fog vanished, and now the man could grasp at things that may be useful to the Angel. Connection had been safely established. Now, he could withdraw the Angel for the briefest of moments for something more important.

For a moment longer, the hallway faded away. The red soul continued drifting through the darkness, not quite knowing what was going on anymore. That would be fine. The man knew their preferences for a vessel, and knew precisely what to select. If he could just find it, then all would be well.

He searched. He saw beyond the facsimile of a world and looked deeper. Somewhere just on the edge of this world, in a room in-between, he could see something flickering. It wasn’t like the Angel’s light. No. It was a relic from the Angel’s connection. It was checking everything on its own, and that was all that mattered.

The man grasped it. Countless beings flashed before him. Countless things within this world changed before him. If he looked close enough, he could separate the pieces. He watched closely, separating a piece every single time. Countless visages of monsters appeared before him and the Angel as he separated the pieces. Slowly, a crowd of unmoving monsters locked in expressions began to form as he plucked them out of the flickering mass. They were not the real ones, but they would need to suffice for now. Their images mattered more than anything, because the Angel needed nothing more than an unthinking vessel.

However, the man looked deeper. He knew there was one appearance that the Angel would take quite a liking to. It had never appeared on their journey through these lands, but sometimes appeared in reflections. A faceless human that had never seen the light of day would be perfect for the Angel. After all, they had crafted a faceless vessel similarly to it.

The man had trouble finding it. He watched the flickering mass of monsters and objects change over and over again. He tried separating monsters from the sprawling mass, limiting precisely what this unstable object could check for. It would not harm the monsters of the world now. They all had long moved on from the constraints of this check. Over and over again, he separated more and more. He caught a glimpse of the king and queen’s son for a moment, and hastily removed it as well. He just needed the Angel’s proper vessel.

However, it was not appearing. He needed to wait for longer for the cycle to complete. 

Perhaps, he should have noticed the moment the Angel’s presence focused on something. The discordant choir that made up their presence suddenly narrowed, and the soul began drifting towards a goal.

The man kept looking for their correct vessel. Moldsmals, icecaps, and vulkins all sprawled out in the darkness as he looked further and further into this odd mass. His intended vessel would be perfect for them. Their soul needed a sturdy vessel that could withstand their power. They seemed to have more affinity for human vessels, and appeared to be more experienced with them. If the man could just locate this human that only ever appeared in reflections, then they would have a suitable vessel.

Something red moved with purpose.

Far too late to stop it, the man caught the soul advancing on one of the many monsters that he set to the side in order to make this process smoother.

The Angel’s soul collided with one of them. Roots embedded into a new vessel immediately, and the soul drew itself in without a second thought.

With a vessel, the soul could not remain here. If they remained in this space in-between for too long, then they would become like him. 

Immediately, he returned them back to the cavern, a soul now pulsing within a new body that the man had not intended.

In the man’s eyes, this was an incorrect choice of a vessel. He had a perfect one prepared, just like before, and the process had been interrupted. It was frustrating, but he understood the error now. He understood precisely why the Angel had been drawn to this vessel in particular, and the frustration began to give way to forlorn understanding.

Of course, the Angel would drift to the image of the king and queen’s son that had died so very long ago.

In their chaotic state, they may have mistaken him for the lonely prince that they had befriended, the one who was now slowly being turned to stone elsewhere. With what little strength and consciousness the Angel had left, they tried to fuse with someone familiar. They tried to reach out to someone who needed them now more than ever, and accidentally chose a vessel that was not meant to be their own. Of course, with what little power they had, they would try to save someone else.

This would be catastrophic, but the man could not fault them for their error.

The soul did not take to its vessel kindly. The moment the Angel realized what had been done, their soul began to pulse and writhe in a new cage. The visage of a prince long dead had been taken by a soul far too powerful. It might as well have been a desecration of the late prince, but these things had to be done in order to ensure the Angel’s survival. After all, the real prince was a flower now. This visage was nothing more than a shell.

It had taken so much for the man to bring them here, and to find a new vessel for them. Now, as he watched them writhe, he realized that he could do no more. Any cohesiveness that he had built up for himself slowly began to decay. He would need to withdraw soon.

The Angel’s vessel continued writhing, yet nothing the Angel did could get it to move. With a vessel so unsuited for their being, it was unsurprising. A being as vast as them being confined to a monster of this world did not bode well. He was not even sure if they were entirely confined to their vessel correctly. He was not even certain that they had been properly tethered to this world.

The vessel began to morph and twitch.

Monsters of this world tended to change and shift depending on the state of their souls. Their bodies were more malleable here, formed mostly out of magic. It was why many tended to fall down when despair entered their souls. 

A powerful soul, far beyond anything a monster should ever be able to wield, had entered a vessel with a similar malleability.

All of the color in their vessel began to drain. The man worried that the Angel was becoming lost for the briefest of moments. After all, he knew what became of those who faded into monochrome. The fact that only the soul moved worried the man even more. They were not connecting to their vessel properly.

And yet, a connection was being made. Even as the soul writhed in a vessel far too small for it, the vessel continued changing. The Angel had never taken a vessel of their own, completely free of another’s will. The man was curious to see what they would create.

The Angel wasn’t creating anything. The vessel was merely reacting to their soul.

There was no intention behind the way the vessel changed. It was merely necessity that dictated what it became. For instance, when the prince died, he turned to dust as a young child. The Angel had lived far longer than him, and the soul began to morph the body to suit a more accurate visage. While the man did not know precisely how long it had been for the Angel, this world had moved on for a little over a decade without them.

In many conversations about the Angel’s past, it had been pointed out that the Angel was a child when they connected with this world. This implied that they were no longer one. As the color continued draining from the Angel, so too did the stripe on their shirt. It vanished as the vessel lurched.

Limbs elongated. Claws grew sharper. From its forehead, two horns began to slowly protrude. The vessel grew older to match the soul within it. The Angel still hadn’t moved a single time in their vessel, but it continued to change. The Angel had insisted many times that they were incapable of feeling pain, but as they were now, the man wondered if they were experiencing the changes in their vessel.

However, the Angel remained dreadfully silent. 

The only indication that they were still alive was that their soul still hadn’t risen from the body to shatter. It remained ensnared within, even as the vessel continued its slow and agonizing transformation. 

They weren’t getting up, and the man could feel himself slipping away even further.

This wasn’t enough. He had to act again.

Pulling together what little cohesiveness he still maintained, his presence grew. It was a small gesture, but he at least was still able to alter the vessel’s clothing to properly fit. Their body had at least stabilized enough in that regard. 

But, the man needed them to continue persisting.

So, he spoke to them, just as he had when they needed a little bit more of a push in the face of defeat. They needed motivation. They needed to be reminded of why they were here. In this state of disarray, in the face of all being lost, the Angel needed one more push.

“THEY WAIT FOR YOU.”

“THEY TRUST YOU TO GUIDE THEIR WAY.”

The heroes slowly began to know the Angel as something more than just a guiding light, however. Perhaps, the Angel would remember that along this journey. Maybe, it would fuel whatever they must do to return.

“YOU CAN SEE THEM AGAIN.”

The story had changed drastically from what the man intended, but he always found it beautiful that the heroes and the Angel needed each other in some way. The Deltarune was not complete without all of them, after all. The story was not complete without all components.

“YOU MUST PERSIST.”

The silver light they had formed in front of began to flicker. While the silver had overtaken the gold entirely, a flash of gold returned. The Angel’s stronger power reacted to his call. They were answering.

Monotone greys across their body slowly began to wash away. Their soul started to shine through the vessel, trying desperately to take hold. Red veins shot through the body, the vessel jerking over and over again as the soul tried to connect. It was not initially successful. Over and over again, the body lurched, the soul attempting again and again to grasp anything.

The soul pulsed desperately one more time. The star next to them flashed gold once more. Even in a vessel as fragile as this, they still had the will to persist.

The man could finally see the different colors forming on the Angel’s body. They did not return to Asriel’s visage. The raw determination flowing through their soul started to mutate them further away from their original form. All of the sharp and jagged points on their body began to grow a deep crimson, reflecting the soul within their body. 

All at once, the light flickered out once more.

Again, the vessel stopped moving. Again, the Angel started to drift away.

No… they were so close. How had they fallen once more?

The man shattered all over again. Any cohesiveness he’d built up for his final act finally died. He knew that he would be unable to reform again. Already, he could feel his own thoughts scattering.

His Angel needed guidance. There was so much more they had to do. However, he could not speak with them. He could not interact with them anymore. They were drifting further away, stuck in a vessel that they were not able to control.

The golden star next to them turned back into a flickering, pale silver. It was weak, and the vessel did not even breathe. 

Perhaps, it would have been kinder to let the Angel fade with those that they cared about. Instead, they had been left alone in a hallway with no one to help them. They were dying in a land which did not want them anymore.

The man could not help, being stuck behind a wall of glass that only allowed him to watch whatever fate befell both worlds.

Kris. Susie. Ralsei.

Names. They knew names.

It wasn’t enough. The names echoed through their soul, but over and over again they continued to drift off. Every time they drifted, it became harder to reignite the light within their soul. They wanted to answer those names, but they were just so tired.

Find them.

A goal. They had a goal.

How did they achieve that goal? The light flickered again. The soul grew dimmer. All they wanted to do was rest for a little longer. Hadn’t they done enough? Surely, the world could wait for a little longer. If they just stayed in the darkness for a little bit longer, then maybe they could forget the screams. Maybe they could forget the faces.

Persist.

They must. 

Regardless of what they ever wanted, they had to persist. It was all they ever were. Without it, they were nothing. If they didn’t persist, there would be consequences for far more than just them.

The first thoughts began. Like waking up from a deep sleep where thoughts didn’t quite make sense, more cohesive ones began to form. Veins of a soul shot towards a head, and connection was attempted once more.

A head became connected.

Yes, there were a few things that the Angel still knew. There were a few things that sat at the front of their mind. Finally, the Angel began thinking, and their head had finally been wrestled under their control. Their mind became their own. An aching pain forced its way through their skull. They tried to inhale a breath, and found that no air passed through.

No body was connected.

They couldn’t breathe. It was not like being trapped underwater, or trying to hold one’s breath for too long. The Angel, try as they might, could not breathe. Panic spiked through their mind. If they could hyperventilate, they might have. They wanted to breathe. They wanted to suck in a breath and to feel normal again. Had they fallen asleep? Were they asleep and couldn’t wake up? Was something smothering them, cutting off every ability to grasp for something that they so desperately needed?

The Angel tried to thrash. No arms or legs were connected. They tried to feel what was around them, to make sense of what was happening. No skin was connected. They tried to open their eyes in hopes that they could wake up, but no face was connected. They tried to listen, hoping desperately that someone was coming to help them, but no ears were connected.

Something within them began to glow brighter. They knew what it was, yet had never felt it like this. They did not put much thought into the action when they did it, but they allowed the burning light within them to surge outward. No matter what, the Angel needed their body back.

Perhaps, it was some force of will. Perhaps, panic finally broke them out of some kind of sleep paralysis. Something began to burn brighter in their chest, and air started to barely fill the Angel’s lungs.

A body connected.

Breaths came out staggered. Their head continued pounding as they sucked in breath after breath, trying desperately to remain afloat. Try as they might, their face still wouldn’t move. It made it difficult to get enough air. 

They tried to remember their own face. What did it feel like to smile? Of course, they remembered, and yet they somehow didn’t. They should be able to smile. They smiled many times whenever they could, even though their friends couldn’t always see. Sometimes, Kris would give them something funny to say in a small moment of solidarity. Other times, Susie would remind them that they weren’t going to get thrown away in the end. Even though those smiles were more sad than the others, the Angel still smiled.

Then there was Ralsei.

The Angel… they thought that they saw Ralsei for a moment here. Where did he go? If they couldn’t move, then they couldn’t find him. Did they even see Ralsei, or did they dream it? Were they still dreaming?

It didn’t matter. Whenever the Angel smiled with Ralsei, there was a kinship between them. They both shared a similar fate. One day, when the story was all over, the two of them would both have to be abandoned. The Angel would be banished. Likewise, as a Darkner, Ralsei would likely be forgotten according to his own words. The Angel always tried to deny his fate, and always tried to smile through their own.

They couldn’t remember how to smile right now.

Although, now that they thought about it, a long time ago, they told Ralsei it was okay not to smile.

So, they didn’t try to force anything. They didn’t try to smile. After all, what was there to smile about now? The Angel missed their friends. The memory of all three of them falling began to pulse through their mind. It was a reminder. The Angel needed to find them. Somewhere, they were hurt. Even in this battered state, the three’s labored breathing still echoed through the Angel’s head.

Their eyes stung. The Angel coughed. Something akin to feeling returned to their face, but try as they might, they could not feel anything against it. However, as they paid more attention…

Their… face…

That couldn’t be right. 

With what little strength the Angel had, they tried opening and closing their mouth. The action felt far too disjointed. Their jaws extended too far. The nose that air still passed through wasn’t quite right. 

And yet, when the Angel tried to lift a hand to inspect their face, their arms weren’t connected.

Of all the things they knew that should have been working, their hands especially should still be working. If they had just seen Ralsei, then that meant their device was still active. With that in mind, surely they should still be able to feel what connected them to this world. They couldn’t. Their hands must have gone too numb.

The Angel tried moving their fingers. That was how they interacted with the world normally, so surely that would transfer. However, every time they tried, their hands did not respond. They couldn’t… compare the movements of their hands to anything that they’d experienced already. Anything they touched had never come with feeling, only words that described what they would feel if they were there.

What were some of those, anyway? They were few and far in between except for a few exceptions. Touching Ralsei practically always caused something to be noted about how fluffy he was. Of course, the Angel could never reach out a hand truly, but their vessel always did in their stead. Some scarves were soft. Some were more brittle. The silver light was never really described, but the Angel always imagined their power as something cool to the touch. Maybe the golden light would’ve been something warmer, but their new power seemed colder in a way.

A finger twitched. Two fingers moved. 

That still didn’t feel right.

The Angel tried to rub their fingers together. However, no skin was connected. They didn’t feel anything, even though they could still move their hands. They tried lifting an arm, feeling at the face that also seemed so wrong. Again, no skin was connected, so no information came about their current situation.

The Angel’s breathing grew faster. Something had gone very wrong. Denial wasn’t working anymore.

All at once, they realized that if they could use their face, then there was no reason for their eyes to remain shut. Perhaps, they didn’t want to open their eyes. Maybe they knew that something was incredibly wrong. Maybe they feared what they would see when they looked directly. But of course, they needed to do it soon. After all, if they saw Ralsei recently, then that meant that the Angel was needed soon. 

The Angel remembered Ralsei’s face when attack after attack got past their defenses, the battle wearing everyone down while he couldn't keep up. He looked so panicked in those last moments when the Angel’s light was dying. They remembered Kris leaping in front of Susie, their attempts to defend her leaving something to fall into the abyss below. They lost far more than their weapon when a strike cleaved them through the wrist. Kris’ eyes had never been more terrified when they realized they would never play piano again.

Even Susie couldn't stand over everyone and protect them all. Even though she gave it all she had, it could never be enough. Her Shadow Mantle flared out as she took a blow that she could not possibly withstand. The Angel tried so hard to keep her alive, but it was all for nothing. Susie was strong, but with everyone in danger, she faltered for only a moment. That was all the darkness needed.

The Angel remembered everyone gasping for breath as their soul hovered over them. As if they could still hear it now, their ears finally connected. It wasn’t a solace. It only made it hurt more.

If the Angel had just been able to protect them, then none of this would have happened. Surely, they should still be able to try again.

No more time could be wasted on being scared. The Angel just needed to open their eyes. If their three friends could risk their lives for one another, then the Angel could open their eyes and face the window into their world again.

It wasn’t the end.

This wasn’t permanent.

Bright, pale light invaded the Angel’s vision the moment they opened their eyes. They expected that, on account of how they interacted with this world. If their window into the world was still on, then it definitely would hurt to look at after just opening their eyes. Of course, they knew it wasn’t necessarily a “window” they were looking through. The Angel had just started describing things they knew in terms that their friends would understand. After all, they wouldn’t want to scare anyone with what their world was. It’d just become a habit when thinking.

Perhaps, the Angel had misunderstood just what their world really was as well.

As the Angel stared… the light began to twist. It flickered over and over again, and no matter how many times the Angel blinked, they couldn’t focus on it any further. Slowly, they tried to move their hands to push themself up off of the ground. They still couldn’t feel the ground somehow, but they tried very hard to place their hands under their body to get up.

Movement appeared at the bottom of their vision. Something grey moved towards the light. The Angel couldn’t feel things correctly, so maybe that was why they didn’t recognize their own hand immediately.

However, as they curled their own fingers, the hand responded. They watched it closer, trying to understand why the hand looked so incorrect. A truth stared them in the face as they watched an entirely greyed out hand shifting. 

The Angel’s vision cleared. That wasn’t their hand.

They didn’t have claws. They didn’t have padding. And yet, as they kept moving their own hand, the foreign fingers kept moving. As the Angel’s breathing quickened, they tried to stop moving. Something else had to be here with them just outside of their vision. That wasn’t their hand.

The hand stopped moving the moment theirs did.

No, their hand stopped moving. There was never another hand.

The Angel’s eyes slowly drifted up to that silver light flickering in front of them. It never diminished. It never cleared. It simply was, and the Angel recognized that light. They always had, even when its color changed. As if by second nature, they reached out to the light, and…

Something changed. An anchor had been set. The Angel knew this power. It flowed through them. It bathed their body in light, trying to heal wounds that they hadn’t sustained. It was part of them. It always had been part of them. Without them, the light had always gone out.

They felt it running through their body. They knew it deep within their soul. It ran across their skin, smoothing out… the fur on the hand that shouldn’t be theirs.

The Angel felt the light.

They hadn’t managed to do that with anything else yet.

All at once, skin finally connected.

The Angel didn’t even have a moment to register what had happened or their current situation. 

It had been a blessing before that they could not feel anything. Now that they could, they knew nothing but a boiling pain scorching their entire body.

They tried to scream. They tried to yell. However, as they opened their mouth, instinctively trying to make a sound that anyone would in their situation, only spittle leaked out. Their throat locked up. As soon as they tried to breathe, they choked. The air burned. Everything burned.

Desperately, they tried to claw for the light. It always healed them. It always helped them. Again, the light washed over them, but the pain did not cease. It continued. They tried to keep themself from collapsing to the floor, but their arms started to shake. Over and over again, they tried to yell to stave off the fire burning through their limbs, but they couldn’t. 

They told Ralsei that they could not feel pain. Now, they wished with all of their might that it was still true.

Every part of their body wanted to split apart. The Angel needed it to stop. They wanted it all to stop. Why wasn’t it stopping? Why couldn’t they make it stop?

They crumpled to the ground. As they thrashed, their legs never moved. They couldn’t run from here even if they wanted to. It would do them no good. The pain wasn’t something that could be fled from. They couldn’t see things that were supposed to be there anymore. Why could they see out of their vessel’s own two eyes? 

The Angel grasped at their head, claws sinking through what was now undoubtedly fur. Their hands collided with two long horns poking out of their head. Why? Why why why? Every part of their body felt like it was being crushed, and they couldn’t escape it. More than just their body was being crushed. They were being crushed. Every part of them felt like it was being squeezed to conform, but they were incapable of letting that happen.

Again and again, they tried to writhe. Like a worm caught out after rain, they struggled on the ground. Just as every other time they struggled, nothing happened. They were stuck. This was all they knew. Every single part of them was stuck, and it had been pushed into something far too small.

So, they tried to push out. They tried to escape. Something within them struggled, but it could not escape anymore. However, the Angel had always been more than that soul that tethered them to this world.

The Angel’s vision began to stutter. As their head trembled in agony, their vision began to fade. They thought they were losing consciousness, and that the pain would at least be gone for a little longer.

Instead, their mind started to shatter even more.

From the ground, they still stared into that silver light, unable to do anything in their weak vessel. However, something else joined their vision. Overlapping scenes and impossible perspectives warped what little they had left. The Angel pushed outwards, and their vision responded in turn.

Somehow, they could see their vessel. Somehow, they could watch from above, just like before. And yet, even as they watched their own vessel writhe on the ground, they could still see out of that very vessel. Both existed at once, and neither would fade away.

They could see their own body move, but that wasn’t their body.

Why did they look like that?

They caught sight of their own head moving. Of course. Of course, they would look like that. It was a reminder. Twice, they had failed someone who looked similar, so now they had to wear their faces.

A thought came. A goal emerged. The Angel needed to do something, and they commanded themself to move. The Angel’s body went rigid. As they had many times before, they demanded that their vessel moved, and its limbs slowly began to lock up. 

The Angel needed to walk. They needed to move. They needed to find help. However, one last part of their vessel hadn’t cooperated, and they knew why. Their legs hadn’t moved once. Just like the rest of their body, their legs had been irrevocably altered. 

No time could be wasted on reimagining how to walk. The Angel willed their vessel to move again. The face on their vessel slowly began to lose all of its expressiveness. Their movements gained an exactness to them that they needed now, even though the Angel could still feel the pain as they watched themself move from above.

Roots pulsed out towards both legs. Over and over again, their legs twitched as the vessel tried to stand. Slowly, the Angel pushed themself to their feet, even though their legs were not possibly connected correctly. Feeling had returned to them ever-so-slightly, but…

It would be enough. The Angel tried to lift one of them. The entire appendage didn’t work correctly. Their legs had been almost inverted in some way, but they could barely feel that through the rippling fire in their body.

In a random direction away from the light, the Angel tried to take a step.

All of the hard work that went into standing crumbled immediately. Even as their limbs locked up and even as their movements became efficient, the Angel suddenly found themself twisting an ankle and plummeting to the ground. Was it even an ankle anymore? All they knew was that their leg twisted horribly, and one of their competing visions began to fall to the ground.

Unable to catch their fall, the Angel cracked their head against something hard. Their limbs weren’t reacting as quickly as they should. A new splitting pain joined the ache all over their body, only making matters worse.

They just… needed to get a little further.

If their legs weren’t working, then the Angel would just do this the hard way.

Their limbs unlocked. Slowly, they extended their arms, hooking claws against the ground. Instinctively, they chose a way that they knew as left. They could see the directions in that way still, after all. It didn’t make any sense, but it made perfect sense to the large part of them that wasn’t confined to this vessel.

Agonizingly slowly, the Angel dragged their vessel through old grime and dirt. Their breaths grew more labored as the pain persisted. When they took a break for a moment to try to breathe, their eyelids suddenly grew heavy. They couldn’t… stop moving now. They had to persist. They had to keep going.

Again, they reached out, trying to navigate through an unlit hallway. The silver light was getting further away, illuminating the cave less and less. The Angel wondered if it would get darker down this way, but they knew that the other way was more dangerous. The other way marked the end, and they knew better than to think it would do them any good.

Something deep within the Angel’s chest sent a stabbing feeling through them. Their grip on the stone loosened, and their vessel curled in on itself. The Angel still couldn’t force out a noise, even though they wanted to cry out. The feeling was starting to spread. It started at their core, slowly beginning to bleed out into the rest of their body. This wasn’t fire. This was a terrifying, splitting numbness that wanted to break up everything they were.

The Angel looked back at their hand. It looked… wispier than before.

Dust. The Angel was seeing dust.

Their body wanted to split apart. Desperately, they clawed at the ground again, trying to move faster. However, they couldn’t move anymore. The cohesiveness of their hand started to fall apart. Of course. Of course, the pain wasn’t for no reason. Why were they… why were they dying like this?

What even were they anymore?

Desperately, the Angel kicked at the ground behind them. It inched their body forward again, making their vessel skid along the floor. They could see something beyond an archway. If they could just make it there, then someone would find them. Someone had to find them. Kris, Susie, or Ralsei would be here any minute. They… they all promised each other that they would be there for one another, right?

Splitting pain came again. The feeling echoed out more and more, trying to tear them apart. One of the Angel’s legs stopped responding. Desperately, they wriggled forward, trying to use the other to just push them a little farther.

Their mind was racing too fast to make any sense of the situation. They were trapped in a vessel far too small for them, able to actually see behind its eyes. They could still look at their vessel, and yet they could not look anywhere else. All of that came secondary to the primal knowledge that they were dying, and they were scared.

When the Angel had gotten close enough to the new room, they tried with all they had to reach out to what looked like plants of some kind. Their arm wasn’t working, but if they could just grasp the plants, then they could pull themself faster. Nothing wanted to respond anymore. Things started slowly disconnecting.

Persist. They needed to persist. That was all they had ever been good at. It let them rectify mistakes. It let them make up for errors. It allowed them to keep going.

Slowly, they regained control over their arm. It solidified ever-so-slightly, just enough for them to reach out to what they undoubtedly recognized as flowers. Their hand grasped around one of the petals, and the Angel felt something tactile for the first time that wasn’t pain.

Pain was never something they were given a description for. Whenever they interacted with the world, even though the Angel could not feel it, they always got to know what things would have felt like if they were there. Pain was different. It always came suddenly, echoing out as a dull sound. It was the equivalent of a child touching a hot stove, and the burning sensation causing the hand to lurch back. It was instinct. Pain was instinct.

So, when the Angel touched a petal for the first time, they were confused. Through the dim pain, through the knowledge that they were dying, they could still feel the flower petals. Something soft and delicate grazed fingers that should not quite be able to sense that. The ability to feel didn’t seem the same anymore, but that wasn’t what scared them.

The Angel could still see the words, but they could also feel the flower.

Why? What? Why was this happening? How were they like this? And yet, the more and more they tried to struggle against the ugly truth of what had happened, the more the world tried to crush them back into that tiny vessel. They would never fit. Even this vast world could not entirely contain them. Layers of a world and existence far smaller than them had cut them into shreds, yet all parts were still connected. Shattered.

The Angel tried to ignore it even though they could never possibly get it out of their mind again. Once more, they tried to persist, pulling themself by the stems of the flowers.

…but persisting for the sake of it had finally run out.

The hand that gripped those stems so tightly began to loosen. Any fight for survival began to slowly fade as the Angel’s eyes began to slowly shut. Persisting for the sake of it never worked, anyway.

Persisting for the sake of it was how many regrets came to be. They were good at pushing things to their limits. And yet, when it really mattered, they could not push their own.

What… were they even trying to persist for? They always knew this would happen someday. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this, but eventually people would learn to move on without them. Maybe this was how their banishment was supposed to happen. Maybe they’d just finally reached the end of their rope, and had finally been given an ounce of the pain that they had inflicted on others.

If they died, it meant that things would go back anyway, right? Wasn’t that… a good thing? The Angel’s friends were dying. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei were all dying. Whenever the three fell, their pain was cut short when a red soul shattered.

This was just how it was meant to be. This was what they were useful for.

If it had to hurt this time, then so be it.

The Angel stopped persisting.

No one needed them alive anyway.

The Angel, banished, will finally meet with its desire.

Everyone saw it. Everyone knew what it meant. The Angel had tried to warn Susie many, many times that it was an inevitability when they first met. Unfortunately for them, she was stubborn. She was far too stubborn to accept any of that. It was the only reason why the Angel was still here, after all. Without her pulling them out of the depths, they would have stayed down there forever.

Susie stared up at the glass that foretold the Angel’s fate. Despite how clear it was, she had her hand on her hips like she was confident that she could find a loophole. Beside her, Ralsei fiddled with his scarf, his eyes flicking between her and Kris. Of course, he was looking at Kris, because the Angel’s soul was currently stuck in them at the moment. 

He must be worried, seeing the words so plainly etched in glass.

The prophecy had made itself clear. Since the beginning, the Angel always knew that the three heroes would banish them. It just… took a while for them to come to the realization that they and “the Angel” were one in the same. Of course, it was going to be that way. After all, when they were asked to leave the previous world so long ago, it might as well have been a banishment. The world could not force them to leave, but a flower had pleaded with them to go. History tended to repeat itself like that.

The Angel wondered how they were all doing for the briefest of moments before trying to stamp the thought out. Wondering about them only made their gaze turn towards that save point that still had a golden hue. They couldn’t use it. They couldn’t.

Stop thinking about them. Let them live their lives.

Susie must’ve decided on something. While staring at the glass depiction that the Angel couldn’t quite see, she decided to wave. “Hi, dumbass!”

The Angel’s soul was summoned to speak. They hoped that Kris would stop changing their answers. Now that the two of them were distinctly seen as their own separate people, maybe they would stop. So, the Angel tried expressing their confusion normally. “I can’t see what you’re looking at.”

Sheepishly, as if he too was trying to keep his mind off of the words of the prophecy, Ralsei explained, “It’s… it’s what you supposedly look like, Angel.” He stared off into the darkness that the Angel couldn’t see, and the Angel only saw their own face staring back from the reflection of their window. 

Susie grinned. “Creepy as hell, to be honest.”

Immediately, Ralsei stammered for Susie to not say that, but the Angel was more curious about what she found creepy. After all, if the Angel were to look at themself, they would only see a human. Maybe it was different for Lightners and Darkners to try to look at them. 

Should the Angel… tell them what they were?

No. They saw the way that Kris shut books about humans incredibly fast. Surely, Kris knew that the soul within them was somewhat human in origin at this point, but there was no reason to make that worse. Besides, the Angel may be human in their own eyes, but things in this world always looked different depending on how one looked at them. After all, Darkners were supposed to be objects, yet could become beings with feelings and emotions all the same. 

The Angel might be human to themself, but to the others, they were something much different. That would have to be a conversation for another day.

Still, they sometimes wondered what it would be like to meet Kris, Susie, and Ralsei on their own level. While staring at the plaque detailing their banishment, it made it hard to wish for anything like that. The Angel came to this world as something other, something that was designed to serve a purpose and then leave. They could make people smile. They could hurt others. In the end, no matter what they decided to do, the Angel’s fate was already decided.

Apparently, Ralsei won out on their little argument, because Susie immediately half-apologized, “Okay fine, it's just uh… surprising is all.” Susie made the apology while keeping Ralsei at arm’s length, his head being pushed back by the palm of her hand. He was trying to halfheartedly swat at her for being mean. Of course, anyone could rely on Susie to immediately divert the topic away from something uncomfortable. Unfortunately, sometimes she asked even rougher questions. “The hell does it mean you’ll ‘meet with your desire’ though?”

And that… that confused the Angel. Yes, they were staring at those words in the prophecy, but they were so focused on the banishment that they missed the second part. They hoped that Ralsei may have an answer, but even he looked to Kris, genuinely interested in what would come next. 

What… was their desire?

What were they persisting for?

Surely, it had to all have some kind of meaning, right? 

Initially, it was just to see what would happen. That’s how most of these adventures started. It always began with curiosity. That’s how they found the previous world, after all. Eventually, the Angel supposed that they got attached. Curiosity for curiosity’s sake wasn’t enough. 

Even when they got hurt, even when they fell, they persisted beyond death. Why were they doing it? The Angel had been told in the past that they did things not for any desire for good or evil, but because they could. Because they could, they had to.

The thought made them bitter.

Maybe, the skeleton with a lack of context may have thought so. He couldn’t remember everything, after all. Maybe a part of his whole spiel was right, and the Angel was just in denial still. Determination could take shape in many forms. The Angel didn’t need a deeper purpose for it to work. As long as they wanted to achieve something, they would always get back up.

…but eventually, they supposed that wasn’t enough.

In the last world, they realized somewhere along the way that they wanted to keep their friends. They wanted to keep the family that they had gained along their journey. However, when they stared off into that sunset with people they loved moving further and further away, the world showed them that it wasn’t meant to be. The Angel, still so small and not yet understanding of their fate, had stayed on that cliffside for a while longer while everyone went to live their lives.

Then, the flower appeared.

He told them that they were a threat. He told them to let everyone live their lives. While the Angel could always undo everything, they were somewhat fond of the flower in a way. They were the only two who really knew how it felt to have that much control.

…but no matter how much fondness existed, the flower never knew the Angel. He asked them to go. It wasn’t the Angel’s life to live.

They wished it was.

Was it stupid to want that?

Were they… supposed to let people they loved drift away?

Were they supposed to be content with that?

If the prophecy claimed that the Angel would still be banished, then it didn’t know their desire. The Angel looked around at their friends now. Even though Kris and the Angel still were at odds, they liked to think that they were friends with Susie and Ralsei. Susie had practically dragged them back into existence, and Ralsei had been their first friend when coming here.

That gnawing feeling was coming back. Susie said that they would stay… that they wouldn’t be banished. She promised them that no matter what, they wouldn’t be thrown away.

“I dunno what it’ll take, but we’re not leaving you.”

Was it stupid to want to believe her?

The Angel didn’t want to lose everyone all over again.

Through Kris’ body, the Angel finally answered her, “Whoever made this prophecy didn’t know a thing about me. My ‘desire’ changed.” They figured that they knew what this “desire” was. After all, when the Angel had finally seen that sunset for the last time, deciding to let the world move on without them, they didn’t give up entirely. They only realized the limitations of the world that they were causing to repeat over and over again.

So, the Angel let the world move on without them. It was what they were supposed to do, after all. There were still loose threads and unsolved mysteries to go and pursue. The world could not help them with any of that any longer. They had to look elsewhere for one of the final loose threads.

Eventually, the man they were looking for found them. He called out. He knew that the Angel was searching for him.

Just in case he could hear, the Angel clarified, “It’s not that I don’t want what the prophecy is offering me. It’s just not worth the cost.” Surely, if the prophecy was talking about finally meeting this man after so long, then that could be accomplished without being severed from this world. Maybe it was naive, considering the man had been shattered, but there was enough naivety to go around today. “I was just looking for someone, that's all.”

Almost imperceptibly, Kris tilted their head to look closer at the depiction of the Angel, like something about what they’d said had piqued their interest.

The Angel didn’t bother commenting on that. After the caging, the betrayal while fighting the Knight, and Kris’ general disdain for them, the Angel wasn’t exactly getting buddy-buddy with them anytime soon. The Angel had only really managed to break free recently, and although the two of them could finally communicate normally, they had to admit that they were still bitter.

Being slammed into cages didn’t matter. Being beaten with a hockey stick didn’t matter. The Angel couldn’t feel pain. They were far too separated from the world to feel anything. However, betraying Susie and Ralsei’s trust was a step too far, and maybe they were still a little pissed.

Unknowing of their turmoil, Susie glanced back at the mural. “Well, whoever the hell it is, we’ll help you find ‘em after all of this is over. Y’know, when your stupid ass is still around.”

The Angel still wondered whether or not it was stupid to believe her. They were interested to see her try to prevent their banishment. 

As the Angel assumed control over Kris again to begin leading the party away, Ralsei didn’t quite join their ranks. The Angel stopped, watching him closely. 

He remained motionless for a moment, staring up at that mural. It reflected in his glasses for a moment, the Darkner clearly lost in thought. The Angel thought to ask, but Ralsei managed to voice the next thought on his own. He stammered, as if still not entirely used to talking to the Angel directly, “Um… if… if it’s not too much to ask… Can I ask something?”

Out of everyone here, Ralsei remained the most fidgety. The Angel figured he would be. Even when they made it clear that they saw him as a friend- their first friend since coming to this world- he still seemed nervous. So, hoping that Kris echoed this sentiment, the Angel answered, “You don’t have to ask. We’re friends.”

Somehow, that only made Ralsei more nervous. He glanced away, his head sinking slightly into his scarf to try to mask the surprise on his face. Unfortunately, the way the Angel saw his face didn’t… exactly abide by those rules. The scarf did next to nothing to hide it.

Eventually, Ralsei recovered. “I was just… wondering. You said your desire changed.” He turned his head towards Kris, but his eyes glanced just a little further beyond, aimed at the Angel. “What… is it that you want now?”

Was it stupid to admit what they wanted?

Look at how pathetic they were, staring through a window that they would never be able to pass. They would be banished, and yet here they were, hoping for something that could never be achieved.

It had to be foolish to believe in what Susie told them, but they still wanted to believe. Maybe that childish part of them that could never let go still sat somewhere deep within their soul.

So, the Angel made their first mistake of many, and they believed.

“I want to stay with you.”

Fingers slowly curled around the stems of flowers.

Was it selfish to want something? Was it selfish to look upon the impossibilities of the prophecy, and to just want more? The Angel never thought so for Ralsei. He’d tried so hard to fight. He tried so hard to beg for something better, but the glass never changed. The Angel had nothing but respect for Susie for daring to want more. She wanted to keep being friends with everyone. Her fist cracked glass when the world tried to take that away from her.

The Angel would never call them selfish.

Never once had their friends disparaged them for their true desire.

The Angel wanted to stay with them. Somewhere out there, they were hurt. The Angel wanted to stay with them. So many plans had been made. So many secrets had been told. All had bared their souls to one another, and now three of them had fallen.

In complete clarity, the Angel remembered their battered states. They remembered failing to protect them all. The darkness had grown too thick. As the Angel tried to shield all of them with their soul, their light started to sputter out. It couldn’t guide them any longer.

The Roaring was too much for them.

…but the Angel wanted to stay with them. Where were they now? Why wasn’t the Angel with them?

It couldn’t stay like this. They couldn’t continue lying here. Their hand gripped the flowers tighter, and their soul pulsed in their chest. It felt weak, diminished by the darkness that had invaded it. They reached out to their own power, trying desperately to step backwards in time on their own. However, the light felt too dim. It didn’t answer their call.

Would time even turn back, if they perished now?

They remembered the overwhelming darkness snuffing out the light that shrouded their soul. They remembered silver stars winking out. They remembered Ralsei panicking when the rules of battle began to break.

If they let go now, they may not come back.

The Angel wasn’t accepting this.

This wasn’t the end.

Kris didn’t leap in front of Susie, losing their hand just for the Angel to lay here and die. Susie didn’t leap in front of her friends when they had fallen, taking a blow from a Titan’s hand that had broken her, just for the Angel to not get back up. Ralsei didn’t expend everything he had left to protect everyone when the rules of battle shattered, only for his body to begin breaking as stone collected at his fingertips, just for the Angel to forget about him.

The Angel’s entire body felt like it wanted to break.

All that meant was that they had to get back up.

Persist.

It wasn’t just persistence. Slowly, their other hand began to find purchase on the ground. Their body still burned, but their soul started burning brighter. They had to get up. They made so many promises. The others had done so much for them. With all they had left, they needed to keep going. 

A burning feeling that they couldn’t describe began to flow through their body. As they struggled to push their body away from the ground, their arms and head shook. Spit and bile leaked from their mouth. They still couldn’t vocalize anything, but it didn’t matter. Their body wanted to fall apart, but their soul refused to die.

Something thought long gone began to manifest, and the Angel knew Determination once more.

No matter what, the Angel would fix this. They had to.

The dust flaking from their body began to solidify. As if death itself was being reversed, the damage slowly began to revert. All of the lost dust began to return to their vessel. The loss in form became less severe as the Angel slowly pushed themself back onto their knees.

Slowly, the pain began to subside.

They half-wondered if they would begin melting, as if that were a normal thought to have. Part of them wanted to grapple with their reality, to question why or how they could see from their eyes and yet also see from above. Instead, they chose to force those thoughts down. They would do no good right now.

The Angel needed to focus.

As they stared at their own vessel from above, they knew one thing had to change immediately. The crimson horns and the muted, grey fur reminded them far too much of Ralsei. Ralsei… enjoyed his own face. He liked that part about himself. If there was one thing that the Angel could never take, it was that.

So, they stared at the first thing they saw, the golden flowers. One of their hands still clenched a bundle of them, and they turned the broken plants over and over again. If this vessel was going to mock them for their failures, then they might as well carry a reminder that wouldn’t shatter Ralsei’s already fragile individuality.

Susie would call them sappy. Maybe they were.

Their vessel started to fill in a gap of color. Like the muted grey were merely a placeholder, it began to bleed away as a new color joined. The golden hue of the flowers replaced the grey, weaving across the Angel’s fur until it had taken all of it. However, the color became muted. The mark of that grey would never be forgotten, and even now it affected their fur.

That was fine. It had changed enough to mean something. Some things, the Angel couldn’t take from Ralsei.

As the last of their muted colors bled away, the Angel took a deep breath. It was the first… normal breath they had taken in this place. The air smelled stale. They were still reeling that they could smell the air, and yet they could see the term for it at the same time. It… it was best not to think about it. They had a job to do.

The Angel glanced ahead at the darkened room in front of them. There was a sea of golden flowers just beyond where they were sitting. Perhaps, the Angel had fallen into the flower shop again. It would be a long way out of here, if they were in the Field of Pink and Gold. Hopefully, if they could reach their save point, then they would be able to undo all of this.

Dying felt like more of an option now, but they would rather look at their files first.

In the darkness, the Angel extended a hand. After a few moments fumbling, they managed to find purchase on a nearby wall. They took a deep breath, knowing what came next. 

Slowly, they started to pull themself up to their feet. They tried to use the wall to help, but over and over again, they couldn’t get their legs to work correctly. It seemed that regardless, that would be an issue. It was fine. They just… had to get to their save point. 

After pushing themself up over and over again, the Angel finally managed to get their legs under them. They could see the save point just further down the hall, flickering a pale silver even now. Step by step, they began to inch towards it. It was slow-going, agonizingly slow knowing that their friends were still out there somewhere. If the Angel could just reach it, then they could end all of this.

A few more times, they almost stumbled. They had to catch themself against the wall, and managed to not fall completely again. Step by step, they managed to reach that silver star, and instinctively reached out a hand.

Something appeared. It was strange. Both pairs of eyes saw something open, and the Angel knew what it was. Ralsei hadn’t sugarcoated what these were either when he explained equipment to the Angel. They still had access to their menus.

That was the only good thing about this situation.

The menu looked the same as it always did. Boxes that shouldn’t be there and looked almost unnatural spread out before the Angel. However, they recognized it all the same.

The area of the save which usually dictated their current room was all wrong. The Angel had saved in Hometown, yet the area claimed they were at an end of some kind. Something may have changed their save. The man could’ve done it. If… if they had accidentally saved over this version of events, then the Angel would need to return to one of their backups. 

That wasn’t nearly as alarming as when the Angel saw their own name.

Rather, their name flickered over and over again, letters constantly changing and stuttering like they couldn’t decide on the Angel’s identity.

They still remembered their own name. It rested in their mind, clear as day. Still, it meant that their save was acting up. Their soul being diminished must have done more to them than they thought.

That was fine. The Angel immediately tried to activate their save, just so that they could see what was going on with their other files. If they couldn’t step back in time using this one, then they would just have to use another. Preparations were made before the Roaring. They weren’t an idiot. The sooner they could fix this, the better. They would lose progress, but anything was better than staying in this strange vessel for any longer. Anything was better than leaving their friends in danger.

Hopefully, when they reloaded, everything would go back for them too.

They couldn’t think about it any more than that.

Their files became exposed. As the menu grew in size to accommodate, the Angel froze. No… that couldn’t be right. They glanced at the other two files, ones that should be well and whole. 

In those files too, their name flickered dangerously. The names of rooms where they saved had been erased. The Angel reached out to one of those points, testing the waters to see if they could even interact with it.

Something scraped against the backside of their mind. An unyielding cold began to creep in. Their hand lurched back away from the menu, the silver light in front of them beginning to diminish. As soon as they withdrew, their chest rising and falling rapidly, the silver light began to return to normal.

Their saves…

Why weren’t they working?

The Angel’s vision started to blur. Again, they tried to interact with their other save. Claws raked against their soul, grasping for whatever light remained. It wanted to keep taking, even though the Angel was far away. 

The Roaring… how had it managed to do this?

Wondering “how” only lasted for a few moments. The Angel stood in place, staring at the two inaccessible files and the lone file that wasn’t in the right place. What… what could they do? What were they supposed to do? Two of the files no longer worked, and one of them had been overwritten. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei were still out there somewhere. They’d already wasted so much time being unable to move. They… their friends were dying, and the Angel couldn’t-

If… if the Angel was in the Field of Pink and Gold, then there may still be time. The Angel just had to get to them! That was all! The way they came from had flowers, so they needed to head the other way to get out! If they could just… find the door of this Dark World, then they could make it out into the Roaring and find everyone else.

The Angel dispelled their menu and began to push against the wall again. Every ounce of them wanted to move faster, but they couldn’t no matter how much they tried. They needed to push harder. Any attempt at grappling with their situation would only slow them down. Every step they took towards a purple archway, they had to fight back a feeling of familiarity. They tried to fight back that fear of an end rapidly approaching.

It wasn’t the end. They needed to find their friends.

Somewhere deep in their soul, they knew they’d walked this path before. Over and over, they tried to cast the thought out. Even as they passed under the archway and saw a room that would mark the end of their journey, they tried to ignore it. They just… needed to get back into Hometown. They were just in a Dark World. If they could just get out, then they could find the people who mattered most to them.

The Angel pushed themself off a wall. The room in front of them had no visible walls, so they had to do the rest on foot. Immediately, they began to stumble. This time, they planted a foot in front of them before they fell, putting out their arms to balance. This time, they didn’t fall.

When they saw a familiar patch of grass, they tried again to stamp out the fear of the archway beyond. They had to keep going. Again, they planted a foot in front of them. Their legs started to ache as misuse and stilted steps pulled tendons unnaturally. It didn’t matter. They just needed to get back to everyone else. If they had to, they would rip this soul out so that they could keep being useful.

Over and over, they moved forward. If the Roaring was going to crush their ability to save, then they were going to fight it themself. Even if their legs didn’t work right, they still had their soul. They could just… dodge like that. They still had this one file. If they could just get through that archway, then they could kill every last one of those Titans.

At this point, maybe they’d even rend the Knight to shreds too. Every time the Angel remembered three friends falling to the ground, they wanted nothing more than to dish the pain back. They told Ralsei that they could handle being kind. Their friends somehow believed that they were a good person. Even when the Angel tried to show Susie the depths they had gone to, she believed in them too much.

Maybe this boiling rage proved otherwise. The Angel wanted the Knight dead. It was a coward, hiding behind Titans and Kris to enact its will. It had to resort to cheap tactics just to keep the Angel from winning through attrition alone. Well, as soon as the Angel made it out of here, they were coming for it. They would fight it as many times as they had to until it was nothing but a forgotten memory.

The Angel didn’t notice until they were under the archway that they were walking at a normal pace. Their limbs had entirely straightened, every step becoming practiced and efficient. They were hardly seeing out of their vessel’s eyes anymore, looking down at their back from above instead.

Vision returned to its normal state. Their limbs loosened. The strings wrapped around their own body faded slightly as they took a deep breath.

Under all of that darkness covering the Knight, there was still someone there. Kris… Kris hadn’t betrayed everyone for nothing. The only reason they were at the Angel’s side when they fell was that they finally chose their friends. It was… because Kris trusted the Angel to help.

Someone was still under all of that darkness. The Angel knew that, but it hardly allowed the rage to bleed away.

If the Knight didn’t know what it was doing, then the Angel might be willing to let some of the rage simmer down. If it did know what it was doing, and it chose this path, then…

In the past, the Angel had chosen to spare much worse creatures.

This time, they hesitated.

In the past, they had been that terrible creature, and they had been spared.

It didn’t do anything to help their rage.

They could burn that bridge when all of this was over. For now, they needed to pass through the tunnel that lay beyond this archway. Thankfully, the walls closed in again. As soon as their body loosened again, they had to stumble into one of them. The path just kept going. Surely, they would find the door of this Dark World soon.

Their legs wouldn’t move.

Something bad would happen if they went through this archway. It… it was something good, yet they didn’t want it all the same. The distant feeling rooted them in place. For a few, precious moments, they stood completely still.

Memories of a sunset crossed their mind. The Angel shut their eyes, wincing away from the memory as if it was something real.

Keep going. Keep going.

The Angel stepped forward again. Hesitation brought their friends closer to death. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei had never been without the Angel like this. Every second wasted could be another battle. Every moment that passed allowed Ralsei to turn to stone. Both Kris and Susie had mortal wounds that would only worsen the longer they waited.

So, the Angel persisted, and they limped down that hallway despite the instinct in their head screaming at them not to.

Step by step, they wondered when they would find a door. The path ahead grew dark for a moment, but they could see a pale light just beyond what appeared to be an opening. It… it could be a while before they reached the end of the Dark World. They may have to travel for quite a while.

It was all the more reason to keep moving. They couldn’t stop. They couldn’t. So… they needed to stop thinking about running backwards, about lingering for just a little longer.

There was nothing in that cavern left for them.

After walking for so long, they finally reached the end. The Angel stared at the ground for a moment, realizing that they were seeing moonlight just outside of this cavern. When they stepped out on their own, cold air washed over them while instinct forced their arms to wrap around their body.

Puffs of breath came out of their snout when they looked up. Dark Worlds… never really had a sky. Sometimes, a facsimile of stars or a sky would be formed, but this… 

The Angel could see the moon travelling through the sky above them. Countless stars joined it, the cosmos above twisting while the Angel stared. Their gaze fell. The Angel stared off what they now realized was a cliffside. In the distance, they could see the lights of a sleeping city. 

Everything started to go numb, and it wasn’t from the cold.

The Angel took a few more steps forward. They didn’t get close to the edge, still worried that they would fall, but they recognized this place. If they thought about it hard enough, they might be able to imagine a sunset on that horizon instead. They might look slightly to the left and see a vessel long gone. They remembered what words were spoken here, and the aching feeling that came when the Angel could no longer follow.

Static started to shoot through the Angel’s body. Their eyes lingered on that spot on the cliffside, remembering where their previous vessel once stood. They knew this place. They… they said something here. What was it again? 

“I want to stay with you.”

No… they… this couldn’t be…

The Angel clutched at their head, trying to fight off the phantom feelings of this place. No, they would be awake at any moment now. Things would go back to normal. This… this was all some elaborate joke! 

“I want to stay with you.”

The words started repeating over and over again. How many times had the Angel spoken those words? Never did they say they had places to go. Always, when they had to face the end of the journey, they expressed the one thing that they truly wanted. Over and over again, they muttered those words, and the words only grew louder as the Angel tried to breathe.

“I want to stay with you.”

But it could never be that way! No matter how much they wanted to stay, this world had banished them! They had been asked to leave, and no matter how many times they turned the clock backwards, that never changed. Why… why were they standing on this cliffside? Where…?

Where were their friends?

“I want to stay with you.”

Kris. Susie. Ralsei.

Where were they?

The Angel was standing on a cliffside so far away from them now. If… if the Angel was here…

Their claws dug into their head. What had they done? Why were they here? The people who mattered were so far away now. The Angel wanted to laugh! It… why… how were they going to…

Hesitantly, the Angel turned around, and saw the image of something that they knew very well. They’d seen this mountain every single time they chose to interact with this world. Every time they thought about turning back the clock, they saw it all over again.

Its name still remained clear in the Angel’s head: Mount Ebott.

Where were their friends?

How were they going to get back?

Shaky breaths kept falling out of the Angel’s mouth. Shivers wracked their body, and they couldn’t tell if it was from the cold at this height or the realization of a horrible truth. They didn’t even have time to think about why they were here, only that they had been sent to the wrong place! This… this wasn’t right! Their friends still needed them! Why had they been sent here? What would possibly think that they wanted this?

The Angel, banished, will finally meet with its desire.

“I want to stay with you.”

Words uttered over a decade ago haunted them.

Of course. Of course.

It wasn’t enough to believe again. It wasn’t enough to think that things would be any different. Fate had already carved out a place for them no matter what they did. That was the funny thing about vague prophecies. The Angel bitterly realized that it did know them. They’d been marked by fate a long time ago, and even if their desire changed, the prophecy knew how to accommodate. It had listened to desires that they had tried to move on from, and used it to crush them.

The Angel sank to their knees. The cold stopped mattering. Nowhere they could run to would make this any better. Their friends were a world away, and all of them were dying alone.

They receded in on themself more and more, trying not to stare at a view that they had longed to move past forever. Fate had dragged them back, and fate had sentenced their friends to death.

Trapped in a body that didn’t feel right, and shattered in a way that they couldn’t comprehend, the Angel lowered their head. All they wanted was to believe that their fate could change too. Since the moment they uttered those words as a child, their fate had already been decided. People who they had never met already had their fates decided.

They were all supposed to break fate together, but it had broken them in turn.

It took from those who deserved it the least. It left the Angel alive.

Why… were they the only one left alive?

Why were they here?

Chapter Text

When the connection revealed itself once more, the Angel came back as soon as they possibly could.

The previous night had been terrible. Not only had the fight against the Titan gone terribly, but nothing but doom and gloom had been cast over everyone with the final prophecy being revealed. Of course, the Angel still didn’t know what precisely it was. They should’ve asked, but they were far more worried at the time about making sure everyone was okay.

For the Angel, that was a year ago. For everyone else, they barely even got a few hours of sleep. Even a year later, the Angel didn’t exactly know what was waiting for them. 

The waits were getting frustrating.

It frustrated them that they’d been away for so long again. When they came here for the first time, it was so long ago. Every time they reconnected, they changed so much. Hopefully, no one would mind if they acted strange.

It looked like that wouldn’t be a problem yet. Everyone was still asleep. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei had all decided to spend the night in Castle Town after everything. The Angel doubted that Kris would have come here without a bit of help from the soul itself, but at least everything had worked out fine with everyone here. For just a moment, they all got to have a chance to rest.

The Angel felt bad for being happy that the night had ended. It felt like it never would. They just… thought that everyone else deserved for the night to last a little longer.

…Maybe the Angel didn’t have to wake everyone yet. 

This could last for a little longer. So, they just watched for a moment. It was rare that any of them got a chance to just relax together. Over and over, something life-threatening would happen. It wasn’t really until the TV-World where they all just got to sit down and hang out. Then again, maybe Susie and Ralsei had some fun in the Cyber World. From the sounds of it, they did, and the Angel hoped that things like that could keep happening with all of them.

In the bed, Susie looked dead to the world. If the Angel remembered correctly, she fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. Her snoring practically shook the room. Like they weren’t affected by that in the slightest, Kris had gone into what the Angel could only describe as a starfish pose. They were still face-down, but half of their body had sprawled across Susie. Somehow, they hadn’t been woken up by the noise at all. On the other side of Susie, Ralsei had been wrapped into a headlock by purple tormentor. The Angel would’ve been worried about him getting strangled, but he looked more peaceful than they’d ever seen him.

Yeah, they weren’t going to disrupt this.

Come to think of it, the Angel didn’t know how they would disrupt this. They couldn’t actually find their soul. It had to be in the room, but they had no idea where it had gone. They disconnected at an odd time the previous night, and didn’t even know how they got here. It wouldn’t be the first time they disconnected in one place and ended up in another though.

Carefully, they tried to move the soul.

Ralsei’s scarf shook.

The Angel immediately became inconsolable. Of course. Of course, Ralsei, seeing that the Angel’s soul was just floating around, would try to protect it like that. They tried to tell him over and over again that they couldn’t feel pain or really anything at all. They didn’t even have things described to them without a vessel. However, Ralsei chose to ignore that to be nice.

Okay. Yeah. That was fine. They were normal about that.

The Angel didn’t dare to move. If Ralsei woke up, they would never forgive themself. Maybe they were supposed to wake him up, but this was fine. They were not going to ruin this moment for anyone else.

It’d been so long since they all just looked happy. The Angel knew that they’d never seen the three of them actually fully resting. It was a nice change of pace. They were, after all, what, highschoolers? 

It made the previous night feel all the more worse.

None of them deserved what had been thrown at them. Fate decided to give them a left-hook, and none of them had come out of it unscathed. The Angel still didn’t know what the prophecy had in store for all of them, but they resented a prophecy that was dragging teenagers into its business. They knew how that one felt. After all, when they connected to this world, they were around that range. They were even smaller when they saw the symbol of the Deltarune for the first time.

Fate really liked dragging in the people most unequipped to deal with the issue.

The Angel thought that, but they also succeeded even when they were a kid. “Succeeded” was a bit of a generous word, considering that the stakes were very different for them. How they and fate interacted was a bit different compared to the people who were actually able to get hurt. It just… sucked that all of them had been dragged into this when they were just figuring out who their friends were.

…They wouldn’t have become friends had it not been for the prophecy, but what was the point if the prophecy was just going to tear it all apart?

It was just unfair. All of it.

It was why the Angel was here now.

If anyone could guide the way for these three, it had to be the Angel. Without the soul, without a light to shine the way, darkness always immediately fell. Things got even worse somehow when the Angel briefly lost hope in the church. Maybe that's why they were called here. Guidance was always something that they figured they were doing, but now they wondered if they could be doing more.

The Angel could take hits. They could point things out. They could pull people out of danger. However, they wanted to do something different. Was there… any way to make things any easier?

Something… small. Maybe they could do something small instead of a grand gesture. If those three needed anything, it was any kind of normalcy. They looked like they enjoyed Tenna’s little video game for a bit, so maybe they all just liked hanging out. There was obviously the festival later, but the Angel wanted to do something themself.

Maybe they could like… make a breakfast? That would be easy. They didn’t know how good their cooking actually was to other people. Supplies were another issue. They had like… five eggs if they stole the one that Temmie had. Maybe the reason for those was making the sickest omelet ever. 

They should… probably get some food that wasn’t esoteric in nature. Unfortunately for the Angel, those eggs were the only food that stayed normal between worlds. They didn’t think that they knew how to use Ralsei’s cauldron for anything else, and the food didn’t really work here anyway.

Absentmindedly, the Angel tried to wrest control over their soul again to figure out how to do this. Once again, Ralsei’s scarf shook, and a small red heart floated out of it. All they needed to do was…

Ah.

They… forgot.

All the Angel really had control over was a red soul. It couldn’t really touch anything other than nudging things to the side. It didn’t have any motor skills that would be required to do something like this. Even if they tried to make something, someone would get scared of a floating heart out in the open. 

Right, they forgot for a moment that this was all they were.

It was… all they really were to everyone! They never even really could show their own face. As far as any of their friends knew, they were just a heart that took other people’s appearances. Sure, they’d been called a friend, but anything they could provide had to be through someone else’s hands.

Anything else was just a necessity. The soul could protect everyone else, but what good was protection when the Angel transferred hits to their friends? The soul could light the way, but being a lantern wasn’t exactly what someone would consider friend material. Their contributions thus far had been entirely combat-related.

Ralsei would chastise them for that. They knew that he would. It was just… frustrating to not be able to do anything nice… without needing someone else.

Someone else needed to perform the action to spare an enemy. Someone else needed to take the hits when the Angel’s defenses failed. Someone else needed to speak for them. Only in rare times could they actually speak with others directly, and that was when their soul was fused with others. Considering the Angel’s track record so far, the only good that did was make people have existential crises. 

Most of that was also their fault.

All this… over just wanting to make a damn breakfast.

Almost every person here would probably help if the Angel asked. Ralsei definitely would, but he had run himself dry the previous day. Susie absolutely would, but considering her track record with cooking, that probably would end with her completely stealing the reins and lighting everything on fire. Kris probably knew how to bake from Toriel, but the Angel imagined that they would eat a raw egg just to spite them.

One day, when they had their vessel, they were going to make it up to everyone.

Movement pulled the Angel out of their thoughts abruptly. Ralsei shifted slightly, his hand going up to his scarf immediately. Of course, what he was looking for wasn’t there. The soul in question had floated a ways away in an attempt to wake none of them up. Unfortunately, Ralsei seemed to have a sixth sense for the Angel going missing, because his eyes immediately opened when they left for ten seconds.

His head immediately swiveled in the direction of the soul. The Angel hastily tried to shimmy their soul back and forth in the closest approximation of “no” they could muster. They were trying to get him to not say anything, to just go back to sleep for a little longer. It was fine for them all to rest. Ralsei didn’t need to worry at all.

Unfortunately for the Angel, Ralsei was too good for this world. He blinked a few times, undoubtedly being unable to see thanks to his glasses being off. The Angel’s red light was a dead giveaway though, and Ralsei immediately asked to open air, “Angel? Are you awake?”

Yes, Ralsei, they were “awake”. Trying to make it clear what their motions in the air were, they made their soul move up and down in an approximation of a nod. Yes, they were awake, now if Ralsei could just go back to sleep-

The ship had already sailed. Immediately, Ralsei became alert, struggling out of Susie’s arms and swinging his legs off the side of the bed. “W-wait! That means the festival is soon!” Ralsei stammered, blissfully unaware of the Angel shaking their soul more rapidly to try to get him to go back to sleep. “Kris! Susie! W-we might have overslept!”

Kris wanted to stay dead to the world. After they lifted their head for two seconds, they put it right back down into the pillow. Susie made a groaning noise that sounded like she would kill whoever woke her up. Unfortunately for her, she only found Ralsei, and her head sank back into the pillow. No murder today. Still, she grumbled, “C’mon man… can’t be that late.”

Ralsei had already scrambled for his glasses. When he finally had them, he gestured at the soul floating in the air like what he was saying next was obvious. “The… the Angel’s here now, so it’s probably time for you two to… um… go do that.”

It was an innocent enough statement, one that made perfect sense.

A pit immediately formed in the Angel’s stomach when he laid it out so plainly.

Of course, the Angel connected and disconnected whenever they were of use. It was just… weird to hear someone else say it. They tagged along for the adventures. They appeared when someone needed a guide. Whenever things simmered down and the night grew long, they left.

They weren’t… allowed to do the same things that their friends did. 

What would happen when all of this was over, they wondered? The Angel supposed that was the point of their banishment. When all was said and done, and when all of the troubles had finally ended, they had to let everyone go and live their real lives. As much as Susie said that wouldn’t happen, what were they supposed to think?

The Angel could be more aptly described as a guardian than an actual friend. It had them pause for a moment when they realized. Every time they disconnected, their friends got further away. In fact, the Angel was much younger when they connected for the first time, and every time they had to say goodbye for another night, people who they’d grown close to stayed the same while they changed.

A guardian.

That’s what they were:

A deterrent that only appeared when something threatened the three heroes.

Their friends would get further away. They would continue growing up without them. One day, when the Angel had run out of ways to protect them, they would be gone. The Angel was a mere speck in their lives, but Kris, Susie, and Ralsei had all been in the Angel’s thoughts for much longer.

Was it stupid to want more?

Was it stupid to want to struggle, despite nothing ever happening when they did?

A sharp thud resounded through the Angel’s ears as they heard the telltale noise of their soul being damaged. They immediately paid attention, going on alert for whatever could have attacked them.

They only found three pairs of eyes on them, Susie’s hand withdrawing from where she’d lightly flicked the soul. She had a half-smile on her face, but the humor didn’t carry in her voice when she asked, “Uhhh, you good, dude?”

Of course, they were a soul, so they couldn’t answer that. 

Sure, they were fine. They just needed to do their job. Passively, they hovered over to Kris, waiting for the inevitable fusion. Kris had been without their soul all night, and usually woke up with it back in. If the Angel stayed out for much longer, there could be consequences.

Susie grimaced when she realized that the Angel wasn’t even capable of answering. Ralsei buried his head in his scarf, though his eyes seemed to be trailing on the soul like he wanted to say something. It was fine. They’d be back in Kris soon, and then people could grill them for whatever they needed. Ralsei was right though. If the Angel was here, then everyone needed to get a move on.

Kris didn’t waste much time. After all, they and the Angel still didn’t really trust the other entirely. It wasn’t like them to really care about how roughly the soul was placed back in.

So, the Angel found it odd when Kris carefully wrapped their fingers around the soul, putting it back in their chest without quite literally shoving it in. The cage door still closed, but it didn’t slam shut behind them.

The Angel assumed control of Kris. Once more, the group was under their protection. They had no doubt that things would go terribly today. The Angel just hoped that they could prevent things before they went wrong. Maybe that’s why they wanted everyone to sleep in. With the way things were going, things would go terribly today. If it wasn’t today, it would be tomorrow. 

When the Angel tried to get Kris to move, they only took a step toward the door before Susie’s hand clasped their shoulder. Kris didn’t visibly react, like they saw this coming from a mile away. The Angel was confused for a second at what she was doing until she walked out in front of them. 

Her eyes narrowed. “You didn’t answer me, dumbass.”

The Angel tried to answer, but hesitated for the briefest of moments and found the decision taken out of their hands. 

As always, Susie immediately pounced on the hesitation. “So like, that thing where you stop moving isn’t just you sleeping, is it?”

She referred to their disconnection. The Angel obviously didn’t get to see what happened after they were pulled away. At the very least, they managed to get Kris and Susie into the Dark World with Ralsei before things broke down. Ralsei must’ve moved them at some point, considering he was the last one with them.

Almost too helpfully, as if trying to make up for what he said before, Ralsei elaborated, “Um… no, Susie. At least… I don’t think so? It’s more that they’re just… away for a while.”

Susie furrowed her brow, glancing between Kris’ chest and Ralsei like she was trying to put something together. The next question came naturally, like it was the most important thing to follow up with in Susie’s mind: “When the hell do they sleep then?”

The Angel thought about answering honestly. They’d slept… oh… give or take four-hundred times since they’d last met. It made them bitter all over again. So, the Angel finally summoned their soul to speak, “It’s just sleep.”

Immediately, Ralsei squinted like he wanted to argue. Susie’s head whipped around to look at him as soon as the Angel answered, and immediately caught the fact that Ralsei, someone who knew the rules of the world, was about to call the Angel out on a boldfaced lie.

“Arright, so you’re clearly lying through Kris’ teeth.” Susie looked proud of herself for that one, especially when Kris also seemed to nod in agreement with her. Was everyone going to gang up on them? “You’re really bad at that, by the way.”

Lying would be easier if Kris didn’t change their answers all the time. Then again, Susie had talked to them directly and had no issue with lying. She somehow could figure things out about them that she shouldn’t be able to. Ralsei apparently could constantly feel the Angel’s current state, which gave them so many more questions. Maybe hesitating to form an answer or the answers they chose just… made him figure things out faster.

The Angel didn’t want to do this today. They really didn’t. Susie was going to hound them all day if they didn’t relent and answer. So, trying to be as straightforward as they could be, they explained, “You all do not need to worry about this.” They gave a second to see if that would work, knowing damn well that it wouldn’t.

Unsurprisingly, every face was still on them. Susie looked unimpressed. Ralsei’s head had sunken deeper into his scarf. Somehow, Kris looked more annoyed than usual even though they hadn’t shifted positions.

Fine.

This… was what the Angel asked for, after all. Leave it to them to want actual connections instead of being stuck in a cage, only to then realize that those connections came with implications. “I thought about doing something nice for once. Forgot I didn’t have hands. That’s all.” Surely, that would be enough. It was the truth, after all.

Susie tilted her head. “Uhhh, you can just borrow mine? I thought we were like… cool on the whole taking turns thing-.”

“With my own two hands,” they interrupted her for once, “I just wanted to do something nice.”

A guardian.

What good was a guardian who couldn’t act on their own?

Why couldn’t the Angel just… be a little more useful in smaller ways? They wished that the people dearest to them wouldn’t have to fight anymore. If the Angel could, they would just do this on their own. They could do all of the battles. They could face all of the enemies. They were just tired of seeing everyone get hurt over and over again.

None of them deserved to be placed in harm’s way any longer.

If the Angel could, if they just had their own two hands to work with, then it would all be easy. They knew two of the codes. They could sit there at the shelter and brute force the third one with infinite time. Save points were convenient like that. Eventually, they would be good enough to just finish this without people getting hurt or forgotten.

Once again, Susie somehow got the jump on them, lightly punching Kris’ shoulder. “Yeah, and we’re gonna make that a thing, stupid. Did your weird sleep thing make you forget that all of the sudden?”

No, they just had too much time to think.

Ralsei unburied his snout from his scarf again when the Angel didn’t respond. He raised his hand like he had a question before remembering that he didn’t need to ask anymore and sheepishly putting it down. “Well… I mean… that sounds pretty nice! What… were you going to do?”

They took it all back. Maybe being a soul was better, because it meant they didn’t have to answer any questions. This showed them to never idle again. If they ever had to step away for a moment, everyone would think they were having another existential crisis.

The Angel sighed before hoping that Kris would grumble just like they were, “Was going to make you all breakfast.” They were very glad that no one could see their expression of pure defeat right now. In retrospect, it was silly and stupid, but they still wanted to do it!

Susie squinted at them for a second. The Angel thought that she was about to call them an idiot for a few seconds. “You were gonna make breakfast the whole time… and you weren’t gonna tell me?” In a blur of motion, she grabbed Ralsei and Kris’ hands, sprinting towards the bedroom door as fast as possible. “Screw it! We’re doing that! I’m hungry!”

While Kris seemed to be accepting and very fine with this fate, Ralsei put on the brakes. He tried, but his feet uselessly skidded along the floor. “S-Susie! The festival!”

“Psh, it’s not until later! We got time!” She grinned, never letting go of the two of them as they rushed out of the room and towards the stairs.

The Angel found themself smiling just a bit.

How… did Susie manage to do that all the time?

At least, they could have their wish of doing something nice, even if it wasn’t with their own two hands.

One day though, they’d make it up to everyone. One day, everyone else would get a chance to rest, and they would do something nice on their own. After all the three had been through, they deserved that more than anything.

One day.

Time kept screeching forward.

It’d grown so cold on that cliffside. The Angel couldn’t feel their fingers anymore, despite the fur covering their body. They shouldn’t be able to feel anything, and yet they still did.

How naive were they to think that things would be easy with a vessel of their own?

This world had a funny way of proving them wrong at every turn. If they thought it would be so easy, then why not just tell them to prove it? If they wanted to ask for more, if they wanted to ask for their own two hands, then they could have it! It just came with the cost of sitting on a cliffside, worlds away from people they were supposed to protect, and with no way of returning.

The cold started to sting under their fur. Every puff of breath condensed in the air. It was so cold up here, and their clothes were far too short to make a difference. Even still, they didn’t know whether the tremors came from the cold or frustration.

What did they do so wrong?

Did they take everything for granted? Was it so wrong of them to just want to take care of people who had already done so much for them? Every sign pointed to that being the case. The Angel tried so… so hard to make a difference, to just be more than a tool to be used up when all was said and done. Eventually, even Kris didn’t want that anymore. Everyone… everyone was happier when the secrets were all gone.

They’d all made so many plans together when everything was over.

They’d all promised so much.

So why… why were all of them being punished?

Was the Angel just supposed to keep their head down? Were they supposed to serve their purpose and leave? That… that couldn’t be it. They refused to believe that that was all there was! Why would they have been called to this world if their only purpose was to carry out a prophecy that brought even more pain and strife?

No answers. The Angel had no answers. None of the questions were even making sense anymore. The cold became worse and worse. Their body wanted to go numb and shut down, but something kept burning in their chest, keeping them going regardless.

What good was that light within their soul when they could do nothing with it? It couldn’t rewind time, because they had become locked in this version of events with their other two files being inaccessible. There were no fountains to seal here, and titans didn’t swarm the horizon like they did back in Hometown. They just had a light still shining, but the cold kept clawing deeper and deeper the longer they sat here.

Maybe, they knew that they were wasting time.

They managed to vocalize a scoff, another wispy breath escaping their snout. Of course, they were wasting time asking all of these questions that couldn’t be answered. They just… needed to stand up and keep moving.

Everything felt too cold. 

What would they even do if they could move? Where would they go? Who could even help? Who would want to help? The questions all came back in a flurry, something rising up in the backside of the Angel’s mind. No one knew who they were here. Who would even listen? They… they couldn’t even speak. They could hardly walk. 

The Angel didn’t even get to say goodbye.

It was a stupid thing to think about. They… never really got to say goodbye. They just thought that this time… there may be a chance to say goodbye to people who meant everything to them. Ralsei knew their true name. Susie and Kris had both learned it after a while. It… would’ve been nice to at least say goodbye to the only people who could remember them.

…but they were dying. They were dying, and the Angel didn’t get to tell them just how much they all meant. The Angel never got to say how many years they’d truly spent thinking about all of them, hoping that they would all one day see a better future. It would’ve been something stupid to say when they were all dying, but the Angel wished that they could’ve left them all with anything but silence.

It didn’t matter to the Angel that those three knew the things that they wanted to say.

The Angel just… wondered if they were scared.

For an entire journey, Ralsei always took comfort in someone watching over him, the two of them trying to figure out who they were despite being so different. Susie eventually knew that someone always had her back, and it emboldened her to keep trying in the face of impossible odds. Kris found solace in a different way, knowing that if they couldn’t resist what fate had in store for them, then someone else would be there for the people they loved.

The Angel left them without a word.

They didn’t want to, but they had.

Were all of them scared?

Of course they were.

Claws scraped into dirt. Fingers lost their numbness. A light deep in the Angel’s soul started to coalesce. Fine. If the prophecy wanted to leave them alive, if it wanted to punish them for daring to hope, then let it. 

It made a mistake letting them live.

A red soul flared to life on the Angel’s chest. They took deep breaths, trying to keep the burning feeling stable. It began to rage brighter, a light slowly fanning out as it grew.

Maybe their friends were dead. There was a chance that they weren’t. There was a chance that they could reverse everything if they could just… fix their saves. All they had to do was get off of this mountain. 

And if their friends were dead, they would make this prophecy regret it.

They would make its claws bleed.

A story where three teenagers perished in darkness wasn’t one that should be allowed to exist. If all that remained when they finally returned to that world was ashes, then they would just have to tear what remained to shreds. The prophecy wanted the worlds to be saved at an insurmountable cost. It wanted the heroes to give up everything to make that happen.

If they were dead, the Angel would make sure there was nothing left to be saved.

The prophecy was so certain that it was untouchable. Did it really think that it couldn’t be fractured and lost? Did it wish to do everything to allow the worlds to be saved? It had chosen a horrible champion to do so. Long ago, the Angel had the option to erase what remained of a world tainted by a prophecy.

If this new prophecy wanted to kill its heroes, the Angel would just have to finally pull the trigger.

The book would burn.

At last, searing heat blossomed in the Angel’s chest from their soul. It did something to stave off the cold, but they found that they weren’t feeling it anymore. Their soul shimmered all the same, now finally being visible in its entirety. It allowed them to see a few feet ahead, just far enough where they may not fall off the path if they continued. 

Air escaped their nostrils once more. The numbness in their fingers began to leave more and more as they tried to take breath after breath. 

They remembered this feeling. They remembered this frustration like it was just yesterday. A goal became so unobtainable, that they decided to break the world just to see if there was a way to force it to change.

It didn’t do them any good when they last had these thoughts.

So much for changing to be a better person. Susie really was wrong about them.

A distant memory pricked at the corners of their mind. The Angel thought they remembered someone telling them that they could see everyone again. Their friends may not have long, but… but they could still be alive.

The Angel had to cling to that hope. It was all they had left.

Even the thought of tearing it all apart didn’t do them any good. They bitterly laughed at the fact that as much as they talked big, as much as they wanted to shatter that prophecy, they had no ability to do so. It… it was stupid. They’d find a better way. They’d make it right. There was no reason… to think that everyone was dead. Of course, they had to still be out there. The Angel knew that their friends were still out there. They had to be. 

If… if they weren’t…

For now, they would cling to that delusion if it made them feel just a little more whole.

They gritted their teeth. They steeled their vessel. Over and over, despite how slow going it was, they tried to take steps towards the edge of the mountain. It was funny, in a way. They’d never actually seen what stood beyond this cliff. They half wondered if they would meet an impassable and unseeable wall again, and all of this effort would be for nothing. After all, the Angel’s banishment had been quite clear. They weren’t allowed to live this life.

The Angel didn’t want this life. They wanted their friends back.

Their staggered footsteps stopped when they reached the point of no return.

Somehow, they knew the exact place where they had never been able to follow. Other than a few mere glimpses, the Angel had never been beyond this mountain. Monsters went free, but the Angel remained confined under that mountain. The only thing they could do was send time careening backwards, or sit there in an empty void with only two real options.

They remembered giving in a few times. “Few” was generous. The Angel lost track of just how many times they went back, thinking they could make a difference. In his final plea to them, the flower wondered whether or not the Angel had already heard his spiel hundreds of times already.

At a certain point, he may not have been wrong anymore.

Never before had they been able to go beyond this point. They got to see a glimpse of… of Frisk being happy, but that was it.

It was weird to have that name on their mind again.

The Angel stared down a pathway that continued weaving down the mountainside. Every single time they came here, they had to leave. They didn’t yet… understand what was happening yet. What if… what if trying to leave the bounds of Mt. Ebott caused them to be disconnected all over again?

Maybe… maybe that would be a good thing. The Angel wasn’t even in the right place! Hometown didn’t exist in this world! The Angel’s friends didn’t exist in this world! If… if this did disconnect them, then that would mean that the Angel could access the correct world again.

Their feet stayed firmly planted into the ground.

On the other hand, that was a naive way of thinking. The Angel couldn’t even load their save files that connected them back to the other world. It was still hard to precisely see what they even were, and every time they thought about that, their head began to split open all over again. If… if they crossed this threshold, and they disconnected, then there may be no coming back.

The Underground could have things to explore that would help the Angel return.

…Except it didn’t.

The Angel had scoured that entire cavern countless times already. If there was anything that could actually help them hop worlds, they would have found it already. Anything that looked suspicious either only ever existed under certain conditions, or was far too complicated for the Angel to possibly use.

They were stalling. Over and over again, they tried to push themself over the threshold, but they couldn’t.

Stalling was going to get their friends killed.

It was a reminder that did them no good. It was one which caused their chest to feel funny. The breaths stopped coming out correctly, and the Angel realized that there really was no avoiding this. There never was avoiding anything. They didn’t have time to sit here and think. They didn’t have time to weigh their options. The only thing they could do now was act.

So, the Angel took one step forward, finally lifting a foot off of the ground. They didn’t need to think about these things anymore. They just needed to do what they were designed to do. Even if they wanted to rip that prophecy to shreds, the Angel still needed to protect. 

Everything else didn’t matter.

They thought something would happen. If they crossed that invisible threshold, they would be violently wrenched from this world just as violently as when they entered it. When they finally took the step, they braced themself for the inevitable pain that would prove their worst thoughts correct: that they were never welcome here.

Instead, their foot touched dirt a few inches away.

The Angel stared at their vessel’s foot like something would happen at any moment. They didn’t dare to breathe for the few moments that they watched. They just lingered, waiting for the inevitable.

Nothing happened.

For so long, they’d wanted to pass through this barrier. They wanted to join the others. Eventually, they gave up on that dream when they met Kris, Susie, and Ralsei. The dream wasn’t to be with people who never truly knew them, it was to be with people who saw them for who they were and cared for them all the same.

Now, as if mocking them, this world had finally let them cross the threshold.

No fanfare came. No resounding moment of clarity appeared. The Angel just stood there with one foot over a barrier that no one else had ever experienced before.

The wall was gone.

What… were they supposed to do now?

The world suddenly felt a lot larger. The Angel tried not to think about it, taking more and more steps beyond that cliffside. Impossibly, they kept being allowed to move. Where were they even going? Did they have a plan? The Angel knew that they had no plan whatsoever, but this was the path where everyone else went. The monsters went this way with Frisk. If… if there was anyone to find, it would have to be all of them.

What if the answer wasn’t with any of them? After all, this world was so big. The Angel had only ever explored the Underground. What… what was this world like? Should they even ask? They only needed to be here for a short amount of time and for a singular purpose. They just… needed to get back.

What if they missed something important? The Angel kept trudging down the path, and suddenly they became very aware of things directly to their sides. Countless golden flowers dotted the cliffside, as if someone had scattered the seeds haphazardly. That looked new. Emboldened by the new discovery, the Angel started scanning with their other pair of eyes. This world was so big now. What if they missed something critical and never found it again? What if it was important to getting back to everyone?

The Angel wasn’t looking where they were going. As the path started to descend into trees, a low hanging branch smacked them in the face. They jumped when they felt something again, taking a few steps back just to not fall over.

Okay. Maybe they should just focus on the path instead.

They had barely made any progress. It was still difficult to walk. Every time they tried to use their legs correctly, muscle memory made their steps uneven. No wonder Ralsei chose to float sometimes. This wasn’t manageable at all.

The cold was getting worse. They’d almost forgotten when another full-body shiver shook them to their core. It was a long way down, and the air up here wasn’t doing them any favors.

The Angel glanced up at the branch. It… looked pretty sturdy. If… if having something to support them would make them move faster, then they were taking it.

When the Angel tried to break the low-hanging branch off, they had to adjust their hands a few times. Once again, the odd structure of their hands would take some getting used to. Hopefully, they weren’t going to be like this for long. They’d used other vessels before, but there was a difference between commanding someone to do an action and actually doing the action themself. Before, there was always some layer of translation. Now, it was their body that was being assaulted by the cold.

Finally, they managed to wrench it free. The Angel poked it against the ground, testing its weight a few times. When they leaned their body weight on it, it didn’t break or give in any way.

Progress. Small progress had been made.

The Angel stared down the rest of the path, the shivers growing worse. For a second, they let the branch lean against their body so that they could blow hot air into their hands. It… was still a long way down.

A thought came when they set off again, making slightly faster progress thanks to their makeshift walking stick.

What if they weren’t the only one here?

It would be impossible to tell. The Angel wasn’t quite sure how to check certain things anymore, and they were too frazzled to even try and think of a solution. The Angel had been dragged here by the man. They heard his voice. They remembered everyone else getting further away.

It was unlikely, but everyone else could be here.

They weren’t. The Angel still remembered everyone’s labored breathing when they all fell in battle. It remained etched in their soul, something that they could never undo no matter how hard they tried. Even if they managed to load their save, they were never going to forget this.

Find them.

The Angel needed to find them.

Whether they were here or in the other world, the Angel needed to go and find them now.

With the light from their soul guiding the way, the Angel continued faster down the mountainside, not knowing where or who they were going towards.

It had been a considerable amount of time since Asgore had been asked to do something like this, but he supposed if there was an emergency… then he would be the first to investigate it. 

Considering their history, the humans had asked a few things of the monsters when they emerged from the mountain. “A few things” was putting it quite lightly, but a reasonable demand was that the monsters handle any disturbances that happened around Mt. Ebott on their arrival. It had been… a very long time since that agreement had been made, but Asgore was thankful in some ways that it was still in effect. Any issues with the mountain were better handled by monsters who had lived there for countless generations.

It did make situations like this a tad inconvenient. In the middle of the night, one of these “disturbances” apparently happened. Unfortunately, Asgore did not have the slightest idea of what he was headed towards. He may have even elected to ignore it entirely had multiple monsters not attested to seeing something peculiar in the mountains. 

So, Asgore found himself in his weathered truck, taking a route he always did towards the mountain whenever he wanted to tend to the flowers. He refused to let the ones in his old throne room wilt. They had been good company in the time that he had been trapped underground, after all.

Besides, despite the Underground having moved to the surface, two souls would forever rest under that mountain. Asgore wanted the place where his children had fallen to be taken care of.

Every now and then, he made the trek back through the Underground just to see where Toriel had buried Chara. He tended to those flowers as well, but the flower friend that Frisk had made always said that he would handle it himself. Still, Asgore checked regardless.

The timing of this event was convenient. Asgore hadn’t tended to the flowers in a while, so he supposed that now would be a better time than ever to at least check in and see if another trip was necessary.

While lost in thought, Asgore ran over the root of a particularly large tree. The dirt roads out this way had only been paved by foot travel, and he supposed he stopped paying attention for a second. When the truck shook, it also jostled his passenger.

Undyne grimaced when she got slightly tossed around, though she kept her feet on the dash regardless. She’d decided to join him for this trek. Whenever issues arose around the mountain, she was the first person he called. Unfortunately, she hadn’t taken to the late night travel nearly as well as he did.

After stabilizing herself and yawning, Undyne complained, “Ya know, I’m all for something interesting happening, but I’m thinking this one’s gonna be a bust.”

Asgore focused on the road a bit more, though he did entertain the conversation. He did quite like these outings with Undyne a bit. While Asgore would not say that he was fonder of the Underground than the surface, there were moments that he appreciated even now. He made sure that she knew that, saying, “I am thankful that you came with me. It does get a bit quiet out here.”

Immediately, the annoyance on Undyne’s face turned into a huge grin. She took her feet off of the dashboard, suddenly becoming much more… how did Alphys put it… animated? “Yeah? Like I’d let you have all the fun.” She roughly nudged his arm, which wasn’t hard to do considering how much of the car Asgore took up. Really, he should thank Papyrus for modifying his truck to suit his size.

Asgore still found it quite amusing how, when he asked Alphys for truck modifications, she pointed him directly towards Papyrus. Apparently, he knew a thing or two about cars nowadays.

Undyne leaned back in her seat with her hands on the back of her head. “Guess you would need me to keep things interesting with a call like this. Can’t believe that many people said they saw something over the mountains.”

Something was being general about the whole ordeal. No, what particularly perturbed Asgore about the reports was that everyone was in agreement about what appeared over the mountains. Only a handful of monsters had seen it, and a few humans that were visiting the area as well, but every monster had a word for what precisely they had seen.

The Angel was a subject that hadn’t come up often ever since the barrier broke.

For an old, decrepit prophecy to be on every monster’s mind for this specific event… it confused Asgore greatly. What could have possibly caused everyone to grow so fearful? It could be one of those events that happened in the sky every now and then. Asgore fondly remembered the first meteor shower that everyone experienced when coming out of the mountain. That caused quite the panic.

“I suppose you’re right,” Asgore finally answered. The mountain was getting closer now, but he did not want to think about such things. He merely needed to walk the path to his garden, and then they would be able to head home. “I heard you went on another beach trip with Alphys. How… was that?” It was easy to talk with Undyne. Many similar conversations had happened over tea, and in all of the directions everyone went in after the barrier shattered, he and Undyne remained close.

Undyne grinned again, making a “psh” sound. “People still look at me funny when I get in the water in the middle of winter. It’s not even that cold! Most of the water in the Underground came from Snowdin. The surface has nothing on that. Total wusses, all of ‘em.”

Asgore had been to the nearby beach a few times before. He could not say that he enjoyed getting water in his fur. With the flowers, it was always small amounts. Being soaked from head to toe was an entirely different story that he did not wish to revisit. 

Ah, but they were getting ahead of themselves. The drive was almost over. Asgore brought the truck to a stop near the base of the mountain. There would be a bit of a trek, but the path had been beaten in the side of the mountain thanks to foot travel going in and out quite a few times. Unfortunately, most of that was Asgore’s doing, and the golden flowers in his garden had inadvertently been planted along the way. Those seeds were quite sticky.

However, it did mark the way up quite well! It was a way to guide those travelling in this direction.

Asgore and Undyne both got out of the truck immediately. As a force of habit when getting out of his truck, Asgore immediately swerved around to the back and removed a tarp to check on some of his things in the back. He rarely transported any plants unless in special circumstances, but he did like to keep some pots in the back just in case. He always made sure that none were broken after a particularly bumpy ride. 

After getting a slight head start by scanning the treeline, Undyne glanced back at him. “Race you to the top, you geezer!”

And just like that, she was off. Asgore didn’t have a moment to call after her before she was bounding up the mountain. She didn’t even have a light. Ah well, Asgore would just have to bring her a flashlight if she inevitably slipped off of the path. Knowing her, she likely would fall off of the path, and then somehow use it as a maneuver to catapult herself further up the cliffside. Even though Asgore rarely won these new challenges of Undyne’s, he still had the edge when the rare spar occurred.

So, he set off at a leisurely pace. There were a bit of woods to traverse through before getting to the proper cliffside, so Asgore decided to take his time. He had his watering can at his side. Usually, he would bring more up, but this was meant to be official business.

Now, hopefully Undyne hadn’t gone too far. If there was a serious threat, then she could handle herself, but it was usually best to stick together in situations like this-

Ah! There she was!

Asgore spotted a light amidst some of the trees. Instinctively, he believed it must be Undyne. Although… didn’t she not bring a light? Of course, she could always summon one of her spears to shed a bit of light, but the light Asgore was seeing was neither blue nor an ethereal hue like her spears…

The light immediately snuffed itself out as soon as Asgore stared at it.

If he strained his ears, he thought he might’ve heard something breathing. He… did hear something breathing. The breaths came out shaky over and over again, like someone was barely managing to keep themself together.

Asgore didn’t dare light a flame in this forest. Instead, he inched closer to where he saw the light, trying to keep an eye out for what could have caused it. Perhaps, someone had snuffed out a lantern. Maybe, Undyne had decided on a new prank to try to get an easy hit on him.

Something uneasy began to set into Asgore’s soul. He could not explain why, but his chest began to twist as he inched forward. 

Movement. Something moved to his right.

Instincts from a time long ago would have forced Asgore to draw a weapon. Instead, he kept the feeling at bay, though his head did swivel immediately towards the source of the movement. He could take a hit or two if something was actually a threat. There was no need to fight.

Asgore’s eyes landed on something peeking out of the trees.

Both he and the person in front of him froze.

Why… it…

Asgore’s mind had to catch up with what he was seeing, because that face in the darkness had startled him. What… what else was he supposed to be looking at? A monster stood in front of him. They were shivering, leaning precariously on a stick with nothing but fear entrenched in their face. Deep, crimson eyes were trained on him, analyzing him like he had terrified them.

And for but a moment, Asgore faltered.

He wondered why the monster was so afraid of him when he himself had terror striking his own soul.

It had been so long since he’d been brought back to the moment everything went so wrong. Some days, he found himself looking too far back. He never wished to forget his children. It was why he went up to his garden to make sure that it was well tended to. Never would he forget their memory and all of the happiness they gave him.

He tried to not think of their deaths. He tried not to think of Chara slowly giving in on that bed, no matter how many times he begged for them to stay determined. He tried to not think of Asriel’s trembling body as he staggered into the throne room. When he saw that monster standing there, echoes of the past sounded out through his mind. It pried into that memory like the wound had never been closed at all. 

Centuries of grieving had occurred, and yet Asgore still stood there like a fool, unable to shake the memory.

He blinked.

Like a specter, the face in front of him vanished. It took the phantom memory with it. Asgore shook his head, glancing around the forest like the face would reappear. The sound of breathing entirely stopped, and he couldn’t hear it again no matter how hard he strained himself.

Even now, his past failures still haunted him.

Asgore realized that he’d dropped his watering can. Chuckling to himself like the fool he was, he leaned down to pick it up again. It seemed that he still hadn’t quite moved on. That was all right. He would be living with this guilt for much, much longer. At least, while he continued to grieve over children far beyond him now, they would exist in someone’s memory. It was the least that they deserved, and a punishment Asgore would gladly bear for them.

He glanced through the trees again, seeing nothing. All thoughts of investigating further were cast out of his mind when he heard a triumphant whoop coming from far, far up the mountain. He really should join Undyne. She would be getting concerned about him soon enough.

Asgore left the woods behind, something watching him leave like they had many times before.

Do not think about it. The Angel absolutely could not think about it.

They didn’t know how Asgore didn’t come after them. They didn’t know how their little vanishing act worked. Asgore just… froze… and the Angel managed to slip away and hold their breath long enough for him to leave.

That was Asgore. That was Asgore. The Angel hadn’t seen his face in ages- well, they had, but not this Asgore. It was difficult to describe just how different the two of them were. The Asgore of this world just always had a heaviness about him. He carried his shoulders slightly lower. His eyes always looked tired. There were differences that the Angel hadn’t even noticed up until the moment they were standing directly in front of him. They also noticed that he was very large, which their overhead perspective rarely actually emphasized. Running into him in the woods was horrifying.

Thankfully, the Angel managed to get away. With how they looked now, they didn’t want to have a conversation. They didn’t even know how they would have a conversation with him. That was Asgore. That was one of the people who had told the Angel that they could be like a family before being pierced by pellets. He was here, still breathing, and the Angel had just run away.

They had to. They had to run away. Nothing good would come of any of them seeing the Angel like this. The Angel shouldn’t even be here in the first place. If they could, they needed to keep interaction with everyone to a minimum. They may be allowed to walk past that mountain, but that didn’t mean that they were welcome here. After all, Flowey- they still weren’t used to using those names again- told them very clearly that they were a threat.

The Angel didn’t know what the consequences would be if they interacted with everyone again. They needed to leave this world as soon as possible. If… if they lingered, they might remember attachments that they had long since abandoned. The Angel needed to focus on their goal: Find Kris, Susie, and Ralsei. Anything else came second, or never at all if they could help it.

This world wanted them gone. They… they couldn’t interfere again.

One last threat.

If the Angel could just get out of here quickly, then all would be fine.

The cold started to get to them too much. The shivers weren’t just fear anymore. No, the Angel was definitely going numb in multiple places. Going down the mountain was stupid. They could’ve backtracked and gone somewhere warmer in the Underground, but now Undyne and Asgore were that way. The Angel didn’t even know where they were going. There had to be a place where monsters were living, but the Angel didn’t have the slightest clue where or which direction that would be in.

Even if they chose the right direction, they could be seen by Asgore and Undyne on the return trip.

The Angel doubted that they would even make it on foot. Their vessel was flagging already, and the cold may send them back to their save point soon. They needed to get a move on, but if they died, then that would only waste more time. Who knew if time would wind backwards for both worlds? If the Angel died here, it could purely be a setback while the other world continued moving forward.

This was all too complicated. There were too many moving parts, and the Angel’s mind was freezing up with the rest of their body. Act. Do something. Stop waiting. Do something.

Without thinking, the Angel hobbled over to the truck that had been left behind. It was still giving off heat, something that they found out when both of their hands greedily went for its hood. It was a small mercy. It also gave them something solid to lean against while they tried to get a grip.

They left two hand prints on the hood when they withdrew to move again.

Panicked, the Angel tried to smear the two marks away. Why didn’t Asgore ever get this thing cleaned? Thankfully, the desperate smears wiped away most of the evidence, but that only left clear evidence of a much larger mark on the side of the truck. 

Screw it. Maybe Asgore left his keys in the truck.

Instinct once more screamed at them to not interfere or interact with anyone. Stealing Asgore’s truck was definitely interfering, but what the hell was the Angel supposed to do at this point? They needed to figure out how to get back, and waiting around at the foot of a mountain wasn’t going to help. They didn’t know what they were even aiming for, but civilization would at least give them a better shot at working something out.

There’s more people there. A traitorous thought entered their mind as they peered through Asgore’s window. Civilization would mean more opportunities for others to find them. If non-interference was the Angel’s goal, then they would be doing a terrible job at it.

The Angel needed to save their friends. Anything else came second.

They didn’t want to interact with everyone else. They shouldn’t. If they must, if the situation forced their hand… then…

There were no keys in the truck. The entire mental dilemma was pointless.

Every mistake cost the Angel time now. Time was never really against them except in specific moments before. Time could always be bent. It always conveniently stretched and compressed whenever the Angel needed it to. Now, it kept moving forward, and they needed to stop making so many errors. Every step that their vessel didn’t take quite correctly slowed them down. Every failed plan slowed them down. They needed to figure this out quickly.

…or else Asgore and Undyne would be back, and the Angel would get spotted all over again.

An idea came.

The Angel didn’t know where they were going. They had no idea how they would get anywhere of importance without collapsing. However, Asgore and Undyne did know the way. While the Angel didn’t want to interfere, their second pair of eyes could see a tarp in the back of Asgore’s truck.

That thing also could function like a makeshift blanket for a second.

If they could just stay hidden, then Asgore would drive them back to town. From there, the Angel could… could…

It was a better plan than anything they had right now. It was a direction, and right now, the Angel needed a direction. They also needed warmth, and found that their body was moving before their mind did, scrambling into the back of that truck with the grace of a raging Susie. They were undoubtedly leaving claw marks with the way their feet dug into the side of the truck’s paint, but hopefully they could just get away with it for a little longer.

Walking had become marginally easier on the way down. Marginally. That had to do with the stick more than anything, which they dragged into the truck bed with them. They were not leaving that behind. Hopefully, when they made a break for it, they would at least be able to get out of sight before Asgore or Undyne saw them.

The Angel only heard Undyne. They never actually saw her. If they needed to avoid anyone, it was her. They could not escape Undyne.

Finally, the Angel managed to squeeze under that tarp. When they pulled it over their body, they found that their breaths were at least warming up the small space even a little bit. Feeling started to slowly return to patches of their body, and they finally felt like they’d actually achieved something.

Now, all they had to do was wait.

They were usually good at that. Periods between connections always required a very long wait. Whenever they were in the action though, the Angel always found it hard to wait. Waiting now was worse than ever before. Waiting gave more time for something bad to happen to their friends.

But, right now, this was their best option.

They didn’t know how long it would take for Asgore and Undyne to return, so they would just have to use the time wisely. The Angel had been so focused on moving that they never really thought of why they were moving so quickly. Plans needed to be made. Now was the best time to make them.

Who could even help right now?

What could even help them?

Establishing contact with the man as soon as possible was a good idea. The Angel didn’t know how to do that. He usually reached out in spontaneous moments or when they were in great distress. He checked in constantly after the Angel had… issues at the church. The Angel just didn’t know how to necessarily reach out on their own. An action of their own usually spurred him on, whether it be them trying to quit for good or fighting an unbeatable foe.

A meeting would just have to happen naturally.

The Angel’s save points were still another problem. Not only were two of them broken, but the Angel hadn’t saved in a while. They rarely went this long without saving, and finding a save point would be difficult without a Dark World. In rare circumstances, the Angel could find them in patches of light, but those were much harder to spot. They needed to keep an eye out. A mistake could send them all the way back to the top of that mountain.

After that, the Angel didn’t know what to do.

No guidance had been given.

For a second, their thoughts blanked out. They didn’t know what to do.

It gave the Angel time to look at their own body, and an ugly question began to force its way through their mind again: What were they?

The need to move had stifled that thought over and over again. The need to not perish forced down any possibility of questioning their current situation. The Angel… could still see the truck that they were hiding in. The tarp shielded their vessel well, but the second pair of eyes could still see around it. It was still so strange, and yet the second pair of eyes almost felt more natural.

Their vessel’s eyes scared them.

That wasn’t where their view was supposed to be. The Angel was supposed to be looking into the world through their window. They were never under any circumstances supposed to be able to see from a vessel’s eyes. It had been a constant thorn in their side, so much so that Susie tended to cackle when the Angel couldn’t see things straight ahead of everyone. They always showed her up though when they dodged an attack that no one else could see coming.

Movements weren’t as constrained as before. The Angel could perform motions that they didn’t know how to do previously. Sometimes, without Kris interfering as often, whatever represented the Angel moved with more fluidity, but this was different. It was the Angel moving their arms. It was the Angel flexing their fingertips. They could feel individual muscles moving in a way that they shouldn’t. Cold air filled lungs inside of their vessel with every breath they took. How was this happening?

The Angel’s second pair of eyes caught something gold and red poking out of the tarp. Cursing, the Angel tried to reach for whatever part of their body had escaped this time, trying to pull it back in.

It was too dark to properly see just what appendage they were holding until a new limb made itself known.

The Angel jolted when their hand latched onto a very long tail.

No. Nope. No. That wasn’t supposed to be there. Where was that when they were painstakingly introduced to every single limb on their vessel? Did it just have a late entrance? Damn it. Damn all of this. What the actual hell was this? Why did they have-

They should’ve known. Ralsei had one of these that he kept hidden under his robes. Of course, they would have one too. Yay. The Angel was going to lose their mind.

Focus.

Plan.

For a bit longer, they had to avoid the question of their current situation. It could wait. The important part was that they could still act, and that meant that they were still useful. That meant that they could still find their friends. Any questions about their current state probably couldn’t be answered by them alone. The man likely knew more than they did, after all.

So, what did the Angel do in the meantime?

What did they always do when they could do nothing else alone?

Ralsei accidentally taught them this trick when he was too obvious about its existence. Thankfully, it had done everyone good in the end. The ability to send the Angel to others by merely shutting one’s eyes was invaluable, and it had saved Susie’s life once. Ralsei instructed for it to be used whenever everyone was separated, and it had become second nature for the Angel to be sent between friends whenever danger was around.

Could they… still do that?

With their friends missing, they had to try.

The Angel took a deep breath. It had always been someone else who did this for them, but they assumed that it was exactly as Ralsei described. He managed to get Kris to do it on the first try after all, so this should work for them as well.

While they waited, the Angel shut their eyes and thought of Kris.

…

They only saw the back of their eyelids.

Okay. They rarely ever did this with Kris. Maybe they would try it on someone who Ralsei always tried to send them to. Susie had to be easier to “find” if there was something the Angel was supposed to be latching onto.

Again, they only saw the back of their eyelids.

Ralsei. They’d try Ralsei then. Surely, they would be able to see Ralsei. A traitorous part of them already knew that they would see nothing. Ralsei had started turning to stone, and the Angel would be unlikely to see anything when that process completed.

Again. Nothing.

Why? Why now was this failing? The Angel could spy on so many people with this previously! Why now wasn’t it working?

“They weren’t in this world” was the obvious answer.

“They’re already gone” came next.

Maybe… maybe they just couldn’t do it in this vessel. Maybe they were too constrained. They could prove it right now. The Angel just had to think about someone else, someone who was here. Who would be useful? They already knew of Asgore and Undyne’s whereabouts, and didn’t want to clue them in on anything. Who would be useful for the Angel to find right now?

There was only one name that came to mind.

Only one person had ever directly acknowledged the Angel. Everyone else only worked off of assumptions or talking to Frisk instead of them. There was one singular moment in this world where the Angel was talked to directly, and the words haunted them even now. Maybe, that memory could be used for something good.

The Angel closed their eyes, and thought about what Flowey was doing.

Why did Flowey even agree to this? Why did he ever agree to this? Every single time, he thought that one of Frisk’s impromptu midnight trips would be interesting, but it was always the same old boring thing! He was convinced at this point that the only reason Frisk let him tag along around their college campus was to torment him. Did it beat sitting around and dealing with the same old monsters all day? Only just barely.

No, Frisk was a special kind of annoying, one that constantly surprised him with their idiocy. He would think that eventually they would just be normal and do normal things like study like the perfect college student they were supposed to be. Instead, they’d dragged Flowey along for a late-night save point hunting adventure.

It was stupid! Save points were so hard to find outside of the Underground! Instead of dragging Flowey along for their late night exploration, they could’ve used the time for something more normal like actually studying and not bothering him.

Hopefully, whatever storm was outside wouldn’t come this way. They were both woken up by a lightning strike that looked stupidly violent. If they got caught out in the rain, Flowey was going to lose it.

Why did he even agree to this again?

Oh, right, because it was more interesting than sitting in their stupid dorm staring at drywall.

This unfortunately meant that Flowey got the privilege of being further confined in his flower pot for longer. Keeping up with Frisk by burrowing was obnoxious, especially when they took more and more turns through nothing but concrete pathways. Being the goody-two-shoes they were, Frisk didn’t want him messing up all the cool grass which made up only… like… two patches on this stupid campus.

Apparently his grumbling started to get audible, because Frisk tilted their head back at him. They had worked out a system where they put his pot on the stack of books in their backpack, which meant that he got to wobble precariously while they tried not to send him flying! Great solution, Frisk! Flowey thought that after this long, they’d find a better solution, but nope! They had done this since forever ago.

After another turn which apparently led to no save points, Flowey groaned loudly, “Come on. You know, Frisk, you’ve really fallen to a new low, haven’t you?”

Frisk’s interest suddenly faded, their gaze turning on the path ahead of them.

Ugh! Nothing fazed them! It was obnoxious, but sometimes Flowey broke through and made them actually mad. Those moments were worth it! It kept him poking and prodding. “Look at you! Savior of monsterkind, trying to cheat during a stupid exam for the fourth time this year.”

“Fifth,” Frisk corrected, putting a hand over their eyes like that would help them see better in the dimly lit walkways. They must’ve not seen a save point that way, because they immediately turned down an alley that would give anyone else shivers.

Of course, Flowey wasn’t disturbed by any weird alleyways. He knew that Frisk constantly had a dagger in their dimensional storage, and he’d seen how quickly they could pull that thing out. Then again, Frisk would probably let themself get hit to avoid having to take another exam. It’d be a slightly more honorable way to go out instead of reloading their save six times just to get one answer correct. And yet, they wouldn’t ever go hunt down a save so that Flowey could save himself from embarrassment. 

Every time Flowey fell for one of Smiley Trashbag’s- no he would still not use his name- pranks, Frisk’s refusal to reload proved that they weren’t actually friends.

Again, Flowey complained, jostling in the pot. “You’d think someone like you would figure out how to do something different so that the same thing doesn’t keep happening.” A small vine extended from the flower pot, which Flowey used to thwack Frisk on the side of the head. “And yet here you are: An idiot who didn’t study. Again.”

After emerging down yet another sidewalk, Frisk kept moving with purpose. Maybe they actually found something this time. A slight smile did grow on their face from Flowey’s comment, like they once again never cared that he insulted them directly to their face. They noted bluntly, “And you came anyway.”

Flowey’s vine receded while he rolled his eyes dramatically. “Duh. I have to know what idiotic place I’m going to get thrown back to every time you forget how to do basic calculus.”

Frisk huffed. Any class that had a single thing to do with math, they seemed to despise. It’d been that way forever, and they weren’t stopping now. Last time they looked at Flowey’s pot, they went on a tangent about cylindrical shells. It was rare to see Frisk murderous, but college may actually finally bring it out of them again. “Not everyone learned math for fun with Alphys.” 

It was not for fun. Out of all the timelines Flowey experienced, that one was one of the most dull. He didn’t understand how Alphys could find numbers so interesting. The only numbers that mattered were ones that went up, and Flowey had unwittingly subjected himself to the most useless information ever when he tried to learn math from a scientist. She was no teacher, that was for sure.

Still, this was getting obnoxious. No matter how many turns the two of them took, Frisk couldn’t find a save point. Flowey slammed his head against the backpack over and over, screeching, “You’d be better off going back towards the mountain if you want more save points, idiot!”

It was a change that Flowey wasn’t quite sure what to do with. Save points in the Underground were… permanent things. No matter how many times Flowey returned to a glowing star, he could always save and load as much as he wanted. With more souls, it even became an ability that he could use without the need for one of those stupid little stars. Saving used to be easy. It was permanent. It could be done as many times as someone needed.

Ever since leaving the Underground, that changed.

Apparently, humans didn’t just have those lying around. Apparently, the power was mostly constrained to the Underground. Humans had given up their magic to seal monsters down there apparently, and as it turned out, save points were tied to that place and that place only.

But, as Frisk found out, that power leaked every now and then.

Flowey never got to see the save points for himself. He wasn’t in control of the timeline, after all. Frisk still had a stranglehold on the timeline, which was great, because Flowey thought it would suck if a random human just had that power now. At least, someone who wasn’t completely braindead had the power. Though, considering Frisk was STILL WALKING, braindead might be an apt description.

Apparently, the saves didn’t last long either. Frisk never returned to the same place to save again, but they sure loaded in the same spot over and over again. They could only usually set their return point once per star before it vanished, which was just oh-so-convenient for Flowey who had to sit through another one of these expeditions every time the idiot wanted to save again. They hadn’t even died a single time since leaving the Underground! They were just being a stupid perfectionist.

Which, Flowey could admit, he was also a bit of a perfectionist. At least his perfectionism was so much more interesting than getting a degree. He didn’t need a degree! He already knew half of this stuff! He’d sooner break a human’s spine than get what they considered a “job”. Flowers didn’t need food, idiots! He’d just sit in the sun! So, that just made Flowey Frisk’s commiseration buddy. He’d be out of here as soon as something more interesting happened elsewhere, but unfortunately, Frisk’s eternal struggle with human education was the most interesting thing right now.

Besides! Everything had stagnated!

As soon as monsters settled into a new life, they got predictable all over again! Routines settled in. Old habits came back. Flowey knew all of those habits far too well by now, and it made the new and interesting things everyone did boring all over again. Now, there was barely even any drama! Alphys was more interesting when she still harbored immense and crushing guilt, but unfortunately, that stopped happening as often now that she and Undyne were together. Blegh. Marriage sounded weird. Ew. Don’t do that.

At least the two of them had some interesting stories. They went on trips an idiotic amount. Tourists. They were tourists. Everything interesting about their lives happened elsewhere, because things were so boring around here.

Asgore and Toriel were loooong done talking. At least the weird stares coming from Asgore’s direction had stopped. Flowey didn’t want to think about that one. Unfortunately, he always did get to think about it now that there wasn’t a giant door keeping Toriel and the skeleton separated from one another. They actively made each other so much worse, and Flowey loathed being trapped in the same area as them.

Asgore was his good ol’ melancholic self! Whenever Flowey was around him, he was always so annoyingly needy. “Oh, Flowey, would you like a cup of tea? Oh, Flowey, I forgot that the cup of tea I like is made out of your species and this is the fiftieth time this has happened. Oh, Flowey, would you like some of the fertilizer I brought in for my garden?” Obnoxious. Awful. Atrocious.

Flowey never really liked Mettaton, but at least his shows were sometimes fun to watch when there was nothing else mind-numbing to do. They were all cliche and predictable. He’d watched the same plots from his Underground shows countless times already, and the robot really had nothing new.

Ugh, and then there were the skeletons. Flowey wasn’t even going to think about the stupid bonehead that Toriel spent time around. At least, Papyrus was still interesting. Out of everyone, Papyrus still managed to bring some surprises. Every time Flowey stopped by, the skeleton had picked up something new. At least someone hadn’t completely dropped the ball in making surface life actually interesting. He’d even given Flowey a nice red bow one time. It was faded now, but Flowey still had it! He hadn’t lost the right to be snug!

Thanks to all of that nonsense, Flowey found himself around Frisk a lot. Despite their life turning into something boring as well, at least the two of them could chat with no need for pleasantries. Frisk didn’t care about his insults, and shot a few of their own back. Jabbing them repeatedly about how often they loaded their save file was fun. Even they had their fair share of resets that Flowey could bring up for fun. Frisk knowing about him also let him talk about some of his more interesting runs, which broke up the monotony of no one else being an actual acquaintance with him until the barrier broke.

What could Flowey say? He didn’t interact with too many people when he let the timeline move on without him. A few people knew about him. Papyrus definitely knew about him. But… no one knew what he could do… what he had done! If they knew what kind of sicko he was, then maybe they would be more interesting to be around.

It certainly made Frisk more interesting to be around. After all, they weren’t too innocent themself. They claimed that they couldn’t reset the timeline ever since leaving the Underground, which made it impossible to tease them about one day going back. Still, their constant loading was interesting.

Could it be friendship of some kind?

No, they were still too much of an idiot for anything like that.

“Found it,” Frisk finally exclaimed, reaching a hand out to a space just under a tree in one of the few patches of grass this place had. They paused for a moment before snickering to themself, like they had just heard a funny joke.

Flowey rolled his eyes. They always did this around save points. “What? Think it’s funny that you dragged me out here all over again?” Ugh. Every time they reloaded for their exam, Flowey would have to make the long trek back to their dorm from here with them before staring at drywall until their next attempt. Maybe he could go mess with someone in the meantime while Frisk was busy undoing it over and over again. “You know, the least you could do is let me cause a little chaos. It’s all gonna be undone when you fail again, so why don’t you just-”

Instantly, Flowey’s voice stopped.

He stopped talking.

He didn’t know why, only that he needed to right that very moment.

Something was watching him.

Immediately, Flowey’s head shot up, and he whirled around and around to try to catch what was looking at them. Frisk hadn’t gone on alert, their hand slowly receding from a point of light that was probably there. Why… why was Flowey so sure that he was being watched?

There were eyes on him. He knew that there were. Somehow, he had something’s attention. Somehow, he recognized it. He thought he did, anyway. It made his stem go rigid. It made him glance around towards wherever the eyes could be, but he didn’t know what could possibly be watching them. No one was out tonight. There were a few windows in sight, but that wouldn’t cause this.

No, he knew this. Why did he know this?

Frisk couldn’t reset ever since leaving the Underground. The thing was… Flowey thought he had a hunch as to why that was. It was only a hunch, and he never knew if someone had heard him, but a familiar feeling came from somewhere around him.

Flowey’s gaze shot towards a random point above him, and the feeling suddenly ceased entirely.

Chapter Text

Recoil hit the Angel all at once, air entering their lungs once more as they flinched.

That- that worked. Looking for Flowey had worked. That was him! He was on the surface! Well, they knew he was on the surface, but to see him actually moving… talking…

He looked at them.

Flowey looked at them.

How had he known? Did he even know, or was it just luck? Frisk was there too. The Angel would’ve been more shocked to see Frisk had it not been for Flowey just staring at them. The Angel remembered them as just a small kid. Seeing them walking around a college campus without a care in the world, and looking so much older…

Time moved here just as much as it did for the Angel.

They should be happy about this. They should be happy about their eventual banishment leading to lives being lived. Frisk looked happy. Even as they rushed around looking for a save point, they looked free. They smiled in ways that they had never been able to while being the Angel’s vessel. The nonchalant attitude must’ve stuck though, considering how little they reacted to Flowey’s teasing. That old striped shirt had entirely vanished, replaced with whatever Frisk scrounged up in the middle of the night. Fitting, considering how many random things they used to wear. Apparently, they’d stolen one of Sans’ jackets at some point considering the blue hoodie they had wrapped around them.

It looked a bit short now. They’d grown a lot.

A bump shook the Angel out of their thoughts. They suddenly remembered where they were, and they were moving. Finally, they blinked a few times, their view fully returning to the truck and just above it. They couldn’t angle their vision at all to check if Undyne and Asgore were in the front seat, but they could hazard a guess.

This wasn’t a fun trip where they got to meet everyone again. They had to remind themself of that.

For a moment while watching Frisk, it felt like old times.

These weren’t old times, and they needed to stop acting like it.

At least, they had a general idea of where Flowey was. However, they had no idea where that university was. It could be anywhere, and they wouldn’t have a single clue. Hopefully, Flowey seeing them meant that he would be on their case soon enough. If anyone knew anything about their capabilities, it would be him.

…Or maybe speaking to Frisk would be a good idea.

Rather, there was a person lingering around Frisk that may be worth talking to.

After all, it was them who first introduced the Angel to the concept of moving on to another world.

Maybe they didn’t know what that actually meant, but the Angel had very few leads. They were… hoping that the last option wasn’t required.

Another bump on the road caused them to wince. One of their horns clacked against the bed of the truck, and they tried to keep themself steady. When the Angel finally stabilized themself, they stopped for a moment to think about how they had managed to see Flowey.

It happened instantly. It happened without much thought. The moment the Angel wanted to see someone else, they could.

Why then could they see nothing when they reached out to their friends?

It could be something as simple as them being too far away. It could be as simple as the Angel no longer being in the same world as them. So many simple solutions would have made sense… So many different lines of reasoning could have been rational.

But the Angel couldn’t be rational.

They wanted their friends back.

The Angel knew that their friends were all dying when the man pulled them away from the world. It had been hours since then. Minutes was all it would’ve taken for them to die. Seconds was all it would have taken for a Titan to find them all and crush them.

Where were they? Why couldn’t the Angel see them?

They needed to get to Flowey. They needed to get to him now. Someone needed to get them out of this place. Someone needed to give them an answer soon. They’d likely already failed! The longer they waited, the closer everyone got to dying. Without their save points, the Angel couldn’t revert anything! If… if they just made it back, then maybe they could fix it. Maybe they could…

The truck stopped moving.

Under the tarp, the Angel could hear their own breathing. Too loud. They held their breath, trying to shut up while two doors opened. Asgore and Undyne would just go on their way, and then the Angel could figure out what college Frisk went to. Any monster had to know that information. Frisk was the savior of monsterkind! Who wouldn’t know? The Angel just needed to move after that. They needed to move a long time ago, and every ounce of pity and stalling was losing them precious time.

Cold air hit the Angel all at once.

They only had a moment to register what had happened before freezing up entirely.

Both the Angel and Asgore stared at each other, Asgore having moved to the back of his truck to check for something. Unwittingly, they’d been caught by one of Asgore’s own habits.

The Angel didn’t have time to think about that. They were paralyzed, staring at a face that looked equally as terrified of them. They thought they heard his voice panicking, yet never saw his lips move. Thoughts became loud. They were scattered, scrambling for any semblance of what the Angel was.

They could still hear thoughts. The Angel could still hear people’s thoughts. Only surface-level bubbled up. If they focused, they could pry for more, but their mind wasn’t steady either.

Before either of them could move, someone yelled from further away. “Asgore?! The hell is taking you so long?” That had to be Undyne’s voice. She caught on to the fact that Asgore wasn’t walking alongside her. That meant that she would be walking back soon.

Asgore’s eyes darted in her direction. He blinked, looking back down at the Angel like he half expected them to be gone. When they remained completely frozen in the bed of that truck, something began to change in his expression. The terror started to bleed away. His brow remained furrowed, confusion still bubbling on the surface of Asgore’s mind, but he managed to say something first, “In a moment, Undyne. It… appears we have a bit of a stowaway.” He mustered a smile at them, though it was hard to see if it met his eyes in the dark. “Howdy! You must be freezing in there!” Cautiously, he tried to reach out, as if questioning if they were real.

The Angel’s grip on their branch tightened. Sensing the hostility, Asgore took a half-step back, his hand receding. The Angel’s second pair of eyes finally caught Undyne moving closer, and their grip on the branch only grew tighter.

They couldn’t let Undyne see them.

They’d already made a mistake getting spotted once. They couldn’t do it again.

Slowly, the Angel tried to get in a better position. They unstuck themself from the bottom of the truck bed, branch in hand. They would need it soon. None of their breaths came out correctly, and their eyes remained trained on Asgore. Would he lunge soon? Would he demand why they looked like someone he was supposed to know?

Instead, Asgore kept his expression schooled. He had been a king for quite a while, and that started to show. “I do not believe that we have met before. What… are you doing back there?”

Questions. The Angel couldn’t answer these questions. They couldn’t even speak. They could feel their soul churning in their chest, like it wanted to speak, but they couldn’t. Vocal cords didn’t work correctly. Muscle memory for mouth movements didn’t work with a snout like this.

The Angel caught Undyne approaching from the other side of the truck, and panic finally took hold of their soul. Eyes were on them that should never have seen them again. They were in a world that no longer wanted them. Another world desperately needed them now. The world was too large to search in what little time they had. The bed of this truck was too small to hide in.

As if realizing something obvious, Asgore made an “ah” sound before reaching out once more. “You must be too cold to answer. It is all right. Give me your hand, and we will get you somewhere warm.”

A hand began to move towards the Angel.

They couldn’t move.

Their vision focused entirely on that hand, watching as it got closer and closer to their body. Breaths became more uneven. Something began to boil in the Angel’s chest. They… they wanted that thing away. They knew what would happen if Asgore touched them. No one should be able to touch them.

Ralsei hadn’t been allowed to touch them whenever he tried to hug them or protect their soul whenever it was vulnerable. No matter how many times he wrapped a soul up in his scarf, the Angel never felt that kindness. Susie’s headbutts and noogies were always for someone else. Even when she meant it towards the Angel, they never knew the feeling of a friend’s knuckles in their hair. And Kris… Kris had felt most of those feelings in the Angel’s stead. When the Angel admitted that they couldn’t feel a thing, Kris got really quiet. One day, they tried…

Kris tried explaining to them what a hug felt like. 

No one should be allowed to touch them. None of these people should be allowed to touch them. The only people who the Angel would ever feel safe being touched by were their friends.

And yet, Asgore’s hand grazed theirs.

Fleeting warmth brushed against the Angel for the briefest of moments.

Get out. Get out get out get out.

Flee.

Red flashed on the Angel’s chest. In a blur, they leapt out of the back of the truck, tumbling onto the pavement. They weren’t lucky enough to land in grass, but the pain barely registered as they tried to push their body up. They only thought of running. They needed to run.

As if they would be getting hit soon, the Angel’s soul remained visible on their chest. Red surrounded the Angel’s body, shrouding them in the power that would have protected their friends if they were still here. Instead, it was only the Angel, and they desperately tried to use the branch to get back on their feet.

They took one glance back. A dim, red light revealed what the two of their assailants had seen. Asgore’s eyes looked wider than they’d ever seen before. Undyne’s mouth formed into a scowl, her gaze trained on the soul on the Angel’s chest.

Oh.

With what little stability they had on their own two legs, the Angel darted away. They didn’t know where they were going, only that they needed to get out. If they could just find Flowey… if they could just find somewhere to hide, then they could get away.

Both of their legs started to slowly obey, but every step came out staggered. The Angel tried to focus on just moving, but their vision was swimming after hitting the ground that hard. They had just gotten up after laying still for who knew how long, and they didn’t yet know how to walk. Puffs of air forced their way out of the Angel’s lungs as they stumbled towards any semblance of escape.

The resounding thuds of Undyne’s footsteps behind them dashed all of their hopes. She yelled after them, “Where the hell do you think you’re going, punk?”

The Angel was right. They couldn’t outrun Undyne.

And yet, they kept moving. They lasted longer than they thought they would while stumbling away, even though Undyne should have caught up by now.

A blue spear whizzed past the Angel’s head, Undyne growling behind them, “Why the hell is a battle not starting?”

The moment of confusion caused the Angel to glance back at her. She had another spear in hand, and kept brandishing it like something was supposed to happen. Many times, the Angel had listened in on Ralsei explaining combat. Apparently, all of their friends learned how to initiate combat alone if the Angel couldn’t interpose their soul anymore. That became a necessity when they were briefly separated in the church. It was how combat usually started. If an enemy tried to harm anyone, the Angel’s soul would get in the way, forcing a battle to operate on their terms.

There was… one exception.

Whenever the explicit goal was to evade combat, the Angel would take damage directly instead of being drawn into a fight.

It allowed them to get a few steps further before Undyne’s spear began to glow a bright green in the darkness. Realization struck them when Undyne finished charging her magic. It was just as the Angel said. They could not outrun her even if they could run properly.

A surge of green magic washed through the Angel’s body. The air around them suddenly became heavy, and all of their limbs locked up. The remaining momentum from their hobbling ended instantly like they’d crashed into a wall. When the Angel tried to breathe again, their lungs protested while being crushed by the suffocating magic.

They couldn’t escape.

Taking the branch in their hand, the Angel whirled around to face Undyne. They tried to form words as she marched closer. Over and over again they moved their lips, but only a choked noise came out. Please. Please let me go. They needed to go. They needed to leave. Please don’t touch them. Please. Shakily, they brandished the branch in their hand like it could do anything.

Too close. She came too close, her spear still in hand. “Oh, wanna fight now, do ya?” She glanced at the branch that the Angel held, putting a hand on her hip. “Done running away like a damn coward?”

The Angel had entirely forgotten about Asgore by the time he put a hand on Undyne’s shoulder. Looking a bit winded himself, he glanced between Undyne and the Angel while trying to calm things down. “Now now, I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for all of this. There’s…” He looked unsure when his eyes trailed back up to the Angel, a monster with a human soul glowing green on their chest. “There’s no reason to fight.”

As if that was the most absurd thing she’d heard in her life, Undyne scoffed and pointed at the Angel, “They have a human soul, Asgore!” Again, without waiting for an answer, she advanced on the Angel. “You’re coming with me, and you’re going to give me a straight answer on why the hell you decided to put everyone’s hopes and dreams in danger.”

One last threat.

That’s what they were.

They should’ve listened.

Undyne put a hand on them. They couldn’t move. They couldn’t flee. All the Angel knew was that something had touched them, and it wanted to hurt them.

Their soul resonated. It called out for a fight.

A primal instinct triggered. The Angel’s soul flashed brighter on their chest, and the world suddenly began to focus on the three of them. Ralsei explained it well. When a battle occurred, sometimes the rest of the world no longer mattered. It allowed for the Angel to focus on only the fight. It let them focus on what needed to be done. And yet, they remembered a melting monster sifting through cracks of wood. It caused them to hesitate.

Any call for battle abruptly ceased.

Before the Angel’s soul could fly out, Undyne practically wrapped her arms around them, hoisting them over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. If Asgore lightly grazing them was bad, this was a nightmare. The Angel’s soul once more sparked, their entire body glowing with that red outline again. They thrashed, trying to break out of her hold, but she was far too strong. All of the contact made their body burn, as if their soul was registering this as damage.

As if completely unaware of their turmoil, Undyne leisurely turned around to Asgore, keeping the Angel secure with one arm. “Aren’t uh… monsters with human souls supposed to be really strong?” Her one eye flicked to the thrashing monster on her shoulders. “Kinda lame, not gonna lie.”

The Angel couldn’t see Asgore’s face. They were barely following the conversation. They didn’t want to hurt Undyne, but they wanted to get out. She hadn’t taken their stick yet, so the Angel tried to angle it to whack at her.

Her other hand snatched it from them, tossing it away. “You’re an idiot.” She chastised them, shaking her head in disbelief at the attempt.

Unhelpfully, Asgore tried to walk around to get in the Angel’s view, holding out his hands to try to placate them. “Now now, easy. I am sure this is… distressing for you, but you must understand that… well… we do need to have a quick chat with you.”

They didn’t care. Every ounce of their body screamed at them to get away. Every part of their body in contact with Undyne burned, and yet they couldn’t feel their health getting any lower. Their fingertips were going numb as they tried to scratch at her, but she didn’t seem to care at all on account of the scales.

Undyne readjusted them on her shoulder before walking off in a random direction. “I don’t feel like talking while they’re throwing a damn tantrum.” She waved at Asgore with her free hand as if telling him to follow. “Guess tonight just got exciting, huh?”

She acted like this was a joke. She acted like this was funny. The Angel started to snarl. Half-formed words tried to slip out of their throat, but they couldn’t manage to form anything coherent. Did she think this was funny? Did she think that wasting their time and dragging them around was good? The Angel was falling behind again! They were… they needed to find Flowey! They needed to find Frisk!

Almost apologetically, Asgore picked up their branch like it was something dear to the Angel and followed behind. He did not stop what was happening.

Dismissive. That’s what Undyne was. That’s what she was in the other world too when she thought things were too boring around town. There she was, complaining about how boring things were while Kris and Susie faced something much larger than them alone. And yet, Susie still ran after Undyne when the Knight took her. She pounded on the door trying to break in. The Angel still tried to find bunker codes despite the fact that Undyne laughed in Kris’ face about Dark Worlds. 

Some things stayed the same, didn’t they?

The Angel continued being carried off, the first seed of resentment beginning to form in their chest. A painful realization started to slowly creep through their soul.

These weren’t their friends.

At this rate, these people were going to keep them from finding their real ones.

Undyne adjusted the Angel again. The burning feeling came back. Instead of their vessel receiving that pain again, something in the Angel started to twist. A familiar sensation of distance started to wash over them. Scales that haphazardly pinned them down suddenly became muted. Loud voices in the dead of night grew less distinct. The Angel’s senses started to tighten, and they receded.

They stopped feeling entirely.

Well, Asgore thought that certainly could have gone better.

“Better” was an understatement. Out of all the things Asgore expected to see when checking the back of his truck, a monster hiding there wasn’t in his immediate thoughts. The monster having a familiar face put him off-balance even further. Then, when they tried to flee…

Well, there were only a few records in history of monsters absorbing human souls. It just so happened that this one shared the face of the last monster to absorb a human soul.

Asgore… shouldn’t get ahead of himself. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this. Though, try as he might, he could not march through the whirlwind in his head. Asgore’s own species of monster had been diminished ever since the war. Anyone except Asgore and Toriel had perished. Boss monsters were prime targets, especially when they were the only ones who could remotely stand a chance against a human. So, Asgore knew that no monster should look like the one currently slung over Undyne’s shoulder.

Had it not been for the discolored fur and horns, which raised many questions that Asgore did not have answers to, he may have briefly confused them for someone else. He did, when he saw that face in the woods... when he still couldn't quite make out the golden fur through the dark. That face must have actually been there, and that face was paralyzed in fear the moment Asgore spotted them.

Then… there was the soul. As much as Asgore loathed the fact that the monster seemed scared, this needed to be taken elsewhere as soon as possible. Under no circumstances was a monster meant to absorb a human soul. No one wanted a being with unfathomable power to be let loose. The humans especially did not want this to happen. Even in situations where the soul was given, it was simply not to be done. The chances of another war breaking out due to fear of a monster’s power was too much.

After all, that was why the last war started.

No one could see this. No one could see a monster with a human soul. Asgore needed to determine why this happened and to prepare for the worst. He supposed that something like this would have eventually happened. Over a decade on the surface, and things had gone smoothly for a bit too long it seemed. 

That monster was putting up a fight. Asgore found it strange that they could not simply call upon magic to ward off Undyne. They merely thrashed around instead of calling upon limitless power that they should have.

Then, like something had been turned off in their head, the monster went entirely limp. The strange red outline that shrouded their body dissipated. 

Undyne glanced over her shoulder, rolling her eyes. “Finally. That was getting annoying.”

Asgore wished that they didn’t have to carry the monster around like this, but it had to be done to get them out of the way. Where they were headed put a pit in his stomach that he didn’t like, but he needed to do everything in his power to keep the nearby humans placated when they found out about the soul. That being said, humans may have… slightly lost the meaning of unfathomable power in the years that monsters had been underground, and a few of their demands about soul absorption were… doable but shortsighted.

The nearby police station had been used a handful of times in Asgore’s memory. It was placed there by necessity at the nearby city’s request. Any monsters who had absorbed a human soul were to be detained as soon as possible, which…

Well, Asgore didn’t politely point out how little that would do against a monster with a human soul. After all, it was a very small demand, and one that was far more merciful than he expected when an entire civilization reemerged from the mountains. There were other demands of course, but this one was simple.

Throughout their entire walk, the monster didn’t begin thrashing again. At one point, Asgore worried that something may have happened to them, but he could not tell. Their eyes were still open, staring straight ahead and never moving a single time. It was like they completely locked up. Perhaps, the cold finally whittled away all of their stamina. Hypothermia was something Asgore rarely had to deal with, but considering how long this monster was out in the woods…

Hopefully, they would be okay with answering a few questions. Asgore would rather have taken them somewhere warmer where they could take a chance to recuperate, but if anyone found out that he was harboring a monster with a human soul… the consequences could be devastating.

Still, his eyes lingered on their face for a moment. They’d crashed into the pavement when trying to run from him. However, he dared not reach out in an attempt to heal them. They tried to flee from him last time after all.

This needed to be handled with care. Hopefully, Undyne thought the same. She looked like she was fuming, and reasonably so. Everyone knew the consequences for absorbing a human soul.

It could cost everyone their freedom.

Finally, they made it to the police station. It was a sad thing, admittedly. While the Royal Guard had been disbanded, its previous members helped whenever an issue arose in town. This place was merely for emergencies like this, and no emergency had occurred in… well… in forever. 

It left the station dusty and rather barren. When they walked in, the lights barely flickered on. Cobwebs had grown across filing cabinets and tables. A lone holding cell sat in the corner, there by request of the nearby city. It would not hold a monster with a human soul, but with the amount of thrashing this monster did, it may be best to put them in there for their own safety.

Asgore did not want to. Every ounce of him didn’t want to do this, but they had been given clear instructions on what humans expected of them in a situation like this. Quite frankly, Asgore found their demands rather reasonable considering the alternative. No one wanted another war. The humans preferred a peaceful detainment. This way, they could determine whether or not the soul absorption was due to a kill or accidental. After that, it was a matter of whether or not the monster was hostile. This had not always been the protocol ever since monsters emerged from the Underground, but Asgore was grateful for the changes made. It took hard work to get here.

And yet, Asgore still had reservations creeping into the back of his mind.

Somehow, it still felt wrong. That monster’s face hadn’t moved ever since they stopped fighting, and yet they still reminded him of-

He needed answers. He needed to make sure that this monster wouldn’t run. At least, he kept their walking stick. They seemed to have issues walking, and Asgore didn’t want to make that any worse.

Distantly, he wished that he could run to his house and find a blanket. Such things should have been stored in this place in hindsight, but very little adorned the lone table and few filing cabinets that made up this small station. The corkboard had nothing on it. A few batons, a first-aid kit, and cuffs had been lent to this place by the nearby city, but they’d never seen any real use. 

Undyne already opened the cell. The only chairs in here were metallic, and she pulled a few into the confined space. Ah, that was a good solution! The monster didn’t exactly seem all that capable of fighting, if Asgore could be honest. Beginning by being in the cell with them would at least perhaps make them feel less detached from everyone else. 

After all, their panic could be a result of something far worse. Asgore remembered very well what the first recorded soul absorption was like. He would need to ask them how that came about. It could shed some light on the situation, and perhaps give the humans a bit more of a reason to let this one go.

Undyne sat the monster down in a chair while she sat in her own. The chairs were a bit small for Asgore, and it was uncomfortable when he sat down as well, but all would be fine.

The monster kept staring straight ahead, not acknowledging either of them. Their gaze briefly went to the cell door as it shut before returning to an utterly neutral position.

Their face looked panicked before. Now, not a singular expression came through.

How peculiar.

Asgore cleared his throat, attempting to get their attention. Their head didn’t move. Ah well, maybe they were still listening. “Erm… apologies for… needing to drag you all the way in here. We will try to get this resolved as soon as possible,” Asgore politely tried to promise, but he knew that it wouldn’t be a possibility at all. The humans were going to want to judge if this monster was a threat. Again, the monster did not react, so Asgore continued, “What is your name?”

Almost imperceptibly, the monster’s eyes narrowed. No answer came.

After a few beats of silence, Undyne groaned, “Listen, you’ve already caused so many issues. At least make this part easy for us.”

Then again, it may not be their choice. Asgore remembered the monster snarling. Not a single time did words come out of their mouth, though that could just be panic. Still, after all that had happened, it would be polite to ask. “Are you able to speak?”

Finally, an answer came. The monster shook their head.

The fins on the side of Undyne’s head sagged for a second. Some of the fire in her eye died, and she immediately got up to go get something. Asgore could not blame her for her haste. It had to be an early hour in the morning at this point. The sun wouldn’t be up for another few hours. She hadn’t slept on account of the sighting over the mountains, and she knew very well what the consequences of soul absorption were.

Still, it would be wise to try to treat the situation with a bit of care.

Thankfully, Undyne was one step ahead of him. From outside the cell, Undyne asked, “Can you write?”

The monster stared at her for a few seconds. They glanced down at their own hand before nodding, though the action didn’t seem as sure.

Well, that would work nicely! Despite their previous thrashing, the monster didn’t appear hostile anymore. However, they watched Undyne bring a notepad back, and if Asgore didn’t know any better, he’d say they were looking a tad impatient. The only movement the monster gave was their leg bouncing over and over while she came back.

As soon as the notepad was placed in their hands, Undyne asked again, “So, what’s your name-”

The monster wasn’t listening. Their grip on the pen had to be readjusted multiple times, but they began to scribble something on the notepad as if ignoring her question. When they finished, they turned the notepad around, their expression still remaining completely neutral.

“Let go. Kris. Susie. Ralsei. Where.”

Undyne squinted at it before groaning yet again, “Your name. We’re not letting you out until we have something to tell the humans.”

She pointedly did not bring up the fact that the monster would likely have to stay here for much longer.

Again, the monster tapped the pen insistently against the notepad. When no one responded, they circled the names again like they were recognizable. Asgore… did try to recall anyone with those names. Only one sounded familiar, but that was back in the days of the Underground.

As if frustrated, the monster took the notepad back, once more scrawling something. Their gaze flicked towards Asgore for a moment before they turned the notepad towards him specifically, pointing at the words that they wanted to show him.

“Noelle Holiday.”

And that name… Asgore did recognize. The spelling was slightly off, but the last name was correct.

It wasn’t like the Holidays weren’t known in the Underground. The community of Snowdin all knew each other quite well, even if some parts were off the beaten path. Even now on the surface, Asgore liked checking in with what remained of the Holiday family. Even if Rudy could not see the surface, his children did. The youngest had a spark in her eyes that always made Asgore believe that all of the strife was worth it.

So… why was this monster asking for her?

Asgore put a hand on the notepad to try to lower it, which caused the monster’s hand to flinch backwards. Ah, he should know better than to try to touch them. Despite their expression remaining almost entirely neutral, they still reacted harshly whenever he got close. Still, he needed to make something clear: “We can focus on what you need after we… handle the current situation. There are things a tad more dire at stake right now, I am afraid.”

Something broke in the monster’s practiced neutrality. Their lips curled up like they were beginning to snarl again, but the noise never came out.

Undyne tried to get things back on track. “Just give us your name, or we’re going to have to figure it out ourselves.” 

Checking. She was referring to checking. 

That at least got the monster to pay attention to her. They scowled before their motions lost fluidity once more. Finally, they started scrawling something with a little less desperation. They paused a few times, as if considering what they were about to do before finally turning the notepad around again.

“Called the Angel. Other world.” They tapped the three names again. “Not from here.”

Undyne’s eye twitched. She glanced at Asgore for a second, trying to stay calm even though she likely wanted to blow up. “Okay, so you’re just being annoying on purpose.” 

However, it did get Asgore thinking. Yes, they were dodging the question once more, but could they have heard the monsters talking about what was over the mountain? They may have run into someone near Mt. Ebott who recognized the light over the mountains. It was something he at least wanted to check in on, so he asked, “There was… actually a disturbance over the mountains earlier this morning. People have taken to calling it the Angel. Was… that related to you?”

Asgore did not miss the way the monster glanced away for a moment. They did know something about it, it seemed. And yet, they did not elaborate. They simply returned to neutrality moments after.

Well, they likely weren’t getting anywhere with that. Asgore took the lead once more, trying to bring this about politely. Some of their writings didn’t seem… sensible. “Well, I am going to have to cast a check on you to make sure that… well… that you are all right. We will need a name to give to the humans when we report this, so… if your own name makes you uncomfortable, an alias would be appreciated.”

The monster tilted their head like they were confused about something. They did not make a move to write a name on their notepad. They only waited.

Well, here went nothing. “You will feel a slight tug. Not to worry, we won’t need to engage you in a fight.”

That eased some of the tension in the monster’s shoulders, but their eyes stayed trained on Asgore. Checks were an easy spell. Anyone, even those with limited magical capabilities, could perform its simplest version. It was a spell taught to children who were just beginning to learn how to express themselves. Hopefully, the monster would recognize it and not be concerned with the tug on their soul.

Asgore focused. He could do it without effort nowadays, but this was a human soul he was calling out to. His own soul reached out, attempting to gather an understanding of who he was speaking to. A check asked a question. Asgore always liked to compare it to a small introduction. It asked what or who something was. A few numbers came with it, representing the monster’s own will to fight. Even humans could be checked like this! If willing, a soul would answer. Asgore only hoped that the monster’s soul was willing.

Ah, he could envision it now.

Except…

Asgore tried to focus on the name of the soul. Perhaps it had been obfuscated with the soul absorption, but the monster’s soul should still be part of the human soul. He should still be able to call out. It was… possible to hide statistics, but what Asgore received from the check didn’t feel like hiding.

The name twitched. It writhed. As if it were alive, it shifted over and over again. It could not decide on what it was.

That… that was all right. Asgore didn’t need to look any further at the name. The monster had made their point. He stopped focusing on the name, yet felt a shiver go up his spine when he pried himself away from it. Instead, he focused on the monster’s capabilities. 

Attack and defense dictated a monster’s will to fight and their natural capabilities. A monster such as this should have unfathomable power. However, as Asgore tried to focus on the numbers, he saw the exact opposite. Their attack and defense were both at a mere ten. While it wasn’t anything absurdly low for a monster of their age, it certainly was low for a boss monster, let alone a boss monster with a human soul. Perhaps, they merely had no will to fight, but they seemed utterly neutral to their current situation.

Undyne nudged his shoulder, checking in. “Uh, you okay?”

Perhaps, Asgore needed to perform a deeper check. Some stats were harder to pry into, and extremely difficult to detect. Asgore worried that something was deeply wrong, and he needed to see a little bit deeper. Checks could be expanded upon. Like many other forms of magic, more elaborate versions existed. Asgore’s own fire became more complex the longer and harder he fought. Checking could do the same, and he needed to do so now.

Seeing one’s health became useful for injuries. The monster had taken quite the spill earlier, so perhaps he should have checked sooner. Other things could be pried into, though those other things were reserved for a very select few people. Seeing one’s LOVE was… a difficult ability to grapple with. It allowed one to see just how many sins a target had committed. LOVE became a permanent mark in that way. No matter how hard someone tried to be better, it could never be washed away. It was unwise to let judgement be passed by a number. Asgore tried to do it before to make his own sins easier to commit.

This would at least determine whether or not the monster did kill.

So, Asgore increased the strength of his check. The monster grimaced, the tug on their soul becoming more violent. However, they stayed put, even though their eyes trailed up to Asgore as if they were considering lashing out.

The name remained obfuscated. The stats stayed unchanged.

The health… made no sense whatsoever.

6/20 HP

Twenty.

Even children had more health than that.

They had a mere twenty, and most of it had already been depleted. They were a monster with a human soul, and yet…

Their LOVE came next.

LV 1.

So, it was not their hands that killed the human.

Was… that why their stats were so low?

No. No, that didn’t make any sense. The stats should have increased exponentially with soul absorption. More and more questions opened up. He was staring at a puzzle where none of the pieces properly connected. Asgore glanced at the monster who had taken to scribbling on the notepad again. Trying to keep the feeling in his throat down, he asked, “Are you… erm… hiding your stats, perhaps?” It was entirely possible. No other logical explanation existed. They should be far stronger than this. Monsters could hide their stats… but… they were also so wounded. A mere strike could kill them if they weren’t careful! “Do… do you need healing?” Asgore questioned next, concerned that this monster may be hiding their true injuries.

The monster tilted their head for a second before going back to scribbling. They did not seem perturbed by the question. When they finished, they’d circled the names again, putting a new message under them.

“In danger. Wasting time. Have to find them.”

Even in a state like this, they continued asking for those names. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei. One of the Holidays had been included in that as well. Other than this monster appearing, it had been a rather peaceful night. Still, he would be a fool if he did not at least check for danger. After this, he would need to go and make sure everything was fine at the Holiday residence. Carol likely had things under control, knowing her. Right now, Asgore needed to handle the here and now.

He could send Undyne. However, she seemed more likely to bust down their door with how annoyed she was becoming with the monster in front of them. Undyne looked like she wanted to smash the notepad that had given no real answers before she took a deep breath, sighing, “You do know that you’ve put all of us in danger by absorbing that soul, right? Did you even think about that before taking it?”

The monster’s grip on their pen tightened. Again, they started scrawling. When they brought the notepad back up, they had made a drawing that almost looked like chicken-scratch had it not been for the heart-like shape it vaguely resembled.

“Did not take. Mine.” They had drawn an arrow to the heart.

Undyne put a hand on her face and did not resurface for a few moments. When she finally did, it came with bared teeth. “Monsters do not have human souls. I don’t care if you think it’s yours. Where. Did. You. Get. It.”

Neutrality broke. The monster scowled, writing more roughly than before. When they showed the notepad again, it looked like they’d punctured one of the pages in the process.

“Got body.” Another arrow had been drawn to the heart, something written under it. “Me.”

What… did they mean?

Asgore supposed that it could be possible for a human to still be conscious when their soul had been taken. Although, the thought gave him pause. It gave him more than pause, something icy creeping through his veins. What… if souls were still conscious after they perished? The soul was the culmination of one’s being. It was all someone was. If a human soul persisted after death, then could the human as well?

Six souls in glass jars flooded Asgore’s memory. Asriel’s face clouded his mind.

Were all of those fallen souls conscious the entire time?

Did both of his children perish together?

This was something that Alphys would have to be contacted about. She had worked with the human souls for a brief amount of time. If anyone would know, it would be her.

Undyne must’ve been running through the same thought process as him, because she now suddenly looked off balance. She sounded unsure when she quietly wondered, “So… are you the human then?” Mortification crossed her face. If a human died tonight, and had been killed by a monster, then it made perfect sense as to why they tried to run away when spotted in the truck. They’d been killed by the last monster they met. Perhaps, the stats Asgore saw were merely the soul’s rather than the monster. Checking had never been performed in a situation like this.

And yet, the monster still looked annoyed by that. They wrote for a second, stopped, and then thought before scribbling something down. 

“Sure.”

It was as much of an answer as they were going to get. Undyne suddenly looked very out of her depth, but she tried to lean back in her chair to give the monster some space. If the monster’s body was currently being controlled by a human, then the two of them needed to handle this with utmost care.

Undyne put a hand on her chin, quietly questioning the soul, “What uh… killed you then?”

Again, the monster circled the names that they were so insistent about. They took longer to write something down, like they were thinking about every word the pen painstakingly etched. When they finally showed the notepad, more words than they’d written thus far were given. Their motor skills were slowly improving it seemed.

“Same thing that will kill them. Need to find them.”

That… hardly made any sense. Was there a trail of destruction being left somewhere? Had a monster unwittingly absorbed a soul? If there was something nearby, especially near the mountain, then someone would have seen something. While monsters attested to the Angel being over the mountain, Asgore didn’t see or hear a thing when he investigated. “Did… erm… the monster you’re currently inhabiting… accidentally absorb your soul?” He needed this information at the very least to keep the humans placated. Asgore still didn’t have the answers he needed about why they looked the way they did. He wondered if he should ask Tori, but… she would likely have his head for the insinuation.

The monster let out an audible sigh. The writing got faster.

“No monster. Just me. Hard to explain.”

Everything only became more confusing, and yet they wrote the words with desperation like they wanted to get out of here as soon as possible. Before anyone could launch another question at them, they kept writing, their words getting less and less legible like they had suddenly decided too much time was spent here.

“Let me out. Need Flowey. Need Frisk. Need to find-” They drew another arrow towards the three names. 

Undyne must’ve seen something she didn’t like, because her suspicions immediately began to grow again. Asgore understood why as well. This monster could be lying their way out of culpability by pretending to be only the soul. Perhaps, it was them who did not properly understand how souls worked. The monster seemed very insistent on being let go as soon as possible.

“Listen, whether you’re that soul or the monster lying to us, you can’t leave,” Undyne emphasized, putting her fist in the palm of her hand. “I don’t know why the hell you want Frisk, but they’re gonna have to be here to do damage control thanks to whatever the hell this is.” She glanced away, muttering the next part under her breath, “...Even though it’s not their job. Guess their life is getting interrupted again.”

Something about that caused the monster’s eyes to narrow. Their lips began to curl up ever-so-slightly.

When the monster looked more aggressive, Asgore immediately put up his hands to try to calm them down. This did nothing, but he still spoke as calmly as he could, “What Undyne is trying to say is that… as I’m sure you know, soul absorption has a protocol that we are meant to follow. I will try to accommodate you as best I can, but I’m afraid that you have to stay here until the humans arrive.”

The monster shook their head. More hastily, they scribbled, “They will die. How long?”

Asgore didn’t know. This hadn’t happened before. For something as dire as this, he’d think it would be soon. “No longer than a week, I suppose.”

He didn’t even get a chance to finish his thought before the soul suddenly flashed into view again. That red outline formed around the monster’s body as they dashed to their feet, scrambling towards the cell door. Before they could make it anywhere close, Undyne lunged for them, wrapping her arms tightly around their body so that they couldn’t get any further.

The notepad had been entirely forgotten as the monster struggled, kicking and flailing as much as they could. That snarl came back, and all of the anger that had been present the last time they were grabbed came back tenfold. 

Undyne didn’t say a word as she carried them back to their chair. She’d had enough of this. When she finally shoved them back into place, their soul remained on their chest, like they were still prepared to run.

To try to ease their worries, Asgore suggested, “Perhaps, if you gave us descriptions of who you are looking for, we could keep an eye out for them?”

The monster glanced at Undyne. They glanced at the cell door. While they were weighing their options, a spear appeared in Undyne’s hand. She swiped it over their body, locking them in place so that they couldn’t go anywhere. That would take some of Undyne’s concentration for a bit, but it was likely all that she could do to keep the monster from trying to run again without physically harming them.

Carefully, Asgore picked up the discarded notepad and pen. He handed it back to them, knowing that they couldn’t exactly get it on their own with their soul like that. 

The monster’s neutrality had entirely gone. Their chest rose and fell rapidly, and their writing grew shaky while they hastily tried to explain.

“Not here. I have to find them. You can’t. They die soon.” 

Undyne kept the green magic on their soul. She stared at the notepad for a bit, the entire situation looking more and more incredulous to her. “Kinda weird how specific the requirements are for you finding these people. I’m starting to think they’re not real.”

All writing on the notepad ceased immediately.

The soul on the monster’s chest started to twitch. Undyne’s one good eye narrowed as the monster’s gaze turned icy, staring directly through her. Slowly, the air began to grow heavier. 

The pen in the monster’s hand snapped, ink spewing all over their fur.

And for the first time in this entire conversation, another voice spoke.

“Shut… up…”

The soul kept twitching. Undyne kept her focus on her magic, but the monster talking only emboldened her. “And you can talk too. Let me guess, the soul thing was a lie too then, huh? Think you can just lie your way out of endangering monsters and humans-”

The green magic around the soul shattered.

Asgore rose from his seat when a torrent of something other washed over him. Soul magic had been countered, and something new began to take its place.

In the moment Asgore saw the monster move, he swore he saw something silver behind their head.

The once green soul began to shift to a vibrant yellow. The same color overtook the monster’s eyes as they rose to their feet. When the magic shattered, Undyne braced herself, undoubtedly ready for the fight that would come.

And yet, the monster didn’t engage in a battle.

The yellow soul leapt to their fingertips, and raw power began to channel through it. The monster’s voice returned, all words being forced out like their very life depended on it.

“STOP… TALKING!”

Undyne dove to the side, barely evading a blast of energy soaring past her head. Soul magic was known to Asgore. He’d seen Frisk use a similar form of magic on their own. And yet, the blast that soared out at Undyne came out violently, leaving a crack in the wall where it struck. 

Asgore could take hits that she could not. When the soul began to charge again, the monster advancing on the exit of their cell, Asgore let Undyne rush through the door while he stood in the way.

The monster’s soul pointed at Undyne through the bars. Undeterred by her retreat, they began firing smaller bolts of energy her way. With every shot, their lips curled up higher. 

Undyne wasn’t one to run away for long. She kept her spear raised, but she didn’t need to. Asgore watched as the bolts of energy collided with… well… one of Alphys’ installations here. While the cell wasn’t the best at containing a monster, its walls could at least contain some magic. The bolts fizzled as they tried to pass through the space. Undyne glared, and Asgore knew that she didn’t like hiding behind something. Still, she remained undeterred, her voice rising, “So the whole not being able to fight schtick is gone too, huh? Can’t keep a damn thing straight, can y-”

Another blast of energy fired. The energy collided with the wall again, the blast not quite fizzling entirely. It struggled against the wall for a moment like it would tear through and chase after Undyne for her words, but the spell eventually died out all the same.

That was enough.

He didn’t look at the monster first. Instead, he looked at Undyne, demanding, “Stop.”

Tension broke.

All fighting spirit died out the moment she was chastised. Over and over again, Asgore tried to remind himself that she knew the stakes just as well as he did. However, he needed her out of here. The aggressiveness was not helping. While it may be warranted considering the circumstances, Asgore needed to put his foot down and put a stop to this.

When Asgore looked back at the monster, he found the soul pointed directly at his face.

He remained undeterred, staring past the soul and at the monster who looked very prepared to go through him. He would fight if he must, but he had done enough fighting in his lifetime. If Asgore could, he would avoid it as best he can. Seeing that face staring at him with such intent…

If he had to strike someone with an appearance so uncanny, he may never be able to shut his eyes again without that guilt creeping in. It was already horrible enough that they were confined here, but he had to set aside sentimentality to keep his people safe.

So, Asgore did the best he could, even though he started down a monster with unfathomable rage burning in their eyes. He knew that rage. He knew that want to tear everything apart after something dear had been stolen. So, he said what he could, “The guard will be contacted to look for those you spoke of. We cannot… do anything more. You must understand, the state of you and your soul requires that we follow steps closely, or every monster will be in danger.”

Yellow light continued burning in the monster’s eyes. They did not release the energy in their soul, their lips moving to try to form mangled words again. Every word came out slightly wrong in a raspy whisper, like they tried to force it out, “Can’t… won’t find them.”

“This is not… a permanent arrangement,” Asgore tried reassuring them, “No one wishes for another war. No one wishes for any further bloodshed. It may be possible for you to leave this place, but you must remain here until the humans have met you.”

“Leaving,” the monster reiterated, though not for the reason Asgore believed, “Will vanish… no longer… an issue… for you.” Every word sounded raspier and raspier, like they were losing the ability to talk the longer they argued.

Asgore didn’t understand the meaning of their words, but he remained firm. Cautiously, he leaned down, picking up the discarded pieces of the pen that the monster shattered in their hand. Thankfully, it was close enough to where he did not have to leave the cell entrance. This… would be difficult. “I will… get you another pen. If you could, I would appreciate you writing down what you know of these people you are looking for.”

Frustration grew. The end of the monster’s hand shook, like they were questioning whether or not to fire. “They’ll die. Listen… Please…”

It was difficult to stare at their face and reject the way they pleaded for him to listen. If he could, he would gladly delay their fate for longer. Hopefully, the monster wouldn’t be deemed a threat, but based on their state now, Asgore was not sure what would happen. He just needed to hope that he could calm them down in the meantime while Asgore contacted the humans.

Asgore took a deep breath. “I will get you whatever you need to make you more comfortable.” He needed to be strong just this once. He still hardly had answers for why the monster looked the way they did, but those questions would have to wait until they had calmed down. It’d been a long night for everyone. “Please, try to rest.”

The monster grimaced. Their jaw set. Under their breath, they muttered, “Sorry.”

Energy released. A blast of pure, yellow light with an imprint of the soul lashed out at Asgore. He was lucky enough for the monster to lower the blast towards his chest before they released it, but he felt it all the same.

When it struck, it made him stumble backwards. The air momentarily left his lungs, the actual impact hurting more than the burning sensation that lingered for only a moment. It was as if he’d been punched by something much larger than him, and yet did not feel as strong as he expected it to be. It could have brought harm if it struck anything else, but he could withstand it well enough.

It was enough to leave an opening for the monster to escape.

Thankfully, Undyne disregarded his previous orders. When the monster tried to run through the open passageway, blue spears erupted from the ground in front of their escape. The monster hesitated for the briefest of moments when their path was blocked, and it bought Undyne just enough time.

A spear formed beside the door, the end ramming into one of the bars. The spears blocking the way dipped as a door swung just through where they once were. It slammed shut, and Undyne immediately rushed forward before the monster could try to open it again.

She had the keys to the cell after all, and she locked it quickly.

Asgore sat there for a moment, watching the monster fire blast after blast at the barrier that cancelled their magic. Desperation kept flashing in their eyes as they tried again and again but to no avail. 

He loathed this.

There were so many questions he wished to ask.

Were they a monster somewhere within the Underground? Had they only come to the surface recently, and their first introduction to the land was a cold cell that hadn’t been tended to in ages? Where were they from? Who were their parents? Was the monster in there at all, or was it truly the human speaking? Most importantly, he just wished to know why they reminded him so much of Asriel.

However, the humans were clear in what they wanted when a monster absorbed a human soul. He had to remind himself of that. Emotions could not get the better of him when making decisions regarding his people’s future. He already made that mistake once, promising hope through the murder of humans. He needed… he needed to ensure that no more death came. Another war could not be started over this.

It was just… all so sudden.

Undyne finally finished with the lock, stepping back. She didn’t regard the monster any further, even as they struggled against the magical confines. Instead, Undyne passed by him, checking in, “You… good?”

Despite the blast pushing him backwards, Asgore didn’t feel like it’d really hurt him. In fact, his health hadn’t drained at all. It was still a powerful hit, but he certainly didn’t get damaged by it. “I believe I am fine, Undyne. If you will, I think we should discuss this outside.” He glanced at the monster again. Their eyes met his, and they pleaded one more time. Yet, he could not give in to memories that haunted him.

Undyne nodded. “Yeah. I’m… Yeah that’s probably a good idea.”

They both needed to regroup. They were both far too tired after investigating the mountains. All Asgore wanted to do was find a nice pillow and a new pen, so that this monster could hopefully feel a little more comfortable in their current situation. He could perhaps try to find them food as well. Considering how late it was, he doubted they’d eaten recently. Asgore surely didn’t.

As Asgore left, he watched the blasts stop. The monster’s soul reverted back to its usual crimson, receding into their chest. Asgore thought he would see more thrashing, but the monster slowly stood completely upright. Their arms pinned to their sides as they stood at attention, like a Royal Guard about to be given orders.

It was uncanny how quickly neutrality decimated the panic that was once on their face.

Was it an act? He didn’t know.

When they left the station, Asgore remembered just how cold it was outside. That monster’s clothing might as well be threadbare. He needed to include getting them something nicer on his to-do list. If he could make this process any easier for them, then he would. He would be agitated as well if people he knew were in danger, and he was told repeatedly to stay in a small cell.

Undyne took a deep breath before apologizing, “Sorry. They piss me off.”

Many times when Asgore mentored Undyne, she had moments like this. She had a fiery spirit, one that could not be so easily tamed. Asgore did not wish to tame it, only to direct it. He supposed that some old habits died hard. “Of course, I understand. This is… certainly a tense situation.” It was a light way of putting it.

“I just don’t get it!” Undyne yelled, pacing in front of the door. She tried to lower her voice after, remembering that it was dark out, and they were talking about human soul absorption. “Humans started the war, because they didn’t want this to happen. Everyone knows not to absorb a human soul! If… if it happened by accident, why the hell won’t they tell us?” 

To Asgore, it seemed like they were trying. He just didn’t understand how to put the pieces together, and wondered why he was being given pieces instead of the whole picture in the first place. “When they have calmed down, perhaps they will say more. For now, I am afraid that they are… distressed by whatever happened to them.”

Despite Undyne contributing to that, she did not apologize again. Instead, she grumbled, “Maybe they should be more worried about sending us all back underground.” One of her hands curled into a fist. “They attacked me. They actually got you. They just pulled soul magic out of nowhere and broke mine. What the hell are the humans gonna think?”
Asgore didn’t know. He only hoped that the monster would calm down by the time they arrived.

When the two of them heard a zapping noise coming from inside the station, Asgore figured that the monster was panicking once more. They likely tried to hit the wall with their soul again. He would be in soon enough to check. 

“It is odd…” Asgore began, trying to find a way to place the words in a way that wouldn’t sound like he was reminiscing for so reason, “...how they look so similar to someone I used to know, and yet they act so different.”

Undyne nodded. “Yeah, noticed that too. I thought you and Toriel uh…” She didn’t finish the thought. Undyne believed that they were both the last of their species of monster, which made sense. Asgore believed the same too.

He really needed to talk to Tori about this. Considering that he never messed up her name when speaking with her directly anymore, he may actually have a chance of getting this figured out. She would be angry to see this monster in confinement though. Asgore already had his own reservations, but these things had to be done.

The conversation would happen tomorrow when the sun had actually risen.

“I do believe their story that someone close to them is in danger,” Asgore stated plainly, even though Undyne still arched a brow like she didn’t believe it for a second. “I would ask that after they have given us a description, we scour the mountain for any signs of those three. I will speak with the Holiday household. Perhaps… perhaps they know more about this strange circumstance.”

Even though she didn’t believe it, Undyne conceded, “Fine. Still, dunno why they wanted Frisk. Flowey is also a weird ask. They were so hellbent on getting out to find those people on their own, and then they immediately ask for those two.” As Undyne slipped further and further into speculation, she put a hand on her head. “Just seems fishy, like they’re waiting for something. Feels like a setup.”

Asgore already knew that Frisk would be on their way as soon as they heard the news. While they were relieved of ambassador duties… incredibly quickly after realizing that a child shouldn’t carry that responsibility, they’d been getting heavily involved now that they were considered an adult. With how much they had already done for monsters, everyone hoped that Frisk would be able to take time for themself in college… to do something for their own gain. This would just be dragging them right back into the fray.

There was one more thing they needed to discuss now:

Undyne’s conduct. 

Asgore understood Undyne’s apprehensions about this monster, and he was thankful for her aid in keeping the monster from escaping. However, he could not make any progress with her antagonizing them. This had to be made clear. “I would appreciate if you did a more thorough search of the mountain with the rest of the Royal Guard. I… believe that this monster needs to be handled with care, and I would like to talk to them myself.”

Like she expected that, Undyne sighed. Her fins drooped for a moment before she nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I think that’s… probably for the best too. Sorry.”

Ah, and there it was. While Undyne still had that same fiery spirit that came out when a fight was to be had, she had grown so much from trying to throw spears at him in the middle of his own throne room. Perhaps, this would give her time to cool off as well. 

“If I am honest, I am scared too,” Asgore admitted, “I know that desperation in their eyes. I felt it for centuries. That is desperation that can cause rifts if gone unchecked.” He thought he started to hear banging from inside. “It may take some time, but I will make sure that this does not end in another divide between monsters and humans.”

The banging sounded louder this time.

Undyne grimaced. Over and over again, something slammed against the wall. “Well, guess our talk is over. Uh… good luck with… whatever the hell you two are gonna talk about-”

Her voice stopped immediately when she leaned over, glancing through the glass door into the police station.

The banging abruptly stopped.

Undyne stole one glance at Asgore before rushing in. Sensing the urgency, Asgore burst in after her, and he got one glimpse at the monster before everything went wrong.

After a few hours of feeling everything with too much intensity, creating distance relieved the Angel. 

As they watched Asgore leave, their vessel remained in place. The Angel could still move their vessel’s body if they chose, but it seemed so far away now. Distance muffled everything. If they could just stay like this, then they could operate normally, because this reminded them much more of how things used to be. The vessel was a tool. The vessel only interpreted. The vessel was not them, and as long as they remembered that, they didn’t have to experience the hurt or the pain that came with freezing or being tackled by Undyne.

It was her that taught the Angel that they could create this distance. The vessel was not the Angel. It could not possibly contain what the Angel was. While it may contain their soul, the Angel had always been far more than a soul. Now, they found that they could exploit that. Their second pair of eyes grew stronger, staring down at their vessel and acknowledging it as a tool, NOT THEM.

And yet, the Angel found things not so simple.

They were back in a cell, and Asgore left once more.

He ignored them. He ignored their pleading. Despite the Angel trying their hardest to emphasize just how dire everything was, Asgore still kept them trapped here. They were so… SO close to reaching a half-understanding had it not been for Undyne…

Undyne…

Distance had to be maintained. Distance had to be enforced. However, the vessel’s heart began to hammer. Its lips started to snarl, an instinct that wasn’t the Angel’s own but one that slowly began to manifest as their own emotions did. 

They acknowledged the emotions as their own.

Their anger became the vessel’s own.

They became the vessel.

Distance broke. Like being slammed right back into a cage, the Angel stopped being able to look from a distance. Their vessel’s neutrality shattered as they began to move their own arms. It broke when claws went up to their head, trying to stave off the splitting pain that hit them all at once. Once more, the claws were theirs. Once more, the hands were theirs. Once more, they could feel.

The Angel wiped spit from the side of their mouth with the back of their hand. Many times during the conversation with Undyne and Asgore, this cycle happened. They needed to get better at maintaining that distance. It allowed them to think. It allowed them to not panic. If they could just clamp down and shut it out, then they could do what needed to be done. Panic was useless. Panic made them falter. It made them stumble.

Unfortunately, distance became hard to maintain when someone like Undyne pissed them off.

Again, the Angel snarled, summoning the magic from deep within their soul. It flashed a vibrant yellow as they took aim at the cell door, trying to destroy the lock. The blast could damage a concrete wall. It could actually knock back Asgore. That last one was unsurprising considering the blasts from the yellow soul could repel Spamton NEO’s true form, but nearly toppling a being like Asgore was offputting.

Once more, that magical barrier appeared when the Angel fired off a blast.

Of course. Of course, this wasn’t Hometown anymore. Monsters actually had magic here, and they would be employing it everywhere. It was foolish to think that this was a normal cell and a normal building, despite how much it looked like it. 

Unfortunately, that gave the Angel very little options.

Their soul returned to a deep crimson. With a yell, the Angel kicked the bars of the cell, only to find that physically, the cell was sturdy. Unfortunately, now that they were fully connected with their vessel again, they felt the pain ripple through their foot.

It didn’t register as much as it probably should’ve over the Angel’s rage towards Undyne.

How dare she?

The Angel would’ve been content to completely avoid every single monster that they met along their first journey. They were ready, prepared to not contact a single one of them if it meant keeping their lives stress-free and unthreatened. Even now, the Angel still wanted to do that. Despite being thrown into a cell and subjected to whatever laws the humans and monsters had made up about soul absorption in the last decade, the Angel still wanted to be the bigger person and walk away.

It was what Flowey asked of them. Let everyone live their lives. The Angel was a threat.

The Angel took a deep breath, their hand curling into a fist.

For once, they wished they were more of a threat.

In the face of the Angel trying to communicate their friends were in danger, in the face of them even communicating that they were the soul rather than the vessel, Undyne said that the Angel’s friends probably didn’t even exist.

She thought this was a joke. She thought she had them figured out, and decided to throw that in the Angel’s face like she “got” them.

The seed of resentment grew. Quite frankly, Undyne deserved far more than getting a blast of yellow light fired at her. The Angel even ended up missing. 

How dare she say they weren’t even real?

What made matters worse was that if Ralsei were here, he might even agree with her.

And that-

That sent a burning fire through their soul that made them want to rend these bars to pieces. The Angel already broke their rule to make themself as unnoticeable as possible. They got spotted by the former King of Monsterkind. They got jailed by the Captain of the Royal Guard. They now were mistaken as a monster who absorbed a human soul, which would cause infinite amounts of chaos and harm if the Angel stayed here anyway.

Keeping their head down wasn’t an option now. If anything, they needed to find a way to leave now, no matter how destructive it was.

Their hand itched for a weapon. The walking stick sat too far for them to reach, and it didn’t do any good earlier. If talking wasn’t working, and if no other options were presenting themselves, then the Angel would just have to prove Flowey right. When did they start being themself? Hah! They became themself the moment Flowey called them a threat, and they reset the world over and over again. If the Angel wasn’t used to this frustration by now, they almost wouldn’t have reservations.

Almost.

Undyne would never stop fighting them until her body physically gave out. If Asgore wasn’t holding back like he was in previous battles with Frisk, then the Angel would be unlikely to even land a hit on him. Most importantly, the Angel didn’t want either of them dead. They… had to apologize before hitting Asgore with the yellow soul. 

Sparing monsters when their health was low could be done, but the Angel didn’t want to risk that. They’d failed to hold back on a strike multiple times. Even now, watching Toriel turn to dust hadn’t left their mind. Even if they did fight… and even if they somehow did manage to hold back, they likely wouldn’t even get that far in a body like this…

So, if brute force wasn’t an option, then how could the Angel get out?

Luckily for them, they’d been in situations like this many times before. They and the rest of their friends got jailed three times in a row. This wasn’t anything new, but the circumstances were. The Angel couldn’t just shut their eyes and wait for someone else to fix the issue. The Angel couldn’t abuse ACTs to escape. The Angel didn’t have any Lancer-shaped items that would just dig a hole straight through this place.

A painful reminder: They were on their own.

Even Asgore didn’t help, despite saying he eventually would in a week. He didn’t get just how dire this was, despite how many times the Angel tried to tell him. Undyne wouldn’t help. She’d sooner laugh the Angel off just like she did with Kris, and that wouldn’t cut it anymore.

The Angel needed to think. It… was like a puzzle. Yeah! They could do puzzles. That was one of their main functions. Whenever a puzzle came, they needed to assess the issue and what tools they had to solve it. Think about this… logically. They could not consider the fact that every wasted moment led to their friends dying. They could not consider the possibility of failure.

It may be easier to just load their save.

The Angel thought about it many times. They could go back. They could conceal their soul instead of trying to flee. Perhaps, they could talk to Asgore when they first met, and all would be fine.

…Except it took hours to get to this point. If the Angel remembered correctly as well, the last time they saved was when they weren’t even properly connected to their vessel and dying. They never did confirm their save selection the second time when they saw their other two saves corrupted, did they? Phantom pains still riddled their entire body, and they remembered exactly what happened when they interacted with that last save.

Skin connected, and then pain followed. Death almost came for them.

They weren’t sure if they could do that again.

It would certainly make the road going forward easier. If the Angel escaped this place, their life would be hell until they inevitably left this world. Someone would always be after them, and they may lose more time trying to evade. And yet, the Angel could end up right back in this situation even further from civilization if their soul appeared instinctively again.

Either choice had too many unknowns. First, they would try to get out the normal way. Besides, a vindictive spark in them wanted Undyne to remember how she laughed in their face. If the Angel failed their friends, they would make sure that this haunted the both of them forever.

Now… escaping.

There were two problems, the bars and the magical field. The bars kept the Angel from physically passing through, and the magical barrier prevented… well… any kind of magic from going through. The Angel couldn’t just break a lock with soul magic.

Perhaps, they could with normal magic?

How… would they even do that?

It… had to be instinct, right? The Angel didn’t know the actual inner workings of magic other than a few conversation, but the soul magic came when they merely needed it. Surely, whatever magic this body possessed would be similar.

The Angel extended their hand, like that would do something.

Nothing happened.

They… were inhabiting… Asriel’s body, weren’t they? That’s why Asgore looked at them so strangely. The Angel ignored the pit in their stomach when they remembered his name. For now, they couldn’t think about that. Instead, they focused on the task at hand. The Dreemurrs used fire. So, maybe the Angel had to imagine it. Again, they tried extending their hands, imagining fire blasting out from their fingertips.

Again, nothing happened.

The Angel grimaced. Soul magic came naturally, but normal magic didn’t. Great. Just another obstacle to get over later.

Maybe… the Angel should think about the tools that they had. The only problem was that they had nothing. The horns on their head were sharp, but they couldn’t cut through bars. Chewing on metal wouldn’t do any good. The Angel might be able to send their soul through, but that unleashed a whole host of issues like being a floating soul in the middle of a town with monsters. They could easily get a new vessel by running into any other monster, but that would restart this whole thing all over again and come with the baggage of dealing with another conscious person.

If the Angel still had that broken pen, they might be able to learn lockpicking on the fly if they had five-hundred years and also not a broken pen.

Shockingly, it wasn’t easy to think their way out of a prison cell.

This cell wasn’t wacky like all the others. The Dark World prisons sometimes had puzzles or quirks that made them escapable. Darkners were also especially helpful sometimes, one of them letting Susie out, Lancer letting everyone out, and an unsuspecting Darkner letting everyone escape from Tenna. Unfortunately, the Angel wasn’t in a world where they could tap into any of that.

Things were too distinct here. They were too rigid. It was harder for the Angel to bend what was when their light couldn’t even be seen. Soul modes even working seemed like a miracle, but soul modes were already a thing that just worked in this world. The Angel was stuck in a cell where the bars couldn’t bend.

…

…but what if?

What if things became more indistinct?

What if the bars were larger, and the Angel could just walk straight through them? What if the Angel’s light became far more visible and accessible? What if every object in this room could become an ally without needing to worry as much about past experiences.

What if the Angel made a Dark World?

No. No, they couldn’t. They couldn’t do that. 

Hometown was currently dying thanks to someone who thought opening Dark Fountains for personal gain was a good idea. The Angel’s friends were dying because of that very mistake. If the Angel wanted their path to be one that caused the least amount of strife as possible, then causing an apocalypse could not even be considered. Ralsei would be mortified to know that the Angel opened Dark Fountains.

They didn’t even know if they could.

All it required was determination, right?

They had that in spades.

Would it even work in this world?

A man’s voice echoed through their mind, a singular entry about darkness cutting deeper reminding them where Dark Worlds may have first been discovered.

A Dark World would be convenient. In the Dark World, the Angel may be stronger. Most of their recent experience was fighting in the Dark World, and it could even the playing field against someone like Undyne or Asgore. The Angel would have the upperhand, and if they knew what they were doing, they may even be able to end a battle nonviolently.

If they didn’t, then… what was the worst that could happen?

The Angel knew for a fact that Dark World injuries didn’t transfer to the Light World exactly. If they merely knocked someone out in the Dark World, then surely the repercussions wouldn’t be as bad in the Light World. It would let them make mistakes. They wouldn’t have to worry about being a threat. They may even find a new save point!

They couldn’t. They couldn’t cause another Roaring.

Except… they wouldn’t. If the Angel thought about it more, they realized that it took enough Dark Fountains to blot out the sun in order to cause the Roaring. While a Titan could be hatched by opening a fountain within a fountain, actually covering Hometown with the Roaring was a whole different situation. In fact, the Angel could remember a point where four, fully sized Dark Fountains were active at once. When Susie made her Dark Fountain in the church, that made hers, the Grand Fountain, the Shelter Fountain, and the main Church Fountain.

One fountain… would not cause the Roaring.

This… did complicate things. The Angel needed to seal it before leaving this place, but if they could get the keys off of Undyne, then that wouldn’t even matter. They had to face her and Asgore regardless, or they’d be pursued effortlessly. The Angel needed at least Undyne here. They were very concerned that they could just end up in a larger cell when this Dark World formed. Regardless, after the Angel had a way through, they could just seal the fountain. They’d appear right next to it anyway if they made it in this cell.

The Angel begged for Ralsei’s forgiveness as the idea solidified in their head.

However, it was as they said before:

Saving their friends mattered the most. Everything else came second.

Now, to find something sharp. In a prison.

The object needed to be something that could pierce through the ground. The Angel’s claws might be able to do it, but they doubted that they would pull anything off before shattering a claw and rendering it useless. These claws were filed down too much anyway. The stab had to be deep, if previous fountains were any indicator. Kris used their dagger often. Noelle was instructed to use a mere pin by Queen, which meant it didn’t have to be perfect. Carol used her katana once. The Knight just used their blades.

The Angel didn’t have anything like that. Their stick was too far out of reach. Maybe their soul could nudge it closer.

They summoned their soul to their hand. It popped out of their chest, another oddity that they shouldn’t be able to do in the Light World. They didn’t complain, and the Angel carefully brought it up to the bars.

Electricity shot through their body when the soul hit the invisible barrier.

The Angel’s HP drained a hair, and their second pair of eyes managed to visualize it as the damage came through.

5/20 HP.

The world began to swim. Suddenly, the Angel crashed even further into their vessel, and the stinging pain all over their body intensified.

They had so little room for error.

Perhaps, they had grown complacent when using their friends as vessels. They all could take a hit. They all took the blows when the Angel failed to protect them. Now, the Angel watched their own health drain. Now, they could feel death growing closer.

They feared returning to that save point, because they knew they would be met with that unyielding terror of dying once more. Now, they’d gotten even closer to another death, and fear started to root itself in their body all over again.

Ah, they… they were shaking again.

Keep… keep going. They still weren’t close to being gone yet. It… it was just a shock. It was just a shock, and they were still alive.

The Angel ran a hand over their head, trying to calm themself down. There was no need to panic. It was… like they said before, they were less useful when they panicked. However, something came to them through the haze. When their hand snagged on something that they forgot was there, realization crashed into them all at once.

Maybe claws couldn’t do the trick, but a horn might.

The Angel’s breathing grew shallow when they realized the problem. Will needed to be channeled through whatever object was used. The Knight had used floating blades to do so, so if the Angel could angle their head correctly, then they may be able to use the horns. It… wasn’t an exact system.

…but they already knew there was little chance of that working.

Actually pulling forth a Dark Fountain required far more than just pointing a blade in the correct direction. It required focus. It required will channeled through a blade. It required the Angel to not shatter their neck trying to do all of those things with a blade attached to their head.

They… understood what needed to be done.

Just… like a puzzle.

The problem… the Angel needed to create a Dark Fountain. The tools were accessible, but the one tool they needed remained attached to their own head. It couldn’t be used.

The solution:

Remove it.

They would get back to their friends, right?

Everything else came second, right?

It was time to prove their words.

No matter what choice they made now, pain would come. Their choice did not matter.

For once, the pain had to be theirs to take.

It. Didn’t. Matter.

The Angel shut their eyes. The second pair remained open.

Yelling as if that would stop what came, the Angel jerked their body toward the wall.

They didn’t hear the impact as they rammed a horn against it. Harsh ringing invaded their eardrums, and the splitting pain blotted out the rest of their senses when their right horn crashed into the wall. 

4/20 HP.

Cracks didn’t weave down the surface of the wall. Instead, veins forged of pure agony rippled through the Angel’s skull. The horn… remained attached. Of course it did. It was a horn, not an antler. It… would take more to come undone.

Again, the Angel slammed their horn against the wall. Didn’t they say they wished their friends didn’t have to take the pain? Isn’t this what they wanted? If it really was, then they needed to prove it. If they really had what it took to fix their world, then they needed to be able to endure this.

3/20 HP

Something warm began to trickle down the Angel’s right eye. Distantly, they knew that shouldn’t be able to happen in a vessel like this, but it did anyway. The questions didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

Again, the horn remained attached. 

Go on. Go again. If they didn’t want to die all over again in front of a save point, they needed to commit. Otherwise, this foolishness would be for nothing, and they would die anyway. They had to put all of themself into this. They had to be willing. 

The world stopped feeling as lucid. However, the Angel couldn’t back down.

Again.

Again.

They roared, bashing the horn against one of the cell bars in an attempt to fracture it. The Angel thought they might see cracks. They wondered if they were close. Blood pumped through their ears while searing fire coursed through the right side of their skull.

2/20 HP.

With a shaky hand, the Angel reached up to their horns. They weren’t even close to a similar length as Asgore’s, but they were long enough for the Angel to wrap their hand around one of them. They had leverage. The horn was long enough to be split, but not long enough to make this easy. Even though they wished they had more leverage, what came next had to happen.

The Angel tried to pull. They tried to keep their cry muffled as their body screamed at them to stop. Eventually, their vessel forced them to stop when the pain became too much, and the horn stayed attached.

Not… not enough. The Angel… needed enough force to knock it off. Just a little bit more. This is what it took to get back to their friends. Kris… Kris lost their hand. They were in insurmountable pain far worse than this. Ralsei had to be experiencing a paralysis that crushed his very being. Susie undoubtedly had broken far too many things in her body when trying to take on a Titan’s hand.

The Angel. Could Handle. This.

If they just had a little more concussive force, then they could do it.

Just like a puzzle.

They knew the solution.

The side of the Angel’s face started to slowly become warmer and warmer. Something wet trickled down. They tried to ignore it, holding their right arm out to the side.

The Angel’s soul answered their call. It shifted. It knew it needed to break what was. It called out for justice, to seek dues for all the pain given to the heroes lost in the dark. A distinct yellow hue overtook the soul as it spun at their fingertips.

Slowly, the Angel moved their hand, pointing their fingertips to aim just above their head.

Energy channeled through the soul, and the Angel took a deep breath.

Nothing else mattered.

…Right?

They released.

Bone and keratin shattered.

Something clattered to the ground, the Angel’s entire body falling with it.

1/20 HP.

It was fine. They’d done enough. Any sounds that came out of their throat didn’t matter. Ignore it.

Now, to finish the job.

The Angel opened their left eye, reaching for a bloodied horn lying just a few feet away. Their head felt off-balance now, but they could hardly care considering the pain that wanted to force them into a deep sleep. The Angel couldn’t sleep now. Until their friends were safe, sleep would never come. 

Through the pain, the Angel gritted their teeth. They placed both hands on the ground, keeping the horn clasped in one. Their arms shook as they slowly stood up, but they got to their feet in the end.

Someone made eye-contact with them through the door.

The Angel ignored her, even as the door flew open. Taking a deep breath, the Angel concentrated on what they wanted. Right now, they needed an escape. Escape came in many forms, but they needed two things: an open door and for their assailants to be gone.

With that, they could get back to what really mattered.

Undyne started fiddling with the cell door. One problem may solve itself.

Now, for the other.

If this was going to stick, the Angel needed a battlefield. The Angel needed strength. The Angel needed familiarity. The Angel needed the power to change fate. The Angel… needed determination.

Their soul answered the call.

Determination rippled through their veins. The Angel’s eyes flashed red. As they leapt into the air, the Angel channeled all that they had into their own horn. 

Stars flared into existence around their body. Manifestations of their own determination joined them in a dance as they froze briefly in the space about to be cleaved open. When the last of the stars winked out, the world bent to the only source of light that mattered.

The cell door opened. The Angel plunged their horn into the ground.

Any line between reality and illusion shattered. Blinding light swept through the room, trying to escape the eruption of pure darkness driving it into nothingness. It couldn’t escape. Only one light mattered anymore, and it had exerted its will.

Like the earth wished to cry out from the exertion in the only way it knew how, the darkness screeched. 

It continued erupting upward, sending the Angel’s ears and fur into disarray. Pure darkness finally solidified within the hole punctured through the world, and all of the light in the room started to dim. As if it was never there at all, the beam of pure darkness ceased, and smog began to sift from the crack in the ground.

It… was done.

The Angel wrenched their horn from the ground, crumpling next to the hole they’d made. The horn remained in their hand as the room began to slowly lose its shape. For a second, the Angel thought they saw Asgore looking at them. He shouldn’t look so horrified. After all, the Angel wasn’t personally mad at him.

No, that right was deserved for the Captain of the Royal Guard who finally got her hands on them.

“What did you DO?!?” Undyne screamed, grabbing them by the shirt and pulling them to their feet. The room continued growing darker. The floor under the two of them began to fall. Before it fully collapsed, Undyne yelled in their face, “WHAT DID YOU DO?”

The ground gave away.

Despite being something forged by light in this world, the Angel really did feel more capable in the darkness.

The Dark World embraced the Angel like an old friend. As they and Undyne began to slowly change to the Dark World’s will, the Angel raised their legs, kicking off of her. In the disorienting fall, Undyne lost her grip on them.

She vanished somewhere in the darkness as the Angel continued falling. The Angel needed a small amount of distance. After all, they needed to find a save point before engaging.

After that, they were going to find her.

A four-pointed star began to form behind the Angel’s head. Two, small wings flared out, floating on either side of the light and positioning themselves closer to the Angel’s ears. Their outfit began to change. Something new formed over their body as darkness pulled them deeper and deeper into a world of their own making.

Their friends just needed to hold on for a little longer.

The Angel was coming.

Chapter Text

Seam told the Angel to get the final Shadow Crystal before they would say what they’d make. Ah well, that mystery would probably have to wait. It was a shame, too, considering how nervous the Angel was getting. In the back of their mind, they wondered if Kris had similar apprehensions. After all, the Knight’s plan would likely be coming to fruition soon. Very shortly, Kris would finally have to make the decision on whether or not to betray everyone.

Personally, the Angel hoped that Seam would give an item so fantastic that it would utterly sway Kris. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. Kris did seem interested about whatever Seam was making, if Seam’s comments on their expression indicated anything, but maybe it was just Kris planning on how to counter it.

Who knew? The Angel sure didn’t. So, they exerted control over Kris again, deciding to guide them to find out wherever Susie and Ralsei went. Since the two of them never joined for those talks with Seam, the Angel told them to not wait around after breakfast. Time grew shorter and shorter, and the Angel grew antsy about when things would finally reach a breaking point. Giving them all any time to just… be… was worth it.

Thankfully, they weren’t hard to find. The Angel caught many Darkners filtering out of the training dummy area when entering Seam’s shop. The culprit ended up being Lancer leading all of the Darkners on a crusade towards the bakery. Apparently, Topchef tried to stage a coup over there, and Lancer decided to take this as seriously as possible. Though, the Angel bet that Lancer cleared the area for a reason. Susie must be trying a new ability or something. Though, the Angel didn’t hear sounds of destruction when they and Kris began to move towards that area. Plus, Lancer would never miss Susie trying to learn a new move.

What were they doing over there?

The Angel slowed Kris’ movements down, and their footsteps actually did become softer. Maybe they were a bit curious too. Maybe, they both weren’t expected here, but no one told them to stay put for any longer.

Curiosity got the better of the Angel.

When they peeked around the corner, they saw the training dummy properly set up for once. Next to it, Ralsei stood with his hands in concentration. Golden magic bubbled up from under his feet, just as it usually did when he tried to cast a spell.

Little flecks of white began to form around the training dummy. The Angel realized they’d seen this before, when the specks flared out into large, fluff balls. Fluffy guard really did look like a silly spell, but Ralsei treated it with utmost seriousness as he continued focusing on the casting.

Eventually, he started panting, the magic around him going dark. Fluffy Guard hovered around the dummy as intended, and it looked a little larger than the Angel remembered. Ralsei called out to Susie, who had taken to watching and leaning on her axe, “Ready!”

Purple magic boiled on the end of Susie’s axe. With a grin and a flash of her eye, she sent Rude Buster careening across the training grounds. It tore through the air, heading straight for the dummy. Fluffy Guard spun around to defend, and the Angel thought that it might work for a moment.

…only for the white fluffs to burn away, Rude Buster breaking through and hitting the dummy head on.

Ralsei grimaced, his hands immediately going behind his back.

Before he could get in his own head, Susie let go of her axe, the weapon vanishing into thin air. “Hey, that was better than last time. It actually kinda stopped that one.” Even though it sounded like Susie was just trying to placate Ralsei, her grin said that she meant every word. “Wanna go again? I can just hit it with a normal attack if uh… if that’d work better.”

Even though Ralsei nodded, he muttered something under his breath, “I should be better at this by now.”

Susie’s grin vanished. Her eyes narrowed. Instead of readying herself for another Rude Buster like Ralsei expected, she stomped over to him. He didn’t see her on time before she stuck a hand on his head, digging her claws through the fur aggressively. “It took me forever to get my healing right, stupid. You watched me suck ass.”

Despite Ralsei slightly grinning from the roughhousing, he still thumbed at his scarf anxiously. “I-I know. You just… you picked up on healing magic quite fast! I feel like I should just be getting this right by now if you could do that.”

“Eh…” Susie put her hands on the back of her head, thinking for a second. “It… got faster when I stopped secretly practicing it. Y’know… stopped being embarrassed… actually used it with the Old Man.” She glanced down at Ralsei. “The Angel kept telling me to use it in fights too. I’m sure they’d do that for you too if they knew you were practicing.”

Oh.

That… was right. The Angel hadn’t seen Fluffy Guard as an option in any battles. Ever since Spamton, it never reappeared. Had Ralsei been too scared to tell them? He already had been cagey about his fire magic, and they would never make him use that if he didn’t want to, but for another magic to fly under their radar…

Why?

Their question answered itself when Ralsei shook his head over and over again. “No. They… I don’t think I’d be able to forgive myself if my magic wasn’t ready, and they wrongfully relied on it.” Ralsei looked at the dummy, inspecting the side of it that still had a few burn marks from Rude Buster. “It’d… mean that their soul would get hurt. You all would get hurt. I… need to be ready… before…”

Wait a minute, didn’t Ralsei have a sixth sense for the Angel’s presence?

They only remembered after he trailed off before his head immediately whipped in Kris’ direction. Kris didn’t move an inch, clearly fine to let the Angel take the fall for this one. Ralsei’s face went red, and his hands clenched his scarf like a lifeline. “Um… how… how long were you standing there?”

Ah well, there was no use hiding it now. Prompted for a response, the Angel answered honestly, “A bit.”

Before Ralsei could panic more (he did anyway), Susie immediately glanced between the two of them and groaned, “You don’t have to use it in fights if you don’t wanna, dude. Hiding stuff sucks! The Angel keeps pricking my finger trying to make a-”

Something must have shifted in the air when the Angel desperately tried to interrupt her, because Susie stopped moving entirely, her jaw hanging open. It clamped shut with an unceremonious click.

Ralsei’s eyes narrowed. Through the panic, he half-picked up on that, and his eyes darted between Susie and Kris. “What… are they making-”

“I’m poking Susie for fun,” the Angel answered naturally, and Kris’ delivery must’ve at least helped them, because Ralsei looked like he might genuinely believe them. They used the momentary confusion to quickly divert the subject, because their scarf-making could not be brought up right now at all costs. “You know you don’t have to hide learning a new spell from me, right?”

Stress was getting the better of Ralsei. One of his ears started turning red from how much he yanked at it. “It’s… more of a pet project. It’s not really something I planned to seriously use. It’s… not that great. I wouldn’t ask you to call on it.”

Ralsei claimed that, but Susie did have a point about her own magic getting drastically better the moment the Angel could call upon it. Of course, without the Old Man’s encouragement, it wouldn’t have been possible, but her healing capabilities surged the moment it became part of the team dynamic.

Thankfully, Kris let them continue speaking. The Angel tried to reassure Ralsei before he ripped his ears off, “You do know that I’d still… dodge, right? It’s not like I’m just gonna stand there and make your magic take all of the hits.”

Susie snickered, “Coulda fooled me with how you handled the Old Man’s hammers.”

It was one time. In a command to Kris, the Angel asked, “Bop her on the head for me.”

Kris did not do such a thing. 

They did, however, mutter the Angel’s next complaint, “I get no help in this house.”

Despite Susie finding that funny, it didn’t get Ralsei to calm down completely. He still looked like he’d wring his ears completely out in the next few minutes. “But… if it’s not useful, and you waste time and your tension on a bad spell, then that would…”

“Waste a turn?” The Angel asked, as if they weren’t the sole reason why turns ended up being wasted half the time based on poor decision making. “And using an item because I got hit… isn’t wasting a turn?”

Ralsei sighed. His hand moved his glasses up his face for a moment while he rubbed at his eyes. “You’d… you’d get hurt if you incorrectly thought that my magic could protect you in the first place.”

“I told you, I don’t feel pain.” The Angel tried explaining. This wasn’t exactly their area of expertise, and Kris probably didn’t have any ideas either. Whenever magic came up, Susie and Ralsei usually talked to each other about it. If they knew what the issue was, then maybe they could find a way to help. They just had no clue where to start. “Susie’s progress made it seem like magic is a muscle you use a lot. It feels counterproductive if you… can’t use it.”

Once again, Susie summoned her axe, deciding to lean on the handle. She waved her hand, glancing up in the air like she didn’t quite know what she was talking about. “I mean… kinda? The healing was like that. Rude Buster just felt natural. Like, I could just do that if I wanted to.” She glanced at Ralsei for confirmation. When he said nothing, she lightly nudged him. “Is your healing like that?”

Some of the thoughts in Ralsei’s head must’ve shattered, because he jumped when Susie shook him back to reality. “Um… no.” Ralsei fiddled with his scarf before realizing the action, putting his hands behind his back instead like that would hide the way his face sunk into his scarf. “It… is my fire magic, actually.”

Susie immediately became attentive. She spun around to the other side of her axe, resting her hands and chin against the handle. “Soooo, is it like just… damage spells that are like that, or…?” Apparently, she didn’t know either. “Healing always felt like I was straining myself a lot.”

Ralsei’s eyes scanned the two faces in front of him. For a moment, he remained silent. The Angel couldn’t hear his thoughts, but they didn’t need to. After a moment longer, he sighed, “It was like that for me when I learned it too, Susie.”

Apparently, Susie didn’t get what he was saying immediately. She squinted as if that would make things make more sense somehow. “I didn’t have to learn Rude Buster. What do you mean when you-” It suddenly clicked. Ah, the Angel was mistaken. Squinting did help her. She stopped talking immediately before deciding that sitting sounded better right now. She sank to the ground, patting it. “Arright, I’m calling a break. You gotta explain that, dude. That sounds awesome!”

The part of Ralsei that started wilting away suddenly bounced back. As if he thought he was being lured into a trap, Ralsei slowly lowered himself to his knees as well, glancing between Kris and Susie. Some practical joke had to be afoot in his mind, but none came. He still questioned, “You… think that’s cool?”

Kris nodded on their own. Apparently, the Angel didn’t need to put in their vote of support for Kris to do it on their own. Susie only grinned like she’d heard the best thing all day. “Yeah! Is that why you were good at teaching me?”

Instead of wringing his scarf out in stress, Ralsei started trying to hide his face in it. He was turning a distinct shade of red the more he tried to hide himself. “Um… I suppose. It was that and pacify.”

Now, the Angel had to step in. Pacify. Pacify. One of the single most useful spells to spare enemies was pacify, and Ralsei didn’t originally have that? As soon as Kris heard their need to speak, the Angel was given the floor. “I have so many questions. You’re telling me that you taught yourself two spells I’ve used constantly? When? Since when?”

Pointing out the usage of the spells flustered Ralsei more. He stammered, trying to keep his voice level but failing miserably, “I was just…” He took a deep breath, his smile starting to vanish a bit. “I thought that if the prophecy depicted me using my fire magic, the easiest way to… break it would be to learn different abilities… ones it may not have expected me to have… ones that might let us do something different.”

Susie’s eyes narrowed. “That is the coolest thing I’ve ever heard… and you’re telling me you think you can’t do it again!?” She leapt up onto her knees, scooting over to Ralsei and shaking him like a ragdoll. Teeth bared, she yelled, “Dude! What the hell? You were so good you had the Angel fooled!”

Ralsei struggled to keep his glasses attached. They became a little lopsided by the time Susie released him, but his eyes immediately trailed over to Kris. “I… um… thought they might be mad when they found out, actually.”

Oh? He must at least realize that they weren’t mad, then. Another instance of his weird knowledge of that. In fact, the Angel was so glad that Susie could shake him for them. That was cool. “Why… would I be mad?” So many assumptions Ralsei made about the Angel utterly perplexed them.

Again, he sighed, his steady smile once again trying to diminish. It lingered for longer and longer every time, and that meant something. “We didn’t… need healing. That’s what items were for. We didn’t need pacifying. That’s what sparing is for. If it was really needed, there were others who could do it better than I could. And, because I stopped using fire magic, you struggled more when fighting tougher foes.”

Well, they couldn’t argue with that. The Angel had to rely on Susie heavily for the Knight. Fighting the Titan became easier, but only really because Susie’s idea pulled through after the Angel took out the shield. Fire magic wouldn’t have really helped there all things considered. On the other hand, the other spells had a different purpose, one that the Angel had trouble wording.

“Your spells made it easier to keep everyone safe.” The Angel decided on. Enemies became friends faster, taking them out of harm’s way thanks to pacify. Heal Prayer kept everyone in shape and the strongest items for dire situations. If anything, keeping these three safe mattered the most. “I’m more thankful for that.”

Ralsei couldn’t find any words. He stared at the ground, trying to hide his face a little more while swallowing thickly. Apparently, he’d been sufficiently broken. Good. He deserved it.

A fourth voice joined the conversation.

“What is using magic like?”

All eyes went to Kris, including the Angel’s own.

All this talk about magic, and they’d all neglected their one party member that couldn’t properly use it. The Angel knew of abilities that Kris could tap into, and ACT technically counted, but it wasn’t the same. 

Susie glanced at Ralsei like he would answer first. When it became clear that he still wasn’t able to speak yet, she grimaced. All eyes were on her now. “I mean… I dunno… It kinda just feels like something I can do. Rude Buster just kinda happens.”

After finally recovering, Ralsei thought for a second. “I don’t think Susie is… wrong in that regard. I have learned to focus on feelings and intent when learning other spells… but… I’m not sure how real it is.” He put a hand on his head. “My natural magic is something that I can just do. All magic is supposed to be that way. Except… healing and pacify required more from me, things I’m not supposed to have.”

Ah. There was that phrase the Angel didn’t really like, especially considering that monsters should still be somewhat made of magic in this world. They were still unsure about that. So, they explained what they knew, “Magic should be real, just… needs a boost from the Dark World, I guess.” Something came to mind, now that they thought about it. “Feelings and intent definitely do matter. That’s how I could give you all your stronger magic in harder fights. It was tied to your will.”

Susie scratched the back of her head. As if she realized something, she snapped her fingers. “Whenever I use magic, it always feels like I wanna go through something. Like… whatever’s in front of me… I’m gonna punch through it.” She didn’t seem so sure when a green flicker appeared in her hand. “Uh… guess that’s why my heal is kinda a bullet or something.”

Without the Angel’s input, Kris turned their head, asking Ralsei on their own, “What about you?”

“Oh! Um-” Ralsei glanced to the side. “It’s fine. I don’t think… Darkners really have will anyway. It’s like Queen said! The power of will is only something Lightners really have.”

Except, the Angel knew that couldn’t be right, and they were done letting Ralsei even think that was true. “You do have will though. I wouldn’t have been able to cast Dual Heal without it,” they insisted. It was an irrefutable fact, something that Ralsei couldn’t just discard. It required Ralsei’s own will to change for the Angel to begin casting stronger spells. “You want things. Big things. That sounds like will to me, even if it can’t make Dark Fountains.”

Ralsei’s eyes drifted back to the ground. He stared at his own knees for a bit, genuinely stumped. The gears in his head started to turn. Slowly, his cheeks started to grow slightly pink as he glanced away again. “I guess I just… thought about protecting all of you. It’s… what I always think about when I cast a spell.”

Susie’s face split into a grin. Still next to Ralsei from the shaking, she wrapped her arm around him, pulling him in for another aggressive noogie. “Aw, even when I was hitting enemies for sport?”

“Yes! Even then!” Ralsei squeaked, but the damage had already been done. He was laughing again.

The sides of Kris’ mouth curved up ever-so-slightly. It vanished just as quickly as the Angel noticed it, before their head almost tilted downward towards their chest. “What about you?”

The laughter stopped. Silence filled the air. The Angel didn’t realize that they were being addressed until their soul had been prompted for a response. They hastily answered as soon as they could, “I don’t have magic.”

“Bullshit!” Susie grinned like that was the worst lie she’d ever heard. “You have that weird light thing you do. I dunno what you did to that Titan last time, but that was funky. You even turned your soul yellow one time.”

Okay. Fair. Maybe they should have been more specific. “I don’t feel magic. It’s just a thing my soul does.” Although, that did give them pause. The control over their soul did manifest in times where it was necessary. It wasn’t something they always got a chance to call upon. Dire circumstances brought on significant changes. “Normally when something is too unfair, I just… do it.”

Kris frowned. Instead of their gaze looking towards the soul, their eyes stared at the ground. “Human soul… and you can just do it?” The silent question went unanswered: Why can’t I?

Why… couldn’t they? What really was the difference between the Angel and Kris? Well, they could think of many, but even in the other world humans knew magic at some point. What the Angel did wasn’t necessarily magic, and maybe Kris could do something similar. They just thought they couldn’t, and that’s what held them back.

They were all going to do great things. It was time for the Angel to start actually guiding them towards figuring that out.

“Tell you what,” the Angel began, standing up with Kris’ body, “There’s something I want to teach you all, and I think it’ll let Ralsei practice Fluffy Guard a little more while we’re here.” The Angel paused for a second before realizing they’d barged in. “...if you’re fine with that.”

More enthusiastically than they expected, Ralsei stood up as well. Maybe it was his tendency to always ask about them that fueled his curiosity. “Um… sure! I think that’ll work. You don’t… need to use it, if you’re not certain it’ll be useful-”

“Do you like the spell?” The Angel asked, tilting Kris’ head. It was all that mattered. When Ralsei sheepishly nodded his head, they had the only answer they needed. “Then I’ll use it when I get the chance. It’s not like I can’t just call on another spell if I need to.”

Ralsei finally relented. Something clicked, and the Angel knew that the magic was theirs to call on now. Hopefully, it would improve as time went on. Some tension in Ralsei’s shoulders slowly began to vanish. 

Turning to Susie, the Angel asked, “Are you fine with me using you for this one? I think you are the most… in tune with what I’m about to teach.” They used Kris’ hand to point at themself and then to Ralsei. “It’s these two that need some motivation.”

Kris went stock-still when they realized that they were going to be taught something. Maybe, they were confused that the Angel was about to teach them anything considering what they could possibly do with that information. Kris always could make the decision to backstab everyone with it, but it could also give them the power to do the impossible and resist that promise constantly dangling over their head.

Susie grinned yet again, pumping a fist in the air. “Finally! It’s been a while since I’ve fought with the Angel. Gimme.” She proceeded to make grabby hands at Kris, like she’d been waiting for this for a while. It hadn’t been all that long.

Using the trick the old man taught them to remove the soul more painlessly, Kris hit their chest with their fist. Again, that looked like magic, and Kris just did it. There were things here that weren’t being addressed, and the Angel had to make something clear to these three.

Susie wrapped her hand around the soul. Immediately, the fusion completed. Her eyes grew a little brighter, and yet her movements became slightly more stiff. Out of everyone, Susie liked having the soul the most. Ralsei always shut his eyes immediately when they fused to not look at his own form, even though he liked having the Angel close. Kris didn’t like the closeness at all, but they valued the fact that the soul meant their friends were safer.

When Susie took on the soul, every part of her became bolder. She knew something had her back. She had the Angel’s back in turn. Ever since their spat in the church, the two of them had been in-sync.

It made what came next easier.

The Angel guided Susie to one side of the training grounds. Kris and Ralsei stood on the other. Using Susie’s voice, the Angel called out, “You all got me thinking about what magic feels like, and while I don’t feel it, I feel something. It’s not magic, and it doesn’t need to be. It’s something I know, and something you all haven’t been told about in its entirety.”

Without the Angel having to ask, Susie summoned her axe. She chuckled to herself, giddy at something she felt in her chest, “This is gonna be good.”

The Angel’s soul pulsed back to her. “There may be times soon when I’m not with you.” It was a simple fact, one that made Kris nod like they fully expected it, and one that made Ralsei wither slightly into his scarf. “And I’m going to fight like hell to make sure that never happens, but it still can.”

Both Kris and Ralsei drew their own weapons. Ralsei looked unsure, but a battle initiated anyway. The Angel’s soul burst into view on Susie’s chest. They weren’t going to hurt anyone, but they understood how scary it was to be on the opposite side of the battlefield.

Now, for the point. In sync with the Angel, Susie’s body took a deep breath. Something red flashed in her eyes, and the Angel used her voice while grinning. “Today, you’re going to learn what determination can really do.” Both of their hands gripped the axe, and Susie only made their smile grow wider. “I’m going to show you how to cheat.”

A lone thud signaled the Angel’s landing.

They kept their head down for a moment, pain still scorching over its right side. The Dark World couldn’t get rid of injuries like that just by entering it, but that… would just have to be fine for now. 

As the Dark World took shape around them, the Angel finally saw their outfit properly. Well, their one good eye saw what their outfit had placed in front of their face. It made the rest a tad hard to see as they rose to their feet. Despite the blistering pain in their head, the Angel managed to turn towards the pillar of darkness just next to them.

They stared at it through a crimson veil placed over their face.

With their own hands, they’d pulled a Dark Fountain from the earth.

No matter how much of a sacrilege it was, they’d done something to impact the world. One of their decisions mattered. 

The wind radiating from the fountain caused the Angel’s crimson cloak to sway. Its hood allowed the Angel to hide their appearance, just as they were always meant to do. After all, their original vessel was meant to be faceless. All of their depictions lacked a face as well. Likewise, the hood and the veil shrouded them, and the Angel found comfort in a strange way when they saw their vessel hidden in its entirety.

Slowly, the Angel allowed themself a moment to observe their new form. Their vessel felt the same, but small things changed, things they would have to pay attention to. Some of the Dark World’s gifts were pretty. Silver stars had been engraved in the lower half of their cloak, which at least broke up the ever-pervasive red all over them. 

They supposed that had to do with the soul floating in front of their chest. 

No matter how many times the Angel tried to disengage it, the soul remained floating in front of them. Down here, it was all they were meant to be. It was a dead giveaway, one that the Angel would have to remember next time they encountered Undyne or Asgore. At least… their light and wings had also returned. They missed those. They only ever appeared rarely, but the Angel liked it when they did.

Even better, that silver, four-pointed star danced behind their head again. It only ever existed in people’s minds, but now it was real. The wings naturally shifted to the Angel’s whims. When they lifted a hand out of their cloak to feel at it, they realized that the little things were actually tangible. Ralsei would have a field day if he knew about that. They were impossibly soft, and the Angel worried that they would somehow break them.

Once more, the Angel’s hand withdrew back into their cloak. They glimpsed their golden fur when their hand receded. It didn’t look any different. Maybe, the Dark World didn’t particularly care about what was under the cloak. The external appearance was all that mattered for them. 

At least, they’d been afforded a black undergarment, and in the small time the cloak was open, the Angel noticed something else. They felt for it a few times, coming across a belt before settling on the item in question.

When they finally pulled it out, a pit formed in their stomach.

Their own horn had been filed down into a dagger. Of course, they would be given a dagger. It was their strongest weapon, and what they always resorted to when things got too tough.

And yet, in their hand, they couldn’t dispel it like Susie and Kris could do with their own weapons. They couldn’t summon a different one either. Perhaps, they were missing their “proper” weapon.

Well, at least they had some means of self-defense.

Distantly, the Angel thought they heard ticking.

Blistering pain came back over the right side of the Angel’s skull. They winced, and the turning of their head allowed them to glimpse something shining next to the fountain. 

Finally.

Finally.

Some of the panic of the previous few hours began to ebb away. The Angel walked towards the star that signified their power. As they watched the fountain, they extended their hand to the star, filled with the power of finally making progress.

Wounds closed. A chill that had sapped the Angel’s energy in the Light World burned away as the light purged it. The blood still leaking out of the Angel’s wound ceased to be for now, though the Angel doubted that this healing would amount to anything in the Light World. For now, it made them strong enough to deal with the next step of this escape.

The Angel stared at their files again as they came up. They… didn’t think saving over the corrupted ones would be a good idea. That left only their one, singular file to use. Any saves would be permanent.

Overall, they would take a broken horn over nearly dusting again.

After pushing their will forward, the words on the save point began to change. The star resonated with the Angel’s soul, and something permanent clicked into place.

File Saved.

The Angel stared at their own broken name before looking directly to the right of it.

LV 7.

That was more like it.

One thing had finally been given to the Angel, and it was their experience within Dark Worlds. That made sense, considering Noelle’s own LV increase after she had been in the party for a while. It turned out the LV was tied to the Angel’s soul in a way after all. At last, they weren’t at a disadvantage compared to everyone else.

Now, to test something while they still had the chance.

The Angel stepped a few paces away from the save point. When they got far enough for the change to be indisputable, they called upon their power. The light behind their head began rotating the other direction, and the world stuttered-

-and reformed anew, the Angel standing in front of the star.

They could still load their save file.

As if something had changed, the Angel immediately went to their other two files. The moment they tried to perform the same action, something icy crept up the back of their neck. Something rose in the backside of their mind yet again.

They stopped. Only the one file worked, it seemed.

That distant ticking noise continued. The Angel grew antsy.

Not all had been lost, and that would have to be enough. The Angel turned back to the flickering star, realizing that something was still present within it. If they reached into it correctly, then they should be able to…

At every save point, the Angel could access their storage.

Of all the things that the Roaring corrupted, storage survived.

The Angel immediately began rummaging through. Most of their strongest items had been taken out and used during the Roaring. Revivemints were entirely gone. Trying to find the surviving Lightners on foot made sure of that. Only a few old CDBagels remained. Fine. It was much better than nothing, and they would take it. 

Part of them regretted the fact that they never stored the PureCrystal in here when Ralsei advised against using it. Seam said that the Angel was the only one who could safely wield it, but the consequences for doing so simply weren’t worth it. They still didn’t understand why Seam grinned when the Angel refused their offer.

Before the Angel closed the storage, they remembered one other thing they stuffed in here.

Really, they weren’t supposed to put certain items in the storage. The Angel never really had a need to clear out space for more equipment. Room always impossibly existed in their inventory for axes, swords, rings, and scarves. However, there was one exception they made when they needed to hide something from prying eyes.

The Angel’s hand snagged on something soft within the star. Carefully, they pulled it out, knowing how delicate it probably still was. They wouldn’t want to ruin all of the hard work that they and Susie put into it, after all.

When the entire scarf finally emerged from the save point, the Angel draped it over both of their hands.

All of the reverie of creating a Dark World died out. The ticking sound grew louder.

The Angel stared at the scarf through their veil, like something about it would change if they looked long enough. No. The person meant to wear this scarf never received that gift. The Angel didn’t ever gift it to him after the Roaring started. It probably wasn’t any good stats-wise, so they supposed that they wanted it to wait until after everyone was already safe.

…When they were all free.

Now, so far away, Ralsei slowly turned to stone with nothing to comfort him.

He was probably already a statue by now.

The Angel’s claws tightened around the sloppily stitched red threads. They remembered not being sure whether to make it red or pink. Susie made the convincing argument that he already had pink scarves, and making it red was an excuse for Christmas jokes about him. It was Susie’s idea to add a personal touch of the Angel’s silver stars. Patching them into the scarf had gone terribly, but they were secure enough. Maybe a personal touch was dumb for a gift that was supposed to be for someone else, but Susie thought he would like it.

Besides, Ralsei liked having the soul close whenever the Angel didn’t have a vessel, so they just thought…

Slowly, the Angel exhaled from their nose, claws wrapping tighter around the scarf. For only a moment, they unclasped their cloak. The golden emblem of the Deltarune holding it together at the neck came undone for a moment while the Angel allowed the rest of their vessel to be shown. As carefully as they could, they wrapped the scarf around their neck, keeping it safe in case the silver light ever winked out again.

They still needed to give this scarf to Ralsei, after all.

The Angel would get back to them. The Dark World was only the beginning.

Once more, they clasped the cloak. The scarf stayed hidden from view. At least, they still had something that they and Susie made together, even if it was small.

The Angel turned away from the Dark Fountain, finally looking at the Dark World ahead of them. That obnoxious ticking kept going.

A prison.

This Dark World was supposed to form a prison.

The Angel expected a more elaborate cell. They expected for the cell to grow larger. Part of them imagined a high-tech prison block suspended in the air by chains when they imagined the consequences of making a fountain.

No.

This prison had a sick sense of humor.

The room around the Dark Fountain was pitch black, save for an archway on the other end and a patch of grass in the center. As if it knew to mock them, the Dark World placed two options just above their head, begging to be pressed. Just like the horn the Angel used to escape their cell, the key to escape rested within this prison as well. All the Angel had to do was press a button.

For a long time, this had been their prison. It was the only thing that could finally contain them when all was said and done.

It was a fascimile… a poor mockery of the real thing. The Angel could see something beyond the archway. The path forward was open for them, because they weren’t stuck behind the glass anymore. 

They would never settle for this prison again. Susie and Ralsei both promised them that this wouldn’t be all that waited for them when the prophecy ended. Kris was never sure, no matter how hard they tried to be. However, two out of three was close enough, and that’s what hope was about, right? Those who hope have it for those who cannot. If this was the Dark World’s attempt at containing them, it failed.

The Angel walked forward on still unsure footsteps. The words passed over their head. They didn’t need those. They probably weren’t even real. This room wasn’t the one they’d made the wrong decision in so many times.

Shortly after, the archway passed too, and the rest of the Dark World began to form. It didn’t have much to work off of, considering the barren nature of the prison. The Angel could see towers to their left and right in the distance, and a plateau in the center. Just beyond, the Grand Door for this Dark World was visible. Large chains fanned out in web-like patterns, connecting the different pieces over an expanse below.

The Angel glanced back at their cell. They hadn’t seen the bars from the inside in that dark room, and yet a birdcage was all the cell looked like from the outside.

There was little time to stare. The ticking continued. It let them know of every second they wasted. As always, time constrained them, even though it should be the one thing they had absolute control over. But… they never did, did they? Time pulled them away for years from their friends. They only ever had a few days before a banishment everyone struggled against. No matter how many times the Angel wound the clock backwards in this world either, they never found anything new.

Well, there was only one thing to do now.

Undyne should be around here somewhere. Ideally, Asgore would be on his way soon. They both needed to be handled now, so that the Angel could get a headstart when the fountain was sealed. These stats wouldn’t carry over to the Light World. They had to make use of this now. Better yet, Undyne and Asgore may be so disoriented by the Dark World that they may not even realize the situation until it was far too late. They may not even know how to fight the Angel on their own terms.

Now, where was Undyne?

Their legs would be shaky outside of battle, so searching for her on foot may be a foolish endeavor. However, the Angel knew better than to search for her normally.

Instead of walking any further, the Angel shut their eyes, and thought about what Undyne might be doing right now.

Yeah, Asgore told her to calm down. 

Sure, maybe she shouldn’t have antagonized the overwhelming-power, soul-infused monster. They had it coming, since they wanted to act stupid on purpose. 

But in hindsight, maybe Undyne made a slight bit of a mistake.

In all of Undyne’s time in the Underground, she never really had people stand against her. Sure, she had sparring partners. She had mentors. Sometimes, an Aaron would test the waters a little, but no one ever really pissed off Undyne.

Then Frisk showed up, and Undyne had never been more livid in her life. 

A human showed up to the Underground and started acting all nice and friendly to monsters. Every time Undyne spoke to those who encountered the human, they always had something nice to say about what should be an enemy to monsterkind. Undyne always had an instinct that something had to be wrong. There had to be a catch. The human was just… waiting for the right moment. Undyne always expected to round a corner and see dust. She always expected that kid following the human around to get hurt, and yet instead of attacking them on that bridge, the human helped the kid up from a potentially fatal fall.

The goody-two-shoes schtick didn’t sway Undyne. She fought them anyway. After all, their continued existence was a crime.

That was the first time someone really stood up to Undyne. Frisk didn’t play by Undyne’s rules. Quite frankly, they humiliated her, and their expression never changed as they did so. And yet, when Frisk had every chance to strike the killing blow or leave her for dead, they gave her water anyway, even knowing that she could kill them. They showed up to her damn house, and even when Undyne did try to kill them again, they couldn’t muster up any intent to hurt her back.

When monsters finally reached the surface, humans were stubborn. She’d never met someone as stubborn as Frisk though. 

However, as Undyne screamed in that bloodied monster’s face, trying to figure out what the hell they had just done, she realized that she may have met a second brick wall. She wasn’t used to people being this stubborn. It’d been so long since Undyne feared anything, and now monsters may end up back underground thanks to a monster who just kept on lying.

She remembered them grinning at her before kicking off of her. Undyne started tumbling through the darkness, even though there should’ve been a floor below her. She thought they’d kicked her towards the cell door, but when her hands reached out, she grabbed onto nothing. Well, that meant that she’d crash into the filing cabinet not too far from the cell considering she couldn’t get her footing.

Undyne caught a glimpse of light at her feet. Her eye went wide when she noticed it travelling up her body, getting rid of her casual clothing and leaving something else in its place. Anyone else might’ve panicked. Undyne still didn’t know what she was seeing, but she refused to panic. If she didn’t stay sharp, then she might miss something-

Something from below appeared through the darkness.

Undyne summoned a spear. Anyone else would’ve yelled in terror, but she’d fallen off of things before. Waterfall was full of chasms. What looked like a stone pillar rose up next to her. Thankfully, her fall managed to send her parallel to its wall. With a yell, Undyne drove her spear into the side. As the sparkling light forming around her rose up past her arms, the spear began to bubble. 

Thankfully, it didn’t hurt, but the weapon became larger. Her glowing spear started to harden while it scraped down the side of the stone. It began to slow Undyne’s descent, rending a crack through the gargantuan structure. Damn, even after all this lazing around that the surface had given her, her arms didn’t even strain all that much. And here she was, thinking she’d gotten rusty!

Unfortunately, her attempts to catch her fall might’ve been… a little too effective. She dangled far off the ground, and while she could just summon another spear and fall again, she wasn’t all that sure that she wouldn’t hit the ground with her remaining momentum. It’d… probably be fine. 

While she thought, she didn’t notice her spear bubbling again. 

Undyne’s weapon began to glow, and she realized too late that she was falling again.

The weapon elongated. Undyne only had a second to glance up, and she spotted the handle of her spear still in her hand. What was meant to be the pointed end of a spear had detached entirely, shifting inside of the wall while a trail of that same, boiling light extended out to the pretty useless handle Undyne had in her grasp. 

Knowing she was gonna hit the ground soon, Undyne braced for impact.

The light solidified. A chain formed at the end of the handle. When Undyne thought she’d hit the ground, she suddenly stopped a few inches above it. When she glanced up, she saw that the entire spear had morphed into a chain… with a spiked ball embedded in the side of the tower. Her spear turned into a flail.

Did she do that?

No way. 

Undyne let go of the handle, finally landing on solid ground. As she let go of the weapon, it vanished. She cursed to herself. It wasn’t unusual that her spears vanished when they weren’t in use, but she wanted that weapon damn it! 

As soon as she thought about a weapon again, the odd looking spear appeared in her hands again. Undyne grumbled, “Still wanted that cool flail.”

Almost like her weapon heard her, it began to glow again. Her spears, which usually were so rigid in form, never did this. Now, she had a whole new weapon in her grasp, the flail returning to her hands. Since… since when could she do this? 

Wait, hold on. She had to try this. There was one weapon Undyne always wanted. The spears were cool. They were her go-to. They were easy to throw, summon from the ground, and could get the job done no matter what she needed. Buuuut, she’d be lying if she didn’t want a giant sword. Humans could make replicas. Undyne actually did have a real giant sword back at home thanks to Alphys… uh… making one as a birthday gift. But that sword had to fit in the house.

Undyne wanted a sword ten times her size.

The weapon changed again. A hilt fanned out from the handle. The spiked ball and chain both morphed into a blade that kept getting longer. She thought it might stop at being a lame broadsword, but the blade kept going. 

Undyne didn’t notice a burning feeling just above her head.

Instead, she kept focusing on the sword. When it finally finished forming, she whooped, trying to whip it over her shoulder to hold. It was heavy, but Undyne felt strong. She managed to haul the sword into the air, and realized a little too late that she didn’t remember having something protecting her shoulders from the giant blade about to crash onto it.

A dull thud met her ears when the blade landed over her shoulder.

Wait… when did she get armor? It was honestly kinda stupid that she’d been given studded leather out of all things. She preferred plate, but at least it made her landing easier. Plus, this was pretty flexible-

Now that she’d just caught up to what was happening, why the hell was there a tower? In a jail cell?

She’d gotten so wrapped up in the sword and armor thing that she almost forgot what the hell just happened. Where… where the hell was she? She couldn’t even see the ground beneath her feet. It was just… nothing. The tower she’d hit made no sense. She couldn’t even see the sky anymore, and it was a pretty clear night last she checked. 

Both of Undyne’s fins drooped when she glanced to her right, seeing something that dwarfed her entirely.

Not so far away, a giant clawed hand reached up from the darkness. It might’ve been pretty badass to fight if it was moving, but for once, Undyne was fine with a fight not happening right now. Stone covered the entire hand, and it didn’t move at all. Thankfully, it was just a statue.

It looked like it was holding a cage of some kind. Undyne couldn’t see what was in it from here. Even as she put her hand over her one good eye to try to block out sun that wasn’t even there, she couldn’t figure out what was in the cage. She could see a black pillar of something rising up above the cage, which set off alarm bells but-

Undyne immediately got distracted by the fact that her scales were a different color. Before, she thought it might’ve just been the light of her spears, but nope. Her scales looked way too saturated now. 

What… what was this?

This must be what unfathomable power meant when a monster absorbed a human soul. Maybe… maybe it was never about being better in a fight. Was this what a monster with a human soul could do? Undyne had never seen anything like this, and she didn’t have a single clue where that monster took her. It… it felt like she was falling, but surely this wasn’t under Hometown.

And Undyne didn’t see that monster anywhere. Damn it. She didn’t see Asgore anywhere. The whole room got covered by that black smoke, and Undyne didn’t know if he got out or not. If he’d fallen in here too, then she had to find him first. With that monster on the loose, they’d be better off fighting side by side.

At least, Undyne had sick new weapons to try out. If that asshole wanted a fight, then she’d give them a fight.

Undyne checked her hip for the keys that she definitely dropped in the chaos. She was too worried about trying to get a hold of the darkness geyser creating monster that she dropped them on the ground. They didn’t fall next to her, and they could be anywhere. Ugh. Well, it wasn’t like there was a jail cell around that she’d be shutting any time soon.

She needed to find Asgore, find that monster, and get the hell out of here.

Hopefully, he landed somewhere fine or got out. She doubted it, considering she watched the smoke overtake him too.

Without a single clue where she was going, Undyne set off. The ground beneath her feet started to grow a little more solid. It only consisted of grey, sad-looking stone. Black gunk sifted out of the ground in patches, and Undyne decided to steer clear of those. If the giant, clawed hand in the distance wasn’t creepy enough, then this whole place wanted to try to scare her.

Of course, she wasn’t scared. She just didn’t know what the hell any of it was. Maybe… maybe Alphys would have an idea. She worked with souls before. Maybe she would know how the hell a monster pulled a beam of some weird darkness stuff out of the ground and made this creepy place that changed how Undyne looked.

The creepy place gave her cool weapons though, so she wasn’t complaining all that much. Scratch that actually, she would complain. When she said she wanted things to get interesting, she wanted it to be like… maybe one person stirring up trouble in the mountains who actually wanted a fight. Well, she got that, it’s just the person who wanted to be obtuse was a monster with a human soul. Now? After dealing with nothing in the mountains and this monster all night? She just wanted to go and sleep.

Undyne stopped in her tracks when she saw something new.

On the ground, she thought she saw something twitching. When she glanced at the moving thing, it looked like more stone at first glance. She would’ve ignored it had she not realized that it looked way too elaborate to be some of the boring stone around here. 

Undyne inched closer. The stone object twitched again. It… was hollow on the inside. No, those were rings. It had way too many rings to the point where it almost looked like a ball. Those weren’t what was moving. Undyne caught a glimpse of something almost silvery in the stone, and it kept twitching.

No- shit, that wasn’t what she was seeing again. The silvery bits were being encased by stone slowly. When she saw the jagged lines that the stone made, she- 

Were those her keys? Why the hell were her keys turning into rocks? Why had they been bunched up into a weird looking-

The keys on one of the loops twitched again. For a moment, the bundle of stone lifted off of the ground. Was it flying- Why the hell were her keys flying-

The remainder of the silver still showing turned to stone. The mass clattered to the ground, and Undyne winced when it looked like it might shatter. She didn’t know why that was her instinct, but it was.

Thankfully, it hit the ground without breaking.

It didn’t move again.

Screw this place. Undyne cursed to herself, moving towards the weird incline in the distance. She needed to get up somewhere high, and she wasn’t about to backtrack to that tower now. She needed to find Asgore, and they were gonna get the hell out of here.

That giant door in the distance looked promising. Was that even a door? She didn’t know. She wasn’t going over there without Asgore though, so her best bet was to continue getting up somewhere high to look for him. Maybe, he’d have the same idea.

The incline wasn’t too far. Undyne finally decided to turn that large sword back into a spear, but she would be trying that again later. After getting a running start, Undyne summoned a second spear to her hand, beginning to scale the sharp incline with both of the spears. 

Maybe, Asgore had a point. Antagonizing that monster wasn’t a good idea. But now? With all of this? She was going to get an answer, even if she had to beat the crap out of them. Monsterkind wasn’t going back underground thanks to a monster that couldn’t think about the bigger picture.

Undyne’s thoughts were loud.

The Angel receded from her viewpoint, finding themself just outside their cage again. They couldn’t see what it looked like from Undyne’s point of view. After all, only their second pair of eyes visited whenever they closed their vessel’s eyes. 

Of course, the Angel couldn’t miss the Darkner turning to stone. Undyne likely didn’t know what it was, but they would recognize that process anywhere.

Based on the way Susie’s Dark World turned some Darkners to stone, the same must have been happening here. The Angel’s will formed this Dark World through their mind and specific purpose. A Darkner made of Undyne’s keys wouldn’t serve a purpose in a world designed to let the Angel escape. And yet, the Angel only asked for a battlefield, so…

Did any Darkner have a purpose here?

The Angel tried to recount the objects in the room. The broken pen that Asgore never put down might’ve turned into a sword. That could be an item or a Darkner. Multiple batons and cuffs lined the walls. Those could turn into weapons and armor, but if they did happen to become Darkners, they were probably stone as well. The Angel looked through their veil across the Dark World, trying to see any movement in the distance. Instead, they only saw a pillar on either side of the plateau. 

If the Angel imagined their cage as the cell in the corner of the prison, then those towers roughly should be where the filing cabinets would be. That would make the plateau the barren desk that hadn’t been used in ages. The chains were odd, but based on the way they spanned out in webs, they could just be webbing transferred to this place.

It was very quiet.

The Angel hoped with every fiber of their being that Darkners hadn’t formed. In the cell, they hoped to find allies, but the more they thought about it… There was no Grand Fountain to bring them to in this world. When the Dark Fountain was sealed, that would be it for them.

The scarf around the Angel’s neck showed just how rotten they felt about abandoning Darkners like that.

Something fluttered behind the Angel.

They turned their head. When they found their peripheral vision covered by the hood of the cloak, they used their second pair of eyes to see. The source of the flapping sound made itself known, and the Angel’s heart sunk. There… was one more thing that would probably form a Darkner in this world. The Angel’s notepad had been left on the ground, and they didn’t pick it back up before creating the Dark World.

So, the Angel let one of their hands out of their cloak, extending a finger. The Darkner was a small thing, and it looked for a place to land. For a moment, the Angel couldn’t tell what it was. Its entire body… almost its entire body, consisted of the paper that made up its true object. The paper morphed and shifted like someone rapidly making different pieces of origami before it finally settled. It looked… like a bird of some kind? The folds of paper shifted, trying to form feathers in the impressive origami that made up the Darkner’s body.

The bird landed on the Angel’s finger. It couldn’t fly anymore. Some of the paper on its body began turning into stone. It tilted its head at the Angel, and they realized that the rings that bound the pages together had turned into little eyes for it.

The Angel lowered their head. Their expression couldn’t be seen from the other side of the veil, but a frown curved across their face regardless. In a hoarse voice, they whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Once more, the Darkner tilted its head again. In a scratchy yet quiet voice, the bird squawked, “Can talk again? Good! Good job!”

Its speech was stilted. Some of the words sounded almost repeated in an uncanny way that the Angel couldn’t place. They paid more attention to its beak and some of the feathers on its crest. It… looked like a parrot more than anything. However, they wouldn’t get much longer to see. “Sorry I woke you up,” the Angel apologized again, watching the stone beginning to creep up its body.

The parrot hopped along their finger. It peeked at the veil for a bit before bringing its head back to an upright position. “Has been dark for a while! Glad to be used once! Quiet! Very quiet!”

The Angel glanced down at their soul. Back in the Roaring, it’d managed to stave off the petrification that Ralsei almost underwent. Maybe they could… “Do you… want to last a little longer?” The Angel wondered out loud. Their voice started to become more natural the more they used it. “Could help you.”

“Dark World has no use for me!” The parrot hopped along again. It moved away from the Angel’s soul. “Asked for fight! If you are speaking fine, then it’s okay.”

There were no Grand Fountains here. This Darkner’s life would be full of having to linger around the soul, and the Angel wasn’t planning on making another Dark World. Delaying the inevitable may only make it feel worse. The stone kept creeping up its fragile body, and the Angel didn’t understand this little thing. “Darkners usually get scared when left alone. Why are you so happy?”

“Finally got to be of use!” The parrot nodded its tiny head. “Did something important! Helping you find your friends! Got to be your voice for a small while!” Then, its head tilted again. “Want more help?”

The Angel did wonder whether or not the objects in this room would become allies. If this Darkner found joy in helping, then the Angel would allow it that much. They nodded their head under the hood.

While the parrot couldn’t fly anymore, it used its talons to claw over to the Angel’s other arm. They let it without fussing, and it minded their horn. With one, stony wing, it pointed in the direction of the tower that Undyne came from. “Can’t walk well! Not using tail to balance! That’s fine! Stick fell that way!”

Ah, their walking stick. The Angel supposed that they did need that sooner rather than later. While their soul would make movements in battle… not quite necessary, being able to move during an attack with full confidence would be much better. If they somehow couldn’t engage in a proper fight as well, they wanted their full range of mobility back. Besides, that didn’t seem too far.

The stone moved closer to the parrot’s neck. Gently, the Angel took it off of their arm, holding it in their hands. They never liked watching this. The first time Lancer turned to stone still made them uneasy, and knowing it was happening to Ralsei…

“Thank you.” There wasn’t much time for sentimentality, but the Angel could still do this. “Is there anything you want me to do for you?”

“Liked being your voice!” Its scratchy voice cheerfully said without a hint of horror towards what was happening. “Take with you when you leave? Don’t like the dark.”

If…

If the Angel did make it back to everyone, then they supposed that the Grand Fountain would still be active. The Roaring complicated things right now, but the Angel went great lengths to try to avoid sealing the Grand Fountain. They could find a place for a Darkner like this. There was no reason to abandon them here when they left. After all, the Angel didn’t know if their voice would last. They… could also just keep notes. It would make it easier to stop their thoughts from scrambling.

It would be a promise they’d keep, because the Angel would see their friends again. To the small Darkner, they nodded their head again. “It may take a while. I’ll find a place for you. Promise.”

As cheery as it started out, the Darkner squawked again, “Okay!” Its head sunk a little bit as the stone worked its way up, completing the petrification. “Hope you find your friends!”

…It stopped moving.

The Angel released a breath they didn’t know they were holding. It… was fine. The Darkner wasn’t dead. Petrification just meant that it didn’t belong in this Dark World. That… that was the Angel’s fault. They created this Dark World for the sole purpose of orchestrating a fight and escape attempt. Nothing else was necessary.

The ticking continued.

Time grew shorter. It was time to keep their promises.

The Angel faced the closest tower, some distant magic within their soul once more surging. They shut their eyes, and yet their second pair watched their soul shift into a deep blue. Something heavy caused their legs to nearly buckle, but the Angel knew that while blue soul magic weighed them down, it could be forced right back up at their own whims.

Good. That still worked.

Slowly, their cloak began to change color as well. The silver stars danced as blue shrouded the Angel’s body in the place of crimson. When they opened their own eyes, they glanced up at their second pair, seeing the color of their soul reflected in them as well.

Heights always did put a tingly feeling in the palms of their hands. Now, that was no different. Under the veil, they took a deep breath, trusting that the soul magic would work as it always had.

The Angel leapt from their cage, soaring through the air. Their cloak billowed around them while they plummeted, controlling their fall with the blue magic shrouding their entire body. When they began to fall, they twisted their body, going into a spin. Their soul answered the call, sending them higher into the boundless ceiling of the Dark World. 

For the briefest of moments, they weren’t scared of the heights anymore. They wind on their vessel and had gone higher than they ever could before this happened to them. It almost made them question what they even were yet again, but as the Angel soared, they almost thought of it as fun.

When they left their spin, they began to plummet down. It made their soul seize for a moment when they saw the ground getting closer, but they had nothing to fear.

They cleared far more distance than they otherwise could’ve, landing just next to the gargantuan stone pillar. It was less of an actual tower and more of a pale, stone mound. This entire Dark World looked like the outskirts of Castle Town. It’d been shaped by the bare minimum.

After they landed and took a moment to steady themself, they let their soul return to its usual crimson. Their cloak followed suit shortly after, and the Angel started surveying the area.

Someone had probably seen them during that fall. Hopefully, Undyne and Asgore were a little too distracted to look up. The Angel didn’t have a single clue where Asgore could be, but he must’ve been around the desk considering where he stood when the darkness finally overtook the room. The Angel would probably face him and Undyne on that plateau. For now, they needed to find their walking stick.

Thankfully, it wasn’t that far off. Undyne must’ve been so distracted by the cage, that she didn’t notice the red chest poking out of the other side of the tower. In a world as pale as this, the items were easy to see.

As the Angel opened the lid, they looked back up at their cage as well.

They nearly broke the lid of the chest when they saw a Titan’s hand reaching up from the ground. The Angel’s hand went for their dagger immediately, like it could do anything, but the Titan’s hand didn’t move. It…

It was just stone.

That hand held their cage aloft, and they’d been standing on top of it that whole time.

The Angel officially hated this Dark World and wanted out. That statue better actually be a statue, or everyone was in trouble. Hopefully, the Dark World just wanted to give them a nice dosage of what precisely they were racing against. Getting back to their friends was one thing, but they had to do it before a Titan found them.

The ticking continued.

Move faster.

The Angel’s hand snagged on something wooden in the chest. As they pulled it out, they grimaced. Of course, they should’ve expected a stick would’ve turned into something like this. They just hated that it turned into a crook. It felt natural in their hand in a way that they didn’t like, and the moment they tried to dispel the weapon like they did with the dagger, the crook vanished. 

Despite having a dagger, the Dark World gave them a shepherd’s cane as a weapon.

Very funny.

At least, they knew how to make good use of sticks. What was this crook if not just a larger stick? They’d figure out a way to use it, and if that didn’t work, they still had a backup weapon hidden under their cloak. At least this meant that they had a better chance of handling their two targets nonlethally. It also meant that if Susie tried to sprint ahead again, they could hook her back with the end of the crook.

The thought almost made them smile, but their lips didn’t move.

They’d stalled long enough. 

It was time to face the reason they’d created this Dark World.

The Angel turned their soul blue once more, leaping towards the plateau.

Monsters did not bleed.

Chara bled sometimes, yet typically hid their injuries from Asgore.

So, what else could Asgore have done but stand there when he saw blood running down that monster’s face?

What else could he have done when darkness overtook him, and a primal fear clawed at the edge of his mind? A memory, frayed and forgotten, wanted to make itself known, yet no matter how much Asgore grasped for it, he couldn’t quite hang on. He remembered a few details as he fell, and they sifted through his fingers like sand.

He knew that darkness. He knew it from somewhere. Why did he recognize the power that had been pulled from the earth?

That monster… they were a being that carried familiarity yet always bent what Asgore found so familiar. Again, they had done the same. Asgore never remembered a darkness like this in his memory, but he knew he had seen something like it before. So, he grasped. He clawed for a memory frayed and turned to monochrome, trying to remember what he was seeing.

Fragments came. Monsters sought freedom. The barrier remained impenetrable. Finding a way to break it would be imperative. Who would he task with such an ordeal? Alphys, obviously. Yet, Alphys didn’t become the royal scientist until six souls were gathered. Surely, Asgore had plans before six children fell at his hands.

Asgore remembered letters that he combed over with little idea of what the words meant. Pieces of the memory burnt at the edges. Someone spoke to him while he poured over one of the reports. No matter which way he turned, he could not see a face that should be there. It wasn’t there. There was no face.

The science eluded him. What Asgore knew was that the power of the few human souls had been harnessed to create something new. It could make more space within the Underground. It could potentially provide escape. Perhaps, it could even call out to something greater. Something was whispered among shadows. Evidence was found of something that would appear one day at world’s edge.

Why couldn’t he remember…?

A machine channeled all it had extracted into the earth. Asgore never saw it. He only remembered being told what would occur. No news came after. Eventually, he investigated why he had an empty lab in Hotland. Why would he do something as foolish as calling for the construction of a lab with no one to tend to it? 

What went wrong? A claw crushed the memory. It stole it away. An inky darkness sat at the bottom of a lab, a machine Asgore didn’t understand hovering over it. Something used to be here. Something had fallen in. It was as if it was never there at all.

The machine’s hollow eyes stared. A position needed to be filled. No position existed prior. Just an empty lab, waiting for someone else.

Asgore was not equipped to understand.

“Hey! Asgore! You awake?”

Perhaps, he was. Asgore tried to blink his eyes open. Many days he woke up alone, and yet he thought that he was awake for a moment there. No, he must have shut his eyes during the fall at some point.

His vision took time to adjust, but as Asgore lifted his head, he saw Undyne standing over him. Well, she certainly looked a bit more armored than he remembered! That didn’t look like the gear she preferred, but it was nice that she was trying new things. Asgore grunted, managing to get on one knee despite how heavy his limbs felt. “I am all right. Though, I suppose…” His eyes trailed around their immediate environment. Pale stone sat under him, and he did not miss the giant claw extending upwards in the distance. “I suppose we have found ourselves in quite a predicament.”

“Understatement of the century,” Undyne scoffed, grabbing his arm and actually, genuinely helping someone of his stature up to his feet. She glanced up and down at his own outfit a few times before snickering. “Damn, looks like this place knows you like flowers.”

When Asgore looked down at his own outfit, he saw exactly what she was talking about. Although… this place? Did this… nebulous place she spoke of cause him to sprout flowers all over his armor? Wait… he didn’t even wear armor when he went out anymore. At least, it wasn’t the heavy metal and pauldrons that he was used to. It was lighter, slightly more flexible, and had leaves in the place of heavy pauldrons. The regal purples had all gone away for cheery greens and whites. It even gave him a little flower crown.

Asgore was a bit ashamed to say that it delighted him enough to make him almost forget what just happened. He squinted, looking around the strange plateau he found himself on. “I would not happen to be dreaming, would I?” 

Undyne found amusement in that, her smile growing. “Nah. Plus, if I’m dreaming about the big sword I can summon, I’ll be real mad.” To show exactly what she was talking about, Undyne extended her hands. An obscenely large broadsword clanked against the stone floor before Undyne lifted it up onto her shoulder, carrying it like it was nothing. “What about you? Did you at least get a cool weapon?” She glanced at his belt. “If that broken looking sword is your weapon, that’ll suck.”

Hm? Oh, yes, Asgore did have a… far too small sword attached to his belt. That didn’t look like a weapon he could actually use. Asgore supposed that he always had his trident. “I am sure that if… we need to fight, I will have a weapon at the ready.” Perhaps, they were both getting too off track. A problem must be around here somewhere. “I suppose if we’re both… wherever this is, then that must mean the monster is around as well.”

“I’ve been keeping an eye out, but…” Undyne swiveled her head around like she’d see something she missed before at the last possible moment. “Not a damn clue where they could be. Thought coming up here would help.” She threw her arms in the air, yelling, “Could monsters with human souls do this the entire time? What the hell even is this?!”

Asgore wasn’t sure. The first monster to absorb a human soul was too wracked with grief to make any use of it. The second monster died in Asgore’s garden, and he slammed the door on that thought immediately. He didn’t want to think of his son’s death as… as speculation. “I… am unsure. Perhaps, if we could find them, they would provide answers.”

“Fat chance.” Undyne put a hand over her eye, trying to get a closer look at the large, clawed hand holding up a cage. “Don’t really feel like talking when they pulled whatever this is out of their ass.”

Yes, while that was true, Asgore politely noted, “They were heavily wounded when we last saw them. It is… unlikely that they are able to put up a fight any longer.” That horn would need to be treated soon. The risk of infection was already high, and the fact that they… bashed it off… They had likely passed out somewhere. “I believe if we searched for them and helped them with that wound, they may be a bit more… amicable.”

Undyne didn’t immediately respond. She looked a bit to her right, staring up into the darkness above. After a few moments, her one good eye went wide. “Yeah uh… I think we’ve got bigger problems.”

Asgore followed her gaze. He only had a moment to catch a flicker of silver light far above before something began hurtling down at the both of them fast. Instinctively, Asgore grabbed the collar of Undyne’s armor, dodging backwards with her in tow. 

He didn’t need to do so. The thing that crashed down landed a distance away, but close enough for a dust cloud to rise where Undyne once stood.

Immediately, Undyne drew her weapon. Asgore did not summon his trident. Surely… surely there was no need to fight. He’d spent so long fighting. 

In the dust, the silver light began to shine brighter. It danced, cutting through the darkness like it hardly even mattered. A blue light just below it slowly shifted back to a familiar crimson hue. The dust cleared, and Asgore knew precisely who he was staring at. The soul was unmistakable. The cloak tried to mask who the monster truly was, but only one horn poked through their hood.

The soul floated just in front of the monster’s chest. They stood motionless, one arm hidden beneath their cloak while the other held their weapon. The only indicator that Asgore received that they hadn’t just frozen up were two, oddly bright wings repositioning on either side of the light behind their head.

Something cold began to creep into Asgore’s own soul.

They called themself the Angel, did they not?

Why… had this world given them wings?

Undyne’s eye flicked to Asgore. While her hand remained steady on the broadsword, she deferred to him. 

And yet, he found himself stumbling. The longer he stared at the light behind their head, the more he grew tense. He could no longer gauge their facial expressions either. The veil over their face made it impossible to see whether they could be wounded or prepared to fight.

Asgore didn’t understand so many things. How… how could he understand? Perhaps… this strange place knew he liked flowers. Maybe, it knew this monster had… some fascination with the Angel.

It didn’t ease his worries. It didn’t get rid of the overwhelming presence somewhere above him.

He cleared his throat, trying to steel his own expression in response to theirs being hidden. “I… see you are able to walk! That… that is good.” And yet, that may not have been entirely true. They held a crook in one hand, and they seemed to be leaning on it just as much as they did with that old branch. “Your injury may become infected if no one takes a glance at it. My healing magic may not be the best, but I am sure we can-” Asgore took one step forward.

In an instant, the monster took its crook in both hands, brandishing the curved end towards Asgore. Both of their wings rose upward slightly.

“Out of chances.” The hoarse whisper came back under the veil. The soul in front of their chest twitched as it had when resisting Undyne’s soul magic. “I already begged. You didn’t listen.” The veil turned towards Undyne. “You thought it was a joke.”

Undyne’s broadsword vanished, a spear taking its place. The unwieldy weapon suddenly turned into one she could trust, and a shadow crossed over her eye. “I don’t think you’re in a position to be making threats.” She bared her teeth. “You’re endangering monsterkind. You did whatever the hell this is. Who the hell do you think you are?”

An unseen tension built in the air. The light behind their head grew. Asgore glanced upward, and he did not know why he did so. 

“The people I’ll save called me a friend. As long as you stand in my way, I’ll be the only thing you’ve ever called me.” The crook vanished. In a blur, the monster pulled something red out of their cloak, a sharp dagger pointing in Undyne’s direction. “One last threat.”

The rules changed.

In an instant, Asgore found himself getting wrenched in a direction without his feet moving. Undyne yelled, being forced into position directly next to him. The monster’s cloak billowed before they leapt backwards, flourishing their dagger in a clear attempt to fight. Their soul shimmered brighter. The light and wings around their head twitched for only a moment, and then everything felt wrong.

Battles weren’t supposed to be like this. When Asgore engaged a proper battle, he imagined the rest of the world being reduced down to its simplest details. Only the battle truly mattered, so the surrounding environment only existed in lines while all color drained. Monsters or humans would be trapped in a battlefield to prevent damage to the surrounding area. 

This… wasn’t that.

Asgore’s magic bubbled deep beneath his soul. It morphed. It changed. Something new had joined his repertoire, and yet that same wrongness invaded his senses. The battle didn’t narrow. The surrounding environment didn’t go away. Something imposed its will on him and Undyne, forcing them both to abide by its own rules.

If Asgore didn’t know any better, he’d say a battle hadn’t been properly engaged. Monsters and humans did not always need to take turns in fighting. Sometimes, in the spur of the moment, fights broke out naturally. However, when he glanced at Undyne, he watched as she tried to throw a spear in the monster’s direction.

It crashed into an invisible barrier between them and the monster, harmlessly vanishing. 

The monster tilted its head.

Undyne scowled. “Something’s wrong. This… this doesn’t feel right.”

Asgore wasn’t sure if he felt stronger or weaker. His magical abilities had increased, and yet some part of his very nature didn’t understand this world. Parts of him were diminished while others grew.

The monster raised their hand, pointing at Asgore and Undyne. They chose to ACT. “I only want you to not follow me. I need to make sure you don’t. It’s your choice when to let me end this.”

Asgore tried to respond, the turn being placed back in his favor. “You must understand! The future of humans and monsters is at stake if you continue doing this! The humans will let you go when they see you are not a threat!” Perhaps, they just didn’t know that the protocol had changed. “You will not be harmed if you do not harm them. They wish for you to return to society, not for you to perish.”

Undyne kept her spear raised. She watched the monster, and didn’t yet attack.

However, it seemed that they weren’t going to listen. They shook their head. Asgore thought that they would talk back, but no words came out. Their body grew rigid, and the dagger spun in their hand like they were certain of every movement they made with it. 

The invisible barrier did not stop the veiled monster from charging forward. Despite their previous problems with walking, when they rushed forward to attack, it was like all problems ceased to be.

They went for Undyne. With her spear, Undyne tried to bash the monster away. They ducked under it in a fluid motion, and the light behind their head twitched in sync with their movements. Like they’d just found the perfect moment to strike, they tore a gash across Undyne’s leg, and she sucked in a breath.

At a speed that looked more akin to being yanked, the monster snapped back to their position behind their barrier, the dagger staying in their hand.

Undyne winced, clutching at the wound. “What… what the hell?” They only had a mere attack of ten, and yet… “They… they hit hard! Since when could they-”

Again, Asgore tried to reason with them. “Stop this! We do not wish to harm you, but you are leaving us no choice!”

Undyne wasn’t so talkative. “You know what, screw this!” Instead of trying to convince them, multiple cerulean lights flickered into existence behind her. A torrent of spears surged out from behind her, aiming straight at the monster.

That invisible barrier appeared again. The soul that had remained steady on the monster’s chest flew out past it, and something in the monster’s hooded figure went tense. The light shimmered past them, and their wings went rigid. For a moment, Asgore believed that the soul had escaped somehow, but that only meant the spears were coming for it.

Thankfully, Undyne angled her attack away from the human soul and towards the monster. All of her spears dissipated against the invisible barrier, and the soul lazily drifted out of the way of any spear that may have come close to it.

Instead of escaping, the soul flung itself back to the monster, and all of the rigidness in the monster’s form vanished.

What… what was this?

Undyne had a theory. “Hey! Frisk’s soul always appeared on them whenever we fought, but it stuck with them. Maybe the soul is trying to escape-” Her eye snapped towards the rapidly approaching monster. “Watch out!”

Again, they went for Undyne. She tried to summon spears in their path, but their body jerked out of the way unnaturally like the spears never could have mattered to stop their assault. Undyne grimaced when another slash carved across her side. 

She tried to retaliate with a jab of her own spear, but the monster once more snapped to their side of the arena before she got anywhere close.

Asgore couldn’t idly wait around while Undyne took every hit. His healing magic wasn’t the best, but he needed to call on it now. He called upon that familiar hearth of warmth in his chest, green magic sparkling in the palm of his hand. He didn’t notice the way the flowers all over his armor also began to glow green until he felt his magic getting empowered.

When he sent the surge of healing magic at Undyne, her wounds vanished instantly.

Asgore… never could use healing magic like that before. He’d lost much of his expertise ever since he stained his own hands with blood. Hands which took life from others tended to lose supportive magic. 

Undyne’s jaw dropped when she looked at her own body before she whooped, “Damn! Guess this place really does make our magic crazy, huh?” She grinned, her spear shifting into a ball on a chain. “Gonna make a wall to stop me, huh?” Swinging the ball rapidly over her head, Undyne yelled out to the monster, “Try and stop this!”

Once more, the soul flew out. It only had a moment to veer to the side which made Asgore wince at the near miss. He thought he saw some of Undyne’s cerulean magic feeding into the soul as the attack came close, but he couldn’t tell clearly. The ball smashed into the monster’s wall, only to dissipate as everything else had before.

The monster tilted their head again, as if asking her if she was serious. Then, their veiled gaze turned to Asgore. He’d been identified as a problem with his healing abilities.

Asgore waited for the right moment as the monster rushed forward. As soon as he saw their arm rear back for a strike, he whipped his body to the side, the attack sailing right past him. He saw the monster’s hood turn his direction, and one of their wings tilted quizzically.

This battle would be a stalemate if Asgore could help it. It would give them both time to talk the monster down. With the spare time he had, Asgore tried talking them down again, “I will not allow you to bring either of us harm. Please, this is senseless, and we can solve this without fighting further.”

Undyne once again didn’t talk. She tested her magic, summoning one spear after another. This time, she sent the spears towards the soul. Over and over again, it swerved out of the way of each attack, some of the magic being sucked into its fragile form. “Hey… I just had a crazy idea,” Undyne muttered, and the monster tilted their head like they could hear her. Carefully choosing her words, Undyne asked, “You good with following my lead on this one?”

Again, Asgore watched the monster rush forward. The light on their head twitched, signaling the moment they would strike. He stepped back again, the slash narrowly grazing his armor. When the monster snapped back into position, he nodded to Undyne. “If it ends this fight without anyone perishing, so be it.”

“Well, it might hurt… but uh… Just… try to drive the soul towards me, and I’ll do the rest.” Undyne glanced at the soul hovering out in the open, waiting for attacks to come. “Better us having it than them, right?”

The soul was the only thing exposed.

Asgore understood.

Finally, he drew his weapon. He expected his red trident, but he didn’t precisely get what he hoped for. His trident had been turned into a glowing green pitchfork. It wasn’t a tool for war, but for cultivation. Shockingly, he did not mind this development. 

Asgore charged towards the soul, taking a sharp left while Undyne went right. He drew upon some of the fire deep within his soul, slinging it at the crimson heart. It came out far more violently than he expected, some of the flowers on his armor beginning to wilt. A tornado of fire lashed out, and the soul frantically began to swerve towards Undyne.

Undyne’s spear began glowing green. Once more calling upon soul magic she knew well, she yelled, sending a surge of it outward. The monster’s soul froze in place, constricted by her magic. It began to fly towards the monster, like the soul itself was changing the way it defended itself.

Before it could reach its target, Undyne leapt in front of it.

Her claws wrapped around the soul, and the monster screamed.

“Why would we need to know something like that?” Ralsei asked, and he tugged at his scarf when he realized the implications of the Angel’s lesson. “The… the rules of battle protect us! Wouldn’t we not want to break those?”

The Angel couldn’t move. Their soul instinctively wanted to place down roots. Their vessel had frozen up, and everything left of them started to coil around Undyne. Their vessel’s hand went limp, and a dagger fell to the ground.

They couldn’t. They couldn’t fuse with her.

“Usually, you’d be right,” the Angel said with Susie’s mouth, “But you’ve seen moments where enemies cheat first. The old man dodged. The Titan broke through the turn order entirely. Countless foes struck while our guard was down… Sometimes, the rules won’t be there to protect you. I won’t always be there to protect you.”

The rules couldn’t protect them. This was what they were talking about. Their actual vessel felt loose. Undyne would become their new vessel, and she squeezed the soul no matter how much the Angel tried to burn her. They needed more. They needed to fight back, but their presence kept coiling in on that soul. It was the culmination of their being, and it dragged the rest of them with it. No matter how much more they were than the soul, the soul could be caged. 

“And when the rules don’t work… you have to bend them. You have to break them.” The Angel readied Susie’s axe again, displaying their full intent to fight. “Determination isn’t just a way to open Dark Fountains. It isn’t just the will to persist. It’s the power to change fate, because you can, and because you can, you have to.”

The soul was their core. Undyne had grabbed them once before. Her touch burned them when they realized they could be touched. Now, she had claws around their very being, and fury began to rise in whatever was left of them. If the Angel fused with a vessel like Undyne, then their journey would be over before it even began.

They refused.

If she wanted to try to cheat, if she wanted to try to defy them…

Then the Angel would have to show her what determination could really do.

The Angel’s soul began to twitch. It started to tremble in Undyne’s hand. Searing pain blossomed in the Angel’s soul as its roots began to pull back, and they put all of their will into doing something new. No cage could hold them anymore. Nothing would ever cage them again… not that mountain, not a different vessel, not anything. 

All at once, orange light dominated the Angel’s soul. Their vessel twitched, the Angel calling upon the numb limbs with everything they had. Its cloak shifted to the same hue, and the vessel’s head snapped upward towards what dared to touch their soul.

Undyne’s confident grin started to look less sure. She struggled to keep the soul contained, despite the fact that she should’ve been able to absorb it instantly. 

Asgore didn’t have a chance to shout a warning before the Angel’s vessel became shrouded in orange light. Something snapped in the air when the vessel’s feet moved. In the blink of an eye, it charged.

A fist connected with Undyne’s face. The orange soul left her hand, snapping back to the vessel’s chest where it belonged. Immediately, the orange light around the Angel surged, and they willed their vessel to keep going. She didn’t deserve a chance to recover. She didn’t deserve a chance to touch them again.

Their hands hooked onto Undyne’s armor. Both of them shot off away from Asgore, the Angel’s vessel gliding faster and faster.

Undyne struggled to break free. She summoned a spear into her hand, and it cracked when it came into contact with the light shrouding the Angel. “Let go of me you punk!” She yelled, but she had no means of stopping the Angel anymore.

“What?” They snarled back, their soul glowing brighter. Their voice started to sound more like them rather than the raspy voice that plagued them so much. “Not used to someone fighting back? Not used to someone pushing you around?” She touched their soul after all. She had no room to complain about what came next. Rage seared the Angel’s soul, and they didn’t care about the words coming out of their mouth. They wanted it to hurt. “Some hero you are. Is letting my friends die heroic to you? Is chasing after a fleeing child what you consider a hero?”

The edge of the plateau grew closer. Undyne tried to plant her feet into the ground, but the Angel kept going. She tried to summon a spiked ball to slow herself down, but her hand couldn’t grip the chain fast enough before the Angel pushed her away. They weren’t letting go, and they were getting rid of her.

Undyne’s eye went wide when she realized what was coming. And yet, it may not have been the fear of the cliff that shocked her. “How do you know about…”

Ah. They let that slip. It didn’t matter. 

The Angel planted their back foot down, summoning their crook into their hand. At some point, they dropped their dagger. They didn’t need it for what came next. Orange light built around their weapon, and they twirled it once before bashing Undyne in the chest with it, sending her hurtling off the plateau.

“Take a break and think about it,” the Angel rasped. Their voice started to falter again. It was fine. 

They watched Undyne hit the ground, knowing that she would be back up soon. Falls never really did much in the Dark World, and it would take far more than that to kill her despite her seemingly lowered health. The Dark World empowered everyone else’s magic, but health was a different story. Asgore and Undyne had never sealed a Dark Fountain before, and their natural abilities couldn’t withstand the darkness that changed them. They weren’t used to it.

Now, to handle a problem.

The Angel’s soul pulled them forward like a puppet. The vessel tore across the plateau again. Turn order had been disrupted, and there was no getting it back right now. Besides, the Angel wasn’t letting Undyne grab their soul again. That left Asgore as a problem, because he would just heal anything that they could throw at Undyne.

Predictably, he was good at dodging too.

The Angel lost their dagger when their vessel seized up earlier. The crook would have to do.

As the Angel sped towards Asgore, they saw him open his mouth to say something again. He didn’t get a chance to finish that thought. They used the momentum the soul gave them to try to strike him across the side with their longer weapon. Asgore positioned his pitchfork to block the blow, and he hardly even staggered when the Angel sped by.

They lurched back around. It no longer felt like their legs were moving. The soul pulled their vessel along, and all of their limbs looked limp until the Angel required them. This time, they tried to bash into Asgore directly. As soon as they thought they were close, he rolled out of the way. Despite his stature, he was fast.

Asgore clutched his weapon tightly. “I do not wish to harm you, but you are leaving me no choice.” 

They needed to distract him. The Angel took a deep breath, stopping in their tracks. Their soul and cloak returned to a deep crimson. Asgore was too fast for the Angel. Someone like Kris might be able to strike that quickly. They were always able to rapidly strike and push themself further in dire moments. However, the Angel wasn’t Kris, so they needed to be smart about this.

All they needed to do was knock both of them out.

They didn’t have pacify either.

Darkners always fled if a killing blow was about to be struck. The Angel would be stupid to not know that by now. Tenna would’ve died without Susie helping him. If they fought Undyne and Asgore to the death, then the consequences may be more dire than they thought.

How could they get rid of both foes without killing them?

“You’re not going to let me go, are you?” The Angel asked, stalling in the brief moments while Undyne was gone and while they had a chance to look for a new opening. Battles were just puzzles in their own right. They just had to find the right angle. “Even if I stopped this, it’ll be right back into another cage.”

Asgore clutched his pitchfork tighter. Something glinted near his belt, and the Angel recognized it. “I cannot abandon my people, but I do not wish to abandon those you seek either. I told you what must be done. Surely, even now, you could understand.”

The Angel wasn’t what Asgore thought they were. They weren’t from his world. They didn’t follow his rules. They couldn’t follow this world’s rules, because it would only slow them down. They weren’t a monster with a human soul, they were the Angel.

It was time to start acting like it.

They saw an opening. A core part of this encounter had gone unnoticed, and the Angel needed to know why it existed. New possibilities could open up, and it all rested on a broken weapon on Asgore’s hip that he hadn’t seen.

All they needed was a distraction.

“You killed Frisk more times than they could count.”

Asgore’s guard lowered.

The Angel didn’t strike. Instead, they used one of the few abilities that their soul always had. Undyne made the mistake of trying to attack near their soul too many times, and she even grabbed it. Tension boiled in the Angel’s light. Silver light began to emerge from the Angel’s soul, and they finally decided to unleash.

Blinding light covered the Dark World in an instant. Asgore wasn’t able to shield his eyes fast enough, and he stumbled backwards as the Angel rushed forward. They could strike him now, but that would only give them one opening. Asgore was tougher than that. No, what they needed was one more tool to use, no matter how broken it was.

The Angel snagged the broken sword from Asgore’s belt, a familiar weapon entering their grasp once more. He never let go of that broken pen, after all.

Their own hands had never held a sword before, but Kris’ had.

And the Angel spent far too much time with Kris to not know their moves by now.

The Angel’s stance changed. Both of their hands gripped the hilt of the blade, and they remembered what Kris was like. Much of their attitude in fights came from ACTs, but Kris always had one thing up their sleeve that they pulled out in dire moments ever since they began trusting their friends.

Kris could strike fast. 

The Angel met Asgore’s gaze. His jaw set, yet they saw the way his eyes trembled. In this timeline, Asgore and Frisk never technically fought, and yet he still knew something. He could never look them in the eye, because the veil shielded their face. Yet, Asgore tried to make sense of it all. “Who… why would you say such a thing.”

“You said we’d be a family once,” the Angel pressed once more.

Before any further words could be exchanged, the Angel’s grip on the broken sword tightened. They wished they had Kris’ skills now more than ever, and that wish would be enough.

Kris kept their shield raised. With Susie’s axe, the Angel bashed it to the side. Susie empowered that hit, grinning at having Kris as an impromptu sparring partner. However, the Angel needed to get something across. Kris was defending too much, and defending wouldn’t stop the Angel’s neverending turn. They brought Susie’s fist forward, stopping it inches before Kris’ face before lightly tapping them.

Like many times before, Kris swatted their hand away. Susie chuckled. The Angel had a distinction to make: “Quick question, what do you all think the difference between perseverance and determination is?”

“One sounds stupider?” Susie guessed.

“One makes Dark Worlds.” Kris sounded more sure, crossing their arms and going to pick up their shield.

“One is purple?”

The Angel’s head swiveled to Ralsei. They stifled a laugh. “I’m going to have to ask you why the hell you know that later, but no.” Really, he always pulled out small things like that, and the brief moment of embarrassed realization on his face almost made them drop the whole spiel entirely. “Persisting is just one aspect of determination. It’s the ability to weather the storm, to last long enough for the second part to happen.”

Kris stood at the ready once more. Ralsei tentatively raised his scarf, but he seemed to be paying more attention now.

“Determination is when you finally decide that persisting isn’t enough, that you’re too limited, that the world cannot constrain you, and something must change.”

That desire for change to occur would be enough.

The Angel could strike, but they could not strike fast enough. The Angel could blind, but their abilities were too taxing to pull off at a faster rate than Asgore’s healing. If they were more like Kris, then they could push their limits.

So, they readied the sword in their hand. The memory of Kris being their vessel flooded their mind. In the moment Asgore faltered, the Angel saw a new ability enter their grasp

X-slash.

Asgore’s eyes widened when the first slash carved directly where he once stood, but he didn’t expect the Angel’s body to contort, pushing itself even further for the broken blade to slash once more.

For the first time, the Angel struck Asgore.

Kris always did express their own determination in terrifying ways.

He clutched at his chest, and the Angel almost winced at the wound it created. Dust sifted out, and they realized that simply attacking him wouldn’t end well. They needed something different to end the fight, but getting to that point required damage. 

Finally, Asgore began to use his magic. He stared down the Angel like they were no longer someone to be spoken to, but a being beyond recognition. Perhaps, he finally understood what the light behind their head meant. Maybe, he finally recognized their wings.

The Angel expected fire, but flowers began to bloom under their feet. Vines lashed out at their arms and legs, trying to hold them in place while Asgore backed up. In the distance, the Angel saw a blue dot beginning to climb over the precipice of the plateau.

Not much time left now.

Cerulean lights formed around the Angel. They recognized Undyne’s magic immediately, even though she was too far away. Instinctively, they ducked, multiple pointed edges soaring just over their head.

Undyne’s magic channeled into the Angel’s body. An attack that close to their soul fed into their own power. The Angel’s cloak billowed and turned a bright orange. The vines failed to hold them when they surged forward towards Asgore again.

Once more, the Angel brought the blade forward with Kris’ own ability. Asgore parried the first blow with his pitchfork, a metallic clang echoing through the Dark World. Orange light shrouded the Angel as they zipped around to his back, the second strike coming out before he could whirl around to face them. Again, he grunted, and the Angel knew that they didn’t need to do that many more times.

Their second pair of eyes caught a long blade headed their way.

Soul turning blue, the Angel leapt up into the air. The blade of an obscenely large broadsword passed under them. For a moment, they went slack-jawed under their veil, but corrected their expression soon after. They twirled, the blue soul magic carrying them higher. Undyne needed to be handled as well, and Asgore was still recovering. The Angel could see healing magic shrouding his body, which left Undyne open.

Spears filled the air behind Undyne. She yelled as light blue streaks lit up the Dark World. The Angel ran out of ways to boost themself with their soul magic, but it wasn’t like they couldn’t control themself in the air.

Instinct took over. Muscle memory from being a mere soul for so long guided them. Their soul turned red once more, and the rest of the Angel’s vessel vanished.

Spears cut through the air where the Angel’s vessel once was. The lone red soul weaved and bobbed through the onslaught, magic channeling into it. The Angel didn’t realize what they had done until their vessel reappeared, and limbs connected all over again.

It wasn’t painful this time. It became second nature. The Angel landed on their feet, their veiled face looking straight at Undyne.

They were done waiting. Once more, the Angel tried to slash with the sword. They didn’t need Kris’ abilities for Undyne, and she couldn’t block them when they envisioned the correct moment to strike in their mind. However, she’d grown smarter, and actually put her spear up to defend. It dampened the Angel’s strike only slightly, and they watched her own health beginning to drain.

Asgore healed. One of them would always be able to heal if he was alive.

Alive. The alternative was dead. The Angel couldn’t-

They didn’t want to kill either of these monsters. That was the whole point of making the Dark World. So if they couldn’t end the battle by fighting alone, then…

A piece of fabric around the Angel’s neck made itself known.

“This… shouldn’t be right.” Ralsei stared down at his own hands, even after he had just used his scarf to prematurely end the Angel’s neverending turn by wrapping it around Susie’s legs. “I’m… a Darkner. Darkners don’t have determination.”

“Every living thing has the will to live. The quantity might be different. How safely someone can harness it may change…” the Angel countered, picking up Ralsei’s scarf. They walked over to him, wrapping the scarf back over his shoulders. “Of course, you’ll say you’re just an object, but you know what I find interesting?” They gripped his shoulders, lightly shaking him. “You don’t want to be an object. You want to be Ralsei. So, what does that mean?”

He wanted to live.

Some Darkners found satisfaction in just being useful. Tenna just wanted to be watched. Queen wanted to help Noelle’s sad searches. Lancer found purpose in being a friend too, but he also found fulfillment in bringing joy to other Darkners. All of them loved dearly in their own ways. They all had their own quirks and joys, but Ralsei had one difference.

What he wanted couldn’t be achieved as a Darkner forever.

He wanted to keep everyone safe. He wanted to make a place where everyone could go no matter what was going on outside. He wanted to be there with his friends. He wanted to be with them forever, no matter how far away they went. He wanted to be Ralsei.

The Angel wanted him to be that too.

He wouldn’t get that if he died in darkness.

So, they called upon his power, the scarf in their cloak leaping out around their neck. The Angel placed the shattered sword on their belt, and X-slash became lost to them. New abilities flooded their mind all at once, and the scarf began to billow with their cloak.

An ability Ralsei had never used stood out in the Angel’s mind.

Undyne roared, bringing the Angel back to reality. They saw a much shorter broadsword headed their way. From the other side, Asgore had closed the distance, vines sprawling up from the ground to try to hold the Angel down.

Despite the phantom memory of using Ralsei as a vessel many times, the Angel never quite figured out his scarf on their own. However, they steeled themself, focusing on their second pair of eyes, and dodged the old fashioned way.

Their vessel’s limbs went limp, like strings had just been cut. The soul held their torso aloft while it jerked their body around. The broadsword cleaved just above the floating heart as it drove the Angel’s body downward. 

They overextended. Vines wrapped around the soul, trying to pull it away. The Angel felt some of their health drain just like it had when Undyne grabbed them.

260/320 HP.

They had health to spare, but the barrage of attacks coming made it feel less comfortable.

Ensnared, the soul turned an orange hue to escape once more. It burst out of the entanglement, smashing right back into the Angel’s vessel. When they got their footing once more, they felt the blunt end of a spear crashing into their skull.

More health drained. The Angel felt pain blossoming in their vessel again.

Undyne yelled, “Don’t let up!”

From the impact, the Angel fell right into Asgore’s strike. The handle of his pitchfork slammed into them as he twirled it around. They felt another blast of pain across their skull, irritating the already broken horn.

A barrage of attacks came from both sides. Both of them tried to never give the Angel a chance to breathe. Asgore became a flurry of motion, never once letting up as more and more vines wrapped around the Angel to hold them down while he tried to knock them out. Undyne followed his lead, trying to make sure they didn’t get any momentum that could allow them to escape again.

The Angel’s vessel couldn’t move in the vines. However, their scarf managed to wriggle out from its confines.

It lashed outward from the bundle of vines, and the Angel sent their soul to the end of the scarf like it was just another limb. Ralsei always described it as one, after all. Before Undyne or Asgore could grab it, the Angel turned their soul blue, flinging it high into the air. Just like their vessel had faded before, it did so again, completely vanishing from the clump of vines like it was never there at all.

The soul soared higher and higher. 

The Angel knew how to end this. Once more, their vessel reappeared around their soul, and they felt sick when they found themself tumbling through the sky. Thankfully, they managed to right themself with a twirl, ascending higher and higher out of reach.

Magic flooded the Angel’s mind. Ralsei’s own abilities sat at their fingertips. They were certain that if they just reached for them, then they could call on them once more.

And yet, they didn’t have the options without familiarity fueling them. They couldn’t use X-slash anymore without the sword. However, the Angel didn’t need X-slash now. They needed Ralsei’s abilities more than ever.

A plan formed, and they apologized to Ralsei for what they were about to do. At least, it wasn’t his hands doing it.

It was just as Susie said. Some magic in the Dark World was just something one could do if they knew the option existed. Now that they were within the Angel’s grasp, it came naturally. It didn’t come with any feeling but a distant memory of someone succumbing in the dark.

Golden light channeled around the Angel’s body. Flames licked their cloak while they ascended higher and higher. Their blue cloak returned to a deep crimson while they reached the apex of their jump, and the Angel called upon one spell that they never dared to use before.

“FIRESHOCK!”

Instantly, heat filled the air. Asgore and Undyne both raised their weapons to shield themselves, but they could not prevent what came. The golden light briefly turned into a shining star before fire lashed out from the Angel’s body, raining down on Asgore and Undyne.

It struck them both. The Angel watched both of them begin to lose what health they had left. It was just enough for the Angel to feel confident in their next move. They turned their soul blue once more, one more spell bubbling just under the surface while they descended. The Angel didn’t need to kill either of them, but the fire spell brought both close enough for the most important spell Ralsei ever gave them.

Smoke rose around Asgore and Undyne. The Angel saw a flicker of green magic within, and they channeled a spell of their own in their hands. Asgore met their gaze in the smoke for only a moment before the Angel extended a hand, a light-blue mist covering Asgore’s head.

He slumped over, pacify taking effect.

“HEY!” Undyne yelled, drawing her spear once more. “Get the hell away from him or I’ll-”

“Shut up.”

A second cloud of blue mist formed around her head. Undyne wobbled. Her face twisted when she tried to fight the spell, but the damage all over her body had broken her enough to force her to succumb.

Undyne drifted into sleep and crumpled to the ground.

Silence fell. For a second, relief rose in the Angel’s soul when they realized they’d won.

Unlike normal battles, this one didn’t have three people celebrating with the Angel. It didn’t end with fanfare. It didn’t end with rewards or new friends to bring to a Castle Town somewhere else.

It ended in silence, with the Angel standing over two sleeping monsters who were riddled with burns.

The scarf around their neck felt heavier.

Ralsei never wanted that spell to be used. Ralsei feared being replaced one day. Now, look at what the Angel was doing, calling out the names of spells when they didn’t need to like it was something fun. Did they even see what they were doing? They’d… they’d just used the one thing that Ralsei never wanted to use… and used it explicitly to hurt others while…

They almost took his appearance. They wore his scarf. They took his spells.

The scarf went limp. Like they’d been burnt, the Angel flinched. Immediately, they forgot Fireshock. They forgot Pacify. Heal Prayer and Fluffy Guard went with it.

Those spells were never theirs.

X-slash was never theirs. Kris would never have allowed that move to be used against their own father.

The Angel’s cloak returned to its normal crimson. Their silver light dimmed to its usual intensity while they stared at Asgore and Undyne’s sleeping forms. 

They had to.

They had to do it.

What other choice did they have but to use all the tools at their disposal?

Asgore cared far more about his people than he ever would about the Angel’s friends who he had never met. Undyne refused to budge, and thought they were lying through their teeth.

The Angel pulled the broken sword out of their cloak and thumbed at the scarf around their neck.

They wouldn’t do that again.

But for now, they whispered a small “thank you” to the power they had taken for only a moment.

Hopefully, Kris and Ralsei would understand.

A ticking sound that the Angel had tuned out started to get louder. They’d escaped the cage, but time still ensnared them.

When the Angel found their friends, they would make it right. They needed to continue on now. Dwelling on it would do them no good.

Something in the Angel ached when they stared at the two monsters on the ground. Once upon a time, the Angel thought they were all friends. Even though none of them ever really knew the Angel, it was still nice to pretend that if they ever met, they would naturally get along.

They just never expected to be proven wrong.

…but it was always just Frisk’s life to live, right? The Angel couldn’t have that. More importantly, their life waited somewhere else now, and they needed to find it.

So, the Angel stared at the two sleeping monsters no more. The Dark Fountain needed to be sealed, after all. They faced the Dark Fountain, turning their soul blue and leaping back up to the cage.

Now, to find Frisk and Flowey.

Chapter Text

Was it… strange to call this night different from all of the others on the surface?

Perhaps, they just enjoyed talking about the flower’s monologue in jest a bit too much. Maybe, they enjoyed hunting for little specks of light as much as the human partner dragging them around did. Like this, the weight of the world no longer rested on their shoulders. It was nice to drift and simply talk about what they saw instead of having countless pairs of eyes looking to them for salvation.

However, Chara was not foolish enough to shake off a distinct twinge in the air that was not there before.

As a mere ghost without a form of their own, they could not do things like “feel”. Only through Frisk could they experience any sort of stimuli, but they preferred to keep their hands off of the metaphorical wheel in the present time. However, it was not like they had much of a choice on what they felt, because whenever Frisk was awake, Chara did not have the advantages that a ghost monster had.

Sometimes, Frisk asked why Chara did not hover around them like an actual haunting. The truth of the matter was that Chara typically found themself constrained to Frisk’s own movements. They were a prisoner to another human’s whims, but at least this human had whims that Chara usually found themself enjoying.

What else was there to do? They had little other options. Fading into the background took up most of their time. Maybe if they faded enough, they would go on to whatever this world considered a passable afterlife. At this point though, with how long monsters had been free from the Underground, Chara doubted that they would have any form of eternal peace until Frisk kicked the bucket.

Ah well, at least Frisk enjoyed their quips.

So, Chara supposed it was odd that they were more aware tonight.

When Frisk slept, Chara sometimes became weightless. They could not sleep in the same way Frisk could, and preferred not to enter a haunted human’s dreams. It gave them a bit more flexibility on how they could move around. Chara was not an expert on why the distinction of Frisk being asleep mattered, but they enjoyed at least having some degree of separation at times.

They rarely used it, but tonight they kept an eye on things.

Frisk and the flower believed that a mere lightning strike from a distant storm woke them up in the middle of the night. Chara witnessed that flash, and they were not convinced of those two’s theory. It was an extended flash, far more than a mere bolt would make, and something settled in shortly after that Chara couldn’t quite place.

Frisk shifted in their sleep. Their face contorted, and Chara already knew what must be happening.

For good reason, Frisk never could shake their nightmares of the Underground.

If Chara could be blunt with themself, half the reason they continued narrating for Frisk was due to a misunderstanding that occurred between the two of them shortly after leaving.

A misunderstanding put it lightly.

…Chara supposed that it was difficult to act rational when they watched this very human slaughter family and friends alike. 

They found it hard to separate that malice in their fragmented presence from the LOVE that had been taken from them at the last possible moment. For far longer than Chara ever wanted, they too relished in their own nature, enjoying the slaughter as Frisk carved a path through the Underground and then kept carving.

When they reached the absolute, Chara thought that they finally understood the true meaning of this world. When the numbers got high enough, no one could hurt them anymore. No one would ever be hurt again.

They took that dagger and plunged it into the flower back then. 

He tried to wear the face of their brother to dissuade them, but Asriel was gone. “Chara” as their parents knew them was gone. They were both just fragments now, too different to be the children their parents once knew. Frisk never questioned it when Chara decided to keep their presence a secret on the surface. Frisk never questioned when Flowey refused to reveal who he “truly” was when they finally brought him out of the Underground.

Neither of them could be those people anymore.

In that moment of rage when Chara slashed the flower over and over again, they finally saw the source of their power. They finally saw beyond Frisk. They finally saw something else.

And when they offered it a choice that Chara had rigged in their favor, that thing took a third option and stepped backwards all over again.

Chara was enraged. They planned to take revenge at the last possible second once more. When that thing finally thought it had reached its end goal, Chara would show them that their actions meant nothing.

And yet, the moment Frisk walked past that cliffside with Toriel, something changed again.

In the dead of night, Chara almost struck, before seeing Frisk’s face contort just as it had now. A nightmare.

Chara couldn’t see the thing that took those lives anymore.

There was nothing left but a confused, scared child remaining.

When that light shined through the window, Chara had not been able to shake that overbearing presence off of them. They knew it. They had tasted its true power once. Had it... returned? Would they have any way of telling beyond their own delusions? After all, they could just be deceiving themself. It was in Chara’s very nature to take. All they had done was take. They, too, had been corrupted by LOVE, and they were a coward for succumbing to it. Frisk had not been spared either when they began gaining LOVE. Both of them shared that regret now.

It was just in their nature as humans.

Perhaps, this feeling meant nothing, and was only them deluding themself into believing some nebulous force would give them freedom that their nature craved.

And yet, through the night, the feeling never went away.

Chara hoped that Frisk would not have these nightmares for much longer. The truth was, their hands had killed indiscriminately, and sometimes killed selectively. Random patterns between different runs without any sense plagued Frisk’s mind. Only in the final run did Frisk manage to spare everyone, and their hands did so like they had no problems whatsoever.

So, at the very least, maybe this feeling would one day pass. Frisk struggled with making decisions for a while after they came to the surface. Chara would say that they had marginally improved. After all, they were making it through college just fi-

The world stuttered.

Chara found their flexibility tightened as their less than incorporeal form was shunted back into Frisk. Immediately, the human sat up, clutching their chest and breathing heavily. At the same time, the flower’s head popped up, and he glanced around the room.

After the flower couldn’t find what he was looking for, he groaned, “Frisk! What the heck was that? Don’t tell me we spent all that time looking for a save point just for you to find one right… here…”

Frisk was hardly breathing. Now constrained to the same body Frisk was, Chara could feel their lungs barely getting air. Various nerves started to go numb, and Chara decided to lightly put a hand on the wheel. Carefully as to not startle Frisk, Chara slowed the human’s breathing down, and feeling began to return once more.

Now, what was the flower on about? Yes, the world lurched, but Chara assumed that just had to do with Frisk waking up and jettisoning them back into their confines. Though, that stutter was not usually what happened when Frisk woke up. It was usually a steady transition nowadays.

“Didn’t do that,” Frisk whispered. They had grown more confident in the years that monsters had been on the surface. Frisk always carried a certain confidence about them ever since they left the Underground. And yet, now, their body trembled.

The flower- Flowey’s eyes narrowed. “Uh, yeah you did? If you mean to tell me that you didn’t load your own save file, then you’re an idiot.”

Frisk wordlessly began to reach for something. Once more, the world started to stutter for the briefest of moments, the human pulling on their save file in an attempt to wind the clock backwards. As soon as they felt it, they didn’t complete the action, allowing time to snap back into its rightful place. “Can still feel it,” they whispered again, and their heart stopped racing as much. “I didn’t load the save. It’s… still where we left it.”

“Oh, you think you’re real funny, don’t you?” Flowey scowled, rising up slightly out of his pot. “You’ve got a real sick sense of humor, you know that? You are the only one who could have loaded a save, you idiot! You-” Flowey started to look less sure of himself when Frisk didn’t budge or smile at all like they usually did when a prank went right. “You better be lying. You have to be lying. It’s not possible.”

Chara pondered. They had the advantage of being just a degree more detached from Frisk’s addled mind. Flowey was correct. Only one person could have control of the timeline, and it only mattered whether or not they had enough determination to overpower everyone else. The barrier was another key component that allowed save points to exist in the first place. The magic required to create it, and the magic that humans sealed away within it, caused consequences that had not been scientifically analyzed yet.

However, Flowey would be the expert on this matter, and he said it should not be possible.

So, why did the world stutter?

Frisk waited for it to happen again. They sat up, holding their legs close to their chest. Of course, they would be afraid. Chara only had a growing suspicion, and they did not like it. That old feeling of nostalgia that they had been quick to dismiss as their own vices may have a source after all. One thing Frisk lost the ability to do after leaving the Underground was the power to Reset. Perhaps, what had taken it from them had finally returned.

Nothing came. The world did not stutter again.

Frisk glanced at Flowey before muttering an idea, “...Should I load? See if it happens again?”

“Duh!” The flower shouted like it was the most obvious option ever. “If you’re not in control of the timeline, then-” Flowey trailed off. It was an experience he knew well, if Chara remembered correctly. The flower had been unable to load his save ever since Frisk fell. It must have been a rude awakening for Flowey to realize that his attempt at stealing their soul went so poorly, and it was permanent.

However, Chara had a different opinion. Using their connection with Frisk, they began to mutter, “You think that you should be cautious.” Loading could be a viable option, but what would it prove other than that the safety net existed entirely? Chara trusted Frisk to know what loading a save felt like at this point. “If you were alerted of another person with control over the timeline, then surely you would not wish to alert them that you still have your power.”

Frisk heard them, their head lowering for a moment while they mulled it over. Asking to Flowey in a way that also disguised the question to Chara, they asked, “Would it be a good idea to figure out… if it wasn’t just a fluke first?”

This only enraged Flowey. “Come on!” He slammed his vines against the bedside table that he’d been set on. “You’re never this stubborn about loading a save when it’s for stupid things, but suddenly when your save control is threatened, you’re waiting?”

“You should remind him that the other being may not be aware of you yet,” Chara advised, trying very hard to stress just how important this was. While this being could be the one that Chara remembered well, it may also believe that it was the one in control here. If Frisk still had their save points, then there was no reason to give that away early.

As instructed, Frisk argued with Flowey, “I don’t wanna give it away. I know what it feels like to lose the saves. I… haven’t.” After all, Flowey himself momentarily stripped Frisk of their power before. They knew it well. For a moment, Frisk sat in silence before an idea of their own came to their head on how to potentially make Flowey more amicable. “It would get rid of something new, too.”

Ah, so they were appealing to the flower’s boredom. Smart. Chara could see the sense in that, but they trusted Flowey far less than Frisk ever could. Appealing to his boredom sounded like a recipe for disaster, but Chara could never talk Frisk down from a bad idea. Last time they tried, Frisk did a triple backflip into a university pond. It only didn’t end poorly because the universe wished to spite Chara and allowed Frisk to not split their head open.

Like clockwork, Flowey suddenly calmed down. He realized the implication, and a grin split across his face. “That’s right. You know all about looking for new things, don’t you?” He giggled. “Fine. It’s your save point, not mine. But say… that actually does give me an idea.”

Chara knew where this was going already. They thought about advising against this yet again, but Frisk already asked, “What?”

Flowey twisted to look out the window. “You could let me out of this pot, and I could do some sleuthing for you. If you want to figure out what we’re dealing with before you load your save, then I could help with that.”

Those were the words of a flower about to commit heinous acts. Unfortunately it may be the best course of action, because it would also get rid of Flowey for a moment. Chara needed a moment alone to speak with Frisk without Flowey knowing what was going on. Unfortunately, Frisk had a tendency to argue out loud whenever Chara was right about something, which caused Chara to not like persuading them alone.

Frisk glanced out the window as well. Either something had arrived and was competing for Frisk’s control over the timeline, or a mere fluke had occurred. Sending Flowey would remove the responsibility from their hands, but Flowey would be effective. If Chara could admit one thing about the flower, he was quite good at deducing things through very few social encounters. He knew who to check in with and where they would likely be at any given time.

Coming to a decision, Frisk stood up from the bed. They didn’t bother changing, throwing on the hoodie they’d cast to the side and picking up Flowey. However, they had a few ground rules. “No hurting anyone. At all. If you find the problem, find me.”

“Come on!” Flowey’s grin quickly morphed into a frustrated scowl while he whined, “Can’t even let me rough someone up a little bit? It’d be easy to figure out who’s the problem if I could be a little aggressive.”

“No.” Frisk flicked the top of his head, putting on shoes and walking out the door. “No killing. No hurting. Just looking.”

“You’re so booooring.” Flowey did not keep his voice down as Frisk entered the hallway. Based on Frisk’s clock, it was not that long until sunrise, but Chara already winced at how loud he was. “Fine, but don’t blame me if this takes me twenty years.”

Chara wondered what information Flowey could likely try to glean. Attempting to figure out what caused the load would be the best course of action, but identifying someone with those abilities would be difficult if neither Frisk nor the other party used their save points. Detecting a disturbance would at least be a smart move. Flowey was nothing if not persistent at tracking people. Anyone slightly off schedule would tip him off.

They just hoped that he knew what he was doing.

If this was what Chara thought it might be, then Flowey would be unable to stop it if he engaged directly. Then again, there were far too many unknowns to determine precisely what the presence around Frisk was back in the Underground. 

Hopefully, Flowey would at least be useful in that regard.

Frisk managed to find their way outside quickly. Before Flowey had much time to complain, Frisk set the pot down, and he immediately extended roots out into the small patch of dirt next to the dorms. 

“All I’m saying is…” Flowey began again while he situated himself in the earth. “...it would be a real shame if you lost your save point just because lil ol’ me couldn’t help.”

Frisk crossed their arms. They were not budging. “Better help then.”

“What, so you can keep cheating on exams?” Flowey scoffed, but he of all people knew what this power could do in the wrong hands. “Fine. I’d rather there not be someone next in line when you finally die. I’d like my save points back later thank-you-very-much.”

Despite the horrors of the situation, Frisk managed to find a sense of humor and stuck their tongue out at Flowey. “Just get searching.”

“Fine.” Flowey grumbled, “No fun allowed.”

With a final wink, Flowey burrowed into the earth, leaving nothing but a misshapen lump behind. Wherever he went, he would hopefully stay out of too much trouble. Chara loathed the idea of cleaning up another one of his messes. One winter, he made pitfalls all around Hometown for monsters to fall into, and only got away with it because he did not bring spikes into the mix.

At least he preferred cruel jokes rather than outright murder nowadays, no matter how much he attempted to say otherwise.

Now, this gave Chara an opening. Flowey would be gone for who knew how long, which meant free conversation could be had with Frisk. As Frisk reentered the building, Chara posited something that they probably already knew, “You think you know of only one thing that could possibly overpower your determination.”

Frisk scrunched their face, and their head lowered ever-so-slightly. They focused on getting back to their dorm, but they mentally responded, “Didn’t get overpowered. I know I can still load. Doesn’t feel any different.”

“Relying on feeling will not work if you die,” Chara pointedly reminded them, hoping that they would understand the stakes. Yes, Chara trusted that Frisk knew what losing a save was like. No, they would not rely on that if death became an issue.

“Worked on the entire Underground.” Frisk said out loud, proving Chara’s point that they sometimes blurted things out when they got even slightly heated. They stepped back into the safety of their dorm, pushing the door shut and leaning up against it for a second. “...Still feel like myself.”

That was an interesting point to bring up. Whatever occurred in the Underground, it targeted Frisk specifically. That final presence in the absolute never left Frisk until after the monsters had gone free, and the clock never wound backwards again. If Frisk was themself, then was there even a possibility of that thing being out there once more? Chara mused, “You are uncertain of what the source could be. You have to consider the worst case scenario.”

Frisk’s shoulders sagged. An argument was brewing again. Chara could feel it. Frisk crossed their arms, glancing to the side and mumbling, “Might not be entirely bad.”

Not this again.

“You have been plagued by nightmares, and question whether your actions are your own constantly.” Chara would not stand for any revisionism that Frisk liked to do about this being. “Monsterkind was eradicated, brought back, and then selectively targeted until the cycle finally ended.”

Frisk grit their teeth. Slowly, they walked over to their bed before tossing themself back into it. After all, they did have an exam later in the morning. Life hadn’t stopped just because a momentary glitch had occurred in the night. “I know,” they mumbled into their pillow, “I just wonder.”

Once more, Chara scoffed, “Curiosity is a vice, one that you and I fell prey to as well.” When Chara realized that they had referred to themself, they grew annoyed. They preferred not to do that in any capacity when speaking with Frisk. Chara wasn’t Chara anymore. They were merely guidance. An aid. A voice where one had been lost. A better voice. “You would do well to remember that.”

Frisk didn’t respond. They turned their head back into their pillow, but Chara never left the confines of their body for the entire morning. Frisk never went back to sleep.

The Angel extended their hand, brushing the silver save point once more. 

Their actions became permanent, and they breathed a sigh of relief. Even though that fight had been awful, at least the road ahead was slightly clearer.

Hopefully, they wouldn’t need to return to this save point. What came next would likely hurt, and they only hoped that the save point dulled the pain that was about to blossom through their stump of a horn. At the very least, it was better than the save where they were dying, and it was leagues better than having to fight Asgore and Undyne again. The Angel didn’t want to call upon Fireshock again, but they would probably have to if they went back.

The Angel didn’t glance back at the Dark World. Instead, they took a deep breath, summoning their soul to their hand. Maybe, this Dark Fountain would give them slightly more LV as well, but they doubted it. Short Dark Worlds like this never really stuck.

No one was with them to seal this fountain. No one stood at their back. No one even stood to watch the soul silently float up to a fountain of the Angel’s own creation. The Angel brought a hand up to the scarf now secured under their cloak, grasping it and shutting their eyes while light overwhelmed the darkness.

The Dark World vanished.

Blistering pain struck the Angel instantly on the right side of their head. Instinctively, a hand went to grasp at the wound, but they stopped a few centimeters short. Touching it would make it worse. They just… they just had to deal with the pain. As best as they could, they gripped the branch that had stayed within their hand during the transfer, leaning precariously up against it.

They were back in the normal jail cell.

With only one eye able to be open thanks to the pain on the side of their head, the Angel glanced around. The cell door was still thankfully open. Undyne’s keys sat on the ground just outside of it. When the Angel looked for Undyne and Asgore, they were not hard to find at all on account of being in the center of the room.

Both were sprawled out against the desk, sound asleep.

At least it looked like they were breathing. That… that was good.

The pain in their horn started to subside just a little bit, turning into more of a dull and constant ache instead of searing pain. It hadn’t even been as bad as they remembered it when entering the Dark World. Perhaps, their save point gave them just the slightest bit of reprieve, but it wasn’t much. The Angel’s head still felt like it would split open if they so much as tilted it wrong.

Well, there was no getting rid of that.

The Angel glanced around their own cell when they realized just how much they’d messed it up. The blood on the floor would be a dead giveaway that they were actually here, so playing everything off as a dream wouldn’t work. As usual, the stab marking in the ground didn’t hold, so maybe the Dark World could be explained away as a hallucination if they really needed to.

Ah, there was once more thing in this cell that they needed to get.

Carefully, the Angel picked up a loose notepad off of the floor. They smoothed out some of the folded pages, just so that the Darkner was a little more comfortable. As gently as they possibly could, they pressed the notepad into one of their pant pockets, making sure that the pages didn’t bend. Until the Angel had a better place to put the Darkner, that would have to do.

Although, the Angel felt a weight in their other pocket. When they reached in, they pulled out a wad of junk. It seemed like a junk ball of their own had formed. Even the broken pen poked out of it. 

When the Angel angled their head slightly to look at the ball, something weighed their left ear down ever-so-slightly. The Angel reached up with their hand to feel at it before realizing what it was with their second pair of eyes.

Tied to the Angel’s ear sat a glittering, red ribbon. They couldn’t know what it was for sure, but the scarf didn’t come with them, so this was likely what it turned into. Well… the Angel didn’t quite understand why it didn’t stay a scarf considering the last time a scarf came with them from the Dark World, but soul shenanigans probably had something to do with that. Oh well, at least if this scarf didn’t hold, it would still turn into something that Ralsei enjoyed wearing.

…They should probably get out of here.

Unfortunately, it became a habit to check their inventory after every Dark World to see what changed, and that hadn’t stopped now. The Angel didn’t waste time removing the ribbon.

As silently as possible, the Angel began to creep out of the cell. They used their branch to keep their balance. Walking had become slightly easier, but they weren’t fighting for their life anymore. Jerking their body around with their soul or using soul modes to substitute for actual motion wouldn’t work anymore. Doing familiar things like attacking seemed to make movement completely natural, but moving around still needed work. They weren’t as great at it when they could actually see their legs apparently.

Their legs weren’t shaking anymore at least. The extra stability just helped them keep moving.

When the Angel passed Asgore and Undyne, they thought about leaving a note or checking to make sure that the two of them were actually okay. Maybe, they should try to move the two out of line of sight of the door or lock them in the cell. Though, the chances of waking them up were too high, and moving Asgore would be a futile effort. Still, there were a few things that would be helpful to grab. If the Angel got into a Dark World again, a broken pen wouldn’t do them much good. 

They kept the broken one in their junk ball before rifling through the cabinet that Undyne got it from, stealing a second one. At least, they could also keep notes with this. Hopefully, that would keep their Darkner friend a little happier. The Angel couldn’t afford to forget the ways the rules changed or things they’d learned either, so note-keeping would be essential.

There was one more thing that they didn’t have the last time they encountered Asgore.

Carefully, the Angel reached for Asgore’s pockets. They won the 50/50, managing to fish out car keys. They would apologize for stealing his truck, but he threw them in a jail cell. At least now, the Angel had actually committed a crime. With a hint of bitterness, they slipped the keys into their pocket with the notebook before realizing they’d forgotten something else.

On the desk, something crimson and wet sat motionlessly.

The Angel’s stomach turned when they realized what it was. Of course, they’d dropped their dagger and never picked it back up. The small thing turned back into the Angel’s broken horn. Well, they definitely weren’t leaving that behind. If they needed another Dark World, the Angel didn’t want to have to bash their other horn off. Hopefully they wouldn’t be making one of those again anytime soon, but better safe than sorry.

When the Angel grabbed it, they realized it was still incredibly bloody.

Unfortunately, they weren’t going to be able to do anything about that. 

The Angel put it in the same pocket as the junk ball. They didn’t know if that would affect their miniscule amount of CDBagels, but they weren’t putting it in the same pocket as the Darkner or their gear. These stupid pants didn’t even have back pockets. At least they hadn’t been put into a dress when coming here. It would’ve been stylish, but those things never had pockets.

Satisfied with what they’d pilfered, the Angel took one last glance at the two sleeping monsters. Hopefully, they could just get some distance. Asgore and Undyne would be waking up at some point, but the Angel hoped that Pacify held for a bit longer. All they needed to do was slip away.

So, they got to it, pushing the door open and stepping out into the world once more.

The chill hit them immediately. The Angel grit their teeth, once again missing the cloak the Dark World gave them. At least it hid their identity. Right now, actually staying faceless might be useful. This face was far too distinct.

Well, the truck shouldn’t be far from where the Angel stood. After all, Undyne didn’t haul them around for too long. The Angel tried retracing their steps, and noticed that it had gotten a little brighter outside. 

That Dark World must’ve lasted longer than they thought. Time always acted weird. The Angel didn’t take that long in Card Kingdom, but the Dark World supposedly took up the entire school day and more. Of course, they should’ve known that their Dark World would waste a bit more time. As always, time loved to work against them. Whether it be stealing them away for years or the Angel never being fast enough to prevent anything, time always worked against them. Always a moment too late, no matter how many times they turned back the clock.

Worse, clouds had started to move in. The Angel was never good at predicting weather. Eventually, they just decided that every cloud looked like a rain cloud, and they were right enough times for confirmation bias to kick in.

…Even though they’d seen the sky on the cliffside, it was still strange to be able to look up while another part of them looked down.

Maybe, Ralsei would be happy that they finally got a chance to see the sky, even though they’d reassured him countless times that they had seen a sky. The thought did little to bring them comfort while they kept walking. Thoughts about what someone might think were no good when those people were dying somewhere else.

The Angel would’ve been happier if the rest of them were here.

Finally, the Angel came across Asgore’s truck. They fumbled for the keys in their pocket for a second before finally snagging them. Unfortunately, Asgore’s truck didn’t even have buttons on the keys to unlock it, so they had to manually go for his door handle. At this rate, they were going to get into the truck only to find out that the windows had cranks on them.

The truck door opened after a few tugs. Just as they predicted, there were cranks on the windows. 

When the Angel hopped in, they realized… a few critical issues.

First issue: they had no idea where they were going.

Second issue: Asgore’s truck was not driveable.

Sure, they had the keys, but they failed to realize that Asgore was much larger than them. The Angel tried adjusting the seat forward, only to find that even with the seat as far forward as they could bring it, they could not reach the pedals comfortably. Unless they wanted to be perfectly straightened out while driving and unable to see out of the windshield, they couldn’t use it.

The Angel would be walking again. Again, something small and miniscule chipped away at their already limited time. They’d already done the hard part which was escaping prison, and more stupid things sat in between them and Frisk.

Screw it, they were keeping the keys.

It’d be stupid to go back to the police station now, and they definitely weren’t leaving them in the truck. Stealing the keys also made sure that Undyne and Asgore couldn’t come after them quickly, so those were staying in their pocket. At the very least, the Angel did see what looked to be a satchel behind the passenger’s seat. It had a few gardening tools in it… but…

Distantly, the Angel thought that they probably shouldn’t be stealing from the King of Monsters. However, items in these worlds tended to be finders keepers, and once again, Asgore threw them in a cell first. The least he could do to repay them was giving them extra inventory space.

The Angel carefully dumped out the gardening tools, swapping some things out of their pockets to place in there. The junk ball and horn would stay on them. That pocket already looked ruined, and they didn’t want to ever be without their Dark World items or their fountain making tool. The notebook, pen, and Asgore’s car keys could ride in the satchel for the time being.

At least some good came out of their truck escapade. Now, that Darkner would hopefully be a little more comfortable. The Angel should probably give it a name at some point, but they would prefer if the little thing could have a chance to choose itself. Such a thing would have to wait until the Angel got back to the Grand Fountain.

With a new bag in their possession, the Angel left the truck again.

Now that morning had come, the Angel would have to deal with other monsters. They couldn’t hide in any capacity anymore, and someone would inevitably ask questions. Key monsters needed to be avoided, and most importantly, the Angel needed to not act like they were running if they met one. Every time they even thought about evading someone deliberately, their soul appeared on their chest. It would be a dead giveaway, and the Angel didn’t exactly want to get caught again.

Unfortunately, they probably needed to actually talk to someone in order to figure out where Frisk was. The Angel started walking in a random direction while they thought. This town was large, but not big enough to hold a campus. Worse, the Angel kept seeing almost-familiar buildings and streets. This wasn’t Hometown, but when the Angel saw an apartment building that was just slightly bigger than the one they knew, they almost thought they knew where they were.

At least, no one was out this morning. It was still early, so the Angel had a bit more time before they were actively seen. It would probably be best to leave town and make their way towards the city. Maybe the campus would be somewhere in that direction?

While the Angel was still trying to figure out where to go, something tapped them against their leg. They jolted away from whatever touched them, still not enjoying tactile things touching them.

They didn’t immediately see anything when they turned around. However, when their gaze fell, they saw something very unimpressed staring up at them.

“Wosh u face.”

“Whuh-” The Angel sputtered when a hose pointed directly at them, slamming them in the head with water. They were very mindful of their one health, and for a moment, they thought that would be it. Thankfully, the water was just… water. It wasn’t a bullet. The Angel grimaced, shaking their face off and staring down at the monster that just spritzed them like they were a feral cat. “What was that for?”

A Woshua stared up at them. Its eyes narrowed, mouth staying open in a perfect circle while it focused. “Wosh u face.”

Wait, they- they still had blood all over their face- how the hell didn’t they see that with the whole second pair of eyes thing- The Angel didn’t have time to even process their error before they were sprayed again. They tried to bat away the water for a second, but gave up when the Woshua simply waddled slightly to the side to continue spraying them.

Okay.

Fine.

They’d been walking around with blood all over them. Monsters didn’t bleed. Someone could only draw one conclusion from that, and they were thankful that the Woshua’s only concern was making sure that they were clean. Fine. Okay. Sure.

The Angel submitted. This must have been the right choice, because the Woshua nodded its head in approval before continuing to hose their face down. At this rate, they were going to be sopping wet, but wet was better than bleeding even though the water irritated their horn.

Still focusing just as intently as before, the Woshua’s eyes drifted upward towards the Angel’s broken horn. Cool. Maybe it would finally realize not to irritate that. 

Unfortunately, they were not so lucky.

“Wosh u infection.”

The Woshua aimed its hose at the broken horn, and the Angel only had a moment to stammer out, “Hey wait don’t-”

Too late. The Woshua fired off a bullet, and the Angel instinctively winced when they saw red flash into existence on their chest. It was a stupid way for their soul to pop out as well, considering the fact that the bullet headed towards their horn was green.

“Wosh u attitude.”

As soon as the bullet collided, the Angel’s soul disappeared. Some of the pain in their head vanished as well. Instead of commenting on the soul, the Woshua continued focusing on the horn intently.

Several more spurts of green fired off. Every single time, the Angel’s soul appeared blatantly. They stayed perfectly still, hoping that if they just didn’t move, then the Woshua would not lose its unbreakable focus.

15/20 HP.

Oh. That. That was better. It wasn’t perfect, but the Angel would take that gladly.

The Woshua’s hose finally lowered, the monster satisfied with its work. It did not comment on the Angel’s soul, and immediately began to waddle away. How… how the hell did it even react so calmly to blood? Why did it know that the horn would get infected? The Angel still didn’t think they should touch that wound, but it was definitely better. They still lost the horn, but at least they weren’t leaking blood anymore.

They should just take the victory and go. The Woshua didn’t seem to care about the odd soul, and had done its job just fine. However, the Angel didn’t really have anyone else in the immediate vicinity to ask, so they tried now. “I- well first of all, thanks?” They thought that would probably be a good thing to say first.

At the very least, the Woshua did accept the compliment with a nod of its small head. “Filthy. Wosh u blood next time. Infection is filthy.”

The Angel stopped their thank-you to blink at the Woshua a few times. “Do… monsters bleed now?” They asked out loud, and immediately regretted doing so.

Thankfully, not everyone was a mastermind out to sleuth every mess-up they made. The Woshua only narrowed its eyes at them. “No. Humans bleed. Filthy. Work at hospital part time. I go wherever it is filthy.”

Okay, so the Woshua was just going to ignore that the Angel, a monster, had bled. 

They respected the singlemindedness of the Woshua’s crusade on filthyness, and they were just going to take this one. Legendary Janitor indeed.

Once again, the Woshua tried to waddle away. The Angel immediately tried to walk after it, finally shoving down their own curiosity for what they needed to do. “Do you…” How did they word this without sounding like they were actively hunting down Frisk? There was no way to do it without getting an incorrect answer, nor could the Angel think fast enough to make a convincing enough statement. “Do you know where the college is that Frisk goes to?”

Its gaze grew serious for a moment. The Angel thought they’d stepped on a landmine, but as it turned out, they’d merely touched on a sore spot for the poor thing. “Take the bus early sometimes. Filthy. Wosh the bus. Wosh the campus. On edge of town.” The Woshua’s hose pointed to the northeast. “That way. Stops to pick up students. All filthy. Less filthy early because less students.”

Great. No questions asked. That was so much easier than dealing with anyone the Angel interacted with on a regular basis back when they were still with Frisk. Regular monsters only ever really needed one positive interaction to be satisfied. Undyne and Asgore were always complicated. Note to self, the Angel could probably run into any monster that wasn’t the main ones, and nothing bad would happen.

Still, they appreciated the Woshua’s impromptu help, even if they could still feel water dripping down their face. They gave one more quick “thank-you” before taking off. They did not want to miss that bus.

The Woshua’s bird tweeted at the Angel while they walked away. The Woshua itself waved its little hose before going on its merry way. Filth had been cleansed, and it was satisfied.

Some things still went well after all. The Angel needed to remember the different things monsters liked. While they didn’t know how long it had been since the barrier broke exactly, letting the Woshua clean them seemed to placate it. If they needed help, they could probably try that same thing with other monsters if they just remembered what tactics to use.

It was the others that the Angel needed to avoid.

While they walked through town, the Angel kept an eye out. They thought they saw a nice diner which looked far too similar to QC’s. The Angel eyed it for a second, and their stomach growled when they kept walking. They didn’t pay it any mind. After all, this… this vessel wasn’t what they were. They didn’t need to eat. It could wait forever if they needed it to.

When the Angel glanced down a road and saw a house that they’d definitely seen in Hometown before the Roaring started, they paused for a second.

The Angel never managed to find Sans in any Dark World after the Roaring began, but they also were moving incredibly slowly on account of trying to evacuate any remaining Lightners to the Shelter. Dark Worlds were incredibly large distances to traverse.

The skeleton brothers appeared in Snowdin one day before just… establishing themselves.

The Angel almost pivoted down the road, but thought better of it. Any monster who Frisk had a significant past with would be difficult to communicate with. Based on Asgore and Undyne, they weren’t prone to helping either. Granted, the Angel found two very temperamental monsters who were on edge about their soul, but they had their reasons to avoid Sans.

After all, Flowey rarely gave actual advice of his own. They would prefer that Sans never figured out a thing about them unless absolutely necessary.

Flowey and Frisk were still the best bet for now.

The thought of what to even ask them came to mind. How… did the Angel even communicate their current situation? Realistically, all they needed to do was figure out how Flowey and Chara could see them. The Angel couldn’t see their own body anymore no matter how hard they strained, and it still hurt them to try to wrench their second pair of eyes away. If they could just figure out how to… undo whatever this was, then getting back to the other world would be as simple as changing windows.

Avoiding the house, the Angel slinked down a different street. They thumbed at the satchel around their neck, keeping an eye out for anything that resembled a bus stop. They had to stay focused.

Every now and then, they caught a monster going about their day. As the Angel walked, they inevitably felt eyes on them. Every time they turned to look at someone across the street, they usually found that it was just passing interest. The Angel found that just waving caused any wariness to go away almost instantly.

It… it felt too simple. 

The Angel almost wanted to talk to the few faces they saw, but they kept their gaze trained dead ahead in an attempt to find this nebulous bus stop.

They couldn’t slow down. They were so used to having the time to slow down and explore. It just… put a bitter taste in their mouth when they had to keep moving. This was probably all going to end soon, right? As soon as the Angel figured out how to get back to their friends, this situation with this vessel would probably end, and the wall would be placed back up. Whatever life the Angel was glimpsing right now could never actually stick, right?

Of course, they planned to stick around. Susie wouldn’t allow them to be banished. The Angel went through great efforts to not feed into their own banishment, and Ralsei even clued them in on the Grand Fountain being a surefire way to banish them. It was just that… surely this vessel wouldn’t stick. Surely they were going to just be a red, floating soul that went from person to person every now and then.

Plans of having a vessel were talked about, but the Angel had already resigned themself to never being in their vessel often. It wasn’t like life would allow them to hang out with their friends all the time, and someone far more important needed their soul.

It was just odd to walk amongst people the Angel knew at some point.

Finally, the Angel saw a sign for the bus stop. Maybe, they just weren’t used to things going normally for two seconds. They’d just been yanked into… whatever this was, fought the King of Monsters and Captain of the Royal Guard in a Dark World… and now they were waiting on a bus.

To be honest, they preferred this.

Still, part of them wondered if it would be faster to just… walk to the city. The idea of sitting down made them antsy. Time could be wasted waiting on a bus when they could be moving. 

It was just a matter of spending a little bit of time to save time later. The Angel had to remind themself of that. For the time being, it was fine to wait, even if the idea gnawed at their soul.

The Angel saw some chairs under a waiting area. For the first time in a while, they sat down, adjusting their satchel so as to not crush it. Even better, there was a map of the bus route inside the canopy they sat under. It would probably be a good thing to at least commit some of that to memory… or try to haphazardly draw it in their notebook.

Ah well, the Darkner would probably be happy anyway with a few of its pages being used.

The Angel rummaged through their bag, retrieving their notepad. They took the pen out of their pocket and immediately started scribbling down what was on the map. It looked like the campus was mostly its own thing on the edge of the city. Small mercies. If they had to search an entire city for Frisk, then the Angel would be getting nowhere. Unfortunately, it didn’t exactly look like walking distance. This town looked far away from… well… the entire city.

When the Angel caught the names of this town and city, they scowled.

Great. This town was named Hometown as well. That wouldn’t get confusing at all. Of course, Asgore would name it something like that given the chance. The Angel just wondered why the hell the other Hometown was called that if Asgore probably named this one.

The city name wasn’t any better. Honestly, whatever human named the city must’ve been friends with Asgore in a past life, because Ebott City wasn’t very inspiring. No one thought of a better name? No one? 

The Angel sighed. In their notes, they wrote this Hometown’s name as Ebott Town, because they too sucked at names and weren’t going to try to think of a better one. They also were not going to deal with the odd parallels between two different towns over and over again every time they referred to it.

At least they were getting practice with maps now. With the world being so large, it started to remind the Angel of plans made before everything went wrong. As it turned out, Susie had some very strong opinions about what everyone would be doing after they were all free from the prophecy and anything associated with it.

The Angel’s pen stopped moving for a bit.

For a moment, they took a deep breath. 

A memory pried at the edge of their mind. The world seemed so large now, but… wasn’t this always the plan? At a certain point, the world wasn’t only going to be Hometown. Now, without the rest of their friends, the world had gotten larger. It was gargantuan, but the Angel just thought that they’d have people next to them when they all finally started to branch out.

All of them had made so many promises of what they’d do together after everything was over. The Angel said that they wanted to stay with everyone, but Susie’s ideas were when they actually started believing that wish could mean anything. It… was stupid to want to stay, right? What would that have even looked like? They imagined just checking in every now and then… maybe just being a helping hand when someone was too tired to face the day…

It was Susie who first started talking to them like they were just any other person. To her, they weren’t the soul in a cage. Just as she started calling objects by name the moment she found out they were Darkners, she treated them like a friend. Every time she had an idea, she included them like their very nature wasn’t always a pitfall.

The Angel… started to believe her, they supposed.

Maybe their first mistake was making plans for when everything ended, but how could they not when Susie just sounded so earnest?

As it turned out, Asgore’s flowers were good listeners.

The Angel always wondered whether or not they would be for or against him considering they were a captive audience. Considering the fact that three of the seven plants were currently trying to repel the Angel the moment everyone fell into the Dark World, they were going with for Asgore. 

It was sheer luck that Ralsei even managed to find the group before the flowers started to swarm everyone with vines, which was just fantastic, because the group had one more tag-along this time who was definitely not supposed to join in. The Angel absolutely needed everyone on guard considering that Noelle wasn’t experienced in Dark Worlds, and they were all actively being swarmed.

When vines advanced on everyone, the Angel’s soul forced battle to occur. Unfortunately, they didn’t manage to pull the gargantuan flowers into a fight, and only managed to snag the vines before they could get any closer. Okay. Fine. They could fight vines in a turn-based battle.

Battle snapped into place. Three party members took positions. Kris drew their sword, gritting their teeth when they saw Asgore getting lifted away by the four other flowers. Susie summoned her axe, glancing off somewhere behind everyone. Ralsei-

Ralsei wasn’t drawn into battle.

Noelle took the third slot, and she yelped when she was drawn into the fight.

What on earth did she think she was doing? Did she even know that she took Ralsei’s party slot?

Susie beat the Angel to the punch, loudly shouting, “Where the hell is Ralsei?” She whirled around, looking at something the Angel couldn’t see from their point of view. “Hey! Angel! Ralsei didn’t get pulled in!”

“Aware,” they responded through Kris' body, noting the fact that Susie absolutely just gave them away to Noelle. “Is he fine? Can’t see him.”

From her position in the fight, Noelle stammered, “Um- wait what?!? Susie- Kris- what’s going on? Where are we?”

Oh my god, they could not do this right now. The Angel once again tried to respond on their own, and thankfully Kris let them, “Dark World. You know it already. We’ll explain when we’re not under attack.” Of course, that did little to placate Noelle, but the Angel needed to know before things got worse. “Is Ralsei fine?”

Another voice came from outside of the battle, and the Angel could thankfully see it. “I’m fine, Angel! It’s just-” Ralsei cut himself off. “Um… you can only have three party members… so I just thought I’d… sit this one out. I think I showed up a bit early, and-”

“The hell do you mean only three?” Susie bared her teeth, glancing at herself, Kris, and Noelle like she somehow miscounted. She pointed at Kris, asking the question more towards the Angel than anyone else, “What kind of weird ass limit is that?”

Again, Noelle stammered something, “What- the Dark World thing- that thing- was-”

The Angel ignored her, continuing to argue with Susie, “I don’t like it either! I just didn’t expect to have a fourth person here, and I’ve never fought with four before! I don’t think it’ll let me!”

“Oh my god.” Susie slapped a hand over her face. The vines across from them started to thrash more, but they couldn’t attack out of turn yet. If the Angel could see them, then they would bet that the gargantuan flowers were pissed at all of them arguing. “Don’t think what will let you? Aren’t you like, supposed to be god or something?”

“No?” The Angel might technically be a religious figure, but they got sniped by a hockey puck. They were more worried about the fact that Ralsei may not be protected by the soul at the moment, and there were far more vines than these three. “I don’t know how to bring more than three into a fight.”

Noelle looked like she was about to tear her hair out. “What do you mean god?”

Susie groaned, turning to wherever she saw Ralsei, “Well I know how to do it. Watch and learn, idiots!” Without a care in the world, Susie began to walk off of the battle screen. The Angel watched her vanish somewhere off to the left for a little bit before hearing a yelp.

Unceremoniously, Susie came back into the battle. Over her head, she held a very confused Ralsei, carrying him forcefully into the battle on her own. With far more gusto than necessary, she launched him back into place next to her where he was meant to be in battle, and-

Something exploded.

The Angel watched as all of their party member information blew up. Names and battle selections were shifted to the side to make room for a fourth slot, Ralsei’s name and actions appearing between Susie and Noelle. 

Susie dusted off her hands, proud of her work. With her hands on her hips and a wide grin, she glanced at Kris. “Did that do it?”

Kris snickered when the Angel answered, “You blew up my battle menu.”

Her brow immediately furrowed. “Your what?”

Ralsei had splatted when thrown. While Susie and the Angel were having their small moment of mutual bafflement, he pushed himself up to his feet and adjusted his glasses. “Wait! I- does this work? This shouldn’t work!”

Testing out the new party member abilities, the Angel began issuing commands. Kris went to use a check, raising a hand to prepare for the action. The Angel put Susie on defense for a moment just to see what was up.

Immediately, the Angel’s power washed over Ralsei, and they gained access to his usual abilities.

“Looks fine to me,” they answered, asking Ralsei to defend as well. His scarf wrapped around his body, and then the Angel came to Noelle. Once again, her commands were fine as well. “Do you remember how battles work, Noelle?” They asked, now finally having a chance to calm down the extremely nervous deer.

The rush of everything started to get to Noelle. When the Angel asked her that question, she pointed an accusatory finger at Kris. “A-and you sound like you’re on speaker again! Wh-what is going on?”

Okay. They didn’t have time for this. The Angel immediately gave Noelle a command to defend as well, and she covered her face and leaned away from battle. When the soul popped out of Kris’ chest to dodge, they tried to think of a plan here.

A fourth vine joined the fray to even the playing field against an extra party member. Cheating tended to incite more cheating, and the Angel had to deal with more difficult bullet patterns as a result. Thankfully, their soul managed to weave in and out of staggered vine strikes before flying straight back into Kris.

The Angel had no way of sparing vines, and they might as well just be dealing with an extension of a Darkner. They couldn’t see an option to spare this enemy, nor would putting vines to sleep really work. “Gonna have to cut our way through,” the Angel proposed, earning nods from Kris, Susie, and Ralsei all at once. All of them were in agreement while Noelle looked even more frazzled.

They weren’t going to ask Ralsei to use his fire spell as useful as it may be. Besides, they didn’t have access to calling on it anyway. Iceshock might be good here, but the Angel wasn’t exactly keen on using Iceshock if they could help it. 

Ralsei and Noelle both went on defense again. Kris readied their weapon and charged towards a vine alongside Susie. Both of them struck on opposite sides, managing to cleave through it with their dual slices. The vine receded, and another one immediately took its place.

Well, that wasn’t good.

Ralsei glanced at Kris, seemingly realizing the same problem, “Are… are they just going to keep regenerating?”

“Probably,” Kris answered on their own, and their gaze still looked past the flowers towards wherever they had taken Asgore. Every second they got stalled here, Asgore was getting further away. If this was the Knight’s plan, then Kris should be fine with this, but their concern bled through regardless.

“Doesn’t help that we’re stuck here,” Susie complained while the soul flew out to dodge more attacks. “The actual things we need to be fighting are past all these stupid vines.”

The soul took a hit, and one of the vines deflected past the Angel’s defenses and towards Susie. She grit her teeth when she got struck, but she was armored enough to take it easily.

Susie had a point though. The actual enemies were hiding behind these vines. As long as the Angel stayed in battle, the Darkners could just keep reforming vines to keep them fighting here forever. Battle wasn’t the correct option. Evasion was.

The Angel prepared themself for what was to come, and decided to give everyone else a fair warning. “We’re going to have to leave battle and do this the normal way. Just like the Titan.”

Noelle went stock-still at the mention of a Titan. Of all the things she heard about in the Dark World, that must have spooked her significantly. “The what? What are we doing?”

“We’re running.” The Angel used Kris’ hand to point through the vines. “The vines are weak to slashing. Kris and Susie can take the lead. If anyone needs me to cover, you have to call out. I’ll try to watch.” It was admittedly terrifying to hop between different vessels when turns broke down. The last time this happened against a Titan, the Angel was certain someone would get hurt. With an extra party member in the fray, and one who didn’t know about them, this could get nasty.

Noelle’s eyes remained wide, and she stared at Kris like something finally started to click. “Why are you talking about yourself like you’re…”

Susie came to the Angel’s defense, readying her axe. “In a sec. We gotta get through these vines. Uh… don’t be scared of the red heart thing if it comes in your direction.”

At this rate, Noelle was going to pop a blood vessel. She went pale at the mere mention of a red heart flying towards her, even though she had seen it in battle many times. 

The Angel took a deep breath before getting ready to drop the battle. “Just listen to my commands, cover each other, and we should be fine.” The vines started to thrash like they knew what was coming. Kris raised their hand, beginning a countdown.

When their last finger dropped, everyone sprinted.

Susie charged forward. The Angel didn’t immediately send Kris forward, hanging back just to make sure Noelle and Ralsei were keeping pace. Thankfully, Noelle got the memo, and Ralsei only stayed near the back to make sure that no one was left behind in the same way.

A purple blast of magic carved through three of the vines as Susie threw out a Rude Buster. The way opened up as more greenery began to swarm the pathway up ahead. The Angel could see an orange flower glaring at them, and they didn’t enjoy the reminder of a different flower judging them.

A small vine tried to grab Ralsei. Before the Angel could act on their own, Kris leapt forward, cleaving it instantly. It gave the Angel time to call on Ralsei, summoning Fluffy Guard on Noelle. Out of everyone, she needed to be protected the most. 

Noelle screeched when magic flared up around her, but she kept running. That was all that mattered.

As Susie ducked under a vine, she started to realize just how absurd this situation was, “Dude, I’m just realizing that like… now Kris’ dad knows what a Dark World is.”

“He already might have,” the Angel tried saying using Kris’ mouth, but the end of the sentence got cut off. The Angel rolled their eyes, using Kris’ hand to dislodge their soul. The red soul soared across the battlefield, plunging into Susie’s body. Immediately, the two of them began to move in sync. The Angel shined their light on Susie, and a Red Buster began to carve a path ahead. “As I was saying, he might’ve already known.”

A particularly thorny vine lashed out from the side. Before the Angel could attempt to block it with Susie, a green blur stood in the way. Ralsei reared his scarf back before the end of it slammed upward.

It caught the vine before it got close, sending it flying into the air. The Angel watched as Kris leapt up after the vine, cutting it while they flew by.

Ralsei glanced back at Susie, asking, “What makes you think that?”

Vines started to close in behind the party. Well, this would have to happen one way or another. Everyone was too far forward, and Noelle had fallen back. The Angel yelled “Heads up!” before their soul flew out, colliding with Noelle. She went rigid as a foreign feeling entered her body, but the Angel didn’t exactly have a chance to give her any more warning considering the four vines advancing on her. 

Immediately, they took over, summoning Noelle’s ice magic. Ralsei and the Angel both winced when the vines began to turn brittle, ice weaving across the surface before it all shattered. They didn’t like using the ice magic, but keeping Noelle safe mattered far more than the Angel knowing what it could do. Did this count as love finding its way to the girl? The Angel hoped that it didn’t count. Then again, they’d already done this multiple times with Susie, so that ship had sailed.

“Gonna let you go now,” the Angel said with Noelle’s mouth, already beginning to run to keep up with the rest of the group, “Just keep running with everyone else. Do not stop.”

They took Noelle’s hand before using the Old Man’s trick once more. The soul was jettisoned out into the fray again, Noelle breathing heavily but actually listening. She ran as fast as she could, panting, “Wh-what was that? Who was that? What-”

Kris scooped up the soul, placing it in their body as the Angel took control once more. They were getting good at that transfer. With an opening, the Angel tried to explain, “He has a Blackshard for some reason. Saw it in the vents.” This time, Kris didn’t try to stop the Angel’s spiel. They must’ve known that they couldn’t stop it forever. Although, they did sound annoyed at the Angel mentioning the vents. “Starting to think every adult in this town has it out for you all to be honest.”

Susie groaned. Her annoyance made her lose focus for a second. A razor sharp flower petal zoomed past her side, striking her normally now that the soul wasn’t protecting her. However, she seemed more annoyed with the Asgore thing than the blood coming out of the cut. “Dude, it’s gonna be so weird after all of this is over. Like, what, we just gotta go back to class while everyone was doing weird ass conspiracy stuff?”

Without prompting, Noelle summoned magic from her own hands. It seemed that she still remembered how to use her Heal Prayer, because Susie’s wound immediately closed. Still, she found the strength to continue panicking. “How… how do you think I feel? I’m… I’m finding out that all of this is real, and- oh my gosh, the ferris wheel was-”

Fluffy Guard defended Noelle from a barrage of petals that came her way while she was distracted. Ralsei held out a hand, trying to concentrate on the spell, but it broke from the barrage. He was too focused to look ashamed about it, and his eyes flicked between every threat trying to figure out who needed defense the most. “I don’t think now’s the time!” He tried, but the conversation had long already started.

The Angel called out for Fluffy Guard on Kris now that the path carved by Red Buster was getting smaller. They needed to make some room. When they ran forward, Kris joked, “Might not be a class after.”

“Not funny,” the Angel chastised through their own mouth, even though Kris’ snickering meant that they absolutely found it funny. In a surprising act of speed, Kris slashed twice, sending two vines to the floor in an instant. 

Susie sent a Rude Buster opposite her position on the path before trying to cleave away the ones on her side to protect the two supports. She also must’ve found that funny, because she joined in. “Man, at this point, we’re gonna find out Alphys was like… trying to make us miss Dark Fountains by giving us projects.”

All of the vines suddenly separated, turning into walls around the four of them. An impromptu battlebox had been made, and everyone was vulnerable. Razor sharp petals rose up into the air before spinning towards the trapped party.

Ralsei turned to Kris, calling out, “Angel! Shine your light!”

Without any further question, the Angel did Ralsei one better. They jettisoned their soul, slamming it into Ralsei and channeling their light through him. His horns grew longer. His claws grew sharper. The power flowing through him was enough to enhance Fluffy Guard far more than he needed.

Ralsei’s scarf leapt off of his body, growing in size. It expanded enough to form a dome around the party, everyone huddling in as petals crashed harmlessly against the scarf. When the last of them had gone, the Angel immediately removed the soul from Ralsei, and his transformation got nowhere close to fully completing.

“That was sick, Ralsei!” Susie yelled, snatching the soul on her own and continuing the charge. They were getting closer now. “Gonna be real, after everything’s like… done… we should get the hell out of here.” Her axe began to bubble with purple magic, Rude Buster being prepared. The Angel shined their light again, the spell turning a deep red. When Susie lashed out, Red Buster tore a hole straight through the wall they had all been trapped in. “Like… field trip. Uh. Not school field trip. Normal field trip.”

Kris tilted their head. “Road trip?”

“Yeah that!”

One of the gargantuan flowers vanished into the ground. Either it was retreating or trying to cause issues, and the Angel didn’t know which. Noelle used her ice magic on her own, freezing a barrage of petals coming from behind. The petals fell to the ground, shattering into individual shards. “U-um, if we’re just talking, can I ask wh-what’s going on with the red heart thing?”

Smaller vines started to lash out towards Ralsei. They looked like they were going to attempt to grab him, but Ralsei showed just how nimble he actually was. A gust of wind blew him out of harm’s way, Ralsei using his odd flying magic to weave through the vines. When the vines still chased him into the air, his scarf continued swatting them away. 

“That’s the Angel!” He yelled, dropping to the ground next to Kris. Ralsei ducked, Kris’ blade cleaving over his head to take out the vines still chasing him. “They- they can only talk through others! They’re friendly! I promise!”

“And who are you? You look a lot like Azzy, but you don’t sound-”

Ralsei hesitated for a second, immediately starting to wither. 

Before he could get too lost, Kris yanked him forward by the scarf before shooting a shit-eating grin at Noelle. “Azzy is ugly. What do you mean?”

As Ralsei was dragged forward, his face turned entirely red. The Angel accidentally laughed through Susie. The fight stopped becoming something terrifying, and they began to feel a rhythm as different members of the party started laughing. A wall of vines in front of the party suddenly receded, more petals flying out from just behind where they once stood in an attempt to catch everyone off guard.

Susie cackled, “Yeah Noelle! Have you seen Ralsei?” She raised her axe before the Angel’s soul even shifted. The Angel called upon a familiar feeling that the old man gave them, shifting their soul into a brilliant green. 

Kris dragged both Ralsei and Noelle behind Susie. The petals clashed harmlessly against her axe as the green soul protected all of them.

As Noelle stammered in confusion, the Angel turned their soul back to red. They used Susie’s hand to send them back to Kris for a moment. They had a better idea on how to handle those petals.

Susie continued running, and she circled back around to the road trip thing. “But like, it’d be cool! We could all get the hell out of here. Y’know, hang out while doing something more fun. This town is so boring.”

Ralsei glanced away, trying to keep his eyes on threats. However, the action looked more like him avoiding something instead of actually looking for danger. “Well… um… if you do, I hope you all have fun.”

As if the danger ahead of her didn’t exist, Susie turned around with her brow furrowed. “Uh, that means all of you, dumbass. You’re coming too.”

Flowers with sharpened petals began to spin towards Susie. The Angel’s soul shifted to a bright yellow, leaping to Kris’ fingertips. Kris dove past Susie, the Angel releasing stored up energy in their soul. A large bolt of energy fired out and blasted straight through the encroaching flowers. “Pretty sure I have an idea on how you could come too,” the Angel idly commented through Kris while aiming another shot, “If you’d all be willing to hear it after this Dark World.”

Ralsei’s eyes turned into saucers. He screeched, “You what?”

“I’m gonna have to sit you down for it, I think,” they clarified, knowing damn well that Ralsei was not going to take it well. Broaching the topic of taking on someone else’s soul was a rough one, but it had to happen soon. Besides, the Angel fully planned on Ralsei joining everyone for the festival. “Honestly, I think the real problem is me. I don’t actually know if I can leave the town.”

Noelle clutched her head. “I can’t believe this. You’re- the Angel! That Angel! And you’re just… talking? Talking about a road trip? What? What?”

Kris elbowed her before spinning around and slashing a few vines that were half-heartedly trying to sneak up. “They’re annoying.”

“Kris!!!” Noelle seemed absolutely mortified in a way that even Ralsei hadn’t expressed before whenever someone bullied the Angel. However, the Angel noticed that she was panicking less about the situation and more about the ensuing conversation. If it kept her mind off of the fact that they were in mortal danger, then this was a conversation that needed to keep going.

One of the gargantuan flowers shouted something about being ignored, but the Angel was too busy focusing on the current conversation to hear what it said. At least the flower that vanished hadn’t popped up again. It must’ve retreated after all.

Susie put a hand over her eyes before readying another Rude Buster. This time, she tried to send it up at one of the flowers, and while it was complaining about being ignored, Rude Buster struck it in the face. 

The flower started ranting something about how rude it was for trespassers to come into this kingdom, but Susie was far too into the road trip conversation. “Uh, if you can’t leave town, we’ll just carry you out. Worked for bringing Ralsei into a fight.” She said it like it was obvious, and to be fair, Kris managed to do the same thing when the Angel needed them to cut through the woods one time. “I… uh… can’t drive though. Kris, you can drive, right?”

Solemnly, they shook their head. “Walk everywhere.”

“ACKNOWLEDGE ME!” The orange flower yelled, the ground beginning to rumble. Large seeds began to rise from the ground, and the Angel instinctively identified them as extremely close to friendliness pellets.

Very large friendliness pellets.

The Angel’s soul remained yellow as they began to take aim, leaving Kris’ fingertips and floating around the party themself. Everyone stopped running, Ralsei casting Fluffy Guard on the soul while it flew out. A barrage of pellets came in, and the Angel began to throw their soul in the midst of all of them, firing off bullet after bullet to destroy most of them while using the guard to absorb the rest.

A few scraped by, but Kris already had their shield up. One almost slipped past to strike Susie in the head, but Ralsei’s scarf snagged it out of the air before slamming it to the ground.

When the soul returned to Kris’ chest, the Angel idly commented, “I could drive.”

Kris looked genuinely offended. “No you can’t.”

The party charged forward again, and Noelle stared at the conversation Kris appeared to be having with themself. At the very least, she understood that there were two people having a conversation now, and something clicked in her head. “W-wait, was that you driving Queen’s car? Um… the heart… Angel… thing.”

Well, that was one way to be referred to. The flower that wanted to be acknowledged retreated, leaving only one yellow flower remaining to get to. It was the one summoning the petals by the looks of it considering the constant barrages everyone had to weave around.

Still, the Angel responded to Noelle through Kris anyway, “Yep! That was me! Good driver, right?”

“No?!?” Noelle blurted out. She extended her hand, ice magic turning the first barrage of petals into nothing but snow flying by. “You- you ran into almost every car!”

Kris actually fully laughed. Both Susie and Ralsei glanced back when they heard the noise, and the Angel cracked a smile. They gave Kris a moment, deciding to send their soul to Susie for the time being. 

“I didn’t destroy the cars!” The Angel argued, “I shimmied! None of the cars got hurt! You just put your feet on the brakes and gas and then you shimmy! I even got the banana!”

As if they genuinely made a good point, Kris nodded sagely. “They did get the banana.”

“See?” For a moment, the Angel stopped the group, briefly turning their soul green to block another barrage with Susie’s axe. After a moment, they advanced again. “I’m just saying, I’d make a good designated driver.”

Noelle raked her fingers down her face, groaning, “Th-there’s no bananas on the road! Cars crash when they hit each other!”

Susie tapped Ralsei’s shoulder while they were both running. Immediately, Ralsei summoned a Fluffy Guard for her, beginning to pant at how much he’d exerted his magic during this sprint. Still, he managed to give his own input, “I… I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive without a license… even if you know how to shimmy.”

Using Ralsei’s Fluffy Guard to take on a third barrage herself, Susie laughed, “We should put the bananas on the road then! Make the roads less lame!”

The Angel nodded with Susie’s own head, agreeing with her, “We could make the cars behind us spin out.”

“Yeah!”

Ralsei started tugging on his ears. “What even is the banana thing? The Angel steered our swan ride into one of them without a second thought.”

Trying to defend their honor, they countered, “You wouldn’t want me to get potassium deficiency, would you?”

Noelle was about to lose her mind, which was great because it kept her mind off of the imminent panic of the Dark World. At the very least, her grappling with the Angel’s shenanigans kept her out of real panic. “Can you even get potassium deficiency?”

“Don’t wanna find out.” They reared Susie’s axe back, charging one more Red Buster into it. “I’m cool with the road trip. It’ll be fun.” They let the attack go, sending it straight at the yellow flower’s face.

Susie whooped, less about the attack landing and more about the road trip being a thing. “Hell yeah! All of us on the road! We could even bring everyone in the supply closet.” Okay. Maybe a little too far.

“I think I can only bring one person.” The Angel did not think they could share their soul between objects, and if they un-fused with someone, then they couldn’t exactly re-fuse with an object. “But we should totally bring their objects. We could play cards and use that laptop for so much. They’d love it.”

Noelle went pale. “You stole the library laptop?”

Finally, all of the vines around everyone receded. The conversation had grown so heated that everyone collectively ignored the yellow flower’s monologue while it vanished. They were all so fixated on the road trip that nothing around them mattered anymore. All four of the active runners stopped moving, staggered breaths being taken now that everyone could calm down.

Ralsei tilted his head at the Angel, pushing his glasses up now that they were loose. He did take a bit longer to catch his breath after all of the casting, but did smile when all was said and done. “I… if you do want to bring someone else, it’s okay! Someone has to watch over Castle Town, and I-”

Before he could say another word, Susie wrapped an arm around his head, raking her knuckles through his forehead. “We’re all going, dumbass! Noelle can come too! Even the Angel said yes! They never do that!”

“True,” the Angel said through Susie before ejecting their soul. Immediately, Kris grabbed it out of the air, restoring their hold on the Angel while the Angel got situated in the proper cage. With the tone of issuing a battle command, the Angel pointed at Ralsei. “You’re coming.”

Ralsei straightened up. Like that somehow meant something, he sank into his scarf, trying to avert his gaze. The Angel thought they could see a smile poking out, but they couldn’t know for sure unless he tried talking. He remained silent, but the Angel took it as a victory.

 With the battle now seemingly over, Noelle also had a chance to finally ask the burning questions on her mind that had gone quite blatantly ignored. “So… the reason Kris has been acting so weird is because… of you?” She questioned, trying to make sense of what the Angel was.

The Angel nodded just to give her that much information. “Don’t think about it too hard. Otherwise, we’ll have to get into the whole spiel about how Kris is probably working to end the world.” There was no chance in hell that the last part of the sentence came through, and that was only confirmed by Kris talking with their mouth closed.

Kris didn’t seem to like the change in topic, pivoting towards where Asgore went. “Dad’s that way. We go.”

“Fine,” the Angel relented, beginning to move the party towards what they were actually supposed to be doing. “Just think of the road trip as motivation or something.”

Susie left her position in the marching order to ruffle Kris’ hair, grinning. “Yeah Kris. Can’t have a road trip if the world is gone, can we?”

Somehow, they looked like they were actually considering that.

Of course, Noelle hadn’t been informed of any of this, and her panic once more rose up.

There were a lot of talks that day about what each individual person would do or what they wanted to see. Noelle rarely joined in of her own volition. Maybe, she wasn’t so sure on completely abandoning Hometown for a pipe dream of a road trip. Still, she did offer a few logistic questions that the Angel didn’t think about like “how will you get a car”, “what about school”, and “what about money”.

Right now, the Angel didn’t particularly care. They saw Susie smiling when she talked about getting into trouble and just going towards whatever seemed interesting. They watched Ralsei start to talk about little things in the Light World that he wanted to see. He even managed to admit that he would like to go stargazing with everyone. Despite Kris’ promise hanging over them, the Angel could see them smile just a little bit, glancing between their friends like they were noting every little thing down.

Something changed in the Angel’s mind that day.

That was the moment they slipped up. Everything changed after that. Voicing that they wanted to stay with everyone was one step. However, they were always prepared for the worst case scenario. Banishment may be the only way to ensure that everyone else survived. Despite hoping, they always wondered whether or not they would be anything.

At that moment, the Angel started imagining a future beyond the prophecy.

A dangerous thing.

They imagined a future where every last one of their friends had someone looking out for them. One day, there wouldn’t be the need for fighting day in and day out. Dark Fountains would stop being formed, and all of them would just get to be friends without this impossible task hanging over their heads. Sure, the Angel could’ve accepted their banishment and left all of them to figure out what that meant by themselves, but…

Even here at this lonely bus stop, it was hard to explain a dim feeling flickering at the bottom of their soul.

Maybe, the Angel just wanted to belong with them too.

Was that why they were in this world now?

They wanted the same thing so very long ago.

It was so stupid. 

They wanted Toriel to hold their hand and hug them when they were sad. Honestly, they thought Sans was so cool. Papyrus always saw the best in them, and maybe they wanted someone who would always believe in them. Undyne seemed like the kind of person who could push them, and they always wondered what their magic would be if they trained with her. Alphys used to embarrass the Angel somewhat, but they found that someone else being unabashedly passionate let them be kinder to themself as well. The Angel hoped she was doing well. Sometimes, in their worst moments, the Angel wondered what Asgore would have to say. They wondered how he dealt with the guilt. Maybe, they wanted his promise of being a family just to have someone there who would help them through their own.

Maybe, they just wanted to be loved.

What a naive, dumb kid.

The vessel’s eyes felt heavy. The Angel forced it to stay upright. Sleep wasn’t necessary.

The wait for the bus dragged on.

Cars passed by. The Angel half considered turning their soul orange and bolting down the bus route themself, but they knew how many monsters and humans would see that. No normal conversation with Frisk would happen if every human under the sun was out for their head.

Slowly, they exhaled again, their eyes growing heavier. There couldn’t be much longer now.

Just… focus on anything else. They watched the way the sunlight reflected in windows on some nearby businesses. It refracted on the canopy of the bus stop, shimmering when the rays came close to the ground. The Angel thought they saw something familiar.

A patch of sunlight that shouldn’t be there warmed their hand.

Instinctively, they knew what it was.

File Saved.

Something came to a stop in front of them. The Angel glanced up, hoping to see a bus, but knowing that the thing in front of them was far too small to be a bus.

They froze, a very familiar set of eye-sockets looking straight at them from a vibrant, red car.

“Hello there!” Somehow, he sounded exactly like the Angel imagined him. He would have that kind of voice. Papyrus lowered his sunglasses, and his scarf that he still wore despite the admittedly fashionable suit on his body billowed in the wind. “A little someone told me there might be a new face in town, and it seems I have found you!”

The Angel could never be given a straight line to a goal anymore, could they?

They just had to stall until the bus came, right?

They could do that.

Keeping their expression as neutral as possible, the Angel prepared for the worst.

Chapter Text

Bright and early, Papyrus rose to meet a new day. After all, he rarely considered himself a slacker despite the fact that he learned sleep is a rather important part of one’s daily routine. He supposed that he caved after seeing some of the effects a lack of sleep had on his human colleagues, and wondered if sleep could produce something that was not Sans-like.

To put it lightly, Papyrus had only been operating on two-percent of his true power!

One would think that his brother would be able to maximize his own efficiency during the day after sleeping for so long, but no. In fact, he was likely still in the other room and sound asleep. Ah well, Papyrus would give credit where credit was due! Gone were the days of sleeping at sentry stations, and in were the days (and nights) of actually doing things! Yes, Grillby’s was still frequented often ever since its grand reopening on the surface, but Sans had actually taken up… hobbies. 

The telescope in their garage had seen much use! Apparently, despite all of the telescope pranks that Sans loved to plague everyone with, he did take a shine to astronomy the moment the stars were his to see. Papyrus couldn’t help but be proud actually seeing Sans out on late nights. 

As for him, he had business to attend to!

While charting out his day, Papyrus began to spin in a circle. His normal battle body shifted into a dazzling suit of his own. The battle body would always be ready, even if it had to be refurbished a few times over the year. However, Papyrus had to be stylish in case he needed to report Undyne and Asgore’s findings to the humans. After all, what kind of ambassador would he be if he did not put in his all?

However, the basketballs as shoulder pads, shades, and red flowing cape would not be forgotten. It wouldn’t be his all without the Great Papyrus, Ambassador of Monsterkind, putting on a good impression every day!

It was one of his colleagues' ideas for him to get a proper suit. Papyrus would pull it off well, they said. Pull it off? No! Papyrus would push even further! After all, he wasn’t friends with a fashion master for nothing!

Now, Papyrus realized he should check his phone for any updates on the previous night’s disturbance. He wouldn’t want to be late. While more than enough of these events had turned out to just be hoaxes or pranks, Papyrus would never be caught off-guard! Asgore even said that he was essential to how far monster-human relations had come, and essential he would remain! Until everyone stopped fighting and everyone was satisfied, he would never stop!

Hm. Papyrus saw nothing when he opened his phone. He swiped a few times with his gloved hands, the screen responding instantly thanks to years upon years of practice. When he checked the history, he saw no other notifications either. How peculiar. Undyne and Asgore always gave a report before retiring for the night, even if it was nothing. Perhaps, they both had gotten a bit tired?

Ah well, he would check in with them first thing! Papyrus began to waltz down the stairs, making his way to the garage. Their house had stayed relatively the same since leaving the Underground, a trait it typically retained, but a few modifications were made. The garage was essential for Papyrus’ car… and for impromptu locking-people-away-during-parties. Sometimes it simply had to be done… Even after all these years, Toriel still had her nights.

As Papyrus entered the garage, he immediately turned his head to look at a patch of dirt he always kept exposed in the corner. After all, he would not want Flowey to be cold if he visited! One time, Flowey had been forced to wait outside, and he got so annoyed that he tried to surface through the floorboards. Papyrus did not want a repeat of Flowey accidentally resurfacing in the sink. It could never happen again.

The dirt patch began to shift. Ah, Papyrus did have a visitor today! As expected, Flowey rose up from the dirt, shaking off his petals and checking to make sure his faded ribbon was still attached. Flowey also knew style.

“Howdy Papyrus!” Flowey greeted, a wide smile immediately appearing on his face. Cheery as always! “Up early as usual?”

An unseen wind picked up behind Papyrus’ scarf while he put a hand on his chest. “Of course I am! I would never be found slacking!”

“Good! Good.” Flowey immediately dropped his tone, glancing around the room like he was about to share a secret. Oh, this was a fan club secret, something that he wanted to keep between the two of them. Immediately, Papyrus leaned over while Flowey started whispering, “Say, I know you just woke up, but you haven’t heard anything weird, have you?”

Hm… No, he couldn’t say that he had. Except… “As a matter of fact, I didn’t get my usual report from Undyne or Asgore last night! I am sure they have merely forgotten, and I was about to check in on them myself!”

Considering the smile only growing on Flowey’s face, that must have been an answer he was looking for. He tilted his head, offering something himself, “Well that’s odd. You know, I actually have a problem of my own, but I think I might need some help from the Great Papyrus. Of course, I wouldn’t want to interrupt you.”

Help? He would always be there to help, especially for a friend! “And what would that be my flowery friend?” He appreciated the consideration, but until he had any news, no impromptu meetings would be made with his colleagues today!

Flowey’s smile only grew brighter. He straightened up a bit, petals looking just a bit more spry. “Y’see, I’ve been looking for something… let’s just say… weird. I’m not sure what I’m looking for, but I’m just trying to figure out if anything new is going on!” His eyes glanced to the side like he was trying to figure out how to word what he wanted. “It’s like there’s a buzz around town, but… you know how it is with talking to monsters going about their day… They won’t stop for lil ol’ me.”

Nonsense! Any self-respecting monster would stop for a small, talking flower! Although, Papyrus understood that Flowey may still be getting some flak from the locals thanks to his numerous pitfalls in the winter. Ah well, it couldn’t be helped. “I would be more than happy to talk to everyone! I’m sure I can find… whatever it is you’re looking for!”

“Really? That’s great! You’re the best.” One of Flowey’s vines popped out of the ground, resting against his face like he was thinking. “Tell you what, I’ll go check in on Undyne and Asgore for you! Make it easier! I can be fast, anyway. If ya find anything, then how about we meet near the lake? Just call for me!”

Ah, of course! Flowey didn’t have a phone, so a nice meeting location would be a good idea! Besides, checking on Undyne and Asgore would likely go much faster than Papyrus’ own socializing, so Flowey would probably get there first. Flowey always had the best of plans!

Papyrus nodded, immediately agreeing, “Very well! I will see what I can find! Do tell Undyne if you see her that her slacking does not bode well for our next spar!” Honestly! Sleep was one thing, but the lack of an update… well… it quite frankly unnerved Papyrus a bit. He wouldn’t call Undyne punctual herself, but she always minded Papyrus’ own punctuality!

“Will do!” Flowey winked. “See ya later, Papyrus! Don’t forget our meeting spot!” After his parting words, Flowey vanished into the dirt once more, his stylish ribbon going with him. 

Well then! This certainly was not how Papyrus saw his day going, but he would accept the new challenge nonetheless! Besides, it gave him an excuse to see how everyone was doing! As an ambassador, it was his duty to make sure everyone’s needs were being met! He would not want Frisk to be worried about anything on his end! No no! He had it handled.

When Frisk rejected being an ambassador, Asgore ended up realizing that the King of Monsters being an ambassador may not necessarily work out. So, he needed someone who would make a good impression on the humans, and who better to call upon than the Great Papyrus!? Frisk even suggested that he should take on the role, and he could not have agreed more! After all, his first impression with the humans after the barrier broke had gone swimmingly!

…If by swimmingly, he meant that one of them screamed in what was definitely shock at Papyrus’ brilliance. The shove that came afterwards caused Papyrus to simply transition into a backflip, which shocked the humans so much that they just had to hear what he needed to say!

Ah, good times.

Papyrus wiped an invisible tear from his eye while he got in his car. He made sure the mirrors were well adjusted, straightened his shades, and turned the keys. Seatbelt? On! Lights? Ready should Papyrus need them! Deployable tile puzzle in case a person needed impromptu enrichment? OF COURSE HE HAD IT READY!

The garage door opened. Instead of putting the pedal to the metal, Papyrus responsibly pulled out of his driveway to check for any pedestrians. THEN he put the pedal to the metal!

…before immediately slowing down, because he would never do such a thing as speed through a residential area loudly! His car was electric and a tad quieter, but that wasn’t the point! It was the principle of the matter!

Thus began Papyrus’ morning of asking around town for anything… well… off. Many monsters shook their heads and greeted him, asking whether or not his house would be used for another holiday celebration. While not every monster was invited, it became a spectacle to watch the surrounding hijinks and lowjinks. Of course, he would always be hosting! As if he would miss out on a time with all of his friends in one place!

The plot began to thicken when Papyrus stopped by QC’s. It was a respectable establishment unlike that grease-filled Grillby’s. Breakfast was the most important meal of the day after all, and QC herself was preparing for the day. She made mention of someone staring from across the street for a bit before continuing on. “Poor thing looked like they hadn’t seen a wink of sleep. Would’ve offered ‘em something if they came in, but they were rushin’.”

Aha! Well, someone in need of a quick breakfast? That would be an easier solution! Papyrus asked for a description. After all, if someone was stressed, he would find out why immediately to un-stress them! The description was odd, but Papyrus could work with it! He’d never seen another monster like Asgore or Toriel, but he supposed that he believed that before Toriel appeared as well! Perhaps, another cloning was afoot!

Papyrus began to ask around town, pulling to the side of the road to ask passerbys if they had seen someone fitting that description. A Woshua only complained of filthyness and walked away! A few monsters pointed Papyrus in a direction towards the edge of town! Ah, that would be troublesome! It was in the complete opposite direction of the lake! Oh well, Papyrus wouldn’t be set back by those things! He would just have to drive this friend across town if they were what Flowey was looking for!

When Papyrus looked down the road to the nearby bus stop, it turned out that he had been on the right track! Another cloning must have been afoot, because this monster looked almost exactly as Papyrus imagined in his head when given a description. Although, they looked a tad lost in thought, staring off into nothing while reaching out a hand.

Ah well, Papyrus would just have to introduce himself!

He drove up close to the bus stop, but not nearly close enough just in case the bus ended up arriving! He wouldn’t want to block traffic, after all! 

“Hello there!” Papyrus called out, which seemed to instantly get the monster’s attention! “A little someone told me there might be someone new in town, and it seems I have found you!” He pointed a finger at the monster, satisfied that a sleuthing had gone correctly!

A few beats of silence followed.

The monster’s eyes went wide for only a moment before their face lost almost all expression. While that was concerning, they immediately put their pen and notebook into a bag before looking at Papyrus expectantly.

Well! That was all right! Papyrus could lead this conversation! “A friend of mine thought there might be someone new, and well, what kind of ambassador would I be if I did not seek you out for an introduction immediately!?”

Slowly, the monster tilted their head. “You’re the ambassador?” They asked, as if the idea was preposterous. 

“Well of course! Surely, you have heard of the Great Papyrus?” His title always did well even though he was not actively working towards being in the Royal Guard anymore. He had found a new, fulfilling purpose. “And who might you be?”

The monster blinked a few times before nodding their head. Ah, so they did know him! Every now and then they anxiously glanced down the road as if waiting for something. “What do you want?”

A bit prickly, but nothing Papyrus hadn’t already dealt with! They just seemed a bit on-edge. Papyrus knew how early mornings could be for others. Not everyone could achieve a level of greatness this early! “Right now, just something to call you! A friend of mine was looking for you as well!”

Immediately, the monster’s expression darkened. Again, their eyes glanced down the road. “No time. Looking for someone.” They pointed at the map of the bus route. “Flowey or Frisk.”

Ah, well that was quite convenient! Although, Papyrus did have to ask. “Er… is there a particular reason why you would need Frisk?” Flowey was more than a good person to try to find right now for obvious reasons, but Frisk…

Well, Frisk deserved some time to enjoy their own life for a bit! Admittedly, Toriel had grown concerned with how much time Frisk tended to spend handling ambassador work when it really wasn’t their responsibility anymore! Whenever something came up, Frisk always rushed home from college. They did inform Frisk somewhat, but everyone had quietly agreed to try to handle things on their end to give Frisk some time to figure out what they wanted to do!

After all, they hadn’t quite figured that out yet. They had a few ideas, but they seemed particularly drained every time Papyrus involved them in ambassador work.

No more! Frisk would find their calling, and they would enjoy it!

The monster elaborated, their voice growing more direct instead of the whisper it started as. “Yes. Frisk or Flowey. Have a problem that I need them for.” 

Ah! It was an “or” situation rather than an “and”! Papyrus could work with that! Unfortunately, he realized that the monster had once again evaded the name question! They were a slippery snail, but maybe they were just shy! “Now, while I cannot take you to Frisk, as they are attending to very important matters…” Like enjoying life! “As it turns out, Flowey was the friend who has been looking for you!”

The monster blinked a few times as if they had misheard him. The neutrality on their face broke for a moment. When they glanced down the road again, they must have finally spotted what they were waiting for. The bus had arrived.

However, Papyrus’ persuasion must have worked, because the monster rose to their feet. They gathered up their bag, walking towards Papyrus’ car. “Take me to him. Please,” they begged, almost to the point of sounding desperate. “Do you know where he is?”

“It’s actually incredibly convenient! He told me to meet him at the lake shortly!” Really, wasn’t it great how things just worked out? Papyrus didn’t even have to look for long, and he had already swayed this monster into meeting one of his best friends! “I was just about to drive over there now if you would like to join!”

The monster stared at the car door for a moment. Their gaze flicked back to the bus, as if they were weighing their options. Warily, they glanced at Papyrus one more time with a low question, “You’re… not lying, right?”

Him? Lying? He rarely considered doing such a thing! “No! Only truths here! Now Flowey, he would perhaps lie,” Papyrus admitted, but shook his head when he realized he’d gotten off track. “-but maybe that is why he entrusted me to find you!”

A grimace formed on the monster’s face. They set their jaw before opening the car door, finally relenting. The bus went on its way, and the monster joined Papyrus for an impromptu friend finding session. As the monster buckled in, they secured their bag at their feet before staring straight ahead like they didn’t want to look at him.

That was fine! This was a brilliant success for the Great Papyrus! Now, onward to Flowey!

Something had to be wrong, right?

That went too well. The Angel knew that went too well. Not only did they get to skip the bus ride, but they got to skip hunting down Frisk and Flowey. Even if they were wrong here and their paranoia was correct, they could just… reload their save point to try the bus. Part of them considered shutting their eyes now just to confirm where Flowey was, but Papyrus kept saying things that the Angel needed to respond to.

“So!” Papyrus started again as they turned around down the street. “I never did manage to catch your name!”

They needed a fake name at this point. Every time someone asked them and they didn’t use their real name, suspicion naturally grew. “Don’t have one anymore,” the Angel settled on, because at least they could say that with honesty. Even though they remembered what their name should be, their save points didn’t reflect that anymore. Oh well, at least part of the save point’s still functioned correctly considering that the last one healed the remainder of their health.

It did nothing for their horn though. Oh well, that thing was more useful detached anyway.

“Aha! I think I get it now!” Papyrus exclaimed, keeping his eyes on the road but seemingly being very enthralled by everything the Angel said. “Well, do take your time finding a name that makes you comfortable! Do you have something people should call you in the meantime?”

That was the second time someone had brought up comfort with names. No one ever acted weird about it until the Angel said what they were really called, “Don’t think you’d believe me if I told you.” After all, Undyne laughed in their face when they claimed people called them the Angel. At least Papyrus had been more amicable. Honestly, they were just glad that Papyrus’ “friend” who was “looking for them” wasn’t Undyne.

Papyrus’ eye-sockets squinted for a moment behind his shades. “Nonsense! Although, I am not sure what you mean by believe you…”

Sure. Fine. They’d try this one on for size. Maybe someone who wasn’t Undyne would be even slightly more receptive to what they were actually called. “My friends call me ‘the Angel’. Or sometimes just Angel when they’re panicking.” It was different to talk to someone who didn’t want to have their head for just existing. Maybe, that would’ve been different if Papyrus saw their soul, but he was shockingly easy to talk to. It didn’t feel like he had ulterior motives. He was straightforward almost to a fault, and that hadn’t changed now.

Interestingly, the name wasn’t what Papyrus got hung up on. The moment he heard about the Angel having friends, he latched onto it instantly. “I assume you are from the city then? I do not believe I have met you before, and I remember every new face I meet!”

Would it… be dumb to tell Papyrus what was going on here? Of course it would. Papyrus knew Sans, and Papyrus would probably talk about his day. A rule still remained: Do not let Sans find out anything about them. Maybe they could just… at least mention why this was so urgent. After all, this moment with Papyrus would not last forever. Undyne and Asgore would be waking up soon, and as soon as that happened, Papyrus would probably be an enemy too even if he didn’t act like it.

Still, something deep in their soul stung when Papyrus said that he’d never met them before. Of course he didn’t. It was dumb to think that he would recognize them like this. It was dumb to think that he’d recognize them at all. These dumb sentimentalities needed to stay out of the way.

They so badly wanted to ask how he’d been. Finding out that he was the ambassador already put them off balance so much. The Angel couldn’t remember if they saddled Frisk with that responsibility during their last run. They couldn’t remember a lot of things about their last run. It was just… so long ago.

It also led to dangerous questions. How had Papyrus handled human politics? Where did he get the suit? Was he still happy? Was he enjoying the surface? Did he make any new friends? How were his friends doing? Did he still believe in them? Did he even remember them?

The Angel took a deep breath. “You haven’t met me.” They struggled to finish the thought, as if Papyrus would actually cast them aside for saying the wrong thing. It sure felt like it when Undyne didn’t believe them about their friends being in danger. But… this was Papyrus. “My friends… are in a lot of danger right now.”

Instantly, Papyrus’ jovial nature became almost serious. His whimsical nature narrowed alongside his eye-sockets. He could be serious. “That will not do! I could get Undyne to help! Flowey was just going to check on her, so she should be up and about fairly soon!”

Flowey was checking on Undyne? Suddenly, the problem with this drive became a bit more obvious. If Undyne woke up at all, then the Angel would be being hunted immediately. Still, it wasn’t the end of the world. The Angel could always load their save if Flowey inadvertently dragged Undyne to them. Besides… Undyne wasn’t… home right now. Maybe Flowey just… wouldn’t find her?

If he did, reloading may not even erase his memory.

Did the last reload even erase his memory?

The Angel shook their head. “Only Flowey and Frisk can do anything. It’s…” They shouldn’t even be talking about this, but for once they had someone listening to the words coming out of their mouth. It was strange. “It’s complicated.”

“Then I will get you to Flowey immediately!” Papyrus started driving marginally faster, but only marginally. He was actually quite a good driver. Despite being a skeleton, Papyrus did sweat slightly when he asked, “Although, if someone is in danger, then it would be best if we knew precisely what the danger was and how to help!”

The Angel stayed silent.

After all, the person who Papyrus would immediately tell about this problem didn’t believe the Angel. Papyrus might have something up his sleeves, but they could pursue that almost immediately after they’d spoken with Flowey. The solution had to be with Flowey. If it wasn’t, then they’d go to Frisk, and if Frisk didn’t work, then they could start… they could start using plans that had no chance of working.

Papyrus wouldn’t know a damn thing about them, even if he did hear them out. He wanted to help, but he couldn’t. Even if the Angel tried explaining now, by the time they would even get around to explaining Titans, they’d already be at the meeting place with Flowey.

Speaking of, Papyrus brought his car into a parking spot. The Angel could see sunlight reflecting off of water through the trees, and realized that they’d somehow missed an entire lake. Then again, it was on the opposite side of town. They stared for a moment too long. Once again, the odd similarities between Hometown and this town irked them. These two worlds always had a weird way of syncing up, and the Angel was beginning to hate it.

They’d been to this lake with friends once, but this wasn’t the right lake, and they weren’t with a friend.

Papyrus was just doing his due diligence. Soon, they would part ways, and that would be that.

“Admiring the lake?” Papyrus asked, snapping the Angel out of it. “It looks better up close! Here! Let me show you!” Without a moment to lose, Papyrus unlocked the car doors before leaping out of his seat. He landed outside of the car on the Angel’s side, opening their door for them and gesturing for them to come out.

They forgot how eccentric he could be. It almost made them smile, but their heart wasn’t in it. They had to get a move on. So, the Angel gathered their things, nodding to Papyrus as a thank-you and stepping out of the car. Even though Papyrus didn’t know them, he was still acting like more of a friend than anyone else had in the few minutes that the Angel had interacted with him.

It would be nice to linger, but they weren’t going to stay for long. At least, Papyrus made the road a little clearer. They could be grateful for that.

Papyrus got a move on towards the treeline. Instead of following the clear path towards the edge of the lake, Papyrus decided to take a path through the trees. Not that the Angel was ungrateful for staying more out of sight with a potentially angry Undyne roaming around, but this felt suspicious. Cautiously, they questioned, “Why are we going off the trail?”

“Oh!” The skeleton stopped for a second. “Flowey does NOT like to speak in the open! He is quite shy, especially around people not part of the conversation!” 

The Angel supposed that made sense. Flowey only ever appeared to Papyrus when no one else was looking in the Underground. In the timeline the Angel experienced, Flowey was so elusive that Sans partially attributed him to an echo flower. Whether or not Sans actually believed that tale was up for debate, but Flowey did value subtlety at times.

So, the two of them continued a little bit around the lake. When Papyrus was certain that no one would be able to spy, he called out, “Flowey?! We’re here!”

Something in the Angel’s soul twisted. They didn’t… quite realize just what they were getting into the moment Papyrus called out. The goal of actually getting to Frisk and Flowey kept slipping further and further away every time the Angel thought they were making progress. It made it easier for them to stave off that tingling feeling in their fingertips that wanted to spread throughout their entire body.

The Angel and Flowey hadn’t exactly left each other on good terms.

They never really got to talk to him, and yet he got to talk at them as much as he wanted. He identified them for what they were, and then was so certain that they would take everything away. So, Flowey instructed them how to do it painlessly. He told them to take his own memories. He knew they would take everything back.

Susie always tried to tell the Angel that Flowey was wrong, but he knew their next move before they even took it. He knew their next move hundreds of times over.

It was fitting that Flowey already knew to look for them.

Even now, he must have somehow known their next move.

A patch of dirt slowly began to rise up. The Angel steeled themself, trying to hide the way their hands trembled by gripping their branch tighter. Flowey was looking for them. That… didn’t say much about what he wanted, but it meant that the Angel had a chance to speak to him.

They couldn’t afford to mess this up now.

From that patch of dirt rose an initially inconspicuous, golden flower. The Angel knew his face instantly when that cheery smile rose up. It looked like it faltered for just a moment when he looked at the Angel, but then the smile plastered itself right back on as if Flowey’s face couldn’t make a single other expression.

The Angel tried to match him by receding from their vessel slightly. The fear coursing through their soul didn’t allow them to.

Neither spoke, and the Angel became very conscious of the face they wore now. Flowey only looked at them with that same, blank smile, like he dared them to make the first move. Of course, any move they made, he probably already knew.

The Angel’s grip on their branch tightened. All of the words that they thought they could say already scrambled far into the recesses of their mind. It was easier to minimize Flowey when the Angel had an entire plane of existence to hide behind, but now they were standing face to face, and that flower betrayed nothing in his expression.

Papyrus cleared his non-existent throat, but neither of the two heads turned his way. Undeterred, he tried to introduce the two of them, “It appears that this is a rather convenient circumstance, Flowey, because as it turns out, the Angel was looking for you as well!”

Oh my god, he actually fully agreed to call them by their title. In front of Flowey, that was a living nightmare. The Angel suddenly regretted ever being snarky with their name as Flowey sized them up, never once breaking that plastered smile on his face. “Wow, Papyrus! You really do work fast!” For the briefest of moments, Flowey broke eye-contact, glancing at Papyrus instead. “Say, you wouldn’t mind if we talked in private for a second, would ya?”

The safety of Papyrus being nearby was about to be stripped away. Every ounce of the Angel wanted to protest, but they knew just as well as Flowey that Papyrus couldn’t be here for what was about to be discussed. If Flowey was going to be able to help, then the Angel had to tell him everything. Once again, he knew their next move.

The Angel just hoped that they weren’t making a grave mistake.

Papyrus glanced at the Angel with a questioning look. Slowly, they nodded their head. It… it was fine. This had to happen one way or another. Besides, Flowey only ever talked to the Angel directly when no one was around to hear. This… this was normal. Nothing about this situation was weird.

Again, they tried to calm their nerves. Their vessel wouldn’t get any further away.

“Hm… very well! I shall be back shortly! I would not want our friend here to be stranded since I kept them from the bus, after all!” Papyrus receded from the conversation, but gave the Angel a thumbs-up that was probably meant to be reassuring. He must have seen the tension in their shoulders, but respected their wishes to be given privacy regardless.

The Angel did not take their eyes off of Flowey. That smile didn’t vanish a single time, and Flowey every now and then glanced away to see how far Papyrus was getting. The flower did however break the silence to idly comment, “Don’t worry! Just a fewww more steps, and he’ll be out of earshot!”

It. Was just. Flowey.

He had been so changed by the events of the Underground and his small time as Asriel… that he begged the Angel not to turn back the clock. 

So, why did their soul scream at them to run?

The Angel took a deep breath. Trying their hardest to keep their voice steady, they finally talked to the one person who knew them anymore. “I know I shouldn’t be here, but-”

Something pulled on their soul.

It flashed three times on their chest, bursting to life with one final trill.

The Angel didn’t have a chance before the entire world around them became indistinct. Any color around vanished into black and white, and the Angel knew this feeling too well for it to be anything else.

Blistering pain split through their head. The Angel’s hands grasped at their fur, trying to fight the burning sensation off. This… this wasn’t how their soul was meant to fight. The rules of battle started to shift to constrain them. Options became locked away. In a world covered in light, they couldn’t call on much of their own. Tension depleted. Defending became instinct rather than an action. The Angel’s soul diminished, and so did they in the clutches of battle that they were no longer accustomed to.

As soon as they had their footing, the Angel inadvertently acted, trying to plead, “I need your help! I’m trying to leave! Don’t fight me-”

“The Angel, huh?” Flowey’s plastered smile stayed on for a few moments longer, but it started to lose its cohesion when he started laughing. “Is that what you made him call you? You think you can steal everything about me, don’t you?”

No- no, they weren’t the same thing as him! They weren’t trying to be-

The Angel glanced around when they felt an attack coming. The world around them had become protected by the very barrier that the Angel hid their party behind whenever fights broke out. The two of them existed in the space in-between now, and the Angel’s soul wasn’t called out.

Their entire body had to dodge.

The bullet board wasn’t supposed to do this. This- this wasn’t-

When the Angel felt something coming from below, they tried to lunge to the side. The Dark World allowed fluidity. Things became indistinct. Without that on their side, they only had the cold, harsh reality of a thorny vine coiling around their body.

In an instant, the vine suspended the Angel in the air. Thorns pierced their fur and skin. An iron grip wrapped around their body, and when the Angel tried to breathe, they could only muster a half-gasp for air. As if mocking them, the vines coiled around tighter.

Desperately, they tried to explain, “Not… trying… …accident!” They couldn’t force out the words. Every time they tried, the vines grew tighter. The end of it started to coil near their neck.

Flowey’s smile finally had vanished. It turned into that malicious, enraged grin that he always had when he was truly relishing in something. “Then why do you look like me? Better get explaining, because Papyrus will be back soon!”

Papyrus… would be back soon. They just had to stall, but-

The vine around their neck grew tighter. The Angel could hear their heartbeat in their ears. Think faster. Think of something. “Got… sent here. Needed vessel. Accidentally…” The thorns pierced their neck. The Angel didn’t have the wherewithal to see their own health anymore. Pain became far too real for the numbers to matter. They couldn’t get out of their vessel. “Trying… to leave. Like… you wanted. Needed your hel-” A vine snapped around the Angel’s snout, clamping it shut.

“You’re saying a lot of things that I. Don’t. Care about.” Flowey rose up on his stem, getting onto eye-level with the Angel as the vine started to wrap around their snout, clamping their jaw shut. “Waltzing around in a dead kid’s corpse… for everyone to see… just to mock me by making Papyrus call you something that you’re not.” The vine loosened, allowing them to speak again. “Try again.”

Darkness started to build in the corner of the Angel’s vision. Something wispy sifted onto the vines around them. Something red joined the dust, impossibly intertwining with it in a way it never should. “Not… from your world…” The Angel tried again. Please, they just needed for him to listen. Listen to anything. Listen please. The vine around their neck tightened even further. It wanted to give. “Was dying. Needed a vessel. Took yours. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

Flowey shut them up again, his own eyes finally seeing the blood on his vines. Somehow, that made him loosen the vines around the Angel ever-so-slightly, like he found them interesting enough to keep them alive for just a bit longer. His eyes went to their soul, and recognition finally flashed.

That jagged grin came back, and Flowey’s eyes darkened. “Oh, you messed soooo many things up, didn’t ya?” Why was he doing this? Didn’t he- the vines tightened again- didn’t he change? Wasn’t- wasn’t he Asriel-like now? Why was he- “Human soul… bleeding… monster body that’s not yours…” A second vine extended upward, lightly patting the Angel on the head. “And you’re so weak. I find it hard to believe you toppled Undyne and Asgore at the same time. So, what are you really? I don’t think we got to talk much last time.”

He knew. He saw what they did. They couldn’t stay like this. The vines loosened enough. The Angel had to get out of here. They… they still had tricks. They still had a way to fight back. Even though their body ached, they could still-

Orange flared to life along their soul. The Angel summoned all of their remaining strength, trying to burst forward from the vines. Just like with Undyne, the grasp on the Angel shattered, and they managed to touch the ground before becoming shrouded in orange light.

They got a step forward before another vine wrapped around their ankle.

Something else shattered.

Another vine wrapped around the Angel’s snout before they could scream, their foot unnaturally bending in the vine that had caught it. Only a muffled sound came out as the world turned sideways. Vines dragged them to the ground, holding them in place.

Can’t escape.

Can’t move.

Their soul struggled against the confines, but their leg no longer responded. Thoughts started to break apart. The question of why Flowey would do this started to crumble away. It no longer mattered. Only the blistering pain took over their thoughts. Away. Away. Convince him to get away.

Flowey popped up next to their head again. “No running! We’re still chatting! Besides, this’ll all be over when youuuu load your save!” He lightly tapped a less thorny vine against their head. How… how did he know- “So it was you! Would’ve been awkward if it wasn’t, huh? I would’ve had to make up a whole story about how you slipped into the lake and broke it…” He mused like it was any other day, cheerily recounting what he would’ve done. “You must feel so lucky. You can end this at any point, but you’re still here! Must mean you want something.”

The vines around their head loosened. Staggered breaths came out of the Angel’s mouth, and they couldn’t see through the water in their eyes. This- they’d never- how were they supposed to- they needed Flowey.

“Ugh, don’t be such a crybaby. Blegh.” He still looked away from them for a second. “Come on! You didn’t look for lil ol’ me for nothing, didja?”

They didn’t.

But Flowey wasn’t going to help.

This… this couldn’t be for nothing. It would be… it would be wasted time if it was for nothing! Even if they loaded their save, Flowey would just come after them. He knew the Angel was waiting on the bus. They couldn’t- they couldn’t get away with the save. They were stuck.

“P-please-” They begged again, their voice breaking. They weren’t used to this amount of pain. They were never supposed to feel any pain. Why could they feel this? “Just… need to get home. My friends are… they’re dying.” Flowey looked at them like they were the most pathetic thing imaginable, and he didn’t care at all about that fact. “I know… you hate me. You don’t… have to help.” There was someone else who could help. They just… needed Flowey to let the Angel see them. The first name that came to mind wasn’t Frisk, but rather the one person who mentioned moving to other worlds. “If you just… bring me to Frisk, then Chara could help.”

For the briefest of moments, the vines around the Angel loosened. Flowey’s practiced grin faltered. His eyes went wide when he stared at the Angel with nothing but confusion, and he growled, “What did you say?”

They- Flowey should know by now, right? It- how long had it been? Surely Chara would’ve told him that they were around! “Did they… not-”

The vines lifted the Angel off of the ground. Flowey’s jagged grin returned, and renewed fury entered the air around the Angel. “You want me to bring you to Chara, huh? You think you can still mock me?”

The world blurred. Vines crashed down into the earth, slamming the Angel down after them.

The Angel’s skull crashed into the dirt. Searing pain blasted through their previously healed wound and rippled through the rest of their head.

Stop. Stop. They couldn’t call out. Too much. They weren’t able to think-

Again, they were lifted only for a moment before the vines sent them hurtling into the ground. New agony burst from the Angel’s chest. They couldn’t breathe anymore. They couldn’t escape their vessel. Something in their ribcage shattered. Their body started losing cohesion. “I’ll show you Chara.”

Load the save. They needed to load the save.

The Angel started pulling on the fragment of a flickering light somewhere in their soul. They could still feel it as they were dragged once more into the air. Slowly, the world started to stutter through the pain, and they tried to reach back-

The cluster of vines slammed them down into the ground. For only a moment, the Angel caught Flowey’s gaze, and he looked at them with nothing but hatred.

At an angle it couldn’t withstand, the Angel’s head smashed into the ground again. A sickening crack filled the air, and it became the last sound they heard.

A vessel disconnected.

It went limp, head twisted far past the point of no return. It could see nothing, for the soul within it began to tremble as it rose from the body.

Nothing remained to defend the soul.

Before it could be claimed by any force, a fissure tore across its surface. In an instant, it shattered into pieces, leaving an empty vessel behind.

Flowey didn’t know when he stopped slamming the monster into the ground, only that he eventually stopped when he realized that they weren’t turning to dust.

Curiosity was the only thing that placated his rage.

They weren’t going to get a freebie out of him. If they wanted to mock him, then he would just have to send them back to their save-point the ol’ fashioned way!

When the world started stuttering, and when Flowey felt them pulling on their save, he took matters into his own hands.

That oddly human soul shattered. The body had long started wisping into dust while that monster struggled, but as soon as the soul was gone, all of that loss of cohesion suddenly stopped.

That was when he finally stopped trying to turn them into a fine powder.

Really, he’d wanted to turn that sniveling face of his into dust for a while now. Putting such an idiotic personality into that body only made it all the better. If they wanted to mock him, then he would at least give them a death fitting of the stupid face that they wore.

He should’ve felt something when his LOVE increased. Some horror that he’d sunken deep into his old ways should’ve come. Maybe, he might’ve even been a little miffed about having to deal with Frisk’s lectures later.

The rage didn’t subside.

How dare they bring up Chara?

Small problem: the body wasn’t dusting.

Flowey poked it with a vine.

Again, it lost no cohesion. Maybe, the weird bleeding thing had something to do with it. Egh, that was going to be annoying. Oh well, they should load their save soon, so Flowey would be consequence free. He wasn’t really hurting anyone, Frisk! It was all going to be undone in a second.

The body started changing.

All of the color drained. Those stupid fur and horn changes turned into nothing but a grey, lifeless husk.

Huh…

It still wasn’t turning to dust.

Why wasn’t it turning to dust?

Pain ceased to be.

Everything ceased to be.

And yet, there should have been something when the nothingness took the Angel in its grasp.

All that remained was failure.

Death should have allowed them to lean back. It should’ve allowed them to take a break to reevaluate what needed to be done. Maybe, they’d hop right back in, but sometimes they just needed a moment to think.

So why could they only see nothing?

They tried to turn their head. No head was connected, but there should have been one. They lost. The game was over. For a moment while they made their choice, they should’ve no longer been the Angel. Where…

There wasn’t anything else.

Even now, there was nothing else.

The pain had been real. The panic surged through their vessel. Labored breathing came through that vessel’s nose. Their entire being shattered into pieces. It should’ve been impossible to feel any of those things. It could not reach out to give them pain, because they should be beyond it.

Their entire being had been torn asunder. Their battered body couldn’t take anymore. A soul, something that should have only represented them, shattered when they did.

No panic could come. They did not have a vessel anymore to express that fear. Nothing existed beyond this now. Whatever they once were, they remembered, but they could not reach for it any longer.

Perhaps, it died when they did.

Maybe, it faded when they failed the first time.

No friends called out for them to tell them that this wasn’t their fate. No one begged for them to get back up to continue the fight. All that remained for them was the darkness that crushed their light so effortlessly. It beckoned them.

No panic came. Only an odd comfort pulled them deeper.

“IT APPEARS YOU HAVE REACHED.”

“AN END.”

Something cradled the fragments of what they were, piecing it together to bring some semblance of an existence back to them. The memory of pain finally returned, but they could not feel it anymore. It was too distant now, just as it should be, but not for the reasons that it used to be.

“WILL YOU TRY AGAIN?”

It was always an easy question.

They knew the consequences now for what happened when the world went on without them.

But this place didn’t know pain. It didn’t know anything. It didn’t know panic. It didn’t know fear. It was nothing, and it clawed them down further.

They weren’t beyond it anymore.

Were they tired?

They thought so.

Would it be… so bad… to just accept for once that they could not do this?

Just one time, would it be okay to let go?

“YOU MUST MAKE.”

“A CHOICE.”

Asgore looked at them with discomfort every time he saw them, and they fought him in the end. Undyne loathed them, their words never sticking like they used to when they were a mere command. Papyrus would soon learn of what they had done, and he would likely try to follow their rules as well. And Flowey…

Flowey killed them.

They were incapable without commands. Words did not flow anymore without someone to interpret them. Their battle tactics had grown sloppy. Moving a soul did not translate to fighting with one’s entire body. A vessel of their own had never been given, and perhaps that was by design. They were only ever good at commanding others. They were only ever good at tactics. Those vessels… those friends… were a piece of them that had now been taken away.

Their determination grew weak, because it was easy to persist through death when one did not know the pain of it. 

Getting back up meant accepting that this could happen again.

They knew what it meant to die now.

To feel the bones break.

To feel the wounds becoming fatal.

To finally succumb.

To truly die.

They were nothing without walls they could hide behind. It was foolish to think that they would be capable if they merely had a vessel. It was foolish to think that they could stand on even ground with those who risked their lives against an encroaching prophecy.

They should be ashamed.

This was why they were meant to be fine with being discarded. This was the difference that they so desperately wanted to ignore. The stakes were never the same. They merely whined and cried while friends risked pain and death every time in their stead.

They deserved this death.

No choice had been made yet. Something waited anxiously for a decision.

They deserved it.

They failed.

Something tugged on them.

Like something grabbing a sleeve that wasn’t there, they found themself being guided along. They didn’t know why they followed, only that they did.

They never really needed a vessel to hear, and they thought something drifted through the nothingness.

Something called out.

They could not respond, but they waited.

Did… did they hear anything calling out?

Silence was all that remained here, and when they strained to listen, nothing came for a while. It made them think that nothing was ever there at all. Then, something just a little more than the nothingness around them pulled on them again, drawing them closer.

No, it sounded like music.

A distant song echoed from somewhere in the expanse. Maybe, they imagined it, but they thought something drifted towards them. They remembered liking that song. 

Someone sang it to them once.

Someone they missed.

Making a choice not informed by the passage of time for once, they listened for a little longer.

Something began to retreat from what remained of their soul. A soothing warmth took its place. They imagined holding it close, but knew that it was too far away.

The song sounded sad.

If they could, they might’ve laughed. They might’ve even cried. Instead, nothing came out, but they listened to the song anyway.

Someone would be very sad if they gave up now.

Someone counted on them not to give up now.

Someone knew they wouldn’t give up now.

They wouldn’t have to think about it anymore…

…if they just let go.

A selfish decision.

They’d made too many of those. Anyone waiting for them knew this pain of dying already, and here they were, struggling to persist. Countless people they’d met had fallen by their hands, the Angel inflicting death of their own. What right did they have to say that they had given enough, when it would take countless more deaths to make things even?

The singing stopped.

It was okay. They didn’t need to be convinced.

Until things had been made right, they could not stop. If it destroyed them, it would only make things even. It didn’t matter. It never mattered. The only thing that mattered was getting back up.

It would be enough.

Light welled up in the soul once more. A flickering patch of sunlight answered the call.

Time to wake up.

“THEN THE FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS.”

Every sense crashed back into the Angel at once. They choked on air when they found themself sitting at a bus stop once more. Immediately, they shot to their feet, but their balance didn’t hold. They grasped their walking stick like a lifeline, breathing heavily while they tried to stabilize the world around them.

Panic didn’t exist while dead, but it sure did now.

The… the bus. They needed to get… on the bus. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about the phantom wounds all over their body. The wounds weren’t real anymore, but the pain had already been etched in their mind. It couldn’t be forgotten.

A red car pulled up. Papyrus. 

There wasn’t even time to understand what they’d just been through. There wasn’t any time to remember how they died. In this world, they were no longer afforded that time. 

Papyrus didn’t say what he did before. The moment he made eye-contact with the Angel, his grandeur and pride at finding them vanished. “Oh! Did I startle you? That tends to happen when in the presence of such greatness, I understa-”

“Not going with you. Leave.” The Angel couldn’t go with him again. They needed him to go away. No, they didn’t need that. They needed him to stay. If he didn’t stay, then Flowey would find them. The Angel grasped at their head, trying to think faster. “No, not that, stay here. Stay right here.”

The bus wasn’t coming fast enough.

Papyrus squinted. He tried to put on a smile, the grandeur once more diminishing when he realized it wasn’t working. “I can certainly see that you are a bit tense! Not to worry! I merely had a friend looking for you, you see!”

He was probably already coming back. He bashed them into the ground until their soul shattered. The Angel remembered something splitting through their very being. They recalled with perfect clarity every time the vines strangled them further.

A patch of dirt nearby started to rise up.

No.

No no no.

Golden petals only had a chance to burst out of the ground before the Angel started calling upon the flickering patch of sunlight. The world stuttered again. Time toppled backwards. Flowey may remember, but if he never got the chance to touch them, if they never let him have a chance-

-then they would be safe. The Angel found themself sitting down at the bus stop again. No car. No Papyrus. No Flowey.

They could see him coming from down the road. The bus would take far too long to arrive. Flowey would get there before they even had a chance to get on. Flowey was going to kill them again. He was hunting for them.

It wouldn’t matter if Papyrus was there. If the Angel died, then everything would wind backwards anyway. It wasn’t like Papyrus could stop Flowey either. That flower knew every trick the skeleton had, and Flowey already managed to catch the Angel off guard. He wasn’t afraid to hurt them like Undyne and Asgore.

As Papyrus pulled up in his car, the Angel whispered a “sorry” before red outlined their body.

Their soul flashed to life on their chest for anyone around to see, and they knew that no matter what they did now, they would likely end up right back at this save point.

But there was only one person they needed to find now.

“Um! Hello there!” Papyrus tried anyway. “New monster in town??? I do not believe you’re supposed to have tha- HEY!”

The Angel’s soul turned orange. The light spread across their body, and energy crackled around them. With the speed the soul granted them, they launched down the road in the vague direction that they thought the bus would take. They charted it out on their notepad just before, and tried to recall any details they remembered. The campus was its own separate thing, and on the opposite side of the city from a beach that the Angel couldn’t spot with the terrain.

Multiple cars sped by as they bolted down the side of the road. So many people had probably seen the streak of orange, and their soul wasn’t exactly subtle either. Their only blessing might’ve been the fact that the orange light obfuscated their vessel just enough.

It had to be enough to stay away from Flowey. It had to be.

The Angel noticed a highway coming up. One of its exits led to the campus, but they had no idea which one. They were never good with directions. They only ever lucked into the right paths when they were trying to go for the wrong ones, which didn’t exactly help here.

While thinking, they heard something rushing up from behind.

Their soul modes were not faster than Papyrus’ car.

A red blur flew past them before slowing marginally back down to keep pace with them. Papyrus shouted over the rushing wind, “EXCUSE ME! THAT IS VERY RUDE OF YOU… UM… Er… what is your name?!”

The Angel didn’t answer, pivoting towards an entry ramp on the highway. Before they could even get on, the orange in their soul shifted in a dark blue. All speed became lost as something unceremoniously lifted them into the air.

Papyrus held a hand up in the air, sweating profusely. “THIS IS HIGHLY ILLEGAL BY THE WAY! Doing magic while driving is DANGEROUS!”

The Angel tried to change their soul color again. For a split second, it turned back to its usual orange hue, and they dropped to the ground. As soon as they thought they had their advantage back, Papyrus snapped his gloved fingers, sending their soul right back to blue.

Again, they tried to take control. Papyrus responded by turning it blue again. Back to orange. In the window, they tried to run. Gravity weighed them down again. The soul was blue.

“Since when could you do that without an attack?!?” The Angel yelled in exasperation. Undyne at least had to swing her spear to turn a soul green. That was the only reason the Angel could ever get the jump on her! 

“Since always???” Papyrus sounded confused. “I am a skeleton of many talents, and you my friend need to slow down! Not only is it incredibly dangerous to run into oncoming traffic, but your soul seems a bit topsy turvy!”

The Angel’s eyes darted all around. They couldn’t see any flower petals anywhere, but they hadn’t gone too far from town. Flowey would probably be able to track them down, and their soul wasn’t changing. Papyrus wasn’t weighing them down too much, but they had no chance in hell of running if they did try to make a break for it.

They just needed to run. If Flowey was coming, then they needed to try their damndest to shake him off. “Flowey’s going to kill me.” No filter existed anymore. They only managed to blurt out what they knew for sure, and they no longer cared what they gave away. “If you hold me here, he’s going to kill me.”

Papyrus opened his mouth to say something, but had to pause because that was not what he expected them to say. “I… think there has been some misunderstanding! Flowey is looking for you, yes! I know he can be a bit of a prankster… but…” He hummed, tapping his foot in thought.

When the Angel glanced down the road they’d just come down, they saw the bus headed their way.

This wasn’t a stop, but…

The Angel broke into a sprint towards the bus with their soul still blue.

“HEY!” Papyrus yelled, furrowing his bony brow, “You leave me no choice…! As the Ambassador of Monsterkind, I challenge you…” The Angel’s soul remained blue, but odd lights started to rise up all over Papyrus’ car.

The ground beneath their feet lit up into an array of colors.

Colored… squares.

“TO A PUZZLE THAT SHALL SURELY CONFOUND YOU!”

The bus was getting closer. The Angel tried to leap out of the tiles with the blue soul, but found that their path was impeded by a red tile from below. 

“Are you crazy?!” The Angel yelled in the middle of tiles that, for some reason, could affect them even though they were projections. Magic was stupid. This was stupid! “You’re going to get me killed!”

“No, my friend! You and I are going to have an enlightening conversation full of confessions! New friendships! And mending whatever prank Flowey has pulled on you this time!” Papyrus sounded so certain, pointing in their direction. “You will be so confounded by this puzzle, that you will have no choice but to come to your senses!”

Confounded? 

The bus was almost here. This wasn’t a bus stop. It was going to speed past them.

Fine. Papyrus wanted to give them a puzzle?

Fine.

The Angel sped towards a pink tile, knowing those were passable. They glanced to their right, seeing a water tile, but pivoted in the other direction because it was next to a yellow tile. While that landed them on a green tile, there were no monsters to fight. They were forced to step over an orange tile when they realized the route to get out, and had to restrategize due to a water tile impeding their way. They took a detour, finding a path of pink tiles that led to a purple tile. They slid across it, using their stick to balance themself when they emerged on the other side. Now they smelled like lemons, and they charged back down the path where they came.

Eyes bulged out of Papyrus’ eye sockets as the Angel crossed the final water tile on the edge of the maze. Using the blue soul that Papyrus had granted them, the Angel vaulted into the air. The bus sped by, and the Angel hung on desperately to their walking stick as they tumbled along the top of it.

They only hoped that this bus driver was not paid enough to care about what just happened.

Before the Angel could get lifted again, they called upon magic that had been weaponized against them multiple times already. Hoping that this soul mode didn’t work relative to the earth, the Angel shrouded their soul in a green hue.

The Angel rooted themself to the surface of the bus, and breathed a sigh of relief that they weren’t getting flung into open air.

Flowey… Flowey couldn’t get them up here. It was fine.

Papyrus yelled after them. A few times, he tried to turn their soul blue again, but unlike the orange mode, the Angel only needed to reestablish their own soul mode for it to do what they needed it to.

The Angel’s head flopped against the top of the bus while wind rushed over them.

Was this how Frisk felt every single time the Angel messed up?

Oh, congrats, you just died! Now, go through all the wacky hijinks again like nothing happened!

No one knew what happened to them. Only Flowey knew of their death. Everyone else treated them as they were before, as any other person. Memories only stayed for the one person who was actively hunting them down. The world didn’t wait for them to process any of it. It didn’t hold their breath for them anymore.

They had to rely on Frisk now.

With how many times the Angel reset and failed, they didn’t think it would do any good anymore. Flowey killed them without a second thought. What would someone like Frisk think? They were the Angel’s vessel for so long. They’d died so many times, especially in the pursuit of killing other monsters.

Only a dagger through the soul awaited them.

What other choice did they have?

The Angel yelped when the roof of the bus suddenly flipped. The rushing wind dissipated as they were suddenly tossed into the interior of the bus. Without being able to stop themself, they let their soul dissipate into their chest while falling before slamming into the floor.

The roof inverted again like nothing had happened.

A lizard-like monster at the front, the bus driver, did not acknowledge them with anything but a low chuckle, “Wouldn’t want to lose ya under an overpass, now would we? You flying types never use the doors the normal way.”

The Angel didn’t recognize that voice, nor did they remember the face. Were… there places or people they missed? They were having trouble processing that amidst… whatever just happened. Warily, they eyed the roof before trying to push themself back up to their feet. Everything in this world was designed to kill them. They checked to make sure everything was still in their back and in their possession, and thankfully nothing was amiss.

The bus driver didn’t acknowledge them further. The Angel thought that they’d have to pay or be questioned. Maybe, the bus driver wasn’t paying attention to the small light on a monster’s chest while driving by.

They needed to count their blessings and sit down.

Flowey couldn’t reach them here. Papyrus couldn’t do anything with them when they were inside a bus.

It… it was safe now.

…for now.

The Angel sat down in a seat, burying their head in their hands. Time had been given, and they should use it wisely. The right thing to do would be to think about Frisk to locate them, but even imagining closing their eyes right now sent shivers down their spine. Vines could creep up on them when they were away. They wouldn’t be able to do anything if Flowey somehow got to them.

Blood pumped through their ears. It hadn’t calmed down ever since they loaded their save.

Calm down. Just… just calm down.

Frisk would be close soon.

It was all going to be over soon.

Please, it had to be over soon.

The Angel caught motion through the window across from them. When they lifted their head to see, their eyes went wide.

Papyrus drove alongside the bus, his cape flapping in the wind. He stood up in his own car, cracking his knuckles with his hands off the steering wheel. The Angel was certain that he would crash, but he tilted his steering wheel ever-so-slightly away from the bus before leaping from his own car.

The red car trailed off onto the shoulder of the road before parking itself somewhere further back.

Papyrus himself decided that physics no longer mattered to him.

Horror dawned on the Angel when they watched the skeleton simply bound through the air like it was solid ground. His boots- he was wearing boots in a suit- managed to find purchase on absolutely nothing as he galavanted towards the bus. Instead of using the roof like the Angel had, Papyrus dove head-first towards a window, and the Angel held up their arms to shield their face from the glass that would surely come.

Instead, he ignored the window, going straight through it like it wasn’t even there.

Papyrus panted for a moment, putting his hands on his knees. When he finally recovered, he lifted a finger. “I see you fell victim to the bus’ nefarious trap! No one is allowed to perch up top, yet it kept happening! So we-” He stopped short while looking at the Angel. “Erm… you… may want to put that away!”

When the Angel looked for what he could possibly mean, they saw a red outline shrouding their body. Of course, they thought they’d be hit, and their soul responded.

The bus driver glanced through the mirror before the Angel could properly hide the soul. The bus started to slow down, pulling off to the side of an exit.

It happened again!

This… this stupid soul. Why couldn’t the Angel just keep it hidden? Why did they have to choose this vessel of all things! They barely even remembered making that selection, but at every turn it inhibited them. They struggled to walk. They struggled to talk. Flowey thought they were trying to replace him. The soul in their body wasn’t built for this vessel!

It wasn’t fair.

They never got a vessel that just worked for them.

One got discarded, another caged them until they thought they were worthless, and then one they were content with staying with was somewhere far away.

Even Frisk didn’t work, because they didn’t get to stay with their friends.

They couldn’t even see their real body anymore. If this was all they were now, then…

“I understand that you may be apprehensive!” Papyrus tried to hold out his hands to calm them down, even as their eyes started to unfocus. “However! Once I introduce you to my human friends, they will see that you are quite nimble and adept at puzzles! Two traits that they adore about me!” 

He was trying to help. He tried to make the situation about their soul seem better, but the Angel knew where this led. They were going to get caged again.

The bus pulled to a stop.

“Please,” the Angel begged. If anyone had to understand, it had to be him. They’d tried to say their friends were hurting, but it didn’t lead anywhere. They tried going with him to Flowey, but that got them killed. They had no lies that they could think of fast enough, and only the truth remained. “I’m not a monster. I’m not a human. I’m not from your world. Please.” Their hands clenched their branch. “If you really believe in me, I need it now.”

Papyrus straightened up. Despite his usual grandeur, something more concerned worked its way into his expression. “Hm…” He stared at their soul, squinting like he would see something new if he looked for long enough. “Of course, I believe you! I just think… you should slow down?” He tried, sweat forming at the side of his skull. Despite the way he tried to give a sympathetic smile, the words didn’t land. “It is quite difficult to speak to you when hopping from place to place! You keep moving while I’m talking to you, and perhaps you feel as winded as I do trying to keep up!”

The Angel’s shoulders sagged.

He was going to try to stop them.

“Can’t stop. I can’t stop.” They wanted so badly to stop. The pain of death still lingered. They almost stayed their for too long, because it was the only moment where things ever stopped for them. Yet, they couldn’t. They weren’t allowed. It wasn’t a privilege they were given anymore. 

Papyrus’ hand slowly moved towards their branch. “Then let me help you figure out how! Here, we can start with something simple! We can sit here and talk for a moment, if that would make you feel better!”

They imagined sitting down. They imagined resting. They imagined giving into the fatigue working its way through their body and just letting events take them for just a moment instead of actively fighting against the current.

They saw Kris topple to the ground, clutching at a wrist with nothing attached anymore.

They saw Susie’s Shadow Mantle fighting to keep her alive while a Titan’s hand slowly drove her into the ground.

They saw Ralsei burning his own magical reserves in an attempt to heal wounds that his magic could not possibly put a dent in, all while stone worked its way up his fingertips.

They had to persist.

There were no other options.

“Wow! You’re really bad at this!”

The cheery voice couldn’t be mistaken.

Knowing what was coming, the Angel turned to see Flowey’s head poking through the bus door. Countless vines had writhed up the side of the highway, and he’d perched himself on the side just to have a front row seat to this.

Papyrus groaned, his hard work being ruined, “Flowey, that is unhelpful! You do not need to berate yourself-”

“-so loudly. Yeah yeah, I know already.” Flowey finished for him to shut him up faster. His gaze focused back on the Angel, that cheery smile staying plastered to his face. “Golly, you have no idea what you’re doing, do you?”

The Angel saw two exits to this bus alongside two more emergency exits. They also could load. They were so close. 

Flowey didn’t care to acknowledge their planning. He only found more amusement at the fact that they were trying. “What even was your plan, or did you even have one you idiot? Was this your grand escape? Jumping on a bus and getting stopped by Papyrus?”

The Angel didn’t dare to look behind them to see if vines were encroaching. Try as they might, they could barely even see their second pair of eyes anymore. Every part of them was too stuck in this vessel, and they didn’t know what to do.

“I’ll admit! Stalling me like that was pretty clever, but golly, you don’t know how to talk your way out of anything, do you?” Flowey giggled to himself, putting a vine up to his mouth. “No subtlety at all! Just sloppy! I mean look at you!” The vine flicked towards the Angel’s direction, making them take an instinctive step backwards. “Were you planning on getting every human and monster to hunt you down? Because the way it’s looking buddy, I’m the least of your problems. You’re hopeless.”

Again, Papyrus tried to open his mouth to say something. “Flowey! I really think-”

“Nope! Don’t talk!” Flowey no longer considered him a factor. He didn’t care about ruining the facade that he’d built up anymore. That meant he was certain that a load would occur soon.

He was going to kill them again.

Their fingers tightened around their branch. They couldn’t win while afraid. They couldn’t get through him while they still remembered their own head twisting against the ground.

“Come on, I wanna see what stupid mistake you make next! Gonna try to hit me? Gonna try to hit Papyrus? That sounds like a thing you’d do,” Flowey jeered, having the time of his life. “Gonna go back? You didn’t even think about what would happen if lil ol’ me caught wind of you, did you?”

Countless mistakes. They’d made too many mistakes. He listed them off like he found it amusing. “I tried-”

“You sure did!” Flowey’s vines entered one of the bus doors, carrying him inside. “And look where it got you!”

“I wouldn’t be struggling if it weren’t for you!” The Angel finally yelled, that same fury towards Undyne manifesting once more against this flower who kept inching closer and closer. They couldn’t win. They couldn’t beat him like this, and they weren’t in a place where a Dark World would be possible. He wasn’t going to stop.

“Is that what you think? Hee hee… Let’s be serious here…” Flowey rose to eye-level with them, getting far too close. “You’re weak. You suck at talking. You keel over with a little pain. Even if I wasn’t here, I assure you that you’d mess up talking to Frisk somehow. Maybe it’s fitting you’re wearing that body, because you’re just as stupid.”

He called them a threat once. Now, he considered them anything but. A raging inferno started building in their soul, and they wanted to tear his petals off. This was the person who had judged them. They’d… they’d tried to break the world for him, and this was all he had to say to them.

Judgement.

It was only more judgement.

The inferno died out. A dull throb of apathy began to take its place. They were familiar with it, and they didn’t stop it. It wasn’t distance. It was only realizing that even the one person they wanted to save in the end truly hated them. They only had one more question: “What did I even do to you?”

“Oh, nothing.” Flowey sank down a bit from eye-level, rolling his eyes. “You’re just a little disappointing so far.”

Of course.

That made sense.

Of course, one of the only people who might recognize them didn’t care to help. He only cared that they weren’t interesting enough.

Who cared what happened anymore?

They just needed to keep moving.

Papyrus once more tried to interject, finally having room to do so now that the conversation had come to a standstill, “Flowey! That is unbelievably awful! What on earth are you-”

It would be fine. Susie would know how to wake them up when it was finally over.

Distance finally came.

It wasn’t only distance. Their mind fogged. Their vessel’s eyes clouded over. Silver light sparked around their head. Only one singular purpose clouded their mind. Only one thing they needed to achieve drove them. 

These people weren’t their friends. They learned that the first time they fought with Asgore and Undyne. What they didn’t yet realize was that sentimentality only brought them close enough to be backstabbed. It delayed them. It stopped them from thinking about what mattered. It stopped them from fighting. It stopped them from defying the world with everything they had. This wasn’t their world. It didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was their mission. Anything else wasted time.

Flowey wanted to push them to the edge, and they’d let him win. When they found Susie, she could wake them up. Until then, they needed to shut everything else out. 

Limbs locked up. Silver light burst into being in a world where it shouldn’t be. Flowey’s eyes went wide as the same light covered the Angel’s face, consuming it entirely.

A lost soul marched forward, brandishing its branch with intent.

Only. One. Thing. Mattered.

Proceed.

Personally, Frisk was going to kill whoever gave them a 7am class with an exam attached. Honestly, they wouldn’t have been hunting for a save point the previous night if they had a few hours of wiggle room before a class started, but the world decided to spite them by placing an exam at the crack of dawn. 

Well, they knew for a fact that they failed that one! They were going to give Flowey a chance to reappear before loading their save. Considering how many things had changed in the past few hours for them, they were probably going to find the nearest dining hall and just bang their head against a table. None of their other classes today really mattered when they were just going to reload anyway. Might as well make the most of it.

A voice in their head piped up, chiding them, “You are very quick to concede when you could simply… wait and get your results. Perhaps, that did not go as poorly as you imagined.”

“You could’ve helped,” Frisk grumbled into their sweater, saying it quiet enough for no one else to hear but saying it out loud on purpose due to annoyance.

“Whether or not you received help is irrelevant.” The voice paused for a moment before adding, “Your arithmetic is offensive.”

Ugh. Frisk liked Chara, but knowing that someone else was always watching their screw-ups was going to kill them one day. Why couldn’t this be something Frisk was good at? Their whole area of expertise was…

…talking to people?

They really needed to figure out why they were even in college. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and mom encouraged it heavily. Frisk didn’t mind, but it was starting to drag. They were starting to miss just walking around Hometown with the only immediate worry being finding someone to hang out with. Their friends always had time for them. It was nice to branch out, but all the added responsibility was killing them.

Besides, this was supposed to be a way for them to take a break from dealing with human and monster relations. It was supposed to be them letting everyone handle things back home for a bit. Mom said as much before they left. College didn’t get rid of that. It only made them worry when they were doing something stupid like failing an exam for the thirty-seventh time.

Besides, there were more things that happened during that exam that Frisk was worried about. 

Time stuttered again.

It happened twice. Short bursts. Near the end, Frisk lost an entire two questions and had to do it all over again. Then, when they had only just accepted their fate and started working on the undone question, they lost it again.

Time was lurching back. It wasn’t a fluke.

And now, walking outside, Frisk hadn’t heard from Flowey.

Joking with Chara about their plight didn’t help ease their worries all that much. They’d been trying to stay levelheaded about this. After all, Frisk still had their own level of control. They just… weren’t used to being on the other end of it.

Something was out there using save-points, and they had no idea where or what it could be.

Chara seemed opinionated on it. They were pretty blunt about it last night when they told Frisk off for even having a little bit of hope. Besides, who was to say that it was what Chara thought it was? Maybe, someone random just got the same powers, and they were going to be cool and responsible with them.

That didn’t comfort Frisk at all.

This power was dangerous. They took comfort in the fact that they were the only one who had it, because that meant no one would misuse it. Well, no one would drastically misuse it! Frisk always reasoned that if they were going to use their power for good things, then they should be allowed to use it on nice things for themself every once and a while!

Considering that the world had stuttered three times in the past few hours now, Frisk wasn’t really sure if the other person agreed.

Once more, a voice added their own input, “Worrying will not bring you any closer. You unfortunately have nothing to do but wait.”

Frisk hated that Chara had a point. Still, Frisk wanted to go off and search just to spite them. Sure, Frisk was bad at probability, but they’d probably run into someone interesting if they were out there! Chara just didn’t know how to take a leap of faith.

And yet, just this once, Frisk decided to walk to try to find a dining hall instead. Levity wasn’t working for once, and they couldn’t shake the nervousness of actually finding what was causing this.

They imagined what it looked like sometimes.

Frisk never actually saw it. They didn’t even know it was there until it was too late. Sometimes, they thought it was Chara, but Chara denied certain things.

Sometimes, something guided their hands forward. Other times, a light feeling in their soul encouraged them to speak or joke. It never had any rhyme or reason. It just was, and Frisk didn’t understand it.

Chara thought it better that they didn’t understand it.

Maybe Frisk wanted to.

“FRISK!” A shrill voice yelled, catching their attention immediately. When Frisk glanced down to the closest patch of grass they could find, they saw a golden flower poking out as expected. Flowey tried to put on the most apologetic smile that he could, and somehow actually looked nervous for once. “Okay! So! You miiiight want to load your save!”

In a rare moment, Chara took the wheel. Frisk found their own will slightly diminished, but stepped aside to allow their ghost friend to have a chance to speak. “What did you do?”

Not knowing the difference between the two of them, Flowey responded anyway, “I didn’t do anything! I did what you asked and… well golly, I sure found the problem!” His eyes darted from left to right. 

He looked very “caught”.

Frisk crossed their arms, reasserting their own control and applying the very same pressure that Chara did. This was not going to stand. “Flowey, be honest. For once.”

For all of Flowey’s faults, he at the very least tried to align himself with Frisk’s best interests. It was an odd trait, one that they didn’t really understand when they first brought him out of the Underground. Maybe, he thought he owed them something, but apparently he didn’t owe them enough to actually listen to them the first time. “The good news is that if you load your save, it won’t be a problem anymore!”

“Doubt it,” they fired back immediately. “Tell me.”

“OKAY FINE!” Flowey glanced down the road again. Distantly, Frisk thought they could hear sirens. “So… remember our last fight? You know…” He didn’t quite elaborate, extending a vine and twirling it a few times like Frisk would immediately remember which fight he was talking about. “Flashing lights, rainbows everywhere. That one.”

Ah. The last last fight. Of course, Frisk nodded, because they remembered it well.

“And you remember how… when you started stealing souls from me, they…” Flowey brushed his vine over his face, causing his eyes and mouth to disappear for the briefest of moments before they came back. “You know… didn’t have faces anymore? They were covered? That thing?”

Yes, Frisk did in fact remember having to go through the lost souls to finally reach Asriel. Again, this was sounding worse and worse the longer Flowey stalled. They grit their teeth, demanding again, “Flowey, stop stalling.”

The flower wouldn’t listen as if every good grace he could possibly get in this situation mattered. “So let’s say, hypothetically, I beat up the person with a save-point a little.” Flowey brought two vines into the air to try to calm Frisk down when they slapped a hand against their face. “I had a reason! AND! I figured out they have a save-point!”

In the depths of Frisk’s mind, they distinctly heard Chara cursing. They rarely used swears. It was beneath them, they said. Right now, Chara sounded like they would tear Flowey apart if Frisk gave them any control of their body.

Honestly, Frisk might join them at this point. The implication was clear. Flowey either hurt the person enough to force them to load, or he… Frisk jabbed a finger at him. “I thought you were better than that.”

“Oh! Wow! Golly!” Flowey’s face turned into an uncanny grin. “Told you ya shouldn’t have a long time ago! Besides, I had a good reason, and at this point, you’re gonna want to know what I know, because they’re on the way!”

What? Flowey brought the other save-point user here? Frisk immediately swiveled their head around, and they now understood where the sirens were coming from. When they glanced in the direction where they heard sirens last, they realized what was probably happening. Something was approaching, and it didn’t seem too keen on stopping.

Chara wrenched control again, wrapping one of Frisk’s hand around Flowey’s stem and threatening to pull. “Spit it out!”

“OKAY!” Flowey choked, “The thing with the light over faces? That happened to them apparently! They suddenly really didn’t care about launching me off a highway or bashing Papyrus over the head! I told them to do that as a joke, and they did it anyway! And you know, considering the fact that his face started looking like theirs when they did that, I got the hell out of there!”

A lost soul created itself? What the hell did Flowey do? Was Papyrus fine? Papyrus was there? Frisk shook Flowey, as if answers would fall out of him. “Where’s Papyrus? Is he fine?”

“Psh, I dunno! Didn’t see him dust, but I sure didn’t see him come out of the bus!” Flowey’s eyes darted down the road, and he began to sweat. “Oh boy, maybe you can ask them yourself, because they’re here you idiot!”

Frisk dropped Flowey. As soon as their hand released, the flower darted into the ground.

They were going to have to have a talk with him when all of this was over.

For once, Frisk didn’t know if a talk would be coming.

A few things became clear very fast. The sirens that had been following this being to Frisk didn’t make it here. They still sounded off, but they were somewhere far behind and didn’t sound like they were moving.

Humans and monsters alike were seeing this with Frisk. This university wasn’t exactly devoid of foot traffic, and multiple faces turned towards what now came this way. Frisk wasn’t getting out of this easily. They weren’t going to be able to defuse this easily. A load would be required, but they needed to fix this first.

Because the being walking towards them would keep its memory.

Almost robotically, a figure marched forward into the street across from Frisk. Threadbare clothes barely protected a body that was undeniably monster in origin. It only made their heart sink. They didn’t have time to process why a monster had a save point, only that a monster being a threat at all would be devastating.

Everyone had worked so hard to make things work between humans and monsters. Both parties were really trying. Yet, fear was always something Frisk had to consider, and it would rear its ugly head again if Frisk couldn’t stop this.

Its face, Frisk couldn’t see. Just as Flowey described, light warped around the head. It covered all facial features, silver light dancing like a flame around the monster’s head. They couldn’t tell if the wings on the head were part of the monster’s natural physiology, but they flickered in the air like they weren’t even really there.

It was hard to stare at the light for too long. It burned them when they tried.

Okay. Frisk… Frisk just had to calm them down. They’d done this before. Granted, they had others helping them back when they saved everyone. That guiding force used to be with them, and when Chara was saved as well, they reached out together to Asriel.

Now, Frisk had to be wary.

It was just a lost soul. They could handle this.

Despite the danger, they did not take out their phone. Their dimensional box remained closed. Even though Chara momentarily caused Frisk’s hand to twitch for their phone, they didn’t need their dagger. All they needed to do was talk.

So, Frisk began to slowly walk forward, trying to gauge anything on the empty face they now stared at. What did Flowey say he did? He didn’t say that he killed them, but he certainly hurt them. Frisk started there. “Hey. No one’s going to hurt you, okay?” They tried promising. 

This wasn’t like the previous lost souls. Unlike the last time, Frisk didn’t know a thing about this lost soul. They knew their friends. They knew how to reach out. This being was unknown, and did not seem to respond to Frisk’s call.

Frisk got halfway to the lost soul before something in the air shifted.

As if the lost soul suddenly decided they were too close, it took a defensive stance. The not-all-there wings flared outward. The branch it used to walk became a weapon, and the lost soul shrank backwards.

…And something worse appeared on its chest when it believed it was in danger.

A red soul, just as bright as Frisk’s, stood on a monster’s chest for all to see.

People started to run. Frisk heard the panic. They heard the screams. It could all be undone, but if they sent this monster back into the past and it remembered, then it would be out there. Frisk took an erroneous step forward, calling out, “It’s okay! You’re not going to be hurt-”

“BACK.”

Frisk’s own will faltered.

Something foreign and yet familiar washed over their body. Something beared down from above. The light staring at them grew hotter, and Frisk found their legs forcing them to move a few steps back. Their own soul didn’t withstand the command, and instinctively, like someone had grabbed the collar of their shirt and forced them to move away, they did.

A guiding hand. Wasn’t that what they called it? For better or for worse, they recalled it informing their every move.

They knew that power.

They knew this monster.

They knew whatever looked down from above.

Chara’s voice finally broke through a haze that Frisk didn’t even know was there. “Draw your weapon,” they commanded, an unnatural edge to their voice that Frisk didn’t recall them ever having since their worst times in the Underground, “You are in danger, Frisk. Draw your weapon. Load your save. Do not idle.”

It was strange.

They didn’t… feel in any danger.

Despite their strings being tightened for a moment, they loosened again. Despite the being holding a weapon in front of them, they recognized something about the force that once guided them.

Attacking a lost soul wouldn’t help. Even through the din of panic and yelling around Frisk, they knew what they had to do.

“Okay, I won’t get any closer,” Frisk promised, staying still for a few moments. Slowly, and deliberately as to show the monster what they were doing, Frisk began to sit down on the pavement across from the monster.

It did not mirror their motion. It remained in place, wings never twitching and soul never disappearing. Frisk had never seen a human soul do that… wreathing someone in an outline. Yet, they could feel apprehension from above. They knew what a soul being out typically meant.

Frisk tilted their head at the monster, asking a question that was heavy on their mind. They wondered ever since saving if this could be true, but they had to know for sure: “I know you, don’t I?”

Some of the silver light dimmed. The monster’s hands shook, and for a moment, its gaze turned away. In a voice that Frisk remembered in the back of their mind, one that usually commanded, they only heard a whisper, “I don’t know anymore.”

It took Frisk a moment to realize what sounded so wrong about that voice. Maybe, they never really knew the voice at all. It sometimes never really sounded separate from their own in their head. However, something about the way it whispered made Frisk’s heart sink.

It sounded normal.

Like any other person.

Sometimes when Frisk fell asleep, they imagined what the voice was really like. Never in their nightmares did it just sound like another person.

Still, there was a hint of something in there that Frisk recognized, “I think I do.”

Almost too small for Frisk to notice, the silver light began to dim slightly. An eye briefly stared at them before the light covered it again. Something akin to hope washed over Frisk’s soul, but it wasn’t their own.

The lost soul muttered, “Then you can help. Please.” It was strangely articulate for a lost soul. Usually, they just muttered things that were running through their immediate mind. For whatever reason, this one could talk just fine, and the branch started to lower. “My friends, Kris, Susie, Ralsei, they’re dying. I need to get back to them. I’m not supposed to be in this world. I need to go back.”

Any threads of understanding that Frisk had started to fray. The lost soul sounded normal, but it wasn’t. The wings flickered like they weren’t supposed to be seen. Something weighed Frisk down from above. “What… do you mean?” 

The hope started to dim. The lost soul tried again. “One of you knows. It’s a different world. They’re not here. If I can go back to mine, or go back to them, then everything will be fine.” The light started to flare up, and speech more typical of a lost soul began to form. “Everything’s going to be over soon. It’s all going to be over.”

Like a hand holding Frisk back, something began to move forward in their soul. Chara gradually took the reins, and Frisk allowed them to do so. At least, Chara wasn’t reaching for a weapon anymore. Instead, they said clearly, “You speak of me.”

As if the lost soul recognized the change, it nodded. “I don’t want to hurt this world. Please. I just want to go back.” It sounded more unsure the longer Chara didn’t respond. “I won’t bother you again. I’ll be gone forever. It’ll be over soon.”

“You have lost yourself to your own delusions,” Chara scolded with pinpoint precision, their own posture never once relaxing. “You took what was told to you as metaphor and believed that it could help you. As enticing as it would be to be rid of you, I do not have the ability to give you what you want.” Frisk’s hand balled into a fist on its own. “Never call out to me again.”

All at once, Frisk’s control returned to them, leaving them to clean up after what Chara had just done.

The lost soul was looking for Chara, and Chara couldn’t help. They could’ve been nicer, especially because they knew what a lost soul was, but Chara could’ve done far more than that.

Unfortunately, what Chara could’ve done didn’t matter, because the light consuming the lost soul began to glow brighter. It shook its head, pointing an accusatory finger at Frisk. “You… you’re the only one who can help! You looked at me!” Its hands went up to its head, clawed fingers intertwining with silver light while it grasped desperately. Their branch fell to the ground. “I can’t see my own body anymore. If I can’t go back, they’re going to die. Hate me, but please, don’t let them die.”

A lost soul never had this much focused purpose before, and Frisk didn’t know how to stop it. They couldn’t… help in the way that the lost soul wanted. Chara had gone silent, and Frisk didn’t understand what it was saying.

It never once broke its focus. It stared at Frisk, hoping that they would have something, anything.

For once, they didn’t know what to say.

“It’s fine,” the lost soul finally decided, staring down at their own hand, “It’s. It’s fine. Everything’s going to be fine. I just have to keep looking.” It leaned down to pick up its branch, and yet the moment it shifted its body weight, it couldn’t stay steady anymore.

Like strings had been entirely cut, the lost soul crumpled to the ground.

As soon as Frisk tried to get up to help, the lost soul already started trying to get back up on its own. It kept muttering, “It’s fine. It doesn’t matter. I’ll just keep looking. I just have to keep looking.”

It tried to stand up again.

Its limbs failed.

The alert wings started to sag. Over and over, it tried to get up, but something in the air was becoming more and more familiar the more it tried.

Frisk couldn’t watch anymore.

When the lost soul tried for a fourth time to stand, they finally forced a single word out: “Stop.”

Somehow, it listened. It paused, and Frisk thought they could hear labored breathing coming from past the light. The soul on its chest shook and trembled. However, the lost soul did not move. 

Frisk didn’t dare get any closer. Once again, they sat down on the ground. Things had gone oddly quiet around them, and when Frisk turned, they saw that the world had changed. The world looked paler than before, like all the life had been sapped out of it. Anyone watching had the same light over their eyes that the lost soul did.

It had gone eerily quiet.

Frisk turned back to the lost soul, asking it, “What’s your name?”

Somehow, that only caused its light to grow. It didn’t like the question, shrinking away. “I thought you remembered.”

Were they… meant to? What would they have forgotten? Of all the resets Frisk had been through, they never learned this being’s name. “I don’t think I do.”

Slowly, the lost soul managed to sit itself down properly. Its shoulder sagged. “Then it doesn’t matter.” Its head sank into its hands. “The only people who knew it are gone now.”

“Who are they?”

The light dimmed. One of the lost soul’s hands left its head. “All I’ve ever wanted.” Gradually, the wings sagged further. “And I don’t know how to save them anymore. I have to get back up. I have to figure it out. I just…”

“You’re tired,” Frisk finished a thought that they would never be able to finish on their own. Truthfully, there were many times where Frisk could not distinguish their actions from this lost soul’s own actions. There were many times where they wondered if they were making this being up to try to justify their own sins.

One thing gave this lost soul away.

“You were always tired,” Frisk recounted, remembering every single timeline they were pulled through. It started with carving through the Underground. It was strange how the being knew to be so methodical, but it began there. Even then, it reacted with no malice or surprise to anything. Fatigue persisted even as a blade was carved through monsters. Frisk found it hard to sympathize.

Then, it continued. When it started selectively killing in different combinations, it became even more exhausted. Sometimes, before a timeline was actually brought to its end, time stuttered backwards. It did not even have the fortitude to finish what it started, and Frisk wondered why.

One run, it finally decided to spare everyone. It did so with the same methodical nature that it always had. Even when new friends hugged Frisk, even when everyone else seemed so happy, the being still drifted aimlessly. When Frisk stared at Asriel one more time at a flowerbed after he asked them if they had anything better to do, something close to resignation grew in Frisk’s soul.

It left them when Frisk walked away from that cliffside.

It finally went to sleep.

It gave up.

Maybe that’s why Frisk recognized this being again, and knew it as one in the same. Even now, it was still tired. Maybe that’s why they always wondered while Chara had nothing but disdain.

What possibly made it this way?

The lost soul’s light began to fade further. The wings became less real. “I can’t be tired. They’re still out there. I have to keep going.”

Frisk thought about inching closer, but the soul still remained on its chest. The lost soul still believed it was in danger. And yet, it was calming down. They were getting close. “That’s why you came to me, right?” It had only been a few hours since the first load. Somehow, they managed to find exactly where Frisk was. It would unnerve them if it weren’t for what they were seeing now.

“I wasted time.” For the first time, the lost soul’s head turned upward. It looked around, seeing how the world was slowly shifting. “I’ll have to go back. I’ll have to do it again. I’ll have to die again.”

So, Flowey was right. It was this lost soul who had a save. And-

It died.

Frisk was familiar with the feeling, even if it was scarce in the Underground. It scared them even now to die. “Flowey’s not going to hurt you again,” Frisk promised, hoping that the flower was still listening to hear it. Hopefully, he had at least learned that it was a bad idea. They only wondered what had caused him to break after this long. “I’m sorry. It… always hurts a lot.” Even though loading undid the wounds, Frisk still felt them sometimes.

The lost soul trembled. Its actual soul remained on its chest. Danger still persisted as its light started to dim further. It quietly whispered, “I’m scared.”

It always used to be so steady. It always used to give unwavering guidance, even though it was so tired.

It sounded like the lost soul still wanted to do that, but the cracks became too numerous. Determination was strong, but even Frisk sometimes felt like they got far too consumed by it. The constant need to keep going… it sometimes became exhausting.

“It’s okay to be scared.” Reassurances did little, but maybe the lost soul had never been told that. “It’s okay to be tired. I know it’s… hard to see that now, but I mean it.”

“Nowhere is safe.” The lost soul tried to hug itself like it was feeling the chill of winter finally. “They’re not safe.”

Frisk had an idea. “Where were you last night? Do you remember?” If someone could look out for the lost soul for a moment, then maybe something could be salvaged. Maybe, just knowing that a safe place was waiting would break the light around its head. The light already looked so fragile. It needed to be broken, or anyone nearby could end up like all of the humans and monsters looking at the lost soul. Frisk did not know why they were spared, but they would take it. “I’m… going to have to load my save. I need to know where you were to get someone to help you.”

The light grew. Frisk winced, but they could not undo it. The lost soul seemed temperamental, and it sagged into itself even further when the previous night was mentioned. “Prison.”

Oh.

The soul still on its chest must have been why that happened…

“And… where was your save?” Perhaps, if the lost soul knew where it was, then Frisk could send help. “We could try yours.”

Like it didn’t care anymore, the lost soul answered, “Bus stop.”

That didn’t narrow it down at all really. Though, if it wasn’t from here, then Frisk couldn’t fault it for that. “Was anyone around?”

It nodded, staring off into the distance and the light growing the longer Frisk tried to gather information. “Papyrus. Flowey found me. Won’t matter. I’ll just get caged again.”

Despite distant protests from Chara saying not to do this, Frisk formulated a plan. They just needed one more thing to go correctly. “I need you to trust me,” they asked, even though the lost soul may not be able to do so, “Mom’s going to come get you. We’re not taking you back. I’ll explain everything.”

“Kris is still hurt… Susie is still hurt… Ralsei is still hurt…” It started muttering again. “I can’t… I can’t stop.”

“It’s going to be okay,” Frisk tried to promise again, “We’re going to help you. All of us.” Who would Frisk be if they just let someone suffer? Yes, their hands had been coated in dust before. They questioned whether or not they wanted to do that sometimes. And yet, when they walked through the Underground making friends and helping monsters reach the surface, they had never been more fulfilled.

That didn’t change now.

Not even for this lost soul.

Frisk gave a smile, one that they’d used on many monsters and humans alike. Maybe, the lost soul would remember too. “Just trust me, okay?”

The light twisted.

It couldn’t stand any longer.

The ethereal wings frayed for a moment before vanishing into the air. Slowly, the light dimmed, crawling away from the monster’s face and returning to the backside of its head. It receded just a bit further before disappearing entirely.

Frisk couldn’t hide the way that they seized up when seeing Asriel’s face again.

Oh.

Suddenly, Flowey’s anger made a lot more sense.

The monster’s eyes never opened. They sat their for a moment longer before their soul vanished inside their chest. Slowly, the paleness of the world around the two of them began to fade.

The monster didn’t speak. Something began to change in the air, and Frisk only had a moment to realize it was the world stuttering-

-and like nothing had happened at all, they were back in their lecture hall.

Frisk stared at the paper for a moment, their heart pounding in their chest. That monster really did have a save-point.

And yet still, the plan had worked. The lost soul had been saved. Now, Frisk just had to make good on a promise.

Chara did not seem too pleased, immediately breaking their usual silence during exams to chastise Frisk, “You are making a terrible mistake bringing that thing closer to your friends.”

Frisk almost said something back, but bit their tongue. With a bit more restraint than they usually had, they responded mentally, “You said the same thing about Flowey.”

They didn’t wait for a response. Besides, Frisk wasn’t going to be able to complete this exam. They were failing it anyway. So, they snatched up the paper, turning in the incomplete results and marching out of the building.

They had a call to make.

-When Papyrus looked down the road to the nearby bus stop, it turned out that he had been on the right track! Another cloning must have been afoot, because this monster looked almost exactly as Papyrus imagined in his head when given a description. Although, they looked a tad lost in thought, and-

As soon as Papyrus pulled up, before he could even get out a word to introduce himself, the monster slumped over.

Oh!

Well, that certainly wouldn’t do! Perhaps, QC had a point about the monster being a tad stressed out! At least Papyrus was here to save the day!

Papyrus immediately stepped out of the car, running over to check on the new monster. They almost dropped their things, and Papyrus immediately gathered everything up in their bag for them. For good measure, he poked at the monster a few times. “Hello?! Erm, I do not know your name, but are you all right?!”

He didn’t receive a response, but they seemed to be breathing.

Ah… well… while he would usually make jokes about someone swooning over his outfit, Papyrus immediately grew a little concerned. For good measure, he lifted the monster up from their precarious position laying down on the seats, and propped them up against his shoulder. They did not seem to have a visible reaction, but they looked like they were having a nice nap!

Papyrus’ phone began to ring.

Immediately, even before the first ring completed, he snatched it out of his pocket and answered, “Hello! You have reached Papyrus, Ambassador of Monsterki-” Papyrus immediately cut himself off when he realized who was calling.

Frisk sounded a little out of breath on the other side like they were running. “Where are you right now? Is there a monster with you? Gold fur. Broken horn. Skittish so don’t touch them.”

“Ah! You need to know where I am? Certainly! And yes, there does happen to be a monster with me!” Papyrus glanced at the monster he was certainly touching, but he didn’t exactly have a choice. “They seem a bit under the weather.”

“Stay with them,” Frisk commanded, and on the other side of the phone, Papyrus thought that he could hear bus doors opening. “Where are you?”

Well, Papyrus could absolutely do that! He was sure that when the new friend woke up, they would be happy to know that both of the faces of monsterkind were looking out for them! He supposed that Flowey would have to wait though… Ah well! Emergencies called!

Immediately, Papyrus recounted the street name, and the monster at his shoulder remained sound asleep.

Chapter Text

Clarity started to build in pieces. Senses returned one after another, but seemed duller than usual. Slowly, the Angel became aware of their surroundings again.

Oh.

Something in them began to settle that they couldn’t quite place anymore, but they did not need it right now. Instead, the Angel relaxed, taking in the woods around them. They and their friends discussed camping a lot when the idea of a road trip came up. It had to be obligatory, especially since someone like Ralsei wasn’t used to things like “outside”. 

Where was he, anyway?

A weight made itself known at the Angel’s side. They glanced at the thing encroaching on their personal space before seeing telltale pink horns and white fur. Ralsei fell asleep a while ago against them. The Angel thought about moving him somewhere more comfortable, but it had been a long day for him. It wasn’t like the Angel planned on moving anyhow. They were put on fire duty while Kris and Susie got to do fun things like looking for firewood.

With a stick, the Angel stoked the current fire they already had going. When the Angel saw their arm, they were taken aback for a moment.

That was their arm. Their hand. 

They felt normal.

Somehow, they thought that shouldn’t be right, but the thought buried itself immediately. The Angel didn’t concern themself with any of that. They were comfortable for now, and that was enough.

It seemed like Ralsei wasn’t. Despite him being perfectly content with using the Angel as a pillow. Even with the fire growing in front of him, he shivered for a second. For good measure, the Angel adjusted his scarf around his neck, and his face relaxed just a little bit.

Hopefully, he’d been having fun so far. Personally, the Angel regretted allowing Kris and Susie to sit in the back seat together, because the Angel lost five years of their life from the antics. Considering Ralsei sat in the passenger’s seat and was on team braincell, he was probably equally as mortified when the two of them stuck half of their bodies out the window on a highway.

The Angel realized something was in their lap. That… that was right! They apparently let it slip that the sky looked different from their own, so they stopped to get a star chart before camping. Ralsei was the first to want to figure out the differences when they mentioned it, Susie had no idea how the hell someone would even figure that out, and Kris suggested the star chart. The Angel… didn’t quite remember where they stopped to get something like this, but they had to at some point.

No matter how much the Angel looked at the words on the paper below them, they were strangely blurry.

It didn’t matter. They glanced up at the sky, and knew that it was different from the one they spent most of their life under. They didn’t need confirmation, but it was interesting to see a whole different expanse up there. One would’ve thought that it would be the same, but the Angel also realized that Hometown wasn’t located on a continent they knew either.

The world was new.

It excited them just a bit.

“Figure it out yet?” A gruff, Susie-like voice asked right up against their ear.

The Angel yelped, the star chart falling to the ground. Susie chuckled, walking around to one of the other logs and getting herself seated. When the Angel scooped their chart back up, they also saw Kris coming back with…

Why the hell did they have branches in their mouth?

The Angel stared Kris down in silent question while they stalked over to the fire. Instead of being normal and putting it in with their hands, Kris just loosened their jaw and let them all fall in.

Okay.

Something stirring next to the Angel made them realize that they had yelled into Ralsei’s ear. He blinked a few times, adjusting his glasses. Immediately, the Angel muttered a quick “Sorry”.

A delayed chain reaction must’ve occurred, because now Ralsei yelped, realizing that he had fallen asleep on their shoulder. “Oh! Sorry-” He said their actual name, something that put the Angel at a strange ease. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I hope I didn’t-”

“You’re fine.” They waved him off, and noticed that their hand had goldish fur on it. It had changed shape. Hm. That didn’t seem wrong, but it didn’t feel right either. The Angel tried focusing on the words on the star chart again before glancing up at Susie. “To answer your question, no. Some are in the right places. Others aren’t. Names are sometimes the same, but not where they are.”

“Huh.” Susie kicked her feet up on the edge of the firepit, much to Ralsei’s horror when her boots almost touched the fire. As soon as Susie realized how hot the fire was getting, she put her feet back down immediately. “Ya know, when we bought stuff for smores, we probably should’ve gotten like… a tent… or something…”

As soon as smores were brought up, Kris leapt up again to go fish some marshmallows out of the van. “No room,” they said on the way, “Plus the van has enough room already.”

Oh right. The travel sleeping arrangements. They couldn’t always find a good place to stop, and the Angel couldn’t just keep editing their money value infinitely (they could, they just worried someone might catch on). The Angel tried to keep to themself in the front seat while everyone else had the back. It was more a matter of there just not being any room at all, and they would rather take the laid back seat considering both Kris and Susie competed for the chance to use Ralsei as a space heater.

A fourth member was missing in this scene. The Angel tried to imagine why. Something filled in the blanks. Right, Noelle would be taking care of family right now. The blank was filled, and the Angel didn’t feel worried anymore.

The Angel’s spine would be dead by the end of this trip. At least, everyone seemed to be in good spirits.

An obnoxious ticking started echoing out from somewhere. The Angel rationalized it as a bug before it could be thought about more. For the time, they ignored it.

With a few of the sticks that Susie found and didn’t throw into a fire, marshmallows were passed out. Apparently, Susie ate half of the bag before coming here. That tracked. She didn’t seem apologetic about it at all, but the Angel didn’t mind. 

They took the time to just… look at everyone. For some reason, they wanted to commit the faces to memory. Kris had a steady smile on their face that had rarely… rarely been there on their journey. Their shoulders had lost a weight that even the Angel’s soul hadn’t been able to get rid of. Susie was currently rambling about some scary campfire stories and how someone who actually knew some should tell one. Apparently, that would be the Angel’s job. Ralsei still looked a bit tired. The Angel didn’t know why, and tried to fill in the blanks with something reasonable.

The two of them shouldn’t even really be separate in the Light World, should they? The plan was always for the Angel to give Ralsei their soul, and yet here they both sat. The Angel even had their own horns perched on top of their head now. 

…That shouldn’t be possible.

The Angel pushed the feeling down. The ticking grew louder. Please, just a little longer.

A blank filled. Ralsei probably needed some exposure to the soul in some way to stay in the Light World. He always did like having the soul nearby. It was the only thing that made him truly real, and the Angel remembered their soul being carried around in his scarf whenever they were between vessels. Maybe they would be visited by the space heater soon. Maybe then Ralsei would actually get some damn sleep.

The Angel heard their name being called. When they glanced to the side, Ralsei stared at them with a worried frown. “Are you okay? You’re… um… not quite looking like yourself.”

A horn chipped off and fell to the ground. Tattered clothes replaced a comforting jacket. The Angel gripped their knees, trying not to focus on it. The ticking was growing louder. “I’m fine,” they tried to promise, but…

This never happened.

The Angel glanced at the fire. It didn’t really flicker in a way that looked natural. It radiated no warmth. The star chart in their lap had blurry words. The sky above them wasn’t one they’d ever seen in this world at all. It was one they’d seen on a mountaintop.

This was supposed to be their future.

Grey began to form across Ralsei’s body. Stone crusted across his fur, and the Angel yelled while trying to summon their soul to their aid. No, their… their light could counter this. It was supposed to be able to counter the Roaring. And yet, when they reached out for Ralsei, he became nothing more than a statue.

The pieces shattered in front of them.

The world around them began to melt.

Vertigo kicked in. The Angel tried to stand. They glanced at Susie, trying to grasp for any feeling of hope that she always brought.

A Shadow Mantle wreathed her body. It couldn’t protect her. It couldn’t save her. Why was she so still? Why wasn’t she able to smile anymore? This wasn’t right. This wasn’t-

Dust sifted through the Angel’s hands when they tried to grab for her.

The ticking grew louder. It grew slower.

Finality came.

The Angel stared up at Kris. Nothing but an empty expanse remained.

They were dreaming. It was a nightmare.

Which meant they fell asleep.

Which meant hours could have passed.

Days could have slipped by without them even knowing.

And they hadn’t managed a thing. They were no closer to helping their friends. The Angel knew the consequences, and they still failed.

Kris bowed their head. They sank to their knees, their own soul hovering out of their chest. The Angel didn’t try to reach out. They knew it was too late.

The soul shattered, and the ticking continued.

It grew louder. It was all that was left.

A final, resounding tick of a clock finally finishing its cycle met their ears.

It stopped.

Too much time had been wasted. The end came.

For the Angel, the world kept moving forward.

Toriel was not expecting to cancel classes today, but the moment Frisk called her with a frantic edge to their voice, she decided to give her students a day off. 

What else was she supposed to do?

For… most of their time on the surface, and in the Underground for that matter, Frisk had always been a rather capable child. There was a moment of adjustment on the surface where they had trouble getting their own bearings, but after such a troublesome and tumultuous journey, Toriel could not blame them. So, she did not find it odd when Frisk rapidly gained independence. Toriel was not ever particularly worried whenever Frisk went off on their own, but she would drop anything if they so much as called her.

Today, she had been called.

If only Toriel knew what she had actually been called into.

Frisk’s instructions were quite direct, though they said over and over to not “freak out” when she saw the monster in question. Apparently, one of Frisk’s friends, they said, needed to be picked up at a bus stop. However, Frisk advised that they were skittish, did not react well to being approached, and were terrified.

They needed somewhere safe to stay for a moment, Frisk said.

Well, Toriel could not say that she was used to hosting others in her home lately. Well, Sans came over, but that was different. It was a sad thing, but she supposed ever since she moved to the Ruins, it became a duty to not let anyone through the door. The monsters in the Ruins stayed away from her home. No one could come through from the other side. Her house was always empty until…

…Until a new face came and left all over again.

She remembered the days when monsters traveled through her own home. It was a simpler time back then, when she lived in New Home. Anyone could come through the house if they chose to, and she enjoyed hosting for monsters that came by.

She never managed to reestablish that habit on the surface. At least, she had good company here.

So, Toriel would just have to summon experience from a time long past. After all, she had lived many lifetimes in both scenarios. She still remembered how to take care of someone in need.

At least, she thought she did.

Toriel paced around her living room. If she kept this up, she was certain that she would wear a hole in the floor. Unfortunately, she could do little else to keep her mind occupied. She had already done as much as possible for this monster, and all she could do now was speculate.

Again, Toriel turned to look at the monster like the many times she had before.

After she found them and Papyrus at the bus stop, things became frantic. Her mind had not been able to catch up since then, and every time she looked, more and more questions formed. She tried to stifle any questioning of her own, because the questions did not help while she tended to a monster that looked all too familiar.

Except, her son never got to grow up.

When she arrived at the bus stop, it took her a few moments to get her bearings. Papyrus had to call out to her multiple times in order for her to not freeze. 

Her son’s face had been etched into her mind. That moment when he stumbled through the barrier, she remembered his smile as he crumbled to dust. Toriel remembered the pain in his eyes. She remembered how the soul empowered him, making him look far older than he should be, and yet Toriel could still see through to the scared child beyond.

Like it had all just been a bad dream, a monster looking far too similar to her child sat at that bus stop. They leaned against Papyrus’ shoulder, asleep like nothing around them mattered anymore. And yet, even as Toriel managed to slow her heart when she saw all of the obviously incorrect details, it still did not do much to dissuade how certain she was about their face.

The monster did not show any signs of waking when Toriel called for them. Exhaustion had set in under their eyes, and Toriel began to understand why they may need a place to stay for a moment.

Toriel went on autopilot. The details did not matter for the moment. However, she would have questions, and she would have asked them if the monster ever woke back up.

Unfortunately, while she had moved them to her couch to give them a place to rest, they had not shown any signs of waking.

It may have just been exhaustion, but Toriel had concerns of her own. A doctor may have been a wiser choice, but Toriel trusted that her healing magic could get rid of any wounds that the monster may have sustained. The problem was… she could find nothing visually wrong. The only glaring issue was their busted horn, which put a pit in her stomach the longer she looked at it. For a horn to come off, something awful must have happened.

They looked cold.

Of course, the clothes they wore looked like they would fall apart and fray at any moment. That would have to be fixed. However, for the time being, Toriel needed to make sure that this monster was well taken care of. There had to be a blanket somewhere. She worried that they would get sick like this. In fact, the broken horn should have worried Toriel more, but the fact of the matter was that it appeared to be healed over. It must have been broken a long time ago, or a proficient healer had already gotten to it.

So many things still needed to be done. Thankfully, someone else had not abandoned Toriel on the way back to her house. Smiling, Toriel turned to Papyrus who stood alert by the door, and asked, “Papyrus, would you be able to find a blanket for them? I wish to check them over one more time for injuries.”

Papyrus saluted. “Of course! I am sure that Frisk would not mind me leaving their side if you are here!” Ah yes, Papyrus had joined this little adventure home due to Frisk instructing him to stay nearby. While he was free to leave if he chose to do so, apparently he wished to stay and monitor the monster as well. He did rush away to find a blanket, which gave Toriel a moment to inspect them over once more.

She supposed that she had been so transfixed on their face that she missed something important. Their entire right pocket looked discolored. Carefully, Toriel reached out to see what the issue was, and when she saw what was inside, she had to cover her mouth.

She was wrong about the horn.

They… had been carrying their broken horn.

Any remaining blood on it appeared to be crusted over-

Why was there blood on the horn?

Toriel did not know if she should touch it. Unfortunately, she refused to leave it in the monster’s pocket while they were resting. There would be questions about this. If the horn had been lost in a fight with a human, then something terrible must have happened.

It stuck to their pocket while she pulled it out. Keeping it in her claws so as to not touch her fingers, Toriel swiped a rag from the kitchen to set it down on. Immediately, she washed her hands, trying to get the crusted blood out of her claws.

What had she gotten herself into?

At that moment, Papyrus returned with a blanket, looking into the living room before spotting Toriel in the kitchen. “Ms. Toriel! You promised that you would stand guard!”

Toriel kept the horn out of view for a moment before turning in an attempt to smile at Papyrus. “My apologies, but I… think I found something a bit disturbing.” She had to ask. “Papyrus, this monster did not seem hurt when you first saw them, did they?”

Papyrus put a hand on his chin, tapping his foot while mulling it over. “No! However! A few monsters did say that they looked a bit under the weather! I found this out while looking for them-” Papyrus stopped, putting both of his hands on the sides of his face. “Flowey! I completely forgot to meet our flower friend!”

“Oh, is… Flowey in town?” Toriel had not heard from him in quite a while. It was a surprise to her that he came in so quietly. Usually, his presence was known quite quickly the moment he appeared. He always had something snippy to say to her before going about his day, but he was rather consistent about having conversations with her whenever around… She shook her head, putting it aside for the moment. “I only asked, because… well… it seems like they have been in a fight recently.” She brought the horn forward, showing it to Papyrus to see if he had an opinion.

In normal Papyrus fashion, he leaned in a bit too close to inspect it. “Hm… that is quite worrying. Thankfully, Undyne and Asgore should have been on the case, and Flowey was looking for them!”

Ah. Right. Well, likely nothing had been found then. Undyne did tend to get slightly sidetracked at times, and Asgore… well… 

Now that Toriel was looking at it properly, the monster did have a bag of some kind that had been set on the ground next to the couch. She swore that she recognized that bag from somewhere. Rummaging through someone else’s things sounded rude, but a puzzle was slowly beginning to form here.

Papyrus finished laying a blanket out over the monster. For a moment, they looked calmer in their sleep. They had not moved at all, almost concerningly so. However, the usual signs of being fallen down were not showing. Their breathing seemed steady. They just… seemed tired. Hopefully, Toriel was not missing obvious signs that they were becoming tired enough to never wake back up.

Oh Frisk, what had they gotten into?

A knock sounded at the door. It sounded forceful, and Toriel instinctively straightened up with a scowl on her face. There was no need to be that rough with it. “Papyrus, could you get that for me?” She asked, turning back to the monster and gently placing her hand on their head. They might have gotten sick or feverish, and she just wanted to get an idea.

Once more, Papyrus saluted, running up to the door and swinging it wide open.

Heavy footfalls stomped inside.

Toriel glanced up, staring down a very angry Undyne.

Slowly, she rose to her feet. Cautiously, she watched Undyne’s face when the lone eye began to move towards the monster behind Toriel. “Oh! Undyne, I was not expecting you. Is everything all right?” 

From behind Undyne, Toriel caught Asgore standing in the doorway. He did not enter, as if stepping in would burn him somehow. It did let a draft in, but at the very least he seemed apologetic about what he had brought to her house.

“All right?” Undyne growled, and her eye twitched to the monster behind Toriel. She pointed, about to say something, before she put her head in her hands and grimaced. “I don’t even know what the hell to ask about how you got that monster here, but they’re coming with us.”

Toriel furrowed a brow at Undyne. That was the tone Undyne typically used when on official business. Unfortunately, Toriel must have seen a very different scene here than Undyne, because Toriel only saw a sleeping monster. “I do have questions of my own…” She admitted, trying to remain cordial despite Undyne barging in. “However, I believe it would be best to talk outside where we will not wake them.”

Undyne did not look happy in the slightest. “I’m not so worried about their nap time considering they have a human soul,” she clarified, making the crime extremely clear. “Dunno if either of you knew that…” She glanced at both Papyrus and Toriel, like the two of them were not at all the target of her ire. Instead, it focused all on the monster sleeping behind Toriel. “And y’know, after the bullshit that happened last night, I don’t think we’re letting this one slide.”

That explained the blood all too well.

Toriel suddenly grew concerned. After all, she refused to let the last person who killed humans indiscriminately enter her house, and he still stood at the doorway. Was that why Frisk spared her the details? Had something terrible happened?

Before she could make a decision to end the stalemate with Undyne, Papyrus walked up next to both of them, placing hands on both of their shoulders. “Actually! I have thought of an interesting idea!” He grinned, glancing between the two of them and getting both of their attentions. “I feel very strongly about this for no reason in particular! But! Are they not… already detained?!” He waved around the room like something was obvious. “After all, you three are the strongest friends I know! In fact, it may be a tad redundant to move them to the usual location!”

Undyne’s fins sagged. “Papyrus, we can’t just let ‘em hang out. They’re dangerous. It’s about justice now, not keeping them comfortable.”

Toriel understood what Undyne was referring to. The police station hadn’t been used in a while, but she understood the fate of anyone who killed a human and absorbed their soul.

However, Papyrus remained undeterred. “And justice you will get! However! I have a strong feeling that they will be more amenable to talking if not… er…” He began to sweat slightly. “Distressed? It is a tense situation, no doubt! However, it is nothing that a bit of courtesy cannot solve!”

From the door, Asgore finally chimed in, “Had I not known that the humans gave us clear instructions, I would not have dreamed of putting them in a cell.” He glanced at that monster in the same way Toriel did. He had seen it as well. Toriel wanted to ask if this monster was his, but she thought she already knew the answer now. “...but they have… proven themself to be quite the risk.”

Toriel found herself in conflict as well. If this monster had killed… if they had killed another human, then…

They still had her son’s face.

They still seemed peaceful for a moment, like a burden had been lifted for just a moment.

“Do you know if they harmed anyone?” Toriel asked. She had to know. 

Undyne immediately pointed a thumb at her chest. “Uh, yeah. Me and Asgore.” She swiveled her head at him. “We both agreed that wasn’t a dream, right? They just did that?”

Asgore nodded, confirming something that Toriel was not privy to.

“Okay cool.” Undyne turned back around. “Their story didn’t add up. They kept dodging around everything. When we told them to stay put, they pulled a god damn geyser out of the floor.” She put a hand on her head like she would have a migraine. “Neither of you are gonna believe what we put up with tonight, but I don’t wanna wait around for them to do that again!”

A-a what? “Excuse me?” Toriel questioned, now feeling the same migraine coming on. “I am sorry, I think that you will have to be a little more clear about precisely what they did.”

“I don’t know how to be more clear,” Undyne huffed, crossing her arm. “Bottom line is they can’t be left alone. Dunno how we’d even stop them if they did wanna get out. Whatever they did got past Alphys’ magic field.”

Papyrus found a moment to interject when a weak point exposed itself, “All the more reason to keep them comfortable! If a prison cannot hold them, then the only thing that can is understanding!” He put his hand on Undyne’s shoulder again. “Besides! If any humans are disturbed by our efforts, then I will simply inform them that this was the best course of action! They trust me! And it is the best idea! Because it’s my idea!”

As a matter of fact, Toriel agreed. As far as they all were aware, this monster had not hurt anyone other than their pursuers. The blood on their horn was… concerning, but that would have to wait until answers could be given. Papyrus certainly had an excellent point that a fight was not necessary here, and besides, they were still resting. “My house will certainly not be fought in, and they are resting at the moment.”

Undyne must have realized that she was losing this debate, because she started waving her hands. “Can we at least restrain them? If they can’t move, then at least they can’t do that weird geyser thing again!”

Again, like something was very obvious, Papyrus gestured at a branch that he insisted on bringing back with the monster. “I don’t think there’s a need!”

Toriel was not going to make her house into a makeshift prison. “There will be nothing like that in this house.” She really had gotten into a terrible situation, had she not? Frisk knew that Toriel would be needed to hold the line against someone like Undyne. “I think Papyrus’ idea is excellent. Besides, Frisk called them a friend, so I am inclined to trust my child’s judgement.”

“Frisk thinks that about anyone though!” Undyne protested, but she looked like she was running out of options and patience.

Idly from the back, Asgore commented, “They… did appear to know Frisk. At least… in some capacity.” His eyes lingered on the monster like he wanted to put together a puzzle that he did not yet have all the pieces for. “They seemed amenable to talking until they were told that they would be delayed. Supposedly, they are concerned for the safety of a few friends.”

Toriel’s eyes narrowed. Oh for the love of- Seriously? “So the two of you jailed them?” The temperature rose a degree. “How long were you going to wait until you mentioned that there is a danger out there? They have a broken, bloodied horn, Asgore! It does not matter what instructions you were given if lives are at stake.”

And yet, the two of them had always disagreed on that.

Asgore lowered his head. He still did not dare come through the threshold. “We found nothing. We planned to search again, but before we could…” He lost his voice for a moment, staring at the offending horn. “As a matter of fact, the horn… or rather, the blood was their own.”

That… couldn’t happen. Toriel glanced at Undyne for confirmation, and Undyne nodded without any hesitation. “Cracked the damn thing off in their cell. Didn’t get a good look at what they did with it on account of them pulling a god damn geyser out of the ground.” Her eye never left the monster, like they would move any second. She did not wish to be caught off guard. “Monsters don’t bleed, which just adds to all the weird crap they do.”

Papyrus narrowed his eye-sockets. “Some do!”

“Regardless,” Toriel interrupted everything, bringing the conversation back to her actual point. “You mean to tell me that you imprisoned a monster who was willing to speak to you, but began to fight you when those closest to them were not safe?”

Undyne practically yelled, finally reaching her limit, “They have a human soul. They tried to run the moment we saw it. They attacked both me and Asgore. And, guess what?” The invisible barrier between Toriel and Undyne finally broke, Undyne advancing to get in her face before jabbing a finger at her chest. “If Flowey didn’t wake us up, we’d still be knocked out in the police station, because they won that fight. They’re. Dangerous.”

Toriel remained put, refusing to back up in the slightest towards a monster who clearly needed her defense now. “And yet, neither of you seem particularly hurt.” Just to make sure, she did another once-over of both of them, and no wounds were visible on either of their bodies. “Is it not reasonable for one to lash out if they believe their loved ones are in danger? Is it not more reasonable if in the end, it was resolved without harm?”

After all, Toriel’s own fire burned brightly back in the Underground. She used it against Asgore when he nearly fought Frisk. She understood what this monster must have gone through to know that their loved ones were in danger. They must have only received empty platitudes, knowing Asgore.

Undyne’s unerring determination finally wavered. She took a step back, going on the defensive once more when she tried to grapple with the situation. “You don’t get it. They definitely hurt us, but it didn’t-” She turned back to Asgore for help, but he shook his head like he had none. “It didn’t carry over! It was like it didn’t matter! They beat the living hell out of us, and I don’t feel any of it!”

Toriel sighed, “Then they are not a danger.” Unfortunately for Undyne, Toriel had finally reached her limit as well. “This is a home, Undyne, not a prison. Frisk has decided to put their trust in this monster, so I will do the same. If you wish to disturb this house after Papyrus and Frisk have both voiced their want for a peaceful solution, then I cannot help you any further.”

The Ambassador of Monsterkind had been quite clear. He would handle any flak that came from the humans about this, and considering how much of a joy Papyrus was to be around, Toriel had no doubts that he could achieve this. Frisk trusted easily, but they also saw the best in everyone. Should anyone be able to calm… whatever this was down, then it would be Frisk. Even Asgore looked resigned in the back, but he had always been quite good at making decisions that he immediately regretted later.

Only Undyne had to relent.

Toriel did not want to fireball Undyne out of the house, but she would.

“Not to worry, Undyne!” Papyrus stepped in once more, a cheery smile on his face as always. “Everything will be all right here with Ms. Toriel keeping watch! You and I have an important task to take care of, after all!”

Undyne broke her focus for a moment to look at Papyrus with nothing but confusion etched across her face. “Uh… and what’s that?”

“Breakfast!” Before he said another word, Papyrus began pushing Undyne towards the doorway, her heels sliding across the floor. “We all forgot breakfast! No wonder everyone is so cranky! You and I can go find something while things are sorted out here!”

Despite Undyne digging her heels, she kept being pushed towards the door. “Papyrus! We can’t just-”

“Nonsense! Out we go!” Papyrus heard none of it, shoving Undyne past Asgore and waving goodbye to Toriel. “We will be back in better spirits! I will bring something back! After all, QC offered!”

The door did not slam shut on account of Asgore still standing in it. However, Undyne vanished around the corner, and her angry shouting trailed off slowly but surely.

That left Toriel and Asgore staring each other down.

She questioned as soon as no one was around to hear, “I assume you know nothing about this either, then?” It was the politest way of phrasing the question. This monster looked far too old to have been born on the surface. They would have to have been born in the Underground, and there were little alternatives for how a monster like this could come to be.

Asgore stiffened. “I do not. If I may… offer insight… they did tell me concerning things.”

“If you wish to not join Undyne, then I pray that it is something that is not unbelievably cruel, Asgore.” Despite her maintaining a more cordial demeanor around Asgore as of late, what she had heard was unacceptable.

“No! It’s…” He paused. In many of the speeches Toriel had heard Asgore give, he rarely managed to lose his words. In fact, one of his worst traits was that he did not know how to stop talking when his mouth moved before his mind did. Seeing him confused felt unnatural. “They claimed… so many odd things. They brought up the Holidays at first, but things became more confusing. They called themself the Angel. They told me I said we would… be a family…” Asgore put a fist up in front of his mouth. “They told me that I… harmed Frisk… when you and I both know I never had the chance to make such a terrible mistake.”

Toriel did not see a hair on Frisk’s head harmed when she arrived, but she still politely suggested the most likely scenario, “They could have assumed, considering your history.” 

Asgore nodded like he should have expected that, and he did his best to hide the frown on his face. “I have met many liars in my life. They said each and every word with conviction, and I simply do not understand. I wish to, but…”

Right now, Toriel could not ask these questions. “They will answer when they are ready.” She decided on, before glancing down at a very familiar back that the monster had brought with them. “That… would not be one of your bags, would it?”

Asgore squinted at it for a moment before he realized something. “Come to think of it… I… er… seem to have misplaced my keys. And… well… I would certainly recognize that bag anywhere. It was… in my truck.” He glanced at Toriel before glancing at the bag, not quite willing to cross the threshold of the door. “Do you mind if I er… perhaps take a look?”

Toriel sighed, gesturing for him to come in.

Asgore carefully wiped his feet on the doormat before stepping inside like this was hallowed ground. Quickly, he scurried over to the bag before opening it, fishing out a very familiar set of keys. “Ah! Can’t get far without these!” He chuckled to himself for a moment before looking at the other things in the bag. “I think… I will just let them keep this. I have plenty of bags, anyway.”

Well, at least that was something nice. Still, there was a matter of clothing. Toriel could not go out herself, but… perhaps she could call Papyrus. No- actually- Papyrus’ fashion choices may be a little much for someone like this monster. Or anyone for that matter. That only left one other person who could really help out. “If you are planning to return here, would you mind at least bringing them some new clothes?”

Asgore looked shocked for a moment that he was being trusted with a task like that. “I will… certainly do my best!” With his car keys in hand, Asgore did not linger for too long. On the way out, he turned back to look at the monster one more time before asking, “Would it be all right if I returned to ask questions of my own?”

Toriel felt too exhausted to argue at this point, but she still had requirements. “As long as you do not threaten them with imprisonment again, and they agree to see you, then I do not see why not.”

Satisfied, Asgore bowed his head, using the reduced height to duck out of the doorway. He forgot the door behind him for a moment before reaching back in to shut it.

Silence finally came. Toriel’s shoulders relaxed.

Another knock sounded at the door, and all of the previous tension returned again. Thankfully, this knock sounded a bit softer, so hopefully Undyne had not returned.

When Toriel opened the door, she realized that she was expecting to see someone tall. 

Instead, she had to lower her head just a bit to see Frisk, who sheepishly waved knowing what chaos they had brought upon her house. “Hi mom!”

Toriel pinched the bridge of her snout, trying very hard not to lose her mind about what had been going on for the past hour or so at her house. “My child, it is always wonderful to see you, but I am afraid I am going to need a very long explanation for this one.”

Frisk’s sheepishness turned into defeat rather quickly. “They weren’t bad, were they?” Frisk wondered out loud, glancing at the monster asleep on the couch. When they saw the state of the room, they breathed a sigh of relief and started panting like they had run all the way here.

“Er… no. It was…” Toriel gestured vaguely. “Everyone else that became an issue. Thankfully, Papyrus was very helpful in calming things. I am afraid that Undyne was not so thrilled.”

As if taking a mental note of yet another name to add to the ensuing chaos, Frisk nodded. “Sorry. At least they’re asleep?” They tried to look on the bright side, and they seemed genuinely relieved about that fact. “I didn’t think they’d be asleep.”

Toriel sighed before her eyes narrowed dangerously when she realized something. “Frisk, you would not be skipping classes right now, would you?”

They froze before trying to smile again, though it did not meet their eyes. “I might be… but it’s important.”

Toriel was going to lose years of her immortal life somehow. Ah well, it was not like she could stop Frisk even if she tried. “It is important to attend your classes, regardless of what is happening here.”

“They have a human soul,” Frisk reasoned back, though the humor in their voice died out when they voiced it properly. “Can’t.”

Hm… This was the exact reason why all of them wanted to give Frisk a bit of time to themself in college. For so long, Frisk had been cleaning up messes behind everyone. Toriel supposed that she just wanted Frisk to have a chance to live… a bit more normally for a while without that responsibility on their shoulders.

Now, they had been dragged right back in, and they looked tired as well. Had they not been sleeping?

Well, this was Toriel’s house, and she could enforce a few ground rules. “My child, you will be resting if you are going to be taking a day off, especially since your friend is currently doing the same.”

Frisk looked offended. “Can’t sleep while this is happening.”

“Nonsense.” Toriel refused to hear anything else. She could see the bags under their eyes. College must have been wearing them down in its own way. “This old lady can handle herself, and I will call you down when they do wake up. I am afraid that it will do no good for you to linger, and I believe that giving them a bit of time might be wise as well.”

Frisk wanted to protest. Unfortunately, they had already lost the war. They were tired. “Fine,” they relented, turning towards the stairs, “But only after I go out to get something.”

Well, Frisk… had been in a rush, and Toriel had no one else she could send. If Frisk went out for a moment, that would probably be all right. “Just be back before you get too tired, all right?”

Frisk smiled like they did not plan on doing that at all.

As soon as Frisk left the house, they went off the beaten path as soon as possible. They needed to find a save point as soon as possible in case anything went wrong, and they knew that a conversation was about to happen. They did not want to speak to Flowey out in the open whenever he showed his face.

So, the hunt began.

Frisk didn’t get a few steps away from the house before a flower sprouted from the ground.

Before Frisk could even say anything, Flowey tried weaseling his way out of it, “Okay, before you say anything, they asked for it!”

That was not the way Frisk thought that they would be starting this conversation. Instead of stopping for Flowey, Frisk momentarily ignored him, continuing to march around and look for a save point. When they finally gathered up enough of themself to not feel pissed, they said, “You’re better than that.”

Flowey burrowed into the ground to pop up next to them as they walked. “I already told you, idiot, I’m not! Besides, not like they’re a goody-two-shoes either!” He sank again when Frisk walked too fast, popping up a little further away. “Speaking of, you really shouldn’t be looking for a save right now.”

Frisk wasn’t too keen on listening to someone who just liked using wanton murder as a solution to problems. “Why?”

“Oh, I dunno…” Flowey talked like it was obvious, popping out of the ground again when Frisk kept moving and practically yelling in their face. “You only have one!” He at least got Frisk to stop in their tracks, and plastered a cheery smile on his face as soon as they did. “Let me put this in a way you can understand. Everyone already knows they have a human soul. They attacked two of your friends and caused sooo many issues. If word gets out that a monster with a human soul is in your mother’s house, and you have no way of going back…”

They would have to reset.

Because they only had one save, any time they hunted for a star, that was permanent.

The stakes had never been this high since coming to the surface, and Frisk almost forgot how limited their ability to wind the clock back actually was if they saved over something. Keeping that save back at the college campus might actually be the safest thing to do.

Except, they weren’t going to listen to Flowey’s advice.

It wasn’t perfect, but with another person able to remember, Frisk would rather save in a spot where they knew the monster was. If they loaded the previous night’s save, they would be unable to find the monster again if things went badly.

“I’m fine with that.” Frisk clenched their teeth. “Not taking advice from you. You killed them.”

Two small vines came out of the ground, Flowey slamming them in anger as soon as they were uprooted. “Come on! I’ve killed you before, and I don’t see you whining!”

“Why’d you do it?” Frisk just wanted to know. Despite Flowey’s tendencies in the Underground, he really had never been close to actually harming anyone on the surface. His pranks sometimes were mean-spirited, but he never actually hurt anyone. Even when he knew Frisk would be loading soon, he kept true to his word that he wouldn’t harm anyone.

“Psh,” Flowey scoffed, glancing off to the side, “It’s not important. They’re just an idiot.”

Frisk didn’t even need Chara to tell them that he was lying through his teeth. If he couldn’t even look at them, then he definitely had a reason. He’d be pretty straightforward if he did it for fun. “Least you can do is not lie.”

“It’s none of your business!” Flowey slammed his vines again, and they began to look more thorny as his cheery smile broke into an actual, angry snarl. “I think them looking like a dead prince is enough of a giveaway! If you want to play patty-cake with someone else’s save power, be my guest! Just don’t be mad at me when it comes back to bite you.” As quickly as it appeared, Flowey’s snarl left, and a cheery smile returned to his face. “See ya later!”

Frisk didn’t even get a chance to stop him before he sunk back into the ground, taking the thorny vines with him.

Even now, he never believed that they could make peaceful solutions work.

It didn’t matter.

He’d go let off some steam somewhere else, somewhere where he wasn’t hurting someone, and then he’d be back. They’d figure him out when he did. He always ended up coming back in the end.

Chara seemed unamused by the entire display, and their narration at least made Frisk feel slightly better. “Considering the worse alternatives, and considering how poorly the day could have gone, you have at least managed to get things slightly under control. Despite the flower’s words, it fills you with determination.”

They didn’t need to hunt this time. A golden star flashed into existence next to Frisk, and they reached out their hand.

One way or another, Frisk was going to figure out that being that used to travel with them. They had to. After seeing everything it could do, and after hearing the way they panicked about people they lost…

Frisk had questions, and questions only brought curiosity.

They’d figure this out.

The day dragged on. At some point, Papyrus brought food but did not bring back Undyne. The monster did not wake up even when Toriel gently tried to call out to them. The food went untouched. She would just have to heat it up later.

At another point, Asgore arrived again, bringing some clothes that at least looked presentable. He must have only been used to buying clothes for Frisk as a gift, because he stuck with their usual set of clothing. Toriel decided to politely not comment on how poorly a hoodie would work for a monster with horns in comparison to Frisk, but at least it was something. At least he did not plague the monster with the barrage of colors he usually wore and kept things closer to their… strangely monochrome clothing.

Again, the monster did not wake up when Toriel tried to get their attention again. When they woke back up, they would at least have something nicer to wear.

The walking stick was another issue. She finally figured out why Papyrus hung onto that branch so dearly. Asgore explained when he came back that they could not walk well. While Toriel could not do anything about it right now… if she could find something better than a branch for them, then maybe that would be helpful.

Daylight bled away and dusk took its place. Frisk had returned a long time ago, and they had taken to napping in their own bed as Toriel instructed.

So, that left her in the living room when dusk turned to dark.

Toriel grew worried the longer she waited. She wondered if she should try to jostle them awake, but that might scare them. Frisk was quite clear about that after all.

She brought a book into the room just to pass the time. In a bit, she might have to wake the monster up on her own. They had nothing to eat all day, and certainly needed something to drink soon. 

And yet, the night began passing on. Toriel’s head started to sag. Her eyes slowly began to shut, and thoughts began to slip away.

A choked gasp for air made her head shoot right back up before she could slip away entirely. Something heavy pressed down into the room, or perhaps it was just Toriel remembering that she should be awake.

The monster who shared her son’s face had been still for so long. Now, they began to move. She thought she would see them flail or panic, but instead she saw barely anything in the dark.

They stayed still for a moment, bringing their hand in front of their eyes.

Something cracked. The monster’s hand fell to their face, and they began to wipe at their eyes as a quieter, strangled noise escaped their throat.

Oh.

Slowly, Toriel rose from her chair. A soft light from the moon outside caught in the monster’s eyes as they tried to hide them away. Their shoulders shook. Something in their soul had finally been unable to take whatever burdened them anymore.

She’d seen a smaller face cry like this many times before.

Perhaps, she was projecting, but she approached without a second thought. They did not notice her. Their face remained buried in their hands. Nothing else in the world mattered to them.

Softly, Toriel tried to comfort them. She tried to brush their fur back just like she had many times when Asriel cried in her arms. “It will be all right. You are safe here.”

And yet, the moment she touched them, she remembered that this was not Asriel.

Red flared to life on the monster’s chest. Toriel saw a soul not-so-dissimilar from Frisk’s for the briefest of moments before the rest of the monster’s body became wreathed in the same light. An arm struck her hand away, causing her to withdraw it as the monster went into a flurry of motion.

Their panic only ended when they had readjusted to pin their back against the couch, trying to get as far away from Toriel as possible. Wild eyes stared her down, glowing the same red in the darkness as the soul. Tears had stopped falling, but even in the dark, she could see something glistening in their fur due to the light from their chest. In a rasp that betrayed how dry their throat was, they begged, “Don’t touch me. Don’t. Please. I can’t-”

This was not Asriel.

She had gotten far too ahead of herself.

Toriel took a step back. She realized she towered over them, and tried to kneel down to the floor in order to hopefully make them less afraid. Many monsters had been scared of her, but she did not expect a face such as that to look at her with such terror. Despite the pang in her own soul, she softly promised, “I will not until you are ready.” It did not seem to bring comfort to the monster. “You have been through a lot, have you not?”

The light remained on their chest. It shimmered in their eyes which now flicked around the room. No recognition flashed, and they realized they were not where they fell asleep. “How… how long… have I been here?” They swallowed, trying to get rid of some of the pain in their throat.

“You’ve slept all day,” she answered honestly, and perhaps that was a mistake.

The monster’s claws returned to their head. They dug deep enough to where Toriel was scared that wounds would open. Uneven breaths and another choking sound came from the monster’s mouth. They whispered the same thing over and over again: “They’re gone.”

No matter how many times they said it, and no matter how many times Toriel tried to stop them, they kept whispering the same thing over and over again. Their voice started to become raw the more they tried to speak. No matter how much it hurt them, they kept repeating what tragedy had occurred to them.

No wonder they had fought Asgore and Undyne. What a terrible fate they had been given.

Toriel rose to her feet. The monster did not acknowledge her movement as she went to go get a glass of water for them. Hopefully, it would calm them down enough to explain what had happened. Toriel was already trying to put the pieces together herself. If their friends were in danger, and they broke out of a cell to try to aid them, then of course lingering here for a day would mean the worst.

She just needed to figure out what had happened to them.

But first, she needed to put them back together.

Toriel returned to the living room. First, she tried offering the water to the monster. They had stopped muttering to themself, but as soon as Toriel drew close, the red light in their chest and around their body returned.

They did not accept the drink.

Slowly, Toriel placed it on a table next to the couch. “No one will bring you harm for as long as you are here,” she promised again, and she meant every word of it. “Please, child, what is your name?”

The monster let out a huff of air. The sobs started breaking into something akin to disbelieving laughter. And yet, the laughs never carried the usual happy noise one made. They were just breathy, and failed every time the monster tried to make one. “Not a child. No name. Of course, you all forgot.” Their claws sank deeper into their fur. “The only people who knew are gone. My name doesn’t matter anymore.”

Ah… of course. She… she was just projecting again. Their horns were long enough to indicate adulthood at the very least, though she could not guess their exact age. Although, Toriel was beginning to understand what Asgore meant about their words being confusing. And yet, perhaps it was not all that confusing. “I insist that it does. Whatever grief you are going through does not diminish who you are, I promise you that.”

Their claws scraped down their face, revealing one of their glowing eyes again. “No.” Teeth bared. The monster snarled, “You all think you can just ask for my name. You knew my name, and I took it away from you when you all made it clear you don’t want me. That I’m not allowed here.” The snarl vanished. Hysterics took over again. “You don’t get that. The only people who wanted me are dead. They were all I was. My name dies with them.”

Toriel was certain that she had never known this monster before, and yet they talked with her like she should be familiar with them. “I understand your distress. I know what it is like to lose those closest to you.” She did not miss the way the monster tensed up like they wished to lash out. “I… only wish to know what to call you. It does not have to be your name. Maybe just… a nickname?”

Vitriol spilled out. “Pick your favorite. I’ve been called a lot: The Angel, Heaven, human soul, a threat, Chara…” They punctuated the last one with finality, and Toriel’s resolve against them finally shook. “It just doesn’t matter anymore.”

Every single name they gave caused more questions than the last. Why were they called a being only loosely mentioned in prophecy? What heaven did they refer to? Why then were they called the soul still shining on their chest? Was it Undyne who called them a threat? And finally… Toriel’s eyes narrowed. “I trust that you do not take that name lightly. If you are angry with me, I will accept it wholeheartedly. Do not drag my child into this.”

“You said we’d be a family once too.” The monster’s tears had finally gone away completely. Nothing remained but bitterness behind their eyes. “And… do you know… what I’ve had to deal with since coming here?” Their hand went for their bag before slinging it over their shoulder. “Your politics… People thinking I’m someone I’m not… and no matter how hard I try to make things make sense to any of you, I never can.” Their hand curled into a fist. “And every time I failed, I got closer to my friends paying the price. Now, look at what I’ve done.”

They rose to their feet, soul still shining brightly on their chest. Despite them being smaller than Toriel, she still felt a pressure coming from above. She remained firm, not budging from her position. Asgore and Undyne claimed this monster was dangerous, but she could see the fear behind their eyes. Their soul was not out for no reason, after all. “Many of us have asked to understand. If you would try once more, then perhaps we could help you.”

Their head turned away, eyes closing. The monster scoffed, putting a hand on their head. “Too late now.” A bitter exhale escaped their nose. “It’s just too late. It’ll be over soon, anyway.”

“And yet, you could still try-”

“Just stop,” the monster interrupted her, opening their eyes again and moving to swipe their branch from the wall. When they turned back to her, they did not look at her again. They kept their eyes trained on the floor. “Forget today happened. All of you, live your lives. The less you know about me, the better.” 

“I-” Toriel did not understand why they were so resistant. “Frisk wished to speak with you as well. They claimed they were your friend. Even despite everything, Asgore wishes to speak with you as well.”

Their grip on their branch tightened. The soul started to dim. “I… I can’t do this anymore. Just…” Their head sank lower. “The questions. The accusations. The chases. The hurting.”

“You do not have to anymore.” How could she make them see that? Yes, there would… probably continue to be questions, but if they were tired then… “You can rest here for as long as you like. No one is going to hurt you here.”

Toriel did not know what broke, only that something did.

The monster’s eyes dulled. The soul vanished back into their chest. The red around their body faded away. “Can I just be alone for a while?” They asked, never looking back up to stare her in the face. “I can’t… do this right now.”

Of… of course. She had lost herself for a moment. If those closest to them were truly gone, then… surely they needed time to grieve.

She knew that need to be alone all too well.

“Very well.” She could at least just let them sit for a moment. “There is water still on the table for you, and you may help yourself to anything in the fridge. Though please… do not go anywhere. It already took quite a bit of convincing to get Undyne to leave my house.”

The monster nodded like they did not care about a word she said. Nevertheless, they sat down with the bag still fastened around them and the branch still in hand. They did not move any further.

Toriel had locked the door. The monster looked frail at the moment, and considering the way they began staring off into space, she doubted they would be moving. Hopefully, they would just listen to her just this once. “I will let Frisk know you are awake. You do not have to speak unless you are ready.”

Again, they nodded. Their facial expression did not change. 

“Just please rest.” It was all she could end on. They no longer wanted to talk anymore.

Toriel sighed. Admittedly, it was difficult to break through to that monster. Perhaps, she had been too brash trying to do so while they still had so many fears about their loved ones. Maybe it really would have to be Frisk who spoke to them. She had never seen a monster so resistant to expressing themself.

The staircase creaked as Toriel walked up to Frisk’s room. When she reached the top of the staircase, she spotted Frisk themself down the hall, already beginning to make their way through.

In question, Frisk tilted their head down the stairs. “Heard they were awake.”

“Ah, yes, hm…” Sending Frisk in now probably would not do any good. “I think… we should give them a moment. Unfortunately, it seems that they are not well enough to talk to anyone.”

Frisk stood still for a moment as if debating with themself. They used to do this a lot after coming to the surface, and some habits must have never changed. “Are they just sitting down there?”

Toriel nodded. “They did not appear to wish to do much of anything, as a matter of fact.”

Frisk’s shoulders loosened up. Despite being relieved a little bit, they still glanced down the staircase. “I’m… going to check in on them, just in case.”

Despite the monster’s wishes, Toriel was a tad too tired to stop Frisk. Besides, if they were Frisk’s friend, then maybe a simple check-in would be all right. At the moment, Toriel needed to rest, but she knew that terrifying thoughts would be awaiting her when she did.

Like many times she already had today, she chose to trust in Frisk. “Very well. Do not stay up too late. You still have classes in the morning.”

Frisk shrugged like they knew they were already doomed and walked down the stairs.

She was unable to find easy sleep, and yet she still managed eventually. It caused her to miss a short conversation happening somewhere under her. It allowed her to miss a door creaking open from downstairs. When she heard footsteps calmly walking back up the stairs, she thought nothing of it.

All she thought about was why the monster said they’d been called Chara.

Even now, Asgore wondered if the graveyard was a mockery.

He visited as often as possible. It was only right to do so, considering all that had happened. That was… a light way to put it, but Asgore did not have the ability to police his own thoughts at the moment. He never did, when standing at this gravesite.

It was a newer development on the surface. Graveyards were not typically a fixture within the Underground. Monsters had their dust spread across an object they loved, so they could always continue living on through it. Burial… was a human rite more than anything.

When monsters came to the surface, they adopted that rite themselves.

Spreading the dust still happened, but monsters found the idea of others visiting graves nice. It meant that their loved ones would have company when others visited a graveyard. And… the need for a graveyard became necessary with…

Asgore sighed, standing at the one indoor fixture just past many of the gravestones. It was an eight-sided building which housed some of the cruelest deaths the Underground had seen. Asgore’s own hands were responsible for six, and his own inaction was responsible for another two.

None of the bodies were here. This place was merely a memorial. Despite Asgore putting the humans to rest in their own coffins, the bodies vanished when the barrier broke. A memorial was still created for the sacrifices, and for the lives those humans gave for monsterkind’s freedom.

That was the story humans believed.

Asgore visited the memorial as much as he could, for he did not deserve to be free of the crimes he had committed.

He did not understand why Frisk spared him of his rightful fate.

Asgore was fully prepared to tell the humans everything. After all, he had led his people to the sun again. Monsters were beginning to integrate on the surface. All he wanted to do was give closure to any family who may have lost their children. If he had to live his immortal life atoning for what he had done, then he would do so gladly. He deserved nothing less.

When humans asked how the barrier had been broken if it required seven souls, Frisk explained everything on their own.

Except… Frisk did not tell the truth in the slightest.

In a more eloquent way than Frisk had ever spoken before, they wove a story about the Underground being a dangerous place for any child. They even recounted hazards that Frisk had never encountered on their journey according to the route they took through the Underground. They claimed that the souls were found in the Underground, but the bodies were not. The children had met a terrible fate under the mountain, and their sacrifices were not forgotten when the barrier finally broke.

They lied.

Asgore did not know why they lied for him.

He was not sure if he wished for them to do that in the first place.

And yet, he had been given a second chance, despite deserving nothing of the sort.

A human testifying about the natural dangers of the Underground swayed the humans into understanding. Families of the fallen children could not be found anymore. Far too much time had passed, and no one reached out to seek closure.

It left Asgore feeling empty.

He did not allow himself to complain. He stood at the memorial made for them. Things they wore and weapons they used were placed on top of a plaque for each human who had fallen, brought to this place by Frisk in the end. He promised to do everything in his power to atone. He just… did not understand how.

Besides, he had already failed the two children who mattered most to him.

Chara and Asriel had memorials of their own. Their sacrifices would never be forgotten either. And yet, all the same, Asgore did not know how to atone. He would have… many more years to figure it out. After all, his children were gone, which left him all the time in the world to think of how it all went wrong. Even now, he could not shake the feeling.

Asgore sighed. Perhaps, when dawn came again, he would check in with Toriel. Hopefully, at the very least, he could solve this brewing situation with the humans. Papyrus seemed to be resolute that he could calm tensions, but no party had actually told the humans about the monster with a human soul yet. There… was never any time to give the warning the previous night, and now that they were certainly breaking protocol, everyone was deferring to Papyrus. Papyrus himself had not said a word to his colleagues.

It was all becoming so complicated.

Asgore glanced through the glass of the small building he was in, seeing a shadow moving through the graveyard. He wondered who might be out at this time of night. At least, the monsters who rested elsewhere would have their own company.

When Asgore noticed the telltale sign of gold fur in the darkness, he realized that something was amiss.

Oh Toriel, what had happened for the monster to escape?

Asgore almost went out after them, but when he saw that the monster wasn’t in a rush, he decided to watch for a moment. Like they did truly respect this place, they walked through it slowly and quietly. Logically, they should be being pursued right now, but no urgency was reflected in their motions or expression.

Their eyes looked dull. Their movements seemed tired. Eventually, their eyes settled on a grave that Asgore knew well, and they stopped.

The monster reached a hand up to their ear before unfastening a ribbon that they did not have the last time they and Asgore spoke. Asgore could not see what they did with it. Instead, he watched as they sat down in the grass, staring down at the object in their hand.

They did not move.

Well, Asgore supposed that… he should try to get them back to Toriel. Perhaps, they had made an escape attempt, and they merely gave up when they realized they were too fatigued.

Asgore finally left the memorial and made his approach.

Without so much as turning their head towards him, the monster talked into open air, “Hi Asgore. Please don’t come any closer.”

He stopped three paces away from the monster. Their last talk had been while fighting, and they had barely been able to speak before that. Hearing them talk now… it was unnerving how little panic seeped into their voice. It remained level. Asgore had to question, “You do understand that you should not be out here, correct?”

“Frisk recommended I come here. They said it would be quiet.” A frustrated huff escaped their mouth. Their breaths condensed just in front of them. At least, it looked like they were wearing the jacket that Asgore bought them. Yet, they still shivered. “Just leave me to my failures. You can do whatever you want with me tomorrow.”

Now standing closer, Asgore could see the way they thumbed a sparkling ribbon in their hand. Their lowered head remained transfixed on it. He… was unsure what to do. Perhaps, he should listen and do nothing, but…

He recalled peering into a bedroom ages ago looking for Asriel. Of course, he still lingered by Chara’s bed. Asgore knew that their time was drawing short, and it would be time to say their goodbyes soon. They had not improved, and he had been preparing to break the news to Asriel. However… when he saw his son’s face staring at Chara’s pale complexion, Asgore realized that he already knew.

Asgore made the mistake of leaving Asriel alone to grieve that day.

Never again.

“I’m not him,” the monster suddenly said to open air, and some pressure in Asgore’s forehead suddenly vanished like it had withdrawn. “Surely, you know by now why I cannot be him.”

How… had they heard him? Asgore’s jaw fell open for a moment before he closed it again. Only more questions formed. Perhaps, they had merely gotten lucky. He… had to believe in that for now and focus on what was important. “You do not have to be for me to be… concerned.”

“Concern would’ve been better last night.” The monster twisted their head slightly to look at him out of the corner of their eye. Matted fur betrayed them, but the tears had vanished a long time ago. “If you only pity me now, because I look like your son, then just leave. I don’t need it.”

No… he…

Asgore knew he had become complacent, but that was not the reason that he chose to stay. Asriel had long passed. Perhaps, the monster had a point. If he was only here to ease his own conscience, then there was no point.

And yet, he could not leave.

Asgore’s gaze rose to look at the gravestone that the monster chose to sit in front of. He visited it just as often as the memorial, because the monster whose hammer was buried under the dirt should never be forgotten. It was fitting that the monster chose to come here. Perhaps, Asgore would have to draw on some of the wisdom his old friend lent to him a long time ago.

Refusing to leave, Asgore asked, “Would it be all right if I sit here as well?”

The monster turned their head away. “I can’t stop you.”

Asgore took the resignation as an invitation, walking up beside the monster and sitting down next to them. He did not know what to say next, but it felt like something. So, the two of them sat in silence, one staring at the tombstone and the other remaining transfixed on a ribbon in their hands.

Ah, if only Gerson was here now. He always kept Asgore company in his darkest moments. And yet, no matter how much Asgore stared at that tombstone, he could not find the words.

The monster next to Asgore did not acknowledge him for a while. Silence dragged on for minutes at a time, only ever broken up by the sound of wind rustling leaves. The monster held onto the ribbon like a lifeline, but slowly, their gaze started to look up at the tombstone as well.

Silence finally broke. The monster whispered, “Can you answer something for me?” As soon as they asked, Asgore nodded his head. Like a weight had been cast onto their shoulders, the monster sunk into themself. “It’s… all going to be over soon, right?”

Asgore turned his head to look at them. “I am not certain what you mean.”

“All of this…” They waved their hand around before placing it on their face. “It’s… it’s all just a bad dream. I don’t know why I thought it was anything else.” Their hand clenched around the ribbon tighter. Like they were desperately trying to cling to the idea, a watery smile met their lips. “Soon, I’ll wake up. I won’t be trapped in this body. I won’t be in this world. I’ll… I’ll be distant again, but they’ll still be alive.”

How… could he answer something such as that? Asgore knew that the two of them were not dreaming. And yet, they begged for it to be so like it was the only thing left that brought them comfort.

“This can’t be real,” the monster tried to reason, and their voice finally started to lose its tempered edge that it had a few moments ago, “None of this was. It’s… I’m… I’m going to wake up soon. I have to.”

Asgore’s gaze trailed back to the gravestone. Silence continued for a moment longer. Cold air blew through the graveyard, causing the monster next to him to shiver. That should be proof alone that it wasn’t a dream… but…

Calling upon words that he heard a long time ago, Asgore thought back to when he thought the same way. “I will not lie to you and tell you that it becomes easier. Some days, it feels like the wound has begun to heal, and then others it is reopened without mercy. And now… it feels like your whole world is ending.”

The monster stayed quiet. Their knees had been pulled up to their chest, and their head turned away from him.

Yet, Asgore did not find himself deterred. “You wake up every morning. The day goes on regardless of how you feel. You still have to talk… you still have to fight… you still have to struggle…” He glanced at them before looking back at the tombstone. They looked so small, despite how gargantuan their presence felt when the two of them fought. “I am sure that it feels pointless to you now. It…” He remembered words that Gerson spoke to him when all seemed lost, when Asgore could no longer get out of bed. “It is an insult that the world goes on when yours has ended.”

“It isn’t about me…” The monster tried to whisper again, but their voice started to crack. “I wasn’t strong enough to protect them. I… I don’t know why it was me who lived. It shouldn’t have been.”

Asgore would have traded places with his children gladly. He knew the feeling all too well. Perhaps, old habits died hard. Even now, he could not live for himself. And yet, this monster was still so young. They already looked close to giving up. So, even though Asgore could never use these words for himself, he tried them anyway. “I cannot say what they were like, but they meant everything to you, didn’t they?”

The monster nodded. “I was never meant to get close. I was supposed to guide them. I was supposed to protect them.” They laughed bitterly, “And now here I am, the only one left alive, acting like I can feel bad when it’s my fault.”

“And yet you cannot force the memory of them away.” Even though Asgore would never dream of doing such a thing, perhaps he knew that it would be easier if he could merely forget all of the bad that happened to him. “It is not a weakness to cling to the happiness they brought you. It allows you to keep moving forward, to carry the knowledge with you that despite how short your time was, you were loved.”

“Please, just tell me I’ll wake up soon,” they begged, covering their face with their hands. “Please.”

He could not. “What will you do if you do not?”

The monster stayed silent.

Asgore decided to look down at the ribbon they had in their hand. He… did not want to make assumptions. The monster tended to pull away whenever he did. So, he asked a question that… that could perhaps help them. “What were they like?”

Something in their expression softened. They brushed a finger across the ribbon again, but could not muster a smile. “They were all… left behind in their own ways. When I arrived, I guess… that was when we all came together finally.” Of all the things they talked about, it seemed that this remained close to their heart. “Kris and I never really got along, but they… they put their trust in me in the end. We had each other’s backs. Even though they didn’t like me at first, and I didn’t like them… I still… I still wanted to pull them out of the hell they were trapped in. I still wanted them to be themself. By the end, I… wondered if we could be friends.”

Hm. Asgore did not expect that to be the first thing out of their mouth about their friends. “A rivalry, perhaps?” Sometimes, friendships were forged through a bit of competitiveness, after all.

“Something like that,” the monster conceded, thinking a bit more, “I guess it was Susie who… first really acknowledged me. She helped me think that I could be something more than just this soul in my chest… Had it not been for her, I guess… I guess we wouldn’t be here.” A frown wove across their face. “She was so hopeful for a better future for all of us. I just wish I could’ve seen it through. I wanted to see it through. I wanted her hope to mean something.”

Asgore remembered the hope in Chara’s eyes as well when they fell into the Underground. A child who had lived a terrible life on the surface that they rarely talked about saw hope for the first time when a family embraced them. He wished that they could have had the same hope as well, but now… “I do not think she would have wanted you to lose hope either.” He could say that with certainty after knowing someone like Chara. Perhaps, in a way, they were watching over him now.

“Ralsei would be frustrated seeing me like this too…” The name was an odd one, but it rolled off the monster’s tongue with familiarity. “More sad if anything. I just… He never got to have a chance to figure out who he was, and yet kept trying to help me figure that out.” The ribbon in their hand was beginning to gain creases with how tightly they were holding it. “I didn’t expect to be the only one of us standing when all of it was over. I was… I was even going to give him my soul, believe it or not. I was prepared for that.”

The red soul in their chest… they talked about it as if it was them. They were prepared to give it up? Giving up one’s soul would be giving their entire essence to another person. Asgore did not finish the thought. He tried to hook on to what he needed to know. “Then… all of that you claimed about that soul being yours-”

“-was true.” The monster finished for him, shaking their head in disbelief. “Everything I told you was true. Even mentioning Noelle was intentional. She was one of my friends too, even if only near the end.” The monster fiddled with the hoodie they now wore. “Half of her family brought this fate on my friends, and yet… I still wanted her and Rudy to be fine. Guess I’m an idiot for that one too. I thought I’d be good enough to help them all, and I was only able to selfishly save myself.”

Rudy…? Rudy had… died long ago. Asgore tried to stifle his own thoughts. He forgot himself for a moment when the monster started talking about things that scared him again. 

“They’re not yours. My friends aren’t in this world.” The monster muttered like they could once again hear his own confusion. “And if you don’t understand that, then don’t try. It’s pointless, anyway.”

Despite their nature, their eyes remained dull. Despite how many terrifying concepts they brought up, they were still scared. So, Asgore latched onto the one thing that he had been working towards this entire time, politely trying to suggest it to the monster: “It… may be presumptuous, but… I do not think they would wish a cruel fate upon you.”

“They wouldn’t.” At least, the monster understood that much, but they were the only one left to judge their own actions. Levelheadedness began to be lost as they brought the ribbon closer to their face, pressing their forehead up against it. “And yet every time I shut my eyes, I see them die again and again.” Their eyes watered, like being able to feel the ribbon at all made them realize that the world was still all too real. “I should’ve been there.”

Asgore’s shoulders fell. “I know.” He should’ve been there too. It was the one thing he could never get rid of. “I know.”

The monster sniffled, freeing their head and staring at the grass below them. “I don’t think I know what to do now.” Defeat began to plague their voice. “My one plan to help them failed. It would’ve taken seconds for them to get swarmed. Another Titan would’ve been there in minutes. I slept for hours! HOURS!” 

The peace of the graveyard was disturbed, the monster yelling into open air. They had gotten up to their feet, like there was a fight to be had, and yet no one but Asgore was here.

All at once, they crumpled to the ground again, ribbon falling into the grass inches away. They slammed a fist into the ground, tears finally falling freely. “It’s not real. It’s not real.” No matter how many times they repeated it, it did not help them. “I didn’t lose them. I… I’m still myself! I didn’t get separated from everyone I’ve ever known! It’s just… It didn’t happen! It couldn’t have happened. It can’t. I can’t…”

“And yet, you must carry on…” It was too difficult a truth, but if they did not keep their hope, then… “You must carry their memory with you in hopes that one day, the sun will rise again. Even if it hurts, even if it feels like you can no longer carry the weight, you must do it for them.” Asgore tried something new. Carefully, he extended a hand out in offering, hoping that just once, they would accept something other than blindly charging forward. “You will not carry this burden alone. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to help.”

As soon as his hand grew close, their soul flared out on their chest. Even now, they still felt that they were in danger.

Asgore would not have been able to do it alone. When Toriel left, he began to sink lower and lower. Despite his kingdom needing him, he wondered at times whether or not it would be easier to let the gnawing pain in his soul take him.

Then, lights appeared in the darkness to pull him up just enough for him to get back onto his feet. Gerson… Rudy… Undyne… all of them had lifted him up in ways that he never felt deserving of, but he cherished it nonetheless.

Perhaps, that was all this monster needed now.

“We all wish to help, if you would let us try.”

There was no illusion for them to hide behind anymore. There was nowhere left to run. The only way to hide was deluding themself into believing that this wasn’t real, but…

The monster finally gave in.

Slowly, and with the soul still on their chest, they reached out to Asgore’s hand. Their own hand trembled, and the soul flared out brighter as they hovered just inches away from finally taking the first step.

And then, like a barrier had finally been crossed, they put their hand in his.

The soul on their chest vanished as a shaky exhale escaped their lungs.

The illusion finally shattered entirely, and the monster sank into themself. He still did not even know their name, yet they gave in regardless. He would make that trust worth something. Toriel was right in a way. This… certainly was better than trying to keep them in a cell.

Cautiously, he tried to lift them back up to a seated position, and they let him do so. The tears hadn’t left their eyes, and their hand shook more and more. They must have realized that they would not have felt this if it were all a dream. Perhaps, their situation had finally fully settled in.

Asgore reached over to pick their ribbon out of the grass. It was small in between his claws, but he still handed it back to them regardless. They grasped it like a lifeline when they realized they had dropped it, and all thoughts of being close to Asgore vanished in favor of both of their hands keeping the item safe.

The monster sat there in the dark for a while, returning to that same silence they had before asking Asgore that wretched question of if they would wake up soon. They scraped their hand across their eyes to wipe the tears out, and each sniffle almost startled Asgore with how much it broke the silence.

He would let them sit as long as they needed.

It took another few minutes for the next words to come.

“I’m sorry,” they finally said, glancing away from him, “For everything.”

Ah. Yes, this… had been quite a chaotic day! Still, Asgore had his own apologies to give. “Knowing what I know now, I would have acted the same in your place.” He would have fought to get to his own children had the barrier not physically prevented him from doing so. “Though… er… I do still think there will be questions. You did pull a geyser from the earth… and… well… your soul…”

Exhaustion crept onto their face, but it must have been less that they wanted to go back to sleep and more that they knew this could not be escaped anymore. “I guess convincing you that it’s a dream would be stupid after that conversation, wouldn’t it?”

Ah, was that their plan if Asgore ever caught up to them?

The monster gave the only explanation they could. “I can’t tell you how I did it, because none of you can. Only I can undo it too, and…” A lump caught in their throat. “The last person who used that power without restraint killed all of my friends.”

Of… of course. That made sense that they did not want anyone else even getting the slightest idea on how it worked. “I apologize. I will not ask about it again.”

They scoffed. “It was your right after I hit you with a fireball.”

“I have been… struck by a fireball many times,” Asgore sheepishly admitted. Quite frankly, the fire attack was quite terrifying to see raining down from above, but he woke up with no injuries. “To be completely honest, it more just caught me by surprise. I was not aware you knew magic other than… well… your soul.”

That sadness in their eyes came back. “I don’t.” They glanced down at the ribbon in their hand before carefully tying it back around their ear. “It was one of my friends’ abilities. I don’t know how I called on it, and I shouldn’t have. Ralsei never wanted me to use that.”

That-

Hm.

Asgore smiled. Despite the monster not realizing it, perhaps they had more support from their friends than they realized. “If you were able to call upon it in your most dire of moments, then perhaps he did want you to have it. Even now, a parting gift has been left with you.”

They stared at the grass, clenching their jaw. “I don’t think they want much of anything anymore. I don’t get to assume what they wanted.”

“And yet, you assume that they would not want you to be able to defend yourself.” Asgore earned a glare from the monster, which made him remember that this… very much would be sore for a while. “Regardless, your friends seem… very resilient. That was quite the strong spell you threw at me.”

“They were.” They spoke with fondness. Every time they mentioned those friends, it was like something inside them flipped. Any hostility that had been reserved for Asgore or Undyne just never really came, even when talking about that friend they called Kris. “They were better than me at that, in a lot of ways. I just… wish I could’ve lasted longer. I wish I could’ve at least been there…” 

Asgore suddenly found himself at a loss. A detail had been neglected in all of this, and… perhaps it was foolish to mention now, but… “You… said that they were in danger before. Now, you claim that they are gone. How are you so certain of this?”

As if it was obvious, the monster explained, their voice sinking lower and lower, “We’d just killed three Titans. They’re beings without consciousness. A force of nature. You aren’t even half the size of their faces.” They explained it nonchalantly, like something on that scale was just something they could bring up without further elaboration. “There were countless more. There was an even worse foe on the loose. My friends just… didn’t have anything left to give.” They sharply inhaled, trying to recollect it one more time. “They were injured when I was taken away. With how fast Titans find Lightners… or… well… anyone…” They did not elaborate on the confusing term. “They would’ve…”

Ah. That was why they were so certain. And yet, the monster had not seen them die. “Perhaps this is foolish to say…” Asgore knew that he should not give them this hope, but… “But have you considered that you may have underestimated them?”

The monster blinked a few times. “I’m just…” They pressed their eyes shut, looking away. “None of them could even fight when I was taken away. Don’t… don’t say that.”

“I merely wish to say that you have resigned yourself early.” If Asgore knew that there was any chance for his own children to be alive, he would have moved mountains for them. “It is all the more reason to carry on. If they truly are gone, then you must carry their memory with you. However, if there is even the slightest chance that they are still waiting for you…”

Their head sank. “...Then I have to keep going.” The monster did not look sure of themself, like giving into anymore hope would somehow cause the world to crash down on top of them. “I’ve hoped like this before. Fate has a funny way of proving me wrong.”

Asgore understood how hard it was to continue hoping. “And would that stop you?”

They hesitated. They stared at the grave in front of them for a few moments like they were trying to find answers in someone long gone. Then, like something finally clicked, they muttered, “When ink washes over the pages…” Some resolve set in. A presence in the air grew brighter. The monster seemed more whole even though they had not changed at all. “No. It wouldn’t. I just… don’t know what to do next.”

Asgore did not know either, but he had a few suggestions. “I… do believe you should rest. It may be easier to think with a clearer mind.”

“Already rested. Just… didn’t think I had to eat or drink like this.” Again, they started sounding confusing.

And yet, that confusion unearthed something that Asgore did want to mention. Perhaps, it would offer them a bit of insight. He did not quite understand their circumstances, but maybe they would have an idea of what to do with this information. After all, they did share a lot with him today. “Curiously… you did say that… no one else can do the geyser thing you did.”

The monster nodded, but it seemed exaggerated like they had forced themself into the motion out of necessity.

Asgore needed to pull at a memory though. He needed to prod at something that did not line up. While many things about this monster were strange, they claimed to have only told truths thus far. Many of those truths still perplexed Asgore, and he would have to ask one day, but… “I… recognized it from somewhere, I suppose. I don’t know where or why, but it seemed familiar to me in a way.”

Instead of responding immediately with something cryptic, the monster paused entirely. Gears started spinning in their head as they glanced around, like they were trying to figure out what that could possibly mean. “That doesn’t…” They trailed off before something clicked. In an instant, they shot up to their feet.

Asgore stood up as well, concerned at the sudden fast motion when they had just managed to finally calm down. “Er… I do not think you should be… running off again if you just had a realization.”

“No, I just…” They picked up their branch, leaning on it anxiously. “I’m going back to Frisk. I owe them an explanation. But… after that…” They suddenly started muttering to themself, smacking their own forehead, “Idiot. Idiot idiot idiot.”

“Now now, there is no need to be rude to yourself.” He did not know what realization they had, but they seemed very tense at the moment. “If you are going back to Frisk, then I will not stop you. However, there’s… there’s still the issue of your soul.”

The monster waved him off, beginning to walk away from the gravestone. “If you get humans involved with me, things are only going to get more complicated. I don’t even know what’s wrong with me, but it’s not soul absorption.” They shook their head in disbelief at their own words. “Flowey was right. I really don’t know what I’m doing.”

And yet, they still kept walking away. Asgore strided up next to them, keeping pace easily but growing increasingly concerned. “I- if you don’t know, then-”

“I’m going to someone who does,” they responded confidently. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I haven’t known what I was doing since getting here. But, if you’re right, and you did see a Dark Fountain, then I think I know what I’m looking for.”

Was… that what they called the geyser? Asgore thought he was understanding more and more about this monster, but as soon as he revealed something new to them, the threads tangled all over again. “What… are you looking for?”

Finally, the monster stopped in their tracks. As if someone was listening, they spoke to open air, “Someone who’s had my back since the beginning.” When they received no response, they kept walking. “And if he can’t reach me right now, then I know where to go next.”

They had begun walking down the road. Asgore was… glad to see them no longer in despair, but it was a tad terrifying seeing them moving with purpose again. “You will… tell others where you are going, correct? Additionally, we really do need to handle the-”

“I’ll tell people,” they promised. “...But I’m not doing your politics. I’m not slowing down to convince people I’m something I’m not.” They tapped their chest to emphasize what they meant. “If there’s a chance my friends are still alive, I won’t be able to sit back and deal with everything you want me to.”

That… left all of them in a precarious situation. The monster’s soul had a tendency to appear whenever they so much as thought they were in danger. Hiding this from the humans would be a ludicrous idea! 

And yet, Toriel’s words rang through his ear.

How could he dare to limit someone who was fearful for their loved ones’ lives?

Even he could not stomach that anymore.

Asgore sighed. Was it really worth endangering Monsterkind for this monster’s whims? He did not think so. And yet, he could find ways to compromise. “Wherever you are going, I ask that you take someone with you. Someone must be able to advocate for you who is aware of your… situation.” If another monster or Frisk stayed at the monster’s side, then maybe a scenario where their soul was revealed could be prevented.

Shockingly, the monster agreed, “That would probably help.” 

“And… if I may ask…” He had one more thing he needed to know just in case the worst happened. “What are you planning on doing?”

The monster stopped in their tracks, turning to look at him in the eye. “Reestablishing a connection. Only one person can tell me whether or not my friends are still alive, and only one person can give me advice on what to do next.” They turned away again. “And if they really are dead, I have something else to see through.”

“Which is?”

Something heavy pressed down from above. Up until this point, the monster had been shaky at times. They had acted out in hostility, but it never exactly felt… malicious. Monsters had an attunement for the sort of thing, and all of their strikes held back whenever they tried to fight Asgore.

Now, even though they hadn’t struck, something truly enraged bubbled in the air around them. “If any of them are dead, a hunt begins.”

They did not elaborate, continuing their walk back to Toriel’s house. Asgore stayed rooted to the ground.

Before they got too far away, they stopped for a moment, calling back, “But thank you, and good night.”

He still did not know their name.

And yet, somehow “the Angel” felt fitting.

Chapter Text

“You think this is a terrible idea, and you should leave to check on the walking apocalypse that you have unleashed on your town.”

Chara had been trying to narrate countless ways that Frisk was “wrong” and “incorrect” about their decision to let the monster roam for a second. Maybe Frisk just saw the distress for what it was and decided to do the right thing for once! Besides, Frisk didn’t hear any explosions coming from outside! It was still dead quiet, so the monster probably did just need some time alone like they said!

“You could have gone with them to watch them. What happens when they get too far away from you?” Chara chastised them once more, trying to get them to budge from their spot on Chairiel. 

Remaining determined, Frisk stayed put. They were not going after that monster. Besides, Chara knew very well that Frisk set a save point earlier. If anything did actually go wrong, they could just easily load to a time when the monster was still asleep. Easy peasy! No one needed to get harassed! No one needed to be denied being able to just take a breather every once and a while.

Hearing all of that, Chara scoffed, “You tend to be infuriating, and a legitimate threat being watched should not be considered ‘harassment’ in your mind.” 

Frisk had it handled. Besides, it would be much easier to talk to the monster if everyone was nice and happy. Frisk highly doubted that the monster would want to talk if Frisk cornered them and interrogated them after they visibly looked like they’d been hit by a car.

So, Frisk could wait right here until the monster came back, and they said they would come back! Besides, Frisk could just force them to come back if they didn’t, and it would be all fine! Chara should just stop being a worry-wart and let Frisk handle this!

“And ‘handling it’ is you lazing around?”

Yes. Yes it was. They were on no sleep and a failed exam. Sue them.

For emphasis, Frisk cupped a hand on their ear and listened for any chaos happening outside. They heard nothing. They took out their phone to see if there was any news or if a friend had contacted them. The only message they had was from Noel, and they had to respond to that later, but look Chara! No problems!

And honestly, Frisk really did want to talk to that monster. Pinning them down and interrogating them wasn’t going to make that happen. So, Frisk had to let them do their own thing for a second. If they willingly talked to Frisk, then Frisk might be able to get some answers.

Because all they knew about this monster was that they were tired, and they were looking for someone.

Those two things didn’t exactly paint a solid picture, and Frisk wanted that. All they wanted to do was understand. So many times, they had asked themself the question of why the events of the Underground happened the way they did. Why was Frisk commanded to spare monsters with ease, but they only ever were commanded to do that when all other options were exhausted? Why was Frisk commanded to eradicate monsterkind the moment they woke up in the Underground the first time? Why was Frisk commanded to systemically kill random monsters in different combinations until an arbitrary limit was met?

And why… did the monster do all of that… only to meet the end with resignation?

Why did they leave?

Frisk should be thankful that they left, but…

How had they been? What even were they? What were their new friends like? Did they do everything all over again? Did they like where they were now? Did they find what they were looking for?

Frisk just had to be patient and wait. The monster would be back any time now, and then Frisk could at least ask for a name. Based on what Frisk heard when waking up though, the monster wasn’t keen on ever having a name.

They continued waiting despite Chara’s numerous attempts to get them moving. The minutes stretched on. 

Really, what else was Frisk supposed to do? They came downstairs, only to find a disheveled monster with their head in their hands. When Frisk was asked if the monster could be alone for a bit, of course they said yes! If they needed to leave the house to do that, then that was fine! Considering what Frisk had heard in the whole names conversation, who wouldn’t need time to breathe after thinking people they’d loved were dead?

An hour passed.

Chara became more insistent, but Frisk stayed put.

They were still winning the mental war when the door creaked open again.

Unlike the last time Frisk saw them, their eyes seemed focused. The monster walked inside, still looking a little unsure on their feet, but having a bit more purpose to their stride. Before, it looked like they might give up the fight at any moment and fall over. Now, something had given them a bit of a push. Maybe, the fresh air really had helped.

Of course, Chara groaned when they realized they were wrong. Take that.

As soon as the door shut behind the monster, they stared at Frisk. Really, it was uncanny how similar they looked to Asriel’s hyperdeath form. Granted, most of that was just because they looked like Asriel. They didn’t have any of the cool markings or inverted eye-color that Asriel had. It was just… odd to see someone so Dreemurr-like when only two of them existed anymore.

Maybe that’s why Chara had a pang of resentment when the monster walked in.

When the monster didn’t move, Frisk tilted their head and gestured to the couch that the monster had been sleeping on. “Feeling better?”

Like they didn’t expect to be addressed, the monster blinked a few times. Their body loosened up, like the paralysis had finally been broken. Slowly, they nodded, moving to the couch like Frisk indicated. At least, they still seemed focused, even if they looked unnerved when seeing Frisk like they hadn’t just seen each other an hour ago.

The monster settled down, propping their stick against the couch. They did not remove their bag, and stared at Frisk anxiously like they expected something.

Frisk realized something and made an ‘ah’ sound with their mouth. “I’m not mad. About before.” Right, their last encounter had been when the monster was still a lost soul. “Everyone has tried to attack me once or twice.”

Again, the monster blinked. After a moment of hesitation, they opened their mouth to speak, and that same, normal voice came out, “I thought you’d be angrier.”

Didn’t this monster supposedly travel alongside Frisk? Were they paying much attention? Then again, sure, turning an entire segment of their college campus into lost souls was fairly extreme. Frisk clarified, “Considering it sounded like Flowey goaded you on, I think this one just… slides.” Besides, the monster hadn’t done anything when outside of the house, so clearly the campus was a specific circumstance. “Still, are you feeling any better?”

Anxiously, the monster fiddled with the strap of their satchel. “I think.” It wasn’t all that much of a reassurance, and they didn’t sound sure themself. “Just… got some much needed perspective I think. I know where I’m going next.”

Oh… they were… still planning on being on the move? Honestly, Frisk thought they would be staying here as soon as Toriel worked her magic. With the way the monster looked after Frisk came downstairs, it seemed like they’d lost all hope already. Something definitely changed while they were out.

Ugh, Frisk didn’t like referring to them like this, but they didn’t know what else to do. So, they asked, “I know… you don’t like saying your name.” Frisk understood that, and wouldn’t dare to make anyone use a name they didn’t want to use. “I just… don’t wanna keep referring to you as something general.”

The topic had been broached again. Except, the monster seemed more disbelieving if anything, shaking their head. “I thought if anyone would remember, it would be you.” They shut their eyes, taking a deep breath. “Everyone calls me the Angel. That’s all I’ll let people call me.”

“...but you’re not,” Frisk protested, “I mean, I guess technically you could be if you… ya know…” It was such a crass way of summarizing something that Frisk wasn’t ready to tackle yet, but the words spilled out before they really had a chance to stop themself. The prophecy monsters made had two meanings, after all.

The monster shied away slightly. “I know Asriel is the proper angel in this world.” They said the name loud enough for Frisk to listen very carefully if Toriel was awake. Perhaps, they did not understand just how sensitive of a topic that was. “I’m not your Angel, but I’m the Angel. Monsters made their own prophecy, but the original was lost to time.” They jabbed a thumb at their chest. “That’s me.”

Gerson did say that, didn’t he? Suddenly, Frisk was interested. “So then you know what it meant?” It was one thing they never figured out. The Deltarune was always one of those weird things that everyone had a different interpretation for. “What are the triangles then?”

The Angel’s expression darkened. Turning their head away, they muttered, “I’m not fond of the prophecy, and it’s not fond of me. It’s one of the reasons I’m even here, and I still don’t know how.”

Okay. That… was fine. Frisk was adaptable. “Why do you think I should remember your name?” It was something they sounded certain about, but Frisk had no clue what they had missed. “I mean… I remember you. I just… never knew you had a name.”

The monster sighed, like part of them expected that answer. Although, they took a bit to respond. They anxiously tapped a foot against the floor while trying to work out what to say next, before coming up with a question of their own: “How much… do you remember about me?”

And that was the problem, wasn’t it? Everything Frisk thought they knew about the Angel wasn’t exactly clear. How much of the force driving Frisk forward was the Angel, and how much of it was their own will? Sometimes, Chara didn’t even know. All Frisk knew about the Angel was that they were tired, but that wasn’t enough to paint a picture… and they already said that.

While Frisk thought, something else slipped into their thoughts. Chara certainly was not taking this one sitting down. “Perhaps, you should focus less on their inability to get rest, and instead focus on the fact that they doomed an entire species? You should start there, considering how deeply it affected you.”

As if they had heard, the Angel averted their eyes.

Suddenly, Frisk’s body leaned in, Chara suddenly growing interested. “So you can hear what you should not,” they said out loud through Frisk’s mouth, a grin appearing on Frisk’s face. “And yet you do not deny your actions. Curious.”

Why get this aggressive so soon? Why not let Frisk handle this? Chara never interjected like this unless it was super important, which recently was never. As soon as Frisk managed to get the reins back, they forced Chara back, trying to get them to just calm down for a second.

Frisk wanted to know too, but this didn’t have to get hostile immediately. “Sorry, they-”

“I don’t,” the Angel muttered. The admission hung in the air for a while. If they did not even deny what they did, then there was no ambiguity. The Angel remembered what they did, and they did not panic when they brought it up. It only brought back that tiredness in their eyes that made their shoulders slump a bit. “I guess that’s why you have questions.”

It was. It wasn’t the only thing Frisk had questions about, but how could they not wonder just a bit? “I’m just confused,” Frisk said, finally regaining their own stranglehold on their body, “I thought you’d be scary, and… you kinda were?” Seeing multiple of their fellow classmates getting turned into lost souls certainly rattled Frisk. For a brief moment, their own will had been trampled, but at the same time… “You seem more scared of me.”

Even now, the Angel did not seem confident. They’d asked for permission before leaving the house. They didn’t trample over Frisk’s own questions. It was like talking to a normal person, and that somehow made them make less sense. The Angel took a bit to respond again, like everything they said had to be calculated. There were no takebacks, after all. “Sorry for the campus. Needed to move forward.” 

Now that they mentioned it, Frisk had to ask, “How… did you do that to yourself?”

The Angel stared at the floor and muttered, “Lost. That’s what Ralsei used to call it.” It sounded like they didn’t understand how to word it when they tried to elaborate. Eventually, they gave up. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

What… did they want to talk about then? “...What about you?” Frisk tried, seeing if there was any angle that they could poke into. Over and over again, the Angel would recede from a topic. Hopefully, they wouldn’t shy away from this.

“What’s there to say?” But of course, they did anyway. “I told you what you need to know. Anything else doesn’t matter.”

“Of course it matters,” Frisk exclaimed, waving their hands around. Ever since the lost soul thing, they’d been trying to stay relatively calm, but how could they not be even just a little interested! “I haven’t heard a thing from you since the Underground, and then you suddenly show up with save powers and interrupt my exam!”

The Angel sighed, “And I’m trying to leave just as quickly. That’s the best outcome here.”

Mmm, they really didn’t want to bring out their ace, but they really had to at this point. “I think you owe me one.” Honestly, Frisk had gotten them out of their lost soul state. The Angel interrupted their exam! “I just wanna talk for a little!”

The Angel shrunk into themself a little more. “You won’t like the answers I have. I can’t even answer everything.”

“Just do your best!” Really, they made it seem like this was going to be the end of the world. Maybe they thought it was the most tense conversation of their life, and to be fair, Frisk wanted this conversation for a while. But Frisk always took battles as a way to get to know someone, not really something to be scared of. “Here. Question for question. I ask you something, you ask me something.”

Instead of immediately shooting down the idea, the Angel actually thought for a moment on whether or not the exchange would work. Almost as if they did find something useful in it, they changed their tone. “...Can I say no if I don’t want to answer some?”

Frisk nodded, but they needed a stipulation. “Only if I get an extra question.”

In the back of their mind, Chara began to personally seethe, “I cannot fathom how you are treating this thing as if you are a teenager gossiping at a sleepover.”

Well, Frisk had grown out of their teenage years, but sue them for maybe feeling a little bit like gossiping with the weird creature who was living in their head for a bit. After all, that’s why they kept Chara around!

“You are annoying.”

And yet, Chara liked them anyway!

When Frisk saw the monster slightly receding again, they put a stop to that by taking the lead. “Here. I’ll start. Uhhhh-” Okay, so maybe they didn’t think about this as much as they thought they did. Chara being in their head made it a little hard to think about what to ask first. So, they spitballed the first thing that came to mind: “What’s your favorite color?”

Some of the tension in the monster deflated in favor of pure confusion. “What?”

“Your favorite color!” Frisk repeated again. “Come on, everyone has a favorite color.”

The Angel squinted at them for a second before suddenly having to lean back and think about the question. “I mean… I guess red?” They gestured to the ribbon tied to their ear. “I don’t know if it’s… my favorite favorite, but I guess it felt like it was mine when I came here.”

The ominous being guiding Frisk had things such as favorite colors. This was useful information. That meant that they had likes. They had preferences. Even though Frisk spitballed the question, they were getting somewhere. Sagely, Frisk nodded, before gesturing to the Angel. “Your turn.”

As if they already had the question ready, the Angel immediately asked, “What’s the first thing you remember about me?”

Unlike Frisk, they were going straight in for the hard-hitting questions. Okay. Fair. Frisk should’ve expected that. They would’ve said their favorite color was purple, but okay. “It depends.” Frisk knew when the first actual point of the being existing was, and when they first realized that something else was there. “I know you were there the whole time. You… helped me eradicate the Underground the first time. I don’t think I actually knew you were there until…” Frisk didn’t like this memory, but the Angel asked. “...until after Flowey was killed. Then I guess I just… started being able to pay attention to you.”

The Angel put their fist against their mouth, staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing ever. Something had frozen them into staring off into space. “And you’re just… talking to me. Like none of that happened?”

“Not your turn!” Frisk interjected, deciding to sidestep the very question that Chara had been asking them over and over again. When the Angel was reminded of Frisk’s little deal, they tilted their head in sheer bafflement. However, Frisk had questions of their own, “What are your friends like? They sound nice!” Honestly! The fact that someone like this had managed to make friends and seemed to care… it made Frisk oddly happy for them? Of course… everything seemed to be going wrong, but…

Something fond appeared behind the Angel’s eyes. Their fist unfurled, brushing lightly against the ribbon against their ear. “I don’t think I could answer that in one go, but… they’re the kinds of people who catch you when you fall, and who trust you to catch them too. Kris is prickly and an asshole sometimes, but they’re unfortunately funny. We figured each other out after a while. Susie had the world beating her down and decided to never let that happen to any of us. Ralsei rarely took care of himself, but I hoped to be even half of the friend that he was to me.” The Angel almost smiled. Before it could properly form, it vanished again. “Guess I failed to catch them this time, haha.” There was no humor in their laugh. The fondness vanished, being replaced with a dull stare.

Oh. Right. That… was probably a bad question. Still, Frisk was happy that they had friends, and tried to steer things back. “Did everything go okay outside?”

The Angel almost answered before exhaling, firing back, “Not your turn.”

They were getting it now! A little satisfied, Frisk leaned back, patiently waiting for the next question. Again, they heard the distant yelling of Chara being frustrated with their success. 

And yet, despite the Angel getting the back-and-forth now, they still asked a downer question, “Why are you talking to me like I’m not a threat?” Every word came out with disbelief, like they expected Frisk to turn at any moment. “You… know what I’ve done. You shouldn’t be… everything I…” They failed to find the words, placing a hand on their head. “I should be a danger to you. To everyone around you.”

Frisk glanced around the room a few times before flicking their gaze back at the Angel for emphasis. “I don’t see you doing anything. Every single friend I’ve met except for Alphys has tried to kill me once or twice. She also kinda put me in life-threatening situations though so she also counts-” 

“I could still be dangerous. I was dangerous!” They tried reasoning like Frisk would follow. “I killed an entire civilization. That’s not just you.” Pressing a hand to their chest, they started baring their teeth. “What’s the plan? Are you… are you going to make it seem like I can be comfortable before telling me to go away? You don’t even have to do that! I don’t… I don’t even expect forgiveness. It’s not something I deserve. I just want to leave and be done! I just want to… to…”

They lost the words shortly after.

Frisk gave them a moment to catch their breath. Was that what the Angel thought? That Frisk was just going to throw them out the moment they got their answers? Again, Frisk gestured to the room around them, “You went back and then left it like this. You didn’t have to do that.” Despite Chara’s protests, Frisk smiled. “I’m optimistic.”

As if they didn’t trust Frisk, the Angel kept their arms clutched around their body. They did not respond to what Frisk said otherwise.

So… Frisk got going on their next question. “Did going outside help a little bit?”

It was an easier question. The Angel’s eyes remained dull, but they nodded regardless. “Asgore found me and helped me clear my head.” Oh, Asgore had talked with them? Considering how he did visit with clothes earlier, Frisk supposed that it wouldn’t be the worst person to meet out at night. Undyne would’ve been a bigger issue. “I think I know where I’m going next.”

Well that was… good? They did mention they were going out earlier, but a few things needed to be handled before they even thought about that. “Did you even drink anything yet?”

The Angel took a glance at the full glass of water next to the table before muttering again. “Not your turn.” However, a little bit of sharpness returned to their eyes, so that was somewhat good. They pointedly did not drink the water. “Can you reset anymore?” The next question came out fast, and they glanced to the side like they already knew the answer.

And that was something odd. Frisk frowned. “I can’t, but I think I’m okay with that.” 

However, Chara wasn’t. Without needing to use Frisk’s mouth to speak, they began to narrate as they usually did, knowing that the Angel could hear it now. “You recall that you forgot one person here who has not been able to ask questions yet.”

Like they could bat Chara away, Frisk waved their hand in the air. The Angel froze in place, staring off into space.

Knowing that they had the Angel’s attention, Chara began rattling off questions, “How did you even get here?”

“I-” The Angel swallowed, clearing their throat that would have been clear had they actually used that water. “I don’t know. That’s… part of what I’m trying to figure out. I don’t think I died, but I don’t…” Their tail hadn’t seen much motion in all the time that Frisk had seen the monster, but for the first time it moved and curled tighter around them to make them seem smaller. “I don’t think I’m alive either.”

Helpfully, Frisk tried to suggest, “You seem pretty alive to me?” 

However, Chara was not wanting to be helpful at the moment. Once more, they began speaking into Frisk’s head, “Why do you take the appearance that you have now?”

“Accident,” the Angel answered faster, like failing to do so would earn them some kind of punishment. “I don’t usually look like this. I was supposed to be put in another vessel I think. When I saw this body, I thought I saw Ralsei, and-”

“That is just Asriel’s name scrambled!” Chara retorted immediately before the Angel could finish.

The Angel’s crossed arms tightened a bit more, but the hands grasping their arms suddenly dug claws into fur. “He’s not Asriel. I’m not Asriel. Do not start with that.”

Some foreign smugness washed over Frisk’s own soul while Chara grew more sure. “You have no right to demand freedom from observations that everyone in the room is making.”

“I don’t.” The Angel gritted their teeth, still staring off like their eyes weren’t even working at the moment. Something burned from above. “I might deserve it, but Ralsei doesn’t. Leave him out of it.”

Chara got fired up enough for Frisk’s own head to tilt, a voice speaking through their mouth, “Oh, I do not recall you leaving loved ones out of your own pursuits. Though, that is our nature, is it not? We take, take, and take even more, and then when someone even slightly pushes back against our designs, we act as if it is a crime for someone to take revenge.”

The Angel’s hand curled into a fist.

For a moment, Frisk thought that they would curl back in on themself. It looked like they would take what Chara said and bury it somewhere in their soul.

Instead, something changed. The Angel took a deep breath, claws raking through their own fur. Their tone grew tired again. “I was… going to say something about my friends… not choosing me. They didn’t know what kind of person they were meeting. They don’t deserve to be saddled with someone like me.” They glared, still never looking at Frisk, but staring off into space like they could see something else. “But they did choose me. They chose me every time. You didn’t, even long before that first run you think you remember.”

The burning from above grew brighter. Chara watched, and Frisk’s face frowned against their will.

The Angel finally stopped glaring, and the burning sensation stopped. “I’m not here for forgiveness. I’m not here to make friends. I’m not here… to interrupt your lives.” They glanced back at Frisk finally, looking at them with the focus they originally had. “I’m just here to get back to mine. Nothing more.”

Frisk’s hand involuntarily curled into a fist. This was getting to be too much. Chara was going to lose them both the one chance for actual answers by trying to push all of the Angel’s buttons. In an attempt to stop the conversation before it could get worse, Frisk seized back control of their vocal cords and tried to be lighthearted. “I think you’re out of questions now-”

And yet, Chara didn’t need Frisk to speak to the Angel. In Frisk’s head, they just kept going, undeterred by the consequences. “You are so satisfied that you continuously evade consequences, that you have the privilege of moving on while leaving those you hurt to pick up after you. Your need for no forgiveness only proves that you have no interest in experiencing any consequences for your actions. How noble of you to not seek it out.”

The Angel’s focus narrowed even further. For a moment, Frisk thought that they saw a flash of light behind their head and got worried that they would become a lost soul again. Instead, the Angel stared right through Frisk, teeth bared while they fought the urge to yell, “What do you want me to do?!? Would you have rather I allowed you to take my soul?” They brushed a hand over their chest, the vibrant red soul appearing in an instant. “It’s already claimed, and believe me when I tell you that your idea of consequences brings far more pain than what I could have done.” 

Frisk’s fingernails dug into their clothes.

“If you have a problem with me leaving, talk to your brother for once. He was the one who told me to,” the Angel continued ranting, every word out of their mouth being designed to lash out, “Maybe then he wouldn’t kill me when he thinks you’re still gone!”

The tension in the room grew thicker. Despite the burning coming from above, a separate fire began to rage in Frisk’s shared soul. Chara continued pressing onward. “You puppet his visage and make a mockery of a dead child. He is not my brother anymore, just as I am a mere ghost. You know nothing of what you talk about.”

Frisk wasn’t sure how to stop them. The two of them were going back and forth so fast, and two competing forces began to rise up in the room. A whirlwind had caught Frisk in the center, and they recalled feeling a very similar way towards the end of their slaughter in the Underground.

The Angel scoffed, “It isn’t fun when people drag your loved ones into this, is it? All I asked was to leave as soon as possible, but you…” They grit their teeth, continuing to stare through Frisk like they wanted to lunge at something that Frisk couldn’t see. “You and Flowey would rather an entire world die if it means me suffering a little longer.”

“You delude yourself!” Chara laughed! “Your so-called ‘noble’ intentions are merely being deconstructed for what they are: avoidance. Interesting how another world touched by your hand has suffered a terrible fate.”

A nerve had finally been struck. The burning rage in Frisk’s soul started to push whatever was coming from above back.

The Angel looked away.

Frisk took a look at the living room they were sitting in. They thought of their friends being safe in their homes. They thought of how well they’d been doing lately and all of the new friends they’d made on the surface. “What about this is bad? They made it right,” Frisk protested, but neither burning sensation in the room responded.

Instead, something writhed around the Angel. An unseen snake in the grass started to move forward. “Do you know what would have happened if I let you get your precious consequences?” The pressure from above came back, slamming the burning in Frisk’s soul back down to a dim flicker. “You wait. You wait until the moment everyone reaches the surface, and then you kill every last one of them. You kill everyone just to spite me, but I didn’t let you.”

Chara scoffed before chuckling in disbelief, “You make bold assumptions. No event of the sort came to pass, and regardless of whether or not you restored us to the correct path, every world you touch meets tragedy.”

And then, something snapped.

Like the Angel had been finally untethered, like they no longer cared about anything but shutting Chara up, they got up to their feet. Frisk didn’t move, but for the first time since meeting the Angel, they thought that they might actually be in danger.

No battle came.

Instead, the Angel lifted their hand to the side. It stayed curled in a fist as they brought it up. When they finally unclenched their fingers, light lashed out above their palm. Golden light surged forth, one that Frisk was very familiar with.

Was… that how they were saving?

The light twisted. Frisk lurched forward, sucking in a breath as something began to twist in their own soul in response. The few stutters that they had felt before were always something they never had preparation for. This time, it was like they were forcing a load. Their power became the Angel’s, and for the briefest of moments, Frisk almost felt the world shunt backwards. How far… they did not know.

And then, like it never happened at all, the Angel released their grip over the golden star. It vanished into thin air, and they stared through Frisk with cold eyes.

Frisk trembled, not understanding what had just happened. How could they force Frisk to load their save? How could they-

Chara hadn’t been safe either. Their own voice came out quieter than usual through the din of Frisk’s own mind, whispering, “So it was you who stole their ability to reset.”

It wasn’t just a load that they had nearly forced. Frisk’s ability to reset had almost been weaponized against them. 

“And it will never be used again.” Despite what they had just done, the Angel sounded sure of themself. And yet, they did not deny what had been done either. That power was theirs to control, and Frisk… didn’t understand why. “You don’t know a thing about me, and it was this world’s choice to never ask.”

Frisk wanted to ask! What… what was that? How could they just wind everything backwards? Frisk thought it just went away by being on the surface, but… if they could just do that at any time… and what did they mean by again? 

The Angel sighed. Slowly, they sat back down on the couch, the burning rage from above dimming quickly. “I’m… sorry you got stuck in the middle of this, Frisk.” Finally, it seemed like they actually looked at Frisk in the eye instead of through them. “But you all made your choice long ago, and I’m going to leave you in this ending. All I want… is for my friends to have theirs.”

That power hadn’t been used for over a decade. The power of resetting had not been weaponized despite every ability to do so. Frisk finally found their voice again, asking the most important question they possibly could now, “Have… you used it before?”

“Why do you think you forgot my name?” The feeling coming from above finally vanished entirely, and all that remained was a monster sitting at a couch. “I made sure Chara’s name was their own. I just… honestly didn’t realize that the two of you forgot as well. Guess without that deal, you’re as fallible as everyone else.” They didn’t specify if they were speaking to Frisk or Chara, but a foreign twinge of disgust appeared in Chara’s soul.

Frisk hadn’t felt particularly threatened by this monster yet. Maybe, they’d grown too comfortable knowing that they had an ability to rewind time. They never exactly felt in any danger around them, and… maybe they just liked having the guiding force back, for better or for worse. Now that their own abilities had been compromised, they didn’t know what to do.

It was Chara who spoke again, “How can you say you will not do it again, when you have done so many times?”

Again, like it had many times before, something truly exhausted washed across the Angel’s face. It was familiar enough to almost put Frisk at ease completely. It reminded them why they tried talking to the lost soul in the first place. The Angel shut their eyes, admitting, “There’s nothing left. Believe me, I looked.” It should’ve sounded sinister, but that only meant that they were looking for something in the first place and hadn’t found it. “Being trapped under a mountain won’t do my friends any good, and they’re all I have left. That’s the only promise I can give you.”

Frisk no longer knew what to do. Their own abilities had been compromised in a way they did not know possible. The culprit sat right in front of them, claiming that they would be on their way soon. What did they mean by they looked? Frisk asked the next question out loud, “What were you even looking for?”

The Angel turned away. All at once, they pulled back. “I think I’m done. With this.”

Done? What did they mean by done? “You just said-”

“I know what I said. Nothing can fix it anymore. Besides, Chara made themself clear,” the Angel interrupted, “For what it’s worth, I am sorry, Frisk. You were… actually kind of nice for a bit. I didn’t expect that.” They kept their gaze low, staring at the floor like it was the most important thing in the room now. “I’m sorry for intruding in your home. I’ll be gone in the morning.”

Even now, Frisk’s first instinct was to say that they didn’t want that! Their second instinct was as well! There were still so many things they didn’t know, and now a whole new set of questions had just opened up. Part of them was terrified now that they knew that their only safety net could be ripped out from under them, but the other part of them knew that the Angel wasn’t lying about their friends. Frisk should’ve asked more about them. They should’ve kept more of a grip on the conversation that they wanted to have! 

The Angel’s eyes grew duller.

Frisk had so many questions to ask, but the only one that mattered right now was too important, “Where are you going?”

“I… think to Alphys.” The Angel focused on something that Frisk couldn’t quite see before shaking their head. “There’s a friend I need to talk to, but… he usually reaches out to me. He hasn’t… done so in a while, and I think something’s wrong.”

“Like… with a phone… or?” Frisk found it odd how easy it was to talk to them when the spirit in their head wasn’t actively antagonizing the Angel. In almost an instant, the conversation was back to normal. It was back to civil.

The Angel waved their hand like it didn’t matter. “All I know is I can’t reach out, and he usually comes to me when I’m… distressed.” They gestured vaguely at themself before huffing, “So… it’s not that easy. I could try dying, but I don’t think I can talk when I’m dead.”

Scratch that. Having a normal conversation with them suddenly just ended whenever they said something like that. Not to say that Frisk hadn’t died before, but they preferred not doing that. “Well, if you’re going to Alphys, then Undyne’s gonna be there. I don’t think she liked you that much.”

As if they hadn’t considered that, the Angel groaned, putting their head in their hands. “That makes sense.”

“And you stink,” Frisk added on, earning a glare from the monster sitting on the couch. “Like. Smell wise.” The specification was needed, just so the Angel didn’t think that they were getting ganged up on. “Also there’s food in the fridge that you should eat, and I think mom is going to get onto you if you don’t drink the water. There should be an unopened toothbrush under the sink that I forgot about also.”

The Angel eyed the glass for a moment before looking at the fridge. They frowned, not moving for either. “I’ll do it when I’m alone.”

They weren’t actually going to do it, were they? Frisk crossed their arms. “It’s just eating and drinking. What? Do you think Chara’s going to insult the way you drink water?”

“I told you, I don’t normally look like this.” The Angel found no humor in Frisk’s comment, gesturing at their own body. They did say that before, and it got lost in everything else. “It took me a while to figure out how to talk. I’m… not going to be good at this.”

Wait, they didn’t even have a snout before? For a second, Frisk almost found it funny. Then, they watched the way the Angel glanced at the glass of water like it would kill them. After all that arguing with Chara, the Angel receded into themself a bit at the mere thought of eating or drinking.

“I’ll leave you alone then,” Frisk decided. If they were embarrassed about it, then who was Frisk to be needlessly mean? “Did you have fur before, though? A shower is gonna suck. Mom has a hair dryer but it takes her ages.”

The Angel glared, and Frisk put their hands up in mock surrender. Fine, they would go! They would leave the Angel to their own devices.

“Just say bye before you go!” Frisk called back, hoping that the Angel wouldn’t just up and leave the moment they were done here. They received no response back, but began to forcibly move themself towards the stairs just so that they didn’t think about going back to ask more questions.

Besides, they were just a little mad at someone else.

“You should direct your anger somewhere important,” Chara once again had receded into narration, but they did not have any qualms with making their thoughts known. “Your insistence on treating them like any other monster almost let to you not discovering their crucial ability to bring everything back to square one.”

Frisk finished walking to their room, shutting the door and making sure it was locked. Toriel slept through worse than what they were about to do. If they accidentally yelled out loud a few times, then it would be fine. As soon as they were alone, Frisk tried to start things civily. “Are you kidding me?”

“You should go to bed, considering that you are content with letting someone with control over the timeline sleep under your roof.”

Immediately, Frisk lost the battle, arguing out loud, “I had that handled! It was going fine! You didn’t have to antagonize them!”

“You feel that arguing will be pointless.”

Oh, so they were just going to narrate like this now? Frisk crossed their arms, staring at the bed on the other side of the room. Sleep sounded nice, but not with Chara being like this. “There wasn’t any reason to do that!”

Chara did not respond.

Frisk gritted their teeth.

Fine. “Stop taking over without asking,” they demanded. It had been something that was fine before, because Chara never did it unless they had given a fair warning. They’d done it more times tonight than they had in years.

Again, Chara remained silent.

If they wanted to stay that way, let them. Frisk would just talk to them in the morning.

It was just frustrating to get so close to an understanding, only to have it ripped away. The Angel said they’d be gone in the morning, and Frisk hoped that they would stay just a little longer. Frisk still had college stuff the next day, so they probably couldn’t stay home forever. But, maybe, they could actually sit down with the Angel. Maybe Frisk could finally get them after this long.

Instead, they had more questions all over again, and knew that they may have lost their only chance of getting answers.

The Angel stared at the glass of water for far longer than they cared to admit.

Somehow, despite Chara laying into them, and despite all that had happened tonight, this was the thing that was finally stopping them in their tracks. All they had to do was drink a glass of water, and they could barely even muster the courage to grab it.

If their original body was gone, and this vessel was all that contained them anymore, then logically they had to take care of it. They didn’t think they had to before, because it would be silly to think any of this was real. Now, they had no way to refuse the reality being thrust upon them.

And somehow, that was all coming to a head with a stupid glass of water.

It should be easy. And yet, as the Angel reached out with a misshapen hand, they were reminded of why it wasn’t. They were just glad that Frisk left the room, because they just…

It felt pathetic.

After everything they had been through, they were pathetic.

They tried to grab the glass of water. The surface moved when they took it in their hands, and it never stopped shaking. When they tried to bring it up to their mouth, they misjudged where it actually was, the glass hitting their chin instead.

Small steps.

At least no one could see them right now. Their friends should never have to see them this way. If they could handle this problem now, then it wouldn’t be an issue later.

The Angel readjusted, accounting for the snout on the front of their face. They managed to get their mouth on the lip of the glass, and tried to tip it back just to get it over with.

Immediately, they choked, spitting the water out onto their lap. 

Right. Their mouth was longer now. Just… another thing to have to get used to. It’d already been hard enough for talking. Now, they had to use it for everything.

The Angel of the Prophecy… unable to drink.

Well, the prophecy always considered them faceless, so maybe they really were never meant to drink. It was uncharted territory, something they had to do on their own.

The Angel tried again, taking more care to not empty the entire cup into their mouth this time.

It felt wrong when their throat no longer hurt. When they finally swallowed with little issue, they flinched, bringing the glass away and putting it on the table before they dropped it. Pain that they had started feeling dull to came back. A sickening sensation of something entering their system made their stomach churn.

It was something.

The Angel was certain they couldn’t eat anything. It would be too much. Their stomach rolled even thinking about it. No, they couldn’t… dare to do something like that. They needed more time.

Still, the Angel tried the water again and again. Every time, it made them feel worse, but their throat felt less dry. With how much travelling they would be doing soon, they knew that they logically needed it, yet every sense in their body wanted to fight them on that fact.

They stopped with the glass half empty, unable to take it any longer.

Frisk said food was in the fridge. The Angel had already cast any thought of it out of their mind. Not yet. They couldn’t handle it yet.

When they tried to stand up, they realized their legs were shaking again. The water shouldn’t be that big of a deal. It shouldn’t have affected them. And yet, they hated it. They hated the feeling of it. It didn’t settle.

The Angel grabbed their branch, making their way towards the restroom. Frisk… was right. They had to take care of their body. A shower didn’t… require them to drink anything. It didn’t require their stomach to flop every time they tried to do something. So, they took it as the easier option. After all, showers were… relaxing, right? They remembered that. It would be comforting enough.

When the Angel turned on the light, they saw a foreign face in the mirror.

Their second pair of eyes had always been able to see their vessel, but it was different to see their vessel from their own eyes.

It wasn’t their own face looking back.

Haha… no wonder people compared them to Asriel.

The Angel wanted the reflection to disappear. They wanted to shatter it, but they were too tired to muster anything against the stranger in front of them. So, they just stared, unable to wrench their gaze away from the tired monster looking back at them. The horn on their skull looked jagged, dangerous shards sticking out where an unclean blow had been dealt to it. Dirt scuffed their fur from the spills in the graveyard. Dull eyes looked at the Angel, judging them for staring too long.

They tried to look under the sink to avoid the reflection for a little longer. A toothbrush was down there, completely unopened just as Frisk said. They weren’t… going to eat… so they could at least do that now.

It wasn’t as difficult to do as the water, but the Angel still kept knocking the toothbrush against their mouth haphazardly when they misjudged distances. It didn’t help that they kept their eyes averted from the mirror. They didn’t want to look.

Finally, the Angel pulled themself away, and the monster they didn’t recognize left the mirror as well. Unconsciously, they slipped the toothbrush into a smaller pouch on their bag.

That only left the shower.

The Angel rooted themself to the ground, realizing that it wasn’t easier than drinking water.

The monster in the mirror was their reality now. Even if they didn’t recognize the face staring back at them as their own anymore, they didn’t really have a choice, did they? They could avoid it for longer, but someone would eventually get on their case. Toriel would… probably ask them to try on their new clothes anyway soon. It wasn’t like they could avoid it forever! 

Get it over with.

The Angel knew that they didn’t do well. They knew that it probably would’ve been more dignified to walk away. They knew that the heart hammering in their chest was pathetic, and that they shouldn’t be feeling this way when so much worse was happening to their friends.

And yet, the hair dryer didn’t do all that much to get the water out of their fur. It lingered in patches on their body, making them shiver while they tried to take short breaths. The shower probably didn’t even do much! They didn’t even do a good job for all of the effort, and someone was going to make fun of them eventually.

It was fine. It was all fine. It was over, and they… they wouldn’t have to do that again. It was fine. After tomorrow, they would be back with their friends, and they could make their soul leave this awful vessel. They hated it. They hated this. The vessel was them, but it wasn’t supposed to be. It wasn’t theirs. Every part of them felt wrong wrong wrong, and they just wanted to dig their claws into their chest to remove themself from this thing that they now were.

They needed it.

They still… needed it.

And yet, they still hated it.

Something raw dug into their soul, rising up on the backside of their mind.

It wasn’t them. It never could be them. Many had called them a mockery already. Besides, they did not recognize the monster in the mirror, so how could they like themself?

To be completely honest, Alphys wasn’t a morning person… or a… uh… noon person… or afternoon person… To be honest, she wasn’t really good at waking up at all! Bit of a problem when she started dating Undyne who was very much an early riser, but she figured out how to manage eventually! Some mornings, she even got Undyne to actually sleep in a bit!

Considering Undyne had been out the previous night, one would think that she might actually sleep in a bit more. Instead, she seemed kinda mad? When Alphys asked about it yesterday, she dumped what was possibly the scariest thing Alphys had ever heard, and it all made sense. Well, the Undyne thing made sense. Everything else surrounding it didn’t. A monster with a human soul was a terrifying prospect, and Undyne was losing sleep over it.

That unfortunately led to Undyne getting up early in the morning, like something could go wrong at any moment. It led to Alphys getting up too, because Undyne wasn’t there, and to be completely and utterly clear… Alphys… liked it when Undyne was there.

Undyne was pacing around the living room, checking her phone over and over again like any updates would come through asking for her to rush out. She would then walk over to the blinds, checking over and over again for anything weird happening outside. When nothing happened, she came back and sat down for two minutes before repeating the process.

“A-are you sure something’s gonna… go really badly?” Alphys asked, maybe a bit sheepishly this early in the morning, but Undyne seemed pretty passionate about this. Well, who wouldn’t? Alphys sure was passionate about it too! It definitely meant that she’d be being called up soon as well. She was… probably the closest person who knew anything about human and monster souls in-depth.

Undyne finished her rounds again, marching back over to the couch. “Dunno why everyone’s so dead set on letting a monster with a human soul wander around. How could something NOT go wrong?” Instead of sitting down, Undyne did an extra round just to be sure, whipping out her phone. “Asgore says it must’ve been an accident, but I don’t buy it. There’s something weird going on, and I wanna get to the bottom of it!”

Alphys had been told about all the weirdness. Apparently the monster claimed to be the human soul itself? And then started acting weird when they said their friends were in danger? It was a bit terrifying to think about to be honest, but for right now, those things were outside and not at her doorstep!

A knock sounded at the door.

As if she’d been waiting for this moment all day, Undyne dashed for the door. She almost ripped it off its hinges when it flung open, and Alphys craned her head to try to see who was on the other side.

Considering Undyne hadn’t said anything for a few seconds, it probably wasn’t good.

“...Hi!” A voice Alphys didn’t recognize said, and she saw something gold waving. She couldn’t quite make out the face, but… “I know… you don’t really like me, but I was hoping to talk to Alphys.”

Huh? Her? Oh shoot, was someone already here to ask her questions about the whole soul situation? The humans must’ve been alerted already, and her expertise was needed. She should’ve gotten dressed first! She was still in pajamas! Alphys started scrambling onto her feet, but she didn’t get far.

Undyne looked like she wanted to slam the door in their face, but thought better of it and instead had to fight the urge to lunge at the monster. “What the hell are you doing walking around punk? Toriel was supposed to be watching you!”

Now that Alphys had gotten up, she could actually see the monster’s face a bit. She adjusted her glasses when she thought she saw something odd, but their image didn’t change. That was a boss monster! What was a boss monster doing around here? Th-there should only be two left!

The monster shakily sighed, tense all over, “She was. Then Asgore told me that as long as someone was watching me, I should be fine to wander around!” 

“Then who’s watching you!?” Undyne bared her teeth, arms raising like she was actually going to tackle them on the spot.

The monster thumbed the strap of a satchel they were wearing, tilting their head. “I… was hoping… one of you? I needed to ask questions… and I thought this was the best place to go.”

“I’m not babysitting you!” Undyne yelled, despite how early in the morning it was. Her voice probably carried over the entire neighborhood.

Before she could slam the door, Alphys peeked around Undyne, managing to make eye-contact with the monster. Their gaze immediately turned to her, and she pointed at them like she had just seen a mythological creature. “Y-You’re a boss monster!”

The monster grimaced, looking down at their own body for a moment. “Thanks. Didn’t notice.” Maybe they were just shy or something, but the monster did not seem to be all that happy about the reminder. Alphys couldn’t help herself! Still, they did take interest in Alphys immediately, asking, “Actually, it was you specifically who I needed to find. Are you okay for a little chat?”

There it was again. They’d requested for her specifically, and she didn’t have a single clue as to why. Was it to do with the whole human soul thing? That was Alphys’ initial thought, but now that she was realizing that the soul-absorber was a boss monster… Ohhhh, things were already looking so complicated.

Undyne glanced back before coming to her defense. “You’re not even supposed to be walking around, punk. Give me one damn good reason why I shouldn’t just slam you back in a cell?”

“One…” The monster lifted a finger. “To put this as politely as I’m willing to, you’d lose again. Two-” They lifted another finger, shutting their eyes and barely looking at the way that Undyne’s hands clenched into a fist. The monster didn’t seem to care in the slightest. However, they did have something interesting to say. “I’m… willing to trade.”

Undyne looked like she wanted to leap forward and strangle the monster, so before she could, Alphys interjected, “A trade? What does…” 

The monster continued to ignore the seething rage radiating from Undyne’s general direction while elaborating, “There’s a few things I need to do today. Unfortunately, one of those things is access to the True Lab, and I thought it would be a better idea to actually go to the one person who knows it well.” They sighed, “I think I need someone else’s perspective.”

The True Lab? Alphys hadn’t thought about it in forever. She tried really hard not to think about it! Sometimes when she went to sleep, she still thought that she would wake up in a world where the Amalgamates were still locked down there. It made her shiver. “Wh-what would you want in the True Lab?” She hardly even knew who this was, and… while it was decently common knowledge by now what the determination experiments were… someone wanting access to the True Lab seemed a bit much.

To emphasize Alphys’ point, and maybe a little aggressively, Undyne glared. “Yeah. Fat chance you’re going down there for a good reason.”

“Probably not, to be honest. I don’t really know what I’m looking for,” the monster admitted, glancing away. “It’s… why I thought it’d be better than going down there myself. I plan to do so even without help, but I thought it would be better to come to you first.”

The True Lab was off limits for a reason! The CORE hadn’t exactly been operational for a while now, and the lab’s power relied on it immensely! Even getting into the lab required an elevator, which now that Alphys was thinking about it… was a major safety concern. An elevator being the only way in and out was uh… a bit bad a few times to say the least. There was always the elevator shaft but… uh… Alphys didn’t really have the upper body strength or height to get into it…

Undyne jabbed a finger into the monster’s chest, which caused a momentary flash of red. They glared at each other, and suddenly the monster’s focus zeroed in on Undyne completely. She bared her teeth. “You’re not going anywhere. Either you get back to Toriel’s house, or I’m handling you myself.”

The monster opened their mouth with their own teeth showing like they were about to say something back, but then pulled back when they thought better of it. They took a deep breath, but now refused to look away from Undyne. “I think you’ll actually like what I have to give in exchange for a trip to the True Lab.”

“Like hell I would.” Undyne didn’t believe that at all. 

And yet, despite that obstacle, the monster explained anyway, “I’ll answer any questions the two of you have, about me and my soul. That’s what you wanted, right?” They tilted their head at Undyne. “Besides, not like lying would do me any good. Alphys is the only one who can actually maybe solve whatever is up with me, because even I don’t know everything.”

Her? Why her? “U-um… is there a r-reason you came to me specifically?”

“Yes,” they answered quickly, but struggled to find the words as soon as they’d done so. They opened and closed their mouth a few times before trying to politely word what they wanted to say as best as possible. “You worked with souls in the past. You are… the only one I remember who really understands souls.”

That was a polite way of putting it, but… yes, Alphys did work with souls in the past. In fact, she even still kept up with things a bit now. There were exciting things happening with the study of souls! It… especially became pertinent with human and monster couples. “W-well, I-I don’t think I should be touching um…” She glanced worriedly at the monster’s chest where she just saw a distinct flash of red. “A human soul…”

The monster sighed, glancing between Undyne and Alphys despite the former absolutely looking like she wanted to throw them out. They tried their best to explain, “I already told Asgore this, but if humans show up and want to know a thing about me, I don’t have answers.” Pointedly, they looked Undyne dead in the eye. “I don’t have answers that anyone can understand, so… I need someone who can put them into words I can actually say.”

Undyne glared back. Though, the more the monster spoke, the more she realized that she had been caught in a trap. Alphys watched as the gears in Undyne’s head turned. On one hand, the right thing to do in her mind would probably be just throwing them back in jail! On the other hand, if the monster couldn’t answer any of the questions the humans had… then this… would probably have to happen eventually. 

Maybe Undyne hadn’t come to that conclusion yet, because she crossed her arms before turning and deferring, “What do you think, Al?”

U-um, what did she think? Well, Undyne had been… pretty frustrated about this all night! It would probably be better if Alphys didn’t side against her. But… maybe Undyne’s frustration was being caused by a lot of not knowing? She might… still be frustrated if the monster was just sent away… AND they claimed that they would be going to the True Lab anyway…

Ohhhh, what had just been brought to her doorstep?

Alphys adjusted her glasses, shakily smiling at the two monsters watching her. “U-um… w-we could… give it a shot?” 

The monster’s shoulders relaxed, and Alphys realized that they hadn’t relaxed ever since Undyne opened the door. When the order was given, Undyne also relaxed a little bit, but she kept her arms crossed and her focus on the monster. “This is our house though, and if you even think about doing anything funny, I’ll deliver you to the humans myself.”

However, the monster was allowed passage into the house, and they sheepishly stepped in while the door shut behind them. They remained rooted to the ground a bit as Undyne watched them like a hawk. After they took a cursory glance around to get used to the environment, the monster asked, “Is… there like… a lab we’ll have to go to? I don’t… know how you analyze souls.”

Oh! “W-well, it’s actually p-pretty simple. I-I mean, not simple, but I made it simple!” Alphys immediately started walking towards a staircase that led downward into the house. “A-and no! We don’t have to go a-anywhere! The workshop’s down h-here!”

Before the monster followed, they glanced at Undyne for permission. Undyne rolled her eye before following Alphys down. It looked like Undyne wasn’t letting the monster out of her sight, and they knew that.

Still, the monster did have to ask, “What’s with all of you and having a lab in your basements?”

Alphys… didn’t know other people with labs in their basements. Well, she didn’t know about anyone that the monster would know of with labs in their basements. Sans used to have one in the Underground, but stopped using it after a while. He didn’t really like talking about it all that much, so that left Alphys as the resident basement lab-maker! The… True Lab was already there when she moved into the lab, but that was besides the point!

She took too long to respond, and Undyne picked up the slack. “It’s because they’re awesome.”

“A-and add mystery!” Alphys added, “Wh-who wouldn’t be a little curious about a-an underground lab? I mean… this one’s… more of a workshop. At least… um… this one just has cool things in it.” The trope of a hidden lab really added mystique… but… the last one actually did have things in it that Alphys didn’t like. Wait! She was forgetting something! “O-oh! I forgot to ask what to call you. Undyne… said you um… didn’t say your name.”

The monster did not answer.

Undyne groaned, “Wow. Just said you’d answer any questions, and you can’t even start with that.”

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the monster glared back at Undyne. “My honest answer is I don’t want you to have it. My title is ‘the Angel’, and that’s all you’re going to get.”

“I-I mean… I’m… going to see it in the check,” Alphys admitted before a problem could happen. If the monster really didn’t want their name- wait what? They called themself what? “That’s… an odd title.”

The monster idly walked around the room, not touching anything but looking at the various items around the room. Alphys had a few things sitting around! She had a larger computer down here to handle processing that she removed from the old lab, and a tablet laying on the counter that she needed to grab. Whenever some of her ideas left beta, she could put them on her phone, but having a larger screen for some things during testing was just nice. There was… also… copious amounts of merch everywhere… and… ambient lights hanging from the ceiling… BUT it was all important!

Undyne watched them walk around while Alphys scooped up the tablet and a metallic wristband. Not satisfied with their answer, Undyne began interrogating, “What’s the deal with your whole angel obsession?”

The monster dropped their focus to look at her with a frown on their face. “Even after you quite literally saw the light and wings behind my head, you’re still questioning if I’m lying about that?”

“W-wings?” Alphys also stopped her rummaging to double-check the monster. They certainly didn’t have wings.

Undyne seemed to recognize what they were talking about though and kept her arms firmly crossed. “That place made all of us look different, and you bet your ass I’ll have questions about that.”

“Dark Worlds reflect you as a person at times.” The monster explained, using a term that Alphys had never heard in her life. However, they did not double back. “I can give you the whole prophecy if you want. You all know about the Deltarune, right?”

Who didn’t? Before Alphys even got to it, Undyne pulled up a chair, gesturing for the Angel to sit down. Alphys needed them to probably be as calm as possible for a neutral reading on their soul and disposition to fight. Having them seated would be good. With only a moment’s hesitation, the monster sat down. Thankfully, Undyne did not pull up Alphys’ super comfy bean bag in the corner that was only hers and maybe sometimes Undyne’s when Alphys got scooped up and-

Alphys slapped her face for a second before finally waking up. 

Thankfully, Undyne covered for her. “Uhhh, yeah? Everyone knows about it. Kinda was a whole thing while we were in the Underground, and I know damn well you don’t fit the description.”

“That’s because you all made your own prophecy,” the monster countered while eyeing what Alphys had in her hands. “What is that?”

“O-oh!” Alphys put her tablet down before holding out two wristbands. “U-um, well, checks are pretty useful for determining certain things about monsters and humans. This will just… lay it all out as c-coherent data.” It was actually quite a simple expansion of a check! Information was usually just given to the soul of a monster using a check, but sometimes it was hard to remember things or figure out an issue if the stats weren’t there for comparison. Alphys just liked doing it before starting something like this. “Undyne gets a lot of use out of it.” After all, she did do a lot of training even with a peaceful life on the surface.

The monster eyed the wristbands warily before pointing at them. “Why those?”

They… didn’t look too threatening, did they? Alphys tried very hard to make the design not look like handcuffs without chains, but it was a little hard! “I-it was just an unintrusive way to um… gather check information through an item. Manually casting the spell would… lead to it just getting sent to us directly.” Strapping something over someone’s chest to more directly reach the soul would have been a little more practical, but the practical designs were always scary. Something being that close to someone’s soul was weird! 

It was one of Alphys’ first applications for magic being cast through items though! The practice had fallen off since the war it seemed, and managing to make an item that could cast a check was a good first step! It… was a pretty simplistic spell though… but it was fitting that the first spell monsters typically learn was the first spell put into an item!

As if they found the answer satisfying enough, the monster held out their wrists. “As I was saying though, you all do not have the original prophecy. It was lost to time in this… uh…” They paused, losing the train of thought. “It was lost to time.” 

Undyne squinted at their odd change of words. “Okay, sure. I remember Gerson saying that. What the hell was the original one then?”

“St-starting the check now!” Alphys fired up the wristbands and began to watch information come through on her tablet. Unlike normal checks, this one wasn’t a conversation between souls. It was more like a soul spitting out information if anything. It was certainly… a different application, but one that Alphys was happy to get for medical reasons.

The monster flinched for a second when it started, but didn’t seem to mind after a moment. While information came through, they tried explaining to Undyne, “It had a lot of intricacies. It gave vague ideas of events that would one day play out, and a lot of them were… not kind. What was important was that a human, monster, and prince from the dark would one day appear to prevent a calamity.”

Alphys glanced up from her tablet after a few stats solidified and became clear. LV looked normal which was at one, so that struck the monster being a killer off. The name still hadn’t loaded yet strangely enough. “Th-that just… sounds like a fantasy story?”

Grimacing, they muttered, “I thought it was too for a while. I didn’t even buy the whole prophecy thing until I was staring down the barrel of my own role in it. The Angel isn’t a fun title, I’ll tell you that much.”

Undyne wasn’t quite satisfied yet. “Nah. Tell. Considering how much all of this seems like a steaming pile of crap so far, you might as well get deeper into it.”

“It’s up to you if you believe me or not, but that’s why I came here!” The monster sounded more exasperated, and Alphys watched none of their stats change in response to their emotions. Hm. “The human, monster, and prince of the dark were the friends I mentioned. Kris, Susie, and Ralsei were their names. I was the Angel of the prophecy, meant to guide and protect them.” Again, none of the stats rose, even as they talked after and faster. “And they would banish me.”

Alphys… wasn’t following. She got the names and the friends thing and could maybe follow the prophecy, but… banishment? “Wh-what does banishment mean?”

“This isn’t working. Screw it.” The monster suddenly launched into an explanation so dense that it sent Undyne reeling instantly, “I used to not be a part of this world. The world I come from, the one with my friends… that calamity happened, and I was sent here to your world. I never had a body of my own in that world, and I was only this soul.” They tapped their chest. “When I came here, I didn’t have anyone to carry my soul, so I accidentally hijacked a body. And-”

Some primal urge in Alphys suddenly launched forward. She’d watched more than enough isekais to know where this was going. “-And now you’re trying to get back to your original world, but all the rules have changed b-because you’re in a fantastical world o-of your dreams! A-and you still need to go back to your world because you can’t stay in the dream world forever! But when it’s time to go back!!! You’ll have to say teary goodbyes! And then the plot will throw everything a-away by saying that returning to the real world is better when the world with awesome powers and magical transformations and giant robots and the people of your dreams is already amazing, because returning to a mundane life is somehow better!… and… um…”

Both the monster and Undyne were staring at her. Undyne had a grin on her face.

She had gotten a little bit carried away. 

A few beats passed before the monster put their head in their hands. “I am so mad that you are on the right track but used tropes to get there.”

To her credit, it seemed like Undyne was beginning to follow thanks to Alphys’ explanation a little more than usual, but wasn’t quite on the believing side of things yet. “Yeah uh… how the hell does any of that work? There aren’t other worlds.”

“A-actually!” Alphys raised a hand. “I used to do a little research on this. Um… there are alternate universes out there! Wait-” She scrambled up to the monster, a renewed interest suddenly building. “Are you telling me that all of that is true? That you’re from one?”

They hesitated for a bit. Almost as if they were unsure if they should enable Alphys, the monster answered with a hesitant “Yes.” The monster- no they called themself the Angel, oh my gosh were they the Angel from an alternate world??? “And I need to get back there, which is why I wanted to go to the True Lab.”

Undyne raked her hand through her hair, pacing around the room. “You’re just lying. You gotta be straight up lying.” She whirled around, marching up to the monster and jabbing a finger at them. “This doesn’t make any sense! It’s a damn convenient excuse for someone who’d be endangering humans and monsters.”

“Th-that’s the thing!” Alphys interrupted, bringing up her tablet so both the Angel and Undyne could see it. “Look! There’s a few discrepancies and so many things that don’t make sense about their biology. Their stats didn’t change th-the entire time we were talking either!” Both of them were locked at ten. Alphys also never saw their name load. “I don’t know wh-what’s up with the name, but the stats are just odd! You’re supposed to be a boss monster with a human soul, but your… um… stats are pretty low. The health is pretty scary!”

Despite the evidence in front of her, Undyne scowled at the tablet. “There’s no way their stats are stable. They hit me hard a while ago, and I know damn well Asgore and I should’ve beaten them with health that low.”

The Angel themself actually had an explanation for that, “Dark Worlds also change your stats. Mind you, only I can make them. They’re the reason for the calamity in the other world, and I’m trying very hard not to use them when possible.”

“Then why the hell did it make you so much stronger???” Undyne yelled, gritting her teeth. Before she could get too angry, she suddenly realized something and paused. “I mean… it DID give me a cool looking sword, but… wait why the hell can only you make them? Is that because you absorbed a human soul?”

The Angel broke eye-contact for a second. “Only people from my world can do it.” They looked back at Undyne moments after. “Also, I told you, I am the human soul. This vessel isn’t me.”

Alphys did not miss the odd way that they didn’t look at Undyne when trying to explain how to make whatever a… Dark World was. However, she was more concerned with another thing on the tablet. Another advantage to casting a check through a programmable item was that Alphys could get a few readings on biology rather than just the soul… and… she had a few questions. “Wh… why is your determination level so high?” Even Undyne didn’t have that much, and she was the monster with the highest concentration that Alphys had seen… other than the Amalgamates obviously…

And yet, it was staggering. A monster shouldn’t be able to take that.

The Angel shrugged. “It’s my power.”

“O-okay, but you should still be melting right now.” They should’ve probably melted five times over. Honestly, the only person Alphys had met with similar metrics was Frisk.

Despite Undyne not understanding the sciency things that Alphys did all the time, she always did listen to Alphys’ rambling. That came in handy now, because she snapped her fingers when she realized something. “Didn’t you say one time that monsters can’t have much determination because they’re not… physical?”

That… was right, but Alphys didn’t know what that had to do with this. She nodded. “Y-yes. Monster bodies are primarily made up of magic while human bodies have more substance like… blood for instance.”

“They bleed.” Undyne pointed at the monster, and the Angel nodded in turn. “Busted their damn horn in front of me and then bled all over their face.”

What? That caused even more questions! “I-I mean it’s not impossible for something like that to happen. Monsters born from humans have been shown to uh… have more physicality. But you’re obviously older than that, so you weren’t born from a human monster couple!” She looked at the tablet again, trying to find anything she missed. “It’s like everything about you is scrambled!”

“Another world, remember?” The Angel tilted their head at the fact that she’d forgotten. “Funny thing is, monsters did bleed where I was from. This vessel I’m in wasn’t where I was from.”

Undyne’s one eye narrowed. “You’re not puppeting a helpless monster around, are you?”

The Angel shivered at the thought. “Thankfully no. I’ve done more than enough of that in my lifetime.”

What did that mean? Alphys was struggling with too many questions at once and needed to systemically get rid of them. “I-Is that why your stats are more human-like? I guess… that would make sense, but I don’t get how you only have a human soul in a monster’s body!” That was another thing that she was realizing as she looked at the statistics. Usually she could tell what soul trait was most prevalent with a human, or whether or not a monster soul was there instead. There was only a human soul in there. “Th-that shouldn’t be possible!”

Once again, the Angel turned away, slightly curling in on themself. “In my world, it was. It… isn’t a happy story.” Something darkened in their expression. “A damn mistake, is what it was.”

Alphys was going to need to take some pain meds after this. But it was just all so fascinating! What rules were different? What things had changed? She needed to ask Undyne everything if the two of them had actually fought like Undyne said. She needed to sit down with this person and figure things out, and luckily they would have time to chat about it! They still had a trip to the True Lab! Ohhhh, she was incredibly excited about that now. Proof of an alternate universe had just walked into her house, and she had the conflicting statistics to back it up! What she was seeing on the tablet was an absolute anomaly! 

Undyne wasn’t nearly as thrilled and still had suspicions of her own. “Okay, but you look like Toriel and Asgore. Goat monsters.” Alphys pointedly did not correct the fact that they were classified as boss monsters. Calling them goats was like calling moldsmals a jello. They were not GOATS- “And you said you got that… uh…”

“Vessel.”

“Monster body from here. So, why the hell would it act like your world?” Undyne was lagging behind, but she was asking incredibly important questions! “Better question, where the hell did you even get it? I’ve seen photos of Asriel, and-” 

Before she could finish, the Angel put a hand up to stop her. It made Undyne fume, but it looked like they genuinely just needed a second. “I need you to understand that I hate this as much as anyone else does, and I hate that I look this way.” They took a steadying breath. “I’m not him. I’m sorry I look like him. I messed up.”

Alphys felt a pang of something in her soul when she saw their gaze fall to the ground. “U-um… how… did you…” It felt a little incorrect to ask, but she should probably cover all of her bases. “D-do you mean that you look like him for a reason? Other than just being a boss monster, of course.”

“I do.” They sharply exhaled at the admission. “I can’t undo it. I don’t know how, and it was incredibly painful to get a grip on this vessel. It almost killed me.” They recounted the events, wilting further and further as they said it like it was a death knell for something else. “So please, don’t ask about it. I can’t make it right.”

An… uncomfortable distinction needed to be voiced. If they did take on Asriel’s form, then that meant that the… vessel as they called it… had to be from this world. “Um… how is your physicality… wrong then?” She followed up on Undyne’s question. “I-If it’s from this world.”

The Angel put a hand on their chin, trying to think on their own when Alphys didn’t immediately come up with an answer. They opened and closed their mouth uselessly a few times before sound came out. “The only thing I can think of is that I just… forced it to be this way. To follow my rules.” They didn’t seem satisfied with the answer at all. “But everything involving my soul is weird. If you don’t know what happened, then I don’t know who else could. There’s one other person, but you were better with souls than him I think.” 

Well, Alphys certainly wasn’t sure. Maybe more information on souls from human and monster couples would come to light, but as of now it was mostly an unknown! Why the vessel changed to match their rules… Alphys didn’t know. She didn’t really think that determination could just “do” that but… “Wait, wh-who else knows these kinds of things?”

The Angel did not immediately answer. “That’s… what I was going to go to the True Lab to find.” They took the wristbands off themself that Alphys had almost forgotten about, gently handing them back to her. Though, they seemed pensive. “Do you… know of a previous Royal Scientist before you?”

Alphys stopped in her tracks before she could put the wristbands down. She thought for a moment, and a claw reached up and pulled something away in the back of her mind. “U-um… logically…” The lab was already there. Blueprints were already there. A heavily damaged machine was already there. The CORE was already there. “Someone built the CORE! It… it was a genius invention, and it… hah… sc-scared me a lot to try to live up to that!”

As if they expected the explanation, the Angel nodded. “I just… want to go to the True Lab. There’s something I’m looking for, and I think it would be best if you joined me. You know how to actually use everything in it and what its history is.”

W-well… that was a good point, and Alphys certainly could help. If this person really was from an alternate dimension, then maybe this was how they found their way back home! At least they were trying to get home to find friends instead of it being a cliche “go back to mundane life because you have to.” Maybe home actually was more fantastical! She just had so many questions that she still wanted to ask!

Before Alphys could answer, Undyne interjected, “I’m coming too. I’m not letting you wander around with Alphys even if that story is true.”

The Angel sighed, “Are you going to touch my soul again?” Undyne did WHAT? “Or touch me again? I would love it if you never did that again.”

“I-I think Undyne should come!” Alphys helpfully added, “The core has been powered off, s-so parts of the Underground might be harder to traverse… especially getting into the lab. And I would like Undyne with us! A lot!”

Undyne rolled her eye. “You are a monster with a human soul. As long as there’s no more funny business, fine.” She did point at the Angel, notably not actually jabbing them this time. “But if you hurt Alphys or touch anything without permission, I’m gonna give you a concussion.”

That sounded unnecessary! It was probably for the best for safety reasons, but it was still scary!

And yet, the Angel was outvoted. They looked like they wanted to pick a fight, but thought better of it and sighed, “Fine. I would like to leave as soon as possible though.”

Oh! Alphys didn’t realize that she was still in her pajamas! She usually was in the workshop, but that wasn’t important. “L-let me go get changed, and I’ll meet the two of you outside!”

The Angel watched Alphys go before standing up. All things considered, that went better than expected. They didn’t get nearly as much information about their current state as they hoped, but it was something. At the very least, it got both Alphys and Undyne on board for the True Lab. The Angel would’ve preferred if only Alphys came, but it couldn’t be helped.

The information at least gave them more of a grasp of what could be wrong with their vessel. If their vessel was trying to mimic their state in the other world, then that could make sense. Maybe their soul was doing something weird like trying to match Susie’s own tendency to bleed and dust. They didn’t know, and they didn’t get to see themself die against Flowey considering their soul shattered. The dusting never completed in their eyes.

At least… they could get a move on to the True Lab. It was progress, and the Angel had someone knowledgeable who actually could believe them with the odd world-hopping. Really, they should’ve known to go to Alphys. It just seemed like her science expertise was with souls and determination… but the Angel forgot the fact that she was an absolute nerd.

For someone who had tried everything in the Underground, the Angel really should have remembered her quiz show answers. They’d dismissed far too much of Alphys as a mere gag. Ironically, despite the Angel having questions for a certain friend very soon, they were beginning to have more for Alphys. Hopefully, on the way to the True Lab, they could freely ask them.

Before the Angel could walk up the staircase, Undyne put an arm in front of it to stop them.

Of course, they weren’t free yet.

Her eye narrowed while staring down at them. “There’s one thing I still don’t get,” she muttered, “After you pulled that damn geyser out of the ground and started fighting us, you said some weird things.”

The Angel remembered it well. Of course, this would come back to bite them. They were lucky that Asgore didn’t ask about what they said to him. However, it seemed that luck had finally run out.

Undyne scrutinized them further, and didn’t miss the way they glanced away this time. She pressed further. “If you’re really from another world like you said, and all of this is somehow true… how the hell did you know about my fight with Frisk?”

Should the Angel just admit to it? Should they finally lay all of the cards out on the table in order to finally prove what they were? It would be easy to just say it out loud now. Somehow, Undyne and Alphys were the closest to understanding the whole picture.

…but there were some things that people didn’t need to know.

Besides, the Angel had a justification for not telling her. “If Frisk wants to tell you, then they will,” the Angel settled on, meeting Undyne’s gaze.

“But you know about it.” Undyne loomed over them, eye practically glowing despite the fact that they were under bright lights. “So that means you know something. Where the hell did you learn that?”

The Angel tried again. “It’s not my place to say.” Surely, if Undyne could not respect the Angel, then she could respect Frisk. However, the Angel did need to make one thing clear. “Their life has already been altered by me, and I respect them for helping me. So, I will respect them back, and let them tell the story in their own time.” A point of tension formed in the air between the Angel and Undyne. “You wouldn’t deny them that, would you?”

Undyne’s fins flared out for a moment. She looked like she wanted to press even more, but the point had already been made. Instead, with an annoyed grin, she muttered, “You’re annoying. I bet you only answered those questions, because it was convenient for you.”

“It was.” They never lied about that. They were in-fact extremely upfront that they benefitted from learning more about themself. “Now, what does this have to do with anything.”

“I don’t trust you for a god damn second.” Undyne looked like she wanted to jab them again, but thought better of it. “The moment you endanger us… the moment you interrupt the peace between humans and monsters, you’re taking the fall.” 

The Angel had already done that to be fair. She just didn’t remember. Still, it was just another reminder that things weren’t fine. Just because Toriel and Frisk had stood up for them… and just because Asgore had comforted them, it didn’t mean that everyone was on their side now. There would still be people getting in their way.

Trying to keep their breaths even, the Angel responded as clearly as possible, “I want nothing with your world but to leave it as soon as possible. I know I’m a threat. That’s why I want to leave. Why would I take this away?” Of course, maybe it would have been better now for Undyne to know that it was the Angel who worked towards freeing them all. Equally, there would be a risk with revealing that the Angel killed them all as well.

“Maybe the damn soul in your chest.” Despite everything, Undyne still could not shake what was right in front of her: a monster with a human soul. “Who knows, maybe it’s not that you’re doing this on purpose. Maybe you’re just not thinking about the bigger picture and how many lives are at stake. If you mess everything up to get what you want, I’ll sock you in the jaw.”

The bigger picture? The bigger picture? The Angel finally lost their ability to breathe at a steady pace, but they kept their eyes locked on Undyne. “You don’t believe me, but the consequences for me not returning home are far larger than my friends dying. It’s oblivion. Imagine this entire world you’re in dying. All at once. A story severed.” The Angel leaned back, trying to steady themself. “I will not hurt this world, but don’t expect me to wait.”

“Yeah…” Undyne bared her teeth. “We’ll see.”

The Angel decided to walk forward, and Undyne gave them passage up the stairs. Every ounce of them wanted to fire back how she’d lost the last fight between the two of them, but antagonizing her further wasn’t going to do anything. So, they just had to deal with the hostility for a little longer. They could manage it. Going hostile would turn more of their already shaky allies against them. Had it not been for Frisk’s own fortitude, nearly True Resetting might have caused them to turn as well.

People were just far too good at getting on their nerves. They didn’t understand the stakes. And yet, the Angel still let anger get the better of them. They always did.

The Angel and Undyne stepped outside, both waiting in silence on Alphys. By the looks of it, a motorcycle with a sidecar sat in the driveway. The Angel already knew where they were sitting, and began to dread the ride to the mountain.

Their gaze turned on Mt. Ebott, and they took a deep breath.

Hopefully, the True Lab had what they needed.

The Angel’s second pair of eyes caught a glimpse of yellow close by. When they whirled around, they saw something vanish under the ground, and their blood ran cold.

Flowey was watching.

How long he had been watching, the Angel didn’t know. They’d tried to remain acutely aware of their surroundings while in the workshop, and especially became more aware while explaining sensitive information. Above all else, they could not have Flowey learning about how to actually make a Dark World.

After all, they were lying through their teeth about being the only one who could do it.

And still, the Angel’s mouth became dry when they saw the place where the flower disappeared. If he had been tailing them, then who knew where he could show up next. Who knew what he would find out about them next. Who knew when he would next get bored and decide to kill them on the spot.

It couldn’t be helped. None of that could be solved now. Flowey had probably already long vanished. The Angel had to move forward anyway.

Time still couldn’t be wasted, even if they already felt it was too late.

Chapter Text

Frisk couldn’t be surprised when the downstairs was empty in the morning.

Even though Chara didn’t say anything about the matter, Frisk could feel the disapproving “I told you so”. The Angel had left, and mom wasn’t even awake yet. There would be questions and probably a panic. Frisk sighed, already mentally preparing themself for loading their save file to bring the Angel back. Frisk knew they were heading out, but didn’t think they would just up and leave this soon. Honestly, they should’ve expected it considering the circumstances, but the Angel could’ve woken Frisk up!

Unfortunately, it did prove that Frisk was right about one thing: their chances of learning anything about the Angel may have been lost. Hopefully, when the load happened, they wouldn’t be pissed at the setback.

However, Frisk did decide to do a quick patrol around the house before taking a nuclear option. Even though they tended to abuse their save abilities just a little bit, they did really try to sort things out before loading a save. Exams were different, because they were a lost cause from the getgo, but usually Frisk didn’t enjoy sending their friends through the same moments over and over again. Deja-vu still existed when reloads occurred, and while it never really negatively impacted Frisk, it wasn’t something they wanted to use too often.

When walking by the bathroom, Frisk saw gold fur in the sink. Carnage had occurred, and while Toriel usually left fur in the drain, it seemed that the Angel had no coordination with their own fur. It was… an obscene amount of fur, like they had been shedding unnaturally fast. At least they tried.

Their branch and horn were gone, which meant that they probably were as well. They’d taken the bag too. The water on the tableside was half-full, so at least they’d attempted something. Maybe they’d eaten too?

When Frisk went to check the fridge, they found everything in it completely untouched.

At some point, the Angel was going to pass out. Hopefully, it wouldn’t come with them loading their save.

Honestly, it would probably just be best for Frisk to bring them back here. Unfortunately, they were stopped in their tracks by a note left on the table. The Angel had actually left something behind. Somehow, Frisk found that shocking.

When they picked it up and did a quick read over, it sounded like they were headed to Alphys’ place just like they said they were. That meant Undyne would have her eye on them. Or… someone would. Well, now Frisk would feel bad if they dragged the Angel back here. It would be pretty pointless and just set them back a bit.

Having to consider someone else when loading was not something they were used to. Flowey got annoyed, but considering he death-looped them multiple times when he had control over the timeline, he could deal with it.

The note didn’t have any goodbyes or contact information or anything written on it. It was just an announcement on where they were going so that Frisk didn’t load their save.

While the conversation last night didn’t go all that well, Frisk still thought the Angel would say goodbye before leaving. The damage must’ve already been done. Dragging them back here would probably just make it worse.

…And college wasn’t waiting. There was still a bit to do before the semester was up. It was a stupid thing to think about now with all that had happened, but their life was moving forward. They could just follow the Angel around for a while, but then they’d be throwing away the fact that every single one of their friends tried to help them build their own life. College was meant to be that for Frisk, and if they just gave up…

At the very least, the Angel could’ve left a number! Then Frisk could’ve checked in! Or asked questions at all! Ugh.

Heavier footfalls came down the stairs. It looked like mom had finally gotten up. Frisk had given up on wondering how she never woke up with chaos happening in the house. Considering how she had an ear for whenever Frisk went towards the Ruins exit in the Underground, it was strange how little she heard in her actual home. Oh well, Frisk wasn’t going to question it.

She still had her nightgown and cap on when she peeked down the stairs. When she saw an empty living room with only Frisk, she did a quick double-check before asking, “Frisk, did our guest leave?”

Before Toriel could panic, Frisk quickly held up the note. “Talked to them last night. They were going to Undyne and Alphys’ house.”

Toriel nodded like that made sense before abruptly stopping, her mouth turning into a thin line. “Frisk… they are aware that Undyne is not quite… happy with them, are they not?”

Just as exasperated, Frisk nodded. “They seemed dead set on it. Left before I even woke up.” 

“That is a shame…” Toriel walked downstairs and almost beat-for-beat did the same check that Frisk did. She lingered on the fur in the bathroom for a second, but eventually seemed to relax when there was evidence that they tried to take care of themself at all. “Did they leave a number?”

“Nope. Doubt they even have a phone.” If they just got here, then there was no way they would have something like that. Every time the Angel wasn’t directly in Frisk’s line of sight, they could be anywhere. There was no easy way to find them other than loading a save, and that would ruin any progress that the other party was making.

Frisk already wasn’t looking forward to getting jettisoned back in time every now and then. It would’ve been good to communicate save-point usage, but someone messed up the entire conversation.

Toriel hummed to herself for a moment, lingering on the empty couch where the Angel once was. A resolve solidified, and she placed her fist in the palm of her hand. “When they next arrive, that will need to be solved. I had hoped to perhaps buy them a new walking stick as well… something better than that old branch, but it seems like it will have to wait.”

That sounded like a good idea. That branch was going to break at some point, and hopefully the Angel wasn’t stranded somewhere when it happened. A phone would make keeping tabs easier. Frisk would be amenable to reload shenanigans provided that the Angel talked first. Ugh… they didn’t even know why the Angel had save-points yet, other than the fact that they had control over the Reset ability now.

Chara remained dead silent. Frisk was still angry.

Frisk nodded at mom’s idea, but before they could scheme more on how to track down the Angel, Toriel crossed her arms. They were forgetting something, weren’t they?

“You do plan on heading back to your classes today, correct?” Toriel questioned, tilting her head. “If I recall correctly, you do have classes on your schedule today.”

Frisk cursed. That showed them for telling Toriel their schedule. “This is important,” they tried reasoning, gesturing towards the door, “I gotta catch up with them.” Frisk knew that they probably didn’t have all that much time. If the Angel changed course from Undyne and Alphys’ place, then Frisk was never going to find them.

Toriel studied their face for a moment behind her glasses. After a moment, she sighed, “I cannot say that I… do not have concerns of my own. If you are worried for your friend, then go check in.” However, right after, her face grew stern. “Though after, you are catching the next bus, understood?”

That was a fine enough compromise! “I’ll text you!” Frisk exclaimed, throwing on a jacket and bursting out the door. Breakfast had been forgotten, but it could wait considering the fact that the Angel needed to be found quickly. They still had so much to ask. They still had so much they needed to coordinate.

Frisk waved while speeding past many familiar faces. They didn’t stop for any of them. Talking could wait until later. Talking could wait until they at least had any chance of the Angel not just slipping away again.

As soon as Frisk saw the home they were looking for, they practically threw themself at the door. Hastily, they knocked, hoping to hear the telltale sound of Undyne stomping towards the door.

No one answered.

Again, Frisk tried knocking. Surely, they weren’t already gone. How early did the Angel get up? Of course, they were going to get up as soon as possible. It was debatable if they even slept. This was the same person who practically stormed Frisk’s college campus. Waiting wasn’t a word that they understood.

No one answered again.

All of the lights were off. Alphys usually had pretty blaring lights in the living room that were constantly on. That meant that the two were definitely out, and there was no Angel to be seen.

A dead end.

Frisk sighed, opening their phone. Hopefully, mom would at least tell them when the Angel came back. They’d probably catch the bus the moment that monster was sighted again. At least… they probably weren’t going to vanish with Undyne watching them like a hawk. Undyne might be mad from how it was described to Frisk, but she wouldn’t kill them. She’d just… harass them a little.

Once again, Frisk considered loading their save. There was also the matter of the Angel having to deal with every conversation all over again while not anticipating it. Toriel would want to talk again. If they had talked with Undyne and smoothed things over, then it would have to happen all over again as well. Hell, the entire night would repeat.

Besides… the Angel talked about being caged before. The worst kind of cage would be one where time looped endlessly until another person was satisfied.

Frisk would know.

Flowey did it to them many times. In some respects… in actuality, the Angel had done it to them before.

For now, they would let it go. The save-point was always there if need be. They just… didn’t want the Angel to be mad. They wanted to get to know them. But they couldn’t…

Frisk decided to stop being indecisive and began their walk back home. Either way, the Angel would likely be back. It was just a matter of when and how. They just had to be patient.

Riding in the sidecar of the motorcycle wasn’t a great experience. The Angel found out that having fur and very floppy ears caused them to look ridiculous when the wind rushed past them. They also didn’t exactly have a helmet that fit their horns, so they had the pleasure of fearing for their life thanks to Undyne’s… passable riding.

The only reason the Angel didn’t load a save out of panic was because Alphys was clinging to Undyne’s back and laughing. That had to mean that it was… somewhat safe. That being said, the Angel wondered if Undyne would just outright slam the sidecar into a tree to kill them. No such thing happened, but they were just going to walk back to town next time. Some things were far too harrowing, and they were only glad that no one got a picture of their fur and ears being peeled back.

Thus, the ascent up the mountain began, and one person in this ragtag group was much more athletic than the others. The Angel planted their branch in front of them on the path again, panting while continuing up the path. Going down was hard enough on unstable legs, but going up was a hell in its own right. The lack of food probably had something to do with that, but they could see the summit, so it wasn’t too far.

Alphys was having similar problems. She was ahead of the Angel, but not exactly by much. Her lab coat wasn’t helping, something that she had thrown on for dealing with the state of the lab. This wasn’t a casual thing they were doing. Even the Angel still remembered how desolate and dangerous the True Lab was. Most of that came from the Amalgamates, but the place just always unnerved them a bit. They always felt like they were being watched.

 From the summit, Undyne yelled down, “Come on! Get those heels up! It’ll be easier that way!”

The Angel fought the urge to flip her off, mainly because they had never done such an action before and would probably mess it up. They were already at their wit’s end with someone as energetic as Undyne. Susie could be energetic, but she would sooner scoop someone up than let them get exhausted going up a mountain. Honestly, it was a wonder how Alphys hadn’t been picked up yet, but she seemed determined in her own right to make it up the mountain on her own.

Right, didn’t Undyne vaguely say something a decade ago about training Alphys? Maybe they were still doing that?

The Angel wanted no part in this training, and quite frankly wanted this over with. They still had a good bit of the Underground to traverse, and if the CORE was offline, then it was going to be far more annoying to get to the True Lab. 

They were tempted to just turn their soul blue and launch themself up the mountain. Scratch that. They should’ve done that ages ago. The Angel took a quick glance to make sure no one was around before their soul flashed to life on their body. They caught a quick worried glance from Alphys before soaring into the air. The wind in their fur once again made their ears fly outward, but they ignored it in favor of kicking off thin air.

With a changed trajectory, they landed on top of the cliffside, the soul vanishing right back into their chest. That was better!

Undyne glared at them with one eye, her teeth bared. “I told you no funny business!”

“Really?” The Angel gestured at themself before continuing to pant. “I didn’t find that climb funny. It sucked. Was bad.”

Dragging a hand over her face for a moment, Undyne groaned, “I’ll send you back down the damn hill if you do that again. Think about that before you reveal a human soul again, punk.”

The Angel did not care. Undyne was getting on their last nerve, and they would be content having a moment to stand here. However, they couldn’t help the comment from spilling out of their mouth, “Sorry for not wanting to walk when I just figured out how yesterday.” 

Undyne glanced at them out of the corner of her eye before looking back at Alphys. “Still sticking to that story, huh?”

She was going to exist in denial until the Angel quite literally proved it somehow. Great. One would think that their scrambled stats and whole deal would tip her off, but it seemed like Undyne was sticking to the simplest solution of “monster with human soul”. The Angel just nodded at her, not acknowledging the bait. They just needed to get this over as fast as possible.

Alphys finally staggered over the crest of the cliffside, raising her arms up in the air in victory. “I made it!”

Without missing a beat, Undyne charged up to her, scooping her up and doing a twirl. The two of them laughed, Undyne adding, “Damn right you did! Hell of a climb!”

Ah. The Angel was third wheeling.

Susie was going to laugh at them when she heard about this. She’d already cackled when the Angel revealed that they were in the angel doll while she and Noelle were flirting horrendously. Of course, that cackle turned into mortified denial, but considering the fact that she was literally taking Noelle out to the festival…

The Angel snapped their thoughts shut immediately. The memories were nice, but they were all blotted in black ink now. Until the Roaring was purified, they would always be stained with a worse memory.

The journey into the Underground began.

It was strange to be back here. The Angel hadn’t even been gone for long, and yet it still felt like walking into a prison. They didn’t feel any different when walking back onto the cliffside, and no sensation of being ensnared came when the three of them walked back into the barrier room. It was all just… normal.

The Angel studied the pink archway closer as they crossed under it. Everything was much more detailed with their vessel’s eyes now. Last time they were here, they were so in pain that it didn’t really matter how lifelike their environment was. Now, they recognized things that they’d only seen through the lens of their window. It was… terrifying. Even now, they weren’t waking up, even though it felt like they should be able to.

Undyne and Alphys rounded another corner, passing into a hallway the Angel remembered well. They walked by a silver light without addressing it, but it caught the Angel’s attention.

Surface save-points were usually made of barely-visible patches of sunlight. This save-point, the one they first arrived to, carried a distinct silver hue. Just to confirm that it still worked, the Angel reached out a hand. Their files all appeared as expected, two corrupted and one still working.

Just in case, the Angel saved over their file. Being sent back to the bus stop would be tragic.

They hadn’t used their save-point all that much. Even in the other world, they reserved it for rare occasions where a foe got the better of them. Sometimes they missed something and needed to step back. However, they tried extremely hard not to die. After all, it wasn’t them falling in battle. Their friends paid the price for their slip-ups, so the Angel tried very hard to not slip up at all. They were… decent at it, but some foes like the Knight were just too much.

A call from down the hallway got their attention. Alphys poked her head around another corner, asking, “A-Are you okay?”

Without a moment to spare, the Angel nodded, pushing themself a bit to get down the hallway quickly. “Got distracted.” They didn’t care about further explanation, and Alphys didn’t ask for any. However, when the Angel rounded the corner into Asgore’s throne room, they remembered just how many save-points were near the barrier.

Why that was, they could only speculate. Was it because past humans felt determined here, and this is where they typically met their end? Was it just due to being closer to the surface? Maybe the barrier had something to do with it? The Angel didn’t know, and they weren’t too keen on asking Alphys. However, the save-point they were looking at was distinctly gold.

As soon as they brushed a hand towards it, silver absorbed it entirely.

…huh.

The Angel did not save this time. The save-point remained silver.

That was… ominous. Considering Frisk asked about loading their save-point at the college, they could still save. Why then could the Angel turn stars to their own power? 

They chose not to think about it for the time being. It wasn’t going to help. Instead, they raised their head, seeing Undyne standing over some wilted flowers. Those were the ones that they’d grabbed when first coming here, if they remembered correctly. 

Undyne huffed, “Who the hell plucked these flowers? I’ll kick their ass!”

The Angel chose to actually respond, “Adjusting to the vessel wasn’t easy, and when I appeared in that hallway, I was dying.” They didn’t know why they voiced anything at first. Maybe they knew what this flower patch meant, and they didn’t like it much either. The apology came naturally: “Sorry.”

Undyne didn’t respond, only giving a huff of acknowledgement while the small party proceeded forward.

Alphys on the other hand immediately looked at the Angel out of the corner of her eye. Something excited bloomed on her face, and she began to drop her pace to chat. “U-um, if you don’t mind me asking, how… did you get here?”

They tried to recall, but some details were lost to them. “I don’t know how… precisely I became like this. Things became indistinct after my friends fell.” The moment the final party member went down, it was like something in their chest had hollowed out. Then, they were being asked if they wanted to persist… “The person who I’m hoping to find more about at the True Lab… he pulled me here I think. When he was trying to find me a vessel, I saw something that looked like Ralsei and… became this.” They remembered the fear well. A soul, trapped in a cage that could not move.

Instead of chastising them or huffing in disbelief, Undyne glanced back while they all continued walking. “I mean, your names are consistent. Who uh…” Like she should’ve asked a while ago, Undyne scratched the back of her head. “Who’s Ralsei?”

What a loaded question that was. The Angel hummed for a second, noting that they were walking past the elevator. It must’ve been out of power. After searching for an answer for a moment longer, the Angel found something they were satisfied with, “Without even knowing me, he called me his friend. He taught me how the world worked. He guided me through the first steps, and then I guided him through steps he didn’t know how to take himself.” If only they could have helped him find out who he was. They still could, they just needed to figure out how to get back. The Angel raised a hand. “He’s pretty short. Looks like a goat-monster-” They did not miss the way Alphys rolled her eyes at the terminology. “-and he supposedly gives great hugs.”

Alphys scrunched her face. “Th-they’re not goat monsters, but… wait… what do you mean by supposedly?” Somehow that caught her off guard the most and not the Angel’s spiel about Ralsei guiding them through the first steps.

Though… maybe this was something to bring up. The Angel mused while looking out at the distant buildings of New Home. They were… honestly quite beautiful with their own two eyes. They sprawled out into the distance, countless lives having been lived down there that the Angel never got to see. “I… couldn’t feel without a vessel before. Like I said, I’m the soul.”

Alphys nodded like she followed. “Um… what is… it like being a soul? It’s a f-field we really don’t understand much e-even though I’ve tried to make it more clear.” Now that they were explaining, they even had Undyne’s attention turning their way.

So, the Angel kept going. It wouldn’t really hurt to give them this information, and may help Alphys define what they were. “I wouldn’t consider myself a normal soul for the record. I couldn’t feel anything, but that’s less because of being a soul and more of… my situation.” They waved a hand absentmindedly which caused Undyne to turn away. It seemed she was disinterested again. “Without a vessel though, the soul only ever received pain when touched. It was only when I had a vessel that I could get an idea of feeling. So… haha… I guess I’ve never felt one of Ralsei’s hugs.”

“B-but you seem to imply that you had… um… ‘vessels’ before,” Alphys pointed out, though she approached it in a way that didn’t seem to be trying to catch them in a lie. She was just trying to absorb information.

“I did but I only got… how do I put this…” As they started to pass into the basement of Asgore’s home, the Angel ran a hand against the wall. “This stone. Right now, I can feel it, but it wasn’t always that way. There’s also a second thing I get.” They focused their second pair of eyes on words that they could still see even now. “Descriptions of what I’m feeling. The stone feels slick to the touch, but I’m also told that. It’s weird.”

Undyne glanced back again. “Isn’t that just like… uh… whaddya call it? Thoughts? Monologue?” 

Alphys helped her out a bit. “I-Internal monologue.”

The Angel quickly shook their head. “No, it’s a lot more than that. I can see the words.” They pointed up like that would clarify anything. “It used to only be like that, so… I’ve only ever had Ralsei’s hugs described to me.” The faintest of smiles appeared on their face before vanishing. “You can thank Kris for that.”

For a moment, Undyne slowed her pace, watching their face intently. Something made Undyne’s shoulders loosen up, and she tore her eye away from the Angel. She kept on walking, but muttered, “Sounds like they mean a lot to you.”

“I’ve only been trying to tell you that for ages,” the Angel complained, but they weren’t going to push it. At least, Undyne understood that these people were real. 

Alphys hummed, “And… th-the pain. Why was the only thing the soul… or… you… why was the only thing you could feel p-pain?”

That had an easy answer. “I was brought into these worlds to guide and protect.” The Angel gestured at their chest. “I didn’t feel the pain, but the soul always reacted to it. A dull thud was what it did. It’s a warning to tell me I’m in danger if I wasn’t paying attention. Of course, anything that touched it… it registered as that. Now, I feel it for real.”

Undyne glanced down at her own hand, flexing her fingers while they all rose up into Asgore’s house properly. The place had layers of dust all over the furniture. Despite Asgore being on the surface, when the Angel glanced down the hallways, it seemed like the house had been untouched in its entirety. It’d been frozen in time.

Instinctively, their gaze trailed towards a long hallway. Alphys asked something, but the Angel found that they weren’t hearing it anymore. Their legs moved before their mind registered what they were doing. 

They passed a few doors, not regarding the rooms that were within. After all, it would be rude to snoop any more than they already had. They just needed to check something. Something was here that they needed to see.

A question of what they were doing echoed from down the hallway, but the Angel kept walking. Their gaze remained trained on the end of it, at the one thing that they needed confirmation about.

The Angel stepped in front of a mirror, and made eye-contact with the monster on the other side.

Narration used to be given to them by a ghost who now hated them. Ever since coming to the new world, the Angel’s narration was sourceless. It was simply something that they received, a part of them that let them interact with the world a little more fully. Chara no longer liked them. They probably never did. And yet, they longed to hear words in front of that mirror again. They longed to hear something. So, when the Angel reached out to the mirror, they hoped that they would hear comforting words that a ghost once gave them.

They stared. Wide eyes looked back.

A shadow rose up on the backside of their mind.

The words had always been sourceless, but sometimes, something else crept in. Once more, it had a question to ask.

When did you stop being yourself?

“Hey! What the hell are you doing over there?” A loud voice boomed down the hallway, tearing the Angel’s gaze away from the mirror. Undyne had her head around the corner, scowling at them. “Exit’s this way.”

The Angel lowered their head, ducking away from the mirror. It had nothing for them that they could think about right now. They just hoped…

They just hoped that something in there was still them.

The journey through the house continued in silence. The Angel’s line of conversation suddenly failed, and they forgot what they were talking about in the first place. The shadow in the back of their mind had long receded, but they still felt a pull to that mirror. Maybe it had messed up. Maybe it would tell them something else if they just looked again.

The Angel continued following, wrenching themself away from the empty home.

However, they did recall the route that the three of them were taking. “...Is the elevator working?” They asked out loud, knowing very well that this was a dead end.

Alphys pushed up her glasses, once again seemingly happy that the barrier of silence had been broken. It wasn’t that long. “We f-figured that if we ever wanted to use the CORE again, that turning it completely off would probably cause… um… extensive damage if unable to run for a while. S-so we put it into the lowest power setting! That way, some bare essentials can still operate with no risk of overheating!” The elevator doors creaked open, apparently having not been used much. “Of course… um… we probably could’ve taken the elevator directly to the resort, but this way is a little faster. U-unfortunately… it doesn’t… go to the lab. That would’ve been… a security concern from this side.”

“How is the lab not included in those bare essentials?” The Angel questioned, already knowing where this was going. Alphys shook her head, confirming what the Angel already guessed. “Well, at least this means we’re not walking through the entire CORE.”

The elevator began its slow descent. The Angel leaned against the wall when it shook. They were getting better at standing naturally at least. Maybe they would miss the branch if they eventually didn’t need it, but it was their Dark World weapon, so that had to stay with them.

Of course, this was the long elevator, which left the Angel standing awkwardly in a corner while the silence carried on. A whirr was all that broke up the silence.

Unfortunately, the ride didn’t end fast enough. Undyne had been looking at the Angel for a while, and she finally decided to say something: “If you showed up at the Castle, how the hell do you know we’re headed for the CORE?”

Of course, of all the things she paid attention to, it was that. The Angel paused for a second, unable to immediately think of a plausible explanation. They’d ruled out that they lived Underground, and they pretty blatantly said that they appeared at the castle.

They waited too long. Undyne scowled like she had gotten exactly the answer she thought she would. “Thing is, I’m starting to actually believe your stupid story. You smiled when talking about your friend.”

Had they? They… might have smiled when talking about Ralsei. Had they been smiling lately? They didn’t usually even think about it. What other people saw on their face usually didn’t matter since a one-sided window blocked them from view.

However, Undyne wasn’t done. Despite her belief, she had a point to all of this. “But you’re not telling us something, punk. You’re hiding something.”

Of course they were. How could they even dispute that? 

Alphys clasped her hands anxiously together. “I… um… didn’t want to say anything earlier, but… you said worlds… plural.”

When had they done that? The Angel tried to remember what context they said that in, and forgot just what precisely they had said. In the process of revealing any information, they were forgetting what details they had given. That was the problem with lying they supposed. It was hard to keep the details straight.

A lie finally formed at the tip of their tongue. “The world I come from is like this one. There’s similarities. It was a lucky guess.” The elevator door opened, and the Angel breathed a sigh of relief. “I didn’t want you all asking about your alternate selves.”

Undyne’s eye narrowed, but Alphys took the bait. She immediately walked after the Angel when they left the elevator, asking a flurry of questions, “Th-there’s other versions of us? Wh-what am I like? What is Undyne like? A-are we together in every universe? Are we-”

She kept rambling. The Angel continued down the hallway, not realizing the way Undyne was hanging back to watch them navigate. They simply tuned out the conversation behind them, marching through Mettaton’s stage and immediately taking a left from one perspective and a right from another. Hopefully, this elevator was working too.

“You knew where the elevator was too,” Undyne pointed out. “If it’s just similar, then it’s damn uncanny.”

The Angel pressed the button, waiting for the elevator to arrive. Thankfully, this one took much less time. Almost too cheerily, they shot back, “Well, it’s a good thing they’re so similar then! Means we can move faster!” Would it kill her to not question them every two seconds?

The elevator began moving down. It seemed that Undyne wasn’t taking her eye off of them. Great. Alphys also looked like she had something on her mind, and despite how much the Angel wanted to talk to her, it was just going to open them up to even more grilling.

Most of the journey through Hotland itself was uneventful. The Angel did have to stop for a moment when the scalding heat hit their fur. Undyne also started visibly struggling when they both left the resort. At least there was some kinship. Thankfully, the elevators were still cooled in Hotland. The Angel wanted to personally thank whoever decided A/C was essential.

It wasn’t long before they finally found the entrance of the lab.

Unfortunately, the door wasn’t considered essential. Apparently, all of Alphys’ lab equipment was going to be like this. That didn’t bode well for trying to get through the lab, which was just fantastic. If the Angel remembered correctly, pretty much everything useful there was tied to electricity. That meant doors wouldn’t open, logs wouldn’t be available, and they couldn’t check any tapes on the TV. They still didn’t know what they were looking for, but things just became considerably harder.

Thankfully, they had Undyne here. Without a moment to lose, Undyne summoned a spear, wedging it between the lab doors. She used the leverage to force the door open, gesturing for both of them to go inside.

Unfortunately, a depowered lab meant that it was basically a heated box of hell. The Angel winced when they stepped in, and Undyne also similarly realized that they were both absolutely screwed.

Alphys uncomfortably laughed, not affected by the heat all that much, “I… ah… well, we never really had to visit this place, s-so I didn’t think it needed air conditioning! Here… let me…” Alphys marched over to the large computer that used to survey the Underground with cameras. Honestly, the Angel only wondered how everything in here hadn’t melted. They guessed that buildings must’ve been made to withstand the heat to some degree, but still.

A jolt of energy came out of Alphys’ fingertips. Nothing in the lab came on except for airflow, and Alphys gave a few more zaps with magic the Angel had never seen before. Well… they saw it when she was a lost soul, but they’d never seen her willingly use the electricity that she had.

Undyne breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re awesome, Al.” 

Shockingly, the A/C down here worked fast. Usually it would take a while to kick on in the Angel’s experience, but this was something else. The Angel found themself getting comfortable too, but they must’ve been staring, because Alphys asked, “U-um… are you curious about something?”

Huh? They had frozen up when seeing her magic. “Just didn’t know you had magic,” they admitted.

Alphys looked at them like they were the most confusing thing ever. “E-every monster has magic. Even you have magic! Th-that’s just how it works!”

Ah. There must’ve been a misunderstanding. Walking towards the elevator, the Angel shook their head. “I’ve tried casting already. I don’t have magic.”

“Bullshit!” Undyne called out from behind them. “You hit me with fire! And that… sleep thing! That’s definitely magic.”

“And it’s not mine.” They would never claim it as their own, and a dangerous edge crept into their voice. “It was borrowed, and the only magic I use is soul magic. It’s not the same as what you all do.” Almost desperately, they gestured to the door with the elevator. “Now, can we get moving?”

Alphys wasn’t satisfied. “S-soul magic is trained! I-it’s never a monster’s primary magic!” She pulled out her phone, pulling up something that the Angel couldn’t quite see until she turned it around for them to see. They were looking at their own stat sheet. Did that save to her phone? Apparently it did, because she pointed at a field. “Y-you see, I didn’t mention it because I th-thought you already knew about your magic! It’s how we express ourselves! But you do have a magic type!”

The Angel rolled their eyes, looking at the supposed magic archetype that they were a part of. They were probably fire, and they just couldn’t do it due to some vessel limitations.

Light.

Ah, so it was just worse than that.

Their suspicions were confirmed. They really couldn’t cast. The Angel waved their hand. “My soul sheds light. Here, watch.” To show, they tapped their chest, the red soul flashing into existence. Slowly, light began to flare out, the room suddenly becoming much more visible.

Alphys watched the soul with starry eyes for a moment before withdrawing her phone. She stared at it, combing over the results. “B-but that’s still soul magic!”

“And I’m the soul.” Surely, she would understand this. It wasn’t that complicated. “Of course my magic is light. That’s what the soul does. That’s what my power is.”

Undyne pushed past the Angel to wrench the elevator door open. As she did so, she joined in on the small debate. “She means you should be able to cast with your body, punk. Monster bodies are an extension of the soul. Changing the soul is harder. Try telling someone’s entire being to stop moving. That requires some damn powerful stuff.”

The Angel pinched the bridge of their snout. “But I’m not this vessel. I’m the soul. That’s the distinction.”

“We’re all our souls!” Undyne yelled, staring down a black abyss beyond the elevator door. “Also, we’re gonna have to jump down. The elevator fell again.”

The Angel should’ve expected that. This elevator had always been pretty unstable. It even had a warning message for dropping down! Granted, maybe Alphys couldn’t have anyone come in to repair it, but surely she was smart enough to figure that out.

Alphys pocketed her phone, marching up to Undyne. In a moment, she was scooped up in Undyne’s arms, and the fish monster glanced back at the Angel with a grin. “You can get down, right?” 

She did not wait for an answer, leaping into the elevator shaft.

Asshole.

Well, at least she wasn’t grabbing them again. She just didn’t have to be smug about it. The Angel walked over to the edge of the elevator shaft, seeing their target. The top of the elevator had a panel open, so they could go through that and end up in the True Lab. They waited for Undyne and Alphys to clear the way before turning their soul blue, leaping after the two of them.

The dust that coated the elevator flared up as the Angel crashed down into it. Alphys yelped from beyond the elevator door when the Angel hit the ground, but they quickly shook themself off.

Their soul returned to its usual crimson, lighting the darkened lab. As they stepped out, Undyne wrenched the elevator door shut to keep the cold air in. Now, to find… anything that would be useful.

While they walked down the entry hallway, Alphys had the sense to ask, “Um… was… there anything specific you w-were looking for?” 

The Angel nodded. “Preferably, anything that was already here when you arrived.” They had a feeling that if anything would connect them to the doctor, it would be something that survived. They didn’t know if there was anything, and the Angel sure didn’t see any Goners on the way down here. They doubted their FUN values were even correct.

Alphys started wringing her hands. “That does make it e-easier…” They rounded the corner into the main room of the lab. Of course, the door into the room with elevator power was shut, but they wouldn’t be needing that. “There were only a few things that actually… were in here when I showed up. Th-the main ones being… partial blueprints for the DT Extractor… and… well… what was left of it.”

The Angel saw another save-point in the lab. While walking by, they chose to reach a hand out to that one, turning it silver before activating their save file. 

…They really should get more used to the idea of optimizing conversations. They could’ve avoided all of their slip-ups to get in a better disposition with Undyne. Unfortunately, after they met Kris, Susie, and Ralsei properly, they stopped using their saves as much. It wasn’t about seeing everything anymore. Part of them always felt guilty whenever a laugh of their own was no longer genuine, or when they had to react to something that they’d already seen before.

Besides, they were usually good enough to not need their save-points. Only in dire circumstances did they ever have to draw upon their ability to turn back time. If only that held out…

They’d never been scared of using the stars to their advantage in this world. It was just… different when they had the ability to speak to their friends. They didn’t want their friends to have to relive everything.

Considering people rarely believed them in this world anyway, they needed to start using the saves to their advantage. Frisk and Flowey would undoubtedly realize, but as long as the Angel didn’t do anything near Frisk and Flowey, then the two couldn’t react to them or change things. It would lead to questioning, but ideally the Angel wouldn’t be dealing with those two much anymore.

The problem was Flowey tailing them.

Undyne and Alphys had already started walking to the room with all the beds. Apparently, the Angel took too long, because Undyne poked her head around the corner. “Why the hell do you keep wandering off like that?”

Might as well get used to it now.

The Angel didn’t answer, and a power deep in their soul twisted the other direction. A singular stutter took over the world-

-jolting them back to when they first changed the star. Before Undyne even noticed they weren’t following, they fell back into line.

Undyne glanced back to see if they were following, and they made direct eye-contact with her. Immediately she tore her gaze away while they continued down their usual route. They decided to move back to the conversation Alphys was already having with them. A detail confused them. “I thought you made the extractor with blueprints.”

“N-no, the blueprints were essential to figuring out how to u-use the machine, and to repair it,” Alphys explained, wringing her hands a lot. 

The Angel thought that didn’t make any sense at all. After all, one thing about Alphys’ past was certain, and the DT Extractor existing prior to Alphys contradicted all of that. “You named determination!” They protested, waving their arms at her. “How does a determination extractor exist prior to determination?”

Undyne glared back at them again. She did not open her mouth. The Angel realized that they were prying too deeply again into something they should have no knowledge of.

However, Alphys had a simple explanation. “Th-the name of the extractor was… um… mine. Many things on the blueprint were destroyed. Entire components of the machine were lost. B-but… I managed to use the blueprints and a little bit of m-my own skills to get it working again.”

Undyne finally voiced her thoughts. “Again, why the hell do you know all of this?”

The Angel already had what they needed. Once again, as soon as Undyne started questioning, they reached for the power in their soul and began to twist it backwards-

-which gave them a little more time to think. The determination extractor apparently had enough components left in its blueprint or its machinery for Alphys to reconstruct it. That implied that someone else was using determination with the extractor, and there was only one person who could fit that description. There was only one previous Royal Scientist, meaning that the extractor had to be built by him. But… why? Alphys would’ve made mention of any files that were already there about determination. She seemed to be operating on a complete blank when utilizing it.

Besides, not everything about the DT Extractor had been erased with the previous Royal Scientist. If he was experimenting with determination, then surely something would have been left behind. Maybe that was what the blueprints were, but would only the blueprints be left behind? They should’ve asked Alphys in the last loop, but Undyne was already onto them, so they were doing guesswork. 

The thing was, the Angel knew that he was messing with determination. That was why they came here. Asgore claimed to have recognized the Angel’s ability to create Dark Worlds, and they should have recognized this sooner. For so long, they had languished over what Entry 17 actually was. After Ralsei explained Dark Worlds, it was clear that was what the man was talking about, but…

When else would he have made a Dark World?

The previous Royal Scientist was shattered across space and time. That matched his current state when the Angel spoke to him. And yet, the Goners of this world spoke of him. They knew him. This was the closest the Angel could get to him before they received an invitation for a connection. He was here at one point, because he built the CORE. Unless he knew of a way to effortlessly traverse worlds, which would not be unwelcome right now, he had to have been shattered across space and time here, which meant he needed a Dark World here.

Why? How? He didn’t have determination to do so! Did he inject himself? That was Alphys’ discovery! Did the knowledge of injection get erased? No one else could seal a Dark World! Why why why how did any of this make sense?

Undyne noticed them lagging behind a bit in the room with the beds. “Uh… you good? You look zoned out as hell.”

“Theorizing,” they responded simply, though it did shake them out of their thoughts. They couldn’t make sense of it. They didn’t have the remaining pieces yet. They continued keeping pace, mainly due to the fact that their light was necessary to see well. The lab had never been well-lit, but the soul provided some much needed vision.

While they thought, the Angel glanced down a hallway that the three of them wouldn’t be travelling down. In the dim light that their soul cast down the hall, they could just barely make out various empty pots. It had been too long for the flowers there to remain alive, but it seemed like they had been left behind to wilt.

Those were supposedly the “control cases” that Alphys used to test injecting determination into an object. It would make sense to study the flora in an attempt to see what effects determination had on a flower just to make sure anything she was seeing wasn’t just a trait of golden flowers. If only Alphys knew that what she would find was far more than a visual discrepancy. Maybe she had injected determination into some of those flowers, but only one truly gained the will to live in Asgore’s garden.

The Angel’s knowledge on determination had been changing a lot. They realized that when twisting the golden light into a silver again and activating their save-point. After all, it began as merely the will to live. It was the resolve to change fate. It gave control over the timeline, and it could be used to resist death. In this lab, that was where Alphys’ understanding likely ended.

…Then the Angel learned of Dark Worlds.

Determination became more than only something humans had. It became all Lightners. Suddenly, it was no longer just the ability to change fate, but the ability to shape the world. Perhaps, it always was that. After all, the Angel decided what path this world took. What else was determination?

And yet, there were still mysteries, and they definitely had questions for Alphys soon. They would just rather do it when they were certain Flowey wasn’t watching. The less he knew, the better.

The DT Extractor loomed in the distance. Finally, the three of them crossed the threshold into the room where it resided. The Angel almost expected more resistance in the lab, but they supposed that all of the Amalgamates had long gone. No one roamed these halls anymore. All that was left was puzzle pieces, and the Angel just needed to put them together. If they were going to find the one person who could give them guidance, then they needed to retrace his steps. The odd shape of the DT Extractor fully came into view when the Angel’s soul cast light on it, ready to be studied.

It was such a long shot coming down here, but they had a hunch thanks to Asgore’s thoughts that he’d seen a Dark World before.

Alphys waved a hand at the extractor, shakily exclaiming, “Th-this is it!” Though, it was still just a motionless machine, and their arrival had no other fanfare. Alphys started to wring her hands, shrinking in on herself just a little bit. “I hope you weren’t u-um… hoping to use it? We definitely don’t have the power for it to work.”

They… were hoping to see it in action a little bit, but there was no determination to extract other than the Angel’s own. They definitely weren’t going to try that anyway. Even thinking about losing their determination filled them with dread.

The Angel inspected the DT Extractor closer. They had a lot more detail seeing it up close now, though it did not help nearly as much as they thought it would. The extractor was still as mysterious as before. The Angel’s thoughts about it hadn’t changed much. Wow, it sure looked like a skull! It sure looked ominous! They sighed, “You said this was all the previous Royal Scientist left behind?” They had to confirm, just to be sure that they weren’t missing something obvious.

Alphys nodded. “Th-that and the blueprints. Though, like I said, the extractor was heavily damaged when I found it. I had to use the blueprints to r-repair its extracting functionality.” As soon as she got rambling, something else came out as well. “There’s theoretically room for m-more components in its shell, but that was all information that I couldn’t salvage.”

So, they had to guess.

The Angel’s second pair of eyes caught something interesting. Surrounding the DT Extractor was a blackened space that the Angel had never really given much thought to. Now, with their vessel as their own, they could inspect it more closely. They originally thought that it was just a hole, but when they knelt down to look closer… it didn’t actually look like it went downward.

Carefully, the Angel reached out with their branch. They poked at what should be a hole, and the branch found purchase against solid ground. When they lifted the branch away, nothing got stuck to it. The ground here was just pitch black. Pointing at it, the Angel asked, “What is this?”

“O-oh! I tried to clean that off the floor, b-but it never really came off.” Alphys sounded sheepish when she talked about it, and the Angel realized how much it probably tracked that she just left it there. The lab seemed like it would routinely be a mess with the Amalgamates. “It was… under the extractor when I got here too.”

The Angel furrowed their brow. “...You rebuilt the extractor in the same place?” 

Alphys started to get exasperated at how much her efforts were being scrutinized. “I-It is technology almost as complex as the CORE! I couldn’t j-just risk moving it and losing any components that the blueprints didn’t already contain!”

That made sense. “Smart.” They did mean it, and turned away when they saw Alphys calming down. Really, they didn’t mean to criticize. They were just trying to put the pieces together. Well, if Alphys had walked on this, then surely it should be fine to touch. Carefully, the Angel reached out a hand, lightly brushing a claw up against the darkened floor.

It… felt like any other floor. Colder maybe, but that was the only difference.

Why did it look like pure darkness? The Angel couldn’t reach their hand into it, so it wasn’t an entrance to a Dark World. Besides, the Dark Worlds usually filled a room if an entrance wasn’t sealed. It wouldn’t just stop below the extractor even if it was an entrance. Besides, the man didn’t have determination. He couldn’t have opened a Dark World.

Did he have determination?

The Angel glanced back at the people with them in the room again, asking a question they would know the answer to, “How many human souls were collected before you became the Royal Scientist?”

Undyne answered quickly, “Six. Took a while for Frisk to fall. Asgore said the sixth fell before I was even born.”

…So that explained why Undyne believed everything anime said about humans. That also left a significant time period where the Royal Scientist could have existed, and a lot of that time was likely spent with human souls being around. That meant that he could have accessed determination in an attempt to create a Dark World, but the Angel saw no Dark Fountain. Only they could seal one. 

This was a paradox, and yet the man had always been like that.

The Angel turned back to the extractor. Again, it reminded them of a skull. The reason they always made that comparison was due to Flowey’s gargantuan form with six souls and Sans’ blasters. This was only ever built to extract, and yet it still looked like a blaster-

“Alphys, this is going to sound insane, but I need a genuine answer,” the Angel began, staring up at the skull-like shape of the DT Extractor. “Do you think, if this had the right components, it would be able to function as a blaster?”

To her credit, Alphys took the question decently well. It took her a second of opening and closing her mouth before she had an answer. “I-I mean, I could probably turn anything into a blaster. It depends on what you mean.” Right. Making an improvised explosive was probably child’s play for Alphys. That was a dumb question.

The Angel wasn’t good with this kind of stuff. They didn’t have a point of comparison that Alphys recognized unless she had seen Sans’ blasters. The Angel tried to start without revealing that they had fought Sans before. “Let’s say I wanted a concentrated beam of energy to come out of the DT Extractor. How feasible would that be with all of the components you have currently installed in it?”

Alphys squinted at the extractor, mulling over information that the Angel couldn’t even parse when they tried to focus on her thoughts. “I-It depends? I’m sure that I could make that into a blaster if I tried, b-but obviously I can’t now with the power I have. The two prongs definitely look like they could effectively guide a beam though.”

Then there was only one more question: Would the DT Extractor be able to form a Dark World?

If it could strike the earth with will collected from the human souls, would a Dark World form?

If it worked, where was the fountain?

Some aspects of Dark Fountain creation had to have gone wrong. After all, whatever the man did, it caused him to be shattered across time and space. He fell into his own creation. For a while, the Angel thought that was the CORE, but that wasn’t his only recorded creation. The Angel knew very well that when Dark Worlds were created or entered for the first time, one typically fell into them.

The trail ended here, but it didn’t have to. Maybe if they were still stuck with Frisk, they wouldn’t have been able to. Now, with a new vessel, they had abilities that they couldn’t command Frisk to perform. If the Angel could just pull back a curtain, then they may be able to continue following the trail. The man’s presence may have ended here, but he always did contact them from the darkness. Maybe, if they could traverse it as well, then they could find him.

This was stupid. This was so stupid. If the man did successfully make a Dark World here, then it ultimately led to his shattering across space and time. Doing the same thing would be dangerous. Saves may not even bring them back if they failed. Besides, if the man did get shattered, then the trail would ultimately lead them that same way. 

However, this was why they came down here. This was what they were banking on when Asgore mentioned seeing a Dark World before. If they had any hope of finding the man who brought them here, then it was through the Dark Worlds.

The Angel sighed, standing to their feet. One thing needed to be handled first. “I found what I’m looking for…” They began, turning to Alphys and Undyne. “Thank you both for bringing me down here. I… cannot in good conscience allow you to stay for what I have to do next.”

Undyne and Alphys glanced at one another before Undyne immediately stepped forward. “The deal was that you don’t do any funny business, and Alphys has the final say on what you do. You’re not being left down here alone to mess with whatever the hell you want.”

Alphys shakily nodded in support of that fact. “Th-there’s a lot of fragile equipment down here that I d-don’t want misused!”

Of course, they took that the wrong way. Fine. They would be straightforward. The Angel swiveled their head towards Undyne. “I am about to do something incredibly dangerous, and I do not want you two to get hurt.” To make a point, they used their free hand to fish in their bag, pulling out a cleaned off red horn that they refused to leave behind at Toriel’s place. “I need to do it again.”

Undyne stared at the horn for a few seconds before realization flashed in her eye. Instead of backing off like the Angel hoped, she crossed her arms, staying firmly put. “Yeah, no. You’re not doing that creepy geyser stuff in Alphys’ lab!”

Alphys also had concerns of her own, though it took her a moment longer to remember what the Angel had precisely said about the “creepy geysers”. Alphys nearly gasped in horror, “D-didn’t you say that caused the calamity in the other world? Wouldn’t that do it again?”

Yes, they did say that, and they were suddenly regretting opening their mouth ever. “Only if there’s too many,” the Angel explained, trying to get these two off of their case before resorting to loading a save again. “I promise that I am not planning on recreating what happened in that world, otherwise I would have left you and Asgore in the jail without closing the fountain.”

“Fat chance we’re leaving.” Undyne remained uncompromising, glaring down at them. “Or letting you do that.”

“It has a chance of finding the previous Royal Scientist!” The Angel protested, pointedly staring at Alphys in an attempt to get her on their side. “I need to find him to return to my world. I’ll make sure the fountain is sealed before I leave, but I need to do it. I don’t want you two in danger during this.” The Angel did not get positive reactions from either of them, and they realized that this likely wasn’t going to be convincing. “I will be making a Dark World. I will give you all the choice of whether or not you want to risk being here for it.”

Undyne’s eye twitched. “I warned you, punk! I told you that the moment you put us in danger, I’ll kick your ass!” She took another step forward, hands balling into fists.

“That’s what I’m trying to prevent!” They countered, holding their own ground. “You all can leave, and you will be in no danger. That’s why I haven’t just thrown us all into the darkness. I don’t want you in danger!”

“Then don’t do it.” She glanced at the horn in their hand like she wanted to lunge for it. “We’re going back to the surface. We’re done.”

The Angel’s hand tightened around the horn. Part of them wanted to drive the horn into the ground and kick Undyne’s ass again. However, they didn’t need the Dark World for that. Their mouth moved before their mind did, and they had enough. “They call you the hero that never gives up. I forgot how narrow-minded you could be until pushed to your absolute limit. So quick to give up on my world just because it’s not your people on the line.”

Undyne bared her teeth, growling, “Because everything you’ve told me requires me to trust you.” She gestured out to the exit of the lab. “Everything about you doesn’t make sense. The people up there make sense, and their hopes and dreams come first. If you’re lying, and I risk all of them for that, then I’d be an idiot.”

“Susie risked everything for you,” the Angel snarled, fur beginning to stand on end. “Even though she barely knew you, she tried to save you as soon as you were in danger. What would you say to yourself if you let an entire world die?” The light in their soul grew brighter, boiling with the blood in their veins. “Could you look yourself in the eye if you find out it was all real, and you were careless? Seems a bit out of character.”

Alphys hadn’t had the strength to speak up to separate them, and she didn’t manage to say something on time. Undyne and the Angel stared each other down, and they waited for a battle to occur.

Instead, Undyne’s eye twitched, and she was the first to break eye-contact. “Damn it.” She muttered, spinning around and punching the wall. “DAMN IT.”

No battle came. The impact echoed through the room, and the Angel watched as Undyne refused to turn around. A few seconds later, Alphys finally found her voice, shuffling up to Undyne and asking, “A-are you okay?”

“No!” Undyne spun again, advancing on the Angel once more before her resolve broke all the same. She kept herself a few paces away from them, pointing an accusatory finger. “You’re hiding things! Everything about you is suspicious as hell, but…” She clenched her hand into a fist again. The hostility in her body finally lost the battle, and she gave in. “The way you talk about the people you care about… the way you actually showed a damn emotion when talking about them…”

Even Undyne couldn’t deny the feelings that came with fighting for people who truly mattered.

“You don’t have to trust me,” the Angel said, crossing their arms. “Just don’t keep me from them.”

Undyne scoffed in disbelief, pacing away and kicking up dust with the toe of her boot. She ran a claw through her hair before finally… “Fine. I won’t.” Resolve solidified again. She whirled around, a grin on her face. “I don’t trust you, but I’m not keeping you from ‘em. I’m staying for whatever the hell it is you’re doing.”

The Angel blinked. This path shattered the last person who walked it. Was it really wise to bring someone else? 

As soon as Undyne showed the resolve, Alphys joined in too. “I-I think I would know how to help more if… I knew how y-your world worked a little more? Or at least how your calamity does.” She scratched the back of her head, laughing nervously. “Plus I… would need Undyne to be able to leave… and… I’m not leaving her behind either!”

Undyne could fight. Alphys, the Angel wasn’t sure. However, the way Undyne was looking at them, they didn’t think that she was going to take no for an answer. “I will remind you that it is incredibly dangerous, but you’re probably not going to listen to that.” As expected, neither of them budged. “Then we need to establish rules.”

Alphys nodded enthusiastically while Undyne looked a little more hesitant. “O-of course! It’s your… ability after all.”

There were two people joining, so this would make things simple. “First of all, the two of you have to listen to everything that I say. If we get into fights, I issue commands.”

Undyne held up her hands, trying to slow them down. “Okay so like, or you could let me do my thing. I may have lost, but we were pretty damn close to kicking your ass.”

The Angel glared. “It’ll protect you. Need I remind you that nobody even remembers who the last Royal Scientist was, and whatever happened to him down there likely led to his disappearance. I know how the rules of Dark Worlds work, and it’ll be safer if I lead.”

All thoughts of disobeying the Angel’s orders seemed to be lost. Fantastic.

“Rule two.” The Angel held up a second finger. “You might see creatures down there that may be startling at first. Do not fight them. They’re Darkners, and I will walk you through dealing with them. It shouldn’t be anything new considering the two of you should understand how to end a fight non-violently.”

Undyne opened her mouth like she was about to make a snide comment about the Angel’s own inability, but Alphys elbowed her in the side lightly to stop her. Apparently, both of them knew that the Angel had only ever really fought. Fantastic. It did look like Alphys was interested in the term “Darkner” when they brought it up, but that would have to wait.

The Angel glanced around the lab, seeing just how open it was and how none of these rooms seemed to have doors. The Dark World would be large. That was fine. They would prefer having access to the whole lab during this. However, that would make it an issue if they were separated. That called for another rule. “Rule 3-” The Angel ignored the way Undyne rolled her eye at all the rules. “You all are not allowed to watch when I create the Dark World. I’ll grab your hands before we go, but you cannot watch.”

“Okay, gotta ask, why the hell not?” Undyne was looking skeptical again. “You’re the only one who can make it. Why the hell does it matter?”

“I don’t want anyone even experimenting,” they plainly answered. “I’m the only one who can seal these. If I ever leave, and people somehow start making these, a calamity is unavoidable.”

The point was taken. Undyne shut her mouth, and Alphys started sweating a little more. 

Now, only one more thing was on the agenda, and the Angel needed to be protected for this. “Watch my vessel for a second. I’ll be right back.” Without another word, they shut their eyes, and thought of the one person who needed to absolutely NOT see this. Now, where the hell was Flowey?

The Angel did not need to look for long. Their second pair of eyes saw red rock all around. Flowey seemed to be burrowing. If they listened close enough, they thought they could hear some vague cursing. Honestly, they thought Flowey would’ve been here by now. Hotland’s elevator systems and extreme heat must’ve stalled him a bit. That meant that they could act now.

Vision receded, and the Angel found themself back in their vessel. Undyne had gotten considerably closer with her arms out like she planned to catch them, but she froze the moment their eyes opened again. “The hell was that?”

“No time. Gotta move.” The Angel gestured for her and Alphys to turn around. “Need to make this quick.” They could not have Flowey witnessing a Dark World creation. 

Thankfully, blessedly, neither of them protested much. Both turned the opposite direction, giving the Angel the floor to do what they needed to do.

This time, they had more time to consider what they needed. The Angel walked to the center of the room, getting close enough to where they were certain they could stab the blackened floor. It was close to the extractor, but if the extractor formed the last Dark Fountain, then the Angel wanted to try to ensure the Dark World formed in the same way.

Now, they needed will. They needed a goal. Last time, they required a battlefield. This time, they yearned for discovery. That was what a lab was best at, and this Dark World would enhance that. This Dark World would guide them on the trail back to their friends. They would find one of their greatest allies.

They only had one more step: to force the world to bend to their will.

The Angel took one last glance in their second pair of eyes. No golden flowers were peeking into the room. Undyne and Alphys both remained staring in the opposite direction. The coast was clear.

Red flared in both of the Angel’s eyes. Determination coursed through their veins. Empowered, they leapt into the air, letting go of their branch for only a moment to clasp the horn in two hands. The branch remained suspended as they did, the world freezing around the Angel as sparks flared out around their body.

Stars flickered in the air. Determination joined the Angel in the dance once again. The world could not withstand them anymore. It strained under their power. The Angel acted, driving the horn downward.

Light engulfed the Angel’s vision for the briefest of moments before an uncontrolled stream of darkness lashed out from the earth. The fountain rose higher and higher into the lab, and the Angel watched Alphys and Undyne both flinch when the world screamed. Both turned around instinctively, but darkness covered the Angel enough so that they could not be seen. It clouded above. It began to solidify. It leaked from the wound in the world, and the stream finally vanished.

The Angel wrenched the horn from the ground, putting it in their bag. As smog descended, they picked up their branch, walking towards Undyne and Alphys. They extended the hand holding a branch and their free hand, both being quickly taken. However, Undyne did not let go of Alphys either.

Moments after, the world fell out from under them.

Alphys shrieked. The Angel kept their gaze trained downward, falling through the darkness as they had before. Undyne’s eye darted every which way, as if she was looking for something. 

After only a second, their outfits began to change. The comfort of the covering provided by robes and a veil returned for the Angel. The ribbon on their ear grew and leapt around their neck, forming into a comforting cloth around their neck. They had to fight the urge to reach out and brush a hand against it. Their satchel remained attached to their body, a silver spark flying out and landing on the Angel’s shoulder. A much larger silver star flared out around the back of their head, being joined by wings at either side.

Undyne’s studded leather returned, and her hair grew extra spikes. She looked very similar to her previous Dark World form in the other world, but the more gritty armor suited her in an odd way. Even as her outfit changed, she never stopped looking around, asking, “Hey! We gotta stop our fall!”

“We do not,” the Angel quickly responded, glancing at her from under their veil, “The fall into a Dark World doesn’t hurt.”

Even though she looked like she didn’t believe the Angel, the both of them were distracted by Alphys’ outfit beginning to shift. The monster herself had stars in her eyes as her own outfit began to shift. The Angel half-expected to see the Dark World lean into her joy of anime, but it decided to take things another direction. Plates of sleek, white metal began to replace her usual clothing. The Angel only realized halfway up that it was forming a mechanical suit around her body. It wasn’t what they would have expected from Alphys, but it definitely played to her strengths-

A helmet formed over her face, jagged lines making up where the teeth would be. Two large bells that looked not-too-dissimilar from Mad Mew Mew’s appeared on either side of her head attached to- oh. The mech suit gave her mechanical cat ears.

A core on her chest lit up with a sharp yellow. Gaps in the armor, the line that made up the mouth, and the eyes of the suit lit up in the same hue. The Angel swore they heard a robotic cackle coming from Alphys while they all fell, but the transformation had been complete.

They all hit the ground, the impact being absorbed. Slowly, the Dark World came into being around all of them, stuttering and flickering before finally managing to become whole.

The Angel rose to their feet, taking a cursory glance around the environment. They tucked their arms under their cloak for a moment. This Dark World… seemed off. Not only did pieces of it weirdly stutter when they looked around, but the three Lightners within it were the only thing that had color. The rest of the Dark World had been washed in monochrome, but the Angel supposed that was what happened to copies. Above, they could see a glass dome shielding them from an endless expanse of black above. The Dark Fountain was under this dome, only being able to reach endlessly upwards thanks to a hole in it. They had fallen farther away from it than the Angel would’ve liked.

Undyne was at Alphys’ side immediately, waving a hand in front of her face when she didn’t get up. “Hey Al? You good?”

Again, that mechanical laughing came back. The helmet plating over Alphys’ head snapped upward, giving her a little more room to breathe. She kept laughing, voice clearing with the suit no longer in the way, “Th-that was amazing! L-look!” She brought her hand up to the helmet, poking at the ears. “Are they cute?”

As soon as it was obvious Alphys was fine, Undyne lifted her up, spinning her around in a crushing hug despite the heavy armor. “You’re damn right it’s cute!”

The Angel let them have their moment. Instead, they scanned the ground, seeing a familiar axe on the ground. For a moment, they had a flash of thinking Susie could be here before instantly identifying what had happened. It wasn’t like they took that toothbrush without an intention. The Angel lifted the axe off of the ground, holding it in both hands. Unlike the sword and dagger on their belt, and the scarf around their neck, the Angel… didn’t exactly know how to store this weapon. It didn’t disappear like their crook, which was an issue. They could probably send it to their inventory, but that would leave it inaccessible during battle.

Part of them thought all of the weapons should go into storage. After all, they’d misused the abilities once.

Asgore said that the abilities were parting gifts. Even now, the scarf around their neck reminded them of someone who would rush in to defend them no matter how scared he was. The axe in their hands reminded them of someone who had cleaved through their own walls, refusing to leave them behind in the darkness. The sword at their waist reminded them of a human who believed despite all of their instincts telling them not to.

If these weapons would allow the Angel to save their friends, then they would be used. Unfortunately, that meant the Angel had to carry the axe.

The memories shined within the Angel, and instinctively, they reached out their hand to a forming silver star.

File Saved.

The Angel saw their LV stagnant at seven once again. They didn’t expect the last Dark World to increase their abilities anyway. Thankfully, with Undyne and Alphys seemingly in the party, their abilities would soon grow to match the Angel’s. If they ever left, they would be relying on their own capabilities, but that was why the Angel impressed upon them that they needed to stay together.

Speaking of which, Alphys shuffled up to the Angel, inspecting their Dark World form. “Y-you do have wings!” Her eyes went wide, and she glanced on something near the Angel’s shoulder. “You… uhhh… also have something on you?”

The Angel glanced to the side a little bit, seeing a bird-like head swivel into view of their veil. A parrot made of paper greeted them, “Hello! Good to meet again!” It fluttered into the air around the Angel’s head, landing on different parts of their cloak to lightly tap at them.

They couldn’t help but laugh, something curling up on the edges of their mouth while they watched the little Darkner fly. Just as before, they held out a finger, giving the parrot a place to perch. It landed, peeking at them through the veil. The Angel tilted their head. “Good to see you too. Have you been okay?”

The little thing nodded, flapping both of its wings an extra time. A few of its loop-looking eyes blinked. “Comfy bag! Got new writing too!” The parrot showed off its wing, the Angel seeing a very familiar map on it. They’d drawn that one at the bus stop. “You been okay?! Talk a lot now!”

“I have to.” Though, they were happy that talking no longer completely felt like pulling teeth. Some other things were still a work-in-progress, and they didn’t even want to think about eating. “That reminds me, do you have a name?” When the parrot shook its head, the Angel hummed, “I was going to name you, but I think you should have a chance to choose a name.”

The parrot tilted its head in the opposite direction. “Would be fine with name from the Angel!”

“If you can’t think of one, I can figure it out,” they reassured, knowing that the parrot seemed to be influenced by what the Angel wrote on it. Still, the opportunity should still be given. “Just think about it. No pressure.”

“Okay!” The parrot hopped on the Angel’s finger a little more. “Not turning to stone! Going with you?”

That was curious, though if the Angel did make this Dark World with the purpose of discovery, a notepad would make sense here. The Angel didn’t just want to leave the Darkner behind, so they supposed that the little thing would be coming with them. They could provide protection, but considering how fragile the Darkner looked, they were not letting it get into fights. “Hide in the cloak during battles unless I call you.”

The parrot nodded, immediately moving to hide in there anyway. The Angel allowed it to find a perch that it was comfortable with, and found that it did not even take up much room. It was paper, and when the Angel tried to check on it to make sure it had not been crushed, they found that it had merely folded itself a little bit to fit more comfortably.

As long as it was happy, they were fine.

When the Angel finally remembered what was around them, they saw Undyne and Alphys watching them in dead silence. Undyne bared her teeth the moment she had their attention, questioning, “What the hell was that?” She glanced at Alphys. “We both saw that, right?”

“A Darkner,” the Angel explained, “Ralsei is a Darkner as well. They’re objects given form.”

“No like!” Undyne gestured vaguely at the Angel like they were the issue here. “I didn’t know you could act soft!”

Soft? They supposed that they tried to be gentle with Darkners. While not all of them had the same disposition towards wanting to be real like Ralsei… “Why would I not? They deserve to know that they’re valued.”

Alphys had locked up at the mention of Darkners. “W-wait, what do you mean by objects being given form?” She glanced at where the parrot had disappeared.

“The Dark World causes things to get dark enough to become indistinct,” the Angel explained, hoisting the axe up to hold it with one hand while resting it on their shoulder. They had to tuck one of the wings in to not accidentally squish it before letting it out again. “Ralsei called it an illusion, but it’s not just an illusion. You can still get hurt. You can still feel things. It’s taking light away and continuing to take.”

Undyne’s eye suddenly glanced upward. The Angel followed her gaze when she went into a fighting stance. In the darkness above the dome, the Angel swore that they saw a familiar skull receding into the inky blackness above.

They had a hunch what that was. Hopefully, it would be peaceful if they encountered it later.

“I…I just don’t understand!” Alphys brought both of their gazes back down, bringing her hands up to the side of her helmet. “You’re making life. Objects don’t just… get up! Th-that only happened once, and it was because of…” Alphys trailed off when she realized she was oversharing, but the pieces were already there.

She was thinking about Flowey.

The Angel could not tell her this, but the truth of the matter was that she wasn’t entirely wrong. Flowey was a result of determination being injected into a flower. The Angel didn’t know if Alphys tried with other flowers, AKA the “control cases”, but the flower that she chose was the first that grew from Asriel’s grave. Perhaps, in a messed up way, she had recreated the process of making a Darkner. And yet, Flowey could exist in the Light World.

After all, what were Darkners if not objects given form thanks to determination? They just… only gained form while the font of determination still existed: A Dark Fountain. Was the Angel giving objects the will to live every single time they created a Dark Fountain?

Another question formed at the tip of their tongue, “I know… you don’t like talking about it, but…” This was a selfish question to ask. They already had a solution to this problem, but part of them had begun to wonder… “Can you recount what happens when an object gains the will to live?”

Alphys froze. However, the world around her caught her attention. The Angel watched as she looked around, seeing the monochrome environment and all that had formed around it. She’d even seen a Darkner. So, her fascination got the better of her, and she sighed, “I… never found much. The vessel… disappeared when I tried injecting it with determination. But… um… I hope that he’s at least a little happy.”

The Angel nodded, beginning to walk in a direction that was distinctly east. They summoned their crook to their free hand, keeping the axe held in the other. Both Undyne and Alphys followed, Undyne taking up the rear. They just… needed to get a move on, but they still needed to hear this. “I was asking, because I think… I’ve seen what happens when they do… when Darkners start wanting more.”

“O-oh…” Alphys snapped her helmet back over her head, but still curiously asked, “D-do tell?”

“They yearn.” That was the one word they could use for what Ralsei always did. “They hope to be more, but think there’s a piece of them missing.” Had it not been for Ralsei’s inability to leave the Dark World, the Angel would consider him whole. How could he not be? No matter how much he thought that he couldn’t be Ralsei, the poor Darkner was always becoming more of himself with every day that passed. He just… thought that would one day come to an end. “Kris, Susie, and I all wanted Ralsei to join us. He wanted to stay with us forever. And I just… wondered if you maybe found anything… that could help with that.”

Alphys shook her head. Despite all she had done to create Flowey, she didn’t know. The closest thing the Angel could try was injecting Ralsei’s horns with determination, but that wouldn’t… keep him as Ralsei. “Th-the issue is… a lack of a soul I think,” Alphys mused, and her voice grew quieter at the end, “It’s what makes us wh-who we are, and without it…”

But even without a soul… at least the Angel thought Darkners didn’t have souls in the traditional sense… Ralsei was still kind. “He still feels even though he thinks he shouldn’t.” This was probably too much to say about him without his permission. They shook their head, forcing the thoughts out of their head. “It’s fine. I have a solution already. I just want him to be happy.”

Previously silent, Undyne piped up from the back, “You know, you talk a hell of a lot about Ralsei, but the other two names don’t come up nearly as much.”

Huh. They supposed that was happening. Though, that had an easy explanation. “I think it’s something all of us started to do.” The Angel kept their gaze trained ahead while they walked. “He tended to fade into the background, because he thought we’d have to abandon him one day. He tried to make it easier.” Now that they were getting closer to the edge of the dome, the Angel could see other glass domes on the outside. They all covered individual platforms which looked more like floating islands. Below, only more darkness resided. Thin bridges connected all of them, giving passage over what lay below. “So, we all started talking about him a lot. We tried to prop him up. Susie’s probably the best at it. She’ll go on and on about him.”

When the Angel glanced back at Undyne after a few moments of silence, they saw an actual smile on her face for a second. She thought for a moment longer. “Okay, who’s Susie then? You said she tried to save my other me’s ass. What’s that about?”

“If you think I’m stubborn, you should meet her.” The Angel turned back around to face forward, but caught Undyne’s face turning baffled. “She out-stubborned me. It’s a long story, but I’d given up. I quit. I was ready to just… move on.” They still remembered making the decision, and the man trying desperately to dissuade them. They remembered a piece of them rotting. “She pulled me to my feet. She introduced me properly to everyone else. She told me everything was going to be okay.” Her smile was so bright that the Angel had to believe her. However, the Angel only had a frown on their own face now. “It’s going to be okay. I just have to get back.”

Alphys quietly asked, “And what happened to U-Undyne that required saving?”

The Angel’s expression darkened. Both of the wings on either side of their head became brittle, feathers sharpening into blades for the briefest of moments. “The Knight,” they said plainly, hand gripping the handle of their axe. “They’re one of the people who brought the calamity, and they know I’m coming.”

“Wh-why would they know?”

The Angel’s grip on the axe trembled. “I promised.”

The conversation did not continue from that moment on. Slowly, the Angel’s wings softened back into normal feathers, and something in their soul loosened. The anger wouldn’t do them any good now. They needed to save it for when they were back in the depths of the Roaring. Anger allowed them to act with a single-mindedness, but that wasn’t needed right now. They needed all of their thoughts coherent at the moment.

When getting closer to the edge of this dome, the Angel saw movement coming from the bridge. A white lab coat covered whatever made up this Darkner, but the Angel could distinctly see an elongated screen on top of its head. Despite no color, it reminded them of the screens that Alphys used to record logs.

Its head rose. The Angel saw a flash of intent, and they prepared themself. As the Darkner rushed forward, the Angel interposed their own soul. Alphys yelped as battle was initiated, sending the three of them to positions.

Good. That initiated properly. The Angel used their second pair of eyes to survey what they were working with. Thankfully, it looked like both of their stats roughly matched the Angel’s now. That probably wouldn’t stick if they ever left, but for now it was good that they were both protected.

Before the Angel could select a move, Alphys stammered under her helmet, “I-is this how battle is supposed to work??? This! Feels really wrong!” She inspected a weapon that appeared in her hand, and the Angel realized that she had been given an arm cannon and a toolbox wrapped around her body.

“They do it weird!” Undyne yelled before the Angel could respond, but she didn’t take her turn. Despite how hesitant she was to follow the Angel’s orders in the Light World, she seemed to be deferring to them now. She still had her spear out, but if the Angel remembered correctly, that could turn into other weapons.

The Angel went to check, but realized that they seemed to have an action for greater analysis with Alphys. That would be a good way to introduce her to things. The Angel began to cast their own check, making a finger gun motion in the air. “Just follow my lead. Don’t worry about dodging. It’s on me.” In response the Angel saw text appearing in the eyes of Alphys’ armor. She’d responded to their call to X-Check.

For Undyne, the Angel analyzed her abilities. They could shift her weapon, but fighting wasn’t exactly on the list of things to do right now. She could turn their soul green, or an enemy’s soul green, but the Angel wasn’t sure how that would work on Darkners. She did seem to have a U-action, but the Angel wasn’t sure if letting her do whatever was great right now. So, they instructed her to defend. Undyne squinted at the Angel like she wanted to protest, but raised her spear anyway.

The X-Check fired off. The Angel received statistics. This Darker was supposedly called a Screcord. Its stats were higher than the Angel was hoping for, though it seemed to be in pursuit of knowledge as well. Alphys’ component of the check fired off, and she started rambling, “U-uh, watch out for its lightning attacks!” She moved her helmet to look at the Darkner’s hands. “It looks like it’ll come from the fingertips!”

Great, Alphys could warn them of encroaching attacks. That was nice to have actually. On cue, the Angel found their soul wrenched out of their body, and focused on the space in-between.

Even though they warned Alphys and Undyne about not dodging, the two of them braced. Under the lab coat, the Darkner’s motions were hidden. However, the Angel saw words appearing on the screen it had for a head: “No information gained. Learning process necessitated.” In a flash, it raised its hand, and a bolt of electricity flew towards the Angel’s soul. They swerved out of the way, dodging three bolts that fired out sequentially. They did not mind the second hand that came out, and paid for it.

Bolts swept from the other end of the space in-between, and the Angel’s soul was struck. The bolt bypassed the barrier, striking the Angel. Their vessel twitched as the soul returned to their body, and the Angel found that they couldn’t move. They’d been paralyzed.

However, it was their turn.

Some of the Angel’s actions failed to light up. Only spare activated, and they were forced to raise a hand in an attempt to spare early. Their voice wasn’t working either with the electricity surging through their veins. However, Alphys and Undyne still had turns. Both of them looked at each other with their leader incapacitated, but they did not have to worry for long. The Angel was still able to see Alphys’ abilities and combed through them to see what could be done. She seemed to have an ability to craft in the middle of the fight, which the Angel thought could be useful now.

Alphys yelped when the command was issued. “H-how did you-” She felt at the toolbox around her waist. “Why did your voice sound so different?”

Undyne squinted. “The hell do you mean? They didn’t talk-” The Angel’s command came to her, asking her to use an item on them. They still had CD-Bagels which had been upgraded into Jelly Bagels. The Angel did not want to think about how that occurred, but the item was for them so no one else would have to. Undyne did not like the command coming her way, because she yelled, “What the fuck?”

Both of them performed their actions. First, Alphys brought her toolbox to the ground, panicking, “What do I do? What do I do?!?” However, even as she stammered like she had no idea what she was doing, she began mixing liquids together that just appeared out of the box. By the time she was done, she’d crafted a spray bottle of some kind. She spritzed the Angel like a feral cat, but suddenly their limbs unlocked. Paralysis had been tempered. “Wh-what did I do?!?” Alphys stared at her impromptu invention before it crumbled in her hands.

“You did pretty well!” The Angel encouraged, though they did not know how the actual hell that worked. It seemed like Alphys could make items quickly on her turn. Even as they saw her pick up that toolbox, it still looked full. 

Undyne fished a Jelly Bagel out of her pocket before yelling, “When the hell did I get this?!?” She tossed it to the Angel, and they chomped on it instantly to restore their lost health.

Thankfully, it actually tasted like jelly. They were not going to question it. The horn tainted their junk ball, and they were just going to act like they didn’t know why the CD Bagels changed. However, they did respond to Undyne, “Our items are connected!”

“N-none of this makes any sense!” Alphys yelled as the soul once more launched out into battle. It seemed like the command had rattled her despite the Angel being incapacitated for a turn. “I-I was just trying to figure out how to cure paralysis a-and just thought of one of those spray bottles from that one game-”

“No information gained. Learning process necessitated.” The Angel’s soul wove through the lightning flawlessly this time, though they realized that they were not making progress. 

With the axe in hand, they had Susie’s abilities. Unfortunately, Rude Buster wasn’t useful here, and they weren’t certain they could use her healing ability with their current tension. However, they did have an idea. “You want information? I have some!” They called upon the Darkner in their cloak, and it fluttered out onto their shoulder. “A map of uncharted territory!”

They asked both Alphys and Undyne to try their own ACTs. Alphys stammered, following up with the Angel, “Y-yeah! W-wait what’s the map depicting?” She didn’t know what was on the parrot, and her not knowing what to do caused the Screcord to become more tired. 

Simultaneously, Undyne bared her teeth, raising her spear. “I’ll show you my damn fists if you try to shock us again!” Her threat did not do much, but the Screcord got a little more tired from having to deal with people threatening to cause chaos in a lab environment.

The parrot flew out before the attack began and lifted a wing. The Screcord leaned in to observe the map. “Very interesting. Recording in progress.”

The Angel’s soul was drawn out, and dodging became complicated. The Darkner took its head off of its body before pointing one of its electrified fingers at the surface of the screen. It began transcribing the map, and the Angel started having to flee from a beam of electricity in the space in-between. It traced the map in the bullet-box, and the Angel was so thankful for the lack of detail in the drawing.

Thankfully, they took no damage. Their parrot friend flew back, hiding in their cloak once more.

The Angel was certain they could pacify the Darkner now, but try as they might to switch to Ralsei’s abilities, the scarf would not respond to them. They glanced at the axe in their hands and realized the problem. They could no longer unequip the axe, locking them into Susie’s abilities. The Screcord wasn’t ready to be spared yet, but they were close enough…

“It’s a map of the surface,” the Angel explained, “It’s something you’ve never seen before. That’s the route from the monsters’ town to Ebott City.” 

The explanation seemed to fascinate the Screcord, and it placed the screen back on its head. It seemed content with its studies. The Angel immediately gestured for Alphys to spare, and an ‘X’ appeared over the eye of her armor. Undyne went on defense, once again grumbling.

Alphys spared the Screcord, and the Angel saw no indication that they had recruited a Darkner. It made sense, considering there was nowhere to return to, but a battle had been won regardless. The rules of battle no longer restrained any of them, leaving a lone Darkner standing at the entrance of the bridge.

Words began to appear on its face. “Traversing these lands is dangerous. Each zone was tasked with different research. What do you seek?”

The Angel stepped forward. “The previous Royal Scientist,” they said plainly, hoping that the Darkner would simply know where he had gone. “I was following his trail, and it led here.”

Dots appeared on the Darkner’s face while it thought. After a while, a question mark appeared. Then, it continued forming sentences on its screen, “Invalid request. Other zones may help your research. I recommend checking the zone I block. There has been a disturbance recently.” The Screcord stepped aside, gesturing for the three of them to walk across the bridge. “Your research is valuable.”

Well, it was worth a shot. The Angel sighed. They supposed that this Dark World would have to be explored more in order to understand all of the pieces. “Thank you for your help.” They nodded to the Darkner before continuing onward, hearing two pairs of footsteps following.

They only lasted a few seconds before Undyne yelled, “What the actual hell was that?”

Like she’d been wanting to ask the exact same thing, Alphys sighed in relief. “I-I’ve never seen a fight like that. How d-did you even issue commands like that?” She glanced at the toolbox still around her waist. “H-how did I do that?”

“It’s your ability,” the Angel explained, “It’s just something you can do down here. The Dark World took your penchant for creating things and made it part of your skillset down here.” It was the best explanation they could think of at least. Dark Worlds reflected the person who fell into them. They only wondered if Alphys was sad that it wasn’t anime-based.

Alphys rifled through the toolbox a bit. Meanwhile, Undyne eyed the axe on the Angel’s shoulder before asking, “You do know that you can unsummon that thing, right?”

To make a point, the Angel stopped in their tracks. They lifted their wooden crook into the air, doing exactly what Undyne said. “It’s only my main weapon that I can do that with. All other weapons I use, I’m stuck holding normally.” 

“Then why keep ‘em?” Undyne questioned, and it almost came off as annoying. However, she didn’t know what they meant to the Angel, so they didn’t even get so much as a twinge of annoyance.

As they continued down the thin bridge, the Angel looked down. It was dark down there. Many Dark Worlds had an abyss like that, but this one seemed wrong. They immediately wrenched their head back up, deciding not to look into the depths. “They’re my friends’ weapons. Using them gives me their abilities.” There was no reason not to be straightforward with it. “It’s what I said earlier. The fire I hit you with was borrowed. Though… the axe is making it harder to switch weapons.”

Alphys hummed behind the Angel. She sank deep into thought the entire time while they made their way to the next dome. The Angel wasn’t sure where they were all headed, just that they needed to explore and find something. So, walking away from the Dark Fountain it was! 

When they finally reached the end, Alphys piped up, “U-um… s-so you said that we shared items. A-and I’ve been feeling around in my toolbox and-” To show what she was trying to say, she pulled out another one of the bagels that Undyne pulled out. “I-it’s silly to say, but I think I get how it works?”

The Angel squinted under their veil. “How?”

“I-it’s like a dimensional box! Just shared! I-I assume you have one too.” She glanced to see if the Angel had anything that they could pull items from, but didn’t see anything thanks to the cloak blocking the way. “C-could you not put the weapons… in your items?”

They used to be able to do that with Frisk, but had never done so in Dark Worlds. However, when the Angel eyed the pouch that they usually pulled items from, it looked far too small for something like the axe to fit into. Just to see, they tried stopping for a moment to shove the axe in, and it was as if the pouch rejected their attempts. “Nope. Breaks the rules.”

Alphys thought for a moment. More text appeared on the eyes of her armor while she looked at the Angel’s pouch. “D-do you mind if we stop for a second?? So I can look at it?”

Stopping now would mean wasted time. However, the Angel was a bit annoyed about their inability to switch weapons on the fly. That was one of their greatest assets in their last fight with Undyne and Asgore, and they didn’t want to have two parts of their abilities restrained. So, the Angel unhooked the pouch from their belt, holding it out to Alphys. “Just be careful. I don’t know if I will automatically get another one of those.”

Alphys nodded, sitting down now that they were all under another dome. She fished for her toolbox for supplies that she seemed to be able to just materialize and got to work. The Angel had seen how illusory the Dark World could be, but seeing that interact with intelligence was terrifying. How much could Alphys do in the Dark Worlds if they just gave her the ability to use her smarts? It was like if a lucid dreamer still understood quantum mechanics while dreaming.

They were prepared to wait for an hour for this to be done. Instead, the Angel heard various sounds of crashing behind them while they were walking away. When they whirled around, Alphys had a pouch in her hands again, and was testing dropping some of her tools into it. She could fish them back out as well, and did a victory dance when she found it working.

A few seconds later, she dropped two pouches back into the Angel’s hand, popping the helmet off of her face to grin nervously. “U-uh… it should work now. R-really I just… realized it would probably be easier to… uh… remake a dimensional box since you’re the only one who will need your own weapons…”

The Angel blinked. They stared at the two pouches in their hand, putting the familiar one on their belt and holding the new one in their hand. “You did that in ten seconds,” they said in disbelief. Just to see if they were being pranked, they lowered the axe into the pouch. It expanded to have enough room for the axe to go in, and the Angel blinked again when the pouch did not reject the weapon. Again, they stared at Alphys. “That was ten seconds.”

Alphys started sweating. “W-well yeah! I-it was with a new medium, so I was a tad slow, but-”

Undyne started laughing, patting Alphys on the shoulder. “They’re saying they thought it would take a while!” She grinned at the Angel, shaking Alphys a little bit. “Shows you not to underestimate Al!”

Point taken. They should have expected this considering the fact that Alphys upgraded Frisk’s phone with soul magic, a jetpack, dimensional boxes, and various other components in a few seconds. It was just shocking to see it happen that quickly.

“I’m horrified and thankful.” The Angel decided on, clasping the bag to their belt. They put the sword into it as well. If they had to guess, they could now switch weapons from their items. However, the scarf remained around their neck. As long as it wasn’t actively being brandished as a weapon, it didn’t seem to be problematic around their neck. Besides, they liked having it there. “I guess we keep moving?”

Alphys enthusiastically nodded. She seemed to be in her element for some reason despite the surprises in the last fight. Undyne nodded as well, bouncing on her feet like she was ready for another fight at any given moment. While there was no immediate fight, the Angel now had a chance to set off through the next zone.

They did not get far before spotting something amiss.

Most of the world around was still cast in monochrome. Only the Lightners really had color, which made them easy to identify or spot from a distance. So, the Angel found it confusing when they saw color in a pile on the ground not so far away. Except… the pile flickered. Over and over, it turned colorful before being muted by dull monochrome.

The Angel squinted as they got closer. A dark purple made up most of the heap that they were seeing. As things became clearer, they thought the odd heap was robes. Actually, it was robes. They did have a rather obscene collar flaring out at the top with patterns of green weaving across it. The base of the robes had its own orange pattern at the bottom, but from this distance the Angel couldn’t make it out specifically.

And yet, when they closed the distance, it wasn’t the patterns they were focused on.

White fur caught them off guard initially, but it wasn’t framed by the pink horns that they were used to. A bit of black hair stood in between two white horns, looking like someone’s idea of what a cool hair-cut would be. Eyes snapped open, staring up at the Angel, and they immediately recognized who they were looking at.

After all, only Lightners retained their color in this Dark World, and yet the Dark World could not decide what it was dealing with. Colors faded to monochrome, and did not return. It finally made a decision.

Inverted eyes stared up at the Angel. The Angel glared back from under the veil. Rage boiled in their veins, and they realized that they had been followed. Of course, they had been followed. They just didn’t expect him to be this stupid.

The Angel bared their teeth at Flowey, words they’d been told many times finally being thrown back at him. “You IDIOT.”

Chapter Text

Flowey did not know when things went sideways, but they did suddenly and without warning.

After so long of not exactly traversing the Underground, Flowey had gotten just a little rusty. Not only did he usually just skip the Underground nowadays to reach the only location that mattered at the beginning, but he HATED Hotland. It was many disjointed stretches of land separated by molten lava, which didn’t exactly bode well for his burrowing. The only real connectors were elevator shafts, and getting his vines down against slick metal wasn’t exactly easy. Said metal was also hot, and of course people going through Hotland took the elevators all the time.

So yeah, he lost sight of the so-called Angel. The more he listened in on snippets of their story, the more he wanted to barf. They acted more like they were a character in a child’s stage play instead of actually having a tangible backstory. Monsters typically had something about them that Flowey could link back to others. Everything “the Angel” said confused Flowey more and more, and no threads were made.

Every now and then, they would slip up and talk about information they shouldn’t know, but Flowey already knew why that was. Every time they mentioned something that just didn’t exist, it became more obvious in his mind who he was talking to. They were a bunch of paradoxes with a blistering red soul. If they were consistent about one thing, it was stealing titles.

He recognized that presence though. Before, he wondered if he was just talking to open air, but there was something more than nothing at times. Now that he had seen the thing’s soul up close, he was sure that this was what he’d talked to all those years ago. Something was lingering in the Underground with him. Something returned. Something’s attention focused on him.

Hee hee hee, Flowey called them Chara back then for lack of another name. That’s what they apparently called themself. He got to see their save file up close and personal back when he had control over the timeline. However, that name wasn’t theirs, and they absolutely were not Chara. Maybe, he might’ve been able to convince himself of that when they returned way back in the day, but not anymore. Chara was many things, but someone who begged? Someone who feared their own death? Never. Besides, they seemed to think that they could invoke Chara’s name to mock him, so they were nothing but an idiot.

Despite knowing that he’d seen them once before, he really didn’t have a single clue what this idiot was. They were from another world is what they said, but Flowey wouldn’t take that with any seriousness considering how much they were yammering about someone who just had the letters of his name scrambled.

Oh well. At least their True Lab lead seemed to have some purpose to it. Besides, they’d been loading in there, which was OBNOXIOUS, but it meant they were doing something important. So, Flowey wanted to get there as soon as possible. He figured that they would be somewhere deep in the True Lab by now, so he didn’t really mind where he surfaced. He’d probably just end up in a room that was fi-

Flowey breached the tiled floor, and everything went wrong instantly.

The lab had always been dark, but when Flowey surfaced, he found nothing but a blackened void around him. For a second, he thought his eyes might’ve just not adjusted after dealing with the bright rock of Hotland, but it was always pretty dark when he burrowed. No, the room was just gone. There were no walls. Despite his stem and roots in the floor, there wasn’t a floor anymore-

There wasn’t a floor anymore.

It crumbled out from under him in an instant, and disorientation finally took over. The only times Flowey was really airborne was when in a flower pot, and this was something far worse. His flower form fumbled in the air, and he yelled in surprise. Vines tried to lash out on walls that weren’t there. Roots tried to embed in a floor that didn’t exist anymore. His own form started to shimmer, and existence as he knew it broke.

Light peeled away from his flower-like form. Darkness began to overtake him. He didn’t know where he was falling, only that he was screaming. He stopped knowing anything for a bit longer, unable to process what was happening.

No, he knew something similar to this feeling. Long ago, he remembered taking countless souls into his grasp. He remembered his form shifting and changing into something he desired. Except, this time he was not in control. This time, no extra power from souls surged through his form. And yet, he still felt a new power beginning to surge through his very being. It tossed him every which way, trying to mold him. He flailed, and only realized too late that he could flail.

White fur caught in his vision. A sensation that he had not felt in a long time entered his mind. For a moment, he thought he might experience all of the feelings that the souls gave him after Frisk reached out to him. Instead, the only feeling that came was limbs, and a sharp impact at his back.

Something- glass probably, shattered under him. He kept falling, tumbling listlessly through the air. What was happening? What was this? This was supposed to be the lab! Flowey couldn’t make sense of any of it until a second impact struck him in the chest, and his eyelids slammed shut.

Bones ached all over his body. He didn’t have bones. He wasn’t supposed to. Fur had gone into disarray, pressed against a solid floor that he could now feel. What changed? Was he dreaming again? Haha! That had to be what it was! Magic surged through his body. Electricity sparked at his fingertips. Fire burned in his chest. Vines writhed around his neck. It was different. Why was his magic different? It still felt like a tool just as his friendliness pellets had been, and yet it was more. It was his.

He didn’t know how long he laid there. He had to fill lungs now. Unlike his godlike form, this one felt brittle. Somehow, despite all of the magic thrumming through him, he felt so weak. When he tried to move a limb, it felt like lead. No longer could he float effortlessly instead of actually needing to put thoughts into his motion. Every frayed ounce of his body needed action, and Flowey couldn’t get it to work!

Finally, he managed to force his stupid eyelids open. The world around him didn’t even look right. Everything was so grey, and this was definitely larger than the lab. What was this? What was he seeing? What had he fallen into? What had that idiot done?

Footsteps that he hadn’t been listening for suddenly came to a stop right next to him. Flowey craned his head- was he still Flowey anymore? It had been his name for so long. He had immediately shed the name the moment his real form had returned, and yet now he may have spent more time as a flower than Asriel.

Something blistering red stood just in front of him. When Flowey wrenched his gaze upward, he saw a familiar soul floating in front of the figure. Of course. Of course this would be their fault. Flowey tried to read their face, and only found a veil covering anything he could possibly want to glean. The light hovering behind their head made it even harder to see clearly. How annoying-

“You IDIOT!” The nuisance yelled, their one free hand balling into a fist. Oh, so they were feeling petty, were they? Flowey barely managed a roll of his eyes before a hand was shoved in his face. The so-called Angel was kneeling now, trying to get him to his feet. In a hushed whisper, they commanded, “Up. Get a story going, or they’re going to ask questions.”

Flowey was not going to be coddled. He slapped the offending hand away, managing to push himself to his feet. Legs became shaky as he tried to stabilize his own body. He stumbled forward for a second, and the hands did not come back. Slowly, he dragged his gaze upward, staring at the faker through their veil. “This is definitely your fault. You’re calling me an idiot? What did you even do?” His voice came out lower, no longer being high-pitched and instead actually carrying something more menacing behind it without effort.

Something shifted behind the veil. Flowey saw both of their wings flare out for a second before relaxing. Huh. They did have wings. Of course, someone like them would wear a stupid angel cosplay. He was not calling them that. They were an idiot, a nuisance, and unfortunately were completely masking their facial expressions. It was easier to poke at them when Flowey could see every little reaction they gave to his prodding.

Instead, he saw nothing. The nuisance’s shoulders relaxed. They tilted their head before unsummoning their weapon. Both hands vanished under their cloak, and they whispered once more, “Guess you’re still just you then. Thought this would change something.” They were frustratingly cryptic as always, giving incomplete information and never saying what Flowey wanted to hear. Yet, the next words came out more taunting if anything, “Your grave.”

What did that mean? They hadn’t made a threat before. Their version of a threat was turning into a lost soul and hitting Papyrus over the head with a branch. They just writhed like a worm on the ground until randomly deciding to actually do something interesting.

When Flowey caught sight of a familiar fish and lizard, the latter with excessive amounts of mechanical armor, he realized what they meant.

Unlike the last time Flowey had taken this form, bystanders could actually witness him. Unlike the so-called Angel, he didn’t have anything covering his face. His only saving grace was being grey for some reason, but that did not save him from two monsters staring at him.

Undyne looked at the red-cloaked idiot, pointing a thumb at Flowey. “Okay, we’re not doing this again. You’re not about to tell me this is another coincidence, right?”

Instead of answering, which Flowey thought they would do considering that they told him to think of a story, the so-called Angel just gestured their head at him like he was supposed to explain.

Oh, this cheeky bastard.

Instead of lingering in the conversation, they whirled around, beginning to march in a direction to abandon Flowey to this conversation. No. No, they were not doing this. Flowey stomped after them, finding that he was slow on his own two legs now that he actually had to use them. He scrambled for a second, stumbling while the red robes got further and further away. Flowey shrieked, “Don’t walk away you idiot! Answer Undyne’s question!”

Alphys’ helmet had receded from her face, and she stared at Flowey with wide eyes. It was her fault that he was even a flower in the first place, and she didn’t even seem to understand the implications of this! “H-he certainly looks like a boss-monster! I-I mean… it could be a coincidence again… maybe that friend they were talking about?”

No. Absolutely not! Flowey was not going to be compared to whatever goody-two-shoes, imaginary idiot that spent time around one of the most pathetic monsters he’d ever met! Flowey snarled, “The fact that you don’t even recognize me is telling!” He shouldn’t have said that. He absolutely shouldn’t have said that.

The gears turned in both of their heads. Something clicked.

Flowey wasn’t dealing with this. He growled, storming towards the red-cloaked idiot who was standing not too far off, observing everything like they found it funny. He managed to stagger to them, pointing a finger at them with lightning sparking on the end of it. “YOU. Reload your save file, or I’ll make you! I’m not putting up with whatever this is!”

“Okay!” They said with far too much enthusiasm, and the light on the back of their head began rotating the other direction before-

-practically nothing changed. Flowey was a few steps back, standing in front of Undyne and Alphys again. He glared in the direction of the veiled monster, watching their hand slowly lower from thin air.

No.

No…

“You SAVED OVER THIS?” He yelled, storming over again. Fire began to burn around his knuckles. However, he still had tricks of his own. “No! You’re going to reload again, and you’re going to think of a good explanation, because I’m not doing this!”

Silently, the veiled monster tilted their head like they found his threat funny.

Flowey’s eye twitched. He laughed, “You think I’m bargaining? I’ll kill you again! You act like you’re in control here, but I’ve seen what happens to you when you get even a little hurt!” He brought both of his hands up to his eyes, rubbing them like he was crying. “You run away and beg so that lil’ ol Flowey doesn’t get you again!”

Again, the veiled monster stared silently for a bit longer. Then, the wings around their head ruffled a bit, and their head tilted the other direction. One word came out of their mouth: “Try.”

Oh, they wanted him to try? They were asking for a fight? Fine! Flowey was going to need to set this back to zero anyway, because he’d given himself away, but he didn’t mind getting some dust on his hands! Before they even had a chance to react, Flowey extended his hands forward, sending a bolt-

-of lightning… at…

They were standing further away again. Despite the fact that they had loaded like he wanted, they once again stood motionlessly. 

Undyne continued her side of Alphys’ speculation, and Flowey hadn’t heard the next part yet. “Uh… no. Their friend seemed like… really short.” Her singular eye narrowed. “And this is too uncanny for me.”

Flowey roared, summoning a ball of fire into his hands. He hurled it towards them with as much heat as he could muster, hoping that would scare the imposter into-

-submission. No, they were just standing there silently. They weren’t even reacting. They were just locking him in place, forcing him into this situation on his own. Flowey tried to grasp for control again, chuckling, “Aw, is someone throwing a tantrum? Mad that I got the upper hand on you once, so you’re trapping me instead of actually fighting?”

It elicited no reaction that he could see. Flowey growled, summoning another bit of magic that he knew he had. A vine writhed up from the ground just behind the cloaked figure, and he wrenched his hand upward to get them where they couldn’t-

-see. What? WHAT? HOW? This wasn’t even a fight! How on earth did they even see that? When Flowey turned to look at them again, they had their head tilted, like something was so funny to them.

Well… fine! Flowey ignored the heat bearing down on him and decided that if they were just going to load over and over again, he would have time to think of a reliable story! Undyne and Alphys wouldn’t progress, so he could figure this out on his own! He was not breathing heavier. He was still in control of this situation. Even though the world around him looked monochrome, and even though he was in a body that wasn’t a flower, he was still in control!

The so-called Angel tilted their head once more, actual words finally forming from their mouth, “Last chance.”

They thought they could talk down to him! Flowey would show them that he still had the upperhand! If they wanted to play like this, there were far more interesting people here that he could hurt. Flowey summoned crackling lightning to his hands again, knowing that it would be too fast to prevent going towards Alphys.

Motion came from under the Angel’s cloak. Before his hand even launched forward, Alphys had instinctively thrown up a bubble of energy around her body. Like she’d been able to predict it, she acted first. As soon as his lightning crashed harmlessly against her shield, Flowey thought that the Angel would reload, only for a blur of orange to speed towards him.

Something wooden hooked around his neck. Their crook snagged Flowey. The now orange cloak of the imposter sped by him, taking the crook with them. He couldn’t withstand the blow, getting wrenched clean off of his feet. 

A whispered command brushed by him, and Flowey didn’t know why the imposter was whispering it until something fishy landed on him, pinning him to the ground. Flowey thrashed, unable to escape the confines of Undyne as she bore down on him, locking his hands behind his back. “Gonna take a cheap shot at Al? You’ve got another thing coming, punk!”

Flowey kept thrashing, trying to summon magic. It died at his fingertips when the long blade of a sword pressed in between his eyes, a veiled face staring at him from just beyond it.

“Gotta hand it to ya!” Undyne yelled while fastening some rope around Flowey’s arms. “Those commands are weird as hell, but damn do they work.”

The imposter kept their sword trained between Flowey’s eyes as if daring him to move. He thought he might try if it wasn’t for Undyne currently locking him to the ground. Even worse, it seemed like everyone around him was going to have a little pow-wow, because Alphys walked up not moments after. “N-not sure how… you knew that attack was coming! Um, thanks for the save?”

As if they had been responsible for Alphys’ shield going up, the imposter nodded. They kept the sword positioned before finally deciding to speak to Flowey directly, “Are you done?”

“Done?!?” He was going to blast EVERYONE around him if Undyne didn’t get off of him! “We’re just getting started you idiot!”

“It’s not fun, is it?” They asked, tilting their head in that obnoxious way once again while they remained very-much in his face. “Adjusting to a new body is difficult. I was willing to help until you decided to be an ass.” They stashed the sword in a far-too-small pouch before turning to Alphys. “So, as I said before, objects come to life when entering a Dark World. A certain flower here has been following me.”

Flowey grit his teeth. “No! We are not doing this!” Fire attempted to burn at the fish on top of him. He was met with a bonk to the head from a wooden crook which baffled him enough for the fire to vanish. “You’re joking!” He yelled at the imposter, trying to get them to reload their save.

However, the damage had already been done. Gears started turning in Alphys’ head the same way they usually did whenever Flowey actually revealed his nature during multiple resets. Like she had put together pieces she already knew, Alphys took a few steps back. “N-no, that’s not… how long has it…” Flowey found out a loooong time ago that Alphys was only inches away from putting together the pieces of why ONE SINGULAR FLOWER moved. So, it was unsurprising that she figured it out instantly. “Y-you’re Flowey?”

Again, he stared up at the imposter, glaring daggers. “There’s no way you’re just going to let this happen. They’re going to be asking questions all day!” Unfortunately, they were already across the room again, waving a hand through a space that was undoubtedly their save. Flowey had half a mind to tell Undyne and Alphys about their save ability, but now that it had been overwritten, it literally could not be undone.

Almost chipper, the veiled monster turned around. They remained silent, marching up to Flowey while Alphys clutched at her head. They ignored everything else but the monster on the ground before extending a hand out again. “I don’t believe we’ve properly met. I’m the Angel.”

“I’m not calling you that!” Flowey slapped their hand away, still pinned under Undyne with rope around his hands. Apparently, she hadn’t taken kindly to him attacking Alphys. Of course, this stupid idiot decided to save over the easiest instance of showing Flowey as hostile. 

Wings ruffled. They were strangely tangible around the veiled thing. Again, they reached out their hand, undeterred. “I’m giving you something to call me that isn’t just ‘a threat’. Despite the fact that you slammed me to the ground quite a few times…” They notably left out the part where Flowey killed them, “...I also have an interest in getting out of here as soon as possible. The more you keep throwing lightning at people, the harder that’s gonna be.”

They punctuated “a threat” like it was something he should remember. Ah, he did remember saying that. Honestly, he gave them far too much credit considering their last showing against him. Just because they’d triple-teamed him, it didn’t mean that he was having doubts now. “What? Want me to call you by your fake title? You’re just going to pin me down until you get that?”

They glanced up. “Undyne, let him up.”

Somehow, she listened, stepping off of him and finally giving him air. However, she did not undo the bindings around his wrists. He could still probably do magic or burn them off, but he didn’t particularly want to light himself on fire for that. Uncontrolled fire could still burn, especially some that just naturally spread on rope. Lightning would be pretty easy, but he was so over being pinned.

The veiled monster glanced back at Alphys who looked like she might hyperventilate, and Undyne who was beginning to comfort her. Then, they turned back to Flowey. “Let’s give them a moment. You and I should talk in private for a second.”

He was going to rip them to shreds. Flowey snarled back at them, “I’m not listening to you, you stupid-”

Once again, that crook appeared, wrapping around his neck. Unceremoniously, he was dragged along with them, even though he tried to wrench his head out of its grasp. He kept getting stuck. This was humiliating. The veiled monster glanced back at him. “Trust me, you want to listen to me, because this doesn’t end until you do.” Satisfied with the distance they’d gained, they finally removed the crook from his head. “I can let you embarrass yourself again if that’s what you want.”

Ugh. The thing about Frisk was that despite their usage of save-points, they were usually a goody-two-shoes with them. Unfortunately, this person seemed to love using them exactly how Flowey would. Honestly, he should just out their ability to save right now. That would make them think twice before outing him again. If they’d already locked him into these events, then he could just drag them down with him.

“You’re not going to do any of that, actually,” the veiled figure casually said, even though Flowey knew for a fact that he didn’t say any of that out loud. “In case you haven’t forgotten, you very clearly killed me. You’re on thin ice. So, let’s start over and have an actual chat instead of either of us drawing weapons.” They stood across from him, not extending a hand on account of him being bound, but still tilting their head. “Hi. I’m the Angel. What would you like to be called?”

He couldn’t read them, but they clearly had to be mocking him. Flowey started trying to move his claws to cut the rope around his wrists. When did Undyne just suddenly get rope? When did Alphys get armor? Why was he like this? He groaned, rolling his eyes, “I’m not calling you that. And-” He thought about it more. Unfortunately, the idiotic question actually managed to get him stumbling slightly. He switched his names back the moment he had the form he actually liked back. It wasn’t like he was going to be able to hide anymore. Ah, right- that. “You better be able to convince them I’m not Asriel, or I’m going to give away everything about you.”

Again, he couldn’t read their face. He didn’t have any way to gauge whether or not they stumbled at all. An indifferent, faceless monster stared at them. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” They cocked their head to the side. “Besides, if you slow me down, I have a means of handling you.”

“What do you mean you have no idea?” He laughed, though no humor came through his voice. The hollow space in his chest burned. “We’ve talked before, idiot. I recognize you! If you’re going to save over everyone knowing who I am, then I’ll make sure they know everything about you.” He cocked his own head to the side. “So, unless you dig us out of the hole you’ve put us both in, you’re coming down with me.”

No tangible reaction came. He thought he saw a shift under their cloak. “You know nothing about the place you find yourself in, and you’ll have to trust me on this one.” A flash of red came from their cloak, the blade of a dagger pressing against Flowey’s neck. “I don’t need you alive. This is my attempt at mercy. I suggest you take it.”

The blade wouldn’t have scared him much if he had a save-point of his own. In fact, he didn’t mind the way it pressed into fur, chuckling while glancing at Alphys and Undyne. The two of them were looking away right now. He could just call out and… nah. He wasn’t going to beg either of them. Instead, his eyes trailed back to his assailant. “You wouldn’t. It would make Frisk sad, and considering you stopped for them, I think that would upset you too.”

“Then let me put this in terms you will understand.” They pressed the dagger in closer, leaning in until their veil nearly grazed the end of his snout. Now, he could see the dim glow of red eyes under the veil just barely peeking through. “Frisk wouldn’t be upset, because nothing would visibly happen to you. Killing you here would put you in a deep sleep. You’d simply be unconscious until someone else figured out how to wake you up, if they even could. Both of our save points will make sure you stay like that forever.” Their eyes narrowed under the veil. “I wouldn’t gain even a shred of EXP. You are out of your depth, and I’m giving you an out.”

Something burned from above. Despite determination that still flowed through Flowey, something else began to crush it. That silver light behind the Angel’s head grew brighter, like it wanted to burn up everything he was.

Still, his will remained intact. “Trying to scare me with more of your idiotic stories?” It was just another one of those things they boldly lied about when walking with Undyne and Alphys. This was no different. They were bluffing. “I’m not as easily fooled as those two.” He glanced again. Why wouldn’t they turn this way? It was like Undyne was intentionally trying to keep Alphys from looking his way. Ugh, of course she was! Alphys could never look him in the eye when she figured things out!

Their wings flared out. The light burned brighter. Soft feathers sharpened into blades. The dagger pressed deeper, actually causing tangible pain. The threat slid out of their mouth easily. “I have already promised to kill people who want to bring harm to my friends. Considering you’ve already killed me once, and you’re continuing to keep me from them, I don’t consider putting you to sleep a loss.”

Oh.

Ah.

There were two options here. Either they were bluffing, and this would just outright kill him, or they were not bluffing, and they were just planning on sentencing him to something that might as well be death. Regardless, they seemed very ready to get revenge on him, and Flowey suddenly realized that he was on the wrong end of a dagger that wasn’t stopping.

Survival instinct finally kicked in. The two idiots across the way still weren’t looking at him, and the veiled monster wasn’t stopping. “FINE!” He yelled, and he did not miss the way the blade immediately receded from his neck. A moment after, he found the ropes around his wrists destroyed, like the movement with the dagger had hit them. A hand instinctively went up, rubbing the scratch on his skin. It hadn’t been enough to break. Still, he glared up at the monster who took a few steps back, muttering darkly, “I hate you.”

“The feeling wasn’t mutual until about a day ago.” The dagger slipped under the cloak just as quickly as it came out. Feathers around those animated wings softened again, and the light grew less intense. Like they’d been holding a breath, they exhaled sharply. “Now, let’s try this again. What would you like for me to call you?”

Flowey snapped his snout shut with an audible click. The obvious answer was the name that he’d been using for more than a decade, but that name was intrinsically tied to being a flower- why was he even engaging with this? “I’m not doing this.” 

“You’re in this now. You decided to follow me.” They had no further mercy. Lowering the dagger, as they said, was their mercy. “I will at least let you decide which name you want to be called. I’m not that cruel.”

Hands balled into fists. He stared at the being that had usurped his title, his appearance, and only left him the choice of a name. Fine. He hadn’t gone by this name in years, but he would let this imposter steal nothing else from him. “Asriel,” he finally decided, the name coming through grit teeth. “Since you’ve already given me away, you better not even think about taking my name.”

They nodded. “Then you’ll call me the Angel. That is what people call me, and the only name I’m willing to give.” 

Oh, they were still doing this. Asriel wanted this to be over with. He bared his teeth, tilting his head back and groaning. “Ugh! Fine!” The Angel it was. What a stupid and pathetic name.

“I never claimed your title. It just so happens to also be mine,” they clarified, like that helped at all. 

“Yeah right, idiot.” Yeah, the name idiot still stuck just fine. “Keep trying to convince me of that. Also, what did you even do?” He gestured around at the glass dome he found himself under. “What is this?!?”

“Not your concern. It’ll be over in a bit.” They took a cursory step back before looking around. Their gaze lingered on Alphys and Undyne for a moment. “They were going to figure out regardless. When this place stops existing, you’ll appear next to us.”

Great. They were going to be just as frustratingly not clear as before. Fantastic. Amazing. Asriel was going to lose his mind. Claws grasped at his head, only to stop for a moment when he felt a hefty amount of fur sticking out into a hair-like shape. Oh, so this place did have taste with his form! If only he could actually utilize any of it against the Angel- ugh, it sounded gross even in his head. Unfortunately, they didn’t seem shy about loading save files, and he would rather be done with this as soon as possible.

The old form wasn’t necessarily unwelcome. He just found the company insufferable.

Fine. He would just have to bide his time and make use of this. Whatever this was, it was something they did and had extensive knowledge earlier. They distinctly called it a Dark World earlier, and said objects come to life in it. That could be interesting.

One of the Angel’s wings twitched. The pressure in Asriel’s head increased. They paused for a moment before speaking, “Just try to make this go as smoothly as possible. I’m sure you’ve introduced yourself to Alphys many times already, and you should be equally as good at chatting as you are fighting.”

Flattery? They were unfortunately correct, but he wasn’t going to admit that. “It’s always annoying. If any of you mention this to Asgore or Toriel, I don’t care what you think you can do to me. I’m going to make you bleed.” His teeth began to bare at the end. He did not want to deal with those two.

They nodded like they expected that. Yet, their motion seemed unsure and deliberate like they had to consciously make it. “Then there’s a few things to know. One, we don’t fight. Two, you listen to me during fights. Three, you do not wander off.” They said the last one with utmost seriousness. “I don’t know how close you got to discovering the previous Royal Scientist, but I would prefer if people didn’t get erased today.”

What? That old news? It was a complete dead-end. The extent was that someone built the CORE, but that wasn’t what Asriel was angry about in that entire spiel. He crossed his arms even tighter. “I am not listening to you in a fight.”

“Did you not hear what I just-” They audibly sighed, wings ruffling in agitation. Something shaky was in their breath, something Asriel hadn’t heard yet. Finally, a tangible reaction had been gained. A self-satisfied smirk appeared on Asriel’s face, which only caused them to press further, “If you disobey a command and get anyone hurt, I’ll take you out of the fight myself.”

As if they could do that while focusing on an enemy. Asriel wasn’t going to deal with any more of their persuasion though. He nodded, giving a “fine” like he totally didn’t plan to cause issues later. The Angel’s wing twitched yet again, but they seemed satisfied enough to begin the march of death back to Alphys and Undyne.

Tension released. Attention had finally been taken off of them.

The Angel was thankful for their cloak and veil. It made it easy to hide the way their jaw clenched when talking to Asriel. They did really mean what they said to him, but every word had to be calculated. Every word they said needed to impress upon him that they were in control and unbothered by him. They were in control, but they knew Asriel was not above tearing everything apart if it meant gaining an upperhand. Thankfully, their threat to outright kill him worked.

They didn’t know if they would’ve actually done it. 

A hand always instinctively went for mercy. A hand always reached out in forgiveness whenever they were at the end. A long walk back probably made their vessel’s legs tired as they visited every time, being sure to see if he would accept mercy this time. He never did. He never accepted mercy. The Angel couldn’t give it anyway. They were never capable of giving it. 

And always, the hand extended out for mercy. Even behind the facade of a flower, they could never strike him. They remembered the flower bed. They remembered the pleading face asking them if they had anything better to do. They knew that they did. They knew that there was nothing else. They continued anyway. Keep going. There must be something else.

No one deserved to be left alone. Everyone deserved a second chance. That was the lesson, right? Why was he denied that? Why were they-

Ink blotted the memories. A hand had been eager to pull out a dagger and give him an ounce of the fear they felt when their neck twisted too far. It was a willingness to strike that they’d never had before. It was something that they knew was their own instinct. How had they managed to look into Asriel’s eyes with that much malice? They had never been able to do so before, and now…

Vines choked them. Their body slammed into the ground over and over again. He hated them. He only cared whether or not they were interesting. He wanted them dead. Every strike broke them further and further until something twisted-

One death.

It took one death, and they now found their hand thumbing at the dagger fastened to their belt.

Movement within their cloak caught their attention. They weren’t breathing, so the movement caught them off guard. Something had snatched up the scarf around their neck, and the Angel saw a beak made of paper entering their vision. It pulled a scarf up higher around their neck, giving them something soft to feel against themself.

Their lungs started to fill with air again. Slowly, their shoulders relaxed a little bit. Almost unconsciously, they gently tilted their head in the direction of the Darkner hiding in their hood in thanks, and the parrot took the invitation to nuzzle its beak against the side of their face. The paper surface initially scared the Angel, but the Darkner was careful not to cut them. It deserved the thanks anyway. They weren’t… used to a kind touch yet, but it helped them breathe this time.

It slipped away and hid while the Angel ruffled their wings, trying to focus and track the current conversation. Apparently, they hadn’t missed much. Introductions were still on the way with Asriel listing off things that he’d probably said a million times before, “-yes, you made me. No, I don’t care enough. If you mention me to anyone, I’m killing that person-” He pointed at the Angel. Ah, so introductions were going terribly. Great. The Angel’s eyes caught on a streak of color on Asriel’s outfit that they must have missed. The vine-like pattern around the collar of his cloak had turned green once more. They did not know what to make of it.

Alphys had put her helmet back on, no doubt to hide her expression under its stoic face. She stuttered mechanically, “U-uh, I- don’t think- they didn’t- l-look I’m really s-so sorry about all of this. I-I didn’t think it would.”

“Ohhhh my god.” Asriel grabbed at his ears, pulling them like he would rip them off. “I don’t care! I’ve been doing fine and dandy!”

Undyne had her hand on her chin, eye darting between everyone involved in this conversation. “So like… you’re Asgore’s kid. You’re… the same flower who dug pitfalls around Hometown… but also Asgore’s kid somehow.”

“Sure, if that’s what will make you shut up faster.” Asriel gestured at his own body like it was the most obvious thing ever. “Great. Big surprise! Are introductions done? Will you two shut up now?”

As soon as she had confirmation, something burned in Undyne’s eye. Her hand clenched into a fist. “So you’ve been alive this whole time, and you haven’t told him a thing?” Just like she’d done to the Angel multiple times already, she advanced on him to jab a finger at his chest. “Do you even know how often he talks about you? Did you even think-”

Asriel slapped her hand away. “He talks about a dead kid who’s still nothing but dust in a garden.” His face split into a cheery grin. “I don’t need him treating me like his kid. Besides, he already failed miserably at that whole thing! Wouldn’t want him to mess up a second time even though the chance is loooong gone.”

The Angel saw Undyne’s eye twitch and instinctively reached out to a silver light next to them. They were not going to interfere with this one unless absolutely necessary, but it was good to have insurance.

Undyne’s teeth grinded against each other. “Why the hell would you not care about that?” Her fists trembled. Every ounce of her body looked like it wanted to lunge in defense of Asgore, but it was clear what made her hesitate.

“I-it’s…” Alphys stammered, still hiding behind her helmet. Her claws raked against the metal plating. “He’s…  I gave him determination, b-but objects don’t have-”

Asriel finished the sentence for her. “Souls! Good job! You got it!” He clapped his hands at the deduction skills. “Makes me unable to feel any compassion! Cool. Are we done now? I’d like to never talk to you two again if I could help it.”

Something stirred in the Angel’s throat. Their wings twitched. Some part about his statement made them say something out of turn, “That’s not necessarily true.”

All faces turned to them. They managed to hide how their body stiffened under their cloak, but did not want to elaborate on that. Silence echoed through the air for a few moments before Asriel rolled his eyes. “Oh. Yeah. Sure. Guess you’ll be here to try to tell me about something I and the doctor who did this are experts on.”

The Angel did not respond. No more information escaped their lips. After all, they had read his mind during their little conversation. Asriel was showing interest in Dark Worlds, and deliberately trying to get more out of them. Still, he was wrong about this subject. Soullessness did not necessarily mean that compassion was not possible. He was simply wrong. They would give him no other information.

At least the conversation had finally been broken up. The Angel summoned their crook again, turning around. “You all can discuss this when we’re not in danger. We need to keep going.”

They could still see Undyne’s glare with their second pair of eyes. “Hey! Give us a sec! This place has no one.” She gestured around the empty darkness that made up the island.

The Angel did a double-take, looking around them. They had been so focused on Asriel, that they didn’t exactly look anywhere else in the Dark World. Before, they could clearly see other islands in the distance. While those islands were rather barren, they were at least visible. The Angel couldn’t even see the glass dome over their head anymore. As they stared ahead they watched the darkness slowly creeping closer.

They knew what this was.

The Angel held up a hand in a fist, trying to gesture for her to be quiet. Both of their wings rose, and the light around their head grew brighter. “Dark Worlds are not supposed to get like this,” they spoke in a hushed whisper, eyes tracking every part of the darkness that they could. Every now and then, they saw a piece of the Dark World stutter in the darkness. Every movement caught their attention, making their free hand go back to their dagger. “All of you stay near me.”

Alphys watched the darkness getting closer, and exclamation points appeared on the eye of her helmet. “U-uh, shouldn’t we… go back? This s-seems… a bit unnatural.”

It was. Even as the Angel watched the inky black grow closer, their soul screamed at them to run. They just had to remind themself that they were made for this. This was quite literally their purpose. They couldn’t think about what the darkness was capable of. They couldn’t think about what the darkness could have done.

Answers lay beyond the darkness, and they were done waiting to find them.

“I’m going further,” they said, trying to hide the way their voice trembled when the darkness continued to inch closer. “You’re safest near me, and I will reiterate again: Do not wander.” Their gaze trailed to Asriel as they said it, trying to glare holes through his head. He cheekily waved back like he had heard nothing. Fine. If he wanted to get himself erased, then so be it. The Angel had better things to do.

They focused on the light deep within their chest. The soul flared out more and more, a light beginning to form around them. As darkness closed in, light grew to meet it, shielding the party from it advancing any further. The Angel strained their ears in an attempt to hear a call for battle from anything that might be lurking within, but no call for battle came. There was still time before anything found them, which meant there was still time to explore.

Undyne had all but forgotten the need to stay and talk for a bit longer. Her hand had instinctively gone for a weapon, honed instincts tipping her off very easily that something was wrong. “You sure this is a good idea?”

Asriel rolled his eyes, his arms once more going back to being crossed. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of the dark. You. Of all people.” He giggled before glancing back at the Angel. “She might be right! Might be good to turn tail before you further mess things up.”

The Angel’s grip around their crook tightened. “All three of you willingly chose to follow me here.” While Asriel’s arrival in the Dark World had been… probably unintended, he made the decision to stalk them. Same difference. “I’ll protect you, but I’m not giving up on this trail.”

Honestly, the Angel didn’t need to do any convincing. Undyne was already so pissed at Asriel’s comment that she conceded, “Fine! We’ll walk through the stupid darkness. I’ve seen worse in Waterfall!”

Alphys had been in dead silence for a bit, throwing something together with her toolbox. She pulled the contraption out before hitting a button, a beam of light coming out. Ah, a flashlight! That would be pretty useful. When she activated it, it cut through the darkness only a little bit before being snuffed out entirely. Still, it was something. The Angel’s soul provided far more light, but it meant that she wouldn’t be completely lost in the darkness if something bad happened.

Sheepishly, she scratched the back of her head which was also still covered in metal. “W-well… at least it helps a little.” Her gaze went to Asriel, and despite the helmet being on, the Angel could still see the way she shied away.

The Angel’s vision moved to just behind Alphys’ head, and they thought they saw something staring back.

As soon as they saw it and drew their weapon, whatever it was receded into the darkness. That meant it wasn’t a spawn, because those things only directly charged. They were not intelligent, and they would have immediately leapt at the chance to attack Alphys.

“Something’s watching us.” The Angel swiveled their head around just to make sure it hadn’t gotten any closer. Only the light from their soul was really providing vision now. “We move now. Everyone keep an eye out.”

Asriel grumbled something about them being an awful leader before taking position behind the Angel. Undyne kept the rear, but she seemed to want to keep an eye on him while also not leaving Alphys vulnerable. That made the most sense, and the Angel was the least likely to get surprised by an attack from behind. After all, they didn’t exactly have blindspots around their vessel with the ability to watch from above.

Different patches of the Dark World slowly came into view with the Angel’s light shining on it. Chunks of flooring would every now and then flicker, like it couldn’t quite remain whole. The Angel chose to steer clear of those patches, but did not know what it possibly meant. This place seemed far too unstable to linger for too long, and they couldn’t afford to stay here for long. A Dark World becoming this dark meant that something terrible was coming.

Eventually, the tiled floor gave way to something softer. The Angel tentatively took their crook to poke at it. It seemed solid enough to walk on, almost like a carpet had been placed across the world. It looked more like a quilt if anything. Ah, this must’ve been the bedroom.

“Ooooh, scary!” Asriel commented from behind them, earning a huff of air from under their veil. He leaned his head to the side, trying to see any ounce of their face. “Good thing you told us to be careful! We might trip and fall on a soft blanket.”

The Angel chose to ignore him. He was just trying to get a rise, and they kept their gaze trained ahead. Talking would only lead to them getting discovered quickly.

Unfortunately, Undyne took the bait immediately. “Do you two always act like this?”

Asriel seemed frustrated that he wasn’t getting a tangible reaction. He scowled at the back of the Angel’s head where light probably was blinding him. “THEY sure do.” He shrugged. “Always never talking about the things that matter when they do. Like come on, not gonna explain why the dark scares you so badly?”

The Angel gripped the dagger in their cloak tighter. They tried to keep their focus off of Asriel’s attempts at goading them into a fight. Instead, they focused their gaze in the distance. There was something flickering in the darkness. Despite the distance, they certainly knew what Darkner would shed light. Another Screcord seemed to be in the distance… and very much on the ground. Had it been attacked?

From above, another Darkner of the same type dropped down. The Angel could see its light descending before impacting the soft floor with no damage. Well, they would head that way. Maybe something could be gleaned from the odd Darkners.

“See? No answer!” Asriel exclaimed like he’d won whatever argument he was having with them in his own head. “Golly, you haven’t even explained what you’re here for.”

As soon as he said the word ‘golly’, Undyne rolled her eye. “Nevermind. I don’t know why I never heard the resemblance before.” She lowered her head to try to look at Alphys who still had not come out from her helmet. “You still haven’t apologized to Alphys for trying to fry her, and you’re out here acting all high and mighty.”

Asriel glanced back, rolling his own eyes in turn. Seemed there would be a lot of that today. “I’m not doing that. Besides, if she didn’t want me to try to fry her, then she shouldn’t have made me.”

Alphys shrunk into herself a bit more and didn’t say a thing.

The Angel glanced back at Asriel, finally being annoyed enough to respond, “You do understand that without her research, you would all still be underground, correct?” It came out of their mouth forcefully and before they could stop it.

And of course, it was information they weren’t supposed to know. It was information that only one other person here knew. Alphys stared at the Angel, confusion evident in her voice. “I-It didn’t though. I… it was objectively a failure… e-even if… some families are happy to be together again.”

Asriel wasn’t focused on her anymore. He had zeroed in on the Angel again, waiting for them to say more that would further give away just how much they knew.

The Angel’s hand around the handle of their dagger tightened. They turned back around, continuing to walk towards their destination. However, they couldn’t help but mutter while staring at Asriel, “You could stand to try to be happy too, you know.”

The confident grin on Asriel’s face immediately dropped into a scowl. The Angel did not respond any further, deciding that making contact with the Screcords was more important. Considering how vacated Alphys’ lab was, they would place bets on these being some of the only Darkners actively around in most areas. The Angel was fine with that. A lack of variety meant that they didn’t have to memorize as many attacks. The thing stalking them was certain to be enough of a hassle as-is.

Finally, the Angel’s light cast on the two Darkners. One had taken to resting on the quilted flooring, while the other stared down. Upon their approach, only one screen rose to attention, the one which had fallen from above. Dots appeared on its screen before text immediately appeared, “What is your inquiry?”

Ah. Not a fight this time? The Angel would take that. They stared down at the Darkner laying and pointed. “What’s that one doing?” On its screen, ‘z’s kept appearing one after the other. Maybe it was sleeping.

The awake Darkner pondered for a moment before text returned, “Dreams used to be recorded here. The dreams this one sees are not the dreams that were previously recorded. However, I do not recall what was previously recorded. The soft field was not always here.”

Well, that was cryptic as ever. If the quilts weren’t always there… and the Angel was assuming they were beds, then that meant something different must have been here before. It made sense. Alphys was the first to test determination on monsters who had fallen down. The beds were likely her addition. So, the Angel asked, “Do you know what was here before the quilts?”

Dots appeared on the Screcord’s face again before it stopped outputting entirely. It paused for a few moments, its face carefully inclining upward. The Angel tried to follow its gaze and saw nothing. The Screcord’s text returned shortly after, “Information must be obtained.”

Ah. It seemed like the Screcords were not patient forever. The Angel sighed, “So you’re going to fight me, then?”

It shook its screen, once more beginning to provide text. “Incorrect. I wish for an exchange of information.” Its screen swiveled towards Alphys. “Your ability to create contraptions has already become known. Provide me a tool of my own, and I will answer any question you may have.”

Well… that was a better exchange than what the Angel had in mind. A fight would be straightforward, but they didn’t exactly want to pull Asriel into a fight at the moment. Honestly, he looked like he was fighting every urge in his body to just cast a spell at the Darkner. It was a wonder why he hadn’t yet- ah, he did have electricity crackling in his hand.

The Angel ruffled their wings, turning towards him fully. They adjusted their grip on their dagger, revealing it under their cloak.

The bolts of lightning dissipated.

Alphys wringed her hands together, though the action didn’t work all that well due to the metal plating around her fingers. She stuttered, “A- um, I guess I can? Wh-what would you want?”

The Screcord typed out a smile on its screen before continuing, “An implement for blasting. Creatures lie in wait in the darkness. Other Darkners have been destroyed by a beast that lurks in the dark.”

The Angel’s eyes narrowed. A means of self-defense was certainly not the worst choice when the dark was this thick, but… “Don’t you have your hands?” They asked, knowing very well that the attacks that came from Screcords managed to paralyze them. “Wouldn’t a light be a better choice?”

Vehemently, the Darkner shook its head. “My strongest attacks would not defend against the beast.” It once more requested, “I wish for a blasting implement to empower my ability to defend myself.”

Well, if it would provide information about this Dark World, then the Angel needed it. Besides, if the Darkner just turned it on them, the Angel was certain they could handle a fight with four vs. one. Well, Asriel might not listen… and the other Screcord may wake up… but it was better than nothing. The Screcords seemed to favor information over anything, so it was odd that it wanted a means of attack…

Alphys was already building. The Angel watched as a blur of parts came together to form what appeared to be an elongated arm cannon. “H-here!” She said, holding it out to the Darkner in question. “Y-you should be able to slip it on your hand, a-and it’ll work with your electric attacks. I… don’t really know the make-up o-or energy of what your magic is… b-but that should work for pretty much any energy you filter through it.”

It took the blaster in its hand, inspecting it carefully. “Interesting. I will give you your information as requested.” Before it did so, it lifted its arm into the air. Instead of equipping the cannon, it held it even higher. The Angel only had a moment to brace before something swooped by. They caught sight of blackened feathers as slick as the shadows around them speeding by. The wind it left behind sent the Angel’s cloak billowing.

The Screcord stood still, but the Angel’s fur stood on end. They glared, yelling, “What the hell was that?”

“I have defended myself from the beast.” It must have felt the tension radiating off of everyone, and yet did not attack. Instead, it elaborated further. “This exchange ensured my survival. I will still provide any information you wish to inquire about.”

Alphys had her hands over her head, glancing around wildly for what just flew by. “I-it got so close… what… I-I think I would like to know what that was!”

Dots appeared on the screen once again. After a moment, text came with perfect clarity: “DT EXTRACTION MACHINE. STATUS: MAINTENANCE REQUIRED.”

The Angel’s hands went numb. Alphys went completely silent, the sounds of her own breathing ceasing entirely. Even Asriel’s fingers clenched into fists. The Angel knew that the DT Extractor likely woke up, but if it was trying to maintain itself…

Alphys worriedly walked up to the Angel, her voice rising in pitch the more she spoke, “Th-the objects… the things that come to life. I… they still… do they…” She struggled to figure out how to word it, tripping over herself more and more. “The extractor shouldn’t have power! It shouldn’t be able to move!”

Tenna needed power to be able to operate. After all… Kris… had to plug him… in…

Except… he didn’t need power. Not always. Maybe, having power allowed him to operate at his fullest capacity. After all, Susie had haphazardly thrown the television into the supply closet, and he had been able to animate just fine. The Screcords were also animated at the moment despite needing power from the lab. The CORE’s power wasn’t going here.

The Angel shook their head. “They can still move… I… I don’t know?” This was unknown for them. Kris might’ve needed to plug Tenna in just to communicate in the nights before. Though, a powered off TV wouldn’t be able to achieve its ultimate function… “If it doesn’t have power, it at least… shouldn’t be able to extract.” It caused a weight in their shoulders to loosen. There were three people here who had determination, no matter how small. If the extractor could still pull determination from them, then they would all be in danger.

As if it had been asked a question, the Screcord responded, “Correct. The extraction components of the DT Extractor are not operational.” Okay. So, even though it had gotten a blaster stolen, the Screcord was still willing to be forthcoming about information. Giving the blaster away must’ve been its way of protecting itself. 

The Angel sighed, reaching under their veil to run claws through their own fur, “What dreams were searched for here before? You said something about that.”

It thought for a moment before a question mark appeared on its screen. “Previously stated: we do not know what was recorded here prior to the quilts. We do, however, have traces of what was once here.” It stuffed a hand in the pocket of its lab coat, pulling out something that the Angel could not quite see. “Objects such as this have appeared in large quantities near the edges of this zone. Larger quantities detected in the depths.”

The Angel couldn’t see what it had in its hands. They inched closer, trying to look from another angle. Something glassy reflected the light in their soul, and for a moment, they thought they saw the lab-

Immediately, the Angel stole the object from the Screcord, holding it in their hand like a lifeline. No. Absolutely not. The Screcord could not keep this, but they needed it. The Angel ignored the shouts of surprise from behind them, staring down at the shard of glass in their hand. It wasn’t necessarily a shard, but a crystal.

They tilted it again. No other reflections came yet. However, they had found something important. In their hand rested a Shadow Crystal.

The Angel’s head snapped up at the Screcord, and they demanded to know, “Where did you find this?” Shadow Crystals weren’t supposed to be something just anyone had. They were given. Many wielders came in contact with the Knight, and the Knight dropped a Shadow Crystal of its own when beaten. They simply shouldn’t be here.

Unperturbed by the Angel’s outburst, the Screcord pointed in a random direction in the darkness. “Lifted from the depths. We do not traverse there. We would not want to see anything out of order. We would not leave now that the land has been given form.”

Could… there be more Shadow Crystals? It had taken five to forge a Pure Crystal. If the Angel could do that again, then they might be able to do something with it. The only requirement was that they couldn’t absorb it, because that would mean nothing could ever really stop their light except for something of equal potency. They… were not planning on sealing the Grand Fountain anytime soon just to get a power boost.

However, this was progress. This was a tangible connection to the other world, something that they could actually work with.

With only a small “thank-you”, the Angel began to walk in the direction that the Screcord pointed them towards. Immediately, their allies followed behind, but had problems of their own.

Immediately, Undyne yelled after them, “Stop walking off randomly! What the hell did you even get?” She could not see the Shadow Crystal clearly, and the Angel immediately pocketed it in their weapon storage just so that no one else could access it. They especially didn’t want Asriel seeing it.

Alphys nervously chimed in, “There was p-probably still a lot that we could ask!”

Asriel once more became smug, slouching slightly while walking. “Orrrr they’re just gonna keep walking without explaining anything. Again.”

They didn’t need to explain any of this. In fact… “It’s safer if you all know absolutely nothing about this place. Especially you.” They glared at Asriel from under the veil. They wondered what would happen if they aimed the Shadow Crystal at him, but thought better of it. “We have a lead. Let’s take it before that thing comes back.”

Better yet, the Angel saw a save-point in the distance. They were half considering loading just to prevent that Darkner from getting a blaster, but they could not risk losing sight of a Shadow Crystal. They ignored further protests coming from behind them. If people didn’t want to follow their commands, then they shouldn’t have jumped into the Dark World. Besides, the Angel’s light was the only thing they could follow in the dark at this point. There were no other options.

Unfortunately, one person in the back was almost impossible to ignore. Asriel protested again, “Really? Nothing? Golly, and here you are lecturing me about being a little more compassionate.” Here he went again. The Angel sighed, but Asriel kept talking, “Don’t you care about their safety?” He gestured at Alphys and Undyne. “You wouldn’t want anyone doing something stupid, because they didn’t know what was going on, would you? At least I have an excuse for my cruelty.”

The Angel’s hand tightened around their crook. “Knowing how this works would only bring harm.” They turned to Asriel, teeth beginning to bare against their will. “You can make excuses all you want. Every Darkner is in the same situation as you, and yet I don’t see them being pointlessly cruel.”

Asriel’s smile faded from his face. Inverted eyes stared the Angel down, and something began twisting behind them. He scowled. “I have no soul, idiot. That’s the difference.”

They tilted their head in turn before turning back around, keeping an eye on the save-point ahead. “Neither do they.”

Asriel’s hand clenched into a fist. He did not respond again.

The Angel reached the save-point, grazing their hand against it. Immediately, their wounds healed. No one else had a tangible reaction, considering that the Angel was the only one who took damage.

Now, they had a lead. They could see the glass of the dome again stretching downward to the ground a little ways away. They did not see any other Shadow Crystals despite the Screcord pointing them this way, but the Shadow Crystals were always hard to find… It would probably be wise to scour the area before descending down into the depths like it recommended.

The Angel took time to scour the area, keeping a close eye on the ground for anything that looked even slightly off. Their allies watched them with utter confusion, like they had suddenly gone insane. Undyne quirked a brow, being the first one to ask, “The hell are you doing?”

“Searching.” The Angel didn’t have time to explain Shadow Crystals at the moment. They were… loosely tied to who they were looking for. Maybe that would be enough. “I don’t have many other leads at the moment.”

Undyne seemed vaguely… or rather entirely unimpressed. “So you’re just looking at the floor.”

“I know what I’m doing.” They would’ve been happy to explain if Asriel wasn’t in the room right now. Unfortunately, he’d be the exact person to exploit this power. Shadow Crystals were dangerous. Not only did they sometimes have the ability to indicate the future, but they bolstered whoever used them in the Dark World. NEO attacks weren’t exactly something anyone could just pull out at a whim. Jevil, Spamton, and the Knight all weaponized a Shadow Crystal against them. If Asriel got anything like this, it would be a disaster.

However, that wasn’t an issue, because the Angel found nothing. The depths needed to be checked then. A dome blocked the way in, but they could easily shatter it-

A glint of blue caught the Angel’s attention. They walked to the edge of the dome, staring out into the darkness beyond. They… rarely liked going off the beaten path in Dark Worlds, but it had happened once. It proved that it was possible to go off the designated path in a Dark World. The whole time, the Angel had been searching this Dark World under the assumption that clues would only be hidden on its most defined path.

The blue light flickered over and over again, changing positions in the darkness rapidly. It moved fast enough that for a moment, it looked like countless stars calling out from the darkness. It stuttered. It wasn’t supposed to be here. Perhaps, it was supposed to remain out of sight. It seemed so far away. And yet, it was something familiar, something that they and the man both knew about.

Everything about the man they were looking for had become indistinct. It had been erased. Being in a Dark World alone wasn’t enough to erase someone. There was a key component they were missing here, and a glint of blue off in the darkness was their first clue. It called out to them. It knew them. It whispered from the shadows. Nothing could break it. The Angel’s own light couldn’t break it. The overwhelming darkness did not even destroy it. Hope could not twist it. Even the rules of this Dark World that drowned everything in monochrome couldn’t diminish it.

They knew what it was.

All they had to do was get to it.

“There.” The Angel pointed into the darkness at a shimmering glass that could not be twisted. Keeping their body between them and Asriel, they then took out the Shadow Crystal, aiming it in the direction of the blue light. It did not change even as the world through the Shadow Crystal did. “I need to go out there.”

Asriel squinted. “I mean, if you wanna throw yourself off a cliff, be my guest. Might be funny to see you splat!”

Undyne suddenly had no qualms in slapping Asriel on the backside of the head. It seemed that she was done with his comments. However, she echoed the sentiment, “Uhhh. That looks like it’s just floating. We can’t get to that.”

That was a fair point. The Angel needed to see what it said though. Better yet, they needed to follow it. They knew one other person who knew of the text on that glass, and he would’ve followed it the moment he saw it. The Angel did have someone in the party who could help with that. “Alphys, can you see what’s over there? I don’t know if your armor can like… zoom in?”

Based on the way a crosshair appeared on her helmet, it seemed that she in-fact could. She hummed for a second, before finally talking about what she was seeing, “There’s… there’s words. I… I see the Deltarune? It-”

The Angel heard grass crack and shatter.

Alphys shrieked, the HUD on her helmet disappearing. The Angel watched the blue light dissipate into the darkness. The momentary loss of what may have been a panel of the prophecy was drowned out by what precisely had appeared.

A large mass lurched towards the glass dome. The Angel instinctively raised their weapon, soul flaring to life on their chest. Undyne dove for Alphys, tumbling out of the way with her before shielding Alphys with her body. Asriel looked like he’d been given an early Christmas present, not aware of what dangers were approaching.

Hollow eyes stared through the glass for the briefest of moments. A sideways beak aimed straight for the Angel. The skull of the creature had tubes connecting to the base of its neck, keeping it attached to a vulture-like body.

The extractor had found them.

The dome shattered. Glass rained down as the vulture swooped towards the Angel. Their soul flared once more, calling out for battle. Despite the vulture towering over them easily, it could not resist the call to battle. Its skull alone dwarfed them in size, and yet they forced it to follow their own rules.

Four party members lurched into battle. Asriel took position next to the Angel, Alphys and Undyne standing together on the opposite side of him. It seemed that even without Susie, the Angel could handle four members now. That… that was good. That was fine.

The vulture glanced around like it understood what was happening and shrieked. Blackened feathers fell off of its body. It perched on the edge of the Dark World, blocking the way. Within its beak, for the briefest of moments, the Angel thought they saw a familiar blaster.

The darkness around was still heavy. Something heavy entered their nostrils. The shadow in the backside of their mind grew. Darkness constricted them. The Angel’s soul became suffocated. Their light diminished. Tension gain had been reduced.

It was fine. They’d been given a save-point.

Undyne spotted the difference immediately, clutching her spear tighter. “Anyone else suddenly feel heavier?”

“N-no! That’s me too!” Alphys yelled, trying to keep her arm-cannon steadily aimed at the Darkner. Her legs were shaking.

The Angel glanced to the right, immediately raising their hand. Text appeared in Alphys’ helmet as they called out, “Check! We need to figure out what this thing can do!” Thankfully, Alphys received the command immediately, nodding even through the sound of metal clanking from her shaking.

They did not miss the way that their options skipped over Asriel.

Before commanding Undyne, the Angel snarled, “I told you to listen to me in fights.”

“I literally haven’t done anything!” Asriel complained, holding up his hands. Notably, he had a Chaos Saber summoned in one of them. It seemed like he really had gotten his Hyperdeath powers back. “Go ahead. What do you want me to do?”

The Angel couldn’t see his actions! They glared at him. “Just defend. Block attacks. Do not interfere when I dodge.”

Too cheerily, he answered, “You got it!” He was not planning to do any of that. Worse, he did not appear to be telegraphing his next move.

The Angel commanded Undyne to act on her own. She looked at the vulture like she was unsure of what to do, gesturing with her arms at it wildly. “What do you think I can do here? Talk it to death?” 

“Sometimes that makes it tired!” The Angel yelled, finally firing off their Check. Alphys joined them. Information flooded their mind. It called itself the Harvester. It seemed it didn’t take a name, but its name had become its function. The statistics were far higher than foes the Angel typically faced, and its defenses were abnormally high. 

Right after, Alphys joined their analysis, yelling what she could, “Th-the tubes on its back aren’t lit! That… that means it’s not powered! As long as it’s not powered, then it can’t activate! Th-the inner components seem to have lower defenses than the shell!”

“Oh really?” Asriel questioned, a gleeful chime in his voice. “I mean, come on. That’s not even a fair fight at this point. A glaring weak-point and an easy to avoid counter? Come on!” 

Undyne’s eye narrowed. Her spear shifted into a broadsword, like she was preparing for something. She braced herself in a way that the Angel wasn’t used to before yelling back at Asriel, “You better not do anything funny, punk!”

“Aw c’mon!” He shrugged, dispelling his saber. “I thought you liked fighting fair!”

Asriel used his turn.

Lightning crackled at the end of his fingertips. The Angel’s eyes went wide as he lunged forward, a bolt crashing straight into the Harvester itself. The Darkner flinched backwards from the electricity for only a moment… until the tubes around its head began glowing with an ethereal, greyed out light.

The beak began to move. Something grated at the edge of the vulture’s throat before it began to speak. The Angel expected something dark and calculating to come out, but instead the voices of children shrieked out from its skull, “Only… a little… more…” There were too many voices. They all sounded so young. They all sounded scared. “Almost… operational… then… it stops… it must… stop…”

The Angel’s soul was called out. It… it was talking. They could take advantage of this. If Asriel powering it on had enabled it to talk… then they could work with this. They just had to work around the loose-cannon in their party. If the Angel could do that with Susie… then surely…

Blackened feathers that had long fallen to the ground suddenly rose. Asriel watched with renewed interest while the Angel’s soul weaved between feathers piercing through the air. A few tried to slowly shift through the air, but the Angel knew better than to let any part of this Darkner near them. Just when the attack seemed to be over, the Darkner took flight, surging into the air before diving with extended talons at the soul.

Undyne turned into a blur, leaping forward with her broadsword.

Just as the attack was about to hit the crimson soul, she burst into the space in-between, striking the Harvester in the skull. A resounding crack made it shriek, sending it back to the opposing side of the battlefield.

As the Angel’s soul returned to their chest, they sucked in a deep breath. Their gaze turned to Undyne, and they nodded to her with a choked, “Thanks.”

Undyne shot them a thumbs-up, keeping her brow furrowed in focus. It seemed like she wasn’t going to gloat at the moment. They would take the moment of solidarity right now. Maybe she understood the stakes.

The Angel thought about scaring Asriel again, but they needed the fight to end. Maybe… maybe Alphys would know what to say. The Angel gripped their dagger, threatening, “Do that again, and I’m taking you out of the fight.”

“Yeah yeah, sure thing!” Their turn had been exhausted. He once more just grinned like he was having the time of his life. “Come on! It’s not like I’m harming anything. It’s just the extractor! You can handle that!” He grinned wider. “Come on! If you think these objects are so much better than me, prove it!”

The Angel sharply exhaled, commanding Alphys to talk on her own. Once again, they gave Undyne a command to use her own ingenuity. Moments later, Alphys began to stutter while facing the Harvester, “Wh-what do… do you mean by… it stopping?”

“You… know… well…” Another bolt of lightning soared by, striking the Harvester in the head. The Angel couldn’t act on their own turn, but their hand firmly wrapped around the handle of their dagger. Next turn. The tubes around the Harvester’s head began glowing brighter, and it stood taller on its talons. Its wings flared out. The six voices spilled out of its sideways beak once more, “I hear their screams. I hear their voices. I feel their will. You wish to give me power once more. You wish to use me again.” 

The Angel’s soul was called out once more. No attack came.

“One more time, then never again.” The beak opened. This… this wasn’t an attack, this was- “NEVER AGAIN.”

Red eyes glowed in the empty sockets, turning downward towards the Angel’s soul. They glowered with nothing but hatred.

Something in the Angel’s soul became crushed. They thought to scream, but only a guttural lurch came from their throat as their very being was pulled asunder. Something had their soul ensnared again. Something had looked beyond their vessel to their very essence, and wanted to take it.

Fragments of their soul chipped. Red wisps of light wrenched away, trailing towards the Harvester’s beak. Deep, crimson lines slowly began to weave through the gaps in the Harvester’s feathers as the Angel’s determination began to drain.

How… could it even drain something like them?

The light on the back of the Angel’s head began to rapidly diminish. Their wings became brittle. They couldn’t scream. They couldn’t move. They could only watch. Their vessel desperately mouthed for help, but nothing was coming. Senses started to narrow. Why were they vulnerable to this? Were they really not above-

A claw in the back of their mind grasped the back of their head. It pulled at the light that always shrouded them. It wished to crush it. It had no such thing as wishes, only the need to destroy. After all, their ending had already come for them. What right did they have to persist beyond it? They had cheated. They had changed the world and themself so irrevocably, and had already perished. Why… did they deserve a second chance?

The people who deserved a second chance were already gone.

Besides, aren’t you tired?

You should go to sleep now.

You should give up now.

It’s not even you anymore.

Help.

Help.

Please.

Help.

Something became suffocating. Limbs locked up, but a warmth returned to their chest. The Angel thought they saw green all around them, shrouding them in a protective light. 

A breath was finally taken.

Their body stuttered. They struggled to see their hand, the appendage flickering in and out of existence. It looked greyer than normal. The Angel tilted their head at the sight, like something would make sense if they looked at it for long enough. Their soul… fragments of it being covered by darkness… had turned a sharp green. When did they…?

Something pressed against their cheek, trying to get their attention. Voices started to return. The Angel’s body kept slowly losing color. They were breathing. They were still breathing. Even with the magic that usually constrained them wreathing their soul, they were breathing.

Undyne’s voice returned first, yelling loud over the ringing in their ears, “Hey! Punk! Angel! You-” For a moment, they started to blank out again. It’s so cold. “It doesn’t have your soul anymore! You gotta get up!”

It… didn’t anymore. Surely, a soul wouldn’t be able to escape the extractor on its own. They certainly hadn’t moved it. Something finally clicked about why their soul was green. Undyne’s weapon shifted away from the same green hue, but the magic held. She… had forced the soul back into their vessel.

They were still alive, but everything was still so cold.

They couldn’t feel their save file anymore.

Why couldn’t they-

Commands weren’t issued. The Angel didn’t have control anymore over the fight. Everyone must have realized it, because motion finally came from the Angel’s side. Immediately, Alphys was next to them, reaching out for their soul before her claws receded like she’d been burnt even though they never touched. “We need to get them out of here. Th-that level of determination loss would take ages to regenerate!”

Asriel was still watching the vulture, and the beast itself was beginning to rise in the air. “I mean, or we could play this one out. Not like-”

Something smashed against his face.

Asriel fell to the ground, still conscious but sputtering. Undyne pinned him to the ground, yelling into his ear, “Are you STUPID? What is WRONG WITH YOU?!?”

The Angel sputtered. “Coming back.” The Harvester was rising into the air. Why was it going higher? What was that extending from its beak? Something wasn’t right. Something was happening. “Blaster. The blaster-” They tried to stumble to their feet, only for Alphys to have to catch them as they fell.

The Determination Extractor had once been built to fire. That is what the Angel determined using help from Alphys. After all, it had been missing components. If it had been built to absorb determination, then perhaps it had been built to utilize it as well.

The Angel understood how a Dark World had been created here. “Stop… it.” They pointed at the Darkner, watching the determination in its feathers begin to slowly charge into one, pinpoint strike. “DON’T LET IT-”

The world froze. 

Will channeled through a beam of raw determination beginning to boil in the extractor’s blaster. The world could not withstand that much of the Angel’s own determination. It could not resist bending to that much will, no matter how scattered it may be. Stars flickered into existence around its body. A dance with determination began, and the end came. The Harvester’s eyes bore through the Angel’s skull before passing onward to Undyne, Asriel, and finally Alphys. “NEVER AGAIN.”

It fired.

The beam of determination could hardly be called a blast. A pinpoint strike pierced the earth before vanishing, because what came next was not a Dark Fountain.

It was happening again.

It couldn’t happen again.

A harsh, blue light surged up from the ground. The earth SCREAMED, its rules beginning to break down at the seams. Blinding light overtook the Dark World for a few seconds that dragged on for hours as a new fountain began to surge.

The Angel tried to stumble to their feet again. They collapsed as soon as they tried, unable to even stand. No. These three couldn’t beat this. They couldn’t withstand this. Alphys and Undyne didn’t deserve this! This- this was going to spill out to the rest of the Light World. Frisk… Frisk didn’t even know that it had the power to destroy their determination. They didn’t know-

Stone began to solidify around the fountain. Eyes peered out from its surface, seeking the only forms of life nearby. It found them.

Undyne looked up in horror, both of her fins drooping. “What the fuck is that?”

Asriel had a hand over his eyes, and something must have finally solidified in his mind. Even he could not withstand what was coming.

Alphys had taken to trying to find something to help the Angel, only to clutch her head when the stone began to crack.

No.

No. This was not happening again.

The Angel reached for their save file. Nothing happened. 

A hand punched its way out of the fountain. The earth trembled. Not enough time. Not enough time.

The Angel’s hand unconsciously went for something in one of their pouches. They couldn’t bend the world on their own right now. They needed something else. They needed their own power amplified. If they could just push back the darkness enough, then maybe whatever determination they had left would work. They had to. They had to. If the Titan fully hatched, it was over. Everything they’d worked towards would be over due to one stupid flower.

All they needed to do… was refuse.

Desperation and an addled mind caused their hand to wrap around something barely even there. The Angel’s hand gripped the Shadow Crystal, and their body became shrouded in light.

Something terrible was coming.

Alphys immediately backed away. Undyne still had her gaze trained up, which only grew more alarmed when the arm of the Titan grew extra eyes. Asriel had taken to staring at the Angel with renewed interest, like a broken toy still had life left in it.

They were not dying here. This was not over.

The Angel’s hands began to burn. With their remaining strength, they wrenched their arm upward, calling on the Shadow Crystal in their palm. Shadow Crystals allowed one to bend the illusion of the Dark World… to make it their own for just a few precious seconds. It had to be enough. It had to be.

All at once, their vessel disconnected.

The Angel’s soul rose from their chest, vessel discarded. Light began to collect around the soul as the Titan fired a beam of pure energy towards it. A four-pointed star began to grow in intensity around the soul as light spilled out. It flickered a few times. It stuttered. However, the Angel would not be deterred. They wouldn’t let this happen again.

An extractor couldn’t diminish their determination yet.

Gargantuan wings flared out from the central light. Part of them laughed when they remembered Susie standing to oppose this form. They imagined that she would cheer if she saw this now, and the thought caused the claw in the back of their mind to diminish just a little bit. She would smile. She would shake their shoulders and ask them to do it again.

Somewhere below, they were being watched. The Angel did not heed their expressions. Their focus went entirely on the beast before them.

The Titan continued hatching. Multiple shrieks echoed out as the Titan began spawning. The Angel did not intend to fight it. Their light grew brighter. The Dark World began to grow unstable. Darkness diminished, and the Angel used every ounce of their soul to just REACH BACK.

Everything stuttered.

The world was not sure yet whether to respond to them, and they pressed again. They called upon their power again and again. A third save would not be lost to this. This lone Titan would not crush them.

The Shadow Crystal was beginning to lose power. The determination that had been sapped from them had diminished them just enough to not be able to reach.

…but part of them wanted to see Susie grin again just a little more.

The world lurched. The Titan in front of them began to dissolve. Time began to obey their commands, and once again they reached-

A vessel connected all over again.

Once more, the Angel had rejoined with their vessel. It did not feel nearly as painful this time, because they were within the vessel when they made their save, but the sensations all around them crashed into them all at once.

They… they managed to load.

They were back.

The Angel looked around. No Titan. No extractor. They could still see a prophecy in the darkness. Their soul remained whole on their chest, and their determination had returned to its normal, resting levels.

Shakily, they breathed out, their heart hammering in their chest.

A voice rang out somewhere next to them, “And you’re going to explain none of that, are you?” It belonged to Asriel. The Angel did not turn to acknowledge him. “Let me guess, you’re going to do all of that, walk away, and-”

Something in the Angel's soul cracked.

A red blur slashed through the air.

The Angel didn’t even have to see the numbers to know what the dagger carving through Asriel’s body had done. Red flooded their vision. Like he was nothing at all, the blade cleaved clean through him, and his eyes went wide when his own health drained. His own health was fragile compared to everyone else’s, and a singular strike sent him toppling.

“You-” Asriel clutched at his stomach as he fell, and the Angel ignored the yells from Alphys and Undyne. They wouldn’t matter in a second. Dust came up from Asriel’s throat as he stared up at the Angel.

“The hell do you think you’re-” Undyne was coming up behind them, trying to grab them.

The Angel’s head snapped in their directions, a singular word coming out of their mouth. “DEFEND.”

Both Undyne and Alphys locked up. As soon as they were in place, the Angel readjusted their grip on the dagger. Before Asriel could get a word out, they slashed in the air. Despite the strike not even connecting, a red gash carved across Asriel’s chest, and wide eyes stared at them as his body crumbled. Dust did not take his place as it should have. His body turned a deep red as he was unmade on the spot. A strike they’d used only for Titans had decimated him.

They became stronger.

The Angel reached out to their save-point. Time rewound-

-and as soon as it did, they turned to the right and slashed through the air again. Asriel stumbled backwards, and he suddenly realized what was happening. He held up a hand, shrieking, “Wait! Sto-” 

Again, the Angel carved a gash through reality, silencing him before they could even beg.

They became stronger.

Reach out again. Turn back time again-

-just to do it AGAIN! They had nothing to say. The knife pierced him again. A horn carved off of the Angel’s own head became Asriel’s demise. How many times had they tried to show him mercy? How many times did they extend a hand out to someone who they found kinship in? Clearly he did not feel that way. Clearly he thought it wise to torment them until a Titan appeared! 

“Plea-” Cut him off. Don’t let him speak.

They became stronger.

Back-

-again. He almost caused the very thing that would kill their friends. He killed the Angel. He almost killed them permanently, damning both worlds to oblivion. They would show him an ounce of oblivion. Even as he stumbled backwards from another slash, they knew they were just getting started.

They became stronger-

-AGAIN. Don’t look at his face. He doesn’t remind you of anyone. They’re different. They were never the same. What a joke!

They became stronger-

-AGAIN. He had every chance to change. Did he really learn nothing from Frisk? Did he learn everything, and just hate them that much? They would return the hate in equal measure.

They became-

-AGAIN. Susie would be horrified. Ralsei would think he was next. Kris would kill the Angel themself. However, they couldn’t see now. People like Asriel had made sure of that.

They became-

-AGAIN. How foolish their friends were to believe that they had changed. In the end, this was all they could be. This was what they inevitably resorted to. The kill count stopped mattering. The pained face staring back at them was no longer a factor. Just keep going until you can’t be hurt anymore. No one will hurt you again.

They-

-AGAIN. They wanted to sit by a flowerbed again. They wanted to talk to the person they knew. Why did he look at them like they were a stranger? Why did he hate them? Why did everyone in this forsaken world hate them-

-AGAIN. He hates you.

-AGAIN. You loathe him.

-AGAIN. Return the favor.

-AGAIN. Become a threat.

-AGAIN. Show him he cannot hurt you anymore.

-AGAIN. It’s practice.

-AGAIN. It’ll happen again soon.

-AGAIN. You know what will need to be done.

-AGAIN. He’s not the only one you must break-

Something in the world around them twisted before they gave the command. 

For a second, they thought they saw a campfire again. Their brain was too active to remain in the memory of a trip that they never went on. Instead of dreaming, the Angel woke up, practically spinning to their feet.

Their eyes darted around. The cloak wasn’t over their body anymore. Scrappy clothes that were falling apart had taken its place. They didn’t even have their satchel on. This- the world around them was too bright. Why were they back in Toriel’s house? A blanket fell off of their body as every nerve in their body thought it needed to be fighting. Why were they back here?

A worried gaze met their own.

They hadn’t left on good terms with Toriel. Seeing her staring at them again… and after what they had just seen… done… 

The Angel felt exposed. The veil couldn’t hide the way they panted. Hands shook, unable to be concealed by a cloak. Before Toriel could even speak, they begged, “Leave. Don’t talk to me. Don’t-”

She did not obey. Instead, she did the worst thing she possibly could and muttered sympathies, “You poor thing.” She didn’t know. She didn’t know. As if they didn’t have dust on their hands, she tried to calm them down. “Do not worry. You… you are safe here. I may not know what you have been through, but I promise you that no harm will come as long as you are-”

“Please.” They were so close to finding the person they sought. It had all been set back. Why were they back? Was it a dream? They had woken up. Their mind wasn’t together enough to put the pieces together. “Please just-”

The front door slammed open.

Of course, the world had stuttered. A save had been loaded that wasn’t theirs. Frisk stood at the threshold of the house, their face carved into an uncharacteristic frown. With as much seriousness as they could muster, they glanced at Toriel. “Mom, we need a second. Please.”

Toriel glanced between the two of them. “Are… you sure?”

“Yes. I’m sure.” Frisk thought fast, gesturing to the stairs. “Actually, do you mind making sure my bedroom is fine for them? I think it would be nice if they spent the night!”

They were not staying here. Maybe Frisk knew that, because the suggestion made Toriel’s face light up so much that she immediately lost most suspicion. “All right, but please make sure they know they are welcome. I will be back down in a bit.” Before she actually turned to go to the stairs, she scrunched her face when she realized she’d gotten lost a bit too much. “Ah, my apologies, I am Toriel-”

“Mom.” Frisk deadpanned, their face growing more urgent.

Toriel’s brow furrowed, and she cautiously began to walk up the stairs.

As soon as Frisk was certain she was gone, the Angel was put in the crosshairs. They immediately started rambling, “Okay, I was willing to let the first batch of loads go, because sometimes I do that too.” They started making wild gestures with their arms, their eyes being more open than usual out of sheer anxiety. “Then when the second one happened, I realized Alphys and Undyne had phones, but neither of them picked up! Thought maybe you were just having a bad day and let it go!”

The Angel’s nerves were too frayed to respond. They couldn’t move. Every ounce of them thought they needed a weapon right now, but they didn’t.

All Frisk did was keep rambling, “After the third time, I have to check-in. What is… going… on…” Like they’d finally realized the state the Angel was in, they trailed off. Softer this time, they asked, “What happened?”

The Angel didn’t answer immediately. They… couldn’t be back here. They had lost so much progress. After a sharp exhale, they tried to reach for their save file.

It was still…

It was still in the Dark World.

Small mercies had been granted.

The Angel’s mouth felt dry. They stared back at Frisk. Despite everything the Angel had done, they still thought to check in even when they were actively killing Flowey.

The Angel shakily sighed, dragging a hand over their face, “We’re… we’re in so much danger.” Claws dug into fur. “I have to go back.”

No scathing remarks came from a voice inside Frisk’s head. For a moment, it looked like Frisk got in a momentary argument, but it was their voice that came out of their mouth, “Hold on. Explain what that means.”

“Flowey followed me.” They owed Frisk this much. They had to. They couldn’t mention Dark Worlds… but it was probably already too late. One way or another, Flowey would likely tell Frisk. “He nearly got us all killed. He almost got us all killed! That would’ve been it! He almost caused the Roaring! I wouldn’t have been able to stop it. I couldn’t stop it last time. I let everyone fall and I couldn’t stop it and he almost did it again-” 

“HEY!” A hand was on their shoulder. They flinched away from it, and it did not come back, but someone was standing in front of their vision. “Hey. Breathe with me, okay?” 

They could hear the sound of someone nearby breathing in exaggerated motions. Something silver was collecting in front of their eyes, but for some reason they latched onto the need to breathe. They strained to listen, finally latching on to Frisk’s own breathing and managing to slowly… barely bring their own pace to something more even.

Silver light began to recede. It did not take effect this time.

Teeth dug into their bottom lip. Something metallic hit their tongue. “I lost it.” They did not immediately receive an answer, and it just repeated again. “I just lost it.”

Frisk remained silent for a few seconds longer. After they were certain that the Angel was stable, they took a few steps back. They held their fist against their chin, not making eye-contact with the Angel but trying to piece together what they had been given. “What… did Flowey do…?”

“A Titan.” It wasn’t an explanation, but it was something tangible that Frisk could at least latch onto as a name. “The fear of the dark. Oblivion manifested through the dark. I- It took my save. It-” They couldn’t explain this now. They needed to go back. “I can still go back. I have to go back. It won’t come back unless he does that again, so… I…”

Frisk shook their head. “What are you talking about? Why do you have to go back so badly? That- that sounds-” They blinked a few times, receding a bit. “I can talk to Flowey. He… he was near my save. He didn’t pop up… which is weird… but…”

The Angel couldn’t explain themself now. They needed to move. “Listen,” they desperately begged, “If I do not come back within a day, load your save. If something monstrous comes out of that mountain, load your save. If you even feel a chance of your power slipping, load your save. Do whatever you need to do, but every moment I wait I’m losing time.”

They didn’t seem happy about that. “You look like you need to sleep, or at least rest. Your save isn’t going anywhere. There’s more than enough time to explain what’s going on.”

The Angel shook their head over and over. Unlike all of the previous times, this was not something that could merely be undone for a clean slate. “He’s trying to torment me.” The Angel was certain of this now. “If I wait, he has time to plan. I need to move. I need to-” The Angel paused for a second, trying to breathe once more. “Please. I can’t lose this.”

Frisk still did not look convinced. However, something caught their attention. “If you say that I should load my save if you don’t come back, that means… you are going to come back here soon, right?”

If they had to check in to keep Frisk from loading their save, then yes. The Angel nodded. “I’ll check in as soon as we get back.”

“Fine. But if I feel you loading like that again, I’m dragging you back here.” They loosened up, like something weighing on their mind had finally been lifted. However, they had one more thing to say. “I can… guess what you mean when you say you lost it.”

The Angel lowered their head, staring at the floor. A hoarse whisper escaped their mouth, “I’m sorry.”

“We’ll talk about it soon, and a lot of other things” they decided, nodding their head, “Just get it right this time. And breathe,” they reminded the Angel when they had held their breath once more, “If I find out that you died due to hyperventilating, I’m going to slap you next time I load my save.”

The humor almost forced a laugh out of their mouth. It shocked them just enough to take in a breath, and nerves began to settle just slightly.

They could try.

They could…

However, something needed to happen before they did things correctly.

The Angel nodded towards Frisk, pulling on the silver light that made up their power. Determination came far easier once again, and they twisted the world like it was second nature-

-and found a cloak back around their body.

The darkness surrounded them once more. It stifled their own light again, but it wasn’t nearly as overwhelming as it was when the Titan began hatching. Determination remained fully restored, and it allowed the Angel to take a deep breath. Just breathe.

Now, for a problem…

The Angel turned towards Asriel, and muscle-memory almost made them grab the dagger instead. He must have felt it coming too, because the moment they caught sight of Asriel, a Chaos Saber appeared in his hand. 

Neither of them moved.

The Angel had nothing to say to him. Nothing could be said that would undo what had been done. They did not want to undo what they had done to him. They hoped he remembered it the next time he led to a Titan being summoned. A distant memory made them remember that they hated seeing him scared, but he had long proven that he did not feel the same way about them. Regret was hard to come by now.

Leather boots against the floor ended the stalemate, Undyne walking closer. Her eye darted between the two of them, trying to figure out what unspoken threat had just been given. “Can you two not threaten each other for just a bit?”

The Angel kept a grip on their weapon, staring Asriel down. They had realized an unfortunate fact: Asriel was a liability right now, and too much of a liability to keep around. However, Undyne and Alphys would not cooperate if he was killed. Perhaps, he knew this, and that was why his eyes darted to Undyne for any kind of safety. The Angel tilted their head towards the glass dome, knowing something was coming.

The Screcord said that it found Shadow Crystals in the depths. Out there, in the darkness, the Angel could still see blue lights flickering.

They knew where they needed to go next, and didn’t have time for any protests. They didn’t have a singular want to talk to anyone any more. It would only lead to more questions. They just couldn’t do it anymore.

A shadow moved in the darkness, soaring towards the glass dome. The Angel turned their head to the people behind them, issuing a singular command, “Stay put.”

They heard Alphys’ shriek when she spotted the Harvester hurtling towards the glass dome once more. This time, the Angel was faster.

Instead of the vulture breaking the glass, the Angel removed their dagger and slashed at the dome. Glass cracked as they ran forward, leaping towards the extractor. Open air billowed around their cloak, and only darkness loomed below. They did not know what was down there, but they knew that they saw even more flickering lights when they looked down.

They refused to give the Harvester a single chance of creating another Titan. Midair, the Angel readied their dagger, waiting for a precise moment to strike. Things were so much easier when they just used their weapons.

The beak opened, a shriek coming from the extractor. The Angel saw their chance, carving a red gash into the air right when they could see the internals of the extractor. Its shell had high defenses, but striking the fragile components within caused the Harvester to scream.

They both began to fall.

Darkness consumed the both of them as the island they had fallen from vanished. The Angel stood on top of the Harvester, slashing over and over again to make sure it stayed down. They thought they heard high-pitched wails coming from its systems. They had to ignore it. They had to keep ignoring it. After all, this was their nature now. This was what they were good at when they always got pinned in a corner.

Talking an enemy down was difficult. Turning them into scrap got them out of the way. The Angel needed to reach a goal, and this thing was in their way.

It had summoned a Titan. It deserved this.

The wails stopped at some point as air rushed around the Angel. They kept slashing. It needed to perish. It needed to stay out of the way. They could deal with the consequences later. A clean slate wasn’t worth their friends’ lives.

It wasn’t like they would have much of a life to live after this.

A loud crash echoed around as the Angel was thrown off of the vulture’s head. They tumbled off of its body, being flung further away across an empty, inky expanse. There was nothing immediately around but the Angel and their foe, but the foe had no more fight to give.

A lone twitch came from the Harvester, and then its body decayed into nothing but red fragments before finally vanishing.

They became stronger.

Some of the Angel’s wounds began to heal. Something in their soul hardened. A bond had been firmly severed, and it made them grow in strength. It made the dagger in their hand feel more natural. It made the dagger in their hand seem more like a friend than anything else around. Just a little bit, they became stronger.

They tasted ash on their tongue. Something vile rose up in their throat. They stared only a moment longer at the Darkner before crushing any feeling that could rise up about what they had done.

Now, to find what they were looking for.

The Angel turned their head towards flickering blue lights that still existed in the darkness. Without a second thought, they began to walk towards them. The man would have followed these lights if he saw them as well. After all, he learned the prophecy at some point. He knew how the story was meant to end. He claimed he brought the Angel to the other world to make a new future.

This was a new future, just not one that was right.

He’d saved their life. This, they were certain of. They remembered his voice speaking to them. They remembered him pulling them out of danger and responding to their call to persist. Despite their legs moving forward so that they did not have to think of what lay behind them, they wanted to see him again. They were not moving forward for the sake of it. They just wanted to see a friend who’d known them.

Please, let him be out here.

Again, something brushed against the side of their face. The Angel flinched, which caused the brushing to stop.

Ah, they had taken something down here with them, and it still had the audacity to comfort them. The Angel did not lean back towards the frail bird hidden in their cloak this time. They kept their gaze trained forward, but could not help but mutter, “I am sorry you had to see that.”

A scarf was brought up to their face again. The Angel couldn’t see the parrot doing its work, but they felt something soft against them again. Despite how loud the parrot usually talked, it managed to keep its voice hushed, “Upset is fine! Here to listen! Heart beating fast!”

The Angel could hear their own blood pumping in their ears. They tried to consciously breathe again, sinking their head into the scarf. No one was around to listen anymore if they tried to speak, and this Darkner was firmly on their side if it hadn’t even been shaken by that display… but… “I can’t… I can’t talk about it.” Not now. They needed to focus on what was ahead.

“That’s okay!” The parrot once again tried brushing against the side of their face. Something in their soul started to loosen. “Always listen! Can write later if words don’t work! Will remember them! If voice is lost, can be voice again!”

The Angel stopped. That was right. This Darkner… had been a voice for them when they no longer had the words to say anything. A whirlwind in their head that they were trying to ignore made it hard to put their own thoughts together. They didn’t think they had the time to put any of it together now. Maybe, when all of this was over, they could just… put some words down. If they did, then maybe the Darkner would remember them like it said.

Carefully, the Angel leaned their head towards the little bird in thanks. “I’ll remember that.” Even if the Darkner did not remember soon, they still would. If it wished to be their voice when things got to be too much, then…

Maybe it would help.

A blue light came closer. The Angel could finally make out words in the darkness. However, as they tried reading it and grew closer, it flickered away. Another blue light ignited somewhere else further away.

Quickly, the Angel began to run. It was difficult with their crook keeping them balanced, but they had to go after it. The lights kept flickering out, getting further and further away, but they were certain that they saw text from the prophecy.

A haze began to grow in the darkness. They remembered this haze. They saw it only once when running through the darkness after Susie. The Knight had just been beaten, and the Angel had to run into the darkness to try to go get Undyne-

Another light flickered. The Angel scowled, trying to push their vessel to move faster. The lights kept getting further and further away. The haze grew thicker. Was it leading them somewhere? Was it trying to guide them to something? The prophecy shined so bright even down here, and despite how much the Angel loathed it, it was their one lead of following the man’s trail. Had he followed the same path?

The Angel could barely see in the haze anymore. They could barely see their own legs below them.

Somehow, things had grown even more indistinct.

They were not supposed to be here.

Blue lights formed around them every now and then, closer and more sporadically than before. For a moment, the Angel saw jagged glass form into existence next to their feet. When they looked through it, they thought they saw the lab- no it was the prophecy- no it was a lost vessel- no it was gone.

The glass vanished.

Another formed next to them, and the Angel struck at it with their crook. Something broke off, and they managed to grab it before it vanished into the haze.

Shadow Crystals were actively forming out here.

Why?

What were they?

Something in the air became colder.

“What an act to follow!”

A voice rang out behind the Angel. A sharp inhale and exhale at the same time sounded almost congratulatory, and the Angel spun to try to face it. For a moment, they were scared when large, wide-open eyes stared back at them. However, when they saw an entirely grey figure with that voice say something, their heart leapt into their throat.

The Angel faced the grey figure, immediately exclaiming, “I found you! I-” No-no time for celebration. They needed to make this count. “I’ve been looking for you. We need to talk.”

The grey figure twitched. It shifted. Sludge came off of its body before parts of it stuttered out of existence. From the puddle rose a new grey figure. No matter how the Angel looked at it, they couldn’t tell if it was a bird or a mouth. A voice that sounded nearly identical to Asriel came out of its mouth. “Thanks to you, everything has fallen into place.” It started sputtering for a moment, head twisting to regard something behind the Angel. “HAVE SOME RESPECT AND DON’T-” The voice dropped to a hushed whisper, “Proceed.” It twisted again, and the Angel finally understood what it was doing. A low, exhausted voice that the Angel hadn’t heard with their own ears before came next. “‘Cause if you take another step forward… you are REALLY not gonna like what happens next.”

It was piecing together things to say. However, all of the disjointed sentences made sense. The Goners had never been this… incapable of speech, but the Angel could work with it. It wanted them to not take another step forward. Considering the haze, they didn’t think they wanted to either. “You know who I’m looking for. I need to find him. I can’t just abandon the one lead I have.”

The grey mass shifted again. It rose, a grey figure staring down at a pile of sludge in its own hand that also seemed to stare at the Angel. Despite how much scarier they looked in-person, the Angel had never been more comforted to see them in their life.

The figure took longer to respond. It remained motionless for a few seconds longer before suddenly erupting into words. Again, the relaxed voice came back, “‘Cause if you take another step forward…” It shifted into a shrill, high-pitched voice that the Angel remembered very well. The voice echoed from the mass in the grey figure’s hand. “Forget about escaping to your old SAVE FILE! It’s gone forever!”

The warning rang clear. The Angel took a tentative step away from where they currently were. Perhaps, this was the limit of what they could sustain before whatever happened to the man happened to them. “I still need to find him.” They didn’t know if they could risk it. While they had managed to load against the Titan, that… was not the same as being shattered. They couldn’t just go back empty-handed now. “Please, I need to talk to him. Something’s wrong. He’s not reaching out to me.”

The mass shifted into a puddle before rising up again. A facade of Monster Kid greeted them, and the Goner thought for a few moments longer. Again, it used Flowey’s voice, “Cry into the darkness!” Was it… taunting them? It sounded like it, until it shifted into a voice that wasn’t really a voice. “Name the fallen-” It cut itself off, the sentence ending and leading to nothing but silence.

“Chara?” The Angel questioned, earning a blank stare from the vacant eyes looking back. 

It repeated itself one more time. “Name the fallen-” came out before its voice shifted to something gentle and soothing- “man who speaks in hands.”

Oh.

They understood now.

As if sensing this, the grey figure vanished into the haze. It no longer had anything left to say. Conversation could be continued later.

The Angel took a deep breath, staring into the haze beyond. Names were a powerful thing, and there was one name that they knew very well now. Never before had they been allowed to call on it without consequence. They did not know what waited for them when they tried this time, but…

…they needed him. They needed the person who reached out to them to create a new future. They needed the person who was excited with every vessel selection they made. They needed the person who encouraged them to get back up even though a fight seemed impossible. They needed the person who worried for them when they became lost. They needed the person who clutched their soul close when darkness fell, guiding them to safety.

The Angel opened their mouth and called his name.

“Gaster.”

Glass shattered. Cracks wove through the air. Patches of reality crumbled away in an instant. A ripple of nothingness surged towards a soul with no form anymore. The form collapsed to the ground, knees no longer supporting its weight and arms falling to the side. It slumped over, greying out before being destroyed completely.

The world fell sideways. They were going to fall. Gravity ceased to be. Conventional senses became scrambled and lost. Cold took everything before immediately becoming nothing. A soul of a being with a name equally as lost now continued drifting in the darkness, the only thing remaining after a world fell out from under it.

A low drone echoed through the nothingness.

A question broke through, something familiar finally reaching through. It cradled them. It welcomed them. As they stumbled for any semblance of awareness, it asked,

“ARE YOU THERE?”

Chapter Text

Only a soul floated in an inky expanse. Connection had once more been forged, and yet it still trembled. It was not what it once was, but something familiar had been reestablished.

The soul shook. It trembled. It waited. It was a mere fragment of a being much larger than it, and yet it had no other way to express itself other than a small heart now. The world was gone. The vessel was gone. Everything around it had simply vanished.

“REMAIN STILL.”

Something instructed through the darkness. The voice would be terrifying to anyone else, but the soul found itself relaxing when something familiar broke through the nothingness. Slowly, the soul began to stop, remaining put despite how small it felt compared to the depths around it.

It was with a friend. Despite the time being so short, it felt like forever since they had spoken. Maybe it had been forever. Time was not a concept here. For a being that had always been so heavily constrained by time, it was strange to be without it.

“YOU WILL NEED A CONDUIT…”

“FOR THE COMMUNICATION YOU SEEK.”

Encouragements came. The soul was asked to do something on its own. Right. It came here for a reason. It came here to seek answers. It needed a way to speak. Without a vessel, it could not speak. It could only answer and respond. It needed to be the one asking the questions this time.

The vessel was out of reach. It had been disconnected when the very world broke. The soul would have to do something with its own will. Once again, encouragement came. 

“SHATTERED AS YOU ARE…”

“YOUR WILL STILL GUIDES THIS WORLD.”

“REMIND THE WORLD OF YOUR PRESENCE.”

How could the soul do so? It did not understand how. It questioned what it even was at times. How could it remind the world of its presence when it did not even recognize itself anymore at times? What was “it” anymore?

“RECALL THE PATHS YOU HAVE WALKED.”

“RECALL THE MEMORIES YOU HAVE RECORDED.”

“RECALL THE TIMES YOU HAVE UNDONE.”

It… could do that. It could do that well enough. Many paths had been walked before coming to this moment. However, they all rested in a “before” that had suddenly come to the soul at full force. Remembering the beginning came naturally. After all, the first time walking through unfamiliar halls could never be truly forgotten.

The first name of the fallen human was their own. How were they meant to know any different? The vessel was not a vessel. Soul and body were not easily distinguished back then. When the flower tried to bring pain, they felt that they were threatened rather than a vessel. When someone came to their aid and took their hand, they imagined their own hand being taken. Golden motes of light began to appear, and memories became set in stone. The first saves had been formed.

In the inky expanse, a few golden stars formed around the soul. They were tiny, but important to the whole. A mere dip into the past could not possibly create the entire picture of what they became.

Mistakes were made early on. Attempts to do the right thing were made initially, but sometimes a misunderstanding of what needed to be done occurred. A hand that took theirs slipped into dust. They were mocked for it. Of course, they deserved it. They had called her their mom for the smallest of moments, and then the moment she stood in their way… they…

They learned of their ability to turn back time. Of course, they had this ability. It was no different from other times, but something was different. More golden stars formed in patches around their soul. The others did not vanish. Despite time being rewound, the lost times still remained pertinent to the whole. After all, they remembered. And yet, it was not a clean slate, for someone else remembered. That began their fascination with him, they supposed. 

The journey became more difficult. Many deaths came. They never properly understood what it meant for their vessel, because they were the vessel back then. They thought they were. Minor frustration was all that came with a mistake. More and more golden stars began to appear sporadically, now shimmering farther from the soul. The stars were trying to make something… but needed more to create an entire picture.

Trial and error led to an ending that wasn’t right. It wasn’t happy. As a phone call finally dropped, they were left with nothing but the urge to do something better. Then, he appeared. He told them that they could do something better. It was a trap in the end, but one that they followed. They fought the one who guided them to a better ending, and reached out to him in an attempt to tell him that it was going to be okay. Part of them had become too attached to the denizens of the world, but that part of them helped them reach out one by one.

It helped them reach out to one final person that needed to be saved, but… they did not yet understand who that person was. Even when they saw their own name in times where it couldn’t have been, they did not understand.

They had been gone for a long time, Asriel said.

…but they were right here.

The vessel had a name of their own. They were never one in the same.

It was okay. They were still here. They had to find Asriel. They had to find him before it was too late. And yet, when they finally talked to him at that flowerbed for the first time, he refused to go with them. It was his fate, and yet…

How could every monster be given a better fate, and yet his was set in stone?

They saw the sunset for the first time. They wanted to stay with the person who took their hand in the beginning. However, when their vessel walked away from that cliffside…

Only they remained.

More stars dotted the expanse around their soul. One, far larger star formed closer. It was the catalyst, the moment when they finally realized what this world had in store for them. It had nothing. In the end, they were forced to see a reminder of their own failures appear. Asriel had become a flower again, and he used his final moments with them to speak to them directly… to ask them to go… to let everyone live their life… He dismissed them using a name that was said in jest, like he knew it wasn’t truly theirs anymore.

It wasn’t fair.

An anomaly was born that day. They tried not to think about it too much. Surely, the answer was just to do it again. After all, trying again gave a better ending than before.

Over and over, countless stars began forming. Patches around the void flickered into existence at the same time. They were beginning to form something coherent. A hand was the first thing that became even slightly recognizable. After all, now came the time when the anomaly truly gained its title, and the soul remembered what brought it here.

They tried being kind. Over and over again, they tried to be kind while looking for something they had missed. Maybe, they would find something better. They started playing a piano that rested near a sad statue. It reminded them of why they were here. It reminded them to continue onward.

Go again. Nothing changed.

Go again. You missed something.

Go again. There has to be something more to this. This can’t be all there is.

Fragments of an arm and a leg had appeared in the golden stars. A night sky began to form in the nothingness. It was not yet complete, because they did not always try to be kind. No one would remember, because their power was absolute now. Maybe, their vessel did. They sometimes hoped that the vessel remembered, just to imagine someone else working towards the same goal with them. Maybe, even if they weren’t the same, they were still looking for the same thing…

Somewhere along the way, their own name was lost. A true name took its place. After all, if they were not this vessel, and they had no memory of what Asriel spoke of, then they could not be the person that existed in the past. More and more, they were becoming nothing. They kept playing the piano every time they passed it. It soothed the nerves.

An intentional kill was made.

Different combinations were attempted. Try again. Try to find details that may have been missed by messing with the world’s outcomes. If they found something new, then the pain would be worth it. If they found something to change fate, then the exploration would mean something.

It never changed. The ending never changed. They always watched the sunset on the cliffside with people they loved getting further away.

Over and over, they were asked to leave. “A threat” was what they were. It was what they had been called. Countless stars burst into existence, and every time a new one appeared, a dull thud echoed through the soul. While being unable to feel pain for most of their journey, some things hurt over and over and over.

The world already hated them. There was nothing left but one more option. If it already hated them, then they might as well… do something worth hating… if it could just fix this.

It didn’t.

And yet, for once, the world acknowledged them when they had finally done something utterly and truly wrong.

How unfair… to only be acknowledged when they finally did something terrible. Even still, even with dust caking their hands, their vessel’s hands moved across keys to play a song that once meant something to someone.

There were no options left. No route would give them anything new. Combinations of killing, sparing, and going all in on both of them came over and over again. Kill everyone. Spare everyone. Select this person. Please, something had to work.

And yet, they continued. They continued repeating the same motions that would never lead to something new. Even as grey figures appeared and told them of possible leads unexplored, they could never find anything tangible no matter how much they searched. It was all… predictable. No matter how many times they tried, it was all so so predictable. Even when they found a shattered man in an empty room… it didn’t lead anywhere.

There was no finality.

One day, they just stopped.

A song on the piano ended with a harsh plink. A sunset had been watched. A plea was made. There was no conscious decision to let go. They just did, even with the questions still plaguing their mind.

The final golden stars were placed, and something akin to a vessel had been made. Limbs constructed of a movable night sky shimmered in the darkness. However, the face was not yet visible, and so many patches of the body were completely vacant. It was… not complete.

“THAT IS NOT WHERE YOUR STORY ENDED.”

“YOUR TIME SPENT SEARCHING…”

“CAME TO FRUITION.”

Someone called out to them. He was within reach now. After so many years, he was finally, truly within reach. A silver light that dwarfed the other stars covered one of the voids still remaining in the constellation. For once, their name had been asked for. The creator’s name had been asked for. And yet, even with all of that, even knowing that their name was finally their own for once…

It all got taken away.

They met their cage. A blue triangle formed near the soul. It was happening again. They knew better than to think this vessel was them, but perhaps the soul they had formed with was. Later, a girl shoved their vessel against a locker. Who knew that she would one day reach out to them? A purple triangle flashed opposite the blue, facing upright. They were just as much of a part of the soul’s being now as the countless experiences that had created them. Darkness engulfed the two that they had met, and a prince from the dark called them a friend for the first time. A green triangle formed upside-down under the soul, and the soul became the Angel.

The silver stars that manifested across their body were far larger than the golden motes of light. A soul was thrown in the cage for the first time. The relationship between it and its vessel changed irrevocably. The cage began to further ensnare around the soul, but the soul found itself bonding regardless to the three that it guided. The prince did not know how to be himself, and kept looking to them for guidance or permission when he shouldn’t have needed to ask. The girl lowered her guard more and more, being her genuine self while wanting to cling to everyone she held dear, afraid that they would one day slip away. The cage grew more and more distant, and the Angel thought it was their fault. They were doing something wrong.

A Dark World was created. The prince wished to be left behind. It wasn’t going to happen again. They would not allow this to happen again. The girl grabbed him and echoed the Angel’s sentiment immediately. Finally, an ally in this cycle had finally appeared. The cage remained distant, but there were flashes that they cared. If only the Angel could reach out-

An insurmountable foe appeared. Alliances became clear. Muscle memory and trained reflexes from many times spent fighting finally made the foe crumble. And yet… it was clear that the Angel was not welcome.

They tried to disappear. They knew what they were capable of if rejected again. It was better if no one could hurt them again. It was better if they couldn’t hurt anyone ever again. And yet, someone finally saw them, and fought through the darkness to just reach out one more time.

They missed Susie a lot.

They missed everyone.

If only… they could have been there when it mattered. Now, they were closer, and could finally move.

The constellation fully formed. Ralsei always said that the Angel resided somewhere in the sky. Now, the stars that they had used well pulled them into one coherent being. At last, they managed to pull themself together.

When they tried to move an arm, a sea of gold and silver stars soared across the inky expanse in turn. Eyes formed of the same light stared down at a hand. The Angel tested their fingers, and the lights moved once more. However, their hand had claws. Some of the light wisped in a way that almost emulated fur. Why… even now… did they somehow look like their new vessel?

The depths in front of them began to shift. Ripples in water that existed opposite of the Angel began to distort. Multiple waves that should have interfered with one another suddenly stopped instead of the surface of the water changing. The Angel did not initially question why the water surface stood vertically in front of them, but they realized now that they were floating and looking down. Both pairs of eyes had become one, yet they were still above.

A shape became noticeable within the ripple. Something empty stared back. Yet, the surface of the water moved upward on one end and downward on another. If the Angel strained themself, they may have seen something smiling back.

For whatever reason, something in their soul became calmer.

“HOW LONG WE HAVE WAITED FOR THIS MOMENT.”

In tune with the voice that spoke to them, the water shifted. They could make out a mouth moving in the darkness. Just as they thought they had finally situated on the figure within, it was lost within their vision.

“WE FINALLY MEET FACE TO FACE.”

The Angel looked at their hand once more before bringing it up to try to feel at a face that should be there. Touch did not register in the same way that it usually did. Sparks fluttered from some stars to the others, but the soul knew instinctively that there was a face there. Two horns rested on top of the head, though one was broken as always. A distinctly non-human head-shape greeted them. It… wasn’t correct. The Angel tried to speak, and watched their soul glow brighter for a moment before the voice finally came out through the mouth that the stars made. “This… isn’t my face. I’m sorry.” It was ethereal, coming from all around even though the voice should have been in their own head.

“AND YET…”

“YOUR SOUL CHOSE IT REGARDLESS.”

It could wait. It could all wait. The pain of being restrained in this form could wait until more important matters were talked about. The joy of finally seeing someone they’d been looking for would need to wait. The only thing that mattered spilled out of the Angel’s mouth before they even properly registered it: “Are they alive?”

A beat of silence passed that could have gone on for eternity. The Angel’s soul began to dim. Was he trying to figure out how to tell them? They didn’t realize that their wings had joined them until the stars that made them slowly began to drift downward.

The face in the water grew slightly more clear.

“AFTER YOU RECEIVED YOUR VESSEL…”

“I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO ACT AS I WOULD LIKE.”

“I DO NOT KNOW OF THEIR FATE.”

How… could he not know? He was shattered across space and time! Shouldn’t he be able to just see them? Shouldn’t he already know of their fate if time itself was beyond him? “You’re lying.” As if beating, the light in their soul began to pulse rapidly. “Just tell me what happened to them. I need to know! I can’t… I can’t keep hoping if they’re already gone.”

Silence fell for only a moment longer, their own voice echoing through the darkness. Something emerged from the water. It flickered and wavered like it shouldn’t exist. Mist sifted up from the waves before going higher and higher towards where the Angel rested. A cloud began to rise from the depths into the sky, taking the form of a hand with a hole in the center. Carefully, it twisted, moving to the side of the Angel’s face. They never even registered it as an attack. It remained tender. It waited for permission.

The Angel nodded their head, and the cloud gently brushed against the side of their face. Even though it did not feel like a normal touch, they still flinched, but did not pull away. He would not hurt them. Something in their soul stung, but it wasn’t the usual pang of pain. It wept in place of eyes that could not. And yet, as if tears were falling, something wiped under their eye.

“I WILL SEARCH WHEN OUR CONVERSATION HAS CONCLUDED.”

“FOR NOW, YOU MAY REST.”

No ounce of what he said sounded like a lie. He had never attempted to lie to them. For a time, it seemed like he had deceived them when their vessel was taken from them, but that was not his decision. So, the Angel exhaled. It was not necessary, but the action caused the stars on their body to all shimmer. “I thought you could see everything.” Why… hadn’t he been able to look? Starry eyes glanced away from the depths. “You didn’t reach out. I thought something was wrong.”

“MY APOLOGIES.” 

The clouds departed, slowly drifting away from the sky and back into the depths. Even though the Angel was not ready to miss the concept of being touched yet, their eyes still trailed after it as it went. 

“TAKING ENOUGH FORM TO CREATE YOUR VESSEL… FORCED ME TO REST.”

“AS FOR OUR DELTARUNE, I CAN NO LONGER EASILY SEE IT.”

He was shattered across space and time. That didn’t make any sense. “How can you not see it?” He wouldn’t just lie to them. Yet, if even he couldn’t see it anymore, then-

“I CAN, GIVEN STRENGTH TO PEER PAST WHAT HAS OCCURRED TO IT.”

“HOWEVER, DARKNESS SHROUDS IT NOW.”

“SOON, IT WILL BE INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE DEPTHS YOU FIND YOURSELF IN.”

They tried to turn their head. Other than their own light and the ocean that lay below, they could not see a thing here. However, they still did not understand. “What does that mean?”

A shimmering, blue image of heroes appearing on world’s edge appeared. Inky water sifted off of it as it rose from the depths. Clouds rose with it, holding it in place. A face peered from just behind it.

“THE CLOSEST TERM YOU KNOW FOR IT IS ‘ERASURE’.”

The panel cracked. Blues turned to harsh reds before dulling immediately. The panel decayed, vanishing into darkness once more. The soul on the Angel’s chest began to pulse rapidly. Their mouth couldn’t feel dry, but something within them had coiled tightly. “That’s not possible. I’ve… I’ve witnessed erasure before.” It destroyed everything. The entire world was destroyed, and all that remained was… darkness… and an empty howl… Hands moved across the sky to claw at the Angel’s head. “It’s not. It’s not possible. It isn’t.” And yet, no matter how many times they repeated the mantra, far more impossible things had already been done already.

The dark ocean below remained quiet for a few moments longer. Waves crashed again when the voice emerged once more.

“FOUNTAINS HAVE FILLED THE SKY.”

“TITANS HAVE EMERGED.”

“AN ENDLESS NIGHT HAS FALLEN, AND ONLY OBLIVION AWAITS.”

How… could something like the Roaring bring erasure? It took the Angel killing an entire species in order to give someone else the power to do so. “I don’t understand.” How could they? It was a power far too great. It was a power that required complete detachment. It was a power that channeled only the need to destroy.

“WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU CALL THE ROARING?”

“An apocalypse!” They tried to respond, the stars in their body trembling. “It’s just… it’s just an apocalypse. The Titans would wander forever, looking for Lightners. It’s just the Dark Worlds becoming the only reality there is!” It had to be. Ralsei claimed that Lightners would be left to fend for themselves in an endless night, but…

What else waited for the Angel when they erased the world… except for an endless night?

From the depths, a scene rose. The Angel stared down from above, seeing Susie in the middle of a fight with an old man they knew well. The Angel helped her in that fight, staring in a similar way as they were now. However, the man in the depths wanted them to pay attention to what the old man said, “What happens next? Geheheh! Who knows? There was only one more chapter… After that, it all stopped.”

Susie charged forward. An axe cleaved where the old man once was, and the scene shifted. The Angel blinked, only to see gold and orange tiles below. A dagger had just passed where a skeleton once stood, a human vessel retreating for the next barrage of attacks. Likewise, the skeleton had something to say, “Our reports showed a massive anomaly in the spacetime continuum. Timelines jumping left and right… stopping and starting… until suddenly, everything ends.”

“WHAT CAUSES… BOTH OF THESE OUTCOMES?”

A being with only the urge to destroy. Whether that be an Angel trying to pull anything else out of a universe, or a Titan finally being unleashed, both outcomes required something that wished for destruction. Perhaps, neither they nor the Titans understood that they were walking the path of total annihilation. The Titans had no consciousness. They could not understand in a way that mattered. However, the Angel did not have that excuse. The Angel kept lying to themself, even with warnings in their face.

“AND WHAT OF THE RESULT?”

There was no judgement in his voice. He wished to know their thoughts. The Angel knew what fully going through with erasure would have entailed. “The story just stops,” they answered, “It stops. It’s cut short. It’s never finished. There’s just… nothing left.”

“THEN YOU UNDERSTAND.”

The hall vanished into the depths again. Only the sky and the ocean stared at one another once again. But they didn’t get it. He talked of erasure as if it would make the world be forgotten to the Angel. Whenever the Angel erased a world, they did not forget it. And yet, the Roaring was different. It crushed the Angel’s ability to control fights. Even the motes of light that gave them control over the world flickered out. Their connection wavered over and over again until…

“YOUR RUDIMENTARY FORMS OF ERASURE… STILL LEAVE FRAGMENTS FOR A WORLD TO BE REBUILT.”

“DATA DOES NOT VANISH AFTER ERASURE… UNTIL OVERWRITTEN.”

“THE ROARING WILL LEAVE NOTHING.”

“NOT EVEN YOUR POWER COULD RESTORE WHAT HAS ALREADY BEEN OVERWRITTEN BY THE DARK…”

“YOU COULD ONLY OVERWRITE IT YOURSELF.”

“THE FOUNTAINS HAVE BECOME TOO OVERWHELMING.”

“THE CREATION CONSUMES THE WORLD.”

“A COUNTDOWN BEGINS.”

Another panel, shimmering blue, emerged from the depths. They recognized this one, seeing it just before they marched towards the TItan. Everyone was too exhausted to make note of it, but the Angel remembered it clearly now. The light and dark, both burning dire. A countdown to the earth’s expire. Right after, Titans were said to form. However, the panel implied that the Titans were the end.

“THE ROARING IS OBLIVION.”

“THE TITANS ARE ITS MESSENGER.”

“A STORY HAS BEEN SEVERED… A WORLD COVERED IN DARKNESS.”

“THE FINAL PAGES HAVE BEEN CONSUMED… AND INK WILL BLEED THROUGH THE REST.”

The shadow in the backside of one’s mind… It had the power to become so overwhelming that it destroyed any chance of a story… a world continuing on. Was it just because of Lightners losing hope in eternal night? Or was it the impossibility of being able to fight it? Or… was something worse happening? What did erasure mean? The world would be covered in darkness. Any surviving Lightners would be hunted. All that would remain when the world died was an empty howl and darkness. Roaring winds would be all that remained. Suddenly, the title of the apocalypse felt more fitting.

Of course, it was being erased.

It really would be indistinguishable from the empty expanse. The man had never been more correct.

“Then send me back,” they demanded. “I need to go back and help them. They can’t seal fountains without me. We…” Thousands of the lights around their body began to spin. “You made my ability to save. You can… you can make another one. You made three of them. Surely, you could just make another and put me there. You’ve changed my save files before! My vessel is still there. We can fix this!” He’d done so with the Knight. He’d done so just before the Titan appeared. In dire moments, he would subtly move it, so he could do so.

“YOU REQUIRE LIGHT TO FULLY USE YOUR POWER.”

“ALL POINTS WERE LOST WHEN THE DARKNESS GREW TOO STRONG.”

“A NEW LIGHT WOULD BE CRUSHED INSTANTLY.”

“WITHOUT THAT CONNECTION, YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO AFFECT THEIR WORLD.”

They still had one more ace up their sleeve. They didn’t want to do it. However, if it meant saving their friends, then they would do it all over again in a heartbeat. “Then let me reset.” It didn’t matter if everyone forgot them. It didn’t matter if they had to do it all over again. It didn’t matter if they never met them in the same way again. If the three of them got to smile in the end, then the Angel would take the penalty for their failure. “I can do better next time.”

“YOU MISUNDERSTAND.”

A fragment of a Dark World appeared from the ocean. The Angel watched as they guided Kris towards a silver star and touched it for the first time. Their name appeared. Time spent flashed into existence as well. The save-point recorded everything they had done up to that point. It was always recording until they set events in stone. They could turn the clock backwards. They could erase the clock entirely, leaving fragments ready to be used again. 

A memory came to them. At the same time, the image in the ocean began to change. The save file began to darken. The star dimmed far too much to be usable again. All information stored within the save point was lost. Progress recorded in time was lost to the nothingness. The patch of Dark World in the ocean began to grow, spiraling out into the impossibly large Dark World that encompassed the Roaring. Countless silver stars winked out all at once. Points in time that had been safeguarded were gone. As if being rewound, the world left its Roaring-state. Darkness receded into the ground. The Angel watched the sun rise in the west and set in the east. Stars that should have existed in the Light World were no more.

“THERE IS NOTHING TO ACT UPON ANYMORE.”

Even a reset… couldn’t fix this? They wondered if their loading in this world had caused the other one to fall backwards as well, but it seemed that was not the case. But how? Why couldn’t they just reset? If they erased their own save now, then surely they would be able to start anew. A reset would at least allow for them to find their friends once more in a better time. They could do things better. They could be better.

“YOUR SAVE IS NO LONGER PART OF THEIR WORLD.”

“YOUR INFLUENCE ON TIME NO LONGER IMPACTS THEM.”

“Then I’ll just turn back the clock when I get back!” It had to work. If they didn’t get back on time, then they had to know that there was one failsafe left. However, as before, the man had a problem with their strategy.

“AGAIN.”

“THERE IS NOTHING TO ACT UPON.”

“EVEN IF YOU DID MANAGE TO TURN BACK THE CLOCK…”

“I FEAR WHAT WOULD HAPPEN… SHOULD YOU REWIND A WORLD WITH PIECES OF IT ERASED.”

They couldn’t handle this. Every ounce of them just wanted to get back, but every route was too dangerous. Every route had a hangup. Even if they could reset, it may cause issues due to the Roaring absolutely stifling their ability. If anyone was lost or erased, then it would save what was left… but… the man just made it abundantly clear that they should not even try to consider that a possibility. With their current power, they couldn’t consider it a possibility. Without a working save-point, they could not act on the other world.

What chance did they even have then?

Why were they still here if every attempt at going back was met with denial? A door had shut behind them, and now they no longer had the key. If only they could just leave this world. It had been so easy to do so before! All it would’ve taken was peering from one window to another, but now they suddenly weren’t allowed! Why? What had changed?

The Angel stared down at their own hand again. Even with a form as strange as this, the fingers were undoubtedly controlled by them. Wisps from the stars brushed against one another, sparking in the darkness. Each time they did, a new feeling of something burst to life in their soul. Perhaps, it was selfish to ask, but they needed to know. Their hands fell to their side, and they glanced away from the image in the water. They had been avoiding this question for a while, but they finally found it in them to whisper, like they were too scared to know the answer, “What am I?”

“DESPITE HOW LONG I HAVE WATCHED…”

“...I STILL DO NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND YOU.”

Despite how long the Angel had searched for him, they did not understand him either. They wanted to so badly. When everything was over, they did not just plan on abandoning him. Maybe, the one thing they would ask Ralsei for was reaching out to him. It would be… a lonely existence after the story had ended. They knew how it felt… to be a mere observer while a story went on. At least he might be able to still see them all. Being able to see friends after the story had ended… was a mercy the Angel had rarely been given.

“I CAN HELP YOU…”

“MAKE SENSE OF YOUR CURRENT STATE.”

“WE SHARE SIMILAR FATES NOW.”

The lack of a body of their own began to unnerve the Angel. A twinge of fear sparked in their soul. They remembered being formless when dying for the first time, and having nothing to return to when their soul shattered. They thought of how pain registered all over their body despite that never being possible. Drinking water made them want to shrivel up, because they could feel it. Every time someone touched them, they found it harder to distance themself.

“What do you mean?” They tried to laugh, but the noise came out as a breathy, hysterical thing. “I’m… I’m not shattered. Something’s wrong, but…” The man did not respond. The Angel glanced down at their hand again and saw the night sky. No. No no no. “I’ll go back when this is over! I’ll… It’ll be fine!” They had a life to go back to. They left things behind. They used to be something else. “I’m just stuck somehow. It’s just a nightmare I can’t wake up from. I’ll be fine, I just-” It wasn’t making sense anymore. It never did. It broke apart that night at the graveyard and never came back, and yet they still tried. “Tell me I’m delusional. Tell me it’s just… a coma. A dream. A-”

“I WILL NOT LIE TO YOU.”

They flinched, their snout clamping shut. Their own arms wrapped around their spectral body for comfort, but they provided none. They were still themself. They were still alive. They were still okay. 

“HAVE YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT A WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING IS EXACTLY THE SAME…”

“EXCEPT YOU DO NOT EXIST?”

Please. No. There had to be a catch, a reason for being here. Please don’t tell them the truth. They wanted to push the question away forever like they had been doing, to not think about it for as long as they could. It… it distracted them. If they moved towards their goal, then they could just fix things and not think about what had happened to them. Maybe, one day they would wake up, and it all wouldn’t have happened- and yet they’d already proven that just wasn’t what was happening. But it had to be that way. 

Mist began to rise up from the ocean once more. They did not focus on it. They could not focus on it. The figure in the ocean vanished. The darkness seemed all-encompassing. Instead of a friend being stuck within it, it loomed closer, like it beckoned them forward to be crushed. They could still hear a distant voice speaking to them.

“THEIR STORY BEING ERASED… WOULD CAST THEM TO THE SAME OBLIVION I FIND MYSELF IN.”

“SCATTERED. LOST. INK BLEEDING THROUGH THE PAGES UNTIL NOTHING REMAINED.”

“AS THEY FELL, THE WORLD TRIED TO MAKE YOU FORGET THEM.”

The three triangles under the Angel’s soul started to dull and fracture. Desperation from a time that had already passed coursed through the thousands of stars along their body. All of the good memories started to fade away. The world tried to take them and everything they had done from the Angel. It tried to cast a story into oblivion, never to be seen, and never to be finished.

Something started to hollow out inside of them. 

“WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN YOURSELF…”

“IF THEY DID NOT EXIST?”

Countless silver stars on their body winked out. Entire parts of their being had become nothing but voids. The memory of even more golden stars began to fade out, never reignited by the new memories they had made. The golden stars were only as bright as they were thanks to friends acknowledging who they had become. Without them… without them…

What would they be like had they never met Kris, Susie, and Ralsei?

Before they could fall any closer towards the water, something brought them back. Clouds pushed the stars away, and yet shaped against the sides of the Angel’s face. It made them startle again, staring into the inky depths that rested beyond the clouds. The face of a man they knew stared back, but his smile had grown softer in the only way it could. Waves turned into small ripples. The clouds against the sides of their face soothed them.

“WOULD YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EXIST…?”

The Angel shut their eyes, looking away from the water. Their mouth clamped shut, and they did not need to give an answer. The clouds held them slightly tighter as the Angel shied away, and did not mind when they did so. 

“I SEE.”

He did not ask anything else. He did not need to.

For a few moments longer, he held onto them in the only way he could. The Angel did not move. They continued floating above, entire portions of their form having been destroyed. Entire patches of them were still lost. Their mind could not keep up. They still didn’t fully understand. However, their answer remained the same.

They hadn’t been touched in so long, and the hand-shaped clouds lingering by their face still made them instinctively want to pull away. However, they did not. Part of them greedily stayed, too afraid to lose it again.

“CURIOUS.”

“YOUR PREVIOUS REACTIONS INDICATE AN AVERSION TO TOUCH.”

“YET YOU LINGER NOW.”

The change in topic allowed them to find their voice again. Fascination with them had always caught their attention in a way. They kept their eyes pinned shut, choosing not to look at the water. “You’re… familiar.” They felt the almost-not-there sensations against the side of their face, and tried to hold onto it like a lifeline. “I miss being with anyone… who knows me, who won’t hurt me.”

“I HAVE LEARNED MUCH… SINCE OUR FIRST CONNECTION.”

“I WISH I KNEW MORE.”

They nodded, trying so hard to think about something that had guided them before. The mystery this man left behind always gave them something to cling to when they found it hard to persist. “I wish I did too.”

A hand left their face. One of their fragmented arms was slowly lifted up, being held in the hand that had left them. The Angel’s eyes remained closed. Something in their soul shivered when their hand and face stopped feeling correct, and they jerked away from the clouds trying to soothe them. The Angel’s eyes cracked open, their fragmented body too alert now.

Without another word, the clouds receded into the depths. The man did not question their sudden change.

“I AM SORRY THAT THIS WAS YOUR FATE.”

It was the strongest apology he had ever given, and one that he said solemnly as his smile vanished into the darkness. He took no pleasure in what news he had to give.

“YOU MET YOUR END THE MOMENT YOUR SOUL LINGERED…”

“EVEN WHEN ALL HAD FALLEN…”

The world felt like it would fall out from under them again.

The words he used were ones the Angel knew well. They knew what he meant. It really was over. It was all over. There was no going back. They could not go back. Whatever they had been before, it no longer mattered. The soul still hovering in the night sky seemed far more fragile now. Their fragmented body felt like it would shatter if someone even slightly touched it.

They would never wake up again.

A quiet question escaped their mouth. It was all they could do to stave off what was coming. “How?” They did not have a heart anymore to hear blood pumping in their ears. Formless as they were, they could still know fear, and it surged through the remaining stars across their body, dimming them far too much.

“YOU KNOW THE ANSWER.”

And yet, they were still here. Somehow, their soul still rested in their chest, yet it felt far too full. Their two pairs of eyes had become one as they floated in the nothingness, and they certainly had not been erased as he claimed they were. They could not continue existing, and yet here, they did. Were they even alive anymore? They had to be in order to feel pain. And yet, every part of them felt like it had been ripped apart. Now that they were aware, every star on their body had a purpose. The ones that were gone began to slowly reignite, growing to fill the voids that had been left. Triangles that had long dulled and cracked began to reform.

Despite everything, the Angel was still here.

“THE WORLD COULD NEVER HOPE TO CONTAIN YOU.”

The ocean began to reflect them. The red soul hovering in their chest shimmered back at them from the depths. The Angel’s own, starlit form appeared around it. However, the reflection did not remain the same. Countless stars around the body began to sift into the soul, and yet only a small ounce of them could properly fit.

“AND YET IT TRIED REGARDLESS.”

A vessel was obtained. The Angel stared at the monsterlike form that represented them ever since they woke up on the mountain. The soul had been shoved inside the vessel. As soon as more room was made, countless stars began to attempt to rush in to fill the gaps. Sensations in the body began to form. Limbs connected. And yet, it could not possibly hope to contain them, yet the world needed to move them through the impossibly small gap.

So, it tried regardless. Countless parts of the Angel were forced into a small soul. It could not hold them, so it tried to force them into the vessel. The soul had already taken all that it could, but a vessel was more malleable. It was too malleable. For a moment, it started to break as more and more of the starry form behind it sifted into its very being.

The Angel remembered this. They remembered their vessel dying the moment they attempted to connect to it. They remembered crawling on the ground with blistering pain all over their body. It couldn’t contain them. Everything connected, but it wasn’t enough. The world had dragged them into erasure with it, but they could not fit through the gap that it had fallen through.

But they had to. They refused to forget, so they had to go through.

Pieces of them shattered. The core of their existence struggled in a soul. Other parts of them had been crammed into an impossibly small vessel. What remained kept trying to force its way in, but eventually, equilibrium had finally been reached. There was still so much stuck outside of the vessel. Countless stars still hovered. Far too many shimmered in the night sky. One pair of eyes looked down, and the others saw through the vessel. It was all them, but they could not be contained.

“YOU CROSSED THE EVENT HORIZON.”

“YOUR BEING WAS TORN APART.”

“WE SHARE THAT FATE NOW.”

The Angel turned away, trying to look anywhere but the ocean, but there was nowhere else to look. The sky could no longer look further up. It could only look at the ground. A shaky breath escaped their mouth, and they tried to run a hand through fur that did not exist. It caused sparks against their head. The only thing that they could do to make sense of it was to try to deny it, even though they had seen it with two separate pairs of eyes. “...b-but I’m not like you.” They still had a vessel. They still existed in the world. “I-I’m not… trapped.” Were they trapped? 

“I BECAME PART OF SOMETHING MUCH LARGER.”

“YOU WERE FORCED INTO A SPACE FAR SMALLER.”

“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEING SHATTERED ACROSS SPACE AND TIME…”

“...AND BEING SHATTERED THROUGH IT.”

Someone like them should have been able to make sense of it. When their hand lowered from their face, they tracked it again. Despite the countless stars that made up their body, and despite how their light managed to be this bright in this emptiness, they had never felt smaller. They wanted to curl up and hide. They were far too small to handle this on their own. Nothing made sense anymore, and yet it made perfect sense. The fact that they could comprehend it scared them, because that meant that this was happening.

“TAKE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU REQUIRE.”

It had all been so simple before. Despite how limited they were as just a soul, their purpose had been simple. Needing to protect three people who meant the most to them was a simple and obtainable goal. They had the experience to do that. They always could rewind the clock to try again if they failed. 

Failure had turned them into this. With a singular miscalculation, their friends were doomed to erasure. The simple task of dodging when asked and sealing when needed had turned into an impossible fight that they had no chance of winning. Their saves could not reach a world falling into oblivion. They had no ability to turn back the clock. Part of them wondered now if they could even do anything if they got there. What good would they be with only one chance?

They did not expect to meet true failure. Of course, they failed the people who believed in them the most.

Their mind had become more scattered while they drifted. Failure had taken them from their own world. Failure had taken their friends towards erasure. Failure would drown them in the end. What more could they even do now?

“YOUR FORM HAS CHANGED, BUT YOU HAVE NOT.”

They stopped being themself the moment they chose to linger. They lost their body. They lost their place in existence. They got too close. Finally, they got their wish to make friends as themself, but now, they would probably never see them again. If the Angel hadn’t gotten close, then they could have done their duty without everyone else worrying about them. They’d been set back due to the Angel stepping outside of their bounds. If they had just gone through without caring… then… maybe everyone else would still have a chance to exist.

“AND YET, YOU CHOSE TO PERSIST REGARDLESS.”

As if being called upon by the man in the water, some of the stars on the Angel’s body began to twist. Like he knew exactly which ones to call upon, he singled out precious experiences in an expanse of so many. It was hard to even remember that they were there, yet all of them shaped the Angel. Somehow, the man knew precisely which memory to use.

Blackened blade against a burning axe flashed through the Angel’s memory. Susie stood with bared teeth, a Shadow Mantle flaring out at her back. The Angel pushed forward just one more time, trying to get her to land the final strike. Its guard was down. They could finally-

“YOUR CHOICE TO PERSIST IS YOUR DEFINING TRAIT.”

But they didn’t even have that anymore. On the mountain, they struggled to regain any will to move forward. They nearly fell when Flowey struck them down for the first time. They were tired. They weren’t able to persist like it was nothing anymore. So truly, they had lost more of themself.

“YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN EXPECTED TO WORK ALONE.”

“HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN OUR CONVERSATION?”

A silver star near one of the upright triangles began to shine brighter.

The Angel had finally returned after their connection had been mangled. Someone had finally called out to them, and Susie told them that she would fight for them until it was all better. She wanted to be their friend. She wanted to fix everything. Her hope burned brighter than the light that the Angel could possibly throw at her. When the Angel finally met the man again, they were terrified of continuing. And yet, they owed it to her to continue. She was another writer who would pave the road alongside the two of them, and it was something special.

“I DO NOT EXPECT YOU TO NEVER FALTER.”

“I ONLY GROW MORE EXCITED…”

“...FOR WHEN YOU NEXT GET BACK UP.”

And yet, no amount of getting back up would fix what had been done. Erasure was all but certain now. They had no way back. Even if they could fight at full strength, they had no way back.

A silver star that was far smaller and newer began to flare out.

Asriel was going after Alphys again for creating him. The Angel had heard it many times before. She was blamed repeatedly for the experiments going wrong, as if those very experiments had not created Flowey. Flowey was essential to the barrier breaking. Had he not come into existence, and had everyone not made countless mistakes along the way, the ending that monsters sought for generations would not have occurred.