Archive of Our Own

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5 years ago....
The muffled rumble of the tank engine is all that's keeping you awake. You're a tank loader, and a fairly good one at that - you were always adept with your hands, and you had enough muscle to handle the heavy rounds. Being female, you had to work twice as hard as any man - even then, the training instructors tried their hardest to get you dropped. It was seen as a boy's club, to be a soldier - women were always the nurses and support. But you had persevered, and ended up in this horrible jungle, assigned to an armoured spearhead."Top, you think we'll make it back for brunch?" shouts the gunner - Birdie - to your right. So-called for being barely tall enough for military work, Birdie was diminutive - he was barely taller than you, and it's not like you're a basketball player."Maybe it's pizza day!" retorts the driver, Mark, from up front. He wasn't actually named Mark, but he was an ex-biker, and his old gang didn't approve of him leaving - they'd 'marked' him with a jagged scar running from his left eye to his upper lip.You are about to chime in with a clever shot at how Birdie could eat brunch with his small size when - "Enough chat guys, we're here. Mark, pull us up this ridge to our left. Stop just short of that big bush, and hold," commands Top. Named for having the best score in his class, he had this uncanny ability to get 3 crewmates working together far more efficiently than most. This tank, and the crew inside it - including you - performed almost as an extension of Top's body. He was an older fellow, joining up in his late 30s - but he definitely knew what he was doing.You can feel the tank turn, tracks clattering and engine groaning under the weight of itself. You lurched back, presumably as Mark brought the tank up the ridge, then the vehicle stopped."Cut engine - we'll run on aux for now," says Top, and the rumbling diesel behind you slows and stops. A small motor - sounding a bit like a lawnmower - fires up, to keep electricity running.After a minute, presumably looking around and listening, Top relays instructions to the team. "Alright, here's what we're gonna do. Mark, when I call it, fire up the engine and roll forwards slowly until we crest this ridge, then stop and hold. Birdie, traverse turret to eleven forty when we stop - the targets are supposedly about a click and a half out. How copy?" Everyone acknowledges Top's instructions, and when he says "Roll!", the engine fires up. Over a thousand horsepower pushes you slowly forwards, then the moment the tank stops, the turret in which you reside moves slightly to the left."Identified! PC! One point two out!" calls Birdie. "Copy. Y/N, load HEAT," orders Top. You turn around to the back of the turret, and grab the doorhandle. Pulling it open, you grab a shell, pulling it out of the ammo rack. With the shell in your right hand, nested up against your shoulder, you close the door with your left hand, then turn back and place the head of the shell on the gun. You push it forwards with a closed fist, hand moving upwards and out, right as the breech block slams upwards with an audible thunk, shouting "UP!""Fire when ready!" says Top. "On the way!" responds Birdie, the last word punctuated by a massive bang. The gun recoils backwards, breech opening to spit out the spent shell casing (and a lot of foul-smelling smoke) with a metallic clang. As the loader, you didn't have any way to see outside - your job was right here.Suddenly - "Gunner, Sabot, TANK!! TRAVERSE RIGHT! TWO THIRTY!" screams Top. The turret begins to turn to the right, electrical motor humming. "COME ON! TWO THIRTY!" You repeat the steps, grabbing another shell from the 2nd rack, and place it against the breech-
BANG

Immediately, the overhead light goes out with a fizzle. The sound of a hammer hitting a bell rings throughout your body, as rocks and debris pepper the outside of the vehicle. You'd been hit. "AGGHHH!!!" screams Birdie - at least you think it was Birdie. Your ears were ringing. Something hurts. A warm feeling runs down your side, you can't think clearly. At some point, you black out.
Time passes...
The first thing you notice - feel - is the pain. Oh god the pain, the searing white-hot pain in your right side. You groan in agony, unable to summon the energy to scream. Your eyes flutter open, revealing the destruction that took place inside Big Betty - your tank. There are small black spots all over the metal wall, and light is pouring in from a hole to your right. Your eyes drift downwards, and Birdie - or at least half of him - is crumpled beneath the cannon. The smell is indescribable - coppery and harsh and worse than anything you've ever smelled before, including that one time you had to clean out a septic tank. The floor of the vehicle is drenched in red - blood - and you see.... a leg. Just a leg, nothing more. A piece of tattered pants is all that denotes this leg as having belonged to someone you knew. Your eyes, tearing up over the pain and the smell, drift to your right - Top is slumped against the rear wall. He's not moving.You hear quiet thumps, the sound of someone climbing up the outside of your tank. You can vaguely register the feeling of the sun beaming through the hatch above you, before you black out again.
Time passes...
Slowly, you come to. Your mind is foggy, and the once-unbearable pain in your side is barely a twinge now. You keep your eyes closed for a minute, unsure what you'll see when you open them. The gentle sound of a pump runs nearby, the silence broken further by hushed chatter and the sound of footsteps on linoleum floors. Your eyes open - immediately to be blinded by a light, you instinctively squeeze them shut again. After another minute passes, you slowly open them again, adjusting to the fluorescent lamp humming above you. You're still groggy, but you can just about figure you're in a hospital - and one hell of a hospital at that. All sorts of machines perform their dedicated task, several monitors and televisions silently display medical information on the wall at the foot of your bed. You can feel something - a tube - in your mouth and throat. It seems to be breathing for you.Suddenly, a door to your left flies open, handle slamming against the wall. An army of nurses and doctors quickly surround you, some doing work on the various machines in your room, some talking to you directly, while others set to work on your clothes. A few of them start fiddling with the tube in your mouth, and after a minute, begin to pull it out. A constant chatter between them, it seems like they were all watching you closely.Slowly the talking dies down, and eventually, they all start to step aside or leave. An old gentlemen walks through the door, wearing a white coat. He looks to be at least 70 years old - what little hair he has is white as snow, his face wrinkled with many years of experience. He comes right up beside you, and motions for the others to leave. "Hello Y/N, I am Doctor Masterson. You have been out for quite a while. I'd like to do some tests, is that alright?" He asks, with a surprisingly gentle and soothing voice. Your mouth feels as dry as a boneyard, so you opt to nod your head a bit.
Time passes...
After only a few hours, you've done nearly every test anyone could think of. You've twitched your toes and fingers, said your own name, told the good doctor how many fingers he's holding up. You've been poked and prodded, had a few memory tests, and your heart rate and blood pressure were taken. You were exhausted, and Doctor Masterson seemed to notice this - he'd finally left you alone with your thoughts. Your memory was spotty, but things were coming back. You had inquired about your crew members, but nobody knew anything. It seemed you were back in your home country - you'd been flown back after you were stabilized.You took the time to take a look at yourself - you felt weak, like your muscles couldn't even hold you up. Pulling the hospital gown away, you inspect your legs - they'd shrunk considerably to what you remember. They were almost bony, your kneecap protruding significantly. Following upwards, you looked at your stomach. You were never super muscly, but your abs were noticeable if one looked closely. Now, nothing. Even your breasts seemed shrunken, and your arms were skinny. But nothing compared to your right abdomen - from your belly button all the way around, confirmed by a small handheld mirror left on the table, were scars. You looked like you had been shredded, like a thousand marbles had punched through you. Suddenly, everything comes crashing down - your eyes water up, and you bury yourself in the sterile-smelling hospital bed. You spend the next hour, at least, quietly crying - your body had been ruined. At some point, you fall asleep.
Time passes...
It's been nearly a month since you woke up. You learned that you were the only surviving member of Big Betty, and that you were rescued by an infantry group nearby. You'd been patched up at the forward operating base, then sent to a hospital in a nearby country for surgery after surgery. After that, you were flown home to recover in a massive hospital-university. It was hard - you had to do physical therapy to be able to stand for any period of time. But, as sure as time itself, you recovered - and eventually, you were deemed healthy enough to leave. Your family had a small cottage up on Mt. Ebott, a property passed down throughout atleast several generations. You would finish your recovery there, and then... Well you didn't know what you'd do with yourself then."Almost there miss," says the Taxi driver. You were scrolling absentmindedly through your phone, not really reading anything. You just wanted to have a nice long sleep on your own bed for once.Eventually, you are dropped off at the cottage. A small, single-story wooden building - the only sign of outside civilization being the small power line running out of the roof and down the dirt path that the taxi was now leaving on. You walked up to the door, grabbed the small bronze key from under a plant pot, and went inside. Flicking a switch to your right, it was clear that nobody had been here in a while - the only evidence of life being a few grocery bags resting on the counter in front of you. A small note was resting beside them.
Hello Y/N, I am so sorry I was unable to be there for you. I picked up some snacks, and I'll phone in a few hours. Stay safe, Love Dee
Dee? You hadn't heard that name in years. Dee was your childhood friend, you'd known eachother since the sandbox. You'd lost contact with her after you shipped overseas.Before you can check on the bounty of treats, the landline rings."Hello?""Oh my god! Y/N! I'm so glad you're okay!" Dee exclaims over the phone."Yeah, I... I made it okay. How have you been?""No way, not talking about me at all. I'm on my way right now, this is your day. I'll be there in about 20 minutes, just don't eat all the snacks!""No promises," you say mischievously, before hanging up the phone. She really hadn't changed at all, had she? Just as energetic as ever.Resigned to your fate of Death by Dee, you grabbed a small bag of chips - ketchup flavour, nice! - and made your way to the couch. An ancient leather sofa, this bad boy had seen everything - this couch was around for four generations of your family. You plop down, and start munching on your delicious treat. You turn on the antiquated TV - a big box television from the 80s - and watch some drab cooking show.Before long, the front door opens - and in comes Dee. Before you can even stand up she's ontop of you, hugs and squeals and oh-my-gods and how-are-yous being thrown around. After a while, you were finally able to talk."How did you even hear about me?""I saw on the news! Your name was mentioned in passing, and I dug around a bit - I found out you were hurt real bad, so I knew I had to do something. What better way to heal than by hanging with your best friend?" Dee responds gleefully, sitting down on an old armchair."You really went through all that?" You ask. It didn't seem like you were worth this effort, but Dee was clearly offended by the question. "OF COURSE I did! We're best friends, it's my job to take care of you no matter what you think!"She really had a way of cheering you up.  After almost 6 hours, Dee had to go. "I'll be back tomorrow, don't you dare be sad without Dee here to hug you back up!" she'd said, and you knew that if she even caught a whiff of a tear she'd be coming back right quick. She made you laugh, helped you to forget everything for a bit. But now that you were alone, it was all coming back - how Birdie was split in half, how Top had hit his head, how Mark was shredded by spalling - you had no right to survive that, yet you did. And somehow, you hated that. You hated that you were the only one to live while your friends, the people you'd grown to love over 3 years of service, were never going to come home. They were never going to see their families again. Birdie would never get to eat brunch again. Mark would never get to tinker on his bike again. Top would never get to see his kids again. You quietly cried yourself to sleep, snuggled with some old scratchy blankets on the leather couch.  The sun poured in through the window, waking you from your slumber. The sun was just starting to rise, but you knew you weren't going to be able to get any more sleep. It looked nice outside. Deciding to do something, you put on your shoes and left.Walking along the small trail, you could swear you felt an invisible wall crash through you, like a wave - your hairs were all on end, and somehow everything felt.... quiet. "Probably just a gust of wind..." you thought aloud, but you couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. There was a small flat patch just up ahead, it was perfect for watching the sunrise. Nestled right up against the mountain, it was a brutal hike, and not many people knew about it, even among the locals. Your grandpa had taken you up there one day, saying it was his special little hideaway. You missed him. It was a good spot to just sit down and watch the world - the ocean, and the city in the distance, just seemed so small and insignificant. A giant boulder meant you were getting close - just a little further. Suddenly, you hear a branch snap. You instinctively freeze, head whipping around to your left. What little muscles you had left tensed up, ready to do whatever you needed to do."He-hello?" You tentatively asked. You were in no shape to fight even a raccoon, and this area was a favourite for bears.Suddenly, you saw something that would change your life forever. A giant skeleton, at least 8 feet tall, rose up from behind a bush. Animated, and wearing some sort of... battle armour? "HELLO HUMAN! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" it shouted. Your heart stopped. You felt the world lurch, then you passed out.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Goodness, what happened Papyrus?"  For some reason, you hear voices - but everything sounds distant. Like you're underwater perhaps, or listening through sub-par drywall. All you know is you were out for a walk, you must have tripped or something and now you have a raging headache, there - ...There was a freakin' skeleton.... Head injury immediately forgotten, your eyes snap open and you jump (really, an ungraceful hobble, but you'd like to think it was a cool action-movie jump) up. After a few seconds, your eyes adjust - and now you're seriously considering laying back down and accepting your fate. You're surrounded by at least half a dozen... Monsters. That's the only word you've got - A giant skeleton wearing some sort of.. Battle Armour? A one-eyed fish lady, another smaller skeleton, a... Freakin' Giant goat... Woman... Lady... A yellow Dinosaur? And a massive hulking beast, covered in snowy white fur, who you'd take for the devil himself if not for the very goatlike ears and horns. Clearly the monsters had noticed your sudden burst of energy, as all conversation has since ceased, and all eyes and eyeholes are now staring directly at you. Taking a moment to decide if you could run - then promptly deciding not - you realize you were laying down under a tree, with a dark blue hoodie resting on the forest floor where your head was just a minute ago. You're weighing your options, when suddenly - "It is alright, my child. Please do not be alarmed - My name is Toriel," The massive goat woman speaks up. Her voice is calm, soothing, yet filled with a sort of confidence that makes you feel like a child being spoken to. Your heart pounding, you stutter out a frankly pathetic response - "H-hi, I'm Y/N-I mean, hello, I-I'm, uh, Y/N," It'd be funny if you weren't fearing for your life right now. "DID I BREAK THE HUMAN? WHY ARE THEY SPEAKING LIKE ALPHYS?" Your blood pressure probably hits new world records. The familiar voice erupts once again from the tall skeleton. "nah bro, you probably just got 'em in awe with your greatness," a lazy voice comes from the smaller skeleton. Your eyes must be dinner plates at this point, because the motherly (why did you think motherly?) goat woman - Toriel - seems to shoo off the other monsters with a silent glance. They all seem to retreat to their own devices, and Toriel turns back to a still petrified you. "I am sorry my child, this must be so overwhelming. Please, let us explain everything," She says, and something about her voice seems to calm your jackhammer heart.     "Oh my god...." You mutter. It's been several hours now, and the sun is high in the sky. You'd learned about how these monsters - for some reason, they are perfectly content with the term monster, just as you are with human - were locked underneath Mount Ebott for too many years to count. How long ago, there was a war - with magic, no less - which resulted in the 'barrier' trapping monsterkind in a cave barely large enough to hold a small town. All about a young human child named Frisk, who'd somehow broken the barrier. You'd inquired about the various local legends - it was fairly common for children to be told not to explore the mountain, and there were a fair few missing persons cases involving the area around Ebott - but it seems the monsters were about as well informed on that topic as you were. It seemed like you weren't going to die today - The giant skeleton - Papyrus, like the font, you'd learned - seemed to be as innocent as a small kitten. The smaller skeleton, Sans (were font names a thing?) gave you some dark vibes, almost reminding you of your old drill sergeant, but that seemed to be a nut too hard to crack. The giant fish was Undyne - she had a boisterous but straightforward personality, brutish and blunt sure but you could appreciate someone who didn't waste time. The small yellow dinosaur, who you'd learned was Undyne's girlfriend, seemed to be a polar opposite - a ball of anxiety and rambling, she just seemed to shrink away from the world. The two giant goats - Toriel and Asgore - seemed to have an icy relationship. Toriel was motherly, caring, but with a firm hand. She appeared to have some influence over the others, in the same way a teacher has influence over her students. Asgore, on the other hand, seemed to be terrified of Toriel - earlier, he'd said something about a long-lost son, Asriel if you recall, but Toriel shot a dagger-glare at him. He'd been all but silent ever since, currently occupying himself by kicking pebbles a few meters away. "So you see my child, we do not wish you, or anyone else, any harm. We just wish to coexist peacefully," Toriel concluded. All things considered, this was certainly not how you were planning on spending your first week at your cottage - eating chips and relaxing in comfortable pajamas was more your style - but it seemed like the monsters genuinely just wanted to live peacefully. So, after a minute of internal deliberation - is it really your place? Surely someone else could handle this... Maybe I should call the police? No, they would laugh me off the phone... - you'd made up your mind."Toriel, I feel I should warn you. We humans have... Well, historically, we've not been terribly accepting of different people. Truth be told, I never even knew monsters actually existed - they were told as scary stories to make sure children would stay good - before a few hours ago. Humans will kill other humans for the dumbest of reasons, and honestly the main thing I'm worried about is how other people will react. I mean, I freakin' fainted - and I've.... Well, I've seen some disturbing things in my life," You inform Toriel. And it was true - you wanted to help these monsters, but you had no idea HOW. Ebott is a small town, barely 20,000 people live in the region. There are lots of hunters, and it's a very conservative area - 100 years ago, you'd be hung for being gay. How would they react to this? Literal monsters, coming out of the mountain? It was a conundrum to say the least. "I see... I believe that if we simply explain our position, others will be accepting as you have been. I am not naive to believe that all humans will accept us with open arms, but surely you must give your race some credit, no?" Toriel responds. "I mean, I know of some more... accepting people in the town. If I could get them first, maybe it'll be easier to explain to the others with more humans by your side?" You question. "Perhaps," Toriel answers thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should leave this to tomorrow?" Asgore pipes up. He has a booming voice, one that commands authority - a lot like your platoon commander, actually. Toriel initially shoots him a nasty glare, but after a moment her face softens - "Very well. Some rest would do us all well," She says, leaving no room for Asgore to respond. He seems almost humbled that she had even responded to him. And she is right, too - the sun is creeping towards the horizon, and in this part of the world at this time of year, that means it's probably nearing 9:00 at night. "I have a small cottage nearby, we could shack up there until morning?" You offer, and your new friends seem genuinely surprised. "Are you sure my child? I would not wish to impose," Toriel worries, but you shut her down. "No worries, I have space. It's only 3 bedrooms, but two of the couches fold into beds and we could use the blowup mattress if needed," you offer. The monsters seem to accept this, and your group of 8 - you, Asgore, Toriel, Frisk, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys - make your way down the path to the humble cottage.     "WOWIE! IT'S EVEN BIGGER THAN OUR HOUSE IN SNOWDEN!" Papyrus exclaims. You try to explain that no, this is a fairly modest cottage, but the others all seem surprised at the supposed size of your cottage too. "heh, i guess it's pretty a-door-able," Sans pipes up, clicking the front door handle a few times to punctuate. Unable to help yourself, you snort - puns were always your weak spot, and though it was embarrassing, you couldn't help but appreciate a good pun. Clearly, though, Papyrus did not agree - "HUMAN, PLEASE DO NOT ENCOURAGE MY BROTHER!" He ordered, stomping his foot a few times. "Sorry Papyrus, I can't help it - I won't tell a fib-ula, I like puns!" You say, bracing yourself. Papyrus' face freezes, before letting out an agonized screech. You can't help it - you burst out in laughter, the genuine belly laughter than only good puns will bring. Papyrus is horrified, and he makes a hasty retreat to his designated room with a chorus of agitated "NYEH!"s. Sans seems to be beaming at this point - you got the impression that he and his brother have the sort of bond that involves a bit of - snrk - ribbing. Thinking of this pun, you let out another ugly snort, before devolving into a fit of giggles. However, laughter seems to be one hell of a workout - your abdomen starts to ache, and after a few minutes, it's become absolute agony. Not wanting to bother your houseguests - Toriel seems to be busying herself with the kitchen, Alphys and Undyne are not-so-subtly playing handsy on the couch, and Asgore has vanished into one of the bedrooms - you opt to head to the bathroom. Pulling up your shirt, wincing as the fabric moves past your scars, you look in the mirror - your wounds have all healed, but your abdomen is permanently scarred. Mangled and torn, it looks horrible - and hurts just as bad. You take some painkillers - generic prescriptions drugs, with a name you can't pronounce. A sharp knock on the door startles you - "Hey PUNK! You alright in there?" Undyne calls out. Ignoring her kind-hearted insult, you respond "I'm okay, I'll be out in a few minutes." "You got it PUNK! I'll see you later!" Undyne responds, satisfied. Muffled footsteps signal her movement, and you can vaguely hear a door open and close. After a few minutes doing your business, you leave the bathroom. Toriel appears to be making some sort of pie, Undyne and Alphys have probably gone to their bedroom, and Sans is fast asleep on one of the couches. It isn't even folded out. You inform Toriel that you're going to bed, and after she thanks you again, you head to your room. You don't even bother changing - your clothes are comfortable enough, and your day was far too long to bother. You don't realize just how exhausted you are, but you probably fall asleep within the minute.       "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" You shoot straight up, ignoring the panging in your side. That shrill scream - that's Dee. You know that scream, from many haunted houses oh so long ago. It's dark in your room, but you scramble to get up and out of your door. You need to deal with this now. Coming into the main room, you see the lights are already on out here. Dee is standing in the corner, wielding a butter knife - you'd always kept the bigger knives in a locked drawer, after a string of burglaries many years ago. She's shivering like a leaf, and Asgore is standing several feet away, hands up to surrender. "DON'T COME NEAR ME! I KNOW JU JITSU! I'M WARNING YOU!" she screams out. You know it's bull - she was not a fighter - but you were more worried about the possibility of her remembering about her cell phone, or the landline resting in its charger on a counter, a scant few feet away. "DEE! Calm down!" You yell out, and her eyes snap to you. She eyes you up, suspiciously, before bursting into tears and running into you. "OH GOD! Y/N! THIS MONSTER IS IN YOUR HOUSE! HELP!" She blurts out between hiccups and tears, holding onto you. "Dee! Let me explain!" You say, but she doesn't hear you. "DEE!" You shout again. This seems to grab her attention - she looks at you, seeming to calm down a bit. "W-Wha... What's G-g-going on?" She stutters out. "C'mon, let's sit down," You say, bringing the pair of you to a couch. The other monsters were now awake - Undyne and Alphys had come out of their room, as had Papyrus. Sans was nowhere to be seen, but Toriel was standing by the front door. Asgore stood in the corner where Dee once was, probably wishing he wasn't a giant. This'll probably be a long night, you think, as you begin an abbreviated explanation of how you ran into these monsters, and their story.       By the time you manage to convince Dee to not immediately call the police, the sun is peeking in through the windows. She seemed to be accepting - it was a huge shock, sure, but Dee was even more open to things than you were. After the initial nervousness of everything, Papyrus was the first to break the stalemate - with a very loud introduction. "HELLO DEE! NOW THAT YOU HAVE HEARD THE STORY, YOU SHOULD HEAR ABOUT ME! THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH!" He exclaims. Dee seems to freeze up - you're worried she might run - when suddenly, she bursts out laughing. "Oh my go- Oh my god! It's nice to meet you, Papyrus!" She says, between laughs. Immediately, the tension in the room vanishes - you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding, and it seems like most others do the same. Papyrus is beaming - he was just too damn pure for this world. With that whole ordeal out of the way, everyone seems to disperse. You don't bother going back to bed - there was no way in hell you're gonna get any sleep now. At some point, sans shows up to gift everyone with more puns - he seemed to like them. He had some real creative ones, too. Unlike you, Dee hated puns - you often teased her with the worst dad jokes and puns you could think of, it was your thing. She instead retreated with Papyrus outside. Toriel made an amazing breakfast - somehow, the eggs just seemed to melt in your mouth. The texture was indescribable, but not bad - they tasted great, and you felt rejuvenated. But you all knew this couldn't last forever. You'd have to go into town, and gather a few people you trusted. This was going to be the real test.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

You were enjoying a book, lying down on the couch. It was nearing 10AM, according to the old anniversary clock resting on a shelf - You knew you had to go down to the village eventually, but for now you figured you'd enjoy a bit of quiet time. You were getting to a good part when you were interrupted by a gentle tug on the back of your shirt. Putting the book down and looking behind you, your eyes were met by Frisk's small face. They couldn't have been more than 8 years old. Frisk had vanished almost as soon as your group had gotten to the cottage - you were pretty sure they were in Toriel's room. They certainly seemed shy - Toriel had told you about their muteness. You knew basic ASL, from the early days of your deployment - you had met a few deaf survivors of a bomb blast in the refugee camp, and you took an online class to communicate with them. I just wanted to thank you for taking us in, their small hands said. "It's okay, once I heard everyone's story I was happy to," you respond, and you mean it. You knew the monsters would need a local if they had a chance to live peacefully. I was scared at first, I thought you might be mean- You interrupted by ruffling Frisk's messy brown hair. "Hey, but I wasn't mean right? It's alright. I'm sure that once we explain everything to more people, they'll understand too," you try to comfort the small child. They look unconvinced, but seem to accept this. Suddenly, they wrap their arms around your torso - you'd been lying down this entire time. You didn't expect it, but after a few awkward moments, you patted their head a few times. They backed up, took another look at you, then retreated back to Toriel's room. You took stock of the situation. Papyrus and Sans had run out - the tall skeleton seemed determined to grace more humans with his greatness, and Sans (after a lazy shrug and a "somebody's gotta watch him") had followed. Dee had taken Undyne and Alphys to a small lake - barely more than a pond, but even among the locals it was fairly unknown, and it was a good time of year for some swimming. Toriel and Asgore seemed to always be on opposite ends of the house - whenever she was cooking, he was in a bedroom. When she went to bed, he'd be sitting on the armchair in the living room. Currently, Asgore was busying himself out back, tending to the small garden. Toriel was sweeping - it seemed like their fur had a habit of getting everywhere. You'd offered to clean, but Toriel was having none of it - they were the intruders, not you. You had tried to explain that no, they were guests, but a motherly look shut you down. She probably scared you more than your drill sergeant back in the day.    As noon approached, you resolved to get something done. Toriel seemed to be finishing up with the cleaning, so you tasked yourself with lunch. Opening the fridge, your eyes were disappointed - Dee had brought snacks for you two to enjoy, but there wasn't any real food. You had no idea where Toriel got the pie from, but the only food in the fridge was some rancid meat and a suspiciously chunky bottle of milk. Moving to the cupboard, you found some old cans of food - a couple of pasta, and one of corned beef - but not nearly enough to feed 9 mouths. With a sigh, you grab the cans and place them on the counter. Your final stop was the pantry - maybe there was more canned food there. Right as you grab the doorhandle, Dee returns with Undyne and Alphys. They're laughing about some anime - you never really were interested in those shows, but Dee was a bit of a weeb. She was also half Japanese, and her parents made sure she learned both languages, so maybe that helped. Not long after, Papyrus and Sans returned. The former looked dejected, but Sans seemed to be good at comforting his brother. You'd scrounged up enough food for a small meal for everyone, and were now in the process of waiting for the timer to ding. Toriel had helped out, over your objections - "It's the least I could do, my child," - and it seemed like lunch (it was almost 1PM, but...) would atleast be acceptable. You decided to occupy yourself by continuing your book - it'd be about 15 minutes before food was plated, and Toriel insisted that she had everything handled, so now was the time for a bit more relaxation. You'd only gotten a few pages further when a sharp knock-knock-knock breaks the otherwise calm air. The muffled conversations going on in other rooms stopped too - it was loud enough for them to hear, you suppose. This was a problem - you weren't expecting any company. Standing up, you reasoned that it was probably just Aldo - your Italian neighbour. He was a few kilometers down the road (see: path), but you two had a cordial relationship and he probably just brought some pasta. You undo the chain lock and open the door, only to be met with a sheriff. Far from the middle-aged balding Italian with a bit of a gut, this guy towered over you. "Hello ma'am - we've been receiving some odd reports of disturbances in these woods. Have you seen anything?" He asks. Taking a moment to regain your composure, you open your mouth to respond - but you're cut off by Papyrus. "HELLO TALL HUMAN! IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH!" Immediately, the air becomes thicker than syrup. The sheriff standing before you jumps back, taking a moment (to presumably make sure he's not insane) before unholstering his gun and aiming it at the giant skeleton now standing behind - more accurately, above - you. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" He shouts out, taking several steps back and pressing a button on his radio. He says several numbers, then returns his attention to the gathering monsters. "WAIT! WAIT!" you shout, but it's no use. He's ignoring you - eyes and gun focused on Papyrus. You try to think of an explanation, but how do you explain this? It's one thing for your childhood friend, but you don't know this man. He orders everyone to stay still, and you register the distant screaming of sirens.     After a few minutes, a few more patrol cars come charging up the path. The officers immediately jump out and start talking in loud whispers. You arms are getting tired - you'd all been brought out front, and now you all were holding your arms in the air. Sans was nowhere to be seen, nor was Frisk - maybe he'd gotten them to safety? Suddenly, the officer's radios go off - you can't make out what the operator is saying, but the men seem to back up. Keeping their guns pointed at your group, you realize what they're doing. They're setting a perimeter. Your heart is pounding now - you know that if anyone makes a move, these guys will shoot to kill. Honestly, it was surprising they hadn't done so already - when you were deployed, it was common for civilians to be shot for sneezing. And they were human - not monsters. After 15 more minutes, your cottage is now surrounded by sheriffs and cops. Your arms have since gone numb, and you don't want to move for fear of being mistaken as a threat. Suddenly, however, a black SUV comes past the treeline and charges down the path. It has police lights and sirens, but it looks like an undercover type vehicle. It halts about 10 meters in front of your group, and after a moment, the back passenger door opens. Out steps an older gentlemen, wearing a suit. His bodyguards also jump out - they're significantly younger, and wearing all black with dark shades and earpieces. You vaguely recognize him. He approaches the group, his bodyguards following behind him. "Hello. I was surprised when I got this call, to say the least. Who's in charge here?" He says. Immediately, Asgore speaks up - "I am. My name is Asgore," He says calmly. The older gentleman takes a moment, before speaking up - "I see... My name is Agent Harrelson. You all can put your hands down - let's take this inside," he states. The bodyguards immediately fan out - three of them move to the front door of your cottage, while another one walks inside. Everyone lowers their hands, and follow the bodyguard. Agent Harrelson follows behind - he whispers something to one of the bodyguards at the front door, then comes in. You all sit down in the living room - Sans and Frisk are still absent. After a nod from his bodyguard, the older agent sits down on the armchair. "So first off, let me explain who I am and why I am here. As I said, my name is Agent Harrelson. I am with a clandestine division of the whitehouse - the Territorial Integrity Force. Long ago, back before the great Human-Monster war, we were merely an elite division of mages. However, after that war, mages stopped being born - it seemed like the barrier prevented humans from using magic. At some point, world leaders decided to erase the very knowledge of the existence of monsters - no magic, no monsters, they figured it was good for stability. However, some people knew that the barrier may one day fall - and thus, with the permission of the government, the TIF was founded. Our cover is that we're a border guard service - think mapping, tracking hostile movements, and such. However, unofficially, we're all that remains of humanity that knows of the existence of monsters. Even the President of the United States knows not of your existence," he explains. Immediately, you know where you remembered this agent from - he was a shopkeeper in Ebott town. "You see, we knew the barrier had fallen - seismic activity spiked very briefly, and there was no other explanation. We were planning to investigate - as a matter of fact, we had an expedition prepared for tomorrow. However, we also have eyes in local law enforcement, and when this call went out, things were... Expedited. Anyway - I just have a few questions for you, Asgore," He says. After a nod from Asgore, he continues - "First off, approximately how many monsters are there at this time?" Asgore responds, "Seven hundred and twelve, as of two days ago," "How many monsters are on the surface at this time?" "Less than ten." "Have you spoken with any other humans besides Y/N and Dee?" "Yes, a child fell into the underground. They are likely outside right now." "And finally, what is it that you want?" This seems to surprise Asgore - his poker face breaks, just for a moment - but he responds. "We just want to live peacefully on the surface. We have been trapped underground for so many years," he explains. "I see, I see.... Well, I have a busy next few days. My task is to work with you to ensure a peaceful transition to the surface. For now, I ask that you and any monsters currently on the surface do not leave this building. Dee and Y/N," he orders, gesturing at you and your friend, "You are hereby ordered, under the office of the United States of America, not to communicate with anyone outside of this building. Asgore, I will go with you to the entrance of the underground. No monsters will be allowed to come up for 72 hours, while we figure out how best to proceed," he orders. Undyne tenses up, seemingly ready to protest, but she is shut down by a commanding look from Asgore. "We agree to your requests," he says. "Will that be all for now?" "Yes. I'm sorry that we have to do this, but it's an extremely delicate situation," Agent Harrelson explains. That seems to placate everyone - except for Undyne, who is silently fuming - and the Agent stands up. "I will be in contact. My men will be stationed outside, for your safety," he says. More like to keep us here, you think - but don't say out loud.    After the front door closes, it feels like air returns to the room. Immediately, Undyne jumps up. "WHAT THE HELL? WHY'D YOU GIVE IN TO THAT SUCKER?" She shouts. Her fin is pulsing, her muscles tense and ready for a fight. Asgore stands up, and this takes a bit of the fight out of Undyne. "I understand that you are displeased, captain Undyne," CAPTAIN? "However, we are bargaining from a position of weakness. There are hundreds of us, and billions of them. Even if we have magic, human technology has advanced far beyond what it was when we first were banished to the underground. I am as angry as you are, but do NOT DISRESPECT ME," Asgore shouts the last part. His deep voice shakes the house - a potted plant falls from its perch on a shelf. Immediately, Undyne retreats - quite literally. She mutters an apology, and disappears to her room. Alphys follows suit. Papyrus just looks stunned, while Toriel is staring directly at Asgore. Dee is pointedly looking at the wall. After what feels like an eternity, Asgore lets out a deep breath, and sits down. "I'm sorry, Y/N. It is just frustrating," he says. You nod. It made sense - they'd just gotten freedom, yet now humans were locking them up again. Even Toriel has nothing to say - she seemed to have no problem being blunt with Asgore, on the few occasions they spoke, but she was silently staring at him with a deeply unpleasant expression. After a few seconds, she stands up. "I will return to my room," she says, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. Great, now you're alone with the pissed off giant. Suddenly, you hear a quiet pop beside you - you wouldn't have noticed it if everyone wasn't dead silent. You look over, and Sans is standing there, holding Frisk's hand. His eyelights are gone, and his smile is forced. A few beads of sweat drip down his skull. You just sit there with your mouth hanging open. You knew monsters had magic - you'd seen Toriel creating fire to light candles and the fireplace, and you think you saw Papyrus create a bone once - but Sans just appeared out of thin air. Frisk seemed entirely unfazed by this, though they looked a bit nervous. Suddenly, you realize you knew very little about monsters. Before you can ask where they went, Sans explains - "me and frisk were chattin' when we heard the commotion. figured i'd bring em to safety," he says. He takes Frisk down the hallway - presumably to Toriel's room - but doesn't return. Now, once again, it's just you and the king. The very angry king. You decide to leave your questions for tomorrow - probably not the best time to bother Asgore, after all. With a simple "goodnight", you return to your room. It's only when you fall on your bed that you really let a breath out. This was insane. You were hoping to introduce the monsters on your terms, maybe then you'd be able to control the narrative. But these TIF guys seemed to know what they're doing - and if Harrelson was to be trusted, they just wanted to make sure things went smoothly. That was fair, you suppose... Your last thought is of your parents. They'd passed away when you were young - a drunk driver took their lives - and you'd always lived with your grandpa. The week after his funeral, you'd enlisted in the armed forces. You wonder if they can see you now. With that, your eyes slowly close, and you drift to sleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

At some point, you awaken. You don't open your eyes at first - hoping to fall back asleep. But when it becomes clear that won't happen, you clamber out of bed. You hadn't even changed since yesterday - you were too damn exhausted. Putting on some sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt, you head out of your room. The air is tense - Papyrus, usually loud and excited, is silent. Undyne and Alphys are sleeping, judging by the snoring coming from their locked door. Sans looks exhausted - he's standing in the corner of the room, with deep dark bags below his eyesockets. Toriel is knitting - apparently she'd found your old kit? Frisk is busy reading a book, while Asgore is nowhere to be found. After a minute, Dee comes out of the bathroom, and just grabs a bag of chips and silently goes to your room - you two always shared that room whenever you had sleepovers, and it was understood that it was a quiet zone. "Hey Sans. Do you know where Asgore is?" You ask the small skeleton. "that agent prick came and grabbed him. said he was goin' back to the underground, to let everyone know what'sup," he says, with a yawn. His swearing surprised you - nobody swore around Frisk, but it seems like he was too tired - or annoyed - to care. Toriel, however, did care. "SANS! Do not swear in front of my child!" She shouted from her station. Sans looks up, and after a moment, mumbles an apology. "Sans, you really should get some sleep," you say. "tried, didn't really pan out, haha - you'd think i would sleep like the dead," he says, punctuating his joke with a slight tilt of the head. You can't help it - the ridiculousness of the situation is so bad, you just burst out laughing. And laughing. And laughing    After a few minutes, you calm down a bit. Sans, Papyrus, Toriel, and Frisk are staring at you - probably thinking you're nuts. "Sorry.... It's just, only a couple days ago my life was going to be boring. It's just coming to me," you say, with a bit of a chuckle. Everyone accepts this, and returns to whatever they were doing. You think about getting some leftovers - the meal from yesterday was salvageable, thankfully - but you're interrupted by a knock at the front door. You open the door to be met with a different bodyguard - this guy hadn't been present yesterday - holding several plastic bags. "Figured you guys might need some food to tide you over," he says, before dropping the bags at your feet and closing the door. Papyrus silently comes up, grabs the bags and goes to the kitchen. You were starting to get worried - he seemed like such a strong, energy-filled monster, and it was strange for him to be so quiet. Even his footsteps made very little noise. You go to grab some food. The man had brought some boxes of cereal, several jugs of milk, some boxes of pasta and other simple food. Suddenly, you have an idea - you remember Papyrus mentioning that he loved to make spaghetti. You grab the boxes of noodles, and put everything else away. You walk over to Papyrus. "Hey Papyrus, would you want to cook some spaghetti?" You offer. He looks at you, thinking for a moment, before striking a pose. "NYEH HEH HEH! OF COURSE, Y/N! I AM THE MASTER SPAGHETTI CHEF, AFTER ALL!" He says, with all of the energy you'd expect. Sans looked at you, shocked - he'd warned you earlier that Papyrus wasn't actually very good at cooking, and that he'd make a hell of a mess if you ever let him into the kitchen, but it seemed to be exactly what the atmosphere needed. Immediately, it felt like everyone let out a breath. Sans is the first to speak up - "hey bro, make sure you don't burn the house down - that'd be im-pasta-ble to fix," he says, chuckling at the enraged NYEH's that erupt from the kitchen. Suddenly, Undyne's door slams open - "DID I HEAR COOKING LESSON PUNKS?" she shouts, with extreme gusto. Before you can even react, she's in the kitchen too - it sounds like an angry bull is rampaging around in there. Alphys follows her girlfriend out - nervously muttering an apology before sitting down on the couch. After a minute, Dee comes out of your room too - her eyes were red, swollen. She goes into the bathroom, locking the door with an audible click. I'll have to speak to her, you think - it was clear she wasn't as okay as she fronted. But you knew the bathroom meant alone time, so that was a future conversation. Frisk also came bouncing out of Toriel's room - and went straight into the kitchen. You just stand there, dumbfounded - what the hell happened? Was cooking some sort of party for monsters? You look over at Sans - he just returns the stare, then lets out a chuckle. "Ah, screw it," you say - you were gonna let loose for a while, and join in the fun. The sounds were getting worse - you'd heard a chainsaw, a dog?, and some sort of smashing sound. Right when you came into the kitchen, a tomato splattered on the wall beside you. It looked like a warzone - and you'd know. The stovetop was running at full blast, all four elements - despite only two pots being there. "HEY PUNK! HELP US SMASH THESE VEGGIES!" Undyne shouts, gesturing for you. You approach the counter, where the war on plants was happening. She grabbed a tomato from a pile, and slammed her fist into it. To your right, Frisk had taken a decidedly less violent approach - petting the red tomato. "DON'T PET YOUR ENEMY! SMASH YOUR ENEMY!" Undyne screamed, before a blue spear materialized and slammed into the tomato, popping it. What the hell is this? You thought to yourself humorously. This was mayhem - Frisk was giggling uncontrollably, covered in tomato bits - and a fair few had gotten on you too. Papyrus was scooping up spaghetti noodles that had fallen on the floor, and dumping them into a pot. "NYEH HEH HEH!" He cheered, tossing an entire box of spaghetti - box included - into the other pot. Suddenly, you understood Sans' warning. "YOU SEE NOW, PUNK? HOW A REAL CHEF COOKS?" Undyne shouts, and you can't help but agree. This was messier, but far more fun, than other styles of cooking. You decided to leave the masters to their work, and get Frisk cleaned up. You led them out, and Sans laughed when he saw the two of you. Looking down, you also had tomato splats on your upper shirt. ....Suddenly, you heart began pounding. You froze up. Blood. You'd been shot. Oh god you'd been shot. You were gonna die. You didn't even notice as Frisk backed away, or as Sans approached you - you were hyperventilating. Oh god no, you can't die yet. You can't die. You can't die. You felt something grab your hand, you can't die- Suddenly, you're nowhere. Like outside of existence itself. Then just as quickly, you're back in reality. You fall, still hyperventilating. "hey, hey, it's okay. it's a panic attack," you vaguely register Sans' voice. You feel a hand rubbing your back, as you struggle to regain control of your lungs.     After a while, you've calmed down a bit. You don't notice the silent tears streaming down your face. For some reason, the ground feels cold - damp. It's quite dark in here, wherever "here" is. You just close your eyes, and focus on Sans' hand rubbing circles on your back. Mindfulness, you think it was called - you remember being taught coping strategies for panic attacks. The doctors at the hospital thought you might have PTSD, but you only had a couple episodes there. Slowly, as you regain composure, you open your eyes. "hey, you good now? you really had me worried there," Sans says, still rubbing your back. You just nod, lacking confidence in your voice right now. "that's good. wanna stay here for a while," he asks, and honestly, you'd be okay with that. But you realize, you don't know where you are. Slowly, you work up the courage to speak - "Whe- Where are we?" You ask, voice hoarse and cracking. "uhh....." Sans hesitates, "waterfall." Waterfall? There aren't any waterfalls around here... you think, before you realize. You're underground. Like, in the Underground. "Sans, did you.... teleport me to the underground?" You ask. Sans stays silent, but you know the answer. You think about scolding him - this was extremely stupid and reckless, after all - but you decide against it. Instead, you close your eyes again, and focus on the distant sound of a river.     After probably 20 minutes, you've calmed down. "Hey Sans.... I think I'm ready to go back," you say, slowly standing up. He looks at you - you can just barely make out his face in the dark - and after a moment, he sighs. Suddenly, you realize - you have privacy. You can ask him questions here. "Wait, Sans. Is it okay if I ask a few questions, like about magic and stuff?" you ask, hesitantly. He freezes for a sec, and looks at you. Oh no, I made it worse, you think. But he relaxes, and shrugs - "eh, sure. why not? though i don't know too much about the specifics, you'd be better off asking alphys bout that stuff," he says lazily. "Well, you can teleport obviously - but what can the others do?" You ask. It was bugging you - everyone seemed to be hiding their powers from you. "well uh, usually it isn't my place to say, but uh.... papyrus and i can summon bones, for doin stuff with. tori and asgore do fire stuff, i think you saw tori use fire magic a couple times - although she also can do healing. alphys does electricity - she's the royal scientist, so that comes in handy for her - and undyne can create spears." You ponder this for a moment - Alphys was the royal scientist? You didn't know that. She certainly didn't seem like it, but you suppose that not everything is as it seems. Next up, "Why? Is there any specific reason to everyone's magic? Like, why does Undyne create spears?" "well, for us, magic is just an extension of our body. like humans, you all have different talents? like some are real good with drawing, some got math smarts, yknow? same with us - it's just a part of who we are. that's the best i can describe it," he answers. "Well, how about humans? That agent guy, he mentioned something about mages?" For a brief moment, Sans tenses. "well uh, it was a bit before my time.... humans used to have magic powers too, just like us - from what i heard, it was same as us too - just an extension of their body," he answers. It's clear he doesn't like the subject - to be fair, human mages had locked monsters away - so you leave that topic alone for now. You stay silent, the two of you sitting in the quiet marsh for a while. After a bit, you pipe up: "There's something that's been bothering me. When I was on my hike, just before I found you all, I felt a wall of air blast me - I thought it was just an unusually strong gust, but that agent guy said something about seismic activity or whatever... What was that?" "hmm.... well i dunno the specifics, but the barrier was an incredibly strong form of magic - pretty much just a solid sphere of magic, actually. when it broke, it makes sense that it'd blast out like that. magic is just a form of matter, that works a bit differently from other matter - and you can't destroy matter, it's always gotta go somewhere," Sans explains. You stare at him - that was a very scientific breakdown. You were pretty good at science and math and such, but he had this aura of understanding that made you feel like there was more going on here. "Sans... You said you don't know much, but you sound like you're quite knowledgeable about this..." You say. He stays silent for what feels like forever, but then - "yeah, i... i used to work with the old royal scientist. he had an accident, and i quit after that. it was a dark part of my life," Oh. You understood all too well what "dark part of life" meant. "Sorry, didn't mean to bring anything up..." You say. "s'ok, it's in the past now," he says, but you still feel bad. "Can we head back now?" Sans seems relieved - he immediately gets up, and grabs your hand. You feel the air vanish for a brief moment, then you're in the living room again. Immediately, everyone descends upon the two of you. "WHERE DID YOU PUNKS GO?" "Are you alright my child?" "Y/N! What happened, did you have a panic attack?" "NYEH, YOU SCARED US FOR A MOMENT HUMAN!" "A-a-a-are yo-you o-okay y/n?" After a minute of constant chatter (plus frantic signing by the small one), everybody starts to calm down a bit. You explain that you had a panic attack, and that Sans just brought you somewhere secluded to calm down. Most of them leave it there, but Toriel seems worried - a few minutes later, she pulls you aside. "My child, I must admit I am a bit worried - You say you had a panic attack, but may I ask why?" For some reason, you feel like you can trust Toriel. Maybe it's the voice, but you explain - "Well, I'm not sure how to say this... So you know that humans have wars amongst eachother right?" Toriel nods, and you continue - "Well, these wars need people to fight them. I... I was a soldier. I saw some pretty bad stuff, and it... it had an effect on me," you say. Immediately, Toriel pulls you into a hug - it's comforting, and you wish you could stay here forever. "I'm so sorry my child.... Nobody should go through that.... Please know that you may always speak to me," she says. You can't help it - you start to tear up a bit. It's been so long since you've been hugged - and not like the friend hug with Dee, but the kind of hug that a mother gives her child. "I'd like that," you say between quiet sniffles. After a few minutes, you pull back. Toriel gives you a look over, making sure you're okay, then she brushes your cheeks with her paw. "I will now go attend to Frisk. Please, if you need to speak about anything, do not hesitate to speak to me," Toriel says, before turning and walking off. After a few seconds, you bring yourself back out to the living room. Everyone (except for Asgore of course) is getting ready to eat. Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Frisk are seated at the dining table. Sans is somehow sleeping while standing - snoring and all - right near the front door. Toriel is evidently in the kitchen, judging by the very gentle sounds of cutlery and such. Dee is tapping away on her phone, leaning against the wall. You decide to watch some TV - it's barely after 4PM, and your cooking show will be on soon - and you plop yourself down on the couch. You grab the remote, and turn it on. After a few seconds, the display lights up - but instead of a kitchen filled with various aspiring chefs and judges, it's a news broadcast. Immediately, the headline jumps out to you - MONSTERS COME UP FROM MOUNT EBOTT?  Your heart stops for a moment. You blink a few times to make sure your eyes don't deceive you. You press the "guide" button, and scroll through the list - every single channel is "PROGRAM INTERRUPTED". "Hey, guys????" You say, with a bit of urgency. A few of them look over, and Frisk lets out a small gasp. Undyne jumps up, and runs into the kitchen - while Dee has forgotten her phone, and Sans is now wide awake. You all gather around the TV, nervously watching the broadcast. It's showing some politician guy, speaking at a press conference. "Hello everyone. I am deputy commander Brian Alverston, current acting head of the Territorial Integrity Force. As your press notes will show, there is a developing situation near Mount Ebott. I will ask that you all refrain from asking questions at this time. Now - I will not go into details, but many years ago, there were so-called 'monsters' living amongst humans. There was a war, and the monsters lost - they were banished underneath Mount Ebott. However, recently, the barrier that kept them there has broken, and as such, they have returned to the surface. Now, I'm going to stress this: Do. Not. Panic. Contrary to popular belief, these monsters are not murderous or evil - the definition of monster developed as a result of post-war propaganda and whitewashing. Effective immediately, there is a 5 kilometer exclusion zone surrounding the base of Mount Ebott. This is for everyone's safety - the TIF will be handling the situation and monitoring everything closely. Any and all residents currently residing within this exclusion zone will be evacuated, and further arrangements will be made for the collection of personal items. This falls under the purview of Special Law, Case 14-723. I ask that everyone remain calm, and follow all directions from authorities - and above all else, do not instigate any issues with the monsters. I will be broadcasting again with more specific information, but it is the intention of the TIF and the office of the President to establish cordial relations with the monsters. I will not be answering questions at this time, thank you." Immediately, the screen switches to a newsroom, where a few reporters start talking. You grab the remote, and shut the TV off - you have a feeling that your life is going to become a lot noisier. A knock on the door confirms this suspicion, and you get up to answer it while the others nervously return to their previous tasks. Opening the door, you see Agent Harrelson, with Asgore standing behind him. "Hello, Y/N. I'm sure you've heard of the broadcast. May I come in?" He asks, surprisingly respectfully. You motion for him to enter, and he comes in followed by Asgore. "So... Arrangements have been made for the majority of monsters to set up a temporary camp. Given that you are the one person most familiar with them, as well as having a cordial relationship with their king, Asgore," the agent gestures to the giant goat, "I would like to officially extend an invitation for you to be the ambassador of the monster kingdom." "What? Ambassador? Are you serious?" You ask - it was a hell of a promotion from Corporal. "Yes. This is a developing situation, and after extensive discussions with government leadership, it has been decided that we will allow the monster kingdom to reside on the surface, as a semi-autonomous region. Of course, you don't need to answer right now - and if needed, I'm sure that someone else could be found. However, given your familiarity, I would rather work with you," he says. "I..." You trail off. It was a hell of an ask, but maybe this would be best? It seemed like it might be better for monsters if they had someone fighting for them from day one. You look over at Asgore. "Y/N. I have already agreed that, if you want, I would be willing to have you as my ambassador to the humans. It is entirely up to you," He says. After a few seconds, you decide. Filled with determination, you say: "I'll do it."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

A few days have passed since the announcement, and your unceremonious promotion. Since then, the TIF has been very quick to set up a perimeter around the mountain - right now, it's just an agent every few hundred meters, but it seems like they're planning on putting up a fence. You've been kept busy with trying to organize everything - most problematic were the 'evacuations'. There were only a few people living within the exclusion zone, and most of them were okay with leaving - they seemed to think they were fleeing some sort of natural disaster - but one guy refused to leave. He was adamant, and TIF agents ended up having to carry him out. You understood - nobody asked for this, and it was completely unexpected. Right now, you were trying to set up a temporary campsite for the sudden influx of monsters. It was dizzying just how many there were, as well as the sheer variety - some were pretty much just anthropomorphic humans, like a rabbit family you had seen - but others were very different. You had seen a flame-person, 'grillbz' as Sans said, and there were slimes and snow-things and all else. This was going to be a process. Dee had immediately become your assistant - she said she wanted to help lessen the load, but you suspected she was worried about you after the panic attack. Undyne immediately took charge, directing everyone to certain spots. The TIF had brought a big semi truck full of tents and basic provisions, but they just unloaded it all in one spot and left you all to sort it out. The communication ban was lifted, but you didn't really have anyone to talk to outside of who was here. However, Dee had spoken to someone, and within a few hours, both of your cellphones were exploding with phonecalls and texts. At some point someone got your landline number, and that was similarly lit up by news agencies seeking a scoop. Apparently, after the initial shock wore off, most news agencies settled into their usual styles - the conservative ones asking if this was the end of days, the liberal ones just reporting on the happenings, with lots and lots of speculation in between it all. You were writing something in your clipboard when Asgore pulled you aside. "Y/N, I still haven't thanked you for taking on this work. I understand it is a very large task, so if you need any help I'll be available for a few hours," he says. It seemed like he just wanted something to do - Toriel had all but kicked him out of the cottage. There was definitely history there, but it seemed like the wrong time to ask. "Well, the biggest thing for me is magic. You see, as far as I'm aware, humans don't have any magic - and people get scared of things they don't understand. Is it possible for me to get a demonstration of everyone's abilities, so I can answer questions should they come up?" you inquire. Truthfully, you were also super super curious - magic was, until a week ago, a fairy tale tool - but it would also help with your ambassadorial duties. "Of course. I shall gather several citizens to demonstrate various capabilities to you," Asgore responds, before setting off. You turn back to your clipboard - it's a rough map of the campsite. Undyne and Papyrus had helped earlier with finding a large clearing for a campsite to be set up, and you always liked to organize things. Even back when you were deployed, you had a habit of cleaning the tank and organizing the shells. It wasn't OCD - you were just a neat person.    After 15 minutes, Asgore returns with several monsters. You recognize Sans and Undyne, but there's also a dog-person, a sort of slime thing, and a large.... pink... robot. Immediately, you think legs. "Thank you everyone. Now, our ambassador - Y/N - has requested a basic demonstration of your magic capabilities. I will go first, to show what you should do," Asgore commands, and the other monsters fall in line. Sure enough, he takes position standing several meters away from a large tree. Suddenly, his cape falls away to reveal a full body suit of plate armour glinting in the sunlight. A trident materializes in his right hand, and he stabs at the tree - it splits in two, down the middle. As if this wasn't enough of a display of power, several dozen small flames appear in the air surrounding him, and launch themselves at the tree, setting it on fire. He finalizes with several slashes of his weapon, before it vanishes. He puts his cape back on, and turns around to a very stunned you. "As you have seen, I possess a Trident, as well as fire manipulation," he explains. All you can do is blink, before Undyne takes his place. "CHECK THIS OUT, PUNK! YOU PUNY HUMANS CAN'T DO THIS!" She shouts, before a massive wall of glowing blue spears appear. On cue, they all fly into the ground, then vanish. Several more appear, a few golden - the blue ones fly straight at the tree, but the golden ones suddenly fly around and strike it from behind. The poor plant is mangled, but Undyne decides to put it out of its misery. Another set of spears appear, this time all slamming into the tree, toppling it. "SO Y'SEE, I GOT AWESOME SPEARS!" She shouts, before grabbing the remains of the now very dead tree and... suplexing it. You can't help but guffaw at the sheer ridiculousness of it. "Oh dear. I suppose I'm next!" Says the robot, in a very flamboyant voice. He (you think?) steps up, before materializing several.... Bombs? Really? The bombs, very cartoonish in appearance, fly around a bit, before slamming into the tree's charred corpse and exploding. A few more appear, before exploding mid-air. Some weird calculator robots appear as well, carrying bombs - they fly about, before exploding near the poor plant. "You see, I do bombs. But I prefer the spotlight to fighting, it's much more glamorous~! By the way, my name is Mettaton, dear - you'll be hearing more of me!" Mettaton says, before strutting off to go do... whatever it is he does. The dog steps up. He summons a massive axe, and slams it into the trunk - just rubbing salt on the wound, really - before it vanishes. "I like axes. They're good for moving things," he says, before hearing something in the distance and sprinting off. The light green slime moves up. "I don't really have any powerful magic, but I can make these neat sticky balls that can help hold stuff" it says, voice a bit garbled. Sure enough, a few green slimeballs appear in the air, flying forwards to grab a few branches of the sad tree. They fly up, branches stuck to them. After a few seconds, the balls disappear, and the branches fall to the ground. The slime says "My name is Monya - nice to meet you Y/N", before extending a tentacle out in what you guess is an offer for a handshake. You hesitantly offer your own hand, and are pleasantly surprised that the slime feels more like a water balloon of sorts. Monya turns around, and moves back towards the camp area. After a few seconds, you realize Sans hasn't moved. "Sans, are you gonna...?" You ask. "i don't really want to - my magic's not for showin' off," he says. "But I need to know what everyone's capable of. It's important that I can stay ahead of any issues - I don't want to be blindsided," you insist. "fine. just a quick look," he says, grumbling as he steps up to bat. Asgore steps back a bit. "you should back up a bit," Sans informs, and you oblige. Suddenly, a small bone appears. You wait. A minute passes, and the bone does nothing, it just sits there, floating in the air. Another minute passes, then you hear snoring. He fell asleep. "Sans, are you seriously sleeping right now?" You ask incredulously. The snoring stops, and he looks over. "what? get bonely without me?" he says, punctuating the joke with a wink. "Oh my god, take this seriously!" You say, but it's probably hard to take you seriously when you're about to laugh. "how come? maybe i don't have the stomach for it," he says. Asgore looks disgusted, and just decides to walk off. You, however, cannot contain it - you collapse in laughter. These puns are so bad, it's great. "what's wrong? find me humerus?" Oh god your sides. "c'mon, i can't help it, i gotta tickle that funny bone," Oh god you can't breathe. "hey i'm just ribbing you, ok?" You're now rolling on the floor, tears streaming down your face, laughing your ass off. After a minute, you get enough air. "Oh my god, you're... snrk... bad to the bone!" Immediately, you devolve once again into giggles. This time, Sans follows suit - with a proper belly laugh (somehow), it seems to cheer him up. Even his little summoned bone seems disgusted. When you catch your breath, you feel liberated. "That was great, oh my god," you say. "yeah, been a hot minute since i laughed that well," Sans says. The both of you sit in silence, next to the sad tree. It's peaceful. You can hear the distant sounds of busywork, but right here, right now, you have a bit of time. Unconsciously, your hand somehow meets Sans'. You feel it twitch, then recoil your arm. You look over, he's very pointedly staring at nothing in particular. You awkwardly stand up, scratching the back of your head. "Anyway uh-" "so uh" Oh great, you're interrupting eachother. This is supremely awkward. "Oh, sorry. Anyway I'm gonna head back, I bet Undyne or someone needs help," you say, before making a hasty retreat.   Evidently, most of the tents have already been set up. It's nearing dinnertime, and it seems like several monsters are cooking some food on outdoor grills. After your awkward moment with Sans, you decide to just go to bed. This is all a problem for future you. Climbing into bed, your last thoughts are of your Drill Sergeant. He was rough, as any drill sergeant is, but the last few days of basic training, he shared some stories. One that stuck with you was his story about how he and his squad had rescued a group of civilians from terrorist forces. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. The army could've easily just levelled the building and been done with it, but he risked his life and his squad's lives to do the right thing. He said that a soldier's job is always to fight for those who can't. At some point, you fall asleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It had officially been a week since the monsters had demonstrated their abilities to you - and your awkward moment. You had been very pointedly not acknowledging Sans, and he seemed to be thankful - it looked like this was a problem that nobody was in the mindset to deal with right now. Instead, you distracted yourself with busywork - surveys of the land, talks with Agent Harrelson - Ambassador Harrelson, rather. He'd been appointed as your counterpart, due to his being essentially the first contact. Right now, you were walking along the border - construction crews were clearing trees and bushes, getting ready to build a fence. A checkpoint had been established - thankfully, it seemed like there was only one road in-and-out of what you had nicknamed "Monsterville". You just intended for it to be a temporary name, until someone thought of something better, but Asgore apparently decided this was now the name of the kingdom. Still though, no amount of distraction had been enough to keep you from worrying - the TIF agents were fine and all, but people outside the zone seemed to be getting riled up. In particular, Joey Browne - the guy who'd been carried out of his home during the evacuation - had essentially been turned into the face of anti-monster sentiments. There was nothing you could do, though - you were effectively considered to be a diplomat of the monster kingdom, and as such you were no longer really a citizen of your original country. Turns out, 7 years of active military service meant precious little in the grand scheme of things. Anyway, no point in resenting the past - this was your chance to really change the world for the better. Walking along the border zone, you are interrupted from your thoughts by a few distant pops. Immediately, your heart sinks - you'd been in too many warzones to not recognize the sound of gunfire. Judging by the sound, you reckoned about a kilometer and a half away - in the direction of the checkpoint. Previous engagements forgotten, you take off at a sprint. This could be trouble.     In just over four minutes, you arrived to the scene. There were a group of at least 20 agents, standing around an old red pickup truck - probably the 70s or 80s. It was about a hundred meters on the monster side of the checkpoint, and the front end had moderate damage - it had tried to ram through the wooden barricades. Initially, one of the agents tries to stop you, before another recognizes your face and lets you through. It was bad. The driver - he couldn't have been older than 20 - was very much dead. Several bullets had hit his torso, and one had hit his head. The passenger was in similar condition - you counted 3 gunshot wounds, and he was also dead. Opening the passenger door, you noticed a piece of paper in the passenger's lap. Immediately, you recognized it as a manifesto: The monsters who have invaded our land, you shall be exterminated. The Devil's henchmen, they should not be allowed to live. There are more of us - there are always more of us. You should've stayed underground This wasn't good. You knew there were going to be incidents, but this soon? With a sigh, you investigate the truck's bed. Apart from a strange pile of dust and a few assorted handguns and hunting rifles, there is nothing of real concern. You look over at the checkpoint - a large number of news reporters and such had gathered. They were being held back by the agents, but it seemed like they might try to push through. A few of the men around the truck rushed over to help, and it seemed to calm things down a bit. Suddenly, you hear several sets of feet - looking up, you see Asgore, Undyne, Toriel, and a few of the royal guardsmonsters that you had met before. Before you can tell them to get back - you wanted to avoid giving the media anything - Undyne had looked into the truck bed. "THOSE FUCKERS!!" She screamed suddenly. You didn't understand - sure, they had tried something stupid, but they were stopped by the TIF. No innocents had been hurt, right? Apparently you were wrong. The other monsters gathered around, and a few gasped at the sight of the dust. When you got a chance, you pulled Undyne aside. "What happened? They're just guns," you say, unsure of why they were reacting like someone had been killed. Undyne's eye narrows - you got the sense she was trying to determine whether you were serious or not. "When humans die, their bodies stay intact, right?" She asks suddenly. "Well, yeah... Why?" "When a monster dies, it turns to dust. Our bodies have much less physical matter than human bodies." Oh.... OH. OH. Immediately, you felt sick - you just saw a dead monster. Toriel reached over, and touched the dust pile - before letting out a quiet sob and a nod. These punks had somehow killed a monster. "This is unacceptable," says Asgore. Undyne looks ready to charge the media, but Asgore holds a hand out in front of her. Then, before you can say anything, Asgore approaches the screaming news reporters. He first tries to wait for them to quiet down, but after a minute, it's become clear they won't stop asking questions. "SILENCE!" Asgore shouts, with the full power of his voice. This shuts everyone up - and you were worried. They couldn't see Asgore as a threat - that'd be the end of monsterkind. After a few seconds, and a few quiet murmurs between the reporters, Asgore continues: "For some reason, two humans saw fit to kill a monster. We do not know who the humans are, why they decided to kill an innocent civilian, or who the victim is. But I will NOT tolerate attacks on my people. We just want to live peacefully, and some people are making that very difficult," Asgore says to the reporters. His voice is solid, leaving no room for questions - but you knew that this could very well backfire. Right as the horde of reporters start calling out questions, Asgore turns around and walks back towards you. However, he doesn't stop beside you - he just continues back towards the camp. The others follow him, except for Toriel - she's currently resting a paw on the small pile of dust. After a minute, she heads back too. You stay here to help the agents move the vehicle - no reason to let it sit in plain view.     After you park the truck by some trees just off the road, you head back. Toriel is nowhere to be seen, but Asgore is addressing everyone, with little Frisk by his side. "They will try to provoke us into attacking them - that is what they want. No matter what, we must not fight back," He says. It's clear he's enraged - his nostrils are flaring, and his stance is that of a battle-ready warrier - but he seems to understand that now is not the time for battle. Agent Harrelson pulls you aside. "We did some investigating on the people behind the attack - they're a part of a super-conservative religious sect. It seems they believe the monsters to be the spawn of the devil, and that it is every man's duty to... Well, you know," he explains. "Honestly, we had just become aware of them - we were expecting unrest to occur about two and a half weeks after initial contact. We weren't prepared for this, and on behalf of the TIF, I apologize." "Truthfully, I can't accept your apology - that's up to Asgore. But I'm sure he'll understand that this was a result of a few bad people - not a reflection of humanity on as a whole," you say. It was going to be difficult - Hell, you were ready to go to war, too - but it looked like this situation would be better handled with caution than strength.     Asgore's speech finished, and most of the monsters seemed to accept his words. A few, however, had grumbled - you'd heard a large deer-like monster say "They're just replacing the Barrier with the fence! What a horrible gift!" - but everyone seemed to be overall content with the status quo. "heya," Sans said. You jump with a tiny squeak - he could sneak up real easily on you, and you didn't like things you can't hear. "heard 'bout the shit that went down earlier. just wanna say, sorry you had to go through that," he says. "I didn't even know at first - I thought when monsters died, they were just an empty corpse, like humans," you say. "nah. as undyne said, we turn to dust," he responds. You raise an eyebrow - how did he know what Undyne had said? Immediately, he seems to realize his mistake - his eyelights go out, and his smile tenses up. "Sans. Were you there?" He seems to pause - considering whether to bullshit you, probably - when: "yeah. i heard the commotion, popped nearby. i know a shortcut," he says. "And you didn't tell me because...." You leave the question to him. "i dunno. y'all had it under control, no sense stirrin' the pot if you know what i mean." "I'd really appreciate it if you'd not hide shit from me in the future, Sans," you scold him. "yeah yeah, sorry. bad habit," he replies, and you accept this for now. "Alright, well I'm gonna go home - I need to get something to eat. I've had a hell of an appetite, probably all this running around," you say. "sure" You turn around, and head back to your cottage. You're about 30 steps in when your chest suddenly hurts - a pain that's worse than when you were shredded by shrapnel in the tank - and you collapse. Unable to breath, your vision starts blurring at the edges. You vaguely register Sans shouting, before everything goes dark.     "This won't do at all"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Your mind is foggy - you can barely construct a thought. But as your brain starts to reboot, you realize that something is desperately wrong. You're.... Nowhere. It feels a bit like when Sans teleports you - briefly, you're in a choking absence. A void of sorts. But that only lasts for the tiniest fraction of a second, and you've been here for atleast half a minute. You can't see anything, but somehow, you can 'sense' your body. Not like the normal sense, where your brain knows where your limbs are, but you can kindof see-but-not-see. Not with your eyes, but.... Suddenly, you notice a strange creature. It seems.... incomplete. Like several perfect squares are simply missing from it, yet it seems completely unbothered. It appears black and melted, a pale white head with several cracks. Out of nowhere, it moves - a shifting mass, barely recognizable. A horrible static sound fills your ears, yet you hear nothing - the static is in your mind. After a few seconds, you lose consciousness yet again.     
"Y/n?"
 "Y/n!" "Y/N! WAKE UP!" Your eyes slowly open - you're in the living room of your cottage, on the couch. Several people surround you - Sans, Toriel, Dee, Undyne, Alphys, and Asgore. But that's not what immediately grabs your attention - you see a small, upside-down glowing yellow heart hovering several inches in front of your chest. It's strangely beautiful, despite the many white cracks snaking along its surface. A few red specks appear and disappear throughout the heart, and it seems to grow and shrink in tune with your steadily increasing heartrate. Suddenly, your trance is broken by a gasp - and the heart retreats towards you, before disappearing into your chest. "What the hell?!" You scream, grabbing at your shirt. Frisk - the source of the tiny gasp - is staring at you, hiding mostly behind Toriel. The others are also staring - before Toriel speaks up. "Y/N.... Are you... Alright, my child?" You respond - "I don't know... Last thing I remember is a horrible pain in my chest, before I woke up here. What's going on? What was that heart thing?" "I'm not sure how to explain this...." Toriel pauses, before continuing, "It's your SOUL." Your mouth hangs open - my WHAT?!?! After it's clear that Toriel is not joking, you realize that you had just seen a very intimate part of yourself. "Wait.... Why was it out? Instead of.... in me?" "I am unsure, my child. I understand this news may be shocking, but SOULs are a tangible part of every creature's being, just as their body is. They are..... the center of what makes you, you," she explains. "This is insane," you say quietly, shaking your head. "Y/N, you know.... You were out for a few hours, you worried the heck out of all of us!" Dee suddenly says, pushing past the others, before almost falling ontop of you, in an awkward hug. You can barely feel a slight tremor in her, so you return the weird sitting-hug. After a few seconds, once it's clear that you're alright, most of the spectators leave. Frisk had gone out with Undyne, to "GO TO THE LAKE, PUNKS!", Toriel and Asgore had gone back out to the camp to try and calm everyone down, and you were left with Dee, Sans, and Alphys. The first question on your mind: "How did you know to find me?" Immediately, Sans and Alphys tense up. That's concerning, you think. "Y/N, d-do you re-really not kn-know?" Alphys stutters out. You shake your head in response, growing more worried. "well kiddo, y'see... you, uh... how do i explain this," Sans says, the last part barely loud enough for you to hear. "Y-y-you let out a-a m-ma-massive blast of energy," Alphys interjects. You can only stare - what the hell did that mean? "i'm not sure why this happened, but my best guess would be something happened to your soul when you were exposed to the energy released after the destruction of the barrier," Sans says. You look at Dee for an explanation - "I didn't see or feel anything, but everyone else all jumped up all at once, so..." "yeah, think of it like a shockwave that only monsters can feel. see, our bodies are mostly magic, so we're much more in tune with this sort of stuff," Sans explains. After glancing at the others, it's clear that no, they aren't playing a joke on you. "So... What does this mean exactly?" You ask. Alphys just looks away, and Dee obviously doesn't know. "well honestly, i'm not sure. this is a first-in-history situation - with the barrier broken, the amount of energy released... that could wreak all sorts of havoc on nearby souls. basically, the soul is the conduit through which we direct magic - it's 'you', and it will move magic as 'you'. thing is, most humans' souls are closed - that is, they don't accept magic energy, and they don't release it. it's entirely possible that the energy wave from the barrier overrode your soul, forcing it into an open state. my guess? it'll probably just snap closed again. even if it remains open, it's highly unlikely you'll be able to use any sort of magic," Sans explains. You must look shocked, because Dee chimes in: "But I bet you'll be fine! Just like rebooting a computer after a powerout, yeah?" You aren't entirely convinced - this seems a lot more serious than a laptop with power issues - but it won't do you any good to dwell on things. "So.... what happens if I am somehow able to 'use' magic? How would we even know?" "well, and again this is outside of my field of expertise, but... if you develop the ability to manipulate magic, we'd know. it's a bit like a glow - certainly not visible to humans, far as i know, but because our bodies have much higher concentrations of magic, we are much more in-tune to these sorts of things. right now you look mostly normal, but if you were to somehow 'activate' your powers, you'd also have that sort of glow. it's also entirely possible that you'd be able to perceive the 'glow' of monsters, but again there haven't been mages for hundreds of years. well, technically.... nah, nevermind," Sans seems nervous. After a few seconds, he continues - "fuck, i should probably tell you. frisk is a mage - probably a result of their determination interacting with the extreme magic that they would've been exposed to, as they passed through the barrier" Frisk is a mage??  "Wait... Frisk? What can they do?" you ask, surprised. But instead of an answer, Sans just seems to clam up - it's clearly a touchy subject, you realize. "Sorry, didn't realize.... Anyway. This is... a lot to take in," you say, pinching your nose. Suddenly, Dee jumps up again, and plops down beside you. "Y/N, I just know it'll be alright - after all, you have me and all our new friends to take care of you!" She says. Somehow, she just had a way of breaking through your defenses. You devolve into tears, hugging your best friend. At some point, Alphys leaves, and you think you feel Sans vanish too. After a few minutes, the two of you go to your room. You collapse to your bed, and Dee crawls in with you - you'd had sleepovers in the past, and you slept together. Never in a sexual way, you just had that special kind of friendship. Your last thoughts are of your grandpa - he'd passed away when you were 22, and you joined the army barely a week after his funeral. He was always a peaceful man - one of those people who was happy to just exist. The sort of person who always brought cookies to the homeless shelter, who would give you the clothes on his back if you were in need. He was happy to just... be.        You can see hands, white as snow with strangely perfect holes in the middle of them. There are dozens, if not hundreds - they all move, changing shape. you vaguely recognize the sign language before- "NYEH HEH HEH! I HAVE MADE BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI!" Shouts papyrus from the kitchen. Somehow, even through the walls and doors, his voice managed to rattle -snrk- your bones. That was a weird dream, you think. Probably just some nonsense your brain is making to try and cope with the vast amounts of information you'd been given over the past day. You feel Dee stirring beside you - the sun was cracking through the curtains on your window, shining a thin line of light on the far wall. "Ugghhhh, can it be night still?" Dee grumbles into a pillow beside you. With a groan, you sit up - you still feel weak after the.... magicsplosion. Yeah, that's what you'll call it. After a few minutes, you finally manage to drag yourself (and Dee) out of bed. You grab some comfortable-looking clothes, and head for the shower, while Dee goes immediately towards the kitchen. The hot water feels like pure mana, running over your exhausted body. It's rejuvenating almost - you always loved steaming-hot water showers, the kind that left your skin red after. You feel your abdomen scars - they've definitely aged, but they'll be there for the rest of your life. Showers were always your quiet time - where you thought about everything and nothing at the same time. Naturally, you let your mind wander - the prospect of magic powers was fascinating, but worrying at the same time. It was clear that the monsters were concerned too - they obviously had less-than-stellar interactions with mages in the past, and you didn't want this to negatively impact your relationships with your friends. But then again, maybe it would be good? You were a soldier, you still had that strategic mindset drilled into your very being. You were never overly courageous, but you had a knack for planning. You were technically a squad leader, before an incident involving... unwanted advances from a superior officer resulted in you being demoted and transferred to the Armoured Corps. Despite that though, you still had the mind for it - and if you really did have magical abilities, it could be hugely beneficial. Not just in battle, but in diplomacy - to show that monsterkind isn't just not a threat, but that they can have a positive impact on human society. But the biggest concern you had was the anti-monster sentiments that were growing, just down the road at Ebott. The town had quickly grown into a major hub - from all over the world, news agencies had reporters camped out in motels. It got so crowded that some of the smaller media groups had literally just pitched a few tents in the city's parks. Apparently it wasn't just the news teams though - from all walks of life, curious people and angry protesters were setting up shop. The local businesses must love it - there hadn't been this many travelers since a gold rush some hundred-odd years ago. One of the supermarkets rented out its parking lot to motorhomes, while the state police had to send in extra sheriffs to help keep the peace. Generally, the outsiders were pretty respectful. They'd show up at the checkpoint, be told that no, we're not accepting visitors at this time, then they'd leave. A few had tried to sneak in, but the TIF agents were vigilant about that sort of thing after the truck attack. Apparently someone tried to fly a drone in - no hostile intentions, just wanted to get a few pictures. It was shot down by a nervous agent, and the Territorial Air Administration established a no-fly zone. Realistically, things were going far better than they had any right to - a lot of online chatter was more just innocent curiosity than anything else, and most people seemed to be just curious onlookers. Still, you were worried - there was no way in hell things would stay this peaceful, right? It was just a matter of time before someone did something stupid, and tensions flared. The shower water started running cold, which signaled the end of your quiet time. You finish up, turn off the shower, get dressed, and head out. You're greeted by Agent Harrelson, speaking to Asgore at the dining table. On the table is a small pile of little gold coins. You had seen them before, the monsters used them as currency, but this seemed different. "Ah, hello Y/N! We are currently discussing currency. Would you care to take my spot? I'd like to make some tea," Asgore says, standing up and presenting his seat before you respond. "Alright. Well anyways, here's the thing - we want monsters to start using our currency. It'll promote trade, and will ease things when the borders open up," the agent explains. "To that end, I have arranged a proposition, from the Central Economic Bureau. We will purchase your gold coins. We will melt the gold down, and add it to the national reserve. And the kingdom of monsters will receive seventy-five cents on the dollar, for the coins' weight in gold." You think over the possibilities - having standard currency would be extremely helpful. You could purchase building supplies, and heavy equipment - the kind of stuff that a modern nation requires to exist. However, 75%.... It seemed like you may be able to push there. "This sounds like a good arrangement, but I'm afraid we'll need to push towards ninety cents on the dollar. We don't want to be taken advantage of," you explain. This was a battle like any other - except instead of guns and missiles, this battle would be fought with words and stoicism. "I see.... I'm authorized to go to eighty-five cents on the dollar. Honestly, I'm impressed - it seems like you were a good choice for this position," Agent Harrelson compliments. "Thank you. I'll speak to Asgore, but I am willing to accept these terms. We will first trade ten percent of the gold, and if that goes well, we will trade the rest," you say. "Of course," the agent stands, and heads outside. You head to Asgore, and explain. "Basically, it would be beneficial for us to be using their currency. It'll make purchasing supplies easier, such as concrete and the sort of equipment we'll need to properly build a permanent settlement. We'll receive eighty-five percent of the value of the gold, in weight. Do you know how much gold is currently in circulation?" "I am unsure, but it should be possible to get a rough number. Are you sure about this, Y/N?" Asgore responds, and you nod. "One of the biggest limiting factors in international trade is currency - Russia doesn't accept the dollar, Britain doesn't accept the ruble, France doesn't accept the yen, so on. But all countries that use the dollar, they and their citizens can trade between eachother far easier," you explain. You had started taking an economics class in high school, but it didn't really fit you. Still, the lessons stuck, and clearly they were helping now. "I understand. Your tea is ready, by the way," Asgore says, gesturing to the counter. You grab one of the mugs - your grandpa loved to collect these old silly mugs. This one had a whole bunch of little fish swimming on it. You take a sip, and it tastes REALLY good. "Wow, what flower is this?" You ask, before taking another sip followed by "hmm!" of contentment. "Goldenrod - it is my favourite sort of tea," Asgore says. Something in his voice sounds sad, melancholic almost. "Thank you, it's delicious," you say. You move to your temporary desk - a laptop on a nightstand, in front of the armchair - and get to work. You would have to calculate the value of the gold to be traded, to make sure you weren't being cheated. You open the spreadsheet program, and start making a basic template.     After a few hours, and a few more delicious cups of tea, someone knocks on the door. Asgore answers, and Mettaton is standing there. "Ugh! I don't know why you wanted me to do such menial work. But here you go, I wrote down the number," the robotic voice grumbles. What a diva. "yeah, i don't like the calculator either," Sans says beside you. You let out a yelp - he really needed to stop appearing like that - when you realize what he said. You cover your mouth. "Did... I say that out loud?" You ask, voice muffled by your hand. Obviously Sans finds this hilarious, and just bursts out laughing - while Asgore shoo's Mettaton away. "He may be... Entitled, but his arm can also register weight with excellent accuracy," Asgore says, placing a small piece of paper down in front of you. "ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE THOUSAND?!" you scream out. There were 129,826 gold coins in monsterville. Even before you did the math, you knew that was a massive amount. "Yes, we discovered some gold in the underground and used it to make currency, early in our banishment," Asgore says. Sans just whistles, obviously the number impressed him too. You plug in the numbers, and sure enough, you had a bit over 260 million dollars worth of gold, in weight. 90% of that is roughly 234 million, and then ten percent of THAT would be 23 million and change. After confirming everything with Asgore, it seemed like the monsters were going to do a bond type program. The royal treasury, which accounted for about 17% of the total economy, would take on the first 10% shipment. Then, once Asgore had the human currency, he would implement a trade-in system where monsters would trade in their gold for five percent value in human money, with promissory notes for the rest. Then, once the vast majority of the gold was traded, Asgore would exchange the notes for the remaining value. It was a fairly standard currency-exchange program, but it seemed to impress Asgore and the others nonetheless. All that was left now, was to wait for Agent Harrelson to return, ready for the first trade.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
 The obnoxious alarm startles you awake. You'd finally gotten it after a week of sleeping in too long - and the first time it woke you up, you damn near had a heart attack. But, it got you out of bed - and that was what mattered. Used to be you'd have a Drill Sergeant to get you up - not anymore. With a grumble, you shut off the alarm and get ready for the day. Today marked the 62nd day since your initial encounter, and according to the rest of the world, the 60th day since monsters first came to the surface. There hadn't been any major problems - at one point, there was a small protest, but it was peaceful - and now, with the fence up, you could relax a bit. Rubbing your still tired eyes, you head out to the kitchen. It'd been a couple weeks since the monsters had moved out of your cottage - the sudden cash influx had allowed you all to buy enough building supplies to build a couple modest cabins. Dee still lived with you - she'd taken one of the other bedrooms. She was out right now though - she worked as an assistant at Toriel's school. Well really, more of just a 'learning spot' in the woods - the schoolhouse was under construction. Thankfully, the monsters seemed quite adept at physical labour - Asgore could lug around an entire tree, and most of the other so-called 'boss' monsters were not far behind in terms of sheer brute force. In a couple days, the checkpoint would officially open. It was basically a meet and greet - the idea was to get regular people to interact with monsters face to face. You'd stepped down from the ambassadorship - it was extremely stressful, and you always preferred simpler work. You liked your enemies to be obvious and in front of you, and you'd learned quickly that diplomacy was anything but straightforward. Still, you helped Asgore and the others with various things - you'd put Mettaton in touch with some local news agency that seemed desperate for an interview. He seemed to love the spotlight, and while you weren't a huge fan of him personally, it certainly helped paint a better view of monsterkind. Other than that, though, it was a quiet retirement in grandpa's cottage for you.     By 11AM, you were enjoying some dull cooking shows on TV. It was mindnumbing, but you enjoyed the opportunity to shut down your brain and not have to think for a bit. The contestants were just finishing up their projects - it seemed like they had to use some obscure sort of fish in this challenge - when you were awakened from your mind-rot by the front door opening. Sure enough, it was Dee - who immediately dropped her bags and, before you could stand up, gave you a Dee-patented hug. "We had the best day today! It's an amazing experience, learning about magic - and the kids really seem to enjoy hearing my perspective on it all," she said. Dee had seemed to take a real interest in magic - it made sense, since, yknow, freakin' magic man!, but she was almost obsessive. Still, it was part of her charm - she had this way about her. "S'good that things are going well," you say, as the Dee-Hug (trademark pending?) ends. She looked giddy almost - like a child in a candy aisle. "They're going great! I gotta head out again, but you're not allowed to be lonely so I had to drop by during lunch," she said. Dee was your anchor in the world right now - no matter what was going on, she was able to take your mind to a happy, simple, smiley and hug-filled place. "Thanks, I love you," you say. "Love you too, Y/N!" Dee says, before turning around to grab some snacks and head back out with her bags. The two of you were like sisters, and you had no idea where you'd be right now if not for her. Returning to your comfortable couch, you just barely sit down when you hear a sound that cuts right to your soul. A shrill scream - eerily similar to when Dee had first found a giant goat monster in your cottage. Immediately, your mind returns to your training - you jump up, bowl of cereal smashing into the coffee table with an audible shatter. You run to your room - you always had a handgun stashed under your bed. Reaching under your mattress, you feel the handle. You pull out the gun - a Colt M1911A1. It was your great-uncle's - he'd served in the Marines during the Korean War, and back then you were allowed to bring your service handgun home - and you load it with a magazine from your nightstand, before stuffing the other magazine in your pocket. Running back out towards the front door, you grab the handle- 
POP POP POP
 Gunshots. High caliber, not some small handgun. You pull the slide back, and let it carry itself forwards. You'd done these movements hundreds, if not thousands, of times - but never when your life was at risk. The army nowadays didn't really use handguns - they were seen as archaic, and only a last resort. You pull the door open, swinging it so hard it smashes into the inside wall and tears off of its hinge. Immediately, you take stock of the situation - Dee was lying down a scant twenty feet from you, collapsed in a pile. Your heart was pounding in your ears, blood pressure probably reaching the thousands. You spot the perpetrators - two of them, they were standing on the other side of the road, near several trees. You lift the gun up, and place your finger on the trigger - that's what I want to destroy, you subconsciously thought - and fire three rounds. Obviously, at least one of your bullets hit its mark - evidenced by one of the gunmen collapsing. The other panics - dropping his rifle, he bolts. Seeing red, you continue firing - BANG. BANG. BANG. You hold a second - slowly, you walk forwards. You knew that nobody was dead until you had a body, so you kept your handgun trained on where the second gunman was. The first man groans - you know that sound. He's dying. Good, you think. Continuing your advance, you spot the second gunman - he's hiding (not very well) behind a tree. Judging by his leg sticking out, and how he's gripping onto his shin, you reckon you hit him. "hey! y/n!" You hear Sans shout out, from back towards Dee. You snap out of your rage - to see Sans crouched right beside Dee's crumpled body. His hands are pressed against her lower torso, and you can see blood creeping out from between his bony fingers. Your heart rate increases further. You don't even think - you drop the first magazine out of your handgun, and load the second. 7+1 rounds - a full magazine, plus one in the chamber. Your brain turns off at this point - you're back in the desert, the deployment before the jungle. You proceed forwards - towards the tree, with the wounded man - wounded enemy combatant - groaning. You pass the first gunman - judging by the amount of blood, and how his skin is already getting pale, your job with him is complete. You approach the tree, swinging wide - until you're 8 feet from the enemy combatant. You lower the gun - to his torso. You aren't even thinking - it's like you're on autopilot. Somewhere, in some tiny secluded part of your mind, you know this is wrong - but that voice is small, while the rage is massive. BANG. The left shoulder.BANG. The liver, most likely.BANG. A wheezing sound confirms the right lung.BANG. The gut.BANG. The neck.BANG. The gut, again. You pause for a second, before approaching the man. He's barely conscious - he likely only has a minute of life left.  A minute too long. BANG. Right in the forehead. He slumps, probably dead within seconds. You walk to the first gunman, who is now silent and still. BANG. In the right temple. Not going to take any chance. You hold the gun in that position for several seconds. It's empty - the slide is locked back, and you always counted rounds - it was a skill drilled into you, after all. Suddenly, your brain turns back on - you remember. Nothing else matters right now - you drop your weapon, and sprint towards Dee and Sans. Sans steps back, and you knew immediately that.... things weren't good. Dee had been hit 2 times in the lower abdomen, and once in the upper - it might've hit her heart. Your eyes start to hurt - tears forming. Dee is still conscious - barely breathing, her brown eyes lock with yours. She looks terrified - you'd known that look. You had seen it on dying soldiers before - but even when your friend had gotten nailed by fragmentation from a grenade, you'd only known him for 2 years at that point. This was different - Dee was the closest you had to a sibling. You can't help it - tears start rolling down your cheeks. You close your eyes, and press your forehead against Dee's - it's clammy, sweaty. "ah, hell! c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!!!" Sans shouts, but you don't hear. Your entire world is here - just you, and your dying best friend. Her breathing starts to become shallower - you faintly hear a gurgling sound. After a few minutes, Dee's entire body relaxes. You open your eyes - her face is relaxed. You shake her head - she's just sleeping, right? "No!" you shout, between hiccups. "No! NO! NO! NO! NO!" You scream, each time more desperate than the last. She can't die - you were the soldier, you were meant to die, but Dee? She was perfect, she was everything right with the world. She wasn't just your sister, she was a part of you. She made you whole, she was the reason you were still alive, still fighting. "NO! No! No......" You keep saying, but the tears weaken your voice. You stop shaking, and just hold on. You hug your best friend. There's no movement. It feels like a hundred years passes. You feel a gentle paw placed onto your shoulder. You think you hear someone talking, but your brain doesn't comprehend it. You're too busy, receiving a Dee Hug. You're straight up crying at this point, wailing. The universe had taken away the one thing you had - your best friend. "My child...." After what must be a half hour, your body aches from the effort. Slowly, you begin to quiet down - and after a few more minutes, you get off of your best friend. Your dead best friend. Dee. Toriel helps you to your feet, but you can barely even acknowledge her presence - nothing mattered anymore. At some point, you go inside. At some point, you fall onto your bed. Toriel sits with you the entire time. Your tears dry up, but you're still crying inside. You can't think about anything, you just.... exist. At some point, you fall asleep, hugging Dee's pillow after Sans had brought it to you.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sans knew immediately that something was wrong. Everyone had heard the distant pops - and after the truck incident a little over a month ago, everyone knew exactly what those sounds were. Sans reaches into the void, before appearing on Y/N's porch. The scene before him was eerie - Dee, the small human, was lying on the dirt. The bigger one was.... Sans knew exactly what was going on. Those rhythmic movements - Y/N had been all but consumed by rage. She likely wasn't even thinking right now, just going forwards. She fired a gun - a small handgun, not like the longer guns the agent guys had. Suddenly, he notices the small human twitch - she was alive! He teleported over, not even wasting time with running. But when he moved her body, his soul fell. Dee was fading - her soul, a brilliant green, was dimming. Even now, even without seeing her soul, he knew. She was probably a few minutes from death, when her soul would shatter. He didn't know much about humans, but he knew that one had to keep the red stuff inside them. He pressed his hands against her wounds, but it didn't help much - the liquid just flowed around his fingers. "hey!" He shouts the larger human's name. She turns around - and after looking at him for a few seconds, she turns back towards the road. He just focused on trying to keep the pressure up - maybe it would slow the liquid, buy Dee a few precious minutes? He's interrupted by one... two, three, four, five, six, seven - seven gunshots, with 2 second pauses in between. Then, the big human turned back - after firing one last bullet at the other gunman, she dropped the handgun and sprinted towards him. Sans got up and stepped back - he knew just how lethal humans could be, and this human was clearly mentally broken right now. But instead of charging him, like Frisk had done in so many timelines, Y/N just collapsed on top of Dee. He knew this feeling all too well - so many times, he stood over Pap's scarf, his dust mixing with the snow. He understood the rage too - he knew all too well what losing everything could bring out in someone. He'd annihilated Frisk many times, in darker timelines. The big human let out a wail - an ugly sound, like a wild animal being mortally wounded. Sans felt the smaller human's presence vanish - and somehow, he felt Y/N's presence double. Then quadruple. After just a minute, he could almost see energy radiating away from the big human, but this time, it stopped growing. There was nothing Sans could do - he wasn't exactly great conversation material, despite his vast and thorough knowledge of puns used to torment his awesome brother. But thankfully, several others came sprinting up the path - tori, asgore, undyne, and alphys - who was being carried by undyne - were kicking dust as they approached. Sans also heard the sound of an engine - cars still freaked him out a bit. He knew they existed - he'd found some old movies in waterfall, about 'street racers' - but to actually be near them, it still rattled his bones. Suddenly, Sans saw Toriel stop - she saw what had happened. Asgore also saw, and turned towards the big black SUV coming up towards them. After a few words with Undyne, the fish followed him, still carrying Dr. Alphys. That agent prick got out of the SUV, and several other of his henchmen jumped out as well. They all ran towards the bodies, while one accompanied the agent prick as he spoke to Asgore. The king was clearly pissed - Sans could feel his magic bubbling just beneath the surface. Undyne was also unhappy - for a few moments, Sans thought she may start throwing spears at the men. After a few minutes, Toriel approached the human. Sans knew she was the best - she had the aura of a mother, always soothing and caring. He couldn't do much here - lord knows he had enough of his own shit to take on someone else's right now.     After a couple hours, spent mostly eavesdropping on the agent prick, Sans teleported back to the cottage. He heard crying from the human's bedroom - Toriel was there, too, her soothing voice muffled by the walls. He went into Dee's room and grabbed a pillow from her bed - it wasn't much, but it'd help a bit. He went into Y/N's room with a gentle knock, and handed the pillow to Toriel before vanishing again. He didn't like seeing her in pain - it pissed him off. As he was just about to teleport, he saw Undyne come in through the front door.... well, the doorway. The door itself was resting on the ground - it seemed like Y/N had ripped it open so hard that it tore the hinges off. Immediately, Sans saw the fury surrounding Undyne - she was fairly good at controlling her aura, despite her... active personality, but he didn't even have to see her to feel the anger radiating from the fish like heat from a fire. "hey undyne. y'hear anything?" "Those humans.... They cut a hole through the fence, and snuck in. They each had written notes, talking about how they were 'sacrificing' themselves for humanity or whatthefuckever... Asgore won't let me at that agent fuckhead," Undyne said, voice dangerously quiet. "fucks sakes. i get why we gotta play nice, but i'm not a fan of sittin on my ass and doing nothing," Sans said. His laziness had killed his brother countless times. "He's still the king. Doesn't mean I don't want to punch him on occasion, but at the end of the day I need to follow his orders, even if I disagree with them personally." "yeah, whatever," Sans said, before teleporting. He'd find the hole in the fence - it was likely these humans had more on the outside, and he'd be ready to grab them when they made another attempt.    When he finally found the hole, it was too late - agent prick's goons had swarmed the area, and they seemed to be in no mood for chitchat. Swearing to himself, he reached into the void and teleported back. He'd figure out some way to find the fucks responsible for this, even if he had to do it himself.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The next week is a blur.  The first two days, you don't leave the bed, except to go to the bathroom. Toriel dedicates herself to you, bringing food and such, but you don't eat. You just don't care anymore - what reason did you have, after losing the one person who made your life complete? By day three, your stomach hurt enough to force your hand. At this point, you were fine with just wasting away, but the pain was unpleasant. You ate just enough to calm your guts, then went back to your bed. On day 5, Frisk came by - you really didn't want to talk, but they all but forced it on you. You thought about just shooing the child away, but you opted not to. You only get a few words in before breaking down - Frisk was a gentle child, just like Dee is. Was. That was the hardest part, changing the "is" to "was". You still thought in current tense - and whenever you thought otherwise, you would just break down. On day 7, you finally dragged yourself out of bed on your own terms. Toriel seemed to be willing to let you work at your own pace, and you appreciated that - you had zero interest in speaking to anyone right now. You shuffled to the closet, and grabbed some new pajamas. Even in your current state, the level of grime building up between your toes and such was enough to get you moving. You sat down in the bath - Dee loved baths. You usually showered, but you just weren't feeling it today. It was a little over an hour before you got out - your skin wrinkly from the water, red from the heat - and slowly made your way to the living room. Toriel was working in the kitchen, but Sans and Undyne were watching TV. Well, Undyne was watching - Sans was snoring. Alphys was outside, talking on some weird blocky phone - it looked a bit like those old sat-phones, or a radio handset you used in the army. You pressed on, to the kitchen. "Hello my child, would you perhaps like something to eat?" You nod. Your voice is still unreliable right now - any second, you could choke up and break down again, so you were currently avoiding words whenever possible. "Alright. I have some butterscotch cinnamon pie made for you, my child," Toriel says, handing you a plate of somehow still-warm pie. You grab a spoon, and made your way to the dining table. You're about halfway through the delicious pie - you vaguely recall Toriel mentioning at some point that monster food is infused with magic - when a gentle knock grabs your attention. Agent Harrelson is standing in the front doorway - the door was ruined, and Sans had ordered another one for tomorrow - with a folder bulging with papers. "Hello, Y/N," he says, entering. Immediately, everyone else seems to be on high alert - Toriel has stepped out of the kitchen, Sans is now wide awake, and Undyne's eye is dangerously narrow. Ignoring the hostility, he continues - "I'd just like to say I'm sorry for your loss. I can only imagine what you're going through right now," At that part, you let out a small sound - not really a 'cry', but.. "I've been helping Asgore and some of the others to arrange a funeral service. On behalf of the Territorial Integrity Force, I'd like to posthumously award Dee Kamato the Medal of Honour." Your eyes widen. The Medal of Honour was the highest award in the country, and indeed one of the highest awards on the entire planet. It wasn't just for doing something exceptional - it was for doing something that saved lives, with no regard for your own, while acting completely in the interest of defending others. People had held off dozens of enemy soldiers only to be denied the medal, because their actions had 'self preservation' in mind. There were only a few living recipients of the medal - most of the medals went to people who died in service. It was unheard of for a civilian to receive the medal. "I.... I'd like that," you manage to say, before you feel the tears coming. "It'd be my honour to present the award. The service will likely be in the next few days, and I'm sure it would be good for you to attend," Agent Harrelson says, before turning around and leaving. Immediately, the tension in the air is lifted - within a minute, Sans is snoring again. Undyne returns to her television, while Toriel goes back and continues with her latest project in the kitchen. You finish up the pie, before heading back to your room. You sit down on the bed. It felt like your heart was being torn out - there was this horrible knot in your gut, not unlike the nervous feeling you would get before final exams, or after a job interview. You feel the emotions coming up, and you can't help it - you let out a scream. A scream of rage, of hurt, of every other feeling you'd been experiencing the past week. Suddenly, the room lights up with a brilliant yellow glow - your soul presents itself, upside down, in front of you. Suddenly, the dresser explodes - wood splinters fly everywhere, and clothes fall to the ground. You feel... different. Like your eyes had just opened. But mostly? You feel exhausted. Your vision darkens, blurring around the edges, before you pass out.       You awaken to Sans and Toriel looking over you. You're in your bed - and you immediately notice something.... off about the monsters. Toriel is almost shrouded in a slight white glow - it ebbs and flows, a bit like how heat distorts the air. Sans' shroud is a lot stronger, flakes of blue and yellow appearing and vanishing around him. Your head starts hurting - you can 'feel' others nearby, like Undyne. Somehow you know Undyne is standing just outside of your room. "Goodness my child..." Toriel says. A green tinge briefly tints her weird energy cloud thing. "this is... a thing," Sans says. His... energy cloud? has lost the yellow and blue flakes, but it's still intense - and almost static-y, like there's a bit of a filter hiding it. "Well, Sans, please let me know if you require my help," Toriel says, before leaving the room. You feel Undyne walk away with her, and you're left alone with Sans. "so, uh.... remember that thing i said about magic?" He says. 
Oh.
 "yeah, uh.... i dunno if you can see my aura, but..." You nod. Sans' eyelights tighten a bit - "i see. so yeah, that happened. well, first off, i guess i'm gonna help you control your magic. i'm probably not the best for it, but the others are busy, so s'down to funny bones," he says. You take a moment to process the pun, then you break out in giggles - it'd been too long since you last smiled. Your facial muscles feel confused, like they had just been woken up from a long nap. Sans seems to lighten a bit at your acceptance of his humour. "hey, humour is the best medicine. anyway, we're pretty much in uncharted territory, but i've always had a knack for aura manipulation. i read somewhere that most human magic is pretty aura-oriented, so maybe i can help," he says. "Yeah.... It's really weird. I can see this... sort of energy field around you and the others, a bit like a cloud. And I could feel Undyne, despite her not being in the room. I knew she was there," you say. "yeah, that's how we monsters see things. i talked a bit about this with you a couple months ago, but basically, your soul is sortof like the conduit through which magic flows. it's something of a weak point - your soul knows what you want, so intentions are huge with magic. like if i throw an attack at ya, if i wanted to actually do any real damage, i'd have to genuinely and completely want you dead. if i don't, the attack will not have much of an effect, or it may just not work in the first place," Sans explains. "it also means it's something of a bottleneck - when your soul is upside down, that means its open - magic will flow into it, and it will direct the magic outwards. but all magic has gotta flow through the soul - there are stories of human mages capable of manipulating magic outside of their own souls, but even amongst them it was considered an extremely rare and potent form of magic. the big difference is the human soul is much stronger than the monster soul - it's just how the souls are built. i'm a bit of a special case, but most monsters can move only a very limited amount of magic. even a novice mage can probably match the power of a couple dozen average monsters, in just output. but the difference is, we monsters are much more attuned to magic - human bodies contain less than a fraction of a percent of it, but my body is probably about 60% magic. so for me, it's simple to manipulate - like moving my finger. but for a human, according to the historybooks, it's an extremely difficult and mentally exhausting process, one that disqualifies most mages from anything but the simplest and most mundane of magic." "anyway, s'like, nearly midnight - we can work on this tomorrow. you should get some sleep, you'll need it." Sans doesn't even give you a chance to respond. He vanishes, his aura lingering for a moment before dissipating. It was weird - when he teleported, his aura became very... for lack of a better term, noisy. It was distorted, like a corrupt image file. You felt completely overwhelmed, but there was nothing you could do right now. You resigned yourself to your fate, and fell asleep.   Your last thoughts are of one of your sleepovers with Dee - you were 15 and she was 14, and it was the first time that both of your parents had allowed you two to have an unsupervised sleepover. You spent most of the night playing video games - grandpa's cottage was well equipped with games to entertain you. It was so simple back then - no worries, just fun and happiness.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"UGHHHHH!" You groan. This was the third day of your magic training - and it wasn't going well. You hadn't even been able to release your soul since the dresser incident. Still, it was a helpful distraction - when you were meditating or focusing on magic, you weren't thinking about the vast empty space that Dee once filled. Still, it was hard - you were at least functioning now, but you still cried yourself to sleep at night. "hey, it's fine. like i said, it'll take time - apparently, way back when, mages would start learning as soon as they could walk," Sans reassures. He'd been helping you, for some reason. You weren't sure why - you got the distinct impression he wasn't terribly fond of humans in general. It was nearing sunset, so you decided this was enough for one day. Sans offers to teleport you home, but you refuse - a walk might be good for you. Just before your cottage comes into view, you see Papyrus leaning against a tree on the side of the path. "Hello human," he says, voice significantly quieter than his usual boisterous self. "Hey Papyrus, is everything alright?" You ask, admittedly a bit worried about his change in attitude. "I am alright, thank you human. I just wanted to talk to you about my brother, Sans," Papyrus says. It was odd - you hadn't really heard him talk at a level below shouting. Regardless, he continues. "For a couple years, he struggled. At first I thought he just needed to be left alone, but he developed serious depression. Before I knew it, he had shut me out - always saying that nothing matters, it'll all be reset anyways. I genuinely thought he would do something.... permanent. But when he met you, he seemed to once again have a reason to live. He's active, and his soul is much brighter, now that he has met you. He gets out of bed, with a purpose - and all that I ask is that you do not hurt my brother. I worry for him constantly, and I do not know if my soul could withstand....." Papyrus trails off. You understand completely - It seemed like Papyrus and Sans had a similar relationship to you and Dee. It's all you can do not to cry - you give the large skeleton a hug. He seems surprised at first, but after a moment, he returns the favour. Suddenly, he pulls back. "NYEH HEH HEH! I AM GLAD MY BROTHER HAS SUCH AN AMAZING FRIEND!" He says, just as energetically as before. "Thanks Papyrus. He has a pretty awesome brother, too," You say, and you mean it. Papyrus' eyes sparkle - somehow - at the unexpected compliment, before striking one of his awesome poses. The two of you walk back to the cottage together. Toriel is cooking dinner - Frisk and Alphys are watching some old VHS anime on the TV. Papyrus says his goodbyes, before heading out. "Hey, Tori, I'm gonna take an early one," You say, yawning. Today had been particularly exhausting, and you were about ready to fall asleep. "Of course, my child. If you get hungry in the night, I will leave some leftovers for you in the fridge," Toriel says, as motherly as ever. You nod, then go to your room. The bed felt extra comfortable tonight, and you fall asleep clutching Dee's pillow.   The next few days would be the same, too - Papyrus was often around, and at some point he demonstrated blue magic. It was a weird feeling, like you were anchored to the ground. Before you knew it, 2 weeks had passed, and the funeral service was upon you. "Let me just begin by saying that we live at a historical crossroads. Everything that everyone does matters, and it is important that we strive towards peace, rather than conflict, in our interactions with monsterkind." There were a lot of attendees at the funeral. Nearly every monster was present, as well as a fair few military members. The monsters all wore black - apparently someone had found out that black clothes were funeral clothes, and Muffet had been tailoring nonstop ever since. The servicemen and women were wearing their dress service uniforms. It warmed your soul to know that, though Dee was gone, she would never be forgotten. The man speaking was a Lieutenant Colonel - apparently he was the highest ranking member of your former military who was willing to perform the service. "We gather here today, to lay to rest a shining example of human integrity and kindness. Dee Kamato was who we should all strive to be - kind, caring, and above all, open-minded. She did not care about the appearance of monsters - she was ready to help anyone, no matter how they looked. She was caught in a situation which should not have occurred - Bad actors sought to end the lives of monsters, but instead, they took away one of the world's greatest humans. Dee fought for what she believed in, to the very end - and in that, I will be posthumously awarding Dee Kamato the Medal of Honour." You felt the familiar pressure of tears entering your eyes. Somebody gestured for you, and you started making your way towards the front. The soldiers all stand at ready. You approach the Lt. Col., who is now holding a small wooden box. In the corner of your eye, you see several officers salute, as the man before you presents the box. It has a glass cover, revealing the small medal. It's a dull gold five-pointed star, surrounded by a laurel-green wreath and suspended on a gold bar engraved with the word "VALOR". You can't make out much more - your eyes start to swim with tears. The Lt. Col. salutes you, and you weakly turn back. The coffin - a brilliant mahogany piece, it must have cost tens of thousands of dollars - is resting on the lift, the flag of your country placed on top of it. Then, the ceremony begins: "DETAIL! ATTENNNN..... HUT!" The soldiers stand at attention. You almost stumble. "PRESENT..... ARMS!" The soldiers slowly raise their rifles to the front of their bodies. You let out a quiet gasp, as the coffin begins descending into the ground. "READY!" The soldiers aim their rifles at the sky, over the coffin. You feel tears streaming down your cheeks. "FIRE!" The soldiers fire their guns. "READY!" The soldiers rack their guns, pulling the charging handles in unison. "FIRE!" Bang. "READY!" Click-click. "FIRE!" Bang. "PRESENT..... ARMS!" The soldiers return their guns to the front of their bodies. You can't help it - you let out a small sob as the coffin disappears under the grass, Taps being played by an officer with a bugle. Toriel comes up and guides you back towards your seat. Everyone is quiet - a few monsters are quietly crying, and even the newsreporters who had somehow managed to get access were respectfully silent. You sit back down, with Toriel on your left and Frisk on your right. You're clutching the wooden box so hard that your knuckles are turning white, but you don't care.     After the service, the mood is too dreary for most of the news reporters to stick around. Everyone gives you their condolences, but honestly, you just want to go home and back to sleep. At some point, you're approached by Frisk - their eyes are swollen and red. Toriel initially didn't want Frisk to come, but they insisted - and that child was determined, if nothing else. You noticed a slight red tinge to the child, as they began signing to you - I know how to fix everything, they said. You just nodded and left - you couldn't think about anything. Eventually, Sans walks you home. He was dressed in a formal suit, black tie and all. Your dress was short enough that it wasn't catching on the ground, but you still didn't like it - you were never a skirts girl, they just felt impractical. By the time you get home, it feels like even the birds and bugs are paying their respects. It's dead silent - not so much as a single tweet or buzz from the many critters that normally made such a racket in this area. You had placed the medal on a shelf, standing up - you would find a better place for it soon. As you made your way to the bedroom - this dress was honestly a bit uncomfortable - you felt something that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. A pressure, almost a tidal wave, of energy washed over you, from the east. Sans noticed it too - his eyelights vanished, and he stopped dead in his tracks. "What the.." You barely manage to say, before Sans grabs your arm. You feel that familiar surge of energy, as he begins a teleport - but somehow, it doesn't finish. You're blinded by a white flash, an electric feeling dancing over your skin. In an instant, everything goes black.       Your eyes fly open, with enough force to blow the windows out. But something was desperately wrong - the scent of sterility assaulted your nose. You could hear the sounds of machines.... Of quiet chatter, and of.... You were in the hospital. Instantly, your heart rate jumps. What the hell happened? Where was Sans, and Toriel, and everyone else? Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys? After a minute, your eyes adjust to the darkness, and you get a sick feeling in your stomach. This wasn't any hospital room - it was your recovery room, where you stayed for a little over a month while you underwent physiotherapy. The small digital clock on your table, exactly the same as it was when you were last here, says something worrying - 2:18/AM/05/27. May 27th, early morning. This was almost a week before you were discharged, before you went to your cottage and met your friends. Somehow, you'd gone back in time. And somehow, you remembered everything that you'd experienced. But would anyone else? Heart rate reaching the millions, you clambered out of the memory-foam bed. Sure enough, you were wearing the same hospital gown as before, and your wristband displayed the same barcode that you'd gotten very well acquainted with over your stay. You shuffle towards the door when a nurse opens it for you. "Oh god! You scared me, Y/N - what are you doing up at this time?" She says, after a small yelp. "I gotta leave," you say. "Wait, what? Y/N, you still have a week before your discharge," she responds, grabbing a hold of your shoulders. "I GOTTA LEAVE, NOW!" you shout this time. "You need to sign an AMA form." She doesn't move out of your way. You were weak by your usual standards, sure, but even at this point, you were still a fair bit stronger than the average person. You force your way through - and, ignoring the protests of the nurse, you sprint down the hallways, feet slap-slap-slapping on the linoleum floors. At the entrance, you're met by a security guard - he's short, probably about 5'9 - barely tall than you. And you could immediately tell that he wasn't in fighting condition - his arms were scrawny, while he was almost pear-shaped. "You need to stop, we can't let you leave," he says. You slowly approach him - the security here didn't have anything other than a flashlight and radio, so you could force this issue if needed - and he holds fast. You notice several doctors and nurses come sprinting out of a nearby door - they probably think you're having some kind of mental break or whatever. You know that, if this really is the past, monsters haven't come up yet. And you can't exactly explain to a psychologist that monsters are trapped under a mountain and need your help, oh also you're actually from several months in the future. It's obvious the guard won't budge, so you decide that it's now or never. With swift and precise movements, you slam the side of your hand into his neck. He immediately collapses, wheezing and gasping. He'll live. You sprint out of the hospital, leg muscles screaming. At this point, you hadn't moved this much over the last month overall, and now your body was beginning to protest the sudden change in pace from the brutal but paced physiotherapy. You don't stop - you need to get to the parking garage. Your feet are tough enough to withstand the small rocks and pebbles that litter the sidewalk, thanks to years of constant marching in horrible army boots. You round the corner, and head into the parking building. Dee parked her car here, an old 1980s Pontiac with a busted passenger lock, while she was away on business. You spot the rusty brown coupe is sitting in a dark corner. Sorry about this, you think, as you yank open the passenger door. It takes a few tries - this car was temperamental, and had a whole bunch of little quirks, one of which being that the doors required a considerable amount of force to yank open. You clamber over the center console into the driver's seat, your leg muscles happy to finally not be moving. You search through the glovebox - there was always a spoon in there, and thanks to the car's ignition slot being so worn down, that was considered the emergency starter spoon. You find the utensil, stick the handle into the key slot on the dashboard, and twist. Sure enough, it rotates with no resistance - and the starter motor groans. After several uncomfortable seconds, the engine catches with a loud pop. It was technically a V8 - although you were pretty sure only 7 of the cylinders actually worked right now. You push in the clutch, slot the gear lever into first, and set off. When you reach the exit, you put your seatbelt on - it was a habit you held in very high regard. The engine groans and the transmission whines as you get to speed. Occasionally, the engine would jump - the fuel pump needed replacing soon - but you were still going forwards. You slot into 2nd gear, and continue. Skipping third gear, you go into fourth - the synchro on third was broken, and it would fight you. The tachometer drops to barely above idle, and the whole vehicle shudders as you floor it. Slowly, you get to 80km/h, before you see the path. Not even marked with a sign, this was the dirt road that would lead up towards Mount Ebott. You don't bother signalling - the back right indicator didn't work, anyways - and you start your ascent.     Twenty minutes later, it's obvious that something is wrong, even by the Beast's (Dee's nickname, not yours) standards. The temperature dial is steadily creeping upwards, and a distinctly metallic smell is making its way into your nostrils. Sure enough, you glance over at the water pressure gauge - it's actually just a voltmeter duct taped to the dashboard, but it was technically measuring the radiator's pressure sensor - only to see a big fat zero. You must have popped a hose during your admittedly aggressive charge up the road. It had happened before - when Dee had first gotten the Beast, the two of you went on a roadtrip. Of course, you just had to fool around - it was a muscle car, after all! - and after a bit of hard acceleration on some obscure access road, a big cloud of steam had signalled your mistake. Returning to the present, you decide that the beast would just have to deal with it. Despite being an unreliable piece of crap, it somehow just would not die - a lot like you in fact, you dryly think. No, no time for that. You had to get to the mountain. You remember Asgore had shown you the two entrances - one led to the old ruins, while the other led to Asgore's castle. You couldn't go to the latter, though - it was just a footpath up that way, and you weren't sure if you'd be able to walk the few kilometers that path involved. Instead, you'd take the old ruins - somehow, someone would believe you. You knew too much about the monsters for them to not believe you, after all. You hear the radiator fan engage - not gonna do much good, since no coolant was actually being cycled - and the temperature gauge just ticks 90 degrees Celsius. A bit of steam starts creeping out from under the rotting hood. A glance at the little dial - 110. At 150, the engine would probably seize up. You had to make the most of this - and honestly, you'd rather not blow up the Beast at all. You continue. A few minutes later, the temperature dial is resting dead on 130 - the highest the gauge will indicate. You didn't have long, but you knew you were getting close. You pass a few gazebos and benches - a small picnic area, only about ten minutes from the entrance that Asgore showed you. Suddenly, you feel the engine start to shudder - the oil pressure dial, thankfully an actual indicator instead of a voltmeter, drops to zero within a few seconds. Suddenly, a clang resonates throughout your body - not unlike.... that sound, back in the tank. Smoke starts to pour out from under the hood, and the lights dim. Sure enough, after another few seconds, the tachometer drops to zero. Motor oil spits out from under the hood, a few splotches landing on the windshield. You feel the rear wheels lock up, and instinctively slam the clutch in, before yanking the gear stick out of 2nd. You weren't able to hit 4th on this dirt path, after all. The Beast slowly comes to a stop. You can hear the sound of Dee screaming already - she'd loved this car, it was just about her child. And you'd just blown it up, in a selfish quest for, well, whatever you were gonna do. You didn't even know if you really had experienced everything that you remembered - maybe it was just a really detailed dream. You shake the thought out of your head. You KNEW what you had been through. You KNEW what you were going to find, up on these mountains. After a minute, you clamber out - thankfully, you didn't have to maneuver around the center console to get OUT, because the driver's door was kind enough to open from the inside - and pull the trunk release switch. Dee always kept some basic supplies in the back - a flashlight, a couple batteries, and after a close encounter with a particularly angry bear, a wide-caliber handgun. Among the kit was also the more usual stuff - a jug of antifreeze, motor oil, a few scattered tools and such that were used as hammers more often than not... A small blanket, and a few pieces of winter clothing. You grabbed the flashlight and slotted a couple batteries into the back - thankfully, they weren't stone-dead. You also grab the winter clothes - a puffy coat, a fuzzy tuque with a little maple flag embroidered on it (you'd gone up north one summer, it was awesome), and a pair of brown boots. You probably should've put these on before driving, but whatever. You consider bringing the gun - but decide against it. Bears weren't really out at this time of night, and you could scare off a fox or two. Closing the trunk with a creeeaaaak-thunk, you go back and flip the light switch off. You give the Beast one last pat on the hood - you kinda liked the old car, even though you'd never admit that to Dee - and you set off. Barely 15 minutes later, you reached the old rotten oak tree that you'd specifically remembered. You left the road - dirt path, but you suppose it works as a road - and made your way up towards the cave entrance. Scrambling up some pretty sketchy rocks, you finally stand in the mouth of the cavern. You slowly make your way forwards, before the air suddenly becomes stale. Admittedly a bit panicked, you turn around, only to slam into a wall. The Barrier. Shit. The magical forcefield distorts the light coming from your electronic torch, before suddenly it goes out. Obviously the batteries in the Beast's trunk were a bit older than maybe you initially thought. You give it a bit of a shake. Nothing. You shake it really hard, the light flickering briefly. Suddenly, you lose your footing - the ground beneath you crumbles, and you let out an embarrassing yelp. You feel the now useless flashlight leave your hands - you're not gonna survive a fall this long. After another several seconds, you slam into... A flowerbed? What the heck? Slowly, you get to your feet - you had a few aches, but somehow you were more or less physically intact. You thought for sure you were done for - maybe it's some sort of monster magic thing? A quick inspection of your arms and legs confirms that, while there was a particularly painful bruise already forming on your right arm, you were more or less fine. Sure, you had a few scratches here and there, but somehow you had avoided the bone-crunching splat that you were convinced was going to be your fate. Somehow, it's reasonably well lit down here - you look up, and a fair bit of light is coming from SOMEWHERE up above. Whatever, probably just another magic thing. You spot your flashlight - well, a pile of plastic bits and a pair of crunched batteries, leaking some suspicious liquid - resting a couple feet away from you. Clearly, whatever magic had saved your life, had not decided to help your little bright friend. Sorry, little guy - rest in peace. You notice a small opening in a wall nearby. There's no other exits, so this must be the way forward. It's a bit of a tight squeeze - you have to bend over a bit, to avoid some of the lower-hanging spikes hanging from the ceiling - and you pop out in another opening. You see Frisk standing, facing away from you. You're about to call out when suddenly, you hear a strange high-pitched voice. "HEE HEE HEE! GET BORED OF THE SURFACE, DID'JA?"" Somehow, this voice seems different from the other monsters - it was mocking, demeaning - a bit like a teenager terrorizing a 6 year old. You didn't have a great elementary school experience. You move forwards, and to the side a bit - only to see Frisk standing a couple feet from a strange yellow flower, with a white center containing... a particularly unpleasant snarl. Apparently your presence is a shock - the flower monster (was it a monster? it seemed a bit less friendly than other monsters, so...) immediately stops in the middle of a surely well-crafted insult. It just stares at you for a moment - like maybe you weren't actually here. "What the hell? Who the fuck are you?!"  That surprised you. You hadn't known any other monsters to swear - even Sans wouldn't swear unless he was genuinely pissed. But this casual cussing was a whole different thing. Suddenly, the flower's face changes into a creepily cheerful smile. "Well howdy there friend! My name's Flowey! I haven't seen you before! And little old Flowey NEVER forgets a face, ya'know!" The flower says, in a cute innocent little voice. You didn't like this thing - Flowey was nothing like the other monsters. Most of them were pleasant and kind, and even Sans - who was certainly a bit gruff by monster standards - was still just a straightforward guy. But this creature was different - openly hostile, and definitely manipulative. Obviously, your silent displeasure doesn't go unnoticed to the angry little plant. "What's with the frown? It's rude to not respond to someone who's talking to you, friend!" Yeah, you were not gonna play with this thing. You move forwards, and Frisk also sees you - letting out a tiny gasp. "We'll talk later," you say, moving the small child back and taking their place in front of Flowey. "Wait.... Do you know Frisk?" Flowey was quick to figure things out. Suddenly, the plant's smile grew uncomfortably wide. "Oh, I see! I see I see! This will be fun! Well, toodles! I'll be around, friend," Flowey says, before vanishing into the ground. Just what exactly had you gotten yourself into?

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It had become clear pretty quickly that Frisk was the cause of the time rewind - the Reset, they called it. And they kept their memories too - the wide-eyed stare when they first saw you was evidence enough of that. The main challenge? Apparently the other monsters wouldn't remember anything. You didn't really get any specifics about what Frisk experienced before the Barrier fell - the monsters tended to sidestep any questions regarding that topic. Truthfully, that worried you a bit - in about any other situation, monsters were generally pretty pleasant and happy to talk about anything and everything - but at least you had a guide in the form of a small child who effectively had the weight of the world on their little shoulders. Apparently, Toriel would be coming soon to collect the pair of you - Frisk certainly knew what was going to happen, almost like a video game. "I get that you can... Reset?" You pause, and when Frisk confirms with a small nod - "Reset. I get you can Reset, but how do YOU retain your memories?" Determination, the tiny hands spell out. "Oh. Like, because you want to, you do?" Sort of. "Well that sorts everything out," you say sarcastically. I don't understand it either, but Sans does, Frisk signs. That made sense - Sans definitely seemed to be far more knowledgeable than he initially let on. You remember how he'd explained all that magic-y stuff.... then suddenly, you realize you can still faintly see Frisk's aura. It's pretty faint, a red mist, but you can definitely make it out. You recall when Sans had said that monsters can tell who's a mage based on their aura, and you panic. It was clear that monsters and mages had a... turbulent history, and while they seemed to trust Frisk, you were an adult. What's wrong? Your eyes refocus on Frisk. "Uh... Will the monsters... Will they not trust me, because I'm a mage?" We'll just explain everything to them! They'll understand, Frisk leaves no room for argument, you suppose. Well, they were definitely determined. Your discussion is interrupted by a familiar gasp echoing from the doorway behind you. You turn around, to face Toriel. "Oh my goodness..." ~~~~~~~~ Dee's eyes rocketed open. Was that... That was an awful dream! She looks over to the alarm clock on the nightstand - 2:18 AM. Good god, this was unusual. Dee never really dreamed - much less about this... stuff! She placed a hand on her chest. It was weird, the dream felt almost real, but.... Her memory of the dream was fading, so it must've just been that - a dream. Still, she couldn't shake this uneasy feeling - she was sweating a little, and her heart was pounding. Whatever, it must've just been a really unpleasant dream, Dee thinks, rolling over in her covers. Almost 30 minutes later, Dee is almost asleep, only to be rudely awakened by a sharp knocking on the door to the motel room. She waits a few seconds - maybe whoever it is would go away - but another sharp knock-knock answers that. "Dee Kamato, Ebott State Police, please open up," A muffled voice calls from beyond the door. The cops? Dee lets out a groan, rolling out of the comfy bed. She opens the door to be met by a pair of police officers. "Can I help you?" Dee says groggily. "Do you know a Y/N Y/LN?" Well that woke her right up. "Uh, yeah, she's my friend... What's wrong?" The concern is obvious in Dee's voice. "It's probably best if we come inside," the second officer says. Uh oh. "Do you own a brown 1982 Pontiac Firebird?" The first officer asks. "Yeah, that's my Beast..." Dee says. The nickname was funny - the car was miserable, slow, and probably more lethal than any weapon - but it was THE BEAST! "At two twenty-eight AM, we received a report that Y/N left Ebott Town Hospital. At nearly 3 AM, we found your car up near Mount Ebott, with a blown engine. We think Y/N stole the car to..." Hit with a rush of energy that would usually only result from a good cup of coffee, Dee was now fully awake. "Stole? No, that's wrong. She always has my permission to use the car. Are you sure it was her?" "Yes. We found several of her hairs, as well as her hospital wristband." This was bad - everyone knew the rumours that surrounded that damn mountain. It was said that people would disappear into that mountain. People saw it as suicide. "Oh god..." is all that Dee can say. She doesn't even care about the blown engine - the Beast could always get a new one - but she cared about you more than anything else. "Ma'am, would you be willing to come to the station with us? We'll have the local police pick you up there," the officer says. Dee shakes her head - "I have a rental, I'll drive back." "Alright ma'am. We'll provide you an escort." Dee climbs into the little green hatchback, and sets off, following the police SUV. ~~~~~~~~ Deputy Commander Brian glances up at the clock. 2:11 AM. He was observing a new batch of trainees - they'd been handpicked from various other agencies, and a few had been taken from the Army. For his part, all he had to do was watch them from the corner, while Agent Harrelson droned on. "So you see, even though we cannot detect special energy directly, it still has an effect on the electromagnetic field. That is how we note, and log, special events from the special zone," says Harrelson. "For now, I'd like you all to partner up in twos, and look through the papers I've left on the back table. It's a log of EM activity over the past month. Your task is to find anything out of the ordinary, and report back. You have 2 hours." The prospective agents all sort themselves out, while Harrelson walks over to Brian. "Promising bunch," the agent says. "Yeah, I'm genuinely impressed. You've got a good set," replies Brian Alverston. It was true, too - the latest group of trainees had all exceeded pre-entry requirements, by a fair margin at that. Maybe he'd even grab a few trainees to take under his wing - nothing was better for your career than being noticed by the Deputy Commander of the TIF. Suddenly, an alarm rings out. The EM warning. "Okay everyone, go back to your barracks. Forget about the assignment," says Harrelson. A quick glance at a small computer monitor worries Brian - while the EM spike was brief, it was.... unusually high energy. Not enough to signal the barrier collapsing, but certainly far too much to be any other event. Agent Harrelson starts typing on the teaching computer - 2:18 AM. EM event, far outside regular parameters. The trainees leave the room, while a number of actual agents begin filtering into the room. A quiet chatter develops, and this was clearly going to be a long night.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It was pretty clear that Toriel did not trust you. You were always good at reading people, even when they were trying to be unreadable. But Toriel isn't trying to hide her suspicions - As the 3 of you walked through the ruins, she had positioned herself between you and Frisk. She was also never within 9 feet of you, and you could feel her eyes burning a hole in your soul. Was it because you had an aura? You recall Sans had mentioned that monsters can see auras - and from what little you had been told of the monsters' history, it was clear that they had a (probably justified) suspicion of any mages. After some travelling, the three of you finally arrived at Toriel's home. It wasn't huge, but it felt very.... homely. A lot like Toriel herself, you thought. "Frisk, my child, I will show you to your room," Toriel said, after you informed her of the child's name. You were unsure why Frisk seemed surprised by that, but it was probably just different from what Frisk called their "previous runs". Like a game. You stood in the entrance, looking around and admiring your surroundings. A small fire crackled from a room to your left, and to your right was a hallway that led to a few doors, one of which evidently led to Frisk's new room. After a minute, Toriel reemerged from the room, and moved towards you. "I have something I must discuss with you," Toriel said, before heading towards the staircase to your front. "What is it?" You ask, a bit nervously. "Not here. We can talk downstairs," she said. You didn't like how evasive she was being, but you weren't in any place to ask questions, so you followed without protest. The long and dark hallway unnerved you a bit. It was ancient, obviously - you felt like you were exploring an ancient egyptian tomb. They ARE called the ruins, you remind yourself dryly. After a minute or so, the pair of you approach a massive door. Suddenly, Toriel is behind you - you hadn't even noticed the mass of fireballs before they start flying. "What the hell?!" You scream, diving away from the incendiary projectiles. "You are a mage. A child mage I can allow, but an adult mage is far too dangerous. Please understand, I will try to make this quick," she said. Of fucking course! Why would it be easy for me?! You shout internally, scrambling to escape the next wave of fireballs. You stumble at the last second - leg muscles screaming - and one of the fireballs makes contact. Immediately, an intense sharp pain makes itself known in your left arm - you'd been hit. You let out a scream, before falling to the ground. You were absolutely exhausted from the past several hours of effort - from the escape out of the hospital, to the wrestling with the Beast's stiff controls, to all of this movement - it had been more exercise than your body was willing to deal with. Your legs were stiff, your arm was in agony, and you were breathing so hard that your lungs were hurting. "What did I do to you?" you wheeze out. The fireballs hover ominously, behind Toriel. "You must understand, please. I am the guardian of the Ruins, I cannot allow an adult mage to continue. While I may not agree with his methods," Toriel spits out 'his', and takes a moment, before continuing: "I could not live with myself if monsterkind were extinguished by a mage that I could have stopped. Please, understand," she says. You let out a whimper - the pain in your arm was definitely making itself known. All you can do is watch weakly as the fireballs, which were hovering around Toriel, all fly directly towards you. You close your eyes.... Agony. White-hot agony. It lasts for a few seconds, then..... nothing. 
nothing.
 ~~~~~~~~~~ 
You're nowhere - you see nothing, yet it's not like darkness - more like there is nothing TO see. Your other senses are no different - as far as you can tell, you just.... don't exist. Yet you're still HERE, so...
 
"Interesting."
 
You immediately panic at the static-filled voice which fills your ears. Suddenly, you see a strange monster take shape in front of you. Tall, at nearly 7 feet, wearing a coat which is somehow even darker than the surrounding nothingness, with a skeleton-like skull. A crack runs from its left eye to its mouth-opening, and another crack from its right eye upwards. Somehow, its shape is.... inconsistent. Droopy almost, like it isn't really solid OR a liquid.
 
You open your mouth and try to speak, but nothing comes out - somehow, despite the complete lack of atmosphere, you aren't suffocating. Actually, you aren't feeling much of anything...
 "Oh, my apologies. One moment, please allow me to make this a bit more comfortable for you," the voice fills your head, and a moment passes before a room starts to build itself around you. Seemingly from nothing, a grayscale lab office materializes around the two of you, and after another moment, your lungs are suddenly filled with air. "Is this better?" The creature asks. It has also become more solid, no longer a wobbly mass of whatever, now definitely a thing. After some wheezing caused by the sudden atmospheric assault of your lungs, you manage to stabilize your breathing. "Wh... Where am I?" You ask, glancing around. The lab is still grayscale, and there is zero movement - other than the two of you, of course. "The void," the creature says matter-of-factly, as though this clears up everything. "Oh of course, my manners. My name is Doctor W.D. Gaster, you may simply refer to me as Gaster if you wish," Gaster says. "Oh... I'm Y/N", you say. "I am aware, of course - I've been watching you quite intently. It is truly fascinating, you have never existed before this timeline, you know," Gaster says, with an almost frantic level of excitement. "Watching me?" You question. "Yes. I can observe the universe through my sons' perspectives, though it is quite tiring. I believe you have met them - Sans and Papyrus." Oh. OH. Gaster was Sans' and Papyrus' father. "Hmm. Anywho, you will be returned soon. Make sure to ask for some pie, if you don't wish to perish again," Gaster says, and at this you guffaw. "What? You mean Toriel??" "Yes. Ask her for something to eat, specify pie, and you will not die." "How can you POSSIBLY know that?" "I know everything that has happened, that is happening, and that will ever happen. Such is the curse of being everywhere and nowhere, simultaneously being the system while also being outside of the system." You think about it for a moment, and it does seem like Toriel might spare you if you ask for food, but.... this is ridiculous, you say to yourself. You look at Gaster, and.... He's calculating. Obviously confident, but calculating. Observant. He's watching your every move, he's watching every single particle of your body, calculating what you will do. His eyelights, dim as they are, twitch constantly. Looking at you. A shiver runs up your spine, and you turn away. "Oh. This is where we'll part ways. Good luck, Y/N." "Wha-" You're cut off by a white flash. ~~~~~~~~~~ You're standing in front of Toriel's house again. You pinch your left arm, and the prick of pain lets you know that you are indeed real. "Frisk, my child, I will show you to your room," Toriel says, and you whip around. Toriel jumps at the sudden movement, placing herself once again between you and Frisk. So, if I go downstairs, I'll be killed. For being a mage, you say silently. Suddenly, Frisk manages to dart around Toriel, before sprinting towards you and crashing into your legs, almost toppling you over. They wrap their arms around your waist, burying their head in your stomach. Oh. Frisk probably reversed time, you realize. Toriel is standing still, quietly watching the two of you. "Ask for some pie, if you don't wish to perish again," Gaster's order resonates throughout your head. "Uh... I'm a bit h.. hungry.. Could I have something to eat? Like... some pie..?" You ask nervously, placing your hands on the child's head. Frisk is subtly shivering, you realize. Toriel seems to be taken aback, if the momentary flash of surprise on her expression is anything to go by. A few uncomfortably long moments pass, before: "Very well, my child. You must be famished," she says, before passing you and moving towards where you presume the kitchen to be. You're anchored in place by Frisk, who refuses to let go. The sound of work echoes out from the living room, and after several more minutes, Frisk finally lets go of you just in time for Toriel to come back. "I will show the two of you to your room," she says, gesturing to follow her.   Frisk is fast asleep, and you're sitting at the dining table. Suddenly, Toriel speaks up. "My child.... I must apologize for being so cold. I was.... Well, I wasn't sure what to make of you. Us monsters don't have the best history with human mages, and I was admittedly a bit worried that you might be dangerous. But, it was wrong of me to judge you based solely on being a mage. When you asked for pie, it.... Well, it reminded me that we are all just mortals. I apologize," Toriel says. You look at her, and it's clear that while she doesn't necessarily trust you yet, she definitely isn't expecting you to attack her anymore. Her guard is down now, and you quietly accept the apology. You don't want to think about.... that. You focus on your aching muscles instead - the exercise of the past several hours has definitely taken its toll. After finishing your plate, you excuse yourself and head back to your room for the night. Frisk's plate is also empty, but they're fast asleep - must have woken up just long enough to eat the admittedly very delicious pie. Clambering into Frisk's bed, the small child stirs a bit but doesn't wake up. You drift off to sleep, trying not to think about the horrible events of the day.