Chapter Text

Monsters can absorb human SOULs. That allowed them to gain a lot of magical power, reaching unbelievable levels. Their physical endurance also received a boost, their bodies gaining a level of resistance almost no normal monster could achieve. While their bodies would still be mostly composed of magic, being attacked wouldn’t mean direct blows to the SOUL, which was what made monsters so fragile. That was what humans were afraid of: the fact creatures as weak as monsters could achieve such levels of strength by taking human SOULs.

The transformation once the human SOUL was absorbed wasn’t anything to behold. It was more on the grotesque side, and thankfully Patta didn’t witness it. They did feel there was something abnormal going on, so they broke out of their stupor to see what was going on. They noticed Asriel wasn’t near Frisk’s body anymore, and looked for him. “…what…?” they murmured when they saw what had happened to Asriel.

He wasn’t completely unrecognizable, but there had undoubtedly been changes. He wasn’t as short as before, in fact he was now as tall as Patta, but it wasn’t like the child had suddenly grown into an adult. It was an awkward state, looking as if Asriel’s growth had suddenly stopped in middle of the process, most likely because of the unstable nature of a monster SOUL having absorbed a human SOUL. It was an unsettling sight. Lanky, with horns curving to the back of his head, Asriel stood there, glaring at the Hermit, who was now standing completely still, as if assessing this new challenge. It seemed both were waiting to see what the other would do.

Asriel stood up straight, flexing his fingers and staring directly at the Hermit. He could feel a pleasant warmness in his SOUL, and in a way, he felt comforted despite Frisk’s death. Asriel sensed a second presence inside him, as if he had gained a second conscience, and it was echoing his own emotions in that moment.

Patta wasn’t moving, their eyes going back at forth between Asriel’s changed form and the Hermit. They were almost afraid of saying anything, as if that were going to break the delicate tension that was hanging in the air.

After what seemed like a very long time the Hermit made their move. They raised their hand, obviously going to do another one of their attacks with the magic knives, but Asriel didn’t allow it. As soon as the Hermit started moving, Asriel reacted, moving at such speed Patta wasn’t sure they had seen correctly.

The changed monster raised both hands, aiming with his palms towards the Hermit, and reaffirmed his will to make the attacker back off. Spires of crackling fire emerged from the ground in middle of the path, forming a wall between the Hermit and Asriel. Patta fell on their back, astonished by the sudden fire, and waited for the unbearable heat to get where they were lying. The heat never arrived, though. Despite the size and intensity of the fire, it didn’t emit any heat. It was a purely defensive move, made to dissuade the Hermit from advancing.

It was obvious that, despite the physical change, despite Frisk’s death, and despite the bits of emotional maturity Asriel had acquired during those four days over the surface, at the core that monster was still Asriel Dreemurr, the kind child who didn’t want to harm anyone if there were other options, not even the inhumane being who had murdered his best friend.

Asriel lowered his hands but the fire didn’t extinguish, instead increasing in brightness. The wall of fire thickened and extended among the trees and over the road, making sure to not to leave any possible ways for the Hermit or their attacks to reach Asriel or Patta. The Hermit, momentarily stunned by the magic fire Asriel had put on the way, formed a large blade and aimed where they had last seen Asriel, launching it through the air as far as they could. It didn’t last long.

As soon as the knife made contact with the fire, the knife exploded and disintegrated, repelled by the power of Asriel’s magic. The Hermit formed a few more blades, but the result was the same. Asriel at the other side of the wall of fire didn’t even notice what was going on; the Hermit’s attacks hadn’t disturbed the fire at all, from what he could see. Completely outclassed, the Hermit slinked away without looking back.

It hadn’t even been a FIGHT. Asriel was by no means invincible, and anyone with enough stubbornness could manage to kill him, but right now that didn’t matter to Asriel. All he wanted was to protect, and he had achieved it. Feeling the Hermit’s foreboding presence getting away, Asriel let himself relax but didn’t dispel the fire. He stared at his hands and quickly looked all over his body, marveling at how much absorbing Frisk’s SOUL had changed him physically. “Golly…” he murmured, almost unable to believe it. It was not a pleasant sensation, suddenly being in a body he couldn’t identify as his, but that was surely a matter of getting used to it. Besides, it wasn’t like he was going to keep Frisk’s SOUL forever, was it? He didn’t know for the moment how to do it, but at some point he wanted to return to how he was before.

Once he was sure the Hermit wouldn’t return he made the wall of fire disappear. Nothing on the mountain was burned or charred; it was as if nothing had happened. Asriel returned to where Patta was lying on the ground, staring at the sky. “Are you okay?” he asked. Patta looked very pale.

“…is that…really you?” Patta inquired, focusing on the strange monster. Asriel showed an easygoing smile and moved his hand to scratch the back of his head, bashful, just for his hand to crash against one of his curved horns. Surprised by that, Asriel fidgeted for a moment before settling with a shrug.

“I think I am! This is weird” It wasn’t really the time to tell Patta Frisk was in his SOUL.

“…you look…odd, kid. I liked your other form more” Patta managed to smile hesitantly, feeling calmer. It really was Asriel, they felt his usual warmness in his voice. It was true his voice now sounded deeper, and Patta had a hard time matching it to the child they had befriended, but it was definitely him.

“Can you stand up?”

“I don’t think I can” they replied. It was true; they felt too weak to do it. Asriel, starting to feel alarmed again, focused on Patta’s SOUL. There it was, as red as it could be, but Patta’s HP had decreased a lot.

6/26

“P-Patta, we need to get going” Asriel crouched and carefully tried to get Patta to stand up. It took a while, Patta had lost a lot of blood already and the wounds they already had made it all much harder, but soon they were standing, having to support their weight against Asriel. Patta had once again gone silent, their eyes starting to take a vacant stare. Asriel started to feel fear again, understanding the possibility of his other close human friend dying on that mountain, but forced himself to calm down, even though he noticed Patta’s HP had descended once another number.

There wasn’t much time for hesitation. Asriel looked towards the top of Mt. Ebott, then to the bottom. Patta wasn’t going to resist enough for him to be taken to the bottom of the mountain, and even if they did survive until that point, it was unlikely help would arrive in time. Then what other option was there? Asriel could only think one other option. “Patta isn’t going to like it” Frisk’s voice resounded in Asriel’s psyche, startling him for a moment. It was going to take some time to get used to that.

Still, like it or not, it was necessary. “Resist, Patta. Don’t die, please, don’t die!” Asriel pleaded, unsure if Patta could even listen to him. He had been about to start walking uphill when he saw Frisk’s dead body. Feeling the pangs of grief that were feeling him, Asriel held back his tears and picked up his friend’s body. There was no way he could just leave it there on the mountain. The second occupant of Asriel’s new form didn’t comment about that, but in their silence Asriel felt some gratitude.

It was really fortunate that, despite the thin frame of Asriel’s form, he had enough strength to carry the body with one arm, keeping it close to him, and make sure Patta didn’t fall down. After a while the adult had started to walk, although they continued supporting themselves on Asriel’s shoulder. Their steps were erratic and weak, barely enough to hold the pace. They weren’t saying anything, and that got Asriel concerned. “Say something” the monster requested, trying to not to sound as scared as he was. Patta didn’t move their head, staring at the ground the whole time, but they did say something hoarsely.

“…you really are a goat” they were faintly aware of what Asriel was doing, but their mind and judgment was clouded. They wanted to protest, to tell Asriel to not to do what he was going to do, but most of their being wanted to survive, shutting down any conscious thoughts that could lead to their death.

What Patta said was better than nothing, Asriel supposed. At least they were awake. Asriel held Patta and stopped for a moment, looking around. They both had been walking for fifteen minutes already, and the top of Mt. Ebott was getting closer and closer. It was unlikely the entrance to the Underground was there, though, but there was no time to look everywhere for a cave that could lead inside the mountain. The more time passed, the more nervous Asriel got. Inside him, Frisk was getting restless too, it felt like the human SOUL in his own was shaking. “Stay awake!” Asriel shouted at Patta, who didn’t reply nor gave any signs of having listened. When Asriel moved they did continue walking, but their HP had continued decreasing.

4/26

The mountain’s summit was rockier than the rest, forming a steep series of slopes and tiny platforms. It was extremely difficult to walk or climb, but Asriel was managing to do it, although with problems. Patta let themselves be lead around like a ragdoll, but Asriel was being considerate about their wounds. “I wish I knew healing magic” Asriel said aloud while trying to traverse the challenging path “Maybe I did gain some from absorbing your SOUL, Frisk, but I don’t dare to try…”

“Don’t”

“My, Frisk. You turned concise now” There was no doubt it was Frisk, talking directly to him, but it seemed they didn’t want to hold any conversations.

“Focus”

“Right, I should focus on getting back home” Since Frisk didn’t want to talk Asriel continued the journey in silence, ascending higher and higher. The summit was on sight. Mt. Ebott wasn’t a particularly tall mountain. From where Asriel was right now there was a marvelous view of the valley, of the city in the distance, but Asriel ignored it all.

Before he ascended further Frisk’s voice echoed again in his head. “Over there” That is all it said, and even when Asriel inquired further, all he got in response was a demand to hurry up. The monster exhaled loudly and looked around. He hadn’t noticed before the path bifurcated again, one continuing towards the top of Mt. Ebott, while the other descended into a crevice. Maybe he had passed his eyes over it but hadn’t paid much attention, too worried about the situation to look around much. Was Frisk telling him to go in that direction? Asriel tentatively took a step towards that direction, Frisk immediately demanding to hasten the pace. Hoping Frisk knew what they were doing, Asriel obeyed. Patta was going slower with each step, to the point where Asriel was starting to drag him.

Patta could feel themselves about to go unconscious. Their ribs and shoulder ached a lot, jostled by Asriel’s movements. They were sure those wounds had gotten worse, but there was nothing to do. They did notice the environment starting to get darker, but it wasn’t because they were fainting. There was something shadowing the place they were in. It could mean only one thing, as far as they knew. Their conscious thoughts flared, they finally said what they wanted to say from some time ago. “Asriel, no…” they gasped “…please…don’t…take me there…”

“I won’t let you die” Asriel said, dragging them even faster. His hopes had skyrocketed, the crevice ended in a huge cave. Near its mouth there was a shimmering transparent wall,as if a soap bubble had been layered over it. Asriel knew it very well, many times he had stood near it to try to see the sunset. It was the Barrier.

He was finally home. “We’re here! Hang on, we’re very close!” Asriel yelled, his voice full of relief and anxiousness. It was contradicting, but that was how he felt. Patta didn’t answer to that. Asriel held tighter onto Frisk, passed Patta’s good arm over his neck to make sure they wouldn’t fall down, and crossed the Barrier.

“Mom! Dad! Someone! Help!” Asriel called into the tunnel. There was no response, so Asriel advanced, calling every once in a while. There was bound to be someone in the throne room, right? Someone could hear from there Asriel’s voice, reverberating in the walls of the cave. On the other hand…his voice sounded different than usual. His parents wouldn’t think it was Asriel calling for help. “But they’ll come. I know they will” Asriel said to Patta. Not that he’d stand around and say nothing, he kept walking until he reached the elaborate marble arch that marked the entrance to the Kingdom of Monsters. Not too far from there the throne room could be found. Encouraged by the fact he was already home, Asriel called for help again.

“…for help. It was over here…?” a female voice sounded from the throne room. Asriel’s heart practically leaped in joy, having recognized it.

“Mom!” he shouted, carefully leaving Frisk’s body and Patta on the ground, and ran to the entrance to the throne room. Toriel barely had time to step onto the tunnel before Asriel launched himself over her, hugging her tightly and forgetting that, for the moment, he had a lot more strength than usual. Toriel was pretty taken aback by what was happening, as far as she knew a stranger had leaped and clung onto her. It was not the best first impression Asriel could make after four days of not having seen her at all.

She was about to forcibly tear away Asriel when she took a better look at the person hugging her. It was certainly a Boss Monster, that was unprecedented. After all, her husband and son were the only others in existence, weren’t they? Feigning calm to disguise her wariness Toriel grabbed Asriel from the shoulders, making him stand a further back. “Excuse me for asking, but…who are you?”

That got Asriel slack-jawed. “M-Mom, it is me…Asriel…” he sounded so heartbroken Toriel decided to take a good luck at the stranger. Physically that was definitely not Asriel. However, something in his eyes was familiar to her, it really was like her son looked at her, full of love, admiration…and right now it also had a longing to be recognized.

“Asriel? How can that be possible?” she asked faintly “What happened to you, my son?” Asriel was about to reply to that when he remembered Patta’s critical condition. Astonished he could have forgotten, even in a moment such as his awaited reunion with his mother, he hurried back where he had left his friends.

“Mom, there is no time! Help us!” Asriel begged. Now that his mother was here he was sure everything would be okay. She would know what to do! Toriel could do anything, she’d heal them immediately. Toriel didn’t waste time in asking what was going on, instead following Asriel. When she saw the two humans lying on the ground her immediate reaction was to gasp in horror and hurry towards the one that was still alive. “They are hurt, Mom! You can heal them, right?” Asriel looked at Toriel, hopeful. Toriel made a quick cursory examination of Patta’s wounds, assessing the severity of his state. She inhaled sharply, astounded.

“This is not good. I’ll do my best, but…” Toriel bit her lip. She didn’t like to admit she couldn’t guarantee to heal the human adult, but that was the truth. She looked up from them, now intending to check on Frisk, but before she could approach the child Asriel stopped her, somber.

“They are dead, Mom” he said. Toriel looked at his changed son but approached Frisk’s body, hoping he was wrong and there was a chance to save Frisk. It was useless, though, they were really dead.

“Poor child, dying at such a young age…” she lamented, tenderly brushing away strands of hair from Frisk’s face. There wasn’t time to waste, at least one of the humans could be saved, and while her first reaction was to be prudent about the thought of an adult human being in the Underground she wasn’t going to stand aside and let them die. Toriel took the scarf loosely wrapped around Patta’s neck and tied it so it held the shoulder bones in place before proceeding with the healing. Having already checked Patta’s wounds she let her hands acquire a green glow, focusing it over Patta’s body and letting it be enveloped in the healing magic many monsters knew. It wasn’t meant to heal immediately, that was just so Patta wouldn’t be in imminent danger of death, and fusing the broken bones together so Patta could be moved without the wounds getting worse. While she worked she avoided looking at Asriel. Asriel watched her mother work on his friend. He was pensive, mulling something:

His return to the Underground wasn’t going like he expected it’d be.

Sure, it was true he wasn’t really himself right now, at least physically, but when Toriel believed it was really him her reaction wasn’t what he thought it’d be. Toriel wasn’t known for holding back onto demonstrations of affection towards her loved ones. He had expected her to be coddling him, and to be honest, he had been hoping that would happen, but she had shown no desire to do anything like that, leaving aside the urgent situation Asriel had brought with him.

Where was the tearful reunion? The piercing questions about where he had been for four days? The ‘we were so worried’ he had been ready to deal with?

“Are you okay, Azzy?” Frisk asked, but Asriel didn’t answer to that. He was feeling pretty disheartened after his arrival went much differently than he thought it’d be. Toriel was his mother, yet she was acting so…so distant, overly careful, and over everything else, very confused. Was it because he had absorbed a human SOUL? No, that wasn’t it. Toriel would ask many questions about that and try to understand what happened, but she hadn’t made not even a single comment about that.

“Mom, where is Dad?” Asriel asked while Toriel gently lifted Patta from the floor. Patta was unconscious, soothed by the healing magic. Toriel looked at Asriel, he saw hesitation in her eyes before she averted her stare.

“Gor…Your father is away. He is visiting Waterfall; he should be back soon. I’ll take the human to a place where I can heal them better. Please take the child’s body and follow me”

“B-b-but Mom, I want to see Dad!” Asriel protested, but Toriel left very quickly, just giving him a quick apology that, although warm and caring, left him stunned. She seemed to be in turmoil, most likely not sure how to deal with the confusion she was feeling. That convinced Asriel:

Something was really wrong.

Asriel sighed and took Frisk’s dead body, following Toriel’s instruction.

-ooooo-

The Royal Castle wasn’t meant to be the Dreemurrs’ home, it was more of a huge building holding many convenient locations for the citizens of New Home. Only around half of it was used by the Royal Family as their personal property, and even then, most of the rooms they had kept were empty or were no more than places to sit around. That was why it was convenient to turn one of those unused rooms into a temporal infirmary for Patta to lie in. There was a couch in one. It was no bed, but it was going to be good enough. After all, it wasn’t like Patta was going to be there for a long while. Now that the critical situation had been attenuated, Toriel was sure she’d be able to heal them enough for them to be able to continue their life as normal. Their body would have to finish healing naturally, that should be no problem.

During the short trek to the room Patta was going to rest Toriel walked slowly, peering around the corners before walking to other hallways. That was no surprise, after all, if anyone saw the Queen and another Boss Monster, carrying a heavily wounded human and a corpse, it’d cause quite an uproar, to say the least. The castle hallways were pretty much empty, no one was passing by, nor voices or steps could be heard. It didn’t take long to get to the place Toriel had been wanting to go.

Asriel had been silent until he and Toriel entered the room. He closed the door, leaving Frisk’s body on the floor again. It felt kind of insulting to be carrying his friend’s dead body like it was a load. Toriel was already using her healing magic on Patta, increasing the intensity of it and trying her best to close the wounds as well as she could. “Mom, what about Frisk? What will we do with…” he couldn’t bring himself to call it a dead body, even though that was what it was.

Toriel didn’t turn around. “We’ll bury them. I promise we’ll do it with the utmost respect” now she did turn around “I can see they were an important person for you. Who were they to you?”

“They were my best friend” Asriel replied glumly. He felt greatly uncomfortable talking about them when they were lying nearby “When will Dad be back?”

“It’ll be soon, Asriel” No ‘he’ll be happy to see you’ or ‘he spent these days looking for you’. Asriel grimaced, that had him really conflicted. He wanted to scream, ask why she was acting like nothing had been wrong, but he didn’t dare to do it. It wouldn’t solve anything.

It took twenty minutes of healing before Toriel finished. All that was left was for Patta to wake up. They were sleeping peacefully, thanks to Toriel’s healing magic. “It is done!” she smiled for a moment before turning her attention towards Frisk “Do you want to do something special for them?”

“…I’ll think about it” What did ‘something special’ mean? It wasn’t like they could do a normal funeral for Frisk. Better leave this up to Toriel.

“I’ll be back in a moment. Please, take care of the human until I return” Toriel was friendly and calm, but even behind her façade Asriel could see she was still confused. He supposed it was because of him arriving from the surface with two humans in tow, but she once again went away before he could say anything.

“What is going on here?” Asriel mumbled and sat near Patta.

-ooooo-

Conversing with Frisk was Asriel’s way of coping with the situation for now. It’d take a while for him to accept Frisk’s death, and he knew someday he’d have to separate his SOUL from Frisk’s – maybe the Royal Scientist could do something about that? – but for now he was really happy his best friend was still with him in a way. Frisk was trying their best to give encouragement words to Asriel, and trying to distract him from Toriel’s distant behavior.

She had taken Frisk’s body with her, so all Asriel had in that room was Patta on a couch. It seemed they weren’t going to wake up for the rest of the day, and frankly Asriel was very nervous about that. All the plans Patta had for themselves, their newfound courage about shaping up their future…it all may have been gone down the drain now that they were trapped in the Underground. How would they react once they woke up? Even though Asriel was under the mountain too, and although he hoped monsterkind would welcome Patta, he had the feeling Patta wouldn’t take it very well to know their former life was practically gone now.

That got Asriel to remember something. He looked in his pocket and took out Patta’s cellphone, finding it was turned off. The battery had already run dry. Not that it would have been of much use, the layers and layers of rock and dirt that was Mt. Ebott wouldn’t allow any contact with the outside world. Still, Asriel wanted to give it back to Patta, but it’d be useless if it couldn’t even be turned on. Maybe he could ask Asgore to give it to someone to pass the information to another cellphone?

Asgore…Asriel really wanted to see him. He wanted to know his father had missed him, that he had been worried of his disappearance. Wasn’t he in Waterfall? It was unlikely Asriel could go to Waterfall and return before Toriel noticed he was gone, but Asriel didn’t mind that as long as she didn’t catch him before he left the castle. “What about Patta?” Frisk reminded him. The goat monster looked at Patta for a moment, but his decision to see his father was what his heart wanted right now.

“I’ll be back soon. They will be okay” Asriel replied and stood up, going to the door. Was it appropriate for him to walk through the Underground in this state? He was still a monster, despite the unsettling sight of his actual body, it was possible people wouldn’t even look twice at him. Reaffirming his desire to see Asgore, Asriel exited the room and closed the door behind him.

The halls of the castle were empty, it seemed that day not many citizens were going to the castle. Asriel arrived to the public areas, but before he got to the entrance he heard a door opening. Startled, Asriel hid, peeking from behind a column. It was Toriel, and she was carrying a few books as well as a pair of large gray hooded robes. She seemed calmer than she had been before. Asriel had been about to sneak back to the room Patta had been placed in when she saw Toriel cheering up immediately, a smile coming to her face.

From the hall to the entrance Asriel heard voices. “Tori, we’re back!” Asriel smiled when he heard that voice, his father had arrived. If it weren’t because Toriel was there and he thought she wouldn’t like to see his son disobeying her. The King of All Monsters appeared into view, carrying an Echo Flower. He nuzzled Toriel lovingly, who half-heartedly tried to get him to stop. Not that she really minded that much, the way she leaned against him showed she’d love to let it continue, but it wasn’t really the place for extended displays of affection. Asriel rolled his eyes good-naturedly at something he was used to see almost every day, but then someone else walked in. It was to be expected, Asgore had said ‘we’. What Asriel didn’t expect was who that other person would be.

It was himself, just like he looked like less than two hours before. A little Asriel, carrying an Echo Flower almost as tall as himself, with a big smile on his face. “Can we plant then in the garden now, Dad?” the other Asriel asked, obviously excited to have it as part of the garden. Asgore messed with the tuft of fur on the other Asriel’s head, benevolent.

“We can. You go first, I’ll be there in a minute”

The other Asriel nodded and ran off towards the gardens, holding the pot with the Echo Flower. Once the child was gone Toriel’s cheerfulness dropped, taking a more pensive expression. Asgore, noting the sudden change of mood, looked at her worriedly. “Is there something wrong, Tori?”

“…it is complicated” she said and in a quiet voice told Asgore everything that had happened about her grown son appearing near the throne room with two humans. Asriel listened, hoping to hear something that showed his mother did believe he was Asriel and not some kind of impostor “It’s confusing…I know that is my son, I can see it! But how is it possible?” Asriel felt his heart a bit lighter, at least she didn’t doubt it was Asriel.

“It sounds like there is a whole story behind this. We should listen to our son first. How is the adult human? Do you think they could be…” Asgore gestured vaguely “…dangerous?”

“I don’t know. It’s too early to say for sure, but Asriel trusts them. We should listen to them once they are awake” Toriel said. Asriel could kind of understand his parents’ reticence. It was one thing to be welcoming to a human child, like he thought they’d be. A human adult could be much harder to deal with, especially if there was any chance they’d take the whole ‘monsters exist’ wrongly. Asriel knew Patta wasn’t like that, but all his parents knew was that he had dragged them into the Underground, along with the dead body of another child.

It seemed a long explanation was going to be needed. Still, Asriel had his own confusing matters to think about, too. While he returned to the room Patta was sleeping in he thought about the other Asriel. It was strange…it fit perfectly with the memories Asriel had.

He remembered going with Asgore to Waterfall. Asgore had a few meetings with some people over there, apparently to plan a possible expansion to a tiny village in that area, and Asriel had waited patiently for all the royal business to be done. After all, Asgore had told him he wanted to acquire some Echo Flowers for the garden. Since those flowers grew prolifically in Waterfall, he wanted to see if it would be possible for those to live in other environments, such as in his gardens. Asriel himself had chosen the Echo Flowers, and the two of them had carried those to the castle.

Asriel also reminisced how excited he had been to plant the Echo Flowers, how he had run immediately to the gardens and started to do it, bumbling around with the tools and making large holes until his father finally arrived. Now that he thought about it, Asgore had taken a while to go, and after the Echo Flowers were planted he said he’d be busy for the rest of the day. Asriel had returned to his home, his day continued without any problems.

What was more, those memories didn’t feel out of place, unnatural like other fragments he had remembered during his time over the surface. It felt like those memories did belong in his head and in his life. What was the conclusion of all that? “Is that possible? How can that be what happened?” Asriel muttered when he returned to the room, confused.

“I don’t know” that wasn’t very helpful. Frisk didn’t have access to all of Asriel’s thoughts, they didn’t know what answer Asriel had reached. There wasn’t much time to discuss and get Frisk up to speed. Someone knocked on the door, and when Asriel opened the door, he found his parents there. Before they could say anything Asriel ushered them inside, Toriel leaving aside everything she had brought.

“There is a lot I need to tell you about” he started.

-ooooo-

Retelling the events of those four days was almost cathartic for Asriel. He omitted what happened in the void before he appeared in the house, instead saying that, suddenly, he woke up in a house over the surface. He recounted how Patta had gone great lengths to help him return to Mt. Ebott, and tried to protect him from any dangers he could find, sometimes succeeding, other times failing, but showed to be supportive and tried their best to comfort him when things got tough for him. He spoke about the people he met over the surface, how he befriended them, but didn’t go into much detail about incidents such as the FIGHTs he had with some. And over everything else, Asriel talked about Frisk. He reminisced about the moments he spent with Frisk, how they supported him, and acted as his clutch in difficult moments. At some point Asriel had started to cry, finally letting go the last bits of the grief he felt over Frisk’s death.

It also helped that Toriel had hugged and cried with him, that was what Asriel had wanted. He knew his parents would understand his feelings, how much it hurt to know he was alive and his best friend had died, and although neither Toriel nor Asgore had said much beyond asking some questions and clarifications on some stuff, he felt like they had truly listened to him, and wanted to give him leeway to cry, which he did when he got to the part where he was pursued all over Mt. Ebott. By that point Asriel was clinging to his father, unable to talk coherently at the first try.

“They wanted to-to live here in the Underground, and I let him! It’s my fault he-he-he got killed-“ Asriel was hiccupping, letting out all the grief he felt, once again. He had thought he had cried all he needed, back when he had found Frisk’s body, but he knew now it wasn’t as simple as crying once and never feeling hurt over it ever again. Frisk hadn’t said anything, but Asriel could feel a strange mix of emotions emanating from the human SOUL inside him.

“It wasn’t your fault. That was an unfortunate turn of events, and you shouldn’t blame yourself as much as you are doing now” Asgore soothingly patted his son’s back, patiently waiting for him to stop hanging onto him like he feared Asgore was going to vanish in thin air. It took a while, but he did that, rubbing his eyes with his hands, starting to feel exhausted from everything that had happened that day so far. It wasn’t even the evening yet, and he already felt like he could fall unconscious at any moment.

“A-And Patta, they are hurt and-I brought them here! That is not what they wanted, I…I feel like I betrayed them…they’ll hate me when they wake up…”

“You saved their life. They didn’t sound like the kind of person that’d be ungrateful about that” Toriel looked at Patta, still sleeping “Now they are trapped along with all of us and there is nothing that can be done about it. They’ll have to understand that sooner or later”

“…thank you, Mom” Asriel mutedly said. The bad impression he had when Toriel had acted distant earlier was gone now, he understood why she had been that way. He still had yet to touch that topic, but he wasn’t sure how to approach it. Asgore asked Asriel if he’d be okay, if he wanted anything, receiving a shaky response that yes, he’d be fine.

“What is important to find out now is how it was possible for our son to appear on some place over the surface, and how two Asriel exist at the same time” Toriel wasn’t confused anymore, instead seeming more interested on getting to the core of that conundrum “And the human will need a place to live, too. Gorey?”

“I’ll find them a place in New Home, but they should avoid contact with other monsters until the monthly address in a few days. That’d be for the best”

“After the human awakens I’ll talk with Dr. Gaster, he’ll find a way to separate Frisk’s SOUL from Asriel’s SOUL” the immediate plans were defined, Asgore and Toriel would undoubtedly try their best to avoid any sort of complications to the already kind-of-delicate situation. Toriel stood up, going to accompany Asgore outside, but Asriel grabbed her sleeve, stopping her.

“Mom, wait! I…” Now or never “…what day is today?”

“It’s the fourteenth, dear” That was all the confirmation Asriel needed to know his supposition was correct. Something must have shown on his face, because Toriel suddenly acquired an expression of deep worry “Is there something wrong?”

“…I went back in time” Asriel gasped, stunned. Since he said it so quietly Toriel asked him to repeat it again “I went it back in time! That…that explains everything! The date in Patta’s calendar, the other Asriel, no one noticing I was missing, it all makes sense! I went back in time!” All response he got was confused stares from both his parents and a ‘are you sure?’ from Frisk. Asriel started pacing around the room, trying to fully comprehend the significance of such development “Yes, I’m sure! And the moment it all happened, it was-it will be tomorrow! Tomorrow the other me is going to be sent five days into the past!”

Toriel and Asgore exchanged a glance. “Asriel, are you completely sure of what you’re saying?” Asgore wasn’t outright rejecting the sudden epiphany Asriel had, but it was to be expected he wouldn’t immediately accept it, either. Toriel was more skeptic because of a different point.

“You’d also need to appear very far from here. How will that happen?”

“I don’t know how it happened!” Asriel stopped, starting to smile “The Royal Scientist! He can help us with this. I remember seeing him shortly before it happened! He'll know what to do”

“Then let’s not discuss it any longer. I’ll talk with Dr. Gaster now” Asgore was starting to see the significance of Asriel’s supposed time travel. If his son was going to be sent into the past the next day then it was important it did happen, wouldn’t it? Fighting it was going to be unwise. Once that got solved then Gaster would be ordered to focus on separating the SOULs, but for now, keeping the timeline intact was the priority “Did we tell you anything about what would happen?”

“No, I didn’t know anything. Don’t tell the other me!”

“Got it. Tori, take care of-“

“I will” Toriel nodded. While Asgore talked with Dr. Gaster and explained the situation Toriel would stay behind. She’d know how to deal with the human if they got upset, even though Asriel had assured her they weren’t violent. Better be safe than sorry. Besides, she wanted to talk with them about their future life in the Underground.

“Dad! There is something I’d like to ask you to do, uh…” Asriel gave Asgore Patta’s cellphone, asking him to find a way to recharge it or something like that “And first go to the garden and plant the Echo Flowers. I remember you did that before being busy for the rest of the day”

“Understood. Thank you, son” Asgore left the room, a bit dazed by everything that had been revealed in that room. It was a bit too much to swallow at once, but he was sure after some thought he wouldn’t feel so disoriented. After all, he trusted Asriel was right about all that, even though it sounded so strange and fantastic.

Everything had turned upside-down that day for so many people, and from the looks of it, it wasn’t over yet.

-ooooo-

Hours passed.

Toriel had expected Patta to be unconscious or sleeping for quite some time, and wasn’t pleased to see she had been right. The longer Patta stayed asleep, the more likely it was he wouldn’t recover, she supposed. Had they fallen down, like monsters did? For Asriel’s sake she really hoped Patta hadn’t fallen down, the last thing she wanted for her son was another emotional burden.

Keeping Asriel entertained seemed like a good idea, that was why many of the books she had brought were Asriel’s favorites. When he asked about the cloaks Toriel gave one to him. “You and them will need to hide from other monsters. These cloaks will help with that” Asriel supposed she was right; some people may panic if they saw Asriel’s actual form or a human in the Underground. Not having anything else to say for the moment, he sat to read, but wasn’t able to focus. From time to time he glanced at Patta, worried as to why it was taking so long for them to wake up.

While Asriel waited, Toriel worked. The kingdom wasn’t going to run itself not even for a few hours. Human in the Underground, time-traveling son, all that was important, but there was work to do, too. Still, she couldn’t focus very well, either. From time to time she checked Patta’s vital signs, not finding anything unusual. It was all matter of waiting, it seemed. Asgore hadn’t returned yet, but Toriel trusted he had done what Asriel had requested.

The magic lighting outside had diminished to its evening intensity when Patta finally woke up.

The human opened their eyes, unfocused. Their right shoulder felt unnaturally stiff, and although overall their body hurt, they felt better than they did before. They expected to see the sky, or fluorescent lights belonging to a hospital room, but instead they saw gray stone. Without making a sound they managed to sit, looking at the scarf tied around their wounded shoulder. “I wish I had thought of this” they mumbled and carefully moved their arm. It seemed their arm had lost mobility, but at least it was good enough to continue living like usual.

“Oh! You are awake!” Patta heard a female voice, completely unfamiliar for them. When they turned around they saw a goat monster that greatly reminded them of Asriel “How are you feeling?”

“I am…I am okay…?” Patta tentatively answered, pressing their back against the couch. Who was she? Trying not to panic they looked around, finding Asriel nearby “Asriel, who is she?”

“H-Hi, Patta” Asriel didn’t look at them, still nervous about Patta possibly hating him, and didn’t even answer. Toriel didn’t take offense to Patta’s relatively rude behavior, though. She smiled calmly and left aside her glasses and work materials.

“I’m Toriel, Queen of the Underground. Nice to meet you” she said. Patta waved half-heartedly, starting to realize what was going on.

“Oh, I’m sorry, uh…Your Majesty” Patta managed to say, looking away. How were they supposed to talk to royalty, again? Asriel was one thing, being over the surface by himself and not even introducing himself that way, but now here the Queen of All Monsters, taller than Patta was, wearing a dainty crown and all. Patta turned towards Asriel again “How can your mother be here? That would mean the Barrier was broken and monsters are free…no, I got it wrong, it’s backwards, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Asriel played dumb, but the way he was staring at the floor showed his guilt. Patta felt their eyebrow twitching, taking that almost as a confirmation of what was going on.

“Asriel, please tell me I’m not right. Am I in the Underground? T-Tell me it isn’t true” Asriel slowly nodded, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as if he expected Patta to start shouting in dismay, or blame him loudly.

Patta did nothing of that, though. Instead they sunk in the couch, starting to feel numb. That was it, that is how it all ended for them. Trapped under a mountain, most likely never going to see another human again. Their plans, their dreams, their determination to return home, make amends with their parents, reach all the goals they now had…it was all for nothing now. It was similar to what Asriel must have felt when he first appeared in their house, he supposed, but unlike Asriel they didn’t have any chances of returning to the world they belonged in. The fact their last action over the surface was letting Frisk get killed wasn’t going to help, they thought. They were sure Asriel wouldn’t forgive them for that.

All in all, they had lost everything. “…I…what will I do now…?” they said aloud, feeling completely lost and alone.