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Sometimes, when Frisk dreamed, they found themselves back in the Void.
That was what the monsters called it anyways, the strange, pitch black land where Chara had first introduced themselves to Frisk, and, later, after Frisk had finally broken away, where Flowey had begged them not to reset now that the monsters were set free.
Most of the time they wandered, until they woke up.
But.
Sometimes, when they were very lucky, and fate was very kind, a strange house would appear in the void.
It was always odd to see, like spotting a mansion in the middle of slums. It wouldn't look that odd if it was out of the Void, it actually just looked like a normal, two story house.
It was so ridiculous that Frisk even thought that they might be dreaming, that whenever that happened, they weren't in the Void, but in their own head space.
Of course, the residents of the house had quickly put that thought away.
Because, on the rare very lucky days that the house would appear, sometimes, even rarer than seeing the house, Frisk would be allowed in, and the residents, the souls of the fallen children, would always be so happy to see them.
The first time it happened, Frisk hadn't been sure what to think.
It was the first time they had been allowed inside the walls of the strange, should not exist, home, and was floating along in a daze, trying to figure out who lived here.
Maybe Gaster? But it seemed very big for him-
It was around then that Frisk accidentally slammed open a door, revealing a kitchen and an obviously startled kid.
Frisk stared.
And kept staring.
The kid stared back.
Frisk knew that kid.
Not personally of course, he had died long before Frisk had even stepped a foot into the Underground and everything went to shit. But Toriel had a picture up on her wall of a chubby boy with freckles, hair that was almost as long as Frisk's and big green eyes, wearing an apron with a heart on it.
The green soul, kindness. The third soul to be taken.
"I thought your bodies vanished" is what immediately jumped to Frisk's mind, but it seems to do some good, because it broke the boy out of his trance.
"Oh, this is wonderful!" The boy chirped, dodging Frisk's question and reaching out for one of the icing bags on the counter next to him. "It's been so long since we've seen someone new around here!"
"We?"
He made a pshaw noise, shrugging his shoulders as if to dislodge the question even as he finished up the last of what looked like a chocolate cake. "Don't worry about them, you'll see them soon."
What does that even mean?
The next time it happened, Frisk woke up, not in the Void, but instead in what seemed to be a garden. It was only when they looked up that they saw the inky blackness that was the Void.
"I thought kindness was kiddin', but apparently not."
It was a female voice, with a soft, southern twang, and when Frisk turned, they saw a girl, a little taller than them, with long blonde hair pulled back into a braid and a cowgirl hat sitting perched atop her head.
She smiled at Frisk's bafflement, and stuck out her hand to shake. "My name's Justice."
Of course. The fifth soul, who had been killed when, angered by the murder of the children before her, had stormed up to Asgore to demand answers.
Still . . . . "Justice, really?" Frisk deadpanned, and the girl winked.
"Not our real names, of course. We just go by our Soul Names here, more fun."
"Yeah . . aren't you guys supposed to be-"
"Dead?" Justice finished, smile dropping as she looked down the path of tulips. "We were" she admitted after a couple of seconds of semi awkward silence. "Then we woke up here, in our bodies. Gaster built this house for us. Nice of him."
Frisk brow furrowed as realization dawned. "So that's why your bodies vanished from your graves."
Justice shrugged. "Yeah. It's nice here, nicer, I mean" she amended, seeing Frisk's doubtful look "certainly beats being trapped in a soul jar for centuries." She shook herself, hair flying out of the loose braid as she did so. "I even have a garden! Flowey helped me build it."
Flowey?
It looked like Justice was going to say something else, then frowned as she became fuzzier.
"Aw hell, you're waking up, aren'tcha? Oh well, until next time, Frisky."
With their remaining strength, Frisk managed to flip them off.
The time Frisk met Bravery was . . . eventful, to put it mildly.
They had been training with Undyne, and had been expertly dodging her spears when they had tripped and hit their head.
Next thing they knew, they were back in the Void.
They knew what that meant, alright.
"I'm never gonna be able to live that down" they muttered, standing up . . . only to get knocked almost immediately back down again.
Groaning, they raised their head to glare at whoever barreled into them, unsurprised at the sight of the dead kid.
The stories they had heard about Bravery were all the same; one of only two souls, the other being Frisk, to truly impress Undyne, he had challenged Asgore to a fight, only to lose. Frisk was pretty sure he was the second.
To his due credit, Bravery immediately raced back over to them, picking Frisk up easily even as he apologized rapidly.
"It's okay, it's okay, you're not the worst thing I've been hit by."
"My, what a stunning reassurance" the tall, stocky boy said as he straightened Frisk up.
"Bravery, right?"
"Oh no, he's way too handsome to be me." Frisk gave him their best stop bullshitting me glare.
"Yeah, that's me."
"What are you doing out here?"
Bravery smiled, raising his head slightly so as to stare behind Frisk, but when they turned, nothing was there. "I'm going to Gasters" he informed them, and Frisk frowned.
"How do you not get lost in here?"
He shrugged slightly as he said "it's more practice than anything. I could show you if you want, though Kindness of Perseverance would probably be best for that kind of thing."
"No,no I'm good, just," Frisk's anxiety spiked. "Just be careful of what else could be in the Void."
Bravery stared at them for a moment, brow furrowed, before his expression cleared. "Oh, you mean Chara? They won't come near us, they're way too scared of Perseverance." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Frisk alone until they eventually awoke to a fretting GoatMom.
It's only when Frisk manages to garner some kind of control over the Void that they meet Integrity.
It had been something they had been trying for weeks, trying to just will themselves into the house, to no avail.
This night though, before falling asleep Frisk had imagined themselves inside the hall, and, sure enough, when they awoke, they were inside, and face to face with a little ballerina girl.
She seemed surprised, even amazed to see Frisk, suddenly appearing in front of them when there had been a good two feet between them.
"You're Frisk, right? Oh, I've heard so many stories about you" the girl gabbled, grabbing their hand excitedly. "I've always wanted to meet you, and I thought you may of have been ignoring me" she pouted for a minute before brightening "oh! I know! We should go to my room! I can show you my new dance routine!"
She turned on her foot, and the world seemed to blur slightly, and suddenly they were in a girls room.
Shortcut, Frisk's mind whispered as they eyed her light blue soul warily.
The blue soul human had been the fourth to fall, and one of the hardest, from what they could gather, for her odd penchant of appearing and disappearing when in danger.
They didn't have much time to think about it however, since, soon enough, they were clapping as Intergrity did her dance routine, which she eventually dragged them into.
"So, Ambassador Frisk" she said, smiling at Frisk's cringe. "Oh, don't be like that, titles are important. But, anyways, if I'm right, and I should be, because I totally have this hole time thing down in this place, you should be waking up soon."
That was the last thing Frisk heard before they woke up.
Frisk knew where Patience was long before they first ran into her. Patience and Determination were a lot alike, and, from what Frisk could gather from the countless questions they had asked their monster friends, that meant they were very sensitive to each other.
So they had just followed the echo of her until they came across her, sitting in what looked to be the living room. When she looked up and saw them standing in the doorway, she didn't say anything, instead just choosing to stare.
This was somewhat awkward.
Frisk knew it wasn't her fault, not at all, but a small part of them . . .
It had been her toy knife that had been used to kill so many.
She had been the first, the very first, and, unlike the others, died in the ruins, getting lost and slowly starving to death, her own virtue turned against her.
Toriel made sure that the kids after her had cellphones, and always hovered over them in the ruins.
They kept staring at each other, waiting for the other to say something, anything.
It took a while, but Frisk eventually realized that trying to outpatient patience was a pretty dumb idea, so instead, they decided to sit down on the couch across from her.
She smiled at them, before going back to her drawing.
Perseverance was probably one of the most difficult to find.
Like with Patience, Frisk was sensitive to the last of the souls, but could never seem to catch him in time. Anytime it seemed like they were getting close, they would always wake up.
So, imagine their surprise when they woke up to find a boy, taller than them, with glasses and a notebook.
"Greetings, Frisk. I am-"
"Perseverance, yeah I know" Frisk squinted at him suspiciously. "Did I do something to you?"
The question seemed to take him aback. "Not that I know of. Why?"
"Because you've been avoiding me" Frisk snaps. Perseverance has the decency to look sheepish.
"I wouldn't call it avoiding you" he mumbled, and immediately Justice's voice floated up from around the garden.
"I would!"
"Nobody asked you, Just!" He screamed back, before turning around, calm again.
"I'm sorry if I offended you, I just, wasn't sure what to say to you."
"Oh! You mean you were shy?"
The boy blushed, all the way to his ears. "I wasn't shy, I was being cautious" he said, and Frisk fixed him with a glare.
"Oh really? Of what?"
All this time, the anxious boy had been fidgeting, shifting foot to foot or playing with his notebook. Now he went still, pinning Frisk with his gaze. "You're not the only soul who's been influenced by Chara" he says softly.
Oh.
OH.
Oh shit.
It had never actually occurred to Frisk that Chara may try to take over one of the other of the human souls.
Of course they did, did you think you were some kind of super special exception?
"What happened?" They ask, and Preserverance actually beamed at that.
"I kicked their ass" is all he says, and Frisk says nothing, knowing their not going to get more than that.