New Skin Part 1

Anon sighed...
It was another evening just like any other, nothing got done today and nothing would get done tomorrow,  all their friends were busy and there was nothing on netflix. Their impressive backlog of steam games had nothing particularly motivating in them. Looking at them and feeling nothing but a strange reluctance to click the "play" button, in spite of the tantalizing excitement that caused them to buy it in the first place.

They leant back in their chair and it responded by creaking in that familiar way, glancing over at their bed they pondered if it would be worth just rolling under the covers and calling this day a lost cause. They could crack open a drink but the thought of getting drunk alone again made them feel even worse, more so than the feeling of waking up at four in the afternoon.

For a while they resigned themselves to wallowing in self pity, then self loathing and then just the fugue of boredom. Looking over at the clock the hands had barely budged since last time, the sun was still in that state of depressing twilight, to dark to have the lights off, yet still too bright to turn them on. The whole day was wrapped in a depressing blanket that smothered any trace of anything good.
Anon stared out the window, glaring at the stupid sun hanging low in the stupid sky on this stupid day. Something bubbled up deep inside them, if they just sat here feeling sad for themselves then the day has won, this stupid day would have beaten them.  Something primal began to burn in Anon's chest, they were not about to just sit here while a fat lot of stupid nothing got the better of them!  They leapt up and decided to go and do something, anything would do, something new and unusual, but the question is what COULD they do?

Looking again to the strange beginnings of twilight, they pondered for a few moments before an idea struck them.  A brief flash of brilliance crossed their mind, lifting their sprits just a little. "I shall go and watch the sunset!" Perfect! Let's turn a terrible day into something good! Let's go and watch that stupid sun piss off behind the horizon and take this shitty day along with it! Then maybe they would go buy some milk or bread or something else that they might need, do something productive like a fictional human being.
They practically leapt into their shoes and ran for the door, taking their jacket off the hook and slipping it on in one deft motion before checking their phone. 'No new messages'  good, the last thing they wanted now was interruptions.  Locking the door behind them they set off down the street, nothing could stop them now!  All they needed now was a good place to sit and watch it happen, somewhere high up with a wide panorama looking west, perhaps with a nice bench or wall to sit on.

As they walked down the road, musing as to where would be a good spot they suddenly noticed a cut-thought between two houses, one they felt they hadn't seen before which was odd as they came this way fairly often.  It seemed to lead up some kind of park or wooded area, in any case it was a somewhat steep incline that might offer a vantage point to see over the rooftops. Anon decided this was a good place to start looking, a little adventure perhaps, who knows what they might find?

As they walked past a few bushes and short trees they rounded a corner and into a slightly more open clearing, a worn dirt track lead across a small field and to the foot of a short hill. This was odd, they were sure that another road passed though this general area, they looked back down the path they had come but it was obscured by a few trees. They brushed it off as some kind of illusion, the path probably curved in such a way that they were away from the main road.

The hill was steeper than it looked, and taller, much taller! It was covered with more trees than was apparent and it was somewhat rocky too. Surely they should have reached the top by now, something this tall had to be visible from where they lived.  They looked back towards the horizon and could not see the town, even at this height something should have been visible over the trees. They turned to look back up the hill and nearly fell over backwards at what was looming over them.

"Impossible!" they said aloud, "There's no way this could be here! How have I never seen it before?"

The mountain did not answer their question, it simply stood in silence as most mountains do. The path leading up the mountain however almost called Anon by name to keep going, there was something about it that compelled them to keep moving.  Anon kept walking on, as if possessed by some adventurous spirit , after all there would be no better place to watch the sunset that the top of a mountain. It made no sense but they didn't care, everything seemed more and more interesting the father they walked, each new bend in the path holding the promise of untold mysteries, every bush or rock hiding some new wonder. Their mind began to race, what could they possibly find up here? Perhaps a hidden spring with crystal clear waters surrounded by flowers? Or an old cairn for some ancient warrior buried close to the heavens? Who knows? Only one way to find out, keep going!

After a while the path took a sharp bend directly into a rocky face, leading to the mouth of a small and unassuming cave. Thanks to the angle of the sun light did not shine too far in, if you closed your eyes a bit it actually looked like a dark patch of stone in the rock face. Wondering how deep it went they decided to put their hand in and feel around. It was a little bigger than expected, they were unable to reach the back after taking a step or two in, and it was already pitch black, not even the light from their phone could shed any illumination on the walls. "Just a little bit more. and then I'll turn around." they mused to themselves, vowing to come back with a torch if they didn't find the rear wall.

Anon took another pace forwards pressing their hands to the wall for guidance, in a way it reminded them of the times they walked around the house with their eyes closed pretending to be blind. The considered calling it quits here before a little beep and a buzz signified their phone had received a message. "Odd" they thought, they were pretty sure the reception in a place like this would be terrible, in any case they checked their screen and stood a little more upright. "One new message!" they unlocked their phone and absent-mindedly shifted their weight from one foot to the other. Much like climbing the stairs at night, where their foot cannot have moved more than a few inches, and where there should have been solid ground was only a deep black void.

It happened so fast, their hands lashed out to try and find purchase on the rock walls but they grasped at shadows that slipped through their fingers. Keeling head first into dark oblivion they raised their hands up to guard their head, bracing for a face first impact. It took them mere milliseconds to react to the fall, it took them much to realise they were still falling.

The light of their phone tumbled and winked away into nothingness "So this is it... I'm going to die." Anon finally understood the situation they were in, their heart accelerated to inhuman speeds, adrenaline coursing through their veins. Senses heightened, time slowed down and their mind flipped though their internal dictionary of survival tactics. Every cell in their body began to focus on not dying, muscles tensed to prepare for impact, arms curled in front of the head to guard the brain and lastly, from the bottom of their lungs they began to scream.

In truth Anon's journey from surface to floor lasted only a few seconds at most, but to them it felt like several minutes. As they struck the ground, everything went dark for a brief moment, their scream punctuated with a wet crunching sound. As their vision began to fade back in, they became aware of a cold sensation building in their legs and chest. They tried to move their arms, but were met with a burning pain, each breath they took felt like their chest was bound with a tight leather strap. Their legs were unmoving, there was no pain, no discomfort or any sensation besides a creeping numbness, it began around the back of the shins and began to creep up their thighs before moving on to the waist and gut.

Before long their whole torso was numb and unresponsive,  they tried to breathe in but found their chest had gone stiff and they started to panic. Their lungs suddenly felt tight and strained, their head became lighter and lighter as precious oxygen began to dribble out of their brain and their vision started to blur and darken. Their heart hammered in their chest, running quickly in some futile attempt to jumpstart their body back into motion, however each thump grew weaker and more distant from the last. Anon felt themselves slowly ebbing away, beat... by... beat...

As their eyes began to cloud over with darkness they were sure they saw someone, some vague human figure began to take shape out of the world melting away around them. With their last vestiges of strength they tried to reach out and call for help, managing to just lift their hand off the floor and gurgle out a raspy cry for help before their vision was overcome by shadow and they faded into oblivion.




"Hello?"

Anon looked up, but saw nothing but blackness.

"Hello? Are you there? Can you hear me?"

Anon looked again, this time they thought they saw something.

"I think I can see you, can you see me?"

They looked harder, and sure enough they saw something... or someone, they weren't quite sure
.
"Hello?" They called back.

"Oh thank goodness, I thought you were lost."

The voice was childlike, and had a certain treble to it, almost like a nervous animal, Anon's mind likened it to the bleating of a sheep, or perhaps a goat.

"Where am I?"

"It's... hard to explain, but you need to stay here OK? Just concentrate on staying here."

"I... Who are you?"

The image began to take shape, almost as if they suddenly remembered what they were looking at.

At first they looked like someone in a stripy green and yellow shirt, but as they focused a little more they noticed something was off.

"My name is Asriel, it's nice to meet you."

"You look kinda funny like you got woolly gloves on and funny slippers. Also your ears are floppy, and you're all fuzzy."

Anon suddenly realised that the person they were talking to might not actually be wearing slippers of gloves.

"Just who, or what are you?

"Well uh, I'm a... a mons-- you know what, it doesn't matter right now, just focus on not fading away ok."

The odd someone was looking anon right in the eye, in fact no matter which way they turned they seemed to always be looking right in their eye, they tried looking around but it was not use.

"Can you stop that please? It's actually rather unsettling."

"I'm... I'm sorry, but I'm not actually sure how this works."

"How what works?"

"Well... this, and you and how you're not exactly... but you can talk, and I think I feel your heart beating."

"What are you talking about?"

"I think you died... or are very VERY close to dying."

"What? That's silly, I mean look, we're talking right now aren't we?"

"Look down..."

Anon did look down, or they tried and didn't so much look down as suddenly see what was already there.  At first they didn't accept what they saw, it was impossible how could they possibly be looking at themselves... but it was them alright. Their favourite jacket ripped and tattered, their hair messed and matted with blood and their legs twisted and mangled.  What was more perplexing was how this Asriel was kneeling next to their body while still looking them right in the eye.

"I... I'm...  so..."

"So what?"


"I'm so cold..."

Asriel's eyes grew wide and concerned.

"Just... just hold on a little longer, I think I can fix this but..."

"But?"

"But I'm not sure you're gonna like it..."

Anon considered the gravity in this creatures voice, it was clear that whatever they had in mind was something drastic, they had that kind of last ditch hope tone to their words, like how doctors talk to terminally ill patients.  The cold began to bite deeper and deeper at them, not at their hands, or their limbs but something deeper, like the very warmth of their soul was fading away.

"Asriel, if you're going to do something, please do it quickly, I think I'm almost out of time, I can feel myself drifting away and it's cold, so very cold. Please, whatever it is you have in mind can't be any worse than this, I don't want to die down here, not like this!"

Asriel looked down, his lips were trembling and he began to breathe deeply.

"Ok... I'll do it, but you need to hold on ok? I think it's going to feel like you're getting pulled into a strong current, you need to ride along with it without giving up. You have to hold yourself together ok?"

"Ok."

"Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Ok then... here goes."

Asriel reached out to where anon was, not their body but wherever it was THEY were. They felt a tugging at the edge of their mind and soul, something called to them, drew them in. They submit to the flow, trying to hang on to themselves while it felt like everything around them was trying to break them into a million pieces.  Faster and faster it went, memories of their past began to whizz by, they held on as hard as they could, trying not to get distracted and lost. Everything was fading away, not into darkness but sinking into something else, something brighter. It became difficult to focus, like their very mind was swirling in and out of existence, they saw memories come and go, dreams surface, idle thoughts danced their way into ballets of cognisance. Some things appeared to them that felt familiar, yet they were sure they had never seen them before, people, places, faces words and sounds, smells and sensations. The swirling mind vortex became more and more intense, building to a crescendo before suddenly...


Anon opened their eyes.

They were lying down on something soft yet firm and a sheet or blanket was resting on them, they were warm and comfortable.
They took a deep breath in, trying to make sense of where they were, but something was off, it didn't smell quite like home. They could smell hints of a log fire, old wood, flowers and a touch of pastry. Was it all a dream? Did they die? Were they even awake? Was this the afterlife?

 They looked around, what at first appeared to be a dark cream wall was actually the backrest of a large sofa, very large in fact it was almost as tall as they were.  Over to their left was a simple yet modestly furnished room, a fireplace was set in the middle of the wall, it crackled quietly and gave off a gentle warm glow. Just next to the fireplace was a large brown suede armchair it was worn and cracked, clearly well used and a book was perched upon the armrest, a bookmark lolled out from the cover like a thin leathery tongue.

A large bookcase mostly filled the gap between the fireplace and the adjoining wall, it was crammed with books and impossible to tell what any of them were from here. Simple paintings depicting flowers, spiral shells and a strange symbol Anon had not seen before adorned the next wall. On the other side of the room was an impressively sized  dining table, a pot of  flowers protruded from the centre, Anon counted at least five chairs, with an empty spot for a Sixth at the table head.

it didn't take long for Anon to find the sixth chair,  it was sat near the other end of the sofa, sitting in it was the creature anon had just  spoken to, or so they thought, they weren't quite sure how long it had been before they woke up. He was sitting and reading a book of his own but judging by his face, he was nervous and worried about something. He glanced up and met Anon's eyes, suddenly jolting in surprise and nearly loosing his page.

"Oh, You're awake! Mom! Dad! They're awake! Come quick!" He shouted over his shoulder.

Anon tried to crane their head up a little, try to glance over the far arm of the sofa where the top of a doorframe could be seen just poking up, presumably where Asriel had called to. Before they even had an chance to start sitting up, he hopped off the chair and put a hand on their shoulder.

"Please, try not to move too much, you could still be badly hurt so just try to rest a little ok?"

Anon wasn't too sure, they certainly felt fine, there was no pain and no coldness creeping at their core, but they were comfy and they did feel a little tired so they huddled back down into the warmth of their bedding.

They took a quick look at where they lay, a large sofa cushion was serving as a pillow, it has a velvety texture and was surprisingly springy. The blanket wrapped around them was clearly a handmade article adorned with patterns of flowers, stars, moons, that strange symbol, the occasional crown and, was that... snails? It smelled faintly of lavender, and was pleasantly warm, warm all over in fact, they wondered if it was electric but that's rather odd for a handmade blanket.

They took the opportunity to take a better look at Asriel, their head was distinctly not human and possessed several animalistic qualities, yet nothing exactly matches any particular creature Anon had ever seen before. He had an elongated snout that joined to the upper jaw, like a horse or goat but shorter and small thin nostrils. Two small pointed canines jutted out just either side of the nose, Anon likened them to vampires fangs. His eyes were human... sort of, they had the same shape but the Iris was a more solid colour as opposed to the streaks and veins that make up a humans. His were emerald green, and almost unnaturally so. His face, hands and presumably the rest of his body were covered in snow white fur, it looked soft and fuzzy, Anon was tempted to touch but that would probably be rude. His hands were mostly human, although his fingers appeared to be slightly thicker and thinner claw like fingernails curving around to the fingertips  At best guess Asriel was about as tall as an average Twelve year old, which made the height of the creature entering the room all the more impressive.

The figure in the doorframe was fully a head taller than an average adult, they were clearly of the same species as whatever Asriel was, with similar features besides the short pair of horns jutting from their head. Their eyes were some sort of deep brownish red, almost like polished copper and indeed almost metallic unto themselves. They wore a full length robe with white sleeves and a royal purple body, the chest area was adorned with the same strange symbol seen elsewhere in the house.
Anon was startled at their appearance and recoiled just a little, the newcomer clearly noticed and looked a little concerned.

"Oh, don't be afraid, I'm not going to hurt you."

Their voice was soft and gentle, and somehow oddly familiar, Anon could not describe it but something in the way this woman talked struck a chord in them that made them feel safer. They walked over and knelt down by their side, putting a hand to Anon's forehead.

"My name is Toriel, I understand you might be a little confused and frightened, especially after what you have been through, but it's ok, you are safe here."

Anon was certainly nervous, being in a strange house with a strange woman and a strange boy who seem to be rather insistent that 'Everything is going to be ok' but what really made them uneasy was how they actually felt. As they shifted Under the covers everything felt just a bit off, like they were slightly numb. Their limbs had this indescribably insubstantial feeling, almost like their bones were hollow and their muscles full of foam.

"Just try to relax a little till the doctors get here, we're still not quite sure what happened to you, even if you look fine we just want to be sure."

"Even if you do look a little different..."

Asriel's face suddenly dropped, realising what he had just said, he clapped his hands to his mouth, as if he could force the words back down his throat.  he began to shudder, his lip began to quiver and his eyes started to water. He was barely able to choke out his panicked apology.

"I'm sorry-- "

Toriel placed a hand on his shoulder and drew him in towards her chest, wrapping her arm around to gently pat him on the back.
"It's alright, they had to find out eventually..."

Now Anon was very worried, it was clear something had happened to them before they woke up, and they were not sure what. Their mind jumped to different horrible possibilities, perhaps they lost a limb or two and this strange feeling was a phantom sensation. Perhaps they had been disfigured and left with horrible scarring all over their body. Perhaps something had gotten lodged in them and they couldn't remove it, having to leave it there lest they die.

"What happened to me?"

There is often an uncomfortable feeling many people experience when hearing the sound of their own voice played back at them. The feeling Anon was currently experiencing was something not too dissimilar, for when they spoke their voice was not their own.
It was similar, had the same accent, similar tone, same patterns and inflections, but it was the wrong pitch, sounding like someone much younger, and it had the same timbre to it that Asriel and Toriel did.  This naturally came as a shock and Anon's face suddenly became taught with panic, they asked again, this time with a little more urgency.

"What happened to me?"

Asriel also started to look a little panicked, turning to Toriel and waiting for her to say something, anything would do. All she did was sigh gently, she reached over to a small table sat next to the sofa, on it was a glass of water on a purple coaster and a small brown hand mirror that was currently face down.

She picked it up and held by Anon's face.

"I think it is best if you see for yourself."

She turned the mirror around for Anon to see.

Anon said nothing....

They couldn't really say anything, their mind was fixated on what was in front of them.
For a moment, they rejected what they saw, it couldn't be their face, It had to belong to someone else! They stared directly into the eyes of the person in the mirror, as waiting for them to say something. But those were most definitely their eyes, same mood, same expression, same colour as they always were. Anon raised a hand to touch what was now their face, initially recoiling at the furry mitt that emerged from beneath the blanket. Pressing it to their "cheek" they found the fine layer of fur covering them was remarkably soft to the touch. They ran a hand down one of the long floppy ears now attached to the side of their head, taking in the sensation, how odd it felt to have such a large flap of flesh and fur, how they felt sensitive towards the ends. They ran their tongue around their mouth, taking note of the enlarged fanglike canines, aside from that, everything felt so normal.

This is what disturbed Anon more than anything, there was no doubting it, they weren't human anymore, they were whatever creature the other two were. But aside from the glaring differences, everything FELT natural, they pulled up the blanket to take a look at their feet, despite the fact that their toes were now much larger and fewer in number, they still wiggled around when they wanted them to. They had no difficulty speaking with this new mouth and new tongue, they hadn't even noticed the new teeth until the actually tried looking for them. It was if they had been born this way, but that was impossible, they knew their mother and father, they remember growing up in a human house with a human head with none of this goat ears or vampire fangs or claw nails or whatever else they'd suddenly sprouted.
They took a few deep breaths to calm themselves down before thinking about what to ask next.

"How did this happen?"

"As I said, we're not quite sure which is why we asked the doctors over to come take a look."

"Doc-tors?"

"Well one is a standard physician, they will make sure you are healthy, but the other is a scientist, one who might be able to understand what happened to you."

"So you don't know if there's a way to... like... fix this?"

"I'm sorry, but right now there's no way of knowing."

"But there has to be a way to fix it right? If it went one way it can co the other right?"

"If there's a way I promise you we'll do what we can to find it."

Anon was starting to panic again, they began to think about the implications of what happened, how would their friends and family react to this? How could they explain it to them? How long had they been down here? Did anyone know they were missing? Were they worried? They tried to fumble in their pockets for the phone, quickly discovering that they were not wearing the same clothes they were when they fell down. They were wearing a set of pyjamas, the patterns and colours made it look like they were for children.  Anon stammered their next few words out.

"My- my phone! Where's my phone? I need to call some people, tell them where I am, let them know I'm safe..."

Asriel picked something up from the table next to his chair.

"Sorry, but when you fell down it kinda broke"

Kinda was not the right word, in his hand was what appeared to be a small black piece of shattered marble. To any child of the millennium it was quite clearly a Smartphone, or half a one to be exact, the back cover was missing as was the battery, residue around the edged marked where the LCD had leaked. The pone was not so much irreparable as it was not longer anything that could be defined as a phone anymore.

"Even if it wasn't broken, I doubt you would be able to contact home anyway, nothing gets past the barrier."

"Barrier?"

"You do not know of the Mount Ebott barrier above ground, the one trapping us monsters down here?"

"This is the first time I've seen or heard anything about a barrier, or a Mount Ebott and... did you say trapped?"

"Why yes... we are trapped down here."

Toriel began to explain to Anon the shorthand version of their history up to this point. They told them of the war between humans and monsters and how they were trapped forever under the mountain. Of souls and how they differ between humans and monsters, how the various peoples of the underground lived, how boss monsters were different and how She and Her husband had lived through every day of it.
It was a lot to take in, but one think kept burning in Anon's mind above all else throughout, to the point where it began to drown out any other thoughts they might have.

Trapped forever...

They sat quietly for a moment, unable to say anything...  but slowly tears began to pool in their eyes, and before long they started to cry. Tears began to soak into the fur on their skin, matting it and becoming  slick, dribbling down onto their shirt staining it with dark patches. Toriel leaned over and pulled them in, pressing their face into her chest and wrapping her arms around them in a gentle embrace. They sat there sobbing for a while, hands gripping her robe and trying to dig their face deeper as if to bury themselves away from everything. Toriel didn't say a word, they just held on gently, this was a lot to take in for anyone and the best she could do right now was make them feel safe.

Even after anon stopped crying, they held on to Toriel for a while longer, everything around them was so uncertain but somehow being able to cling to her made them feel just a little more secure. In fact there was something about the way she spoke, the way she looked and even the way smelt and felt that was remarkably reassuring. Anon sat and pondered on their situation a little more now that they had time to process their emotions.

"So what happens now? I mean, all you said... about monsters, about the underground, I don't know anything about any of this, and to cap it all off I look and feel like a 12 year old. "

"Well we will look after you as long as you need, you may stay with us and we shall look after you, teach you about our culture and do what we can to help you find a way back. But I think before we do anything else, perhaps we should have some tea."

As if on cue, the sound of rattling porcelain and clinking teaspoons emerged from the other doorway. The person carrying the tray of cups, saucers and pots was big, VERY big and this was in comparison to Toriel who was already impressive in size. They had a much broader and muscular stature, with an impressive pair of horns atop their head that curved not only backwards but also inwards, their face had a full beard of golden blonde hair.  Their rather awe inspiring appearance was somewhat offset by their button up Hawaiian shirt and short knee length denim jeans. Anon guessed this was Toriel's Husband.

They spoke with a voice that was deep and gentle, almost like some woodwind instrument.

"Well hello there."

They set the tray down on the table beside the sofa, on it were four mugs, a small dish of sugar cubes, a little pot of milk and a much larger pot that presumably contained tea.

"My name is Asgore, it's good to see you're awake, we were worried for you might not make it for a while there."

Asgore poured Some tea into each mug, putting two sugars and a dash of milk in one, extra milk and one cube in another and only a little spot of milk in the third before passing them to Toriel and Asriel.

"So how do you take yours?"

"Extra milk and no sugar please."

Asgore smiled and put a good slug of milk in the fourth cup before passing it to Anon. Anon thanked him and took a sip, the tea was different to what they normally had, it was a little more fragrant with a lighter flavour, not like the stronger more 'heavy duty' stuff they had in the cupboard back home. The warm liquid helped soothe the soreness that had build up in their throat after crying for a while, they actually felt a little embarrassed about that in and the rather large damp patch on Toriel's robe wasn't helping.

"So it seems you're going to be staying with us a while, I suppose I'll have to get you a bed at some point, until then I'm sure we can dig out some spare pillows and a proper blanket for you. That being sad the one you have is probably the cosiest thing in the house, one of my wife's many talents."

Toriel blushed slightly, "Oh please, it was just a little hobby..."

"Nonsense dear! Don't sell yourself so short, it's a wonderful thing. Using magic to make it perpetually warm was nothing short of genius."

"Asgore please... you're embarrassing me in front of our guest." Toriel began to smirk in a nervous fashion. Asriel rolled his eyes and sighed, clearly apprehensive of where this was going but luckily Asgore got sidetracked with something a little more important before anything cringeworthy happened.

"Oh goodness, where are my manners, I don't think we had the chance to ask you your name yet."

"It's [Anon]"

"Well then [Anon] it's nice to meet you, as my wife has already said you're welcome to stay here as long as you need."

"I.. uh... thanks."

Asgore raised his eyebrows. "Is something the matter?"

"No, no... it's just, this is a lot to take in, and... and you've been so kind to be and I hardly know you. I'm just having trouble taking it all in, that's all."

"Well, you can thank Asriel in part for that, when he found you he begged us to take you in, of course we would have helped you no matter what but he in a way felt responsible for you for some reason. And after he explained what had happened when he tried to help you we understood that this was going to be complicated. But it's ok, there's more than enough room in this house for one more, I'm sure you'll fit right in eventually."

"What do you mean after he tried to help me"

"Well as you know monsters and magic are linked, we're able to express our emotions in the real world by manipulating magic. One such thing we can do is heal people, this is known to work on humans as well as it does monsters, why Toriel often did volunteer work before the war healing the sick and injured. When Asriel found you, you were badly injured and close to dying, luckily we had taught him a fair bit about healing magic and most monsters learn from a young age. However, something happened and he said you were suddenly like this. He came and found us and we bought you inside, changed your clothes and tired to make you comfortable here."

"So... how long was I out?"

"It can't have been more than a couple hours."

This actually made them feel a little better, knowing that nobody back home was probably worried about them just yet. Everyone finished their tea and Asgore collected up the cups and saucers and took them back to what was presumably the kitchen. Once the cleaning was done Anon started to feel a little sleepy and could not help but let slip a yawn, prompting a comment from Asgore.

"I suppose after the day you've had you probably are a little tired, in any the doctors won't be here for a little while, so we're going to pop into town and get you a few things, like some new clothes and a bed. We can leave you in peace to have a nap for a little while, do you like any particular colour?"

"Uh, blue I suppose but... what's wrong with my clothes?"

"They got ripped and soaked in blood when you fell, plus they aren't the right size for you anymore, sorry but magic can't quite fix that, at least not overnight."

"Oh... right."

"Well then, I suppose we should get going, we'll be back soon ok?"

As everyone got up to head on out Anon suddenly felt a little anxious, despite the repeated reassurances they were still in some unknown house in what might as well be a different country, they began to feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Please! I... I know it sounds silly but, I don't want to be left alone... it's just I've never been here before and it's all so... so... strange."

Toriel smiled and rubbed their head, "That's quite alright, I understand if you're feeling a little scared given the circumstances, I'm sure one of us can stay with you."

Asriel spoke up in a rather excited tone.

"I could stay! I mean, I don't mind and I did ask if we could look after them right? That kinda makes it my responsibility?"

Asgore pat his son on the shoulder "How noble of you Asriel, yes if you like, you can stay behind. Is that ok with you [Anon]"

"That sounds ok."

"Well then, we best get going, have fun you two!"

Asgore and Toriel left the room and a few moments later the sound of a heavy wooden door closing could be heard, Asriel practically leapt onto the sofa and sat next to Anon.

"So, how do you... feel?" He was clearly eager to talk but confused as to where to go with that.

"Fine I guess, nothing hurts but it feels weird like everything was supposed to be like this, but it isn't."

"I'm not quite sure I understand."

"Don't worry about it, I'm ok for now..."

They sat for a little while with nothing to say, Asriel nervously looking to Anon as if expecting something but not quite sure as to what. Luckily Anon had something to shatter the palpable silence.

"Say... Toriel, your mum, said something about magic right? And how all monsters can like, do magic?"

"Yeah, we're just kinda... born with it, but not quite, you have to learn how to use it."

"Do you think you could , maybe, show me?"

Asriel's face was suddenly overtaken with a big smile, he was so lit up he practically illuminated the room.

"I'd love to! but... what to do?"  He sat and thought a moment before an idea came to him.

"Something everyone learns early on is how to use 'Safety fire' it's warm, gives off good light and doesn't actually burn things. Actually there's some in the fireplace right now."

Asriel pointed to the fireplace and focused, very steadily the flames began to grow and swirl much faster. The fire became bright enough to cast shadows on the walls and the room became noticeably warmer, if only by a little bit.

"See!"

"Wow, that's actually pretty neat."

" It's a lot easier to manipulate something someone else did, actually making it is a little trickier."

Asriel cupped his hands together, looking into the little bowl he made, he began to stare, slowly a small bright dot appeared in his hands, it slowly began to grow into a small candle sized flame, then steadily bigger till it was about the size of his fist.

"There we go, wanna touch it?"

"Touch it? it's fire, it'll burn me!"

"It's magic fire, it doesn't burn, I told you."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I saved your life remember?"

"Well ok..."

Anon slowly reached out to the little ball of fire in his hands, it took them a moment to pluck up the courage but as their hand got closer it felt nowhere near as hot as real fire should. They took the plunge and to their surprise the fire was not that hot at all, it felt pleasantly warm.

"See, I told you it was fine, do you wanna try?"

"I uh... I don't know how."

"It's not too hard, just focus on the heart of the fire, the real core of it and try reaching out with warm energy."

"Warm energy?"

"Like... thoughts and feelings, happy places like hugs, that feeling you get when someone says something nice about you, and what it's like to have a nice warm bath."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Anon took a deep breath and looked into the little orb of fire, they focused on the core of the fire and much to their surprise they found they could sense some kind of 'bead' some magical marker full of warm 'energy' and that was the only real way to describe it. They concentrated on this core and started to think warm thoughts, the shower they took this morning, the feel of sunshine, the hot porridge they had for breakfast. Thinking of home made them feel a little sad, the fireball responded by flickering and dimming a little.

"You gotta keep to the happy stuff, magic is all about feeling, if you feel down the fire goes down."

Anon tried again, this time focusing on only the warm things, like the blanket they were sitting under, the tea they just drank and how soft Toriel felt when they hugged her. The little fireball began to rise, growing and flickering faster, Anon suddenly became very excited, they were making fire, they were DOING magic! In the excitement the fireball suddenly flared and sent out a couple embers, Asriel quickly clapped their hands together dousing the flames.

"See, it's all about feeling, you felt excited so the flames got excited. Don't worry, I did it the first time I tried too."

"That was... that was odd, it felt like I'd done it before but I've NEVER done something like that ever."

"Like I say, you have to learn, but you are born with it... or in your case you were sorta given it."

"You know, I'm starting to feel a little better about the whole situation... I mean, it's still sad I'm stuck here but at least it's not all bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Well as long as I got people like you  and your mum and dad helping me out, I think it's gonna be ok."

Asriel blushed a little. "Well I... I'm glad I could make you feel better, and it's nice to have someone new to talk to."

"Heh, it sure is, I suppose I could call you a friend?"

This made Asriel's face light up once again.

"Of course it does... friend."

Asriel leaned in for a hug, usually Anon wasn't the hugging type, but in this case, it felt right and they reciprocated the gesture. After a moment, Anon suddenly realised how sleepy they actually were and nearly dosed of in Asriel's arms, they startled themselves awake.

"S-sorry! It's just... I really could use a little sleep, and as good as you are at hugs, you make a great pillow."

Asriel giggled. "It's ok... you hug like a teddy bear, how about we take a nap together?"

Anon considered the situation a moment, here they were, not a few hours ago they were a young adult, old enough to drink and some of their friends were staring to have children of their own. Yet here they were, sharing naptime with someone who was at best guess nearly half their age... or what WAS their age. And they didn't care, for once they didn't have to care anymore, they could  just let themselves be someone else for a little while. The thought was liberating and after all, they had a brand new skin as an excuse, no reason not to try something different for a change.

"You know, that's not such a bad idea."

They fluffed up the cushion as best they could and snuggled under the blanket, Asriel coiled around Anon and drew them into another cuddle. Before long anon was drifting off into sleep, the soft sound of Asriel breathing and the gentle thump of his heartbeat soothing their soul. They closed their eyes and let themselves wash away into their dreams.