Chara woke up, on her bed, back in her room in Asgore's house.
She looked down to examine her body.
Her body.
That crazy filly really did it.
"Chara..." she then heard.
She recognized the voice. She looked to the side, and here she saw Asriel, sitting on the other bed, looking at her with happiness, but also with guilt and trepidation.
“Welcome back,” he said.
"Asriel..." Chara muttered, several emotions passing on her face. Happiness, anger, shame, guilt… In the end, she decided to settle this by hugging him.
Asriel happily returned the hug. “I thought that you would hate me.”
Chara remained silent for a moment after this before she sighed too. "I guess that I should have seen it coming... You're just too nice to hurt anyone. I shouldn't have forced you to follow that plan. Because of this, you died too."
“No, this is my fault. I knew that this was a bad plan, but I still went with it.”
Chara giggled. “Let’s just say that we were both at fault.”
Asriel nodded.
Chara looked around. “So, where are Frisk and Sweetie Belle? And dad?”
“Well, first, on the way to the house,we encountered Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys who were coming to stop a potential fight between Frisk, Sweetie Belle, and Asgore. Now, they are out spreadeing the news about the Barrier. Then, Sweetie Belle went out using her new godly powers to help the monsters who became the Amalgamates. Frisk is currently in dad’s room, watching over him. Dad had the expected reaction after learning that Frisk is his granddaughter, in addition to the Barrier being destroyed and you and me being brought back to life.”
“He fainted.”
It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah.”
…
“I can’t believe she is our daughter,” Chara eventually said.
Asriel groaned. “This will take some getting used to…”
“You don’t say. Ugh! I don’t think I will ever get used to that! I’m not ready to be a mother! I’m still just a kid!”
“Y-yeah… But I’m sure that we will make this work with dad’s help!”
Chara sighed. “Let’s go to dad’s room.”
Asriel nodded.
The two silently left their room and walked toward Asgore’s room. It didn’t take long, and after just a few seconds, they passed the door and entered the room where Frisk was sitting on a chair beside Asgore’s bed, with Asgore still unconscious on it.
Frisk and Chara looked at each other for several seconds before Chara sighed.
“You know, I should have known that something like that was going on,” she said. “You are too much my spitting image, and even your shirt’s colors are the opposite of mine.”
Frisk got up from the chair that had been placed beside the bed and approached Chara. “Hum… Well… It’s nice to properly meet you, Chara.”
“Yeah, nice to properly meet you.”
…
An awkward silence fell in the room.
“If… If you don’t want me as your daughter… I would understand. It’s weird. We… We could be sisters instead, I guess…” Frisk eventually said.
“No.”
“Uh?”
“It would be like rejecting you, and I don’t want to do that,” Chara said. “We are your parents. That’s the fact. No matter how weird the way you were born is. So, we will just have to accept that and deal with it.”
“R-really?”
“Yes. We will make it work, somehow.”
At this moment, the door opened again, only a little bit this time. Sweetie Belle's head poked through the opening to look at the room.
"Oh, good, everyone is here. I have a surprise for you."
She then fully opened the door, revealing Toriel standing behind her.
When she saw Asriel and Chara, she gasped and covered her mouth with a hand. "Asriel? Chara?"
The next instant, when she understood that she wasn't dreaming, she ran and hugged the both of them, tears now streaming, and they hugged back.
Smiling at this heartwarming reunion, Sweetie Belle joined Frisk who had returned to the chair beside Asgore.
"Sorry I took so long. After I was done with the Amalgamates, I freed the six SOULs and told the news about the Barrier Toriel. I then told her that I had a surprise for her and brought her here."
"That was nice of you," Frisk said with a longing smile as she looked at the three hugging.
"What are you waiting for? Go join in the group hug! You're part of the family too.
“Toriel doesn't know yet… It would be rude for her if I joined. And I'm not even sure that Asriel and Chara have entirely come to term with... that. I don't think I have yet..."
"No kidding..."
Toriel approached Sweetie Belle at this moment, took her in her arms, and hugged her. "Asriel told me that you're the one who brought them back. So, thank you! Thank you very much!"
Sweetie Belle simply smiled back at her before she looked above her shoulder at Asriel and Chara. "So, I guess it's story time for Toriel?"
"Shouldn't we wait for dad to wake up?" Asriel asked.
“Oh. He is awake. He just didn’t want to ruin your reunion.”
Asriel and Chara immediately went to hug Asgore who wrapped them in his arms as he sat up.
“This wasn’t a dream,” he said, tears in his eyes. “Asriel… Chara…”
Toriel glared at him but decided to not do anything.
Asgore looked at Sweetie Belle. “Thank you for bringing them back.”
“It wasn’t all me. You can thank Alphys too. Frisk, how about you start the story?”
Frisk nodded and began to recount everything that happened, starting by her waking up in the Ruins without memories and the vision she got just before of Chara climbing the mountain and falling into the Underground. After that, she explained how she discovered her power of SAVING and LOADING thanks to her Determination, something proper to humans. Then came the moment of her encounter with Sweetie Belle.
"It was totally by random that I appeared here," the filly explained then. "When I travel into a new dimension, I never know where my rifts will drop me. This one dropped me just in front of Sans' station, just before Frisk came, but it could have been anywhere else."
"So you travel dimensions?" Asriel asked.
"Yup! To live great adventures and make new friends!"
From there, Frisk and Sweetie Belle alternated as they recounted the events of Snowdin (especially Sweetie's encounter with a certain flower and the discussion she had about said flower with Sans), then of Waterfall, and finally of Hotland. They briefly mentioned the voice in Frisk’s head.
“Uh… By the way, Chara, in Waterfall, when I got the orb, I wanted to materialize knives before I settled on golden flowers. Was that… from you?”
Chara nodded and materialized a red knife. “That’s my magic. I have a thing with knives.”
"Creepy," Sweetie Belle said.
"Hey! Knives are cool tools that can be used in a lot of ways! Like cooking and gardening! That's not creepy! Not as creepy as guys that are obsessed with ACTUAL weapons!"
"Okay okay! Sheesh! Darn Frisk. You have one heck of a mother. I advise you to not make her angry," the filly whispered to her friend.
The story then continued, and it wasn't long before they passed the fight against Mettaton. Then came the date with Alphys, and more importantly, the vision that Frisk got by touching the golden flowers in the Garbage Dump.
"Another one?" Toriel asked.
"Yeah, of when Asriel found Chara in the Ruins after her fall," Frisk said.
"After Frisk told me about this, I saw the flowers. There, I felt that the flowers were filled with Determination. The exact same Determination that Frisk possesses and uses. I immediately made the connection, and I went to the Ruins to investigate the golden flowers there."
"Oh, so this is why..." Toriel said.
"Yeah. And there I found out that these flowers were filled with Determination, and I also understood that it was certainly Chara's grave."
Asgore was deep in thought. “So there were flowers filled with Determination above Chara’s body. I think that I am starting to see where this is going.”
Sweetie Belle nodded.
“We were actually starting to think that the voice in Frisk’s head was Chara, but she refused to answer to confirm this.
They then continued the story and it went to the events inside the secret lab, and from there, it was one revelation after another (but they made sure to not tell about the tapes).
"Y-you're telling me that that flower... was Asriel?" Toriel asked, not believing it.
"Yeah... It was me..." Asriel answered shyly. "Alphys injected Determination in the flower, and it gave my essence the will to live. And so I was back, as this flower. Because of this Determination, I was the one who had that SAVE and LOAD power that Frisk now possesses, and because of my lack of SOUL, I ended up using it to do... horrible things..."
Toriel began to comfort him, hugging him and saying, "It wasn't you. I know you, you would never hurt anyone. That flower..."
"That flower was me! Because of my lack of compassion, I became the very thing I despised, but it was still ME! Even without caring, I knew that it was wrong, so I could have chosen not to do this! But I did...! And... I don't think that I can ever forgive myself for this..."
"..." Chara moved to put a hand on Asriel's back. "Hey...At least, it's over. You're back to normal. No more "Flowey the psychopathic flower.""
Frisk joined her. "Now we can work for a better future."
Asriel nodded.
Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle looked at Toriel and Asgore and said, "So you understood that Flowey was Asriel, but we hadn't yet put everything together back then. We still didn't know about Asriel dying in the garden, so we didn't know that the flower had his essence in it. We only learned this once we were in New Home, where some monsters told us the story. It was only then that we understood, Frisk being the first. And it wasn't the only thing that she was able to find out."
"Y-yeah..." Asriel said as he calmed down. "When I died, I was holding Chara against my chest, you remember?"
Toriel and Asgore both nodded before they understood.
"Some of your dust fell on her body," Asgore said.
"And the SOUL broke and the pieces fell on her body too," Toriel said.
Sweetie Belle nodded, not hiding her amused smile. "And then, Asriel, as Flowey, came and planted some of his seeds on Chara's grave, making the golden flowers filled with Determination grow on it. And said flowers also had some monster essence in them."
It wasn't difficult from there for Toriel and Asgore to put two and two together.
Sweetie Belle materialized a recipe book. "So, you take Chara's body, you put in the pieces of the broken, merged SOUL of Chara and Asriel, you add in some monster essence from Asriel and a lot of blank monster essence from the flowers, and finally, you inject a big quantity of Determination..."
"And this is how you end up with a granddaughter..." Asgore concluded. “And that’s why Chara was inside your head.”
Frisk nodded, not daring to look at him or Toriel in the eyes.
“And… this means that Frisk is our daughter, to Chara and I,” Asriel said.
“Which we are totally not ready to have since we are still children, so we are not sure of how this will go, but we will still be Frisk’s parents. We refuse to sweep it under the rug by calling her “sister”,” Chara said.
A long moment of silence followed before Toriel sighed.
“Well, what is done is done. I’m proud of you two for accepting to take responsibility. And I can promise you this.” Toriel then positively beamed as she looked at Frisk. “As her grandmother, I will help take care of her! I will be the one raising her!” Suddenly, in a fraction of a second, she had Frisk in her arms and she was giving her the mother of all hugs.
"W-what about me, Tory?" Asgore hesitantly asked, raising a finger to get her attention.
"Don't "Tory" me! And I'm not sure that I should let you get close to her. You don't have the best history with human children," Toriel said with a glare that could have put Asgore on fire.
This really hit it home to Asriel and Chara that Toriel and Asgore weren't together anymore. And in a way, they were at fault, and this made them feel guilty.
Even if they were back, things will never be the same, and not just because they now had a... daughter.
Gosh, they really had a hard time coming to term with it.
Toriel then huffed. "But I guess that, as her grandpa, I can't stop Frisk from going to you if she desires."
Asgore sighed in relief. "Thank you..."
“You seem very calm about that whole Asriel and I having a daughter. We are siblings and children. This should be… weird,” Chara said.
Toriel just gave a small giggle at this. "You heard the story. This is certainly... strange, but in the end, nothing wrong happened. You are siblings and children, but thanks to circumstances beyond your control, you now have a daughter. All we can do is accept this." She then looked back at Frisk still in her arms with a warm smile before nuzzling her. "And I can certainly accept being now a grandmother despite the unusual way this happened."
Asgore nodded. “I agree that this is strange, but we can live with this. Together, we will raise Frisk properly.”
And with this, both Asriel and Chara finally accepted that they had a daughter, as weird as it was. So they decided to join Frisk and Toriel in a group hug.
Sweetie Belle then decided that it was time to talk about something else.
"So, what will you do now that the Barrier is gone?" she asked the king.
"Uh? Oh, yes. Well, I will begin the process to move the monsters to the surface, starting by making an announcement. I will then send some representatives to the humans to announce our return and start discussions."
Sweetie Belle nodded. "There is a city on the surface, not far from the mountain. It's certainly Chara's village which has developed well since then."
Everybody else in the room got somber looks at this. They all remembered what this village did to Asriel, and Chara also had her memories of before she fell to the Underground.
There was a reason for her to have run away from her village and to not have a high opinion of humanity.
"Hey. The humans who killed Asriel are certainly dead by now. No need to think about this."
Toriel nodded. "You are right. Let's not put the wrongs of their ancestors on the current generation. And it will be easier to talk to them first since they're the closest from the mountain."
Asgore nodded. "I have the hope that they will welcome us into their city, but if we have to, we will simply build a new city somewhere else."
Asriel glanced at Chara at this before he talked. "I think that we should do the second option. Chara... wouldn't feel well among humans."
Chara never told them why she climbed Mt. Ebott, but Asriel understood that Chara really didn't like the humans. She had had no qualms sacrificing a few of them to destroy the Barrier, and when he had absorbed her SOUL, he had felt her intense hatred of them. Even now, he could see in her eyes that putting Chara back in a human city will end very badly.
Asgore didn't know about this, or at least, didn't know about how much Chara disliked the humans, but he nodded. "Very well. Then we will build the city, and if there are monsters who will want to go live among the humans, then they will have the permission. That is, if the humans agree to let monsters come into their city. However, this means that we will have to remain in the Underground a few months longer the time to build it."
"You won't! I will help you build it, and with my powers, it will be much faster!" Sweetie Belle said with a big grin. "And I want to be part of the representatives sent to talk to the humans. I need to learn politics for when I will take my duty as queen."
Four pairs of eyes stared in amazement at her, and four voices half-shouted "You are a queen?!"
Frisk was the only one not to say anything as she already knew.
"Yup. But I won't start until I reach maturity."
"Mmh... Very well. In that case, I will let you be a part of the representatives. I also intend to be among them," Asgore said.
"Then I will also play the role of bodyguard. I have hope that this will go well, but it's very possible that some humans will react badly once you show up. Especially if they still have in memory, even just as a tale, the vision of a monster holding the corpse of a human child." Sweetie Belle glanced at Asriel and Chara at this to make them understand that she was talking about them.
"That's a good point," Asgore agreed. "But try to avoid using violence. I don't want to start another war."
"Of course. If I have to act, I will only use defense. Don't worry. Let's give all of you a better future."
Someone suddenly knocked on the door.
Sweetie Belle grinned. "But before that, there's one last surprise!" She then used her magic to open the door, revealing another Sweetie Belle. The two Sweetie Belles merged back into one before she looked back at the humans and monsters in the room. "Toriel, you should come first."
Looking at Sweetie Belle questioningly, Toriel went to the door and saw something that made her gasp before she put her hands on her mouth. Not believing what she was seeing, she slowly walked out of sight to the right. Everyone then could hear her mutter something, followed by sobs.
Curious, Frisk went to look and saw Toriel, on her knees, being hugged by six human children, three boys and three girls, of various ages. The youngest, a girl with long blond hair going to her waist, looked to only be six years old while the oldest, a boy with very short black hair and glasses, looked to be fourteen years old. The others were an eight years old boy with messy brown hair, a girl the same age with her black hair tied in a ponytail, a twelve years old girl with red hair going to her neck and possessing freckles, and a boy who seemed to have the same age than Frisk, Chara, and Asriel with blond hair.
Frisk's jaw dropped, and she looked at Sweetie Belle. "Are they... the SOULs?"
Sweetie Belle simply nodded.
"Wait, what?!" Asriel half-shouted before he ran to join Frisk, followed by Chara, then by Asgore who walked very slowly, visibly afraid.
When the King saw the humans, his expression turned into shock, tears appearing in his eyes. "It's them..." He looked back at Sweetie Belle. "You brought them back..."
Sweetie Belle nodded again. "Of course. If I brought Chara back, then why not the other children?"
Asgore was at a loss of words. Several emotions fought on his face, joy, guilt, shame, relief... In the end, he looked down so his hair hid most of his face before he said, "Thank you..."
He then was about to walk back toward his bed only to stop when Toriel shouted "Alice! Where are you going?" before he felt someone tug at his cloak. When he looked down, he saw the little blond girl who looked up at him with her big blue eyes and a smile that was both happy and sad.
And she said, "It's nice to see you again, Mr. Asgore!"
Asgore looked at her in wonder. This girl was the SOUL of Patience, the first human he killed barely a few years after Asriel and Chara died. The guards had caught her when she had barely been out of the door to the Ruins and had brought her to him. Being the innocent child that she had been, she had had no idea of what had been going on, and while she had been a bit scared of Asgore because of how big he was compared to her, she hadn't hesitated to start a conversation with him, about how excited she had been to see her parents again who were probably worried because they had been about to have a picnic but she followed a rabbit without warning them and fell down that hole. She had also talked about how the guards had been nice to her and had loved petting the dog one. She had been so polite, and so full of life...
Asgore hadn't been able to stop himself. He had told her more about the Underground, they had discussed stuff like flowers, tea, their life... Then, Asgore had told her with fatality that she was stuck in the Underground because of the Barrier. The poor girl had been crushed by this, but eventually innocently asked why there was a Barrier. Through a series of questions and answers, Asgore had told her everything.
And the girl had simply accepted her fate. If it was to help the monsters, then she was willing to give her SOUL. She had been happy to help. When Asgore had struck her down, she had had her eyes closed, tears streaming from them, and a small smile, waiting for the killing blow.
The pain she felt probably hadn't been as terrible as the pain Asgore felt in his heart when he pierced her with his trident.
The guards who brought her had also been given vacations for an undefined period of time. The event had hit them quite badly too. Some simply never returned to their job.
He made sure to not repeat the same error for the following humans. He made sure to not get himself attached to them.
Hesitantly, Asgore lowered himself on a knee and placed a hand on the girl's hair, giving her a small smile. "It's... nice to see you again too, Alice..."
Alice's smile brightened. "You saw? The Barrier is down! And I helped!"
"Yes, you did," Asgore said before his smile turned more sad. "But I fear that you still won't be able to see your parents..."
Alice looked down in sadness. "I know... They must be gone by now..." She looked back at Asgore, her smile returning, hiding her pain. "But at least, the monsters are free!"
"Yes, they are..." Asgore said before he raised his eyes and saw the other children. They had all approached, some closer than others, and with various expressions on their faces, mostly uncertainty.
The closest was the red-haired girl, the Kindness SOUL, the fifth humans he killed. She managed to reach the castle without hurting anybody. She even went out of her way to help the monsters. When she had reached Asgore and had begun a fight against him, she had clearly been torn between killing Asgore to return to her family to spare them the pain of losing her or giving up to let Asgore take her SOUL. In the end, it didn't matter because Asgore won the fight. Still, she had understood the situation and hadn't held anything against Asgore.
And she showed it again as, when she saw that he was looking at her, she slowly approached before she gave him a hug without saying a word.
While this happened, the boy with the glasses also approached. The SOUL of Perseverance, the fourth human. Despite not being a fighter at all, being more the intellectual type, he still managed to reach the castle too mostly by hiding from the monsters or tricking them. Of course, against Asgore, he didn't last long, but he fought to the last breath in the hope of seeing his family.
Just behind him were the girl with the ponytail and the blond boy, respectively the SOUL of Integrity and the SOUL of Justice, third and sixth humans. Integrity had gone all the way to Waterfall before she had been caught by the previous Captain of the Royal Guard while she had been hiding in a patch of tall grass. Before dying, she tried to convince Asgore to stop the killing, even telling him how cowardly he was acting, that he could simply absorb a SOUL and pass the Barrier to get the rest instead of waiting. Her words had hurt as if he had been stabbed by a knife because he had known that she had been right. Something similar happened with Justice. The boy had tried to hide in the garbage dump but had been caught. Then, while sympathetic to the monsters, he had made sure to tell Asgore how wrong his actions were before the King ended his life.
As for the last boy, the SOUL of Bravery, the second human, he remained alongside Toriel behind the others, simply watching. And he certainly had been a brave little guy. Despite being terrified, he had attempted to go through the Underground. However, when he had faced the first sentry in Snowdin, he had ended up killing them. This had traumatized the poor boy who had then just let himself being caught by the other sentries. Shaking, he still attempted to fight Asgore when he had been brought to him, but he hadn't really been in it and had pretty much let himself being killed. Asgore had really wanted to hug him, but after Alice, he didn't have the heart.
"Asgore..." Perseverance - Asgore noted to himself to learn the names of the other humans - began. "We... We don't think that we will be able to forgive you for what you did."
Asgore looked down dejectedly. "I understand. I don't deserve forgiveness anyway." He looked at Integrity and Justice. "You were right. I could have avoided all that suffering. I could have ended it much earlier. Either by coming back on my words and giving up on the war or by going to take the six remaining SOULs after getting the first one. But in the end, I did neither. I acted like a coward, and everyone suffered for it." He looked at Alice and Kindness. "That two of you are even coming to me like that is more than I deserve."
Perseverance sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I personally don't hold it against you. You raised everyone's hope after what happened to Asriel and Chara, but once you began to regret what you did, you couldn't back down. You didn't want to kill, but now, you were stuck in this terrible moral dilemma. So you chose the easy path. I... don't know if I would have had been able to do better if I had been in your place. But as you said, it doesn't stop the fact that a lot of people suffered because of it."
"To put it simply, you failed as a king," Integrity bluntly said, making Asgore wince. "But I will join Tomma. While I can't forgive you, I can't really hold it against you. I mostly feel... pity that you found yourself in this situation."
"Same..." Justice said. "And it doesn't help that us humans are partially responsible. First the war, then Asriel's death... At least, it's over. And you got your family back." He eyed Toriel. "Well, mostly... But, I'm glad for you." He then looked down sadly. "Most of us won't be as lucky. I only died about twenty years ago, and I'm not even sure if I will see my parents... Many things can happen in twenty years... At best, they are still around now in their fifties."
"I'm sure that the humans will help you find them, even if they moved to the other side of the world," Asgore reassured. "But if they are... gone... then..." He looked at the six children. "If you have nowhere to go, then be reassured that you will have a home among the monsters. I already know that Toriel wouldn't mind taking you in."
"He is right, my children," Toriel said. "I promise, if you have nowhere to go, and if you allow me, I will do my best to take care of all of you."
"Uhm... Nine mouths to feed... Won't it be a little too much?" Tomma asked.
"Not at all, dear. I already know that I could count on all of you to help. But I don't think that this will come to this. While I fear that this will be too late for Alice and for Benji, and maybe even for you Rebecca, there's still some chance for you Tomma, Alex, and Justin."
"Yeah... But by now, my parents must be too old..." Tomma said. "Maybe... My little brother? Boy, it would be weird..."
"Ah've some cousins..." Alex, the red-haired girl, said hesitantly. "But Ah don't know them that well. And... Ah really wouldn't mind remaining with ya, Toriel."
"Me too!" Alice and Benji said.
Toriel smiled warmly at them. "Thank you, my children."
Meanwhile, Asriel asked, "You won't mind?" to Chara.
In return, the girl sighed before she replied. "I guess that I will have to learn to tolerate the humans now that we're returning to the surface, so having human siblings would be a good start. Beside they don't seem bad. They were harsh to dad, but even I can tell that he kind of deserved that." She then whispered the next part to him. "But mom also deserves some harsh words. She did abandon her people to hide when she could have remained to help. Even then, she could have followed the humans out of the Ruins to protect them. We should have a talk with her about her hypocrisy when we will have the occasion."
Asriel reluctantly nodded knowing that she was right. Maybe making their mom face her own wrongs will help her reconciling with their dad.
They sent a word to Mettaton to prepare a show in the next hour for a great announcement from Asgore. Some monsters already knew what it was about. The news spread quickly. And by the next hour, the show confirmed it: the Barrier was broken.
They were now free.
Immediately, the monsters began to prepare to leave, and the next day, Asgore gathered two teams: the team of representatives that will make the first contact with the humans and a team that will scout the area around the mountain to find a place to build the new monster city.
The first team was composed of Asgore, Toriel, Sweetie Belle, Alphys, and Mettaton. Alphys thanks to her knowledge of humans in general, and Mettaton thanks to his charisma and the fact that he was a freaking robot so he was sure to gain some "SO COOOOL!!!" points from the humans.
The other team was made of the majority of the Royal Guard including the Canine Unit, of the sentries (now jobless) and of some volunteers including Frisk, Chara, and Asriel, the last two already having an idea of the area around the mountain even if a lot of time had passed since then. As for the other humans, they remained in the castle.
The first encounter with the humans went... rather well actually. And yet, it started badly. The tale of the War had turned into a legend for them, and they had totally forgotten that the monsters were real and had been sealed in Mt. Ebott. Even the tale of "the monster who attacked the village" was now just a local fairy tale used to scare children.
So they had quite the shock, and scare, when they saw a group of beings that seemed to be monsters approach. But the little winged unicorn and the robot among them also perplexed a lot of them.
But when it seemed that trouble was about to start when members of the local police began to come, Mettaton took his mike and announced who they were with his most dramatic voice, getting the attention of the crowd. Sweetie Belle then advanced and gave the humans her most terrifying weapon: her cuteness. Looking at them with the most adorable puppy dog eyes she could give and using the squeakiest, most innocent voice she could make, she told them that they didn't want to hurt anyone and that they just wanted to talk.
It was a super effective move...
And she disappeared in a crowd of children wanting to pet, hug, and play with her in less time than it took to say it despite the parents attempting to call them back, scared for their safety.
Seeing that the monsters seemed true to their parole and weren't attacking the children assaulting one of them, the fear mostly let place to curiosity, and before long, the monsters were able to talk with the mayor who had a hard time believing that the legends were true.
And he had a harder time believing that the monsters weren't seeking revenge after all this time passed trapped under the mountain because of the humans.
But Asgore assured him that they just wanted to return to a peaceful, free life at the surface, and that a war against the humans would only lead to more unnecessary suffering.
The mayor then promised him that he will contact the president of the country where Mt. Ebott was situated, and the monsters were left to explore the city under the watchful eyes of some guards. Between Asgore's fatherly attitude, Toriel's kindness, Alphys' curiosity about humans making her endearing in the eyes of some, Sweetie Belle's cuteness and playfulness, and Mettaton being... Mettaton, they were able to make a really good impression to the population of the city.
Of course, some humans still feared them and were even outright hostile to them, but nothing was perfect. At least, nobody attacked them... yet.
Eventually, they left, Asgore promising the mayor that they will return the next day. By then, they should have an emplacement for the new monster city to tell them about, and the mayor should have contacted the president.
When the monsters eventually found a good emplacement for Monster City - some things will never change, and the king's (lack of) talent with names is one of them - the construction immediately began. Like she said, Sweetie Belle helped them, and thanks to her powers it only took a few minutes to build a new house. Actually, she could build a house almost all by herself! She just needed to materialize the construction materials such as wood or stone, give them the needed shapes, and assemble them. The only thing she needed help for were the plans of the houses so she had an architect following her all the time she worked here.
The next day, the president personally came to the human city to see the monsters and to discuss with Asgore. Of course, an army of reporters was with him, ready to immortalize this historical event. It wasn't hard to find a middle ground. The monsters just wanted to live in peace at the surface, so they asked nothing. Asgore was even ready to abdicate as a king so the monsters could become citizens of the human country if that was needed.
The president replied that it wasn't needed. Asgore could remain the king of the monsters, as their leading figure. However, the monsters will now have to follow the same laws as the humans. Asgore agreed, and also promised to help the humans to learn back the lost art of magic as a show of their goodwill, and before long, a treaty was signed.
Monsters were now citizens of the country, and were to be treated like any citizens.
The bad news? This promised a lot of paperwork in the following days for all of them, and even more to make Monster City an official city.
Predictably, many humans protested against this, and there were several attempts at a monster's life for one reason or another. Thankfully, the president had seen this coming and had left a huge police force to guard them, including the newly recruited ex-Royal Guards.
And Sweetie Belle also showed to the humans that she wasn't only adorable...
And the monsters showed to the humans that their magic wasn't to be underestimated, making many want to learn to use it.
So it wasn't a surprise to see, eventually, some humans coming to live in Monster City for this reason.
Speaking of, Asgore also talked to the President about the children. He confessed what he did to them, then told him about how they were brought back to life. The President personally saw the children after that who unanimously decided to not send Asgore to trial for their murder.
The King being put on trial was the last thing the monsters needed.
Instead, the President promised them to help in finding their families (or what remained), and until then, he allowed Toriel to be their guardian with confirmation of the Child Services. In the following days, Alice, Benji, and Rebecca were confirmed to not have any close family members left excepted a little sister for Benji who was much too old by now. Benji was surprised to learn that he had now a sister and actually wanted to see her. Said sister had also given him one niece and two nephews, each giving themselves grandnieces and grandnephews. Benji was excited to encounter them, but preferred in the end to remain with Toriel.
Tomma, Alex, and Justin still had close family members left, but things weren't easy for any of them. As Tomma thought, his parents were now too old to take care of him, and his brother had moved to a different country where he founded a family. Tomma didn't want to move to a different country and didn't want to force his brother to move back, so he decided to remain with Toriel too.
Alex was more tragic. Her mother died of grief after her disappearance, and her father killed himself not long afterward. All that remained were her uncle and aunt and their children and grandchildren.
Only Justin was able to return to his family in the end, his parents having remained in the nearby city. However, they were now divorced, so he would mostly remain with his mother while he would regularly visit his father as well as Toriel every now and then.
Even if she couldn't take care of him, Toriel was happy for Justin.
In a matter of weeks, the majority of the monsters were out of the Underground, and most of them went to live in Monster City. Some, however, decided to remain in the Underground, not wanting to leave this home they had always known. Now that the Barrier was gone and that they had the choice to leave, it wasn't so bad. And it would be sad to just abandon everything they had built.
Finally, after about a month...
"Careful... Careful... And... There! Good job Frisk!" Chara said with a congratulating pat on Frisk's hair.
Frisk grabbed the pot in which she had planted her first golden flower as if it was the most precious thing in the world and looked at Chara with a smile full of childish joy. "Yay! Thank you Chara!"
"See? It wasn't that hard. I knew that you could do this," Chara said with pride.
"She is a natural," Asgore said as he grabbed two pots and placed them on a small cart among a few other while Alice placed a third one. "Not a surprise. She has a big connection with them."
"No kidding dad. They're the reason she's here today," Asriel said beside him with a chuckle.
The four of them were in the ancient throne room, back in the Underground. Asgore had wanted to replant the golden flowers here elsewhere, and Frisk, Asriel, Chara, and Alice had decided to help him.
It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing. Flowers were blooming. It was a perfect day for such an activity.
Even if said activity was inside a castle underground...
And it was a good occasion for some family bonding.
As Frisk began to work on a second flower, Sweetie Belle came.
"Found you!"
Frisk waved at her. "Sweetie Belle! You came to help us?"
Sweetie Belle looked at what they were doing and nodded. "Alright. I still have some time."
"Some time before what?" Asgore asked.
"Before I return home. This is why I was searching you. I wanted to tell you that I was about to return home, in exactly two hours, thirty one minutes, and... thirty seconds."
As she expected, everyone was saddened by the news. Frisk and Alice even came to give her a hug.
"So you leave us?"
"Hey... You knew it was bound to happen eventually. Everything is alright now, the monsters don't need me anymore. But don't worry. We will see each other again. I am sure. Alphys is working on a portal, and once she's done, you will be able to come visit me in my universe. And one day, I will also come back to visit you, maybe with some other friends to present to you. I'm thinking of bringing Meta Knight so Undyne can spar with him."
Oh, the show it would give them...
And so, after over two hours of gardening placing the golden flowers in pots and then finding new places for them, Sweetie Belle led them to a field outside of Monster City. When the news spread that she was leaving them, many other monsters and some humans came to bid her farewell.
Sweetie Belle made sure to say goodbye to ALL of them, by materializing clones of herself.
"COME BACK QUICKLY! I WILL MISS YOU!" Papyrus said as he hugged the filly.
"I will, you big goof!"
"So you're gonna kick some more bad guy butts?" Undyne asked.
"Probably. I never know what the next adventure will bring."
Mettaton gave her a pile of movies. "HERE ARE ALL THE MOVIES ABOUT ME, ALL AUTOGRAPHED BY YOURS TRULY! YOUR PEOPLE WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO DISCOVER MY GREATNESS!"
Sweetie Belle laughed as she placed the movies in her pocket dimension. "I'm certain they will love you!"
"I-I will try to finish the portal as quickly as possible!" Alphys assured.
"I'm sure you will. Make sure to link it to the portal back home."
"We will await your return with impatience," Asgore said.
"Be careful little one. There are probably many dangers out there that even you won't be able to fight," Toriel warned.
"I know... There is always more powerful."
"It was fun with you here. It will be a little boring without you around," Chara said.
"Thank you again for everything you did," Asriel said.
Benji approached and gave her a drawing of her and all the children (including Frisk, Chara, and Asriel) with Toriel behind them.
Sweetie Belle took it. "Wow! You made it? It's really good! Thank you!"
"I made it, but it's from everyone," Benji said, and the others nodded.
"Aww. Thank you everyone."
Sans was the last one to talk. "Eh... i can't wait for you to foal around with us again. the guys and i will miss you around the table."
"Keep a chair warm for me! I intend to return to finally beat you and your eternal smily face impossible to read!"
While she talked to Sans, Frisk approached her, teary eyed, and wrapped her in her arms, and the filly returned the gesture. Not a word was exchanged, but none were needed between them. It was only when Frisk let her go that Sweetie Belle said "See you soon."
Right at this moment, a rift appeared behind her.
"Just on time."
Back when she was a God thanks to the SOULs, she used her powers to make it so a rift would appear right there, right then. The rift would bring her back to her universe, right after the moment she left it.
She also distorted the time of this universe so it would be now equal to the time of her universe. So no problems like:
"-Hey! Nice to see you again! I came back like I promised!
-Uh... It has only been one day for us...
-What? Really?! But it has been over one year for me!"
She really needed to find a definitive way to solve this problem. If it hadn't been for her temporary godly powers, she would have returned to her universe, like, forty years in the future (or just about a year if she had returned to her universe just after breaking the Barrier).
Time could go to Tartarus.
Anyways, with a last wave at everyone, Sweetie Belle walked into the rift.
And it closed behind her.