The group rushed into Mt. Ebbot and hid as quickly as they could in case they were followed. Thankfully they were not followed. The five walked onwards. They were the only ones at the palace at this time so they decided to explore.

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Outside, in the Dreemurr household on the surface, an odd figure dressed in a dark brown ragged cloak loomed over Toriel's dusty clothing. The figure sighed and took out an empty bottle, scooped up all the dust then sealed it tight. The figure left, putting away the bottle.

"This dust will prove useful in my plan." The figure murmured. "Half-monsters will reign supreme after this. I'll see to it that only we remain."

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The five half-monster children soon entered the hot lands and looked around. Some monsters greeted them and led them to a place called the "Safe Room" which was created in case someone threatened the existence of all monster kind. Once there they saw Undyne and Alphys talking while Mettaton hugged his cousin not too far away, and the Skeleton brothers were helping other monsters with a few things. Soon Undyne saw the half-monster children out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards them and smiled widely before she saw Kari covered in blood. The bipedal fish monster widened her eyes and ran towards them.

"What the hell happened?! Who did-" Kari cut Undyne off.

"It's... Nothing..." Kari mumbled. Undyne growled and began to protest, but Alphys walked up and tugged on Undyne's arm while shaking her head.

"D-don't. L-let Kari explain when she's r-ready." Alphys said. "She kn-knows that we're here for her." The scientist smiled. Undyne sighed then nodded.

"Alright... I guess that's fair." She replied bitterly. Kari sat down in a corner with a sigh and narrowed her eyes as she watched the other monsters mingle with one another. She yawned as an odd tired feeling washed over her. Kari decided to take a nap for a bit since there was not much else to do at the moment.

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Kari looked around to find herself in a pitch black room. She felt like she had been here before and began to slowly walk forward.

You still shouldn't have done it...

It was a poor choice.

She's the only chance we've got right now, since--

Everything went silent as Kari approached eight human souls, all of which were familiar with her.

Oh crap.

She's here!

It's no surprise, she's been here before. Well, somewhere similar. Just not looking like that.

Kari blinked. "Uh, where is "here" exactly?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. The souls whispered amongst themselves then Frisk's soul hovered over to the girl.

It's kinda hard to explain, but I'll do my best. You are in your own core, where your soul is. You've actually been some place with a similar feeling before, five years ago, but in your soul form. The eight of us took shelter in your body when you were five and helped you when you broke the barrier not that long ago. You see, if we remained in the underground five years ago not only would you have been trapped and still have no memories, but we would have been lost forever. Human souls are strong and determined enough to persist after a human dies, but the time varies with each soul. Sometimes it's a few hours, sometimes years. Sometimes even longer. It all depends on their determination. By staying with you we could be safe from that outcome.

Kari blinked a few times. "So... You're in my body..."

Yes.

"And... What happened earlier... With... Goma... That was also you guys, because it did not feel like me."

Yes... That is called a Trait change. Only half-monsters can do it as far as I know, since they technically have no soul traits. Chara amplified your emotions and your want to kill the human that... Ahem, anyway, it basically just gives you the trait of a human soul and enables you to use that trait's abilities. It's a very... Risky process.

Kari slowly nodded then looked towards Chara's soul. She just stared at Chara, wanting to say something but not able to find any words. She looked back to Frisk. "Er, you said that I've been some place similar to here before."

Yeah, when you were five. Two of us met you before. Bravery and Justice met you, before... you know. They tried to get you used to the feeling of this place. You freaked Justice out when you were in Snowdin by fainting and not talking. Well, she was fine with you not talking since that's how I was at first when we met. Bravery tried to get your butt in gear when you were in Hotland.

Kari hummed while she tried to remember what Frisk was talking about. "Oh yeah! I remember that! Heh, sorry about scaring you, Justice." The yellow soul bobbed up and down.

It's alright, just glad you're okay 'n' all.

Kari chuckled nervously. "Wait, if I wasn't here then where was I five years ago?"

An alternate dimension we created.

"Wait, like what that guy, Gaster, can do? That guy's kinda weird but in a... No, just weird." Kari recalled.

Yeah, you could say that.

"Well, um, mind telling me more about that Trait change stuff?" Kari smiled. "It sounds interesting."

I guess, you might need it later on. I'll tell you just in case.

Frisk and the other souls told Kari about Trait changes and what the benefits and risks were, as well as a few other things. After they finished about talking about that they decided to get to know each other for a while since they are all sharing the same body. Soon Kari had to leave, so she waved good bye to the eight souls happily and opened her eyes.

----------

Kari glanced around lazily and yawned. Moments later the child heard footsteps to her left, followed by a voice.

"You alright kid?" It was Sans. "You conked out right as you sat down." The skeleton chuckled and sat down with Kari, handing her a sandwich. Kari took it and began to eat with a blank expression.

"I'm..." Kari's thoughts trailed off for a few moments. "Huh?" She asked, looking at the skeleton. "What was the question?" Sans sighed.

"Are you alright?" Sans repeated. Kari just nodded in reply.

"I'm just. Nothing, nevermind, I don't wanna worry you." Kari yawned again.

"Kid, I swear..."

"I'm fine, just sleepy." Kari cut Sans off, finished her sandwich, then curled up in her spot and closed her eyes. Sans sighed, internally screaming at how stubborn this kid was, then decided to keep the promise he made with Toriel and watch over the half-human as she slept, even though there was no threat present at this time.

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Something's bothering Kari, but she won't talk about it... Did something that bad happen? Why's a kid like her got to have so much on her plate? Life really is cruel... Well, all I can do is be there when she needs me.

"Sans..." I heard one of the other kids. Turning to my left, I saw Boom. He looked and sounded like something was on his mind, too.

"What's up?" I asked. Boom shuffled his feet and looked down with a sad expression, something I hadn't seen on his face before. "What happened?" I asked. Boom gulped.

"Well... Toriel..." Boom gulped again, appearing to be fighting back tears. "Toriel... Kari saw..."

"Spit it out Boom, what about Toriel and Kari?!" I began to feel agitated. Boom stepped back.

"Y-your eye is." Boom gulped once more then took a deep breath to calm down. "Toriel is... Dead. And Kari was there." Boom said with a shaky voice. I widened my eyes in shock then glanced towards Kari and back to make eye contact with Boom. So that's what happened. No wonder she's been like this...

"Thanks for the, uh... input, Boom. That must've been really rough on her." Boom just nodded in reply. I tried to calm down and shut my eyes, taking a moment to make it stop glowing.

"I just thought you should know... You've been there for us ever since Mom took the four of us in. She even considered Flo her child, even though she already had a home." Boom wiped his eyes with his right arm.

"Yeah. Toriel was just... like that." I replied with a sigh. Boom decided to leave me alone, since he saw how upset I was, and went to be with his twin brother and his technically other, older brother. brother. I just sat with Kari, who was still asleep, and began to nod off myself before completely passing out.