I'm back! Hope you're ready for some fun underground, cause all the kids sure are. Also, thank you to everyone's kind words last time, I never forgot them or this story, and am happy to return.

Finwee Lord of Long Winds: Thanks, glad you think so.

DragonCrusader: Yeah, was beginning to plan a longer narrative around then, since all my original ideas had already been done. It will go somewhere, just might be a slow burn.

GiratinaBeelezemonblaster369: Thanks for reading, and I already have a couple male humans in mind. They'll start coming soon.

Goofy Goober: Thanks for the suggestions! Looking back on that chapter (and others) I did do some slight retcons, and even made the first couple chapters longer. The future is now more open, and I'll take full advantage of it.

The underground was many things. It was located inside a mountain, which made it pretty neat. It had several kinds of climates inside, which made it unique. It had the Kingdom of Monsters, which was more than surprising. It had a barrier keeping everything in it, which made it depressing. There was something the underground didn't have though.

Everything else.

June Willow MacNeil let out an involuntary sigh as she recalled everything she had on the surface. Sure, she could find some of the things in the underground, if she was lucky. Posters, books, an old heavy tv like she saw at her gramma's place when Pa took her over; things like that weren't too hard to get. What she couldn't find were things she had taken for granted before.

Sunshine.

Random breezes.

People of all sorts who were different, but also the same.

Yes, there were 'people.' She wouldn't call the monsters inhabiting the underground anything else. They weren't human, though, which when she really thought about it was a no brainer. However, that meant anyone new she met was totally different from her in pretty much every conceivable way. On the surface, there might have been good and bad humans, but they were humans nonetheless, with human faces and emotions and reactions. Now under Mt. Ebbot, she had no idea what any particular monster would say or do.

That didn't mean there were no other humans around. Frisk and her 'sister' Chara, the first two to officially greet her, were also the only others like herself down below the mountain. She'd taken to Frisk pretty easily, the other girl being rather pleasant. The first human to fall, Frisk had survived some pretty horrible stuff on the surface, which made their current demeanor all the more surprising. She seemed just as comfortable in shorts or pants and baggy shirts as she did in dresses and skirts. She also wasn't afraid to get her hands, or the rest of herself, dirty when things needed to get done, which June found admirable.

Chara, on the other hand, had taken a little longer to get comfortable around. A true tomboy with a disdain for anything even resembling girly, she had a brash attitude that she seemed to barely keep in check, and often didn't. She'd push and bend rules to see what she could get away with and how bad the punishments would be, and wasn't afraid to let everyone know it was her. She never really talked about her past, but June quickly learned about Chara's aversion to unexpected touching. She was usually kept in line by the rest of her family, and for a while that's all June thought there was to her.

Then there was Asriel, the young prince. He seemed so naive that June thought he might be a bit of a pushover at first. While it was true he did take the light teasing Chara gave in stride, he seemed to have learned a few good comebacks and was often backed up by Frisk if things went too far. That's not to say they would gang up on Chara, but more Frisk would try to defuse the situation next to Asriel since Chara would usually be the one to start the trouble in the first place. However, both Asriel and Chara seemed to always listen to Frisk, and June couldn't help notice how clingy Asriel seemed to be with the always squinting human, and how much calmer Chara was around her.

It had been some months after she'd fallen and was taken in by Asgore and Toriel, whom June learned were actually the king and queen of monsters. They offered to officially adopt her, but the newest human declined, stating she already had a family waiting for her. She of course did everything she could to get through the barrier, spending a solid week trying to come up with ways to get past, though the old magic held strong as ever.

When June first learned monsters could use magic, she was amazed. When she learned Frisk and Chara could as well, she was awe struck. It was like something from a fairy tale of people using magic to fight off monsters, only now they were learning magic from monsters instead. She couldn't wait to see what her own magic weapon was, and wondered if there was more she could do. The first two humans made sure to keep their own extra ability secret, just saying they hadn't found anything yet.

While she participated in learning to summon her own magic, June didn't really go for the fight training. Instead, she preferred going to the kitchen and, together with Toriel, learning new recipes and working on her cooking skills. While her Ma had taught her some, this was the first time she really had someone there with her showing her how a kitchen fully worked. Of course, since Toriel cooked with fire magic, June had to learn how to use the stove and oven on her own, but after getting her hands on a cookbook or two she started getting the settings down.

There was talk about expanding the house in New Home, as four beds in the kid's room, plus places for their clothes and belongings, was really crowding them. Plus, Asgore and Toriel began to think Asriel was at a point where it would be better for him to not share a room with a bunch of girls. The logistics of the expansion were hammered out eventually, and work had begun on making a new, larger room for the girls.

Everyone saw June as the ever helpful, happy-go-lucky one of the group. She always had a smile on her face and would drop everything to assist someone whenever they asked. When alone, however, her smile disappeared, and she could drop the public facade. She felt alone and afraid, having no family for the first time in her life, wondering what they were all doing.

Where they still looking for her?

What became of her father?

Was there any way to escape?

She'd learned the legend that seven humans created the barrier, and the strength of seven human souls could break it, but there had to be something else. She didn't want to destroy the magic, just get through it. However, so far she'd found no more information on it, so for the moment she resigned herself to living as best she could underground. This was becoming harder and harder for her though, as she didn't share her thoughts or feelings with anyone else, just telling others she was fine and giving them a smile.

By this time, she'd seen pretty much all of New Home, and with a long break coming up in school she wanted to explore other places she'd been through on the way to the castle. Normally Asgore and Toriel would have been elated to go on the trip, but with renovations going on and other issues with their court, they left it up to the royal guard to escort her. The other three Dreemurrs decided to go along with her as well, glad to get out of the main city. Thus they all packed what they needed, planning to spend as much time as they could out and about and finish off the rest of classes before the break.

"So where do you want to go first, June?" Asriel asked, knowing they could quickly get to any place in the kingdom using the elevator going from New Home, through the Core, and into Hotland, followed by a trip with the Riverperson. All four were sitting around the table going over a map of the underground.

"Iunno, just thought bout goin from one end t'the other, checkin out anything that caught my eye," June replied, reading the names of places along the routes as her finger lazily moved over the paper. "Ma always said it ain't the destination, but the journey, so ya gotta take it slow and look all round."

"That's all well and good, but we'll need to have somewhat of an idea of where we're going and when so we have places to rest," responded Chara. "Unless you like sleeping on dirt, snow, and mud."

"Ain't the first time ah done that. Find a cool shady tree in summer, lean 'gainst it to rest up, and end up nappin a good couple hours away," June said with a small smile and far away look, forgetting where she was for a moment. With a blink and a sigh, she set her sights back to the map.

"Well," Frisk spoke up, "there's an apartment complex just outside the core where most of the workers live. Their children come here to school, so it's not a long journey since the all the puzzles and such aren't active anymore. If we're not tired then we could just head right to Hotlands after and explore, and Dr. Gaster's lab is there in case it gets too hot."

"Ah bet there's places no one ain't been fer a long time in the Core. Maybe we could get there if some'a them puzzles were turned on." June pounded her fist into her other palm as she said such, grinning at the thought of a little adventure.

"Um, the pathways are modular. They could just be changed around to gain access to all the areas, no need to turn on the traps." Asriel said, taking June's thunder. "Besides, some of them are kind of dangerous."

"And we could just get a full tour. We ARE the royal children after all, we could just say we need to check it all out so we know how the kingdom runs." Frisk chimed in, giving a practical and boring solution.

"Aw, the little babies afraid? What's the point of exploring if everything is just shown to us? There's supposed to be mystery, discovery, and danger, but you two want it to be a glorified museum tour," Chara ranted at Frisk and Asriel, her voice rising. Before she could continue though, she felt a hand on her head rubbing softly and a soft voice behind her.

"Chara, child, please use your inside voice. I'm sure they can hear you just fine." Everyone looked up to see Toriel in her royal vestments, having just returned from the throne room. "And what is this I am hearing about danger?" Chara rolled her eyes from being admonished, shaking her head to get her mom's hand off.

"Just lookin over the map and plannin the trip out, Mrs. Toriel," June replied. "Thinkin since the Core is the closest, we'd start there'n work our way out. We was just disagreein on the best way to see the whole Core. Me'n Chara wanted to check things out mostly ourselves with the puzzles on, while Frisk and Asriel want'a be escorted through it all."

"Oh, that sounds like quite the conundrum," Toriel said, hand on her face and finger tapping her snout as she tried to think of a solution. She got a smile across her muzzle as an idea came to her. "Children, why don't we compromise? We'll ask Dr. Gaster to escort you, while having all the areas accessible and the less dangerous puzzles reactivated. That way, you get to have some adventure while ensuring your safety."

The four children looked at each other, all sporting the same emotion splayed across their faces. It was one that conveyed they weren't really happy with the decision, but knew it was probably the best they were going to get. They all reluctantly agreed to it, with Chara asking for the chance to do every puzzle just to see how hard they could be. Toriel made no promises, but would leave that matter to Gaster.

-X-

Dr. Gaster sat in his office in the True Lab, going over all the schematics and formulas that littered his desk. For the longest while now, he'd been spending more and more time on his own, having become heavily invested in his newest project. He rarely 'spoke' to others anymore besides some bare greetings, and more than once had his son Sans force him to leave work and return home for the night.

He had decided to split the project into three phases. First would be figuring out how to extract the Determination from a living human as safely and painlessly as possible, and storing it. He was relatively sure that he had succeeded, but had yet to build the device and test it out. Second was discovering as many properties of Determination as he could. This would let him know if phase three was possible, which was extracting enough Determination to destroy the barrier without the need to kill a human and take their soul.

A knock on his door interrupted his concentration, followed by one of the research staff opening it. Between the light behind the door, and Gaster's room being dark except for the desk, the monster's front was cast in shadow, yet Gaster knew him well. He was sure this researcher would follow him in any endeavor, along with a few others in under his employ.

"Sir, we just got a call from the queen. She, uh, wants to know if you would escort the royal children as they explore the, um...the Core in a few days." It was obvious the monster was nervous between his speech and his hand rubbing the back of his head. He knew anything the doctor was working on had to be big, since the last time he got like this was when designed the Core.

"That...will not be possible. Put junior Alphys on it, she can read the schematics of it better than all but myself." Gaster replied. As the monster turned to leave, the royal scientist quickly signed some more. "Oh, and send my son in. There are some equations he would be most helpful with." The monster nodded, heading back out to inform the two younger monsters of their duties and the queen that while Gaster would not be available, the children would still be in good hands.

-X-

The streets of new home were busier than usual, as all the schools had a small break in classes. Most children were doing what children do: running around, playing with friends, getting into mischief. However, four kids were getting ready for something a little different. They were going on an adventure!

Asriel, Frisk, Chara, and June were all packed up and ready to go, each wearing a larger-than-normal backpack to accommodate two sets of clothes, money, and plenty of snacks and drinks for their explorations. June also had some first aid supplies, just in case. Now, map in hand, Frisk led the other children out of the house, each waving goodbye to Toriel and Asgore in turn.

"On to the Core!" Said Frisk in a loud and excited tone, looking forward to going off through the underground. Even being there for so long, she'd never gone off without at least one of her parents with her, and thus was looking forward to having some freedom and independence. Asriel was right by her step for step.

"Yeah, we're going to have a grand adventure!" His exclaimed, his enthusiasm infectious enough to make even Chara smile. He held onto Frisk's hand, their arms swinging in tandem. This was also his first time going off without one parent or another, and though a small part of him was worried, he was sure everything would be fine since they were all together.

"Let's hope so. Don't want it to be boring from being babied by everyone," replied Chara, walking right behind the other two. She too was looking forward to not being smothered by Toriel and Asgore's attention, even though the royal guard would still be around now and then. They were also very well known through the underground, so they couldn't do whatever they wanted without it getting back to the two parental monsters, but some time away would be nice. Her smile faded a little seeing Frisk and Asriel clasping hands, but didn't let it affect her enthusiasm.

"Heck yea, bout time ah got ta see the rest'a the place. New Home's nice'n all, but ah ain't had a chance'ta properly stretch mah legs since gettin here." To emphasize her point, June stretched out all over, some of the pops and cracks of her joints loud enough to be heard by the others. "Figure it ain't gonna be like when explorin around mah home, cause we cain't just go any which way, but better'n nothin."

All three were dressed in clothes suited for hot to mild climates, shorts and tee shirts with breathable but closed shoes. Their packs held warmer clothes for the snow plateaus surrounding the village of Snowdin, as well as another set of shorts and shirts. They all still needed to wear striped shirts, and thus decided to go in all different colors. Frisk's was white with a red stripe around the belly and a green stripe across the chest, while their favorite blue sweater with pink stripes was in their backpack. Chara went with an orange shirt with a large yellow stripe. Asriel had forgone their normal green and yellow shirt for a black shirt with two thin red stripes, and June had a shirt with equal black and white stripes all over.

"So, we're starting from the end of the Core, going throughout the top level, then working our way down until we get to the Lab, right?" Frisk asked, looking back to direct the question to Chara and June.

"Yeah, that was the plan," replied Chara. "And no shortcuts unless absolutely necessary. We have to see everything." As they were talking, the children were passing the elevator door they would normally use to get to New Home when the doors slid open. Out scurried a yellow lizard monster a little smaller than the four kids, muttering to herself and wringing her hands.

"I c-can't believe I was late. Dr. G-Gaster will be so mad if I don't g-get there soon." Somehow, the monster almost completely missed seeing the children as she turned to head towards the royal house. She finally noticed them when she almost ran right into Chara, letting out a squeak of surprise as she stepped back.

"Oh, s-sorry. I was in a hurry and..." Her voice trailed off as she looked around, finding four sets of eyes on her, each wearing a striped shirt, same as her under her lab coat. The fact that three of them were human made her quickly realize who she almost barreled into.

"Oh my gosh! I d-didn't realize it was you, your m-majesties," she hastily gave a curtsy as she said that, doing her best to give a proper greeting to the prince and adopted princesses, as well as June who was basically a princess in all but name. "I'm Junior Researcher A-Alphys. I was t-tasked with escorting you through the Core." All four kids were a little embarrassed by Alphys' greeting, preferring to just be told hello like the rest of the people.

"Dr. Alphys, you don't have to be so formal. Just treat us like anyone else," said Asriel, giving his best disarming smile. The rest agreed, giving nods and 'yeah's.

"Alright, and I'm not a doctor, at least not until I become a f-full adult in a c-couple years," Alphys replied, then went silent. There were a couple uncomfortable seconds where no one was sure what to say before the lizard monster spoke again.

"The Queen said you wanted an adventure. So...I, uh...had the builders rearrange t-the Core, and turned all the t-traps back on through, uh, Hot...Hotlands," she stuttered out. "I-If you want, you could s-start at the lab and go through t-the whole thing."

"Well, we were planning on going from the top and..." Frisk started, only to be swiftly interrupted by another, louder voice.

"Heck yeah! Finally, someone gets it!" It was none other than Chara, their outcry startling the poor monster girl. "Ok, change of plans. We go through Hotlands, rest up at the apartments a bit, then go through the Core."

"I don't know. Won't the traps be a little too dangerous?" Asriel asked, remembering something about the defenses Gaster said he put in.

"D-Don't worry. I'll monitor you f-from the lab, and can call you w-whenever you might need help," Alphys piped up, giving a smile that belied her nervousness. All the kids looked at each other, a silent conversation happening on whether to go with the new plan or not. Eventually, Frisk shrugged and Asriel nodded, Chara giving a small fist pump.

"Ah guess we're goin with yer suggestion, Alphys. Gotta say, ahm right lookin forward to it," June said as they all crowded into the elevator, about to officially start their grand tour of the underground.