((The Monsters with No Names))

Now at Siqua's house, it was appropriate to have the side story also take place there. It gave more context to Siqua and Undyne as a characters.

((At some point, Siqua had said "You're welcome to come over anytime!". It was a half-perfunctory phrase, but since then she had to withstand the consequences for the following 3 years. The quiet life Siqua once had (well, as quiet as having a hyper 6-year-old daughter can be) was now constantly ringing with the chatter of the 5 children, who she affectionately called "the rascals".

Undyne loved the rascals. Anytime she heard their courtesy ring of the doorbell, she would hop up on her wobbly legs and race to the door, greeting them and offering them whatever she deemed edible at the time. The rascals loved her too, but specifically the littlest one of the group, who had no name other than a casual "little sis". Undyne and Little Sis would play together often, since they were the only ones of a similar age.

One day, the rascals stormed through the kitchen, greeted by their mini-host, as always. They always stuck together- they had to. Each of these children, though wildly different in most aspects, all had one thing in common: they had nobody else. They spent all day in the only place where they were cared for. Some didn't even have homes of their own to go to. The massacre split so many apart, and in return, brought so many together.

Siqua was in her bedroom, running her through her thoughts over and over again. She heard the rascals in the kitchen, laughing and bickering. Long gone was the instinct to host; the children are practically family now. Siqua took a moment to collect herself before joining them in the kitchen. "Big sis!" was what they called her, and the 3rd youngest boy hugged her tightly. "Alright, alright. Hey, Mal," Siqua looked to the eldest, a 19 year old boy leaning against the counters, "I need to speak with you."

The room exploded with cheeky "oooh-you're-in-trouble's", of course, Siqua didn't expect any better from them. "Mal" (it wasn't his real name, of course, none of them ever used legal names) crossed his arms, a smug grin on his face, "What'd I do this time, Ma'am?" The second oldest burst into maniacal laughter, "Dude, don't be fucking with Big Sis! You know what she did for a hobby, haha!" but was instantly cut off by Siqua with a shot glare. They all knew what the glare meant. Undyne was in the room, so any references to Siqua's history was strictly forbidden. The second oldest swallowed nervously.

There were many unspoken rules in their makeshift family: look out for Little Sis; ring the doorbell before going inside Siqua's house; don't talk about the massacre; and never, ever mention Siqua's past when Undyne's in the room. None of the children were scared of Siqua, but each knew just how much damage she could do, as she demonstrated when protecting them from murderous, crazed strangers. They knew how powerful she was, no matter how calm and relaxed she pretended to be. Thus, the biggest rule in their family: don't fuck with Siqua.

Siqua glanced to Undyne, who was busy with Little Sis and totally unaware of what they were talking about, and decided to let her get away with the comment. Siqua pried herself back to her original purpose. "Follow me, Mal." Mal, of course, didn't actually think he was in trouble, yet still felt a nervousness pulling at his chest. Siqua took him outside and leaned against the side of the house: "serious talk" position.

"Sis, you are starting to freak me out." Mal laughed. He liked to front a nonchalant persona. Siqua started, "I have been thinking about it a lot. I know it would be a long and complicated process, but… Hell, you kids are already family at this point." Mal nodded, letting her continue, "I am looking into becoming a royal Caretaker." Mal was taken aback. Just that one word alone had so many connotations; royal Caretakers were the people any orphan child was trying to avoid. Stay away from Caretakers= keep your people, your friends, your semblance of normal life. But Siqua being their Caretaker would be the normalcy. It would be everything.

But nothing in life is simple. Some of the children still belonged to guardians, which immediately disqualifies them from having a Caretaker. If they were split up like that, it would break the core principle: stick together. And, though Siqua would never say it, Mal knew that it wouldn't be easy for Siqua, either. It would mean on top of her already strenuous college schedule, she'd have a second job; an extremely demanding job that would require her to take care of more children than just the rascals. Mal could only reply "Wow." Siqua laughed, "Hmhm! 'Wow', indeed."

They spoke for a long time about how they could manage getting the 3 children who still had parents. It would require adoption, which would need the guardian's permission. Mal, as he often did, jokingly suggested kidnapping, and was thoroughly surprised by Siqua's genuine consideration. Finally, they concluded to figure it out some other time after Siqua had gotten more information.

And with that, the children dispersed to go on whatever adventure awaited them. It was always like that, they never stayed for long; Siqua's house was only home-base, and the underground was their oyster. It worried Siqua to no end. The youngest was only 6, with no arms and incredibly unbalanced. Her mother had no time for her, with being constantly in and out of jail and another little baby on her hip.

Siqua made quick work. She did so much research, spent all of Undyne's nap times at the library, and even brought her own mini-library home with her, perched on a disproportionately small bookshelf wedged in her closet. It took months, but Siqua had finally learned of everything there is to know about becoming a Caretaker. For some odd reason, the classes were only available for long hours in a short period of time, typically a month. This was devastating for Siqua. It meant she would have to leave all of the children, even Undyne, and her college classes for several hours every week. When she spoke with Mal about it, he remarked, "It's worth it."

At some point, Siqua thought, "I can't wait any longer", and started the classes. Finally, she was on the road to becoming a Royal Caretaker. She kept telling herself "it is worth it." Even through the studying, and the long days without seeing Undyne, she stayed strong. It's worth it. Undyne didn't mind having Mal as her babysitter.

Siqua threw on her backpack and started out into the kitchen. Undyne was playing something on her toy piano, but stopped when her mother walked in and gave her a peck on the top of her head. "Have a good day, Baby." Siqua crooned. Undyne looked up from the floor and said, "Is Big Brother gonna come today?" Siqua stopped by the door and tilted her head, "Of course, why wouldn't he?" "He didn't yesterday or before that."

For a moment, Siqua was furious. The thought of her baby daughter at home all alone caused her to call the school, saying she would be late, take Undyne to kindergarten herself, and set off to search for Mal. But as she searched, the anger shifted. It worried her to no end. It worried her to no end. Those children. Those rascals. Siqua searched and searched and searched and