The fire crackled softly, casting long, flickering shadows across the girl's face. Rain tapped gently against the hood of the man's robe, still pulled forward just enough to conceal every detail of his face. The girl had said nothing—as always—but her fingers now drew a small square in the dirt, then tapped it twice.
The man watched for a moment. Then he nodded, understanding immediately.
"You want to know about the SAVE," he said gently. "What it truly means."
She looked up, and though her lips did not move, her eyes were filled with curiosity.
The man leaned forward, letting the heat of the fire warm his gloved hands. "To most, a SAVE is just a mark. A checkpoint. A place to return to. But it's far more than that. It's not just a moment in time. It's a choice—frozen, preserved, and rewound when needed."
The rain fell steadily, whispering through the pine needles around them. The mountain loomed silently behind them, but neither paid it any mind.
"In this world," the man continued, "some have the power to bend reality. To return to a moment—an emotion, a decision—and change it. This ability… it doesn't belong to everyone. But those who possess Determination can use it."
The girl tilted her head slowly, brow furrowed in a question.
"No," the man said with a quiet chuckle. "Not everyone realizes they can. And not everyone who has it chooses to use it. But Frisk… Frisk had more Determination than anyone. That's why they could SAVE. Why they could reset. Why they could carry the memories of other timelines… even if no one else could."
She made a soft motion with her fingers, like pages flipping in a book.
The man nodded. "Exactly. Every SAVE creates a branch. A split. A possibility. To most, the past is written. But to someone like Frisk, the past was a library of roads never taken."
He paused then, and when he next spoke, his voice was slower. Softer.
"But the SAVE isn't just power. It's a burden. Imagine remembering every mistake you made—even the ones you undid. Every friend you lost, even if you brought them back. Imagine knowing the cost… of every happy ending."
The girl blinked slowly, her expression unreadable, but her hands stilled. As if struck by the weight of that thought.
"And Chara," the man added, "understood the SAVE differently. To her, it was control. To shape the world as she saw fit. A tool… but also a temptation."
The girl's gaze remained fixed on the fire, but the man could see the way her shoulders tightened. She was beginning to see.
"Some timelines are kind," he murmured. "Others… not. But a SAVE is not a promise. It is a question: What will you do with this second chance?"
He sat back again, the hood casting his face in shadow, hiding every feature—still, always unseen.
The girl tapped her thumb to her heart, then pointed outward into the dark.
"You're wondering what comes next," he said with a faint smile. "We all do."
The fire crackled, and the rain did not stop. It whispered through the trees, steady and cold. The girl watched the embers dance, and the man watched her.
Then, quietly, he leaned forward.
"And so… the story continues."