With only nine years of experience in life, poor Frisk couldn't have imagined what an exhausting responsibility it was to be an ambassador to the monsters, so they had accepted without thinking twice. They wouldn't back down, though, now that their new parents had explained the importance of the job to them. They knew the monsters needed them, and they would make sure that everything they had worked for would stay safe.
The reintroduction of the monsters to the surface had been slow and filled with distrust, but in the end they were given the benefit of the doubt. The weeks after the day the barrier fell had drained Frisk's energy to no end. Between meetings to discuss whether a child could be the ambassador of the monsters or not, extensive questioning sessions where Frisk refused to talk about their life prior to their fall in Mt. Ebott, Asgore and Toriel's struggle to adopt them legally and all the trips in between these meetings, Frisk had found themself permanently tired. It had been months before they could finally go through a day without requiring a nap every few hours. Papyrus used to tell them they were sleeping almost as much as Sans.
In spite of all of this, Frisk's life was beginning to settle into a manageable routine. The important grown-up meetings were still a thing, but at least they knew they would be returning to their new home at the end of the day. The monsters had built their own town at an incredibly fast pace in a forest some miles away from Mt. Ebott. There, Toriel and Frisk had a little house of their own. It was close to the houses of all their new friends and the little human couldn't be happier than they were by living among monsters. The new town's name, "Dawn", was elected by popular opinion, mainly because the monsters where mesmerized by the sight of the sun rising.
Frisk however, found it more appealing to just sleep through that moment of the day, which is why when Toriel came into their room to wake them up at 5: 30 A.M. the only response they could think of was burying themself deeper into the covers.
"My child," she called gently, "it's time to get ready. We don't want to be late for today's meeting, do we?"
She placed one of her hands on Frisk's head, which only made them more comfortable and not want to get out of bed. She giggled and urged them to sit up. With a groan, Frisk finally gave in and let themself be guided to the kitchen for breakfast.
Not even halfway through their first toast, there was a knock on the door. Frisk and Toriel looked at each other smiling, knowing full well who was the only person that would visit at such an hour. Toriel hurried to open the door, and two seconds later Papyrus was bouncing his way into the kitchen.
"HUMAN! I CAME TO WISH YOU LUCK FOR TODAY'S MEETING" he said while picking Frisk up for a crushing hug.
"Hi, Papyrus!" greeted Toriel happily. "How are you and your brother today?"
"WE'RE FINE, THANK YOU! AH, YES! I'M ALSO DELIVERING SANS' GOOD LUCK WISH! I COULDN'T GET HIM OUT OF BED TO COME WITH ME, SO I TOOK IT UPON MYSELF TO DELIVER IT FOR HIM AS WELL."
Frisk smiled fondly and thanked him, while resisting the urge to laugh at the image of Papyrus not being able to make Sans move an inch from his bed. The skeleton brothers were the ones that spent the most time with Frisk when they were not away for a meeting. It was nice to be with them after a tiring day. Papyrus had more than enough energy when both the kid and Sans didn't want to do anything particularly active. He even had made sure to visit every time Frisk would go out of town to cheer for them.
"MAY I ASK WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE MEETING?" he said after putting Frisk down.
"Ah, well. We are going to discuss the right of the monsters to travel outside the country. As you know, many of our kind must be eager to see what the surface has to offer, but we first have to make the legal arrangements for that to happen. There is nothing to stop us from going wherever we please, but there are absolutely no laws regarding us, which means there is no way to guarantee our safety if we just wander to the outside world." Toriel said.
Frisk knew the explanation was probably a small review for them too. This was one of the most important discussions they would have with human leaders. Some of the monsters were getting impatient, especially a certain attention-seeking robot star. The faster they could ensure safe trips for the monsters, the better.
"AH, YES. THAT SEEMS LIKE A VERY IMPORTANT MATTER TO ATTEND TO. I MYSELF CAN'T WAIT TO GET A NICE CAR AND DRIVE IT AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE!" he said with dreamy eyes, "I'LL HAVE TO LOOK FOR THE CREATURE WITH THE BEST VISION TO KNOW HOW MUCH THAT IS, TOO!"
Frisk couldn't help but imagine how much fun it would be if they went on a trip with Papyrus. He would probably get excited about every new thing he discovered. And if he got a big car, all their friends could go as well! Frisk would definitely do their best in this meeting if it meant that they would be able to go on a road trip with Papyrus and the others. With this in mind, Frisk finished their food, and went upstairs to get ready, while Papyrus joined Toriel for breakfast. After a quick shower, they looked for their best clothes. They still didn't understand why adults choose to go in such elegant, uncomfortable dressing to important stuff like interviews and assemblies, but if it helped to convince them that they needed to cooperate with monsters for the sake of peace, then Frisk was willing to use them as much as needed.
They picked a button-up shirt and a pair of dress pants. They put on their polished shoes and stood in front of the mirror. Great! They looked like one of those businessmen that were frequently announced on T.V. This would surely make the adult humans take them seriously! They completed the outfit with a fedora and a suitcase that they stuffed with snacks and important-looking papers. Frisk double checked they hadn't left out any of the documents Toriel had entrusted them with and then headed downstairs.
"WOWIE!" exclaimed Papyrus as soon as he saw Frisk. "YOU LOOK SO IMPORTANT! I'D LEND YOU MY BATTLE BODY SO THAT YOU CAN LOOK AS THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THE WORLD, BUT I GUESS SINCE IT IS TOO BIG FOR YOU. THIS OUTFIT OF YOURS IS IMPORTANT-LOOKING ENOUGH!"
"I agree." said Toriel with a warm smile, "You are going to make a great first impression!"
Frisk smiled back and puffed out their chest with pride.
"Ah, young one." came a deep voice from the front door, "Are you ready to go?"
Frisk turned around to find Asgore standing in the front porch. He had his usual king attire, which he used for most of the meetings since he lacked any other formal clothes. Frisk ran towards him and gave him a big hug.
"Did you pack something to eat? It's going to be a long trip. Four hours at the very least." Asgore pointed to the van waiting for them outside the house.
A van wasn't the most elegant way of arriving to their meetings, but Asgore's size left little choice when it came to transportation.
"Well, let's not waste any more time." said Toriel behind them, "If we want to be able to have some lunch before we see Mr. Whitley, then we better get going."
"GOODBYE, FRISK!" Papyrus said as he exited the house. "WE'LL BE WAITING FOR YOUR RETURN! AND THIS TIME, I WILL CONVINCE THAT LAZYBONES TO COME AND WELCOME YOU BACK WITH ME!" he promised.
Frisk smiled and gave him a thumbs up, which he returned. With a last wave in his direction, they climbed into the van and got comfortable for the long road ahead.
The office they were in was quite roomy. It had a large black sofa for Asgore to sit down comfortably and two chairs for Toriel and Frisk placed in front of Mr. Whitley's desk. However, everything was all grey and kind of dull and Frisk was already wishing to get out of there. The man talking in front of them wasn't much more interesting than the room. Mr. Whitley was pretty short, with a round face and a thin frame. He was also strangely symmetrical. Even the gray hairs on one side of his face seemed to match the ones in the other side.
"Well, I guess that would conclude today's matters regarding monster migration." Mr. Whitley began putting away the papers scattered on his desk.
Truth be told, Frisk didn't think conclude was the right word for the outcome of the reunion. Their parents didn't seem too happy either. For what they understood, the whole thing had just served to state all the problems that would arise for the process of giving monsters passports, no solutions in sight. They shook their head. The man had practically ignored Frisk the whole time, talking as fast and complicated as possible. Frisk even believed he may have done it on purpose. What a jerk.
"We are looking forward to discuss all the possibilities to avoid all complications next time, Mr. Whitley." Asgore stood up. He had used a courtly tone, but it made clear the issue was not over.
"…" Whitley hesitated, a nervous twitch making its way through his hand for a moment. "Of course, Mr. Dreemur. We will keep this in our priority list."
Only Frisk had seen the gesture and it made them roll their eyes. Sure, Asgore was all big and imposing, but that he actually still scared the man a little when all the monsters called him King Fluffybuns… What a scaredy cat. He hadn't even seen how scary Asgore could really be… Frisk quickly reprimanded themself. They shouldn't think about that. They hadn't fought him this time. Thankfully, Toriel pull them out of their thoughts.
"Come on, dear." Toriel told Frisk. "It's time to go."
"Ah, about that Mrs. Dreemur." said Whitley while picking his suitcase, "There is one last matter I must speak to all of you about."
"Oh…" Asgore seemed surprised. Maybe the meeting would end having better results after all? "What is it, then?"
But Mr. Whitley stopped him when he made a move for the couch.
"Follow me, please. This is a… delicate matter."
Toriel and Asgore shared a nervous glance. She nodded to him, grabbed Frisk by the hand and said:
"Lead the way."
Mr. Whitley guided them through many halls, each one looking even emptier than the last one. After a while, they reached a lonely elevator at the end of what seemed to be the last accessible corridor on that floor. Whitley signaled them to go inside, then stepped in and pressed the button for the basement.
"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Dreemur" he started, "I have been told you probably have been around since even before the war between humans and monsters started. Is this information correct?"
Frisk's eyes widened. Was that really true? Just how old were their new parents?
"Well, yes." answered Toriel cautiously, "However, Asgore was not king yet, during that time."
"Then you must know," continued the man, "that monsters used to live scattered around the whole world."
"…That's right" said Asgore, "Mr. Whitley, could you please explain what you are trying to tell us with this."
Frisk grasped Toriel's hand a little tighter. This elevator ride was taking too long. She squeezed back reassuringly.
"Do you think it would have really been possible for humans to seal every single monster behind that barrier?"
The monsters remained silent in thought. Frisk frowned.
"Are you saying… there were monsters up here all this time?" they asked. "How many?"
For what seemed like the first time during the whole meeting, Mr. Whitley looked at Frisk.
"We are not sure about that. There is no way to really know."
"What happened to the ones you found? Where are they?"
Mr. Whitley's silence was more than enough of an answer. Frisk lowered their head and gulped before forcing the words out.
"You killed them." It was not a question. They already knew about the war and how many lives the humans had taken away from the monsters. They felt pressure forming in their chest as they thought of how many monsters must have been terrified of even seeing a human.
When the elevator finally stopped, they all stepped out in a large room. The roof was so far away, that Frisk could imagine petting Lesser Dog in there wouldn't be a problem. There were boxes everywhere and tall shelves covered by thick curtains. All were labeled with strange symbols.
"It was inevitable. Monsters were supposed to be locked away. People got easily scared of them. Most sightings were probably never reported, mainly because hardly anyone would believe in those stories. Those that were actually reported were kept secret and the monsters were hunted down in silence. We couldn't take the risk of letting any remaining one to try to seek revenge for their species." The man wiped at his now sweaty face with a handkerchief.
"You couldn't have known they would do that!" Frisk said indignant. "Monsters are very kind! They were probably just trying to live their lives in peace!"
Mr. Whitley didn't answer, instead opting to guide them further into the basement. Meanwhile, Frisk curiosity grew wide with each new step, but they didn't dare let go of Toriel's hand. Just what was behind those curtains? And what did the boxes contained? Was this a secret place? They hoped it wasn't like the True Lab in the Underground. That was a secret place they didn't want to return to.
Frisk bumped into their mother when she stopped abruptly. Her hand gripped Frisk's so tightly it was beginning to hurt. Confused, they looked ahead to see what had caused her to act like that. They gasped. Asgore had an arm extended protectively in front of them while he carefully watched two armed men standing right at the end of the room.
"What… is this?" Toriel demanded to know, trying to control the trembling of her voice.
Mr. Whitley looked confused at their defensive demeanor and then at the men with the guns. When he realized the cause of the tension, he tried to quickly explain himself.
"Ah, please, no need to be alarmed! They are just here for guarding duty. We couldn't leave it alone down here. If it were to escape…" He lowered his voice for that last bit.
"Escape? What would escape?" Frisk asked.
The huge box covered in sheets that was right behind the men shook a little in response. Immediately the guards turned around and pointed their guns at the box.
"So, Mr. Ambassador," Mr. Whitley looked directly at Frisk "you said all monsters are really kind, didn't you?"
Frisk nodded without hesitation.
"Then let me introduce you to someone that might change that way of thinking."
He nodded to one of the guards. The sheets were removed in one motion to reveal a cage. As soon as the cloth touched the ground, a loud hiss reached their ears. There, a creature Frisk had never seen resided inside the cage.
Their head and upper body kind of resembled that of a human, but the features were sharper. The only parts of their body not covered by thick layers of dark blue feathers were their face, neck, shoulders and upper arms. Long pink feathers grew from their scalp and reached down to their elbows. Both their hands and legs scraped at the floor of the cage with claws any eagle would be proud of. Frisk flinched at the sound.
The family just stared at them wide eyed. The creature glared with golden eyes in return; they hissed again, revealing the sharp teeth inside their mouth. Their feathers bristled and they aggressively extended what seemed to be wings attached to their arms.
"We found it some time ago, before the barrier broke, but we hadn't been able to capture it until recently." Mr. Whitley explained. "We have reasons to believe it has attacked several humans with some… fatal results."
He walked towards the cage and the creature recoiled as far as they could, their growling never ceasing.
"The normal procedure would be to treat it like a wild animal, which means it would be sacrificed for endangering the public with its aggressive behavior. However, there are now laws that enforce the existence of hard evidence for a monster's execution to take place."
"And I guess you aren't telling this to us just because you want to inform us about the situation, am I correct?" said Toriel. She was holding Frisk as far of the cage as she could.
"Well, we have found that it is quite… resilient for a monster. And since anything regarding to the knowledge on monster magic has been long forgotten, we are not sure we'll be able to keep it securely locked. And that's wh- Agh!"
Mr. Whitley was interrupted when a couple of sharp feathers were shot in his direction, one of them grazing his face. A trickle of blood fell down his cheek. Frisk instinctively crouched, but the feathers didn't reach anywhere near them.
"Hey! Stay down!" one of the guards yelled at the creature. They screeched at him, but returned to the opposite end of the cage.
"Oh, goodness! Are you alright, Mr. Whitley?!" Asgore asked. He advanced towards him, but Whitley made a motion with his hand to stop him.
He took a handkerchief from his breast pocket and held it to his face. He made sure to back away a little from the cage before once again facing the Dreemurrs.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about." He stated in a grave tone. "We can't keep it here. We have no way of ensuring it won't use magic to escape and wreak havoc as soon as it's free. You, on the other hand, have an entire town of magic users, where there is probably a good place to keep it."
"You want us to take them with us?" Frisk asked. That didn't seem like a bad idea to them. The monster seemed to be scared. They too would be scared if they were locked and surrounded by armed people. They wondered if they were as dangerous as it seemed. The Almagamates ended being quite friendly, despite their scary appearance. Maybe the humans just hadn't tried hard enough to befriend them.
"I… Mr. Whitley," Asgore began. He remained silent for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts "Well, first of all, it's not like we have a prison or a dungeon to place them in, so how securely we would be able to contain them is questionable. Second, what you are asking of us, is it to just hold them prisoner until you have enough evidence to kill them? Third, well, we too wouldn't want to endanger our own people with an unpredictable criminal, assuming, of course, that is the case." he added with an apologetic look towards the creature.
Mr. Whitley sighed.
"Look, Mr. and Mrs. Dreemurr. I wouldn't be here if I didn't sympathize with you monsters. I really do. I went to great lengths to try and expand the options for this monster. Truth is, how I see it, there are not many chances that it will escape a death sentence, either way. If you don't take it under your custody…"
"What… are the other options?" Toriel asked, looking at the cage with sad eyes.
Mr. Whitley avoided her gaze and took out a note from inside his coat. He read it out loud.
"Should the leaders of Dawn refuse to take custody of the recently captured monster the case of the aforementioned will be treated as all the ones preceding it." He stopped and looked at them. "The death sentence would be fulfilled within the next few days. That is the other option."
Edit: I fixed and cut some things that were bothering me about this chapter. Hopefully, the changes I made will make it more enjoyable to read. If you think they did or you think I should fix something else, please tell me about it!
If you are you are asking yourself, yes, the monster uses they/them pronouns. The humans are just so used to everything not-human being an "it" that that's what they automatically call them.
Also I know Frisk didn't get to do much this chapter, but I think it's reasonable since, in the end, a nine year old is not even supposed to go to meetings. They will have a lot more participation from the next chapter onwards.
WOW! This was WAY longer than I intended it to be. I don't know how long the other chapters will be, but I guess they'll be shorter than this one. So, I'll try to update this fic frequently. I'm going to alternate chapters between this and my other current story, also from Undertale, if you wanna check it out. Please leave a review and tell me how I did. Constructive criticism is always appreciated! I hope you enjoyed it!
is always appreciated! I hope you enjoyed it!