Saying that Frisk was nervous would be a gross understatement. So gross that if it had a name… it would probably be Jerry.
Frisk and Toriel walked through the town, heading towards the capital. Frisk was suspicious of every glance that people gave them. She was waiting for a gasp of fear, or disgust, but none came. Finally, they made it to the capital.
Frisk led Toriel inside, and they walked down a small hallway lined with busts and paintings, until they came to a waiting room. It was much more modern than the hallway, with ordinary chairs, lights, and a desk. Frisk was extremely thankful that no one was in the room except a secretary, who was sitting at the desk and typing away on a computer.
Frisk approached the desk, and cleared her throat. "Um, excuse me?" she asked. Her voice sounded raspy, making Frisk suddenly feel very small.
The secretary looked up from his typing and peered at the two of them. "Can I help you?"
Frisk took a deep breath. "I need to speak to the Magistrate please."
The secretary did a double take, and raised an eyebrow. "Do you have an appointment?"
"Well, no… but it's very urgent!" insisted Frisk.
With a laugh that wasn't unkind, the secretary shook his head. "I'm sorry, but you need to have an appointment to speak with the Magistrate. The next opening is in two months. Would you like me to schedule it?"
Frisk looked at Toriel, and the two seemed to have a silent exchange. Without a word, Toriel turned to face the secretary, and dropped the hood.
His mouth fell open with utter shock. He stared at Toriel, seemingly unable to process the sight before him.
"Please," Frisk repeated. "It's very urgent."
The secretary's hand moved slowly to the intercom, keeping his eyes on Toriel. He pushed the button, and spoke. "Uh, sir… there's an urgent matter that needs to be taken care of. May I send some… uh, people… into your office?"
There was silence for a moment, before the intercom crackled to life. "Yes, send them in." said a gruff voice.
The secretary glanced at Frisk, looking like he was afraid to take his eyes off Toriel. "Go through the door." he said, pointing to a large door to their right.
Frisk nodded, and she and Toriel went to the door, and walked in.
Inside was a large office that looked both elegant and modern. There were long curtains lining the windows, and carpet that looked so expensive, it might well be made of money or gold. A middle-aged man with gray hair and glasses sat at a desk covered in papers.
When Frisk and Toriel walked in, the Magistrate looked up, and his eyes widened. Frisk started to speak, but she stumbled over her words, trying to think of the right thing to say.
"Um, I was wondering if… I mean, thank you for seeing us. I'm the ambassador to, um… monsters, uh wait, no… I'm the monster ambassador to humans. I want to speak with you about…"
Frisk was blushing furiously, and when she fell silent, Toriel stepped in.
"Good morning sir." she said with confidence. "I am Toriel. My kind has been trapped underground for some time, but we have recently been freed by Frisk here, who is now acting as our ambassador. We have come to make peace with humans and live among you once again."
The Magistrate sat in silence, just staring at Toriel. When she finished, he cleared his throat and spoke. "Your… kind, you say? How many of you are there?"
Toriel looked thoughtful for a moment, and then responded. "Well, I'd say around 200."
Frisk thought the man's eyes were wide before, but when Toriel said that, they bulged to the point where Frisk wondered if they hurt.
Toriel continued. "We are staying at the base of Mt. Ebott, while we wait for the next step."
The Magistrate shuffled through some papers, before looking back up at them. "Well," he said. "I need to look into your situation, and the protocol. I think we should have an official meeting tonight. Then, we'll decide what should be done."
Toriel looked at Frisk, who realized that she expected her to answer. "Um, yes. We can do that. Thank you so much for your time."
With that, Frisk awkwardly walked out, and Toriel followed. Before they left, Frisk looked back, and saw the secretary staring at them with intense curiosity.
The whole way back through the woods, Frisk groaned at how the introduction went.
"That was so bad!" Frisk cried, angry at herself. "How will he take us seriously when I acted like a little kid too shy to talk to adults?! You sounded much more confident, why don't you be the ambassador?"
Toriel laughed. "Well, to be fair, I have been practicing a speech like that for some time now. Besides," said Toriel playfully. "When we met, you were a little kid, too shy to talk to adults. It was two days before you said a word to me, and even then, it was…"
"Where's the bathroom?" said Toriel and Frisk at the same time.
Frisk laughed. "Yeah, I do remember that."
"It seemed like you changed so much in the week you stayed with me, and so much more by the time I saw you again." said Toriel quietly.
Frisk looked up at Toriel, and saw that she had turned away from her. Frisk couldn't think of anything to say, so the two walked back to the camp in silence.
As soon as they came into view of everybody, Frisk spotted Sans sitting on a tree stump, watching the woods. He immediately saw them, and ran (actually ran) over to them.
"Frisk!" he said, sounding upset. "Why didn't you come get me before you left?"
Frisk looked at Toriel, then back at Sans. "Um, because you were sleeping?" she said, a little confused.
"Well, you should've woken me up. How did you think it was a good idea to just waltz into a human town without any protection?"
Frisk laughed. "Come on Sans, Toriel has fire magic. We were just fine."
Sans sighed. "Yeah, I guess. Sorry… I had just, been planning to go with you."
"You can come with us tonight." said Frisk. "The Magistrate scheduled a meeting tonight to decide what to do."
Sans nodded. "That sounds good."
Frisk continued, "Asgore will need to come too, of course."
Toriel sighed. "Yes, I suppose he will."
The three of them walked back into the camp, and the others crowded around, excited to hear how it went. Alphys told Frisk that Mettaton was leading the rest of the monsters down the mountain, and they would arrive shortly. Frisk nodded, and started to head back to her tent.
"Where are you going?" Alphys asked.
"If I'm going to be your ambassador," said Frisk, determined. "I have a lot of work to do."
As the day came towards evening, the rest of the monsters arrived, and Frisk, Asgore, Toriel, and Sans were getting ready to go. They were quite surprised when two men in black suits came out of the woods. They approached the encampment in silence, until they stood in front of Frisk and Toriel.
"We were sent to bring you to the meeting." one of them said.
Frisk nodded, and pointed to Asgore and Sans. "they're coming too."
The men nodded, and went back towards the woods, expecting them to follow.
Frisk looked at her friends and shrugged. "I guess we go with them." she said.
The four of them followed the men to a black car. Somehow, they were all able to fit, and before Frisk knew it, they were head towards the capitol building.
When it came into view, Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, she was half expecting the men to "take them out" instead of to the meeting. The car stopped, and everyone got out. The men led them right to the door, and opened it. They walked in, and Frisk looked around. The magistrate was still sitting at his desk, and Frisk was surprised to see the secretary from that morning sitting in a chair. The magistrate waved them over to sit down. There were two empty chairs, where Frisk and Asgore sat. Toriel and Sans stood.
"Now," the Magistrate said. "Let's begin. My name is Arthur Benson, Magistrate of this county. This," he continued, gesturing to the secretary, "is Duncan Mathis. He has been doing research about your situation, and will act as your advocate. I am going to ask you some questions, and you will answer them to the best of your ability. Do you understand?"
They nodded, and Benson picked up a clipboard. "Alright, first… Please identify yourselves."
"My name is Frisk, and I'm acting as the monster ambassador."
"I am Asgore, the king of the monsters."
"I am Toriel, and I am the guardian of the underground ruins."
"I'm Sans, and I'm, uh… Frisk's bodyguard."
Frisk almost laughed at Sans' introduction, thinking that she was more likely to be his bodyguard. Does he even have an attack? She thought. Frisk wasn't sure.
Benson wrote something, and then looked at Frisk. "So," he began. "You're acting as their ambassador?"
"Yes, that's right." said Frisk.
"Good good, now… can you tell me about your experience with these… monsters?" he asked, and before Frisk could begin, he added, "Don't be afraid to speak freely."
Frisk tried to hold back a sigh, realizing that when he said that last part, he was looking pointedly at the monsters.
"I fell into the underground, from a hole on Mt. Ebott, and was cared for by Toriel. When I left her to traverse further and look for a way to make it back to the surface, I met many of the monsters that live there."
Benson interrupted Frisk with, "And how did the monsters treat you?"
"Well, when they first saw me, many of them were afraid. They attacked me at first, but once they realized I wasn't going to hurt them, they stopped and became very friendly." Frisk explained.
"I see," said Benson, writing something down.
"And of course now we wouldn't attack any human." Toriel tried to reassure Benson.
Benson didn't acknowledge what Toriel said, but instead looked at Frisk and continued his questions.
"What is it exactly that the monsters desire?" he asked.
Frisk paused a moment to think of the right words. "They want to live peacefully with humans. Toriel wants to be a teacher, several of the monsters want to run businesses, and some want to pursue acting careers. They all just, want to live free."
Benson stared at Frisk for an almost uncomfortable amount of time, before writing again on the clipboard, and then gestured to Duncan Mathis.
"Okay you can start your questions now." he said.
Mathis cleared his throat, and pulled out a notebook.
"Right," he began, turning to look at Asgore. "Uh, first… how were you all able to survive in the underground for so long?"
"We have a variety of monster food that we brought with us when we first arrived in the underground, and that we grow ourselves." Asgore explained
Mathis nodded thoughtfully and continued. "Are you familiar with the concept of currency?"
Asgore nodded. "Yes, we use gold, and we also have taxes that help fund several projects."
Mathis looked interested as he wrote that down. When he looked up, his eyes focused back on Frisk. "Did you ever feel unsafe while in the underground?" he asked.
Frisk tried to read Mathis' expression, and found only concern.
"Well… I was scared, of course, when the monsters were attacking. But, I quickly realized how much they cared for each other, and how much they cared about me, eventually." Frisk said, looking at Benson nervously, but he was looking at Mathis.
Frisk and the monsters answered several more questions, about monster's familiarity with human customs, desires for the future, and the compatibility of humans and monsters.
"Now, I have been researching Mt. Ebott, and there is one thing I must ask." began Mathis. "Several children have gone missing in the last couple hundred years, with their last known whereabouts being the mountain. Do you know anything about these disappearances?"
Frisk began to inwardly panic as she tried to think of an explanation, but Asgore laid his large paw on Frisk's shoulder, before beginning to speak. His voice sounded old and sad.
"I can answer this. The children fell into the underground, and… I took their souls."
The silence in the room was almost overwhelming.
Asgore sighed, and continued. "I was trying to set me and my subjects free, but that's no excuse. It's because of Frisk that we are free now, and I don't want what I've done to ruin their lives, so please." he stopped, trying to keep it together. "Hold me responsible, not them."
When Asgore had finished, Benson stood up. "Okay, I think that's all we need." he said, sounding surprisingly chipper. "My men will take you back to the base of Mt. Ebott, and we'll send someone when we decide what's to be done."
Duncan Mathis ushered Frisk, Toriel, Asgore, and Sans out of the room.
"Don't worry," he tried to reassure them, "As your advocate, I'll plead your case as best I can."
With that, he closed the door.
On the ride back to the monster encampment, a somber feeling hung in the air. Frisk couldn't help but feel like she could've done more. Then again, no amount of diplomacy could change what Asgore did, and no doubt it would be the number one thing against their case. Frisk could only hope that Asgore's plea, and taking sole responsibility would help, even if it condemned Asgore.
When they arrived back at Mt. Ebbot, Frisk realized how emotionally and even physically exhausting the meeting was. She wanted to go right to sleep, and one look at Toriel, Asgore, and Sans told her that the feeling was mutual. Thankfully, Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, and even Mettaton recognized that they would rather talk about the meeting in the morning, so they left them to get some welcomed rest.