"And now, the ambassador will give a speech. Frisk, please tell us why you think the monsters are worthy of living on the surface."
Frisk stepped up to the podium, in front of thousands of people.
"Well," she began, before being interrupted.
"How do we know they won't kill us, like they did to you?"
"They… they won't! The monsters were just afraid. None of them would attack humans for no reason. I mean, once I befriended them…"
Frisk turned around to look at Toriel and Asgore, but they licked their sharp teeth as they walked towards her. Frisk jumped off the podium and tried to get away. She felt a claw swipe at her, and fell off the stage.
And when Frisk hit the ground, she woke up with a gasp. Looking around, Frisk sighed with relief, and sat up. Toriel usually slept next to her, but she was nowhere to be found. Frisk stepped out of the tent, and saw Papyrus and Undyne standing around a table, preparing a meal.
Frisk walked over to Asgore's tent, and cleared her throat. "Um, Asgore, do you know where Toriel is?" she asked, peeking inside.
Asgore sat with his back to Frisk, his head hung low. He was silent for a moment, before answering quietly. "I think she got a phone call, and went into the woods to take it."
Frisk nodded, and opened the tent flap wider. "Um, are you okay?" she asked carefully.
Asgore sighed and turned around. He looked disheveled, like he hadn't slept a wink, and his eyes somehow looked even emptier than Sans'
"I'm sorry Frisk," he said. "I know I shouldn't be feeling sorry for myself. My actions may cost my people their freedom, when that's all I ever wanted to give them. I just… I've been trying to be hopeful for your future, instead of mourning the loss of my own."
Frisk stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say. "Asgore…" she began, but then realized that she couldn't think of anything to say that would comfort him.
"It's okay." he said sadly. "I do wish the best for you all. I just hope what I told the Magistrate was enough to save your freedom." he said.
Not knowing what else to do, Frisk gave Asgore a hug. For a moment, he stiffened, and then wrapped his massive paws around her.
"Thank you Frisk," he said, letting go and bowing his head once again. "You've done all you can for me. Go be with your friends now."
Sighing, Frisk closed the tent flap, and walked sadly over to Undyne and Papyrus.
Papyrus spotted Frisk and waved her over. He immediately noticed that his friend seemed down, and decided to cheer her up.
"Do you want to try some of our marvelous spaghetti?" he asked, holding out their concoction.
Frisk's face reflexively scrunched up, but she tried to smile politely. "Uh, no thanks… I'm good. You know, maybe you should try making something other than pasta… for breakfast."
Undyne looked offended, but Papyrus set down the "pasta" and looked at Frisk with interest. "Like what?" he asked "The great Papyrus is always eager to learn new forms of cooking!"
Frisk thought for a moment. "Well, we could look in the woods and find some ingredients. Then we'll decide what to make."
Even Undyne looked excited now, and the three of them set off into the woods. After walking around for awhile, Frisk spotted something that excited her, and she ran in that direction, Undyne and Papyrus following.
"Look!" she said, pointing to a bush. Growing on it were fat, juicy looking blueberries. Papyrus peered curiously at them,
"Wow! They look very tasty! What are they?" he asked.
Frisk began plucking them from the bush and putting them into a basket she had brought along. "They're called blueberries, Papyrus." she answered him.
Papyrus' laughed. "Well, that is an appropriate name for them I suppose."
"Hey Frisk," asked Undyne. "You sure you know what you're doing? I mean, in an anime that Alphys and I watched, people can be poisoned by berries."
Frisk shook her head. "Don't worry, I've been in these woods before, and I know how to find safe food to eat. I'm an expert." she said proudly, continuing to pick.
Undyne shrugged and bent down to help, and Papyrus did the same. Within a few minutes, Frisk's basket was full, and all three of them had hands covered in blueberry juice. Undyne and Papyrus didn't quite know what to do, until Frisk licked her hand with a big smile on her face. When the two of them did the same, their eyes widened.
"Frisk, this tastes amazing!" said Undyne.
"Yes," agreed Papyrus. "I suppose human food does have its merits."
The three of them continued to look for food, finding more berries, some nuts and edible leaves, and even sprouts that Frisk said was her favorite vegetable of all time. Although Undyne and Papyrus weren't sure what a vegetable was, they tried the sprouts, and agreed with her.
After about an hour and a half, Frisk declared that they had enough to make a "forest salad",
"It's an old family recipe." Frisk joked as they started back to the camp.
As they were walking, Frisk suddenly smiled, dropped her basket, and ran over to a fallen log. She grabbed a stick, and ran to the top, holding it out.
"Look guys," she said excitedly. "I am Frisk, ruler of the forest, commander of all, from the smallest ant to the biggest frog!"
Undyne laughed, remembering doing the same thing when she was younger, and bowed dramatically. "Your Majesty, I'm honored to be graced by your presence."
Frisk nodded, and pointed her stick at Papyrus. "You, great skeleton, can be of great use to me. I appoint you head of the forest forest army. You will protect us from all things evil and thorny!"
Papyrus squealed with delight. "Thank you Frisk, I will be the best skeleton general you've ever seen!"
Frisk jumped off the log with a huff, picked up the basket, and began confidently leading the way. "Back to the camp!" she announced. "We will prepare a feast that will be free of cramps."
At that, Frisk laughed gleefully, and smiled the whole way back.
When they arrived, Sans was waiting for them. "Where have you guys been?" he asked curiously.
"Ah, there you are peasant! We have come from the woods. Help us prepare these hard earned goods." said Frisk, putting the basket on the table.
Sans looked at the three of them, and when he saw their huge smiles, he followed suit. "well, you all seem berry excited."
Frisk gasped and looked at Papyrus. "General, take this fiend to the pungeon for treeson."
Papyrus jumped and tackled Sans, while Undyne stood there shaking her head.
Papyrus and Sans sat on the ground, laughing up a storm.
"Now brother," said Papyrus between laughs. "It's time… you pay… for your crimes!"
"Don't you mean… my pines?" said Sans with a wink.
Papyrus groaned and rolled away. "Frisk, I'm sorry, it was too much!" he cried.
Frisk held her stomach as she laughed. "Nooooooo, Papyrus! I knew him well!"
It took a few minutes for everyone to calm down. when they did, all four of them began to help with the "forest salad". By the time they finished, it was more of a lunch than breakfast, but they enjoyed it none the less.
As the day went on, Alphys eventually came out of her tent and talked about the stability of the core. Frisk listened intently, glad that Alphys could talk confidently about her passion for engineering and science.
Asgore even came out, looking just a bit more hopeful. His eyes scanned the camp, and when they met Frisk's, he beamed, and then quickly looked away. Before she had time to wonder about it, she was startled by Monster Kid.
"Yo, the surface is great Frisk! It's even better than my parents said it would be." he declared excitedly.
Frisk nodded, and Monster Kid continued.
"I'm gonna make friends with tons of humans, hopefully they'll be cool like you."
Frisk shrugged, "I don't know, I'm pretty cool. It would be hard to compare." Frisk said jokingly.
Monster Kid laughed. "Yo, you're starting to sound like me and Papyrus, Frisk!"
"Maybe I am." said Frisk. She looked back at Asgore, who was now talking to Alphys.
When Frisk went to sleep that night, Toriel still wasn't back, but when Frisk woke up the next morning, she was sleeping beside her in the tent. Frisk stepped carefully, trying not to wake her, and breathed in the cool morning air.
Papyrus and Undyne were again preparing breakfast (pasta again), and everyone else just seemed to be enjoying the the surface.
Frisk helped them make breakfast, giving up try to teach them about breakfast foods vs. dinner foods. She had fun, and even got it to taste like actual pasta. The rest of the monster gradually woke up and went to the table. They actually seemed to like the cooking, which made Papyrus very happy.
Suddenly, Frisk heard something in the distance. she scanned the tree line until eyes met three figures emerging from the woods. Frisk realized that two of them were the men in black suits. As they came closer, she recognized Duncan Mathis as the third one. By now, the rest of the monsters gathered around and watched the men approach. Before Frisk knew it, they were standing right in front of her.
"Good morning Frisk." said Mathis formally. "I'm here to talk about what we've decided, concerning the monsters."
Frisk peered behind her, to find nervousness and concern on every monster's face. Before she could decide what to do, Asgore spoke up.
"Alright, everyone go back to the camp." he said.
The monsters began to make their way back, except Toriel (which Asgore didn't object to). When everyone else was out of earshot, Mathis cleared his throat.
"Now, we have given a lot of thought as to what should be done about your proposal." he said, speaking to Frisk. "After discussing it with the high commission and putting it to a vote, we have decided to begin granting the monsters legal citizenship."
Frisk couldn't help but smile at this news, but she tried to keep her composure, sensing that he wasn't finished.
"We would like to start with the monsters who have something significant to contribute to society, so that they may begin pursuing their desired careers. We can work all of that out later. They have been able to survive many years on their own, so I trust they will be able to continue doing so while the process ongoing, is that correct?" he asked.
Frisk looked at Toriel, who nodded.
"Before that happens, however," Mathis went on, "We must send physicians into your encampment, to perform examinations and administer proper vaccines. This is for the safety of both the general human population, and for you all as well."
He paused, to make sure that there would no protest to this, and when he was met with none, he continued.
"I would recommend that no monster enters the capitol without a human escort, until a later time. Also, we would like to send several data analysts to ask questions about monsters within the next several weeks."
"Yes, that's fine." Frisk said.
"Now, next is the subject of you, Asgore."
At that, Frisk looked at Asgore with fear in her eyes. Asgore stepped forward, and focused his eyes on Mathis.
"Asgore, you have admitted responsibility for the deaths of several children who have fallen into Mt. Ebott throughout the last few hundred years. is this true?"
Asgore nodded sadly.
"And the war between humans and monsters seemingly ended with monsters being banished to the underground, correct?"
Again, Asgore nodded.
"But, there was never an official signing of a peace treaty, was there?"
Asgore looked up, surprised. "Well, no. I suppose there wasn't." he said.
Mathis pulled out a piece of paper, and held it out. "Then," he said. "Technically, the war has still been going on for all of these years. I have a peace treaty that is signed by the Magistrate, legal commander of the territory where the war officially began. If you sign this, you promise to never launch an attack on humans (as we promise to never launch an attack on monsters), and in return, the atrocities committed by both sides are acquitted."
Frisk's mouth hung open in shock, and she saw that Asgore's was too.
"You mean, Asgore can be free?" asked Frisk.
Mathis nodded, a small smile appearing on his face. "Yes, that's right."
Asgore shakily took the pen that Mathis held out, and signed his name. When he was done, Mathis put the peace treaty in his pocket.
"If you become legal citizens," Mathis said, looking back at Asgore. "You will have to give up your title as king. Instead, you will become a representative of the monster race, along with Frisk, who will continue to act as your ambassador. Do you understand?"
"yes, of course." confirmed Asgore, and then he turned to Frisk. "Is that okay with you Frisk?" he asked.
Excited, Frisk nodded. "Yes, I love being your ambassador!"
Mathis looked at the three of them, making sure that there were no objections.
"Well then, there is just one last matter to settle." he said. "Frisk, we have looked into your records, and they say that you have been a ward of state for several years, and you previously lived at Little Rock Orphanage, is this true?"
With a look of fear, frisk turn to face Asgore and Toriel, and then back at Duncan Mathis.
"Um… well, you see…" she stammered, and then sighed, lowering her head. "Yes, that's right."
Everyone was silent for a moment, and then Mathis sighed.
"There is usually a certain protocol for this, but because of your unusual situation, I was able to pull some strings, and you will be able to remain with Lady Toriel while your custody transference is being finalized."
Frisk gasped and looked up, almost not willing to believe what he just said. She whirled around to face Toriel, who had tears in her eyes.
"Oh Frisk, I didn't want to get your hopes up, but Mr. Mathis called to tell me about your situation yesterday, and I began the adoption process immediately."
"So," Frisk whispered, beginning to cry. "You're going to become my mom?"
Toriel nodded. "Yes my child."
Frisk hugged Toriel with a small sob, and buried her head into Toriel's fur. Toriel closed her eyes and held Frisk in her arms. It was almost a minute before Frisk realized that Duncan Mathis and his men were still standing there. Frisk wiped her eyes, and faced them.
"Thank you, Mr. Mathis. Thank you so much." she said.
Mathis blushed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, you're welcome. I'm glad I could be of help to you guys."
He gave a signal to the men, who walked back into the woods.
"Anyway, I wish you all the best. Toriel gave me your phone number, so I'll call to set up a meeting to talk about the citizen process tomorrow." Mathis finished.
With that, he turned around, and followed his men through the woods.
Toriel took Frisk's hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You did it, Frisk." she said.
Frisk smiled, and the three of them walked over to the monsters. Everyone looked at them nervously, wondering what had happened. Asgore cleared his throat, and spoke to his people.
"We are free!" he bellowed.
With those three words, the monsters rejoiced. Some even cried tears of joy. After generations of being trapped and fearful of humans, they were truly free.
Toriel looked down at Frisk, who was looking at all of the monsters with a look of pure joy on her face. She had done it. Her quest to free the monsters had finally come to an end. They could live peacefully, and with Toriel adopting her, Frisk knew that her life with them was only just beginning.
