Asgore put down the phone with a weary sigh and slumped on the couch, absently rubbing at the hair in between his horns.
"Another dead end…" He looked longingly at the stairs where Toriel had disappeared to spend some time with Rias and Chara. It had been at his insistence, but he wished he could be up there with them.
Dogamy looked up, diverting his attention from Jeremiah, who was on a cell phone. The canine's head drooped, a sound of concern coming from him. After a long day out in the city, he had nothing to show but sore paws and the longing to clear his scent memory of the things he had found.
"Well, keep looking," Jeremiah muttered. "Not much else you can do there...yeah, I'll call if anything comes up…" The yellow eye lowered the phone, and shook his head.
"Almost a week, and still… nothing," Asgore sighed, sinking back into the couch. "We are going to have to expand our search at this rate."
"I could bring in more guards from my side," Dogamy offered. "Maybe see if Doggo can't pitch in. Can't see to save his life-but he has a good nose."
"We'd bring in help as well," Jeremiah started. "But Michael's already on top of our only lead, and we Humans can't track as well."
"That may become necessary," Asgore acknowledged. "Mettaton's broadcast goes out tomorrow, with luck, it will inspire more people to aid in the search. But I am beginning to fear that they are not in the city."
Dogamy nodded. "At the moment, our best bets are that lead, and Napstablook seeing their souls…"
There was the sound of a dainty knock at the door, and Asgore swiftly rose.
"I will get it," he said, hurrying out of the room.
Jeremiah looked up, drawing a hand over his face. "This doesn't make any sense," he groaned.
Dogamy nodded. "Seems familiar, doesn't it?"
A few moments later, Asgore returned to the living room, closely followed by Muffet, wearing a deep purple blouse and white gloves on each hand.
The spider-woman blinked her eyes in lazy synchronization at the sight of the Human, then giggled daintily.
"And I thought Mettaton was having me on when he told me about magical Humans…"
Jeremiah blinked in brief confusion at the spider. They looked a lot alike, but he was noticing differences-and thankfully, had Dogamy filled him in on this aspect. "Not quite," Jeremiah replied, sitting up fully, while the dog dipped his head.
"Good afternoon, Miss. Muffet."
The spider's smile faltered.
"I am afraid that 'good' is not the best description."
"Please, take a seat," Asgore murmured, though the hopeful light that had sparked in his eyes dimmed quickly. The spider did as she was bid, settling herself in Toriel's reading chair, which was obviously far too big for her, while Asgore returned to the couch.
"I have an army of spiders at my command," Muffet began, clasping her bottommost hands together, while her other two pairs rested on the armrests. "We can get to places others cannot go, see things others never can. Both my own spider clans, and the ones of the surface world have been scouring the city…" she shook her head slowly. "We have found nothing."
Jeremiah clasped his hands together, his eyes narrowed in thought. "Michael isn't going to find anything either by the sound of that." He looked up. "How far could anyone get in a week's time while hiding three people that would stand out in a crowd?"
"It depends on who took them," Asgore replied. "There is an airport in this very city, and more in the surrounding ones. If it were someone with means… or someone from the meeting, they could easily have been put on a plane and be anywhere in the world by now."
"Gotta be fancy government people then," Jeremiah muttered.
Dogamy tilted his head. "Those...other flying machines of yours?"
"Pretty much-they're rarely in operation…" The yellow-eye was thinking swiftly, trying to figure out how to make their next move.
"Yes, I doubt they would have been able to hide them on a public plane. It would have needed to be a privately owned one," Asgore agreed. "At this point, we cannot rule out the possibility."
"I have my spiders beginning to search beyond the city limits," Muffet put in. "We will go as far as we can, but there is only so far we can spread. Unless I bring some to other continents… and even then, there are places we cannot go."
Jeremiah perked. "Public planes?" He shook his head in confusion. "Nevermind, just…" He began tapping his good leg as he thought.
Dogamy breathed out. "I think I want to go see that building where they disappeared again. Just…" His fur bristled. "There's something wrong."
The Human shook his head. "I'll call Napstablook-let them know the city's a dead end so they aren't out there all day." At this rate, Jeremiah felt he'd have to learn more of how this world worked.
"We had best make sure we can get support in searching beyond the boundaries of this city," Asgore rumbled. "Monsters have been spreading out over the years, but the majority of our clout remains here. We will have to hope Mettaton is convincing enough to get us the support we need."
"He is good at swaying opinion in his favour," Muffet murmured fondly.
"I have my confidence in that plan," Dogamy assured as he rose. "But we shall keep to our searching."
"Good." Asgore rose as well. "If they have left the city, we must find a way to narrow down where they could have gone. By now, they could be anywhere."
Jeremiah watched the Monsters and then pulled out his cell phone. "Good luck with your plans." The best he could do was call others and work from one location...a fact that was starting to bother him again.
"Then I shall take my leave," Muffet stood up with a sigh. "I will let you know if I find anything."
"Thank you." Asgore attempted a smile. "We appreciate everything you are doing."
Muffet inclined her head, giving no reply, and made her way to the door.
William's eyes opened to the sound of footsteps. He groaned softly to himself, and drew his arms firmly around Frisk. They stirred, and then grasped onto an arm as he focused on those who were approaching. His magic tried to ignite-but to no avail.
There was the sound of a lock clicking, then the door swung open and the teenaged Frisk was tossed unceremoniously inside, landing on the concrete with a grunt and a thud. The guard behind him leered down at the boy.
"Get some rest with your little friends, prince. There's more where that came from tomorrow."
The boy had kept his face down so the other's couldn't see it, but he managed to call out;
"Worst… room service… ever!" His voice was tired and raspy, and the guard just chuckled in amusement at his defiance before shutting the door with a clang.
William was up in an instant, setting the fusion back on the bed, before rushing for the boy, dropping to his knees, looking for any obvious injuries. "Frisk-" he hissed, one hand clenching tightly in anger.
The boy attempted to raise his head, but it barely got an inch off the ground before it clunked back down. He hissed softly in pain, then turned his head slightly so that he could look at William without raising it.
One eye was blackened and swollen. There were a few light cuts across his face and blood trailed down from his mouth to his chin. He managed a bloody grin.
"Hey, Billy…"
"Gods-"
The little fusion slipped off the bed. "...is he?"
"Here, boy, let's see if I can't get you onto the bed. See if I can't do something." However, he doubted it. He was no healer-the best he could do was possibly clean the cuts.
"Sure… 'm afraid I can't really move myself though, so…"
"What's the least sore?" The fusion whined in concern-unable to see, and thus was imagining the worst.
"Uhhh…" the boy scrunched up his face in thought. "My left pinky toe seems to be doing okay…" he replied at last.
"Could be better…" William muttered. "Well if I can't move you in one piece, tell me. I'll try to be careful. I rather you on the bed than the floor. Little One, scoot to the other corner."
"At least let me buy you dinner before you take me to bed…" Frisk mumbled. His body felt unusually limp, like a rag doll. It was evident the boy really wasn't going to be able to help William in his effort to get him onto the bed.
"Sorry," William muttered. "But the menu choices are lousy. We'd have better luck ordering off the menu."
"Heh heh…" Frisk started coughing violently suddenly, flecks of blood flying from his lips at the harsh, ragged sounds.
"Kid-!"
Frisk's coughing fit continued as William laid him down on the bed. it wasn't until a few agonizingly long minutes later when it finally died down.
"Nah," he wheezed, somehow managing a cheeky grin. "Kid doesn't have any arms."
William drew a hand over his face, and shook his head. "Unbelievable…" The albino looked around, and spotted an almost empty water bottle. He took it and then went back to the fusion. "I need to borrow a handkerchief, all right?" The fusion bobbed their head, allowing him to remove it-exposing their palm.
The adult drew back over, dampening it, and tending to the obvious scratches. His eyes dimly sparked in anger-his limited magic trying to come forth...but there wasn't enough to give them a chance to escape.
The teen laid still as William tried to clean out the obvious wound. His exposed arm, the one that he had torn the sleeve off for his counterpart, was covered in bandages. The rest of his shirt didn't seem to be faring well either, it was mussed, scrunched and bloodstained.
"Well," the boy began after a few moments. "I've got some good news… and I've got some bad news."
"And...what's the bad news?" William asked as the fusion crept toward their voices.
"Good news first?" Frisk asked, lolling his head slightly to better look at the Human leader. "Yes sir, Mr. Leader sir." Crimson eyes gave him a very dead pan look.
"The good news," the boy continued after a moment. "Is that I… apparently have magic now." William paused, studying the child quietly as he chewed his lip nervously, while the fusion whined in concern, fumbling around at the edge of the bed.
"Took a lot of tests... " the teen murmured. "But I got to use it a bit… which was kinda cool. Didn't really know what I was doing though. They seemed pretty excited about it."
He fell into another fit of coughing, his limbs spasming out of control at the harshness of his exhalations.
"Dammit-easy, now," William chided. "Don't overexert yourself." The little child fumbled around, eventually finding the teenager's hand.
When the coughing subsided, the boy tried to squeeze his little counterpart's hand… though the amount of pressure he was able to increase was so small, the child barely even registered it.
"So anyways," he continued weakly. "Good news… magic. The bad news is… I'm pretty sure it's killing me." The little ambassador let loose a sound of despair, while William fell silent, hands closing tight.
Frisk closed his eyes and shuddered briefly.
"I feel like… someone replaced all the blood in my veins with gasoline, and then set it on fire." He managed a quiet, humourless laugh. "So you know… easily the second-most amount of pain I've ever been in."
"I've had better news," William muttered as he looked down at the two. He couldn't help them escape-but he had to do something.
"Yeah… pretty sure your magic isn't compatible with us. Not that they listened to me, for some reason."
"For your sake, let's hope it is," the albino stated softly, and then knelt, drawing the upset child close.
"Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky and I'll get strong enough to break us out of here," Frisk replied dryly, eyes still closed.
"Hmph...speaking of magic…" He started stroking the fusion's head between their horns. "Perhaps I can get your minds off this a little while."
The boy attempted to shrug, but couldn't manage it. He settled for replying;
"I'm not going anywhere."
The fusion gave a hum of confusion, while William smiled-even if it was strained. "I may have a story or two that would interest you."
"Story?" the fusion asked. "You never tell stories."
"Had no need to," was the reply. "Now...back before a certain someone stole the stars away from me-" He poked the child's side, causing them to squeak softly. "I had the ability to stop time altogether. Mind you, that was rather handy. And also mind I was a young Leader when this happened."
He kept his grin. "So one day...something entered the Capital Building-a dangerous problem, that I, at the time, didn't have an answer to. So I panicked, and froze time. And for a whole month, I walked around, trying to figure out the answer to my problem. In the end, I figured it out."
"...what was it even?" the little one asked.
"...a woman. They don't teach you how to interact with them."
The teen Frisk let out a short bark of laughter, quickly followed by a grimace.
"Ahh, it hurts to laugh." He opened his eyes, looking at William. "You were a lucky man, Billy. Lotta people would kill for the power to do that."
"Those people tended to find themselves in prison before they could 'technically' spring their attack back in the day."
"Lot easier to move forward when you know you can undo the damage," the boy agreed. "Wish I had more control over it when I had it."
"It's certainly complicated magic."
"Is it? I found it pretty… pretty simple. Just the voice in my head had different ideas on how we should use it," the boy murmured, closing his eyes again.
William shook his head. "It's a rather finicky thing on our side, I assure you."
"... huh," was the only reply.
The fusion tilted their head up. "...any more stories?"
"Well…"
Time passed, with William telling more stories in an attempt to keep the spirits of the others up. It was hard to tell how long it had been, but eventually, long after William had fallen silent the teen stirred slightly.
"Billy?"
There was a soft sigh. "Yes?"
"Is Mini-me awake?" the boy asked quietly.
William looked down. "Can't tell-but they haven't stirred in a while. Frisk…?" There was no response from the child.
"Good," The teen was quiet for a few moments, then said softly; "You know I'm not gonna survive this… right?"
"I'm no doctor," William murmured. "But you're not dead yet, so there's still a chance." Regardless of how slim it may be.
"No," the boy replied, trying to put a little force into his words while keeping his raspy voice quiet. "I need you to understand. Mini-me's only gonna have you left until you get rescued. You have… have to be there for them."
William bit his lip, looking at the boy. "I don't plan to leave them alone."
The boy smiled for a moment, before letting it fade.
"I can feel the magic…" he said quietly. "It's burning me from the inside out. Our souls aren't as strong as yours… I don't even have as much Determination as I used to." Frisk grimaced. "And they… they're going to use me as their guinea pig," he swallowed. "They want to see how far they can push it… how much magic we can hold. I already feel like hell… and they'll just keep running tests until I can't take anymore."
William paused. "You need Determination?" he questioned quietly.
"Huh?"
"If you're saying it the way I believe you are-then you need Determination in your soul to handle the magic?"
"I… I don't know?" the teen replied in confusion. "I don't even… I've never had magic before. I don't know what would…"
"It's a chance," William replied. "On my side, all our souls host Determination-to the point that one could donate it like blood. If that's what you need to survive, then I'll find a way to get it to you."
"Uh, Billy? Remember the part where stuff from your side brought me to this point in the first place? Adding more doesn't really seem like the best idea."
William sighed slowly. "No, but at this point, they're just going to keep injecting you with purely more magic. You said it yourself, you don't think you're going to make it. Determination is...something we use, and something that might give you a fighting chance. As it stands...how much more can we lose?"
"I guess… at this point, it can't get any worse…" Frisk mumbled. "But how would you even…?"
"Let me worry about that. You focus on not keeling over dead, all right?"
"Okay…"
William relaxed. "There we go…" he murmured, before jerking as he noticed the fusion quivering in his hold and starting to whimper.
The teen's eyes opened, and he managed to move his head so he was looking down on them.
"...little one?" the albino questioned.
They raised their head, sobbing and shaking their head. "We need to leave," they managed. "I don't-I want him-noooo!"
"Mini-me? What's… what's wrong?" Frisk asked in concern.
"You need to get away from them!"
William dead-panned. "So much for being asleep."
The little Frisk shook their head harshly and clamped onto the older counterpart's arm. "You gotta stay!" They couldn't do this again!
"I'll do my best…" the teen replied quietly, inwardly cursing that he had inadvertently let the child hear everything.
The fusion sniffled, burying their face gently against him. "I'm sorry," they whimpered.
"It's not your fault…"
They shook their head. "My side keeps causing-pro-problems for yours."
"C'mon, that's not fair. Overwatch woulda tried something like this anyways, even if your side wasn't involved. Don't blame yourself for this…"
"Always breaking things I fix…"
"Hey… look at me." The teen would have grabbed the child's face to make them look at him, but he wasn't strong enough to do so right now.
The blindfolded child gave a more confused sound as they tilted their head up toward his voice.
"Listen." Frisk tried to make his voice as soothing as possible. "It's not your fault there's jerks on your side. There are on mine too. It's not your fault." He paused. "Listen. No matter what happens… no matter how this ends…" He managed a smile, wishing the child could see it.
"You brought my sister back. I got to see her again. I didn't ever think that was going to happen, so… thank you."
The child was quiet-but it seemed to help...a little. That didn't stop them from holding onto him-as if that might stop him from slipping away.
Time crept by, though it was impossible to say how much with no way to measure it. Footsteps approached, and William turned his attention to the door, slowly approaching it to see who had come to visit them.
Food slid though, but William looked out the small window as the man on the other side rose. The blue eye. "...you're back."
The blue eye looked up, but didn't say anything.
"We need Determination," William stated flatly.
"Why?"
"The boy is going to die without it," William hissed. "Can you get Determination-or the means to extract it?"
The other turned. "No promises," he stated quietly, before leaving at a brisk pace.
It felt like eons, but the blue eye eventually returned, and rolled a syringe under the gap. "Hurry it up," the blue eye muttered. "Don't know how much time the lot of you have."
William took it, swiftly injecting it into his arm, wincing as he drew out Determination. He shielded it in the dark, seeing a very faint glow to it. Good, he didn't extract blood. Then, he went to the teenager. "Hang on," he mumbled. "At least they can't tell with all the other needles they've been using…"
The boy looked up blearily.
"Wha?"
"Determination," William muttered. "We'll lose you for sure if we don't try this. Let's take the gamble,
"Don't you need that though?" the prone Human protested weakly.
"I have almost no magic right now. It'll come back. You need it more than anyone else here." He gently grabbed the boy's arm.
"Kay…"
William quietly injected the Determination. He debated on doing a second dose, but the blue eye called a soft warning, letting him know there wasn't enough time, and that some Determination was better than nothing.
Hurriedly, the red eye shoved it back under, knowing there would be trouble if they were caught with it. The blue eye snatched it up with surprising speed and hid it away, wordlessly leaving them.
It wasn't much longer before the sound of footsteps returned to the hall.
Warning, I, PetalThorn will be in charge of the rest of the uploads this week. So if anything silly happens, it won't be Thrones fault. XP Probably. I mean, we could pin it on him regardless.