What do you want?

That was the question Misery wanted to ask. But no matter how hard she tried to articulate herself, the words refused to leave her throat. Staring at the black-robed boss monster before her, sensing the unfathomable strength and hatred in his eyes, she could only feel powerless. His strength far eclipsed her own, that much she could tell. And as impossible as that sounded, she wasn't willing to risk her life on the chance that she was wrong.

The monster — Samael, he had called himself — gave a low, rumbling laugh that reverberated with itself, like his voice was two different voices haphazardly stitched together. "Whatever is the matter, witch? Does my appearance frighten you? I suppose it is only natural. Not many exist who have stared Death in the eyes."

"This is a trick," Misery growled. "You can't be a boss monster. That's not possible. They were—"

"Wiped out. Exterminated. Slaughtered. As though they were no more than vermin in the eyes of the humans. That is what I presume you were going to say."

Misery's grip on her staff tightened, to the point where she could feel the wood cracking beneath the palm of her hand. A sudden spike of pain shot through her chest, rippling across the remnants of her soul, burning with an anger she had fought so long to hold back. "Of course the boss monsters were wiped out. I know humans better than anyone. They not only crave power, they crave to be the most powerful. So much that the mere possibility of monsters surpassing them drove them to genocide. The Dreemurr clan did nothing to harm anyone, and humanity responded by killing them all! Do you think I would forget that!?"

Samael's lips curled upward, into a grin that sent shivers down Misery's spine. "Dreemurr clan. So you know of their name. How… interesting."

Misery froze. "What? N-no, that's not… why does it even matter what I know!? I don't owe you an explanation! I don't owe anything to anyone!"

"Perhaps not. But I still believe it would be in our mutual interest if we… worked together, we shall call it."

"Worked together?" said Misery. "I don't even know what you're talking about. What is it that you want from me?"

"You and I have more in common than you think," Samael replied. "Like you, my power came at a great cost to my soul. And like me, you hold deep within you a profound hatred of humanity. It would be a shame for a kindred spirit to be caught in humanity's final judgment… so I am making you an offer." Holding out his hand, Samael's eyes gleamed with infernal, beckoning light. "Join me, Misery. Cast aside your last shred of humanity. Let us erase this world, and let our rage forever echo into the beyond."

Misery's grip tightened even further, and she felt a prickling series of jabs as jagged splinters of her staff began to dig into her palms. The ambient sounds of the cave became drowned by the rush of blood to her eardrums, thick and heavy with indignation. "Y-you… You're mad. Do you honestly believe I'd be foolish enough to repeat Ballos's mistake? I know what happened to him. And I know what will happen to me if I continue any further down this path. I don't care if you destroy the whole world, but I refuse to take part in yet another madman's schemes!"

Moments passed in silence, amplified by the thickness of the air. "I thought you might say that," Samael said. "Fortunately, I have already come prepared."

Before Misery could ask what he meant, her vision was momentarily blinded by a crack of thunder. When sight returned to her eyes, she saw before them a large bubble, floating just behind Samael. Within that bubble lay Jenka, bruised and semi-conscious, staring weakly into Misery's eyes.

Misery's mind went blank. Jenka did not speak, save for a pained, unintelligible groan.

"Surprised?" Samael taunted. "I have learned quite a few things from the Island's so-called keeper. The two of you are far closer than I had imagined. So I will propose to you a simple trade. Should you join me, I will spare her life. Does that sound fair?"

Misery paused. For agonizing seconds, she looked into Jenka's eyes. The old woman was helpless, that much was clear, and as she stared Jenka stared back with pleading eyes.

A sudden, hoarse laugh erupted from Misery's throat. "That's your bargaining chip? Really? You honestly think I care one iota for that old hag's life? Go ahead and kill her. If anything, you'd be doing me a favor."

Jenka visibly flinched at Misery's words, though her eyes remained blurry and unfocused… almost completely unsurprised. She said nothing, choosing instead to remain slumped over within her bubble.

"Are you certain?" Samael's fingers twitched, and Misery felt the familiar tingle of magic running down her spine. With his arm extended, Samael held out his palm towards Jenka, arcs of deadly lightning jumping between the tips of his fingers. Jenka flinched away again, cowering before the impending assault.

Misery's reaction was immediate. "No! Wait!"

The dull light of the cavern gleamed off Samael's grinning teeth. "So you do care for her life."

Misery gritted her teeth as she met Samael's eyes. The feelings that sprawled up within her chest burned with agonizing familiarity. "You… Damn you!"

"I assume you are having second thoughts. In that case, I eagerly await your final decision."

Misery clutched at her staff so tightly that she fully expected it to snap beneath her grip. Once again, she felt her blood boil, once again she began to feel the emotions stirring. It took only a moment's pause for such feelings to vanish.

More than anything, she was simply tired. Tired, for every day of the past five hundred years.

"...Fine," said Misery. "What exactly do you want me to do?"


The gentle whirr and warm glow signified the jump through space that came with a teleport. After the accident during the last time, Frisk had felt some trepidation, but he was happy to see a familiar sight greet him. When his form coalesced into the laboratory teleporter, he stepped out, seeing Quote standing just to the front of him.

"Where's Professor Booster?" said Frisk.

"Probably in another room," Quote replied. "You stay here, I'll go and look for him." He quickly turned around and began to walk away.

"H-hey, wait a second."

"Hmm?" Quote raised an eyebrow, turning to glance at Frisk.

"Can you, um… do me a favor?"

"Yeah, sure," said Quote. "What is it?"

The air in Frisk's lungs grew heavy. He could still vividly recall the sight of the battle he'd witnessed, of the monsters being vaporized by Quote's deadly weapon.

"Can you, just… not tell anyone what you've been up to? When you're away from the village, I mean."

"Wasn't planning to," Quote replied. Without another word, he turned and walked away.

Frisk's thoughts were interrupted when, just as Quote was halfway to the far door, it opened to reveal Curly in the door frame. "Hello? Is someone there?" Her eyes lit up almost immediately upon entering. "Quote! You're here!"

"I am," said Quote. "And I found someone while I was away. Do you know this kid?"

Curly's eyes drifted to where Quote had given an aside glance. "Oh! Frisk! I'm glad to see you're okay. Ever since you all disappeared, we've been worried sick…"

"He said you could help us track where the teleporter sent everyone," said Quote. "Do you know where Professor Booster is?"

Curly gave a nod. "Of course. I'm helping him review the teleporter logs right now. Why don't we go and meet up with him? I'm sure he'd be happy to see Frisk is okay."

Quote gave a shrug. "Might as well." He turned to Frisk and made a beckoning gesture. "Come on kid, let's go meet with the others."

"Er… right," said Frisk. He followed Quote without delay as he and Curly exited the main room of the laboratory, traveling into the corridor. There were many things that still weighed down heavily on his mind, but the prospect of reuniting with the others was far too enticing to pay anything else any mind.

Yet even still, Frisk knew he couldn't avoid the issue. A weight pressed down on his chest as he vividly recalled the smell of death and ashes. He heard the cries of pain, the pleas for mercy, the sounds of lives ended out of sheer boredom.

And if there was one thing Frisk understood above all, it was that he couldn't keep it a secret forever.