So long. It had been so, so long.

Accusatus stepped out into the light of day, his chains dragging behind himself as he stepped out of the castle entrance. The sun had been mostly blocked in his cell, only a few small rays to give the vengeful prisoner hope. But now that hope was realized, and Accusatus's dreams could finally be realized.

Not that there weren't any obstacles, the prisoner noted as he trudged forward. The king was nowhere to be seen, and that Royal Guard Captain had slunk off while Accusatus had strangled the blacksmith. Why the blacksmith had originally faked evidence that led to Accusatus's imprisonment was unclear, but it had been avenged nonetheless. The distant crash of waves on the beach reached his ears, making Accusatus pause for a moment, breathing in the cool air. He could remember being young, watching over this place while he listened to the ocean rise and fall around the island.

But those days were over. Accusatus was taking the mountain path, searching for the young Guard who had evaded him. He could barely make out a scent on the path, occasionally following it as the trail criss-crossed through the tall grass that covered the surrounding landscape. Apparently this 'Sentinel' was smart and quick enough to make a difficult trail.

On his way, the prisoner heard light tapping, footsteps. He bared his teeth and curled his arms, the jingle of his chains bringing a focused rage to the prisoner's heart.

"Y-y-yo... you're not going anywhere!"

A small kid stepped out of the grass, shivering and cowering before the lion-like monster. Accusatus chuckled. "Another fan of the Royal guard, eh?" his gruff voice mocked, and he took a step forward. "It takes a lot more than simple determination to stand up to someone like me, little one." Accusatus could sense the child freezing up, and he continued to advance forward. "Oh, calm yourself. I haven't got a reason to hurt you, have I?" He asked, watching the child clench its teeth in terror as Accusatus leaned closer. "Have I?"

The prisoner was just toying with the child. A bystander meant nothing to Accusatus except amusement.

But then a gust of wind rushed at the prisoner's mane of hair, and something blunt struck the back of his head before he could turn around.

"Child! Get away from that prisoner!" Accusatus heard a voice ring out as he stumbled forward, then growled in annoyance. It was the co-captain of the royal guard.

The small child dashed into the grass as Accusatus kept his back turned, chuckling darkly. "So, you were just leading me here, eh?" He asked, then quickly swung his arm, the chain racing at Togore. The opponent quickly slashed his spear to block it, but the chain quickly tangled around the ornate weapon. Accusatus grinned wickedly. "You know, most monsters on this island are meaningless in what I've set out to do. But you? I suppose I could make an exception-" Accusatus yanked his arm back, and the chain snatched the spear from Togore's hands. "-What do you think? Just one extra pile of dust won't hurt-"

The prisoner got hit in the chest with a ball of fire, and staggered back in surprise as the guard retreated again. "Agh... another one?" Accusatus growled. The guard had been wearing a helmet, so he hadn't been able to tell what kind of monster he was. But it was clear now that he was a boss monster, the species that included Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr. The guard was running down the mountain path, and Accusatus snarled, a small spark of glee rising in his chest. It had been a while since he'd been on a good chase...

The lion roared and ran forward, sprinting for a minute before switching to all fours, which was unnatural even in the world of monsters. He moved swiftly, closing in on his prey as Togore would occasionally take a risky glance behind himself. Accusatus roared in anticipation as he closed the gap and pounced forward, claws and jaws bared, but the guard sidestepped and rolled to avoid the attack. The prisoner rolled as he missed, coming to a stop on his back. "You think you can run forev-" Accusatus had been starting to talk, but then noticed a really unfortunate inconvenience- the chains had tangled his legs as he'd rolled. The lion rolled his eyes and got to work as the Guard left to retrieve his spear.

Accusatus freed himself, looking back as he saw Togore lift his spear. The lion got ready to charge again, then got a whiff of another scent... another trail. Human, it had to be human. Accusatus tried to fight the urge, the instinct to hunt and destroy the humans that had been burned into him through years of training... the feeling of pride that resulted from his exploits in driving the humans underground... it was too strong. That human was Asgore's child, surely they would make an excellent bargaining chip, and if not, then a rather splendid kill. Accusatus laughed and let his thirst for blood take over, quickly dashing along the trail left by the human, much to Togore's dismay.

Chasing, this was what Accusatus lived for. Tracking something, and watching it run in terror as he came closer, knowing that a victory was at hand.

The metal clanking of the guard, who was now chasing the prisoner rather than being chased, grew more and more distant as Accusatus rose to two feet inside of the mountain, roaring fiercely and beginning to pound a metal door that blocked his way with his chains.

The door flew off of its hinges, crashing onto the metal floor and sliding forward. Accusatus was in a room, likely the one used by the stutter-prone royal scientist. And sure enough, there she was, taking notes as another monster held a human in place with some sort of magic or scientific ability. Accusatus felt a burn internally, his kind was unable to use magic of any sort. But they were unmatched in physical strength and combat, which was why they'd been chosen to lead the island until Asgore unintentionally turned the inhabitants against Accusatus's kind.

The three that stood in the room, the scientist, a skeleton, and the human, all turned their heads when they heard Accusatus enter. The scientist looked like she might die of terror, the human seemed... conflicted. Partially scared, partially amused? Odd. And the skeleton... well, Accusatus couldn't tell what he was thinking since he had a toothy smile plastered on his face.

"Heya." The skeleton said, winking at the lion. "I'm guessing that you think you're the mane event." Accusatus bared his teeth and clenched his fists at the ridiculous pun, while the human cracked a smile. "Just give me the kid." Accusatus demanded, holding out his hand. "You two will go free if you comply. I have no reason to harm you." "Heh, you sound like a fair-minded person." The skeleton noted, lowering his left hand, which had been glowing with a striking blue color. As he did, the human began to back away, obviously looking for an exit.

"I am, very much so." Accusatus said to the skeleton, who had seemed to release the human for the prisoner. He crept forward, getting ready to swing his chains, when the skeleton seemed to... vanish. It couldn't be, right? He'd been there one moment, then gone the next. Accusatus raised an eyebrow, then felt strange... weighed down, almost. The prisoner was yanked off his feet, and hurled to his left. Accusatus slammed into a table of lab equipment, shattering the wooden table and sending the glass flasks and tubes flying everywhere.

"Well... if you're really fair-minded, then you'd know that there's no reason for you to hurt that kid." The skeleton's laid-back voice commented, making the prisoner look up. His vision was blurry, and he felt small shards of glass digging into his skin. "So either I didn't hear you correctly... or you've been lion to me." The skeleton chuckled.

Accusatus bellowed in rage and dashed after the human, who had made a break for the way that Accusatus had came through. But again, Accusatus felt his soul weighing down, like a string of sins weighing down on his neck, and was pulled backward, crashing into another wall and flopping forward. "Yeah... you're that prisoner everyone's scared about. Well, buddy, you're not going to lay a finger on the king, or his kids." the skeleton said, then extended a hand as he walked forward. "By the way, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton-" Sans was interrupted as Accusatus swung his arm, and teleported again. Accusatus knew that he needed to be out of sight, so he raced forward, giving chase to the human again as Sans appeared. The skeleton was unable to attack before the lion had gotten out of the room, following the human.

There, by a small shop. Accusatus saw the human running for their lives to the shop that was filled with hats. His eyes focused as he ran forward, but something caught his attention. A small group of monsters, distantly heading back to the castle. One of them was wearing a golden robe, and wore an oh-so-familiar crown on his head. It was the king, the one Accusatus was truly chasing after. The lion slowed down, then stood up again, grinning wickedly. He needed to catch his breath for this one.

The human managed to hide inside the hat shop, likely finding enough cover to hide even from Accusatus. But it didn't matter. The prisoner was on the verge of getting what he'd wanted for almost thirty years, a final victory in the chase of his life.