Undertale: The Royal Hunt

by HowManyJays

After falling down a hole in a mountain, Frisk, a young teen, finds herself in a strange land filled with talking animals and creatures of various shapes and sizes, that's ruled by an oppressive monarchy, and Frisk must now find a way out while escaping The Royal Hunt, a violent group of warriors led by the psychotic Mad Mickey. Book 1 of the Shattering AU Warning: graphic violence

24. Snowdin FINAL

Snowdin FINAL

Frisk woke up that evening, well-rested. She, fortunately, had no nightmares this time, and Flowey, who stayed awake, claimed she slept as still as a rock. For about 8 hours or so. It was a pain just to stand up, and she was even a bit dizzy due to not being used to sleeping during what was essentially the middle of the day.

After Frisk had adjusted herself, she and Flowey went downstairs, the smell of Baron's Breath still covering every corner of the living room. Sans and Papyrus sat there by the dining table, with a smile on both their faces. Even on Papyrus, who seemed to be in a slightly better mood.

This sight gave out a strange mood, Frisk felt. It was almost like they all lived together as some unorthodox and poor yet a still happy family.

Flowey went and sat besides Papyrus. It seemed to be a bit of an awkward exchange for both of them, as neither proceeded to exchange eye contact. Sans, meanwhile, sat alone by his side of the table, his feet on top while he scrolled through his phone. While these three had their chill session, Frisk went outside for some fresh air. Or at least what constituted as fresh air in The Underground.

Frisk sat down on top of the steps and went to think. But there was no direction in any of her thoughts. She just couldn't categorize the utter numerousness of them all. So after a moment of aimless pondering, she pulled out and unlocked her phone. Still, there was no signal. Even though Frisk didn't expect much, she was still disappointed. She then tried to connect to whatever connection Sans had. It failed also. She then ran through the contacts on her phone and tried to call one specific number. To no surprise, it didn't work either. Just a big white text flashed on her screen, saying that an error came with reaching the number. Then another notification came, asking if she would like to call through voice mail.

Despite considering herself to be the farthest thing from a tech-savvy person, Frisk knew this wouldn't do much. She almost felt insulted by the phone's suggestion, as if it was a sentient thing mocking her. She wanted to speak to someone, anyone from the surface. Maybe her dad even, despite being one of the last persons she wanted to talk to. But as it seemed, she was trapped down here in this rabbit hole, with no way to contact outside.

Yet, due to some sense of stubbornness she figured, Frisk did not want to give up so easily. Before she touched the yes on the notification on her phone, she mentally prepared a speech in her head. After a moment, she thought herself ready and pressed it.

"Hi, Ian," Frisk said into the phone. "It's me. Francisca."

She took a deep breath.

"I know it's been a while," Frisk continued. "I don't know if you're actually getting this, so I might just be speaking into the void, all things considered. But… in any case, how have you been? I have been doing fine myself lately. Or I have at least tried to. I know you have a bunch of baggage on your mind already so I'm not gonna force any more on you. Especially since you probably can't do anything about my… current problems."

Frisk took a quick pause.

"So…" she began. "A lot of crazy things have happened to me in just the past 24 hours or so. God damn. I… I don't know even where to start. Feel like I've been down here for months. Maybe a year even."

She took another pause as she considered her words. Then, she continued.

"Ok, you know what?" she began. "I'm just gonna lay it all on you right now because no matter how I phrase it, I can't make it sound any less crazy or… more real to you. Alright. First things first, monsters are real. And so is magic. No, Ian, this is not some elaborate joke your 'Lil sis is pulling on you or anything. Nor have I been stealing from dad's stuff or… I dunno, eating any weird shrooms lately or anything. Or, at least I don't remember doing so. But it would explain a lot."

Frisk chuckled lightly.

"But just bear with me a bit longer ok?" she continued. "Even if you don't believe it, I… I like to talk about it. So… after I ran to that mountain yesterday. Or was it two days ago? I don't know, time's weird. Anyway, after I ran to the mountain I… I fell down a hole, and then I… I met this large, old, lion-goat creature hermit. He seemed nice at first, even though he was clearly not right in the head and even a bit dumb at times, but I assumed he had the best intention. Saved my life even. About twice I think. In hindsight though, he didn't really save me because of some power I have that… I… I'll get to that later. But then I found out… he kinda wanted to forcefully keep me with him. Forbid me from leaving like some I was some prisoner of his. I don't think I would've properly escaped without… a friend of mine. Oh yeah about that, so the lion-goat hermit had this flower he kept around for some reason, thinking he was his son. And yes, I said "he" because, as it turns out, the flower is alive. Calls himself Flowey the Flower, and so far, he's like the closest thing I have to a friend down here. Well, maybe alongside those two living skeleton brothers I'm currently hanging out with. They are not human skeletons, although they look like ones, and one of them is short and the other is tall. Both are pretty lazy though, with the tall one being a straight-up stoner. Almost like dad, except… not as bad. They are nice enough, so far. Although the shorter one… kinda freaks me out for some reason. I think he has dwarfism, shorter than me, but clearly twice my age. Oh, and that's not what freaks me out about him Ian, don't worry, I'm not secretly prejudiced against little people. Or at least, I hope not. I'm not sure why he scares me though. Ok, that is a bit of a lie, I actually kinda do know. I suppose."

Frisk took another pause. She tried to think about how to put her unease about Sans in words, but she couldn't figure out her fears herself. Eventually, she decided to skip it for now.

"Anyway," she continued. "I- oh god, I think that's like the third time I said "anyway" in this one recording, but anyway… what I'm saying is, you don't need to worry about me. Or at least, not right now. I can handle myself today, and especially with this power that I alluded at before. Yeah… the power. How do I explain it? Well, in a nutshell, it makes me able to go back in time whenever I die, like a video game and there are also certain "save" spots and… ok, saying it out loud, this is starting sound crazy, even compared to all the monster and magic stuff."

She chuckled a bit.

"But like I said," Frisk continued. "I… I'm not gonna get hurt anytime soon. Currently, I'm in a snowy town full of talking rabbits and fire people and… yeah, you probably get it. I know Ian. It all sounds crazy. And maybe it is. Maybe it is. But I might be gone for a while because honestly, I don't know when I'll get back. It could be days. Weeks even. It could maybe even take…"

She paused once more, this time with a hint of melancholy.

"I don't know how long it will take," Frisk continued. "It mostly depends on how big and dangerous this… this Wonderland is. Oh, and probably the patience of my guide, who's Flowey the talking flower, by the way."

She chuckled again.

"I still miss you, Ian," Frisk continued. "And I just want you to know that, for what happened yesterday on the mountain, I'm… I'm…"

She took another pause, this time wondering if she should continue. After a moment's consideration, she decided not to.

"You know what?" she said. "I think I'm just about reaching the limit of the recording here. I'll continue tomorrow if that's fine with you. Hell, maybe I'll make it a daily thing. I'll be back soon, Ian. Or at least someday. I promise."

With that, she turned off the recording. She placed the phone back into her pocket and sighed tiredly, arm on her jaw as she looked around the town.

It currently felt like a stark contrast to the eerie emptiness when Mickey and his gang arrived. What little life this poor town had to offer seemed to come in spades now, with a dozen or so monsters wandering around, only a few of which Frisk had seen before. One of the new ones included a strange orange imp-like creature with a cheerful-looking smile on a face that seemed drawn on. Seeing it didn't terrify her as usual. She barely even noticed that in fact. Instead, this smiling imp made Frisk think more about how these creatures seemed able to keep themselves happy during these obvious trying times. That was, of course, assuming the creature's smile was genuine.

Another monster she saw resembled a large mouse with gigantic red ears wearing a scarf that covered the entire bottom half of their face, and they sat sleeping by a small makeshift campfire in a house missing an entire wall. Alongside it was another peculiar monster, a red cyclops looking almost like a giant eyeball with limbs until Frisk noticed the tiny mouth and nose underneath. Frisk felt this cyclops monster looked strangely similar to some character she once saw in some very old computer-generated cartoon film, one involving monsters as well, ones that worked in some strange factory involving teleport doors and fuel made from screams. Maybe this creature was an indirect inspiration.

Lastly, there were the typical hares, rabbits and whatnot, of different species, colours and sizes wandering the street. Overall, Frisk felt like her rest had given her a more open perspective on everything. Either that or she just was glad to be in the open without anyone looking at her strangely or painting a target on her back. Or at least not clearly. That thought made Frisk quickly realize she didn't even mention anything about Mickey or his gang in the recording to Ian. She hadn't even thought about mentioning it, almost like she had forgotten about them, although she clearly didn't. She guessed she unconsciously maybe didn't want Ian to worry about something he couldn't help with.

It was due to being deep in these ponderings that Frisk took such a long time to notice the nearby visitor. Once she finally did see it, she was slightly spooked. What looked like a largish white Samoyed dog with fluffy fur covered in dirt and snow stared at her, standing just on her side of the road. The dog had no visible collars or anything that hinted at ownership. But it's mere appearance wasn't what gave her the most surprise. Rather, it was that this dog creature was perhaps the most "normal" looking living thing she had seen down here so far, with no hints of magic or strange mutations.

"Hey there," Frisk asked it gently. "What's your name?"

The dog said nothing. Just kept staring at her like a normal dog.

"Don't talk much do you?" Frisk asked. "Are you shy?"

Still, the dog said nothing. Then it lazily lay down onto his belly as if to ignore her. Frisk found it strangely cute.

"Not used to seeing an unfamiliar face around here?" she said to it. "Don't worry, I'm leaving soon. If that bothers you. God damn. Has anyone ever told you you're frigging adorable."

The dog finally seemed to react to that, although just slightly, by turning his head in a half-circle. Frisk remembered learning that it meant that the dog was trying to understand something. She realized then that she must've confused it with a compliment that was more fitting to pets rather than people.

"God… sorry!" Frisk quickly apologised. "I didn't mean to… I…"

Fortunately, the dog did not seem to care. Rather, it proceeded to yawn and then pant wildly, tongue out and tail shaking in excitement.

"W-what do you want?" Frisk asked in confusion. "Is there… is there something wrong with me or…?"

The dog did not answer. Just kept panting and staring a bit excitedly like a normal surface dog.

"That dog can't talk," Sans said behind her.

Frisk turned around, slightly spooked as she didn't hear him approach. But here he stood, leaning in the doorway like he was always there, one hand in his jacket pocket while on his other dangled a pair of large red snow boots.

"Sorry?" she asked him, still not understanding what he meant.

"That dog can't talk," Sans repeated.

"What do you mean?" Frisk asked. "Is it a mute or…?"

"Possibly," Sans replied. "That's just a dog either way."

"What?" Frisk asked.

"You don't know what dogs are?" Sans asked sarcastically. "Gee, you poor humans. Don't know what you're missing out on."

"N-no, we have dogs," Frisk said, having missed the sarcasm.

"Heh, I know kiddo," Sans said. "But yeah. That's just a simple dog. Like you, humans, have on the surface."

"Hang on," Frisk began, finally starting to understand. "Are you saying… you have dogs down here? Like… actual dogs?"

"Sure kiddo," Sans said. "We aren't all monsters down here. Well, some dogs down here are also monster dogs, but there is a big, noticeable difference. Usually, it's that non-monster dogs can't talk."

Frisk found this information surprisingly hard to grasp.

"How… how do you…?" she muttered.

"How do we have dogs?" Sans said. "Simple. When our ancestors got locked down here, some were able to bring some pets with them. Mostly dogs. After that, they grew up alongside our kind down here. Some even mutating into monsters through the years, due to the heavy amount of magic in some of the air down here."

"Huh," Frisk said, a bit understanding now. "Wait. Did you say some dogs… mutated?"

"Yeah, took in some magic essence," Sans explained. "Grew smarter and such. Not by much though. But you shouldn't worry about growing horns or tails anytime soon, kiddo. These mutations took many centuries and many generations to manifest in dogs."

"Oh…" Frisk said, a bit relieved. "I didn't even consider that but… that's good to hear."

"My pleasure," Sans said.

Frisk looked at the white dog, who walked slowly towards her now. It stopped right in front of her, sat down and then looked up at her like it was begging to be pet. Frisk proceeded to give some him, scratching the back of its ears which the dog made it obvious it enjoyed.

"I see you're getting acquainted with the Snowdin's infamous Annoying Dog," Sans said. "Or AD for short."

"Excuse me, what?" Frisk replied, almost chuckling.

"He's a regular stray here in town," Sans said. "Keeps stealing stuff and being a happy nuisance to the Snowdin folk before running away, hence the namesake."

"Huh," Frisk said. "Sounds… cute I guess."

The dog moved his head away from Frisk's grasp, possibly having gotten enough of her for now. Now he just sat there, staring at them both as if he was waiting for something. Or someone.

"Heh, I agree on that, kiddo," Sans said to her. "Frankly, unlike most folks, I find him kinda amusing actually. Don't tell anyone else that though. Especially not Papyrus, because AD used to pester us two a lot more than other Snowdin folk years ago, my bro a bit more than me though. I have a sneaking suspicion the reason the dog chose us the most is because we are… you know, bare-bones, if you couldn't tell."

Frisk smiled a bit, even though she thought that to be an awful joke.

"He doesn't seem that bad though," Frisk said.

"Maybe not," Sans said. "Oh, I almost forgot."

He handed her the pair of shoes he was still holding.

"Got these for you," he said.

Frisk looked at the shoes for a moment as if she was checking for any tricks or traps on them before taking them from Sans' hand.

The shoes were strangely light, despite the size of them. They were slightly bigger than the shoe she was currently wearing and thicker as well, looking almost like snow boots. They were coloured red with white strings, with some yellowish wool inside.

"Pappy's old autumn boots," Sans said. "Doesn't care much for them anymore. He said you could borrow them. Own them even. Go ahead. Try them."

Frisk placed one of them onto her shoeless feet, feeling the instant warmth that came. It felt so refreshing to finally have it warm after walking practically barefoot through the snow all this time. The only negative was that it felt a bit tight, probably because it was made to fit a literal skeleton with no skin or organs that needed space. After that, she took off her old shoe currently on her other foot and placed the other new one over it. She felt about the same sensation, although a lot less intense since that foot hadn't been lacking a warm place for a while like her other.

"So, how is it?" Sans asked her.

"A bit snug," Frisk said. "But it's good enough."

"Good to hear," Sans said.

"Why are you helping me?" Frisk asked.

Sans gave a quick shrug.

"Why does anyone do anything?" he asked.

Frisk looked at him, unsatisfied with his answer.

"A bit paranoid eh?" Sans said.

Gee, you think? Frisk thought.

"These are just a pair of shoes I'm giving," Sans said. "We have plenty of those around."

"It's not just that," Frisk said. "There is also the fact that you helped us in the forest with the gate. And then you helped us hide from Mickey and his gang. Why did you though?"

Sans stared down at her, looking as if he was examining her and considering his words.

"I don't have any ulterior motives," Sans eventually said. "If that's what you think. Nor am I expecting much, if anything, in return. I just wanted to be of help is all. Call it sympathy towards humans if you will. Also, I'm not really a fan of Mickey or his troupe of clowns, so anything that works in his or their disfavour, even slightly, is payment enough in my book."

"Hmm," Frisk replied. "Alright then."

She wasn't sure if she bought that answer. She felt like he was hiding something from her, some true underlying motive.

Maybe I am just paranoid? Frisk thought.

"Looks like AD has left," Sans said.

Frisk turned to look back where the dog was, and indeed, he was no longer there.

"Woah," Frisk said. "Shit. I didn't even hear or notice. It's like he just vanished or something."

"Uh-huh," Sans said, almost sounding like he was agreeing.

"Alright," Frisk said. "I think I'm-"

She went to pick up her old shoe without looking, only to realize she was grasping air. She turned to look at where she placed it, and it was gone.

"What the hell?" she asked, no-one in particular.

She quickly looked around the ground, around the area where she was sitting, thinking maybe she had gotten confused. It was nowhere in sight.

"Where is my shoe?!" Frisk asked, a bit panicky. "Where is…?!"

A sense of realisation hit her out of the blue.

"Hey!" Frisk exclaimed and quickly rose from her seat. "I think that dog just took my fucking shoe!"

"Yeah he does stuff like that," Sans said casually.

"God damn it," Frisk said and sighed. "Now where did he…?"

She eyed around the ground, trying to follow the dog's chaotic paw prints that seemed to go all over the place. Not to mention, all the other countless monster prints of various creatures, all seeming to blend with it.

"Ugh," Frisk muttered. "Nevermind. Fuck it."

"On the bright side," Sans said. "At least you currently have a matching pair."

"I guess…" Frisk replied.

But one thing bothered her more than the missing shoe. If this was just a normal dog as Sans suggested, then Frisk couldn't understand how he took it and ran without her noticing. But what could've happened to her shoe otherwise?

"Did you see where he went?" Frisk asked.

Sans shook his head.

"Sadly, no," he said. "Like you, I was too busy chatting to look at him. And once I did, he was just gone."

"Great," Frisk said and sighed with frustration. "How the hell did this dog snatch it and get away without us noticing in the first place. If I didn't know any better, I'd assume he was magic or something."

"Maybe you'd best assume then," Sans said.

Frisk failed to understand that sentence and turned back to him.

"What do you mean?" she asked. "Are you saying he's actually magic or…?"

"Well… I just have a little hunch though," Sans explained. "And frankly, I don't know how to explain it without sounding crazy."

"Try me," Frisk said. "I'm pretty much open to believing anything at this point."

"Man, as an ex-scientist myself," Sans began. "That line almost hurts me to the core."

"Oh sorry I-" Frisk began.

"Eh, I was just joking," Sans said. "But a healthy dose of scepticism won't hurt ya, kiddo. Something to keep in mind for the future. Anyway, since you wanna hear my hunch…"

He turned silent and thoughtful for a moment. It was obvious he was trying to word the hunch in his head without it sounding crazy to her. Frisk could almost see the cogs running in his head.

"Well…" Sans began "To start with… have you-?"

"Frisk, there you are!" Flowey interrupted.

He was now standing in the doorway by Sans' feet, looking slightly worried.

"Oh hi, Flowey," Frisk said. "Sup."

"Man, I've been looking over for you," Flowey said. "I didn't find you in the house, so I almost thought you had left or-"

It was at that moment he noticed Frisk's new footwears, and his serious, slightly urgent expression was replaced by a momentary shock that was followed by visible amusement.

"Oh my gods," he muttered under his breath and smiled. "Frisk, what are you wearing?"

"It's… his brother's shoes," Frisk said.

"Dear lord," Flowey said and snickered a bit. "I heard Pappy say something about borrowing some of them. But this?"

"Hey, I just lost my other boot, Flowey!" Frisk said, mildly insulted. "I don't have much choice here."

"Oh did you now?" Flowey asked cheekily.

"Yeah, The Annoying Dog took it," Sans said.

"That mutt?" Flowey asked, with a bit more sympathy in his tone. "Alright, that's… fair I guess."

"Know him?" Frisk asked.

"I know practically everyone in the underground," Flowey answered. "It's more of a question if I remember them or not."

"Hmm, alright," Frisk answered.

An awkward silence formed momentarily between the three of them.

"So… you kiddos wanna head to Grillby's?" Sans asked.

"Heh, seriously?" Frisk asked. "What is this? The third time you've been there today?"

"I was thinking it was about time we say our goodbyes and continue our journey," Flowey said.

"Yeah," Frisk agreed. "I was thinking something like that as well."

"It's just a short detour, kiddos," Sans said. "The barrier been around for thousands of years. It ain't gonna vanish if you take just a quick break for a quick bite. It's alright. I'll pay."

Frisk turned to look at Flowey as if to ask, "should we?".

Flowey looked obviously unenthusiastic with that prospect, but then he gave a subtle, almost defeatist shrug.

"Alright, fine," he said. "I've survived Smiley Trashbag so far. I guess I won't die if I go for one more food trip with him around."

"Great," Sans said. "Well, I'm ready."

And with that, they were off. Frisk, who felt as if this choice was made for her, walk slightly behind Sans, trying to hide the nervousness she still felt from him. Fortunately, the bulging skeleton monster didn't seem to either notice or mind.

"Seems like you slept well today, Frisk," Flowey said, crawling right beside her. "Luckily no nightmares of any strangers you've never met this time around?"

"How could you tell?" Frisk asked.

"You didn't sweat or pant like a dog when you woke up this time," Flowey pointed out.

"Good point," Frisk said. "I did dream something weird though, with some strangers I… I think I've never met before. It was not a nightmare like last time, but it's something that is still somehow sticking with me."

"I'm all ears," Flowey said. "Or petals but… whatever."

"It was nothing special," Frisk said. "Just that I was in this strange room with one young Scandinavian boy and one super young Asian girl, and I think they were supposed to be like different versions of me or something? The boy seemed mostly normal, but the girl seemed to be like two persons in the body of a 7-year-old, one a kid while the other was more adult. We played some strange roleplaying game for some time, but most of all, I just remembered feeling… very existential throughout a lot of it. Like I was… like I was in denial that I was suddenly no longer the only "Frisk". If you get my meaning."

"Reminds me of multiverse theory," Sans added. "The idea that there exist other, different yet similar versions of us out there in the cosmos or multiverse or whatever you wanna call it."

"Yeah, we know you used to be a scientist," Flowey replied with snark. "Personally, I don't dream much anymore. Can't even remember what it's like to dream."

Frisk thought back the ordeal earlier this day when he fainted for a while after Mickey touched him, before calling out to some brother in his sleep. But she decided not to bring it up to him. She had a feeling he wasn't ready to talk about it, whatever it was.

"Dreams are weird," she just said.

"Uh-huh," Sans agreed.

They remained silent for the rest of the walk to Grillby's.

Frisk expected to see the same, dour atmosphere as the last time she was here. However, once they entered this time, they were greeted by a strange amount of life inside. This evening, Grillby's was filled with various, dirty and poor monsters like last time, except now there were more noises, laughter, and general enjoyment among them as if she had awoken to a happier world. There were also much more monsters in the bar than last time as if the whole town was now inhabiting it.

Frisk couldn't almost believe this was the same restaurant bar nor even the same town she had been on this whole day.

"This seems surprisingly lively," Flowey noted, sounding also surprised as well. "Is there some occasion I missed the memo of?"

"Nah, that's just evenings at Grillby's for ya," Sans said. "This hour at this place really brings out the best in the monsters here. The troubles and works of the days are over for the most part, and they lived for another night."

Sans took a few more steps inside until he was noticed by most of the monsters, who all proceeded to give him a quick, welcoming cheer, and the short bulging skeleton proceeded to stop and wave, a bit lazily.

Flowey, meanwhile, did not seem amused by Sans' cheerful reception.

"Didn't know you were so popular in town," Frisk said.

"More like this town just has low standards," Flowey muttered.

"Oh there is a lot you don't know about me," Sans said.

Frisk hoped he meant his last words to be more of the friendlier side. Yet, they just felt more like eerie warnings or threats instead.

She and Flowey followed Sans to the counter, where a frail and awfully familiar-looking rabbit lady sat in front of, her face tired and visibly drunk, holding a large glass with little left of the brownish liquid inside.

Frisk took a while to identify her, for the last time, and only other time, that she saw her before was at a distance. It was Isabell, the previous innkeeper and mother of the rabbit boy, Ivan, whose funeral Frisk witnessed this morning.

This rabbit lady was the only monster currently in the restaurant bar who gave off a sorrowful aura to Frisk. Grillby stood behind the counter, cleaning a beer glass while seemingly examining the rabbit lady with a pity. It took him a moment to notice the newly arrived patrons.

"Evening Sans," he said calmly. "What can I get you and your company?"

Frisk noticed that he seemed much more relaxed than when Mickey was here, more reminiscent of how he sounded when she met him this morning. She also noticed that his daughter, Fuku, was nowhere to be seen. It was like there were two different Grillby's.

"I'm in the mood for something special," Sans said. "You still selling those evening specials?"

"Yes," Grillby confirmed.

"Great, three orders of that," Sans said.

"Right on," Grillby said.

But before the fiery bartender could take another step, he was suddenly grasped by his garment by the drunk rabbit monster sitting next to the trio.

"Grillbz?" Isabell mumbled in a drunk voice. "Another."

She slammed the empty beer glass onto the table.

"This is your twelfth glass this evening alone," Grillby said to her. "I think you've had enough."

"Why do ya care?" Isabell replied bitterly. "You're getting paid right?"

"Right…" Grillby replied. "But while I understand your grief-"

"Oh, you don't understand jack, you… you fuck!" Isabell replied in a drunken voice. "You working monsters. You monsters with proper jobs and… and money. And with a living family that at least gives a… a flying fuck. You're always… you always go on and on about your sympathy or whatever but you don't get it. Now gimme another drink! The customer is always right you people say. Hell, gimme a whole fucking bottle in that case! Otherwise…"

She burped mildly, a giving out a disgusting smell of old booze.

"Otherwise," she continued. "I will make a whole mess of this place. More than those Royal Hunter fucks can make in a lifetime."

Grillby looked down on the rabbit, a clear look of pity on his otherwise faceless expression.

"Alright," he said to her. "One more drink."

With that, Isabell let go and Grillby headed towards the back.

"Heh, that's funny," Isabell said and smiled drunkenly.

Then she fell with her face onto the table, like an invisible club had knocked her out. Frisk thought she had fallen asleep, but on closer look, she was still conscious eyes open. Just without much energy left in her body.

"Gods, seeing her like this," Flowey said. "It makes me feel… very uncomfortable."

Frisk noticed the hint of sadness in his voice. One he appeared to try hiding for a reason she didn't know. Like some infectious disease, Frisk couldn't find much remaining of the short burst of joy she had gained just moments ago, entering the Grillby's and seeing all the life. She felt almost like going back to that joy would be a rude disservice now.

"I think we should move," she suggested

"Agreed, kiddos," Sans said. "Hey look. One of the booths is loose."

The booth in question was the one closest to the bar and farthest from the entrance. The trio, without debating, went and occupied this new open spot. Sans took a seat by the upper part all up towards the window, while Flowey crawled onto the spot opposite. Frisk, after glancing back at Isabell who seemed to have woken up again, sat besides Flowey at the south end, facing an empty seat.

The table in the centre of them was made of rough wood, with some dried alcohol stain and leftover crumbs. Glancing over the establishment at the other monsters, some eating burgers and what else, Frisk realized just how hungry she felt at the moment.

"So… where were you kiddos earlier today?" Sans asked. "You weren't in the basement when I checked. Did you two sneak out or something?"

"We… we went to spy on Mickey," Frisk confessed awkwardly.

"Really?" Sans replied. "Left your guaranteed safe spot to spy on some homicidal maniacs? No offence kiddos, but that sounds kinda dumb."

"It was Flowey's idea," Frisk added.

"Yeah, like I said," Sans replied. "Kinda dumb."

"Well, who's the bigger fool?" Flowey said. "The fool, or the one who follows him?"

"Hey, you tricked me into this," Frisk repeated.

"No, I didn't," Flowey said. "I only opened the door. You didn't have to go along with it or, heck, follow me towards Grillby's. You chose to do that. Speaking of, why did you though?"

"Erm…" Frisk replied.

She felt unable to answer that simple question herself.

"Oh admit it," Flowey said with a hint of cheekiness. "You were just as curious as me right?"

"No," Frisk said. "Ok, maybe a bit, but… that's… that's not it."

"Why then?" Flowey pried.

Frisk shut her mouth. She knew the answer to that question, but only now fully grasped it, faced with having to answer it. The truth was, she did it because of Flowey. Because she did not want to be left alone, in this world, and was afraid he was gonna abandon her. She had not pondered on it before now, but faced with it, with Flowey looking up at her in an almost interrogating way, she realized that he was the only thing down here, the only person… that she felt she could trust.

But then, as if saved by the bell, Grillby had arrived with their food before she revealed it.

"Here you go," he said, unknowingly breaking the uncomfortable silence.

He slid two plates of dinner across the table towards Sans and Flowey, and then calmly placed the third in front of Frisk.

What was offered to them three wasn't burgers as Frisk came to expect, but rather what looked like grilled steak, complete with red-brown sauce and some seasoning. Grillby also placed three empty glasses and a glass pitcher of what seemed like water with some strange bubble formation on the top. Frisk turned to Flowey, whose attention had been caught by the pitcher and food as he stared at them with clear desire. And with that, Grillby left them away to tend to other customers.

"Oh finally!" Flowey said excitedly. "Some proper food!"

He did not spend a second longer before he delved into the steak. His mouth was stuffed with the saucy meat while he quickly poured some of the strange beverage into his glass, almost spilling liquid all over. Sans, meanwhile, ate very calmly in comparison to the ravenous flower, like he wanted to savour the taste.

Frisk looked down at her steak and slowly began to cut it with her fork and knife. She couldn't remember the last time she ate steak on the surface. Maybe years, she assumed.

"Gee, someone should teach him some manners," Sans said, looking at Flowey, while some sauce was dripping down his jacket.

She cut a small piece to start with and hovered it in the air in front of her. Then, she took a bite.

It was strangely delicious, filled with a certain amount of juiciness, just right so that it didn't feel overly wet. Just a second with that one small bite in her mouth was enough to convince her to continue.

"Hot damn, this is good," she said.

She began to hurriedly slice more bites and stuff into her mouth.

"Mmhm," Sans agreed. "It ain't no MTT steak, but I knew you kids would like it."

"MTT?" Flowey asked, before swallowing a mouth full. "Gah. Haven't heard that name in… I don't know how long."

"The hell is an MTT?" Frisk asked with her mouth almost full.

"It means Mettaton," Sans answered. "He's a robot celebrity slash entertainer down here."

Frisk practically spat out her food once she heard that. The stains almost covered the entirety of the empty seat in front of her.

"I thought you were going to eat that food," Sans said to her. "Lucky that no one was sitting right in front of you."

"Eh, once it dries up, it's not gonna look out of place in here," Flowey said.

"Oh god sorry," Frisk replied as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Did I hear that right? A robot celebrity?"

"That's right kiddo," Sans said. "He's mighty popular. Perhaps the only tv celebrity we have down here. Well, unless you would count Mickey and his goons as tv celebrities, which I wouldn't."

"Holy fucking shit man!" Frisk replied.

Out of everything she had seen so far, a literal robot that was a tv star was one of the last things she expected this world to have.

"So let me get this straight," Frisk said with disbelief. "You monsters, in this magical kingdom where most haven't seen a human for like hundreds of years to the point where most have forgotten what we look like, have not only your own version of the internet, but you have smartphones, televisions and even a frigging robot as a celebrity? Man. When you get outta here, turns out it's not gonna be that hard to integrate you with us after all."

"Hope not," Sans said.

Frisk's smile faded as she was reminded about that again. That the monsters were gonna be free soon. Once Flowey first told her about it, she was sceptical but very hopeful at first. But after her encounter with Mickey, and hearing the stories of him and the kingdom, she felt rather unsure how to feel now.

"Man, I pity Grillby," Sans said. "Having to clean all that new mess up."

"Yeah," Flowey said. "If only we had, like, the ability to go back in time or something."

He looked up at Frisk with a cheeky smile on his face. Frisk, no longer lost in thought, noticed his grimace and guessed what he was implying.

"Oh fuck off," she said and smiled in amusement. "I ain't gonna reset for something tiny like this."

"I know," Flowey said, still grinning. "Just… wanted to see if you actually would."

"Reset huh?" Sans asked back.

It was at that moment Frisk was reminded hastily of the third person in their group and felt herself almost freeze.

"Oh…" she said awkwardly to him. "Erm… that's just…"

She turned to Flowey.

"Should I tell him or…?" she asked him.

The flower simply shrugged in confirmation. A hint of relief ran over Frisk since she was worried she might have accidentally revealed too much to him.

"Ok," she said and turned to the skeleton. "So the way it works is… kinda confusing actually. You see I have this… power, I don't really know where I got it from, and it… it might sound kinda crazy, but whenever I die, I like go back in time and-"

"Yeah, I know what resets are, kiddo," Sans replied casually.

Frisk looked at him with perplexity. She then glanced at Flowey, who seemed to be only a little surprised.

"How do you know about it?" Frisk asked the skeleton, curious and nervous.

"Like your buddy said," Sans answered. "I'm an ex-scientist. I used to study these things. Timelines and whatnot."

Frisk simply stared awkwardly for a moment as she didn't know what to say. Then she just shrugged and casually accepted it.

"Alright then," she said. "I guess that… saves me some time."

"Seems like it," Sans said.

Suddenly, there came a small ding from his pocket. Sans then reached in and pulled out his smartphone, reading the notification he got.

"Speaking of time," he said. "Seems like it's about time I headed home."

"What?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, sorry kiddos," Sans said. "But Pappy won't go to sleep unless I read him some bedtime stories beforehand."

"But I thought he just woke up," Flowey said.

"He did," Sans said. "But my brother is pretty stubborn when it comes to schedules. Even though he doesn't follow them as much anymore."

"But who's gonna pay?" Flowey asked.

"Ask Grillby to put it on my tab," Sans said while rising from his seat. "He'll understand."

"Hey wait!" Frisk called.

Sans looked at her, his constant grimace unchanging. There was something Frisk wanted to get out now, something on her mind that she felt like she wouldn't get another chance to have a proper discussion on, especially with him. With his son.

"What is it kiddo," Sans asked.

Frisk decided to just fight her nervousness and lay it all out.

"I… I know about your dad," she blurted out. "About Gaster. The Royal Scientist."

Sans looked at her momentarily and then shrugged casually.

"Everyone knows my dad," he said.

Before Frisk could get another word out, Sans vanished in front of her.

"Jesus," Frisk said, shocked by that act. "Man. I am never gonna get used to that."

"That was mildly rude of you," Flowey said.

"I… I just wanted to-" Frisk began.

"Oh, I ain't complaining," Flowey said. "Not in Trashbag's case. Don't worry."

"Oh," Frisk simply replied. "Ok then."

Frisk leaned back into her chair, absorbing the life of the place for a moment. She heard the front door open, the dingle of the bell announcing the new arrival. Many had turned strangely silent from it, so Frisk curiously turned to look who had arrived. It was Clare, the rabbit lady with the straw hat and purplish fur at the funeral, and sister of Isabell. The lady looked across the crowd, searching. She looked at the dozens of half-drunk and cheerful monsters with a nervous glint in her eyes. She stopped once she finally found Isabell by the counter, who had turned around and seen her.

"Oh by the angel's fucking sake," Isabell muttered bitterly at her sight. "Just what I fucking need."

"Isabell?" Clare asked her, calmly but with clear signs of hesitation.

"Go away, sis!" Isabell yelled. "Just… just go away!"

The purplish rabbit didn't heed her sister's words, just walked towards her. Isabell tried to move, but her drunk body only made her hobble her chair to the side, forcing her to almost fall of. She balanced herself as she could with her weak legs, holding a greenish bottle of alcohol in her hand. She turned around again and saw that Clare was right in front of her.

"Isabell…" Clare said to her.

"Hey sis," Isabell said. "Don't think you heard me. Fuck you. I'm not in the mood right now."

Clare stood on and tried to grab her sister by the hand only for Isabell to quickly pull it away before turning back to the counter. The drunken rabbit leaned her head on it, face down.

"G-go sis," she muttered. "Let me drink in peace."

"I… I think you've had enough," Clare said calmly. "Let's go home, Bella."

"Don't call me that!" Isabell said harshly without looking up.

Clare paused a bit, took a small breath.

"Alright then," she said. "I won't."

Clare took a seat next to her sister and seemed to talk in a soft voice, almost in a whisper, so Frisk couldn't hear them anymore.

"A familiar sight to you, is it?" Flowey asked her out of the blue.

He was leaning from his seat, his neck vine extended so he could look with more clarity.

"How could you tell?" Frisk asked.

"Partly just guesswork," Flowey answered. "Saw it on your face. Seemed like you could… relate to it."

"You guessed right then," Frisk said.

"A sad pair, ain't they?" Flowey asked.

"Mhmm," Frisk simply said.

Frisk and Flowey looked for a moment at the sisters at the counter, both with a sense of pity.

"Anyway… I guess it's just us two again," Flowey said and looked back up at Frisk.

"Appears so," Frisk agreed and turned to him.

"Just us against the world once more," Flowey pondered. "Like we started."

So it seems, Frisk thought.

Despite everything, she felt it had all worked out well for them both in this town. They were well-rested, well-fed, and had survived being spotted by Mickey and his warriors, who still had no clue about her. Now she was in a warm place, surrounded by mostly happy and cheering monsters from myths and fairy tales. Despite their misfortunes, despite their poor state of life, these monsters stuck together. Frisk gave out a smile for that thought. For this moment. Being surrounded by all this life, and with a sense of purpose on her journey, filled her with determination.

"Holy crap," Flowey suddenly blurted out with excitement.

"What?" Frisk asked.

"I think that's it," Flowey said, staring at her with a look of realization.

"What's what?" Frisk asked.

"Your eyes," Flowey said. "They lit up a yellow for a second. I think that means you just saved."

"Shit really?" Frisk asked back.

"Yeah," Flowey said. "I'm pretty sure that's the sign. Blinking glow in your eyes. I kinda seem to remember that."

"Holy shit," Frisk said gleefully. "Oh, man. I don't… I don't even know how I did that. Or what I did even."

"You felt like you were filled with determination, didn't you?" Flowey asked.

"I… I think so," Frisk said. "It was weird but… yeah. I think that's the best way to describe it."

"That must be it then," Flowey said. "Seems like it just comes naturally to you."

Frisk leaned back in her seat, smiled with satisfaction. It wasn't much info, but she at least felt like she was closer to understanding it now. Her power.

"Well… good to know," she said. "Feel like I'm one step closer to-"

Suddenly, Flowey quickly placed one of his vines over Frisk's mouth and shushed. His face had a look of pure urgency.

Frisk muffled a bit, confused, and then Flowey pointed one of his loose vines towards the entrance of the bar. Frisk turned to look and saw that an elderly deer monster had just entered. It was Dunder. The old monster that remembered humans.

"Howdy Dunder!" said the donkey monster, who sat by the window. "How are you doing this evening gramps?"

"I'm fine boyo," Dunder said with a frail old man voice. "Just a little slow is all."

The donkey and a few others proceeded to help the old deer walk and led him to a loose table and seat like they were his assistants.

"What perfect timing," Flowey muttered. "Barely a minute after you saved, and just after Trashbag left even."

"Shit," Frisk whispered. "Now what?"

"No clue," Flowey said. "On the bright side, since you just saved, we can attempt plenty of times. Hmm. Alright. Maybe we should start by trying the-"

The loud sounds of glass shattering caught the attention of everyone in the bar.

"… window?" Flowey finished as he turned to look.

Isabell had stood up from her seat, her head looking down. One hand was clenched with rage, while the other held a broken bottle that looked dangerously pointy and sharp. Glass shards and booze were spread all over the wooden counter. Clare, standing up as well, backed away from her towards a wall, terrified look on her face.

"I… I'm sorry Isabell," the purplish rabbit said fearfully. "I… I didn't mean it like that."

Suddenly, Isabell began to chuckle a bit.

"What do you know, huh?" she then said, without looking up from the floor. "Sis, I asked you nicely. Tell me! What do you know?!"

"C-calm down sis I-" Clare muttered out.

"Calm down?" Isabell repeated. "CALM DOWN?!"

Finally, she turned around to face her. Her rabbit eyes were red from tears, tear stains wet on her furred cheeks, and she grimaced hatefully.

"What do you know,?!" she repeated. "You, who still supports that bastard Mickey and the Royal Hunt, even after I had to dust my Ivan, my dear little Ivan, due to their bloody fucking incompetence, just because doing otherwise would make it to "inconvenient" for you. For your business."

"It's… it's not like that," Clare said nervously. "Just… just put that bottle away, please. I… I understand your grief. I also miss Ivan, I really do, but… let's just sit down and talk about this Isabell. You're drunk and… this isn't you."

As if that word was a trigger, Isabell, in a drunken rage, ran towards her sister and harshly grabbed her rabbit ears, pulling them hard as if to rear them loose which made Clare wince in pain.

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW WHO I AM?!" she cried angrily. "I am a poor fucking lady living in some shitstain of a town, with nothing! No money, no job, but a dead husband and now a dead son, and a greedy bitch of a sister who can't give me some goddamn needed quiet for a goddamn single fucking second!"

"I-Isabell!" Clare said. "P-please! You're hurting me!"

"Hurting?!" Isabell repeated. "HURTING?! YOU SPEAK TO ME OF YOUR HURT, WHILE IVAN, MY SON, MY FUCKING SON'S DUST IS STILL WARM! MY SON! YOUR NEPHEW!"

"Isabell, please!" Clare cried out, tears forming on her cheeks.

"Let go of her!" the donkey monster cried out from the crowd.

He ran up to her, attempting to grab her. Isabell drunkenly tried to slice him with the broken bottle, but only got a scratch on him before the donkey grabbed her arms. But, in that instant, Isabell let go of her sister by throwing her to the side. She didn't even look where she threw. Her drunken mind didn't even seem to know she was throwing her. She just let go of her hard grasp, and all the monsters, the plant and the human inside the bar looked on in horror of what came next. It happened so quickly, it took many of them a moment to realize what had happened.

Isabell had carelessly thrown her sister, Clare, headfirst into an iron lamp on the wall. The push wasn't strong enough to break the glass holding the light. But the purple, straw hat-wearing rabbit bumped into it with an awful amount of force. A moment later, her eyes had gone pale from shock, and a large gaping wound had formed on her head. Clare's body fell, lifelessly, and landed on the floor with a heavy thunk. Her eyes, which were filled with terror just a moment ago, had gone cold and emotionless, and they stared at Isabell with no thoughts behind them. Isabell gasped in horror as she saw those eyes. Even in her drunken state, she could tell the terrible deed she did as she carelessly dropped the broken bottle from her hand, which shattered on the floor into a bunch of random particles.

The entire bar had turned quiet in an instant as all stopped what they were doing as they beheld the lifeless rabbit monster on the floor, bright red blood spewing from her cracked head. The donkey monster had let go of his grasp on Isabell, Grillby had stopped pouring drinks, and the patrons all stopped drinking and eating. To make any doubt of the matter vanish, Clare's body then began to dust.

"C-Clare?!" Isabell asked as if she would hear her. "Oh, gods! CLARE!?"

The rabbit fell on her knees and began to weep. The tears of guilt, of her consciousness that had returned although briefly from the veils of her drunkenness. The tears flowed down unto the floor, forming into tiny dust particles. Around her, eyes of monsters looked on with pity and grief.

"W-what have I done?" Isabell mumbled. "What have I done?"

"Holy crap…" Flowey said, eyes wide open with shock.

Frisk barely had words to say. Then, memories came rushing into her. Memories of a timeline she had undone. She was reminded of back in the ruins when she killed the old hermit unintentionally with too great a force. Not, it was like she was witnessing the same event but from a different perspective. Only here, the killer didn't have the power to reset time and undo her grave mistake. Unless…

Frisk felt herself touching the handle of her weapon as a nerve-wracking idea came to her. While all eyes were distracted on the sobbing drunk rabbit, Frisk pulled out her knife.

"Well… that… just happened," Flowey said. "Frisk, let's-"

He glanced up and saw that Frisk had already placed the blade of the knife on her own throat.

"FRISK!" Flowey yelled.

Many eyes now turned towards his yell, just as Frisk struck her neck and a large gush of blood came pouring out. Frisk fell on the floor, gasping for air as she instinctively tried to hold the blood in like last time. All the monsters in the bar had turned to look at this sudden suicide, all confused and shocked. Meanwhile, Flowey looked on with incredulity as she slowly bled to death on the floor, her body gasping for air. A moment later, Frisk's life vanished once more, and Flowey gave out a short sigh.

The last thing Frisk heard in this cycle, the last thing she sensed before her consciousness faded and the world reset to a moment ago, was the old reindeer monster, Dunder.

"W-wait," he said in a feeble voice. "I think that girl was a human."

Frisk found herself sitting back in her seat at the bar booth, with the sound of a busy restaurant bar around her, with no hint of what's to come. She almost gasped for air as she came to, then slowly rubbed her neck instinctively as if to check for any wound marks. She felt nothing. Just a clean, smooth neck

"What the hell, I mean heck Frisk?!" Flowey asked harshly. "Why did you just do that?!"

Frisk looked down at her companion. His face was wracked with disbelief.

"Howdy Dunder!" she heard the donkey monster say. "How are you doing this evening gramps?"

"I'm fine boyo," Dunder said with a frail old man voice. "Just a little slow is all."

Frisk turned to look at the event once more. She felt a bit of mild disappointment as she realized she saved a bit further than she expected.

"Frisk?" Flowey asked. "You're still there right?"

"I… I can save her," Frisk said without looking at him.

Flowey said nothing. Just looked at her as if he was trying to make sense of this thing.

The sound of broken glass rose him and Frisk from their thoughts. They both looked across and saw a very similar sight. Isabell, staring at the floor in a rage, holding the remains of a recently smashed bottle, while her sister Clare, a purplish rabbit with a straw hat, backed away in fear.

"I… I'm sorry Isabell," Clare said fearfully. "I… I didn't mean it like that."

It's like re-watching a movie clip, Frisk thought.

The drunk rabbit began to chuckle, as Frisk expected.

"What do you know, huh?" Isabell said, without looking up from the floor.

"Frisk, are you honest to the gods serious about this?!" Flowey asked her.

"Yes," Frisk said sternly and looked him in the eyes. "I can save her. It's only right."

"I… I understand, Frisk," Flowey said. "I really do. Wanting to play the hero. But… think about it ok? If you do this, you risk revealing yourself to the crowd and thus to Dunder, and all the town will know what you are!"

"CALM DOWN?!" Isabell now yelled at her sister.

Frisk looked back at the incoming chaos and saw the same drunken rage stricken face of the rabbit lady.

"I'll find a way around it!" Frisk said.

"Frisk please!" Flowey said.

Without even acknowledging him any longer, Frisk began to slowly stand up from her seat, while Flowey sighed in defeat. Frisk put on her hood before she walked carefully towards the furious rabbit like she was a loose and dangerous animal.

"H-hey miss?!" Frisk called. "Isabell, wasn't it?"

The rabbit turned quickly around towards her, face red with rage and tears.

"Go away girl!" she said to her harshly. "This has nothing to do with you!"

The drunk rabbit turned back towards her sister.

"You don't understand, miss," Frisk said.

She grabbed the drunk rabbit by her shoulder.

"I-" Frisk began.

"I said FUCK OFF!" Isabell yelled.

Before Frisk could even react, the rabbit pierced her throat with the broken bottle. Frisk backed away, gagging as glass clogged her throat, while a look of immediate guilt washed over the rabbit's face.

"Oh, gods!" Isabell cried out. "Oh, gods I'm sorry I-!"

Frisk couldn't focus her hearing at this point as she fell on the floor, bleeding to death once more as countless monsters looked over her with shock and sadness.

"Is there a doctor in here?!" someone cried out.

"Does someone have a working phone?!" cried another.

All Frisk could think at that point, going numb from the pain in her throat, was how curious it was to die surrounded by not just strangers, but strangers of a lifeform she didn't fully understand. It was almost funny, in its own bizarre and unexpected way.

Once again, Frisk was sitting on her seat, the sounds of joy and laughter around, clueless of the oncoming tragedy.

"Frisk?!" Flowey asked her.

She realized she felt strangely funny now. Like her sense of gravity was distorted. It was almost like she was floating in a dream.

The sounds around her faded into obscurity, all blending into static noise. Then she sensed the front door of the bar opening behind her, and Frisk turned to look to see Dunder entering the establishment. Like she had seen a moment ago. Or was it a moment ago? Did that actually happen? Is this moment even happening? Would it happen? Or would it be erased from cosmic existence like the last ones? Where would it go? Where did the time go?

Someone was calling for her. Someone close. But she couldn't pinpoint its location.

"Frisk?!" Flowey called. "Are you there?"

Suddenly, Frisk was pushed back into reality, her senses came rushing back.

"W-what?" Frisk said in a soft daze.

"Are you there?!" Flowey repeated.

"I… I think so," Frisk answered.

A great worry hit her. She had never felt such a sensation before. Something was wrong. She knew it.

The sound of the glass bottle shattering came again, once again getting the attention of all in the bar. Frisk turned to look, seeing the familiar situation take place once more.

"I… I'm sorry Isabell," Clare said to her sister fearfully. "I… I didn't mean it like that."

Without even pausing or hesitating, Frisk rose quickly from her seat. Before she was halfway up, however, she felt Flowey's vines grab her wrist very tightly. She turned and saw him trying to pull her back down again.

"Let go of me!" Frisk demanded.

"How many times are you gonna attempt this?!" Flowey asked. "Before you just accept to let go?!"

"How many?!" Frisk asked back. "Calm down, this is only my second attempt!"

"Second attempt?!" Flowey repeated. "Very funny, Frisk!"

"I'm not… what are you talking about?!" Frisk asked back.

"Stop playing pretend!" Flowey said. "This is like your tenth attempt so far!"

Frisk stopped resisting and looked at Flowey with incredulousness. But there was no hint of irony or jest anywhere in his expression.

"Tenth… attempt…?" Frisk repeated, feeling unable to absorb those words.

"CALM DOWN?!" she heard Isabell yell behind her.

Frisk shook her head. Whatever was happening with her resets, it didn't matter right now. Not to her at least.

"Let go Flowey!" she commanded.

She pulled her vine-covered hand away with only a bit of strength. Yet, it was enough for Flowey to release his hold on her. It was less because he failed to resist her pull, but rather that he had given up fighting her.

Frisk didn't bother dwelling on that, as she began heading towards the two rabbits. Flowey's last remaining act of protest was giving out a small sigh.

"Hey lady!" Frisk said sternly. "Isabell, right?"

The drunk rabbit lady turned, a familiar look on her face. The eyes red from tears, the fur wet on the cheeks, and face grimacing into drunken anger.

"Go away, girl!" she said. "This has nothing to do with you!"

She turned back towards her frightened sister.

"I know," Frisk simply answered. "Don't care."

She quickly braved herself before going closer towards her. She lay her hand on Isabell's shoulder like last time.

"I SAID FUCK OFF!" Isabell yelled and turned to stab.

This time, however, Frisk dodged out of the way, moving closer up towards the rabbit. But she miscalculated slightly, so managed to move out of the way at just the last moment. She felt the pointy end of the glass cut across her palm, but her mind ignored it and the sharp pain that followed.

Instead, Frisk proceeded to grab her by the collar. The drunken rabbit looked at her, her tearstained face shocked by the immense grip strength and reaction time, and dropped the broken bottle onto the ground. She had no time to say anything before Frisk began to lift her into the air.

Some gasps and murmurs came from the crowd. Frisk had lifted her incredibly high up from the ground, her dangling rabbit feet not even close to touching it. But the rabbit felt almost as light as paper to her. Even Frisk was shocked by her own strength at the moment.

"W-what the hell?" Isabell muttered.

It was at this point that Frisk realised she wasn't sure how to proceed from here on. If she threw her away, she would risk breaking countless bones, if not outright kill her. So for a long time, she just held her awkwardly as she tried to think.

"Are you all seeing this?!" a random monster from the crowd said with astonishment.

"Such strength!" another said with awe.

Frisk looked around the room and saw how countless monsters now looked at her with awe and disbelief. After that, she simply lowered Isabell closer to the ground before letting go of her grip. The drunk rabbit fell straight onto the ground, and Frisk felt a momentary shock that she dropped her too harshly. Thankfully, Isabell appeared unharmed and looked up at her, surprise still visible on her drunk and tearstained face.

Then out of the sudden, Isabell quickly launched herself at her. But the impact was very minimal, only managing a slight nudge.

"What the…" she muttered.

"Alright, miss-" Frisk began.

The drunken rabbit proceeded to punch her. Frisk barely felt it. She then punched her rapidly in the stomach, but to Frisk, the impacts felt as weak as being hit by blankets.

So she doesn't really wanna fight, if I'm understanding this correctly, Frisk thought. Or maybe she doesn't have the energy or will for it?

Isabell's attacks began to slow down alongside her rage until the punches felt as impactful as a wet tissue. A moment later, she had resorted to slapping her in the stomach. Many monsters looked on with pity as this pathetic one side fight took place. Then finally, Isabell stopped her futile attempts and began to cry. Those cries quickly turned into sobs, and now it seemed like she lost control of her entire body as she fell onto the floor, grabbing Frisk by the waist before letting go. Clare walked towards her sister, now a drunken mess of emotions laying on the ground in a sort of fetal position.

"Are you alright, miss?" Frisk asked Clare gently.

"I… I think so," Clare replied.

Then, while eyes watched on, Clare proceeded to slowly and carefully embrace her sister into her arms. Isabell at first tried to resist it, but then simply let the moment happen.

"Thank you," Clare said to Frisk.

"It's… alright," Frisk said. "Glad I could help."

A couple of the monsters began to whisper and gossip. But those words sounded excited. Impressed even.

"Well I'll be," Hari the Dwarf rabbit said.

"What spectacular feat of strength!" an older one exclaimed. "Never in my life…!"

"If a young Ape monster is this strong," another said. "No wonder Mickey is Asgore's champion."

Frisk looked around the restaurant bar and saw rabbits, fire elementals, wolves, donkeys and all kinds of strange alien-looking entities look at her with awestruck eyes and expression. Frisk almost felt like she was being worshipped by them. She felt like a superhero. This kind of overwhelming respect she had never gotten before. Not even from just a single person, so she felt almost kind of trapped by it. By their newfound respect and expectations. But on the other hand, she really enjoyed this moment of fame. Of feeling like a saviour, and being considered as such. So she smiled back at them.

But her smile faded quickly, for Frisk finally saw, at the edge of the bar, huddling by the front window, Dunder. Frisk saw his expression. It stood out immensely from the others. His old leathery face looked utterly horrified, in a way like he saw something awful, some old forgotten enemy of an era long past, and he pointed at her with a shaky hand.

"H… h-human!" Dunder cried out. "That girl! She is a human!"

"Excuse me?" Frisk asked, attempting to sound clueless.

"A human?!" Grillby asked him with surprise. "Are you absolutely sure Dunder?"

"Yes!" Dunder cried. "That… that is a girl of the surface! I can sense it even! Her red soul radiates pure humanity!"

"No he's wrong," Frisk lied. "He… he's mistaken is all. It's not the first time. I've… I've been confused before, I-"

"Holy angel," the donkey monster suddenly said. "I think old-man Dunder is right. Look."

He pointed down at a spot on the floor right by Frisk's feet where a small, but a noticeable pool of fresh blood had formed. Small drops of crimson blood dripped down onto it like water from a mostly empty faucet.

The blood came from an open wound on her palm. A crimson streak that Frisk quickly realized came from the pointed glass of the broken beer bottle and now the blood ran across her hand like a small river of wine.

"I'll be," said Hari the Dwarf Rabbit with astonishment. "Her blood. It's still solid. It's not vanishing into dust."

"It… it's just sauce," Frisk lied awkwardly. "I… I spilt some. While eating."

She looked around the room, the previously impressed eyes of monsters replaced by worrying unsureness.

"She… she also just spit out some of her food a moment ago," a female monster said, one resembling a rabbit with spiral-like eyes. "I saw it. And look. Her saliva. It's rough and still there."

All eyes turned to the booth she sat at a moment ago. Some monsters now proceeded to gasp.

"That… that means nothing!" Frisk excused. "I… I have a cold or… something! I… I don't know what it is!"

She was beginning to no longer feel like a hero, but rather the killer that was being revealed in a mystery story, always having to back away further and further after every revealed evidence to desperately hide the guilt.

"She was strong," Isabell muttered drunkenly in her sister's arms. "Stronger than anything I've felt. Than any monster that I've ever touched."

"Yeah, she lifted her up as if she was nothing!" the donkey monster added. "We all saw that, right?!"

"N-no, I-!" Frisk tried to say.

A loud wailing came from Dunder, followed by the nervous rustling of all onlookers. Clare and Isabell crawled away on the floor, up against the wall as if Frisk just turned into some sort of an abomination in front of her eyes. The rest of the monsters followed suit, backed away from her until they were all up against the walls and windows.

"Why is there a human here?!" one monster cried out. "She shouldn't be here!"

"She will bring the hunt on us!" another monster cried out. "We are doomed!"

"The Angel save us!" exclaimed a third.

"B-but I…" Frisk helplessly muttered. "But I…"

"Leave this town human!" Grillby said fearfully behind his counter. "Leave! And don't you ever return!"

Frisk looked around, at the countless frightened yet judging eyes that stared at her from every corner and side. She looked down at the floor, sighed, and walked towards the exit without saying a word.

She felt the eyes follow her all the way, even as she had exited the building. The piercing glares of fear. She had never been subjected to anything like this. Not once in her life. Nor anywhere close to it. She saved a life yet was deemed an outsider despite it. This was the worst feeling in the world, she thought.

Flowey was waiting outside, standing half deep in snow as he looked up at her with a disapproving look.

"Great job Frisk," he said sarcastically. "After all those tries, you finally saved them all. Congrats. Now hurry up. The sooner you reset, the sooner we can fix this mess and forget about it."

"Yeah, yeah," Frisk said and reached for her knife.

Just as she did, she decided to glance at the restaurant bar once more, expecting to see nothing but judging eyes look back.

But, instead, she saw something, almost fateful. Something that made her pause and reflect. It was the two rabbit sisters, Clare and Isabell. They were huddling together, Isabell crying on her sister's shoulder while Clare comforted her, other monster watching on with sympathetic looks. Some of them proceeded to join in as well, hugging and showing comfort towards Isabell. It was ironic, Frisk felt. Only in their hatred of her, of her kind, did they manage to reconcile.

That's when it hit Frisk. An uncomfortable realization. If she would reset and do this again, this time focusing on trying not to reveal herself, she would, likely, never get such a perfect outcome for them again. For the monsters. For Clare and Isabell. Now that she thought about it, could she even gain this outcome without revealing her humanity? Possibly. But would she risk it? Risk doing the same thing over and over again maybe hundreds of times for what could just be an idea for a perfect result? Or would she do nothing but ruin everything over and over again. Not to mention that weird sensation she felt after resetting a second time, one that Flowey said was actually her tenth one. What would happen to her if she kept going? What were the cosmic repercussions of abusing this power of time?

"Well?" Flowey asked her impatiently. "What are you waiting for? Want me to be the one to kill you this time or something?"

Frisk put the knife back into the sheath in her pocket. She had decided. It was not a risk worth taking.

"No," Frisk said. "I won't reset."

"What?!" Flowey exclaimed with bafflement.

"I'm not gonna reset," Frisk said sternly as she began to walk away.

Flowey almost seemed to turn mute from surprise, as words failed to come out his gaping mouth.

"A… a… are you…?" he managed to say after a while. "Are you serious?!"

Frisk didn't answer. Just kept walking down the road. Towards the house of the skeleton brothers. Flowey shook his head in bafflement.

"I… I don't believe this," he said. "You're actually risking everything for the life of some lady you don't even know. H-have you… have you not realized what will happen now?! Do you have any idea what kind of danger you're in? That WE'RE in?! Word is going to spread out! Mickey is gonna hear about this and-!"

"I don't care," Frisk answered.

"That's the problem!" Flowey replied. "Or… no! Actually, I take that back! Rather, the problem I think is that you care too much while not thinking enough! You don't think about the consequences! Like, at least try doing it without them discovering your humanity!"

"It's… it's not just about her life!" Frisk stated.

"What then?!" Flowey asked.

Frisk paused in her tracks.

"Well…?" Flowey pried.

"You wouldn't understand," Frisk answered.

"Yeah, I wouldn't!" Flowey said. "Especially since you won't tell me! I mean, heck, it's not like you caused her death the first time around. It's not like you are at fault for the old innkeeper lady getting drunk and violent."

"So you're saying it was better if she died?" Frisk asked.

"What?!" Flowey replied, sounding almost insulted. "No! No, no, no, that's not at all what I'm saying, geez!"

"Then what are you saying?!" Frisk asked.

"I… I…" Flowey began. "Ok look, Frisk. I get it. I get why you wanted to help her. I really do. But, and I know I'm gonna sound like an asshole for saying this, she had nothing to do with us. They had nothing to do with us."

"Figures," Frisk said and looked away.

"I'm not done yet," Flowey said. "Because I don't think you know Mickey and The Royal Hunt as much as I can remember. Did you hear how Mickey said something about how he has like ears everywhere, back at Grillby's? That wasn't an exaggeration. Heck, I won't be surprised if news of this incident has reached him already. And not only that, because if we somehow and miraculously escape him and his warriors in the next few hours, and remember that they won't kill you so you won't have many chances, then the news will spread all across The Underground, across all towns and regions. All places will be on high alert for a human. For you. And me as well. Get what I'm saying, Frisk? If you continue this route, we are no longer safe down here. Anywhere. In other words, we will be screwed, Frisk. Screwed!"

Frisk looked back down at him. There was not much anger or frustration in his expression. Rather, Flowey looked utterly terrified. His eyes were wide open, and his mouth almost seemed to shiver. For a moment, Frisk began to understand his mindset now. She even began to feel a bit of sympathy for it. Maybe she was too harsh or reckless after all?

Yet, she felt determined by her choice. Determined to be on this path.

"Look, Flowey," Frisk said. "I… I really want to go home with little to no problems. And I understand what Mickey and The Royal Hunt can be capable of. But whatever happens, I'm ready. Whatever he or his psycho warriors throw at me, at us, we will endure. I know it. Whatever happens, we'll make due."

Flowey looked up at her as if he didn't know what to say. What to think even.

"So… I'm guessing you're gonna make due from that wound on your palm as well?" he simply asked.

Frisk looked down at her palm, now blood-red from the wound. It had dried up a bit, and thankfully it wasn't as big or severe as she thought.

"Yeah," Frisk answered.

Despite that though, Frisk felt determined. The weight of this decision, and the hope that it was the right one, filled her with determination.

Flowey looked up at her with a face expressing mild shock and unease.

"Your eyes," Flowey said. "They lit up again."

Frisk realized what that meant. She did feel the same sensation as back in the bar. There was little denying it.

"Guess that means it's official now, huh?" Frisk said.

"I just… I hope it won't bite us in the ass too hard," Flowey said and sighed. "All this for one lady."

Frisk said nothing to that as she continued to walk. It took Flowey a moment to notice where she as headed.

"Hey, where are you going?" Flowey asked. "We don't have any more time to hang out more with those numbnuts."

"Just getting my bag," Frisk said.

"Your bag?" Flowey asked, sounding mildly annoyed. "You mean the one that has nothing in it but an empty booze bottle?"

"Could come in handy later," Frisk stated. "The bag I mean. Better safe than sorry.."

"Hmm… that's true," Flowey said, although with a hint of sarcasm. "Well then. By that logic, how about we stop by a ruined house and look for, I dunno, a dusty tutu or something? Who knows? Better to be safe than sorry so maybe we should get you a tutu."

"Pfft, you wish," Frisk said and smiled amusingly.

"I'm just saying," Flowey said.

"And I'm just gonna get the bag and get right out again," Frisk said. "Inn and out. Nothing more."

"I hope so," Flowey muttered.

As she reached the house, Sans was standing outside on the veranda, almost as if he was waiting for them.

"Sup kiddos," Sans said to them.

He looked down and noticed Frisk's bloody palm.

"Gee," he said, still with his grin. "What happened?"

"Broken glass," Frisk simply answered.

"Want some help with that?" Sans said. "I may not know much about human biology, but I know that doesn't bode well for you."

"Well… unless you can-" Frisk began.

But he had vanished before she finished. Just seconds later, he reappeared, holding in one hand her pink backpack and in the other what looked like a chocolate piece.

Frisk took the backpack from his hand and put it on her back, the bottle making a clear dangling noise as it moved around. She was about to say thanks until she saw Sans handing her the chocolate.

"Eat it," Sans said. "It'll help."

Frisk looked down at it, looking not amused.

"I don't… I don't think I'm in the mood for pranks right now," she said.

"Oh, I'm serious," Sans said. "Take a bite. It'll heal."

Frisk looked at him. His grinning face made it hard for her to be sure whether he was joking or not. Then she thought about what could be the worst that could happen and took a piece. She swallowed the bite. It melted instantly in her mouth before she had a chance to even chew it, filling her taste buds with the taste of dark chocolate.

"Now, look at your hand," Sans said.

Frisk did, expecting him to reveal some prank at that moment. To her surprise, the wound had begun to heal rapidly. It shrank and shrank until, after only a moment, it was completely gone.

"Woah," Frisk exclaimed, staring with shock and awe. "Holy crap."

"So… seems you made quite a commotion at Grillby's just now," Sans said.

"Oh, erm…. how did you know it was us?" Frisk asked and looked back up at him.

"I didn't, but thanks for confirming," Sans said and winked.

"They just… they found out Frisk is a human," Flowey answered.

"Oof, kiddo," Sans said.

"It was an accident!" Frisk said. "That old guy Dunder was there, and there was this rabbit lady about to die and… and it was this whole mess!"

"Oh calm down, kiddo," Sans said in a relaxed manner. "I get it. Stuff happens sometimes. So… I'm guessing you're gonna reset now which, now that I'm thinking about it, would make this entire conversation cosmically invalid."

"She can't," Flowey answered. "She just saved like a moment ago."

"Damn," Sans said. "That's too bad. Welp. I hope you at least know what you're doing kiddo."

"Hope so too," Frisk said.

Frisk had a feeling the skeleton noticed her unsureness but in any case, he didn't mention it.

"So, I best be going inside now," Sans said. "Don't want to be seen talking any longer to a known human in town. Mickey may not go after me, but I can't say that an angry mob of frightened and prejudiced townsfolk would show similar restraint. Sorry. Wish I could be of more help. It's nothing personal."

"It's fine, I get it," Frisk said.

"Also, I'm sorry for… kinda leaving you in the dark about my dad," Sans said.

"Why did you though?" Frisk pried.

Sans shrugged.

"Don't like him, don't like talking about him," Sans said. "But if any of us had more time right now, I would tell you."

"Well, that's sucks," Frisk said with disappointment.

"But don't bury that lead just yet," Sans said. "I'm sure we'll meet again. Soon enough. Then I'll hopefully have enough time to talk about my old Dadster."

He gave out a small wink. Frisk wasn't sure if it was meant to be reassuring or not, but she felt mildly spooked by it.

"Right…" she just replied.

"Welp, I think I'm overstaying my welcome a bit," Sans said. "Good luck kiddos. See you."

"Erm… you too," Frisk said.

"Well, I hope not," Flowey muttered.

A moment later, Sans stood just outside his house, watching the duo walk further away down the road to east. Towards Waterfall. Some other onlookers were watching them go as well, watching with fear and dread.

Words spread fast in Snowdin, it seems, Sans thought. Why am I surprised? It's a small town after all.

He went back inside and closed the front door.

"There you are, Sans," Papyrus said, standing at the bottom of the stairs in his pyjamas.

"Thought you were sleeping, Paps?" Sans said.

"I can't," Papyrus admitted. "I can't sleep."

"Is that so?" Sans asked, pretending to be surprised.

"Yeah," Papyrus answered, not noticing the sarcasm. "Strange, I know. Can you perhaps read some more for me? I don't think it worked last time."

"Sure," Sans said.

He headed up the stairs towards his room.

"Hey, bro?" Sans asked as they walked. "Can I ask you something… weird?"

"What is it?" Papyrus asked and stopped halfway up the stairs.

"That human girl, Frisk?" Sans began as he stopped heading up as well.

"What of her?" Papyrus asked.

"Is it just me," Sans began. "Or did she seem… eerily familiar?"

Papyrus shut his jaw as he began to think, his brow, or rather the place a brow would be, furrowing. Eventually, he shook his head.

"Nah," Papyrus answered. "Don't remember seeing any humans before so I would've noticed. Unless they all look the same, I think it's just you."

Sans felt unsure about that answer. Still, he just nodded.

"Yeah…" Sans said, thinking. "Maybe…"

Somewhere in The Underground, just outside of Waterfall. On a large hill overlooking The Valley of Dust.

"God, my ears are still ringing after the bar," Simon said.

The older teen stared across the valley. The Valley of Dust, it was called, due to a horrible battle that happened here and took the lives of many unfortunate monsters. It was said that the deaths were so numerous, they were unable to gather and identify all of the dust remains, so most of it was left behind to cover the entire valley.

Before that, it was just called The Valley. An odd name, Simon thought, as if there weren't several valleys in the underground.

"A nice view, ain't it?" Mickey asked, standing behind him. "A nice fucking view, I'd say."

Simon looked at his boss, the only company he had here, his bright blue eyes seeming to pierce him. Mickey was currently smoking, as usual.

"So… why are we here boss?" Simon asked him.

"I've told you," Mickey said. "Waiting for the old Kushmaster. You wanted to complete your "ascension", as you called it."

"No, I meant… why here specifically?" Simon asked.

Mickey looked across the field and shrugged.

"No idea," he answered. "Just like the view, is all. Almost feel a sort of… emotional resonance to it, if you know what I'm saying."

"Erm… ok then," Simon replied.

Simon looked across the dusty valley. There was indeed a certain air of melancholy over the sight.

"Makes you think, doesn't it?" Mickey asked. "You always hear about them, about these great battles and such. Then the survivors come and tell you how awful they actually were and so on. But seeing it in person. Seeing the remains, the aftermath. It doesn't seem as distant, does it?"

Is that really sympathy I hear from him? Simon thought.

A sudden ding sound rose Simon from his thoughts.

"Oh, that's me," Mickey said. "Must be from Finrick or something. Hope he's explaining why he's so frigging late."

Mickey, looking mildly annoyed, pulled out his phone from his seemingly endless pouch.

How does he always grab what he needs from it? Simon wondered.

Mickey took just one look at his phone before his expressions faded from annoyance to pure surprise.

"Holy shit," he said.

"W-what is it boss?" Simon asked, afraid that it was something bad.

"Oh forget the drugs, little Simon," Mickey said and smiled. "Forget about that ascension bullshit. I don't give fuck about them anymore now, and neither should you, 'cause guess what? You're in luck. We have a red fucking alert."

"What?!" Simon asked.

He almost couldn't believe it. It was so surreal to him. He did not expect to get a red alert mission so soon. On his first night even. A human was down here. Another human.

"You know what that means, greenhorn?" Mickey asked.

"I-I think I do," Simon answered.

Mickey smiled gleefully as he threw his half-smoked joint on the ground.

"It means that it's time for your first proper hunt, rookie," he said. "Your first human hunt, on your first night on the job even. Lucky timing, I'd say."

He stepped on top of the joint, rubbing it into ruin. Then he walked towards the rookie and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Now get up," he said. "We mustn't exclude the others, should we?"

In a dark alleyway, in a dark part of the capital where crooks and dark magic left over from the core is abound, an old monkey sat in his dark corner, meditating. His spirits had come to him that night, called him by his true name. Saru. Not Willy as the world knew him. He pondered on their meanings for a moment after waking up, yet now he desired only to rid of his wonders, for nothing came from wasting time on decoding eventualities.

He preferred this spot. It was his spot in a way. Only the most desperate of monsters even dared to approach it, as it was secluded from the rest of the city, in a dark cavern surrounded by ancient black rocks older than the first monsters that were banished down here. Was he a desperate monster? Was that why he picked it?

A sudden ding came and halted his thoughts and meditation. It came from the curious device he was given. A smartphone they called it, and in his profession, it was mandatory. He knew the basic necessities of it but cared to learn nothing more. He pulled it up and read the message from Mickey. His saviour and master. The only one who ever called contacted him through this device. The message read:

A human has been recently reported to be somewhere near the Snowdin area. Our mission is to capture them, alive, as usual. Killing them, even by accident or inaction, will be punishable. However, you have my full permission do as you please to whoever accompanies or protects them. Kill them even. We will meet in our usual spot in Waterfall to discuss plans and details. Don't be late.

Mickey.

He understood it well enough, and he wouldn't dream of refusing him. His desire to obey Mickey overwhelmed any other desires at the moment.

In a rusty old house, with walls of black lava proof metal and surrounded by dead and burnt trees, in a place between the edges both of Hotland and Waterfall and which held the worst of both zone, a goblin and her obese minotaur-boar roommate and coworker stood by the kitchen table, staring at the laptop screen, having just dressed for sleep. The kitchen was half stashed with dirty furniture and filth, and half occupied by science equipment and chemistry, some of which was discarded and thrown about. The goblin, Vissie, sat by the laptop as the other lady, Umbla, stood behind her, as they both looked at the just received message. It read:

A human has been recently reported to be somewhere near the Snowdin area. Our mission is to capture them, alive, as usual. Killing them, even by accident or inaction, will be punishable. However, you have my full permission do as you please to whoever accompanies or protects them. Kill them even. We will meet in our usual spot in Waterfall to discuss plans and details. Don't be late.

Mickey.

"Well, Umbla," Vissie said, grinning with excitement. "A human, huh? Well. It's about time we got ourselves another proper hunt."

Umbla replied with a devious smile under her tusk ridden mouth.

In an inconspicuous apartment building in the middle of The Capital, a humanoid drake monster with green scales sat inside behind his desk and computer, wearing a casual shirt and jeans. Despite his fame, Eldur the drake liked to live mostly quaint. A normal apartment with a single story and one bedroom, located in a normal part of the city, was enough for him. As a bonus, not many would guess that he would live in a place like that. The most attention he got daily outside of work were the occasional glances in nearby convenience stores or out on the street, and rarely, there would be those who recognized him at first sight. Then they would either express some kind of shock, back away with fear and respect or, as was the most common, ask him for autographs.

If they only knew what we were truly like, Eldur thought, thinking about the folk of the city.

A message had flashed on his screen. From Mickey, his boss. It read:

A human has been recently reported to be somewhere near the Snowdin area. Our mission is to capture them, alive, as usual. Killing them, even by accident or inaction, will be punishable. However, you have my full permission do as you please to whoever accompanies or protects them. Kill them even. We will meet in our usual spot in Waterfall to discuss plans and details. Don't be late.

Mickey.

Eldur sighed. Why did he still do this, he sometimes pondered, even though he knew the answer himself. He knew what would happen if he did quit. Not to him, but Reginald. He thought back to his brief reunion with him that small town. With his old… friend? Was he just a friend? Or was there… more? He always had a feeling that it was more than simple friendship or brotherhood that had bonded them together all those years in The Royal Guard and later those few in The Hunt, and it was clear that Mickey noticed it as well. Eldur wanted to say something more back at Grillby's. Tell him something more than just a simple greeting. A confession perhaps. Why didn't he? Was he afraid? Of what? Of Mickey? Reggie? Himself?

Whatever the case, what's done is done and he couldn't change the past. Then Eldur stood up from his chair and got himself ready for this next big mission.

---

Author's note:

I'm sure I've said it in like three chapters already, but man. This is probably the longest chapter so far.

Anyway, I think its about time I start writing the notes. (Also, I'm writing this on my phone this time, so there may be some unusual errors) So yeah, when I first concieved and started writing this chapter, I had no idea it would eventually be this long. Part of it might be because I added some new things mid writing. For example, the chapter was originally just going to end with Sans talking to Papyrus after seeing Frisk and Flowey walked off. But then I thought adding a bit more development tonthe Elite Hunters, as I've begun calling them. So that might be why the scene with Mickey and Simon would feel out of place or tacked on, because that scene was mostly a last minute addition. The others scenes with the other hunters I had a bit more ideas with, mostly because I've for some time wanted to do a scene of them outside their "jobs", and I found it kinda easy to brainstorm what kind of homes or places they would have in terms of the characters I've given them.

Now, I know I shouldn't apologize for the infrequent updates, but yeah. I think its kind of an accidental pattern at this point. But I am sorry, the next chapter will take a bit to come out, like this one. There are 2(or 3 rather) reasons for it.
1. So some of you may know that I have been working on a secondary fanfic (one that I referenced heavily in this chapter) that's essentially a crossover story between my Frisk in this AU, and two others made by two other artists. I had been a bit of break from it since I lost a bit of interest in it for a while, but recently its been sort of renewed and a few weeks ago I've promised the two artists to finish the next chapter soon. So that's gonna keep me busy from the main fic.
2. So there is a theme in terms of chapters, if you couldn't tell, where after every final part of an chapter, there would be a sort of "interlude" chapter that would either introduce things or characters in this world and AU, or hint at things to cime. Or both. So I have a bunch of ideas for interludes, but the one I want next after the Snowdin arc... while I have a concept for it... I don't know what to do with it. I'm considering also to maybe just add a random interlude of those I have planned, or maybe just skip it here outright. But there is a character there I really wanna introduce sometime soon, and this feel like the perfect time for it, what with the drug Papyrus smokes being a type of weed called "Baron's" Breath (hint, hint,). So yeah. That ones gonna take a while to concieve and write.

But yeah, those are my thought at the moment. I might add some more later, but in the meantime, I think I've written enough for now.

Please leave a comment, I always love reading your thoughts and theories(even if those thoughts are negative or those theories are completely wrong) and I see you later.

(Oh, and 3rd reason for the delay. Well... long story short, at the start of this month(that is July 2020 for folk reading in the future) I tried out RDR2 for the first time out of curiousity and... I kinda got addicted to it. Plz send help.)