Shouts.
There would be shouts - and the sound of a struggle. A gun went off… What?
The man would rise to his feet - he was unarmoured, as was his female companion. After all, this was a safe space, right? There should be no fighting - especially with no alarms.
The two of them would dart out of their shared quarters after quickly seizing their weapons, and would meet with the Angels as they strode towards the noise; but as they drew close, the noise would cut out into muffle grunts, then a thud as something hit the ground.
They would shove the door open, and they would see the man in tattered riot gear being bound by a dark figure in spiked armour, one whose eye would shine a deep red from the darkness of its helmet; along with a the man in military combat gear, and the other, the one who gathered them all here.
She would raise her eyes to the approaching group, and sigh deeply before speaking. "Timor, Spero, Vogel, Emilia - go back to your rooms. There is nothing to see here."
"You say that, yet I have now borne witness to you assaulting a trusted ally." The Dark Angel would say, his voice deep and slow. "You must explain yourself, Longinus, or you will find us unwilling to obey."
She would rub her eyes wearily, staring at the faces of the four before her, then began to speak.
"We have kept Matthews away from home for too long - his world is beginning to destabilize without him. He needs to return, or-"
"Didn't you take him from death?" The unarmoured man - Vogel - would say. "You seized him right before he put a bullet in his mouth, and cured him from a zombie bite. How exactly is taking a dead man from death destabilizing a world?"
"Because the timelines are complicated." She replied irritably. "You cannot pull a variable out of it for too long - it can wreak havoc!"
Vogel would raise his eyebrow, glancing down at Joseph, who was staring back up at him, shaking his head slowly.
"That would mean that Scramble should be going home then." Emilia would say softly. "Right? He has been here longer than all of us."
"No. Timelines vary."
"And it just so happens that Joseph is the one who has the weakest one, huh?" Vogel remarked, gazing back at Longinus. "You know, this all feels wrong. Why force a trust ally out like this? Why conceal it from the rest of us?"
Vogel took a step forward, grasping the hilt of his sword. "You are hiding something, but what?"
"Stand down, Red." The armoured figure would rasp, holding out a hand - Vogel's sword would be wretched from his grasp and into the figures.
"Shadow - no." Longinus would protest, but as she did so, Vogel would spin and seize the nearest weapon to him - Spero's - and draw it, only to fall to his knees as images flashed before his eyes.
A woman with pale green hair and eyes, embracing him tightly in a beautiful, yet unfamiliar garden -
A brilliantly white sky that hovered over a bustling town, with a small child with blue-green eyes pulling on his leg -
Frisk leaping down onto him with a blade drawn, only for a young female with blond hair to sweep a blade at her back -
Chara, standing before him in a green blouse and slacks, holding a black staff as she spoke words he couldn't catch -
And a mirror, reflecting a scarred feminie face with piercing green eyes staring back at him -
The weapon was pulled from his hands and he hit the ground, the shouts of the others filling his ears.
Frisk blinked, trying to shake the images of last night's dream from her mind.
"What does it mean?" She would ask herself - dreams like this were happening more and more as the last month passed, with the images growing more and more vivid.
She had grown certain that she was seeing the perspective of her brother, but from when? Was this happening as she saw it? Or were these some twisted curse - one that would end with her watching as he died?
And what did those images mean?
"I would never try to kill Harley again - nor do I think Chara would ever start carrying a staff or dressing that way." She shook her head. "And who was that woman? A lover? A friend he made?"
"I don't understand…"
Frisk growled softly, trying to vent her frustrations slightly.
"what happened, kiddo?"
"Nothing." Frisk would reply, trying to pull herself back to reality, where Sans had stopped walking to gaze at her with concern in his eyes.
They were heading to the Royal Library in the Underground, having been called by Asriel here. He sounded like it was urgent, so she had taken Sans and the two had come over as quick as they could.
"you sure? because that growl didnt sound like nothin'"
Frisk would continue to walk for a few moments, trying to collect her own thoughts before sighing.
"Its - these dreams." She would say, and Sans nodded.
"the ones 'bout harley, right? " She would nod in return, and he continued. "wha happened?"
"I'm…" Frisk would hesitate, then continue. "I'm not entirely sure. He was with his allies, then there were some flashes of visions, then nothing."
Sans turned up to face her, but she wouldn't meet his gaze. He could see right through her; of course he could, but that didn't mean she was going to tell him. "well... like i told ya last time. at least you know hes alive and well, right?"
"Right."
They wouldn't continue, as they were approaching the open doors to the library. As soon as they entered, Asriel would charge up to them, barely even speaking as he seized Frisk's wrist and pulled her over to a corner of the room, where Alphys would be flipping through an old book, surrounded by other various volumes of varying sizes.
"What is so urgent?" Frisk demanded, as Sans jogged over to where they were.
"Oh! S-s-so Prince Asriel and I w-were reading these old books and-"
"You were here for… what reason?" She would ask, an eyebrow raised.
"Because we've been searching for the answers to what Rage had said, Frisk." Asriel would say, and Frisk would turn to face her brother."Remember? He had said that monsters started the previous war."
"Didn't we rule that as him grandstanding?"
"We did, but it didn't sit right with me." Asriel replied. "So I began to search all of the human books, but all of them seem to only refer to monsters as fiction - but when I asked Alphys, she reminded me that Dad had a library here. So we came here! And look what we found."
Alphys handed one of the open books beside her over to Frisk, who would take it and scan the pages, reading aloud so Sans could hear.
"And from the monster slain, two more would stand forwards, taking the lives of more men to avenge their friend; and so started the Great Tragedy."
She would glance over at Sans, who seemed just a surprised as she was.
"we - monsters - have referred to the war as th' monster 'nd human war for as long as i can remember." the skeleton would say, turning his gaze over to Alphys. "'nd yet-"
"W-w-what else would it be describing?"
Frisk pursed her lips. "This is a huge cover-up, if it is true."
"think of the ramification if it got out!" Sans said. "right now we have that this attack was unprovoked on our side - but this could -"
"I know." Frisk would shake her head. "You are all ordered to keep this quiet. I do not want to start the rumour mill if there is no truth to this, okay?"
"S-so would you like us to s-stop?"
"No. Keep investigating, and report your findings to me." She would point at Sans. "Stay here and help them investigate. If someone breaks into here, torch the place and get the three of you out. Understood?"
"sounds good."
"Good. I have to go, but keep me updated."
Frisk turned on heel and strode out of the library, once more lost in thought as she headed back to the city on foot.
A/N - Hah, fast updates!
Four Chapters until Arc V
