"Better, Red! Better!"
Vogel leapt to the side, diving into a roll as the large red creature swiped at his chest - he caught the claw on his blade, and with a swipe of his left hand, the creature was thrown aside, with Vogel rising, holding his sword to its throat.
The creature growled, but made no move to rise, simply staring up at the figure above the two of them; and the Dark Angel landed softly beside them, placing a hand on Vogel's arm.
"Steady."
Vogel nodded, and sheathed the sword on his back, holding his hand out to the creature - it took it graciously, and was pulled to the ground.
"Thank you." Timor nodded to his servant. "You are dismissed."
As the creature left, Timor faced Vogel, raising an eyebrow.
"I have to say, I have enjoyed watching as you have grown stronger and stronger over these last few years." The Angel remarked, his red gaze met by Vogel's. "You came to us with potential and power, but with no ability to harness it. And now…"
Timor smiled wide, placing his hand on Vogel's back.
"You are a warrior to rival my own."
"Thanks to your guidance, Timor." Vogel replied gruffly, his gaze never leaving the Angel's. "You and Spero - you have been better to me than I -"
"You deserve everything we have given you, and more." Timor replied firmly, waving away Vogel's unfinished statement. "You bear a weighty destiny and choices, ones that will shape the very definition of creation and destruction; mentoring you is the least I can do."
"You make me sound more important than I am." Vogel sighed, shaking his head. "I am nowhere near as mighty as you and Spero, or as Shadow - I cannot alter fate the way you have."
"My dear friend, you already have something greater than us." Timor laughed, and pressed two fingers against Vogel's forehead. "Your ingenuity and you intelligence - you have exercised both of them, not only in the field, but in learning how to shape and alter robotics from the engineers that we have on the team.."
Timor watched Vogel for a moment, then shook his head with a laugh. "There is no way you will take up Spero's offer to stay?"
Vogel blushed deeply, but shook his head. "Spero is… wonderful, but I have too much back home that I need to return to."
"Emilia gave the same reply." Timor laughed, then held out his hand, a small object within it. "Take this, Red. You have earned it." Vogel took it from his hand, and Timor continued to speak. "That is the Mens Altaris, a relic bound with the concept of Purity, shaped to keep one in a pure state of mind."
Bemused, Vogel shook his head.. "Timor, as much as I am learning, I still have not wrapped my head around this conceptual enchanting. Please elaborate."
"Red, this one is quite simple. As long as this relic is attached to you, your mind will remain pure. You cannot have your mind altered through control or persuasion. You cannot have your mind read, you cannot have your perception altered. Your food and drugs will not affect your mind. You will remain pure and clean of mind, no matter what."
Vogel stared at the object, and wordlessly pocketed it before returning his gaze to Timor.
"You speak as if we aren't going to see one another anymore."
"An End is coming, Red. The time you have spent with us is drawing to a close - we will need to discuss this in length later on, but I wanted you to be prepared with this. Just in case."
Vogel nodded slowly, giving his mentor a smile.
"Just in case."
Frisk blinked slowly, her eyes slowly adjusting to the light.
"Damn it." She silently cursed - that had been her first dream in a while.
Slowly, she sat up, cursing her aching joints as she rose, swinging her legs off her bed as she stood.
"No time to dawdle. Have to move." Frisk rose to her feet, her knees popping as she moved.
She grabbed a fresh set of clothes and a towel - alongside her phone, sword, and rifle - and headed into the hallway, making her way to the bathroom.
As usual, it was unoccupied - there was another one downstairs, and more and more it felt like only she, Asriel, and Toriel lived in this house, since Chara never really came around anymore to stay overnight.
Not her issue.
Frisk entered the restroom, and undressed herself, dropping her nightwear into a pile near the door as she turned her phone's ringer on, leaving it on the edges of the tub as she stepped in, turning the water on.
Gasping as the cool water hit her face, she made use of this time as she did every other day - collect her thoughts on the conflict ahead, and try to make plans.
Except…
"What is his affiliation with these Angels?" Frisk questioned silently. "Why is it that the dark one thinks he will shape all of history? Harley's an excellent man, but his reach is limited to our own world - right?"
Pausing for a moment to let the water run through her hair, Frisk sighed.
"I may be the only one to know so much about what Harley is doing, and yet I still know so little - its frustrating, like a tease of information."
Frisk growled softly as she turned the water off, wrapping herself in her towel and walking over to the mirror, seeing her blue gaze reflected back at her.
"At least I know he's alive."
Drying herself off; Frisk dressed and strapped on her weapons, making her way downstairs.
*-as the NHDS continues to capture bases around the continent, we are made more and more aware of the young commander of the MHDS, Frisk Dreemurr, and the support she gains from countries that were vastly overwhelmed by the might of magic that was brought upon their homes."
"All of that is excellent, but what is going to happen next? We are all on the edges of our seats after the raid on City Hall last week, the one that got two lieutenants of the NHDS killed, so when is she planning on countstriking?"
"She has a meeting scheduled later today, one that is going to tell us of what is to happen next."
"Well - we will be with you live when that happens. And to Commander Dreemurr, if you happen to be listening; us here at Ebott City News are all standing behind you, both on the air and in the field. Make us proud."
"And now Tom, with the weather."
Frisk smiled at the sound of the new report - as the terror of the NHDS had spread through the continent, the City itself had only grown more and more tight knit, as everyone began to work together to support the MHDS and its cause.
A fact that made the NHDS's last raid - the one on her home, in the middle of the month - a slaughter before it even happened, the troops spotted by her neighbors and struck down before she could poke her head out the door.
"Frisk!"
It was Freddy who had spotted her - he must have come by early.
"Frisk, today's the day. Are you ready?"
Frisk nodded, her lips glued together as she stared at him.
"Freddy, I - I want to talk to you."
He raised his eyebrows at her, a small smile playing at his lips. "Is… that not what we are doing, right now?"
She slapped his arm, grumbling. "You know what I mean."
"Yes, I do. Here?"
"I mean… sure." Frisk bit her lower lip as she stared at him, with him watching her patiently for a moment.
"I… okay. You are going to stay quiet, and I'm going to spew out what I'm thinking." He nodded, and Frisk sighed, deeply and heavily.
"So, when you left, we made an oath to try to move on, to not hold onto eachother that tightly, and to be better than we were. And… I tried. I honestly tried, Freddy. I explored my sexuality, I tried dating other people, I… tried. And yet they all were lacking something, something that I initially couldn't define and yet I always knew. And…"
"What is it that they were lacking?" He asked her softly, a gentle glimmer in his eyes.
"They - they weren't you."
Frisk gazed up at him, her blue gaze meeting his steely one. "No matter what I sought out, they were incomplete, because they weren't…."
Freddy stepped forward, and Frisk's voice trailed off as she stared up at him, her eyes outstretched.
"Frisk, I've had the same thoughts, the same experiences, no matter what I tried. And… I haven't said anything because we haven't had time, and because I thought you moved on."
"I couldn't. I couldn't keep my promise." Frisk's gaze dropped, and she stared at her feet.
"I'm so sorry…"
Freddy laughed, a gentle, incredulous laugh as he stepped forward again, gently lifting her chin as he stared into her eyes.
"Frisk - I have never been so happy to have a promise unkept."
"Freddy - I -"
"And before all of this happens, before we do what we know will be done - I want you to know that after all this time, no matter what, I never stopped thinking about you. You have been on my mind and in my heart, even when I tried to push you away; so I feel safe in saying... "
Freddy's voice cut off for a moment as he raised his fingers to brush some hair from Frisk's eyes, but his gaze never left hers.
"I love you, Frisk."
Frisk's lip trembled, and she broke into a wide, happy smile as she threw her arms around him, pulling him down for a kiss; a deep, passionate kiss that carried the feelings that they have held onto for the last three years.
And when she pulled back, she stared into his eyes, simply replying -
"I love you too, Freddy."
*and it is with my fullest regret that I have to state this."
On a large television screen, Frisk's image would stand, the podium in front of her obscuring most of her body.
"The Non-Human Defensive Squad has taken to invading other countries in their foolish attempts to get a leg up, which has simply lead to more and more leaders turning to us for support, seeking aid from our army, as we are the only ones truly able to counteract them."
"So, with full knowledge to what is happening and what will keep happening if I continue to delay action, I must declare that they united armies of the MHDS and the allies that have placed themselves under my command that we will be entering a state of full war."
"We asked for nothing but freedom and peace, and we were given the hammer of war. So we will meet them with a hammer of their own - they will rue the day they decided to come against us!"
"Orders will be dealt out in the coming days as we begin our efforts to clear out the NHDS from our lands and of our allies. Be ready."
"That is all. Long live the peace and security that we have earned."