His eyelids felt like lead, refusing to open, too heavy to lift. So when he regained consciousness, he continued to lie immobile on something that felt somewhat soft, but with a hardness just beneath it. The soft was thin, so he deduced it must be a blanket or something. Aside from that, he heard very little outside of some soft crackling of a calm fire. The air felt incredibly tense, so much so that it made his stomach churn uncomfortably.

Again, he tried to open his eyes. Slowly, the lids began to lift, and he was greeted with a hazy sight of blurred light and shadows. The light somewhat hurt his eyes, so he let his lids drop back down and instead tried to move an arm. It was just as heavy, but he managed to move it to his chest after a few seconds of struggling with it.

Why did he feel so weak?

Deciding to focus on where he might be instead of fighting his tired body, Terrence tried to think back to the last thing he'd remembered. An image flashed in front of his mind; Frisk, wearing that breathtaking scarlet dress. It had been homecoming. Then… then they fought somebody. He couldn't really remember who, or why, but maybe that explained why his body was so exhausted and sore. He'd probably overexerted himself well beyond his limits.

So where had he gone after that fight? Was he at Gerson's? It didn't smell like Gerson's, but it was definitely a familiar scent. Almost like burgers and fries, but just… stale. Was this Grillby's?

Terrence tried to open his eyes again, which was somewhat easier this time as he was greeted by the blurry shapes again, barely able to make them out. He tried to sit up, and maybe got a centimeter off the ground before he stopped trying, grunting in pain.

"Terrence?" A feminine voice asked from somewhere behind him. He opened his mouth, which hurt too, just not as bad.

"Yeah…" He croaked out, his voice broken. Strained. His throat felt sore and dry.

"About time." The girl said. He recognized that voice… it was Sadie. For some reason, it felt like he hadn't seen her in a long time. She sounded relieved despite her words.

When his eyes refused to focus, he shut them again. "W…" He started to ask, before a few coughs overtook him, and he was forced to react, his whole body tensing painfully as he let out a few wheezes. With a more pained groan, he tried to relax, wincing as his body throbbed with pain.

"Try not to move," Sadie advised a little too late- though that was probably intentional.

"Where…?" He managed to get out, his voice breaking halfway through.

"Grillby's. Hang on, let me get you some water."

Well, he was right about it being Grillby's. He could feel her move past him, her steps were light on the wooden floor, but the vibrations were still there. Light wind brushed him as she passed, the sound of a door creaking open could be heard, before she exited the room.

He waited in patient silence, hearing soft snoring nearby. Somehow, he recognized that snoring a lot quicker than he'd recognized Sadie's voice. Greg was somewhere off to his right, probably sleeping in a booth, or resting against a wall. Terrence was mad at him for some reason, though he couldn't remember why. He really hoped his memory would come back soon.

Sadie returned, approaching him. Again, he tried to sit up, failing to do so, letting out a strained grunt again. "Seriously. Don't move." She ordered, and he could hear one of her knees pop as she crouched down and slid her hand behind his head, slowly and carefully lifting his head up, his lips pressing against the rim of a glass. Eagerly, he opened his mouth and accepted the water as she tilted the cup a bit to allow him to begin drinking. It was cold, and ran down his sore throat, soothing it, though that was short-lived until he took another gulp. The water was gone too soon, so Sadie refilled it at least three more times before she refused to get him another, stating it would be better to drink in smaller amounts until he recovered some more.

So he laid there for a few moments, before drifting off into a sleep, his body needing the time to repair his broken self.

Terrence was awake again sometime later. He could open his eyes a lot easier this time, but everything was still blurry. Actually… he wasn't certain, but he thought he could see even less this time, dark splotches having appeared in his vision, though it did seem to be night, so maybe that was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

"Water?" he croaked, unsure if anybody was around.

"Sure," Sadie's quick reply came. It seemed she was still awake, or maybe he'd been out long enough for her to get some rest. After a few more glasses, she returned to the spot she seemed to have claimed somewhere behind him, probably near the windows if he was where he thought he was.

"I don't…" he paused, his throat still incredibly sore. After a moment, he continued, "... remember what happened…"

"The Messiah happened." Sadie stated, her voice laced with venom. "I hate them, every single one of them. If I could I'd…" her voice trailed off, having been rising as she continued. She now fell silent.

"Greg isn't… with them… right?" he asked, straining his voice to speak. Some things were starting to come back to him. He could recall Jason Clever's sneering face. He had a different name though. Something that started with a K, or a C. It had the 'kuh' sound. Crash? That sounded close… and kind of stupid. No offense to the greatest Bandicoot, of course. Terrence thought to himself.

"Honestly not sure," Sadie said, now sounding more annoyed than anything. "He helped them, then he helped us, and now he refuses to talk. I would have left him behind but… you went back for the loser."

So he had. He could recall that vague detail. Of hauling Greg desperately into a car… Rian's car. Fuku in the backseat beside Greg, where he'd helped Sadie put her. "Fuku…? Rian…?"

"Fuku's fine. She's talking with her dad in the back. Rian…" Once again, her voice trailed off. "...I shouldn't have left him back at the school. It was s-stupid of me," her voice was fairly calm, but that crack betrayed her true feelings. He couldn't see her, but he could swear a tear ran down her cheek.

Finally, he asked the name of the person he was most eager to hear about. "Frisk?"

"Dunno." Sadie sniffed, voice muffled for a moment as she wiped at her face. "Haven't seen her since she left the dance. Heard nothing about her too."

That was disappointing, but it didn't sour his shitty mood any further. There was the chance that she was still alive, that the Messiah hadn't gotten her. It was fortunate that Jason had taken on more than just one of them, thinking about it now. Had Terrence taken him on alone, he'd have died. Jason would have murdered him. It was only thanks to everybody on that field that all of them had come out alive.

Well… almost all of them. There was that girl monster, Fuku's friend. She'd spent a lot of time with Sadie at the dance. Hell, maybe they even started liking each other, even as distracted as he was with Frisk, he could see their chemistry. Skeeter had been her name. An unusual name for an unusual girl- in a good way, of course.

He decided not to bring her up for his throat's sake, and for Sadie's. "Can't we like, try to… call someone?" he asked.

"We've tried. Cell phones don't work, neither do home phones. WiFi's off too. The Messiah have the whole city on lockdown." Yikes. That wasn't good at all. With nothing else to say, he laid there, closing his eyes, and soon drifting off to sleep again.

The next time he woke, he opened his eyes and saw… nothing. It was completely pitch black. He struggled to move his head around for a moment, hoping to pick out some light sources, but saw nothing of the sort.

He stopped, however, when a voice greeted him. A small, quiet, guilty-sounding voice. "Hey," it practically whispered.

"Hey, Greg," Terrence whispered back, surprised and glad to see that his voice was much stronger than it had been before, his throat merely throbbing mildly now. That was a step up. When Greg made no other response, Terrence decided to speak. "So uh… pretty dark, huh?"

Greg said nothing in reply, before after a few moments, he spoke again. "Not…" he stopped, letting out a sigh. "I guess."

"So… I'm guessing the Messiah is what had you so-" Terrence was interrupted by a coughing fit, thankful to find his body a lot less sore than last time. When he finished, he continued. "So uh… um… where was I?"

"They blackmailed me," Greg replied, his voice a little louder now. "Said if I didn't do what they wanted they'd… kill my family…"

Oh. That… actually made sense to explain why Greg had done what he'd done. He didn't often talk about his family, and Terrence was aware he didn't much like his mom, but when he brought up his dad, or his sister, his face always lit up in a way that usually only happened when they were assigned ten different assignments from each class on the same day- which had happened before.

Then Terrence felt his insides twist and curl inside of him. Greg had complied with them… until the end. He didn't want to ask what that meant, he was pretty certain that since Greg had treated Jason's head like a Little League's game, that blackmail was off and his family was probably…

"Sorry I brought you guys to him," Greg said, his voice barely audible. He sounded ashamed. Terrence pursed his lips, thinking for a moment. "Yeah… I'm sorry too," he replied. A silence befell them, lasting for several long awkward minutes before Terrence frowned. "Why is it so dark?"

"What?" Greg asked, "You mean literally or figuratively? I thought you meant it figuratively earlier but…"

"Literally," Terrence stated, "I can't see a damn thing."

"Hang on," Greg replied. He could hear rustling coming from where Greg was, before he felt a slight, barely noticeable warmth against his face, like having a warm rag placed over his face, except… lighter. And there was no rag. "Do you… not see this?"

"See what?"

Another moment of silence, before he could hear Greg stand up. "...uh… T, uh…"

"What? Spit it out!" Terrence was beginning to feel extremely weird and anxious. There was a truth to this that he simply didn't want to accept as he laid there for a few more seconds, before trying to sit up. This time, he could. His muscles ached and groaned, but he succeeded.

"I need to get the others," Greg replied, and the sound of him hurrying off could be heard. The same door creaking open before silence aside from the hammering of Terrence's heart.

After arguing with himself inside his head about what was happening for a few seconds, a series of footsteps entered the room, the quickest nearing him first. He could feel cold, dainty hands grab his forehead, the thumb pulling up his eyebrow. He could feel that warmth again, before Sadie moved to his other eye.

"What uh… what's happening?" Terrence asked, his voice a lot calmer than he'd expected. "Well…" Sadie began, and he could hear the rustle of her clothes as she rose back up. "T, it looks like you've uh… gone blind."

Exactly what he didn't want to hear.

"Uh… okay," he said after a second or two, "when will I see again?"

"That's not how it usually works," Sadie stated. "I'm not saying it's impossible, maybe your eyes just suffered some minor trauma and are fixing the problem right now. Or… maybe they suffered too much trauma. You don't have cataracts, right?"

"Oh yeah, alongside my arthritis, osteoporosis, and type 2 diabetes. Do I look 75 to you?" Terrence replied, snapping at her, feeling a little… overcome with this new development, before quickly adding; "Don't answer that," in an attempt to alleviate any tension, not really wanting to upset her by yelling at her.

"Not just elderly people can get those, you know," she stated calmly. "Look, I'll be honest with you. Eyesight is sort of a 'one chance you blow it' type thing, kinda like betraying my trust." He could almost feel her gaze intensify and focus somewhere else. Presumably on Gregory. "There's a small chance you'll get it back, but I don't want to give you false hope. So just… assume you're eternally blind now until proven otherwise. Might help you cope more."

"Yeah, thanks for the pep talk, Captain America."

"Ooo, yeah... better not bring up comics, games, or movies," Sadie added, "the best parts of those aren't really available to you now."

"Okay. Ow. That stings," Terrence frowned before Sadie continued.

"Anyway, I was asking about cataracts to try and figure out if this was already on its way, or if Krashna broke something more than your shin."

His shin? His legs felt fine. He decided to voice that. "My legs feel fine."

"Thanks to the painkillers." Sadie replied. "Trust me, you'd be singing a different tune if I hadn't given you any."

"Are you secretly a doctor or something?" Terrence asked, beginning to suspect she had medical training of some type. He could hear the rustle of her clothes as she shrugged. "My mom is, and I'm interested in following in her footsteps."

"You never mentioned it before."

"Was never asked. So I'm gonna assume you're suffering some optical trauma, which… really puts a dent in our plans."

"Plans? What plans? Why are we still at Grillby's?" Terrence tried to slow his breathing, beginning to feel overwhelmed with, well… everything. That was when he remembered the broadcast homecoming night. He could see that man's face as he declared martial law, as he accused Asgore of murder. He recognized that man as Jonathan Obaseki. Asgore's boss. He'd seen him a few times with Frisk at her part-time job.

"Oh fuck…" Terrence groaned slowly, laying back down with a painful plop. "Is that martial law still in effect?"

"Judging from the looters outside, I'd say so," replied Sadie. "The plan is to get out of the city, cover some distance with it. Having two fire elementals obviously makes stealth a lot harder, but with a blind guy with a broken leg…"

"How come I'm the one with all the injuries?" Terrence sighed, rubbing at his face.

"You're not. Greg's got a broken leg too, and my wrist is fractured. The only one who's recovered is Fuku, but she doesn't have bones so…"

"We have like… splints, right? How many medical supplies does Grillby have?"

At this point, Fuku's voice entered the conversation, her softer, almost elegant tone contrasting greatly with Sadie's harder, brash voice. "We don't. Sadie and I have been looting the pharmacy a block over."

"Looting? That's against the law," Terrence replied cheekily, trying to use humor to make himself feel better, though it wasn't really working.

"That's us. Outlaws on the run. We're hitting the bank tonight, want to join us?" Sadie asked, a country drawl in her voice.

"Nah. I'm good," Terrence grunted, sitting back up, wincing as he did so. "I'm ready to go. Let's get out of the city, and-"

"No," Sadie ordered, "not until you're on your feet, and we've still got some more loot to collect. Food, water, medical supplies, we need all of that. We don't know what we're gonna face out there."

"Alright, alright… guess I'll wait around and… think to myself. Does anybody have an audiobook?" Terrence asked, feeling around for a moment before he found a table to lean against- subsequently knocking it over. He could hear somebody pick it back up as Sadie replied, "I'll add it to the list, the library is close to the supermarket. Just stay here, don't try to be a hero this time, or you might get a lot worse consequences than blindness and a broken leg."

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yeah. We were about to before Greg came and got us."

"Sorry." Greg's small voice inserted, quickly followed with a hiss from Sadie.

"I told you to stop talking to me," before she made her way to the door, followed by Fuku.

"Get a pizza too, eh?" Terrence asked, grinning in the direction of the door with a smirk. He didn't get a response as the girls left, so he turned to Greg, or at least the direction he assumed Greg was in. "Hey, help me to a wall, I'm sick of lying down."

She'd seen a lot of apocalypse movies in her time, with ruined streets, decaying buildings, empty, rusted cars… Voxis City now? It looked nothing like that. In fact, it looked relatively the same, aside from the occasional smoldering car, or heap of trash littering the street. They hadn't crossed any bodies, but that was this time. They'd seen a few before, and dust seemed to perpetually hang in the air. Both humans and monsters were suffering at the Messiah's whim, and to what end? What was their goal? Were they just racist and hated monsters for being different? Or did they just want power and used monsters as a scapegoat?

Even then that didn't make much sense considering the Messiah seemed to control everything. Bringing Fuku along was a risk, but they'd learned that most people followed Obaseki's advice. They stayed indoors, while gangs and groups of Messiah roamed the streets. Sometimes you could hear a shootout between them. Honestly, Sadie had zero clue about any of the gangs within Voxis. She hadn't even been aware that there were gangs before just a couple days ago.

It was still a little tough to believe that all those events… homecoming, the Messiah takeover… it had all only been three days ago. It felt like a LOT more time between now and then.

"It's good Terrence is feeling better." Fuku stated, her quiet voice almost drifting away in the breeze.

"Yeah." Sadie replied with a shrug. "He's either got the best luck or the shittiest. I didn't think he'd make it out of that alive, but still, his reward is going blind. Kind of a win-lose."

"Blindness isn't always an impairment," Fuku replied, looking toward Sadie. "Some people find ways around it. Did you ever watch that superhero documentary where they meet this blind guy who uses echolocation?"
"No. I don't really watch movies and stuff. I usually do it with Rian when he wants to watch one of his old detective movies, or 'The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'. That one's a favorite." When she concluded her sentence, they both fell silent for a few moments, until Fuku spoke again.

"I've actually been watching a few things he likes. Like Nancy Drew, or that Clint Westwood guy."

"Yeah, he really likes all that old stuff," Sadie chuckled, "you watch them on your own? I thought he'd have made you watch them." Fuku giggled lightheartedly. "No… he mostly just wants to do whatever I like."

"Ah," Sadie grinned, winking at Fuku, "that just means he's nervous. Doesn't want to scare you off with his golden oldies obsession. If you really want to see his favorite movie of all time, there's one called 'Il Regalo Più Grande', this old Italian one that he's always quoting. Well, usually quoting one line, but he loves it to death."

"I hope we see him again," Fuku replied. Sadie paused, before closing her mouth, staring ahead, feeling her throat tighten.

"Yeah… me too…"

The walk continued in silence, the cold gusts of wind growing stronger, making Sadie thankful that they'd raided a clothing store yesterday and replaced their homecoming attire with jeans and coats. The only one still wearing their homecoming wear was Terrence, but only because nobody was about to try to change him. They simply kept his new clothes in the back until he could change himself.

Hugging her faded blue jean-style coat closer to her body, they passed by a series of buildings with most of their windows shattered. Curtains fluttered outside of the windows like graceful spirits, waving at them as they passed. It was almost eerie when accompanied with the silent, empty street. "What do you think happened there?" Sadie asked, nodding to the building they were passing. Fuku stared at it for a moment, before looking away.

"Nothing good."

They could agree on that.

The deeper they moved, the more paranoid she grew. There were a few times she could swear there was somebody following them, seeing a figure darting between alleys they passed. She pointed this out to Fuku, who claimed to see nothing, but nonetheless, became more alert.

Soon enough, they had made their way to the supermarket to collect as much food as they could carry, both of them equipped with backpacks, black in color. They were bigger than the usual high school ones they lugged around, so they'd obviously fit more contents inside.

The supermarket looked relatively abandoned. The windows were all broken, of course, and the parking lot was practically empty. "Maybe Flormart would be better?" Fuku suggested, "Even a Bullseye. I just don't see TMart having everything we need."

"Well, those two are more likely to get hit, so TMart is our best bet to get the best loot- even if it has the worst loot of the three," Sadie said as they approached, wary of anything that might surprise them, Sadie especially searching for that figure she'd been seeing.

It didn't reappear as they stepped through the broken door, glass crunching beneath their feet. "Back row should have refrigerated goods, I'll head there and get as much water and sports drinks as I can carry. You find us some canned good- oh, and beef jerky if you see any." Sadie said, Fuku giving her a nod before hurrying off, leaving the human girl to head to the back of the store and begin perusing the various shelves. A lot more had been looted than she'd expected, but fortunately, mostly only alcoholic beverages and energy drinks had been taken, leaving her to fill her bag to the brim with waters, juices, and sprite. When she was satisfied, she hurried off to find Fuku, searching through a few rows (and snagging a bag of teriyaki beef jerky nuggets) before finding the monster girl. Her bag was nearly empty beside her as she was crouched down with her knees to her chest, talking to some little kid that had seemingly come out of nowhere. Maybe he'd already been here before them.

As Sadie approached, the kid simply stared at her. It was a little boy, his skin parchment white, practically sticking to his bones. He was obviously malnourished and probably really hungry, with black, short, matted hair that was smashed down by the hood of the blue coat he was wearing, which was two sizes too big for him.

"Hey," Fuku greeted as Sadie approached, "found this kid just watching me, could be your shadow you've been seeing. I've been trying to give him food but he won't eat anything."

The kid stared expressionlessly at Fuku as she spoke, before Sadie mimicked the fire elemental, crouching down and grabbing a snickers bar from Fuku's bag. "Here." She offered the kid nonchalantly. He just continued to stare, this time at her.

Kinda creepy.

"Come on, let's just collect the stuff and go," Sadie sighed, standing up. Fuku frowned, standing as well to turn to the human. "What? He's just a little kid though. He could be lost, or traumatized, or…" Her voice trailed off as she glanced back to see that the kid they were discussing had disappeared.

After a moment of silence, Fuku nodded. "Yeah. We should go."

After packing Fuku's bag with some canned goods (what little they could find) and various snacks, they departed from TMart, now heading down a different road toward the nearby library, known simply as 'Fort Library'. It was military-themed, some kind of propaganda forced in when the United States won the Polar War some 60 odd years ago. Despite Voxis being located in Germany, it was very much a city inspired by America and its traditions and ways of life, which had been a huge problem decades ago, but most of the people mad about it were long dead now, and the rest of the residents of Voxis City were unaware of any other way of life.

Fort Library had plastic replica tanks on either side of the parking lot, and the building itself was styled like a bunker. The statue of some old war hero sat in the center of the parking lot, a man in American military vestments, staring determinedly forward as he held a large rifle against his shoulder, chest puffed out.

They ignored it, entering through the front entrance, and being unsurprised at the lack of damage to the library. Obviously it was less likely to be raided, it was a library.

Sadie led the way further in, her eyes skimming through the sections before she found a couple rows of audiobooks. "Oh sweet. Now let's find Terrence some teenage romance books he'll hate. Twilight's a good start." With that, she plucked one of the audiobooks from the shelf, sliding it into her backpack.

"Won't he need something to use it?" Fuku asked, picking up 'Little House on the Prairie" and putting it into Sadie's bag.

"Oh. Yeah, you're right. See if you can find one while I pick out a few more audiobooks."

Once Fuku was gone, Sadie began to skim through the selection again, trying to avoid anything that looked good. She ended up grabbing 'Anatomy: An Exclusive Experience', 'Mettaton: A Life of Glamour', and a children's audiobook called 'The Happy Caterpillar'.

Satisfied with her selection, she once again went in search of Fuku. Just like last time, she found her with somebody, though this time it wasn't some creepy little boy. It was actually somebody she recognized from school. His name was Noah or something like that, with massive glasses, short parted black hair, and slanted eyes similar to Frisk's.

"Did you find a player?" Sadie asked as she approached. "No." Noah said immediately, his tone aggressive. "I already told Fuju-"
"Fuku."

"-that they're mine. This library is mine. Get out, you looting freeloaders!"

"You said 'they're'. That means there are more than one?" Sadie asked, tilting her head. Noah hissed like a cat, before shaking his head furiously. "Yes. No! I meant no. I shook my head no, that was a 'no'!"

"We just need one. It's for Terrence." Fuku said, folding her arms. Noah's attitude changed instantaneously. "Terrence Anoma?"

"Yeah."
"Oh, okay. That's fine then." Noah shrugged his shoulders. "He convinced some bullies off me last year, I was in a bad place at the time, and he helped me through it. Sorta. I mean like, he wasn't my therapist or anything and… yeah…"

That actually made Sadie inwardly cringe. Not at Noah, or Terrence, but at herself as she recalled Stai- no, Caul. The kid she and Rian never stood up for or tried to defend against that endless bullying he'd endured. The kid Krashna had manipulated into killing… Sadie shook her head. Even here she couldn't escape from that, even with everything going on. It made her sick just thinking about how she did nothing to help him. That was when she realized Fuku was talking to her.

"Huh?" Sadie asked, snapping herself back to the present.

"Look." Fuku whispered, nodding her head, gesturing for Sadie to turn and look. She found that the little boy had followed them, and was now staring at the pair from the other end of the library.

"It's just a little boy," Sadie shrugged, "we could take him."

"I uh… don't really want to 'take him'. He's just a little kid."

"Yeah that's what I said. That's why it'd be easy. Where did Noah go?" Sadie asked. Fuku appeared confused as she looked at Sadie.

"You were really out of it for a moment there, huh? He went to get us a player. What distracted you?"

"Nothing." Sadie immediately replied, turning her back to the boy. "I don't want to talk about it."

Fuku didn't press as Noah soon came back, holding an old tape recorder in his hands. "It's already got four double A batteries in it, should be good to go." Noah smiled. "Tell Terrence I say hi!"

"You could come with us." Fuku offered, to which Noah shook his head.

"Nah. I like it here. It's quiet."

"Hey, you don't happen to have a little brother, do you?" Sadie asked as she accepted the player, stuffing into her bag.

Noah frowned. "No, why?" Sadie looked back to find the kid had gone again, before shrugging.

"Nothing. Just been seeing a little kid around."

"Oh. I haven't seen him." Noah replied.

The girls found themselves rounding a corner, nearing Grillby's in silence. The empty streets echoed with their footfalls. The eeriness that surrounded them never alleviated. As they approached, Sadie could see Gregory standing outside, and felt her stomach twist in anger at the sight of him. Fuku gave the girl a side glance, before hastily quickening her pace. "I'll see you inside." She stated.

Gregory averted his eyes from Fuku as she hurried by him, disappearing inside as Sadie approached Greg, who grew noticeably uncomfortable the nearer she got. "What are you doing?" She demanded. He blinked, pursing his lips.

"Just uh… keeping… watch…"

"Giving away our position more like." Sadie retorted, folding her arms as she came to a stop only a foot away.

At this, Gregory furrowed his brow. "I'm not," He declared, "the Messiah aren't like, all that stupid. They've probably been watching us since we arrived."

"Right, I forgot you were an expert, being one of them and all." Sadie hissed back and Greg blinked quickly, still refusing to look at her, clearly biting his cheek now. At this, the girl shook her head, face clearly displaying disgust. "Whatever. Stay out here. They'll come for you first."

With that, she marched by him, heading on inside to find Terrence asleep against the left wall, a tablecloth draped over him, snoring loudly. Boy, could he snore, though she'd grown accustomed to it over the last few days.

Fuku and her father stood behind the counter, Fuku talking to him in a hushed tone, though he replied with nothing, wiping a shot glass with a rag absentmindedly. Careful not to wake Terrence, Sadie joined them, picking up in the conversation.

"-can't keep going around like this, dad. The Messiah will find us eventually, and we'll have nowhere to run. We need to leave now. I know you don't want to leave the bar, but we need more hands for supplies," Fuku was saying. Sadie decided to pitch in. "It'd be really nice, too. Fuku says you're really good in a fight, and I'd feel a lot safer if you were with us."

Grillby paused his wiping of the shot glass, glancing almost nonchalantly at the girls, though he said nothing. Sliding the shot glass under the counter with the rag, Grillby turned and walked by them, heading for the back room.

This was common for Fuku's father. He rarely ever spoke, even to Fuku. Sadie took it that he'd mull it over, so she turned to her friend. "There's something else," she said, capturing the emerald monster's attention. "Rian and my family are still out there. We- I -need to find them."

"I know," Fuku agreed with a nod, "It's just… difficult. Trying to go on these supply runs while the guys all sit around here, but… I'm down to head to the school and back right now if you want," she offered.

"Well… okay, I know I really want to but like…" Sadie paused for a moment. "It'll be dark soon, and that gang on the motorcycles are always revving around where the school's at in the night. Would now be a good idea?"

"Maybe. We could just sit and wait here and worry some more, if you prefer," Fuku stated, which emboldened the human girl, who shook her head.

"Okay, point taken. If you're sure, then let's go."

"Yehguys leavin'?" Terrence asked nearby, his voice heavy and groggy. "To find Rian," Fuku answered. "And my family," Sadie added, to which Terrence blinked, his usually golden-orange eyes having gone hazy and clouded. "Oh… hey, if you see like… Frisk or Gerson out there…"

"Don't worry. It's not like we'd leave them behind." Sadie replied. Fuku seemed eager to go, already heading for the door, followed by Sadie, who stopped, turning to Terrence. "Oh, and by the way, if you see a creepy little… uh…" she paused as Terrence raised his eyebrows. "If someone else sees a creepy little boy, don't let him in."

"Is that just like, common advice or do I need to be aware of something?" the boy asked, and Sadie shrugged, once again forgetting his condition. "It's probably nothing. We've just been seeing this creepy little boy all over the place. We'll be back soon, with Rian hopefully."

And just like that, they were gone. Terrence slumped against the wall, letting out a sigh as he rubbed his temple, a mild headache beginning to settle in for whatever lame reason. He needed to focus on something, get his mind off of everything. After thinking about Frisk for a few minutes, his thoughts shifted to the homecoming dance. When they'd been on the floor together, and they'd kissed. He'd never kissed a girl before despite being relatively popular, and honestly, he wasn't planning on kissing any others. He'd always really liked Frisk, before, during, and after their initial relationship together. His thoughts shifted once again, past the dance and toward his battle with Krashna. It was all coming in a lot clearer now, and he could remember the raw power the Messiah leader wielded. How much like an anime antagonist he spoke. Terrence was honestly surprised Krashna hadn't started spouting off lines like 'these attacks are hitting you at 100 mph' or 'feel the wrath of my Hundred Suns attack' or something.

He'd tried to fight off Krashna, and managed to somehow hold his own. He thought for sure he'd die, but here he was. Blinded and broken, but alive. That had to be worth something, right? Once more, his thoughts shifted, this time unto Gerson. His now foster dad. Still felt a bit funny referring to the old turtle in such a way. Even 'sensei' or just 'master' seemed more sensible, strangely enough. He'd been training with the old coot for… what… half a month or so now? Still couldn't land a hit on the guy, but he'd learned plenty. Mostly meditation, SOUL summoning, the basics. One thing he'd been taught was SOUL healing, something that most SOULs, even offense-based ones were supposedly capable of. He'd never been taught the specifics or how to do it, but perhaps he could try and heal his leg with enough concentration.

It was worth a shot. Not like he had anything better to do.

Placing his hand over his leg, Terrence winced as his touch shot pain up through his body like an electrical current. Gritting his teeth, he tried to block it out, instead focusing. Deep breaths. In… and out… Empty the mind…

He could feel the energy coursing through his body as the world seemed to grow dead silent. It had seemed quiet before, but now he could notice absolute silence as he blocked out everything. Blindness was definitely an advantage to this meditation. Usually when he used his magic, he thought of it as a weapon. Now he was trying to direct the energy in a medical sense. Aid his broken leg, heal it.

The back of his mind registered the pain in his leg once again, but this time he could feel that it was increasing, threatening to break through his meditation. He was doing something, he just wasn't sure what. Blocking it out was beginning to falter his meditation, but he kept at it, hoping he wasn't about to just snap his leg clean off.

And suddenly, he could see again, but had no time to react as Krashna sent a golden tendril spiraling at him, piercing through his chest and-

Terrence jumped with a gasp, his meditation shattered by the vision, his jerky movement causing him to slam his head against the wall, simultaneously causing him to bite down on his tongue.

Wincing, Terrence pressed his tongue against the roof of his mouth and a hand against the back of his head to try and ease the temporary pain with mild success. "Shit…" he hissed at himself.

"What happened?"

He nearly jumped again at Greg's voice to his left. He'd been so focused in his meditation he hadn't even heard the boy enter. Terrence turned his head in the general direction from where the voice had come from. "Huh? What?"

"You were using your SOUL but… like… did it hurt?" Gregory inquired, to which Terrence grumbled, rubbing the back of his head before calming down. "Kinda. I was trying to heal my leg but… I dunno how to use healing magic yet. What color magic was I using?"

"Orange."
"Damn. Gerson said green magic is the healing kind." Terrence replied. "Guess I shouldn't try that again, I thought I was gonna snap my leg off or something, which… probably isn't too far from the truth. You haven't seen a creepy little boy, have you?"

"Uh… what? That's specific. No, I can't say I have," Gregory replied, the sound of his shifting weight on his feet could be heard by the blind teen, who stopped rubbing the back of his head.

"Have you summoned your SOUL?"

"No. I mean, I tried, and I got some purple magic, but that's about the extent of it." Gregory answered. Terrence was initially surprised that Greg had summoned any magic at all.

"Purple, huh? You know what? I can see it, blindness aside. You have purple eyes after… oh. Wow."

"What is it?" Gregory sounded initially worried until Terrence let out a few chuckles.

"Man, I am dense. I just realized that eye color correlates to SOUL color. My eyes are orange. Yours are purple. Frisk's are red. Just like our SOULs."

"Oh, yeah, uh… about your eyes…"

"I'm gonna stop you right there." Terrence held up a hand in Greg's direction. "Don't go telling me my eyes lost their color. That was always the sexiest part about me and I'm not about to believe that they're just gone."

"Well-"

"No."

"T-"
"Ah."
"They're-"
"Nada."
A silence befell them, and for several long moments, nothing was said, until;

"So-"

"Zip."

"Dude-"

"Niet."

"Terrence, will you stop? I'm done talking about your eyes," Greg exclaimed in exasperation.

Terrence let out a chuckle, before he held up both hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. What's the tea?"

"Nobody says that anymore."

"I just did."

"... Yeah. So uh… can you teach me how to summon my SOUL?" Gregory's question didn't get an immediate response as Terrence pondered on it. He'd never considered having to teach someone else the things Gerson had taught him but… well, he felt he trusted Greg a lot more than he normally did. All things considered, he had pulled through there at the end, and with what he put at stake to help? There was no way he could ever look- sorry -feel the same about him again.

"Sure." Terrence shrugged. "It might be a little tough with broken legs and all that, but we can try. Just uh… sit across for me or whatever and we can begin."

Footsteps sounded, the ruffling of clothes, then silence. "You're in front of me, right?"

"Yeah. Is it crucial?"

"No. I dunno. Maybe. Gerson usually made a point of me being across from him. Anyway, when he first summoned my SOUL, he had to use magic against me like an attack, mentioned something about how SOULs can be summoned by monster magic. So, just theorizing here, but I'm guessing the same can be said for human magic but it's just not as easy or whatever."

"We could get Grillby to do it." Gregory suggested, at which Terrence paused. That wasn't such a bad idea, though he wasn't sure about disturbing the fire monster. Despite having known him for years now, he didn't really know anything about him outside of the basics. He fathered Fuku, ran the bar, really liked cleaning shot glasses in his spare time, the usual.

"Let's try it this way first, and if we suck, we can get Grillby," Terrence offered.

"Okay," was Gregory's response, so Terrence immediately projected his magic into a form before him, something he'd grown familiar with doing this last month. Careful not to actually hurt Greg, he projected his conjuration forward and heard Greg yelp before the sound of him falling backwards could be heard.

"Ow, dude!" He groaned.

"Sorry, sorry, I was trying to keep it light," Terrence assured, unable to stop himself from giggling for a moment. "You okay?"

Greg was silent for a second, and before Terrence could repeat his question, he finally answered, "Uh… yeah… I guess it worked."

"Wait, really?" Terrence asked, somewhat surprised. "Why didn't it appear when Krashna was attacking you, then?"

"I don't know. Maybe I have to be willing?"

That seemed doubtful, though perhaps Gerson had the answer. "Alright! We got your SOUL. Purple, right?"

"Yeah… it's kinda cool and… oh… it disappeared." Greg fell silent as Terrence lifted himself somewhat higher, ending his slouching streak against the wall.

"Try and summon it now. Should be easier now that you've like, felt it and stuff."

Another moment of silence, before a triumphant shout came from across the blind teen. "I did it!" Greg cheered, "It's my SOUL!"

"Nice," Terrence replied, "you seem to be getting the hang of this faster than me. Not gonna lie, kinda jealous right now." This made Greg chuckle, satisfying Terrence. At least his friend wasn't kicking himself over everything right now, like he usually did.

The sound of a creaking door could be heard, followed by Gregory falling quiet, the soft crackling of flames sounding nearby. "Oh, hey Grillby," Terrence spoke in the direction of the fire. "I was just showing Greg how to summon his SOUL."

No response. Not like he'd been expecting one.

"T?" Greg asked, directing the boy's attention in his general direction.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think… there's a chance that my family…" His voice trailed off, and Terrence bit his cheek.

"I… really don't know but… I hope they are. Were you able to talk to them before… this…?" He asked.

Gregory was silent for a long moment, and when he spoke again, his voice had gone very quiet. "No." He practically whispered. "When I attacked Krashna I… wasn't thinking ahead, I just… I couldn't just stand by. I hoped maybe the bat would be enough but… well, you saw what happened…"

Greg had been tossed around like a ragdoll, and probably would have been killed if Terrence hadn't gone back for him. It still irked him that Sadie was so willing to leave him behind. He hadn't known she was capable of being so cold-hearted. It hadn't gone unnoticed to him that she continued to mistreat Greg. Did she know about his side of the story? Had he told her? If she did know, then she was being needlessly cruel. She still had an excuse if she didn't know, but that didn't really justify making someone feel like actual shit, as she clearly made Greg feel.

Sure, he didn't always get along with his more intellectual counterpart, but that didn't mean he didn't care about him. They'd been buddies for years. Any closer and they could even consider each other brothers.

"Yeah… but uh, thanks anyway. Listen, we'll fight back. At least, when we can. We still need to link up with the others, getting battle-ready, you know?" He gave a reassuring smile in Greg's direction.

"That's… optimistic of you but… I'm not banking on much else. Guess I can stand to not be pessimistic for once," said the smaller boy.

"You're not that pessimistic."

"The hell happened here?"

The girls peered from around the corner of an office building toward Voxis High, one of its walls completely blown open to reveal the ruined theater within. Simply seeing a theater made a shiver run down Sadie's spine, though she ignored it and focused on Fuku's question instead. "Obviously something… explosive. I guess. Come on, we can get in through that way."

They began to move, casting glances down either side of the street as they moved. It was incredibly dark, the sky clouded to block the light of even the moon. Perfect cover, but they weren't sure if the Messiah had night vision goggles or cat eyes or something. So naturally, they were nervous and cautious- which would have applied if Fuku wasn't a glowing beacon of light. If there wasn't any cloud cover, Sadie was certain her companion could have been seen from orbit. So the monster had been wrapped tightly in a thick coat and mask, the only glow coming from where her the eye slit.

"Where'd you leave Rian?" Fuku asked as the edged their way into the auditorium and began to trek through it.

"In the cafeteria. I meant to go back, but… well, things happened."

Fuku said nothing in reply as Sadie took the lead to check around corners without having a lime light signal her presence, forcing Fuku to hang back until gestured to advance by Sadie.

The girls progressed through the front entrance, through a hall, and down a flight of stairs to the bottom floor, the cafeteria found through a couple more winding halls. Papers were strewn about haphazardly, lockers busted open, classroom doors hanging off their hinges… it almost seemed like a siege had taken place. Or perhaps the Messiah had cleared out the school and just tore the place up looking for any of their targets. It didn't seem too far-fetched if the Messiah believed any of them had holed up here- which increased her worry, as that was exactly what she'd done with Rian.

The cafeteria fared no better than the rest of the school. Windows were shattered, some tables were smashed or flipped, even cafeteria food and garbage lay scattered about. Sadie could feel her heart sink into her stomach at the sight as she turned her gaze to the far corner of the room where she'd left Rian. It was too dark to actually see there, so with bated breath, she led Fuku toward it to find it was empty. "Damnit…" She let out in a whisper, turning away and placing her hand over her eyes, shielding them from view, something she had done since her childhood, unaware that she was trying to conceal her emotions out of embarrassment.

"He's not here, is he?" Fuku asked, though the tone of her voice made it clear she knew the answer.

Regardless, Sadie shook her head. "No. He isn't. If he is, he's… I dunno… we can search the closets and classrooms. Maybe the boiler room."

"That… probably won't be necessary," Fuku replied quietly, "maybe he escaped. Went home?"

Sadie paused, sniffing before she wiped at her eyes. "Maybe," she sighed, "we should go. The Messiah could be monitoring this place."

With that, they began to make their way back out, back-tracking toward the hole in the auditorium. Sadie tried not to look around the room itself, feeling extremely uncomfortable at simply being within, but her unease didn't fade when they got outside. The revving of motorcycle engines were echoing off the surrounding skyscrapers. Just great.

Sadie and Fuku darted back into the theater, taking cover behind a part of the wall that wasn't demolished. Sadie turned her head to look at her companion. "Can't we put sunglasses on you or something?" She hissed. Fuku looked around, but alas, no conveniently-placed sunglasses littered the floor.

"Just… hide further in," Sadie advised, "I'll make sure we're not spotted."

Fuku obliged, heading to the corner of the auditorium as Sadie peaked around the broken wall. Almost on cue, the engines grew louder as beams of light cut through the starless night, and a series of motorcycles revved into view. She expected them to keep going, but they actually started to slow down at the parking lot of the school before coming to a stop. A few street lights revealed somebody standing out there that she somehow hadn't noticed before.

Sadie felt her blood boil at the sight of Krashna. He looked perfectly fine- no casts, no bruises, and that smug smirk on his face. It's almost like he hadn't been given a beatdown and hit by a freakin' car!

What was more? Krishna was flanked by two people dressed as law enforcement officers. If there were any doubts before, they were now proven wrong. The VCPD were clearly in league with the Messiah. They were too far away, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but words were definitely being exchanged. One of the gang members, the leader presumably, was talking to Krashna, before Krashna replied. After a few more exchanges, the motorcycles revved back to life before peeling away and disappearing into the night as quickly as they came.

As for Krashna? She'd somehow failed to see where he'd gone. Either the kid was quick, could turn invisible, could fly, or just teleport. None of those seemed preferable in her situation. Without being able to see where he was, she felt like he was about to sneak up on them like this was some kind of horror movie. She'd seen the trope too many times before.

"What's going on?" Fuku called with a whisper. Sadie tore her eyes away from the parking lot and looked toward the fire monster, gesturing for her to come over.

"Krashna was out there." She whispered in response. "He was talking to the gang. I think it's safe to say they're working together. Police is helping too. I dunno where he went, but if we're gonna leave, we need to go fast."

"Wait, Krashna is still here?" Fuku asked, eyes growing a little larger. "Yeah. Come on. Sprint on the count of three." Sadie replied.

"One…"

"Two…"

Three didn't come as Sadie's voice trailed off, staring into the parking lot. Fuku looked at her in confusion, before following her gaze. Instead of Krashna staring back at them, it was the creepy little boy from before, just watching them from afar. "This kid's gonna give me nightmares, I swear."

"Think he could be with the Messiah?" Fuku muttered. Sadie shrugged. "I don't know. He could be. Let's assume we can outrun him. Three."

"I think he's just worried." Terrence responded to a question Gregory had asked. The both of them were seated at the bar, drinking water that Greg had poured for them, as Grillby refused to touch the stuff. They were currently discussing the fiery bartender, who had retreated to the back room once again as the boys sat there. It had been an hour since Sadie and Fuku had left, and Grillby seemed to be growing anxious.

"Why doesn't he go with them?" Greg asked. Terrence shrugged at this.

"Maybe so that he can watch over us? I mean, Sadie is still suspicious of you clearly, and even if that's not the case, we're both pretty injured. We're not exactly in any shape to be defending this place or out looting."

He could feel Greg shrug beside him. "I guess. I dunno what to say to her," he admitted. "I mean, I know that you're pretty cool with me right now for pulling through in the end, but like… it's still because of me that… Skeeter…"

"Hey." Terrence turned his face to look in Greg's direction. "It's not. At all. Sadie's wrong if she blames you for that. This is all on Krashna and the Messiah. If it hadn't been you to lure us out there, it would have just been someone else, so don't go moping because it's 'your fault'. It's not, dude. Skeeter's gone because of Krashna."

Gregory was silent for several moments, so Terrence took a sip of his water. Then another. Finally, Greg replied. "Thanks," his voice was quiet again, "that… means a lot, but… I still don't feel that great."

"Well, I mean… you still need to make it up to the others, but you're not the bad guy here," Terrence stated, "I don't know why the Messiah wanted you on their team, but if I had to guess? They think your SOUL must be powerful. I mean… you picked up on a lot of things I was teaching you way faster than me. You've clearly got potential, you just… don't believe it yet, I guess. But when it comes down to it? I'd rather have you on my team than not."

Greg gave a dry chuckle at this. "Yeah…" he sighed. "I guess. Still dunno how to talk to her."

"I can talk to her first, if you need. Warm her up- but you will need to be the one to convince her. Fuku too. Skeeter was her best friend her, like, whole life. Pretty sure she's a lot more upset about it than Sadie, she just hides it better."

They were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, the familiar ringing of the bell above jingling. "Took you guys long enough," Terrence called to them, turning his face in that general direction, but something was immediately wrong. He could just feel it. That, and Greg stiffening beside him.

"Actually, I think they'll take a bit longer." A cold voice responded. A voice he recognized.

"Krashna." He breathed through grit teeth, and could almost feel that smug, shit-eating grin on the kid's face.

"Correct. You're looking worse for wear. Did I scare the color out of those eyes or was that something I did last time? I'd ask for round 2, but I don't think you could even handle Gregory at this point." Krishna scoffed as the door closed behind him. "Well, with the fire bitch gone, my job is suddenly… too easy. I will admit, Terrence, I was somewhat worried about our second confrontation, but for obvious reasons those worries are long gone. Greg, got any baseball bats lying around? No? Well, you're next to useless then."

Neither of the boys said anything as footsteps sounded, Krashna drawing steadily nearer with each second. When neither Terrence nor Gregory spoke, Krashna continued.

"That's more like it. Fear. I love it. It made me so angry when you stood up to me. Nobody does that. Well, at least nobody that continues to live. You are no exception. Just know that your deaths will bring me… great joy. Say your prayers, weaklings."

"No," Terrence was surprised when Gregory spoke, and he could feel his friend leaving his seat. "We won-"

A crash echoed, and Terrence felt himself knocked to the ground. He couldn't see what Krashna had done, but considering the choking sound, he could only assume Krashna had a tendril wrapped around Greg's throat or something.

"Really? Seriously!? You're going to do that right after I just said that I liked it when you didn't retaliate? Are you trying to die the most painful way imaginable?"

"Man, you've gotta stop with the anime monologuing." Terrence said cheekily as he started to rise before he felt something slam into his side. For a moment, he was airborne until he hit the far wall of the bar & grill, wincing in pain. "SHUT UP!" Krashna yelled.

At that moment, a heat erupted in the room, and Terrence shielded his face. He knew it was probably Grillby, but he wasn't certain how well he could hold his own against Krashna in a one-on-one. Following this was a scream of pain, shattering glass, and a gasp of air. Krashna hurt, possibly flung through a window or jumping through one, and Greg being released, is all what Terrence assumed these sounds meant. Screw the meditation advantage, he hated being blind. This really sucked.

A yell came from outside, which sounded like Krashna. So he had been flung out the window. Glass crunching underfoot then sounded as the crackle of fire faded, Grillby clearly walking to the broken window as Gregory rushed to Terrence's side, grabbing him by the arm. "Come on, we need to bail."

"What about Grillby?"

"He's buying us time," Greg answered urgently, helping Terrence to his feet as Krashna began to scream incoherently at the stoic and quiet Grillby.

"What if he needs help?" Terrence asked as he allowed Gregory to pull him into the back room.

"Krashna already knows we can't do anything to him right now. You, maybe, if you weren't blind. Me? Not a chance."

"Then where are we even going?" Terrence asked.

"Anywhere that isn't here. Any safe places in mind?"

"Uh… maybe Gerson's."

The sound of battle came from the next room as they hobbled away from it. More glass shattering, yells, roaring fire, it sounded very chaotic and, to Terrence's genuine surprise, it seemed like Grillby was absolutely winning. That was until he heard laughter coming from Krashna and the sounds died down. His heart sank as they made their way through the back door and into an alley, the sounds fading behind.

"Sadie and Fuku," Terrence reminded his companion, "they'll be coming right back to a trap unless we find them first."

"What do you expect me to do? I'm trying to get us both to safety, and I'm pretty we're at the top of Krashna's kill list," Gregory asked breathlessly. He was clearly out-of-shape.

"I can't just… leave." Terrence pursed his lips.

"And you can't stay. We're in no condition for running or fighting, but one has a better survival chance than the other."

Terrence fell silent as he allowed Greg to lead him along, unsure of where they even were at this point. As much as he wanted to go back, he knew it was pointless. Krashna seemed back to full strength while he was still recovering and now blind. He'd just be throwing his life away if he tried anything he was wanting to.

"By Orion."

Sadie looked up from her backpack as Fuku breathed out the words when they rounded the corner. As the fire monster rushed forward, Sadie froze, eyes widening at the sight. The front of Grillby's was aflame, hot fire lashing out through the broken windows and open doorway, the door itself lying on the other side of the street. "Oh my God," Sadie added, essentially repeating Fuku's response. She followed after Fuku- but wasn't able to go much further when the monster girl disappeared into the fire. Through the smoke and flames, she could see the lime-colored head bobbing through it, no doubt searching for anybody- dead or otherwise.

So instead, Sadie backed up from the flames and heat, which were intense mind you. Casting a glance down either side of the street, she found nobody. She wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She'd decide that later, having a feeling that Krashna was involved in this. Seeing him earlier certainly wasn't just some coincidence. Had he been watching them all this time and only decided to strike now? She didn't know. Maybe she'd never know, but one thing was clear; somebody had found them out and there was a possibility that the others were now gone.

Gregory, she could stand to lose. Grillby, while she had no attachments to him, was Fuku's father, so obviously she cared, and Terrence had proven a good and valuable friend time after time. Being a mortal being made of flesh and bone, however, she could not investigate the immediate scene like Fuku, leaving Sadie to inspect their surroundings, plenty of light given by street lamps and the roaring fire.

Honestly, there wasn't a lot to take note of. Aside from strewn glass and an unhinged door, the street wasn't littered with anything of note- that is until she saw blood. Not much, and it was easy to miss, but she barely managed to catch it on the ground just a few feet from her. It wasn't much. She would have used her phone for light, but it had died yesterday and Grillby didn't have any chargers lying around. Crouching down, she narrowed her eyes at the splotch of drying blood. It wasn't completely dry, so it was clearly more recent. Sadie looked about to see if there was a trail, but she couldn't find anything.

Shaking her head, she stood back up and turned her gaze back to the bar & grill in time to see Fuku making her way out. Sadie quickly shielded her eyes when she noticed Fuku's clothing had been burned away by the inferno, though Fuku didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"They're not there. No bodies. My dad's not there, either," she informed.

"How can you tell? Don't monsters turn to dust?" Sadie asked, looking the other way.

"Not fire elementals," Fuku explained, "we get stronger in fire. What are you looking at?"

"You're uh… naked." Sadie replied.

Fuku glanced down at herself and shrugged. "Not really. Clothing just helps us have a more contained form. It's not like fire has body parts."

"Oh. Well… okay. Sorry. Just figured you should know," Sadie replied, still clearly too embarrassed to look at Fuku, who found this pointless.

"They're either abducted or captured. I can't really tell which."

"Oh, I found some blood on the ground," Sadie stated, gesturing to the spot. "I couldn't see a trail, but maybe your brighter light can show it, if there is one." At this, Fuku moved to where the smear of blood sat, frowning down at it before she looked about.

"Yeah, but the trail leads into the fire. So I… don't know… what should we do?"

"Find them, I guess. You said it yourself, fled or captured. Krashna has a vendetta for us, so I'm willing to bet they're alive. We just gotta figure out where they'd go to hide." Sadie paused, both girls beginning to mull it over.

"Maybe… crystal cave? It's out of the way, I bet Terrence would probably take them there." Fuku offered.

Sadie nodded. "Yeah, that seems pretty logical. I don't see your dad popping off any suggestions, and Greg… meh. So yeah, Terrence is probably calling the shots in terms of destination. If that's the case, they could have tried going to Gerson's, Frisk's, or even to the school to try and find us."

"Where to first, then?" asked Fuku.

Sadie tapped her chin in thought, glancing about again to make sure they were still alone. "Maybe… we should split up?" She asked. Fuku scoffed at that.

"That's a terrible idea."

"Okay, yes, but hear me out," Sadie replied, "we'll cover more ground, we'll be faster alone, and I can be stealthier without you, no offense."

"Well, I could put on a bunch of stuff to hide my light, but I get what you mean," Fuku nodded. "Okay, so we split up. Where would we go?"

"You go to crystal cave, and… uh… Gerson's. Both those are on the way. I could double back and check the school and head to Frisk's. Then, we rendezvous here. Or somewhere probably safer." Sadie suggested.

This time it Fuku's turn to mull it over, before she slowly nodded. "Okay. But while we're out and about, there's also your other plans. Rian's dad's and your place."

"Yeah. Those happen to be on the way, so… yeah," Sadie nodded. "I'll get to knock out a few birds with one stone. Did I use that phrase right?"

Fuku shrugged in reply, turning away to look down the blank street. "I'll see if I can find some clothes to conceal my light a bit. Splitting up seems like the best and worst option, but we don't really have a lot of choices, do we?"

"Not really, no." Sadie agreed. "Meet back here. Two days max. Sound good?" Fuku nodded in reply before she awkwardly stuck out her hand for a fistbump. "This isn't the A Team." Sadie rolled her eyes and made to hug the fire monster, before reeling back with a hiss. "Yow! Girl, turn down the heat!"

"Oops, sorry." Fuku apologized, the fire around her cheeks darkening. How that worked was beyond Sadie, but she'd seen Papyrus blush on live television, so if skeletons could do it… why not fire. "I had to acclimate to the fire there, it'll take a bit for my temp to drop. So… probably best I didn't bump your fist anyway." Fuku explained. "Take care of yourself. See you in two days. Max."

"Max." Sadie nodded in agreement, before turning and taking off down the way they'd come, unable to shake the feeling that splitting up really was as horrible of an idea as Fuku made it out to be.

Her trek back through the dark town to the high school was, thankfully, uneventful. No Messiah goons, corrupt officers, or giant biker dudes leaping out at her. No creepy little boys staring at her… as far as she could tell, at least. It was too dark to confirm that kind of thing. The uneventful journey was also a let-down of sorts. She hadn't encountered the other three yet, but that wasn't proof they hadn't come this way. Frisk's place was next on the list, as her place- and then Rian's -were even further from here.

So again, she moved on, reminding herself to find a real jacket soon as her teeth chattered ceaselessly while she hugged herself, shivering. It was creepy, walking through the streets alone at night, plus not all of the street lamps seemed to be turned on. Only certain streets seemed to have theirs activated, and she was beginning to theorize that the Messiah patrolled the dark streets while monitoring the lit ones. Just a working theory, but it was enough for her to slink along the edges of the lit streets. Being in total darkness didn't seem welcoming in the slightest, especially once she scared herself with her theory.

Frisk's house, well, Asgore's actually, was on one of the dark streets. She'd nervously sidled up to it to find the door blown off its hinges. A peek inside told her very little. It was simply far too dark to see anything, but from what she could make out, the living room was in shambles. There was no way anyone was here, and she was too paranoid to start calling out any names.

After a few minutes of loitering at the entrance, Sadie decided to borrow one of Frisk's jackets, feeling her way to the stairs and up them. She wondered if this was how Terrence felt. Probably accurate. She'd hate being blind, but he seemed to be taking it surprisingly well.

She'd been to Frisk's room a few times when the two had hung out. She'd never really had girlfriends before, as she usually just spent her time with Rian. Sure, she'd had opportunities, but there was something comforting about being around Frisk, and even Terrence. Admittedly, she'd felt similarly about Greg as well until recently. It was like they'd always been friends, even after they'd all just met.

Deciding to risk it, just in case, Sadie whispered Frisk's name into her dark room. No response. She wasn't sure how to feel about that, but felt her way to Frisk's closet and began to dig inside, eventually managing to grab something that felt heavy. Turns out, it was a winter coat, which was exactly what she'd been searching for. She was about to head out, before she felt inside again and pulled out another coat that she promptly stuffed into her backpack. It could come in handy.

With that, she left Asgore's house, and continued on her way, warming herself up inside of Frisk's winter coat, thankful she'd made that stop. Terrence, Gregory, and Grillby probably hadn't come out here, it seemed, which left their discovery up to Fuku for now. It was time for Sadie to learn the fate of her family.

Her house, like Frisk's, was on a dark street. The first thing that made Sadie hopeful of a happy outcome to this was the fact that the lights in her house were on, shining dimly through curtains that covered the windows. Eagerly, her pace quickened as she made her way up the drive and to the front door. Quickly, her knuckles wrapped against the door. A bump on wood sounded from within, and there were several moments of tense waiting she endured before the lock slowly unlatched, and the door started to slowly open.

She'd been expecting her mother, but instead it was the face of her younger sister staring back through the crack in the entryway. "Sissy?" she asked after a moment.

"Val? You're okay," Sadie let out a breath in relief as her sister flung the door open and jumped into her older sister's arms. Sadie held her tightly against her. "I've missed you so so so much," she smiled, unable to keep her eyes from watering. She hadn't let it on all that much, but she had been worried beyond belief for them, more than anything else. "Is everyone okay?" She asked after a few more moments when the hug finally parted. Val, short for Valorie, nodded.

"Yeah. Mya and Ash are inside but we don't know where mom is."

There it was. A reason for Sadie's blood to run cold. Eyes widening somewhat, she stared back at her younger sister. "She's not… when did you last see her?"

"She never came home when people got angry on the streets." Val informed. She was talking about the rioters when Obaseki had made his announcement.

"Oh my God…" she breathed, before shaking her head, glancing nervously behind her. "Come on, let's go inside," Sadie urged.

The Brexin family was, put simply, identical. Sadie was often complimented for her mother's likeness, but it became borderline freaky when you put the family all together. They all had the same mousy dirty blonde hair, the same cyan-colored eyes, the same pale skin, and even the same snarky-looking smiles. Well, that wasn't entirely honest. Ash was the exception in eye color, as hers were simply grey and colorless. Sadie, like her sisters, never knew their father. That might seem hard to believe, considering the age differences, Sadie being sixteen, Val being eleven, Ash being seven and Mya being five, but it was simply the truth. It baffled Sadie, even, who felt like she should have at least seen her father or the father of her sister's over the years. It simply made no sense, yet was fact. So they lived with it. Their mother was usually out late and long, working lengthy shifts at the hospital, so Sadie had primarily been the one to raise her siblings while their mother worked. Now, knowing that they'd been alone for at least three days… this was worrying.

Sadie entered, locking the door behind her as Val watched. "Where are the others?" Sadie asked. At this, Val gave her a toothy smile.

"I put them to bed!" she stated proudly. This was enough to make Sadie smile right back.

"Really?" she knelt down, smiling warmly at her younger sibling. "Thanks for watching after them, Val. I'm sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

Val shrugged at this, before she made her way into the living room. Sadie's eyes scanned over the place, which seemed generally clean. Not too surprising, she and her siblings had always been pretty consistent with chores. The front door led to the entrance hall, which branched to the right into the living room. Further ahead, it branched left to the stairs, and straight ahead it opened up into the kitchen/dining room. The kitchen then led into the laundry room, one of the bathrooms, and the garage. Upstairs, it was a simple hall that branched into four bedrooms and a bathroom. Sadie had her own room, her mother had her own, the three girls had a third, and the fourth room was a guest room, usually reserved for Rian even though he and Sadie usually stuck to the same room, so the guest room had naturally become a playroom for the girls.

Sadie looked toward Val, who had seated herself on the khaki-colored couch, television remote in hand, watching some cartoon Sadie didn't recognize. She decided to check up on the others in the meantime, and made her way quietly up the stairs, into the second floor hall, and down to her sister's room. Quietly, she pushed the door open a bit and peered inside. The light from the hall cast upon the sleeping faces of her youngest siblings, and Sadie smiled again. This was a huge step up from her usual luck as of late.

Her mother missing was pretty worrying, though. While it didn't seem like many people had died in the initial panic, there had been deaths. She just hoped her mother wasn't one of those. Making her way back downstairs, Sadie entered the living room, rotating her aching wrist as she went. It was feeling pretty good about now, so maybe it hadn't been seriously sprained. Or maybe she was just used to the pain.

"Hey Val. Has Rian or Jerry stopped by?" Sadie asked. Valorie looked away from the television, frowning.

"No. The phones won't work either, I tried calling them."

"Yeah, mine doesn't work, too." Sadie nodded. "Look, can you stay here a bit longer? I need to go to Rian's place and see if they're okay. I'll come right back. Promise."

Valorie didn't seem particularly thrilled at Sadie leaving, especially having just arrived, but she gave a nod. Sadie smiled back at her. "Don't worry. I won't be gone long,"

With that, Sadie plugged in her phone and left it to charge as she made her way back outside, having Valorie lock the door behind her before she continued on her merry way. One last stop, though she wasn't sure about how she was going to meet up with Fuku now. Once she came back, she knew she wasn't going to be keen on just leaving her sisters defenseless here. She hadn't thought this far ahead into this particular scenario.

She could deal with that then, however. Right now, she needed to see if Jerry was okay, and if he'd seen his son.

"It's dark," Gregory's sentence hung in the air for several moments before he let out an apologetic cough. "...sorry."

Terrence shrugged in response as he leaned against the wall. "Doesn't this place have like… a vending machine or something? I could really go with a root beer right now."

"I can look around. Don't go anywhere." The sound of Greg's shoes scuffing against the ground could be heard.

"I'll be halfway to China when you get back," Terrence replied. With that, Gregory wandered off.

The two of them were currently holed up in a bowling alley, the trek proving dangerous when the rev of motorcycles forced them to take cover and cease their journey to Gerson's. Greg hadn't seen the name when shoving Terrence in here, so when asked, his response was 'dunno'. It felt like that was almost always the response to most questions these days.

If he had to guess, they were in Owen's Alley, which was the only bowling alley on this side of town. As far as he knew, anyway. It obviously wasn't the hiding place of anyone else, considering Greg's earlier comment on lighting, and the fact that they hadn't run into anyone. With his only companion out searching for vending machines, or anything else hopefully, Terrence was left to his thoughts. Without visual distractions, he figured he'd be spending more time with his thoughts than ever.

In truth, he was worried out of his mind. He could be optimistic and hold out hope all the livelong day, but deep down, he felt incredibly hopeless. It had only been them in Grillby's. Nobody knew where anyone was. For all he knew, they were the only survivors. That… wasn't all too likely, but it wasn't impossible. Then Fuku and Sadie went off and never came back. Then he and Greg had to ditch Grillby as he fought Krashna… he began to grow a bit fearful that Greg wouldn't come back, that is until he heard a pathetic bang followed by a shameful 'ow' from the other room. Seemed he'd found a vending machine, probably tried to kick it open. It was just the two of them right now. Could anybody else even be alive?

He decided to shove his fears and doubts for now. It might take a bit for Greg to get whatever snacks or drinks were in the vending machine, so he opted to do a little meditation. Gerson had once told him to meditate as frequently as possible. It helped with healing of all types, alongside strengthening the connection to the SOUL. He had yet to see these results, but he trusted his mentor. Hadn't failed him yet.

Letting his body go lax, Terrence immediately found his comfort zone, a feeling of weightlessness drifting over him, the world seeming to fade into the background, before out of existence. All he could feel was his heart beating softly against his chest. Then he saw something.

It wasn't a vision like last time. It wasn't Krashna. Instead, he could see some… weird… shape? He couldn't quite make it out. It appeared, then disappeared as quickly as it came, washing through his field of view like a shockwave. It appeared again, this time more clearly, and it seemed to almost… outline his surroundings?

The shockwave appeared once again, this time accompanied by the crash of breaking glass, yanking him from his meditative state. He could feel his eyes were widen as his heart hammered against his chest now. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed.

"Relax, it was just the vending machine," Greg called back.

"No, I know! I saw it!" Terrence shouted, a smile stretching over his face as he started to climb to his feet, wincing as his leg didn't really like this.

"Saw?" Greg's voice replied.

"Yeah! Dude, I'm Daredevil!"

"Well, like, what did you see?" Greg asked.

"Hang on. Let me try again." Terrence needlessly closed his eyes and tried to focus again… but he got nothing. "Maybe I can only… do it when I'm meditating?"

"You were meditating during that?" Greg sounded a little impressed as he now neared Terrence with a limp. "Here, it's not root beer, but it's better," Terrence felt the bottle of water press against his hand, and he accepted it.

"Thanks. How'd you break the glass, anyway? Your leg's just as broken as mine."

"I had to use a stool," Greg answered, his water bottle crinkling as he opened it, "accidentally used my leg first." The both of them took drinks of their water as Terrence mulled over his experience. Perhaps his blindness could be overcome. If he could see vibrations like he'd just done earlier… it wasn't like he'd see colors again, maybe not even details, but he wasn't helplessly blind. He could use echolocation or something. Well, that's if he could figure out how to do that again.

"So, you like-" Greg started to speak before a bang sounded from somewhere within the building, and the both of them froze. Immediately, Greg grabbed Terrence's arm and began to lead him somewhere, no words shared. They both knew the drill; hide.

They both limped along before they came to a stop, Greg fumbling with a doorknob before he hissed 'locked' under his breath and continued to drag Terrence along. They once again came to a stop to find another locked door. Footsteps sounded behind them, and Terrence was beginning to wonder if Krashna had finally found them when they finally got to a third door that actually opened, and Terrence was shoved inside before Greg followed him.

The door shut behind them, and Terrence felt around for a moment. It was some kind of closet, he had to assume, considering the room was pretty small, and he found what he assumed to be a vacuum cleaner. "Can you see him?" Terrence whispered. Greg shushed him in response. Pursing his lips, Terrence leaned against the wall, twiddling his thumbs for a moment as he lightly tapped his foot against the ground rapidly, unsure of what they could do. If that door opened, and it was Krashna? That was it. Jig was up. No coming back from that, surely.

Sliding down against the floor, Terrence decided to try something, taking advantage of the silence and once again, let himself drift into his meditative state.

The world remained dark, however. He couldn't see- no, wait. He could. It was faint, but he could. Terrence focused on what he was seeing, and that seemed to amplify it. The pace of it, the way it appeared, it was the footsteps of the person outside, soft echoes and vibrations bouncing off the world, and colliding with the door. He could barely make out the outline of Greg in front of the door, his ear pressed against it. The door appeared pretty clearly, outlined in white, and the person behind it, he could see too, though even less so than Greg.

Terrence focused on the intruder, trying to make him clearer as well. He was tall. Well, taller than Krashna, so it couldn't be him. Somewhat thin, but… that was all he could really make out. What he really paid attention to, however, was the fact that the figure was walking straight toward their hiding place, face staring in their direction.

Terrence pulled himself from the meditation, the world returning to an emptiness as he slowly climbed to his feet. "He knows we're here." He whispered to Greg, though he got no response. "Greg."

"I heard," the boy replied with a hiss, "what can we do about it?"

"If he opens the door, I'll… hit it." Terrence replied. "With some SOUL magic. Mine's pretty strong, so I could blast the door off and knock this guy out."

"Are you sure?" Greg questioned, earning an unseen nod from Terrence, who quickly realized this.

"Yes."

The footsteps came to a stop at the door, and the both of them grew quiet. He could slightly hear Greg backing away from the door, before the knob started to turn. Terrence acted quickly, summoning his SOUL power before thrusting his arm out. A crash sounded, alongside a yelp of surprise. Fresh air gusted in, signifying the door was open, or off its hinges. "Did I get him?"

"Yeah! Let's get out of here." Greg urged, grabbing Terrence's arm before the sound of wood clashing against wood sounded, accompanied by a groan. The man was getting back up. He could feel Greg freeze beside him. "He's Messiah." The boy breathed to Terrence, who once again summoned his SOUL magic, intending on slamming it in their opponent's general direction.

"Wait!" the man replied. "Don't attack, I'm not here to hurt you!"

"You're with the Messiah." Gregory retorted, and Terrence let his energy surge forth. It sounded like it hit the man, but he didn't hear a body hit the floor or the wall, or a grunt of pain. Gregory's body tensed, instead. What had this Messiah goon done to the blast of magic?

"I was. Not any more," the man assured. "I heard glass shatter and came to see if you were okay. I am working with a monster to save people from the Messiah."

This made Terrence frown. "You're not lying?"

The next voice that answered came from further down the hall. A voice Terrence immediately recognized. "He ain't lyin'. I'm with him."

"Gerson!" Terrence called out, relief backing his voice. He could feel Gregory relax slightly beside him.

"How're you, youngun?" Gerson asked, the clicks of his claws against the tile floor sounding as he hobbled his way toward them.

"Blind, but alive." Terrence answered.

"Blind, eh? What happened to ya?"

"We were nearly killed by Krashna," Gregory answered.

"You survived an encounter with Krashna?" Mosu asked. He sounded impressed.

"Barely." Terrence replied. "It was six to one. He killed one of us, maybe more. Now it's just me and Greg."

"Greg and I." Greg corrected, seemingly out of habit.

"Okay, Rian," Terrence replied.

"We've got a place where everyone's stayin'." Gerson informed them. "Undyne's leadin' it. Just about every monster is holed up there, 'longside our allies. Mosu's not the only defecting Messiah member. We've got two others."

"And Frisk?" Terrence asked eagerly.

"And Frisk." Gerson confirmed.

"We were separated from Grillby, Fuku, and Sadie. Have you seen them?" Gregory asked.

"Can't say we have. We haven't really found anybody all day until Mosu heard one of you shattering glass or somethin'." Gerson stated. "Broken legs, eh? I can take care of that."

"Allow me." Came Mosu's reply.

"Mosu, you know that'll-" Gerson began, but the ex-Messiah lieutenant interrupted him.

"Your magic will only accelerate the healing. Mine can complete it."

Gerson said nothing else as a warmness suddenly overcame Terrence. A pain roared up his leg, before two snaps sounded in the air and both teen boys let out a cry of pain- which vanished entirely.

"Whoa." Greg was the first to speak. "It's like it was never broken. How'd you do that?"

"My SOUL is of Balance. I have been trained in accelerated healing that most magic is not capable of." Mosu explained simply, and Terrence moved his leg around for a moment, before he peeled off the cast.

"Dang. I need to learn how to do that. Can it cure blindness?"

"Only if your nerves haven't already configured themselves." Mosu answered. A warmness overcame Terrence once again… but the world did not return. "Can you see?" Mosu asked.

Terrence shook his head. "Blindness sucks," he replied.

"Cry me a river. Let's get you to the hideout," Gerson said, "it'll be light soon, we'll need to be quick about it."

"You take them," Mosu told Gerson, "I'll keep searching for their missing friends."

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" Gerson asked. "Grillby is a fire monster, yes? His daughter is Fuku. Sadie is human." Mosu answered.

"Well, that's enough to go off of," Gerson replied, "come on, boys. Let's get out of here."

This street happened to be lit, which made her a bit uneasy considering her theory. Sadie clung along the rows of houses, avoiding being directly under any light source she could, nearly having a heart attack when one house had a pair of motion sensor lights cast down upon her, prompting the girl to take off faster than she'd ever run before, or at least in recent memory.

Eventually she could finally see Rian's house. His dad's house, really, but who the hell referred to their friend's houses by that friend's parent's name?

Slinking her way along the shadows, Sadie finally came to a stop at the house adjacent from her destination. Being this close now, she could see a light on inside. No warm orange glows from ceiling lights or lamps, but the electric blue of a television. Hoping beyond hope that it was Rian's dad watching football or something, Sadie quickly sprinted her way across the street, doing what she could to remain as invisible as before, and finally arrived at the front door.

Glancing behind her, she saw that nothing was following her or chasing her down. Yet. Quickly, her knuckles rapped against the door. After five knocks, she paused, listening. Not a sound. Biting her lower lip in anticipation, she rapped her knuckles against the door again, longer this time.

Again, she paused. Maybe he was asleep. Yeah, that was probably it. Yet as she reached for the door handle, it turned before she could touch it, and the door swung open. The first thing she saw was the barrel of a sawed-off shotgun pointed directly at her nose. Sadie's eyes widened as she raised her arms, trying to find words such as 'wait' and 'don't shoot' but all she could do was stammer stupidly at the barrel, before it pulled back. The wielder of the weapon was Jerry, Rian's dad. She felt relief wash over her as he beckoned her in, a cigarette in his mouth.

Jerry was looking worse for wear, though she shouldn't be all that surprised. Everyone probably was. He usually wore a letterman jacket over his white t-shirts, his beer belly popping out somewhat, a toupee wig to cover his growing bald spot, and was often clean-shaven, wearing cargo jeans. Right now, however, his letterman was draped over a nearby armchair in the kitchen which doubled as a dining room and connected with the living room, the stairs between the two of them leading up to the second floor.

His toupee was missing, his white shirt was stained with beer and what she could only deem as blood, and he had a massive bandage covering one side of his face, which was also stained with blood.

"I was worried about you," Jerry breathed, setting the shotgun aside and embracing her in a tight hug. Normally, she would have been happy to hug him back, but he was looking as though he might fall apart at any moment. His grip proved otherwise.

Jerry was like a father to her, and one she'd always needed, as she'd never known her own. She went so far as to call him dad sometimes, though usually when she was asking nicely for something. Jerry had no qualms with it.

"Yeah, me too. About you," Sadie grunted out through his tight squeeze of a hug, before he let her go and she recaptured her breath. "What happened to you? Looks like you fought a lion or something."

Jerry chuckled lightly at this, wiping away a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Some idjits attacked me, one of 'em was a kid. Barely got away with Ri."

"He's here?" Sadie asked, her pitch raising slightly at the question. She'd been hoping beyond hope… Jerry's nod confirmed it.

"Yep. He texted me about what happened, and I went to the school to get him. That's when I got attacked, but we made it out."

Sadie let out a sigh of relief she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Rian was alive. She looked into the living room to find the television was playing Obaseki's message still, the screen appearing to have been assaulted with bits of food and drink, also sporting a few new cracks. "Where is he?" Sadie asked.

"In his room. Don't wake him right now, he's still resting. I patched him up as best as I could but… ah, I'm not Gwen," when he mentioned Sadie's mother, his brows creased in clear worry. "Is she okay?"

"I… I'm not sure." Sadie replied. "I went and checked on my sisters, but they've been alone since it all happened. Mom never came back from the hospital."

Jerry cursed under his breath at this. "Figured as much," he stated, "tried callin' her, but it just went to voicemail. I woulda tried goin' to your place, but I've been seein' these shady people watching my house dressed like the people who attacked me. So… you know… I've just been tryin' not to go stir-crazy while I tend to my son."

It had crossed her mind that the Messiah were probably scoping out the house, as well as maybe hers, but for some reason neither places had been attacked yet. She wasn't sure why, but… perhaps it was because they were human. As long as the monster sympathizers weren't getting in their way…

Sadie shook her head. That didn't help with any theories about her mother's absence, however. At least now she knew that Rian and Jerry were alive and okay. She couldn't stay here long, though. Now she had a new destination in mind.

Turning to Jerry, she eyed him carefully. He had glanced out of the window at least a dozen times since she'd arrived. He was paranoid, and rightly so. "Just stay here." She advised him. "I don't think the Me- that those people will do anything if you stay put. They're only targeting monsters. I'm pretty sure, at least." She hadn't told him the name of the cult because she didn't have time to explain all of that right now, though maybe Rian would fill him in, if he already hadn't.

"You leavin' already?" Jerry asked, appearing anxious. Sadie gave him a brief nod.

"Yeah. Just keep Rian safe, I've… got a lot I need to do." With that, she turned back to the door. Jerry looked about to argue for a moment, but he didn't, instead giving her a 'good luck' as she left his house.

Her sisters had stayed alive and okay through this mess for three, going on four days now, they could hold out a little longer without her. She needed to find her mom now, above all else. Rian was safe, Jerry was safe, her sisters were safe, and she still had a day and a half until she needed to meet up with Fuku. She just hoped her good luck would hold out, and that her mother wasn't…

Sadie shook the thought from her head, and began to walk, feeling a bit more confident at her latest theory of the Messiah's targeting habits, which showed as she didn't seem to mind the lights much anymore.

A dim light began to stretch across the horizon, one he could not see, and Terrence realized just how tired he felt. Absolutely exhausted. Greg seemed to be even more exhausted than he felt, with stumbling steps, he seemed about ready to pass out.

Not many words were shared along the way due to their tiredness, outside of Gerson giving them little blurbs of information here or there, things like 'Mosu, as he said, has a SOUL of Balance, good one too', 'I now have 117 scars on my shell exactly, each one has a story', and 'Undyne doesn't like Mosu much, but at least she's stopped tryin' to kill him'.

The general story of what was going on was detailed by Gerson and Mosu dropping some heavy exposition. Essentially, one of the defecting Messiah lieutenants directed the monsters to an abandoned Messiah base close to the outside of town, the entrance hidden in some old subway. Undyne had been acting as the go-between for the base and the outside, Gerson and Mosu bringing her survivors that she would take back to the base while also spending her time searching for others. Allegedly, everyone else was there. Or at least, most everyone else.

Terrence was just happy to learn that Frisk was alive and safe, and that Gerson was still kicking. The old turtle really could do a lot more than he looked. He probably did a lot more than he should, come to think of it.

"So, let me get this straight," Terrence said, rubbing his tired, blind eyes, "we were all attacked, targeted, for reasons. Krashna went after, well, us." He gestured in Gregory's direction. "Mosu and this… Mom chick-"

"Mióm." Mosu corrected.

"Right," Terrence snapped a finger gun in Mosu's direction, "that's what I said. So you went to kill Gerson, but you didn't do it because of honor or something. So what about the other lieutenants? Other targets?" Terrence asked.

Mosu cleared his throat, following this was a lengthy pause. "I… failed to memorize it, but I'll recount as best I can," he stated. "Warmth, the lieutenant who bested Undyne in combat, was tasked with the robot and the skeleton."

"Tall or short."

"Tall."

"So Mettaton and Papyrus," Terrence nodded. "Did they win?"

"Mostly. Papyrus is at the base, as is Mettaton's… corpse." Mosu explained, and Terrence bit his tongue. Yikes, but Alphys could just rebuild it, right? That's what she'd done when Mettaton had been destroyed the first time, though he'd been told Mettaton's new body was far more durable, so if the Messiah could tear through that… maybe Mettaton couldn't be built impervious to damage. He was assuming it had been torn apart, though, he'd learn when he got there, Mosu continuing.

"Truck was tasked with Undyne, he's one of the defectors. I was told he went to help her the moment he left HQ. After him was… Trickster, targeting Alphys and the prisoners. That failed as well," Mosu paused, clearing his throat again. "Which is… surprising. Trickster is one of the most efficient members of the Messiah. This is probably her first failure. All of her targets survived, I'm told. I believe the last was Demon, who was targeting Frisk and Asgore."

"Asgore's still kickin'." Gerson stated. "A bit shaken like I haven't seen before, but he'll pull through. Always has, always will." Well. That was everything eating away at Terrence. Well, almost everything. There was still Sadie, Fuku, and Rian to worry about. Marcus and the Jade House, all the kids there, but aside from Frisk's human friends, the Messiah didn't seem to be much into targeting humans. Or maybe he was wrong and the silence on these streets wasn't due to people hiding inside.

"Ah. Here we are." Terrence bumped into Mosu, who'd stopped in front of him. They both apologized to each other as Terrence re-oriented his surroundings, wishing he could see where they were.

"So… where's 'here'?" he asked.

"The meeting place with Undyne. Now we just gotta wait for her to show up."

"Don't more people need to be found?" Terrence asked.

"Old geezer's like me need sleep, too, you know," Gerson replied, and Terrence folded his arms, shifting on his feet.

"But… Sadie and Fuku. And Rian. I know they're all still out there."

"Relax." Mosu spoke. "I can go find them while you rest here. You fine with that, Gerson?"

Gerson's response was a grunt of acknowledgement. With that, Mosu left, and silence befell the group again, until Greg spoke. "Are you sure Mosu is… one of us? What if he-"

"Suspicions granted, Mosu risked life and limb for me, someone he didn't even know. He's got a good heart. I trust him."

That was enough for Terrence to accept Mosu. Greg made no reply. The silence continued for what felt like an eternity- which equated to about 30 seconds in real-time. That was when he heard the crunch of gravel. It sounded… distant. It hadn't been Gerson or Greg, unless one of them had wandered off.

"You guys still here?"

Both confirmed. Oh boy. "Is… Mosu still here?"

He wasn't. Oh boy.

"Then we got company." Terrence informed them. "How can you-" Gerson was cut off when a bang sounded. It was incredibly loud, forcing the teen to cover his ears instinctively, wincing at the sound. A gunshot, there was no doubt about it. To top that all off… he could feel a sharp pain in his side.

What followed was chaos that Terrence was unable to follow. Screaming, gunshots, thuds, and other various noises he wasn't singling out. They were under attack, clearly, and it took him a moment to realize he'd collapsed on the ground. His side was burning with a pain he'd never experienced before. Just his luck. He'd been shot. Copper stung his mouth, something he was already growing accustomed to tasting. If he could see, he was sure the world would be spinning. The fighting seemed to be near him, and he felt water droplets splash his face a few times. Gerson, probably. Or… blood.

Then he felt rough arms grab his legs. He could feel the concrete scrape at his back, ripping apart his shirt as he was dragged. It was becoming more and more difficult to focus, he couldn't… couldn't…

…

The sun was rising. Dark corners to skirt around were becoming less frequent, but the motorcycle gang or gangs seemed to have turned in. On a normal day, Voxis would usually be waking soon. It had been a bit surprising when she'd first moved down here. This place was so different from the usual spots. The people here had stronger American accents opposed to the German accents she'd grown around. The city seemed to go to sleep and wake with the sun. It was a strangely magical place, only amplified by the presence of monsters.

The first one she'd seen had been a rabbit monster, a smaller one hopping along after her. Siblings? Parent and child? She didn't know. She hadn't really been concerned with it, instead unable to take her eyes off of them. They were so different… unique… she wanted to meet more. She wanted to see more of them. Sure, she'd watched plenty of Mettaton's shows, but meeting a monster in-person was more interesting and gratifying than through a screen.

She would never have realized that she'd be friends with one. That her best friend would date one. That she'd care so much for one that she'd just met that… it'd still sting to think about her. Sadie shook her head. Skeeter was such a cool chick. Somebody Sadie could see herself being close friends with for… well, forever. To meet such a bullshit end was…

She shook her head. Krashna would pay for it. He had to, right? Monsterkind couldn't just find their end here, right? Sadie knew more about their history now thanks to Frisk. Monsterkind had been struggling for as long as they'd been around. They deserved a break.

They'd win in the end… right?

She hoped so.

The hospital was in sight, and Sadie didn't feel like running. She felt just… exhausted, silently begging the universe that her mother was here. That everything would work out. That the Messiah would fall, and that peace could resume. Everything seemed to have taken a downward spiral after the bombing of Garden High, but she'd come to Voxis as a result, still sticking with her best friend.

And now, disaster had struck again, but this time it was far bigger than a school bombing, which was already massive in-of itself.

Krashna had to go down. He'd been behind Stai- Caul's motives. Why Krashna did it, she didn't know. She didn't really care either. He'd taken so much innocence from her that day.

Then, to attack them, to kill Skeeter…

Nothing would satisfy her more than to bash the kid's skull in. It was better than what he deserved, honestly… okay, dark thought, but she just needed to vent her anger out. Sooner, preferably.

Sadie came to a stop at the front entrance of the hospital, bushes making up either side of the wide sidewalk to form a distinct walkway to the front door. Rubbing at her stiff fingers for a moment, Sadie stepped forward, but wasn't able to take that next step, pausing in place. She was nervous. Scared at what she may find. The hospital was looking deserted, and if her mother wasn't there, then there was hope. And if she was? Well… judging from black blood stains that lined some of the walls inside, it was clear that something had gone horribly wrong.

Taking a deep breath, the teen stowed her fears, and continued.

The hospital was more than abandoned. It was a mess. Papers and files scattered the floors, bullet holes could be found in just about every room, alongside more old blood stains. The Messiah or someone had clearly been shooting people here, but why? It didn't make any sense. What would they have to gain? Alongside that, she couldn't see any bodies. The idea of her mom being here was seeming less and less likely by the second. Still, Sadie found herself continuing her search, making her way up to the fourth floor now.

Just like the last three, it was a deserted mess, though there were distinctly less bullet holes and blood. That could be a step up. She wandered down the hall, feet beginning to drag along the ground, picking up papers as she went. She was too tired for this. Physically, emotionally, mentally… maybe she could just find an unused room and catch a few z's. Couldn't hurt, right? With that thought settled in her mind, Sadie immediately moved to a door on her right and pushed it open to find the room was a mess. Nope. She moved on to the next door, finding the same results.

After searching for a few more minutes and a few more rooms, she finally found one that looked practically untouched, save for a gurney that had been shoved inside. Relief overcame her as she immediately wandered to the bed, forgetting to close the door behind her as she plopped down face-first onto it. It wasn't the most comfortable bed in the world, but it was more than enough to indulge her fantasy of sleeping.

And slowly, the world drifted away…

She secretly hoped she wouldn't wake up.

…

How long had it been?

Sadie sat up, blinking at the bright light streaming into the room, a small drool spot staining the bed. She reached for her phone before remembering its current status back home. Turning, Sadie looked out of the open doorway. Everything remained as still and quiet as ever. She felt stupid at letting herself fall asleep like that, cursing at herself under her breath. The least she could have done was close the door in case the Messiah came snooping around.

Whatever. Nothing had happened, she was still alive, everything was a-okay.

That is until she remembered why she was here in the first place; her mother.

Sadie doubted her mom was here. In fact, she was certain her mother was a victim of the Messiah. One of the blood stains on the wall or floor probably belonged to her. Yet even so, Sadie found herself getting ready to continue her search of the hospital. She had to at least hold onto that tiny glimmer of hope within that her mother was okay. That she was alive.

The search continued, all the way until she reached the end of the flight of stairs on the thirteenth floor. Another set of stairs led to the roof, but she'd check there later. Sadie wandered down the halls, idly checking through the room, growing immune to the sight of blood. Still no bodies. Still no survivors. This place had been wiped clean.

That is until Sadie perked up, her muscles tensing as her eyes widened. A noise, something like a bang of sorts, which had echoed to her from the stairwell. Someone was here, but how far down were they? Desperation nearly took hold, but Sadie had to forcefully keep herself from calling out her mother's name. As if that was her anyway. She needed to be cautious and ready. For all she knew, it could be the Messiah. Straining her ears, she listened for anything else. Seconds passed by, turning into minutes, and she was about to continue before she heard something else. A familiar sound, like a foot dragging lightly over the ground. It was barely detectable, and she realized that somebody was probably slowly sneaking up the stairs.
Trying to be as stealthy as possible, Sadie looked about for a moment before she saw an ajar door nearby, and quickly darted inside. It appeared to be a surgery room of some kind, a shower curtain separating her from the other side of the pitch black room.

Doubting anything was in here to scare her, Sadie kept the door cracked as she peeked out, staring in the direction of the stairwell. Once more, seconds passed by, turning into minutes, before she finally saw something, confirming to herself that wasn't going crazy and hearing things.

It appeared to be a man, a ski mask pulled over his face. She'd heard from her friends that the low-ranking Messiah goons wore ski masks, but it could just be some guy. Well, the automatic rifle in his hands said otherwise. She could barely hear his footsteps as he made his way slowly down the hall, his eyes darting about. He was looking for her.

Pulling back, Sadie maintained a steady breathing pace as she looked about in the dark for a weapon, finding nothing through sight alone. There had to be a better way of doing this… that was when she got the idea.

The Messiah goon's head swiveled to the cracked-open door when a metallic clang sounded from inside. His grip tightened on his weapon as he began to make his way toward it. When he reached the door, he stopped to listen, hearing nothing more.

Using the barrel of his rifle, he pushed the door into the surgery room open. Some light spilled in, but not enough to illuminate everything. With a click, a flashlight attached to the rifle switched on, its beam cutting through the darkness of the room smoothly. A curtain sat between him and the rest of the room. Calmly, he made his approach, knowing his target would be cowering behind.

A resounding clang echoed through the room as a metal pipe slugged over the man's head the moment he began to part the curtain, Sadie standing behind him, having taken cover on the other side of the door. His gun fell to the floor, the man stirring for a moment, before falling still as he lay on the ground.

Sadie stared down at him with wide eyes for several long moments, her heart thundering away in her throat as she tightly held the pipe close to her chest. The man still didn't move, and after several more moments of tense silence, Sadie cautiously dropped the pipe to the ground, and grabbed the man's weapon, scooping it up off the ground, not expecting it to feel so heavy.

"I'm just gonna… take this…" She muttered, mostly to herself, before she quietly exited the room to leave the man in there, and again, she paused.

Why was she just gonna leave him there? It didn't seem like he had any buddies with him, this was perfect for an interrogation. She could at the very least figure out what had happened here, right? Deciding it was too good of an opportunity to waste, Sadie made her way back into the room, knowing there'd be tape for her to use, making her job all that easier.

Where… was he…?

Well, one thing was certain. He was still blind as shit. Shaking his head, Terrence tried to scratch an itch at his nose only to meet resistance, discovering his arms were stretched to either side, what felt like cuffs holding him in place. A sense of fear arose in him as he realized his feet were dangling over what could possibly be a bottomless pit. He couldn't feel anything underneath him and that's probably what freaked him out most about this.

"Oh man…" He groaned, the memories rushing back. He'd had the one-of-a-kind luck of getting shot and dragged away right after finally recovering from his last injuries. Now he was… probably in the 'care' of the Messiah. A slow clap signified this, echoing in whatever chamber he was locked up in.

Annoyed, Terrence glared in the direction of the slow clapping. "You know you're only supposed to do that when the hero has fallen into your dastardly trap, right?"

"I do as I please." Krashna's voice responded. "Nowhere to run, Terrence."

"You have to admit, for a blind guy I was doing pretty well at-"

"SILENCE!" Krashna's shout made Terrence wince as the word bounced heavily off of the walls of the room. "The only reason you're not dead yet is because I desire some… justice. Revenge, even. An eye for an eye, an injury for a lifetime of pain and misery."

"That doesn't seem fair." Terrence commented. He could feel Krashna's daggers-for-eyes stabbing into him from afar.

"Don't test my patience." Krashna warned, his voice lower than before. Terrence didn't care much. If he was at the mercy of Krashna, he may as well try and annoy the kid to death.

"Good idea. If this was a test, you'd have failed," Terrence replied, and felt the wind immediately knocked out of him as something slammed into his gut. Choking for a moment, Terrence struggled to find his breath, and after what felt like an eternity, he finally sucked in a deep breath. "Worth it," he groaned.

"I'm sure Gregory has explained to you the process he underwent for his initiation, yes?" Krashna asked. Gregory hadn't really gone in depth, but Terrence knew that his 'initiation' if that's what it was involved lots of threats and torture. When Terrence didn't immediately respond, Krashna continued. "Just imagine what I have in store for you. The Messiah almost never takes prisoners. You should feel honored."

"Absolutely venerated," was what Terrence replied with, before he felt something slug into his gut again, and something warm began trickling down his side.

"My bad. I must have re-opened your wound." Krashna sneered as Terrence let out a few coughs. This was bad. No, it was worse than bad. This was like… shit, he couldn't come up with any dumb, goofy analogies to entertain himself. That's how bad it was.

"Nothing witty to say now?" Krashna asked, satisfaction lingering in his tone.

"You wouldn't like my jokes anyway." Terrence groaned back, and earned another hit to his stomach. He felt like he was going to vomit, but managed to hold it in.

"Well, I suppose you're right about that," Krashna stated. "The Messiah's plans are almost realized. Your precious friends will be dead soon, but I'll make sure you and your girlfriend can have some parting words before I kill her. Naturally I'm saving you for last. Honestly, it's a bonus that you're blind. You'll never get to see the people you love again. Just hear the agony in their voices when I drain the life out of them."

Terrence made no response. What could he say to that? The stereotypical 'you're a madman' speech? Nah, he wasn't THAT predictable. Krashna seemed exceptionally pleased with the silence, letting out a satisfied hum that sounded like a Mickey Mouse laugh and almost made Terrence chuckle, though he kept it in.

"You uh… really think you can win?" Terrence asked, his voice a bit light.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? The Messiah are stronger, numerous, and generally better in every other regard."

"Ha," Terrence coughed again, "that's debatable."

"Unfortunately you're in no position for debates," Krashna replied simply. "I'll return soon. Please don't bleed out before then, I'd rather not lose my new punching back. Ta-ta." With that, the sound of retreating footsteps reached Terrence's ears, then the hiss of an automatic door, before silence. He winced, feeling the warmth in his side continue to trickle down his body, reaching his legs. This was bad.

Absolutely the worst.

All he could hope for now was that his friends and allies would somehow, miraculously manage to beat the Messiah and find him down here before he died of blood loss or Krashna's beatings. Or both.

"Just don't take too long." He muttered to himself.