Chapter 24

"Mikey! Mikey! Slow down!" Natalie yelled into her phone. "Okay. Start from the top. What's going on?" She was silent for a moment. "Repeat that one more time."

Chara and Frisk both watched as Natalie's jaw slowly dropped.

She turned and looked out the windows. "How soon do I need to come around? I'm snowbound at the moment." She bit her bottom lip. "Oh. Okay. That works better. Thank you." She swung back around, swaying side to side. "You didn't have to do this. I really appreciate that you did. Keep it for you, Meg,and the girls." Natalie laughed. "All right! All right! The fees then. As soon as it's physically possible for me to go, I'll give you a call."

She hung up and stared at the phone's screen for a moment.

"Natalie?" Chara asked.

"Holy crow… That candy is way more powerful than I expected it to be."

"What happened?" Frisk asked.

Natalie looked up at Chara. "That was my brother. He appealed my divorce case on my behalf. The decision was overturned and, in order to avoid a civil suit, the City of St. Canard is settling out of court for the return of the full amount of my assets pre-divorce."

"All right!" Frisk yelled.

"Congratulations." Chara's brow furrowed. "That's some very specific luck."

"I had a piece of the blueberry candy. Blueberry is great for legal help and prosperity. I didn't think it would be that good. Or work that fast. It's only been a day."

"It is too fast. Cases like that take months, if not years," Chara pointed out.

Frisk shook her head. "But it does make sense. Time is different for the fae." She yanked on Chara's sleeve. "So if I binged the candy do you think it would make Acernath stop trying to assassinate me?"

"I doubt tha-"

Natalie tossed Frisk a piece of the blueberry candy. "Let's see what happens."

Chara resisted the urge to groan. "Please don't use my daughter as a guinea-"

Frisk popped the candy, crunching it between her teeth.

Chara sighed. "Why did I let the two of you in my house?"

"Because you love us," Frisk slurped. She wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand.

Chara smirked. "I may need to revise that."

"Ha ha!" Frisk pointed at him. "You admit it! You love Miss Bridges."

Natalie fought a smile, and suddenly found every other thing in the house more interesting than Chara.

"Besides," Frisk said, "this isn't the real deal. There aren't any petals in it." She licked at the side of her mouth.

Chara covered his face with one hand. "Oh for the love of God, stop talking with your mouth full! What would your mother say if she saw that?"

"Uh… which one?" Frisk slurped.

"Chew with your mouth closed!"

Natalie sputtered and burst out laughing.

Chara threw up his hands. "Oh I give up." He dropped into a chair.

There was a knock at the door, Sans waving from the other side of the glass before he let himself in, a parcel under one arm.

"*snow's really coming down now."

Chara sighed at the full on snow storm brewing on the other side of the glass. "What's up, Comedian?"

"*this is for frisk from dr. phillius, the museum curator at the palace. said you asked him to look a few things up?"

Frisk rushed over. "Yes!" She took the package. "Thank you, Officer Tarsus."

"*sure thing, kiddo. don't drive your dad too nuts."

"Too late," Chara groaned.

Frisk gave Sans a big smile and shrugged. His boney hand ruffled her hair before teleporting away.

Natalie's phone chimed. "Back in a few. I need to take bread out of the oven." She pulled on her boots and quick stepped to the studio.

Frisk sat down with the package, carefully prying open the lip. "I hope he found something good." She pulled out a sheaf of papers reading the letter on top.

Your Serene Majesty,

Enclosed is the information I found on the Farrath. I hope it proves useful.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jonas Phillius

Frisk put the letter aside to look at the first page.

"What's it say?" Chara asked.

"It says the Farrath is the first born son of the first high king and queen of the fae. Angry that he could never become the high king, he committed some unnamed act of evil to unbind himself from his specific land. Whatever he did leaves the fae powerless against him so long as he does not harm another fae, half fae not included. He searches for our kind to syphon our power from us."

She flipped to the next page. "Lady Aramita said that…" Frisk blinked. "Wait." She flipped the page back and forth and read it again. "My mother told him...? I don't understand. How could he have spoken to her…" Frisk looked up at Chara, eyes wide. "She's here? In Kaparia?"

Chara sighed and nodded.

"AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?!" She stood, throwing the papers at him. "How dare you? She's my mother! Did you think I wouldn't want to see her?"

Chara ducked the majority of the file. "Frisk-"

Her eyes turned white, skin leaching color. "The next words out of your mouth better be a damn good explanation!"

Chara crossed his arms over his chest. "She said that she didn't want to see you until we were well bonded."

"I don't believe that." Frisk stepped toward him and a fae noblewoman's ghostly foot hit the ground. "Is that the best lie you can come up with?"

Chara's eyes narrowed. "I have never lied to you."

Toby and Niko were suddenly on their feet, barking.

Her antlers extended. "So omission doesn't count?" An explosion of purple aconite, yellow carnations, orange lilies, violet petunias, and black roses bloomed in her antlers.

"I am doing as your mother wishes."

"LIAR!" A ghostly white sword appeared in her hand and she swung at Chara.

He dodged backwards. "Frisk! Calm down!"

"HOW DARE YOU?! I trusted you and you hid this from ME?!" She screamed and fell to her knees, tears pouring from her eyes.

Chara rushed over, reaching for her. "Frisk!"

She hissed and swung the sword catching his arm and slicing it open below the elbow, sending a spray of blood to the floor. Chara clutched at his arm.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" Frisk found her feet and rushed for the door. "DECEIVER! I DON'T EVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

She disappeared into the snow fall, Toby running after her.

"Dammit!" Chara rushed to the kitchen, pulling out a bag of hidden monster food and choked down a cinnamon bunny. His arm stitched itself back together as he ran for the door, expending the magic to just have his boots on.

"Niko! Follow them! We need to get Frisk!"

Knight and valiant companion rushed out into the rising storm, following the tracks in the snow. Which lightened to nothing. He found Toby sitting in the snow, looking confused and sniffing the ground. He felt along his ward line and found it untouched.

Chara's breath caught. "Tarisse! Which way did Frisk go?!"

There wasn't an answer, but Toby immediately dashed to the right past the trees. Chara followed him, stepping over the ward line to find a fae woman with coppery red hair and ram's horns laying in a frozen pool of blood.

Chara knelt next to her. "Tarisse?"

Her eyes opened a little. "Leave me. Find Frisk. The imposter is here... somewhere." Her eyes shut.

Chara reached under her and lifted her up, carrying her back to the main house.

Natalie came out of the studio and ran to them. "What happened?"

"Frisk ran off and the imposter hurt Tarisse. Open the door."

Natalie held the front door and Chara brought the fae woman inside, laying her on the couch.

He pointed at the counter. "That bag is monster food. The real stuff. Grab anything out of it. The first aid kit is under the counter."

Natalie got the bag and the kit and knelt next to the couch. "I can handle this. Go find Frisk."

Chara nodded and went back to the door. "Stay in the house. Keep the doors locked."

"Wait!" Natalie pulled a piece of the luck candy out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "You're going to need that."

"Thank you."

Natalie gave him a small smile as he ran out the door, popping the candy in his mouth. Chara cast a tracking spell as he went, Frisk's invisible path lighting up as a line floating over the snow. It went straight up the ridge toward his wife's grave.