Chapter 26
Chara continued through darkness and his phone beeped. A text. And then another. And another. He paused and pulled out his phone, fearing Chrissy's wrath.
Asriel: Hey.
Asriel: Important info.
Asriel: Grandpa gave Frisk Ebott's Ring.
Chara blinked at the text. "Good to know." He texted back a quick thanks.
At the end of the hall was a red door with a window. He was on the back side of an emergency exit. He looked in the window to see a long row of what appeared to be offices, though all of them were dark, doors shut. Chara looked around the door, finding the wires that connected the door to the security system. With a pocket knife and a little bit of wire cutting the lit box on the other side of the door turned off and the door came ajar.
Chara let the door open and looked around for cameras, seeing none. The offices, on closer inspection, weren't just dark. They were abandoned, the occupants having left mid whatever they were doing and not returned. Instead of name plates, the signage denoted function: scheduling, treasury, acquisitions, development, security.
An office at the far end of the hall still had a light on, but the room was empty. The plate on the door read 'Records Management.' It had been used recently, several files piled on the desk. Chara paused for a moment to look. All of the files pertained to the Pierce family, Frisk's sitting on top. Chara lifted it and a piece of paper fell out and hit the desk. It was a handwritten note.
Rory,
As soon as you locate Arabella, bring her back unharmed. Father needs her alive and intact. Use any means necessary to remove Christopher Dreemurr from the equation. And for the love of God, try to be smart about it. Unlike the idiots here, the Kaparian royal guard is not a joke.
Edmund
"They're not trying to kill Frisk. So what are they using her for?" He tapped a foot, arms crossed. "Edmund Acernath? Probably."
Chara put the note back in the file and replaced it on the desk. Heading to the end of the hall he found the hallway made a left continuing down a line of storage rooms. A stairwell and an elevator were in front of him. There wasn't a down button. He checked the stairs, sticking his head in the stairwell. It only went up. A door slammed and Chara stepped back to look down the long hall of storage rooms.
Someone had gone into the stairwell at the other end. He ran down the hall past multiple storage doors and into the stairwell coming face to skull with Sans.
"*you hear that?"
Chara nodded. "Someone came through here like a bolt of lightning. I didn't see who it was. I found a note written by someone named Edmund and the only one on our radar is Edmund Acernath. Looks like they're trying to kidnap Frisk, not kill her."
Muffet was suddenly hanging by a silken thread, upside down between them. "For what purpose?"
Chara shook his head. "The note only said his father wanted her. Do we have any record of Acernath's father?"
"It wasn't in my prep file for coming to Andorini," Muffet said.
Chara looked up at where she hung from the third floor. "Did you see someone run past? And how did you get up to the third floor?"
"I saw nothing. I just heard talking and came to investigate. The path I took went back up into the rest of the building."
"*there doesn't seem to be a 'down' from here."
"Chrissy said it was underground," Chara said.
"*but someone sent her that info. it might not be correct."
"Could she have been misled and we're in the wrong place?" Muffet asked.
"Wait." Chara held out a hand. "Azzy told me that Frisk has Ebott's Ring."
"*we could use it as a beacon."
"It protects the wearer from danger," Muffet said.
"*exactly. and we're the rescue party." Sans rolled his shoulders. "*one tracking spell coming up!" His left eye glowed a bright blue and a path lit up between them, going up the stairs.
Chara's jaw dropped. "That was her running up the stairs! Let's go!"
They rushed to the top, stopping at the door to look inside. The banquet room on the other side was a mess of toppled goblets and chairs, scorch marks marring the carpeting. Chara opened the door slowly, looking around the room. The light of the tracking spell went through the room and out a door on the right, through a mess of candles where whatever holding them once stood. Muffet shot ahead only to stop and look around the room, all eyes wide.
"help…"
"help us…"
"please help us…"
Muffet gently lifted a plate from the table and immediately dropped it. It landed lopsided on top of silverware, but did not break. "These are all people."
"*make her his throne…" Sans whispered. "*we have to hurry!"
They followed the trail back down another set of stairs and stopped in the stairwell at the door it winked out. Beyond was another hall, this one blue, gold, and white. The carpet had been stripped from the middle of the room, exposing the wood underneath. A circle filled with mystical symbols was chalked onto the exposed floor. A large throne that lacked the upholstery sat in the middle of the circle. Frisk and a violet haired fae woman in what looked like a scrap of cloth were tied up on the far side of the room.
A tall man answering to the description of Edmund Acernath pulled Frisk to her feet and half dragged, half carried her to the circle. Frisk struggled, making a mess of the chalk work on the floor. She turned enough to land a solid kick at his knee and it buckled. Acernath shouted and hit her hard enough to stun her. He slammed her into the chair.
"You're lucky he needs you upright, you little twat. Otherwise I'd put you upside down so my father's ass was always sitting on your face."
Chara burst through the door, covering the area between him and Acernath before the man could react. Chara's sword appeared in his hand, an instinctual summon, and ran Acernath through the chest. Acernath coughed blood as Chara pulled him up close, twisting the sword as he did so.
"No one speaks to my daughter that way," he growled. "No one."
Chara swung his arm to the side, pulling the sword through Acernath's body to come out under the armpit, cutting the heart in half. He dropped the lifeless body and turned to Frisk. Dropping to one knee, he reached out, gently touching her face.
"Frisk?"
Frisk blinked at him, groggy, before the world stopped swimming and the blue-violet blob in front of her resolved into a person.
"Dad!" She launched herself into Chara's arms. "You came!"
Chara hugged her close, kissing the side of her head. "Of course I did. I'll always come for you."
"I'm so sorry! I-"
"Shh. Shh. It's okay. We can talk about it later. Right now, we need to get you out of here."
Frisk grabbed at his arms. "No! I won't leave the others behind."
Muffet came up to the throne, scuffing the chalk work as she went. She looked the throne over for a moment before covering it in webbing and, with one mighty swing, sent it flying against the far wall, cracking it. She frowned.
Sans helped the fae woman stand. "*are you all right, ma'am?" His brow bones went up when he got a look at her face. "*you're-"
The doors at the end of the hall opened, the Farrath entering with a blistering heat radiating from behind him. It paused, observing the body of its son on the floor, the carefully made ritual in tatters. It opened its mouth to speak.
Muffet smiled, and turned, swinging the throne into the Farrath. The chair shattered, splinters scattering everywhere. The Farrath hit the floor and laid there for a moment, confused, before rolling to its feet to dodge Sans' bone attack, easily gliding away.
"I've waited thousands of years for this. I will not allow you to interfere." It snapped its fingers and a swarm of men in dark suits entered the room, surrounding the assembled. "Get the girl. Kill the rest."
"*we aren't doing this today." Sans' eye glowed and he lifted his hand summoning an array of Gaster Blasters, their boney maws filling with bright light.
Chara turned to the Farrath as Muffet rushed to Frisk, picking her up and carrying her over to the fae woman to protect them both as dark suited men closed in.
Chara rushed the Farrath sword ready. The Farrath lifted his hand, sending a wave of blistering heat at Chara. Chara put an arm up to block the heat and the Farrath swung at him, fist coming up. And missed. The Farrath growled and swung again, but this time, Chara was ready. He ducked to the side and his sword came around, catching one of the Farrath's long, slim horns and slicing it off. The Farrath howled and barreled into Chara, both of them hitting the floor in a tangle. The Farrath slammed Chara's head against the floor, dazing him.
"Dad!" Frisk screamed.
The Farrath lifted its hand, the palm filling with fire. "The Aylin twin. You escaped my grasp, but I have little need of your power now-"
The Farrath looked down at a white sword poking out of its chest, Frisk having stabbed from behind.
Muffet blinked and looked behind her at where Frisk should have been and back at the queenly fae.
Frisk pulled the sword out and it was followed by a rhythmic spray of blood. The Farrath turned a little to look at her before falling over. Chara struggled out from under it. The Farrath reached for Frisk, fingers swiping the air weakly. Frisk stepped within its reach and it grabbed the hem of her skirt, staining the white. She put her sword through its left eye and out the back of its skull.
The suited men who'd managed to avoid the Blaster attack hit the floor, groaning.
Chara found his feet and reached out, hugging Frisk to his chest. "It's okay. It's over. You can let go of the sword."
Frisk sniffed and turned, the sword disappearing as it fell from her hand and the Farrath fell to the floor, dead. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out as a sob, crying against his chest.