Asten and Frink continued down the path through the darkened marsh. There seemed to be a tranquility about the place. Hardly a sound disturbed the silence apart from the smooth and continuous flow of the water that ran on both sides of the trail.
As they continued to walk, a loud buzzing broke the silence and continued to echo further into the marsh. The sound came from Frisk's pocket and she proceeded to reach into and pull out the small, black flip phone that Toriel had given her. As she did this, she thought of how long ago it had felt since she had seen her, filling her with a short moment of melancholy.
As soon as she held the phone up to her ear, a loud voice came in over the other end, cutting her off before she had even had time to ask who it was, sending her into a short jolt.
"HELLO THIS IS PAPYRUS!"
Frisk quickly glanced over to Asten with a look of confusion as he had stopped and began to survey the path they had just come from, appearing to stand guard and at the ready in the event that the black knight they had seen earlier would reappear.
Frisk turned back to her phone.
"Hey Pap, nice of you to call but… how did you get this number?..."
She asked in her kind, yet inquisitive manner.
"HOW DID I GET THIS NUMBER?"
There was a short pause.
"IT WAS EASY! I JUST DIALED EVERY NUMBER SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL I GOT YOURS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"
Frisk, being partially bewildered, and partially believing Papyrus' method of finding her number allowed the skeleton to continue.
"SO… WHAT ARE YOU WEARING…?"
Frisk could hardly believe the question being asked and began to get a little flustered and blushed. Quickly glancing over to Asten, who seemingly did not hear Papyrus' odd and seemingly inappropriate question as he continued to have his back to her, his metal helm continually scanning the path they had just taken. An iron grip still firmly grasping the helm of his scabbard.
"What am I wearing?..."
She asked in an inquisitive tone.
"IM ASKING FOR A FRIEND. SHE THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING A STRIPPED SWEATER."
Frisk thought to herself for a moment, remembering that Papyrus might have been put up to this by that knight her and Asten had seen earlier. She knew that Papyrus had good intentions, but she also knew that whoever that knight was, it was definitely someone who could make him do something if it wanted to.
"Umm.. uh… NO!, I mean no… I wasn't…"
"SO YOU AREN'T WEARING A STRIPPED SWEATER…"
A pause ensued as Frisk eagerly waited to know whether Papyrus bought the lie.
"GOT IT!"
Frisk breathed a sigh of relief.
"YOU'RE MY FRIEND SO I TRUST YOU 100 PERCENT. HAVE A NICE DAY!"
Before Frisk could say anything, the call ended. Leaving Frisk staring at her phone, with the same bewildered look she had before. She felt bad that she had to lie to Papyrus but knew that it was the best way to avoid a confrontation with whoever that knight was. She placed the phone back into her pocket and tapped Asten on the shoulder. He simply nodded over his shoulder and the two continued down the path and deeper into the marsh.
As they continued down the path a bright, neon blue flower stood off to the side. Its light illuminating a small circle around itself.
The pair stopped as Frisk stood in front of it, examining the flower for herself. As she touched one of the glowing pedals, a voice emerged from it.
"A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. If you hoped with all your heart your wish would come true. Now all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling…"
A sadness began to develop within Frisk. She had known that the lives of the monsters in the underground were less than perfect, but this was something else entirely. She wished that she could do something to help these monsters, to somehow give them a way of seeing the outside world again. She knew that when the time came, she would have to face Asgore, and a terrible decision was needed to be made. One that made her stomach churn.
A scratching noise from behind her broke the seemingly thick air. She turned to see Asten with a note in his hand, stretching out to her.
'Frisk, are you alright?'
He had seemingly taken notice of her change in demeaner.
"I'm okay…"
She said in a meek voice. Looking back up at Asten she could tell that he did not believe her. She smiled as she turned her face back up to his helmet, a small and kindhearted smile on her face.
"I promise."
With this she began to walk along the path again, with Asten following behind her.
The path eventually ended into a wooden dock. On the righthand side was the marsh, an expanse of dark, pitch black water stood motionless. The sounds of running streams now gone and behind them. There was no real way to judge the size of this body of water, as the view was blocked by the darkness of the cave at some length outwards. Large tuffs of duckweed grew in patches in the water, undisturbed and unflinching in the stillness of the black water below it.
On the left-hand side of the dock, the rocky surface of the cave protruded outwards, into the dock. On the surface were florescent writing, partially illuminating the path before them.
Frisk began reading the inscriptions as they passed by.
'The war of Humans and Monsters'
'Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed that they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the soul of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a single human soul. But humans have one weakness. Ironically it is the strength of their soul. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death. If a monster defeats a human, they can take its soul. A monster with a human soul… A horrible beast with unfathomable power.'
The inscription ended with a drawing carved into the side of the wall, depicting a beast with wings and what appeared to be an upside-down heart across its chest.
Frisk shuddered at the sight of the drawing and was again saddened by the plight of the monsters that she had grown to care for.
At the end of the dock laid a small platform. Asten was the first to carefully test the platform, making sure that it could support his weight. He then turned to Frisk who was still standing on the platform, looking downtrodden as she did before. He carefully picked her up and placed her onto the platform with him, the platform slowly began to traverse the waters ahead of them. A small tide following behind them as it moved through the gentle, black water. He had noticed that Frisk had remained silent since he had asked her if she was okay.
He knew the look she had in her eyes. It was a look of both terror and sadness, the kind of look he was familiar seeing as an undead was nearing the end of their duty, and ultimately what they thought would be their own end. He began scribbling again in his note pad and handed it over to Frisk.
She looked down at the note.
'I know that there is something troubling you but, know that I remain by thy side and will assure that you make it through your duty alive.'
Frisk paused at this. Was it really that obvious? That she was afraid of facing Asgore? That she was afraid that she might die? That she was afraid that she might have to hurt someone?
But still, here was this iron clad stranger, offering to protect her. Someone she was sharing an adventure with. Someone who made her feel safe. Someone who she was starting to like being around. Someone who was making an effort to comfort her.
She gave a small smile back at Asten.
"Thanks 'A', I'm really glad I have you along for the ride."
Asten began to blush under his steel helm, thankful that Frisk could not see it. He gave a slight nod before staring ahead as the platform came to a stop at another dock.
Asten stepped onto the dock before helping Frisk onto the platform.
As they began to scan their surroundings Asten began to feel uneasy. As before, the marsh expanded far into the distance on the right-hand side of the dock. On the left, large columns jutted upwards and into the ceiling of the cave. Something about this area made him feel as though they were being watched.
They proceeded forward, with Asten taking the lead, his head constantly on a swivel towards the shadows between the pillars.
Suddenly, a large blue spear pierced through the dock, sending splintering wood in all directions. A black knight with the glowing eye appeared from in between the pillars.
Before Frisk could react, Asten had grabbed her and began to carry her underneath his free arm, his black iron shield faced to the front, sheltering her from the splintering wood.
He ran a lot faster than he looked, Frisk thought, as he frantically moved to the other end of the dock, dodging spear after spear with an agility she had never seen before.
They quickly made their way off the dock and back onto a dirt path, moving into the cover of a field of tall grass, before moving through a doorway.
Asten put Frisk down gently onto the pathway, as he proceeded to kick away the doorframe. The rocks crumbled and quickly covered the entryway.
They both stopped to catch their breath, both realizing just how close that encounter was. As Frisk began to calm down, she began to take in her surroundings.
This part of the marsh was very different than what they had encountered so far.
Beautiful, florescent-blue water sat motionless on both sides of the path. Small, black lily pads and tuffs of duckweed shadowed in the light of the water. On the shores were short, soft grass and small, narrow trees that glowed in the same blue hue that the water did. It was a tranquil place, and a place she deemed appropriate for a rest after such a hectic encounter.
She sat on the ground, motioning Asten to sit next to her.
Asten glanced at her, realizing the probability of that knight coming through here was minimal, and sat beside her.
With her feet in the water she began to stare up at the ceiling of the cave, noticing the small speckles of lights that lined it, reminding her of the stars in the sky. Still looking up at the sky she spoke.
"Hey 'A'…"
Asten glanced over to her.
"Make a wish."
Asten looked puzzled by her request. Frisk could sense that he was still staring at her. With a smile on her face, she spoke again.
"Humor me."
With this Asten began looking up at the ceiling as well.
"Now close your eyes."
With this the pair both closed their eyes, and a moment of pure silence ensued before Frisk reopened hers and looked up at Asten. His metal frame close to hers.
"So, what did you wish for?"
Asten looked straight ahead into the florescent marsh, staying silent as always.
"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours…"
The metal figure continued to stare out into the water.
Frisk felt a little concerned for Asten, worried about why he was being nonresponding to her. With a small enduring smile, she continued.
"I'll go first then…"
"I wished…"
She paused.
"I wished you would tell me what's wrong."
With this Asten looked at her and paused before taking out his note pad, scribbling something onto it, and then ripping it out and handing it to her.
'I wished that I wouldn't lose my friends again.'
Frisk looked at the note, a concerned look forming across her face.
"What do you mean 'A'?"
Asten paused for a moment.
'Everyone that I have ever known is gone.'
"But I'm still here."
Asten looked back at Frisk, a warm smile and kind eyes greeting him.
"And I'm not going anywhere… I promise."
With this Asten slowly put his head down, staring into his own reflection in the water, smiling to himself underneath his helmet.
Frisk yawned before placing her head into his lap, her face facing his as he looked down, her eyes closed.
"Besides… I'll be by your side to make sure YOU stay alive too…"
With this Asten chuckled to himself, but before he could write anything, he looked down to notice that Frisk had fallen asleep in his lap.
Asten smiled to himself once again before scanning the horizons, keeping a vigilant watch.
(AUTHORS NOTE: Hey everyone, or at least everyone who still reads my story, sorry about the extremely long period gap in-between chapters. I'm still hard pressed to finish this story and will try to add as much as I can over the holidays. I've been extremely busy with school, work, and family stuff for the past few years but I've never stopped thinking about this story. I hope you guys will enjoy the next chapters of my story, and as always I really appreciate all of you for your feedback on the chapters and the amount of people who enjoy my work is really inspiring to me {as corny as that sounds...} anyways... hope you guys continue reading, cause the story is far from being over!"
A Fine Dark Soul to You,
Francis E. Deck esq