Well hey, look at that, a chapter! Finally! Sorry it took so long to get this posted! I had a lot of shit going on at home .
HUGE thank you to everyone who's favorited and followed this story since the last chapter was posted! I'm so glad you guys all like it!
The Lower Elements were a scattering of super-massive caverns, carved out over the centuries by the fairy people, and interconnected by a massive, intricate system of chutes that wove throughout the Earth's crust kilometers below the surface.
The monster Underground was, in the unanimous opinion of the entire Retrieval squad currently exploring it, considerably nicer. Close enough to the surface for sunlight to reach it in spots, plants growing absolutely everywhere they could – the vast majority of them being those hardy golden blossoms that you sometimes saw in gardens on the surface, especially in the Old Country. Hell, there were even trees! Dead, leafless trees, right smack dab in the middle of a freezing cold cavern, but still trees. How had the monsters managed that?
Still, the charm of the place wasn't enough to make one feel less claustrophobic.
Especially when one was sprawled out on his behind on a bench in a tiny isolated room in Waterfall, with no company save the team's medical warlock and one of those creepy whispering blue flowers.
He hadn't been this bored since the aftermath of the Crash. He almost wished he could be dealing with that mess again, instead of sitting on his behind and waiting.
It was still more entertaining than sitting behind a desk, he supposed, but he had never been a sit and wait kind of fairy. He'd much rather be out there, flying with his squad, poking at dangerous-looking holes with the end of a Neutrino, but as the leader, he was not expendable. One stray monster blindly hurling a fireball could put him out of commission until the medic got to him, and without the captain, the team would be useless.
And considering that even two years after the monsters had gotten their hard-earned freedom, there was still the occasional straggler that chose to remain down here in the dark – well, you could never be too careful.
One of his officer's coms switched on. "Captain, I've found another hotspot."
The captain groaned.
The team had been equipped with new magically-sensitive scanners, or MagiScans. One of Foaly's newer inventions, which had been in the works since six months after the Crash. The Captain couldn't pretend to understand exactly how they worked – he knew that at least a platoon's worth of elfin warlocks and two demonic ones had been involved, and that was more than he wanted to know. But he knew that they worked, and thanks to them, he also knew that whatever the monsters were throwing around was everywhere, and also insanely powerful.
It was an earth-shattering find. To know there was another race out there with magic was one thing, knowing that race's magic was very different from theirs was another thing, but knowing that if a monster and a fairy went toe to toe the monster would likely come out top…
Well, to say that it was an earth-shattering find was an understatement.
He was fairly certain that somewhere below ground, the Council was having a collective heart attack.
"Alright Corporal, what level is it?
A tapping of gloved fingers on a tiny wrist computer, and the scanner came into view. The color-coded readings were jumping about like crazy, seemingly unable to settle on a single signature. The only steady one was the little chart that, before every mission, was calibrated using the natural fields of magic surrounding a fairy city and the officer's magic itself.
"I'm not sure, Captain, but I think it's somewhere around a ten?"
A ten. A ten.
The average magical reading of Haven was somewhere in the two-to-three range. Whatever this was, it was heads and shoulders above anything the People could conjure – hell, above anything that they thought the monsters could conjure! Apparently, they'd been dead wrong about the creatures' magical limitations.
And since the monsters were up on the surface now… who knew what humanity would do if they got their hands on whatever monster had produced this?
"Where are you, Corporal?"
He could almost hear the wince.
"You're not going to like it, sir."
"Tell me, Corporal."
"… it's in the Core, sir. It's all over the Core."
The Core. The massive geothermic energy source now powering Ebott and several other cities around the mountain's base, and the very same technology that was falling into human hands all over the world as they spoke.
There was only one word to properly describe the situation here.
"D'Arvit!"
* Friiiisk, stop bouncing so much!
Inhaling a huge breath of salty sea air – they'd never get sick of it, in any timeline – Frisk grinned and, on their next bounce, bounced a little higher, putting an extra spring into their step.
*Friiiiisk.
They giggled as Chara made the gagging sounds of the unfortunately seasick, and attempted to hold them still with insubstantial hands.
*Friiiisk, please!
What do we say?
* Ugh, fine! Please?!
Grin growing smug, they stopped bouncing, planting their feet firmly on the deck beneath them, and snickered at Chara's undisguised noises of relief.
*Shut up!
Despite their shrill tone, Frisk knew that their friend wasn't actually all that upset – perhaps, in previous runs, they might've held the grudge for longer, but right now, the excitement in both children was easily overpowering the nausea that usually accompanied one of their overseas trips.
For the first time in any timeline, they were about to see Ireland in person.
It had been two years since the monsters' improbable escape from their underground prison. All together, that was almost three years since the last Reset – the longest they'd ever gone without one.
And it had been a busy two years.
The American government hadn't been particularly happy about their subterranean neighbors' new freedom. Immediately after the monsters' settling into Ebott, they'd started throwing up every trick in the vile politician's handbook in an attempt to encourage the monsters to stay where they were. Raised taxes in monster neighborhoods, lowered income for monster employees, even limited passports that required an overabundance of paperwork to obtain. Every time they'd tried something funny, there were an impossible number of negotiations, political meetings, and press conferences that ended up being called, and, of course, the Ambassador of monsterkind always had to be present to shoot down every "suggestion" and offer a newer, better one in its stead.
It had taken at least six months for the government to catch on, and decide that their taxes were better spent making everybody's lives better instead of trying to legally persecute their newest citizens. After that, monsters had scattered pretty much to the four winds, and had ended up moving to countries all over the world.
And Frisk could hardly let any inequalities go unaddressed, no matter the country, right?
*Yeah right, you just wanted an excuse to play tourist.
Frisk started bouncing up and down again.
*Urk! Okay, okay, I'm sorry, stop it!
They hummed and settled again, tapping their fingers eagerly on the railing.
Regardless of excuses or not, Frisk was elated to be traveling. They'd never traveled farther than Mexico or Cuba in previous runs, since America had always been reluctant to let the monsters escape their borders, and other countries had been reluctant to accept the monsters as citizens.
Of course, the other countries had never been made aware of the Core before. Nothing like a bit of geothermic green energy to convince them to open their doors.
So now here they were, on a large metal boat that had probably once been a whaler, setting sail across the Irish Sea for Dublin, and positively buzzing with excitement.
"Oh dear, someone seems a bit hyper."
Frisk shot a huge grin over their shoulder as Toriel approached, an amused look on her furry face.
"How much longer, Mom?" They asked. "Do you know?"
The goat monster laughed good-naturedly. "Patience, my child! The captain has informed me that we shall arrive shortly."
Frisk let out an excited little squeal. "Finally! I'll get to see Undyne and Alphys again!"
When the monsters had finally been free to move overseas, the lizard-fish couple had immediately made a beeline for the Emerald Isles – though not the most advanced country in the world, Ireland was pretty far up there when it came to the post-Crash technological market, and Alphys had been all too eager to get her hands on anything she could. Undyne had just tagged along. Last they had checked, the two of them had settled down in suburban Dublin, Undyne was working as a police officer, and Alphys was working as an assistant in some research facility.
Toriel chuckled. "And that is the only reason for your excitement, is it?"
"Well, no," Frisk admitted. "I really want to see that mural that the forums were talking about. And Muffet's Cafe, now that it's open. And I heard Fuku is learning how to cook from somebody in Dublin since she couldn't get into a school for it. And –"
Laughing, the Queen held up one clawed hand. "I was only teasing, my child! There's no need to explain yourself!"
Frisk beamed at her before turning back to the railing.
Truth be told, though they were excited for all of those reasons, there was one more – something they'd read in their most recent message from Anonymous.
After the monsters' freedom had been assured, Anonymous had stopped sending so many messages as before. They still sent an occasional email – usually with useful information (their most recent email concerning anti-witchcraft laws in some countries had been informative to say the least.)
Their most recent email had been a simple one: Frisk, as I understand it, you are visiting Ireland soon, yes? Be careful once you arrive – there has been some worrying circumstances surrounding several incidents here, particularly in the Dublin area. I would hate to lose such a valuable ally as yourself.
Which was worrying, true, but for now Frisk was less focused on worrying circumstances and more focused on "here."
Here, not there or in Ireland. Here.
Which meant that Anonymous was in Ireland. Perhaps they were a citizen, perhaps they were traveling as a tourist, but that didn't matter, because they were here.
They might finally get to meet their ally in person.
A little ways ahead of them, the mists hanging over the sea parted, revealing the outermost reaches of the Dublin docks.
And standing at the end of one dock, waving their hands and shouting, were two very familiar figures.
"Undyne!" they called, waving furiously. "Alphys!"
"Frisk!"
"Heya punk!" Even from this far away, Undyne's grin was large enough to look sharklike. "You took long enough! Welcome to Ireland!"
