Hey, guess what? Two whole chapters for you guys this week! Consider this an early Christmas present~
Most people tended to see paranoia as harmful – it could easily overwhelm you, and make it impossible to function during everyday life.
Frisk was not most people. Being one of the public faces of monsterkind was a dangerous job, and it hadn't taken many timelines for them to figure out that being a paranoid monster ambassador that jumped at every shadow meant they survived longer than they did when they just naively skipped through the rest of a timeline thinking everything was fine and dandy because the monsters had reached the surface.
That being said, their paranoia was sometimes less of a shield than it was a double-edged sword, and right now, as they were waiting anxiously for Toriel to finish packing up her belongings in their hotel room, was one such time. Frisk themselves had already packed up their own meager belongings – they rarely traveled with more than a laptop, a charger, their phone, a wallet with spare cash, essentials like a toothbrush and hairbrush, and several changes of casual and formal clothing whenever they left the United States. It just made hasty hotel transfers like this one that much quicker. Toriel had no such luxury, as she carried more or less everything that Frisk didn't bring in their own bags, and the amount of time it was taking for her to pack up her various belongings seemed far, far too long for Frisk to feel anything but uneasy about it.
Chara, is there –
*Still nothing. Not a single gunshot and if there are any fairies here, then they're keeping a really low profile.
They let out a breath and glanced nervously at the window. Small hints of the honey-gold light of sunrise were creeping in, tinting the world outside the glass in faint warm hues, but otherwise, the glimpse they got of the city outside was very still, and very, very quiet. Almost too quiet.
Would we even hear them coming, if the fairies decided to attack?
They shivered and turned to look back at Toriel as she zipped up the last of her tote bags.
"Are you ready, my child?"
They nodded, picking up their own bag and hoisting it over their shoulder, stifling a yawn as they did. Their little group of humans and monsters had spent most of the night at the police station, waiting for a second squad of police officers to finish scouring the hotel for bombs or other possible threats, and considering that a good portion of that time had been spent making arrangements with the officers there to provide them an armed guard when they transferred to a different hotel, and the rest of the time had been spent subtly checking shadows and corners for invisible threats, Frisk had gotten next to no sleep.
They were regretting that now. They should have slept – the police station was a heck of a lot safer than a hotel room at this point, and they had a long cart ride in their near future. They'd be lucky to stay awake for a couple more minutes at this rate, let alone the hour it would supposedly take to reach their new hotel.
Noticing their exhaustion, Toriel frowned and held out one hand. "Shall I carry your luggage for you?"
Frisk handed it over without a single protest, and also did not protest when Toriel also saw fit to scoop them up off the ground and carry them out of the room. They were too busy trying not to drift off to sleep.
Despite their best efforts, they fell asleep a few minutes into the cart ride, just as they'd predicted, and woke up maybe ten minutes before arriving at their destination. They spent those ten minutes frantically peeking out from underneath the roof on their cart to check side streets, alleys, and the air for possible threats that the monsters and their incognito police guards might have missed.
Despite their worry, however, nothing happened. There were no gunshots, no winged figures suddenly appearing out of thin air – there were hardly even any people out and about, most of Dublin's residents being either still fast asleep in bed or avoiding a thin, cold drizzle that had begun sometime after they'd passed out by sheltering in dry spots under awnings or inside buildings. The few people they could see didn't so much as glance oddly at them, the drizzle easily explaining away why their cart had a roof that might otherwise look out of place.
They reached the covered garage next to their new hotel safely and their luggage was moved into their new rooms without incident as well. Frisk didn't bother to start unpacking their belongings once inside, instead taking the opportunity to scout the room for potential threats the police might have missed and, more importantly, alternate escape routes, in case the hotel was infiltrated again. There weren't many – there was only one exit that opened to the interior of the building, and that was the door they used to enter the room in the first place.
There was, Frisk was pleasantly surprised to see, an old and slightly rickety fire escape outside their window. It was somewhat well-kept, with only a few hints of rust to be seen on the metal, and leaning out the window revealed that it reached almost all the way to the ground, stopping only a single story above. It was far from an ideal escape route, namely because it could just as easily be accessed by attackers as it could be by escapees, but it could work in a pinch.
"We should probably keep the curtains closed," they said finally, as Toriel began tiredly removing some of her more immediate necessities – a brush for her fur, a change of clothes for the day – from her bags. "We're still close enough to the ground for people to see us if they're open."
"Of course, my child," she murmured, apparently only half paying attention. She was visibly exhausted, her eyes sagging in the closest approximation to a human's dark circles as they could and her movements sluggish and lacking their usual grace. Frisk grimaced sympathetically – they may have managed to rest in the station and in the cart ride, but Toriel hadn't, by the looks of things.
"We have today free, right? There's no meetings or interviews we have to attend until tomorrow?"
Toriel nodded, her eyes drifting closed a little before snapping open again.
"How about we get some sleep, then?" They suggested gently. "We can ask the guards to stay and keep watch for us."
The monster started to nod, then paused and chuckled weakly. "Aren't I supposed to be the mother?"
"Only when you're not falling asleep on your feet." Frisk jumped up onto one of the beds and patted the mattress with both hands. "C'mon, Mom, you can't protect me if you're on the brink of passing out."
Toriel hesitated for only a moment before sighing and complying with their suggestion. Within a couple of minutes, she was sound asleep, curled up on the mattress.
It was only once they were absolutely certain that their adoptive mother was asleep that Frisk pulled out their phone.
They wanted to sleep. They wanted to sleep desperately. A couple of hours wasn't enough rest for them, stars knew, and the more well-rested they were, the more likely they'd be able to avoid the next assassination attempt that would soon be coming.
But they needed to figure out a plan of action first, and knowing Sans, he was probably still awake even after having such an exhausting night.
Their phone was practically overflowing with missed calls and texts when they turned it on. There were several calls and texts from Alphys, as well as from several other monsters they had the numbers of that lived here in the city, including Undyne, who must've tried to call them sometime before arriving at the station.
There were also, they noted with some surprise, messages from a couple of numbers which turned out to belong to the Fowl twins. When they opened one message, their ears were accosted by a long string of frantic words that were being spoken so fast that they were almost gibberish. They managed to catch some of them – there were at least a couple are you okays and a you didn't get shot again, did you – but Beckett had been speaking far too quickly into the speaker for anything else to be understandable. Myles's messages were considerably more understandable, though just as worried, and he'd requested that Frisk call them back once they were fine.
Grimacing, Frisk sent a quick text to everyone who'd called or texted them about their well being, assuring them that they were fine, and then texted Sans.
FriskyBits: Sans you still awake
The reply came a few seconds later, surprisingly prompt for Sans.
HumerusPnmaster: yup
FriskyBits: And Pap?
His reply came in the form of a photo, obviously taken with his phone's camera – Papyrus lay sprawled across his bed in a very haphazard tangle of skeletal limbs, one arm thrown over the bedside table. Flowey was in the picture too, and apparently also asleep – his head was hanging low, and his petals had closed over his face the same way a normal flower's would have closed for the night.
HumerusPnmaster: weeds asleep 2
*Gee, you don't say.
Frisk sighed and kneaded their temple. Normally they might have snickered at the comment, but right now they just didn't have the energy. If only they were old enough for Toriel to let them drink coffee...
FriskyBits: Sorry to ask
FriskyBits: but could you do me a favor
A pause.
HumerusPnmaster: depends on the favor
FriskyBits: Moms gonna be hovering over me because of all this
FriskyBits: Rather she not know about the fairies
FriskyBits: So could you do some research for me
They waited. Sans's reply came after a long thirty seconds.
HumerusPnmaster: not gonna tell her?
Frisk winced.
FriskyBits: Not yet
FriskyBits: I will eventually
FriskyBits: But until we know more about the fairies I wont
FriskyBits: For all we know they might send assassins after her too
FriskyBits: If I die I can load
FriskyBits: Mom cant
Another pause.
HumerusPnmaster: ok
They smiled, relieved, typed a quick thank you, and then closed their phone once the message had been sent, setting it on mute. Then they flopped backward onto the mattress next to the slumbering Toriel and were unconscious in what seemed like mere seconds.
Holly had halfway expected the news that a human child other than Artemis had magic would have sent her team into a panic again, but thankfully, that seemed not to be the case. The other fairies had simply gone very quiet and were now working to re-assemble the machines that had been taken apart for the Ambassador's visit with intense concentration.
Foaly, on the other hand, was still keeping up a constant stream of agitated babble even as he worked, apparently still not over the fact that yet another impossibility had become possible.
"Seriously, what are the odds?" He complained again, clacking away at his keyboard on the other side of the line. "A human falls into the Underground and apparently just develops magic right then and there? Magic isn't supposed to do that, is it?" This last question was directed less at Holly and more at someone on his side – considering he was still overseeing the warlocks in the Section Eight laboratories, presumably a warlock. Holly couldn't quite hear the reply, but whatever the fairy being addressed has said didn't seem to comfort Foaly in the slightest, earning a grumble.
"Fairy magic's definitely not supposed to do that," Holly agreed. She eyed one of her squadron's techies as he walked past – he was one of the whiny ones. Thankfully, he didn't complain about anything, though whether or not that was because of her glare or because he'd found nothing to complain about for now was yet to be seen. "Then again, we're not dealing with fairy magic here. Humans used to be able to cast as well as the People, but it stands to reason that they might've had a few other tricks up their sleeves. Add the monsters into the mix… I don't suppose No. 1 or Qwan have anything to add?"
Another grumble. "They're too busy working on identifying that signature."
"And have they made any progress?"
"Not with the magic that's popped up on the grounds. They're still working on that. The other warlocks have made some progress with the colored magic stuff, though." He huffed indignantly. "They nearly gave me a bald patch with that yellow magic!"
Holly stifled a reluctant grin at this. "So what was it? Fireballs?"
"Energy projectiles of some sort, yeah. And they think the green magic is for healing and shields to block other spells with, but they're not sure."
He fell silent for a time, and Holly followed suit, watching her squad and offering her help when needed.
She broke their unofficial radio silence when the last of the machines had been reassembled. "Have you found anything on who the fairy behind this might be?"
Foaly snorted. "Not yet, though I've found some stuff that might connect to them. There's a smaller shipping company that operates in Dublin – not as well-off as Fowl Senior's, but they're not going out of business yet either. Some unnamed customer ordered a shipment of mandrakes and rice wine, enough to have a meal of 'em once a day for a month."
Holly blinked. Mandrakes and rice wine… of course. Turnball Root had supposedly used a combination of mandrakes and rice wine to maintain a small spark of magic in prison, just enough to mesmerize one of his guards, and the warlocks that had been assigned to study the claim had confirmed it to be possible. Rice wine in particular was harder to get below ground, since the People and human alcohol just didn't mix all that well and therefore shipping for it was incredibly expensive, but if a fairy on the surface had enough human currency…
"If they're ordering that… do you think we're dealing with someone who lost their magic? A former criminal, maybe, from before the Rule of Dwellings was dismantled?"
She could imagine the centaur shrugging. "It's possible, but there're not many fairy criminals willing to stay in the Dublin area, what with our infamous Mud Boy living there, and anybody crazy enough to do that isn't currently on record."
"D'Arvit." The elf folded her arms with a huff of frustration. "So no leads."
"Nope."
"D'Arvit," she repeated. "I hope Artemis has more luck than you, Foaly, because the last thing we need right now is a criminal ruining things for us. Hopefully the Ambassador is as intelligent and open-minded as they seem, otherwise..."
Otherwise they might not realize that the entire fairy race isn't behind this and act accordingly.
Frond, I hope that they realize that.
Frisk needs SO much sleep and/or caffeine right now, poor kid.
Also, Foaly being a bulls-eye target for wayward magic gives me life right now. Seriously, I might turn it into a running gag throughout the series.
And now for today's worldbuilding – once again, an answer to a question from MemorySteel, who asked: Do monsters naturally radiate magic?
Yes, monsters naturally radiate magic - they are pretty much made of the stuff after all, and they sort of expel magic naturally while they go about their day. Some monsters radiate more than others, and some monsters, namely those without other means, can even use this aura of magic to communicate basic things like emotions or states of being to other monsters! (For instance, Froggits! How else do you know that they're deeply flattered by you when you compliment them? They may be sentient frogs, but they still have froglike faces that wouldn't necessarily be the best at expressing emotion!) Mages radiate magic as well, though to a lesser extent, as their naturally more solid bodies suppress some of the energy that might otherwise seep out. Same goes for the fairies as well!
