Chapter 48
"You want to do what?" Mandy, claws folded as she sat at her desk, glared at Frisk with her unblinking eyes.
"Since the mission to get the key to the Core was a failure," Frisk meekly began and winced when Mandy hissed under her breath, "we need another way to get into the castle."
The group had returned from the mission three days prior, and after the unfavorable report was given to Mandy, she had become less than a pleasant presence within the camp. Everyone was aware of the level of wrath she had for Sans, and although Sans acted as if he was unphased by it all, nobody else wanted to risk getting on Mandy's bad side. It was why Frisk did not have to pretend to be fearful as she presented the monster with a new plan.
Frisk stood in Mandy's office. Suzy, arms crossed as she stared at the floor, was by Mandy's side. Chara was the unseen force by Frisk's.
"Breathe, Stripes," he ordered, his voice firm while her knees shook. "You have far more control over this situation than she realizes. Do not let her intimidate you."
"I can understand you were not expecting the former Captain of the Royal Guard to be there," Manday said, feigning sympathy, "but that is no excuse for failure. Had not your knucklehead friend showed up when he did—"
"We have been over this," Frisk interrupted, trying to gather the confidence Chara spoke to her. "I did not know Sans planned to break orders, and I did not ask him to teleport me away. Mew Mew killed my mother. Don't you think I want her brought to justice more than anyone?"
Mandy clicked her tongue. "Her life is not yours to take."
Spine stiffening, Frisk forced herself to remain steady as she asked, "Who says that I intend to be the one to kill her?"
"You know, Ms. Fox," was how Mandy answered as she rose from her desk, "we're not so different from each other."
"Oh, no," Chara muttered. "Not the 'we're not so different' trope."
"I lost someone important to me, too, when I was not much older than you are now," Mandy began. "It was not in my heart to forgive them. Nothing justice could do would ease the pain in my heart and soul. I wanted to take matters into my own hands. I wanted the one who hurt me most to suffer. Just as you want Mew Mew to suffer."
"She's trying to divert the subject," Chara pointed out.
"Regardless how I feel about Mew Mew," Frisk said, trying to neither confirm nor deny the very thing Mandy suggested, "she is not the greatest concern right now. Breaking the barrier is, and the heart of the barrier is within King Asgore's castle."
Mandy narrowed her eyes at Frisk, possibly displeased Frisk did not fall into her trap. As she shrugged a shoulder, Mandy replied, sitting back down. "You are right. Getting to the castle is the bigger priority, but without access to the Core—"
"I offered an alternative."
"Yes, but the sewers? Do you honestly think you can get to the castle that way? You have never been to the Capital. How do you expect me to believe that you can find the castle through an underground passageway?"
Swallowing all her fear, Frisk stated, "I have a way."
"Do you honestly expect me to believe you, just that easily?"
Frisk looked over both shoulders. Chara grinned at her and nodded. This was the moment Frisk had been leading up to, and now was the time to put on a performance that made her trial with Mettaton seem like child's play.
"The truth is," Frisk said, speaking softly as if to not be overheard by any who might be standing outside the tent, "I already know how to travel through the sewers. I have done it many times before."
If Mandy was intrigued by the declaration, she didn't show it. Acting unphased, she challenged, "And when did you, a human who has never once step foot into New Home, travel the sewers?"
"I used to do it all the time with Asriel."
Mardy barked a humorless laugh. "Now I know you are lying to me! Asriel died over one hundred years ago. I am no expert on humans, Ms. Fox, but I do know that you are not a century old and that you are not a male just as our prince was."
"Not in this life, at least."
Frisk didn't know if it was what she said or the scared way she said it, but Mandy's stern expression dropped ever so slightly.
"I couldn't remember at first," Frisk said, voice shaking, and she didn't know if the tremors were an act or her own unfiltered fear seeping through, "but after the night Sans saved me from Mettaton . . . I have been having dreams. No. Memories. Memories disguised as dreams. I remember my life in the Underground. I remember my brother. I remember the first time I fell."
Possibly barely able to process what Frisk was saying, Mandy leaned forward and clutched at her desk. It was hard for Frisk to know if she was coming to the same conclusion Frisk was leading her. For dramatic effect, Frisk allowed Mandy to think the words to herself before Frisk spoke them aloud as if sharing a dark secret she should have taken to her grave.
"I am the reincarnation of Prince Chara," Frisk declared, her eyes burning as she allowed the feelings of guilt and sorrow to wash over her. In a rush, Frisk spoke as if a dam holding back her confessions had finally broke. "I did a lot of bad things in my past life – I remember that now. Every time you call me the hope of the future, I am reminded of my life as Chara, where I threw it all away. I hurt a lot of people. I did every terrible thing the Reds accuse me of. I am supposed to be the hero, but the truth is I'm the villain who caused all these problems in the first place!"
Falling into the emotions of her act, Frisk started to cry. She covered her mouth with her hand and stifled her sobs. It was a story she had stayed up all night rehearsing with Chara, and now she needed Mandy to believe it was true.
Mandy opened and closed her mouth a few times. It appeared that she was at a loss for words. After a moment, she asked, "How can this be?"
"We believe on the surface if any human dies with unfinished business," Frisk answered, "that person is reincarnated. I was born again to return here and make right the evil I have inflicted. I can never undo the terrible things I have done or the evil acts I committed, but I can give monsterkind what they always wanted: freedom."
The shock fading slightly, Mandy narrowed her eyes. "I thought you did not wish to die even at the cost of breaking the barrier."
"After learning who I was and what I did, the only way I could ever hope to earn forgiveness is to give my life and offer my soul to the shattering of the barrier."
With the last of her surprise being replaced with skepticism, Mandy challenged, "How can I know that are telling me the truth?"
"Ask me anything," Frisk immediately returned. "I don't have all my past life memories back, but I'm sure there's something about Chara I know that nobody else should."
Tapping her finger against her desk, Mandy asked, "What did Chara give Dr. Gaster upon meeting him for the first time?"
The question threw Frisk off guard. She had suspected something like, "Did you really kill Asriel?" or "Name five of your victims." This, however, was a question Frisk would never have predicted.
"A pencil drawing of the Core," Chara answered while Frisk pretended to recall. "Except I drew a spaceship attached to the Core. I thought perhaps the monsters could have built a rocket to blast them out of the mountain, and the picture was how I pitched the idea to Dr. Gaster. Unfortunately, he didn't think it was a very good idea."
Frisk repeated all but the last part to Mandy, whose eyes widened in shock.
"Is it still in his office?" Frisk questioned, repeating Chara word for word.
"No," Mandy responded, the state of shock now returning. "I . . . It was thrown away about a decade ago. It was old and torn. Besides, no Red wanted to work with something like that in plain sight."
"Then I hope you will consider what I suggested to you today," Frisk whispered, throat tight.
"If you truly are Chara, then how can I know we can trust you? After all, Chara betrayed monsterkind once. There's no reason to think you wouldn't do it again."
"Then you're just going to have to trust I have changed," was the only response Frisk gave.
For a long moment, Frisk and Mandy stared at each other. Frisk struggled to breathe, her chest tight as if a tight rope were tied around her. Minutes passed, but they felt to be hours.
"I don't see why not consider the suggestion," Suzy, who had stood so still and remained so quiet it was as if she were an office decoration, suggestion. Mandy must have forgotten Suzy was there, because she nearly jumped out of her seat. As if unaware of her godmother's reaction, Suzy continued, "The Core ain't much of an option anymore, so we need to find another way in. If Frisk really is Chara reincarnate and can get us in there, then why not?"
"We have to calculate the risks!" Mandy snapped, her complexion of control no longer existent.
"What risks?" Suzy snorted. "Nobody has been in the sewers for forever. Not to mention that's the last thing anyone could possibly suspect. It will be a grand sneak attack. Hell, I'll go. Might be fun."
"I . . . will have to think about it." Mandy retuned her attention to Frisk. "I will take your plan into consideration . . . Ms. Fox."
"Thank you." Frisk bowed her head slightly. "Just . . . erm, please don't tell anyone what I told you. People here praise me enough as is. If they knew that I am the prince they so revere—"
"No such word will get out," Mandy promised. "Now, I believe we both had ought to rest for the night and think about what to do next. We shall speak again tomorrow."
After wishing Mandy a good night, Frisk stepped out of the tent. Her legs threatened to give out beneath her, but she kept walking. Claiming to be the reincarnation of Chara was her idea, yet now that she had gone through with it, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea after all.
"You did great, Stripes," Chara offered with a kind smile on his face, and the praise made Frisk return a smile of her own.
"That was quit the show," Suzy said, as she came up behind Frisk, unknowingly adding her own compliment on top of Chara's. "You almost had me convinced."
"I'm surprised you agreed to this in the first place," Frisk said, still unable to fully believe that Suzy would so willingly lie to her own godmother. Then again, Suzy's loyalties to the women had been in the question since the day Frisk joined the Blues.
Instead of replying to Frisk's comment, Suzy asked, "Anyway, how did you know about the picture? That was something I don't think anyone knew about, or at least I never heard about it before. Honestly, a rocket out of here sounds cool."
While Chara beamed at the praise, Frisk could only answer, "I guess you could say I had a lucky guess."
They were having tea in the garden. Sunlight filtered from the holes in the mountain, passed through the windows, and danced over the golden flowers. If the surface was anything like this, warm and golden and always beautiful, Undyne could not see the world for herself fast enough.
King Asgore sat on the other side of her at his little tea table. From time to time, Asgore would like to entertain guests by hosting tea in his garden. Other times, he liked to sit down here and enjoy a cup of tea. He always liked to be in his garden. A garden that only grew one kind of flower. A kind, rumor had it, that was a certain prince's favorite of all flowers.
"Words can never express how deeply sorry I am," Asgore said for the umpteenth time that afternoon alone. "I never should have held the threat of an execution over your head. I . . . there's a position others expect me to fill, and sometimes I get carried away. I never would have gone through with it. I hope you know that."
"I do know that, Asgore. It's okay," Undyne replied every time he spoke those words to her. Of course, she did not know if Asgore would not have actually gone through with the execution; she was honestly not sure where she would be if Sans and Papyrus had not busted her out. Perhaps he would have extended mercy to her at the last minutes. Perhaps she would be yet another name on the list of people closest to Asgore that he had lost.
Her name might have been the second of those Asgore lost by his own hand.
"You know, I never asked," Undyne said, eye locked on her tea as she stirred in three lumps of sugar. "I know you lost your family a long time ago. A long, long time ago. To me, it's like some piece of history that has nothing to do with me, but for you . . . It's something you have to bear every day, and here I am, the insensitive jerk who has never once asked you about your past. I just listen when you decide to share, but otherwise, I don't express much interest."
When Asgore didn't respond, Undyne risked looking up at him. His eyes were downcast. He did not appear angry, just emotionally drained.
Choosing her words carefully, Undyne softly asked, "What was your son like?"
"My son?" Asgore pondered before he answered, "My son . . . had more hope than anyone I had ever met. He believed in a better future, where humans and monsters can live together in peace and harmony. Not that I could say he was always a happy child, but no matter how dark the nights got, he could find hope in the inevitable morning. A part of me died the day we lost him. I lost my whole family in one day, but losing him . . . it was like a light I didn't know was lit went out, and it can never shine again no matter how much I hope and pray to feel its warmth again."
Undyne forced a small sip of tea down her throat as she dwelt on what Asgore had said. Seeing the pain in his eyes was like a constraint to her heart. It made what she said next even harder to speak aloud.
"And what was Asriel like?"
Eyes wide, Asriel shot his head up and looked at Undyne. His jaw hung open slightly. It was as if he was too surprised to be angry.
It also did not escape Undyne's notice that he did not correct her.
What she expected was for Asgore to slam down his fist and yell at her to leave. Yet he did not do any such thing. Dragging his massive paw over his face, Asgore mumbled barely loud enough for Undyne to hear, "Chara betrayed us. We were nothing more than a cover for him. We were somewhere to hide while he did to our kind what he pleased."
"But is that really true?" Undyne gently challenged. "I'm not saying the human was the picture of innocence, but . . . did he really kill his own brother?"
Asgore went so long without speaking, Undyne feared he was preparing to yell at the top of his lungs. After all, he had to maintain the image of an angry, wrathful king who was betrayed by the very human he took in as his own. Then Asgore softly sighed and gently requested that she left his presence.
Not wanting to push him any more than she had already, Undyne rose from the table. She thanked him for the tea and began to collect the teapot and teacups from the table. However, Asgore asked her to leave them there and said he would clean them up later.
With nothing more than a nod, Undyne padded out of the garden. Yet as she passed the doorway, Undyne did not go much further than behind the door. Back pressed against the wall, Undyne held her breath to hear how Asgore would react now that he thought he was alone.
At first, there was nothing. Then what sounded like a growl as Asgore audibly swiped at the tea set on the table. The fine China cracked and shattered as it crashed into the ground. Then soft sounds of muffled sobbing followed. Risking it, Undyne peeked her head inside to see Asgore with his face buried in his palms as he muffled his mourning.
As she walked away, Undyne tucked aside the information she had never once considered. It was not that Asgore truly believed Chara was guilty of all the crimes pinned against him. It was much, much worse than that.
If Chara was innocent after all, and Asgore impulsively executed his own son . . .
Undyne, chest tightening and eye burning, could not bring herself to finish her own thought.