Chapter 9
He needed to get away. Sans needed to find an excuse to disappear and check on the human. He said he would be back in three days, but even as he said the words he felt that was too long a wait. Now Undyne had arrived, and she would not let him far from her sights for more than was necessary.
"So," Undyne said, going over the notes she had taken during the interview she held with Sans first thing that morning, "you really didn't see anything the day that trap went off? Nothing before or immediately after?"
"Just because you keep asking the same question over and over doesn't mean you'll get a different answer." Sans, as if he couldn't be bothered, returned his attention to his drink. He knew it irritated Undyne how he appeared to not care, so he made a point by drawing out his movements to make them appear as lazy as possible.
"I have seen no humans in the Underground since before the trap was set off or in the days that followed." That wasn't a lie. Sans didn't see humans, but he did see a human. Singular, not plural.
"This doesn't make any sense." Undyne again looked at the map of Snowdin Road. "You're stationed right at the end of the forest, right by the very door that seals off Home. All our records indicate that every human in the past has come to the Underground through the ruins of Home, and by that logic, so has this supposed human. This means it should have passed by your station." At the words, Undyne glared at Sans. "You weren't taking another unnecessary break, were you?"
Sans shrugged. "It's possible a human could have come by during one of my breaks. I can't watch my post every minute of every day. Whether or not it was during an authorized break, we'll never know."
Gritting her teeth, Undyne slammed her notebook shut. "You know, Sans, I was really hoping I can count on you, yet you never cease to amaze me. This could be the last soul we need to escape, but you can't even be bothered to watch your post long enough to give me satisfactory answers!"
"You think I don't want to go to the surface?" Sans questioned, his tone rising. "All I want more than anything is to go back home, and the surface is the next best thing. Do you really think I would sabotage any chance I had at leaving the Underground?"
By making your promise with that woman, isn't that exactly what you did?
"Honestly, Sans, I have no freaking clue." Undyne organized her things into a neat pile. "Grab your coat, because you and me are going on an expedition."
Not liking where this was going, Sans asked, "What do you mean?"
Undyne rolled her eye as if she couldn't believe Sans was this oblivious. "We're going to explore Snowdin Road, pay a visit to Doggo, and all that good stuff. If there's any proof that a human was in the area within the last few days, I plan to find it."
"Oh, you're going out for your super top-secret mission?" Papyrus came out of the kitchen with a plate of steaming hot chocolate pancakes in his hands. "Can I come, too?"
"Papyrus, I don't think . . . ," Undyne began, but one look at Papyrus's pleading face broke her.
"You can come," she said, "but you must obey orders without question or hesitation. Do I make myself clear?"
With an ecstatic promise that he wouldn't let her down, Papyrus left the plate of pancakes as he ran off to his room to get his "super top-secret mission" backpack. Undyne and Sans sat in silence for a moment before Undyne groaned and put her face in her hands. After a deep breath, she sat upright again and used her fork to stab half the pancakes and put them onto her plate.
"He just wants to help," Sans said, choosing to stick with his coffee.
"I know, and I appreciate him. It's just . . ." Undyne stabbed at her pancakes some more. "If there's a human here, I don't want Papyrus to get hurt. You know how dangerous humans can be."
"Those are just stories," Sans replied, not knowing why he said what he did. "I'm sure any human we have out there would be scared of her own shadow."
It wasn't until Undyne glared at Sans that he realized his mistake. "'Her'?" Undyne questioned.
"Or his." Sans shrugged. "I'm all about gender equality."
Undyne did not take her eye off him as she continued to stab and eat the rest of her breakfast. Sans liked to pretend that her sharp gaze didn't cut into his bones. The problem was he could only pretend so much.
"A . . . a monster?"
"Yes, Frisk," Beatrix said. She reached out and grabbed Frisk just above the elbow. Frisk tried not to wince when Beatrix squeezed Frisk's arm a little too tightly. "No one here has seen a monster like you before. I don't think anyone would know what to make of you."
When all Frisk did was stare at Beatrix in confusion, Chara told her, "She wants you to pretend you're a monster, Stripes. Don't tell me you're really too stupid to figure that one out."
"Oh, well," Frisk thought quickly, "I suppose you're right in saying I might turn a few heads. The monsters in the Ruins thought I was pretty weird, too."
"Not that weird is a bad thing!" Alice sang. She ran up and took Frisk by the hand. "Come on. We'll get started on the tour now. I can't wait to show you the town." To Beatrix, "We'll be back in an hour, Mom!"
"You two have fun." Beatrix waved at the two of them, and Frisk couldn't help but wave back.
Stopping right in front of the door, Alice looked Frisk in the eyes and asked, "So, you saw nothing of the town when you were brought here?"
"None of it," Frisk answered.
"Well, I hope you like surprises." Alice got behind Frisk and covered her eyes. "I need you to keep your eyes closed until we get to where I want you to be. To do that, you have to trust I won't lead you into a pole or anything." Alice giggled. "Do you trust me?"
"No," Chara said.
"Yes," Frisk replied to Alice.
"Good," Alice said, "because I need you to open the door and lead the way. I'll be right behind you and tell you where to go."
Frisk did everything the white rabbit told her to do. When they walked outside, Frisk felt the cold air nip at her face. It seemed that Sans took her deeper into the snow-filled forest, but since she was surrounded by others, all who she met thus far seeming friendly, Frisk didn't mind.
"On the count of three, okay?"
"Okay, Alice."
Frisk could hear the smile in Alice's voice as she counted. "One, two, three!"
When Alice's paws flew away, Frisk gasped in awe of the town before her. Each building was a small log cabin, some having smoke fly out of their chimneys. Snow hugged the ground and cabins like a soft, white blanket. It was a small and cozy town, but what took Frisk's breath away was the large fir tree in the middle of the surrounding buildings. Streamers and ribbons wrapped around the conifer, red and green orbs hung from the branches, and boxes wrapped in silver or rainbow paper sat underneath it. On the top of the tree was a golden star that Frisk had to tilt her head all the way back to see.
"It's beautiful," she whispered.
"Yeah, it's quite the sight." Alice laid a hand on the small of Frisk's back and gently pushed her forward. "Don't just stand there. Get closer. Smell the tree. Trust me, you'll love the smell just as much as you love the sight."
Alice wasn't wrong. The closer Frisk got, the stronger the smell of pine grew. Closing her eyes, Frisk inhaled deeply. The decorated tree immediately became her favorite thing in the world.
"Do you get to see this every day?"
"Every day." Alice nodded. "We had another tree in Snowdin, but when we fled, we couldn't take it with us. We brought the decorations, and when we found this tree in the middle of everything, we made it pretty and declared it the center of our new town."
"What is this town called?"
"Snowdin Two."
Frisk laughed. "You're joking."
"I'm serious!" Alice insisted. "Everyone liked the name Snowdin, and most of the forest is called Snowdin Forest. It made sense to keep the name. Besides," Alice snorted, "the only city in this area is called Ice Capital. Not as creative a name, if you ask me."
"Yo, Alice!"
Grinning, Alice looked past Frisk and shouted, "Hey, Mon! Come over here! There's someone I want you to meet." To Frisk, "You don't mind if we have a friend come along, do you?"
"Not at all." Frisk turned around and saw an armless monster approaching. The yellow monster made Frisk think of a dinosaur, but the grin the monster wore reminded Frisk of Chara. Frisk took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
"What an annoying looking freak," Chara said, almost nonchalant. "I don't think you're going to get along with this one."
"Mon," Alice said as she pulled Frisk closer to the new monster, "this is Frisk. She's the girl my mom has been looking over the past couple of days. Frisk, this is Mon. She's my best friend."
"Nice to meet ya!" Mon said. She spent half a second looking Frisk over. "You're a kid, too. I can tell because you're wearing stripes."
"That's not how that works, Mon." Alice smiled as she shook her head. Turning to Frisk, she asked, "How old are you, anyway? I just realized I don't know."
"I'm sixteen," Frisk answered. She shrugged. "I suppose to some that's kid enough."
A kid who murdered somebody. Shivering at the voice inside her head, Frisk wrapped her arms around herself and pretended she was cold.
"You don't have me fooled," Chara told Frisk, as if he read her mind. "You might want to keep that teeny tiny detail to yourself if you want them to like you."
"So, you're our age. Cool." Mon nodded her approval.
"Is Mon short for anything?" Frisk asked, grasping for any conversation topic.
"Monika, but don't call me that if you want to keep your limbs," Mon answered, eyes narrowed. "I'd rather we pretend 'Mon' is short for 'Monster.'"
"Um, okay." Frisk frowned.
Sensing the awkwardness, Alice said, "So, how about we show Frisk around? Frisk, what do you want to see? We can go to my aunt's shop, uh, what else is there to do? Check out the library, perhaps."
Frisk's eyes lit up. "You have a library?"
"Yep, but not a big one." Alice began leading the way. "We can stop there first before I show you the rest of the town."
"Which won't take long since this place is so small," Mon said as she followed close behind. "Afterwards we can go to the river."
Keeping herself from halting, Frisk questioned, "Why?"
"Maybe to check out the river?" Mon replied, rolling her eyes. "There's next to nothing to do here, but the river's a good place to go if you want to get away from everyone."
"And pretend you're training for the royal guard by the captain herself." Alice giggled as Mon yelled at her to keep her mouth shut.
Knowing that someone from the royal guard had the potential to eventually cross paths with her, Frisk asked, "Who's the captain of the royal guard?"
Mon gasped in disbelief. "Have you been living under a rock?"
"She's from the Ruins, a place that had been sealed off for ages," Alice supplied before Frisk could answer. "Not much news gets there, I imagine."
"Not much at all," Frisk confirmed.
"Then you've been missing out, dude!" Mon began chattering, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she walked alongside the two. "Undyne is the coolest monster who ever lived! She's super strong, really cool, and beats up bad guys! If anyone is going to get the last human soul, it'll be her. If I was a human, I'd never be able to sleep at night knowing that Undyne is going to come beat me up."
"She sounds . . . delightful." Frisk forced a smile on her face.
"If this Undyne finds you," Chara said, "you're dead. Forget about coming back. She might just make you regret coming back after each death."
Must you be so discouraging? Frisk curled and uncurled her fingers. She shouldn't let Chara get to her. He was winding her up for no reason other than to amuse himself.
"Mon has the biggest girl crush on her," Alice giggled, prompting Mon to yell at the rabbit some more. "Don't be that way! Girl crushes are a perfectly normal thing to have. It's good for young girls to have someone older to look up to."
"Just don't call it a crush. Don't make me sound like that." Mon blushed despite her flaring nostrils. "You're going to give the newbie the wrong impression of me."
This was the point they arrived at the library. Or, as the sign read, "librarby." Frisk, not wanting to be rude, kept her mouth shut, but Alice must have known what Frisk was thinking.
"Don't feel you shouldn't say anything to be polite," Alice said, shrugging. None of the teens made move to enter the building. "Everyone notices."
"No one ever wanted to correct it?"
"You think after we came here someone would, but by that point, we have all just grown too accustomed to the misspelling. After having to leave our old homes, I think some of us wanted to hold onto what we had lost."
"Adults are so dumb," Mon said, though her tone didn't sound as harsh as her choice of words. "We could have hidden anywhere in the Underground, maybe even move to Hotlands, but they chose to move us deeper into the forest."
Frisk swallowed the lump in her throat. "You're in hiding?"
"When the king orders your entire town to be burned out of the Underground, you kinda get the impression you're not wanted."
"Not that we ever confirmed it was King Asgore who ordered the destruction," Alice cut in, casting Mon a glare. "The Reds and Blues of Snowdin normally got along, but we never saw eye-to-eye on how we wanted our future to look. Tell me, Frisk, was it ever that way in the Ruins?"
"There were no Reds and Blues in the Ruins," Frisk said. Wanting to change the subject, Frisk suggested, "How about we check out the librarby out?"
Undyne swore colorfully as she surveyed the ashes on the ground, grateful she sent Papyrus to the grocery store for "secret mission snacks." She didn't want him to see this. She didn't even want to see it.
"Those two sweet dogs," Undyne said, her voice soft and unsteady, "who always took care of each other . . . dead, because of the whims of a single human?"
Undyne removed her helmet and knelt by the piled remains. "The Snowdin Canine Unit has been decimated," she continued. "My troops and friends, destroyed. . . ."
Knowing better than to say anything, Sans merely watched as Undyne bowed her head and paid her respects. First chance she got, Undyne would contact someone to collect the ashes and send them to the dogs' families for a funeral. Once that task was taken care of, Undyne would make it her personal mission to destroy the one who had done this.
A swirl of emotions whirled inside Sans. The human had killed in self-defense. The blood pouring from her side and staining the snow was proof enough that she was attacked, and her emotional distress clearly came from her actions and not her gaping wound. When Sans brought her to Beatrix, he thought he was doing the right thing.
Yet as he saw Undyne mourn her fallen warriors, Sans had second thoughts. Self-defense or not, Frisk had killed somebody. She didn't have to, but she did. Instead of taking her to Beatrix to cash in that favor, Sans should have taken the human to King Asgore himself. He may have promised to protect any human he met, but the promise was not worth this.
"There was a battle here," Undyne said minutes later, her gruff voice weak. She wiped at the snow. "Blood, and vomit. Whoever was here, whoever did this, didn't walk away unscratched. Probably couldn't stomach the conflict either."
Undyne stood. "Alphys's history books made me think humans were cool and compassionate, but this . . . ?" Undyne shook her head. "Now I don't know what to think."
Sans had to ask. "What makes you think a human did this?"
"What makes you think a monster would have?!" Undyne snapped. She took a deep breath. "All I know is before I wasn't sure if I really could kill someone innocent, even if it meant getting to the surface. Now? I suppose killing them won't be an issue. We shouldn't let someone this dangerous wander around in the Underground. Not when we want monsters to feel safe."
"But isn't safety an illusion?" Sans pretended to examine the nails he didn't have. "Not every monster here is all that friendly, y'know."
"I do what I can to protect the people I serve," Undyne answered, possibly saying the best she had to offer. "No human falls under that category. I owe nothing to them."
Sans didn't argue. There was no reason to argue. Undyne was right, but that didn't stop his own personal conflicts.
Undyne muttered under her breath. Not hearing her, Sans asked the captain to repeat herself.
"This isn't right. There's a pool of dried blood right there in front of us. You see it too, right?" Sans nodded. "Why is there no trail?"
"You don't think humans also disappear after death, do you?" Sans lamely suggested and hated himself for it.
"In Alphys's books, human bodies remained after death." Undyne walked around and kicked at the snow as if she missed some critical clue. "The human moved, but it didn't drag itself away. Something covered the human's wound and carried it someplace else."
Yeah, I did. Sans kept his face a mask, hiding his sins from the very woman sniffing them out.
"Who do you think would help a human?"
This traitor. The one you're hunting the human with.
"No idea." Sans shrugged.
Undyne growled. "This is going to be a long mission."
"You don't even know the half of it," Sans said before he knew he was speaking.
The sun was shining. The flowers were blooming. The birds were singing. Overall, it was a beautiful day.
To calm his mind, King Asgore tended to his flowers. Their bright golden petals didn't cheer him up, but instead did the opposite. His beautiful flowers depressed him. They reminded him of what used to be and will never be again.
One hundred years isn't enough time to learn to move on from the pain.
Some days the king was fine and went on as if that horrible day, the one his entire kingdom was ordered to not speak of, never happened. King Asgore would take care of his garden, rule his people, and engage with those who crossed his path in endearing conversation. The days were few, but he was his old self again.
Other days he would wake, the pain fresh and new. His anger was a raging fire, and sometimes he wondered why he didn't burn his golden flowers to ash. Heart heavy, King Asgore used fear to keep his subjects at a distance.
"Sire?" It was the cat knight again.
"Yes, Trista?" King Asgore said, rising from the golden bed. When Trista failed to answer, Asgore turned to see the tabby wringing her paws. "Well?"
"We just received word from Captain Undyne. Dogamy and Dogaressa have been killed on duty. Evidence suggests that a human committed the crime."
King Asgore's heart sank. "Are we certain it was a human?"
Trista nodded. "No monster can bleed as much as what was found and not die. There's no other explanation."
Nodding, King Asgore said, "If anyone can stop the human, it's Undyne. Let's just hope she can stop it before it kills any more monsters. We all know how manipulative and bloodthirsty those creatures are."
Memories rushed to the surface, and the king suppressed a growl. Humans, he learned, were like snakes. They would come around and act as if they meant no harm, as if they were more scared of monsters than monsters were of them. Then, when they had earned the trust of the monsters, they would reveal their fangs and release their deadly poison. The king didn't learn this until it was too late, and even then half the kingdom refused to see the demon snake as anything but harmless.
"Send the first division to Waterfall," King Asgore commanded Trista. "Although I do not doubt Undyne's skills, we must limit the human's travels as much as possible."
After Trista promised to do such immediately and bowed out, the king returned to his flowers. There was one flower that was more beautiful than all the rest. Its leaves were the darkest green, and its petals the brightest gold. It was perfect.
Kneeling, King Asgore plucked the flower from the ground. He held it in the light, admiring its beauty.
"It's the things that are too good to be true that must be destroyed before they can destroy us," he muttered before igniting a fire between his fingers, burning the once beautiful flower to nothing more than hot ash.
Filled with awe, Frisk ran her fingers through the book spines as she walked through the small library. So much history. So many stories. Toriel's modest collection paled in comparison to the shelves before Frisk.
Alice giggled. "You really like books, huh?"
Shrugging, Frisk stepped away from the bookshelves.
"I love stories," she said, "but books are an easy way to get them."
"Oh, great." Mon rolled her eyes. "We got a nerd here."
Frisk glared at Mon but said nothing, even as Chara said, "Considering you like books and puzzles, I think she's got a great impression of you."
Eyes scanning the spines, Frisk read the titles. Monster Funerals. The Properties of Magic. The Essence of Souls, Vol. I. Her eyes landed on a series of tomes. Monster History. The years each volume covered were etched into the spines of the book. On the last tome in the collection, the year the book covered to was twenty years ago. She pretended not to notice Chara staring at her as she looked at the books.
"Aw, don't tell me you love history, too." Mon groaned. "Double nerd."
"The most I ever got in my history studies was the first twenty-five years monsters lived Underground," Frisk replied. "Excuse me for being curious."
"You won't find what you're looking for in those pages," Chara said, as if he knew what it was Frisk desperately wanted to research. She tried not to shudder when she wondered if he really did know.
"Why don't we come back later?" Alice suggested when Mon wouldn't stop complaining. "We can take a walk around the woods. See the river or something."
"That's a great idea!" Mon exclaimed. "I can show Frisk my favorite fishing spot."
Frisk swallowed her heart. "The river again?"
"Not that you will get a lot of fishing done at the river." Alice rolled her eyes. "Mon's so loud she scares away all the fish."
Mon flicked the tip of her tail. "It's not my fault the fish can't handle how awesome I am." Alice rolled her eyes again.
"Um, sure," Frisk said, trying her best to sound calm. "We can check it out."
While Mon cheered and Alice scolded her for using her outdoor voice in a library, Chara asked, "You don't sound sure. Afraid of running into another dog?" Frisk chose not to answer.
The entire walk to the river, which was hardly more than fifteen minutes away, Frisk kept wringing her fingers. Alice noticed and asked if Frisk was all right, and Frisk answered that she was fine. Raising an eyebrow, Alice said nothing but gave Frisk a look telling the human she knew better. Frisk was grateful Alice chose to leave it at that and not pressure Frisk for what was really going through her head.
"This is it!" Mon exclaimed when they came to the river. She ran ahead, but Frisk kept her distance. "Sweet spot, huh? Yo, why are you standing so far away?"
"I'm not." Frisk held her arms behind her back.
"You're, like, five feet away from the water."
"Leave her alone, Mon," Alice said, ears down, and approached Mon.
Something in the distance caught Frisk's attention. It looked like towers made of glass, but Frisk couldn't tell from where she stood.
"What do you think that is?" she asked Chara when she was certain Mon and Alice were too focused on their debate to hear her.
"I don't know," Chara answered. "You're going to need to get a closer look."
"Are you serious?"
"Hey, if you want to know what that is, you're going to have to get closer. I don't know, and honestly I don't care, what those towers in the distance are supposed to be."
Swallowing her fear, Frisk approached the river. Everything began to spin. The current didn't look too strong, but since she was still recovering from massive blood loss, Frisk knew she wouldn't have the strength to swim out if she fell in. Not that she knew how to swim in the first place.
"Over there looks to be sturdy." Chara pointed away from Alice and Mon. "You could get closer over there if you want."
Instead of observing the location herself, Frisk followed where Chara pointed and got closer to the river. She alternated between quickly looking where she was going and staring at the glistening towers. It was while she was doing the latter that the snow gave out from under her.
Frisk shouted in surprise as her feet fell from under her and she landed on her tailbone. In a matter of seconds, she slid on black ice into the water and was carried away by the currents. She should have been able to keep her head above water, but she was thrashing too much to do herself any good.
"FRISK!" Alice and Mon ran after her, but they weren't faster than the quickening current. She must have not given it a second thought, because Alice jumped into the icy river to swim after Frisk when she realized running wouldn't be fast enough. Alice moved faster in the water, but she was still too far behind.
The only things Frisk could hear were the blood rushing behind her ears, the torrent screaming at her, and Chara's laughter every time her head broke the surface. Frisk clawed frantically at the water, desperate for something to hold onto until Alice could reach her. She didn't see the large boulder she was hurling towards.
When her head cracked against the rock, Frisk lost all consciousness. Lifeless, she sunk under the water as the current continued to carry her away. She didn't know if slamming head first into the rock or drowning in freezing water was what killed her.
