Chapter 13

"I agree," Frisk, still hanging like a sack of potatoes over Papyrus's shoulder, said. "Junior Jumble is so much harder than crosswords."

"Thank you!" Papyrus exclaimed. By this point, Frisk had gotten used to his constant shouting. It was possible his loud voice deafened her a little, but at least her ears stopped ringing. "Almost everyone disagrees, but you, human, seem to have more understanding than all of them."

Frisk shrugged. "I guess we must be kindred spirits."

"Indeed," Papyrus said. "Who knew I would have so much in common with a human?!"

Who knew I would have so much in common with a Red? Suddenly recalling that they were not alone, Frisk looked at Chara to see what he was doing. He still trudged behind, and when he noticed Frisk looking at him, he sneered.

"So," he snarled, "you finally remember that I exist?"

Frisk wanted to snap at him but didn't. So far the only one who knew about Chara was herself, and she intended to keep it that way. To respond to the human, Frisk dramatically rolled her eyes and again looked at the snow beneath them.

"I have to go," she muttered, talking to Papyrus.

"Yes," Papyrus said, "you have to go see Undyne."

"No." Frisk's face burned. "I have to go. Bad."

Chara, understanding first, burst out laughing. Papyrus, however, still didn't get it.

"Yes, yes," he went on, "but Undyne isn't going anywhere. As bad as you need to see her, there is no reason to rush."

Groaning loudly, Frisk finally spat out, "I need to use the bathroom!"

"Then why didn't you say so?" At that, Papyrus dropped Frisk onto the ground. "Well? Don't just lie there. Go use the bathroom. I'll wait for you, human."

"I'm kind of tied up right now," Frisk said, using her abs to lift her legs up so Papyrus could see her bound ankles.

Without a word, Papyrus knelt down and untied the rope. He then, dragging her by the elbow, helped a wobbling Frisk to her feet. Blood again rushed to her legs.

"You should have plenty of privacy over there," Papyrus pointed out, indicating an area thick of trees. Frisk frowned; Papyrus just showed her where she could run away without his noticing.

"Now would be a good time to bolt," Chara said as Frisk walked to where Papyrus suggested. "He won't realize you're gone until it's been so long he will feel the need to check on you."

Chara was right, but Frisk replied, "I'm not going to run."

"And why is that, Stripes? You don't want to betray his trust?"

"Actually, I don't." Frisk frowned even more. As much as she wanted to say she had a grand plan in mind that involved going with Papyrus, she didn't.

"I feel safe around him," she muttered, not knowing she spoke aloud until Chara laughed.

"He's delivering you to the Captain of the Royal Guard. Just because he's not going to be the one to kill doesn't suddenly mean he's protecting you."

"I know." Frisk sighed. "I know, but I don't think I have the heart to just ditch him. If anything, he seems more misguided than evil."

"Being misguided is no excuse for bad behavior."

"Sounds like something someone told you once," Frisk said. "Now, if you don't mind . . ." She used her tied hands to signal that Chara needed to leave.

Rolling his eyes, Chara said as he turned to walk away, "Freedom has been handed to you on a silver platter, and you aren't seizing it. Why am I not surprised?"

After Frisk finished her business, she found Papyrus right where she left him. Hers being the only set of footprints she saw was proof enough that Papyrus really did trust her enough to not feel the need to invade her privacy. Either Papyrus truly knew she wouldn't run, or he was as incompetent as Chara made him out to be.

"Ready to go, human?" Papyrus asked.

"Yes," Frisk answered, "but may I walk this time? It feels good to use my legs again."

"If you wanted to walk, why didn't you say so earlier?"

"I can't exactly walk with tied legs."

"Then you should have requested I untie them sooner. Silly human! I wouldn't have mind you walking instead of being carried." Papyrus pat her on the back. He slapped her so hard, Frisk nearly fell over. "Let's get going, human. We still got a long ways to go till we get to Ice Capital."


"No. No. NO!" Irritated, Undyne threw the map she had scratched Xs on to the floor and slammed her fists onto the table. "Where is he?!" When Papyrus was still gone after she searched Snowdin, Undyne got the sense something was wrong. Her fear was confirmed when Sans turned up again and had no idea where Papyrus had gone.

"I'm just as worried as you are," Sans said as he entered the dining room, mug of lukewarm coffee in hand, "but is damaging my kitchen table really necessary?"

Undyne removed her fists to see two dents in Sans's and Papyrus's new table. They had recently replaced it after she broke their previous one in half the last time she visited.

"I'll send you the gold to replace it," she said before slamming her fists into the wood again, creating two holes and a series of cracks in the now useless table.

"Would you also like to rip off one of the legs and beat the table with it?" Sans suggested, picking up the map and throwing it away.

Ignoring Sans, Undyne exclaimed, "How can he run off like this?! Papyrus, what were you thinking?"

She dropped her face into her hands. "I don't understand how you can be so calm at a time like this," she told Sans.

"Papyrus is a big boy," Sans said. "He can take care of himself. You know just as well as I do how powerful he is."

"So you're not worried?"

"I'm losing my mind." Sans sat across from Undyne. "However, throwing things and breaking my newly bought table isn't going to help us figure out where he went."

"But where could he be?" Undyne questioned. "We looked everywhere, didn't we?"

Not everywhere. Sans didn't want to believe it, and he would never dare breathe a word of it to Undyne, but Sans somehow knew that Papyrus had found Snowdin Two. If Papyrus was anywhere within Snowdin Forest, it was close to that isolated town very few in the kingdom knew existed.

He not only needed to figure out how he was going to get away from Undyne again, but he also needed to figure out how to keep Papyrus's mouth shut.

"This is all your fault!" Undyne snarled.

Sans raised his nonexistent eyebrows. "My fault?"

Stabbing an accusing finger at him, Undyne growled, "If you didn't vanish from your responsibilities and just met up with us to share information like you were supposed to, Papyrus wouldn't have felt the need to run off on his own to find you. Had you simply done what you agreed to do, Papyrus would be here right now, and we might be closer to finding this rogue human. Keep in mind, this very same human is potentially extremely dangerous. Who knows what kind of trouble Papyrus could be in if he came across this human?!"


"Okay, but if I finish my crossword first," Frisk was saying, "we're going to read a story from one of the books in my pack. Deal?"

"Deal," Papyrus agreed, "but I don't know why you would want to read from some silly book when you can hear the ballads of the Great Papyrus." At this, Papyrus strummed on his ukulele, creating a sound so grating even Chara shuddered.

"Win this, Stripes," he ordered. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm counting on you."

Only because you know if Papyrus wins, I won't be taking off the locket, Frisk thought. You could get on your knees and beg, but we both know there would be no mercy. If I have to suffer, so do you.

Taking the copy of the crossword Papyrus handed her, Frisk struggled to place it on her lap and hold the pen. Fuming with frustration, Frisk groaned when she dropped the pen while trying to write her name on the corner of the paper.

"What's wrong?" Papyrus asked, writing his name in big, loopy letters.

"I'm kind of at a disadvantage here," Frisk answered, lifting up her arms. She was still bound at the wrists.

"No worries." Papyrus didn't hesitate to reach forward and untie her arms. "Better?"

Frisk couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Not only were her feet unbound now, but Papyrus just untied her hands. The skeleton monster had just willingly undid everything that would have made keeping her captive easier.

"Should you really be giving me no restraints?" Frisk questioned before she knew she was opening her mouth.

Missing Frisk's meaning, Papyrus replied, "The Great Papyrus wins fair and square. No opponent of mine will be competing against me with a handicap."

After Papyrus gave the signal for them to start, Frisk focused on completing the crossword. Chara, to his credit, left her alone to concentrate. Engrossed in the puzzle, Frisk couldn't help but shout when she found the last word minutes later. "Finished!"

"Thank the angel," Chara muttered.

"What?! Impossible!" Papyrus snatched the paper as Frisk handed it to him, looked it over, and handed it back, deflated. "I, the Great Papyrus, have lost," he declared, defeated but not begrudgingly so.

Leaning forward, Frisk studied his sheet. "You were really close," she told him. "You just couldn't find 'mermaid.' That one was hard. Had you found that one first, you would have beat me."

"Well, no sense agonizing over my humiliating loss." Papyrus folded his crossword and put it away. "I am a skeleton of my word. Read one of your tales. Just, uh, make it a happy one."

"No problem." Frisk smiled as she pulled the book of fairytales from her pack. Papyrus made no move to tie her hands together again, and she would enjoy the motion while she could.

Since she had yet to read the collection, Frisk wasn't sure which story was a "happy one." Scanning titles and opening paragraphs, Frisk settled on one titled "The Three Heroes." Frisk took a deep breath and began to read aloud.

"Once upon a time, there were three heroes. A monster, a human, and a prince of darkness."

A sharp inhale caused Frisk to look up from the book. Papyrus seemed invested, but Chara's expression was one she hadn't seen before. It was as Chara blinked that Frisk understood what that look was. Recognition. Chara knew this fairytale.

Clearing her throat, Frisk continued reading.

"The monster knew of other worlds.

"The human traveled through them.

"The prince had the power to either erase the world or save it, but only once.

"As with every grand tale," Frisk continued, "there is a prophecy. When an evil arises to conquer the other worlds, the balance will be disrupted. It is during this time of imbalance that the known world will begin to crumble as time loses its meaning. Darkness will consume all, and the world will endure a fate worse than never existing at all.

"Only the three heroes can stop this evil and save the worlds. Only they had the power, when combined, to maintain balance in this delicate system. There was only one problem: None of the heroes trusted each other, and the darkness was rapidly approaching."

"This doesn't sound like a very happy story."

"It doesn't," Frisk agreed, looking at Papyrus, who sat across from her and hugged himself as if he was scared but didn't want to admit it. She shot a look at Chara before wondering aloud, "I wonder if it has a happy ending."

Chara understood her unasked question.

"Yes," he said, "but only if you change how you define 'happy ending.'"