Queen's Mansion, Part 1
And now the heroes need to escape Queen's mansion and Tina gets some alone time with her new "mama." Hope you guys enjoy!
...
Queen walked into her glorious mansion, rocking her new tiny daughter as she turned to the Swatchlings pulling the random Darkner that came with the heroes. "All Right Now Swatchlings Take Whatever His Name Is..."
"It's Ralsei." the goat boy protested.
Queen only heard part of the name over the crying of the little girl in her arms but didn't care that much anyway. "Ok Now Ralph Since I Don't Have A Room For You... You Will Be My New Butler. Swatchlings Have Swatch Fit Him For A Nice Suit."
The Swatchlings nodded, letting out affirmative caws as they took what's-his-name away. Queen turned her attention back to her darling little Tina. The little girl was still crying loudly and trying to get down, her Sadness/Fear protocol running at full volume. Queen didn't understand. Tina was in her new mama's arms, being held, cuddled, and given attention; everything she had looked up about parenting on the Internet said she should have calmed down by now!
"What's Wrong Little Tina Beanie?" Queen cooed. "Are You Sad You're Too Little To Be My Peon Like Noelle? Don't Worry I'll Make A Junior Peon Squadron Just For You."
"No! I want my big sister! I'm not going to let you hurt her!" Tina yelled, struggling even harder.
Question marks appeared on Queen's visor as she held onto the squirming child so she wouldn't fall and crack her skull open. "Why Would You Come Up With That Illogical Conclusion?" Tina blinked up at her in confusion, thankfully stopping her wriggling, and Queen switched her lexicon to more child appropriate speech. "Why Do You Think I Would Hurt Frisk?"
"Because you said you'd throw Berdly in the river and kill him!" Tina sobbed.
Queen sighed worriedly. It appeared that the girls' malnutrition had made not only Frisk's vision but also both girls' hearing inadequate. She'd have to have an Ambyu-Lance give them a full examination and check if they had any further malfunctions in need of repairs. "Tina Honey I Never Said That. Burghley May Be Very Annoying But I Would Never Kill Him. I Said He'd Go For A Ride Down The Acid River. And I Wouldn't Throw Him In When There's A Perfectly Good Swan Boat For Him To Ride."
Tina's crying stopped and she looked up at her with teary eyes. "Swan boat?"
"Yes To Ride Down The Acid River In" Queen told her. She smiled engagingly. "You Your Sisters Susie And What's His Name Can Ride It Too Once I Take Over The World. It's Very Cool."
"Why do you need to take over the world?" Tina asked quietly. She still seemed to be on her Fear Protocol but at least it was starting to shut down.
"So I Can Make Everyone Very Happy." Queen replied.
"But you're not making Frisk, Susie, Ralsei, and Noelle happy! You're making them scared and you have them locked up!" Tina protested.
"Tina Beanie Your Sister Is Scared Because She's Been Programmed To Distrust Authority Figures. I Believe Susie Is The Same Way Though I Don't Know What Caused That Particular Malfunction In Her. Noelle Is Just Unsure Of A Lot Of Things Right Now. They're In Their Rooms To Keep Them Safe And So They Won't Stop Me From Taking Over The World In Their Misguided Sense Of Mistrust." Queen explained, though she wasn't sure Tina's brain was developed enough to understand. "Do Not Worry I'll Have The World Taken Over Within The Hour And Then They Can Come Out. Until Then They Have Lots Of Fun Things To Keep Them Entertained. Come On I'll Show You." She carried Tina, whose fear protocol had finally aborted, into the control room, intent on relieving the imaginary fears the little girl's programming by some bad Lightners had clearly instilled in her.
...
After nearly blacking out from the cage going so fast, Frisk found herself in a strange room, still trapped in her cage. She frantically tried to figure out how to get free and find her sister, Susie, and Ralsei.
And then Queen appeared on the screen, sitting in front of some blue sky and grass background, cuddling Tina on her lap and grinning.
"Frisk!" Tina cried out.
"Tina!" Frisk called back, then glared at Queen. "If you harm one hair on her head, I'll destroy you!"
Queen frowned. "Frisk Dear I Know Your Bad Lifegivers Have Programmed You To Have A Terror Of Authority Figures But I would Never Cause Harm To Our Precious Tina Bean. You Will All Be Very Happy Here Nourished Under The Warm Bosom Of My Loving Care. Your Room Units Should Prove That To You." She smiled engagingly. "As You Can See They Are Perfectly Suited to Your Interests(Which I Gleaned From Your Internet Search Results)."
Looking around, Frisk saw a white blanket laying over a chair with a thought bubble on it, a pile of U-bend pipes, a pile of random books and papers on a desk, and a artfully laid out meal(which of course included a bunch of bananas) on a tray shaped like a giant dollar sign. There was also something that looked like a big air horn sticking out of the ground. She wasn't sure how any of that related to her interests, but she had more important things to worry about.
"See Tina Beanie? Look At All The Cool Things Your Sister Has. And Soon You Will Have Cool Things Too Once I Discern Your Interests." Queen cooed to Tina.
"But she's stuck in a cage still! Please let her out!" Tina pleaded.
"Right She Can't Eat Her Food Or Replenish Her Potassium Levels In There." Queen muttered, smacking herself on the forehead. "Disengaging The Cages Now." The cage bars went down and Frisk quickly jumped out of it, but didn't head to the door yet as she knew Queen was watching.
"The Door Is Still Locked So You Cannot Escape But I Estimate You Will Have No Desire To Leave With All The Cool Things I Gave You. Please Tantalize Yourself With Your Surroundings And Wait Patiently While I Dominate The World. Oh And Don't Forget To Check Your Adoption Papers. Toodles" Queen said proudly before the screen turned off.
"Adoption papers? Wait. What?" Frisk asked dumbly, then sighed. "And she's gone. Of course." She looked around, trying to look for a way out, but before she could examine much of the room, she heard Susie's voice coming from the tube sticking out of the ground. "F... Frisk!? Hey! Can you hear me!?"
Frisk ran over. "I can hear you!"
"Looks like there's some way to communicate between rooms." Susie told her.
Queen popped back up on the screen. "Convenient Isn't It I Really Thought Of Everything"
"Shut up!" Susie yelled as the screen went blank. She then sighed. "Anyway, let's think of some way to get out of here! Ralsei, you got any bright ideas...?"
There was no response.
"Hey... where the hell's Ralsei!?" Susie yelled.
"Last I saw him, those tuxedo bird guys had hold of him." Frisk said shakily. Just as she finished speaking, there was a high pitched scream. She jumped, looking around frantically.
"Damn, that soft-yet-tender screaming- Frisk, that's gotta be him!" Susie gasped.
"Ralsei..." Frisk breathed, shaking all over. What if he was hurt?! Queen had promised never to hurt Tina, but what if she hurt Ralsei?! "We gotta get to him!"
"I know! There's gotta be some way to get out of this hellhole!" Susie replied, her own voice just as shaky. "You got anything in your room or bag that can help us out?"
"I'll check." Frisk said quietly so Queen wouldn't hear and headed to the door. Much to her dismay, it was electronically sealed, with a card slot where the lock was. She checked around the room to see if there was anything she could use. She headed over to the pile of U-Bend pipes. Apparently Queen thought her searching up "How to fix leaky U-bend pipe," meant she had a vested interest in pipes and needed a whole freaking mountain of them.
Though worst come to worst, maybe she could throw them at the lock.
Though she'd probably better find something a little more subtle than that.
She walked over to the desk, glancing at the thought bubble blanket that Queen had gotten her due to her search of how to make a memory blanket from Tina's old baby clothes. Quickly, she leafed through the papers to see if she could find any sort of key card. All she found was books and papers based on her homework search results, and the after mentioned guardianship/adoption papers, which were also based on her own search results, as she had been researching how to take guardianship of Tina when she turned eighteen. Somehow Queen had gotten all the needed forms and they were in somewhat of an order, though Queen had herself as the guardian rather than Frisk. On the papers rested a sticky note reading, "Frisk Your Decision To Adopt Tina Is Admirable But As You Are A Minor Too And Need A Mother's Tender Loving Care I Shall Be The One To Adopt You Both. Please Sign Your Name Where Indicated On The Adoption Release Forms."
Frisk felt the oddest mix of totally creeped out and strangely touched that someone wanted her and her sister this much.
Shaking her head, she decided to see if she had anything in her bag that was more useful to the actual goal of helping her escape than this stuff. She wondered if she could trick the door into thinking her student ID card was the key card. Probably not, but it was worth a shot. Better than her other ideas of smacking the lock repeatedly with a pipe like a deranged person or digging her sword blade through the card slot and getting herself electrocuted.
She dug through her bag, then remembered the little pocket she had tucked Lancer and Rouxls into.
Lancer and Rouxls!
Her soul sunk with guilt. How the hell could she have forgotten about them?! Left them stuck in her bag?!
She quickly opened the pocket, finding Lancer's card. Rouxls's card was nowhere to be found, but she quickly released Lancer.
It glowed and floated in the air, immediately becoming Lancer himself. He grinned happily at her. "Missed me? Because I missed you! Ha ha ha!"
Frisk nodded, sighing in relief. "I'm so sorry, Lancer! I should have let you out long before this!"
"It's okay, Frisk! I could have jumped out at any time like Lesser Dad did! I was just relaxing in your cool backpack! I was being a cool Key Item! There exactly when you needed me! Your ace in the hole!" Lancer struck a cool heroic pose. "Except I'm a jack, but you know what I'm saying."
"Lancer!? That you!?" Susie called in relief.
"Yeah! I'm here! Lesser Dad jumped out to do, um, Lesser Dad things, but I decided to hang out in Frisk's backpack and play with all her stuff and look at everything! And I saw everything! Lint, this cool keychain with beads on it that Frisk has, various items... A wild Mom put you in some Shock Cages."
"Hahah, yeah. We're trapped, so, uh..." Susie said sheepishly. Her voice then brightened. "Hey, wait didja see us on the roller coaster!?"
Lancer bounced happily. "Yes! It was amazing! My first coaster ride! Ha ha! I love getting nauseous with friends!" He laughed and spun.
"Hey you should probably, um, free us." Susie pointed out.
"Oh right! Yes!" Lancer said eagerly. "You can always rely on a friendly Me to make you free!"
He ran up to the computer and fidgeted with the controls. "Haha! I have no idea how to use this!" He jumped on the keyboard. "Request... new item for room"? That sounds good." He started typing. "Item request: Shovel. Quantity: Let's say 999."
And then the screen turned bright red, reading Quantity Overload, and sparks began flying from the computer. The doors immediately unlocked.
"Hoho! It worked!" Lancer grinned.
"Thanks, Lancer!" Frisk said gratefully.
"No problem! Now, let's go, blue person whose name I know!" He eagerly spun out the door and Frisk hurried to join her friends. Though she stopped and stowed all the food Queen had given her in her backpack first. She had to admit that putting it all on a fancy dollar sign shaped tray was a clever interpretation of her search query, "Dinner On A Budget."
"Frisk, hey!" Susie said in relief as Frisk came outside. She grinned. "Man... Lancer...! You're the best, dude!" They jumped into the air and gave each other high fives before Susie got serious. "C'mon, Noelle and Ralsei are waiting!"
"Yes...! Let's put the pedal on the medal!" Lancer grinned. His smile then faded and he started coughing.
"Lancer...?" Frisk asked worriedly.
Susie turned around. "Hey, Lancer, you ok, dude?" she asked worriedly.
Lancer tried to smile. "I... I'm fine! Just... very..." He shook a bit. "Cold..."
He collapsed to the ground and Frisk and Susie rushed to his side.
"Lancer!" Frisk gasped, reaching over to check him. He was as cold as ice. She wrapped her scarf around him, trying to warm him.
"H... Hey, what the hell!?" Susie gasped as she knelt beside him. "Hey, are you okay, dude...? Here, lemme heal you...!" She cast her Ultimate Heal, but it barely seemed to do anything for him.
"... th-thanks, Susie... but..." Lancer said weakly.
"D... darn, it's not strong enough, huh..." Susie whispered, looking down.
Frisk then noticed something. "There's a Save Star right there! Those can heal everyone completely, maybe it'll heal whatever's wrong!" she said quickly.
"Good idea. Hurry, Frisk!" Susie told her frantically.
Frisk ran over and hit the Save Star. It beeped and warm magic surrounded all three of them, healing Frisk and Susie's wounds, but even though the light washed over Lancer, he was unimproved.
"It-It didn't work..." Susie gasped. "It always works; damn it, what's happening here?!" She turned worried eyes onto Frisk. "Quick, Frisk, let's find Ralsei! He's a nerd, he'll be able to figure out what's wrong and fix it." She gently picked up Lancer and placed him on her shoulders, carrying him piggyback. "Don't worry, dude, you'll be okay." she told Lancer soothingly, but Frisk knew she was scared.
Frisk nodded and quickly followed her past the hallway filled with doors. And then one of them burst open and Berdly came running out. "Wait! WAIT!" he called. "Y-you two aren't going to leave without ME, are you!?"
"Uhhh... yeah we are." Susie answered, more focused on Lancer who was growing paler by the minute.
"But Noelle- my damsel in distress- she must be..." Berdly started. "...In distress! And if I cannot help her, then...!"
"Okay FINE you can come if you shut up." Susie growled.
They headed down the hallway of doors and into the next room, where a puzzle shaped like Queen's face with pieces that would fill it in rested on the floor. Susie groaned. "Looks like another puzzle. ...think, uh, YOU can do it, Frisk?"
"Sure. I've done jigsaw puzzles with Tina before." Frisk told her with a smile.
Berdly came running into the room. "Calm your skinless, boneless, thighs everyone." he said with his traditional smirk. "I'll think of a solution!"
Frisk rolled her eyes. "Berdly, it's basically a jigsaw puzzle. We just need to put it together."
"Frisk, just ignore him." Susie whispered. She smirked at Berdly. "I'll just be over here where I can't hear you."
"And I'll be here, away from your IQ-debuffing aura!" Berdly said.
"If only Lesser Dad was here to help! He's a regular Puzzle Pagliacci!" Lancer said with a grin.
"Uh, you mean like a genius?" Susie asked.
"No, he's more like a sad clown." Lancer answered. Frisk couldn't help but chuckle. Lancer being Lancer made her feel a lot better. Smiling, she went to work on the puzzle, finishing it in a few seconds. She wished Tina was here. She'd love this type of puzzle.
"Yeah! We got it!" Susie cheered.
Berdly's eyes bugged out. "Uh... What?! Hey, wait a second- How'd you... How'd you solve it without me!?"
"Hahaha! Frisk figured it out before you! Jealous?" Susie crowed.
Berdly gritted his teeth. "Well I..." He grinned fakely. "I knew the answer, I just wanted to see Frisk try, first! It's called SUSPENSE, Susan! DRAMATIC, suspense!"
Frisk rolled her eyes and Susie smirked. "Then YOU do the next one."
Berdly grinned, though Frisk noticed his grin looked slightly nervous. "Fine! WATCH me!" He hurried off.
Susie made a face. "Also, my name's not Susan?" she whispered to Frisk, who nodded.
When they went into the next room, Berdly was staring befuddled at a puzzle made of a triangle with a smaller triangle piece, two trapezoids, and a diamond. However when they entered the room, his expression immediately changed from confusion to smugness. "Ha, child's play. Couldn't you give me a harder one? For example, if anyone had a 4x4 Puzzle Cube..."
Susie gave him an unimpressed look. "Just tell us the solution."
"Well, hahah- ah, you see-" Berdly frowned. "First you..." He thought for a second, then smirked, sweat beading on his brow. "You align the shadows... with the lines on the floor."
Susie rolled her eyes. "All right. What do we move first."
Berdly looked even more nervous. "Um..."
Susie shook her head. "Frisk, just do the puzzle."
"J...Just give me a moment!" Berdly yelled. "It's not like Frisk could even solve it anyway!"
Susie glared at him. "Frisk can think circles around you and you know it!"
"Susie, it's okay. Let's just focus on getting to the others." Frisk pleaded as she put together the puzzle. It took a bit more arranging than the first, but she managed to solve it fairly easily.
"Whoops, looks like Frisk got it again!" Susie taunted Berdly.
Berdly jolted in surprise, realizing that Frisk indeed had gotten it. "H-huh!? W... wait! Wait just a second! You can't have-" He glared at Frisk. "You just got lucky! It's just trial and error! The brute force method! Ha! A caveman could do it! Except cavemen died OUT, because they're STUPID!"
"Um, that's not exactly true..." Frisk started.
Berdly ignored her. "I'M solving the next one, so- Just STAY HERE until I'm done!" He ran off.
Susie smirked. "Yeah, like we're gonna wait that long." She hurried out of the room with Lancer and Frisk followed.
"What are you doing here!?" Berdly demanded when they came to the next room, one with a square shaped outline, four very oddly shaped corner pieces, and what looked like a duck piece. "This one's MINE! It'll be over in a second, so why don't you just... Relax in your mind palace..." He smirked. "Which PROBABLY doesn't have anything in it!" He then went back to staring at the puzzle, and frustration replaced his smug expression. "I just need to figure out... why... The shapes don't go together..."
He gave up and stared at the ground, defeated, and Susie's expression softened. "Oh. Hey. You just gotta fill the whole square thing, right? What if you just... piled them all in the corners?"
"Like digging a really wide hole!" Lancer said cheerfully.
"Wh... what!?" Berdly asked in shock.
Susie turned to Frisk with a grin. "Frisk, wanna try?"
"Of course." Frisk answered and quickly solved it, noticing Lancer was looking paler still. Yet despite that he was joking around with Susie and Berdly, which improved Susie's spirits, though she was still clearly worried.
"S-SUSIE's idea worked!? There's... there's no way!" Berdly gasped when Frisk slid in the last piece, causing the square to glow and turn white.
"Susie's a mechanics genius." Frisk told him, crossing her arms. "You just never bothered to get to know her and find that out about her. Not to mention she's not afraid to think outside the box."
Berdly ignored her and glared at Susie. "It's a computer bug! It's a glitch! You're cheating! J...just like when you w-wavedash!"
"What's wavedashing?" Frisk asked in confusion.
"I'll explain later, Frisk." Susie told her before laughing at Berdly. "HAHAHA! How's it taste, idiot!? Man, I'm gonna relish this FOREVER!" She smirked at Berdly's horrified expression, showing her jagged teeth. "All those times you acted so high and mighty... Well, guess what? You're not! Face it! You're just as big a dumbass as the rest of us! Hahahaha!"
Berdly looked down, his expression as small and vulnerable as when Noelle told him she didn't need his protection. "...Fine." he said quietly. "I admit it. I... I'm not that smart. I never was." He glared at them. "THERE, are you happy!?"
"Berdly..." Frisk said gently.
"Frisk... please... just let me finish." Berdly said softly as he looked at the ground. "I... I... I just..." He fidgeted a bit. "I used to be a forgettable little bluebird. No one even remembered my name. Then, one day, came the spelling bee Noelle and I studied for. When it came down to the two of us... She got nervous and couldn't speak, and...I won. It was the word, "December." The word that changed everything. That was when I tasted it. The praise. The glory! The SUPERIORITY! The addictive power of being... SMART!"
He smiled sadly. "Since then, year after year, I've been number 1 in the class. But it's only because Noelle helps me study. She's... the real smart kid. But everyone's expectations for me are so high now... What am I going to do once I go somewhere without her... Or...Or when she finally decides she deserves someone better than me?" He glanced at Frisk, then sighed, looking at his feet. "That's... why I wanted to make a new world. For us. A world where we'll ALWAYS be number 1 and number 2! But... I was so wrapped up in that, I got tricked by Queen. And now... Noelle is going to suffer because of it. Maybe I did just like being superior. Maybe I am... just... an idiot."
Despite the fact that Lancer was sick and had to be scared and in pain, he smiled comfortingly at Berdly. "Don't cry, chicken-nugget-man." he said cheerfully. "All of us are idiots, too."
"Huh...?" Berdly asked in shock.
"...I mean, like, I don't know about everyone else, but... Whether you're the smart kid or not. We couldn't care less. Screw up as much as you want, honestly." Susie said gently, then smirked. "It's not like our opinion of you can get much lo..."
"Susie!" Berdly said happily, his eyes alight. "Susie... you'd... you'd accept me...? Even if I'm... dumb?"
"Uh... y... yeah?" Susie answered awkwardly.
"Of course we would." Frisk put in. "Berdly, I may have said it pretty angrily earlier, but we really don't care what your position in class is. It's okay to screw up sometimes. We do too."
"It's like when your sister gets cursed in Dragon Blazers 2." Susie said with a soft smile. "Even if her stats suck, she's still your party member." Frisk blinked at the confusing reference and Susie noticed. "I'll teach you to play Dragon Blazers later, Frisk."
"S... Susie!? A REAL Dragon Blazers 2 reference...?" Berdly asked in awe. "... Susie... You're not only kind but a true gamer as well. Perhaps... I underestimated you. And you too, Frisk, even though you don't know what Dragon Blazers is."
"Don't say that now!" Susie hissed.
"But worry not! I have decided! I will turn over a new leaf from now on... And FIGHT! For the side... OF IGNORANCE!"
"WE'RE NOT TELLING YOU TO BE STUPID!" Susie yelled.
"Just, sometimes it's OK to make mistakes!" Lancer confirmed, a cheerful smile on his face despite everything.
Berdly gave a "chef's kiss." "Hahaha- and make mistakes, I will! Onward!" He ran off happily.
"Ugh, why couldn't Ralsei be here to teach the moral lesson!?" Susie groaned.
"You did great, Susie." Frisk reassured her.
Her cheeks tinted red slightly. "...Whatever." she muttered and hurried off with Lancer.
...
"Now Tina Beanie Let's Fill Out A Survey Of Your Interests." Queen said, giving the girl a tablet with a computer survey on it, then ending up having to teach the confused six year old how to operate one. However Tina was distracted and nervous throughout the lesson and kept asking if her sisters and Susie could come out now.
Just then a Tasque wandered in, meowing and purring with every step, rubbing against Queen's legs before going to investigate the new visitor. Tina's eyes lit up and her worried expression lightened slightly as she shyly reached out to pet it. Its volume became loud enough to hear in another room as it rubbed against her, causing the little girl to let out her first smile since Queen had brought her in.
Queen grinned. She had found out Tina's first interest, and it was one they shared! "So You Like Kitties Tina Honey?" Tina nodded shyly as she continued to pet the purring Tasque.
Queen smiled, pressing even further. "I Love Tasques Too. I Have Lots In The Mansion. You'll Get To Play With Them All The Time If You Stay."
Tina tensed again. "I wanna go home with Frisk!" The Tasque could tell she was upset and nuzzled her soothingly.
"Tina Beanie Frisk's Home Is Now Here Too. I Can't Let Either Of You Go To Your Old Place Of Living As Neither Of You Are Receiving Adequate Care."
Tina glared at her even as the Tasque climbed into her lap. "But Frisk's taking really good care of me!"
"Verifiably 100 Percent True But Frisk Is A Minor. Legally An Adult Is Supposed To Be Taking Care Of You Both But It Is Clear They Are Not So I Will." Queen told her firmly, then softened a bit as Tina still looked illogically afraid of her. "Tina Sweetie You're Slightly Underweight And Your Sister Is Malnourished Enough To Possibly Cause Permanent Damage If It's Not Repaired Soon. Especially Since She Has Several Vitamin Deficiencies."
"What?" Tina asked worriedly, hugging her Tasque.
Queen again switched to words a child could understand, realizing she was likely confusing a still developing mind. "Frisk Is Sick From Not Eating Enough Sweetie And If You Both Go Back There It Will Only Get Worse." And now Tina looked terrified, burying her face in the Tasque's fur and Queen hastened to reassure her. "But With Me Neither Of You Will Go Hungry Again And Both Of You Will Become Well And Strong Under My Loving Care."
"Really?" Tina asked, looking into her visor.
Queen nodded, letting "True," appear on her screen to show her she meant it. "Really. I Would Not Lie To You Tina There Would Be No Point In That."
Tina relaxed a little, which Queen counted as a huge victory. But just as she had almost gained the trust of one of her new daughters, she noticed a red flashing light on her control pad and realized Frisk and Susie had just hit the Escape key on her. So had Burghley, but at least since she "betrayed" him, he might not annoy her this time.
Oh well. She'd just have to start the plan with them running around. As long as her sweet Noelle was with her, it would go just fine. Plus once her escapees saw her cool mansion, they'd probably want to stay anyway. And if not, she could just engage them in light combat to show her clear superiority(carefully, so she didn't damage Frisk's weak bones).
But while she was completing her objectives, it was probably better if someone else watched little Tina. Tina's fear protocol would restart if she saw a big fight, and if Queen let her wander the mansion alone, she could end up falling in the acid river and drown, or shrink and get stepped on. And that wasn't happening under Queen's observation.
But since she had ascertained Tina's interests, she knew exactly who to have babysit her.
"Tina Beanie Mama Has Some Things She Needs To Do." Queen told the little girl, kneeling down to her level. "But Someone Very Cool Will Watch You While You Wait. How Would You Like To See More Kitties?"
Tina hesitated, then nodded, and Queen grinned, using her intercom to call for Tasque Manager. Her android assistant arrived within seconds, a Tasque by her side. The one that was with Tina got off Tina's lap and rejoined her, though rather reluctantly, clearly not wanting to give up the little girl's attention. "Yes, my Queen?"
"I Would Like For You To Watch Little Tina While I Initiate World Domination. She Is Very Good With Tasques So Show Her What You Do."
Tasque Manager seemed pleased. "Of course, my Queen. Princess Tina, I'm cleaning and organizing the paintings right now; would you like to help?"
Tina nodded. "Yeah." The cyan-haired cat android smiled and held out one of her floating hands for the little girl, who shyly took it, and the two went off.
With Tina occupied, Queen's attention returned to her objective, feeling confident. Soon all Lightners would feel the happiness of her loving reign and while it would be more difficult, she'd soon earn Frisk's trust. And her darling, sweet Noelle would gain confidence as she helped the mother who actually loved her unleash a new fountain on the world. All three of her precious girls would have a new, beautiful world where they could be happy.
Everything would soon be perfect.
...
After leaving the puzzle room, Frisk found herself in a massive dining hall, set up nicely for a lot of people. According to a Swatchling who walked up to her, it was for Queen's special guests. She had no idea if it was for them or other people, and neither did a Swatchling in a yellow suit.
She caught up to Susie and Lancer at the end of the hall, and just as she was about to greet them, there was a high pitched scream.
"Th... that screaming... Ralsei...!?" Susie gasped. Both she and Frisk rushed down the hall, praying he was safe.
Only to find out he was perfectly fine, wearing an adorable tuxedo and surrounded by admiring Swatchlings in red suits who were screaming about how cute he looked. Frisk couldn't exactly blame them even if they'd given her a fright. Her friend looked nice in a tuxedo.
"U-umm, you don't have to scream just because you like my outfit!" Ralsei said shyly, though he was smiling and had a huge blush on his face. The Swatchlings just let out another happy scream, but then hurried off.
Ralsei turned, grinning widely when he spotted them. "O-oh! Frisk, Susie! You guys got out! I'm so relieved!" He then blushed, looking down at his outfit. "Umm, how may I serve you?"
"The hell are you doing!?" Susie demanded. Frisk however didn't care and threw her arms around Ralsei, just happy he was safe.
Ralsei happily hugged Frisk back before answering Susie. "Umm, Queen didn't have a room for me, so... err..." He blushed. "She made me into one of her butlers, instead..."
"Whatever! Ralsei! Can you heal Lancer!? My UltimateHeal didn't work and Frisk's star powers didn't either. You're a nerd, there's got to be SOMETHING you can do!" She held out Lancer.
"O-Oh, l-let me see!" Ralsei said frantically.
"Haha... it's... cold..." Lancer said quietly.
Ralsei looked him over, his expression worried. His eyes widened. "...Susie..." He paused for a second and Frisk felt sick to her stomach. She knew whatever it was, it wasn't good. And he confirmed it with his next words. "I'm afraid... This is something I can't heal."
"Wh-what?" Susie asked shakily.
Frisk felt her eyes burn but tried to keep back the tears to avoid scaring Lancer further. "What's wrong with him?"
Ralsei took a deep breath. "Lancer is..." Just as he was trying to explain, Lancer's whole body stiffened and turned gray. Frisk covered her mouth in horror as her friend turned to stone in front of her eyes.
"Lancer!? Lancer, hey...!" Susie cried out, shaking the stone statue that two seconds ago had been her closest friend.
"How... Lancer..." Frisk choked out, the tears falling down her cheeks now.
"You see, each Dark Fountain creates a different "world." Ralsei said quietly. "A "world" where Darkners reflect the will of its fountain. But, though those Darkners can exist in their own worlds... They might not "belong" if they go to another one."
"...so can we help him!?" Susie, who looked close to crying herself, demanded.
Ralsei smiled reassuringly. "Yes. There is a way. Castle Town's Grand Fountain is made of pure darkness, as it's the original one. As long as it stays flowing, any Darkner can live there. So, if we bring Lancer back to school, he'll be OK again."
"...So we just need to get out of here, huh?" Susie asked quietly.
Ralsei smiled. "Right."
Frisk's eyes then went wide as she remembered Ralsei was from a different fountain too. "Ralsei, we need to get YOU out of here! You're from a different fountain too! So is Rouxls! How'd you get here anyway? Whatever you did, can you use it to get back to Castle Town?"
"Yeah, get out of here, dude, before you turn to stone too! Here, take Lancer with you!" Susie said frantically, pushing Lancer's statue at Ralsei. "Hurry up!"
"Guys, calm down! I'm not in any danger of turning to stone." Ralsei reassured them quickly. "I'm from the Grand Fountain, so I can adapt to any other fountain, just like other Darkners can live in my world. And... I don't know if I can make the jump from here, or make it safely while carrying a stone Lancer. I...I don't want to risk having either of us ending up in the Void or losing body parts. It's safer to just seal the fountain and for you guys to bring Lancer and Rouxls back in their card forms."
"... alright." Susie said softly. "Lancer, we'll be back for you, buddy...
"Your friend... if we defeat Queen, we can save him?" Berdly's voice asked softly from behind them. He walked up to them, looking subdued in a way Frisk had never seen him.
"Uh, yeah." Susie told him, just as subdued as he was.
"With me out of the way, Queen... Is going to force Noelle to do her bidding. And if Noelle doesn't want to, which I know now she doesn't... She might make her face into a robot one." Berdly whispered. Susie fidgeted her fingers a bit, looking down, and Berdly walked up to her. "Susie, Frisk... Could you... assist me in saving Noelle? I know I hurt her with what I did, and I know she didn't want me to protect her like that, but... she's my best friend. I can't just stand by."
"Of course we'll help." Frisk told him. "Noelle's our friend too." Susie seemed surprised he asked, but she nodded too.
Berdly brightened at this. "...Thank you. Thank you so much. I have a plan."
"A plan?" Susie asked.
Berdly smiled a little. "I remember from Queen's tour of this place... There's a secret shortcut on the third floor. While Frisk is distracting Queen, Susie, you can take the shortcut to reach Noelle, and transfer her to me on the roof. From there, I'll bring her to a safe hiding spot, and together, we can all defeat Queen!"
Susie gave a small smile. "Alright, sure. We'll give it a shot."
Frisk nodded, smiling too. "It's a great plan, Berdly."
Berdly grinned at this. "Haha! Most excellent! Then..." He started to hurry off, only to turn. "See you on the roof, fellow agents!"
Susie grinned. "Alright, let's go!" She and Ralsei joined Frisk. Susie then glared at Ralsei. "...would you take that off already!?"
"S-sorry!" Ralsei chuckled and pulled off the suit, revealing his usual robes.
"It's okay, Ralsei. I thought the suit looked nice on you." Frisk told him.
Ralsei turned bright red. "T-T-Thanks, Frisk! I, um, I'm glad you like it!"
"Seriously? You two can be sappy later! We gotta go." Susie ordered.
Frisk nodded, then turned to Lancer, giving the stone statue a hug. "Don't worry, we'll be back in Castle Town before you know it, and you'll be fine. We promise. We'll find your Lesser Dad too." she whispered to it, and then, not wanting him to get knocked over if someone came down the hallway, carefully pushed him to one of the tables. Much to her surprise, as soon as he bumped the table, a plate of spaghetti and a napkin came falling from the ceiling, the spaghetti somehow landing perfectly in front of him and the napkin landing on his neck. He even seemed to look happier when this happened, and even though she was worried for him and wished she could do more, this made her feel a little bit better.
She and her friends left the dining hall and Frisk was filled with determination. They would free her sister and Noelle, find Rouxls and get Lancer back to normal.
She would do whatever it took.
...
I hope you guys enjoyed this and seeing some from Queen's perspective. Please review and let me know what you think!