Chapter 9

Fear gripped Frisk's heart like a tourniquet. Toriel, who somehow knew that Frisk had a face she hid behind the old mask, reached for Frisk. Remembering herself just in time, Frisk ducked out of the way, spun of her heel, and ran off.

Frisk threw herself out the front door and began to sprint. She could sense Mask following from behind. Despite her burning lungs, Frisk pushed her legs to carry her faster and further away.

"How does she know?!" Frisk asked, her words not loud but still panic-stricken.

"I do not know," Mask answered, "but this is not good. If she knows, who else knows? Who else would be able to figure it out for themselves?"

Not wanting to dwell on finding the answers to those questions, Frisk focused on getting as far away from Toriel as possible. Frisk did not want to risk what Toriel would do to her upon seeing her face. Toriel's reaching for Frisk's mask was already an act of aggression.

Deeper and deeper into the woods she ran. Frisk wasn't sure if she was going in the right or opposite direction to leaving Ebott Forest, but she didn't care. Right now, getting away from the monster was all she cared about.

When she felt that she had ran far enough, Frisk looked this way and that to make sure she and Mask were alone, collapsed to the ground, and rested her head on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Her lungs ached for air. Her legs burned after being exerted further than they have ever been before. Tears stung Frisk's eyes, but she did not let them fall. Now was not the best time to cry.

"What do I do?" Frisk asked, hugging her legs. Mask didn't answer. Although she wasn't really expecting a response, Frisk repeated, "What do I do?"

After they had remained in the woods for more than a few minutes, Mask eventually said, "You cannot stay. If Toriel knows about you . . . Frisk, I doubt there is more we can learn in this area. Moving on to the next may be the best solution."

Sighing, Frisk replied, "Where do we go to leave the Ruined Woods?"

Mask was silent for a moment before saying, "We need to go back to Toriel's house to move to the next area."

"You're joking, right?"

"Trust me, I wish I was."

With another sigh, Frisk pushed to her feet. "Well, perhaps we can wait till nightfall. Do you think Toriel will more likely be asleep than looking for us after the sun goes down?"

"I do not know." Mask floated around Frisk. "Everything you do from here is a risk you must be willing to take."

"I don't like the way that sounds."

"Do you want me to tell you easy things or the truth?"

Not knowing what else to do, Frisk wondered around the forest. The never-ending autumn was breathtaking with the range of colors and the crisp air and the crunch of leaves beneath her feet, but it was difficult for Frisk to focus her energy on the beauty of her surroundings. Toriel stood behind every tree, and every cracked twig was Toriel trying to sneak up on her. Frisk's heart beat a mile a minute. She consciously had to keep herself from hyperventilating.

"It's as if these woods go on forever," Frisk said after she and Mask had walked for about an hour. Although she wasn't interested in conversation, Frisk was more than ready for the deafening silence to come to an end.

"Why do you think there's only one exit?" Mask asked before answering its own question. "There are multiple ways to wander into the Ebott Woods, but there is not a single way to wander out. This forest is an endless maze of trees and other greenery. Without knowing where to go, there is no way to leave the Ebott Forest."

Frisk shivered, and it had nothing to do with the chill in the air. "How do you know this?"

"I do not know. However, I know a lot more about this forest than I do about myself."

"What else do you know?"

For a moment, Mask was silent, possibly thinking through its response before finally saying, "The others, the ones you call monsters, cannot leave."

"They can't?"

"No. I do not know how I know, but I can confirm that those who need a mask are unable to take the exit. As with the rest of Ebott Forest, they would just walk around in circles until they decide to go back, risking they become forever lost in a magical maze with no end."

Frisk chewed her lower lip. "Would I be able to take the exit?"

"Do you need a mask?"

That was the end of the conversation. Pondering what Mask said, Frisk put the new knowledge to what she knew already. If nobody who isn't from here knows how to leave, then are some of the others who entered the forest still alive and simply lost? And if needing a mask means someone can't leave, then can only those with a face take the exit? Mask said that this forest is magical, but why is it?

"What are you thinking about?" Mask asked, and Frisk wasn't sure if it was because Mask was curious or it simply did not like the silence either.

"I'm thinking about the rules of Ebott Forest," Frisk answered. "They seem so specific. Anyone who has a face like I do can accidentally come here but won't have to stay here, yet nobody born here can leave. Why is that? Why are the people of Ebott Forest unable to leave?"

Mask did not answer. Perhaps Mask did not have an answer. Not that Frisk expected one. Thinking aloud helped Frisk realize a possible truth. It may have not been a coincidence that this rule was in place.

"They are trapped here," Frisk verbalized, sharing her theory with Mask. "Everyone in Ebott Forest doesn't have a face, so they need a mask. Those who need a mask can't leave."

"Yes," Mask replied. "I said this already. Were you not paying full attention?"

Shaking her head, Frisk pointed out, "Do you really think it's a coincidence that this is the case? The people in my village have always said that there were monsters in Ebott Forest, and we never knew of anyone who walked in and never came out again alive."

"Are you suggesting that perhaps there is a curse over this forest and those who dwell within it?" Mask asked, sounding more amused than serious.

"I'm just saying it seems a bit odd," Frisk answered.

"Do you really believe in curses?"

"Well, I used to never believe in ghosts until I met you."

This silenced Mask.

"Just think about it," Frisk insisted. "This is a magic forest. Everyone from here needs a mask because they do not have a face. Without a face, they can never leave. The village I come from, as well as other villages surrounding Ebott Forest, know that people live here, people we call monsters. Something must have happened to put a curse on this place and everyone within. Why else would things here be the way they are?"

"I do not know why the rules and regulations in place exist, only that they do," Mask admitted after a moment. "However, you may be right to say that none of this is a coincidence. Of course, at this point, we only have thoughts and speculations. Those are not the same as evidence."

"I know that," Frisk replied, sticking out her lower lip, "but it's still something worth thinking about."

"And it is," Mask agreed, "but let us not take these theories as facts until we have an opportunity to learn the truth."

Sighing, Frisk smiled and said, "First who you are, then what happened to Chara and Asriel, and now the reasons this forest is the way it is. I tell you, Mask, the mysteries keep on coming. Now if only we could find answers just as easily."

"Wandering our way into questions is easy," Mask replied, "but finding answers will take a lot more intentionality."

Before Frisk could respond by teasing Mask for trying to sound philosophical, the sound of a twig breaking alerting them to another's presence.

Spinning around, Frisk saw someone wearing a white frog mask only a few feet behind. His posture was rigid, and his body tense. He had heard everything Frisk was saying.

"You're not from around here," the frog mask wearer said, sounding to be not much older than Frisk, ". . . are you?"

"Run," Mask ordered, but Frisk remained still as if she had lead in her shoes.

If I run, she thought to herself, he will definitely know that I'm not from here.

"Well," the boy prompted, "are you?"

Swallowing her pounding heart, Frisk replied, "I'm from another part of Ebott Forest."

"Really?" He tilted his head to the side. "Which part?"

Frisk felt her blood turn to ice. The only part she knew was Ruined Woods. She didn't even know what lay beyond the exit of this section of the forest.

"Snowdin Lane!" Mask exclaimed. "Say Snowdin Lane!"

However, before Frisk could open her mouth to speak, the boy rushed towards her. It happened so fast. The boy in the frog mask took the first step, and just as Frisk processed that he was approaching her, he had ripped her mask right off.

The crisp autumn air washed over Frisk's exposed face. She watched as the boy who took off her mask became even more rigid. It took Frisk a solid moment to fully realize that he had removed her mask and her face was now exposed to this monster.

"Run, run, RUN!" Mask shouted, each word sounding so frantic it must have been shouting the whole time Frisk stood there and digested what had happened.

Yet just as Frisk heard Mask and began to take its advice, the boy grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her back against a tree. Frisk gasped as all the air was knocked out of her lungs. She then yelped in pain as he dug his nails into her skin, his nails being so sharp they dug right through the fabric of her dress.

If his nails are that sharp-! Frisk could not bring herself to finish that thought.

The boy quickly used one forearm to keep Frisk pressed against the tree while pulling the other away to bring his hand to her bare face. Starting at the top of her forehead, He dug his sharp nails that now felt more like claws into her skin and began to drag his fingers downward.

Frisk cried out a blood curdling scream. Mask shouted her name, sounding both scared for her and desperate to do something but unable to do anything. As the boy slowly and precisely dragged his fingers down Frisk's face, she could feel his claws underneath her skin slowly cutting the skin of her face away.

Screaming and crying, Frisk tried to get away. Yet no matter how she thrashed her body, the boy's grip on her was too strong. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried shaking her head to free his claws from her face, but the action only succeeded in making the process hurt so much more.

Just as the boy's pinkie reached Frisk's eye level, his claws were suddenly jerked out of Frisk's face. Frisk's eyes flew open just in time to see a bigger force grab the boy and throw him to the ground. Knees weak, Frisk collapsed to the floor immediately after the boy no longer held her up.

Blood dripping from her forehead to the dead leaves beneath her, Frisk struggled to catch her breath. Her heart raced at a mile a minute. Whatever stopped that boy is going to come after me after it chases him away! Frisk thought, but she could not find the strength to push herself back to her feet and flee. The cut on her face hurt worse than any cut or scrapped knee she had ever endured in her life. She felt woozy merely seeing the amount of blood falling to the ground below.

"Frisk!" Mask shouted. "Look up!"

Doing just that, Frisk snapped her head upwards to see that the bigger force towering over the boy with the frog mask was Toriel. The massive woman stood over the boy. When she spoke, it was as if she growled her words.

"If you ever lay another hand on the child, I will break off your fingers so you can never attempt to steal another's face again. That is a promise. Are we at an understanding?"

"Ye-yes, your majesty-y!" the boy cried as he cowered under Toriel.

"Good, now go!" Toriel ordered, and the boy wasted not a second to scramble to his feet and run as far away as fast as his little legs could carry him.

Then Toriel turned around, and Frisk's racing heart came to a complete stop. As Toriel stepped forward, Frisk closed her eyes and accepted her fate. She tried to run from Toriel, but in the end, Toriel would be the one to steal her face after all.

Yet when Toriel touch Frisk's face, there was no claws digging deep into Frisk's flesh or any sort of violence in the act. What Frisk felt instead was the soft, warm, and gentle touch of her cheek fitting in Toriel's soft palm. Opening her eyes, Frisk saw Toriel's goat mask staring back at her.

"Let's find your mask," Toriel sound, her words sounding strained as if she was using every ounce of her strength to not hurt Frisk as that boy had done, "and let's go home."

For the first time since waking up in Ebott Forest, Frisk felt safe.