Book Three:
Under the Lights

Chapter 1

"I'm almost starting to miss the cold," Frisk, wiping the sweat from her forehead only to be reminded of the barrier that was the wooden mask she wore, said as she and Chara traveled through the marsh. Unlike the Ruined Woods or Snowdin Lane, in which sunlight filtered through the trees and gave light to the earth below, Waterfall Marsh had so many large trees with full branches spreading out that there was significantly less light. Not that it was dark in the marsh, but it appeared there was nowhere that wasn't shaded.

It was also so humid in Waterfall Marsh, Frisk had to discard the shawl and the leggings that were given to her by Toriel along with the purple velvet dress. Growing up in a village in which she always had to wear leggings or stockings, it was strange for the young girl to suddenly be walking around with bare legs. However, her sweaty legs did not complain about feeling fresh air on their skin.

"At least here, we will not have to worry about your freezing to death," Chara said, nudging Frisk. Now that Chara had gained the ability to touch and feel, it was as if he was finding every excuse to nudge Frisk now and again. Perhaps he was scared to reach out for her and realize that the ability will vanish as suddenly as it arrived, or perhaps he liked to annoy Frisk – it could have been either reason.

It had only been a day since Frisk and Chara left Snowdin Lane, and try as she might, Frisk could not stop thinking about Papyrus. She wondered what he was doing and if he told her the truth when he claimed that he did not betray her. When they traveled together, Papyrus had seemed to be the kind of person who would never intentionally harm another, but it was difficult for Frisk to know for sure when giving her away would have been just as beneficial to Papyrus as it would have been for everyone else in Ebott Forest.

As if she thought him into existence, Frisk heard Papyrus's voice in the distance. She froze, thinking she had imagined it. Then she heard him again, his voice growing louder as he grew closer. Frisk's heart nearly stopped. Papyrus was speaking with someone.

"Hide!" Chara hissed, and Frisk did not argue.

Crouching down and hiding under a large bush with leaves bigger than Frisk's head, Frisk held her breath as two pairs of footsteps grew closer. Papyrus was pleading with some unknown person. When Frisk could see their legs through the bushes, her heart beat so hard and so loud that Frisk was certain if the two stopped talking, they would hear her.

"You had a human in your grasp and let it get away!" the individual walking with Papyrus exclaimed. The voice was that of a woman, but it was throaty and gruff. Despite this, however, the speaker still sounded young.

"Look, Undyne, I didn't know that Frisk is human," Papyrus pleaded.

"Yet you did know when you could have captured it but instead let it get away," Undyne snarled. "I don't know why you keep trying to earn my forgiveness when you have established yourself as a traitor to the crown. I personally trained you, and you still gave up everything, even becoming part of the royal guard, to begin protecting those humans. Humans, might I remind you, have killed monsters. I should arrest you right now! Or better yet, I should skip the trial and go straight to the execution."

Frisk had to stop herself from gasping. Yet when Papyrus responded, he didn't sound afraid. It was as if he knew that Undyne's threat was an empty one.

"You won't," he stated. "If you really wanted to arrest me or even execute me, you would have by now. We both know you had more than enough opportunities."

To that, Undyne didn't have a response. Finally, she said, "I am going to give you one chance to redeem yourself. If you see the human, capture it. However, I will begin the hunt myself. If anyone is going to tear the human's flesh of its face, it's going to be me."

It was a struggle for Frisk to swallow her heart. She was unable to move, frozen by fear. Yet at the same time, Frisk wanted to run as far away from this Undyne woman as possible.

"The pursuit starts now," Undyne then said as she began to walk away. "Tell me, Papyrus, will you be redeemed, or will you establish your role as traitor once and for all?"

Papyrus stood in place for a moment or two. Then he spun on his heel and began to walk in the opposite direction. Frisk held her breath as she waited for Papyrus to leave.

When the coast was clear, Frisk slowly and carefully crawled out from under the bushes. Cautious, she looked both ways and listened for either Papyrus or Undyne to come back. When nothing indicated any potential danger, Frisk sighed and looked to Chara.

Yet before she could say anything, there was rustling in the bushes. Frisk's heart nearly stopped as her eyes beheld the shaking bush next to one under which she hid. Bracing herself, Frisk awaited to see what monster would emerge from the brush.

A small monster in a striped poncho crawled out, orange hair hanging in the face of the round reptilian mask with the spikes on the top. Quickly getting to her feet, the monster bounced with excitement. Frisk nearly gasped at the sight of the familiar face.

"Yo!" Mon exclaimed, spinning around as if it was impossible for her to remain still. "Did you see that? Undyne was right here!"

At a loss for words, Frisk could only stare at Mon. Supposedly everyone in Snowdin knew that Frisk was human, yet this didn't appear to cross Mon's mind as she danced with joy, oblivious to her companion. It was as if Mon didn't know any better.

As if remembering that Frisk was standing next to her, Mon turned to Frisk and said, "You're out to see her too, right? There's a human in Ebott Forest. I'm going to see if I can watch Undyne beat it up!"

Frisk was stunned speechless.

"Does she not know about what happened in Snowdin?" Chara questioned, voicing what Frisk was thinking.

Nobody needed to ask, because Mon answered their questions by saying, "Do you remember that big hoopla in town when the royal guards showed up looking for a human? Man, as soon as I caught wind of that rumor of Undyne coming this way, I had to run ahead to try to see her! I can't believe it. Human or no, seeing Undyne is so cool! I'm not surprised you did the same."

Frisk still could not think of anything to say. This monster kid talked a mile a minute, content to engage in a conversation in which only she participated. Turning back to Frisk, Mon said, "I'm going to run ahead to see if I can catch Undyne. I'll be seeing you!"

Without another word, Mon sprinted off. She then tripped and fell on her face. Unphased, Mon pushed herself back up and began to run again.

After the monster was out of sight, Frisk turned to Chara yet again and finally said, "I think we're in for a rather interesting journey through Waterfall Marsh."

Chara bobbed as if nodding in agreement. The two continued their journey under the lights as he replied, "You could say that again."