Beta Timeline
Ruins, The Underground
Four Months after Ascension Day
September 2125
"I knew you couldn't stay away, huh Frisk?" Flowey said, trying his best to feign indifference, but failing. He had turned his head away slightly from Frisk, but like a cat who wanted attention, couldn't bring himself to break from their presence. After what had been a long and nostalgic trip through the underground, Frisk had finally made it back to the place where it all started, nearly four months after monsters had gained their freedom and moved on to the surface. Frisk had tried to forget, tried to move on without worrying about Asriel. But they had never gone this long into a true pacifist run without a true reset. And the more the world unfolded around them, the more they felt like they had to come back. The more they felt like they couldn't give up on their old, yet new friend.
Frisk tried to play it off, sweeping their hair to the side and gracefully striking a pose out of a beauty magazine. "With someone as irresistible as you waiting here? There's no way in the world I could stay away! After all, we're BFFs – Best Buds forever, amirite?"
Flowey turned around looking as wryly as ever. Frisk was proud of themselves for that one, for getting him to at least enjoy the joke a little before the conversation had to get heavy. But it seemed like this time, like all the others, they didn't have very much to say.
"What do you want, Frisk? You got your happy ending. What are you doing back here?
"I…I, well…" Frisk's body tensed up as they tried to find the courage to say what they wanted to say. Their words mattered this time; they couldn't reset, not anymore, and so any mistake they made, they had to own it. The pressure from dealing with the humans outside was bad enough, but losing Flowey, losing Asriel? They couldn't do that.
Flowey watched Frisk looked dour for several seconds before moving to leave. "If you don't have anything to say, can you just leave Frisk, please? I…I don't want to do this."
"Wait! Please!" Frisk stuck out their hand, stepping a little closer to the mound where Flowey grew. "I…I want you to come back with me. To the surface. And before you tell me no, I know that you don't want to go. I know you don't want to face Mom and- Toriel and Asgore – or anyone else like this. But I…I want to give you a chance. I want to be there for you and live on the surface together with you! Together, we could find a place where-"
"Frisk."
"I mean it! There are some mean people, and certainly some guys that aren't nice, but we don't have to worry-"
"FRISK!"
Frisk had stepped forward during their pleas, almost to the foot of the mound now. When Flowey interrupted them, they froze in place mid-sentence, Frisk's hands still gesturing to the future they had imagined for them. They brought themselves to a pensive rest while Flowey prepared to say his piece.
"Yeah, Flowey?" Frisk asked.
Flowey sighed. "I can't go out there like this…there's no place for me out there. And it's honestly weird for you to think that there would be one for a flower like me, especially after what I did."
"But you…you saved everyone!" Frisk retorted. They raised their voice to reiterate their point. "No one out there remembers any of the bad stuff you've done. We don't have to meet your- Asriel's parents, not ever, if you don't want to. But you deserve another chance to be happy too."
Flowey raised an eyebrow. He tried to keep himself from yelling, but he couldn't keep his tone in check either. "How...How did you know that!? How do you know anything about me? I certainly didn't tell you, that's for sure. You wouldn't know the half of-"
Frisk closed their eyes and took a long, deep breath. "I've done everything this world has to offer. I've read every book. I've burned every book. I've won every game. I've lost every game. I've appeased everyone. I've killed everyone. Sets of numbers... Lines of dialogue... I've seen them all."
Thoroughly shocked by the set of words taken right out of his mouth, Flowey bent their stem back a little, reflexively putting more distance between Frisk and him. His face quickly turned from shock to pure worry, like Frisk was going to judge them for all the bad they've done. But after a few seconds of Frisk looking absolutely miserable, gripping their arm and looking away like they had just killed someone, Flowey righted himself and gave Frisk a very coy smile. "I GET IT NOW. You're someone's who done that stuff too. How dare you, quoting me from another timeline. I wonder what kinds of things you've done to get me to say something like that, you monster."
Frisk looked like they were going to cry. They stepped back a little, wobbling as they tried to find their footing, before letting out a long exhale and gripping the temples of their head. Flowey had half expected Frisk to break down right then and there, but instead, Frisk chuckled a bit and began to speak in a low, monotone voice. "Yeah Flowey, I'm a monster. You got me."
Frisk continued after catching their breath. Their tone was raspy, as if they had to keep themselves from laughing. Their impudent smirk unsettled Flowey. "I've never told you this before, not on a pacifist run, at least. But I…I am not a good person. This…this isn't my original timeline. I was born into a really awful world, one where there was barely any of humanity left. Before coming to the underground, I did some truly horrifying things. I hurt an unimaginable amount of people. When I finally ended up here, I acted the way that I only knew how." Frisk still smiling, stepping forward and knelt to face Flowey. Tears openly streamed from their eyes. "I killed, Flowey. I killed everyone so many times I lost count. I spent years in the underground torturing and killing every single monster I came across, including you. I eviscerated them. I desecrated them. I did unspeakably horrible things to everyone who's ever been kind to me now, and I had fun doing it. Not only was it fun, it was the time of my life!"
Frisk stood up and wiped the tears away from their eyes. Their smile was gone. "No one out there knows who I really am. And do you really want to know the truth? The truth is that I am an awful human being beyond any means of reproach, a soul so horribly tainted with blood and malice that there isn't a world that exists where I deserve even a shred of mercy. You think you're special? You think you're the only one who feels like they don't deserve to exist? That's laughable." Frisk placed a hand over their chest, sniffing up phlegm as they talked through their sorrow. "We're the same, me and you. We're both the worst of the worst. But that's why…why I want to build a world where we can be together. A world where…where the three of us can just be ourselves, where we don't have to be afraid anymore. A world where we can atone for the sins of our past by building a place where everyone can be happy. Our own heavenly blue."
Flowey looked genuinely scared. It was a face that Frisk recognized from the end of a genocide run, one that Flowey often had when begging for his life. But seeing it now just made Frisk hurt. Despite all the work, despite the promise they made with Chara, they couldn't hope to make up for all that damage. Even if Flowey didn't remember, Frisk did. And that was something they were determined to carry. Flowey on the other hand, looked too terrified for words. They backed up to the other end of the hill, reappearing with an expression of concern that Frisk really hadn't seen before. Having attempted to bring Flowey home and failing so many times, they could only take it as a good sign.
"You…you said the three of us just now, right. Who is the third person? Are you referring to…"
"It's Chara." Frisk said, wiping away at any last tears. "It's hard to talk about. I'm not even really sure how it happened. But Chara is here with me, in my SOUL. Sometimes, I hear them speak to me out of nowhere. Sometimes, they're like a little voice in my head that tells me what to do, or how I'm thinking. Sometimes I even see them in my dreams. But I can't really speak to them directly unless…unless my LOVE is really high."
Flowey looked a little skeptical, so Frisk quickly tried to reassure him. "But! During my last reset, we made a promise. I promised them that I wouldn't rest until I made this a world where we could be together. And even now, I can feel their presence. So I know they're here. And that's why I'm here, too. Together, we found a timeline where humanity and monsters have a chance." Frisk unlatched the heart locket they had been wearing and held it in front of Flowey. "And now that we're here and that the barrier's broken, I want to give you a chance as well. I want to SAVE you."
Frisk knelt again to be at Flowey's level and remained largely quiet as the flower contemplated their words. Internally, Frisk's heart was racing. Their breathing was heavy, and behind the gentle smile they tried to convey, the tenseness of the situation made them clench their jaw. They wanted nothing more for this unpleasant experience to be over. But they knew it would take more than that to get them to leave. It was after a long minute of silence that Flowey, who had refused to look Frisk in the eyes, finally turned to face Frisk again. Frisk thought that he would look happy, or at least a little conflicted, but more than anything, he just looked…neutral.
"Frisk, I don't think you seem to understand. And well, if I can't get you to not care about me, I'll just have to tell you: I can't leave here."
"What!? But, that's not true!" Frisk whined. "You can leave here! There's nothing keeping you. The hole is being watched 24/7, no one is going to fall anymore. There's no one out there who's going to reject you, we can always start a new life together!"
Flowey expression went deadpan, like he was about to tell a bad joke. "Sounds like it would be a lot of fun."
Frisk's eyes lit up at even the smallest sign of their friend looking forward to the future. "Yeah! absolutely! We could do so many wonderful things together. We could help each other grow and heal and explore the world in ways we never could! We would be so happy!"
Flowey mockingly mimicked Frisk's energy. "Really? It would be cool and amazing and wonderful, right!?"
Frisk looked confused. Their smile faltered and their eyes narrowed at Flowey's display of skepticism. "Y-yeah…what are you worried about?"
Flowey smiled. "That's just it. I'm not worried, Frisk. BECAUSE I CAN'T FEEL!"
Flowey's outburst caused Frisk to stand up. Despite what Flowey just said, Frisk could see tiny tears beginning to form on the outside of Flowey's angry face. Frisk wanted to address it, to desperately reach out and try to fix this situation. But Flowey's anger made them keep their distance.
"I can't feel, Frisk! I don't have emotions. I can't enjoy anything. I can't appreciate anything! I can't even feel remorse. No matter what happened outside, no matter who I talked to or what I did, it doesn't change the fact that I will always feel empty! A deep, dark, emptiness that will never go away, and trust me…I tried. No matter how much you love me, you can't fix that. No one can."
Both of them were crying again, but Flowey continued. "That's why I can't see my parents. No matter what I did, it doesn't change the fact that I would eventually hurt them. That's why…I have to stay here."
"No! No, no, no, you can't!" Frisk said, trying to choke back sobs. Their grip on the heart locket tightened as they continued to desperately hold on to their friend. "I'm here! I promise I'll always be here. There isn't a timeline in the universe where you could keep me away from you. No matter how many times you hurt me. I know you know that. So please come! I…I…need you…."
"Frisk, please!" Flowey pleaded, popping up closer to Frisk. "Please don't do this. I don't want to be remembered like this. I don't want to live like this! I can't! And I know that's hard, but…the best thing for me to do here is to remain here."
Frisk was inconsolable. They were crying so hard that even if Flowey continued talking to them, Frisk wouldn't hear it anyway. Flowey had no choice to wait, so he waited for a couple of seconds, then a minute, until eventually three minutes had past of ugly, desperate tears. Far more annoyed with Frisk now, Flowey decided enough was enough.
"Frisk. Frisk! FRISK! STOP CRYING!" Flowey didn't wait for a response and instead opted to use a vine to slap Frisk in the face, which did indeed get them to stop. Frisk sat up and scooted backwards on the ground, opting to hold their knees instead of standing up. They looked a little hurt at first, but as they came to their senses again, the misunderstanding drained from their face and was replaced by a deeply sullen expression.
"I'm *sniff* sorry Flowey. It's just *sniff*-"
"DON'T YOU START CRYING AGAIN, OR ELSE I'LL HAVE TO HIT YOU!"
"I *sniff* I won't! I promise. It's just that I *sniff* I really thought this time would be the time, you know? *sniff* after all those runs, after all the time we spent together, *sniff* I really thought…"
Flowey sighed. 'What a pathetic sight' he thought to himself. It wasn't like he felt bad for Frisk, or for himself, for that matter. But something about their expression stuck with them. The way they looked at them and talked about them. The incredible part about all of this really was that Frisk wasn't doing this for Toriel or Asgore. They were doing this for themselves.
Flowey moved closer to Frisk. They looked a little annoyed, but Frisk could tell by the small nuances of their petal movements that they were more satisfied being here than not. "Hey, Frisk. Why are you doing this? Really? What's your goal?"
"W-what?" Frisk said, a little taken aback. "It's because I want to save-"
Flowey raised his voice. "NOT that reason. Why are you here, Frisk!?"
Frisk tilted their head into their knees. What were they talking about? They were here to save them. It wasn't fair that Flowey had to suffer in here alone. Even if they had done bad things in the past, Flowey deserved a second chance. Frisk believed that they had it in them, and they weren't going to give up. Plus, it had to be so soul-crushingly lonely to be alone in a world where no one else is there for you. That…that…wasn't fair at all…..…they….deserved…
Frisk looked uncharacteristically tired when they raised their head again. "It's because I'm lonely. I'm so…lonely. Flowey, I'll be honest. Living on the surface…has been really hard. The humans don't accept us. Some do, most don't. We've all actually been living on the edge of Mt. Ebott, in a shantytown we threw together in a couple of weeks. We're close to making a deal to live on an island not far from here, but…but." Frisk sighed. "I thought I could do this. Even if they were mean, even if they were unfair. Even if I got…" Frisk paused again, this time for longer. "…got a little angry, I thought I could handle it. But I can't. And no matter how much I want to tell these things to the others, there's just so much that they will never truly understand. That's why…that's why I miss you so much. I know I'm not Chara, but…I know that we can understand each other in a way others can't, right?"
Flowey looked a little offended by that statement, leaning in and squinting his eyes in disbelief before sighing and righting himself. "Fine. Frisk, let's make a deal. If you can figure out a way for…for me to exist, up on the surface with everyone, I'll come back with you. Don't…don't do anything that would hurt anyone. And don't reset anymore. No matter how desperate you get. Just…if you can find a way for me to feel, come back for me, and I'll go. But until then, could you just leave me here, please? I don't…don't want to go until we're ready."
"Okay." Frisk slowly nodded. They lowered their head a bit before standing up and re-clipping the heart locket to their chest. Their eyes burned brightly with determination. "Okay! I swear on this heart locket, our heart locket, that I'll find a way for us to be together! I…I won't wear it again until I do! And when I come back with it, that's when…that's when you'll know that I'm ready for you! I promise."
Flowey didn't say anything. His eyes watched the heart locket dangle with a very neutral expression. It was hard to say what was happening at that moment, if any feeling could penetrate the emptiness of their being. Frisk expected him to say something. But after awhile, Flowey just popped back up to the top of the mound.
The light cascaded down from the top of the hole, making Flowey's petals sparkle in the sunlight. For the first time in all of their runs, Frisk thought they saw Flowey truly, genuinely smile. "If you see Chara, tell them I said hello."
Before Frisk could respond, Flowey disappeared. And it would be nearly five long years before Frisk ever saw them again.
Beta Timeline
New Castle
Grand Ebott City, The Kingdom of Monsters
Friday, May 3, 2120, 10:34 AM
The sky was a beautiful heavenly blue. Rare for the Bay Area, golden streaks of sunlight poured into Frisk's bedroom, illuminating their bedsheets and causing Frisk's brown hair to look like it sparkled in the light. Asgore adored that incredible morning shine. However, it was something that Frisk had to adjust to when they first moved into the castle. At least now they found it easier to accept Asgore's penchant for large picture windows and to just power through the brightness. That's why, when they woke up and their clock read 10:34 AM, the sunshine didn't shock the young ambassador at all. In fact, they felt quite rested.
Chara was, of course, there to greet Frisk as they yawned and stretched their arms back. They did their best to focus on Frisk's face as opposed to their temporarily bare midriff. "Good morning, sleepyhead. Someone sure slept late this morning. Shouldn't you have been worried about missing something? Some meeting or whatever?"
Frisk rubbed their eyes and reached for their communicator. "*yawn* morning, my dear ghost. It's a beautiful day, so you should follow my lead and just relax for a bit. It's a four-day weekend, remember? Everyone's off for Ascension Day. There's no work to do."
"Oh yeah?" Chara raised one eyebrow and crossed their arms. "Why don't you check that communicator in your hand, then? Sounds like you've been awfully popular this morning for the wrong reasons."
Frisk played along, pretending to have a little bit of an attitude as they spoke. "Have I now? Well then, I wouldn't want to disappoint my f-!" But, before they could finish, they saw Chara hadn't been joking. They had several missed calls from the mayor of Oakland, the First Minister of California, and Cascadia, among others from other from several different regional governments Frisk hadn't thought to care about literally ever. Their brown eyes went wide in disbelief. "W-What happened? Why hasn't anyone come to alert me about these calls? More importantly, what could be urgent enough that these people called me directly!? Even more importantly than that, Chara! How d-did you know?"
Chara's spirit came in a little closer. "Don't freak out, but I think I can possess your body when you're sleeping. I mean, don't get me wrong, I didn't know either. But I heard these calls coming in and-"
"I'm sorry, you can WHAT now!?"
"Frisk! I told you not to freak out! It's not like I meant to. But I heard the call coming in and a part of me instinctually tried to grab it, and…well, you know the rest."
Frisk groaned and scrambled to the closet to try and wear something presentable. They muttered to themselves as they got dressed, but it's not like it mattered, because Chara was capable of hearing everything they said no matter how softly they talked. While they would have opted for a full suit in regular conditions, Frisk stripped off their pajamas as fast as they could manage, throwing on a blouse and a blazer instead. "Goddamn these stuck-up bureaucrats ruining my day off! They'd better have a perfectly good reason for waking me up out of this sleep, I swear to god." Chara begin to lightly snicker to themselves before Frisk snapped back at them too. "And don't think you're off the hook for a moment! You're gonna tell me everything about this new power of yours later!"
They stumbled over to their desk, fumbling with the buttons on their jacket before mashing a few button on their communicator and plugging it into the console in front of them. In a process neither Frisk or Chara was quite used to yet, The console screen blinked to life and in matter of seconds, the feed quickly loaded to show a decidedly angry Chancellor Franklin Wallace of Cascadia sitting with his hands on his desk.
Frisk was quick to start with pleasantries. They instinctively bowed a little as they spoke. "Chancellor Wallace, good morning. I'm sorry I missed your call this morning, I was…away from my communicator. It's a holiday today in the Kingdom. I won't take up much more of your time. What did you need?"
Chancellor Wallace looked a little annoyed at having to even hear these bareboned platitudes. Elected after the Sovereignty Crisis, Franklin Wallace was supposed to represent a compromise between the urban areas who largely welcomed monsters and the rest of the country who didn't, but the reality looked a little different than the idea. A man well into his 50s, Wallace was very much what you would expect from a seasoned politician: A white man with thinning white hair with an agenda and a silver tongue that you couldn't trust with your life. He wasn't someone that Frisk dealt with regularly – diplomatic affairs had been left to his staff – but the stark differences in everything from dress and personality to demeanor told each other that their lives couldn't have been more different. Adjusting to a life of dealing with representatives hadn't been easy, but it was certainly people like him that made Frisk's job harder.
Not wasting any of his precious time, Wallace said. "Morning. Yes Ambassador, I am aware of the holiday today. But as you know, this is an issue that we unfortunately can't wait on, and since we haven't been able to contact anyone else from the kingdom, I'll be looking for your assistance to ensure that everything will be handled as it should."
"S-sure," Frisk said, thoroughly confused. "But I don't know. I'm actually a little lost right now. Is this about the earthquake yesterday? Because if it is, I'm aware that the epicenter was Mt. Ebott, and we have people looking into it. But I haven't gotten a report back yet."
The Chancellor's voice dropped a little. Frisk could feel him doing his best to try and keep their voice down, which worried them as much as it annoyed them. "No, Heir Dreemurr, this is about the power consumption issue. Have you seen the sitreps from our department about the increased power usage?"
Frisk swiped away at their communicator for a second before they noticed it: more than a couple of reports had come in from Cascadia showing an incredibly high consumption of the CORE's energy over the past 24 hours. Worse, this energy was being consumed in the Underground itself; little was making it out at all to Cascadia. Matter of fact, since the earthquake, it had only gotten higher, and last night, the usage level had reached such a level that the rest of California was experiencing outages too.
Frisk shook their head. "I…I had no idea, I…how long has this been an issue?"
"Since this morning! Have you received any updates regarding the news at all!?"
Frisk let their eyes narrow and they calmly reiterated "We have the day off. If you had something to say that was that important, you should have said it to Asgore. Or sent someone, in person. I can't help what I didn't know."
Chancellor Wallace let out a sigh of frustration before folding his hands and taking a deep breath through them. "Forgive me, ambassador. You'll have to read up more on this later, but this morning, Salt Lake City fell to the American Empire. They didn't even put up a fight. And I don't need to tell you about the threat a rapidly advancing American Empire poses to our nation, correct?"
"…Right. It's the policy of the Kingdom of Monsters not to maintain regular diplomatic relations with countries that reject our existence, but my condolences to the Southwest Alliance. Still, I can understand how this situation has put you on edge a bit."
The chancellor raised his voice. "A bit? Ambassador, we're 30% under the amount of power we should be receiving on a normal day. Combined with the saber-rattling from the East, there's a lot of people on edge out there. A little bit may have been able to be overlooked, but this much puts us in a very tight spot. Our other power stations have increased their capacity to create energy, but even with their output, we're on track for demand to exceed supply by this afternoon. And you know as well as I do that we need this energy now more than ever. That technology is the only thing that stands between our enemy and you."
Well, that sounded like a threat. Feeling themselves losing their cool a little, Frisk spoke slowly and deliberately. Not wanting the old man to push them any further than he already had, they made sure their words felt as serious as their title implied. "I am aware of our trade agreement, Chancellor. I will see to it personally that this matter gets resolved as quickly as possible, but if there are abnormalities with the CORE, it could be some time before any issues are sorted out. When that does happen, I promise to let you now." Frisk lightly massaged their temple as they continued speaking. "I know you are a busy man and there are things that I, of course, must leave to attend to, but I must ask, did you attempt to notify my father of this matter as well?"
Chancellor Wallace was curt. "I did. Our office tried several times to no avail. I'm not sure what all is happening there, but I leave it in your capable hands to figure out. Until next time, ambassador."
Frisk saluted the screen and then let themselves slump in their chair before letting out groan that filled their entire room. Fuming, they grabbed their communicator and spun out of their room, stomping their way up to Asgore's suite at the top of the castle's keep.
Chara didn't miss an opportunity to crack a joke. "A pleasant one, that guy is. No wonder the anti-monster lobby likes him so much."
Frisk ignored them. "I can't believe Dad! What even is going on here!? I know he likes his garden, but it's so unlike him to ignore his duties just to mess around with a couple of plants."
Chara tried to support Frisk the best they could but ultimately came up short. "Psh. Sounds like the dad I know. Well, maybe he left his communicator in his room? And the staff have all been busy with Ascension Day preparation, so maybe they haven't been around either?"
Frisk's face turned long. "I guess that's a possibility, but it's almost noon. We both know Dad is an early riser. Would he really have never come back to his room for anything? Not even once?"
Out of ideas, Chara simply floated and shrugged. "I don't know. We're almost to his room, I guess we're going to find out."
"Ugh! But still! This is so annoying!" Frisk reached Asgore's door and began to knock as loudly as they were annoyed. "Asgooooooree! Dad! You better be in there! We have a lot to talk about!"
No answer. Frisk waited a little longer before knocking even louder. The sound echoed down the spiral staircase of the keep. "Dad! Are you in there!? This is important!"
Looking at Chara's spirit and nodding, Frisk fished out their master key to the castle and let themselves into Asgore's room. But instead of finding the lazy mess they had expected, they were stopped dead in their tracks to see that his suite was immaculate. The bed was made, the carpet was clean, and there was no sign of him having spent any time in the room recently. The most shocking part of it all was that the communicator Frisk had expected to find lying on his desk was nowhere to be found. Asgore wasn't just not in his room. He wasn't in the castle at all.
Their mind beginning to race with a myriad of possibilities, Frisk slowly turned to Chara with an anxious expression. "Chara, where's Asgore? Why isn't he here."
Chara looked around the room, first at his nightstand and then next to his desk. They were silent for a few moments before they confirmed Frisk's worst fear. "He wasn't here when we woke up yesterday after the earthquake, either. Matter of fact, despite all that chaos, we never saw him at all, did we? I hate to say it Frisk, but…it looks like Asgore is gone."
Oh, fuck.
Beta Timeline
Waterfront District
Grand Ebott City, The Kingdom of Monsters
Friday, May 3, 2120, 11:23 AM
The sky was a beautiful, heavenly blue. Sans and Papyrus were taking a leisurely stroll along the beach boardwalk, making their way down Marina Street towards the seaside residence Toriel calls home. The air smelled of salt water and street food as vendors hawked delicious monster treats to passing kids and families enjoying the day's warmth and sunlight. As the brothers passed, they could see families setting up holiday decorations and laughing with each other about how far the monsters had really come. It was, after all, the Kingdom of Monster's most important holiday, and what better way to spend a holiday than with the people you cherish the most? That's why Papyrus (with a little help from his dependable big bro Sans) did not spare any expense in creating the perfect meal to share with his perfect friends. It wouldn't be long before the pair would close in on Toriel's modest home, and that their daytime picnic could begin.
"nice of the princess to invite us over for a picnic, eh papyrus?" Sans said, his hands in his pockets as he looked up at his brother with the short skeleton's own signature smile.
"I HOPE SHE MADE LOTSA SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus beamed, holding up a literal sack of his own special pasta sauce and a side of French Bread toasted to perfection. Sans had suggested that they just buy bread from Muffet's, but Papyrus insisted on making the loaves himself. A long time gone since the "cooking experiments" Undyne and Papyrus used to conduct, Sans was proud of his brother's remarkable growth as a chef.
Sans was about to comment on Toriel loving all of it when, not only did he notice that Toriel's house was completely dark, he also noticed that there was a letter taped to her front door.
"papyrus, look!" Sans slightly sped up his walking pace to grab and unfold the note pinned to the front door. When he saw who the note was from, his eyes went dark for just a second, his bones freezing up as his magical muscles tightened. But knowing that Papyrus would be wanting to eagerly look at the letter, Sans tried his best to play it off and keep it cool. That's why, when he turned around to face his brother, he just simply smiled and said "it's from flowey!"
As Sans began to read the note, he could feel the tension leave his body. Flowey kidnaps the queen and…this is the note he leaves? With a tone like this, is she even in any real danger? Sans decides to not spare his brother from the absurdity of it all and reads the letter out loud. "dear pesky skeletons, my army of flowers and I have taken over the monster kingdom. toriel is now a permanent guest of the underground! i dare you to find her if you can."
Sans turned around to his astonished brother with his usual grin. Sans' lack of urgency almost made Papyrus even more confused. "we gotta find toriel!"
Papyrus let the look of shock settle on his face before snapping himself out of it and pointing his bony index finger directly at Sans. "AND YOU 'GOT TA' HELP TOO, BROTHER!"
Sans shrugged. "of course bro. but we're gonna need instructions on how to get through the underground. we should check out our enclosed instruction book."
Papyrus, in pure confusion, raised his voice more than he already had. "BROTHER, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WHAT 'ENCLOSED INSTRUCTION BOOK!?' WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH SAVING TORIEL FROM THE UNDERGROUND!?"
"oh nothing bro. just finishing the joke." Sans looked a little proud of himself as he brought up his arm and started swiping through his communicator. "looks like we'll need to contact undyne. paps. guess our picnic will have to wait."
Papyrus looked disappointed for just a second, but in his usual fashion, he knew how to find the silver lining in everything. Taking a heroic pose, he said "HMM. IT'S DISAPPOINTING THAT OUR PICNIC WILL HAVE TO WAIT! BUT I DO NOT DESPAIR! THERE IS NO JOB MORE FITTING FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS THEN THE NOBLE ACT OF-"
Papyrus was interrupted at the best part of his monologue by a call from Undyne to Sans' and Papyrus' communicators. When they engaged them, they could see a thoroughly annoyed Undyne standing in the throne room, already decorated in full armor. "YOU TWO! Where the heck have you been!? Everyone's at the castle already! I thought that ONE of you would have seen my texts by now."
"sorry undyne, it's a holiday. we were on our way to have a picnic with toriel before you called us."
"WHAT!? At a time like THIS"
"WELL YES, ABSOLUTELY! IT IS A WONDERFUL DAY TO SIT IN THE GRASS AND ENJOY THE SUN! LIKE I DO EVERYDAY! BUT CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE CHANGED! WE HAVE JUST COME UPON KNOWELDGE THAT THE FORMER QUEEN HAS BEEN *GASP* KIDNAPPED!"
Undyne heard their news and stopped being angry only to look back at Frisk, Alphys, and Mettaton behind her with worry. Asgore missing is a problem. But both Asgore *and* Toriel missing? The monsters may soon have a crisis on their hands if they couldn't fix this quickly.
Undyne, now more concerned than annoyed, spoke slowly. "So, what you're saying is that both the King and the former Queen are missing, and there's no one in the nobility who knows where they are?"
Sans' jolly look dropped to a much more neutral expression. "the king? nope. so, you're saying the king and queen are both gone?"
"Sans. Papyrus. Both of you, get here as fast as you can. We need to talk."
Beta Timeline
New Castle
Grand Ebott City, The Kingdom of Monsters
Friday, May 3, 2120, 11:36 AM
The mood in the castle had changed considerably since the few lovely minutes this morning when Frisk had first stumbled out of bed. In mere seconds, Sans had warped Papyrus to the castle, and the next couple of minutes had been spent in hurried, and often, frustrating, deliberation on what to do next. After exchanging notes, it was clear that both Asgore and Toriel weren't on the island anymore, and that if anywhere, they're most likely to be in the underground. Thanks to information provided by RG01 and RG02, the group knew that, the previous morning, the castle had received an anonymous letter encouraging Asgore to go save Toriel. But, using records provided by the kingdom's school, Undyne and Frisk were able to figure out that Toriel had left home that same morning for a class trip and never returned. Matter of fact, after the earthquake, her class had returned from the underground without her. The lead teacher at the time, a rather flustered Professor Woshua, had assumed that Toriel would finish her business in the underground and return home. That, didn't happen.
Undyne let go of a groan that echoed through the castle's vast audience chamber. "NGAH! OKAY! ONE more time, can we go over the guard assignments again, please!?"
Papyrus was quick to oblige. "ROGER THAT, CAPTAIN! AS YOU KNOW, RG 01 AND 02 WERE BOTH HERE WATCHING OVER THE CASTLE, BUT WHEN THEY LEFT THEIR SHIFT LAST NIGHT, ASGORE STILL HADN'T RETURNED. THEY CALLED TO NOTIFY ME THAT NO ONE HAD RETURNED HOME WHEN…"
"…when I stepped in and sent them home for the night." Frisk said, tracing a finger along a large digital chart that displayed on the screen table in front of them. "They had worked without relief all day, so I wanted to make sure they got some rest before their shift today. Plus, I would have hoped that Red would have been back by now, but…"
"B-But she hasn't returned." Alphys said, using her communicator to scroll through her own reports. "Red was assigned to escort his Highness, so it makes sense she wouldn't return without him. Dogamy and Dogaressa or Doggo haven't reported any unusual border crossings, but they HAVE reported a large increase in train traffic to Mt. Ebott, which coincides with reports I received concerning a spike in the concentration of magic in the area too."
Sans continued. "well, all of that chaos would explain why no one on the mountain has checked up with us yet. rg 03 and rg 04, along with red haven't said anything at all. what about the rest of the doge corps?"
Undyne scratched the skin behind her fin. She placed one hand on her knee and bent over the guard schedules, as if trying to find something, anything they overlooked that could lead them to answers. "They're here, assisting with public safety as they always have. Dohj oversees Ebott Division, but I haven't heard from her either! Damn! What could have happened to all of them!?"
"HRM!" Papryus gasped, bringing his fist down in the palm of his hand as he got the attention of the group. "WHAT IF FLOWEY WAS RIGHT!? HE DID MENTION THAT AN ARMY OF FLOWEYS HAD TAKEN OVER THE UNDERGROUND!? WHAT IF THEY GOT TO THE ROYAL FAMILY!?"
"Well, that's certainly a possibility." Frisk said. "But, none of this makes sense. Who gave Asgore the letter then? Toriel was already near Mt. Ebott when she disappeared. Why would anyone feel the need to come back to Grand Ebott to leave us a kidnapping note? It feels like we're being invited into a trap. Not to mention that Flowey felt no qualms about letting us know who he is."
"So, what!?" Undyne slammed her hands on the table. "I'm so confused! What should we be taking away from all of this!?"
Mettaton, tired of listening to the rest of the group yell, stepped forward and summarized the situation. "So essentially," he started. "Someone, who could have been Flowey OR someone Flowey was acting with, left a note for Asgore saying that Toriel, who was actually fine, had been kidnapped to the underground. Asgore went alone, as the note required, and at the same time, our mystery person left a letter on Toriel's door for our skeleton duo here to find as well. What a convoluted situation, darlings."
"B-but then," Alphys continued, mentally playing back all of the details in her mind "…that would mean that this…F-flowey person knew of Toriel's schedule, without talking or meeting with any of us. How…"
"That wouldn't be impossible, I guess." Frisk said, scratching their head and looking over the table of documents in front of them. "Flowey is small. They can pop in and out of the ground wherever they want, and they can even walk on their roots. It wouldn't be out of the question for them to catch Toriel off guard."
Undyne growled a bit before turning her frustration towards Frisk. It was the sort of frustration that everyone knew and understood as Undyne not being angry at Frisk, but at themselves for not doing something about this sooner. Her voice shook with that doubt holding firm deep in her soul. "Kid, how could you have not told us about Flowey sooner! If we had known about this monster, then maybe…maybe we could have done something about them! Now it's…." Undyne's grip tightened around her spear, so much so that small particles of dust collected on the bottom of her palm. Alphys quickly walked over to her began to stroke her hair, getting her to relax almost immediatedly. Frisk could see her trying to hold back tears.
Frisk tried to defend themselves. "Flowey wasn't a threat! And even now, I don't think that Flowey's going to hurt them. I just know it."
Papyrus tried to defend Frisk, but the slow hesitation in his voice made his true feelings more apparent than he thought. "I CAN UNDERSTAND FRISK'S POSITION! WHEN I SAW A LITTLE TALKING FLOWER, I WAS SURE THAT I HAD JUST WOKEN UP ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE RACECAR THAT DAY. BUT I CAN'T SPEAK TO WHETHER THEY HAD GOOD INTENTIONS OR NOT…"
Frisk took a deep breath. They did their best to fight back their anxiety on what was quickly becoming a lose-lose situation. "I know it doesn't seem like we have a lot to go off of right now. But in my experiences with Flowey, they had all the time and the power in the world to fight me, or even kill me, and I'm still here. We're still here. If they were an existential threat to the kingdom, I feel like this conversation would look really different." They turned their attention from Undyne to try and focus on everyone. "I'm not saying that we should wait. I just think that we should give Flowey a chance."
A silence fell over the room as they absorbed Frisk's words. Sans had closed his eyes when Frisk had started making their case for Flowey, and when they finished, he focused on Frisk and decided to join the conversation too. "well, why not? if flowey ends up being the kind of guy we think he is, we take care of him. but there's no need to figure anything out now. we can handle it when the time comes." Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. The others looked at each other before quietly coming to accept Sans' proposal. Seeing that he still had the room, he continued. "but, this doesn't solve the mystery of the increased power output from the core. what could that be about?"
Mettaton looked as if they were thinking to themselves before they snapped their metallic fingers together. "Oh, I know! What if it's Cauldron! This could all be a diversion for their real plan, you know? Even the person who left the letter about Toriel didn't leave it for her. It was meant for us to find."
Alphys stopped rubbing Undyne's hair. "We certainly can't rule that out. But I've been working on our security ever since Cauldron activity has started to increase. If a human tried to enter m-monster territory, I would know about it, immediatedly! So…"
Papyrus beamed with an idea. "WELL, WHAT IF WE JUST GO TO THE UNDERGROUND NOW? WE KNOW WHERE THEY ARE. WHY WAIT!? WE CAN SAVE THEM AND BRING EVERYONE HOME FOR DINNER! SANS, CAN YOU TELEPORT US?"
Sans put his hands out in front, as if to stop a car from running into him. "whoa there, bro. there's no way i can move this many people at once. and even if i tried, i wouldn't have the energy to do much else around here. i wanna be helpful too."
Frisk sighed. "I guess we have no choice, then. We'll have to take the-"
"TRAIN!?" Papyrus' eyes sparked at the prospect at getting to ride the Ebott Express. "GREAT IDEA, HUMAN! I'LL CONTACT THE TRAVEL OFFICE IMMEDIATEDLY! WE'LL BE ON THE NEXT TRAIN OUT OF HERE!" Papyrus triumphantly strode out of the audience room as he quickly dialed the travel office on his communicator. Now with a sense of purpose, it seemed as if the others were ready to do the same.
"my bro, pushing us forward as always." Sans said, with a sense of pride in his voice. "there's some intelligence i want to confirm. i'll meet everyone in the car, yeah? in the meantime, be sure not to idle too long, or we'll end up racing away." Sans winked and then blinked away before anyone else had a chance to complain about his joke.
Surprisingly, Undyne let herself chuckle a bit before gathering up the digital documents on the desk and closing them all with a swipe of her hand. Almost as if to convince herself, she boldly declared to the group "NGAHH! We're going save the King and Queen! Whatever's out there doesn't stand a chance against all of us! We took down terrorists! We built a country! And with our strength, this will be a piece of cake. After all, the underground is our home! Where are they going to hide from us, eh Alphys?"
Undyne leaned down and swung her hand around Alphys' shoulder, swooping her off the ground as she stood upright again. Alphys' yellow face went red at the sight of her friends watching her get romanced by her fish bride. Ignoring Mettaton's taunts, she tried to reassure her girlfriend. "Y-yeah! everything's going to be all right! Whatever the problem with the CORE is, I'm sure I can fix it! I'll just need to swing by my old lab and get some supplies, and oh-!"
"Don't worry about the details Alphys! We'll figure it out as we go! Are you ready!?"
"R-ready!? For what? Wait, what are you going to doAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Without warning, Undyne dashed out of the audience room and carried Alphys to the front door, the both of them laughing and screaming all the way. Frisk and Mettaton enjoyed a good laugh at their expense before they too made their exit.
"Now this is shaping up to be quite a day. It looks like I'm coming along on a rare adventure with Frisk and company! Oh, it's been too long."
"Yeah, Mettaton!" Frisk said, smiling back sincerely at their old friend. "It's been a while since we've spent a lot of time together. It'll be fun to have you around again. Are you going to put on your old battle suit for this one?"
Mettaton laughed, as if Frisk had made a joke hilarious enough to get the whole room going. "Battle suit!? Oh honey, I don't plan on fighting! This is strictly going to be a documentary trip! 'The Mysterious Disappearance of the King and Queen!' Oh, I can see it now! People are going to eat this up.
Frisk was flabbergasted. "Y-you…you're gonna film us for a documentary?"
"Well, of course!" Mettaton said, as if this wasn't something that was supposed to happen normally. "Everything about this situation has the making of the juiciest TV movie! I'm not passing this opportunity for inspiration up! I may even have to get the old gang together for this one. Excuse me Frisk while I make some calls."
And before Frisk could object, Mettaton was out the door, chatting with Blooky about how their was a job that they had to come with them for, and that their usual crew just would not do. Frisk thought about chasing them down, but just ended up sighing as they slid down the center console and sat down on the floor of the audience room.
Now that the room was empty, Chara was free to bother Frisk without any worry. "And you were so looking forward to relaxing on your holiday today~! I guess life had other plans for us, didn't it?"
Frisk looked serious as they turned to face Chara's spirit. Chara could feel their muscles tense, their breath get short and light and the pain in their heart escalate as they tried to talk to them. "Chara, this isn't happening, right? There's no way that Flowey would do this, right? We…we talked…we."
"FRISK." Chara raised their voice. They would have cupped Frisk's face between their hands if they could, but that was obviously impossible for a ghost. Frisk's eyes were wide with disbelief as they begin to shake. Feeling them slip away, Chara, out of desperation, pressed their spirit self up against Frisk and, in an instant, felt themselves in control of Frisk's body again, feeling all of the nuances of their stress and anxiety ache throughout their body. It was an incredibly heavy feeling, more so than they were ever used to feeling as a ghost, and the suddenness and ease of the transition caused Chara to stand up in surprise.
"Whoa! Wha-, What, what happened, why am I…Frisk, are you okay? Oh my god, it happened again." Chara quietly thanked whatever God responsible for this that no one was around to hear them. Unlike in London, it was weird to be so conscious of how completely they had possessed Frisk's body, and how easy it felt for them. Chara was almost distracted by the sensation of feeling themselves frown, or feeling their face move, as they worried about their friend.
"Yeah, I…I think so." Frisk said, now a bodyless voice inside of Chara's head. Or Frisk's head? The voice of Frisk continued. "This is…so weird. Usually I could try and muscle control of my body back from you, but now, I'm…I'm like this."
"I'm so sorry, I…I…" Chara sounded a little worried, like they had broken Frisk and had to figure out a way to get them back. "I'm trying to let go, but, it's so weird. I feel so attached to your body right now. I mean, it feels nice I guess, but..!"
"It's okay! It's okay Chara." Frisk said, letting their voice get softer to comfort their partner. "If anything, this is good, right? This…this will give me some time to calm down. Do you think you could gather my things for me? They should be in my room."
"Well, sure. But…" Chara said, making their way for the hallway that connected the executive wing to the residential one. "…are you sure you're okay with this. With…with me being in control for awhile?"
"Ahh, hahaha. When you put it that way…." Frisk chuckled a little before remembering the consequences of their initial "trade" with Chara. They brushed aside any thoughts of long-term effects. "It'll be okay. I trust you Chara. It's why I wanted to go on this journey with you at all. Us, together, I know we really can do anything we put our mind to. And…" Frisk paused. "…if anything, this will give me time to cool down. After London, after what happened with Cage in the Church, I don't want to lose my cool again. That's probably why we ended up like this in the first place. I don't anyone to have to see me like…that…again. I'm better than that. I know it."
Chara stayed silent, not knowing entirely how to respond to that, or how to speak about the role they could have played for what happened in London. Sensing Chara's discomfort, Frisk quickly picked themselves back up and tried to reassure them both. "But, this will be okay! We're going to find Asriel, and get to the bottom of this. I'm sure that after we talk, we can figure all of this out, right Chara?"
Chara had been focused on themselves since Frisk brought up London, wondering if the magic in the underground chamber, or their built-up LV from timelines across the ages, had been the cause for their outburst. They honestly had zoned out for the walk up the spiral staircase to Frisk's room in the tower. But upon seeing Frisk's door, and hearing the desperate earnestness in their voice, Chara tried to smile and comfort their friend again.
"Yeah Frisk. One way or another, we'll find out the truth behind all of this. I know it."
Chara walked into the room and began to collect things Frisk said were important in a bag for them both to carry. It was honestly a little embarrassing how little they had paid attention to the day-by-day of Frisk's routine, so the gathering of items took a little longer than it should. But after about 15 minutes, they had finally received the call from Papyrus that their ride was here, and Chara found themselves stuck at the doorframe of the room, anxiously retracing everything they needed in their mind. It felt surreal to be in a situation where everyone was returning to the underground, to be leaving behind this world and its troubles to step back into the place where it all began. Whatever happened there, no matter how short or long it took, the both of them knew that their lives were about to change forever the minute they walked out that door. Before Chara felt like they could do it, they had to be ready.
And it was at that moment that they realized: There was something very important they had to get before they went.
"Frisk, wait. I know we don't wear it anymore, because of our promise. But…I can't leave here without it. Not now. If we're going to do this, if this is going to go the way that we think it is, then….I need it."
"I…" Frisk hesitated. They let out a deep and heavy sigh before finding the determination in themselves to continue forward. "Okay. Let's do it, Chara."
Walking forward slowly and delicately, as if every step they took had the potential to make them waver, Chara walked over to the desk against their window, put down their bag, and fished a small key out of a interior pocket. Inserting it into the desk slowly, Chara put it in place and released the lock mechanism that kept the center top drawer sealed away from the rest of the world. And in the center of the drawer, laying on a purple scarf was Asriel's old heart locket, a little dusty but still shimmering in the room's expansive sunlight.
Chara closed their eyes, took a deep breath, and picked up the heart locket, almost effortlessly managing to get it clasped behind their back. They took a step back and looked at it in the mirror, carefully bringing a hand to the top of their chest as if to confirm the locket really did exist. On Frisk's slender, adult body, the child's locket looked slightly out of place, especially on top of the suit they wore every day as part of their diplomatic work. But seeing it lay on Frisk's chest felt like Chara's key anchor for remembering who they were, despite the body they were in. More so than their perpetual red eyes, more so than the barrage of feelings and emotions they were finally not angry enough to feel, the heart locket felt like the one thing that could keep them together. With that determination, Chara felt ready to move forward.
Chara gripped the heart locket as tears began to stream down their face. "Asriel, no matter what. We're going to save you. No matter our sins, no matter our past, I'm not going to rest until I'm reunited with you again. Do you hear me, you idiot? We're in this to the end. So you better not give up on me!"
Before giving Frisk a chance to comment, Chara turned and began to make their way outside the room. They confidently stepped back the doorframe and, with all the determination they could feel, propelled themselves forward down the stairs to the lobby below.
No matter what happened next, they were ready.
"Let's go Frisk. Let's go back to New Home."
A/N - It's here! My longest chapter so far, by a LONG shot. When I said I had an update, BOY did I mean it.
I'm so excited to keep sharing this arc with y'all, especially with the character drama that's coming up. I hope everyone looks forward to it. As always, thank you so much for reading my fic. It makes me really happy.
