The autumn sun continued to slowly creep through the sky as Cole brought his bike to a stop atop a small hill overlooking the town. Asriel stopped beside Cole, looking down at the town below. Cole glanced up at Asriel.

"It might not be a very good idea for you to go into town. Considering how tense things are, they might take it the wrong way. You better stay here, I'll bring someone to you. Just in case though…" He took out his small phone, taking a picture of Asriel who blinked in surprise.

"What was that all about?"

Cole couldn't help but be somewhat amused at Asriel's surprise. "Proof that you're actually here. Now stay here, keep out of sight." Asriel nodded and pulled the bike off the trail. Cole set off again, riding down the hill and into the streets of the small town. He had been thinking as to what exact authority he would want to get.

"The police? No, they would just try and arrest Asriel, and there would be war by morning. Better go right to the top." He then realized, he had no idea where the mayor's home even was. He paused by a man on the sidewalk.

"Hey Franklin."

Franklin stopped and smiled welcomingly. "Oh, hello Cole! What are you doing in town? I thought you had Thursdays off!"

Cole shrugged. "Oh I do, just running an errand. Hey, by the way, I'm in need of directions, could you give me a hand?"

Franklin chuckled. "Depends where you want to go."

Cole asked, trying to sound casual. "Do you know where Mayor Charlotte's house is?"

Franklin smiled and pointed down the road. "Oh that's easy. You're going to turn right at the light up ahead, go down two blocks then turn left, her house should be the fourth on the right."

Cole nodded. "Got it. Thank you!"

Just as Cole was beginning to set off, Franklin called him back. "What do you need her for? You know how busy she is, right?"

Cole called over his shoulder. "I can't talk about it now, maybe another time!" He quickly set off before further questions could be asked.

One of the perks of being in a small town - most people knew where everybody else was, and were often willing to help. Cole set off again, following Franklin's directions to turn right at the light. Now he racked his mind, trying to think of exactly how he would get Charlotte to go to where Asriel was. Just five minutes later he parked his bike in front of the fence surrounding the house.

"This must be the place…" He thought to himself as he dismounted, pushing open the gate and walking up to the door. He took a breath and rang the doorbell, waiting for an answer. He heard footsteps from inside and when the door opened, he was greeted by a dark haired woman, who appeared to be in her late thirties. She wore casual clothing, although looked like she had just recently returned from work. In the background, Cole heard a television news report mumbling along.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked with a friendly smile. Cole nodded.

"Are you mayor Charlotte King?"

The woman nodded. "The one and only."

Cole continued to think of what to say next. "There's somebody that really needs to speak with you, it's urgent."

Charlotte still held her friendly look. "Oh? May I ask what it's regarding, and more importantly who this person is?"

Cole nodded. "I can't tell you the what, only the who. It's Prince Asriel Dreemurr, son of the king Asgore Dreemurr? I'm sure you've heard of him."

Charlotte's smiled disappeared. "Look, as much as I enjoy pranks, this isn't a very good one, or in good taste."

Cole persisted. "It's no joke. Here…" He took out the phone and showed her the picture he took less than half an hour ago. Charlotte's eyes widened as she saw it. Cole quickly moved to reassure her.

"He's all alone, the king and queen don't know he's here. I've made sure of it."

The woman looked back up in amazement. "Where is he?"

Cole explained. "We figured it wouldn't be a good idea for him to just wander around in the open, so he's waiting just outside town. I rode here on my bike."

Charlotte nodded again. "I see...well, I'll see him at once. You can throw your bike into the trunk of my car and we'll drive out there, it'll be quicker. Give me a few moments, I'll get my car out of the garage."

As Charlotte left to get her car keys, Cole returned to the bike. As soon as Charlotte had driven the car to the curb, he popped open the trunk and lifted the bike inside before closing it, climbing into the backseat of the car. As they set out, Cole began to briefly explain what was going on.

"Ah, just head straight this way, and take a left at Kinsal Street. Prince Asriel's said he's wanting to in a way defect from the royal family. He says he knows that war is completely inevitable. On the way here he told me he even knows what date the invasion will happen on, and what they'll be targeting first. That's why he's taken the risk of crossing the border into Niaca. Yeah, just the left here."

Charlotte nodded as she followed his continuous directions. "That's an interesting move to say the very least...If did he say anything else? Anything about a need to evacuate?"

Cole nodded. "No recommendations about evacuation that he's told me, but he had a lot of other interesting things to say. I'll let him explain it to you, he knows the details better than me. Uh, turn right onto that dirt road by the oak tree."

"Of course, of course. By the way, you have been keeping up with the town evacuation plans, right? I know you live quite a bit out of the way so not all of it applies to you."

"Yeah. My sister and I are planning to just go straight to the designated escape roads and getting picked up by the bus instead of meeting at the town muster point, since the road passes by closer. I've already mapped out the trail we'd need to travel, and we've both made special kits with necessities for a few days. I imagine though there's a lot more planning as the town mayor, though!"

Charlotte chuckled. "Actually, there's surprisingly little paperwork. When the old Empire of Chodora capitulated, there was a lot of worry that Niaca was next, so we drew up a lot of evacuation plans and protocols. There hasn't been much change since, mainly just some updating of names and the such. Say, is that the prince ahead?"

Cole affirmed her question, and Charlotte brought the car to a stop and climbed out with Cole, he quickly spotted Asriel leaning against a tree. Asriel stood up straighter when he saw them. He looked into Charlotte's eyes solemnly as the two stared at each other. Charlotte shook her head in amazement.

"Well I'll be...it really is you!"

Asriel sighed. "I wish we could be meeting under different circumstances, what I have to say though is of the utmost importance."

Charlotte folded her arms. "Well, your highness, it's an understatement to say you've got my attention."

Asriel began at once. "It's about my father, King Asgore. The military buildup isn't just a move to threaten you, it's preparation. There's an imminent war on the way, and I want to aid in any way I can to stop it."

Charlotte took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm pretty sure we all knew that war is going to happen, your highness, just no one is really willing to say it out loud. In any case, I imagine you'll probably want to speak to the Prime Minister, not some random small town mayor like me. I should get our police cruiser over here and bring you to the police station; you can stay there for the next few hours while I get in contact with Peterson. I'm certain he'll be quite interested in this."

Asriel nodded. "Thank you, and please, just call me Asriel."

Charlotte nodded, before turning around and dialing a number to the local police chief. "Hey Roger, it's me. I need you to get one of the squad cars up on the ridge just east of the town. No no, the other one, I need the tinted windows, only you in the car. Keep it on the down-low, I'll explain when you get here...thank you...yeah, goodbye."

While they waited for Roger to arrive, Charlotte immediately called another number.

"Jonathan, hi. It's Charlotte, the mayor of Falkirk. Listen, I need a huge favour. I want you to make a call for me, directly to the Prime Minister. It's about Asgore's movements. ...No, I haven't seen scouting parties, it's just - long story short, I've got Prince Asriel here with me, he says he wants to help… Yes I'm sure it's him, I'm standing right in front of him! Yes, I know it's after hours, but can you just make an exception this one time? You know I wouldn't ever ask you to do this unless it was important and I assure you this is of national importance. ...Thanks. I owe you one." She then hung up, taking a deep breath, and looked to Asriel.

"That was Jonathan Raines; he's the governor of the province. He's going to put a call to Art Peterson to try and get you an audience with him."

Asriel nodded. "Thank you Ms. King." They continued to wait, and minutes later the sound of tires on gravel could be heard coming up the road. Another moment later, and a police car drove up into view, coming to a stop. An older man climbed out and stared in shock at Asriel.

"Well I never...you sure about this?"

Charlotte nodded. "We just need to get him to the police station without leaking that he's here. If the press found out, they'd have a field day with this. From there, King Asgore would likely find out, and that would be it."

Roger nodded. "Wise choice."

Asriel walked towards the car and Roger opened up the back door, the tinted windows hiding most of Asriel's face. Cole nodded to Charlotte.

"I need to be getting back to my sister, thanks for the help."

Charlotte nodded again. "No, thank you for getting in touch with me. Now, I need to get going - say hi to your sister for me!"

Cole quickly ran to get his bike out of the trunk of Charlotte's car, then watched as the two vehicles drove away. Only when they were out of sight did he turn around. He found Julia's bike close by to where Asriel was standing. He then began the climbed back onto his bike, using one hand to pull Julia's with him as he began the ride home. The sun had almost completely set by the time he arrived. Julia opened the door as she saw him approach.

"How'd it go?" She queried as Cole leaned the bikes against the cabin again before walking inside.

"About as well as it could have. Mayor Charlotte's was trying to get in touch with Peterson when I left, there's a chance they're already talking by now."

Julia nodded. "I see. What about you?"

Cole was confused. "What do you mean?"

Julia gave an exasperated sigh. "You know what I mean. Did you make your decision to help or not?"

Cole shook his head. "No, I haven't. No offense Julia, but you don't know how difficult it was sometimes to be in a fighting force back there. Actually, I don't even know, since I was kept out of most of the action since I was a misinformant, and that was tiring enough."

Julia nodded slowly. "None taken...look Cole, I don't doubt it was hard. But sometimes we need to make difficult choices."

Cole groaned. "Can you just give me some more time?"

A small sense of urgency crept into Julia's voice. "We might not have much time left."

Cole closed his eyes for a few seconds, then opened them. "Tomorrow morning. I'll make my mind up then. Promise."

Julia smiled softly. "Thank you. Now please. Get. Some. Rest. You didn't get any last night and it's been a very long day."

Cole chuckled. "Alright, I can take a hint. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Julia shook her head, keeping her smile as she watched Cole retire to his room.