Chapter 23: Unprepared

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder then, and looked up at Asgore. "Are you ready, Frisk?"

No.

"Yes, I'm ready."

"Frisk, Asgore, we understand your concerns and requests, but we simply need time to mull over and discuss the issue," a calm, ringing voice said.

"Ms. Grey, what are you doing?! Letting this- this mere child get what she wants?! This is how it'll start you know, the overthrowing of the human government all starts when some child wants to get rights for- for abominations!" called out a penetrating voice.

Ms. Grey was calm as she replied, "Mr. Cohen, are you telling me that you're afraid of this young woman? Are you saying that you're paranoid about this young woman, and this sweet and charming monster, overthrowing the government? Mr. Cohen, I thought you were more confident and above that."

I hid a smirk behind my hand as I pretended to itch my nose.

Satisfied that Mr. Cohen had been silenced, Ms. Grey continued. "Now, back to what we were discussing. Frisk, Asgore, your requests and concerns will be discussed and went over. Now, before we end this meeting, I must express my concern for your guys' safety. As you know, there are some people out there that are... against, monsterkind and their coming up to the surface. And these people are capable of putting you and your friend's lives in danger. I'm going to ask you, do you want extra security measures?"

I thought about this for a moment, and looked to Asgore. A silent conversation passed between us within seconds, and I turned to Ms. Grey. "What would these extra security measures be, exactly?"

Ms. Grey looked toward a man to her right, and the man spoke with his fruity voice. "I'm Mr. Jacob Jansen, I'm the head of security for the city. As for your security, we could look into installing security cameras and alarms for both your home and the neighborhood as a whole. And if you want, we could look into getting some potential security or body guards for you and the neighborhood?"

I felt myself pale a bit, "And you think these are necessary? Not saying I don't think they're necessary, but it's... disquieting to think that some people will go to certain measures to potentially hurt me or my family."

Mr. Jansen nodded, "Yes, unfortunately, the threat of harm coming to you is already quite high. We can enforce the security measures listed for now, and if the situation becomes even dire, we'll enforce more security measures. But until then, we'll only enforce the security measures previously mentioned. Does that sound okay, Ambassador?"

"Yes, that all sounds good. I just wish that you didn't have to go through the trouble of having to protect me and my family," I replied.

Mr. Jansen nodded in agreement once again. "Yes, it is rather unfortunate that we have to go to such measures to keep innocent citizens safe."

Then Ms. Grey spoke, "Yes, it is a rather unfortunate situation. So, Frisk, Asgore, if you have any questions you can just ask me or Mr. Jansen. Now then, I think it's time for this session to come to an end. We have your numbers, so we'll just give you a call or text you about when the next session will be. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to be heading out. Have a good day you two."

Something came to mind as Ms. Grey and Mr. Jansen were getting ready to leave, so I spoke quickly. "Excuse me, Ms. Grey, Mr. Jansen?"

Ms. Grey glanced up at me as she was putting some documents away, "Yes, Frisk?"

"For the body guard sort of thing, do you think we could maybe appoint someone to my little sister instead of me?" Asgore shot me a look, and was gonna speak before I continued on. "It's just, I want her to be protected. I can defend myself, but she can't really defend herself that well."

Ms. Grey looked at Mr. Jansen, and words were silently passed between them. Ms. Grey nodded when she looked away from Mr. Jansen, "Yes, we would be able to do that. Anything else?"

I shook my head, "No, that's all. Thank you, have a good day!"

As we exited the courthouse, Asgore put a hand on my shoulder, preventing me from continuing on. "Frisk, I really think you should have a body guard as well, just to be safe."

I looked up at Asgore, seeing the concern etched upon his features. "Well, I think the need for a bodyguard is unnecessary when I can defend myself perfectly fine, and I have you along with the others. I'll be fine!" I gave Asgore a reassuring smile.

Asgore contemplated this for a moment, and soon decided not to argue with me. "Alright Frisk, if that's what you think. Now... How do you wanna get home?"

Wow. This was such a huge decision to make. How did I want to get home?! With my most serious face, I whispered, "Lemme ride on your shoulders."

Even with Asgore kneeling down, it was difficult for me to climb up onto his shoulders. When I finally got up there though, and he stood up, I felt on top of the world.

Still keeping a serious face, I said, "Now, onward, my dear friend, we must journey far to get to our home!"

Asgore's deep chuckle vibrated throughout my bones, "Okay, if you insist, my child. Hold on tight..."

I gripped Asgore's shoulders as he began to run as fast as he could. I giggled, and felt like such a child, with the wind blowing in my hair. "To infinity and beyond!"

I was giggling and Asgore was chuckling the entire time that I was up on his shoulders, and it felt nice to experience a small part of the childhood that I missed out on. I only hoped that everything turned out well with the humans, and that I could have more moments like these with Asgore and Toriel.

When Asgore and I entered the house, our ears were immediately greeted with laughter.

Just hearing laughter inside the home made me smile, and it warmed my heart. "You guys, we're home!"

Melody came running down the stairs to greet us, but she wasn't smiling. Mel pulled me lower so I could hear her as she whispered, "Frisk, Sans met this girl, and everyone seems to like her, but something feels wrong about her. Plus, she's ruining my OTP of you and Sans!"

I straightened back up, my smile remaining painfully on my face. "Mel, I'm sure she's okay. Let me meet and judge her, then we'll discuss it later, okay?" My heart was pounding against my rib cage, and I could feel an ache deep in my soul.

I made my way up the stairs, catching sight of the copper curls first, then the honey brown eyes, then the taffy pink heart shaped lips that were in a wide grin, then the entirety of the girl. She was sitting politely on the edge of the couch, laughing about whatever Sans had just said. The girl was beautiful. She had fair skin that was perfect, and had what seemed like perfectly placed freckles across her nose and cheeks. And the look on Sans' face... Let's just say I was unprepared.

Sans had one of the biggest grins on his face, and he couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from the girl. It made my heart pang painfully in my chest, and made a lump form in my throat. Sans had never looked at anyone like that... and since he was looking at the girl like that, it meant that he would never look at me like that.

I could tell that my pain was showing on my face, and I quickly transformed the pain into a smile. Though, the look on my face was not missed by Asriel. I cleared my throat to make my presence known before speaking, "Hey guys! Who's this?"

Toriel spoke before anyone else, "Oh, my child! This is Pandora, someone Sans met today! She's really quite lovely!"

Pandora smiled and spoke in a honeyed voice, "Oh Toriel, I'm not all that lovely." Pandora turned her eyes to me, "Frisk, is it? It's a pleasure to meet you!"

My smile got painfully bigger as I forced my words out, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. So, how did you and Sans meet?"

That's when Sans actually turned to look at me, his usual carefree smile now in place. "it's quite the story, actually. so i was at the store, looking for the aisle with ketchup. when i find the right aisle, Pandora's there, struggling to get some ketchup from the top shelf. and i'm about to offer her some help, when she... well, we don't really know how she did it, but she brought the whole shelf with all of the ketchup down, drenching the two of us in the condiment! she was a bit flustered after that, but a few good puns and jokes later, and we exchanged numbers. she ended up just coming home with us anyway though, so she could clean up before heading home. needless to say, the whole ordeal was hilarious." Then Sans turned to Pandora once more, engaging in conversation.

Tears stung my eyes because of how Sans seemed to forget about me so easily. I wasn't going to let anyone see me cry though, so I headed to my room to quickly change, throwing on the other Sans' jacket in the process, and headed out the front door with only a few words as to my whereabouts. "I'm gonna go visit Grillby since I haven't seen him in a while. I'll be back later!"

And I left.

I spent a lot of time at Grillby's after that, usually not saying a word and only laying in a ball behind the bar. And because I wasn't really at home much, Sans only got closer and closer with Pandora. It'd been a few weeks since they met, and all hope for a relationship with Sans had drained from my body.

I was currently curled up in a ball behind the counter at Grillby's, refusing to leave.

I'd told everyone at home that I'd be at Grillbys a bit earlier in the morning than usual, today felt especially difficult for me.

Grillby's exasperated sigh reached my ears, "Frisk, if you don't tell me what's wrong, then I'm afraid that you'll have to leave."

I closed my eyes tightly for a moment, as I took a painful breath and sat up. "It's going to seem childish, and you'll laugh."

Grillby shook his head, "Frisk, you know me better than that. Just talk to me, you'll feel better, I promise."

I gave Grillby a grateful smile and went to get up, when I heard the front door ring as people walked in, laughter that I was familiar with reaching my ears. I quickly ducked back down and stayed there, knees to my chest as I hid.

"heya grillbs, how ya doin?" My heart throbbed painfully.

Grillby wasn't verbally speaking, so I assumed that he was just telling Sans that he was good by using body language or magic.

Sans then said, "good, nice to hear you're still doing well. so hey, this is Pandora, i met her a while ago when i was on the hunt for some ketchup." And Sans then went into the story of how they met, and how funny the situation was. Then, Grillby must've asked something about me, because Sans said my named. "frisk? didn't she come to visit you?" It was silent for a moment. And Sans' voice was filled with concern. "where else would she have gone? grillbs, i gotta go, i have to look for her. take care of Pandora here while i'm gone."

The feeling of something heavy on my chest was lifted for a moment. He still cared. It was stupid to think that he'd abandon all feelings about me in just an instant, but that's what it felt like he did.

Now Grillby was back to speaking softly, "So, Pandora, is it? It's a pleasure to meet you Pandora."

Pandora's voice was still the same honeyed voice as earlier, "Yes, a pleasure for me as well. Now," In an instant, Grillby's posture had stiffened, and I could see a pitcher of water ready to be dumped on his head. Pandora was sitting on the edge of the counter, "Tell me more about that brat, Frisk."

I felt like I couldn't breathe. Why did she want information on me, and why was she using Sans?

Grillby was hesitant, and chanced a look at me, but started to talk when I gave him an urgent look. "...What do you need to know?"

Very suddenly, Pandora yanked the glass of water back, causing a droplet to fall onto Grillby which must have been painful, but he didn't make a sound. Pandora's voice wasn't honeyed anymore, it was cold and as sharp as a razor. "Good, you'll comply. Okay, I need to know everything about this little wench. Anything you know about her magic abilities, and when she'll be her most vulnerable. Got it?"

Grillby chanced another glance at me, and I nodded, telling him to go on. "Well, no one really knows much about her magic abilities. But I know that she's strong enough to take down the toughest monster in the underground."

Pandora sat, examining her nails. "And who is this, 'toughest monster' of the underground?"

"Well, it may be Asriel, but Chara is pretty strong. Not to mention Sans, Asgore, Undyne... it really depends on how you would rate everyone." Grillby said.

Pandora scoffed, "Those furry little things and the skeleton? Seriously, that's so dumb. Oh well, continue on about Frisk."

Grillby cleared his throat a little, "Well, it is known that she's the only known human so far who possesses a red soul, the soul of determination. And she's incredible when it comes to dodging attacks and sparing others."

Pandora laughed, "So she's a little pacifist is she? Well, this is going to make my job all the more easier. Now I just need one little bit of information, and I'll be on my merry little way. When will she be her most vulnerable?"

Grillby hesitated, "Well, I'm not quite sure. She's never really been all that vulnerable, she's almost always on her guard. But, I guess, in certain circumstances, she may be vulnerable."

Pandora was getting impatient, "What. Circumstances."

"When a loved one is in danger, or she's overwhelmed. That's all I know. Now, kindly leave my establishment." Grillby's voice got louder and sharper when he told her to leave, drawing attention from whatever customers were in the restraunt.

Pandora sneered, "I'll gladly leave this dump. Just remember though, if a word of this conversation gets out to anyone, especially that skeleton, you'll be sorry." Pandora seemed to have pondered something for a moment, before an mischievous smirk made it's way onto her face. "Now, aren't you just parched from that conversation? Why not have a little drink." And with that, she flung the full pitcher of water onto Grillby and sprinted out of the establishment.

Grillby hissed in pain and collapsed down next to me, his flames starting to diminish. I felt panic bubble up inside of me, "Grillby, what do I do, what do I do?!"

It took Grillby great effort to speak, "T...Tor...Tori... el.."

I was barely aware of the tears springing from my eyes, "How do I get to her though, she's all the way at home! Oh, what do I do, whatdoIdowhatdoIdowhatdoIdo." I was gripping Grillby's sleeve as tightly as I could, and an idea quickly came to mind. I could try to teleport. "Grillbs, I'm going to try and teleport. Just tell me if I'm correct: Do I only have to imagine my destination and picture us going there to teleport?"

Grillby seemed to nod, so I could only hope that I was correct. I put the image of our living room in mind, the carpet, the furniture, the walls, Toriel, Melody. I pictured me and Grillby arriving there, I tried as hard as I could to insert ourselves into the picture, and summoned up whatever magical abilities I could. I felt a tingling sensation throughout my body, then a great warmth, and before I could blink, I felt the sensation of being transported elsewhere.

When everything grew still and I could hear the horrified gasps from people in the room, I opened my eyes and searche for Toriel, immediately spotting her as she stood near the couch, eyes wide and mouth agape.

I felt drained, and it took everything in me only to say, "Mom, he needs you, please heal him."

And I fell onto my back, heaving in big breaths as I stared up at the ceiling.

Everything was muffled while I lay there. I could barely hear the shouting of instructions and the shuffling of people moving quickly. All I could think about, was Pandora, and how she was a threat to me and my loved ones that must be taken care of.

I was currently upstairs with Grillby, who we had set up in the living room to rest for the time being. Toriel had healed him to the max, but the mental and physical trauma was a big issue. Grillby was finding it difficult to get his flames to grow and be as bright as they usually were, and he was very jumpy around anything that could even have the possibility of containing water. And seeing Grillby like this not only hurt me to my very soul, but it fueled my rage which was growing quite high.

By the time Sans got home it was late, he had most likely spent a majority of the day either looking for me, or spending time with Pandora. And judging by the smile on his face when he entered the house, he had spent a majority of the day with Pandora.

Apparently Sans had went to enter my room, and when he found that I wasn't there, I heard him very audibly say: "shit, i forgot about frisk."

Before he could teleport or go looking for me though, I called out to him from my position by Grillby. "I'm up here, idiot." My voice definitely came out more harshly than I intended.

Sans made his way up the stairs and into the living room. "sheesh kid, what's got your panties-" Sans seemed to have paled when he saw Grillby, and looked to me with worried and questioning eyes.

I had a grim smile on my face as I very coldly said, "Yeah. He doesn't look too good does he?"

Sans rushed foward, but I blocked him from reaching Grillby. "jesus frisk, what's gotten into you. he's my friend, i'm allowed to be worried and rush to his side!"

Tears filled my eyes as I poked his chest with my finger, and I knew the kind of anger that came out wouldn't be the dry stone cold anger that I'd wanted. It'd be the wet emotional kind. "No, no you don't get to rush to his side. Don't you know how he ended up like his? It was your pretty little girlfriend, Pandora. You don't get to rush to his side, not after you brought that thing into our lives."

Sans' anger flared, "hey, don't say shit like that about Pandora. just because you don't like her doesn't mean you can accuse her of something serious like that!"

I scoffed and threw an arctic glare toward Sans, "I don't need to accuse her, because I was there when she did it! Were you there when she dumped that pitcher of water on Grillby? NO! You didn't have to hold your dear friend whose flame were going out, and panic, not knowing what to do or how to help them! You didn't have to listen to your friend try and keep in the moans of pain that escaped from them. You weren't the one who was drained of almost all of their health, because they ended up teleporting them and their friend home to Toriel. You didn't go through that today, I did! I did." My breaths were heavy and ragged, because I had been shouting while trying not to cry from remembering the experience.

Sans didn't back down though, he just had to keep going on. "you say 'dumped the pitcher', has it occurred to you that she may have accidentily done it? maybe she lost her grip on the pitcher and it just went flying from her hands." I raised my hand and pointed a finger at Sans about to intterrupt him, before he continued on. "oh just save it frisk! i don't need to listen to you preach about some mistake that Pandora made. it's actually a bit hypocrytical, considering that in the past, you murdered everyone in the underground, including your own sister!"

I couldn't remember how to breathe in that moment, and I let my hand fall limply to my side, simply standing there in shock. Sans realized what he said when it left his mouth, and I could see his face fill with regret. Sans took a step toward me and tried to take my hand in his, "frisk-"

I yanked my hand back as if I had just touched something scalding, and took a step back. Sans tried talking to me, but I couldn't hear anything outside of my racing thoughts. Instead, I thought of the area in the Underground before the Ruins, where me and Mel had landed. And in the next instant,

I was gone.

Well snippety snap, the flip was that.

Things definitely went a bit... downhill this chapter.

Man, I actually feel kind really bad for Frisk and the others right now.

Welp, Until Next Time~