A/N First off, I want to thank patrickmgrimm for their kind words last chapter. I also want to tell people now, in case I forgot, that due to my personal policy, this book is completed and fully written. How I handle posting is one chapter a week. And with this, we are two-thirds of the way through this book.
Once again, I want to thank people for taking the time to read my story and leaving comments. It's always a delight to read what you say, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
Now, with that out of the way, on with the chapter!
After returning home, Toriel decided that the kids would have the next day of school off to recover from their ordeal. Carol had been rather outraged by MK's actions but allowed her daughter to continue hanging out with them as MK deeply apologized.
The next day Frisk met up with their friends. MK's head was down and he looked really glum. Noelle waved a greeting to them both when she arrived, though Frisk could tell she hadn't gotten much sleep the night before.
'How are you two?' Frisk asked.
"Okay for the most part," Noelle answered. "Didn't sleep much. Kept having bad dreams."
"It's my fault," MK admitted. "I'm so stupid. I should have known better. I'm sorry I put you both through that."
'We're alive. That's what matters. You clearly understand the weight of your actions, so I forgive you,' Frisk signed.
"You're really okay with what happened?" MK asked.
'Not the first time I've been held hostage or had a knife to my throat,' Frisk admitted, which seemed to terrify both of the other kids. 'Don't think on it too hard. So, what should we do on our one day off?'
"Whatever you want," MK said. "I'm really sorry and I'll do whatever you two want for today to make up what I put you through."
"Well, how about Waterfall?" Noelle suggested. "I did suggest that before."
'Sounds good,' Frisk agreed.
"Yeah, we can do that," MK agreed. "Lead the way."
Asgore was in his home, preparing a kettle of tea. He heard footsteps and greeted Undyne as she walked in.
"You wanted to see me?" she asked.
"Yes. I thought it important to discuss what happened yesterday," he said. He motioned for her to sit down and he brought over the pot and a pair of teacups, pouring a small amount in each before sitting opposite the captain.
"So, what are we talking about?" Undyne asked.
"First, let me congratulate you on how you handled the whole affair and extend that to the guards who fought in the battle as well. You all fought admirably."
"Thank you, sir," Undyne said, holding her cup, waiting for the tea to cool. "We've also found the tunnel the humans used to escape. Seemed they found a weak point in the wall and broke through it. I'm having the guards comb the entire section to look for any more weaknesses."
"Good, good," Asgore nodded. "Undyne, what was your opinion on the offensive capabilities of the humans?"
"To be blunt?" she asked, to which he nodded. "Like shit. They were completely dependent on the guns to the point where it seemed they couldn't fight without them. It was rather easy to overpower them."
"That was my observation as well," Asgore agreed. "But… did it not seem that they were… not in the best shape?"
"I could tell," Undyne said. "They were really thin and at one point I could have sworn I saw their bones through their skin. They must be starving which is why they took such a drastic action."
Asgore nodded in agreement. "I feel some pity for them, despite what they have done. They might be the last of their kind, for all we know. I want to find some way to help them without endangering our own."
"Um, may I speak frankly?" Undyne requested.
"Always."
"I don't think you should waste time on them," she recommended. "They had the best option available handed to them and they rejected it. They're not gonna be able to live in peace with us."
"Frisk was of the same group and yet they are able to live without complaint."
"Yes, but… Frisk was a kid when they got here sir and they were unarmed and thought they were outnumbered to the point where fighting back and surviving was long odds. They probably chose the friendly option because it guaranteed survival and when they realized how friendly we were, they chose to stick with us rather than side with their own kind."
Asgore raised an eyebrow. "Defending them? I remember you wanted to kill them when you first learned about them."
"Well, I've gotten to know them since then," Undyne admitted. "They're a good kid and they even remind me of you a little bit."
Asgore hummed in amusement. "But back to the original topic, you don't think we can persuade those humans to live alongside us in peace at all?"
"No, I don't," Undyne said. "If you want my opinion on what to do with them, we should get rid of them before they think to do something stupid."
"As in killing them?" Asgore asked.
"Well, if needed," Undyne said with some hesitancy. "If they fight back, we need to be able to defend ourselves."
Asgore sighed, taking a sip of his tea. "Perhaps you are right. I do not want to, but at the very least, we should defend ourselves. All of us, in fact."
"Yeah. I'm looking to recruit more guards to train," Undyne revealed. "Though training is becoming hard since it's mostly one-on-one."
A thought occurred to Asgore. "You may have to change your routine, soon," he said. "Perhaps rather than training one-by-one, you train them in groups."
"Every Monster is different," Undyne reminded. "Training them en masse is hard because of all the differences."
"Perhaps, but I was thinking along the lines of something different," Asgore revealed. "Things are changing and our way of life is changing as well. We are no longer heading to the Surface for our freedom. Now we are fighting for our survival while we wait for the world above to be safe again. Because of that, I think it might be time to include something new to our schooling."
"Oh, what?" Undyne asked, sipping her tea.
"Self-defense lessons. And you're going to be a teacher of one such class."
Undyne spat out her drink at that. "W-what? Me?"
"You have done well teaching those under your command. Perhaps it is time to branch your skills out," Asgore advised. "And I know where you can start; Holiday's school in Waterfall where my former wife teaches."
"And where Frisk is attending," Undyne realized. "You want me to teach them?"
"If you can find time."
"What about the schools here in New Home?"
"I'm sure you could assign one of the other guards to that. Someone who lives closer to here than you do."
Undyne could follow that logic. She lived in Waterfall, so getting to the school was no problem for her, while some of the other guards might take an hour or two. "I can look it over. Have you cleared that with the principle, though?"
"I'm certain I can and I think she would agree on the necessity of it. Her daughter would also be attending, so I think she'd agree to it as it would allow Noelle to learn how to fight for herself."
"Yeah, I'd definitely do that!" Undyne pumped her fist. "No whimps in my class. Everyone goes all out, or they fail!"
"Go easy on them, Undyne, or you might just scare them and their parents."
"Oh, I'll ease them into it, but I'm not going to allow any slackers in my class."
"Well, I shall inform Carol of this development," Asgore said.
When Frisk returned home after spending the whole day with their friends, they found Toriel in the kitchen, looking upset about something. 'What's wrong, mom?' they asked.
"Carol has informed me of this latest update to your schedule," Toriel said, gesturing to the paper she was holding in her hands. Frisk walked over to read it. They were getting taller all the time and had grown a full head of brown hair in the meantime. They estimated they were almost ten by now. The paper, in summary, said that at the end of each school week, they were to have an hour-long session with a self-defense instructor. And upon Asgore's recommendation, Undyne would be that instructor.
'What's this mean?' Frisk asked.
"It means that Asgore has decided you should learn how to fight," Toriel answered.
'And what's wrong with that? I can kind of see why,' Frisk signed. 'After what happened yesterday, he probably wants to make sure we can fight. So Asgore is assigning the captain of the guard to teach us.'
Toriel sighed. "I suppose," she agreed. "Now, you should get some rest. You have school tomorrow."
'I'll head to bed then. Goodnight.'
Three days flew by. Frisk's classmates didn't know why half the class got excused for a day, but Catti and Jockington had enough sense to see they didn't need to ask and Catti made it clear to Berdly to not ask either. The last day of the week came and after their last class period, Toriel led them outside where they were to get their self-defense training. Frisk had kept it a secret up until then who their instructor would be.
So when Undyne showed up, nailing a three-point landing from a running start in a tank top, jeans and red boots, the class was stunned silent.
"Greetings, Undyne," Toriel said politely.
"Heya, teach," Undyne said with a rather toothy smile. "So, these are the squirts I'm training today?"
"Yes, please be gentle," Toriel said.
"No worries, I'll go easy on them. At first, fuhuhuhuh." She faced the kids and Frisk could see MK smiling wide out of the corner of their eye. "Alright, listen up, punks. Name's Undyne and I'm going to be your teacher for this class. This will be a weekly thing, so I'm going to make sure you get a week's worth of instructions within one hour. There's also not going to be any slackers or lazy bums in this class. I expect each of you to give it your all. Those of you who can keep up with the training, I'll be giving more advanced lessons. Those of you who can't won't get to do the really cool stuff."
"Cool!" MK said excitedly, looking up at her with wide eyes. "What's first?"
"First I'm going to get you wimps into shape," Undyne declared. "Why don't you all show me twenty push-ups."
"Isn't that a bit much?" Berdly asked.
"You wanna go to thirty, smart bird?!" Undyne shouted. Berdly didn't speak up. "On your hands and feet, now!" Undyne ordered, pointing at the ground. Everyone but MK and Jockington did.
"Um, what am I supposed to do?" MK asked.
"You got legs. How about twenty laps around the yard while I get everyone's upper body in shape," Undyne said. "And Jockington, you follow him."
"Yes, ma'am," Jockington said.
"Sure thing! I'll do them as fast as I…"
"Start running!" Undyne yelled and MK and Jockington bolted off, running the perimeter of where they were training.
Frisk finished the push-ups first, standing up once done. 'Well, now what?'
"You gotta wait for your classmates, Frisk," Undyne said. "Who are sorely lacking in strength! Come on! Are you going to let the youngest one in your class show you up?"
Frisk saw that Noelle, Berdly and Catti were all flagging a bit, going slower than they had been. After another half a minute, Berdly finished last, all three panting and rubbing their arms. As they did, MK and Jockington came up, also panting but both looked ready to go some more.
"Are we done?" Berdly asked quietly. But not quietly enough.
"Okay, bird brain, since your eager for some more, how about some sit ups?! Time to partner up!"
"I'll go with Noelle," Berdly said quickly, knee-walking to her, only to get yanked back by Undyne.
"I'm in charge here, I decide who partners with who!" she shouted. "Noelle and Catti partner up. Frisk, you're with MK. Berdly, you're with Jockington."
"Sure thing!" MK said, running next to Frisk. "This is going to be so cool!"
"Glad you think so, because you're doing ten of these," Undyne instructed.
"Exactly how is Jockington supposed to participate? He's a snake," Berdly pointed out.
"Jump rope for you two," Undyne said.
"Shouldn't you be giving us a rope then?" Berdly asked.
"You have one. Shoot for thirty." With that, Undyne stepped back and Berdly got the message.
"Wow. She's strict," Jockington commented. "Let's, get to it."
After thirty minutes that was filled with exercises that left everyone sore, Undyne decided it was time to move on to the more advanced part.
"Line up, nuggets!" she ordered, everyone scrambling to form a straight line. "Now that you're all sufficiently limbered up, it's time to practice our magic. So, who can tell me how magic works?"
At first, no one wanted to volunteer. Eventually, Noelle worked up the courage and raised her hand.
"You're kidding with the hand raising, right?" Undyne face palmed.
"Um, magic is the expression of a Monster's Soul," Noelle said, trying to speak loud enough to be heard. "It's how we express our feelings and it's a way in which the Monster interacts with the world around them. Since each Monster is different, their magic is unique to them and while they can have some similar attacks, eventually they develop their own unique attacks."
"Correct," Undyne said. "We draw upon the power in our Soul, focus it through our bodies and the result…" She stretched out her arm and a spear materialized in her hand.
"Wow!" MK said, in awe.
"Now, eventually, we'll get to learning how to use magic for battle and such. Right now, we're just going to summon an attack. Frisk, you're first up." Still holding the spear, she pointed to a spot next to her and Frisk walked to that spot. "Now, show me what you got!"
Frisk knew what they could do. They started by conjuring their magic hands, which were so easy to make and maintain at this point. Then, they swiped their hand, leaving a trail of red fire in their wake.
It didn't escape Frisk's notice that everyone looked amazed at the sight.
"Not bad. Two different types of spells," Undyne observed. "That's pretty good, kid. Okay, who's up next?"
"Me! Me! I'll go!" MK said enthusiastically.
"Alright, kid. Step up."
MK swapped places with Frisk, who walked back to stand next to Noelle.
"Okay, kid. Don't hold back. Show me what you got!" Undyne encouraged.
MK nodded before straightening up. He inhaled through his nose, then let out a breath from his mouth, a cool breeze coming from it. Frisk noticed some of the others shivering.
"That's it?" Undyne questioned.
"It's the best I can manage," MK admitted. "It's supposed to be a blast of frost that freezes my targets in their tracks."
"Well, this is good. We can work on that!" Undyne said. "Thanks for showing. Who's next?"
"I'll go," Berdly decided. MK went to stand next to Frisk, while Berdly stood next to Undyne.
"Alright, what can you do?" Undyne asked.
Berdly flashed a cocky smile before stretching his hand out. Wind began to spiral in front of him, making a mini-twister.
"Huh. Interesting," Undyne said. "Is that all there is to it?"
"Well, I can make it bigger, but then I start to lose control. Or it starts going slower," Berdly said.
Undyne shrugged but made no comment. "Noelle, how about you next?"
"Um… mine's not very impressive," she said quietly.
"Come on! I'm sure it's cool! Just one spell," Undyne requested.
As Berdly reclaimed his place in the line, Noelle walked up next to Undyne.
"Now, show me what you can do," Undyne said.
Noelle nervously rubbed her hands together before thrusting them up at an angle, palms up and hands open and the air crystalized above her, forming an ice crystal.
"Wow. Now that's impressive," Undyne admitted. She picked up the ice shard from Noelle's hands. "Not many Monsters can make something this solid at this size." She pat Noelle on the shoulder rather roughly. "Your turn's done. Catti, you're up!"
Noelle walked to stand next to her friends.
'That was pretty cool,' Frisk signed to her.
"Think you could give me some tips on how to do that?" MK asked.
"Um, maybe later," she agreed.
After that, Undyne started giving them various exercises involving their magic, training them one-on-one, while the others jogged the perimeter of the yard. That went on for the next half hour, until the bell rang.
"That's it for this week," Undyne declared. "But don't worry, next week will be even better!"
"I am sure it will be," Toriel said as she walked up. "For now, I must send everyone home."
"You do that," Undyne said. "See you all next week!" She sprinted off, heading back to her home.
Everyone got their bags from the classroom, complaining nonstop about their aching arms or legs or stomachs. Frisk was the least affected and MK wasn't complaining, though from his winces, he was in pain.
They headed home, Toriel taking Frisk by the hand. "Well, that was certainly interesting," she said.
'It wasn't too bad,' Frisk signed. 'And I am looking forward to next week.'
"I'm glad you enjoyed it, my child," Toriel said as they arrived at their house. Frisk dropped their bag by the door and went up the stairs to their room. "Dinner will be ready in a couple hours," Toriel called after them.
Once Frisk closed the door to their room, Asriel appeared and groaned. "Ooww! Our body hurts!"
'Don't be so dramatic,' Frisk signed.
"How are you not in pain?" Asriel asked. "Every muscle hurts!"
'Guess I'm better at ignoring it than you,' Frisk guessed. 'I did have a fragment of a bullet in my belly for a week without noticing.'
Asriel looked at them wide-eyed before shaking his head. "Well, at least you enjoyed all that. I'm not looking forward to next week."
'What are you complaining about? You don't have to do anything,' Frisk signed.
"I can still feel everything you feel and right now, your muscles are sore. If she makes us do that again, I'm complaining."
'Grow up. And you're a prince. Didn't your dad teach you anything?'
"Teach me? He barely had time to speak to me," Asriel said. "And sure, they doted on me, but Mom and Dad were too busy most of the time to really do anything with me."
"Oh," Frisk said, realizing how sad that sounded. 'Well, at least your parents loved you. Mine seemed to like pretending I didn't exist except to be a major screw-up.'
Asriel stiffened at that. He then let out a deep breath. "You know, I'm glad you found my mom and that she's taking care of you. That may sound weird coming from me, but I mean it. I can see that she's happy to have a kid again and I'm glad you found her."
'Technically, she found me. She rescued me before I could be killed by a really mean flower,' Frisk signed.
"A flower?"
'Yeah. It was a talking golden flower that called itself 'Flowey'. Do you know of someone like that?'
Asriel struck a thinking pose and Frisk had to restrain a few giggles. "Well, I've never heard of a talking flower Monster. But I have heard of golden flowers. Dad said they're from the surface and that he planted some in his garden."
'I think he said something similar when Toriel brought me home on the first day,' Frisk signed. Both kids hummed in thought. 'Well, best to stay away from it. It tried to kill me when I first came here.'
"I agree. Anyone who acts like that can't be a good person," Asriel added.
A while later, dinner was ready. Frisk and Toriel ate in the dining room as normal, splitting a pie between them.
However, neither noticed a flower watching them from the window, a smile spreading on his face. "Hee hee hee. So, this is where you've been hiding."
End of Chapter 20
