Floaten Part 4

Finrick stared at the scrawny-looking Hunter with the corvid mask dragging a chair before him.

"Ahem," Simon began, sitting down.

Finrick almost wanted to laugh at this scenario. Was this a joke? Was this person meant to be his interrogator? Why? Was he hiding something?

Something surprising?

As if to confirm his suspicions, Simon pulled something from his bag and put it on the table before Finrick. It was a big, somewhat heavy object covered in foil. It had a neat smell, at least.

The grin on Finrick's face had barely formed before it went away.

"W-w-w-w-what is that?" he nervously asked.

Simon unwrapped the object before his eyes, revealing something very unexpected.

A meat sandwich. That's it? It couldn't be so simple, right?

"It's food," Simon said. "I had some extra leftovers and figured you were hungry."

Finrick gave him an annoyed glare. Did Simon really think he was that stupid? Of course, he did. They all underestimated him. They always did. But that could be good. He could use it somehow. Then again, that sandwich, the meat cooked just right.

"Alright, what's i-in it?" Finrick asked, playing along.

"Just some… cheese and cooked ham," Simon said. "Made it myself."

Finrick smacked his lips and stared at the object. It looked good. Perhaps too good, a fatal flaw!

And the smell? It was good. So very good. It called to him, almost like a siren's song. If it tasted as good as it looked or smelled- no! Nuh-huh. At the very best, there was probably some monster dust in it! In other likelihoods, it's poisoned!

So, with a lot of pent-up rage, he gave them the correct answer.

He grabbed the bread and flung it as hard as possible to the wall. The sandwich hit the wall so hard it left a mark.

Simon looked surprised by this reaction, even with his expression hidden behind the mask. Finrick smiled at that. He was outsmarting the Royal Hunt, even if a little bit.

But wait! Finrick began to think. Why would they poison him? The best Baron's Breath maker in the Underground?

"What the hell?!" Simon exclaimed. "I was just- oh, erm, sorry. Nevermind."

One of the workers, a dark-skinned naiad with sea-green hair, walked a little towards the sandwich, only to bump into the barrel of Vissie's Shotgun.

"What are you doing, halfwit?!" Vissie inquired. "Go back in line."

The naiad, seemingly unable even to entertain further dissidence, obeyed.

"Why do we have to aim at these guys?" Simon inquired. "They don't seem to pose any threat."

"How do you know?!" Vissie quickly said, turning to him with uneasy eyes. "Maybe some of them have weapons. Or they're, erm, sympathisers? You know, with the rebellion?"

"Enough with that rebellion shit," Umbla said. "You know we pushed them so hard they barely pose a threat these days."

"An animal pushed into a corner is at its worst," Vissie said. "Who knows what any of them are capable of."

Umbla sighed.

There came another, unfamiliar deep sigh nearby, and Finrick looked in the direction in unease. He saw that infamous monkey hiding in the shadows in the corner. He squatted still, with his unmoving eyes staring at him.

"Gyah!" Finrick exclaimed.

"What now?" Vissie said.

"Erm…" Finrick began, pointing his finger at the dark corner. "Wa-was he always there?"

Umbla turned her head towards Willy.

"Meh," she said, turning her back forward. "You can get used to it."

"W-why-why is he like that?" Finrick inquired.

Umbla shrugged.

"I don't know, ask him," Umbla said. "And he might tell you. If he feels like it."

She turned back towards Willy.

"Ain't that right, cunt?"

Willy remained silent and expressionless.

"Ugh, neve' we'e a fan o' the silent types," Jick said.

"So you hate mutes?" Vissie asked cheekily.

"He's not mute," Jick pointed out. "And neh. I don' 'ate mutes. Jus' these "silen'" types. Y'know? The way they neve' respon'. And 'y? Because they refuse to. Because they think' it make 'em look "cool" and "mysterious". Heh, and often times, they jus' be utter sociopaths."

Jick turned towards the monkey.

"Yeah, I'm talkin' 'bout you!" he said. "Yer a fuckin' pretentious twat! Nothin' more!"

Willy remained silent and unmoving. Finrick almost wondered if he was even still alive.

"Come on, he's not completely expressionless," Umbla said. "You need to say the right things like, I don't know, say something bad about his daughter?"

Suddenly, as if the phrase "his daughter" was a magic spell raising the dead, Willy finally moved. His head shifted upwards, eyes glazing towards Umbla, a furrow on his brow. Even if it was very slight, it was enough to startle anyone looking.

"Heh, that's right, Willy," Umbla said. "I'm really willing to go there."

Willy took a deep breath. His eyes furrowed only a little bit. But to Finrick, the eyes may as well have been filled with hate.

"Erm, Umbla?" Vissie said with a strange type of unease and worry. "You really shouldn't-"

"Hmm, what was her name again?" Umbla said, smirking. "Sally, right? Eh. Who cares. You don't care for her that much. Just some street rat you picked up to play with-"

Suddenly, a dark tendril appeared around Umbla's neck, and she gasped. Willy's arm was raised forward, dark tendrils crawling out his fingers. His eyes focused on her with immense determination.

Umbla tried to grasp the tendrils to no avail.

"Umbla!" Vissie exclaimed.

She raised her shotgun and aimed at the monkey, but more black tendrils emerged before her.

"What the fuck?!"

The goblin shifted her gun towards the shadowy tendrils instead.

Some workers exclaimed in fear, and some grasped their faces in preparation for the worst.

"Oh, a fight, eh?!" Jick said, excited. "Fight, fight, fight-!"

"Wha-?" Dimma said, waking from a stupor. "What now?"

"Stop, stop!" Simon exclaimed.

"Move away, you wuss!" Vissie exclaimed.

"No, no, look!" Simon said, pointing at the tendrils around Vissie.

"Yeah, I see that, so?!"

"No, look!"

Simon walked forward and touched the tendrils. Just by touch, they dissipated into smoke.

"Wha-?" Vissie said, confused. "How did you- how did you remove the giant snails?"

"Giant snails?" Simon said. "Never mind, that wasn't real. I know this spell. Willy is just messing with you all."

"Huh," Umbla said, stroking the smoke away from her neck. "I could've sworn that tree bark was real. It felt that way."

"A warning," Willy spoke.

"Huh?" Umbla inquired.

"I'll summon a real tree next time."

He moved back into the shadows.

So that crazy monkey can talk, Finrick figured.

"Aww, tha' was it?" Jick said. "My grandma can make bettah' mirage' than that. And she's dead."

"Shut it!" Vissie exclaimed. "That was nothing. Willy can do much worse than that."

"Yer defendin' him?" Jick wondered. "Even' after 'e nearly choked yer lover? Heh, you too really deserve each o'er."

"Yeah, I- wait, what?" Vissie replied. "What did you just say?"

"I sed you too are def made for each o'er," Jick said.

Vissie just looked more confused, and that made her angry.

"Do you know what this is?" Vissie said, raising her shotgun. "If you don't stop being cryptic-"

"Cryptic?" Jick said, sounding genuinely confused. "Are ye pullin' my leg? I'm bein' as clear as I can! Or is this on' of yer "moments"? If ya get me?"

"Alright, bud," Vissie said, cocking her shotgun. "You got 10 seconds-"

"Jick is just making fun of you two," Dimma said, sighing. "You know, poking holes as to whether you two are really a good couple or not."

At that moment, Vissie's confusion completely took over her growing rage.

"What?" she asked.

"A couple?" Umbla chuckled. "Hmpf, I think you got it confused, bud. Our relationship is purely platonic at best."

"Wait, for real?" Simon inquired.

"You're kidding me, right?" Umbla inquired, looking at him with annoyance. "You too?"

"No, the way you are always together," Simon said. "And that you both live together. I kind of figured you two were, you know, an item."

"Ugh, we're not a couple, boy," Umbla said, sounding insulted.

"We're a couple of besties, maybe," Vissie said. "Ever heard of friendship, boy?! Na-ah. We're just friends, friends who live together, work together, eat together-"

"Yeah, care for each other," Umbla continued.

"And sometimes sleep together," Vissie added.

"Erm, not helping," Umbla said uneasily.

"But it's the truth, ain't it?" Vissie asked. "Beds ain't cheap."

"But you didn't need to mention that?" Umbla said. "All it does is not help our point."

"Don't friends usually sleep in beds?" Vissie inquired.

"Sounds like a lovers thing," Jick pointed out.

"Erm, to be fair," Simon said. "I recall learning that some historical human cultures do, and did, in fact, have people sleeping together despite not being in love. Like in India, for example."

"Yeah, it's like that!" Vissie said. "Just one king-sized bed we share. Even if we could theoretically afford two-"

"Still not helping," Umbla muttered.

"-but I figured it was more helpful to spare the cash and buy just one!" Vissie said. "The same reason we always share breakfast, lunch, dinner. Oh, and do the chores and share all our free time together-"

"Shut it, please!"

"Erm, sure," Vissie said.

There was some pause as the rest of the group still didn't feel like they got an answer.

"W-w-wait, so a-a-are you two a couple or-?" Finrick began.

"Shut it, fish!" Vissie said. "No! We're friends. Just friends!"

"Yes, definitely," Umbla quickly added. "Friends! Complete friends! Nothing more! Just pure platonic friendship!"

"Eh, just do what ya like best," Jick said. "I don' really ca'e."

Vissie resumed aiming her shotgun at the crowd of silent but uneasy workers.

"Visse, are we a couple?" Umbla whispered. "Heh. Of course, we're not a couple. Are we?"

"At this current point in time, I think it's best not to ponder that further," Vissie answered.

Umbla groaned softly. As her eyes watched the hostages, her mind went elsewhere. But whenever she tried, it always came back to that question.

What a stupid idea! Umbla thought. An idiotic idea, nothing more, right?! Right? Right? No, stop thinking about it!

Meanwhile, Finrick sighed. For a moment, he was confident this was the moment he would die, killed in some shootout.

He wasn't sure if he was glad or disappointed that that wasn't the case.

Back at Undyne's place, the bedroom lit up with the glow of a century-old game in almost as old television.

"So, how is it?" MK inquired.

Frisk didn't want to say much. She moved the 8-bit figure to the right of the screen.

"I-I don't know," Frisk said. "It feels weird. Old, I guess."

"Hey, look out for that flying vegetoid-looking guy!" Flowey said.

"What?" Frisk said. "What the hell is- oh shit!"

She quickly pressed the attack button, but not quickly enough.

"Aaannndddd, he's off the map," Flowey said.

"Ugh, these freaking Medusa Heads."

"What's that?" Flowey inquired. "Did the translation break again?"

"No, it's- long story," Frisk said, sighing. "Some old human myth. Ugh, god damn it. Why does my dude fall backwards so often."

"I thought you said you played this game before?" MK said.

"Yeah, but a port," Frisk said. "With newer controls. And yeah, I think they enhanced the graphics. Yep, absolutely enhanced the graphics."

"No appreciation for the classics, eh?"

"I-it's not that," Frisk said. "God, it was kinda easier before."

"What's your guy's deal anyway?" MK inquired. "Why is he breaking into their home and killing them? Sounds like a bad guy."

"Nah, I'm actually hunting Dracula," Frisk said. "He's like the ultimate vampire lord."

"What's that?"

"It's like a mythical undead human that drinks blood from other humans," Flowey said. "Yeah, I've read books."

"So you've said," Frisk said. "But yeah, this guy, Simon, is like a monster hunter, and-"

Frisk realised she should've thought before speaking. "Oh, erm…"

"So you're playing a bad guy?" MK inquired. "Why do you want to play a bad guy?"

"No, it's, erm-" Frisk began. "The monsters are the bad guys- in this game, I mean!"

"Oh," MK said. "How do you know? Have you tried talking to them?"

"Y-you can't talk to them," Frisk said.

"Why? Maybe they're only attacking because they see you as a threat."

"You can't talk to monsters in this game, it… it's not designed that way."

"Yeah, his game is pretty old," Flowey said. "I'm pretty sure a morality system would've eaten 90% of the cartridge."

"I'm just confused," MK said. "Why make a game designed around killing monsters?"

"It's not monsters like you," Frisk said. "It's fictional, you know? Fake. It's just- God, fucking Medusa heads!"

"You humans make stuff like this?" MK inquired. "Is this what you play?"

Frisk paused the game.

"Look, we can play something else if you-"

"What- no, no, no!" MK said apologetically. "I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to be a killjoy-!"

"Nah, it's ok," Frisk said, putting down her controller. "I'm not sure I'm feeling this game either way."

"Is it because of-"

"No, no, it's not because of you!" Frisk said. "I, erm, swear-"

"It's just a cultural thing," Flowey said. "We often make stories about hunting humans and taking their souls. Humans make material where they kill monsters like weeds. Huh. I just noticed the irony of my sentence."

"Yeah, when you put it like that…" MK said.

"To be fair, there are some games where you can befriend monsters and such," Frisk said. "Maybe Undyne has some of them here? Maybe on a newer console?"

"No, no, I'm- fine," MK said. "Flowey made a good point. We're not that different after all. So yeah, now I want to see more of what this is all about. Who this Dracula guy is."

"Hmmm," Frisk said. "Alright, your choice."

She pressed play and died a few seconds later.

"God damn it," Frisk muttered. "Great, and I'm out of lives. Now I need to start the level over again."

She sighed.

"You really don't like it, huh?" Flowey said.

"It's not that! It's, erm, hard to control?"

"It is pretty primitive," Flowey reassured.

Frisk shrugged.

"Maybe I'm spoiled by modern games with their fancy newer controls and life-like graphics," she said. "I guess I just… yeah, I'm not a fan. I think I just liked the idea of playing this. You know, the privilege of playing the OG classic on an OG system. As I said, it's a historical relic. And yeah, I guess I should've expected it to play like one. Welp. I at least can say I beat the first boss. I may be the only teen in this generation who can say so."

"Hmmm," Flowey said. "Well, if you don't want to continue, can I?"

"Sure," Frisk said, handing him the controller. "Knock yourself out."

"Alright!" Flowey said, pressing play. "Now, let's see…"

"Hey, Frisk?" MK inquired. "What are "Medusa Heads"?

"Huh?" Frisk replied. "Oh, erm, it's an old human myth. Or based on, rather. So there was this woman, Medusa, who, erm, let's say, fell in love with this God."

"A human fell for a God?" MK inquired.

"Eh, some versions say it was one-sided- on God's side. As in, the God fell for her rather. And she didn't- anyway, there was this other Goddess who got jealous and cursed Medusa."

"Oh, by turning her into a flying head? That seems like an upgrade rather than a curse. I mean, being able to fly? She has no limbs, yeah. Or body. But I've gotten used to living my life with only two legs. And there are plenty of limbless monsters living fine. So I suppose she could get used to it, right?"

"Well, there was other stuff before- Holy crap, Flowey! Are you sure you haven't played this game before?!"

"Yo, what happens next, Frisk?!" MK impatiently said.

But MK's mind quickly forgot about that as they glimpsed at Flowey's playthrough and became instantly enamoured. Every movement and every button press seemed almost automatic like a machine specifically trained in Castlevania was playing this game.

"Yeah, I'm not sure I've not played this before… anymore," Flowey said. "Did that sentence make any sense?"

"You're like a super-gamer!" MK said.

"It's just one game," Flowey said. "I'm probably crap at all the others."

"Fair," Frisk said.

"So how does this Medusa eat anyway?" MK inquired. "If she's now just a head?"

"Oh? Oh, right, there was some more to this story. So after the curse-"

It took Undyne a lot of energy to swallow her pride in the kitchen. It got so far that her dads had reached the stage of insisting she'd not touch anything. Thankfully, Undyne gave in to their demands before it reached the "bargaining" stage.

"I hope you don't start recommending me to find another girlfriend, one who doesn't burn her house with the culinary skills," Undyne said with a grin, sitting at the dinner table.

"No, no!" Sam said, smiling before the stove. "You know we have no problems with Alphys. But we can't oversee dinner for the both of you for the rest of forever."

"And you two aren't just going to order take out your whole marriage, are you?" Tryton inquired while cutting vegetables.

"Dads!" Undyne said, smiling.

"The point is that one of you really needs to start learning to cook for yourself without burning down the house," Sam added. "Hey, maybe you and Alphys should sign up for culinary classes together?"

"Hey, you always said you liked my cooking?"

"We do!" Sam said. "Just not when it's burnt to a crisp. So anything not made with stoves or any appliances."

"Ok, in my defence, it was a custom-made stove Alphys made for me. One with extra heat with extra cooking."

"What about the fridge? You somehow managed to burn stuff in your fridge."

"A hot fridge, dad. And yeah, it was also an invention by Alphys. She likes to build hot stuff, and I like hot stuff! I'm not not going to take advantage of that symbiosis."

"Hey, speaking of, when are you two getting married?" Tryton suddenly asked.

"Oh, this again? Really?"

"Dydy, you two have been dating for almost 13 years!" Sam teased. "Your stepdad and I are getting impatient. So is your mother, I assume."

"Mom doesn't keep asking me these questions when we hang out."

"Well, we are not your mom," Sam said.

"Your dad and I got married after only six years of dating," Tryton said.

"I know, Dad, I was alive those six years," Undyne said. "Yet you've told me countless times."

"It's a good story," Sam said.

"Yeah, yeah, he appeared when we needed him the most, et cetera," Undyne said, leaning in her seat. "And then-"

"Gah, shit!" Sam suddenly said, shaking his hand away from the stove.

Subtle burn marks appeared on his fingers.

"Damn, dad," Undyne said with worry.

"Honey?" Tryton said.

"Godamned fucking peace of-!" Sam cursed.

"Hey, hey," Tryton said calmly.

His voice was silky smooth. If Undyne were anyone else, she would've assumed he used his "siren voice" on him. But living with one for so long, one knew the subtle difference between them.

"I'm sorry," Sam said regretfully. "I know, I know. The anger."

He grasped Tryton's palm and instantly seemed to grow calm. And yet, Undyne knew there was no magic involved here. What came next, however, was magic, although an everyday one.

"Here," Tryton said while he handed Sam a piece of a cut carrot.

Sam threw it in his mouth and then sat down. He watched the slight ballooning on his fingers shrink as he chewed and swallowed.

"Better?" Tryton asked.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Still stings like a son of a... it still stings."

"Just take it easy, honey," Tryton said. "I'll take care of the rest."

"Oh, where would I be without you two?" Sam inquired.

He and Tryton touched lips again before Tryton wheeled to the kitchen counter to finish.

"What's this about me and my cooking burning again?" Undyne asked cheekily.

Sam shook his head, a smile on his face. Then he turned visibly thoughtful.

"So what is with those kids, Dydy?" he inquired.

"Oh, you know," Undyne began. "Just some wanderers I need to take care of."

"Need?" Sam inquired.

Undyne gave a soft sigh.

"It's… complicated," she said.

"You can always tell us?" Tryton said.

"You're eavesdropping?" Undyne asked. "Really?"

"I'm literally only a few feet away," Tryton said. "Unless you want to move, I-"

"Eh, it's fine," Undyne said. "I guess I was talking to you both either way."

She shrugged.

"Well, why do you need to care for those kids?" Sam asked curiously.

"Hey, do I need to tell you?" Undyne asked. "And they're no kids! One of them is a teenager. No, two, I think? Well, three, with one being almost a teenager. Yeah, I'm taking care of teenagers. Which I suppose are just larger kids."

Sam did not look like he managed to catch all of that.

"Erm," he muttered, looking at Tryton. "Ok, keep your secrets. I'll just assume it's another of your secret missions. You know?"

"Uh, no?" Undyne said, confused. "I don't "know"?"

"It's ok, Dydy."

He gave her a wink.

"What?" Undyne replied after a momentary pause.

"Alright, dinner is ready," Tryton said.

"Great!" Sam said. "Thanks, honey! Dydy, you wanna go fetch your guests?"

"I think we're actually going to go soon," Undyne said.

"Oh?" Sam said, audibly disappointed. "Didn't know you were in a hurry."

"I'm not a girl anymore. I have a job to do, dads."

"What job?" Tryton asked. "Golldy's hasn't opened again, has it? The Royal Hunt still has a hold on that pub, right? Since Golldy herself went to jail."

"I heard they just took over the competitor as well," Sam added.

"You mean Grillby's?" Tryton asked. "Damn, they're taking all the bars. Wait, is Grillby in prison too?"

"Not what I heard, no," Undyne said. "And no, it's not Golldy related. Frankly, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to tell you."

Sam and Tryton quickly and awkwardly exchanged glances.

"Alright, you don't need to tell us," Sam said.

"Yeah, we trust you whatever it is," Tryton added.

Undyne sighed and pondered. She knew it was a risk, but a part of her urged her to reveal it.

"Dad, stepdad?" Undyne began. "Can I trust you two to keep a secret? A big one?"

Sam and Tryton quickly glanced at each other again.

"Yeah," Tryton said, rolling towards the table.

"Of course, honey," Sam reassured.

"Alright," Undyne said. "I'll tell you what's going on. It's about the girl, Frisk."

"Oh?" Sam and Tryton uttered at the same time.

"What?" Undyne asked, confused.

"Erm, nothing," Tryton said. "It's just… what about her?"

"Y-yeah, what about her?" Sam inquired.

"She's human," Undyne bluntly stated.

Sam and Tryton completely stopped. It was as if time had decided to pause for a moment to allow their minds to catch up mentally.

"W-what?" Tryton asked as if he didn't hear her. "Like, from the surface?"

"Yeah," Undyne said. "Frisk, the girl, is a human. And I want to help her."

"You brought a human here?!" Sam asked with shock.

Tryton put his palm on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I knew sharing it was a bad idea," Undyne said.

Sam looked like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Sweat came pouring down his brows, and his eyes were wide open.

"Honey?" Tryton asked. "Calm down, calm down."

"Sorry," Sam said. "I just- alright. Undyne? I trust- we trust you know what you're doing. But-sorry, I just- this is dangerous!"

"Hey, if she gets caught, this is on me, not you," Undyne said. "Besides, we're just leaving."

"But she-"

"Dads, dads," Undyne said. "You two are some of the few people I still trust in this pathetic excuse of a kingdom. You think I would tell you if I didn't?"

Sam looked more bewildered, more perplexed than Undyne had seen him in years.

"I…" he began. "Sorry, this is just… a lot to take in."

"Are you scared?" Undyne asked, grinning.

"Wha- y- kinda?"

"It's ok," Undyne said. "Frankly, it'd be weird not to."

Tryton sighed. It was subtle, but Undyne could see that keeping his calm demeanour was hard work.

"Alright," he began. "So, Undyne? Why is she here?"

"It's the safest place I could think of for a bit," Undyne said. "While I think. About where to go next."

"It's not safe for us," Sam said nervously. "You know that, right?"

"Heh, they have no reason to check this place," Undyne said. "No reason to suspect you. Or me. As far as they know, I have nothing to hide."

Sam and Tryton looked at each other again.

"You two have a tell," Undyne said, grinning.

"What?" Tryton asked.

"You two have looked at each other an awful lot in just the past few minutes. Once is whatever. Twice is a little bit suspicious. But this often? Always means you two are hiding something."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I always saw you two doing that on Gyftmasses whenever I asked if I got what I wanted. So come on, spill it!"

Sam sighed.

"Does this relate to your…"

He seemed hoping for someone else to finish his sentence for him, simply because he didn't want to say it.

"Your…" he continued.

"My what?" Undyne asked.

"Your solo crusade," Tryton continued. "You know, Ashu-Tshuki thing?"

Undyne face reddened as if caught in a lie.

"Heh," she said, starting to sweat. "I don't know- she? Pfft. No, no, you know I'm not a fan-"

"I mean," Sam began. "We've figured out your secret vigilante stuff. It's obvious."

"Erm-"

"You running out late at night for "exercise"?" Tryton explained. "Coming home late at night, exhausted? And based on the stories, you two share similar bodies, similar builds, and so on."

"Plus, you're the only one we know who loves all those human media you've collected," Sam added. "The ones involving a lot of fighting. And your sense of justice, of course."

The blue scales on Undyne's cheek turned red as she felt years of planned secrecy falling into a pit.

"H-how long have you two known about this?" she asked.

"A few years," Sam said.

"Since pretty much shortly after you started," Tryton said.

"Yeah, your stepdad figured it out first," Sam added.

"I thought your dad already knew," Tryton added. "I even thought you two were in on it until Sam told me about it."

"B-but why didn't you say anything?" Undyne said. "To me? You knew all this time, and you didn't tell me?!"

"We just… assumed it'd be safer," Tryton said.

"Yeah, feigning ignorance," Sam said. "So you wouldn't worry about us."

Undyne leaned in her chair, thinking about this.

"Well, that ought to make things easier," she said. "But you understand why I do it. Right?"

"Erm, sure," Tryton said. "Of course!"

"Yeah, it's a good thing you're doing," Sam added.

Undyne leaned back, her face a frown.

Years of secrecy, she wondered. And for what?

It was the least of her bothers at this moment, though. Mainly, her thoughts went to her two fathers. And towards Frisk.

"If you say so," she muttered.

Barely 10 minutes had passed in Undyne's room, and Flowey had already beaten three bosses and was about to reach his 4th. Frisk and MK had forgotten about the rest of the world a few minutes ago as their eyes stood glued to the screen. Frisk barely had the time to give MK a quick summary of Frankenstein, alongside the concept of human bodies remaining solid post-mortem, before Simon on the screen had obliterated both, thanks to Flowey's fast gaming speed.

"So humans believe that monsters are created?" MK inquired. "Like were cursed or made from human parts? That seems to be what I've gathered from these stories."

"I guess it's a bit of a consistent theme, maybe?" Frisk said. "Never thought about it. Of course, I know now that's not how it works in real life. Wait, Flowey, that's not how it works, right?"

"Of course not!" Flowey said. "Monsters originating out of humans? Idiotic."

"Well, either case," Frisk began. "There are some monsters not created out of people in any myths, like dragons. I think. No, there are stories about humans turning into dragons. I don't know what I'm talking about."

On the game in the screen, the scrolling screen came to a halt, and an 8-bit sprite of a shadowy skeletal figure wearing a dark hood and holding a scythe came flying from the top of the screen.

"Well," Flowey began. "What about this spooky guy? What's his story?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Frisk began.

"Is that Dracula?" MK said.

"This guy, nah," Frisk said. "Nah, that's Death."

"Death?" Flowey asked.

"Yeah, you know, the Grim Reaper," Frisk said. "Oh, right. He's like the guy in human myths who reaps the souls when you die."

"Huh, no wonder he's so Grim," Flowey said.

"So, in your human stories," MK began. "When you die, this is the guy who comes?"

"Well, yeah. Or rather, this guy is always there, hence why he's called Death. Because he's that, and I mean literally. Like the physical embodiment of it."

"Awesome!" MK said. "So when you kill him, no one dies anymore?"

"Erm," Frisk said. "Not in this story, I guess."

"I assume someone, or something, would just replace him, then?" Flowey said. "I mean, you can't kill a concept, right? Only, like, an avatar at best."

"Man, this convo is getting more metaphysical than I anticipated," Frisk said.

And just as she finished, the boss fight ended with Death burning to death and vanishing.

"Well, I guess that proves you can kill a concept after all," Flowey joked.

"How did you know to use Holy Water against this boss?" Frisk inquired.

"I don't know," Flowey said. "It just felt like the best thing to do."

"That guy was cool, not gonna lie," MK said. "Looked kind of like Papyrus."

"He looked like a skeleton," Flowey said. "What about the normal skeleton enemies from earlier?"

"The ones with the big heads?" MK asked. "They looked like Sans. But, err, taller."

"Most skeletons look the same to me," Frisk said. "Erm, human skeletons, I mean. God, was that racist? Am I skeleton racist?"

"Relax," Flowey said.

There came a knock on the door followed by Undyne's head peaking in.

"Hey, how's it going here?" she asked. "Still being nerds, I see?"

"Flowey is kicking ass in this old ass game," MK said.

"Hey!" Flowey responded. "No disrespecting the classics."

"I was just telling the truth," MK said.

"Well, don't leave me in the dark here!" Undyne said before almost bursting in with such force the door nearly fell off its hinges.

"Geez," Frisk muttered.

"Oh, this game?" Undyne said, looking at the screen. "Yeah, my girlfriend fished it out of the human trash dump down south, then restored it as best she could. I could get the feel of it, but you seem to have gotten far. Further than I have, I dare say even. It's been what? Ten, fifteen minutes?! You must be the best gamer there is! Thinking of going professional?"

"The game is not hard or long when you know what you're doing," Flowey said.

"Do you realise you straight up have a big-ass treasure here, Undyne?" Frisk inquired. "This is an OG vintage that hasn't been sold for maybe over a hundred years! Worth like a million something nowadays."

"Oh, for real?" Undyne said. "Well, it doesn't look like a million to me."

"Hey!" Flowey said.

"I think it's more what it represents, to be fair," Frisk said. "But yeah, I'm definitely bringing it to the surface. That's alright with you, right?"

"Hmm," Undyne began. "Naahhhh! I'm not giving away freebies, kid."

"Oh…" Frisk muttered with disappointment.

She regretted not being able to keep her mouth shut. Once again.

"Alright, kiddos," Undyne said while stretching her arms. "Hope you've had some fun, but it's about time we're heading out."

"Already?" MK asked.

"Yeah, we've not eaten yet," Frisk said. "Aren't we supposed to do that?"

Undyne gave her a briefly confused look.

"What?" Frisk began. "Every monster whose house we've stopped at has fed us so far. I just figured it was a, well, a monster thing."

"We can eat on the road," Undyne said. "My pops made some veggie soup. We'll take some with us."

"I've pretty much beaten this game," Flowey said. "Just a few more minutes."

"Eh, I suppose that won't hurt," Undyne said.

"Yeah, it's not like we're being hunted down or anything," Flowey said.

"Hey, you wanted to keep playing," Undyne pointed out.

"Because I'm invested and pretty much at the final boss. But I admit to myself this is a stupid idea."

"Video games are more important than your life, huh?" Frisk inquired. "Yeah, fair."

"Tsk," Flowey said.

And so the group huddled together and watched the flower play. Barely a minute went by before things progressed. The figure in the game walked sideways into a very conspicuous room with a coffin. A mask rose from the floor, out of which manifested a figure in a red cape.

"Oh, is that-" MK began.

"Yeah, that's Dracula," Frisk said.

"Heh, I can see where Mickey got the inspiration," Undyne said.

"I mean, it's a prevalent motif- oh, you were doing a bit," Frisk said.

"What, have I been that humourless?" Undyne joked.

"No- you were doing a thing again."

The group watched the two figures on the screen fight and exchange blows. For a few minutes, this was their world, and the danger outside had subsided into obscure concepts in the depth of their minds, only to awake once this leisureliness was over. But in these minutes, there was a brief, comforting peace.

Author's note:

It's finally here! After months of procrastination and college being an ass, it's here! The 50th "chapter" of Undertale The Royal Hunt! And only 6 months behind schedule(it was originally planned for the fic's anniversary).

But it's here at last! And on my birthday nonetheless (13th June at the time of writing this).

Either way, I'm really sorry for this. I could chalk it up to being busy with college and stuff, but I need to come forward about something.

I... have just been playing too many games. No, that's not a joke, that's the truth. I've just wanted to distract my brain for so long, so instead of working on this immense passion project, I've neglected it and other WIPs to just play some games. And I'm really sorry for it.

Anyway, for those who have been waiting, thank you so much for your patience, although I don't begrudge anyone who lost interest during the long wait. But that doesn't mean I haven't been uploading the fic.

In fact, I've been in the process of rewriting older chapters that I find to be "rough" in hindsight. And also to fix some continuity issues that propped up thanks to some changes in lore. Nothing major tho, except for the location of MT Ebott in this AU, arguably. I'm almost done with rewriting the entirety of The Ruins at the time of writing and I hope to finish the Ruins rewrite at the end of the year. I also added some more "foreshadowing" to later chapters, including some not yet written, so keep an eye on that.

Now, as for the fic itself. I'm really sorry that not a lot of story stuff happens in this chapter, but it was always intended to be more of a "character" chapter. Still, I won't spoil it, but this chapter is slightly more important in the long run, as there is some build-up and foreshadowing for future plot points and character developments. Some more important than others.

Either way, I have the next Floaten part planned out so all that's left to do is write that one, and I hope the wait for that one will be much earlier than the wait for this one.

Oh, and lest I forget, a HUGE shoutout to Discord users Tele and Maru from the Undertale Yellow Hub Discord for beta reading this chapter and helping me with editing it(sadly, Maru has left that server at the time of writing this).

I hope you enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for more!

(Oh, and just felt the need to point it out because I know some readers are going to take this the wrong way: Yes, I revealed that some members of The Royal Hunt(the villain group) have some "humanizing" aspects in this chapter, but that doesn't mean I'm trying to "retcon them" into being "good" or "misunderstood". Despite everything, they are still absolute bastards.)