Toriel was sitting on a bench in Snowdin, watching as Frisk played with their friends in the recently finished playground. It had been two years since she had agreed to let them come and go as they pleased. It hadn't been easy for her to let them wander like that, constantly worrying that someone might see them and kill them for their Soul. Fortunately, no one made any such moves or advances. In fact, no one seemed to be aware that Frisk was human. As far as Snowdin was concerned, Frisk was just another Monster.
Part of that seemed to stem from how easily Frisk used magic. Their healing spell had only been the start. A couple weeks of lessons later they were conjuring fire in their hands. It had touched her to see Frisk wielding the same type of magic as her. It showed how much they cared about her. But the skill with which they wielded magic seemed to be what convinced everyone that Frisk was a Monster just like them. After all, humans couldn't use magic with such ease.
Toriel still couldn't figure out how they managed to bypass that limitation of their species. But she didn't press the issue because it seemed to give Frisk an extra layer of protection. It also just convinced them that they were a Monster as well. Multiple times Frisk addressed humans like they were a separate species from them. What didn't help was that they didn't know what a human looked like. Even a trip to Snowdin's library hadn't helped, as all the books present on humans didn't have descriptions or pictures.
But on the upside, Frisk had developed such a reputation in town as a good kid, and a good, if inexperienced healer. It had taken half the town by surprise when Frisk's healing spell was revealed by their friends. Whenever a Monster had some ache or pain that they needed healing they would ask Frisk to heal them up, and they would gladly do it.
Frisk had also helped out the town in little ways as well, as much as a five-year-old could. One of the bigger things was helping Snowy become a better person. The kid had been horribly influenced by his cousin, but Frisk managed to bring him around and the bird became a lot nicer, if still making rather horrible ice puns.
Papyrus had also benefitted as well. Sans had mentioned that his brother desperately wanted to become popular. Now, thanks to Frisk, he had an entire group of friends who included him in their activities. Sure, Papyrus was a lot older than them, but he tended to act their age, if more responsibly. It gave him the popularity he wanted.
Toriel also gave Papyrus a few cooking lessons after Frisk made an offhand remark that his cooking was horrible.
She watched as Frisk played tag with their friends with MK currently 'it'. One thing that didn't escape Toriel's notice was how close Noelle and Frisk had gotten. She was sure it was nothing more than friendship at this point, but she would be keeping an eye on them to see if anything happened.
She was brought out of her thoughts when Rudy, Noelle's father, sat beside her.
"Hey, stranger," he jokingly greeted.
"Greetings," she returned.
"So, what's been happing lately?" he asked. "I noticed that Frisk's got a new look."
Toriel glanced at her child, who was now wearing a blue coat sized for them, along with a red scarf that flapped as they ran.
"Yes, that old coat was just too big for them so I made a smaller one that they can grow into," Toriel informed.
"And the scarf?"
"It belongs to Papyrus. Frisk wanted one and he gave a spare to them. They haven't taken it off since," she answered.
"Ha! Those two," Rudy said. "It wasn't that long ago that Papyrus' only friend was his brother. Now he's got a whole troop of kids who look up to him like a brother. Your kid, especially."
"Yes. That kid has been good for Frisk and vice versa," Toriel agreed. "Is there any reason you came here?"
"Hey, can't a guy just talk?" Rudy asked. "Thought I might try to learn more about you. I mean, you've been coming here for two years, yet you hardly share anything about yourself."
"I like my privacy," she said.
"I thought that might be it," Rudy said. "Though, I guess after nine decades, you got lonely, which is why you're spending time amongst other Monsters again."
Toriel froze when Rudy said that. How did he…?
"Don't worry, I haven't told anyone, and I don't plan to either," Rudy assured.
"How did you know?" she asked.
"Your husband is my best friend. And he often talks about his disappearing wife. And then you vanished after he visited Snowdin. Wasn't hard a connection to make."
Toriel did her best to not glare when Rudy off handily mentioned her marriage to Asgore.
"So, I'm kinda curious," Rudy said. "Why'd you come back after Asgore's visit?"
"Frisk missed their friends very much," Toriel explained. "And I became unable to deny them the chance to see them in good conscience anymore."
"Makes sense," Rudy said. "Noelle was upset when Frisk didn't show up the next day, especially after Papyrus told her what you told his brother. Me and Carol barely got any sleep for two nights. December could barely calm her sister down."
"I am sorry my actions caused that," Toriel apologized. "I was just doing what I thought was best to protect them."
"I get it. Carol can sometimes be a bit overprotective, too," Rudy assured. "Luckily, I'm there to balance it out. But there does come a point where you can't protect your kid from everything. Also, you gotta let the kid go at some point to find their own way in life."
Toriel sighed, burying her face in her hands. She knew that, and still did it anyway. Luckily, no one held a grudge against her for it. She vowed not to make the same mistake again. She knew it was dangerous here for them. But as she looked up to see them giggling in the snow with their friends, having tripped and fallen at some point, she reminded herself it was worth the worry to see them smile.
Frisk brushed themself off as they stood up, taking Noelle's offered hand. "So, what's next?" they asked, slurring their words, which they did all the time now.
"How about hide and seek?" MK suggested.
"THAT SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD IDEA," Papyrus agreed. "OKAY, THE PLAYGROUND IS THE BOUNDARY. AND I SHALL BE THE SEEKER. YOU ALL HAVE TILL… FOURTY TO HIDE. IF I FIND YOU, YOU LOSE. IF I DON'T YOU WIN."
"Okay!" everyone agreed.
"ALRIGHT," Papyrus covered his eyes. "ONE. TWO. THREE."
Everyone scattered. Frisk decided to hide behind the slide. Noelle went to the jungle gym. MK hid behind a tree within the grounds. Snowy looked around before deciding to hide in the snow, burying himself in a pile of the stuff.
"THIRTY-EIGHT. THIRTY-NINE. FORTY!" Papyrus took his hand off his eyes. "READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!" He began scouring the playground, finding MK's hiding spot first.
"Aw! I thought that would work," MK pouted.
"NO OFFENCE, BUT A TREE IS THE MOST OBVIOUS," Papyrus said. "NOW, WHERE ARE THE REST OF OUR FRIENDS?" He looked around, trying to locate other hiding spots. "HMM. CURIOUS. I DO NOT REMEMBER THAT PILE BEING THERE BEFORE. " He walked to the snow pile, brushed it off and found a clump of blue feathers. "FOUND YOU, SNOWY."
The pile burst as the bird shook his disguise off. "In hindsight I guess that wasn't the best plan."
"ALRIGHT. NOW FOR THE OTHERS."
Papyrus began looking when all of a sudden, a massive amount of snow was thrown up, covering the three of them.
"Nyagh! What's happening here?" said a fish lady that they recognized.
"Undyne!" MK said enthusiastically, shaking the snow off.
"OH, HELLO, MISS UNDYNE," Papyrus greeted.
"Hey. You're Sans' brother, right?" she asked.
"INDEED. AS FOR YOUR EARLIER QUESTION, WE'RE PLAYING HIDE-AND-SEEK. AND SO FAR, I'VE FOUND TWO OUT OF FOUR."
"Nice. How about I help you?" she offered.
"UM, NO THANKS, I'D PREFER TO DO THIS FAIRLY. THOUGH I WOULD LIKE TO ASK WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE," he asked.
"Oh, well, I just got promoted to captain," she explained. "I'm the new head of the Royal Guard."
"REALLY? WHAT ABOUT GERSON?" Papyrus asked.
"He retired like three weeks ago," she explained. "It was on the news. Didn't you see it?"
"I DON'T WATCH TV AS MUCH AS I USED TO," Papyrus admitted. "AND SANS LET'S ME KNOW WHEN ANYTHING IMPORTANT HAPPENS."
"Well, now that I'm captain, I came to check on Snowdin, get to know the locals a bit," Undyne explained.
"WELL, THEN LET ME JUST FIND THE LAST TWO KIDS AND I'LL INTRODUCE YOU," Papyrus offered. He looked between the jungle gym and the slide, deciding to go for the gym first. "HMM… NOW WHERE COULD MY CHARGE BE?" Papyrus wondered. He could hear giggling that was too high-pitched to be Frisk, which meant it was Noelle. And knowing her, she wouldn't be brave enough to try high places, so he focused down low. At first, he thought nothing of the brown bars that were sticking straight up. Then he remembered that the bars were painted.
He snuck up behind the deer, then surprised her by lifting her into the air, where she promptly squealed. "GOTCHA!"
"Aww. I thought I'd get you," Noelle said disappointedly.
"MAYBE NEXT TIME. NOW FOR FRISK," the skeleton said, putting the deer girl down. "I THINK I CAN GUESS WHERE THEY ARE HIDING, AS THERE'S REALLY ONLY ONE PLACE LEFT FOR THEM."
He went to the slide, the others followed. Papyrus looked around the slide; he looked under it, behind it, he looked at the top, the bottom, but strangely, he couldn't find Frisk.
"STRANGE," Papyrus muttered. "THERE'S NO PLACE ELSE THEY COULD BE HIDING."
"I don't think you've looked everywhere," Undyne said.
"WHERE ELSE IS THERE?" Papyrus wondered. "AND DON'T TELL ME. I WANT TO FIGURE IT OUT ON MY OWN."
Noelle puzzled it over herself. Frisk wasn't below, behind, in front or to either side of the slide, and they obviously weren't on top.
That's when it hit her. Inside. She looked in the tube, and sure enough, Frisk had braced themself against the walls. They held up a finger to their lips when she saw them, indicating for her to not tell. She giggled before looking away, pretending not to have seen anything. Luckily, Papyrus hadn't noticed. Undyne had, but she seemed to be keeping quiet as well.
"HMM… IF NOT ANYWHERE OUTSIDE THE SLIDE, AND NOT ANYWHERE ELSE, THEN WERE COULD… OH, OUTSIDE." Then he went over to the exit and knelt, looking up into the tube. "GOTCHA, FINALLY!"
"But I did stump you," Frisk said.
"YES, YOU HAD. NOW COME ON OUT. THERE'S SOMEONE I'D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO."
"Okay." Carefully, Frisk slid down and out, standing on the ground once more.
Undyne was smiling before Frisk came out, where it was replaced with shock.
"So who is it?" Frisk asked.
"RIGHT HERE," Papyrus said, pointing to the fish woman. "FRISK, THIS IS UNDYNE, THE NEWEST CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! AND UNDYNE, THIS IS FRISK, MY FRIEND. THEY LIKE TO VISIT TOWN OFTEN."
"Royal guard?" Frisk asked.
"They're the ones who help and protect us," MK explained. "They serve King Asgore and capture any humans that come here."
"Really?" Frisk asked eagerly.
"Yeah, and Undyne's super cool!" MK added. "She's the strongest of them all! She beats up bad guys and never loses."
"Wow!" Frisk said in awe, looking at her. "That sounds awesome!"
"INDEED. IN FACT, SHE'S NOW THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD, WHICH MEANS SHE'S ITS NEW LEADER," Papyrus added.
"If any humans came through, she'd beat them easily," MK said.
"Awesome!" Frisk exclaimed.
"SO, YOU GONNA INTRODUCE YOURSELF UNDYNE?" Papyrus asked her, as she was still in shock.
Frisk casually walked up to her. She was ready for any sort of attack.
"Have you beaten any humans?" they asked.
"Uh, what?" Undyne asked, surprised by that question.
"Have you ever beaten any humans?" Frisk repeated.
"I DOUBT IT, FRISK," Papyrus answered for her. "THERE HAVEN'T BEEN ANY HUMANS DOWN HERE FOR YEARS."
Undyne looked at Papyrus, the whole thing weirded her out.
"Um, are you cold?" Frisk asked.
"Huh? Why do you ask?" she questioned.
"You're wearing a shirt without sleeves," Frisk pointed out. "Aren't you chilly?"
"No!" she retorted. But she couldn't stop the shiver that ran through her body after she said that. It was only now she realized how cold it was. Why hadn't she thought about wearing a coat?
"You're lying," Frisk called out. "Here, I'll warm you up." They cupped their hands together and produced a small flame which gave off enough heat to warm the captain.
Undyne was once more struck dumb. Did this kid just use fire magic? She had thought when they came out that they were human. But the way they talked and the way the others interacted with them, they seemed to think they were a Monster. And now they just used magic right in front of her.
Could she have been mistaken? Then again, this kid was rather small to be a human, and way too friendly. Maybe they were a Monster. She just didn't recognize their species.
Immediately, she untensed, relaxing her posture. "Uh, thanks," she said.
"No problem," Frisk said. "So, why are you here?"
"Oh, I just came to check on Snowdin, see how things are going. As well as check on the guards stationed here," Undyne explained. "Anyways, I'd better get to that. Have a good day!" She ran off to continue her work.
Frisk dispelled the flame they had conjured. "Will we see her again?" Frisk asked.
"OH, IF SHE HAS THE TIME," Papyrus said. "SHE IS THE CAPTAIN AND HAS A LOT TO DO. NOW THEN, WHAT TO DO NEXT?"
After a few hours, it was time for all the kids to go home. Toriel had spent the whole time talking with Rudy. The deer Monster had thankfully avoided any topics concerning Asgore, preferring to talk about his family. He also tried to get Toriel to open up about herself and Frisk.
Eventually, Papyrus came up with Frisk and Noelle. MK and Snowy had already been retrieved by their parents.
"NOW THEN, I RETURN YOUR CHILDREN TO YOU," he said.
"Thank you, dear," Toriel said. She turned to Frisk. "So, how was it, my child?"
"It was fun!" Frisk answered. "We got to have a short race, played tag and hide-and-seek, did a few puzzles in the snow… oh! We also got to meet the captain of the guard!"
"Um, what?" Toriel asked, fear creeping in.
"THAT WOULD BE UNDYNE," Papyrus said. "SHE WAS JUST PROMOTED TO CAPTAIN AS IT TURNS OUT. SHE PASSED THROUGH TO CHECK UP ON EVERYONE."
"Ah, I see," Toriel said. "Did everyone… behave?"
"YES. FRISK EVEN HEATED HER UP WHEN THEY NOTICED SHE WAS COLD," Papyrus said.
"You did?" Toriel asked.
"Uh huh. I made a little fire, like you do," Frisk confirmed.
"Wow. That's impressive," Rudy said.
"Thank you, sir," Frisk said.
"Well, I believe it is time for us to depart," Toriel said. "You shall be seeing them tomorrow."
"OKAY, BYE FRISK!"
"Bye Papy!" Frisk said, waving to him as they were led away by Toriel.
Once back home and making sure Frisk was alright, Toriel breathed a sigh of relief. A part of her was deeply unsettled by the thought that the captain of Asgore's guard knew about Frisk. Again, her senses told her to cut Frisk off from their friends to protect them. But the rational side of her pointed out that it would damage Frisk irreparably and the last time she did that she had made them both miserable.
She talked to Sans through the door later that day, just before his shift ended.
"paps mentioned that undyne came through today, and that she came across frisk," he said.
"He said the same to me," she said.
"…so are ya gonna lock them up again?" Sans asked.
"No," Toriel said. "The damage has been done. And… I do not believe I can do it again and be comfortable with my choice."
"at least ya still got your senses," Sans said.
"Believe me, I am very tempted," Toriel said. "But I do not want to hurt Frisk again. I will trust this Undyne to not hurt my child. But, if I may ask, what do you know of her?"
"well, up until a few weeks back, she was the unofficial leader of the royal guard," Sans informed. "she was trained by asgore himself, so she knows how to fight. she's also my direct superior, as i am a sentry."
"Will she try anything harmful towards Frisk?" Toriel asked. "And… would she know what a human is?"
"to be honest, i'm not sure," Sans admitted. "i do know she lives by a kind of code, so she might be reluctant to harm frisk at the very least."
Toriel let out a shaky breath. That wasn't very reassuring. But she had already made her choice. She just prayed it wasn't the wrong one.
"well, if we've got all that out of the way, i got some new material for you," Sans said. "would you like to hear it?"
"Yes, please," Toriel said.
Undyne returned home at the end of the day. She still wasn't too sure about what all she had just seen. The whole time, she had a nagging feeling that that kid from Snowdin was a human. Yet they used magic and didn't seem scared of her at all or worried in any way. She went to her room to look through some of the books she had found in the dump. She looked through the colorful pages that depicted epic battles between humans and wondered if Frisk actually looked like them.
As she scanned the pages, she saw the similarities between the humans in the comic book and Frisk. But still, she wondered if they were human, or just looked like one. If they were, why didn't anyone say anything. And did Asgore know?
She decided to find out. She dialed the king's number, patiently waiting for him to pick up.
After a few rings, she heard his voice. "Howdy, Undyne," he greeted. "How can I help you?"
"Well, I was going through Snowdin today when I found something," she began.
"Oh, what was it?" he asked.
"Well, it was a kid, but the thing is, they looked human," she explained.
"Looked?" Asgore asked.
"They looked like one, but then they made a small ball of fire to warm me up. And Papyrus said that they visit somewhat regularly," Undyne explained.
"Fire?" Asgore questioned. "Wait… did they have brown eyes?"
"Yeah, a rather big pair of 'em, too," Undyne answered. "Wait… do you know them?"
She heard a sigh through the speaker. "Yes. I saw them a couple years back."
"So, they're a Monster?" Undyne asked.
"No. They are not. Though, they don't seem to know that," he said.
"You mean they're human?" Undyne asked.
"Yes."
"But… then why haven't you done anything?" she demanded. "They're the key to our freedom! Their Soul will get us out of here!"
"They do not know that," Asgore explained. "And… I couldn't bring myself to do it. They are too young."
"Why does that matter?" she retorted.
"Undyne, I am willing to kill if it means giving our people their freedom, but I will not have the blood of someone so young on my hands. That is not worth it," Asgore said.
"Then let us do it for you," Undyne requested.
"No," Asgore said firmly. "I will not allow it."
"But…"
"For now, you are to not harm Frisk in any way. You may use any means necessary if they prove dangerous. Until then, you are to do nothing to them."
Undyne growled for a moment. "Yes, sir."
"Good. Have a nice evening," Asgore said as farewell, hanging up.
Undyne hit the "end call" button harder than needed. She wasn't too happy with her new orders. But Asgore had told her to spare them, and she had no choice. Maybe it wouldn't be in vain, anyways. The king had said if the kid proved dangerous then she could put them down. She'd just wait for that day. If the kid proved themself a threat, she would end them herself. Kid or not.
End of Chapter 7