Chapter 53
Frisk's sleep that night was restless. She kept twisting and turning on the hard ground. The very few times she did fall asleep, her body couldn't relax enough for her to slip into a deeper stage. The time for everyone to wake came too quickly. As tired as Frisk had become, she was starting to believe she would never sleep again.
After everyone quietly ate their rations, belongings were packed and put away. They would be reaching the castle that night, if not by the following morning. Time was running out. Soon, Frisk would be face-to-face with King Asgore. The fate of this world would be in her hands.
Frisk still didn't know what she was going to do when she got there.
"Man, I can't wait for this to be over," Mon complained. Seeing Frisk grimace, Mon stuttered, "I mean, I'm sure you wouldn't mind this taking longer. Considering . . . You know what? I think I'm going to shut up before I make things worse."
"I appreciate the sentiment." Frisk sighed. "I don't know what I want, to be honest. For things to be different, maybe, but I don't know what kind of different."
To that, Mon didn't have a response. The others finished packing, and the group was once again on their way. Frisk continued to lead them through Chara's guiding, and it required a lot of effort to maintain some energy so the others would not think they were being led by a zombie.
"My last day alive," Chara said slowly, as if unsure if he wanted to share what he was about to say with Frisk, "all I could think about was how I wished I lived my life differently. The mistakes I made dragged me down, draining away any determination I had to live. My mistakes costing Asriel his life . . . I couldn't live with that. Even now, I can hardly bear it."
Frisk cast Chara the side eye, as if to ask, "Why are you telling me this?"
"I died with a lot of regrets," Chara answered her unspoken question. "No matter what memory I recalled, there was always something I said or did to taint the memory. My life could have been better, but I never chose to make it so.
"I guess the point I am trying to make is this: Stripes, do you have a lot of regrets? If you could do this life over again, would you change anything?"
Thinking about it, Frisk did have a few answers. The first and most important, she would not leave Toriel to fight Mew Mew alone. Secondly, the dog guards and Mettaton would not have died by her hand. From there, Frisk would be more proactive about her journey through the Underground. Instead of figuring it out as she went along, Frisk would be moving forward with purpose. Yet all that aside . . . Frisk found she regretted little. She didn't always make the best decisions, but she was confident she had always acted in ways she believed was best for everyone. She valued the friends she made, and even the hardest relationships were as precious to her as her childhood within the Ruins.
Not being able to thank him, Frisk smiled and hoped Chara knew what she conveyed. He smiled back, so she assumed he understood her unspoken message. Despite how much they couldn't stand each other at first, Frisk knew she never would have been able to get this far in her journey without Chara by her side.
They couldn't have made it much further when something exploded behind them, throwing Frisk off her feet and shooting her forward. Instinct kicking in, Frisk threw up her arms to shield her face just before she crashed into the ground. Pain flared from her wrists to her elbows even though the armor she wore – made of the same legging-like material Undyne used in her own armor, which she had personally sent Frisk from the little supply she had left from Dr. Alphys – protected her skin from tearing off.
What happened?!
Moving quickly, Frisk sat up. Her arms hurt like hell to move, but nothing seemed to be broken. Once she assessed that she was all right, Frisk whipped her head around to check on the others.
The others had also been thrown off their feet. Suzy was helping Mon back up again, Jasper appeared to be unconscious as he looked like nothing more than a pile of freshly cut vines, and Ember burned dark colors from the remains of whatever bomb went off behind them. From what Frisk could tell, nobody was seriously injured.
"Are you okay?" Chara asked, kneeling down beside Frisk. Of course, nothing happened to him. Tears pricking the back of her eyes, the only way Frisk could answer was to nod.
"What was that?!" Mon exclaimed, saying what everyone had to be thinking.
"That was me!"
No. . . .
Blood turning to ice, Frisk looked past the smoke to see Mew Mew approaching. Francis in his massive werewolf body was on her heels, and coming on the end was the Queen of the Spiders herself. Of the three of them, Muffet looked the most like she wanted to end Frisk as slowly and painfully as possible.
Considering Frisk did kill her lover, there was undoubtedly a lot of validity to the thought.
As she stopped only a few feet away, Mew Mew pointed at Frisk and stated, "Surrender the human, and we will leave you be."
"Not in this lifetime or in any other, traitor!" Ember shouted as she ran forward.
Chara must have seen something Frisk did not, because he shouted for Ember to stop. Still dizzy and confused by what had happened, Frisk hesitated to repeat Chara's warning. By the time she knew why Chara had shouted, it was too late.
As if she anticipated the attack, Mew Mew charged to meet Ember halfway. There was a knife in her hand Frisk hadn't realized Mew Mew was holding. So quickly Frisk would have missed it if she blinked, Mew Mew buried the knife into Ember's chest.
The fire of Ember's body around the knife began to glow a deep purple. It then darkened to black as the purple spread. Not understanding, Ember only stood in place as her body changed.
Cocking her head to the side, Mew Mew simply muttered, "So that is what happens when deathlust is used against a fire monster."
With that said, Mew Mew threw Ember into the sewage. Frisk could only watch in horror as Ember withered in pain under the liquid before her body went out. It all happened so fast, Frisk was almost convinced that this was all a dream and that none of this was truly happening.
Unphased by what she had done, Mew Mew slid her gaze towards Francis and told him, "Kill the monsters. Just leave the human to me."
Francis grinned as he raised his cleaver. This was when everyone else remembered themselves. Jasper, who had just begin to regain consciousness, began to move, but he appeared to not know what was going on. Mon got into a fighting position, but Suzy pushed her towards Frisk and got between them and Mew Mew.
"I'll distract them!" Suzy shouted, her dark ax manifesting in her hand. "You need to get Frisk somewhere safe."
"Is there anywhere safe?" Despite asking the question, Mon did not wait for an answer. She helped Frisk rise to her feet and began to push her to start running.
"Stripes, move!" Chara yelled.
It wasn't until Chara raised his voice at her that Frisk understood the weight of the situation. It was all happening so quickly, and she didn't know what to do. Fortunately, Mon kept pushing her until Frisk got the idea to start running.
Pushing her legs to carry her as fast and as far away as possible, Frisk and Mon ran side by side as the sounds of fighting echoed behind them. The sight of Ember going out burned itself into Frisk's mind. Frisk couldn't blink without witnessing it again, so she kept her eyes open as she fled.
"Where are we going?" she asked Mon.
"Anywhere but here!" was the only answer the monster had.
Just when Frisk thought the girls were making their way to safety, someone dropped from the ceiling to the ground. They stopped abruptly before crashing into the newcomer. Heart caught in her throat, Frisk saw that it was Muffet who stood before them.
"In case you have forgotten, dearie," Muffet purred as she walked closer, "spiders can climb walls."
"Nope, nope, I'm not having this, nope!" Chara said, clearly more uncomfortable despite not being in danger himself.
Frisk wanted to do something, anything, to defend Mon and herself, but she didn't know what to do. She was frozen in her state of shock. While Ember, Suzy, and Mon jumped in to defend her, Frisk was as useful as deadweight.
Summoning glowing orbs around her, Mon ordered Frisk, "Keep going. We will meet at the rendezvous."
The very thought of separating from Mon horrified Frisk. "What about you?!"
"I'll be okay. Now go!"
Frisk wasn't sure if she believed it. Suddenly, things no longer made sense, and nothing was guaranteed. Mon said that she would be fine, but Ember probably thought the same thing when she charged Mew Mew.
"Stripes," Chara said, sounding urgent but acting calm as he stood in front of Frisk, "I know you don't want to leave your companions behind, but you are the one who needs to make it to the castle. If you don't start moving now and make it to safety, everything they have done and are doing now will be for nothing."
It felt as if Frisk's heart turned from flesh to stone. Chara was right. If Frisk was to do right by her friends and those who came with her, she needed to leave them to fight against this danger she brought upon them.
With Chara leading the way, Frisk ran through the sewers. Chara was no longer trying to get her to the castle: he was trying to get her someplace to enter the city where there would be more opportunities to escape and hide. The only problem with this strategy was Chara did not know how much New Home had changed since his death and could not promise the safety of the exit he led her towards.
"We're almost there!" Chara shouted as they rounded another corner.
Before Frisk could decide if she felt dread or relief at leaving the sewers, she found that her leg didn't want to go all the way forward. Once again, Frisk fell face first to the ground. Again her arms were thrown up to catch her. With this new wave of pain upon the old as her body hit the ground, Frisk winced and worried she may have fractured her forearm. She barely had time to process what had happened before Mew Mew's voice came from behind.
"Leaving the party so soon?" Mew Mew's footsteps were slow. A predator that knew it had captured its prey.
Frisk rolled over and saw her ankles bound together. Her eyes traveling to Mew Mew, Frisk saw the monster holding a gun of sorts. It must have been the thing Mew Mew used to get Frisk's legs tied up.
"Let me get a good look at you," Mew Mew said as she walked forward, putting the gun in her pocket.
"Frisk!" Chara shouted. He moved to stand between Frisk and Mew Mew, but of course Mew Mew walked through Chara as if he weren't there.
Crouching down, Mew Mew was so close to Frisk now that the human could smell the monster's breath. She reached her hand out and ran her fingers down Frisk's neck. When her fingers found the chain, Mew Mew pulled the locket from under Frisk's armor and held it in her palm.
"So," Mew Mew grinned so wickedly it churned Frisk's stomach, "Chara is here, watching all of this unfold."
Chara grit his teeth but said nothing.
Stepping back only a step, Mew Mew looked around for the ghost prince she could not see. "Oh, this is purrfect. I have your human here, helpless and alone. Nobody is coming to save her, and there's nothing you can do but watch. Nothing but watch worthlessly as I carve into her, her screams the music to which I play. I will be slow and deliberate, savoring the pain I inflict upon her. I will make her feel what I felt the day you took Stagia away from me. You can do nothing as I try to kill her again, and this time I won't make the mistake of leaving until I know the job is done."
With that said, Mew Mew pulled another knife from her belt. It was shorter than the one she used to kill Ember, but it was sharpened to a fine point. Mew Mew tested the blade by barely touching it, and her finger came away bleeding.
"This one isn't coated in deathlust," Mew Mew explained, crouching back down to Frisk. "Deathlust would kill you far quicker than I like. Though, explain something to me: How did you survive deathlust the first time?"
Mew Mew cocked her head, waiting for Frisk to respond. The curiosity did little to delay Mew Mew, however. The cat monster pointed the knife at Frisk's neck, and she searched over Frisk's body as if looking for the best place to begin her torture.
"Frisk," Chara said her name urgently, practically begging Frisk to do something.
Thinking fast, Frisk asked, "Do you really want to know how I survived deathlust?"
Mew Mew paused with the knife just under Frisk's chin. "I won't deny I have always wondered how you managed to survive my fail-safe for executing those I wish to get out of my way."
Hoping Mew Mew won't notice the ring on her hand, Frisk curled her fingers. "If I'm granted you will give my final words to whom I request, will you do it?"
"Ha! Do you think I would do such a thing for you? We are not on negotiating terms, human."
"If you really want to know how deathlust didn't kill me, you will reconsider."
"Okay," Mew Mew answered after a moment of thought, "I will deliver your final words to whomever you wish. Within reason, of course. I'm not going to turn myself in to King Asgore because you asked me to."
"We don't need to go that far." Frisk feared swallowing lest the knife pierce her throat.
"Enough stalling." Mew Mew narrowed her eyes. "Give me your final words and how you survived deathlust. If you delay any longer, I'll just begin without either."
"Okay, okay. Tell Sans I said . . . Took you long enough, bonehead!"
Cursing, Mew Mew turned around and pointed the knife behind her. Frisk had no more than a second to react before Mew Mew caught on to the trick. The ring flared to life as Frisk used its magic to conjure up a halberd.
Before Mew Mew could turb back around, Frisk swung the halberd with all her might. The force knocked Mew Mew off her. Frisk then swung the ax blade of the halberd at her ankles, the enchantment of the weapon leaving her unscathed as it cut the ropes that bound her.
With no time to spare, Frisk released the halberd, jumped to her feet, and ran. She didn't waste time turning around to see if Mew Mew was still on the ground or close on her heels. All Frisk focused on was getting out of the sewers and someplace safe to hide.
Frisk turned a couple corners before finding a ladder to the surface. Without waiting to be asked, Chara climbed ahead. He poked his head through the manhole and alerted Frisk that the coast was clear. It was a good thing it was safe, because Frisk was right behind him. She didn't want to waste time climbing back down when Mew Mew could be not far behind.
Pulling herself out of the hole, Frisk returned the manhole to its place then immediately took in her surroundings. The city landscape told her that she had arrived within New Home, although she didn't know exactly where she was. With the knowledge that she needed to get away, Frisk stood upright and began running with no destination in mind.
"Anywhere I can go?" Frisk asked Chara, desperate.
Chara sounded more desperate than she when he answered, "I don't think anywhere is safe."
That's not what I wanted to hear. . . .
Blinded by fear and doubt, Frisk didn't realize she was running towards someone until their bodies collided and both fell hard to the ground. Dazed, Frisk tried to make sense of were up and down where. Then, fearing she may have crashed into Mew Mew, Frisk snapped her attention towards the other person so she could look at the fallen figure.
Pushing herself upright was not a cat monster, but one greater resembling a fox. She had brownish red fur with black tips on her pointed ears, slender snout, and bushy tail. The fox also wore a scarlet blouse with her black pants.
Frisk's heart sank as the monster pushed herself upright and looked at her. Their eyes locked for a moment or two, then the monster's amber eyes slid towards the locket around Frisk's neck. The monster sucked in a breath, then she looked around to see if they were alone.
After Frisk also surveyed their surroundings to confirm they were indeed alone, the fox monster stood to her feet and offered her hand. Hesitating only a moment, Frisk reached out and accepted the help up. Once Frisk was on her feet, the monster pulled Frisk close and whispered in her ear, "Human, follow me. I will keep you safe."
Without letting go of Frisk's hand, the monster began to gently pull Frisk to follow her. Having no better alternatives, Frisk let the monster guide her. She looked to Chara for his opinion, but he shrugged, and Frisk knew he had none.
So Frisk followed the strange fox monster, unsure if this was a friend leading her to safety or an enemy leading her to her end.