Chapter 18
Undyne did everything right. She didn't storm into the palace, rush into the throne room, and throw herself at the king's feet as she told him what happened. Instead she asked one of the servants to inform King Asgore of her return and to request his presence. Her armor still clung to her body; Undyne didn't rest after she returned to the palace, and she would not stop to change lest the king was ready to see her and she kept him waiting.
"King Asgore will see you now," Trista said, looking at Undyne with sad eyes and raised brows.
Undyne's first mistake was not taking the look for the warning it was.
As she entered the room, Undyne held her head high as she approached the king. Considering he never sat on his throne, it was a mystery why he kept it in the throne room. Perhaps so it wouldn't simply be called room, as Sans once joked. Papyrus suggested renaming it the flower room, since this was where King Asgore grew and tended to his flowers. The corners of Undyne's lips threatened to rise.
Biting the inside of her cheek, Undyne scolded herself. There was no reason for her to be remembering the twins in such a positive light. They were traitors, and she would not smile because of traitors.
King Asgore didn't speak, so Undyne took it as permission to start. Kneeling, she bowed her head and began, "I have found the human, O King. Female. Practically a child. Yet . . . I can't explain it. As we fought, she seemed to know my attacks before I did. Hitting her, although not impossible, was a challenge.
"More so, Sans and Papyrus have betrayed the crown. They helped the human escape. Them and more than a dozen other monsters. Monsters I thought to be dead. I suspect there are survivors from the Snowdin Massacre, and they are in hiding. My theory is the human is with them. If we can locate where these monsters hide, we can take an army and overturn the villagers with ease. After all, no mercy shall be shown to those who betray the crown and hide a human from the king."
The silence stretched on for so long that Undyne began to feel uncomfortable. Her aching neck begged for her to look up, but she would not disrespect her king by raising her head before she was spoken to. Curling her fist tighter and pressing her knuckles into the marble floors harder, Undyne gritted her teeth through the discomfort.
Finally, "I gave you one job and one job alone, Undyne."
She didn't know what she expected to see, but when Undyne looked up, her heart caught in her throat when she saw the rage building in King Asgore's eyes as he beheld her.
"Did I not say return with the human soul or to not return at all?" King Asgore demanded. "The information you provided was useful indeed, but it will not save you."
Before Undyne could process what King Asgore said, he called for his guards.
The realization sinking in, Undyne did not fight the guards as they bound her wrists behind her.
"My king?" She sounded weak. Helpless. A little lost.
"Your execution will be a great loss to the army," King Asgore said, demeanor completely unreadable. "However, you must be made an example. Any monster who sets out to capture the human and fails shall be met with your fate."
Undyne opened her mouth to beg, plead, anything, but at King Asgore's wave of a hand, she was dragged away. All the fight was drained from Undyne. She didn't know if there was reason to keep trying.
Alphys was dead.
Papyrus had turned into a traitor.
King Asgore was ready to have her executed to simply prove a point.
If anything, Undyne was dead weight as she was dragged to the dungeon. Her determination was as good as gone. As she sat alone in her cell for minutes, hours, days, Undyne tried with little success to figure out what she should do. There was no one left. There was nothing to fight for.
Maybe tomorrow she would find a reason to keep going, to keep living; but in that moment, she let herself feel the bad emotions as they dyed her in pain and loneliness.
For the first time in a long time, Undyne cried.
Frisk didn't realize she was chewing on the ends of her hair until Alice walked into the room and asked what Frisk was doing. Looks like I need another haircut. The nervous habit was the reason Frisk typically kept her hair shorter, especially since she couldn't seem to outgrow the habit no matter how hard she tried.
Pulling the hair from her mouth, Frisk answered, "I'm doing math problems."
"Even saying it out loud shows what a boring person you are," Chara said unenthusiastically from the corner of the room. He had nothing to do save stare out the window and watch as the monsters finished packing away their village.
After they returned to the village, Alice and Mon told Frisk what had happened to lead up to their coming to Frisk's aid. Sans arrived at Snowdin Two the night after Frisk had left. Needless to say, Beatrix and Alice both gave him a piece of their mind for what Frisk told them on how he acted when Papyrus brought her to Undyne. Sans stood there and took it. He didn't argue with them. Actually, he said they were right. Although he didn't go into detail why he agreed with them, few doubted him when he suggested they all go together to save Frisk. Undyne would easily attack a human, but there was no way she could handle an army, or something of the sort was Sans's reasoning. Papyrus was all for it, and very few souls have it in them to refuse a cinnamon roll such as the goofy skeleton monster.
Of course, this meant revealing to the denizens that Frisk was human. Most were shocked, but few weren't too surprised. Either way, a friend was in danger, and nobody was going to leave a friend in need on her own. They risked their safety for Frisk's sake. It was what their queen would have wanted.
Alice leaned over and looked at the pile of scrap paper Frisk had in front of her.
"Oh," she began, "you're calculating how much food we need to pack so nobody goes hungry. Smart."
"I'm just being practical," Frisk muttered. "Besides, I don't know what else to do. I need to feel useful somewhere."
Picking up one of the sheets, Alice said, "Well, you succeeded. This information is super helpful. You calculated more than we were thinking to bring."
"When are we leaving?" Frisk asked, changing the subject.
"Tomorrow morning, if all goes according to plan," Alice answered, setting the sheet back on the table. "We did build our village in an isolated part of the forest, so we're not expecting anyone to find us soon. If at all."
"Is everyone really as calm as they look?"
"I don't think so. Maybe some are, but deep down, I think most of us are terrified of losing our village again." When Frisk did nothing but exhale loudly, Alice suggested, "How about you help me and Mom pack the inn? You can show her your calculations too. Every pair of hands makes the difference."
Saying nothing, Frisk rose to her feet and followed Alice out the door and down the stairs. Chara, as usual, followed behind. He was so quiet Frisk wondered what he was thinking about.
"She's set for public execution tonight?" the alarmed voice of Beatrix asked as Frisk and Alice entered the kitchen.
"Considering she was back in the capital a couple days before we came back to Snowdin Two," Sans, who stood across from Beatrix, hands in pockets, answered, "I'm surprised she's still alive. I can only guess why King Asgore waited this long."
"What's going on?" Alice questioned, brows furrowed. "Who's still alive?"
Sans didn't look at Alice as he said, "Undyne. I just came back from sneaking around for word from the capital. King Asgore is going to execute Undyne tonight for failure to capture Frisk."
Frisk's jaw dropped. "We can't let that happen!" she exclaimed. "We can't let King Asgore kill her!"
"Do you need to be reminded she tried to kill you?" Although the question was directed towards Frisk, Sans still didn't look at her. Ever since the incident in Ice Capital, the two barely spoke. They didn't even look at each other.
"Or the reminder that she did kill you multiple times?" Chara added.
"She was only doing what she believed to be the right thing," Frisk argued. "We can't just let her die. I can't bear the idea of someone dying because of me."
"Someone else," Chara corrected. The only response Frisk gave him was a subtle nod of the head. Toriel still laid heavily on her conscious, as did the dogs. Frisk was not ready to add Undyne to the list.
"What are you going to do about it?" Sans challenged. "The capital is days away, and the execution is tonight. You'll never make it in time."
"I can't," Frisk agreed, "but you and Papyrus can."
Now Sans looked at Frisk. "Excuse me, did I hear you correctly? You want us to bail Undyne out of prison?"
"You two are the only hope she has," Frisk whispered, looking at her toes. She shook her head. "I can't make the decision for you, but if anything I say makes a difference, I want her to be given a second chance."
"To kill you?"
"To live the life she chooses. Maybe she won't hesitate to jump back onto the same path, or . . . she might consider an alternative. Her hard heart could be softened. Mercy does tend to have that effect on people."
Sans thought about what she said, then, "Humans are strange creatures."
For a while, nobody said anything. Beatrix and Alice continued to stand where they were and say nothing. Sans and Frisk stared at each other, making eye contact for the first time since the incident. Chara whistled a tune Frisk didn't recognize. Then Sans spoke.
"I need to talk to Papyrus. He still doesn't know of King Asgore's plan to execute Undyne, but he won't hesitated to jump into a rescue mission."
A combination of disbelief and relief blossomed in Frisk's chest.
"Thank you," she whispered, not knowing why she did.
Chuckling, Sans said, "You might want to hold off on the thanks until Papyrus and I come back with Undyne. Just because we save her doesn't mean she still won't hesitate to gut you like a fish."
