Part 3

The Soul


Chapter 41

Frisk stood a few yards away from Sans, the clearing in Hotland giving them both plenty of room to keep their distance, or to have a full out fight.

Legs wider then hip-width apart and knees slightly bent, Frisk gripped the knife tighter and took a deep breath as she glared at Sans's lazy smile. Sans's signature red hoodie was worn zipped and the hood over his skull. His arms were casually tucked into the hoodie pockets.

Although the skeleton monster did not move even a fraction of an inch, red light came from the ground and covered Frisk in its warm hue. Frisk only had a second to react. Jumping back, Frisk watched as a large bone protruded from the ground, a bone that would have impaled her had she not gotten out of the way in time.

Before her feet touched the ground again, Gaster blasters formed around her as if some sort of summoning circle. A swear word passing her lips, Frisk wasted no time dropping to her stomach the moment her toes graced the dirt. She had gotten down just in time for the blasters to erupt, her back feeling the heat of the attack.

The second the blasters stopped, Frisk pushed herself to her feet and bolted towards Sans. It did not phase him. It was as the screaming Frisk raised her arm to strike him with the knife Sans turned her blue and threw her across the way.

When she fell to the ground and began to skid, Frisk dug the blade of her knife into the ground. This slowed her down and saved her from getting too scratched up. However, Frisk felt enough pain in her leg to know that it had been wounded and she now bled.

Sans was toying with her. She knew it. He knew she knew it. His slippered feet were still planted where they were when this fight began. They wouldn't stay there much longer if Frisk had anything to do about it.

Again on her feet, Frisk charged towards Sans. When she was close enough, she slashed the knife out. All Sans had to do to dodge the measly attack was step out of the way. The monster could have teleported, but he couldn't be bothered. Frisk was counting on this.

In a swift motion, Frisk brought up her back leg and kicked it out to sweep Sans from behind.

It gave Frisk great satisfaction to see Sans's smile fall from his face and to see his eye sockets widened as he realized the world had been pulled from beneath him.

Wasting no time, Frisk elbowed Sans in the chest to force him to the ground faster. As the thud of his weight hitting the floor sounded, Frisk again rose the knife. She and Sans made eye contact as she brought her weapon down, and she saw in that split second his expression shift.

When her knife came down, the blade sunk into the earth. Grunting, Frisk snapped her head around to see where Sans had teleported. Yet before she could locate the skeleton monster, she saw the signs of bones about to emerge from underneath.

On and on and on the fight went. Sans would have the upper hand, then Frisk would take it from him, then he would find some way to weasel himself out of the situation in which Frisk trapped him and take advantage of her frustration to again be the one ahead. Frisk was getting sick and tired of Sans always getting himself out of her traps at the last possible minute.

Moments such as this were the most frustrating. Frisk stood toe-to-toe with Sans, her eyes locked with his eye sockets, the blade just beneath his chin. Yet Frisk could not move. Even though she had Sans right where she wanted him, the skeleton monster had managed to get her at the last possible moment.

Blue bones went through Frisk's body. From her feet through her stomach and even into the arm that held the knife against Sans. As long as Frisk didn't move, she would be okay.

Frisk learned the hard way that when Sans had a tepee of blue bones piercing through her, the best course of action was to remain still until he grew tired of maintaining the magic and let it drop.

"Hey," Sans said as if the angered Frisk was not pressing a knife against his neck, "you didn't die this time."

Narrowing her eyes, Frisk glared at Sans for a moment before her face broke into a smile. "You didn't hold back, either. Now this time I can be proud of my progress."

The closeness between them melted away as Sans dissolved the blue bones and Frisk put away her weapon. They grinned at each other, happy over the outcome of the training. However, that happiness faded away when they heard a slow clap and turned their heads to see a new figure coming forward.

Frisk's eyes turned to Chara, who stood far away from the battlefield and watched her and Sans's fight without a word. He made no effort to approach Frisk. Considering who was growing closer, Frisk didn't blame him.

"Ms. Fox," greeted the monster when she was close enough.

Forcing herself to give a subtle nod, Frisk returned, "Ms. Sizzle."

Mandy Sizzle was a tall, reptilian monster wearing a blue tank top and blue leggings. Her scales were as black as charcoal, and her split pupil eyes were a bright emerald green. Instead of fingers, Mandy had long claws that curved inwards and had a sharp point. Her long tail dragged on the ground behind muscular legs that bent backwards.

"You have improved your combat skills greatly in the weeks you have been with us," Mandy began, holding her hands together.

"But?" Frisk prompted, doing her best to keep feigning respect.

"But," Mandy continued, "you are still too reckless. You charge headfirst into danger. Why, Ms. Fox, how are you still alive with the self-preservation instincts you have?"

Wouldn't you like to know.

Forcing a smile on her face, Frisk replied, "I guess you could say I'm an opportunist."

When all Mandy did was tilt her head in response, Frisk added, "I see an opportunity, and I take it. No time to calculate risks."

"I see." Turning her attention to Sans, Mandy asked, "And what have you to say on Ms. Fox's progress in her fighting skills?"

Shrugging halfheartedly as if he couldn't be bothered to put in the required effort, Sans answered, "Kid's developed better reflexes and gotten faster with her attacks. However, she's still not fast enough."

"Of course you would say that," Frisk muttered. "It's easy to dodge when you can teleport."

"What, you think I'm just going to stand there and take it? You do realize it would only take one hit to totally knock me out, don't you?"

"Whatever the case," Mandy said before Frisk could reply to Sans, "Ms. Fox, you definitely have come a long way since we first found you. Deathlust may have left you weak, but you have come out even stronger than before. You look so much healthier now."

Frisk swallowed. Although she didn't like Mandy too much, Frisk had to admit the lizard monster was right. Now that Frisk was someplace she never had to stress about her safety and could take care of her body the way it needed, her health greatly improved. Frisk had muscle now she never had before, and her skin was once again dark even if the lack of sunlight kept her paler than she was used to. In so many ways, Frisk was better than she had been since losing Toriel.

Yet in so many other ways, Frisk was worse off.

"If this evaluation is done," she began as she pretended to politely excuse herself, "I think I would like to go on my run now. I'll be back in time to shower before dinner."

Again cocking her head to the side, Mandy looked as if she wanted to argue how Frisk shouldn't be leaving the supervision of her or the guards so regularly, but Sans never failed to have Frisk's back.

"All that running might help you get faster," he said as if trying to motivate and encourage her. With a wink, he added, "Who knows, maybe next time, you might be able to come that much closer to hitting me."

If Mandy was frustrated with the two of them, she didn't show it. Hands still folded, she told Frisk, "As you wish, but don't stay out too long today. The time is coming when we will come out of hiding. The sooner we can plan our retaliation, the better."

Although she was not fond of the idea of any form of retaliation, Frisk still nodded before telling Sans that she would see him later. Both Sans and Mandy watched Frisk as she walked away from them, took off the locket, and grabbed her water bottle and pack. Once the locket and bottle were in the pack and the pack was on Frisk's back, she took off running.

Frisk didn't need to run far. Just far enough. Far enough away that nobody could see what it was she really did.

Upon entering the clearing little more than a mile away from the battlefield, Frisk took a swig of water before again putting on the locket. She smiled when Chara appeared before her. He returned the smile.

"What did The Snake want with you this time, Stripes?" he asked, using the nickname he had given Mandy. Somehow, the nickname he gave Mandy was even more cruel than when he first began calling Frisk "Stripes."

"You would know if you didn't leave me to talk to her alone every time," Frisk answered, pushing her hair into the low ponytail her hair was now long enough to be tied into.

"I don't like that woman. It's as if she can sense I'm there, and not in a good way. Her very presence is threatening."

"You're not the one who actually has to talk to her." Pulling the ring from her pack and putting it on, Frisk said, "She says I have come a long way in my fighting abilities, but I'm too reckless and run headfirst into danger."

"She has you fighting Sans," Chara replied. "There's no other way to fight him except to run headfirst into danger. He's not going to just stand there and take it."

"That's what Sans said." Frisk moved towards the middle of the clearing, curling and straightening her fingers to warm them up. "Enough talk of this. Let's get a little practice in before I have to be back."

Chara grinned. "All right. How about to start, you go through that form I taught you last time?"

To respond, Frisk smiled, stretched out her arm, and used the magic within the ring to summon a weapon into existence.


For as long as he had known about the Blues, Chara assumed they were coward pacifists who lived their lives in hiding, doing nothing to fight for their beliefs. After all, that was more or less what the Blues in Snowdin Two and on The Island were. Yet these Blues in Hotland were the complete opposite of what Chara had come to expect of his and Toriel's supporters.

Chara didn't know how else to think of this hideout except as a military camp. Everyone had a schedule he was expected to follow without question. Daily training was mandatory. The menu and the portion sizes for each monster were decided by the nutritionists, meaning no chocolate ever.

This was perhaps the most evil place Chara had ever stepped foot, alive or dead.

Frisk, based on her dripping wet shoulder length hair, must have just come out of the shower when she put the locket back on. They were in her room – "room" being a generous term considering this was nothing more than a tent just tall and wide enough for Frisk to stand upright and touch both sides if she stretched her arms – when the world around Chara existed again.

"Are you being monitored?" Chara asked.

Perhaps the only thing worse than this camp never keeping chocolate was Frisk's being watched throughout most of the day. The two had long since learned new ways to communicate as most of the time, Frisk was not given the luxury of getting to talk to Chara verbally.

Frisk scratched her arm. Maybe. Let's not risk it.

Without another word, Chara nodded. Frisk walked out of her tent, and he followed. From the looks of Frisk and all the monsters gathering towards the center of the camp, The Snake was having a meeting of some sort. Chara vividly remembered the last meeting as if it was yesterday.

After Sans had teleported Frisk away from the Waterfall castle, and Muffet's wrath for what Frisk had done to Mettaton, and had taken her back to The Island, it was only a matter of hours before contact had been made with the monsters on The Island. Unlike the Reds marching towards Snowdin Two with the purpose of destroying it to find and kill Frisk, this was fellow Blues reaching out to offer someplace where Frisk would not only be protected but to receive the training she required to fulfill her duty as Toriel's heir.

No surprise to Chara, Frisk's first reaction was to be scared. Only mere hours after dying over and over and over again only to resort to killing just to break the cycle, she was not in the proper headspace to hear from strangers who, just like Mettaton, wanted to take her someplace where they could keep an eye on her. Sans and Beatrix, who didn't know the extent of what Frisk had been through but could sense the human was more upset than she let on, tried to fight these new Blues on their plans for Frisk. However, they insisted; and by insisted, Chara knew they meant threatened. Frisk knew it too, which is why she gave in to this new lifestyle instead of fighting it.

So here they were, trapped in a prison of a new kind.

Frisk immediately searched Sans out amongst the crowd and moved to stand beside him as they prepared to listen to The Snake's speech. The two said hi to each other before standing together in silence. Mon, the only other monster from The Island who came with them to this place, also joined.

"Yo," Mon greeted, speaking loud enough to be heard over the chatter of the other monsters.

"Hiya," Sans returned while Frisk asked, "How was training today?"

Groaning, Mon answered, "If I knew I had to go through so many drills and all this training just to kick some bad guy's butt, I might have given coming here a second thought."

Mon only half meant it. Considering she had known about Chara's existence for a good while and had never said anything to anyone, Mon had been given the chance to meet Chara. With Chara's consent, of course. No matter how much time passed, Chara didn't believe he could ever forget how their meeting went.

"So," Mon said after spending a moment looking Chara up and down, Frisk standing to the side to watch what she could of the interaction, "you're the human prince Chara whose death separated the Underground into Reds and Blues."

As much as Chara didn't like to hear it, he could at least appreciate that Mon didn't shy away from the truth. Displaying no emotion, Chara merely replied, "I am."

Nodding and studying Chara again, Mon then asked, "There's a battle training session for some of the bigger monsters later today. You want to watch someone get their butt kicked with me?"

The two got along right away.

When Mon had talked to Frisk a couple of weeks back, she didn't let the fact Frisk wore the locket keep her from confiding with Frisk and by default Chara that the only reason Mon left The Island was to train to get stronger. After the attack on Snowdin Two and Carla's being held captive, Mon didn't want to feel that helpless ever again. The main reason Mon left her family was to become strong enough to protect them, although it wasn't until she left Mon realized just what exactly she had gotten herself into.

Shrugging, Sans, who did not know all this, told Mon, "I'm sure it will all pay off in the end."

"It better," Mon replied. "That Suzy chic is going to be the end of me. I'm almost sure of it."

At the mention of the name, Chara searched for the purple reptilian monster. It didn't take long. She always stood at the front of these meetings, arms crossed as if she would rather be anywhere but there. Her shaggy brown hair covered her eyes, so it was hard to read her expression most of the time.

Suzy Sizzle. The Snake's goddaughter. Rumor had it if she wasn't so rebellious and always looking to cause a fight, she might have worked her way up the ranks to join The Snake in leading these Blues like the soldiers they were.

Speaking of The Snake, she walked up from behind Suzy, patted her goddaughter on the head as she walked past, and took place in the center of the meeting circle. The Snake had to do nothing to gain everyone else's attention. The moment she stepped into the center, the chatter surrounding Chara had died a sudden death.

"Good evening, my fellow freedom fighters," was how The Snake started most, if not all, of these meetings. "My scouts have recently returned to us with news from New Home. It is most advantageous to us.

"Although it has been months since the revelation that former Captain of the Royal Guard Mew Mew murdered Queen Toriel in cold blood, and although there is a heavy bounty on her head, she is still missing from the public eye. In her absence, Undyne has since resumed position as Captain of the Royal Guard. This is great news, as nobody but us knows that Undyne is on our side.

"Furthermore, our fellow brothers and sisters in the cause are coming out of hiding to take the stand with us in freeing the Underground from its tyrannical terror. We shall expect to see more and more Blues arriving within the next few days. Please, welcome these new additions with open arms. We are family, and we had ought to treat each other as such.

"And finally," The Snake's eyes were directed at Frisk, and Chara noticed Frisk tense at the gaze, "the time is soon coming when our dear human, Frisk Fox, will be able to challenge Asgore. She shall fight him until he concedes, and then the crown shall be taken from him, putting an end to the Reds' rule and finally giving us every reason to once again believe our hope in a peaceful future between humans and monsters will be possible."

An applause then broke out amongst the camp. Frisk tried to smile and wave as all monster eyes sought her out, but Chara knew better. This isn't what Frisk wanted. This wasn't what she tried to accomplish as she traveled towards the barrier. What this was, as both quickly learned, was this Blue forcing her goals and motivations into the mission Frisk had set out for herself.

Goals and motivations Frisk could not publicly denounce if she didn't want to risk losing the safety she had finally received.

"The time is coming for Ms. Fox to prove herself outside of training," The Snake then said. Frisk went still. Chara cocked his head to the side. He even noticed in his peripheral Sans and Mon turning their attention towards Frisk. This was news to all of them.

"As we all know," The Snake continued, "the Core is the quickest way to get to the castle. The long way entails more than a bit of travel. If we are to hope to get to the castle undetected, our best bet is to go through the Core. To do so, we need someway to access the Core to get through it. This is where the upcoming mission comes in. Within a week's time, we will be sending a group of our best soldiers and Ms. Fox to infiltrate the Waterfall castle in which Mettaton and the self-proclaimed spider queen Muffet kept Ms. Fox hostage. We believe somewhere within those old palace walls is Mettaton's key to the Core elevator to the palace. If we can find it, we can access the Core elevator. If we can access the Core elevator, odds for us infiltrating the palace before we are found out increases tenfold.

"That shall be all for now. When the time comes, I will announce those who will be going on this mission. Until then, train hard, and hope and dream that you shall see the sky in your lifetime. Meeting adjourned."

As the monsters around them dispersed, Mon and Sans turned their attention towards Frisk then began to walk alongside her as she walked away from the meeting circle. For a while, nobody said anything. Not even Chara knew what to say.

Then Frisk muttered just loud enough for her companions to hear, "I would much rather never step foot in that castle again."

"Yeah," Mon replied, "but at least nobody should be there now, right?"

"If that's the case," Sans added, "why send a team instead of an errand boy?"

"What proof does The Snake have that Mettaton had a key to the Core elevator he just conveniently kept at the castle and was left behind by Muffet?" Chara asked.

Frisk repeated Chara's question to Sans and Mon, and both monsters pondered this thought.

"I don't know," Sans answered as they came back to their tents, "but something definitely doesn't seem right."

"If only we could figure out what The Snake was really planning," Mon said, using the nickname Chara gave to the cold-blooded leader of the Blues.

"Wait, Mon has a point." When Frisk's attention was turned onto Chara, he continued, "Perhaps if someone spies on her, we can get a better idea of what's really going on here."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous spying on Ms. Sizzle will be if we get caught?!" Frisk hissed, her response also working as a way to tell Sans and Mon what Chara had said.

Smirking as he shrugged his shoulders, Chara replied, "You cannot get caught if you cannot be seen."

As understanding shone in Frisk's brown eyes, she whispered, "How close do you need me to get?"

"Stand by the water cooler," Chara told her. "I should be able to reach her tent if the locket is by the water cooler."

Frisk nodded and told the others what Chara said by saying, "I'll be right back. I could really use a drink."

"Funny, so do I," Sans replied, and Mon said the same.

As Frisk and the others walked towards the water cooler, Chara approached The Snake's tent, hoping he was right in guessing how close the locket needed to be to The Snake while still being far enough away that Frisk wasn't at risk of being caught for potentially suspicious behavior. He didn't trust The Snake, and neither did Frisk. Both suspected The Snake was aware of this mistrust.

"—don't want to go on this stupid mission," Chara heard Suzy say as he stepped through The Snake's tent and found godmother and goddaughter in a heated discussion.

"Suzy, Suzy," The Snake said as she removed her earrings – Chara couldn't figure out how The Snake wore earrings when she didn't even have ears – and set them in her jewelry box on the nightstand. "There is nobody I trust more than you to keep an eye on the human."

Crossing her arms tighter, Suzy responded, "I don't think I like your plan very much."

With a sigh, The Snake turned around, approached Suzy, and placed her hands on Suzy's shoulders. "You know we need this human. Someone has to challenge Asgore. Might as well be a human. After all, only a human is strong enough to stand against him."

"What if he kills her?" Suzy asked. Not out of concern for Frisk, as it sounded to Chara, but out of expecting the worst to happen. "Asgore kills Frisk, we lose our little princess, and he has seven human souls. With seven souls, he can break the barrier and wage war on humanity – the exact opposite of what we want. What could you possibly hope to achieve that's worth this risk?"

Gripping Suzy's shoulders so tightly her nails dug into Suzy's skin, causing the teenager to wince, The Snake answered, "Frisk doesn't have to defeat Asgore."

The confusion on Suzy's face displayed just what Chara felt. "If you're not using Frisk to defeat Asgore, then what are you preparing to send her against him for?"

"To weaken him, of course." The Snake's claws sunk deeper into Suzy's shoulders, and the smaller monster bit her lower lip to keep from crying out. "If Frisk does manage to beat Asgore, great. However, I couldn't care less if he kills her as long as she seriously weakens him first."

"You're going to come in and finish the job," Suzy guessed, earning her having The Snake further sink her claws into Suzy's shoulder.

"You're going to finish the job," The Snake corrected. "However, in order to do so, I need you to get close to the human. Act friendly, say something nice, I don't care. Get her to trust you."

"What does Frisk trusting me have to do with her fighting King Asgore?"

"Don't be so stupid, Suzy. You and I both know the human has a history of sneaking away. If she trusts you, she will talk to you. If she talks to you, the easier it will be for you to get to know her. The better you know her, the sooner you will realize she's up to something. The point is to have her trust you enough to know what that something is. Or, at the very least, follow her from a distance if she decides to slip away without a word. You're her age. It shouldn't be that hard to convince her to be friends with you."

"No way," Suzy said, shaking out of The Snake's grasp. Blood trickled down her arm where The Snake's claws dug into her. "I don't do friendship."

"Wise girl for taking my teachings to heart." The Snake again held her hands together. "However, the human can be friends with you without your being her friend in return. She just has to believe you two are friends. You don't have to actually be friends."

When Suzy didn't respond, The Snake added, "Come on, Suzy. After your parents died, I took you in and raised you as my own. Everything I have done since has been for you. Don't you want to leave the Underground? Don't you want to see the blue sky? Don't you want to make a difference in the lives of all monsterkind?"

Although Chara couldn't be sure with Suzy's hair covering her eyes, the monster seemed to be looking at the ground and not at her godmother.

Brushing some of Suzy's hair over her shoulder, The Snake said, "If all else fails, you can always blackmail her."

Suzy's spine went rigid, and something about the comment left Chara feeling uneasy.

"The human was too trusting to think I would let her go alone to train," The Snake said, her claws stroking Suzy's unruly hair. "Little does she know you followed her each time. Little does she know you know all her secrets."

"No," Chara whispered, the world feeling to be pulled from under him as Suzy stated, "Frisk is a magician, and she can communicate with the spirit of Prince Chara Dreemurr."