Underearth/Book 2/Epilogue

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The journey to Athens took a few days. Upon arriving, Frisk immediately set out to find Artemis, first heading for the place they usually meet. Waiting there a few minutes, Frisk soon decided to start looking for her.

Athens, though seeming complex, was perhaps one of the simplest large cities; as everything was based on a literal grid. Even the city itself was just a massive square. Two roads, running perpendicular with each-other in the four-cardinal directions, divided the city into four quadrants. From there, everything was divided into smaller and smaller squares. The alleys then become simple, labyrinthian dividers between buildings. Due to the size of each alley labyrinth, the alleys were perhaps paradoxically the most dangerous, and the safest, places in the entire city.

Scouring from labyrinth to labyrinth, Frisk eventually came to an alley decorated with many, various drawings in chalk.

"Hello?" he called out, ready to run as announcing your presence in an unfamiliar alley can be fatal.

No answer.

Frisk, cautiously, stepped closer.

As he approached, there was a sudden thunk that came from deeper in, followed by the sound of cutting air. In the split-second that followed, a shield suddenly appeared in front of Frisk, catching something that flew straight at his chest. A second more, and the thing fell to the ground.

Looking down at the ground, Frisk saw an arrow. One that he remembered creating just days before.

"Artemis?" he said, picking up the arrow.

"Frisk?" a voice deeper in asked.

"Yes, it's me."

Frisk then heard the sound of wood hitting against stone, and the sound of footsteps. Next thing he knew, a blurry Artemis had appeared, charging him. Upon getting close, Artemis then tackle-hugged him, knocking him to the ground.

"I'm so sorry!" she said.

"Sorry? For what?" he asked.

"I... I saw that man dragging you away, and I just froze. I didn't know what to do. By the time I realized I should help you, you were gone."

Frisk thought back to try and figure out what she was talking about. He then remembered; William had hit him over the head and had dragged him off.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it." he said. "In fact, it's a good thing he did what he did."

Artemis, who was still on top of him, looked up at Frisk.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Hop off of me and I'll tell you. I've got quite the story to share."

Artemis got off of Frisk and helped him up. Before allowing him to share his story, she brought him into a small alcove almost completely decorated in bright, colorful drawings. In one of the corners lay a mattress, on top of which lay a small, rose-cheeked child that slept under a heavy quilt.

"Amelia." Artemis said, gently shaking the sleeping child. "I've got someone for you to meet."

The child coughed a bit, then opened her jewel-like eyes.

"Amelia." Artemis said. "I would like you to meet Frisk." she said, pointing to Frisk.

"Hello Amelia." Frisk said, crouching down and extending his hand.

Amelia looked over at Artemis.

"So, this is the boy you never shut up about?" she said weakly.

Artemis went a bit red as Amelia weakly chuckled a bit.

In a desperate attempt to avoid questions, Artemis turned back to Frisk. "So, you said you had quite the story?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Frisk then told him of his adventure in the Underground; of the Monsters that lived there, and of the great trial of getting them out.

"Wow!" Amelia said with stars in her eyes once Frisk finished.

"Yeah." he replied. "Been thinking about it a bit, and I'm actually planning on heading back to Mount Ebott to get something. Would you like to come with?"

Artemis looked over at Amelia, who looked over at Artemis.

"Can we?" Amelia begged. "Oh please, let's go! It sounds like fun!"

Artemis looked over at Frisk. "When do you plan to go?" she asked.

"As soon as possible." he replied.

"Would you mind waiting a few days for Amelia to get better?"

Frisk looked over at Amelia, who was now staring at him, eyes wide and lip out.

"Yeah, I can wait." he eventually said.

"YAAAY!!!"

"Alright, that's enough excitement for you, lay back down so you can rest." Artemis told Amelia.

Once Amelia laid back down, Frisk and Artemis stepped out of the alcove.

"I'd best be heading back to my alley." Frisk said. "It was a long journey, and I'm pretty tired."

"I understand." Artemis said. "Come back soon. It's good to see you're back."

"Good to be back."

Frisk then exited the alley, heading for his own.

Upon reaching the alley, Frisk immediately knew something was wrong. Though he couldn't explain what, he could feel it. Walking further in, Frisk found why he'd been bothered. His tent, and everything around it, was now ash. Burned by a ravenous fire.

Looking around at the scorched remains, he could tell that the fire was lit a few days before, perhaps even the day the barrier was destroyed. Cautiously, Frisk stepped away and back out the alley.

From there, Frisk went back to Artemis's alley and explained what happened.

"Who could have done it?" she asked.

"I don't know." Frisk replied.

At this time, Artemis was smoldering some meat.

"Right now, all I need to do is find a new home. At least for now." he continued.

Frisk then looked directly at Artemis.

"Artemis," he said. "uh, would you mind if I... stayed here with you?"

Artemis froze at hearing the question.

"At least until the trip. I don't really have anywhere else to go." Frisk explained.

"Well..." Artemis said, looking back at Amelia, who was sleeping on the mattress. "if you can help me with Amelia, then I don't see why not."

"Alright. I've been doing that indirectly for a while, anyway, might as well help directly."

So, for the next few days, Frisk stuck around with Artemis and Amelia, helping nurse Amelia back to good health. A few days after Amelia's fever broke, they all packed up their things, and started off north-east, towards Mount Ebott.

Over the many days, Monsters had made their presence known to the world, and were slowly moving from the Underground out onto the surface world. The Humans of the world, or at the very least, most of them, had welcomed the Monsters with open arms, curious to learn more about this forgotten civilization buried beneath the ground.

When Frisk, Artemis, and Amelia had finally arrived at the plateaued path near the summit, there was a Monster there, hard at work making sure everyone transferred from the Underground to the surface smoothly.

"Hello." Frisk said when approaching the Monster.

"Please excuse me, I am very busy." it said before looking up to see who it was. "OH! Frisk!" he said after looking up. "I had no idea you were coming. Whatever can I help you with today?"

"I'm just here to get something I'd forgotten to get before I left."

"Completely understandable. Might I ask, who are these two Humans you have brought with?" the Monster asked, referring to Artemis and Amelia.

"Oh, this is Artemis." Frisk said, pointing to the taller one, "and this is Amelia." he then said, pointing to the shorter one.

The Monster simply looked between them.

"Hmm..." it finally said. "Happy to meet you Artemis! You too, Amelia." the Monster then turned back to Frisk. "Well Frisk, head right on in."

The Monster then went back to their work.

Frisk, Artemis, and Amelia walked into the cavern. Not much further, they soon came to Asgore's throne room. Further ahead, when they reached Asgore's house, Artemis and Amelia opted to look around while Frisk went off to grab what he came back for.

Much of the house was empty, having been cleared out when Asgore had collected his belongings. Hoping that it was still there, Frisk opened the door to Asriel's room; the first door in the hallway.

Everything was how it was. Nothing, not even the dust, had been disturbed. It was like a grave. Not wanting to disturb anything more than he had to, Frisk quickly entered the room and grabbed what he came back for; the dagger sitting on the nightstand on the barren half of the room. Once acquired, Frisk exited as quickly as he entered.

Frisk, Artemis, and Amelia then spent the next few hours touring the Underground, looking around at what had not been abandoned as of yet. Upon finishing, they exited the way they came in, and started back to Athens.

Once within a few minutes' walk from Athens, Frisk knew he was out of time. You see, over the past two weeks, Frisk had been pondering on the offer Toriel had given him; the chance to come live with her. Frisk had wanted to accept, but his thoughts dwelled with Artemis and Amelia. He'd eventually decided on what he wanted to do.

"Artemis." Frisk said when they were in sight of the northern moat street.

"What is it?" she asked.

"I've been thinking, do you really want to live on the streets for all of your life?"

Artemis stopped walking and turned back to Frisk.

"What brought this up?" she asked.

"Well... just after the barrier was destroyed, Toriel, one of the Monsters, asked me to come live with her."

"Wow, really? Why didn't you accept?"

"I... didn't want to just abandon you. You're my friend, and I wouldn't quite feel right if I was living in peace and security, while you were still scrounging around for everything. So, I was wondering if you and Amelia wanted to come with me?"

Artemis opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a scream shot out across the area. Artemis immediately held Amelia close and looked around, while Frisk drew the dagger and looked around as well.

Nearby, in front of an abandoned building, Frisk saw it; a female rabbit Monster was running out of a building, her clothes in tatters. Just behind her, a Human male emerged from the building as well, grabbed hold of the Monster, and dragged them back inside.

Without thinking further, Frisk charged at the house. Artemis saw him start running.

"What! What is it?" Artemis called out.

"Someone's in danger!" he yelled back, stepping onto the barren moat street towards the building.

Artemis, grabbing hold of Amelia, ran after Frisk.

Once Frisk reached the building, he grabbed the doorknob and opened the door.

Within the rotting halls, Frisk could hear screams and cries for help. Cautiously, Frisk, holding tight onto the dagger, ascended the staircase in front of him.

This was an old apartment building, where each floor was connected to a staircase accessible from the front door.

After beginning his climb, Artemis and Amelia made it in as well.

"Frisk!" she hissed.

Frisk looked back at Artemis.

"What?" he asked.

"Remember what happened last time you carelessly charged to someone's aid? You gotta be more careful."

"Yeah, yeah." Frisk said, heading back to climbing the stairs.

"Stay close to me." Artemis said to Amelia.

Artemis normally wouldn't let Amelia anywhere close to danger, but Frisk needed her help, and taking Amelia home would take far too long. If it came down to fight or flee, she would have to fight, at least long enough for Amelia to get somewhere safe.

The trio ascended the stairs to the third floor, where the screaming sounded like it was coming from.

"Would you shut her up, already?" a voice yelled.

Just as Frisk got to the room the sound was coming from, it was muffled.

"Finally. Tear the rest of her clothes off, I'm tired of waiting." Someone within said.

Frisk froze when he heard the voice this time.

*No...* he thought. *It can't be...*

Frisk burst open the door. Three men were within the room, along with the rabbit Monster, who was tied to a bed. Two of the men were tearing the clothes off her, while the third was supervising. When the door suddenly flew open, all four sets of eyes looked to who had interrupted.

Upon seeing who it was, the Monster managed to pry the gag set in her mouth from the distracted hands of those around her and spat it out.

"Frisk! Thank god, please help me!!!" the Monster pleaded.

The one watching turned around completely to fully face the intruder.

"Frisk, eh." he said.

Frisk swallowed hard. "W-William." he said, holding fast to the dagger. "I'm only gonna tell you this once. Let her go."

"Or what? You'll kill me again?" he said.

William's eyes then caught sight of Artemis, who had just arrived at the door.

"Aw, look at this, boys, little Frisky's got himself a girlfriend."

The two laughed, stepping away from the Monster and coming up behind William.

Frisk couldn't tell why, but the three looked much bulkier than before.

"Hand over the knife, lil' bro. We don't want to make a mess in the presence of these ladies, now do we?" William said.

Frisk charged him.

Once he got close enough, William grabbed Frisk's knife-arm and threw him to the other side of the room.

"Frisk!" Artemis called out.

William took this moment to reach out and grab Artemis around the neck, pulling her into the room and up into the air.

"Amy... run..." she forced out with what little air she had.

Amelia started to run, but was grabbed by one of the two other men, and was dragged into the room then pinned to the floor, belly up.

"NO!" Frisk shouted, getting back up and charging William.

William's other henchman grabbed Frisk and pulled him into the air as well, pinning him against the wall. Upon being pinned, Frisk dropped the dagger to the ground.

"You know, Frisk, I gotta thank you." William said, admiring Amelia. "I haven't had anybody this young since the Hole closed. You sure do know how to pick 'em."

Upon hearing this, Artemis went to draw her sword from its scabbard, but William grabbed her arm and slammed it against his leg. A loud snap echoed off the walls, followed by the screams of Artemis.

"I think I'll start with her, though." he said, pinning her to the ground and ripping her top off.

Frisk, who'd been struggling against his captor for a while now, brought his leg around and kicked his captor in the balls. The henchman dropped Frisk to the ground, bringing both hands over his crotch and crouching down to protect them from further damage.

Frisk, now free, grabbed the dagger and charged William with it, stabbing him right in the gut.

William let go of Artemis, who was now in shock, and stood up, the dagger still sticking in him.

You know, a lot of layers of cloth really *does* protect somebody." William said before grabbing Frisk around the throat and pinning him to the ground. "Too bad you didn't think of it yourself." he then said, pulling the knife out and sinking it into Frisk's eye.

Frisk let out an ear-splitting scream. William then pulled the knife out and sunk it into Frisk's other eye. Once Frisk had lost the energy to continue screaming, William pulled the knife out of there too and stuck it into Frisk's throat.

Frisk then felt himself be dragged to the wall. As his life slowly slipped away, the last thing he could hear was the screaming of Amelia.

Frisk opened his eyes. He could see once again, though he was in an infinite black, floating in an endless void.

"How did I lose...?" Frisk asked the endlessness, still emotionally wounded from what had happened. "When I fought William in the warehouse, I overpowered his easily. Why was I the one to be overpowered this time...?"

Frisk could hear a hissing whisper tickle his ear.

"You were not strong enough..." the whisper hissed slowly.

"Then how can I get strong enough? Strong enough to protect those I care about, those I love?" Frisk asked the whisper.

"You already know the answer to that..." the whisper then said.

Frisk pondered on that. "... I already know the answer...?"

"But of course. The answer you seek... is LOV!"

"LOV...?"

"Yes... You had gained it before, and you stopped William from harming those you love."

"But I murdered so many people..." Frisk said. "There must be another way."

"There is no other way." the whisper hissed. "Yes, you must kill people in order to gain LOV, but you can just RESET, and it will be like nothing ever happened."

Frisk thought long and hard on this.

"I... don't want to kill anyone..." Frisk said.

"Then William will continue to harm those you love."

Frisk went silent again.

"What must I do?" he asked.

"K I L L E V E R Y O N E"

Frisk's stomach churned.

"Once everyone is dead, you can bring them all back with your powers, and you will have the power to protect them."

Frisk thought long and hard about it. Eventually, he spoke once again.

"Alright..." he said. "I'll do it."

With that, Frisk pulled out the pocketwatch, which had "RESET" emblazoned across its face, and RESET.