An imposing black tapestry hung from the ceiling. Crimson threads weaved a chain of endless loops, forming a ring that had no beginning nor end.
Mezil’s Mark -- the red butterfly -- stood seared into the center of that circle. It glowed with the Determination of life.
Cane in hand, the Supreme Judge walked towards his seat under the flag of time.
Papyrus gawked at the fine threadwork. From this meeting onwards, he’ll be in his ‘battle body’. The design may be cartoonish, but Lucidia’s analysis indicated that it’s not a prop. It will provide protection for the uncertain days ahead.
He carried the two flower pots in his arms. They tried to snap the hero out of his daze.
“Earth to Papyrus,” said Chara. “Do you read me?”
Flowey grumbled from the lack of response. “You’re blocking the way. This is not the time to be an idiot.”
Those three provide an endless source of amusement. Mezil wouldn’t show it on his face, but he did welcome the slight banter. He’s not looking forward to the briefing either.
“WHAT IS THAT?” Papyrus asked.
Gaelic sighed as he slipped between the tight gaps. “Me nick fer that thing be ‘The Omen’: as bleak and glum as its dark shades.”
Pointing his cane upwards, Mezil explained: “See my Mark? As long it’s there, it tells everyone in the know that we’re dealing with an active time loop. Only The Spire and the Seers’ Headquarters have these installed.”
“We got ours in the lobby, aye,” Said Gaelic. “The moment our Grams detect that Mark, it sends out a signal. That way, us o’ bone won’t ever miss the memo.”
Lucidia placed her hand on the rounded pauldrons. “This way, Papyrus. I’ll lead you to your seat.”
Mezil waited for the rest to settle down first. Cenna and Gaelic sat down on the left side of the table. His wife, Papyrus, and the two flower children occupied the right seats.
Everyone now in place, Mezil himself settled down to chair the meeting.
So he began with the following statement: “We are now at a critical junction. The Trial of the Crimson Hall must be completed in a single pass.”
“Single pass, huh?” Cenna crossed her arms. “As if things can’t get any worse.”
Papyrus asked: “WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?”
She explained, “An all-or-nothing situation, Cinnamon Roll. One chance, one life, no continues remaining. No SAVES or RESETS either.”
Flowey frowned, skeptical. “Is that even possible?”
“It happens more often than you think, flower boy.”
Mezil nodded in agreement. “I am here to explain the events that led up to this day. Consider it a primer for everyone involved. Seer Lucidia, would you please?”
“Yes.”
Serving as lady secretary, Lucidia tapped her tablet to initiate some commands. Projectors shone down on the table, recreating 3D holographic images of their agenda.
It’s a miniature scale of Mount Ebott.
“As you all know,” said Mezil, “Chara fell into the Underground in the early years of the 21st century.”
The computer displayed a police photograph of the rosy-cheeked child. Their future flower version was visibly discomforted by the reminder of their past.
“It led to the breakdown of the last remaining old Gungnir cult. With their ancestral spirits pitted against their descendants, the Persona of that time initiated the Great Ebott Razing.”
Fire consumed the once serene greenery of the model scale. It left behind a charred land of ash and despair. Icons of ghosts littered the land. Their hauntings drew humans from the outside, transforming them into the members of the dead one way or another.
“Many who visited the site post-fire reported frequent incidents of the supernatural. While Vanquishers worked around the clock to destroy the remnants of Gungnir’s spirits, civilians flocked to the site for their own reasons: the thrill for the unknown, the mystery of the occults, the greed for fame, and so on. They continued to trespass despite restrictions and warnings.”
“Restless spirits prey on the weak-hearted and the arrogant. They trap the living to their doom, or encourage the vulnerable to end their own lives. It inspired horror stories that added unto the preexisting legend of Mount Ebott.”
Chara recited: “‘Those who climb the mountain never return’.”
“Indeed,” said Mezil. “The highest death count happened in the first ten years after the fire, gradually tapering down to present day’s low records. Please present the numbers, Seer Lucidia.”
The sapphire lady created multiple copies of a bar chart to be distributed to the rest. Flowey and Chara shared Papyrus’ copy.
While they read, he observed their reactions together with his wife. Cenna and Gaelic took the statistics as plain facts. They’re professionals used to harsh realities.
Papyrus on the other hand… he’s disturbed. “TWENTY PEOPLE DIED THE YEAR BEFORE WE EMERGED? AND THEY’RE MOSTLY SUICIDES? WITH MORE REPORTED MISSING? BUT, WHY?! I THOUGHT HUMANS ARE DETERMINED COMPARED TO US MONSTERS!”
“Another common misconception,” said Mezil. “There are many factors. None pleasant nor relevant to this meeting. The crucial fact is this: children are not the only casualties in that region.”
“And yet the troublemakers demanded specifically for the corpses of ‘Six Children’. Excluding Chara.”
“Okay,” Flowey frowned. “Now THAT is fishy!”
“Never trusted those lightning-head’s shit for a reason.” Typical Cenna talk right there.
Angry swearing aside, Mezil agreed with her. “Seer Lucidia traced this demand to its original source: an internet conspiracy site. I believe it’s her jurisdiction to further elaborate.”
“Thank you, sir.” Lucidia bowed her head as part of the proper meeting procedure. She then began the explanation of her findings.
“Cenna’s interview with Queen Toriel confirmed that she had cared a total of eight human children, with six passing on beyond this world. She explained that they all fell from a specific hole right above The Ruins.”
“Cross-examining her testimony, I had found reports of numerous personal belongings scattered around the perimeters of the Surface breach. For example: handkerchiefs, photos, phones, shoes, wallets, toys, and so on.”
Gaelic lifted his hand. “Sorry to interrupt, m’lady. But ah got a question on me mind.”
“Please present your query,” Lucidia replied.
“How many o’ these deaths over the years were other wee curious ones? Ah mean, besides the Six?”
“4.04 percent. Speculations indicate ‘exploration mishaps’ to be the most likely cause of child fatalities, though suicides remain a definite possibility.”
He remained silent for a moment. “Cannae say if that soothed me heart a single bit.”
“It makes no damn sense either,” said Cenna. “I learned from Mez that The Barrier is designed to prevent anyone with a SOUL from crossing either side. Keeps the monsters in and the humans out. So how the heck did Chara survive in the first place, let alone seven others?”
Chara tossed an insulted glance at Cenna. “I bet my entire chocolate stash that it’s got something to do with Determination. That’s the go-to answer for anything weird nowadays.”
“Adults have Determination too.”
Lucidia interjected the argument. “Chara is half-accurate. The answer lies in the children’s Psychia. Chara and Frisk are Red Majors. The six others are Red Minors. And chances are Gungnir knows this too, lending credit to the rumours.”
There was a small uproar from the left side of the table.
“What the heck, Lucy?! All Reds???”
“Cor Blimey, how are ya sure?!”
The flower children blinked at the commotion. Flowey quipped: “Can someone explain what are they talking about?”
Mezil wanted to speak up, but Papyrus beat him to it. The youngster did his best to provide a detailed yet understandable explanations to the flower kids.
With the short tutorial done, the flower children were brought up to speed.
“That’s interesting,” said Flowey. “So humans are like puzzle pieces of colour. And a ‘Red Minor’ means they have a small piece of ‘Determination Magic’ that makes up their SOUL as a whole. Right?”
“That is correct,” Lucidia confirmed. “I can confirm the the Six are each Red Minors based on numerous key factors.”
“Because they all had the power to RESET?”
“Yes. But it's more than so.”
She wiped away the image of Mount Ebott, replacing them with a different image. A 3D scale model of Doctor Gaster accompanied a pillar-like hexagonal device.
“What’s that?” Cenna tilted her head, curious.
In a grim, serious manner Papyrus answered her: “UNCLE GASTER’S CHRONOGRAPH.”
Gaelic ran his hands up the skull, troubled and in disbelief. “Oy, oy, oy, are ya fookin’ me in two ways? Yer saying doctor goop built a miniature Chronograph without a Living Victory? How?!”
Mezil spotted a tension from the young one. The events that led up to the Core Incident were unpleasant to recall.
To lighten his burden, the judge interceded. “Papyrus. I’ll explain, if you don’t mind.”
“GO AHEAD. I THINK YOU UNDERSTAND BETTER.”
“Thank you.” Mezil then continued, “Gaelic, Doctor Gaster had built a Determination Extraction Machine. He then used it to extract DT from the Psychia of the Six. After a period of rest, he’d repeat the process until he had enough to construct the Chronograph proper. Think of it as a blood bank system.”
“Seer Lucidia confirmed that the rate of replenishing and the extracted volume corresponds with Red Minors.”
“Have any of ya seen this machine?” Gaelic asked.
Pointing to herself, Cenna replied: “I didn’t only just ‘see’ it Snakey, I watched it work! That machine could drain Frisky all the way to normal. Frisky!”
“They got these canisters to collect DT too,” she continued, “Back then, we stuffed it all into the exorcism reagents. But Doctor Alphys told me that they’d normally distill them pure. If I remember it right, it’s a glowing red liquid with the consistency of thin oil.”
Gaelic’s bones started to rattle. Still, he had enough composure to remain seated. “Me screams o’ baffled horror can wait. Carry on with yer reports, aye.”
Again, Mezil passed the baton to Lucidia to resume the briefing. The woman switched the images to a diagram of a bubble underneath a mountain, representing the mythical Barrier that isolated the Dreemurr Kingdom.
“For the proper conclusion, I must first explain the circumstances behind the Barrier’s construction.”
The holograms generated the faces of the first Seven Human Magi with their corresponding SOUL colour.
“The Seven Sages scouted seven humans of magical potential. However, one almost did not meet the minimum requirements.”
Lucidia isolated the Red Magi: a young girl with freckles and dark hair.
“This girl would one day become the Magi’s first Supreme Judge. Her name: Azali Yurum Ariella. Though she is a Red Major, constant suppression from the Legendary Hero’s tainted Keys of Fate prevented her from growing at the expected rate.”
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“As a result, she’s much weaker compared to her peers. This mismatch of strength created a flaw in an otherwise impenetrable system. In time, cracks form at the points of least resistance. No one noticed it because layers of rock and earth served as a physical shell around the Barrier itself.”
“What if this shell failed too? A section above the Ruins crumbled, exposing this weakness to the world of humans.”
“For a person to survive, they must fulfill the following criteria:”
“First, they must be a pre-adolescent child. Any older and their bodies would be too large to slip through the cracks. Thus, they will disintegrate within the Barrier itself.”
“Second, they must have Determination as one of their Psychia traits. Without this as either a Major or Minor, their SOUL will dissolve at a much more rapid pace.”
“Third, they must pass through this crack at a certain safe velocity. Too slow and the density will trap them within certain doom. Too fast, and inevitable collision on the ground will inflict fatal injuries.”
“The only place where all three requirements are fulfilled was the hole above the Ruins.”
Flower Chara placed a thoughtful leaf over their supposed chin. “Huh. No wonder Frisk and I could never walk out of the Barrier alone. We kept dying because we were too slow.”
Mezil nodded. “Even a Red Minor can initiate time travel in an environment devoid of Determination. As Supreme Judge, it is part of my duties to report incidents of temporal nature. Every Magi and Seer will then attempt to identify the responsible individual. We succeed most of the time. However…”
Taking the cue, Lucidia changed the presentation. She showed everyone the photographs of the suspected missing children and laid out a time chart.
Red arrows indicated the moment they used their time-travelling powers. Some children used it more than others.
They’re dubbed the ‘Fallen Children’, numbered ‘2’ to ‘7’. Chara was the first and Frisk the eighth, both not included in this picture.
“We were unable to reach those who had gone beyond the Barrier.”
Mezil pointed to the date written on the base of the portraits. “Here’s the date when they were last seen.”
His finger then moved to the time-chart. “And this is the first recorded time-loop for that specific child. As you can see, each began soon after their respective vanishing. The Persona and I had lived through two of such incidents within our lifetime.”
Lucidia nodded. “I can confirm Judge Thyme’s testimony.”
“As you are all aware,” Mezil continued, “It takes the union of one human and one monster to pass the Barrier without any risk. The Magi waited at the entrance hoping to properly receive one of these merged entities to initiate diplomacy talks.”
“That day never arrived. When more children vanished, the likelihood of breaking the Barrier from the inside increased.”
“The last child fell during my time as Supreme Judge.” Mezil said, “None of us knew if the Dreemurr Nation managed to salvage the First Fallen Child’s Psychia. On the err of caution, I issued an alert of a possible breach.”
“I also arranged surveying teams to check Mount Ebott for any suspicious changes. Tasked my best Artificers, both Red Majors, with reinforcing any weak spots.”
Cenna widened her eyes at Mezil. He knew he had to face this sooner or later. Despite being a member of a Magus family, she was just a normal civilian during that time. She didn’t have the authorization to know the full story.
Now, she does. The judge hoped that he won’t need to buy a new table for revealing such a painful fact.
“Papa and Mama… They… they started hiking Mount Ebott three years before Frisky was born. Said it’s a new job assignment. Mez, you’re telling me that they were checking the Barrier’s stability all the while?”
“Yes.” Mezil answered. “Your parents were some of the best candidates for the task at hand. They thought so too.”
“I bet there’s NDA involved.”
“…That’s right. It’s standard protocol.”
“Yeah. I understand. I mean…” Cenna paused for a deep breath. “I signed a shitload of that too. So. I get it.”
“MISS AUNT?” Papyrus asked, “DO YOU NEED TO LEAVE THE ROOM?”
“Naaaaah, no need.” The spunky one leaned back against her chair and grinned. “I ain’t dumb. Pretty much figured it out when I heard all about the Core Incident. It’s just. Uh…”
Incomprehensible mutterings flowed out under her breath. Try as she might, Cenna won’t fool the man who watched her grow up.
He’s sure she said something along the lines of: ‘It fucking hurts to hear it in person.’
It didn’t take her long to settle down. No furniture met their untimely end despite everything.
“Right,” she said, “Where were we again? Time-wimey shenanigans. Okay. So… Whenever one of the surviving kids played with time, you notice it right?”
“Correct,” Mezil replied. “There’s a certain goat boy in this room who knows this better than anyone else. Isn’t that right, Prince Asriel?”
Mezil replaced the images of human children with Flowey’s flowersome face. His timeline chart was riddled with more red arrows than anything else so far.
How the plant wilted under the Supreme Judge’s glare: a fitting reaction for his ignorant carelessness.
The judge continued to turn up the heat. Let that brat suffer for a little longer. His voice lowered to a tone of severity, which says plenty considering his default reputation.
“The primary trait of us Red Majors is ‘memory permanence’: that means wherever the cosmos turns, we will know. We will remember. Under special circumstances, two copies of the Keys of Fate may exist but there is only one ‘clock’ to rewind. The result is an inevitable deadlock.”
Flowey cleared his throat, uncomfortable from the attention. The boy tried to argue his case. “I-if I’m the problem, why didn’t you just rewind time before I was created?”
“I did,” Mezil replied. “But it’s pointless. The events that led up to your creation were set in motion long ago when we cast the Barrier. They're impossible to change from the outside.”
Chara slapped a vine down on the table. “Objection! Azzie doesn’t remember any of that!”
“Of course he doesn’t. No one remembers the time before they existed. Due to this, you ended up repeating the exact same pattern of RESETS.”
Flowey read the chart again. He muttered to himself the approximate events that made him push time’s buttons. It’s not clear, but Mezil was sure he mentioned something about his parents, a fanclub, and getting trashed by the ‘trashbag’.
“They… match,” so said the boy. “Hey. At least eventually I got bored. Look here! The chart gets wider. Less arrows. Less looping. I-I stopped abusing my powers! So you guys on the Surface could live your lives. Right?”
There’s no escape. Try as he might to whitewash his actions, the judge refused to be swayed. In the end the guilty flower zipped his little mouth shut.
“Well,” Mezil continued, “It doesn’t change the fact that this issue had been a longstanding thorn in my side. Magi worldwide worked around the clock to find a cause. A futile endeavour as we now know.”
“Seer Lucidia and I eventually began to reconsider the scenarios surrounding the Ebott disappearances. If the monsters lacked one human SOUL, they might attempt to create an artificial one. We presumed that you were the results of Psychia experiments.”
Lucidia reported: “Doctor W.D. Gaster’s attempts confirmed our hypothesis, though his methods differed. He chose the path of mass Amalgamation. The current population of the Dreemurr Nation matches the requirement for one human Psychia or SOUL. Papyrus and Judge Thyme both witnessed the past first hand.”
“Aye,” Gaelic acknowledged it. “That be bad science right there. Not that I’m all surprised though. Our good sir had Bravery as part o’ his traits. Without guidance, he’s gonna go radical.”
“Like you,” Flowey pointed out.
Sir Snake hissed and let out a crow’s caw, of all the possible responses. The flower decided that the subject about his man’s sanity was not worth pursuing.
Instead, the boy turned his attention back to the matter at hand. “What about Frisk? I bet you mapped them out too.”
Frisk’s time-chart did not lay on a horizontal plane. It had to be propped upwards as a three-dimensional model of an entire tree. All branches except one looped back towards the ‘root’, which was the beginning of their Underground adventure.
Flowey once again regretted asking. “I think I’m gonna get a headache.”
“Same here, flower boy,” said Cenna. “Can I say ‘holy shit’? Because that deserves a holy shit. I knew it’s gonna be lots of looping, but hell I did not expect THAT much! How do you even make sense of this?!”
“OH, IT’S EASY,” Papyrus exclaimed. “FRISK’S ACTIONS ARE SPLIT INTO CLUSTERS REPRESENTED BY ONE OF THESE THICK BRANCHES. SEE THIS TINY FINE PRINT? THAT’S A LABEL.”
“THIS ONE ONE HERE IS THE DARK DUSTY PATH. AND THIS ONE ON THE OPPOSITE END TELLS THE BRIGHT PEACE PATH. THEN THERE'S ALL THE EXPERIMENTAL TIMES IN BETWEEN. THEY SURE BROKE THE BARRIER A TON!”
“OH. WOWIE. FRISK REALLY WENT PLACES AFTER THE BADNESS! THERE ARE SO MANY FOREIGN NAMES ON THESE LAST COUPLE OF BRANCHES. SOME OF THEM SOUND LIKE SOMETHING FROM ALPHYS’ ANIME COLLECTION.”
Lucidia leaned closer to Mezil to drop in a whisper. “I must say his ability to comprehend complex technical details betrays his usual demeanour. Though, his crafting skills definitely require training.”
Mezil glanced at that direction one more time to make sure they’re kept occupied. He then responded: “He’s quite a savant.”
“CHARA, WHY DID FRISK KILL EVERYONE?” Papyrus asked.
The young Seer presented a vital question. It’s next on the agenda list anyway.
Now the attention moved towards Chara, the ex-possessor of Frisk’s body. If there’s anyone in this room who knows Frisk’s inner secrets… it’s definitely that child.
They took the pressure with a slight sense of defiance: grounded compared to the more emotional Flowey.
Crossing over their leaves, Chara said, “Hmph. You guys want the facts? I’ll give you the facts only if you ask the right questions. Why did they kill everyone, Papy? Because they can.”
They’re not going to blab everything in one go. No matter. Mezil had his mental shovel ready to dig deep.
“Because they ‘can’?” Mezil said, “Surely there’s more behind that. How much influence did you have over them?”
Chara scoffed, “I expected you to ask better questions than that.”
“Hmph. So you weren’t anywhere as strong as you’d like to believe.”
“Wha?! I-I didn’t say anything!”
There’s something he learned from all these years of judging: a little educated guessing and a straight face goes a long way. People's reactions tell more about themselves than they’d like to believe.
“Your deflection of answers indicates shame. Shame has links to powerlessness. If Frisk is sound in mind and body, you have very little influence over their actions. Their illness was the only reason you could puppet them. I do know the limitations of DEMON possessions, mind you.”
Chara grumbled. “Who are you, Sans? Guh. Yeah, yeah, I can only control Frisk if they are weak. Or, if they let me do so.”
“When… ‘problems’ start happening on the Surface -- which you guys definitely played a huge part of with your adoption nonsense -- they started to understand my bitterness against humanity. We talked. I reasoned. Then I gave them a suggestion: if you’re not strong enough, why not try killing one or two folks for a change?”
“That,” Cenna pointed out, “Is definitely Gungnir shit right there. The Ubermensch logic or whatever we call nowadays.”
“I DON’T UNDERSTAND,” said Papyrus.
“It’s another language for ‘The Ultimate Human’. That so-called ideal of the strongest. Part of their philosophy is to throw away anyone who’s ‘useless’ to their goals.”
Unconvinced, Chara argued: “Isn’t that the same with you guys? Every agent you deploy puts their lives at risk.”
“But we don’t demand redemption from suicide!”
Mezil cleared his throat to get their attention. “Excuse me, but we’re running off topic. Back to our question. So, what did you two discover? Who was your first victim?”
“…Papyrus.” Chara glanced left and right. “We chose him because we know that he’s the only one in the Underground who won’t kill Frisk for real. A literal safe bet. That’s also when I took over Frisk’s body for the first time. Or rather, they gave me the controls. They didn’t know how to decapitate someone. I do.”
“I expected Toriel to be the answer. She was the first blockade, isn’t she?”
“Frisk couldn’t bring themselves to kill Mom. At first.”
“I see. Carry on.”
Chara continued, “Well, that changed stuff a tiny bit. Undyne railed on us. Refused to reconcile. Trashbag Comedian was nowhere to be seen. We didn’t meet him until the Judgement Hall. Pissed off alright. Called us a dirty brother killer and told us to shove off.”
“I can imagine.”
Risky and borderline suicidal it may be, Gaelic’s confrontation exposed the depths of Sans’ seraphic inclination. They care nothing other than the will of their deity.
Mezil then said: “Then you two attempted to cross the Barrier without the necessary requirements.”
“Ahuh,” Chara nodded. “Omega Flowey happened again, we rode through the mindscrew event, the Six saved our butts, we get a phone call from Sans, then we’re back at the beginning. This time, Frisk killed just one Froggit.”
“You’re saying that Frisk decided that?” Troubling implications. Very troubling.
“Yup. They negotiated with me. Pick the smallest, most insignificant guy and see if that does anything. Well, yeah. Undyne railed on us again. But because Papyrus didn’t die we didn’t get called a dirty brother killer, whee. He called us gross for experimenting though.”
Sans’ combination of colours allowed him to perceive the exact density of stains on a person. That Cyan aspect would narrow down an otherwise giant text of needless information.
Mezil wondered if the seraphim noticed the curse planted on his abdomen. His wife tried to conceal it but… did he manage to pry past the blinds?
He snapped himself out of it. Focus on Frisk. No other distractions.
“Did you encourage them to ramp up the killing?”
Chara shook their head. “Frisk scaled things up on their own. Anything that’s too tough for them to handle, they called for me and we’d switch. Like that time when we had to kill Mom.”
“I showed them how assassinations work in reality. Earn the target’s trust. Get close. Then wham, plunge the blade.”
“Frisk took the lessons to heart. The crazy old me was soooo proud that they finally transcended their weakness. That’s… when things started to get a little creepy even by my standards.”
“Why?” asked Mezil.
“I started to get super excited for no reason. I think Cenna told me before that I became drugged high with Determination? All that epic demonic Persona-like talk? Yeah. Started from there.”
Chara admitted. “I became ecstatic and obsessed, while Frisk turned cold like a literal machine.”
Overdose, confirmed. Mezil addressed his aide. “Could you bring up their Psychia details?”
Lucidia did as requested. She brought up an image of Frisk’s SOUL. It read: ‘100% Red’.
The Seer explained, “Cenna’s reports confirmed that Frisk is a Pure Red Major. They therefore have no secondary traits to guide their actions. They can be determined to be kind, yet determined to be cruel. It confirms our speculations, Judge Thyme.”
“ …Indeed. Frisk had once devolved into an egomaniac: blinded by their power. What made them turn around?”
Chara groaned out loud. “The Trashbag. Unfortunately. Frisk found hope in the most hopeless guy in the entire Underground. Like, ‘finally there’s some to help me!’. Har har, very funny. First, you gotta get him to MOVE. Problem with him is that he doesn’t move unless you really push him to do so.”
“If you ask me, Undyne the Undying was a million times more satisfying an opponent. At least it’s a challenge to fight her. Sans? He’s distilled frustration.”
It’s time to recollect some thoughts.
Frisk bore great potential. If there’s a description that befits that child, it would be ‘gold’. Precious, malleable, conductible. It’s the only metal that could be rolled out thinner than a sheet of paper, and yet be one of the best conductors in electronics.
However, gold also became the root of many evils. Its vibrant history sank deep in the blood of innocents, inflicted by those who saw it as a conduit of might.
Mezil had come to a decision.
“It’s clear now that Frisk would excel in anything they put their minds to. All the more why I must put them through the fire. Burn off the slag, so to speak. Such is the purpose of the Crimson Hall.”
“What if they fail this time?” asked Flowey.
“…They will be treated as a DEMON. I can’t stuff them into a flower, or any vessel for the matter. Containments will only work if I’m stronger than my target. Not the inverse.”
“DON’T BE SO NEGATIVE.” Papyrus exclaimed, ever positive. “FRISK WILL PASS. I KNOW IT! THEIR HEART IS RIGHT AND TRUE EVER SINCE THEY STOPPED DOING A VIOLENCE!”
Pointing towards an unfinished branch on the top of the massive tree, he said: “LOOK, THE FUTURE IS NOT YET SET IN STONE!”
His glove then reached just too close.
Mezil wanted to stop the young Seer. ‘Wanted’, was the key word. Alas he was too slow, distracted by the speech.
When those fingertips made contact, an orange fire erupted from his right socket. Papyrus reeled. Groaned. Cried out from a struggle that he may or may not be conscious about.
“Papyrus!” The flower tried to shake him out of it. “Snap out of it! You just recovered, danggit. Don’t go flopping on us right now!”
The fire extinguished the instant Flowey finished his sentence. Yet, the youngster had the expression of a man who had witnessed trouble in the realm of possibility.
In a daze, Papyrus asked out loud: “WHERE IS ‘LEMURIA’?”
A stunned silence froze in the air. Mezil made sure not a single soul leaked out the names of any of the hidden monster nations.
“Seer, what did you see?” Now, more than ever, Mezil must know.
“I SAW… THEIR ROYAL GUARDS HURRYING A LOT OF MONSTERS. LED THEM TO A PLACE FACING THE OCEAN. THEY HAD PLENTY OF GIANT SHIPS WAITING FOR THEM, AND EVERYONE CLIMBED THE RAMPS. THERE’S A LOT OF LOUDSPEAKERS INSTALLED IN THE CITY. I THINK I HEARD THEIR CAPTAIN YELLING TO ‘EVACUATE LEMURIA’.”
“No…” Cenna shook her head in disbelief. “No, no, no, no, it can’t be! Cinnamon Roll, tell me that I didn’t fail the Spring Mission. Please!”
“ACTUALLY, I DIDN’T SEE YOU AT ALL. OR ANY HUMANS FOR THAT MATTER.”
“Har?” She furrowed her brows. “Wait, no Magi? Like? None at all?”
“NOPE.”
Mezil felt a burning, sinking sensation in his stomach.
Though he does not know the cause, a dire possibility existed beyond the inevitability of Frisk’s Trial:
The annihilation of the Magi.