Chapter 21

"Undyne?!" Frisk called out. "Undyne?! Where are you?!"

"WHY HAVE I NEVER TRIED THIS BEFORE?!" her voice yelled out. "THIS IS AWESOME!"

It was not too far away. It sounded like it was coming from the direction of Napstablook's house. Frisk quickly ran on the path until he reached the houses, but when he arrived oddly enough, everything was silent.

"Undyne?" Frisk called out. "Undyne, I'm sorry about everything…"

Frisk's eyes fell on the house that was next to Napstablook's. He never knew what that house was for or who lived in it. Out of curiosity, he pulled a trashcan to the back of the house where a window was. After climbing on top of the garbage cans, he looked in the window, but all he saw was a TV and a bunch of books on the ground.

"That is my cousin's house," a familiar shaky voice said.

Frisk looked over his shoulders to see Napstablook hovering several feet away with headphones over his ears.

"He doesn't come by very much anymore," Napstablook said. "His career is very demanding."

There was an awkward silence until Napstablook said, "I haven't seen you in a few days. Did you hurt your arms?"

Frisk did not know what possessed him to say, "I kept cutting them, so I could reset time if I killed someone."

Frisk's face flushed with shame as he turned away. Why did he say something so stupid? Now Napstablook would hate him…

"I see," Napstablook said calmly and without judgement. "Would you like to come inside my pathetic house?"

Frisk turned around, smiled, and nodded. He jumped off the trashcan and followed Napstablook.

In most timelines, Napstablook was usually the only one he ever hung out with. He enjoyed lying on the floor and listening to his music. It reminded him very much of what he used to do with his Dad when they would share the earbuds of his mp3 player, lie on the floor together, and talk about whatever came to mind. In many respects, Napstablook reminded him of his Dad.

Napstablook opened the door, and to Frisk's surprise, Undyne was lying on the floor with Napstablook's headphones in. Her eyes were closed, and she was clearly enjoying the music.

Frisk looked at Napstablook in confusion and he said, "She came over about an hour ago. It was weird since we usually never talk. She said she needed someone to talk to and just started going on and on about weird stuff, kind of like what you just said, so I gave her music and she seems to like it. I've never seen anyone like my music as much as she does. Maybe I will put it on the Undernet."

"You should," Frisk said. "I love hearing your music. In every timeline, it's one of my favorite parts of exploring the Underground."

When she heard another voice in the room, Undyne opened her eye and saw Frisk. Their eyes met, and Frisk began walking over to her nervously.

"What are you doing here, punk?!" Undyne asked while pulling out her headphones.

"Um, uh, Sans and Papyrus and I were looking for you," Frisk began nervously. "We were at your house and I heard you, so I ran over here to find you. We've been worried."

Undyne remained silent as Frisk walked around her until he was standing next to her face where her good eye was.

"Um, Undyne, I can't say it any other way," he said standing still and running his fingers nervously over his bandages. "I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry I killed you the first time and let you die all those times and took so long to figure out how to save you. I understand if you, uh, hate me forever, but I was, um, hoping we could be friends."

Undyne kept staring at him with a stoic expression.

"Well, I guess I'll go back," Frisk said starting to walk away. "I left them a note, but they're probably still gonna be mad that I went away without them, so…"

Frisk paused and inhaled sharply when he felt Undyne's hand grab his right forearm. He looked at her and she pulled him down so that he was on his on his knees and hand practically on top of her.

"LIE ON THE FLOOR AND LISTEN TO THE MUSIC WITH ME, FRISK!" Undyne screamed in his face. "IT'LL BE GOOD FOR YOU!"

"Undyne?" Frisk asked.

"JUST DO IT!"

"o…kay…"

Frisk laid down on the ground next to Undyne. Instead of letting go of his right forearm, she handed him an ear bud with her free hand. Frisk put it in and listened to the music. She still didn't let go but slid her hand down until her smooth hand was holding his.

"Perhaps, I should go…" Napstablook said.

"Please don't leave me alone," Frisk pleaded.

"What was that, punk?" Undyne asked.

"Nothing," Frisk said quietly.

"I see," Napstablook replied. "I'll stay."

"Thank you," Frisk said quietly.

Napstablook floated over to the ground and laid on the floor on the other side of him.

For several minutes, it was very tense. Frisk felt his heartbeat grow faster and could not stop shaking. He barely listened to the music. It was too weird feeling Undyne's skin against his. Her hand was smooth and cool to the touch in contrast to the warm blood that produced sweat all over his palm.

"Undyne," Frisk said nervously turning his head towards hers. "Would you, uh, let go of my hand please?"

Undyne turned her head towards him and saw him flinch.

"You're afraid of me," Undyne said. "Aren't you, human child?"

"Uh…." Frisk said searching for the right words.

"That's ironic. In the other timelines, it was me who was afraid of you."

"You were afraid of me?"

"Every time," Undyne said looking back at the ceiling. "I was always afraid, but I learned to push past it. It never stops me. It never stopped anyone else in my family either. They all made the ultimate sacrifice to give monsters a chance to return to the surface and take our vengeance on the humans who ruined our lives…"

Frisk shook more violently and attempted to pull his hand out of Undyne's, but she gripped it more tightly to calm him down.

"But you know what I realized, Frisk?" Undyne asked turning to him with tears in her eyes this time. "The goal we were aiming towards, all the death, it was pointless."

Frisk stopped shaking and looked at her more intently now, more confused than he was afraid.

"And you want to know why?" Undyne asked. "Because at the end of the day, we were no better than you. You killed because you were trying to avenge your parents. I wanted to kill you to avenge my family and the misery monsters face down here. If I reached the surface, I would have done the same thing you tried to do. Then one of you would try to do the same thing to us, and eventually, everyone would be dead. It's pointless. All of it is. And even though I was strong enough to defeat any enemy, it wasn't enough. I fell to determination every single time. The purpose I have dedicated my life to…the time I sacrificed training…everything was done to accomplish something POINTLESS!"

Undyne finally let go of Frisk's hand to wipe the tears falling from her own eyes.

"Undyne, I'm so sorry," Frisk said sitting up. "I wish I could go back and change it…"

"You already have!" Undyne interrupted. "I counted the number of times you went back and the number of scars on your arms. You went back 40 times. 40! There's no point in even staying mad at you. What point is there to my life?! Do you know?! You were the one talking to Omniscience! What did he have to say?!"

"Um, well, He didn't say anything about you, but He told me to let go of my pride and let Him in, so He could teach me how to show mercy instead of ending my life. I know if you asked He would show you something, too. I think I've read in the ancient scriptures that it's not always audible or in dreams. He also talks in other ways, but never mind, the point is your life is not pointless, Undyne. We'll figure out something together. I know we will."

Instead of responding, Undyne sat up, picked Frisk up, and held him in a tight hug while she laid back down. Frisk cringed at being so close to her, but he let her hold him on top of her chest.

"You can go back if you want to, human," Undyne said. "I want to keep listening to music for a little while longer."

"I want to keep listening, too," Frisk said. "I've been so scared I haven't been listening to the music much…"

"But you have listened to it in every timeline," Nastablook interrupted. "Aren't you tired of it?"

"No," Frisk said. "I love it. It makes me happy. It reminds me when I used to lie on the floor with my Dad and listen to his mp3 player with him whenever we had a rough day. I've kept it since before he died, but it's in my backpack on top of the mountain. When…if we get out of here, I'm going back for it, so I can share the music with you guys. I hope it's okay. My backpack is waterproof, but I'm still scared something might happen to it. That's the only thing I want to go back for on the surface. I have nothing else up there. I'd hate to lose it. It's one of the last things I have left of my parents…"

"Don't worry, kid," Undyne said. "Worse comes to worse we can get it together. We can exit and come back no problem."

Frisk smiled and started sitting up, but Undyne pulled him back down, hugged him tighter, and said, "Hey! I didn't say you could get up yet, punk!"

Frisk smiled and let himself relax on top of her. It was an awkward position, but for Undyne, he could endure it. After all, this was what it was to show mercy. His HP went up another point as they both began to doze.