Toriel sat on a park bench with her head in her hands. Her expression was neutral and no tears escaped her eyes. She was numb. Asriel sat down beside her and gave her a big hug. He had come home immediately after hearing what had happened.

No words were exchanged between the two, but soon enough Toriel sat up and returned his hug. Her face contorted in ways that should be impossible, attempting to portray the wild mess of emotions she was experiencing. Tears now flowed freely. She sobbed into his shirt while a tired looking skeleton sat down beside her and took her hand.

Around them, people were gathering supplies and setting up for a funeral. The Holidays were nowhere in the crowd. Noelle hadn't been seen since she found out. Nobody wanted to pressure her to do anything. Her father was still hospitalized. Her mother was absolutely swamped with paperwork and had no time (however whenever she did get a few minutes off, she sent an email of support to Toriel). Asgore had only made a short appearance. He had been out on a fishing trip when they disappeared, and seeing him whistling and smiling while walking into such a distraught town didn't really make anyone too happy with him. He too was overcome with grief and had no idea how to deal with it.

Nobody could figure out how or why they died, but the most recent traces they could find were fingerprints on the doorknobs of the school they went to every day. Nobody knew what had happened, and honestly nobody wanted to find them. Toriel only wanted them to be happy, and had full faith that they would be, as long as they were together.

~~~~~~~~~~

Kris

For the third time, I felt someone shaking me awake. I looked up and saw, once again, Susie hovering above me. I smiled and her and sat up.

"Hey. Ready to get going? Lancer wants to get on the road as early as possible," she asked.

"Sure. Where is Lancer anyway?" I responded. She pointed to the corner of the clearing. Lancer gave a little wave, and I waved back.

"So let's get going."

...

We approached the final stretch before the Card Castle. Susie smirked at the building in the distance.

"You ready to kick some fluffy butt?" She gave me a wide smile that made me smile despite the intense anxiety. She took a confident step forwards and held her head high. As she shifted her weight towards the foot she had just placed down, the floor opened. She fell down into a hole. Another huge spike of anxiety shot through my bones as I watched her fall. Without thinking, I grabbed Lancer's arm and jumped into the hole after her. I free-fell for about a minute before my head landed on something hard. I watched as my dark surroundings faded away.

...

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise! Just the people I was waiting for!" a voice rang out from... somewhere. My head shot up, and I was met with an unbearable pain. I peered out with blurry vision and could barely make out the shape of Ralsei. Immediately, my mind shot to my dream.

A prison. Ralsei looking in at us. And then...

I decided that now wasn't the best time to be thinking about that.

"Oh no, Kris! You're hurt! How did you- oh, the rocks... Here, I'll fix you right you up-" He leaned over and folded his hands, whispered something to himself, and my mind cleared. I could now clearly see the fluffy darkner before me. He was indeed looking at me from outside a prison. I was locked in a cage. "I'm so sorry about the inconvenient prison, but I really can't have you running off again... You made me scared you would never come back!"

"Ralsei, you need to let me out," I stated. He smiled with a hint of anger in his eyes.

"I don't think you want to do that, Kris. This is your home now." His scarf lifted up a little to reveal a hint of glinting metal. A gun. My eyes widened.

"Where did you get that!?"

"Places~. Now, tell me how happy you are that I found you. That I saved you."

"Where's Susie?" It occurred to me that she wasn't in the same cell as me, and Lancer was nowhere to be seen either.

"Oh her?" He wrinkled his nose. "You really care about her? Why?"

"Because, she's my girlfriend. Now where is she!?" Ralsei's nostrils flared. With a snap of his fingers, I felt my body stiffen. I couldn't move. I felt myself slowly start to slip back out of consciousness.

"Grab them, and follow me. I casted pacify, so they won't fight."

"Y-yes, sir," a voice responded shakily.

Lancer. The spade prince had been working with Ralsei the whole time.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nearly 800 words holy moly

I hope this was exciting enough to make up for the gap between chapters. Sorry about that, and sorry about the cliffhanger. That's just how I roll ;3