Do I have the courage?

Looking at their hands, Frisk sighed. No matter what they felt back then, it was no excuse for what they did. That fact left them disheartened and diffident.

They turned their gaze upwards, ignoring the tiny flakes of snow that grazed their face.

Am I doing the right thing?

They put a pause on their thoughts momentarily as another uncertainty dawned upon them.

What is the right thing?

Frisk knew that the Surface did not exist, yet they were still trying to get the "happy" ending. They imagined that they might even have to tell the monsters about the plight at some point, and the thought of letting them feel what they felt...

The human did not want to think about it.

That is, if they could even reach that ending. With Alphys missing, it would not be complete, like removed pieces of a complex puzzle.

Except that the puzzle was already broken.

It makes no difference... but... the least I could do is to try and make my friends happy.

Plus, I told Undyne I would help to find Alphys.

They checked the time on their phone, taking note that they would have to meet Undyne in roughly eight minutes. Sans' confrontation and their own endless train of thoughts left them with no time to search the entire region.

Frisk doubted that Alphys would be in Snowdin anyway.

It was then their mind wandered off to the memory of Flowey's proclamation.

"I will make you remember everything you did. I will make you regret your decision, and that's my promise."

Without a doubt, Flowey was planning something. Perhaps he had already began to execute it.

First, it was Flowey's threat, then Alphys' disappearance and Sans' confrontation. They were sure that those events were not simply coincidences and were linked somehow.

Glancing at the foreboding alleyway where Flowey had surprised them, Frisk dropped their initial plan of looking for him. He could be anywhere in the Underground, preparing his revenge.

Sighing, Frisk headed for Waterfall, ignoring the lingering coldness in their heart.

~~~~

Undyne, Papyrus and Sans were already there, waiting for Frisk at the clearing before the path to Undyne's house. Interestingly, her house was still burning from the previous day's incident, but most of the flames had died down.

"Hey!" Undyne was the first to notice them approaching from the east, followed by Papyrus. Notably, Sans did not turn to face the child, finding more interest in staring mindlessly at the dark blue walls. They found themselves looking away as well.

"There you are, punk," Undyne continued, unaware of the uncomfortable tension between the two of them. "Now that everyone's here, we can start the meeting."

"But your house is burnt down," Papyrus pointed out, scratching the back of his skull in confusion.

"I didn't say that we will hold the meeting at my house!" the Captain of the Royal Guard exclaimed. "Come, I know a place."

Frisk was not sure where she was referring to until she led all of them to the path on the right, leading to a pair of identical, oddly shaped houses.

Stopping at the door of the blue-grey one on the left, Undyne knocked.

The dark blue door creaked open. The owner, a ghostly monster with a pair of zeroes as eyes, gazed at his visitors quizzically.

"Umm... may I help you...?" Napstablook asked nervously.

"Yes, in fact, I need a favour from you." She let out a nervous laugh. "I burnt down my house the other day. Could we use yours for a while?"

Napstablook blinked slowly. "Okay... I was about to check on the snail farm anyway..."

"Thanks a lot!" Undyne responded. "I'll be sure to get you a ticket for Mettaton's show tomorrow."

"Oh... it's not necessary-"

"It's the least I could do for my, uh former neighbour!" She cut him off, not giving the ghost a chance to protest. "Let's go!"

Napstablook's house was the same as always, comprising of a single room surrounded by chocolate brown walls with the occasional, creeping cracks. Undyne took the lead, gesturing for everyone to sit in a circle on the old cherry wood floor.

"All right, let's begin!"

It was then Sans raised his hand lazily. "I'm going to take a nap. Do the meeting without me," he announced, yawning.

Undyne facepalmed. "Whose idea was it to invite him?"

"It was mine!" Papyrus answered, smiling brightly.

"I know, Papyrus. It was a rhetorical question." She sounded exasperated, her eyebrows twitching in annoyance.

Frisk, who had remained silent throughout their conversation, finally spoke up. "Why did you call us here?"

"I was getting to that, punk," Undyne huffed, before putting on a serious expression. "As you all know... Alphys is missing. I've searched in her favourite hangouts in Waterfall and tried contacting her on the phone, but nothing came up. It's not like her to just... vanish."

"I helped too," Papyrus chimed in.

"Frisk, do you know anything about this?" Undyne asked. "Anything that tells us where she could be?"

Frisk hesitated. "I didn't manage to look for Alphys in Snowdin, but... I heard from Sans that she was visiting the king."

"Sans told you that?"

"Yeah... I think they are friends," they responded.

Papyrus put his gloved hand on his chin, as if he was thinking. "Well, Sans is into a lot of science stuff, so that makes sense!" he declared. "I never knew they knew each other though."

"He probably has his reasons," Undyne remarked. "Well, back to the subject. Is there anything else we should know?"

Slowly, the human child nodded. "I... think I might know who is behind Alphys' disappearance."

------------------------------------------------------------

Things that do not happen in the original game do not just happen... just saying. ;)

Fact of the Chapter: Originally, the main POV of the book was Frisk, but I felt that it was too limited, so I decided to switch around whenever appropriate. So, expect a change in POV the next chapter.

If you enjoyed, votes and comments are always appreciated.