Chapter 16

The elevator door opened. Outside was a gray, lonely city. There were probably monsters here, but all was silent.

“This is New Home…?” Piper asked Frisk.

They nodded. “This is it…”

“Does he live here with anyone…? It’s so quiet…”

“From what I’ve heard, no…” Grillby kept a hand on her back as they walked. “People have slowly left after the queen left him…”

She sighed and fixed Frisk so that she had a better hold on them. “Why’d she leave…?”

“They had adopted the first human to fall down here… They died of illness, and the prince accidentally absorbed their SOUL… he was fatally injured by humans after trying to take the child to their village... “ He paused in his story and led her around to avoid a rock. “After their deaths, the King declared war… the queen was disgusted by his actions and left him…”

She stared at the surrounding buildings in disbelief. “¿Cuán sucio este pobrecito se puede...?”

“Hm…?”

“This Asgore guy is messed up in the head right now.”

“What do you mean…?”

“This guy got left by his wife after the traumatizin’ deaths of his children and makin’ such a decree in his rage and grief, and has stewed in his own guilt and crap for years. That guy’s gotta have some kinda PTSD or whatever.” She put Frisk down. “Lead on, kiddo.”

They nodded, “It shouldn’t be too far away. We just gotta go through the hallway up ahead.”

“Alright.” She held Grillby’s hand with her free one so that they stayed together. They didn’t want to get separated so close to the end of their journey. Frisk led them onwards through the drab and silent city. The trio couldn’t help but feel like there were unseen eyes watching them constantly.

“If that flower shows up again…” Grillby murmured.

“Flower…?” Frisk turned and looked back at them. “Was it-”

“Yellow, evil, and a total douche canoe?” Piper asked. “Yeah. Same weed.”

“He’s been messing with your sister as well… I managed to stop him before he did something absolutely horrible…”

“He's been after my SOUL since the beginning,” they said with a frown. “What a jerk.”

“Not my choice of words, but here here…”

“There's a hall up a head,” Frisk informed them. “Just through that, and we'll get to the throne room.”

The trio went through a side door and came upon a brightly lit, yet crumbling hallway. It was magnificent, once upon a time, but now it was falling into disrepair.

Soft footsteps were heard ahead. When they saw who it was walking towards them, Piper and Grillby were surprised.

“Sans…?”