Wedding Tale

Frisk watched her mother come into the dressing room. Today, she would do the best she could to look happy. After all, it was her wedding day. “Hello, Mom. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Frisk’s mother came over to her and straightened it out. “You look beautiful, Frisk. Are you sure this is what you want?”

No, it wasn’t what she wanted. It was what her father wanted, and her mother had been pleased about it too. To go after her own wants was redundant.

No. “This is what I need.” Her husband was the son of the mine owner of the mountain. He had liked Frisk, and her parents were happy about that. He was rich, handsome, and would help Frisk move on with her life. That was their thinking.

In truth, Andrew was an absolute jerk. She had already caught him cheating on her once, but she didn’t say anything. She would be his prized lovely wife, that would probably give him heirs.

It would make them happy though.

“If you are sure. I know I was very excited for this day?” Her mother was a reasoner though. She probably knew Frisk didn’t enjoy her future husband’s company as much as she let on. However, Frisk was very good at hiding her feelings behind acting. Even her mother couldn’t say for sure how much was acting. “Andrew could be a nicer person for you.”

Yes, he could, but this was fine. The only thing she could do for others now, is to give them happiness. “I think he’s a wonderful person, and I can’t wait to marry him.”

When her father made it a point to set them up, she did her best to be everything Andrew wanted. She pretended to be blind to him looking at others, just like she pretended he wasn’t checking her rudely out at other times. Soon, she would be his wife and her parents would be happy.

“You look so beautiful in that dress,” her mother had to say. “Like a real princess.”

Frisk looked at the mirror, her fake smile was so good it almost fooled her too. The dress looked beautiful. She didn’t feel beautiful.

“I wish I could read your mind sometimes,” her mother said to her as she checked the dress one more time.

No, you don’t. “It could be scary.”

“Even at your scariest, we had faith.” Her mother smiled at her.

Those words combined with her mother’s fake smile, almost tore off Frisk’s own. It was her wedding day, why’d she say that? Yes, they had seen her at her scariest. After she had conquered Underground, she headed home.

She headed home to kill everyone there. Her parents were spry, and not being monsters, had a leg up on the situation. They had called emergency while dodging her attacks and figured out what was wrong.

The echoes of the situation still played in her head. They had called an exorcist to reach her, and to split her apart from another soul. She survived.

The monsters never did. They never had a chance to have an exorcist to help stop the unstoppable force of her. Not that it would be different. Monsters were monsters, they were evil and vindictive. Sinful and full of trickery.

Frisk’s own job was to hunt and keep the monster population down. She never regretted her job.

It’s just that . . . the monsters below felt different. Then again, she was just a kid.

“Oh, a small break in the smile.” Her mother stared at her. “We don’t need you married to be happy for you, Frisk.”

“Marriage and children will help me get through life. Let me enjoy it.” Frisk tried a different tactic. “This will make me happy, even if Andrew doesn’t.”

“Your therapist probably doesn’t think so.”

“Fuck my therapist.” He was always spouting about how Frisk didn’t do enough for herself. She got tired of his bullshit and stopped seeing him as soon as she turned 18. “A marriage is an absolute selfish thing I am doing for myself. He would have no right to complain.”

“Is it selfish, Frisk?”

“To be happily married? Well, we are spending over 50,000 on this marriage so I would guess yes.”

Her mother kissed her on her forehead. “For love or not, as long as you are doing this for you. You will be radiant today, and you deserve to be the bride.” She gave one good smile, and walked away.

Frisk heard her cell phone and saw it was her Maid of Honor. She answered it. “Tara?”

“Hey, Frisk. I’m sorry, but Kendra and I aren’t going to be at the wedding. There was an emergency at work.”

Ooh? “What kind of emergency?”

“Shadow Grabber.”

What?! “Where?”

“Frisk, it’s your wedding. We can handle it.”

Ugh! “Who else is coming? Is Brandon moving his butt?” That was a dangerous monster.

“It’s just me and Kendra. Brandon’s moving a couch today.”

“No, not approved.” No way. “I’m coming down.”

“Wait, Frisk. Today is your wedding, you can’t do that.”

“I have a few hours. It’s long enough to capture that monster and get back.”

“Frisk, no.”

“Where is it?”

“Down at the aquarium.”

Yep. “There’s no way I am leaving you to deal with a Shadow Grabber by yourselves, and it is down in the middle of a public area.” Hell no! “I’ll be there soon. Then, we can all shoot by for the wedding.”

“Frisk, no!”

Frisk hung up and went toward her closet. She opened it up, got undressed, and put on her uniform. She grabbed her tranquilizer gun for a Shadow Grabber. To her knowledge, Tara and Kendra didn’t even have the right gun for one. She also grabbed the elecric netting to catch it. She didn’t know if they had one of those, but she’d be more safe than sorry.

She stepped out of her room and saw her mom. Yeah, what a look. “What? I have a few hours.” She cocked the tranquilizer gun.

“Frisk!” Her mother scolded her. “Your wedding day.”

“I’ll be back in time. Andrew probably won’t be on time anyhow.” He never had been for anything.

“Frisk.”

“Tara and Kendra have to take it on, and it’s in a public setting,” Frisk said, appealing to her senses. “Tara is my Maid of Honor, and Kendra is one of my bridesmaids. What kind of wedding would I have without them there anyway?”

Her mother sighed, and that’s all Frisk heard as she walked away. It wasn’t her choice. There was plenty of time.

---

At the Aquarium . . .

“Frisk, I can’t believe you,” Tara criticized her as she aimed her gun. “You are putting a 50,000 dollar wedding at risk.”

“No, I’m not.” Frisk concentrated on the shot. “Where’s your tranquilizer?” That would keep both of them quiet. She observed the flooring around the aquarium. It loves smaller prey. She saw it move quickly from one shadow to another. Shadow Grabbers hid in shadows.

“It’s just a baby Shadow Grabber. We can take it out,” Tara told Frisk. “We have our net.”

Frisk kept her concentration. She watched a little girl step toward the dolphin exhibit closer, and watched the shadow of it try to hide in hers. Yep, it was a baby.

She nailed it with the gun. She heard the scream, the girl screamed of course having been so close, and Tara and Kendra threw the electric netting over it.

Tara held it up. “Good work.”

“Yep.” Frisk strapped her tranquilizer gun back on her. “Now let’s go get dressed for the wedding.”

---

Frisk’s Home

Frisk went back upstairs with Tara and Kendra. Plenty of time to get redressed. She caught her mother’s look as she met her at the door. “I told you I’d be back. We are getting dressed right now.”

“I hope the photographer didn’t catch any of you in your uniforms. This is a wedding,” Frisk’s mother complained. “Frisk? Do you really want to get married?”

“Yes, but I had to deal with a Shadow Grabber.” Ugh. “Shit happens. We grabbed their clothes too. Everyone’s getting dressed.”

“Your hair stylist left. She couldn’t wait any longer,” she warned Frisk. “She was mad.”

“It doesn’t need styled, it’s just short and brown anyhow.” Frisk opened her bedroom door and went in.

“Frisk?” Tara asked. “Are you sure you want to really do this? I mean, I know Andrew is rich and eligible. But. I don’t know. You don’t mesh well.”

Frisk yawned. “People will back off me more and let me live my life, once I’m contained in a marriage.”

“That isn’t really how it works,” Kendra told her as she got dressed.

“Yes it is,” Frisk said. “I know it is. Every time I date, they get this sparly look in their eyes. Then when I break up, they always get all ho-hum until the next one. If I date a bum, they get nervous and ask me about my future, and if we could support kids.” She had them help her zip up in the back. “If I marry someone with money, they can’t dwell on money, kids, or my welfare. I get to move out, they get grandchildren and piece of mind. Everybody wins.”

“I swear, Frisk.” Tara looked back at her. “I love you, but there is something wrong with you. You might consider-”

“Say therapist and I will disinvite you to my wedding,” Frisk warned her. “I know what I need.” Her parents could say ‘you don’t need to marry’ but she did. They didn’t feel comfortable with her moving out until she was settled. They weren’t positive about her future, until she was safe. “There, good as new.” She looked in the mirror again. “There. We are all ready.”

Both of them just gave her weird looks.

Tara hugged her. “Happy Wedding Day, Frisk.”

Frisk felt the hug. She reciprocated it back with a nice pat on the back. “Okay. Let’s head to Andrew’s.” That’s where the marriage would take place, in his backyard. Soon to be hers.

---

Andrew’s Backyard . . .

“It’s so gorgeous,” Tara couldn’t help but say. “Oh my goodness, you even have an ice sculpture. Wow . . . what is it?” Tara looked at Frisk a few moments. “What is that?”

“An Icecap,” Frisk said.

“Most people choose a swan,” Kendra said. “What’s an Icecap?”

“Just an extinct monster,” Frisk answered. “Hang on.” She could see her soon to be in-laws heading toward her. “Go mingle please.”

She talked to them. Lovingly. And like she thought.

Andrew was late to his own wedding. Not a gaw damn fucking surprise at all. After awhile, Frisk made a small break to talk to guests. If the groom wasn’t there, he couldn’t see the bride anyway. Andrew’s parents were cursing at him on the phone. She already guessed.

“Frisk, dear?” Andrew’s father started to make excuses. “He is going to be a bit late. It seems his bachelor party wore him out. He should have had it sooner, but he is coming. He just needs a little time to get ready.”

Frisk just gave her future father-in-law her practiced smile. “Of course, Dad. I understand.” She had even taken to calling him dad, to close any gap between after Andrew proposed.

“He is lucky to be marrying a girl like you,” his mother said. “You are the sweetest woman alive. You do nothing but forgive and love him, and he is late for his own wedding because of . . . ugh.”

“I understand, these things happen. I won’t ruin the most wonderful day of my life,” she insisted to them. “Mistakes are forgivable.”

“-so really, you should get rid of any scientist who reverses a barrier.”

Frisk’s attention was always attuned to something when she heard the word barrier. One of her guests were talking about barriers. She paid attention to her future in-laws, but she focused in on the conversation.

“He was just joking around with it. I don’t think I should fire him.”

“Look, barriers protect humans. We lock bad things into barriers, and only we can open them. This guy literally made a barrier we can’t break, and only monsters can. They can literally walk through it back and forth, you said that.”

“Yeah, but he just wanted to see if it was possible for pets. There’s hardly any need for this kind of thing. I don’t think it’s a fireable excuse. He was bored and played around.”

Monsters. A barrier for them. To keep my kind out.

“I am so sorry, Dear!”

Frisk watched her mother-in-law dab at her eyes.

“He made you cry, I can’t believe this.”

“No, it’s okay.” Frisk wiped her face. “It’s the happiest day of my life. I just miss him, that’s all. I know he is coming. I don’t blame him.” She had not meant to do that, she had given away her true feelings when she started to hear about the barriers. “I don’t blame him one bit. He’s never done anything real wrong. Really, I just miss him, and I will feel better when he’s here.”

She needed to reroute the situation. Getting along with his folks took some cunning as well, it’s why she told her friends to leave. There were people they had no respect for, and when she acted like she held disdain for them too, it brought them closer to her. “Ugh. Felicity showed up. Andrew said we shouldn’t make a scene.”

“Oh, I was hoping you didn’t actually want to see her.” Her mother-in-law looked so relieved. “I can’t stand her. Yes, we must be polite in situations like this.”

“What a hideous orange dress,” Frisk continued to play into her MIL’s hands. “Where’d she get that, at an Orange Julius?”

Her MIL was delighted with her slander. “I know, really. Who wears orange to a wedding? Subtle colors, subtle. She should know it at that age.”

“Or she doesn’t care, not like she has a husband to correct her.” There, that should effectively put the focus away from her and to that poor woman.

“True. With the way she acts, she probably never will,” her MIL agreed.

Good. Frisk didn’t hear anything more about the barrier, though she wanted to. Frisk. Don’t. Even when she had the power of a child, she couldn’t change anything. She destroyed that kingdom, and it could never come back. The few that survived, lived with no king, stuck in misery, knowing they would never come out.

She did that, but monsters were bad. Full of trickery. Every human knew that. She always knew that.

“See, he’s right over there.”

“He should be fired.”

“He promises he’ll get rid of it by the weekend. Calm down, Bill.”

Frisk had to turn to see who they were looking at. A young man in a tuxedo she didn’t know. That man. Had accidentally created something that the monsters would have really loved.

It was something that maybe only some certain monsters deserved. Maybe.

Her MIL started to shoo her away. Frisk didn’t argue, knowing Andrew was probably coming. Frisk went back inside.

She looked at herself back in the mirror again. Even if it makes good people happy, I still shouldn’t be here. Alive. Well-off. Marrying. Eventually having children. None of that should have been for her, but this was where her life lead her to.

“Frisk, it’s ready.” Her mother came in to see her. “Time to get married.”

Frisk found herself heading outside, still thinking. She fought many monsters since Underground. The Underground ones had been so different than all of them.

The screams of mercy. The wails to live. Monsters she knew didn’t do that. It was a given fact any day. It was all trickery.

That was pressed into her when she came back too. High honors everywhere. Who cared that she almost killed her parents with a ‘little too much LOVE’? No big deal, they were fine, and she was fine. Another barrier kingdom handled. Less of a chance it would get out, thanks to one little girl who accidentally slipped in.

That girl had to go through medication. Through therapy. Especially as she started to wonder, now that she had grown up, that maybe? It wasn’t all a trick. They weren’t being tricky. They were just living and defending themselves to keep living. They were fighting because they were scared of her.

It was hard to tell. Her parents also warned her about that. LOVE was powerful, but on a child? It could confuse the whole world up to them. They assured her she did very well. Monsters would have killed her. They would have hurt her. They were fighting, and she fought back.

That past had landed her a future career in monster hunting too.

Her parents were proud of her. Her therapist encouraged her to do more things for herself. To treat herself better. She seemed to develop some kind of complex after all that . . . dust in the air though.

Monsters were bad. She did the right thing. She still couldn’t be happy. These were all facts. Every human knew monsters were bad. Yet, nightmares persisted. She swore she saw Sans the Skeleton almost every night as a child.

Giving his same warning. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

She walked down the aisle, seeing the snapshots and the happy faces of everyone. Why did it have to be as a little girl? Why couldn’t I have been older? She walked toward the front of the aisle to see Andrew. That stupid barrier talk, it’s got me thinking about this shit on my wedding day! My day. To be happy. To try and be happy. Everyone should be happy.

“Radiant,” Andrew said to her, trying to make up for being late.

Frisk started to hear the priest. A barrier for them existed now. Whether those Underground monsters were bad or not. Whether the LOVE inside dictated her actions or not. If they had had that, then no human would have been hurt by an evil monster.

And no monster. No monster would have been hurt by a human.

Good or bad, they could just have lived. Seperately, but harmoniously. No fighting. No killing. Just.

They could have been there, on the surface. Safe. No more killing. The Underground. For just a few seconds she had to admit it. That they might have actually been okay monsters. Then?

On the side of the alter next to her future husband . . .

Sans.

Showed.

Up.