DUALTALE

Chapter 1, Page 5

Nemo looked around in confusion. "What... happened?" He asked. They were standing in front of the house, on the pile of leaves that had the glowing star atop it. He heard a sob. He looked to his right to see Frisk on their knees crying. He crouched down next to them. "Frisk?"

"You promised you wouldn't kill her." They said.

Nemo felt a stab of guilt from that. "I know. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." He said.

"Sorry isn't good enough. You broke your promise." Said Frisk as they then sat down and brought their knees to their chest.

"You're right Frisk." Said Nemo as he went on his knees and knelt his head forward. "Saying sorry won't solve anything, I promise that I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."

"You can do that right now." Said Frisk as they stood up and took his hand.

"What do you mean?" Asked Nemo as they pulled on him and he stood up. He then followed them as they walked into the house. They lead him into the living room and Nemo looked over at Toriel's chair. His eyes widened as a sound like glass shattering went off in his head.

Toriel sat in her chair reading a book. She looked up at them when they entered and smiled. "Ah, hello my children, your dinner is on the table." She said as she gestured to the table that had two plates of cooked food on it. Nemo's breath caught in his throat as he put his hand over his mouth. Nemo staggered backwards and around the wall out of Toriel's sight. "My child!?" He heard Toriel say worriedly.

"Don't worry! I've got him!" Said Frisk as they ran over to him.

Nemo was sitting with his back against the wall as he tried to calm his breathing and avoid a panic attack. After a moment he was able to calm down and he looked at Frisk. "What... did you... do?" He asked.

"I... don't know." Said Frisk as they looked down, their bangs casting a shadow over their eyes. "I was so upset about what happened to Toriel and I felt determined to stop that from happening. Suddenly we were here and I somehow... knew that I'd fixed things."

"You... reversed time itself... through sheer determination?" Asked Nemo slowly.

"Yeeaah?" Said Frisk slowly.

The back of Nemo's head hit the wall. "Sure. Why not?" He asked.

"You're... not upset? Or afraid?" Asked Frisk in surprise as they looked back up at him.

"No, those aren't the words I'd use. Surprised? Sure. Questioning my sanity? Most definitely. But I'd hardly say I'm upset or afraid, at least when it comes to you." Said Nemo. Frisk said nothing but instead just smiled at him softly. Nemo sighed and used a hand to ruffle their hair before standing up. "Let's go Frisk, and this time, I'll get us out of here the right way."

"Ok." Said Frisk. With that the pair walked back into the living room where Toriel sat with a concerned expression on her face.

"My child are you alright?" She asked worriedly.

"Yeah, it was nothing. Don't worry about it." Said Nemo with a small grin. Then that grin vanished. "Actually, there is something we need to talk about."

"What is it my child?" Asked Toriel.

"We appreciate everything that you've done for us, but Frisk and I need to go home." Said Nemo.

"What? But this-." Started Toriel.

"No it's not. Look, you gave us somewhere to stay, you fed us, you made it so monsters wouldn't attack us, and I'll forever be grateful to you for that. But we need to go back to the surface, we don't belong here." Said Nemo calmly, doing his best to shake off the serious feeling of deja vu.