章 21: The Story of Frisk Goldberg
Frisk leaned his back on the chair and took a deep breath. As he recalled his memories from the past, he was torn on what he should tell the prince, and what he should leave out. The man did not want to bore his highness with every detail of his life, something he will definitely not find interesting.
"When I was just a little child, I always had a hard time going to sleep. The sounds of the night, the noises of animals and insects outside made me… anxious. Especially those insects," Frisk spoke up.
"I always had this irrational fear where a thousand roaches storm into my room, joining together to make a bigger, scarier roach, and eat me up whole! It was…" Frisk chuckles, laughing at his childhood innocence.
"It was weird, especially for a boy my age. However, it kept me up at night, no matter how hard I tried to forget about it. So, to help me fall asleep, I dragged my mother from whatever she was doing and had her stay there all night and tell me a story about… something. Anything, really.
Of course, she always left when I fell asleep, but she made sure to come back and pretend she was there with me. On the days I did catch her, he always told me that 'she was fighting evil in the dream world so that I could stay asleep'. I somehow bought that for a long time." he confessed.
"Anyways, most of the stories she told me were about a great, historical figure that used to live in our city – The Angel Knight of Lukeword."
Howard adjusted himself on the bed, intrigued. "The Angel Knight? That sounds like quite a tale."
"It was! She always told me all the great things the man did, how he killed the demons with ease, how he helped with the city to get back on its feet, and how he left after he was sure the town was safe. She romanticized the man, made him my hero."
"Sounds like your mother only told stories about that fellow," Howard commented.
"She did! Well, only after she found I was able to cast magic. The Legion of Knights occasionally did tests of 10-year-old boys by having someone cast a water spell into a bucket."
"Ah, so your mother signed you up for that?" Howard asks.
"Actually no. I was still too young at the time. Instead, she had my older brother do it. While looking at my brother doing the examination, I tried mimicking his steps and eh… accidentally conjured a water ball. That is how I found out."
"How old were you back then?" Howard questions him.
"Me? I was around 5 years old at the time. I managed to become the star of the community with that little stunt," he answers.
"Anyways, my mother did everything in her power to make me want to become a knight. She told me stories of the Angel Knight over and over again, to make him my hero. To make me want to be like him. I, however, had other dreams."
"What were those dreams?" Frisk stays quiet, being extremely reluctant to spill the details about it to the prince. It was only after he got up when he talked.
"I do not feel comfortable sharing that information," he replied.
"Alright then, tell me about why your mother wanted you to be a knight? Did she know you had other aspirations?" Howard quickly moved on, unwilling to waste any time.
"Well, being a knight means you get a handsome salary, a lot of prestige in your community, and a nice plot of land your family can settle in. It was my mother's dream for her family to own some land, to have control of our own destiny. She hoped that we could use it to live a better life," Frisk answered.
"Hmm… I see. Your mother must be a proud woman then, eh? Having a knight for a son must feel pretty good." Frisk shook his head in denial, stating that.
"I am sorry, but I am not a knight. I never was. I became a demon hunter after… some events," he replied.
Howard was taken by surprise. He had assumed the man was just another knight, brought in from Lukeword to fulfill a duty given by the king. With his curiosity and thirst for knowledge invigorated, Howard attempted to get some answers from him.
"What happened?" Frisk remains silent.
"Tell me what happened," Howard speaks up again, assuming Frisk did not hear him. He still remains silent.
"Can you please tell me what happened that day? I would like to know," he asked again. This time, Frisk managed to find his voice to provide a response.
"I um… I don't think you need to know what happened," Frisk replied.
"Why do you think that?" Howard questions.
"I am afraid I might… offend you," he answers calmly. Howard raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Offend me? How so?"
"Like I said, you don't need to know. It is not important…"
"I think it is very important," Howard interjects. Considering this topic involves around how the Legion of knights works, it was important to Howard that he get some perspective of the organization.
"Your job is to protect and escort me to the safehouse. If you cannot tell me the story behind why you failed to join the rank of the knights, how am I able to trust you with my life? How am I able to trust your judgment if you keep things from me?" he questioned his guardian.
Frisk suddenly clenches his fist. Howard's remark appeared to have struck a nerve. However, he still keeps calm and tries to correct Howard.
"I did not fail to join the legion of knights…"
"But you did. You are not a knight, Frisk. You are a demon hunter," he interjected again. As Frisk's blood boiled, he was unable to refute Howard's claims. It starts brining back memories of his past, deep past, opening up wounds he thought he healed shut.
Howard picks up on this cue and continues to aggravate him. He was sure that Frisk wouldn't dare touch him. He would not risk bringing the entire kingdom down on him, to have him and his entire family brutally murdered by the hands of a vengeful king.
"You want to know what I think happened, Frisk? I think you failed to protect someone very important. Maybe a powerful noble or knight's relative. That is why they threw you out. Am I not…"
"I did not fail!" Frisk lets out a burst of anger at Howard.
"You did not fail?" Howard queries, whilst raising an eyebrow, keeping calm and unfazed while looking very skeptical at Frisk's claim. He wasn't worried about anyone on the other side eavesdropping. Any sound that passes through the stiff stone walls would be muffled beyond the point of comprehension.
"No! I did my job! I kept them safe and yet they… they…!" he stops once again. Frisk's rational mind swiftly takes back control and immediately issues an apology to the prince, knowing full well that if something happens to him, he and his family will pay dearly.
"I apologize, your highness. I did not mean to shout at you," he says in a low voice while leaning his head down.
"Please forgive my grave mistake. I promise you that, it will never happen again," he pleads with Kant, hoping he won't tell his father, or anyone for that matter, what happened.
"Hm… I don't know. Your screaming might have risked this operation. We might have to move…" he mutters.
"Do not worry about attracting any attention. I chose this place specifically so people won't hear us speak. Even if anyone is on the other side, they won't be able to hear us. I even made sure to check!" he quickly replies. It looks like Howard's observations were correct all along.
"Alright then. I will forgive you…" he speaks. Frisk lets out a sigh of relief, thankful that the prince forgives him. However, this moment of joy was short-lived, as Howard added a condition to his 'forgiveness.'
"… on the condition that you tell me what happened that caused the Legion of Knights to fire you."
Frisk heartbeat rises, and his stress maxes out. No matter what he did, the prince was still asking him for the details! What is he to do?
"I really don't think you want to know, your highness. I really don't want to offend you," he claims. Despite the situation he finds himself in, he was still reluctant to give him hand out the details of this particular story. Looks like Howard will have to take a more aggressive stance.
"Are you questioning my maturity, Mr. Frisk?" he asks.
"Do you think that I will throw a tantrum the moment my feelings get hurt? Do you?" Frisk shakes his head, denying it.
"No! Of course not! I think you are very mature…" he quickly replied. Howard could feel Frisk's stress rising rapidly. It was the time to strike.
"If you truly believe that, then tell me the story. What happened back there?" he asks.
"Because if you don't tell me, I will think you are lying to my face. You'd be disrespecting me and my intelligence, and you would be undermining the trust we have. Trust we need if we want this operation to go smoothly," Howard added.
Frisk, feeling cornered and trapped inside of an emotional prison cell built in his mind, finally yields to his demands. He takes in a deep breath and lays out the story for him.
"It happened in the winter months. Two noble boys from one of the provinces up north had come down to our city. They wanted to get away from the snowy winters up there to enjoy the nice warm weather we had at Lukeword."
"Warm weather, in the winter?"
"Lukeword is a very warm place. It barely snows there," Frisk explains.
"Anyways, the two boys ask for protection, and to act as a guide for the area. I was picked alongside an official knight, to protect the two boys. Long story short, I did my best, but they accused me of mistreatment, and I got kicked out of the knights. I lost everything that day. All because of them…" Frisk feels his anger come back to him.
Howard, absorbing the information, gently asked "And, your mother? What about her?"
"She believed the accusations. I was abandoned, and had to become a demon hunter to survive," he answers. Howard nodded, a mix of sympathy and understanding spark up in his eyes.
"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, Mr. Frisk. I really do," he tells him.
"However, if you are not part of the knights, how did you managed to become my escort for today?" Howard asks. For some reason, Frisk's eyes lit up with a spark of excitement.
Well your highness, that's a story in itself, involving a man named Rach Werheit and his lost invention, the printing press."
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