Chapter Text

The cave was silent. There was no wind to stir the blades of grass that covered the ground, and no creatures rustled through the beautiful bed of golden flowers. A cluster of weathered pillars rose as though reaching for the source of the soft daylight that spilled through an opening in the ceiling of the cave, illuminating it for a few precious hours before the sun moved on. The golden glow transformed the interior from what could have been an imposing and claustrophobic space to one that felt warm and inviting. It glinted and refracted from the drops of water falling from the ceiling, filling the room with color and life.

A rustle. The silence was broken. A young child, no older than eight, lifted her head above her bed of flowers. With slow, pained movements, she forced her bruised and battered body back to its feet. The flowers she had crushed in her fall began to spring back up, slowly reaching back to the light they craved. The child blinked in the sunlight as she examined her surroundings, taking in the cathedral-like walls and monolithic pillars, the lush grass and the creeping vines, and the worn trail leading deeper into the cave. She was alone, but perhaps she would not be alone for long.

The child began her slow progress down the path, limping from her injuries. The flowers and grass bent under her weight as she passed, leaving a trail of footprints in the vegetation. The path led to an old archway. The child passed through without hesitation and was gone. The flowers where she had lain and the grass upon which she walked slowly rose from where they had been pressed, erasing any trace that moments ago, a child had passed through. The sun that heralded the arrival continued along its course, and light no longer fell through the opening in the ceiling.

The cave was silent.

A lone golden flower rose from a patch of grass greeted the child as she crossed through the arch. Unlike the other golden flowers, however, this one had a face.

“Howdy!”

This one had a face with a mouth that talked.

“I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower!” said the flower. The child wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so she remained silent.

“Hmmm… You’re new to the Underground, aren’tcha? Golly, you must be so confused.”

The child scratched at the band-aid on her face. She nodded, then winced as the movement sent a new burst of pain through her skull. She was definitely confused. Maybe he, Flowey, should start with the existence of talking flowers. Was this common? None of the other flowers she’d met had talked.

“Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

The child felt the familiar, horrible sensation of her soul being wrenched from her body. She fought the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm her and looked down at her chest. Her soul was a deep red, the color of dried blood, and it pulsed in time with her heart. There it was, right where it always was, hovering in the center of her chest, just below her sternum. She could almost hear the sound of the machine, feel the straps against her wrists...

“See that heart? That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!” Yes, she knew that.

“Your soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV.” The child’s head came back up. Now this, she did not know. Her soul could get stronger? She opened her mouth to ask a question, but before she could speak, the flower — Flowey — continued.

“What’s LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don’t you?”

Oh. The child’s heart sank. It was the same call-and-response, the same ritual she had performed over and over again, just with words she hadn’t heard before. The girl seemed to shrink as she delivered the response: “Yes, I do.”

The flower looked delighted. “Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you! Down here, LOVE is shared through… little white… ‘friendliness pellets.’ Move around! Get as many as you can!”

As he spoke, a number of white orbs that looked vaguely like seeds appeared around him. As the flower finished his monologue, the pellets began to move toward her. The child knew where this was going. The last part of the ritual. Breathe in. Breathe out. She closed her eyes.

And screamed as the pellets tore into her. She fell to the ground. She looked back at Flowey, whose innocent, goofy grin had morphed into a monstrous sneer.

“You idiot. In this world, it’s kill or be killed. Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this!?”

A ring of pellets encircled her.

“Die.”

Oh. Normally things didn’t go this far. She just had to survive. She just had to last. She just had to stay determined…

But before they could reach the child, the ring of pellets vanished. Flowey’s face morphed to a mask of disbelief, just before a fireball struck him. With a pained cry, Flowey was ripped out of the ground and flung across the room.

Of all things, a huge goat woman dressed in a muumuu took his place. The child decided to stop trying to predict what was going to happen next.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…” murmured the giant goat lady. As she spoke, the girl felt the pain from her wounds draining away. She struggled into a sitting position, gaping at the monster towering over her. The goat lady seemed to notice her apprehension.

“Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time.” Yes, humans tended to avoid Mt. Ebott… And the girl hoped things would stay that way.

“What is your name, little one?” asked Toriel. The child took a moment to collect herself before answering.

“Frisk.”

Toriel smiled. “Frisk? That’s a nice name. Come! I will guide you through the catacombs. This way.” Toriel turned and led the way deeper into the cavern. After some hesitation, Frisk stood and trailed after her.

After passing through the next archway, the rough, unformed walls of the natural cave gave way to obvious construction. Smooth walls made of fitted stones loomed on either side, and stairs rose to neatly frame the entrance to the ruins. The doorway was not made the same size as human doorways. Instead it was much larger, clearly made for creatures the size of Toriel or possibly larger. Toriel waited for the child to catch up before entering.

Immediately through the door was a puzzle that Toriel quickly solved. She explained that the Ruins were full of traps and puzzles. Why could that be? Why put a puzzle immediately behind what appeared to be the main door into the Ruins? This entire room seemed dedicated to just the one puzzle. Was it like locking your front door? Frisk wondered to herself.

The next room seemed to confirm her suspicion, but… Didn’t it seem a bit excessive to block the way with retracting spikes? Frisk began to grow nervous. Someone either really didn’t want visitors, or they were very concerned with keeping whatever was inside the Ruins from escaping. Possibly both. She decided to keep her distance from Toriel, just in case her kindness was just an act. After all, just like Flowey had said… Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?

The next room did not have a trap. Instead, it had a stuffed dummy in the corner. Toriel cleared her throat before speaking.

“As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation.” Frisk’s mind immediately went back to Flowey’s words: in this world, it’s kill or be killed. Could she fight, if the time came?

But Toriel wasn’t finished speaking yet. “However, worry not! The process is simple. While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come resolve the conflict.”

Frisk stared. Was she serious?

“Practice talking to the dummy.”

She was serious. At this rate, Frisk was more inclined to take Flowey’s advice than Toriel’s. But, well... she supposed she had nothing to lose by humoring Toriel for now. As she approached the dummy, she frantically tried to come up with something to say. Normally, Frisk just tried to avoid talking to people. It was proving to be more difficult than she’d expected. She mumbled out some rote question about how the dummy was doing and if was eating well. The dummy, much to her relief, didn’t answer. Toriel seemed pleased.

As they entered the next room, Toriel spoke again. “There is another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it?”

Ah, she was going to have Frisk solve one. Up to this point, Toriel had been solving all the puzzles. But before Frisk could see what the puzzle was, a frog that was almost as tall as she was hopped out of the Ruins. Frisk once again felt the sickening feeling of her soul being drawn from her body. She clutched her chest. She could almost smell the sulfur, just like then... Did every creature down here have this ability?

Stall for time so that Toriel could resolve the conflict, right? “Y-you’re a very cute frog.” Frisk stammered. She was terrible at this.

The frog… Froggit? ...didn’t seem to be able to understand what she said, but was flattered anyway. It blushed and croaked. How does a frog blush? Before the Froggit could respond, Toriel rushed over and glared at it. It sheepishly hopped away. Huh, that wasn’t so bad. Frisk felt more confident. Now she just had to handle this puzzle Toriel had mentioned.

Frisk’s newfound confidence was dashed by the sight of the puzzle in the next room. Alright, some spikes in front of a door didn’t seem so excessive anymore. This ‘puzzle’ consisted of a bed of spikes surrounded by rushing water.

“This is the puzzle, but…” Toriel seemed to be reconsidering as well. “Here, take my hand for a moment.”

Frisk regarded Toriel’s outstretched hand with horror. No. No, no no no. That’s too close. She couldn’t do it. Frisk turned back into the hallway, ignoring Toriel’s calls. She’d rather attempt the puzzle alone. There was a sign on the wall that she’d missed the first time through. Frisk wasn’t particularly good at reading. She was always slow to learn in school, and her parents didn’t take much interest in her education, so she never got quite as good as the other children. The fact that she was hungry enough to make her head spin did not help her concentration. After some effort, however, she managed to work it out: “The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint.” Frisk couldn’t actually tell east from west down here, but by process of elimination she guessed that the room of death spikes was the eastern room. That would make the previous room the western one.

The western room was pretty bare. The walls were made of stones and the floor of tiles. Some of the walls appeared to be old enough to be crumbling, and vines growing into the crevices were accelerating the process. It only took Frisk a moment to notice that a portion of the tiles were colored differently than the others, and that they formed a particular pattern. Well, that was easy. Frisk paced the path to get a feel for exactly what route to take. Then she took a deep breath and returned to the eastern room. Toriel wasn’t going to be happy, but Frisk just… couldn’t do it.

“Ah, there you are my child. Here, take my hand… Wait, what are you doing? Frisk, wait!”

Frisk rushed past Toriel and into the bed of spikes, before Toriel could stop her and before she could second-guess herself. The spikes didn’t impale her. Frisk carefully followed the route she’d memorized and emerged out the other side unscathed. Toriel followed close behind her. She turned to Frisk with an expression that Frisk had not seen her wear before. Frisk flinched and shrunk away, waiting for Toriel to punish her.

“You did well to solve the puzzle, my child, but that was dangerous. You should have taken my hand. I would have led you on the correct path myself.” Toriel spoke kindly but firmly.

...What? Frisk looked back toward Toriel. She looked concerned and worried, but not angry. Why wasn’t she angry? Frisk hadn’t just made a mistake, she’d actively disobeyed Toriel. She’d been punished before for lesser offenses.

Toriel took a deep breath and smiled. “I had planned something for this hallway but it doesn’t seem needed now. Come, I will tell you about the Ruins.”

The hallway was much the same as the rest of the Ruins. Fitted stone walls crumbling with age, tiled flooring with a worn path down the middle, and vegetation growing into the hall through cracks in the floor and walls. It didn’t look particularly dangerous.

As they walked, Toriel told Frisk about the monster that she had met earlier, the Froggit. She assured Frisk that they meant no harm. Frisk was not convinced, but didn’t dare to argue. As they reached the end of the hallway, Toriel paused.

"I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It’s dangerous to explore by yourself.”

Frisk nodded. “‘S okay. I can wait.”

Toriel smiled. “I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?”

Frisk’s eyes grew round as Toriel handed her a flip phone. This was the most valuable thing anyone had ever given her. She looked up and opened her mouth to ask if she could keep it, if it was really hers… But Toriel was already gone.

Frisk sat against the wall next to the pillar, grinning from ear to ear. A phone! People almost never gave her anything, and certainly nothing as nice as a flip phone. She opened it and flipped through the menu, ignoring her hunger. There was only one contact, Toriel. Then again, Frisk didn’t know anyone else down here in the Ruins. She called the number.

“This is Toriel.”

Oh. Maybe she should have come up with something to talk about before calling. “Um, I just wanted to say hello.”

“You just wanted to say hello…? Well then. ‘Hello!’ I hope that suffices. Hee hee.”

Toriel hung up. Frisk smiled again. Her first phone call, on her first phone! She fiddled with it, flipping through the menus and pressing all the buttons. Over time, her enthusiasm was dampened by her increasing hunger. Frisk closed the flip phone and put it back in her pocket. When was the last time she’d eaten? Was it yesterday? Longer? She hadn’t eaten for about a day before she fell, so it depended on how long she’d lain in the flowers.

In any event, it had been long enough that she was beginning to feel dizzy if she moved too quickly. Maybe… Maybe Toriel wouldn’t mind if she went to the next room, just for a quick peek. Frisk stood, slowly, and left the hallway.

Immediately her phone rang. Frisk jumped and ran back into the hallway before answering, heart pounding.

“Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?”

“No, I haven’t.” Frisk answered, proud of how she kept her voice from shaking.

“There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?”

Toriel hung up. Frisk gulped and slid back against the wall where she had been sitting. She knew a threat when she heard one, no matter what tone it was given in. More spikes, perhaps? Or maybe it would be something new, something involving these monsters? Maybe she shouldn’t go…

...But something was stirring inside Frisk again, a feeling she didn’t recognize. An urge not to give up on her original idea, and even to go further. It was at odds with her natural inclination, the one ingrained in her, the impulse to obey Toriel and stay put. But it was fresh and new and somehow still felt natural. Frisk was fascinated, and decided to act on this new familiar urge. Frisk stood and once again left the hallway.