Chapter Text

Frisk propped himself up on his arms with a groan, rubbing his backside to ebb away the pain. Opening his eyes, Frisk takes in his surroundings.

Well. When he was wandering the mountainside, he did not expect to find a nice cave to stumble into, maybe live the rest of his life in. All those plans went tumbling (heh) when a hole seemed to materialize from the darkness, taking him whole.

Apparently, the hole Frisk fell into seemed to house yet another cave system, possibly one that no one else has ever been in before. And had flowers as well? Frisk looks down, and discovered what broke his fall.

Flowers. Ones like in the center of his town. Those ones were thought to be the last ones on Earth, but apparently that’s untrue, if there are some down here as well.

“Great. Another human has fallen yet again,” a voice says out of nowhere, “The humans should’ve learned to block off this cursed mountain by now.”

“Hello?” Frisk calls out, unsure on what to say to a voice that just popped up in his head.

“No one is going to hear you, nitwit,” the same voice says in a bored monotone.

“What about you?” Frisk tried asking stupidly.

“Wait, what?!” the voice says, and Frisk feels a pulling sensation in his chest.

Frisk feels a popping sensation in the same area, and soon after, a person materializes just beside the center of his vision. It appears to be a transparent pale girl roughly his age, wearing a green shirt with a single yellow stripe across the middle. Her hair was auburn, what appeared to be a natural blush was on her cheeks and eyes the color of chocolate.

“How can you hear me? No other human that has fallen down here has ever heard me, and now suddenly someone can see me?” the girl asked, walking up to Frisk and looking over him, hands on her hips.

“I-I don’t know,” Frisk stammers out, looking down, “I was just wandering into a cave, fell, and next thing I knew I was waking up.”

The girl only sighs, and turns around, walking towards an old entrance to the east. “Whatever. Now that I’m… back,” she grimaces, “I should be able to-” she stops abruptly just before the entrance, as if running into a wall. “What? No, no!” she shouts, pounding her fists on the ‘invisible wall’.

Frisk smirks slightly. “Well, looks like you’re stuck with me, princess.”

The girl turns toward Frisk, cheeks slightly darkened with more blush. “I’m not a- argh! Why can’t I go any further?!” she begins hitting the unseen barrier.

“I dunno,” Frisk says, shrugging and standing up. The girl seems to wobble a bit, as if the boundaries shifted with his movement.

“Wait- walk towards me,” she orders Frisk, to which he complies. She takes a few cautious steps, before ‘hitting’ the ‘wall’ again.

The two repeat the process a few more times, in which by the end of it, the girl has a horrorstruck expression. “Oh no, this can’t be happening! Of all things I could be bound to, it’s a human!”

“Yeah, well looks like you’ll have to get used to it, sweetheart,” Frisk replies, winking at her.

“Argh! Just get your butt over here! I think I see something.” the girl almost screams, and Frisk walks over to her.

When Frisk turns the corner, both he and the girl are surprised to see, of all things, a smiling flower in the center of the room.

“That’s strange,” the girl says, putting a finger to her chin. “I do not remember seeing any flower Monsters before.”

“Howdy! I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower!” the flower, or rather, Flowey, states. Frisk just looks at him, dumbstruck.

“Um, hi?” Frisk asks, unsure on how to proceed.

“Oh, golly! No other human that has fallen down here has ever replied to little old me. They just stood there with dumb expressions on their dumb faces. One even drooled a bit! Can you even believe that?” Flowey looks down as if in memory, and shakes his head. “What a bunch of idiots.”

Frisk frowns. “Well, that’s not a very nice thing to say about other people.”

The girl shrugs a shoulder. “Well, that’s other humans for you.”

Flowey looks back up at Frisk, a smile plastered onto his face(?). “Well, anywho, you’re new to the Underground, aren't cha? And since I’m the only one around here, I guess that little old me will have to do for now. Ready?”

Frisk rubs his right arm, “For what?”

Flowey winks, sticking out a tongue. “Why, ready for this, silly!” and with that, a red heart comes from out of Frisk’s chest.

“Whoa, what is that?” Frisk asks, reaching a hand out toward the heart.

“Don’t touch that!” the girl says. “You should not touch the very essence of your being!”

Flowey apparently can’t see the girl, because he does not heed to her warning Frisk, continuing what he was saying. “See that heart?” he appears to pause a bit at the sight, as if remembering a distant memory, before shaking it off. “That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being! Your Soul starts off weak, but with more intent, it can become stronger!”

“How could it become stronger through intent?” Frisk asks, still mesmerized by the sight of his Soul.

“Why, LOVE, of course!” Flowey states, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, but then his expression turns serious. “The higher your LOVE is, the stronger you become! But if your LOVE becomes too high, you might become a little, heh, crazy,” Flowey says, expression becoming slightly guilty for some reason, then brightens back up. “Well! With some people, LOVE is shared through little white… ‘friendliness pellets’,” several oval shaped things appear around him. “You want at least a little bit of LOVE, don’t you?” the pellets go toward Frisk. “Go on, catch as many as you can!”

“Human, wait- don’t touch any of the bull-” the girl begins to tell Frisk, but too late, he gets a SOULful of bullets.

Flowey’s expression becomes what could only be described as smug. “Wow! You must be a bigger idiot than I thought, for you to be so trusting of what those bullets would do to a human!”

A figure comes in from the side, in the shadows, a stern look on their darkened face as they look at Flowey. “Flowey, what did we tell you about harming newcomers?”

Flowey’s expression shifts to one of sheepishness. “To… to not to?”

“Good, you still remembered. Please move along, and we shall continue talking later.”

Flowey puts on a pout. “Do we have to?”

“Yes, we do. Move along.”

Once Flowey burrows into the ground, Frisk looks up at the figure, who has stepped into the light and healed him. Standing in front of Frisk was a large creature, which kind of resembled a goat, except with very fluffy ears, a blond beard, and wearing faded purple robes.

“Dad?” the girl asks in a confused -and slightly hurt- voice.

“Howdy! I am Asgore, one of the caretakers of the Ruins,” he looks at the spot Flowey disappeared from. “Sorry that I took so long to get here, and that you had to meet Flowey first. He is usually on good behavior, but he tends to do that to newcomers of the Underground. Do not mind him, as I can assure you that he will only do that to you this one time.”

Asgore turns toward the entrance of the Ruins, then turns his head to look at Frisk. “Please, follow me if you will.”

Frisk follows Asgore toward the entrance of the Ruins. The movement of the unseen barrier moving the girl seems to shock her out of her stupor, and she looks at Asgore, “Dad?”

No response.

“Dad!” the girl said louder, running ahead and waving her hand in front of Asgore’s face. He does not even blink, or give any hint of acknowledgement whatsoever. Frisk gives her a strange look. “He… he can’t see me.”

They enter the Ruins through another archway, and the room beyond is filled with red leaves, and with rows of golden flowers along the edges of the leaves.

Frisk peeks around from behind Asgore, and spots a small yellow star, twinkling at the base of the stairs. He points in its direction, and asks “What’s that star thing?”

“Oh!” Asgore says, and walks up to it. “You must be wondering about this. I do not know what it is, but it does look nice. Lights up the place, too!” he then turns thoughtful, “They’re strange. Those stars appeared the same day Flowey first came to us. But excuse me, we have to keep going!”

Frisk walks up to the star and cups his hands beneath it. Suddenly, a hot but pleasant sensation fills his entire being, most of the feeling in his chest.

The girl, slightly dazed from Asgore’s lack of acknowledgement, walks up next to Frisk, and says in his ear “*The sight of such beautiful scenery in a place of ruin fills you with determination.”

Frisk looks at her curiously, but not wanting to keep Asgore waiting, climbs the stairs and enters the next room, the girl following behind him.

As Frisk enters the next room, Asgore begins talking. “As it is customary to say, welcome to your new home, young one.”

“Great, puzzles,” the girl mumbles, crossing her arms and looking at her feet sullenly.

“This is a puzzle, made to slow others and act as keys,” Asgore says, walking towards a button on the ground.

At that moment, vines slither out of the ground next to the buttons, pressing them, and another vine clicking the switch next to the door. Frisk flinches, yelping and falling onto his rear end.

“Ah. It appears that Flowey is feeling just a tad bit sorry for what he did to you earlier, so he wants to make it up to you,” Asgore says, “This is already good progress, but he should not do this too much, as you can’t always rely on others to do puzzles for you,” he says, then walks into the next room.

Frisk and the girl walk after Asgore, entering yet another room lined with various flowers. Frisk spots a sign in front of him, and walks up to it.

‘If you can read this, then congratulations! You are literate!’ the sign says. The girl gives a snort of laughter behind Frisk.

“Now, in preparation for humans, instructions have been written next to the switches to help,” Asgore says, walking to the end of the room, “Can you please pull the correct ones?”

Frisk walks up to the first switch, looking at the message beside it. The girl follows him, squinting at it, and says under her breath “*‘Please flick this switch’. The person’s name is too smudged to read, and you have a feeling that this is not Asgore’s handwriting.”

Frisk nods, gulping, and walks to the next labeled switch, flicking it. The spikes, which he noticed were very blunt, as if someone had filed them down. He walks into the next room with Asgore.

Asgore clears his throat. “Now, as you have experienced with Flowey, when you encounter a Monster, there is a chance you will be pulled into a FIGHT. Do not hesitate to defend yourself though if they send attacks at you. Please stall for time with the dummy behind me.”

“Um,” Frisk says, looking around Asgore, seeing no dummy in sight, “What dummy?”

Asgore turns around, frowning. “Oh dear, it appears that the dummy is not on duty now,” he turns back to Frisk, “I guess I’ll have to do for now,” he notices Frisk’s troubled expression, before saying “Do not fear, young one. I promise I won’t attack you, and you can SPARE me then.”

Asgore pulls Frisk’s SOUL out, the area around them dimming.

“Now, just do something to show that you do not wish any harm towards me, and we shall continue,” Asgore says.

“Uh… uh…” Frisk says, not knowing what to do.

“*Asgore Dreemurr, 80 ATK, 80 DEF. The king of all pushovers, you assume,” the girl says, sounding bored while resting her head on a hand.

“Um,” Frisk says, but couldn’t think of anything to say, so he gives a small wave.

“*You couldn’t think of anything to say, so you wave at him instead. Asgore seems pleased with you, and is SPAREing you,” the girl says.

“I SPARE you?” Frisk says, unsure. Those seemed to be the magic words, as the room immediately brightens.

“Very good, young one. Let us proceed,” Asgore says, walking into the next room, Frisk following behind.

This room is filled with flowers of various species, with a lightened path in front, though it appears to have been in disuse for a long time.

“Why does that look so faded?” Frisk asks, tugging on Asgore’s sleeve and pointing at the path.

“Oh! Well, we deemed some puzzles to be too dangerous, so we have taken some precautions to avoid some of them altogether. We do not want any human to get hurt down here, in any case,” Asgore explains, “Like the puzzle just up ahead. Here, take my hand.”

The girl appears slightly hopeful, while Frisk scrunches up his eyebrows as he holds Asgore’s big paw. “Who do you mean by ‘we’?”

Asgore just smiles. “You will learn soon enough, child.”

He leads Frisk into a narrow pathway, then a more open area, with water around the room. There are a bunch of spikes, with a path that has no spikes and fences blocking off the unsafe spikes, even though even those ones were filed down as well.

Once the two (technically three) make it across the room, they head into the next room, which appears to be a long hallway.

“Now, you have done well so far. I have one more thing to ask of you: make it across this hallway without me,” Asgore says, “I hope you can manage that.”

Frisk gives a look of confusion, but Asgore is out of his sight faster than he thought. Panicking a bit, Frisk frantically looks around himself.

The girl nudges Frisk in the back. “Get going. You heard what he said. No need to be a baby.”

Frisk nods, and gulping, walks across the hallway. He comes to a stop next to a pillar, where Asgore comes out from behind it.

“Very good, young one! I’m sorry that I had to do that. It was merely a test of independence, which could come in handy someday,” Asgore says, “However, I must leave to get some things ready, so you will have to be alone for a while. But worry not! I shall give you something, so that you can ask me anything,” he pulls out an old phone, “Here. Feel free to call any time!” and with that, leaves the room.

“What’s your name?” the girl asks Frisk a few minutes later, who is sitting on the ground playing around on the phone.

“Why do you want to know my name?” Frisk asks, “You do not seem to like me very much.”

The girl leans on the pillar somehow, and frowns, “You’re right about that. But, seeing how we’re… linked, it would be good to learn your name.”

“Can you tell me your name in exchange?” Frisk asks in return.

“My name does not matter. At least anymore,” the girl replies, looking away.

Frisk smirks, “Your name matters to me, beautiful,” and he winks.

The girl’s face immediately reddens. “Really? You had to flirt just now?!”

“Then tell me your name, sunshine.”

“Only if you stop. Flirting. With. ME!”

Frisk laughs, “Okay, fine. My name is Frisk. What is yours?”

The girl pauses, and takes a deep breath (as if she needed any, mind you), saying in a small voice “Chara.”

“Well, I would say that’s quite a beautiful name,” Frisk says, nodding at her.

Chara gives a small smile, and opens her mouth to say something, but is quickly interrupted.

“Well, now that you’re finished talking with your imaginary friend, Frisk , I’d suggest that you get a move on!” Flowey says, burrowing up in front of Frisk.

Frisk yelps, and quickly pushes himself as far away from Flowey as he could.

“What are you doing here after what you did to Frisk?” Chara shouts at Flowey, but as figured, she might as well had shouted at the air.

Flowey just chuckles at Frisk. “Look, kid. I did not truly mean to hurt you back there. I was just seeing if you’d fall for my little schtick. It’s mostly to gauge how likely you’ll die down here.”

“How can I tell that you’re telling the truth, rather than trying to gain my trust?” Frisk asks, skepticism written all over his face. Chara shares the same expression.

“You’ll just have to trust me on that, but I digress. You should be going. Explore! Do some puzzles! Anything! Just don’t stay in this room for eternity!” Flowey says, sprouting small leaves to emphasize with gestures, but after the sentence, the leaves shrivel and fall off. Flowey does not seem to care.

“Okay, I will,” Frisk says, then realizes something. “Wait, how did you know my name?”

Flowey winks, “Why, Frisk! I was behind the pillar as you told your imaginary friend your name!”

“I am NOT an imaginary friend!” Chara shouts at Flowey, breathing heavily.

“Well, see you around!” Flowey says, then burrows into the ground.

“You heard what he said. Get up!” Chara says, grabbing Frisk and somehow pulls him to his feet.

“How can you do that?” Frisk asks, looking at Chara.

“Don’t care at the moment. Let’s just leave this place,” she replies, pushing Frisk into the next room.

After he crossed the threshold of the room, his phone began ringing, and Frisk picked it up. “Hello?”

“Howdy. This is Asgore. I trust that you have not left the hallway, now have you?”

“Uh…” Frisk says, unable to tell Asgore if he left the room.

“Well, I suppose it does not matter. Every other human that has fallen down here has, at some point, has already left the room. So, I suppose it would be more appropriate to tell you that I’ll see you when you arrive here,” Asgore chuckles. The line goes dead.

“Hey, one of those stars!” Chara shouts, pointing ahead. Frisk looks up from his phone, and sure enough, there is a small yellow star.

“I do like how they make me feel,” Frisk says, walking towards it. He cups his hands beneath it.

“*Learning the name of your ghostly companion fills you with Determination,” Chara says in a cheerful voice.

“Why do you do that?” Frisk asks, tilting his head at her while walking toward the next room.

“Do what?” Chara asks back, frowning.

“Narrate what I do. Why do you do that?” Frisk asks, and stops at the edge of what appears to be unstable ground.

“Oh, that,” she replies, looking away, “I used to do that when I was desperately bored, and wanted slight entertainment.”

“How would that be-” Frisk begins, walking across the cracks, but a hole appeared in the ground.

“Frisk?!” Chara shouts, and is immediately pulled flat to the floor. A few moments later, she looks up and sees Frisk climbing out of a slot in the wall. She then stands back up, needlessly brushing herself off, before saying outright “You could have died!”

Frisk shrugs. “Wasn’t that bad. There were pillows to cushion my fall.”

Chara covers her mouth as she snorts. “Did you really just say that?”

“Yes, did you not hear me?” he replies, sounding confused, but then what he said clicked in his mind, making him begin to giggle, “Oh my gosh, I did not mean to make that joke!”

“Yeah, well you said it anyway,” Chara says, wiping her eyes of tears, “But seriously, we should get going.”

“Okay,” Frisk says as soon as his giggles stop.

As soon as Frisk steps into the room, he gets another call from Asgore. “Hello?” he asks into the receiver.

“Howdy, this is Asgore once again. I have to ask you: for no reason in particular, do you prefer Golden Flower Tea, or Herbal Tea?”

“Say Golden Flower,” Chara whispers into Frisk’s ear.

“Uh, Golden Flower?” he says, not certain on why she requested that particular tea.

“Alright, then,” Asgore replies, and Frisk hears an additional indistinguishable voice in the background, before Asgore then asks “Another thing for no particular reason: do you prefer cinnamon or butterscotch?”

Frisk says “Butterscotch!” at the same time as Chara shouts “Cinnamon!” Frisk looks at her weirdly, while Chara just scoffs at his preference, turning her head away from him.

“I see. Well then, see you soon!” Asgore says before hanging up.

Chara tugs onward at Frisk’s hands once Asgore hangs up. “Come on, let’s get going!”

Frisk shrugs. “Whatever you say,-”

Chara presses her hand to his mouth, shooting a pointed glare toward him. “Do not. Flirt. With me.”

Several rooms later, Frisk brushes himself off as he gets up from the pillows softening his fall. “Better not be another Vegetoid,” he mumbles to no one in particular.

He hears Chara fall into the hole after him, landing on her feet with only slight wobbling. “Better them than getting another Spider Donut,” she says, smirking.

“Not that again,” Frisk groans, looking in the direction of the exit.

Chara looks at something on the ground, and begins giggling. “Okay, but only if you wear that!” she says, pointing at the ground. Frisk looks at where her hands are aiming.

On the ground, there is a straw cowboy hat collecting dust. With curious eyes, Frisk picks it up and twirls it in his hands, looking at it at every angle.

“*Cowboy Hat: +4 DEF. Upon closer inspection, it appears to be a cowgirl hat,” Chara whispers in Frisk’s ear in an amused tone.

“Nuh-uh,” Frisk says, twirling it twice and plopping it into the mess known as his hair. He looks at Chara with a big, dopey grin on his face.

Chara rolls her eyes at him. “You’re so moronic.”

“What? Cowboys are cool,” Frisk answers, beginning to climb back up.

“Whatever you say,” Chara retorts, climbing behind Frisk. She takes a look around the room after she gets her feet on the ground. “Well, using the amazing power of deduction, I would say that that hole over there is the one with the switch in it.”

“Wow, really?” Frisk says in a sarcastic tone. He walks over to the cracks and falls in, Chara quickly following.

“Took you long enough,” Chara says, “But you know, you could’ve just asked me for the solution.”

Frisk stares at her where he is from on the ladder. “Seriously?!”

“What?” Chara asks as if she was not at fault, “You didn’t ask me. Plus, it was fun watching you struggle.”

“Hmph,” Frisk says, rapidly climbing the ladder. He steps out of the slot and walks toward the next room.

“This one’s easy. Just flick the switch that the sign directs you to use,” Chara supplies, “You don’t have to pull one in this room, though.”

Three switch flicks later, Frisk is standing at a crossroads, several species of flowers lining the walls and leaves. He turns to Chara. “Which direction should I go?”

Chara ponders whether or not if she should answer. “You should go east first. Who knows, there might be worth something to look at.”

“Whatever you say,” Frisk says, walking forward and taking a left past a Froggit.

The sight past the doorway was something to behold. A purple city stretched out rather far into the cavern, but from what he could see, there were hundreds of buildings, parapets atop buildings, and multiple glassless windows.

“This is amazing,” Frisk breathed out, “What is this place?”

“The old city of Home. You think this is amazing? You should’ve seen it when almost everyone lived here,” Chara says, and looks down, “Oh look!”

“What?” Frisk asks, taking his eyes off of Home.

“This,” Chara replies, and toes something on the ground. Frisk looks at her feet.

Sitting at her feet lies a small revolver, collecting dust as well. Frisk picks it up and looks it over.

“Sweet!” he exclaims, looking at the grip, “Now I can become something like a sheriff around here!”

“*Empty Gun: +4 ATK. An old revolver. More useful for intimidation,” Chara states, then mumbles under her breath “Luckily, it has no bullets.”

“Who cares?! It’s a freaking gun!” Frisk enthuses, sticking it into his front left pocket. “Let’s go!”

The two leave the balcony overlooking Home, and go back to the crossroads, heading north this time.

“Oh dear,” Asgore’s voice comes from behind the big tree in front of Frisk. “It took me a lot longer to get the tea going than I thought. I wonder how the human is doing?” He comes out from behind the tree, and notices Frisk. “Oh, you are here already?” He walks over to Frisk. “Well, that is no matter. Come, let’s go inside.”

Frisk (and Chara, by extension) follows Asgore to the door, where he spots a yellow star. Like the past few times, Frisk cups his hands beneath the star.

“*The scent of tea and butterscotch with cinnamon permeates the air… It fills you with Determination,” Chara says, “Let’s head inside.”

Frisk agrees, and walks into the house. Asgore is standing in front of him. “Welcome to your new home, young one,” he turns to the west, “Please, follow me again. There is someone I want you to meet,” and he walks into the next room, with Frisk following.

In what appears to be a living room, there is another Monster sitting in an armchair while reading a book. This new Monster appears similar to Asgore, but looks more feminine, with short horns and a smaller frame overall. Chara gasps at the Monster. “Mom?” she gasps.

“Tori,” the Monster looks up at Asgore, “The young one has arrived.”

“Oh, is that so?” she replies, closing her book and walking over to Asgore, then looks at Frisk, smiling. “Greetings, innocent one. I am Toriel, the other caretaker of the Ruins.”

“Ah, I guess it would be time that I took my leave, then,” Asgore says, turning around.

“I do believe that you have earned yourself a rest, Gorey,” Toriel says, looking at Asgore, who leaves the room. She then turns back to Frisk. “Now, the pie and tea are too hot to have right now, so I would suggest that you turn in for the night, for trekking the Ruins without supervision,” she gives a disapproving look, “can be quite draining on young bodies, I believe,” Frisk nods, feeling tired at the moment. “Well, give me your hand, and I shall escort you to your new room.”

Frisk takes her hand (with Chara appearing to be in a stupor, running on autopilot), and follows Toriel into a hallway, stopping at the first door to the left. “This will be your new room, little one. We hope you will like it,” she says, and begins fondly patting his hair. “Is something burning?” she turns back to Frisk, “Make yourself at home, as well,” before running off.

Frisk looks at the door, then at Chara, before deciding to push her form into the bedroom. He shuts the door with moderate force, and Chara appears to be snapped out of her stupor.

“Huh?” she says, rubbing her head absentmindedly.

“I’m going to sleep. Wanna join?” Frisk asks, patting his hand next to himself on the bed.

“What?! No!” she snaps, “I’m dead , and the dead need no sleep… right?” she got a sudden wave of exhaustion, causing her to wobble on her feet, but regains her balance. “What? I just felt tired. How is that… possible?”

“Dunno, but we should think about that in the morning,” Frisk says and flops onto the bed.

A few minutes later, the sounds of his soft snores fill the room. Chara just sits beside the bed, fighting off the sudden drowsiness that is threatening to overtake her. In truth, she would like the bed, but felt it was wrong for her to use it after what she did to him .

Sighing, Chara presses herself as much as she could against the bed, and closes her eyes.

A blanket and pillow fall onto the floor. Chara opens her eyes as they fall through her, and her form slightly rising to be on top of the blankets and pillow. She looks at the bed.

Frisk has apparently tossed off all but one blanket off of the bed in his sleep.

Smiling slightly, she lies her head on the pillow and curls up on the blankets.

Frisk might be annoying to her with the additional flaw of being a human, but he still has his advantages for her.

Chara closes her eyes yet again, promising to herself to open them in a few minutes.