Underforce: A New Tale

Then again, Lizzy was wrapped up in about 10 different layers of clothing and looked more round than person shaped, so maybe it was just Frisk.

Mom hadn’t changed at all yet seemed to have no problem with the cold. I guessed that her fur was keeping her warm. I wished that mine was. But then again, I’d never been this cold before, literally. So maybe I’d get used to it eventually and be more like Mom, who knows?

As we walked we passed a few empty stands, I asked Mom what those were about. “Those are the stands of the Royal Guard, I expect sooner or later we shall run into them. In fact eventually, we will need to meet with them in order to gather everyone.” “But Mom, why would there be so may royal guard stands out in the Snowdin Forest? Surely they would mostly be protecting Dad?” I asked her. “Oh, your father can take care of himself, Rey. And besides, the royal guard is for the protection of everyone in the underground. The reason for an unusually large number of stations in Snowdin Forest is due to this being the first place that the humans pass once they exit the ruins, so there are plenty of guards to look out for the humans when they come through. They do this so they can inform the rest of the underground and assist the human if needs be.”

As we continued on we passed quite a few royal guard stations, eventually one of them actually contained a member of the royal guard, 2 of them in fact. They ended up being a husband and wife royal guard duo. Mom decided to let us all stop and rest for a bit at their station. Lizzy wasn’t taking the cold weather particularly well and needed to rest inside the station. Since me and Frisk weren’t taking the cold as badly we asked Mom if it was alright for us to go and explore the forest a little. It was Frisks first visit in the underground and this would also be the first time I could see all this stuff with my own eyes. I could still remember bits and pieces of Asriel’s memories from when our souls fused, not as much as before but I could still remember a fair amount, enough that it would be difficult for us to get lost in Snowdin Forest.

So, of course, that means we got lost in Snowdin Forest… Frisk seemed amazed at everything down here; the trees, the snow…well, there wasn’t really much else but Frisk still seemed to enjoy themselves a lot. Before long Frisk lobbed a snowball at me and to the astonishment of both of us I somehow sensed it coming and dodged it, even though by all rights it should have hit me square in the face. That seemed to annoy Frisk who the proceeded to try and throw as much snow at me as possible so they could hit me. Of course, I couldn’t back down from a challenge like this and started to retaliate whilst dodging as many snowballs as I could. This soon devolved into an all-out snowball war with neither of us really paying attention to where we were going.

We decided to call it a draw when we ended up wrestling each other into a massive pile of snow, covering ourselves from head to foot. Once we climbed out of the Snow we had a quick look around before realising that we were, in fact, completely lost.

“I thought you said you knew this place!” Frisk moaned at me. “How could I? I never left that bed until yesterday. Just because I have SOME of my brother's old memories doesn’t mean I know this place like the back of my hand. It all looks the same; just snow and trees and ice and more snow” I replied. “I thought you said you had a fantastic sense of direction. If it’s so great, why don’t you point out the direction back to the guard station!?”

The argument went on for a while before we realised that fighting with each other wouldn’t help at all and decided to put our differences behind us and work together to get back to Mom. She’d kill us if we weren’t back before long, Azzy’s memories made that abundantly clear.

We wondered around for a while, hoping we might stumble across a path that might take us back to where Mom was. We didn’t. “This is hopeless,” I said after a bit more wandering around, “The path has disappeared or been covered with snow, we’re never going to find our way back.” “Of course we will, we just have to stay deter-“

“HEEEEELLLLPPPP!!!” A voice echoed through the trees. Instantly both of us turned and ran towards it. Someone was in trouble, and I wasn’t just going to sit by and do nothing. “HEEEEEEELLLLPPP MEEEE!”

We soon sprinted out of the woods and came across what looked like a long rope bridge. And hanging on for dear life, off of the side right in the middle, was a kid. A short orangey-brown coloured lizard monster was holding on by the skin of their teeth. Literally, they had no arms and were only holding on with their teeth. “HEEEEERRRRLLLLPPP!!” they shouted.

“We have to do something!” I yelled. But Frisk was faster than me and had already sprinted straight onto the bridge. “Stay back Rey,” Frisk shouted back. “I doubt this bridge can support all 3 of us.” And with that, they turned back around and ran towards the helpless kid. I watched as they ran straight up to them and reached out their arm.

But they were too late. Just as Frisk got to them, the kid lost their grip and started to fall. It was a massive drop, easily over 100 feet. It should have killed them. It would have killed them. But the moment they started to fall both me and Frisk reached out with our power as a gut reaction, and now, the kid was just hovering there, about 6 feet under the bridge.

“Yo…what is happening to me...?” they said as Frisk and I brought them back onto the bridge. The moment we got their feet back on solid ground they ran up to Frisk and nuzzled them closely. I imagine that this would have been a hug if the kid actually had arms. “Yo! It was you who did that right? You saved me.” “Well, Rey helped” Frisk replied pointing to me. I was not surprised when the kid then came and nuzzled me too. I gave them a nice hug back, that must have been a traumatising experience to go through.

“Yo, so your names Rey? Sweet name dude, and you are?” they asked looking at Frisk. “Frisk” “Yo, that’s a sweet name too. I’m MK, stands for Monster Kid. Came up with it myself. I live nearby in Snowdin Town, but I haven’t seen either of you before. You new kids?” “Kinda…” I replied, not wanting to go into detail about how exactly I was here. I wasn’t too sure on that myself. “Sweet dude, welcome to Snowdin. Anyway…I gotta be gettin’ back, I heard Undyne was in the area. That’s why I was running across the bridge and…yeah. Anyway, see ya round newbs.” And with that, they walked back over the bridge and off to what was presumably Snowdin Town.

We started walking back away from Snowdin Town. That was where Mom was going but we’d found the path that would, hopefully, lead us back to the guard station. But we didn’t get far before-

“IT WAS COMING FROM OVER HERE!!!” We suddenly heard someone shout loudly before a skeleton came bounding out of Snowdin Forest, coming straight for us.

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

As I wandered into the living/dining room I was greeted with a friendly “Good morning my child” from Toriel, “Did you sleep well?” “Fairly” I replied, trying to keep it a secret that Rey and I snuck out last night. “And is Rey...?” “He’s still sleeping.” I told her, “but the plan definitely worked, he woke me up last night but went back to sleep after, I’m sure he’ll get up soon.” I saw Toriel’s lip waver, just for a second, I knew that she was both nervous and excited to see Rey awake for the first time. I hoped she wouldn’t have to wait too long.

“I hope that you are right, my child. Anyway, help yourself to some breakfast. To celebrate I made everyone pancakes, and do not worry, I made plenty so Rey won’t miss out no matter how much you eat.”

I helped myself to a small pile of pancakes and started to dig in. They were the best pancakes I’d ever tasted, soft and sweet and fluffy. As I ate I looked across the table at another human child who I assumed was Lizzy. She was much younger than I was, 8 or 9 at a guess, she had pink dyed hair with a slightly faded red ribbon in there and sky blue eyes. She wore a nice light blue t-shirt and a knee length skirt which was also blue. The blue theme made me want to question the pink hair, but I decided to leave it be.

“So, I’m guessing I’m not the first human to fall down here?” I asked. “Nope” was all I got from Lizzy. Thankfully Toriel was able to give me a better explanation. “Indeed not, my child. You are, in fact, the eighth human to fall down into the ruins. Many have come and passed through here, and you are but the latest.” “Then, why aren’t there 6 other humans here? Where did they go?” “Oh there’s a simple explanation, my dear, they moved on into the rest of the underground to live in monster society. You see what happens is, when a human falls down, I keep them here in the Ruins for an adjustment period, so that they can get used to living with monster kind. Then, once I feel that they are ready, they are allowed to go through into the rest of the underground and find a place where they feel they belong. So far 5 humans have settled into monster soci-“

She trailed off and started staring at the entrance to the room, without even turning around I knew that Rey had just entered the room.

“H-hi Mom…” he managed to stutter out, “m-may I come in?” Toriel just got out of her own chair and motioned for him to sit in it. I don’t think she was even able to talk right now for fear of crying. And truth be told, I was close to tearing up as well. Rey took two steps forward before he broke into an all-out run and gave Toriel the biggest and most heart-warming hug I’ve seen in my entire life. I couldn’t help but smile. “Oh my boy, you’re awake. I truly cannot believe this day has come” she said as she started to cry. “It’s happening Mom, this is real, I’m here.”

After a few minutes of crying and hugging they both let go of each other and sat down for some breakfast. However, before taking a single bite, all 3 of us had to answer a barrage of questions from Lizzy about who exactly this new goat monster was and why she had never even heard of him until today. Apparently, she hadn’t even heard of Toriel having any biological children at all, I guess Toriel didn’t like talking about it, which is understandable.

Once it was over I reached for my pancakes with a faint hope that I might be able to have just a little bit more. But no, instead Lizzy asked the question I’d been dreading from the moment I sat down. “Hey, are you a boy or a girl? When I first saw you, I thought you were a boy, but looking closer now I’m not so sure…” “My child, do you not know it is rude to ask such a question?” Toriel remarked. “No no, it’s ok. I was going to have to answer this question sometime or another. I’m a boy…for now.” And here comes the inevitable lead up question. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Bingo! Every single time I answer that question I always get a follow-up, no one ever just accepts it and moves on. “Well, right now I’ a boy. And I’ve been a boy for a while, but in the past, I’ve been a girl, and sometimes I’ve been neither. Tomorrow I might wake up a girl, or a boy still, or maybe as something that is neither of those two. There’s a special word for it, it’s called being-“

“Gender fluid…” Toriel interrupted me with. But she said it as if in a trance; she stared off into the middle distance not looking at anything in particular, clearly remembering something.

“Yes, that,” I said afterwards. Then she seemed to snap out of it and apologised. “My apologies for the interruption my child. Is everybody finished? If so, I shall go and do the washing up. Lizzy, would you care to join me?” “Sure thing Mom” Lizzy replied and the two of them got up went to the kitchen to do the washing up, taking all the plates with them.

I looked at Rey curiously. “What was that about? Did I say something wrong?” “No, you didn’t. That was about Chara, the first child to fall down here years ago, they were gender fluid too. Mom, Dad and Asriel took them in and raised them as if Chara were a true sibling and child to them. But…Chara died years ago…it was the combination of Chara’s soul along with Asriel’s that allowed my brother to cross the barrier to the surface… Obviously, you being gender fluid too must remind Mom of Chara.” “I’m sorry…” Rey put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not your fault Frisk. You are what you are, and although it’s unfortunate what you remind Mom of Chara, it’ll pass.” “Thanks, Rey” “No problem,” he said as he pulled me in for a hug.

Before long Mom came bundling into the dining room in a rush. “My children,” she said, “pack your things, we’ll be leaving soon.” “Why?” I asked, we’d only just got here. “With you now here Frisk, we have 7 humans in the underground. And with 7 human souls, we can finally break the barrier. We’re all going to be free.”

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

[NEXT]

Suddenly they leapt out of bed and tackled me with a hug. “The plan worked!” Then I wrapped my arms around them and returned the hug. “Yes, yes it did. And I can’t thank you enough.” I replied. “So, he really is gone…” “He’s not gone Frisk, he’s right here, with us”

After everything that Frisk and Asriel had been through, after everything they had given up in my name, I knew without a doubt that I could trust them. Which is why I didn’t even have second thoughts about showing them. “See for yourself,” I said as I bared my soul to them.

But as I did so I ended up doing a double take. There was the little blue bit that was my own, I guessed, and the white bit that was my brothers…but then there was a third bit. A red portion that seemed to be upside down. Unless…

“Y-you gave up p-p-part of your s-soul for me?” I asked Frisk. “Of course, Rey” Frisk replied, “Fl-Asriel was so set on saving you that I knew instantly I’d do anything I could to help.”

This time it was my turn to leap on Frisk with a hug. I…didn’t know what to say. They had given me a portion of their own human soul to save me. Even a small but like that must have been incredibly painful, yet they gave it willingly. And that made me stronger than most monsters too, even a tiny bit of human soul like that must have the power of 1 or 2 fully grown, adult monsters.

“So…” they said quietly in my ear, “I guess this kinda makes you my brother…in a way.” I moved back so I could look them in the eye and smiled. “Heh, I guess it does” They hugged me again. “I always wanted a brother” I hugged back. “Well now you have one, I’ll always be there for you Frisk” “I’ll always be there for you too Rey.”

“What time is it?” I asked them. They quickly looked at their wrist before remembering that they didn’t actually have a watch on.   “I…have no idea.” They replied. “But judging from the snoring I can hear next door I’m guessing everyone else has gone to bed.”

“Oh…” I said. “It was just…I was hoping maybe we could…I’ve always wanted to…” “Yes?” They asked me. “Could we…go for a walk? You know…outside?” “Sure thing Rey. I’m guessing you’ve never left this room.” “I’ve never left my bed…this…this is my first time being awake…ever.” They put their hand on my shoulder and said, “Then, of course, we can go for a walk. Just…be careful okay?” “Mhm”

We carefully tiptoed out of the house together, making sure that we didn’t make a sound, we didn’t want to wake up Mom after all. Once we were a good way from the house we started walking normally. There were a couple of times I nearly fell over (it was the first time I’d ever walked okay? Cut me some slack) but Frisk was always there to catch me before I fell.

As we explored the ruined city Frisk and I got talking, we talked about various things: what I could remember; what it was like on the surface; Frisk's childhood…the day they lost their parents and went into a care home. “I’m sorry,” I told them. That must have been awful for them, I knew how hard losing a loved one could be. I decided to change the topic to something less sombre…emphasis on tried. “So, what’s the surface like now?” I asked. They had talked a lot about the past but nothing more recent. They looked down at the floor and sighed. “It’s…not good.”

“Everything I told you about before, it happened five or more years ago…” Frisk told me. “Why?” I asked. “What happened five years ago?” “THEY invaded.”

“They’re known as the Starkillers,” Frisk explained, “no one knows their true names so we just call them that. A pair of siblings that took over the world 5 years ago. They dissolved all forms of government and created a huge single empire that the two of them now rule. They rule with an iron fist, threatening anyone who disagrees with them, killing them if they take a single step out of line. They have…powers. They can move things with their minds and they have these swords that can cut through anything. No one dares stand up to them…they’ve already killed anyone that did…”

“I’m sorry Frisk,” I said, deciding to keep quiet the fact that I could use those powers too, at least for now. “If there’s anything I can do to help, I promise I will.” “Rey, you don’t have to-“ “I want to. After everything you’ve done for me,” I put my hand on their chest. “After everything you’ve given up for me, it’s my turn to help you. I swear to you Frisk, here and now, I will do everything in my power to help free the surface from these Starkillers and return it to peace.”

Suddenly I found myself enveloped in the warm embrace. It sounded like they were crying into my shoulder. “Thank you, Rey,” Frisk whispered in my ear. “That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” Now it was my turn to get teary-eyed. “I meant every word. We’re siblings anyway, right?” “Right.” They replied. It sounded like they were starting to feel better.

We walked on for a bit. Exploring the ruins of the old city of Home. We knew it was called that because we found a sign at the edge of the city, we both agreed that it was a strange name for a city but decided that a name was a name and moved on.

Eventually, we stumbled across what looked like some sort of smashed crystal. And when I say stumbled across I mean that it tripped me up…

“Woah Rey, are you alright?” Frisk asked, helping me up. “Yeah, I’m good. Just tripped on something.” We both looked in the direction of where I had just tripped up. On the ground, there seemed to be shards of crystal lying around. Frisk went over and picked up one of the pieces of the crystal. “It’s just like that other one…” They said. “What other one? I’ve never seen anything like that before.” Only afterwards did I realise how redundant that was, I hadn’t seen anything at all before. “Toriel, I mean, your Mom used a crystal just like this when she combined your soul with mine and Asriel’s. She said it contained the power of an entire star…”

I was speechless. Had Mom really used the power of an entire star to help me? I knew that Asriel had already sacrificed himself for me, but now the power of an entire star as well…was I really worth all that?

“I wonder where it came from?” Frisk asked looking around. I glanced upwards, from where I thought it should have come from and saw. “It must have come from up there,” I told Frisk, pointing up to the roof of the cavern.

Up there you could clearly see a hole where the crystal must have come from. And next to it there were 2 more crystals still stuck in the rock. “Hey, Rey?” Frisk said “Wanna help me get those other 2 crystals? We could have one each.” “You bet I do!” I replied. Something like that could come in very helpful…plus they looked REALLY cool. “But…how do we get them Frisk? They’re so high up.” I asked them. Climbing that high could be really dangerous, and I still wasn’t all that good at walking yet. “Stand back.” They told me.

They looked determined and slowly raised their hand towards the roof of the cavern. I could see them concentrating hard. A bead of sweat started to run down their face.

Eventually, they put their arm down and started breathing heavily. “I – I’m sorry – it’s – too far away – I can’t reach it. I’m still not very good at using these powers.” They were trying to use that power! Maybe I could too…

“F-Frisk…there’s, something I haven’t been telling you… I – I have those powers too… and I think I can help. If I lift you up, closer to the crystals, maybe you could reach them with your own powers...?” They looked stunned for a second as if they were taking time to understand what I had said. “Deal” they answered. I was surprised at just how quickly they had come to terms with it.

I prepared myself. I couldn’t mess this up, not with it being Frisk I was lifting this time. I reached deep within myself, trying to find that power again. I concentrated on Frisk and imagined them slowly and safely rising from the ground. As I did so, I heard a small cry of excitement come from Frisk. It was working.

Slowly they floated upwards until they were about halfway between the ground and the cavern roof. That was the furthest I could hold them steady and didn’t dare try to go any further. It was up to them now… I saw them reach their arm out and start to concentrate, reaching for the same power I was using right now. I took a quick glance at the ceiling and saw that the crystals were beginning to come free. “Come on Frisk” I whispered to myself.

Suddenly the crystals came free and gently floated towards Frisk. We’d done it! I slowly brought Frisk back down to the ground where they greeted me with open arms. “We did it!” They screamed as they hugged me. “We really did” I answered back. “Here you go.” They gave me one of the crystals. I hoped I’d be able to put it to good use someday. “We should get back,” Frisk said, “Toriel will kill us if she finds out we snuck out.” “Let’s get going,” I said back to them. So we set off back home. And I smiled at the thought of getting meet my Mom for the first time.

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

Then there came the twin voices. I call them that because they sound very similar. Both are very quiet, I almost had to strain to hear them. At first, I thought there was only the one voice, but over time I could make out some very subtle differences. One was always sharper, more…snippy with the way it spoke. The other was calmer and more soft-spoken, although not in the same way as the first voice, however, it was stern when it needed to be. And these two always sounded like they were arguing. I didn’t notice them at first, but looking back they were always there. Sometimes one would be louder than the other but they were always both there… That was until a while ago. The calmer voice became quieter and quieter until one day, it stopped altogether.

That was a long time ago though, now, I had something much more interesting going on. For the first time in a while the first voice had come back, but it sounded sad as if it were about to lose someone it cared for. And for the first time in forever, there were new voices. 2 new voices that I’d definitely not heard before. They seemed to be speaking to the first voice as if formulating a plan.

Everything went quiet. Literally no sound, I was used to this and began to wait until the voices would return. Then the first voice came back, but it sounded like it was chanting. Far off in the distance, I could hear it. But it slowly got clearer and clearer. The volume didn’t change, but I was starting to be able to understand what they were saying.

Then something happened which I was unprepared for: There was a sudden flash, and all these memories appeared. I was playing alone in the garden. No, now there was someone with me. We grew up together. Suddenly they were snatched away and I was all alone again. Then they were back, albeit briefly. Then it was back to darkness before another person arrived. The looked at me with such kindness and compassion. Wait, no…that wasn’t me. Those were someone else’s memories. Or were they? I wasn’t sure. What was going on? What was happening to me? I felt something else, like a glue, sticking us together. Merging 3 into 1…

My eyes flew open with a start. And I almost began to cry… I remembered. Not everything, but enough. Memories flashing in front of my eyes, and gone an instant later. My brother…Asriel…he…he sacrificed himself…for me. I could feel it in my soul, I could feel him…in my soul. He was there, absolutely he was there. But there was someone else…

I looked over at the other bed in the room. Asleep and facing away from me was another person. Frisk. That was their name. I could remember it from…well, from Asriel’s memories. I just now realised that I had them all. Growing up, playing with Chara, Mom and Dad, all of it. I remember seeing the surface! How beautiful it was. But from then there was a gap where I couldn’t remember anything before him seeing Frisk for the first time… There was nothing except a feeling…like, some sort of ability he had …but…he’d forgotten it...? Why could I remember him using it when even he couldn’t? But I remember the feeling of using that power, clear as day, the memory was…hazy…the only thing I was able to grasp was that feeling, I don’t know why, but I felt like maybe I could use that power as well. Like he had. I looked at a nearby photo, it showed 2 boss monsters together, who I recognised as my Mom and Dad, along with 5 human children, who I didn’t recognise, there were also some other monsters who I didn’t recognise in the photo.

I concentrated on the photo, focusing everything on it, I imagined it slowly lifting off of the table. At first, nothing happened. But as I tried harder, and I felt something. It felt like…like the energy moving around my body; like I was able to feel it moving and control it, even push it beyond the boundaries of my own body. The photo slowly began to shake and then to float upwards. It hovered there, around 6 inches above the tabletop. I’d done it, I could use that power Asriel had forgotten! But then suddenly the photo went flying across the room and smashed into the wall. ‘Oops… Guess I need more practice at that’ I thought to myself. I silently hoped that I might have gotten an answer from my brother, maybe he’d be able to talk to me? But nothing was forthcoming. I guess I really was all alone then, the last Dreemurr child. But then I looked closer at the photo, and at the bed across from me. No, I might be the last child to carry the Dreemurr name, but Mom and Dad had found other children to care for, I wasn’t alone anymore.

I realised that if I was going to learn how to control this power, I’d need to learn from someone. And there was only one other person in the whole world that had this power, outside of my brother, and handily enough, they were in the bed just across the room from me.

I swung my feet over the side of the bed and slowly lowered them onto the floor, it was colder than I had expected. I started to lean forward to try and get up, but my left leg buckled and I fell back on to the bed. ‘Come on,’ I thought to myself, ‘I can do this’ I tried again, and slowly I was able to stand up on my own 2 feet. ‘This isn’t that hard’ Holding on to the bed for support, I started to move my right leg forward to take a step. Slowly but surely, I was able to make my way over to Frisk's bed. I felt guilty waking them…but I needed to talk to someone right away. And figure out if I could talk…

I concentrated on moving my mouth in the correct way, and ended up with my first ever word. “F-Frisk..?”

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

“Because…because he’s never woken up…and he never will.” She replied, clearly upset. “His soul is too small, barely a quarter of a full monster soul…not enough to live with, but too much to let him die. We knew the risks but…” She spoke through sobs. “Your father and I, we…we didn’t have the heart to do it. To kill him. He’s right there, alive and well…but he’s stayed in that bed since the day he was born. We were going to tell you one day Asriel, I swear, we would have told you, after what happened with Chara, we decided not to keep it from you anymore…but you disappeared before we had the chance. I’m so sorry.” Toriel said, through a veil of tears.

“W-what’s his name?” Asriel asked. “Rey” Toriel said “he’s my little ray of hope. Hope that one day, there might be a way to help him… And after what you told me earlier, I think there just might be. Asriel, if your soul really was split, and you did it to yourself, then perhaps we can find out how you did it, and do it again…to me. As a mother, I would gladly switch positions with him. He can take my so-”

“Mom No!” Asriel said. “You’re too important to lose. I won’t let you, too many people rely on you…I-I’ll do it.” “What?” “I said I’ll do it. Use whatever’s left of my soul within this flower and give it to him.” “Asriel I can’t” “Yes, you can! I don’t care about the risks. I don’t want to stay as a flower for the rest of my life. What’s left of my soul will be better served as a part of his. This way…even though I couldn’t save Chara, I can save him, and you. If there’s one thing I can do as an older brother, the only thing I’ll do as an older brother, it’ll be to ensure that my brother can live a full life. That way at least one of us will. Staying like this…no. I refuse. Let him live, give him the chances I never had.” “I don’t doubt you Asriel, I believe you, and…and I won’t stop you if you’re set on this…but it’s not enough. Even with what soul you have left in that flower, that still only adds up to three-quarters of a soul, and monster souls are so weak that anything less than a full soul will not be enough. I’m sorry, it won’t work.”

I knew what I had to do. “Then let me help” I chimed in. I don’t know why I decided on this, but I knew it was the right thing to do. “My dad told me that unlike monster souls, human souls are able to heal themselves after taking damage. Even if a tiny bit of human soul is left, over time it can regenerate. He said that one day, knowing that could save someone’s life, and that day is today. Asriel, earlier you mentioned that your soul was split? And Ms Toriel, you mentioned that you might be able to split your own?”

Here we go. I thought to myself, no going back from this.

“Yes..?” “If you know how to do it to someone else…Do it to me. Take a portion of my soul and add it to Asriel and Rey’s. That way both souls will be able to heal. Look, I know you don’t know me very well, at all even. But as Flowey, Asriel and I have been through a lot together. And if he is willing to give up what’s left of himself for his brother, then I am willing to do whatever I can to help him achieve that.”

Toriel’s eyes started to gleam. “That might just work…” she said. “Wait, if we’re doing that. Why don’t we add some of your soul to Asriel’s and some to Rey’s? That way they could both live.”

“No Mom. I’m not staying as a flower. Even with a full soul, I’d still be trapped in here, I wouldn’t go back to my old body.” Asriel replied. I was surprised at just how much he didn’t want to stay as a flower.

But there was another problem with Toriel’s plan. “We couldn’t do it anyway,” I said, remembering my dad’s words. “A soul can’t heal if there is not enough there, anything less than half a soul and nothing can heal it. I’m sorry, but it cannot be done any other way, by putting the 2 sections of souls together, my soul can act a bit like glue and heal them into a single soul for Rey to take. And then my soul can heal itself.” “Frisk, look at me, please,” Asriel said. I followed his instruction. “You save him, my brother. Look after him, keep him safe, help him the way you helped me, please. This is how it’s happening, no other way.”

Toriel looked saddened but accepting of the truth before her. I can’t imagine what it must have been like, finding out that your son is alive, only to have him pass barely an hour later. “If this is truly what you want, then I won’t stop you, Asriel.”

She walked over to the desk and pulled out a small crystal from the drawer. “I’ve been saving this for when I needed it most, and this is absolutely the time. This” she said, holding up the crystal “is one of the crystals from the roof of the cavern. It’s said that they can hold the power of the stars within them. Whether that’s true or not is beyond my knowledge. But the ancients used to use these crystals in their magic, to make it more powerful. With this, your plan may just work. But I need to ask again, are you both sure that you’re willing to do this?”

We looked at each other. And without a word, we both knew the answer. “Yes.” We both said together. “So be it…” She took a deep breath. “Frisk, would you please go and lie down in that bed over there.” She pointed to an empty bed on the other side of the room. “This will probably cause you great exhaustion, you will need plenty sleep afterwards. Do not worry, however, I will put you to sleep before we begin and take good care of you. It’s the least I can do considering what you are doing for my sons.”

I went and got into the bed, mentally preparing myself for what was about to happen. I knew that soon Toriel was putting me to sleep so as to avoid as much pain as possible, but I was nervous nonetheless. I closed my eyes and just listened to their conversation.

“And Asriel,” she said. “Yes, Mom?” “May I please get the opportunity to say goodbye? I never got the chance with Chara…or before you disappeared.” She said, clearly crying now. “Mom…I’ve missed you so much. Say bye to Dad for me, as I’m not going to get the chance…take care of the two of them, please. Let them live long and happy lives. And don’t mourn me, Mom, be happy. I’m going to see Chara again, and one day we’ll all be reunited, I promise. I love you, Mom. Goodbye.”

Then the last words I heard before drifting off were:

“Goodbye son, I’ll always love you, remember that…Asriel.”

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

After a long time, Toriel whispered, “tell - tell me something only my son would know.” Flowey looked around for a moment, then it seemed like something popped into his head. “This – this is the place where you first met Chara…they were hurt after they fell…and – and I was calling out to you, I was so worried about them. You came running down the tunnel, shouting what was wrong. When you saw them, you just scooped them up and carried us both home as quick as you could…”

“I knew you were alive…” Toriel whispered. “Mom?” Flowey asked. I could see tears welling up in both of their eyes’. And mine were starting to tear up too. “My son is alive!” Toriel shouted to herself before running over and hugging me tighter than I had ever been hugged before. “It is really you, is it not, Asriel? I am not dreaming? You really have come back?” she asked. “Yes, Mom.” He replied, “It’s really me.” The smiles and feeling of joy continued to wash over me as I watched the 2 of them interacting for what was obviously the first time in years.

After some time Toriel put her hand on to my shoulder and with a single tear rolling down her face she said “Thank you, for returning my son to me.” Before embracing me in a hug once more. “But I cannot help wondering, Asriel, what happened to you? How did you become a flower?”

“It’s…it’s a long story Mom, and It’s hard to remember most of it... but…here’s what I can remember: I was on the surface…and…something happened…I don’t remember what exactly but…my soul was split into 2 pieces, I can’t remember how or why but…one half stayed with my body…and half got put into a seed... that seed grew into a flower and…here I am, I don’t know what happened to the other part that stayed with my body…. For all I know, I….he…could have died a long time ago…” “And Chara? What about them? Could they be alive too?” Toriel asked, though I didn’t know who this ‘Chara’ was. “Chara died Mom…we watched them die. Believe me, I wish things were different but…” Toriel jumped in with another hug. “It is okay my son,” she said “at least you are home now. But I have a very important question. Are you absolutely sure your soul was split? That kind of magic is very old and very dangerous.” “Yes. See for yourself.” Suddenly a great white light came from Flowey/Asriel and hovering just in front of him was half an upside down heart…his soul I guessed. But there seemed to be parts of it missing…as if half of it had been torn apart…

Toriel’s face went blank. “So, it really can be done…” she whispered to herself, barely audible. “I need you to come with me, right now, both of you”

And without saying another word she turned around and walked off. She was really fast, I had to almost run to keep up, not to mention that I was also carrying Flowey/Asriel who, even though he was a plant, wasn’t exactly the lightest person in the world. Toriel barely stopped for the puzzles in the way, I guessed that she knew all of the answers off by heart and the fastest way to do them. But why did she need to get back so fast? And what did she want with the two of us?

Eventually, we came to a nice little house with a lone tree outside. The leaves had turned orange and brown yet many still clung to the tree, despite that, the garden seemed pretty well cared for, even though it was underground.

“Lizzy? Lizzy?” Toriel called out, but nobody answered. “I guess she must be out, anyway. Welcome my children, this is Home. Please, follow me. She went inside and turned right. I followed her in, still holding Flowey/Asriel in his pot. She led us down a short corridor to the second room on the left.

The house was beautiful on the inside though, full of light, but never so bright that it would hurt your eyes, just…pleasant, very homely and welcoming. As I approached the door I noticed that it had a small sign on it. ‘Room Under Refurbishment’ I looked at Toriel questioningly. “Oh, I put that up to make sure that no one would sneak in here. Speaking of which you may hand Asriel to me now, we’ll continue on alone.’ “No” Asriel stated matter of factly. “Excuse me” “Frisk stays Mom” “But Asriel, this really is something you should see first. I promise that Frisk here can come in afterwards but-“ “No Mom. Frisk. Stays.” “But Asri-‘ “It’s either both of us or none of us Mom. Frisk found me, rescued me, SAVED ME! I’m not just going to forget that. So it’s your choice, either we all go in and find out what you wanted to show me, or we don’t go in at all.” Asriel shouted. I had no idea how strongly he felt about me, but …I felt a very similar way about him…we had saved each other.

Toriel looked taken aback, I’m guessing that she wasn’t used to people talking back at her, or at least Asriel doing so.

“Very well then…Frisk, you may enter too, but please, give Asriel some time and room to take in what I’m about to show you. This will not be easy to hear.” She opened the door and we walked in. The room didn’t look very remarkable. 4 walls, a window, drawers, a desk with some toys on it, a full bed. It looked like a normal children’s bedroom. But then I looked again, a full bed… Lying on the bed, wrapped up in blankets and seemingly asleep was a much smaller goat monster. They looked very much like Toriel come to think of it…

“Asriel…” she said, “meet your little brother.”

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

“Wait! My child!” she yelled after me but I wouldn’t listen. I sprinted off into the darkness. I just had to get away. This was too much. After everything that had happened today, after finally meeting someone that I might have been able to call a friend…To have him taken away so quickly and cruelly…was devastating.

I kept running and running and running. Tears were streaming down my face so I could barely see but I knew I had to put as much distance between me and what had happened as possible. Before long I found a small corner to curl up and die in. That’s all I wanted to do. Time passed but I didn’t notice, I was too wrapped up in my own little world of darkness and I didn’t know or care about the outside world. I didn’t even notice when someone else wandered into the room. “Ribbit. Ribbit.” A frog monster bounded along and looked at me oddly. I slowly lifted my puffy red eyes from my damp sleeve. “What do you want?” I asked it impatiently. Knowing my luck it probably couldn’t talk. “Just get out of here.” But it stayed where it was, staring at me with empty eyes. “Leave.” I told it firmly, but it still did nothing, as if it were testing me, seeing how far it could push me before I broke. Just like the bullies at school used to do. ”I SAID LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” I screamed at it losing my temper, I could feel the rage building up inside me, just wanting this frog thing gone. Then, without warning, the frog thing went flying across the room and hit the far wall very hard. I hadn’t even made any contact with it, I’d barely even moved. I watched as it slowly slumped to the ground, no longer moving and then I watched it start to break apart, and crumble to dust.

I just stared at the pile of dust, not a single thought went through my mind, I just stared, unable to comprehend what had just happened. “No,” I stammered out eventually “NO!” What had I done? It hadn’t done anything wrong…and now it was dead because of me…I killed it…I’d become the very thing I feared. I was a murderer.

I got up and ran for my life again. As if physically getting away from there would help me get away from what I had done, but I had to get away, I just had to get away. The tears were flowing freely now as I cried my heart out. I couldn’t take it, I just…just couldn’t take it. I wasn’t even paying any attention to where I was going, I was totally lost already. As I ran, I was crying so hard that I didn’t even notice the small rock. I tripped up, and the last thing I remember seeing was a sharp stalagmite, zooming towards my face.

Then I landed on something soft. Well, softer than a stalagmite anyway. “Ugh… that hurt,” I said to myself getting up. “What happened there? How am I alive…? Again…” I looked around. Yes, this definitely was the place I’d first fallen. Even though the light was very dim, the little that I was able to make was exactly what I’d seen before, I was sure of it. I took a step forward and kicked something. And, just as I thought, it was the cube that was, without a doubt, in my pocket before I tripped up.

“H-hello?” A voice said from nearby.

There he was, just as I had hoped. I almost felt like crying again, but out of happiness and relief. My theory was correct, and he was ok.

“I-is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?” He said again.

Tears really were forming in my eyes now. I would make sure nothing would happen to him, I wouldn’t lose another friend, not if I could do anything about it.

“I know someone’s out there, please say someone’s out there” “Don’t worry” I called out to him with relief and glee. “I’m here for you. Just keep saying stuff so I can follow the sound of your voice.” This time I’d make sure we’d be alright. I promised myself, this would be the last time, the last time we’d meet for the first time, and I wouldn’t let myself make a mistake like that again. This time, I’d get it right. And with that, I went off to go get him.

The shooting stones trap went the same as before, mostly, I was hit a few times but nothing major. Flowey actually saved me even more than in the last run though, almost as if he knew when they were coming…but I wasn’t thinking about that at the time. I was more worried about what came next. I’d gone through the previous encounter in my head a hundred times already, thinking about what happened, why it happened, and how I could prevent it from happening again.

As soon as we entered a room which was vaguely close to where I remember meeting Toriel, I turned to Flowey and said “I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be wrapped around me like this anymore. What if someone sees us? They might get the wrong impression. Like you’re controlling me or something.” “But I am controlling you.” He said in a clearly fake gruff voice. “Hehe, just kidding. That’s actually not a bad idea Frisk, there’s only one problem. I can’t really move on my own…Remember?” “Oh, right…uh…”

I’ll admit it, I had no idea what to do. I’d been thinking up so many ways to try and convince Flowey that we needed to do this that I hadn’t actually thought of what to do once he did agree with me. I looked quickly around the room to see if I found anything to inspire me, and it didn’t take long to find the perfect thing for the job.

“Umm…Oh! Look! Over there! There seem to be some empty plant pots, we can just put you in one of those.” Luck certainly hadn’t run out on me yet. Mind you, luck wasn’t something that tended to side with me, so I guess it owed me a few random plant pots now and then.

I gathered some dirt and filled the plant pot before putting Flowey into it. ‘There’ I thought to myself, ‘much less intimidating.’

Now came the part I’d been dreading. Toriel seemed nice enough, to begin with, and it looked like she only attacked because she thought Flowey was a threat. This would convince her that he’s not… I hoped.

I gathered my courage and walked into the room. Surely enough, exactly as it was before, she stood facing away from us, looking at something in her hands. “Umm…e-excuse me?” I asked her. I could actually hear the blood flowing through my ears I was so nervous. “Oh,” she said turning around “hello there my child. I am Toriel, guardian of the Ruins.” She had the same sort of motherly tone in her voice that I remembered. Looking the two of us over as if to see if we were hurt in any way. “Hmm… What is your name child?” she asked. She was still kind and friendly so I thought we were doing well so far. “My name is Frisk, nice to meet you, ma’am. And this” I gestured towards the plant pot in my hands “is Flowey.” “You named your flower? How sweet. And there’s no need to call me ma’am, please, you may call me Toriel, or Tori for short.” “Thank you, ma... I mean Toriel. It’s nice to meet you. But uh, Flowey’s no ordinary flower. He can think and feel and talk and…well you get the idea. He’s alive.” “Are you quite sure my child? If so, he seems awfully quiet wouldn’t you say?”

Come to think of it, she was right. Flowey had been quiet ever since we’d entered the room… And he’d been the same last time we were here, he didn’t say a word then either. What was going on with him?

“C’mon Flowey,” I said “Say hi to Toriel” But all he did was stay still…and silent. “You do not need to call me Toriel if you do not like it, you could call me something else if you so wish.”

There was a long awkward silence as the two of us waited to see if Flowey would respond.

“M-Mom..?” he managed to stutter out. Toriel looked a little taken aback by this comment but recovered quickly. “You may call me that if you so wish, would that make you happy? To call me…mother..?” Toriel replied, seemingly less shocked than I would have thought for someone who had just been introduced to a talking flower, was this normal for them? “No, it’s me, Mom…” he said, “Its Asriel.”

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

“I uh…I haven’t always been a flower ok? I used to be able to walk around freely, just like you.” “What happened?” “I don’t want to talk about it.” “Please?” “No” “Flow…” “Frisk! Please! No! ...it’s…too painful to think about. Let’s just say I’m not who I was…and it’s impossible for me to go back. I’m Flowey now, and that’s all I’ll ever be, so it’s going to have to do.”

“I’m sorry…do you have any family?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. “I used to, but…I have no idea how long I’ve been down here, it’s hard to tell time when there’s no clocks or sunlight to see…they probably think I ran away and never came home…I wouldn’t be surprised if they hated me” ‘Wow, I’m really bad at this.’ I thought to myself. “Don’t worry Flowey” I said, “we’ll find your family, and I’m sure they’ll be relieved to see you.” I couldn’t tell why, but I was. I was absolutely certain that we were going to find Flowey’s family, and that everything would be alright. I didn’t know how I knew, but I had no doubts at all in my mind, even though we were lost…

We kept walking on in silence for a while, the sameness of this place slowly starting to drive insane when I heard something, It sounded like a high pitched whistling sound, and it was getting louder. Suddenly something small, sharp and pointy shot out of the dark and hit me square in the chest. ‘Frisk look out!’ Flowey shouted, but it was already too late.

HP 19/20

“Ouch! What was that?” I asked. That hurt a lot. “It’s a trap!” Flowey answered. “People set them up long ago with puzzles, guess you must have gotten one wrong and set off the trap. Over there!” Another dart shot out from the darkness. But this time I was ready, I dived out of the way and the dart went sailing past me, only an inch away from hitting me in the shoulder. “Nice one!” I heard Flowey say to me, seemingly impressed. More were coming now, I kept having to duck, dive and weave to avoid them. Jump left. Duck down. Roll to the right. “You’re really good at this,” he said to me. “It’s not over yet” I didn’t know how I was able to dodge so many but I kept being able to get out of the way. Almost as if I could sense where they would be and knew exactly how I needed to move my muscles in order to avoid them.

But they kept coming, thicker and faster. I wasn’t able to dodge them all. First I was caught on my leg, stumbling forward as I tried to say on my feet.

HP 17/20

I was unsuccessful. I fell flat on my face and as I fell another hit me on my back.

HP 14/20

I lay there on the floor for a while, they all seemed to be missing me and flying over my head. But I knew I had to move at some point of I’d just stay there forever. Eventually, I mustered up the courage to lift my head up from the ground, but when I did, all I saw was one hurtling straight towards my face. I only just had enough time to close my eyes just as it was about to hit.

Then I fell on my face. “Ugh… that hurt” I said to myself getting up. “What happened there? How am I still alive?” I could swear that I was just about to be hit in the face by a sharp rock dart? Anyway. Taking a step forward my foot struck something on the ground where it was still too dark to be able to make out much. “Ouch,” I said as I stubbed my toe on something. “That hurt too,” I reached down and picked it up, curious to see what had caused me to almost trip over. I was able to feel it in my hand before I could really see it properly.

“Impossible…”

“It…it can’t be…”

But it was…It was the cube, the one I’d picked up before I’d met Flowey. “But this was in my pocket just a minute ago, how did it fall out?” I picked it up again and put it in my pocket, I didn’t want to lose it.

“H-hello?”

I froze. That sounded like Flowey. I felt around my body he should still be there… There was nothing there, all I felt was my own clothes.

“I-is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?” The voice said. I was positive it was Flowey but…why did he sound so far away? He couldn’t have fallen that far away from me.

I looked around but couldn’t see where he was…again. But I wondered vaguely towards where his voice was coming from. Something about this seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“I know someone’s out there, please say someone’s out there” He really did sound like he was about to cry. “Don’t worry” I called out to him “I’m here for you.” “I can’t see. Why can’t I see? What’s happening? Where am I?” He asked. I was sure this had all happened before…definitely feeling some Déjà vu.

“I’m trying to find you, could you keep saying things so I can follow the sound of your voice?” “That uh, sounds like a good idea…” I looked around for Flowey, I was still able to hear him so he really can’t have been that far away. “I’m over here,” he said. I looked over to my right, it had definitely come from that direction…just like before… “I’m over here,” he said again. I was close, I was sure of it, he was definitely somewhere nearby. “I’m over here.” Found him.

“I’m over here,” he said again. I could see his mouth moving as he spoke, but his eyes were closed again…and it looked like he hadn’t opened them but…he did it earlier, didn’t he? “It’s alright,” I said, “I’m here, I can see you.” I crouched down so I was on his level, that way we could both see each other easier. “Why can’t I see? Have I gone blind?” Flowey asked, clearly worried. “Open your eyes,” I said, “you haven’t gone blind, all you have to do is open your eyes” “W-what eyes?” It asked, “I’m not sure if I have any” “Trust me, I’ve seen them. Open your eyes.”

I saw his eyelids fluttering, it looked like he was really trying hard to do it, hoping beyond hope that I was actually telling the truth. Then he slowly opened his eyes and saw me again. “I can see! I can really see! Thank you so much! I can’t believe there’s actually someone else here.”

“Don’t you recognise me?” I asked Flowey. We’d met only a few minutes ago, surely he couldn’t have forgotten. “No, why? Should I? You aren’t Ch- no, you couldn’t be… anyway, how could I recognise you? This is the first time I’ve seen anyone in…in a very long time.” “But we just, oh never mind. Come on, let’s go.”

I didn’t want to think about it anymore, this was hurting my head. We’d met only a few minutes earlier, then we’d accidentally set off a trap, and the last thing I remember was…no. Surely. I couldn’t have…but then how could I…Never mind. This was really hurting my head now, not thinking about it was probably the best course of action.

“Go where?” Flowey asked. “And how am I meant to go anywhere like this? Plants can’t just get up and move now can they?” “Just climb on me Flowey, then we can get out of here” “What did you just call me? Flowey? Huh, that’s quite a good name actually. Flowey, Flowey the flower. Yeah, I’ll take it.” “But…Oh never mind.”

I started to form a theory in my head about what was going on…but I didn’t want to test it out… just in case. I actually kinda wanted to be wrong, please say I was wrong… I let Flowey climb on and we set off in the same direction we had done before, in fact, I started recognising places I was sure I had passed through before. After a little bit more walking Flowey said: “I never caught your name, what should I call you?” “Oh uh, sorry, you can call me Frisk.” He really didn’t remember anything, as if I’d gotten a do-over or something. “Nice to meet you Fri…Look out!” I felt Flowey tugging me to my left and I almost stumbled over.

Just like before a sharp looking rock came flying at my chest. But unlike before, this time it didn’t hit me. I watched it come sailing towards my chest at breakneck speed, far too fast for me to be able to dodge it, barely enough time to brace for when it would hit. But before it even got anywhere close to me, some white pellets flew out from behind me and completely shattered the rock. I just got covered with a small layer of dust instead. Those pellets…had they come from Flowey? “H-how did you do that?” I asked stunned, “I barely even saw that coming before you hit it.” “I-I don’t know… I barely saw it myself. My body reacted before my mind told it to… almost as if I knew it was coming. But how could I have known that?” “What even was that? Those white things you fired at it?” “I think it was my…seeds? I guess that makes sense. And by the looks of it, it worked. But we should be on the lookout just in case more come flying out like that.” “Absolutely. And by the way, that’s awesome what you just did. Thanks and great work.” “Oh uh, thanks, Frisk.” I think I even saw him blush a little, but I wasn’t sure.

We continued on. And even though just as many spikes flew at us as before, this time not a single one hit. Either I dodged it, or Flowey hit them before they could hit us. As I dodged them I kept thinking back to my acrobatics and gymnastics training; the jumps, the cartwheels, they were all coming back to me even though I was certain that I couldn’t have moved like this yesterday. Something had to have happened between then and now…

Eventually, we made it past the traps and continued along our way. As we did, we came across a path we were able to follow. “It has to lead somewhere right?” So we continued on. After a while following the path, I began to see light up ahead, and the natural walls of the cave gave way to man-made bricks. We had definitely found something. Then, as we rounded the next corner, a figure was standing there facing away from us. At first, they looked like a middle-aged woman with long white hair. But as we got closer I realised that that wasn’t just hair…there were ears too, long goat-like ears. I was a little apprehensive to approach this strange looking woman… but then I remembered the day I was having: I’d found out I had mysterious powers that I couldn’t control; had the one and only person I’d met who said they could help me to control it, try to kill me; survived an impossibly long fall; met a talking flower…twice and possibly maybe died…So yeah, after all that, goat people? Not so much of a biggie anymore.

They were still facing away from us and I didn’t think they had noticed us yet. I walked up slowly behind her and announced myself. “Umm…excuse me..?” “Oh,” she said turning around “hello there my child. I am Toriel, guardian of the Ruins. What are you doing wondering around this place without supervision? Come, I will take you somewhere safe” She had a nice, soft, friendly feel to her voice, very motherly. As I had initially expected, Toriel was, in fact, a Goat person. But while you think that might have made her look ugly you’d be entirely wrong. She looked very nice, kindly even. She wore a purple robe with white sleeves and had 2 small horns growing out the top of her head, surprisingly they didn’t look out of place or feel threatening. Also, she had the most wonderfully kind smile you could ever think of.

…Until she didn’t. Almost at the drop of a coin, her face went from one of peaceful serenity to one of red-hot anger. What was happening? I froze, I didn’t know what to do. Her gaze seemed to hold me in place. I was really starting to panic now. Why had she been so nice and kind at first but then suddenly attacked me? Was it because I was human and she wasn’t? Why was this happening again? I was hyperventilating, unsure if I‘d be able to dodge any attack from this close range.

Flames began to dance around her hands, licking upwards, ready for some fuel to burn, I could feel the heat coming from them. She lifted her arm and shot a single fireball towards me. I tried to dive out of the way but I was too late, as I’d predicted this was too close a range for me to be able to jump out of the way. The fireball would hit its mark, almost certainly. But she wasn’t aiming for me. I watched at the fireball came towards my head but swerved and went sailing over my shoulder, flames licking my cheek as it went past. I heard a small explosion behind me where the fireball must have made contact with its target. I turned around to see what it had actually hit, and I felt my heart sink slower than it had in many years. Flowey, the only real friend I’d made in years, was burning to ashes.

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

…

Still bracing…

…

Any second now…

…

It would be soon…

…

Surely…

…

I kept my eyes tightly shut, it would be any moment now…

…

Still waiting…

…

It had to be…

…

It must be soon…

…

Unless…

Could it be..?

The impact never came.

I tentatively opened my eyes.  I was hovering just about a foot off of the ground… “Woah…” Then I fell on my face. “Ugh… that hurt” I said to myself getting up. “What happened there? How am I still alive?” I looked up and realised that I couldn’t see the opening I’d fallen from, how far had I fallen? And why was I able to see? If I couldn’t see the opening then this light wasn’t coming from the sun. I looked around, flowers seemed to blanket the floor around me. “What is this place?” I said aloud, hoping that the sound of my own voice would help me to not be driven insane by the silence. Taking a step forward my foot struck something on the ground where it was still too dark to be able to make out much. “Ouch,” I said as I stubbed my toe on something. “That hurt,” I reached down and picked it up, curious to see what had caused me to almost trip over. I was able to feel it in my hand before I could really see it properly.

“Impossible…”

“It…it can’t be…”

But it was…It was the cube, the one I’d had as a kid, the one which I’d held in those dreams… No, it couldn’t be…could it? No…There was no way this could be the same cube, what were the odds of me finding that thing in a place like this? That cube used to glow anyway, this one was just normal, no glowing whatsoever. Besides, how could that silly old thing have gotten down here? It went, missing years ago…

“H-hello?”

I froze.

…

That didn’t come from me.

“I-is anyone out there? Can anyone hear me?” The voice said.

I looked around but couldn’t see where it was coming from, there was barely enough light to see my hands in front of my face.

“I know someone’s out there, p-please say someone’s out there” They sounded like they were close to tears. “Y-yes, I-I’m here” I managed to stammer out. I didn’t know who this person was but I had always hated seeing people cry, ever since I was a kid. I hoped this wasn’t a mistake.

“I can’t see. Why can’t I see? What’s happening? Where am I?” “I-I don’t know, I’m sorry. I only just got here. There isn’t much light so I can’t see you…maybe if you keep speaking I can follow the sound of your voice?” I suggested, perhaps if I could find them we could help each other. “That uh, sounds like a good idea…” I looked around for the voice, trying to hear which direction it was coming from. “I’m over here,” it said. I looked over to my right, it had definitely come from that way. I set off towards the voice slowly, making sure I wasn’t going to trip on anything again. “I’m over here.” I was close, I was sure of it, their voice was much louder now. Whoever they were they had to be nearby. “I’m over here.” This time it sounded like they were right next to me. But that was impossible, there was no-one around here but me. I looked around again, going by what little light there was but…there seemed more here than where I came from, I was able to see much further. “I’m over here.” That had sounded as if it were coming from…below me..? I looked down and sure enough, I could see a flower…with a face on it… 

“I’m over here,” it said again. I could see its mouth moving as it spoke, its eyes were closed though. So it was really a flower I’d been talking with this whole time? Maybe I’m going crazy but…let’s play along with it anyway, see what happens. “It’s alright,” I said, “I’m here, I can see you.” I crouched down so I was on its level, it was so close that I could easily see what was going on. “Why can’t I see? Have I gone blind?” the flower asked, clearly worried. “Open your eyes,” I said, “all you have to do is open your eyes” “W-what eyes?” It asked, “I’m not sure if I have any” “Trust me, I can see them. All you have to do is open them.”

I saw their eyelids fluttering, as if they were just figuring out how to move their muscles. Do plants even have muscles? They slowly opened their eyes and saw me for the first time, I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone look so happy. “I can see! I can really see! Thank you so much! I can’t believe there’s actually someone else here. Wait a minute…you’re a human, aren’t you?” “Yeah… is that a bad thing?” “Oh no, it’s just…never mind, it’s best if we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve been alone, and in the dark…for a long time…’ “Aww, I’m sorry. But I’m glad I could help. I’m Frisk by the way” “Nice to meet you, Frisk,” the flower said. “W-where are we? You said you just got here..?” “Well, I was pushed but yeah, I got here by…falling…and I have no idea where this is, I’ve never been here before in my life.” “I-I think I have…but I don’t recognise this bit.” “Maybe if we explore, we might find a bit you recognise?” I suggested, I didn’t want to stay here for much longer if I could help it, this place was kinda creepy. “I would but…I’m kinda…stuck. Have you ever seen a flower move?” “No…but neither have I seen a flower with a face…who can speak.” …That was a sentence I never thought I’d say… “Touché. Hmm…I have an idea, but I don’t think you’re gonna like it.” “What’s the idea?” I wanted to help the little guy, maybe he’d also be able to help me. “Well, I could wrap my roots and vines around you? Then you’d be able to carry me and still use your arms for climbing and…stuff..? No, that’s a stupid idea. I’m sorry for even suggesting it.” “No, it sounds like a great idea to me. I’m ok with it.” I wasn’t, but I couldn’t think of a better solution so I decided to just put up with it, it wouldn’t be so bad…would it? “Right, so just uh, climb on I guess…”

That was undoubtedly the single weirdest sensation I’ve ever felt; him climbing onto me. It was as if dozens of snakes were crawling all over me. But once he was settled it wasn’t too bad. As he was climbing on I also noticed that the light which we were seeing by was coming from him. Odd, but I just assumed that was a by-product of him being a talking flower. I’d seen weirder stuff than a glowing, talking flower today…somehow…

As we set off to explore around I asked, “I never caught your name, what should I call you?” “Oh, uh, you can call me…Flowey. Flowey the flower.”

[MASTERPOST]

[FIRST]

[PREVIOUS]

Who’s ‘they’ you ask? That would be the people of my town. The first place in the entire world to be conquered by the Starkillers. Some people are actually proud of that fact. 5 years ago, they burst out of the woods with no warning and asserted their dominance by fear. Anyone who dared to speak out against them was cut down before they even knew it by their laser swords or ‘lightsabers’ as everyone calls them now. I barely remember what happened, I was too young to remember it fully. But I know one touch from that blade and you can kiss yourself goodbye, it’s been said that those blades can cut through anything except another blade of its kind, and after seeing one in action a couple of years ago, I could well believe it. Luckily for me, whichever sibling I was following didn’t have one with them, or at least I couldn’t see it if they did.

‘Following’ makes it seem as if I were doing this willingly, which couldn’t be further from the truth; I just wanted my neck to stay firmly attached to my shoulders. They carried themselves with such utter confidence that can only come from someone who is aware, and revels in the face that they know, that they have absolute power over you. Despite them never once looking back to check if I were still there, I knew that if I tried to run or to attack them, I wouldn’t even last a minute. I was completely at their mercy, and they loved that.

They kept themselves veiled in a long black cloak making it impossible for me to tell if this were the human or the beast. If I had to guess, or hope, I would say that it was the human sibling I was following, a beast would have fur, would it not? Even if it were the human, how were they not baking in that cloak? I was sweating and all I had on was my favourite sweater and a pair of shorts. Whichever sibling it was, the heat appeared to have no effect on them. How a human and a beast could be siblings I didn’t know, but frankly, both were said to be terrifying. Another thing I couldn’t work out was why the veil? It was almost as if they feared the sunlight, but why? What could cause anything, human, or not, to turn away from the sunlight? More answers I didn’t have…Yet I kept coming back to one question; why me?

Could it have something to do with last night? Because that wasn’t my fault, I didn’t know what I was doing, I couldn’t help it, it wouldn’t stop. Yesterday had started out as just a normal hellish day; go to school, get beaten up by bullies, get told off by teachers, get beaten up by more bullies, go back to the orphanage, get beaten up again, have my dinner stolen, get beaten up one more time, go to bed. Nothing out of the ordinary, just your average day in the life of a kid that no one cared about. But then I had that dream again. I was in a gigantic have with no one around me, a dim orange glow permeated the air, as if in a land of permanent dusk. And I was face to face with a huge, monstrous beast. Its horns sharp and twisted, its eyes glowing the colour of blood, black scar-like lines ran down its face, pure malice emanated from every part of this hellish being. And it stared at me with absolute, utter hatred, as if it were aware of a past between the two of us which I was not yet aware of.

I had no weapons, no armour, nothing of any use. The only thing I had with me was the cube. That stupid glowing cube I had when I was a child. I’d lost that thing years ago before the Starkillers had even started to conquer the world. I barely remembered I’d ever even owned it until these dreams started. At first, they were fuzzy, I could never remember more than a single detail, like a stray thought you start to remember before it’s snatched away from you. But then it got more frequent and more vivid. I’d remember specific colours and shapes, sounds and smells. This was the most vivid one yet though. I could see every detail on the creature’s face, I could hear it breathing, I felt the cube in my hand. It was real, everything about it felt real to me. I’d had dreams before, but with every one of them there had been something off like the movement was overly slow or the sound was muted, so part of me knew I was dreaming, even if the rest didn’t, but this…this was real. The beast roared once more and began to charge. I panicked, raising my arms to cover myself, I braced for an impact I was sure would kill me.

But then I woke up…to screaming. The loud sound shocked me awake faster than I thought possible, so fast, in fact, that it took me a few moments to fully become aware of that was going on. It almost looked as if…everything was flying around my room...? As I slowly came to my senses I realised that I wasn’t seeing things, I watched as a book was pulled from my bedside table, flew up towards me, circled around me a few times before flying off and smashing into the wall, and that was only one of a hundred different things flying around me. I was so confused, I didn’t know what was happening, I couldn’t control it. I tried everything I could to stop it, I was starting to go red in the face from concentration but nothing was working, I couldn’t stop it! My roommate, the once whose screaming woke me up, was watching helplessly as all our possessions flew around the room, trying desperately to dodge everything coming at them. I saw it before they did, a huge encyclopaedia flying straight at them, I tried to scream out a warning to them, but I don’t think they heard me. I watched, as if in slow motion, as the book hit them square in the face. They flew backwards as if they’d been hit by a truck and slammed head first into the wall before crumpling to the ground unconscious…or worse… I screamed out in worry “NOOOOO!!!!!” Yet the tornado didn’t seem to let up. Somehow, I was levitating in the middle of the storm, not getting hit by anything, just watching the chaos unfold but unable to do anything about it.

That was when the adults bust in. Seeing the door open suddenly gave me a shock and that somehow jolted me enough to get me to stop whatever was going on I was almost thankful to see them…almost. Everything fell back to the floor, including me. My knees buckled when I landed and I slumped to the floor, not wanting to get back up. I lay there quietly as they checked on my roommate, waiting for the torrent of abuse that was sure to come my way. The adults here hated me as much as the children, me and my roommate had started to get along a little, but after all this, that wasn’t gonna continue... As I expected, I was forced to go and sleep under the stairs for the rest of the night, so I ‘couldn’t cause any more damage’, but behind me I could tell they were all grinning, another reason to punish the one that didn’t belong here, or anywhere else.

Waking up in the morning was the hardest part. I just wanted to lay there and sleep forever, forget the world and everything that had happened to me. But one of the adults kept banging on the door and telling me to get up. I expected that they wanted to make an example of me. The freak with powers must be shown to be the bad guy after all. But then they told me something weird; I had…a visitor...? Since when did I get visitors? My family died when I was little and I didn’t have any friends. I was about to tell them to go away and let me sleep, it was probably a mistake anyway, Frisk wasn’t that unique of a name…oh who am I kidding, no one else is called Frisk but me. But who would be wanting to visit me? I asked the adult, who wouldn’t stop knocking on the door, and they said that it was an imperial emissary who had come for me, I was being summoned to meet with one of the Starkillers. My heart sank but I got ready as fast as I could, I heard the legends and didn’t want to make them angry, I liked my head exactly where it was.

Since then we had been walking for almost 8 straight hours on some winding route that didn’t seem to have a destination, I was hopelessly lost and almost convinced that they were as well when suddenly we stopped in the middle of a small clearing in the woods. In front of us I saw a great chasm in the ground, “I knew it,” I thought, “they do want to kill me”. Then without turning around they started to speak to me. Their voice seemed cold and distant, as if they were spending extra care to make sure that every word was pronounced correctly. “I suppose you are wondering why I brought you here…” “Yes,” I wanted to scream out “why am I here? What do you want with me?” But I kept my mouth shut, I daren’t risk offending them else I’d end up dead most likely, not that this situation looked very good to begin with.

However, what happened next was something I never would have imagined; they lowered their hood, exposing their face to me. The most surprising part was that they were human…just…human. They looked…normal, like me. Shoulder length brown hair, pale white complexion, admittedly their eyes were a strangely reddish-brown, but that somehow didn’t seem odd on their face. They certainly didn’t look like a demon sent from hell. One thing struck me as odd though, they were…young. They couldn’t have been more than 2 years older than me, but that would be impossible. I was 6 when they took over the world, an 8-year-old couldn’t do that no matter how much power they had. …could they...?

“I am here to offer you a proposition…Frisk” That got my attention. “You…know my name?” I asked. “Of course I know your name, you are someone of particular interest to me. As for my name…that need not concern you for now, if you insist on calling me something, I will allow you to call me…Master, if you so wish’ “What...? M-Master? Why Master?” I was really confused now, what were they on about? “I know all about your powers Frisk, I know about the events which transpired last night and I can train you on how to use these for the benefit of us both. You are powerful, more powerful that I think you even understand. Together, we can get you to control that power, and then we would be unstoppable. Working together, we could even overthrow him and have the 2 of us rule. What do you say?”

I wasn’t sure what to think, to be honest. Me? Powerful? Ruling? It was too much to even take in. And the way they had said ‘humans ruling humans’… the rumours must have been true; their brother really wasn’t human. I was stuck, unsure what to say, did I really want to help them after all they had done? But then again, they did say they could help me… I thought back to the night before, how helpless and alone I’d felt, and made up my mind. “I will do whatever you ask, master. Just make it stop, promise me that nothing like last night will ever happen again. I don’t want to lose control like that ever again.” “Good, very good.” They walked up to me and put one of their hands on my shoulder. “It’s so nice finally to see who you truly are, Frisk.”

Suddenly I couldn’t breathe, it was as if there were a hand around my neck, crushing my throat, but there was nothing there. I felt myself being picked up, levitating off the ground and over the gaping chasm, pulled by some unknown force. The darkness within the chasm seemed so all encompassing that I was unsure if it would ever really end.

I glanced back at them and noticed that they still had their arm raised, and that they had put their hood back up. From within that hood, all I could see were 2 menacing, red glowing eyes staring back at me. “But if you ever thought I would betray him then you have another thing coming. Goodbye, traitor.” I felt the pressure around my neck ease to nothing and I began to fall into the inky darkness of the bowels of the planet.