The Locket

“So, Chara.” Frisk tried, “how old are you?”

Giving her the side eye, Chara asked, “Now, or before I died?”

“Um, before you died?”

“Eighteen.”

“Now?”

“I don’t know, but I’m sure I’m chronologically old enough to be your great-grandfather.”

“Oookay. What’s your favorite food?”

“Chocolate.”

“What did you like to do for fun before you died?”

“What is with all the questions?”

“I was just thinking that if we’re going to be partners, as you put it, it might be a good idea for us to get to know each other.”

“Why?”

“Er, well . . .” Frisk twiddled her thumbs.

“There is no need for us to know anything about one another,” Chara said, never missing a step even as Frisk faltered and now had to jog to catch up. “We are nothing more than two individuals with a shared goal: to get to the barrier. We do not need to know anything about the other in order to accomplish this goal. All we have to do is work together; no more, no less.”

Crossing her arms, Frisk puffed up her chest, walked ahead of Chara, and declared, “You know, when I first met you, I thought you might be kind of cool, with your mysterious past and everything. But the more I talk to you, the more I come to the conclusion that you’re actually pretty lame.”

Chara made no comment to her remark, so Frisk kept marching forwards. Is there an end to this dark tunnel? As she had the thought, a gateway came into view.

“Oh,” she said, “I think that’s the exit!”

“It is,” Chara confirmed, coming from behind. He looked more irritated than usual, but he sounded as monotone as ever as he said, “Snowdin Road is right through that doorway, and it is a straightforward trip from there. It should a two-day journey to Snowdin Town. One if you decide against rest.”

Nodding, Frisk kept moving forward. When she came to the door, she placed her left palm on the wood and froze. Am I really going to leave the Ruins? After so many years, am I finally able to see the rest of the Underground? Will meeting Papyrus and Undyne help lighten the burden of walking away from Mom?

“Hello, Stripes, sometime today,” Chara said, and Frisk didn’t have to turn around to know that he was rolling his eyes at her. “I’m sure you want to leave her before you turn into a ghost like me.”

“Shut up, will you!” Frisk snapped. “I’ve never been outside of the Ruins before. I don’t know what to expect.”

“Well,” Chara extended his hand as if welcoming her into the new world, “there’s only one way to find out.”

Steeling herself, Frisk took a deep breath and pushed into the door with all her might. It did not give way easily, but the door was not stuck in place. With enough effort, Frisk was able to open the doorway from the dark ends of the Ruins and into the bright world of what Chara called Snowdin Road.

The first thing Frisk felt as she opened the door was biting cold air. The next was a fresh, clean scent she could not place. The last was light – not light from magical fireballs, but pure sunlight from what must have come from some other holes in the mountain.

With the door now opened, Frisk stepped through and stared wide-eyed at the new world before her. Jaw dropping, Frisk took in the sight of more space Underground than she ever thought possible, of trees stretched out as far as the eye could see, and of snow blanketing the world in its white embrace.

“It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen,” Frisk said, stepping further out of the black Ruins and into the white forest. Everything – the sights, smell, and very air – was different. It was more than Frisk ever could have imagined.

Then something loud banged behind her. Spinning around, Frisk saw the door to the Ruins had slammed shut. In a panicked state, Frisk rushed to open it. However, the door did not open. Like it or not, Frisk was locked out of the only real home she had ever known. There was no going back now.

“I wonder how those guards were able to enter the Ruins if the door was locked,” Chara said as Frisk pitifully gave up trying to open the door again.

“I don’t know. Magic, maybe?” Frisk tried, staring at the door as she willed it to open again. It did not budge.

Stepping closer, Chara studied the door. After a moment of observation, he muttered, “Odd. It appears that the door has been repaired recently.”

“By who?”

“I don’t know, but since Toriel, as far as we are aware, did not come here while you packed, whoever fixed the door had to have been someone from the outside.”

“Maybe those guards broke the door down, and when they retreated, they tried fixing it again so I wouldn’t escape?”

“Yes, but if that is the case, why not lock the door from the outside? If they wanted to trap you, leaving the door so that all you had to do to open it was give it a good push would not have been the wisest decision to make there.”

Thinking for a moment, Frisk cracked a grin and said, “Maybe they wanted to fix the door so that it was pull only but got mixed up and made a push only door instead.”

After Chara stared at her grinning face for a moment with nothing but a raised brow, Frisk frowned and said, “Hey, come on. I’m funny.”

“Funny looking. Now let’s go.”

Stung by the comment but refusing to admit it, Frisk grit her teeth and followed Chara as he began his descent into the woods. Asking him to stop for a moment, Frisk pulled her coat and scarf from her pack and bundled up against the cold. Thankfully she had time to prepare before venturing off into this new world.

They didn’t walk long before they came across a giant branch in the road. Frisk tried to move it off the path – “In case someone else comes through here. I don’t want it to be in their way too, Chara.” – but it was too heavy to pick up. Refusing to admit defeat, Frisk used all her might to drag the branch off the road with semi-success.

Yet as they resumed their journey down the path, they heard something snap behind them. Turning around, Frisk felt her heart jump to her throat when she saw the branch broken into not two, three, or even ten pieces. Frisk stepped closer to the branch to see it broken into sticks and splinters.

“This was the large branch I struggled to drag off the road, right?” Frisk asked Chara as she barely had the strength to so much as point her finger at the remains. “I’m not imaging things, am I?”

“Keep moving,” was Chara’s only answer. Frisk did not hesitate to take his advice.

As they kept walking, Frisk couldn’t help but sense that they were being followed. It sounded as if a second pair of footsteps – Chara’s made no sound – were walking in the snow with her. Yet every time Frisk looked over her shoulder, nobody else was there.

“Keep walking. Don’t look back.” Chara began to walk backwards, and after a moment, Frisk resumed walking forwards. “Only you can see and hear me. If something is following you, it’s not going to know that I’m watching.”

Frisk wanted to respond. So much of her wanted to ask Chara if she should be scared. However, she didn’t open her mouth. If what Chara suggested was true, talking to him could give away this advantage. All she could do was hope that if they were indeed being followed, it wasn’t by a giant monster ready to reap her soul from her body.

For a minute, they walked in silence. Chara kept walking backwards, his stride just as confident and sure as if he trekked forwards. Either not having to worry about tripping made this an easy task for him, or this was just one of those useless talents, like Frisk and reading upside down.

Before she could open her mouth to suggest that the coast might be clear and she and Chara were just being paranoid, she heard Chara shout, “Run!”

Instead of doing what she was told, Frisk turned around. She wished she hadn’t. Now she knew a monster was following right behind, a monster she was sure with whom she did not want to have an encounter.

Breaking into a sprint, Frisk raced for safety. Whatever safety was to be had in the first place, Frisk didn’t know. However, running seemed to be a better alternative than waiting to see whoever was following her to get any closer.

As she ran, Frisk saw a bridge coming up. There were bars on the sides of it, too big to keep anyone from getting through. Perhaps, she figured, protection could be found on the other side of that bridge.

Yet as she was coming to the edge of the bridge, Frisk fell. She didn’t know if it was a rock or a root that got her, but either way, she was now face first in the snow. Cursing herself, Frisk pushed upwards to pick herself up.

“Now is not the time to be a klutz, Stripes!” Chara shouted as he stopped right in front of her, and Frisk wanted to snap at him that she wasn’t trying to get herself caught.

Without time to get back on her feet or consider yelling at Chara, Frisk knew it was too late. She saw the shadow over her before she heard the footsteps come to a halt. Then she heard a voice.

“Human,” said the newcomer, his voice deep like the chasm below, “don’t you know how to greet a new pal? Rise, turn around, and shake my hand.”

This is how I die.

Frisk looked at Chara, but his expression gave nothing away, as usual. His eyes seemed to be locked on the monster, but he displayed neither fear nor relief. She had no way of guessing how scary the monster behind her was.

Once again on her feet, Frisk took a deep breath. Pinching her eyes shut, Frisk spun around and reached out. Her hand made contact with the monster’s, and she gave the hand a small squeeze.

PFFFTTTTT!

Eyes flying open, Frisk beheld the monster before her.

A skeleton. The monster was a skeleton dressed in a black turtleneck, basketball shorts, yellow slippers, and a red hoodie. The monster was a head shorter than Frisk, but he was wider in his short stature.

The monster was also laughing, a deep and hearty laughter. Frisk didn’t know much about skeleton monster biology, but she used the deep voice and laughter to determine that the monster was male. She couldn’t quite remember what the differences in male and female skeletal makeup were, so the voice and dress was the most she had to work with.

It wasn’t long before the monster stopped laughing. He wore a wide smile on his face. “Ah, the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. It’s always funny.”

“Uhh.” Frisk struggled to find something to say, but the monster kept talking.

“Anyway, the name’s Sans. Sans the skeleton. You’re a human, right? That’s hilarious. I’m supposed to be on the watch for humans right now.”

Before Frisk could open her mouth, not that she knew what she was going to say, a prison of bones emerged from the ground and surrounded her. Voice caught in her throat, Frisk tried to swallow as her heart dropped into her stomach. She couldn’t see Chara, but she could hear him loud and clear when he spoke.

“My child,” Toriel whispered, reaching up with a massive paw to hold the cloth in place herself, “are you all right?”

“I think I should be the one asking you that.” Frisk sat next to Toriel so that she could keep an eye on her mother. “How are you feeling?”

Toriel smiled, and although it was weak, the smile was genuine. “A little worn out, but I shall be fine again in a moment. No need to concern yourself with me.”

“When you spend thirty minutes passed out on the floor, I’m going to worry about you.”

Without a word, Toriel lightly chuckled and used her free hand to stroke Frisk’s cheek. Instinctively, Frisk leaned into the warm touch. For just a small moment, Frisk wanted to pretend that everything was okay.

Yet as much as she wanted to, Frisk could not pretend. Everything was not okay. Frisk wasn’t sure anything would ever be okay again.

“They know I’m here,” Frisk said after she managed to string the words together.

Now Toriel’s warm smile fell to a frown. She looked down, and her eyes glazed over. Her paw slide away from Frisk’s face.

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

It was as Frisk feared Toriel might have suffered a head injury that she realized Toriel stared at the locket around Frisk’s neck. Recalling that Chara was also in the room with them, Frisk snapped her head up and looked for him. Chara stood near the edge of the kitchen, back appeared to be against the wall. Instead of watching them, he stared at his shoes. He remained silent.

“Mom?” Frisk tried again. Seeing no further reaction from the monster, Frisk found it harder to force out, “I have to leave the Ruins.”

Now Toriel’s eyes tore away from the locket and looked at Frisk. They maintained eye contact as Toriel struggled to find the words with which to reply. Frisk tried but found no other words to add.

It surprised Frisk greatly when Toriel looked away and finally responded with, “You are right to say that you can no longer stay here. The Ruins are no longer the safe haven they once were. Now that King Asgore knows that you’re here, trapped Underground with the rest of us, he will not rest until he claims your soul. The Ruins are small; you would be unable to hide from him forever. It is best that you leave, even if this is not what I would have ever desired for you.”

Frisk reached out and took Toriel’s hand. Opening her mouth, Frisk hesitated. After taking a deep breath, Frisk tried again. “Chara is coming with me.”

Without a word, Toriel nodded. It was as if she knew this was coming. However, that did not make her expression any less sad.

“Mom.” Frisk had to repeat the word a few times before Toriel would again look at her. “Chara and I are going to be okay.”

Still without speaking, Toriel pushed herself upright. She set aside the cloth she pressed against her forehead and began to walk around, picking up pieces of the broken kitchen. As she cleaned, Toriel said, “After the death of my sons, I swore to myself I would never lose another child. I could not save the humans that came before you, no matter how much I begged them to not leave. For so long, I believe I was failing myself in my own vow. Then you fell, and you stayed in the Ruins with me and called me ‘Mother.’ As tragic as the deaths of those other humans are, I realized with you that I never broke my vow at all.

“Now here I am, about to lose two kids in the same night again. One I had lost before, and another I have done everything I could to never lose. Even if you are okay, my child, I am still losing you to the unknown. That terrifies me. I cannot bear it if anything—”

Paw clamping her mouth shut, Toriel began to cry. Frisk jumped to her feet and wrapped her arms around the monster. Toriel didn’t waste even a second hugging Frisk back.

For a few minutes, nobody said anything as the sound of sobbing filled the room. Mother and daughter stood together in the kitchen, embracing with the knowledge that this may be the final time they ever hold each other. Frisk knew that even if they held each other all night, it still would have been far too soon when they finally let go.

“Frisk,” Toriel hugged the human tighter, “we must not waste any more time. By the time King Asgore’s men return, you need to be far from this place. We need to prepare you to leave as soon as possible.”

Before Frisk could respond, Toriel broke the hug, held Frisk by the shoulders, and stood an arm’s distance away. Looking Frisk directly in the eyes, Toriel said through her tears, “Go to your room, grab your pack, and gather your belonging. Only take the essentials – you will never know what you find on your journey that you will want to carry with you. It will be useful to have room in your pockets if such happens.

“I shall gather food and drink for you to take alone the way. That shall last you until you make it to Snowdin. I will also write a letter for you to give to my friend. You must find him. He will protect you.”

Head snapping upright, Toriel looked aimlessly around and asked, “Chara, do you recall how to get to Snowdin from here?”

Chara had been so quiet, Frisk, as usual, forgot that he was there in the room with them. She turned her attention towards the boy in the doorway. His demeanor was expressionless. If he had any thoughts or feelings of everything that was happening, he did not show it on his face. It was enough for Frisk to wonder if she imagined that slightest show of emotions on his face only moments ago.

“I am certain I can find my way to Snowdin,” Chara answered. “It is a very simple path – even a child can find Snowdin. We should be able to get there just fine.”

Frisk looked to Toriel, waiting for her response. However, Toriel still looked around as if she could not find what she was looking for. Brows furrowed, Toriel turned her attention towards Frisk as if she was asking some unspoken question.

“She can’t hear me, Stripes,” Chara said, sounding somewhat annoyed. Frisk turned around to look at him. “You’re wearing the locket. Only you can see and hear me.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” Turning back to Toriel, Frisk told her, “Chara says that he can find his way.”

“Good, good,” Toriel said, nodding to herself. “Now, gather what you need. And hurry! I do not know how much time has already been wasted. I wish to not waste anymore.”

“Yes, Mom.” It took Frisk a deep breath to gather herself, but soon she turned away from Toriel and forced herself to walk quickly to her room. Chara followed, but he didn’t seem happy about it. Frisk debated taking off the locket so Chara wouldn’t have to watch her pack, but she decided against it after considering the possibility she might forget Chara in her rush to leave.

Pulling her pack off her desk chair, Frisk quickly emptied out the textbooks and papers and searched for things she would want to take with her. If she was going to someplace called Snowdin, odds were it might be cold. A coat, scarf, and blanket might be a good idea. Frisk looked around her room, trying to decide what else was necessary for travel. She nearly discarded her wooden sword, but as she prepared to close her pack, Frisk changed her mind and put in her pack anyway.

“You’re really going to take that silly toy with you?”

Frisk nearly jumped out of her skin as she spun around and hissed, “Flowey!”

The little golden flower stood by the edge of her bed, quietly watching her for who knew how long. How he sprung up through the floorboards without damaging them, Frisk never knew. Chara, whose presence was unknown to Flowey, approached the flower to get a closer look at him.

“Looks like you’re finally leaving the Ruins after all!” Flowey said, speaking a little louder than Frisk would have liked. “Golly, you must be so excited to finally meet everyone.”

Not bothering to hide her annoyance, Frisk zipped up her pack as she asked, “Don’t you have to be annoying somewhere else?”

“Not until four.”

“What do you want, Flowey?”

“I want something very simple.” Flowey answered.

“And that is?”

“Now, now, if I tell you, what fun would that be?”

“I don’t trust this flower,” Chara said, now stepping away from Flowey. “There’s something . . . off about him. I just can’t figure out what.”

“I don’t have time for your guessing games, Flowey,” Frisk said, throwing her pack over her shoulder. “If you have something you want to say, now is the time to say it.”

Flowey seemed to consider it, but then he appeared to shrug as he said, “Nah, I think I will keep quiet for now. There will be other opportunities later. Well, see you on the other side!”

Before Frisk could say anything, Flowey vanished. Frisk shook her head and moved to walk out of her room. Then she hesitated, turned around, and looked all over her room. This would be the last time she ever saw this room. After she left, she would never step foot inside it again.

“Come on,” Chara said, walking past her, “we need to get going.”

Committing every last detail to memory, Frisk muttered, “Yeah,” and turned around to follow Chara.

“What’s the deal with that talking flower, anyway? I do not think I have ever seen a monster like him before.”

“It’s a long story.”

Frisk walked out of the hallway to see Toriel waiting for her. In her paws was an envelope, a bag of monster candy, and the last slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie in a plastic container. Wordlessly, Toriel offered these items to Frisk, and Frisk accepted them.

As they descended the stairs and walked towards the exit, Frisk felt her heartrate skyrocket again. It made no sense. They were not meeting to fight as they had done so many times before, only one of those instances Toriel remembered. Nobody was going to die. Yet Frisk felt as if something bad was inevitably going to happen.

“When you find my friend,” Toriel began, her sudden voice in the deafening silence causing Frisk to jump, “give him the letter. He will know what to do. He will protect you.”

“And, pray tell, is this friend?” Chara asked. “It isn’t like Toriel, guardian of the Ruins, to have any friends.”

Frisk repeated the question but not the explanation to Toriel. Thinking for a moment, Toriel answered, “I . . . do not know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Frisk and Chara asked at the same time. They looked at each other and quickly looked away. Attention back on Toriel, Frisk questioned, “How can someone be your friend if you do not know who he is?”

“I’m afraid that is rather complicated,” Toriel answered. “I do not know his name or even what kind of monster he is. All I know is that he lives in Snowdin with his brother. And that he loves knock knock jokes and terrible puns.”

“I have never been so disappointed and unsurprised in my life,” Chara muttered.

Then how am I supposed to find him? Frisk wondered, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask the question.

When they came to the exit of the Ruins, Toriel enveloped Frisk in one final hug. Frisk didn’t hesitate to return it. The tears she had held back this whole time finally began to spill.

“Take care, my child,” Toriel said, her face buried in Frisk’s hair. “Be good.”

“I will, Mom,” Frisk hiccupped. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Breaking the hug, Toriel scanned the room as she added, “And I love you as well, Chara.”

Frisk looked at Chara to see his reaction.

Instead of replying, Chara refused to look at either one of them.

After their goodbyes were said, Frisk and Toriel stared at each other, committing the other to memory. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Frisk felt that her boots were suddenly filled with lead. Now that she was actually leaving, Frisk found that she couldn’t do it.

Almost fortunately, Chara had no issues exiting the Ruins.

“Come on, Stripes,” he said, stepping through the door and into the black abyss, “we don’t have all day.”

“I’m not killing anyone,” Frisk firmly stated as Flowey continued to use his vines to dangle the royal guards in the air, “and neither are you. Put them down.”

Mimicking what had to have been a shrug, Flowey’s vines let go of the guards. The monsters crashed onto the ground. Their lack of movement had Frisk hoping they were simply knocked out.

“I meant gently,” Frisk muttered, her brows furrowed and her eyes locked onto Flowey.

“Then you should have said so,” Flowey replied. “I’m not a mind reader, you know.”

“Now that they’re out of the way,” Chara stated, his lack of expression leaving Frisk unsure if the dead human was calm or merely hiding what he was feeling, “perhaps we should check on Toriel?”

“Right!” Frisk threw the stick down and began to run, carefully stepping over the guards who really did seem to be passed out. Flowey called after her, but she paid him no mind.

Frisk pushed her legs to carry her further and faster than they ever have before. A bunch of Whimsum flew past, crying about how the Reds were there in the Ruins. Although she didn’t let it slow her down, Frisk was confused.

The Reds?

When her home came into view, Frisk pushed herself that last stretch and threw herself against the front door. Her heart immediately stopped at what she saw. Everything was a wreck.

Before Frisk could try to swallow the lump in her throat, she heard a crashing noise come from the kitchen. Without thinking, Frisk ran towards the sound. She rushed in and only had a second to dodge the cabinet door that flew her way.

Toriel and the cat girl were facing each other, both breathing heavily. The cabinets were ripped off the walls, the fridge was tipped over, and food and liquids were scattered all over the floor. In her hands, Toriel ignited flames. The other monster held a knife. Neither looked any closer to surrendering.

“What are you doing?” Chara asked, reminding Frisk that he was there. “Do you even have a plan?”

Frisk was saved from answering that she had no idea what she was doing when Toriel looked her way. The surprise was evident on Toriel’s face, but she did not let her guard drop. However, the cat girl noticed the change in expression just as Frisk did.

“You,” the cat girl spat, her gaze turned slightly towards Frisk but her stance still prepared to defend herself if Toriel attacked. “Your continued existence is a crime. You have no right to live alongside us when you are the reason we have remained trapped down here for more than a century and a half.”

“Wait,” Frisk said, surprised to hear herself speak, “I had nothing to do with that.”

“Yet by living, you continue to keep us trapped here longer.” Attention returning towards Toriel, the cat girl then said, “First you betray your own blood for a human, and now you further display your hatred for monsterkind by keeping a human hidden away from us? How is it that you still have those who remain loyal to you?”

“Freedom is not worth the cost of spilling innocent blood,” Toriel argued, pleading with her eyes that Frisk escape while she could.

“Innocent?” the cat girl scoffed. “There is nothing innocent about trapping a race underground to rot away for all eternity. Humanity is evil. They deserve to have their precious surface painted red with their blood.”

“I like her drive,” Chara said, and Frisk couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking.

For a moment that must have been hours long, the three of them – four if Frisk counted Chara, whom only she could see – stood still. Toriel and the cat girl were ready to attack or defend, depending on what her opponent did. Frisk stood tense, not wanting to run but not knowing what else to do in this situation. Chara was just there. The tension in the air was so thick, Frisk could hardly breathe.

In the end, none of the three had to do anything. Footsteps came from behind Frisk. Voices followed behind.

“Hey, boss, we have something we would like to say!” shouted one.

“Yeah, Mew Mew,” agreed another. “We are far too valuable to this team to just ‘wait outside and keep watch.’ If you and the others get to look for a human, then so do we!”

Frisk watched as two new monsters approached. One had a mouselike face and glowing orbs in the place of arms, and the monster levitated above the ground. The other monster was a dummy – a literal dummy like the one Toriel had Frisk talk to when she first fell Underground. Neither looked all too happy. Not knowing what she was doing, Frisk stepped further into the kitchen so they could enter.

“We have just as much right to help capture a human as the others do!” argued the first voice, the dummy. Noticing Frisk, the dummy added, “Seriously, don’t you think we deserve to be treated with the same respect? We’re part of the royal guard, too!”

“Then prove to me that you two are competent enough to do more than stay out of my way,” the cat girl, Mew Mew, said. “Try doing me a favor and capturing the human.”

“You got it, Mew Mew!” the second monster said. Both monsters looked around the destroyed kitchen before the second turned to Frisk. “Hey, sorry to bother you, but I have a question. Have you, by chance, seen a human around here?”

Chara sounded like he was choking. Frisk, too shocked to do much else, turned her gaze towards Toriel and Mew Mew. Toriel furrowed her brows. Mew Mew looked as if she had to mentally count to ten. The other two monster waited for an answer.

“You fools,” Mew Mew finally said through gritted teeth. “That is the human. Capture it, kill it, I don’t care. Just stop standing around!”

“R-right!” the monsters both charged towards Frisk, but they ran into each other in the process. They started shouting and cursing at one another, and they tried to charge Frisk again. Somehow, the collided a second time and began shouting at each other even louder.

“Unbelievable,” Mew Mew snarled, her attention turning towards the duo as she smacked her palm against her forehead. “Do I have to do everything myself?!”

Taking advantage of the distracted monster, Toriel hit Mew Mew with a fireball. The cat-girl monster was thrown towards the other two monsters, and the three of them were tangled together on the floor. The collision had Frisk jumping away from these unwelcomed arrivals and towards her mother.

Before any of those monsters could rise to their feet, Toriel surrounded them with flames. All three simultaneously ceased their shouting and swearing. Their eyes turned towards Toriel, and Mew Mew sneered.

“Leave this place, and never return,” Toriel demanded, eyes narrowed and tone stern. “If I ever see any of you ever again, no mercy shall be shown. Do I make myself clear?”

Mew Mew snapped her head around the room, possibly looking for the larger guards that came to the Ruins with her. Seeing nobody around to help her, she growled. Frisk tried not to tremble under the intense glare Mew Mew directed towards her.

“Understood,” Mew Mew, her face screwed up as if the words tasted bitter coming out of her mouth. Yet as she rose to her feet, she added, “Just know you cannot keep your human pet forever. Soon King Asgore and all the Underground will know the seventh and last soul has finally arrived, bringing with it freedom within our reach. You’re a powerful boss monster, but you are not strong enough to fight off the entire Underground forever. You will fail to protect this human just as you failed to protect Chara.”

Toriel narrowed her eyes, and the fire surrounding the other monsters burned hotter and brighter. Speaking through gritted teeth, Toriel ordered, “Get out.”

While the other two monsters were quick to obey, Mew Mew stared at Toriel for a moment too long. Then she, too, began her retreat, her eyes not leaving Toriel’s until she was no longer in the room. Toriel did not follow them to make sure they left, instead maintaining the display of her sheer power for minutes. While this happened, Frisk watched in awe and disbelief. After what might have been long enough for the other monsters to retreat, Toriel released a breath she might have been holding and allowed her power to fade away.

“MOM!” Noticing her mother fall forward, Frisk reached out to catch Toriel. With Toriel being so much bigger than the human, Frisk struggled to keep Toriel somewhat upright as she laid the monster down gently.

After Toriel was resting on the floor, Frisk checked for any injuries. Finding none, Frisk exhaled heavily and ran a hand through her hair. Unsure what to do, Frisk looked around, helpless for anything she could do so that she wasn’t sitting around and doing nothing.

“Toriel is out of practice,” Chara said, making Frisk jump. She had completely forgotten all about him. Either not noticing her reaction or not caring, Chara continued, “It’s been a long time since she had to use such an extent of her magic. However, she should be all right after a moment or two of rest.”

“What if those monsters come back?” Frisk asked, barely able to tear her eyes away from her mother’s face. While unconscious, Toriel looked peaceful. It was much better to watch Toriel than to look around the destroyed kitchen.

“You should hope they do not,” Chara answered. From the corner of her eye, Frisk watched him move closer and kneel down beside her. “With Toriel unable to fight, you would be vulnerable. I highly doubt you would be able to defend yourself if necessary.”

“I can defend myself,” Frisk argued, unsure why she was admitting such. “I just chose not to.”

“Oh, so your strategy is to dance around attacks and not hit back? Great. That’s the perfect strategy to not getting yourself killed.”

“I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“Interesting, because a great deal of them want to hurt you.”

Sighing, Frisk placed her face in her palms. Chara did not say anything else. They sat in silence for a minute or two.

“You can’t stay here, you know. Not anymore. They know where you are and how to find you again.”

Frisk lifted her head up and looked towards Chara. His gaze was still firmly locked on Toriel. He said nothing else.

Dropping her hands to her lap, Frisk was forced to admit to herself that Chara was right. As much as Frisk desired to leave the Ruins, this was not how she wanted the opportunity to come. The idea of leaving the Ruins went from an exploration with possible consequences to a legitimate path she had to take if she were to survive.

“Wanting to leave was much easier when I didn’t know just how serious the threat was,” Frisk whispered, not liking to admit this to herself but knowing she would have to sooner or later.

“Are you scared?” Chara asked.

Frisk thought for a moment before answering, “Yes, but not as scared as I should be.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t really want to explain it right now.” Finally tearing her eyes off Toriel to survey the remains of the kitchen, Frisk took a deep breath as said, “As much as I hate cleaning the kitchen, I guess I might as well get started trying to put things back where they belong. Mom shouldn’t have to wake up to a total dump.”

“Great idea, Stripes,” Chara said as Frisk pushed herself to her feet. He did not move an inch. “You clean, and I supervise.”

“Chara?”

“Yes?”

“How did Mom fail to protect you?”

Chara did not respond.

After fifteen minutes spent picking up the pieces of the destroyed kitchen, with Chara all the while keeping watch over Toriel, Frisk froze when she heard someone entering the house. Heart in her throat, Frisk turned to Chara to see him staring from where the sound came. Frisk slowly picked up a remain of the wooden cabinet, her grip on it tight as her heart beat faster and faster within her chest.

Footsteps grew closer, and Frisk backed away despite clinging to her makeshift weapon.

The two large royal guards from before entered the kitchen. Startled, Frisk raised the wooden piece, ready to defend herself until she could find some means of escape. Only the guards did not attack.

“So, like,” one of the monsters said while the other stood silently behind, “we need to take a rain check on killing you. We got hurt pretty bad in the woods back there, and we need to fill out a report for worker’s compensation within twenty-four hours of the incident.”

“Oh.” Lowering the broken piece of wood, Frisk pointed them in the direction Mew Mew and others had gone and said, “Your fellow comrades went that way.”

“Okay. Thanks, bro!”

As the two monsters walked away, Frisk stood frozen. Her brows furrowed, and her lips pursed. Finally, she asked, “Chara, did that really just happen?”

Chara didn’t sound phased as he answered, “No. You imagined it. Now get back to work. I’m not paying you to stand around and gawk.”

“You’re not paying me at all.”

Crying out, Frisk placed her hands over her stomach. The fire badly hurt, but it did not leave any burns. Fire magic was strange that way, causing only immediate damage.

It sounded as if someone swore. Frisk slid her eyes towards Chara to see him watch in disbelief as Toriel sent more fireballs at Frisk. The human still didn’t move.

“What are you doing?!” Chara shouted, the closest thing to concern she had seen on his face thus far. His brows were furrowed slightly, but Frisk couldn’t tell if it was because of anger or fear Chara raised his voice. “Don’t just stand there. Do something!”

Frisk opened her mouth to try talking to Toriel, but no words came out. She couldn’t think of anything to say. Not that it would have made a difference either way.

“What are you doing?” Toriel questioned, unknowingly repeating Chara. “Fight me or leave!”

Finding her voice, Frisk loudly replied, “I’m not going to fight you!”

Toriel narrowed her eyes. “Fine, but do not blame me for what happens next.”

Unable to watch what was coming next, Frisk stood still and squeezed her eyes shut. The flames hit, and she cried out again. Her arms hurt. Her legs hurt. Her whole body had now felt the impact of the fire. Frisk should move; if she was not going to fight back, then she should at least try to avoid the attacks. Her fights with Flowey over the years greatly improved Frisk’s ability to dodge. It was unlikely Frisk would accidentally run into the flames again.

Although it was as she considered this, Frisk stopped being hit by attacks. Frisk felt the heat of the flames kissing her skin, just missing her. Opening her eyes, Frisk saw the fire balls flying right past her. Toriel kept sending them Frisk’s way, but her eyes were downcast. She didn’t want to fight any more than Frisk did. Perhaps there was another way for this confrontation to end.

Steeling herself, Frisk began approaching her mother. Chara said something, but Frisk paid him no mind. There wasn’t even need for Frisk to dodge the attacks - they altered their course away from Frisk as she grew closer.

“Mom,” Frisk stood right in front of Toriel, “we don’t have to do this.”

“Nonsense,” Toriel said, looking into Frisk’s eyes and aiming her palm at Frisk’s face. “If you can’t defend yourself against me, then you will have no chance out there.”

Feet planted on the ground, Frisk dared, “Then do it. Show me what’s waiting for me if I leave.”

Toriel’s hand began to grow hotter and hotter, the smallest of flames lighting her fingers. She was preparing an attack. Frisk did not move. Her eyes remained locked with Toriel’s. Even if the attack killed Frisk, she was not going to cower from the flames anymore.

More gradually than they ignited, the flames extinguished. Toriel’s now cool hand trembled in the air. She slowly lowered her palm.

Frisk quickly reached out and took hold of her mother’s hand, causing Toriel to look at her. Saying nothing, Frisk smiled at the monster. After a moment, Toriel returned a small smile of her own.

Before either could say anything, there was a harsh bang against the door behind Toriel. Both snapped their heads towards the door as whoever stood behind it began to speak. “In the name of King Asgore, open up!” Without explanation, Toriel ushered Frisk to hide upstairs. Frisk was too stunned to budge, leading Toriel to softly exclaimed, “Hurry, before they know you are here!” Not waiting to be told another time, Frisk spun on her heel and ran. However, she didn’t flee upstairs. She rounded the sharp corner, stopped running, and pressed her back against the wall. “What are you doing?” Chara asked, his stoic expression back. Whispering, Frisk answered, “I’m not going to run away when Mom might be in danger.” “You will both be in danger if whoever’s knocking on the door knows you’re here.” “I’m not going to reveal myself or anything. I want to be close, just in case.” “In case of what?” “I hope we don’t find out.”

“I know you can hear me!” shouted that voice from the other side. “Open this door!”

“My, my, my,” Toriel tsked, as if she was dealing with an unruly child, “I can see they don’t teach you young ones any manners anymore.”

“I’m not so young, human lover,” the other person spat. “Now open this door, or I will break it down.”

“State your business.” Toriel sounded authoritative, as if this person had no right to demand anything of her.

“I know you’re hiding a human in there.”

Frisk’s spine went rigid. Blood drained from her face. She pressed herself harder against the wall to keep herself upright.

However, Toriel didn’t sound daunted. “There is no human in the Ruins.”

“Not according to our sources.”

“Your sources are wrong.”

“Then I don’t see why you can’t let us in to investigate. If what you say is true and there is no human, we will apologize and leave. It’s as simple as that. So why don’t you let us in and prove to us that you have nothing to hide?”

“Toriel will do no such thing,” Chara told Frisk, his eyes cast downwards. “She will do nothing to potentially risk your safety. It will come down to that door being demolished and Toriel fighting whoever walks through.”

Frisk could barely get herself to respond, “Mom could get hurt if that happens.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

That was a good question: What am I going to do about it? Frisk didn’t want to disobey Toriel’s order to hide. Yet here Frisk stood, listening instead of hiding, knowing she wouldn’t run if the other monster did indeed break down the door.

Which was exactly what happened.

Frisk didn’t see it, but she heard the banging and crashing of the massive door giving way. She heard Toriel’s surprised gasp. She heard the footsteps of what was either a monster with multiple legs or more than one monster enter the Ruins.

The door gave out, just like that. This, Frisk knew, was no flimsy door. Whoever destroyed it one on swoop like that had to be a force to go against.

“Last time, traitor,” the voice from before, now clearly female, said. “Where is the human?”

Toriel neither hesitated nor faltered. “There is no human here.”

“I see.” Then, to the others, “Burn this place to the ground.”

“NO!” Frisk didn’t think as she jumped out of her hiding spot. She then froze solid, her outstretched palms facing outwards. Her heart sank.

“Something tells me you didn’t plan this far,” Chara unhelpfully stated as Frisk and the other monsters studied each other.

Now present to the scene was a cat-girl monster of sorts. She didn’t appear to be much taller than Frisk, and she had a petite built, but something about her expression was wicked. The monster had a long tail with a ribbon tied on the end, huge cat ears, and peach-colored fur and pink hair styled into a bob.

Narrowing her green eyes at Frisk, the monster visibly clenched her jaw. Frisk helplessly stared back. Two other monsters, both in heavy armor so that Frisk couldn’t see their faces, stood behind the cat-girl monster.

“So, uh, did you find the human yet?” one of the heavily armed monsters asked. He looked from the cat girl to Toriel to Frisk. Eyes settling on Frisk, the monster said, “Hey, dude, like, have you seen a human around here? Rumor has it there’s human running free in the Ruins.”

“Idiot!” the cat girl snarled, turning her attention towards the monster as he trembled under her gaze. Although she was in a blood red dress and no armor besides a breastplate and steel boots, it seemed the smallest of the three was in charge. “That is a human! Now go kill it!”

“You shall do no such thing!” Remembering herself, Toriel summoned flames on her palms as fire orbs floated around the room. “Leave peacefully, or learn firsthand why I am called the Hearth of Home.”

“You gave up peace the day you chose Chara over your own flesh and blood, old woman.” The cat girl positioned herself in front of Toriel as she shouted to her men, “After the human!”

Toriel reached out to strike the monsters, but the small one blocked her attack, allowing the two bigger monsters to rush past Toriel and charge towards Frisk.

“RUN!” Toriel cried out.

Frisk didn’t need to be told twice.

Sprinting faster than she ever had before, Frisk bolted out of the basement, up the stairs, and outside the house. While traveling through the narrow hallway, the big monsters kept bumping into each other and slowing their progress. Now that they were outside, Frisk could hear them gaining on her. She didn’t turn around. If she didn’t see how close they were getting, she could put off facing the reality that sooner or later they were going to catch her.

Think, Frisky. Think! Ignoring the calls from of the monsters to stop, Frisk beelined towards the woods. As she expected, the maze of trees slowed the guards again. Perhaps she could lose them. Perhaps she could turn around and help Toriel fight off that creepy cat monster.

Skidding to a halt, Frisk spun around and listened for her pursuers. Neither of them treaded lightly over the dead leaves and dry branches on the ground. Frisk knew where they were, and she could hear them coming.

Frisk knew she wasn’t fleetfooted enough to sneak away without either monster hearing where she was going. If she was going to get back to Toriel, Frisk needed to find a way of escape. For a moment she considered climbing the trees, but she wasn’t sure if she could jump from branch to branch and cover distance if she tried.

The monsters gaining on her, Frisk grabbed the first thing she could ger her hands on, a stick a little longer than her arm, and held it in front of her. She tried swallowing her heart, but it would not leave her throat. Blood began to rush so loudly behind her ears it almost drowned out the sound of the armored monsters getting closer and closer.

“That’s your weapon?” Chara questioned, and Frisk nearly jumped out of her skin. She forgot all about the ghost human. Sliding her eyes in his direction, she watched as Chara silently padded through the forest floor and survey the stick in her hands. “Well, anything is a weapon if you are determined enough.”

“Quiet,” Frisk hissed, forgetting that Chara could shout all he wanted and only she could hear him. However, the boy just shrugged. Frisk stood ready, and the monsters finally appeared.

“There you are,” the one with the floppy ears peaking through his helmet said as he and his partner stepped through the trees. “You’re a quick little tyke, aren’t ya?”

“Stay back!” Frisk tried to sound threatening, but she knew her fear thickly coated her words. “I know kung fu, and karate, and other dangerous words!”

“Now, now,” the same monster soothed. “We’re not going to hurt you. That’s Undyne’s job.”

Frisk nearly dropped the stick at her hammering heart came to a halt. Undyne?

Before another word could be said, vines emerged from the ground, wrapped around the large monsters, and flung them in the air. Both monsters violently cursed as they were suspended above the trees. Frisk only gaped as Chara voiced what she was thinking.

“What is going on here?”

Slowly turning her attention towards the human who still showed no reaction, Frisk whispered, “You don’t know?”

“Of course not.” Chara snorted. “Unfortunately, I am not the kind of ghost that can haunt the living.”

“Howdy, Frisk!”

Said girl snapped her attention away from Chara to see the familiar talking flower staring up at her. Dangling the two crying monsters like house keys, Flowey asked, “Are these two morons bothering you?”

It took Frisk a moment to find her voice and answer, “Put them down, please.”

“The way it is, Stripes,” Chara replied, just barely moving his shoulders in a half-hearted shrug, “the only qualification to be the hope of everyone’s future is to be a human Underground. You’re a human, and you’re trapped Underground with all monsterkind. Congrats, you meet all the qualifications to be the chosen one.”

Frisk shook her head. “No, that can’t be right. Wait, did you call me ‘Stripes’?”

“Yeah, you have a point. The chosen one trope is the worst of them all.”

“That’s not what I meant. You’re a human Underground, and so were the others. What makes me different?”

“Other than the fact you’re still alive, nothing.” Chara began to walk around as if observing the little scenery the Ruins had to offer. “We no longer have the power to change anything. Our choices have already been made. You, on the other hand, can choose the fate of the Underground. More than anyone, your choices matter. Every little decision can change the course of this story.”

Hugging herself, Frisk stated, “Sounds like there’s a lot of power in a single choice.”

It must have been the way the lights from the fire orbs cast shadows all around, because it appeared as if Chara’s face darkened as he muttered, “A lot more than you would think.”

Fingernails digging into the sleeve of her sweater, Frisk cautiously asked, “Do I really want this power?”

Chara hesitated a heartbeat before he answered, “That’s not for me to decide.”

As she tried not to chew on her nails, Frisk thought about the decisions that seemed to matter so much. There might have been a lot of power in the choices she made, but those same decisions could be for the better of monsters. Papyrus, Undyne, Mettaton – all the monsters Flowey told Frisk about ran through her mind. Even that sociopathic flower was someone Frisk believed deserved a chance to see and feel the sun instead of getting whatever he could through the holes in the mountain. Perhaps she could use the supposed power she had for good.

“Do you think it’s possible to free everyone?” Frisk mumbled, not sure if she was asking Chara or herself. “Do you think there’s a way to break the barrier that’s keeping us all trapped under Mt. Ebott?”

“Of course, I do.”

Laughing without humor, Frisk pressed her fist against her forehead. “And here all I wanted to do was explore. Now you’re making it sound like there is no choice but to leave and find some way to get a happy ending for everyone.”

“The heart of the barrier is in King Asgore’s castle. That is on the other side of the mountain. You will get to explore plenty in the process.” Now Chara visibly shrugged. “It’s a win-win situation.”

“But how would I know where to go?”

“Okay, you are going to think I am insane, but hear me out,” Chara said, moving his hands for dramatic effect, “There is this new thing called asking for directions. You ask someone where someplace is, and they tell you how to get there. Crazy, I know, but I think you really should try it.”

Frisk snorted. “That is possibly the craziest thing I have ever heard, but I suppose it beats wandering around aimlessly for days, if not weeks, on end.”

Frowning, Frisk sighed and thought aloud, “But Mom still isn’t just going to let me go. It doesn’t matter if I tell her I want to find a way to free everyone; she’s still going to fight me on this.”

“Come on, Stripes, I doubt Toriel is actually going to fight you.”

“Heh heh, yeah.” With a deep breath, Frisk said, “Look, I’m not making any decisions right now. I should at least sleep on this. Once the rest of the Underground knows a human is here, there will be no going back.”

“Do whatever it is you need to do.” Although Chara had remained expressionless and seemingly uninterested the whole time they spoke, something about this exchange had Frisk feeling a little disappointed.

Wrapping her fingers around the locket, Frisk mentally debating taking it off so she could have time to think without any further influence from Chara. When she saw him notice this and frown slightly, or at least frown more, Frisk felt a wave of guilt. Frisk gathered her courage and forced herself to say the words before she became too scared to say them.

“Would you please come with me to the barrier?” she asked in a rush. “I don’t want to go alone. I know it’s been a dream of mine to leave the Ruins and explore the Underground, but I’m also really scared. I doubt Mom would come with me, being the protector of the Ruins and all. . . . I think having a friend around would be nice.”

For a good while, Chara didn’t answer. Nothing in his demeanor gave away what he could have possibly been thinking or feeling. Frisk began to wonder if this human ghost even had emotions.

“I’ll go with you,” Chara finally said. It was as Frisk was about to break out into a big smile and thank him that he added, “However, we are not friends. Partners if you will, but not friends.”

“Oh.” Although she tried not to show it, Frisk was a little stung by the rejection. Perhaps she should have been used to it by now considering Flowey was no different.

“When you are done communicating with me,” Chara then said, “please remove the locket from around your neck. I prefer to not be an audience to your every move. After all, it’s extremely boring to watch someone else play a game.”

“I think a lot of people find it an enjoyable pastime,” Frisk muttered but still removed the locket after telling Chara she would talk to him later.

So, Frisk had to think to herself, she was the hope and future between humans and monsters. She still wasn’t completely sure why she was different from the ones that came before her, even if she had a good guess, but according to Chara, it seemed a lot of the Underground’s fate was placed upon her shoulders.

No pressure or anything.

Frisk could barely sleep after she removed the locket, went back home, and crawled under her covers. Tossing and turning, the things Chara said running through her head like a song stuck on replay, Frisk groaned into the darkness. By the time she slipped into a restless sleep, she was immediately awakened by a crashing noise a room over.

Things were being thrown around in Toriel’s room.

“Mom!” Wide awake and tossing the covers away, Frisk dashed from her bed and barged into Toriel’s room without knocking. Frisk struggled to remain upright at the sight.

The contents of Toriel’s drawers were scattered all over the wooden floor. Her sheets were forcefully stripped from the bed. The desk was tipped on its side, away from the wall.

Swallowing, Frisk watched in slow motion as Toriel frantically emptied her closet and pushed it over. When she turned around, a curse word softly passing her lips, Toriel froze at the sight of Frisk. For a solid minute, the two stared at each other.

“Mom,” Frisk began, “what’s wrong?”

It seemed Toriel battled within herself what to respond. Her eyes flickered as if she wanted to look at anything but Frisk. She opened and closed her mouth, taking deep breaths to prepare speaking only to sigh and let her unspoken words dies on her lips.

Thinking about the golden locket that had been on her dresser, Frisk gulped and softly asked, “Are you looking for something?”

“Ye—yes,” Toriel answered. “I, um . . . I lost something very important to me.”

Guilt gnawing on her core, Frisk wrung her fingers as she decided what to say, what to do. It was at this moment Frisk knew she had questions. If she didn’t ask them now, she never would.

“Who’s Chara?”

Toriel stood still as a statue. Then she wavered and took hold of the wall for support. She said nothing.

“When we cleaned out your closet a few years ago,” Frisk began slowly, recalling the day as if it had happened only last weekend, “I found a stack of drawings and paintings. Remember? You kept them in a wooden box to keep anything from happening to them. At the bottom of the box was a Mother’s Day card. The name signed on the card was Chara.

“I’m going to ask again, and this time don’t tell me not to worry about it. Unless you tell me, I’m going to worry. Mom, who’s Chara?”

“Chara . . . Chara . . .” With a heavy sigh, Toriel pressed her back against the wall and slid to the ground. Face in her paws, Toriel forced herself to say, “Before you, I had another human child. Chara. He grew up Underground, as you had. Asgore killed him a long time ago.”

Frisk’s mouth suddenly went dry. She waited for Toriel to explain the locket, but she didn’t. This led Frisk to ask, “Is that why you won’t let me leave the Ruins? You don’t want to lose me like you lost Chara?”

Toriel’s only answer a nod.

Minute after minute ticked by, but still Toriel did not mention the locket. The only real mom Frisk had ever known did not begin to explain what she had done to her son’s soul. Somehow, that felt to be the bigger betrayal than the revelation that her mother had spent all these years hiding her other child.

“I’m leaving the Ruins.” The words were out of Frisk’s mouth before she realized she was saying them.

Toriel snapped her attention towards Frisk. Something about the human’s expression must have given away that Frisk was serious, for Toriel didn’t hesitate to rise to her feet. Although instead of speaking with Frisk, once again trying to talk her human daughter out of leaving her safe home for the dangerous unknown, Toriel stormed right out of her bedroom and down the hall.

Body shaking, it took Frisk a few heartbeats to rush to her room and grab the locket. Her fingers tumbled over the clasp as she struggled to put it on. As expected, Chara appeared.

“Mom’s going to destroy the exit,” Frisk breathed as a way of greeted. She began speed walking towards the basement. Her heart found a new home in her throat.

“Wait, how do you know that?” Chara asked as she walked alongside her.

Frisk didn’t answer. The memory came on too strongly for her to speak. The confrontation, the fire, the fear, the attacks, the deaths.

Footsteps echoing in the dank basement hall, Frisk slowly approached her mother as the monster prepared to destroy the door.

“I will not watch another human die,” Toriel stated without turning around to face Frisk. “I lost both of my children in one day, many years before you were born. If you leave, you will join them in death.”

“Both children”? Frisk slid her eyes towards Chara, but his demeanor gave nothing away. Chara wasn’t alone, he had a sibling, and this sibling, too, had passed.

Where is the other child’s soul?

“You are just like others,” Toriel said, not knowing she said this to Frisk once before.

The memories came back full force. This has happened many times before. Of course, Toriel did not remember. She did not remember killing Frisk. She did not remember Frisk killing her.

All Toriel did remember was Frisk “looking as if she had seen a ghost” and telling the monster that she wanted to hear another snail fact.

Only Frisk did remember. Vividly, she recalled what happened when she tried to leave. Now it was happening again.

The boy, who introduced himself as Chara, cocked his head to the side as if studying Frisk. His eyes narrowed as he took her in. Pressing his lips together, Chara made mental judgements about Frisk which she couldn’t begin to decipher from his expression.

Not that it mattered. Frisk studied this boy just as intently. It had been so long since Frisk last saw another human, she was until now certain she would never see one again.

Chara wore an orange sweater with a single blue-gray stripe running along his waist. He also wore dark blue jeans and red converse. At first glance, he seemed like a normal person. Yet the longer Frisk stared at him, she sensed something . . . off. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something unearthly about this figure, and it wasn’t just his unnaturally rosy cheeks.

“What?” Chara cocked his head to the other side, his hazel eyes locked onto Frisk’s. “Do you not have anything to say to me? Or are you just going to continue staring at me like that?”

Finding her voice, Frisk managed out, “How did you get here?”

“I have always been here.”

“Then how come I have never seen you before?”

Before the fellow human could reply, Frisk heard one of the floorboards down the hall squeak under someone’s weight. Toriel was back. By the sounds of it, she was walking towards her room.

Without thinking, Frisk yanked the locket off. Not having pockets on her leggings, Frisk hid the locket in her fist. She looked to Chara to see what he was doing, but he was gone.

Head snapping this way and that, Frisk searched for her fellow human. Nothing signaled his previous presence. It was as if he never been there at all.

Before she could further question whether or not Chara was real, Toriel opened the door and stepped into her room. She uttered a small cry of surprise to see Frisk standing by her desk. For a moment, all mother and daughter could do was stare at each other.

“My child,” Toriel slowly began, “what are you doing in my room?”

“I was looking for you,” Frisk lied, years of practice helping the words fall out of her mouth like water over a fall. “I wanted to apologize for my outburst at dinner. You’re right. It’s too dangerous for me to leave the Ruins. If I did, I would just end up like those other humans you told me about.”

Was Chara one of them? Was he even real? What was in that soup?

Smiling sadly, Toriel replied, “Worry not, child. I understand why you would grow restless. The Ruins are small once you get used to them, and you’re growing up. It’s foolish to think you wouldn’t desire change during your time here. That’s why . . .”

Toriel shook her head and tried again. “I know how badly you want to update the puzzles, so I decided to proceed with your request to redesign them. You shall have free reign to construct them however you choose. That will suffice, will it not?”

Heart sinking, Frisk tried to hide her disappointment. She shoved away the emotion as if she didn’t feel it at all. Frisk needed to sound as convincing as possible when she replied, “Yes, Mom, I’m really happy that you’re finally letting me update the puzzles. I promise these new designs will blow your socks off! Just you wait and see.”

“Oh, trust me, I’m already anxious to see what you come up with, my child.” A moment spent in hesitation, Toriel stepped forward and rested a massive paw on Frisk’s shoulder. Toriel towered over Frisk, the power within the older monster radiating so strongly that even a non-magical being such as Frisk could feel the sheer force her adoptive mother was. Yet even as a small child, Frisk never feared Toriel. Might have initially questioned if Toriel was genuinely as kind as she acted, but she never feared the monster.

It was why Frisk nearly fell apart when Toriel told her, “I, too, apologize for what I said during dinner. It was unnecessary for me to call you cruel. That was a step too far I should not have taken, and please understand I have felt guilty since. It wasn’t a surprise that you would again ask to leave the Ruins, but I still kept wishing you would one day stop bringing it up. It is not wrong for you to desire to leave. What is wrong, however, is what will become of you if Asgore knew about you.”

Toriel dragged her furry fingers across Frisk’s cheek and tucked some of Frisk’s shoulder length chocolate hair behind her ear. “I love you as my own, Frisk. Losing those other children was tragic, and they did not deserve the fate that fell upon them. Losing my own child—”

Unable to bring herself to finish, Toriel looked away and returned her paw to her side. “It is getting late. We had ought to retire for the night. You can show me your new puzzle designs as soon as you complete them, or perhaps show me as you design them. Whichever you prefer, my child.”

“Yes, Mom, I will.” Keeping the locket hidden in her fist, Frisk hugged Toriel and wished her a goodnight.

First, Frisk walked into her room and closed the door behind her. It didn’t have a lock, but Frisk didn’t worry too much about Toriel walking in. The monster always knocked before so much as entertaining the idea of walking into a room.

Although that didn’t stop Frisk from feeling immense guilt from taking Toriel’s locket right from under her mother’s nose. Opening her palm, Frisk studied the locket again. Then she thought about Chara and wondered if he was real or if she imagined him into existence. Although, Frisk furrowed her brows as she pondered, she saw Chara after putting on the locket, and he vanished as she took it off. It was possibly nothing more than a coincidence, but possibly not.

While Toriel went to bed, Frisk sat on hers and waited it out. The sound of the monster settling in was a gentle shuffling from the other side of the wall. Hours later, when Toriel should have been dead asleep, Frisk slipped on her boots, crept out of her room, and snuck out the front door.

There was no difference between night and day in the Ruins. The lighting came from balls of eternal fire Toriel herself, alongside other monsters with fire magic, sent towards the mountain ceiling when the monsters were forced inside their mountain prison almost one hundred and fifty years ago. The Ruins, once named Home, was a dark, purple area filled with the remains of what was once a populated city. Most of the monster migrated decades upon decades ago. The monster who remained were too small to travel very far. To them, the Ruins were a safe harbor to what the rest of the Underground ultimately became.

Which made Frisk beg the question why she wanted to leave in the first place when even other monsters didn’t want to deal with the monsters beyond the door.

When she was a good distance away from home, Frisk sat on a boulder a few yards from the river and stared at the locket. She struggled to bring herself to put it on. Caught between anxious to see another human again and the wish she was only imagining things, Frisk wasn’t sure what she would say if her guess was right.

Biting the bullet, Frisk clasped the locket around her neck. Nothing about wearing the necklace made her feel any different. Yet when she looked up, she saw the same human boy standing in front of her.

“You’re real,” she whispered, her breath nearly taken away.

Chara shrugged as if he couldn’t care less. “Unfortunately.”

“How?”

“Well, you see, when a man and woman love each other very much—”

“No, not like that.” Frisk pointed at the locket then at Chara. “How come I can only see you when I wear the locket? I’m not imagining this, right? You’re real just as everything else here is real, aren’t you?”

Looking around and taking in their surroundings, Chara seemed to think about the best way to respond. Finally, “My soul is fused with that locket. Anyone who wears the locket also wears my company. Those who are not wearing the locket, on the other hand, cannot see or hear me. To anyone passing by, you will look as if you’re having a conversation with yourself.”

“If your soul is fused with the locket,” Frisk thought aloud, lips pursed, “then you’re . . . you’re . . .”

“Dead,” Chara finished for her. “Precisely.”

“How did you die?”

“I was executed by King Asgore.”

Unable to help it, Frisk hugged herself. She knew there were other humans before her, but she still wasn’t prepared for this. It was one thing to think of the history of the other humans as a story from which Frisk could easily detach herself, but to actually meet someone who was one of the reasons Toriel encouraged Frisk to stay within the Ruins was another thing entirely.

Speaking of Toriel . . .

“Why does Mom have your soul infused with a locket?” Frisk asked, her fingers just brushing the golden heart.

“Is it not obvious? Before I died, I was her son.”

It was obvious, yet Frisk was still shocked to hear the truth. Toriel may have been overprotective, but it wasn’t without cause. Now, standing before Frisk, was one of the very reasons Toriel fought to keep Frisk from leaving the Ruins.

As if reading her mind, Chara asked, “Why are you still here? I know you do not want to live in the Ruins for the rest of your life, so why stay?”

Frisk felt as if she was conversing with Flowey again, even if talking with Chara was in so many ways the polar opposite of talking with the flower. Flowey was always smiling, whether a happy smile or a creepy one, and he emoted a lot in whatever subject he discussed. On the other hand, Chara seemed to have no emotions whatsoever. The whole time he and Frisk talked, he stood straight with crossed arms and an uninterested expression. Yet Frisk still felt something similar between the two, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Trying not to overthink it, Frisk muttered the same excuse she always gave her flower friend. “It’s not safe for me out there.”

“And you believe that?”

“If I didn’t before, I do now. I mean, you’re a human, and it clearly wasn’t safe for you to be out there!”

Chara blinked. This was the most reaction Frisk had seen out of him yet. “I died before the Underground became the warzone it is.”

“Well, King Asgore still killed you, just as he will kill me.”

“So, you plan to spend the rest of your life in this cramped area, continuously denying yourself the desire to leave the Ruins, all for fear over some monster you have never even met?”

When Chara put it that way, Frisk admitted to herself that he had a point. It didn’t undo the potential dangers beyond the door, but Frisk admittedly would rather have a short, exciting life than a long, boring one.

Besides, Frisk knew she would be okay regardless of how the other monsters reacted to seeing her.

“I don’t want to break Mom’s heart,” Frisk admitted, unable to look Chara in the eye.

In response, Chara had a single question. “Are you living your life for her, or are you living your life for yourself?”

Frisk bit her lower lip. “Is it really so vital I leave?” she asked herself.

“Frisk,” Toriel called from the kitchen, “don’t forget to set out the napkins.”

“I won’t,” Frisk replied, quickly getting the napkins from the counter and setting them beside the plates. When she was satisfied with her work, Frisk moved to the kitchen to help Toriel bring out the food.

Their home was a small, quaint little place. The living room and dining room where one in the same, with the tiny square table near the corner across from the kitchen while two reading chairs sat by the fireplace. There was a rug in the middle of the floor on which Frisk would spend many nights lying on her stomach as she drew or read, her own chair mostly used for decoration. The bookshelf had a small collection for Toriel and Frisk to read together, each trying to find something new they had not noticed before in the books they had read dozens of times.

There were also two bedrooms and an “art room.” Toriel, it seemed, knew an artist a long time ago, as the room at the end of the hall was filled with paintings and unfinished canvases that once belonged to the painter. Although officially, the art room was a storage room, and a lot of the clothes and toys Frisk had long since outgrown were packed away in the room as well.

Once the salad, baked potatoes, and lentil soup were laid out, Frisk and Toriel each sat the ends of the table. Toriel said the blessing, and the two began to eat. Or at least Toriel did. Frisk’s stomach had tied itself into knots. No matter how much time she spent mentally and emotionally preparing, Frisk still felt nervous.

“Um, hey, Mom?”

Toriel responded by looking up, her brows slightly furrowed at Frisk’s stutter.

“So,” Frisk began, trying to think over her racing thoughts, “I finished my studies, right?”

“Other than those last few lessons on which you have procrastinated, you have.” Toriel smiled as she stirred her lentil soup. “You finished the curriculum I prepared for you much sooner than I expected.”

“And you don’t have another in mind, correct?”

“I do not see what else there is for me to teach you.”

“And I’m sixteen now, right?”

“I do not think you would forget something like that.” Now Toriel frowned. “My child, what are all these questions to which you know the answers about?”

Here it is. The moment we have all been waiting for.

Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Frisk said, “So, I was thinking since I’m older now and I have almost finished my studies, that perhaps maybe I could leave the Ruins?”

Toriel’s eyes widened as her brows rose to sit on the top of her head. After a moment, in which Frisk was sure Toriel was making sure she understood her human daughter’s request, the motherly monster replied, “Absolutely not. You know it’s a dangerous world out there.”

“I’ll be all right!” Frisk argued. “The Ruins wasn’t always the safest place for me either. Remember when I first came here, and all the monsters would attack me? Now we all get along just fine!”

“Because I sat everyone down and gave them a stern talking to,” Toriel countered. “Everyone in the Ruins respects the haven I made this place to be. Nobody would do anything to risk the safety I have provided and continue to provide. That includes not laying a hand on my child.

“My influence, however, does not exist outside of the Ruins. Monsters will attack. They will try to kill you. Trust me, my child, if King Asgore knew you were here, even the Ruins would not be safe. Those monsters out there believe that a human is a dangerous thing. You’re safer here where these monsters know you as a friend and not a foe.”

Losing her appetite, Frisk dropped her spoon in her bowl and pushed the food away. This wasn’t the first time they had this conversation. Even now, with all this time to prepare, Frisk still couldn’t disagree with Toriel’s point. Normally, this would have been the end of the conversation. Only this time, Frisk tried to push back.

“You can’t keep me here forever,” she muttered, looking everywhere except at Toriel. “I have seen everything there is to be seen in the Ruins. There’s nothing left to explore or any new adventures to have. The Ruins are too small. I don’t see how I can remain happy here for much longer.”

Minutes passed without Toriel replying. Risking a peek, Frisk slid her eyes towards her mother to see the goat monster frowning at her salad. It seemed she, too, was now no longer hungry.

“You are the cruelest human yet,” Toriel began, her voice thick. Frisk flinched. Of everything the human expected Toriel to say, this wasn’t on the list.

Choking back sobs, Toriel continued, “Most humans left after days, if not hours. They did not stay long. They did not call me ‘Mother.’ Now you, whom I have loved and raised as the daughter I never had, want to leave too. You want to leave the safe home I provided for you to venture off into a world you know wants to kill you. My child, how can you force such heartache onto the woman who has done so much for you?”

Frisk, feeling awful, slid down in her chair. She slouched so much her eyes only just looked over the table. Frisk could barely see Toriel’s paws curled into fists as tears ran down the older woman’s eyes. There was nothing Frisk could say to that. Guilt ate at her, gnawing from the inside out.

“I’m sorry,” Frisk finally said, unable to gather the strength to push herself back up. “I . . . I won’t speak of this again.”

“That’s what you said the last time you asked about leaving the Ruins,” Toriel pointed out. “And the time before that. And the time before that. . . .”

Frisk lacked the backbone to keep insisting on the way out. She could walk through the Ruins on her own every day, learning the puzzles so well she could do them with her eyes closed. Fighting a sentient flower on a regular basis was nothing Frisk was ever anxious about. If anything, the battles could be fun, even if they did hurt. Yet when it came to upsetting Toriel, Frisk couldn’t do it. She wasn’t determined enough to break this woman’s heart, not when Frisk had spent so long not knowing that it was like to have a mother who loved her.

“I mean it this time.” Pushing herself from the table, Frisk muttered an excuse and dismissed herself to her room.

Sitting on her bed, Frisk picked up the camera she had gotten for her previous birthday and looked through the pictures. A group of Froggits by the river. A trio of Whimsum trying with little success to remain brave in front of the camera. A lot of monsters mingling together as they lived a peaceful life in the Ruins.

Occasionally there was a picture or two of Frisk that she took of herself. The only picture Toriel took of Frisk, Toriel’s finger was in the shot. Even now, Frisk couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face at the memory. There were a few pictures of Frisk and Toriel together. Although these pictures were of mother and daughter, it was moments like this where Frisk saw them as monster and human.

Frisk kept the camera away from herself, held up a peace sign, and smiled as she snapped a photo. Observing it, Frisk liked how it came out. She looked happy in the orange glow of her room. Anyone else would see the photo and not know how she felt while taking it. More than half of Frisk’s pictures of herself were taken when she felt this way.

Stretched out on the bed, Frisk looked through the rest of her photos before setting the camera aside. Minutes ticked by. Hours passed before she realized it.

Maybe it would be better if the whole conversation never happened. . . . Frisk lied there, considering the thought. It wouldn’t have been the first time Frisk undid such unpleasant moments.

Where are the knives?

Pushing herself off the bed, Frisk slowly walked out of her room and listened for signs of Toriel’s whereabouts. Nothing. It was unlikely Toriel would have gone to bed this early, so perhaps she was out. There were secret errands Toriel liked to run. It wasn’t unusual for her to be gone for extended periods of time during such tasks.

The first place Frisk checked was the kitchen. Nothing sharp to be seen. That wasn’t new. When Frisk first began living with Toriel, one thing she didn’t fail to notice was how there was nothing lying around that could be used as a weapon. Even the fire pokers were filed down to harmless blunts. It was as if Toriel was very, very afraid of someone getting hurt.

For a while, Toriel began to trust Frisk enough to allow her access to such devices. Then one day, Toriel walked in on Frisk preparing to do something unforgivable with one of those knives. Although Frisk made it so that day never happened, it seemed Toriel was never, ever going to completely forget despite this. The knives were again put away. They only came out whenever Toriel was keeping her eyes on them the entire time.

Not that Frisk really needed them. Anything that could be used as a weapon would do. However, it was simply easier to use something meant to cut.

Slipping into Toriel’s unoccupied room, Frisk began to look around. She checked the drawers and looked under the bed. Oddly enough, the knives were very rarely in the same place twice. It was as if Toriel knew to move them into a new hiding place regularly. Toriel knew a lot she wasn’t supposed to, Frisk had noticed a long time ago.

Something shiny caught Frisk’s eye. Frisk walked closer to the desk to see a golden heart-shaped locket next to Toriel’s diary. Furrowing her brows, Frisk picked it up. She vaguely recalled seeing it once or twice before. Toriel almost never wore jewelry, so Frisk couldn’t understand why she would own a locket.

The words Best Friends Forever were etched into the golden material on one side while the same rune on most of Toriel’s robes was on the other. Although the necklace was well-cared for, Frisk could tell that it was incredibly old. She wondered if this was Toriel’s when she was younger and if this was the last thing Toriel had left of an old friend Frisk had never met.

Filled with a childish impulse, Frisk thought about putting on the locket. It wasn’t going to help her find what she was looking for, but she wanted to try it on nonetheless. Wearing it wouldn’t hurt anything.

Frisk clasped the chain around her neck and looked at herself in the mirror. The gold heart rested on her chest. As she expected, there was nothing special about the necklace.

“It’s rude to ignore others who are in the same room as you.”

Heart going from resting to pounding in a split second, Frisk gathered the courage to turn around. A scream rose up, but it didn’t make it past her lips. To keep from falling over, Frisk clutched at the desk behind her and used it to keep herself upright.

There was a boy in the room with her. Frisk swallowed. A human boy.

He looked just like her. Yet at the same time, they looked nothing alike. It was the weirdest thing.

His skin was an almost creamy pale compared to her brown. Unlike Frisk’s thick chocolate hair, he had thin, board straight chestnut-colored locks. The boy’s cheeks were so rosy it gave him a creepy, unearthly look.

The words were out before Frisk knew she was speaking. “Who are you?”

Arms and legs stretched out like a starfish, Frisk sighed as she soaked up the sun. Cracking an eye open, she tried to use the shadows on the rocky walls to guess how much time had passed since she discarded her schoolwork in favor of lying under the sun. From the looks of it, Frisk had been lying in the flowers for a little too long.

Sitting upright, Frisk smiled as she ran her fingers over the petals of most of the flowers within reach as if biding good friends farewell. Eight years ago, the flowers broke her fall when she fell into the Ruins. They saved her life. She spent nearly every day since sitting and sometimes lying amongst them. If that didn’t make these flowers as good as her friends, Frisk didn’t know what did.

Gathering her textbooks, notebooks, scrap papers, and pencils, Frisk tucked them into her pack and stood to her feet. With one last look at the hole in the mountain and at the small field of golden flowers, Frisk smiled and turned away. She walked through the first gate, unsurprised to see who was waiting for her.

“Howdy,” the single talking golden flower greeted as Frisk approached him. “Doing the same thing as always, I see.”

“Hey, Flowey,” Frisk nonchalantly greeted. She tried to walk past him, but he stopped her by surrounding her with what he called his “friendliness pellets.”

“Now, now,” Flowey taunted, his smile best described as a knowing smirk, “where do you think you’re going?”

“Home.”

“No,” Flowey’s eyes blackened out, and his smile deformed into a demonic shape, “I think you should play with me first. Come on, Frisk, you know you want to play a little game.”

Frisk snorted. “Nice try, Flowey, but you stopped being scary after you started popping up every other Thursday. I’m desensitized to your creepy faces.”

“True,” Flowey sang, “but you’re not immune to my attacks!”

It took willpower for Frisk to resist rolling her eyes. Here we go again.

Using all the strength in her legs, Frisk pushed herself off the ground and jumped away from all the bullets that crashed where she previously stood. The moment her feet reunited with the ground, Frisk dodged every bullet shot her way. However, the ones in front of her distracted her from the ones coming in from behind. Crying out, Frisk felt the flesh on her back burn from contact with those so-called friendliness pellets. Frisk didn’t think they could be very friendly if they hurt so much.

“Come on,” Flowey taunted. “We both know you can do better than that.”

“Just warming up.” Frisk dropped her pack, but not without first pulling out a wooden sword. Pointing the tip at Flowey, she grinned and said, “Don’t hold back.”

With that maniacal laugh of his, Flowey replied, “You know I won’t.”

Although she had a makeshift weapon, Frisk didn’t try to attack Flowey with it. That was a mistake she had no plans to repeat. So she held onto it for show as she dodged attack after attack and kept the sentient flower guessing her every move. Flowey once admitted that he liked how unpredictable Frisk could be, especially in dangerous situations. If she would entertain him from time to time, he would repay her with the news she so desperately craved.

It was as Frisk was about to “stab” Flowey from behind that he brought a root up from under the ground. The unsuspecting Frisk tripped over it and fell into the dirt with a resounding thud. She looked up just in time to see a giant vine about to slam into her.

Frisk rolled away from the impact, just barely escaping the attack. One of the thorns caught her arm, and it cut the sleeve of her rose pink sweat with brown stripes. Blood began to flow from the wound.

“Flowey!” Frisk complained. “This is my favorite sweater!”

“Who cares?” Flowey spat. “You have, what, ten just like it!”

“Nine now.” Frisk frowned. “I don’t want to play anymore.”

“That doesn’t sound like you to give up so easily.”

“I never agreed to play in the first place.”

“Well, looks like you’re just to going to have to keep playing until you beat me.” Laughing again, Flowey sent a bunch of bullets hurling towards Frisk.

Frisk moved out of the way, determined to finish this sick game of Flowey’s. With reckless abandon, Frisk slashed at the vines that charged towards her. Her wooden weapon couldn’t cut the plants, but Flowey’s ability to feel pain meant Frisk only had to hit his extensions just hard enough for the flower to flinch away from whatever hurt him.

Tucking and rolling, Frisk just barely missed the onslaught of bullets and vines and roots. She uncurled herself in front of Flowey and held the tip of her wooden sword in front of his face. Wearing her own creepy smile, Frisk declared, “I win.”

At first Flowey blinked, the disbelief clearly written on his stunned demeanor. Then, grumbling, he let his bullets, vines, and roots fall away. “You only won because you got lucky.”

“Sure, we’ll go with that.” Panting, Frisk sat across from Flowey and asked, “So, any interesting news from the outside?”

Begrudgingly, Flowey answered, “Nothing too exciting, of course. Everyone is living their boring, predictable lives just as they always do. There hasn’t been anything interesting to happen in the Underground in a long, long time.”

“Well, what about your other friends?” Frisk rested her elbows on her knees and her chin on her fists. “How’s Papyrus? Has he been accepted back into the royal guard yet?”

“That loser? HA! I still don’t know how he was even accepted in the first place. It’s no surprise he got kicked out.”

“You don’t have to be so mean.” Frisk frowned. “At least tell me he’s still trying.”

“Unfortunately, that’s exactly what he’s doing.”

“Poor Papyrus. I really wish I could help him.”

Flowey’s voice took on that singsong tone he used whenever he tried to be persuasive. “Well, I know there’s a lot you could do for him if you could just meet him.”

Narrowing her eyes, Frisk stated, “You know I can’t do that, Flowey. There are rules. Nobody goes through that door. Ever.”

“Lucky little ol’ me can use that loophole and go under the door.” Flowey winked. “Perhaps you should try doing that again.”

“Digging my way under the door with a spoon won’t work, Flowey.”

“Yeah, but it was absolutely hilarious watching you try.”

“I was ten! Leave me alone.” Giggling, Frisk pushed herself to her feet and retrieved her pack. Putting away her wooden sword, she said, “I really do need to go. I’m never this late. Mom must be worried about me.”

Frisk didn’t walk ten steps before Flowey called after her. “You can’t stay in the Ruins forever,” he claimed. “Sooner or later, rules or no rules, you will go through that door. I know you want to. It’s clear to me that you care for Papyrus, Undyne, and all the other monsters I told you about. How can you care so much about people you never met? I know you want to be their friend. The only thing stopping you is a silly little rule you don’t even know why it exists in the first place.”

“It exists to protect me,” Frisk countered. “Remember how we first met? Or how I met most of the other monsters here? Monsters seem to have a fight-first-ask-questions-later mentality.”

“Pleeeaaassseee,” Flowey dragged, “if I can’t hurt you, what makes you think other monsters can?”

Frisk didn’t respond to that. Flowey did have a point. Still, rules were rules, and Frisk had no intentions to disobey her mother.

It was as Frisk opened her mouth to state as much that Flowey disappeared beneath the ground. Frowning, Frisk stared at where the flower disappeared. There was only one reason for Flowey to vanish like that.

“Frisk? Frisk?! What happened to you?!”

Wearing a guilty smile, Frisk slowly turned around and greeted, “Hey, Mom.”

Before Frisk stood a tall woman with white fur, long ears, and small horns protruding from the top of her head. Her red eyes widened at the sight of the beaten Frisk. She covered her mouth with one of her large paws.

“I won,” was the only explanation Frisk gave. She smiled and approached the woman. “I’m sorry I’m out so late. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“My child, I fail to understand why you don’t let me do something about that dreadful flower. Horrid creature, picking on an innocent youth. Hold still, please.”

Frisk remained still as Toriel, the protector of the Ruins and Frisk’s adopted mother, began healing Frisk’s wounds. While she tended to her daughter, Toriel muttered how she “doesn’t understand the games they play” and that “this happens every other week, and I’m still surprised when Frisk comes home with cuts and bruises.” When she was done, Toriel stepped back and looked Frisk over once more before deeming the human fully healed.

“Thanks!” Frisk gave Toriel her widest smile. As Toriel smiled back, Frisk sensed that something was different about her mother.

Toriel typically wore a blue robe with white sleeves, an interesting symbol Frisk knew was called the Delta Rune sewed onto the breast. That was exactly what Toriel wore now, but there was something added to it. Frisk noticed a golden heart locket dangling from Toriel’s neck and resting on her chest.

“Hey . . . ,” Frisk began, but she wasn’t sure what to say. Instead Frisk said, “I promise next time Flowey and I fight, he won’t get me as badly.”

Shaking her head, Toriel frowned and began to walk away. Frisk followed after, a skip to her step. “Don’t look too worried, Mom. You know Flowey doesn’t usually fight to hurt me that badly.”

“I wish he wouldn’t fight you period,” Toriel replied, “but seeing how you accept it as no different from a game, I will keep most of my thoughts on the subject to myself.”

Similarly, Frisk kept comments of leaving the Ruins to herself.

When they came to the puzzles, Frisk asked, “Hey, Mom, can we update the puzzles?”

“May, Frisk.”

“May we update the puzzles? The Ruins have been using the same puzzles for ages.”

“I don’t see a point in going through the trouble of redesigning them,” Toriel answered.

“How about they’re so easy, I can do them with my eyes closed?”

At that, Frisk covered her eyes with her hands just as she and Toriel were about to walk on the spiked bridge. Toriel called out Frisk’s name in surprise, but the human didn’t open her eyes until she made it across. Turning back at the other side of the bridge, Frisk grinned as Toriel tried to not look impressed.

“You walk through here daily,” Toriel pointed out as she began crossing the bridge, her eyes kept open. “It’s only natural you would know these puzzles so well.”

Once Toriel was again standing next to Frisk, the two walked side-by-side as Frisk argued, “Which is why we need to update them. It’s so boring going through here, I could cry. Can I at least draw up some redesigns? Please?”

“Hmm, I don’t see why not. Show me what you have, and maybe I’ll reconsider. How about that?”

“Sounds good!” Frowning, Frisk stopped and turned around. Her heartrate began to accelerate.

Toriel, noticing that Frisk no longer walked alongside her, asked, “What is it, my child?”

Although she couldn’t shake the eerie feeling they were being followed, Frisk resumed following and answered, “Nothing, Mom.”

It wasn’t that unusual for Frisk to turn around to find Flowey watching a few yards away, but he was nowhere to be seen. Besides, this felt different. Somehow, Frisk sensed there was someone standing right next to her.