The Faerie Mound
Join not the fay in revel, mind
Nor whirl around the elven track
for when in leaving ye shall find
Time dances not so merry back
-Anonymous
No one had really payed much attention to it at first.
Monsters being free of the underground, setting up businesses, and schools, and navigating politics with all the aplomb that a couple of several hundred-year-old monarchs and an eight-year-old child implied. Rights were established, history rewritten, world views shattered all in the space of a couple of months. Was it unsurprising then that it wasn't until the dust settled that anyone noticed anything off?
The human child, Frisk, was enrolled in the first joint monster human school. Small and squinty eyed they were endlessly curious and friendly, always ready to try new things. Their lunch table was populated by human and monster friend alike as the now eight-and-a-half-year-old savior of monsters chattered happily while devouring their bag lunch.
Was it the consistent bag lunches that tipped everyone off? They never ate the school food. Ever. In fact none of the Monster students did, each and every one of them equipped with a packed lunchbox full of monster delicacies. It wasn't that odd really, some parents didn't want their kids to eat school food, or didn't have the money, but even so, offers of sharing or trade between the human and monster students were politely turned down on the monster side. But maybe it wasn't too strange, maybe the human child with the lunch bag full of fresh hot cats, spaghetti, and butterscotch-cinnamon pie just preferred their family's food over others.
Maybe then it was the fantastical stories that the child Frisk would tell to their human companions? Of souls and magic and music? Of battles like dances and the feel of warm magic. The way they always seemed to move to some invisible beat, their hands and voice like a small orchestra. The way they would speak of monster gatherings, their homes, soft meetings under the stars full of merriment and song. They way monsters, and now their adopted child, viewed the stars with an almost archaic reverence that sent faint chills down the spines of their confused classmates every time they were mentioned. But maybe the tingle down their spines when Frisk told of Monster Parties, and long nighttime games was just from the thought of a child like them out in the dark. Maybe the reverence was a mimicry from a people that hadn't seen the real sky for centuries and viewed even light drizzle with awe. Maybe the way Frisk's eyes seemed to glaze when asked about the time before the mountain was because it wasn't something they wanted to remember. Maybe.
Whatever it was that made the child Frisk seem off, no one bothered to question. Frisk was a sweet kid who had an eccentric family, it wasn't too odd, no need to think too hard on it.
Until someone did.
No one malicious, mind, just a curious underpaid case worker who wondered why no one had attempted to claim the child Frisk from their adopted parents. The Child's face was all over the news, someone out there had to miss the kid, or be sleazy enough to try to work and angle off their newfound popularity. But no one came forward, and that was just… off. So the case worker did a little digging, looking for missing persons around Frisk's age close enough that they could have climbed and fallen into famous Mt. Ebbot.
Nothing.
They broadened their search, searching legally accessed school records, and even some mildly illegally accessed. Some of their, ahem, 'contacts' and/or 'rivals' caught wind of their down key search and began combing data as well. Interviews with the child were meticulously looked through for any clues, not that there were any, and records, local and not, were dug up and scanned.
Still nothing.
It was alarming, like the child Frisk didn't even exist before exiting the mountain with the monsters. But Frisk was no monster, and it was very clear that they hadn't been born down there, so there should be something, right?
But there was nothing.
Until there was something.
A librarian, skimming the library news archives, spotted a familiar face. Family, they thought, a relation, a clue? They had looked over the article with interest, then confusion, then a dawning sense of shock and horror. They scanned the article as quickly as possible and promptly released it to the searchers, along with a panicky message asking for someone, anyone, to verify that this was really what they were seeing.
It had to be a hoax, a prank, it had to be. There was no way this was the real deal, it was too fantastical, to bizarre, too…
The Monsters had said time worked differently with magic, but no one expected this.
An Obituary for a small child of eight, squinty eyed and smiling, by the name of Frisk Fauntane, last seen in the area of Mt. Ebbot 20xx. Missing, presumed dead.
The community that had been trying to find proof of the child's existence had collectively gawped at the evidence, and each other, before unanimously deciding to bury it as deep as they possibly could. Frisk was a sweet child, and the monsters good people, an ancient people, and it was best that revelations like this stayed where they belonged; wrapped up among the myths and rumors that surrounded Mt. Ebbot.
…
The Case worker who started the search gently closed their computer and went to take their evening walk. They walked a familiar path as they tried to clear their head. Their steps faltered when a small body bumped into their legs. The Case worker looked down and was met with squinty eyes and a dazzling smile that they couldn't help but return. The child gestured to their guardian, a being only slightly taller than themselves with a lazy skeletal visage, and introduced the two of them to the still startled, but smiling case worker. The child was eager to be somewhere and invited the case worker along, while their guardian merely shrugged his shoulders and smiled, ruffling the child's hair messily.
They found themselves in a clearing shortly after, surrounded by monsters and softly glowing fires, delicious food spread along tables and picnic blankets, and instruments already playing. The case worker was introduced to the child's family and friends, before the child Frisk was whisked away by the monsters to join in the celebration. There was feasting and dancing, merry stories and mock battles between friends. The case worker sat at the edge, smiling, but gently denying joining in the festivities. The skeleton from before caught their eye as they turned down yet another offer to dance, the look in his eyes one of sharp understanding, but it was gone in a blink and if the case worker hadn't been looking they would have missed it entirely.
They left somewhere close to midnight, not that the others noticed, most now involved in some intricate dance that sent the entire celebration spinning and weaving around and around each other, the child among them, laughing freely. The case worker noticed the skeleton again, off to the side alongside another, taller one. These two watched the dance with soft smiles but did not join, and as the case worker made their first step out of the clearing they both turned and nodded their way. The caseworker nodded back and began to walk away, the soft music already trying to call them back. But they kept walking, out into the street lights and the pavement, where the stars shone less brightly, and the chill in the air was only from the breeze.