Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. Many years later in 2015, a young human girl, Chara, fell down into the underground. Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.

But what happened after?

King Asgore's son, Asriel, heard the girl's cries for help. The royal family took her in as one of their own. It didn't take long for the kids to become the best of friends. One day, the girl became very ill. Her final request was to see the flowers from her village again. But they couldn't do anything. The next day, she died.

Asriel, full of grief, absorbed her soul and gained incredible power. He carried the girl through the barrier and back to her village, and onto a bed of golden flowers. The humans in the village saw the monster and thought he killed the girl. They attacked him, but he didn't fight back. He walked away and back through the barrier. When he returned, he was lethally injured. He collapsed and his dust spread across the garden.

The king and queen were devastated. They had lost two children in one night. Angered by the humans who had once again taken everything from them, he declared that all humans who fell into the underground were to be killed. It was his way of protecting the monsters from being hurt by humans. He told everyone that seven human souls were needed to destroy the barrier. But the queen didn't approve. She abandoned the king and went to live in the ruins where she would try to help the children who fell down. There, she buried the little girl near their home in the underground.

But what happened next?

The monsters were all told to collect the soul of a human who falls down so they can use it to destroy the barrier and be free. Hopefully the humans would accept them. So the monsters did as they were told. They collected all the souls they could, or sent the humans to Asgore.

Despite everyone's hatred of humans, there was one monster who wanted to keep the human children safe. Toriel would make a daily trip to the ruins to check for humans who might have fallen down. Occasionally, she would find one. She would take them back to her house and offer to care for them as a mother. But they never stayed. They always wanted to return home. Toriel was never able to save a human child. They all got themselves killed by the monsters of the underground, and their souls were taken. They had collected six souls when another human fell down. A little girl named Frisk.

Now why is Frisk so important?

She had the seventh soul they needed to escape. Everyone was after her, but she refused to fight.

If she refused to fight, what happened to her?

She survived. She was able to befriend all the monsters she encountered. A group of them were there to support her in her journey to get back to her world. With her determination, she was able to get to the Kings castle. But before they could fight, the queen returned and stopped them. It was Toriel. She informed them that their battle was pointless. The king only needed the first soul to cross through the barrier. He could have taken the human souls on the other side, then peacefully destroyed the barrier and freed them. He was just being a coward, hoping another human would never fall. Then, not knowing that there wasn't going to be a battle, all of Frisk's friends came and tried to stop the battle.

After they talked for a bit, things began to calm down. Toriel told Frisk she would have to stay in the underground a bit longer, until Asgore was ready to destroy the barrier. But as they were about to leave, they were attacked by Flowey, the first monster that tried to kill Frisk. He wanted the souls that had already been collected so he could become all powerful and destroy the world. But he didn't stop there. He wanted the souls of all Frisk's friends and every other monster in the underground. Only then would he be able to achieve his true form. They all fought as hard as they could to keep Frisk safe, but it wasn't enough. Flowey was still too powerful. He took all of the friend's souls and achieved his true form…

Asriel.

The child of the king had become all powerful. But he couldn't destroy the world if Frisk was still alive. He tried again and again, and even unleashed his full power, but her soul refused to fade. It was so full of determination to live and save her friends that she was unable to die. She had the most powerful soul. With the power of determination, she was able to reach into Asriel's soul and save the souls of her friends through memories of their time together.

Then she tried to save Asriel's, but he didn't want to give up his power. He wanted to keep Frisk there to play with him forever. But the entire time they fought, he didn't call frisk by her name. He didn't know it. He kept calling her Chara, and saying that she was the only one who was any fun to play with. He said that he was just doing this because he cared about her. He didn't want to have to say good bye to anyone like her again. He didn't want her to leave. He begged Frisk to let him win so that they could play together forever and she would never have to leave.

He was scared, and he was alone. After failing to kill Frisk, he gave up. He turned back into his child self. His true self. And he cried. He knew Frisk wasn't Chara. Chara had been dead for a long time. But the child just wanted to see his best friend again. Knowing how much the other monsters loved her, he felt sorry. When he was a flower, he had no soul and was unable to feel love, compassion, or anything really. He apologized to Frisk for all his horrible actions, and she forgave him. Asriel then realized that he couldn't keep everyone's souls inside of him, so he set them all free and destroyed the barrier. But he wouldn't be able to maintain his form. He would turn back into a flower.

Frisk awoke to her friends surrounding her. They were telling her that they could go to the surface. But she remembered Asriel back in the ruins. She informed Toriel and Asgore that their son was alive in the ruins, but not for long. The group of Frisk, Asgore, Toriel, Papyrus, Sans, Undyne, and Alphys rushed back to the ruins, hoping they weren't too late to save Asriel.

They found him sitting in the middle of a bed of golden flowers. He was crying again. Toriel and Asgore were in shock. Their son, who died many years ago was sitting right in front of them. Toriel cried out to him. He turned to her and his face lit up. But he was too weak to get up. Toriel and Asgore rushed to him and hugged him. He told them how sorry he was for everything. They told him how much they miss him, and that they still loved him. But then Asriel went limp. He grew weaker and weaker with each passing second. Asriel told them that he wouldn't be able to stay with them for much longer. He didn't have the strength, or soul to continue living.

Then Alphys had a sudden genius idea. She wanted to try to create an artificial magical soul that would keep Asriel from changing back into a flower. The group rushed him to Alphys's lab in Hotland. She got to work immediately. Toriel and Asgore talked to the unconscious child to get him to hold on. He was slipping away, and fast. He would turn back into a flower at any moment. When they thought it was going to be too late, Alphys returned with a smoke like substance in a jar. She told them that it should keep him alive. He should be able to live a normal life, and he'd still be able to use magic. But only a powerful monster would be able to put the artificial soul in him. So Asgore took the challenge. It was tricky, but he was able to hold the soul and transfer it into his son.

A few hours later, he woke up. The group rejoiced. They were all happy for the family that was reunited. Maybe, they all could be happy again. But now was not the time. They needed to get Frisk to the surface. As soon as Asriel had enough strength, they would all return to the surface.

When there, everyone was happy they would all be able to live the lives they wanted to live. Toriel and Asgore made up over the return of their son. They asked Frisk to stay with them and be a happy family. But she refused. Even after all they went through together, she still wanted to return to her home, and the family accepted that. But all the monsters praised Frisk. They were glad to finally be on the surface again. Frisk became legend.

If she succeeded, in one way or another, in destroying the barrier, why is everyone underground?

Humans. That's why. Everything started off great. The freed monsters were starting lives for themselves on the surface, but just as they feared, the humans still didn't quite accept them. There were several accounts of times when monsters mysteriously disappeared on the surface. Other times, the humans weren't so secretive. They once again saw the monsters as a threat and attacked. The surviving monsters retreated underground once again. This seemed to be the only safe place for them, so they embraced it. The monsters continued to live underground once again.

But everyone knows this. Why would you? Most of us either lived it. Or learned it in school. So why am I telling you this?

What if there is a part of the story that we aren't told? What if there was a human who survived in the underground? What if there was one who didn't get their soul taken by Asgore or the Royal Guard? What if there was someone on their side? Someone who didn't understand the hatred of humans.

There's a story that I bet you don't know. It's a legend, but it's just as important as the history itself. About a human woman who fell into the underground, and fell in love with a monster. They call it the legend of the unified soul.

About five years prior to Frisk's fall, a human woman fell down. Not a child, but a woman in her twenties. Toriel found her in the ruins and was thrown off a bit. It was usually only children who fell. But she offered the woman help none the less. The woman insisted on leaving the ruins because she was independent and felt like she could do anything on her own. Before she even reached Snowdin, she was attacked by a pair of monsters. She couldn't handle their attacks and she was too weak to fight back. The final attack was about to be made on her when a green human like monster appeared out of nowhere and blocked the shots. He had two pairs of black as night eyes, and a pair of magnificent horns. He almost resembled a Minotaur. He fought the attackers off to keep the woman safe. When they left, he helped the woman to town.

He took her back to his house, where he tended to her wounds and got her some food. He introduced himself as Axel. The woman introduced herself as Lila. She was surprised by Axel's kindness toward her. After what Toriel told her about their history, she expected everyone to want to kill her. Axel was different. He told her that he never saw why humans should be hated. He tried to protect him if he could. So, he offered to let Lila stay with him as long as she needed. Having nowhere else to go, she accepted.

Over time, they grew closer and closer, trusting each other more and more. They soon fell in love. They planned to marry as soon as they could find a monster who accepted humans that was up to the task. But all the other monsters knew how Axel felt about humans. He was shunned for refusing to kill any. But he didn't care. He was happy living the way he was.

The couple soon had a child. But there was a slight problem. Lila feared that the other monster wouldn't accept her as she grew up. She just wished that her child could live a normal human life on the surface. So they went to the underground's most powerful magician to see if he could take away her powers. The magician told them that it was impossible. Her soul was too strong. The magician explained to them the differences in human and monster souls. Monster souls were strong and could wield magic. Human souls were stronger and more powerful but could not wield magic. A being born with some of both souls would have incredible power. They would be the only one capable of reuniting humans and monsters.

This devastated Lila and Axel. They just wanted their daughter to fit in. they begged him to do anything that would keep their child safe. They were willing to pay anything to make sure that their daughter lived a normal human life. That's when the magician told them that there was one thing he could do, but it would cost them greatly. They didn't care. They told him to do it anyway. He told him that he could make it so that her true powers and form were only revealed when she showed true emotion after a magical encounter. Knowing that Lila could take the child across the barrier, this sounded pretty good. So they told the magician to continue.

He performed the spell that would conceal the powers and it was a success. Her half brown, half green hair turned dark brown. And her skin lightened. She looked like a normal human child. The spell had worked. Now that they were satisfied, it was time for them to pay. But what they didn't know, was that the price was their lives. They panicked and tried to run, but it was useless against the magician. He killed them both. The magician still wanted to honor the parents' wishes of getting their child to the surface to live a normal life. He absorbed Lila's soul and headed for the barrier. Once he crossed, he dropped the child at the nearest village and returned to the underground. No one knew what happened to the magician or the child. But everyone hoped that one day, the child would return to bring peace to the humans and monsters.

But why is any of this important?

Well, the end of Frisk's story is where mine begins. Without Frisk's success, my life would be drastically different. I might not have survived.

Why did I tell you the legend, and how does it connect to everything?

The legend was something I was told all of my life. It was a story of hope for the future of humans and monsters. All of us in the underground hoped that the one with the unified soul would come to the underground and bring peace between the human monsters. When things looked hopeless, we would all think of the human monster child returning to bring peace.

Little did we know, her return was closer than anyone could have expected.