I'd always heard the stories.
Stories of the mountain.
Mount Ebott.
They say the mountain is cursed. That's where the monsters live. If you climb to the peak of Mount Ebott, you will never return. All who've climbed it disappeared and were never heard from again. I guess...I guess that's why I went up there in the first place.
But I guess I couldn't get rid of myself that easily.
Flowers. Golden flowers.
That was the first thing I noticed when I woke up.
I was lying in a crumbling room on a bed of golden flowers. The smell was...almost bittersweet. I couldn't quite place it, but it was familiar. The smell of home. Which couldn't be right because I didn't have a home.
Did I?
You've got to get up and get home.
Home. I at least need to get back to...wherever this isn't.
Standing up, I brushed petals and pollen off my sweater. There was only on way to go. Forward.
The room itself merged into a hallway. All around me were crumbling walls. The floor under me was rife with holes as well. Where was I? Was this the inside of Mount Ebott?
The hallway ended with what was at one point an ornate archway. I could see a point in the next room had a small light illuminating it, almost like a spotlight. The center of the light showed a spot in the floor that was missing all the bricks that marked the rest of the floor, exposing bare ground.
That's when the flower showed up.
"Howdy!" the flower said. It had shot up out of the bare patch of ground, scaring me out of my mind. The fact that it talked didn't help.
The flower was golden, much like the patch of flowers I woke up in (landed in?). Also, it had a face? It was smiling pleasantly at me. So why did the smile unnerve me?
"My name's Flowey!" the flower told me. Flowey the flower. Okay.
"Uh..." I said. "Hi?" Brilliant.
"Golly you must be new to the Underground!" Flowey said. Was it just me or was there an edge to his voice? "Well how about I show you how things work down here?" Okay definitely menacing.
Before I could respond, the world shifted. My vision got...darker? Almost like the color dimmed, except for Flowey. He remained just as golden. The weirder thing was that when I looked down, there was a solid red heart hovering in front of where my stomach was.
"What you see there is your Soul," Flowey said a little too pleasantly. "Although normally I think I see it in your chest. Maybe it's different in adults?"
"What do you mean, 'different in adults'?" I said. "Your heart is still in your chest no matter your age." Well I guess flowers wouldn't know.
Wait what am I saying? This is not normal!
"Well I've only ever met children down here." The pleasantness was starting to wear and seemed to be getting more sinister. I think it was his eyes. There was nothing there.
"Your soul starts of pretty weak, but you can make your soul stronger by gaining LV."
"I'm sorry what now?" I said, Flowey's voice ripping me from my thoughts.
"Why LV stands for Love!" Seriously?
"Okay cut the pleasantness you...creepy flower," I told him. "What are you really trying to do here? Your words don't quite sit right with me. And what's this bull about souls and LV?"
Flowey's expression finally shifted. His eyes (at least the black specs that I think were his eyes) squinted slightly but he kept the same creepy smile. A very...knowing smile.
"Oh?" Flowey finally said. "I thought I was wrong, but I see I wasn't. You don't belong in this game. Or should I say story? Either way. I suppose I should get you out of the way now."
Suddenly, a circle of white...pellets I guess surrounded me. Somehow, I didn't think they were full of friendliness.
"I mean," Flowey said, "you're an adult after all. You of all people should know that in this world..."
I almost stumbled back into the pellets. Flowey's face shifted into basically a skull.
"It's kill or be killed."
An echoing laugh. Shrill and terrifying.
The 'not so friendly pellets' started closing in on me. I didn't know what would happen if they hit me, but I assumed it wouldn't be pleasant. I tried to move but found myself frozen in place as the pellets crept closer to me; Flowey's laugh still echoing in my head.
This is why you came here isn't it? Just accept it.
I guess that was true. I chose this didn't I? No matter how kind or optimistic I wanted to be given the circumstances of my life, I chose this. If my body wasn't stuck in place, I would've dropped to my knees then and there.
But I guess fate chose differently.
Flowey's laugh had stopped. Where he had been, a fireball shot past. Flowey had sunk back into the ground.
"Pitiful creature," said a kindly voice. "How dare he attack an innocent young man like that."
Finding myself able to move, I looked up at the doorway at the end of the hall. A...goat woman stood in the entrance wearing ornate clothing with an odd symbol on it. Her face had an intense disapproving mother look on it. Yet as she looked at me, I knew she meant no harm to me. I saw a kind of sad love in her eyes.
So why did something in me inwardly flinch as I looked at her face?
"Are you hurt young man?" the woman asked. She was standing in front of me now and still giving me that loving look. Why did she care about me so much?
"I..." How do I even respond? I had no idea where I was. A flower had just attacked me and now there was an actual monster standing in front of me, talking to me with care and love. I stumbled forward and she caught me before I could completely fall over.
"I may not entirely be able to see your face through all of your hair, but I can tell you're more than a little shaken up," she said, gently grabbing onto my arm. "Why don't I take you to a safe place?" I took one more look into her eyes (the thing in my still slightly flinching) and nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak at the moment.
"Come with me then young man." The woman helped me stay steady and kept a firm but gentle grip on my right hand. Like a mother leading a child. "My name is Toriel. I am the caretaker of these ruins."
This is mom.
The flinch again.
"Frisk," I managed to finally say.
"It's very nice to meet you, Frisk," Toriel said, smiling over her shoulder.
Toriel began to lead me through a series of rooms. She explained that in ancient times, the monsters built the ruins and filled them with puzzles to deter the humans from hunting them. Even though I wasn't involved in that I felt bad for the ancient monsters. Having to trap yourselves in with puzzles and then getting banished down here in the end anyway.
Humans are the worse kind of species.
I guess nothing really changes. I found myself clenching my fists, wanting to find a way to get humanity to get better. To be more kind.
I found myself grabbing Toriel's hand again, more to keep my thoughts from getting too dark again. This woman is determined to be kind and so am I.
"Are you okay young man?" Toriel asked, giving me another smile over her shoulder.
"I'm fine," I responded, my voice crackling slightly with emotion. "Just needed to get my balance back."
We walked through several more areas, each with their own unique puzzles. Some Toriel doing herself (like leading me through a pathway of spikes over a river), others letting me solve on my own.
I began to notice that Toriel seemed a little distracted. She had been giving a slight commentary on a few of the areas and her voice was getting slightly strained.
"Hey why don't you go ahead?" I asked. "I think I can manage from here. The way to get there seems pretty straightforward."
"Are you sure?" Toriel responded, turning around to face me.
"Hey, we've made it this far without anything happening right? What else could go wrong out here?"
"Well I do have a few things to take care of first...here." Toriel pulled what looked like a cell phone out of her robes and handed it to me. The first one I'd ever been given. "This is a spare one I had. My number is already in it so don't be afraid to call if you get lost or need help."
"I will." I pocketed the phone. On an impulse, I reached over and gave Toriel a quick hug. I felt her stiffen slightly for a split second, but she quickly returned the hug.
It felt very warm and motherly. I don't know if I would've ever stopped had she not let go first.
Toriel walked ahead and I stood rooted in my spot for a few minutes. The reality of everything hit me. I was in the domain of the monsters. Inside Mount Ebott. And I had just gotten a hug and a cell phone from a very motherly goat woman.
Finally, I took a deep breath and kept walking forward.
The next few rooms were uneventful. There was a small room with a bowl of candy with a sign that said, "Take One." So, I did.
It tasted like licorice.
Looking back, I wondered if Toriel had supplied this for the other monsters.
A few monsters did...attack me, I guess. The same thing that happened with Flowey happened with them as well. The room dimmed and the red heart, my "soul," showed up. None of them really put up much of a fight after I did a little bit of talking and just being generally kind to them. A few of them even gave me some kind of gold coins as they went away. How a frog creature could get coins I had no idea, but I had learned to just kind of go with it down here.
The most interesting event had to have been the ghost.
I had walked into a room that had a small entryway in the middle leading to another room. Laying on the ground in the entryway was a ghost.
An actual ghost.
It didn't do anything when I walked towards it either.
"Uh...hello?" I said aloud.
"Maybe if I just ignore it, it'll go away," the ghost said with a sad voice. The kind of voice someone makes when they're depressed and close to tears.
"I don't think that'll work," I responded. "I need to get through and I it'd be pretty rude if I just walked through you."
The ghost didn't respond. I decided to sit down next to him (the ghost's voice sounded male) and talk with him a little bit. Maybe he just needed a friend.
It's just a ghost. Go through it and continue down the path.
"So, what brings you out here Mister Ghost Guy?" I asked, pushing the thought away. "You sound like you need someone to talk to." He still stayed silent.
So, I sat in silence for a little while. It was incredibly relaxing. Maybe that's why he was out here?
Time past and suddenly I felt a pain in my leg. I looked down to see that the ghost was crying. Where the tears touched my leg, a burning sensation began to spread. I quickly jumped up and backed away.
"Oh..." the ghost said sadly. "Now I feel even worse. You were trying to be kind to me, and I went and ruined it with my crying."
"It's not ruined, Mister Ghost," I said, slightly wincing from the burning in my leg. "I was just shocked by the...sudden showing of emotion."
"Oh."
"You know, I can't keep calling you Mister Ghost." The pain in my leg finally faded. "My name's Frisk. What's yours?"
The ghost remained quiet for a few more seconds until he stood (floated?) up and hovered a few inches off the ground. "Napstablook."
"Those are quite the tears you have there Napsta. Can I just call you Napsta?"
"Oh...a nickname. That's fine. Oh, and that's not the only thing I can do with them. You wanna see something?"
After I nodded at Napstablook, he started crying again. Only they didn't fall down his face. His tears seemed to defy gravity and started floating up to his head and started to merge together to form what looked like a top hat.
"I call it 'Dapperblook.' What do you think?"
"That's pretty awesome. When I cry all, it does is stream down my face."
"You know, I normally come to the ruins because there's nobody around. Today I met someone kind instead. I hope we'll meet again sometime soon."
I waved at Napstablook as he faded. I was hoping I'd get to see him again at some point too.
Continuing in the ruins, I came to a crossroads. There was a path to my left, and one straight ahead. I decided to go straight ahead first. The room I walked into was small and seemed to only be occupied by a single sign and a few spider webs. The sign said, "Spider Bake Sale: All proceeds go to real spiders."
The spider webs seemed to have a few coins laying in front of them. I assumed that's where I was supposed to put coins to purchase things. According to another sign next to the webs, they sold donuts and cider.
Up to this point, I had run into quite a bit of monsters. Most of them had given me a lot of coins because I was being so nice to them. I had them wrapped up in a bit of cloth that I had tied to one of my belt loops.
I untied the cloth and set it next to the spider webs. A spider came down and seemed to count the coins. I apparently had gathered more coins that I originally thought because the spider took a while to count the coins.
The spider went back up through a big hole in the ceiling and came back down with a backpack. The backpack was full of individually wrapped donuts and cans of cider. Had I really gotten that much gold? There was no way I was going to eat and drink all of this.
I thanked the spiders (I hope they understood me) and continued on my way. Toriel called a few more times to talk and ask a few questions. She seemed to have calmed down and gotten a lot cheerier.
The path remained straightforward. By now the 'monsters' in the area had started to casually approach me. Maybe they heard from the other monsters I talked with that I was okay to be near. I decided to share the donuts and cider the spiders gave me with them and direct them towards the bake sale.
It took me probably an hour and a half total to reach where I was supposed to go. I had entered a more open area with a black, leafless tree probably twenty feet in front of me. A large castle like area was farther in the distance.
And there was Toriel coming towards me.
"There you are!" she said pleasantly. I hadn't realized how much I missed seeing here until she was right there. I couldn't help but break into a big smile and wave at her.
Toriel reached me and grabbed my hand again, directing me towards the castle.
"This is where I live," Toriel told me as she walked me around. She directed me to a hallway to the right of the entrance and led me through a door. Inside was a well-furnished bedroom.
"It's so...empty." I couldn't keep the loneliness out of my voice when I said that.
"I have been alone for a while." I could hear the sadness in her voice. "But enough of the sad stories. I think this bed should be good for you? You seem like you could use the rest."
"It has been a rather eventful few hours." I walked over to the bed. "Are you sure?"
"Just rest now."
Toriel turned the main lights out and headed out of the room. There was a lamp next to the bed that was still on so I could see.
Rather than sleep, I decided to check around the room a little first. There were cupboards of children's clothes and a few boxes of toys here and there. Did Toriel have children at one point?
She was so alone in this place though. A few of the Froggits I talked to (after learning that was their collective name) said they were kind of intimidated by Toriel, so it didn't even seem like the monsters around here even talked to her.
I'm going to change that.
I laid down in the bed and turned the lamp off. I was determined to do good here with Toriel.
Food.
I opened my eyes and saw a plate with a piece of pie on it sitting on the nightstand. The lamp had been turned back on so Toriel must have come in at some point.
The pie was amazing. Butterscotch and cinnamon.
I spent a long time with Toriel in that castle. She knitted me a new sweater with the same symbol on her robes. The Deltarune as I learned it was called.
Total, I think it had been a month. Toriel let me use her fur trimmers to trim my beard so I looked like a normal human being again. I had almost fainted when she first showed me my reflection in a mirror. My hair was slightly past my shoulders and both that and my beard were a tangled, matted mess. Now my beard was barely an inch long. I had taken to wearing my hair tied back with a strip of cloth.
Over the course of the month, Toriel and I talked and walked around the ruins often. She had wanted to be a teacher at one point but out here she wasn't able to live that out. I let her teach me while I was there. I learned mostly about snails.
I began to sense the end of my stay with Toriel towards the end. She had gotten less vocal and we talked and wandered less.
Finally, I brought it up to her.
"I think I have to let you leave," Toriel told me after a long while. "I've really enjoyed your company over this past month, but I do believe it's time."
Toriel got up off her armchair and walked back to the entrance. Flabbergasted, I followed her, only to find a staircase leading down. That hadn't been there before, right?
Long hallways. Leading to a large door with the Deltarune on it.
"Out here is the rest of the Underground." Toriel was facing the door, sadness in her voice. "I've had children down here before, but you are the first adult to come to the Underground."
"I had assumed." I had found Toriel's room once when I wandered around the castle. There were children's drawing; about five different children it seemed. I had never brought it up to her.
"I've been selfish thinking I could keep you here any longer. You need to get home. And you can only do that by going through this door to the rest of the Underground."
I stared at Toriel, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I didn't want to go. I didn't even have a home to go back to. This was the only time I ever even felt like I was 'home.'
"Toriel, I..." Words failed. I just kept staring, on the brink of tears.
Why did everything good have to get taken away? Why was I being sent away?
The tears came. Flowing down my face.
"I don't have anywhere else to go," I choked out through sobs. Suddenly I was on my knees. "There is no home for me. I only went up Mount Ebott because I have nothing. I'm homeless. An orphan. Everyone looked down on me because I had nothing." My voice was cracking between the sobs. "I was determined to be kind and stay positive amidst the hate that was thrown at me, but I was just losing hope that things would get better."
Tears were falling. I couldn't speak anymore.
Sudden warmth.
Toriel was hugging me. Not speaking, just a simple hug. But it was more. This was the hug of a mother who was with her grieving child.
"Hush, my child." I wrapped my arms around Toriel and sobbed into her shoulder. "You have more strength and kindness than you give yourself credit for. You may have come down here for the wrong reasons but know that this will work out. I can't keep you here forever."
Several minutes passed until I finally stopped crying and let go.
You have to keep going forward. Leave mom behind.
"I'll come back eventually," I told her, smiling up at her. She had seen me low and still comforted me. Like a mother would her child.
"And I'll be waiting for that day," Toriel said. She walked forward and opened the door. "The door will shut behind you when you leave. For now, it won't open again. But if, after you've been freed of the Underground and still wish to come back, I will open it again for you. Be free from this place, young man."
I stepped forward and gave Toriel another hug.
"Goodbye, Goat Mom," I said.
"Goodbye, Frisk," Toriel said with a chuckle.
Toriel waved and went back to her lonely castle. I was determined to come back eventually.
"Oh, how nauseatingly sweet."
I tensed. That voice.
Flowey.
He was in front of the door, giving me a very sinister smile.
"Why are you here," I growled, not even bothering to keep the malice out of my own voice.
"Come on now Frisk," Flowey said mockingly. "I thought you were kind?"
"I'm not afraid to stomp you into the dirt you psychotic, homicidal flower."
"See, you know the truth. You may have given her a little time and a little kindness but the reality still is that this world is kill or be killed."
Flowey gave his echoing laugh again before sinking back into the ground.
He's right. That's what all the humans you've ever talked to have proved.
No. That's not how this world works. People are still kind and I was determined now more than ever to prove it. I'm making it out of here and continuing in kindness and real love, not the LV that Flowey spoke of.
I took one last look behind me. I'd be back to visit Goat Mom again. I'll be legitimately kind and come back.
The door was in front of me. The rest of the Underground waiting for me.
I walked through the door.