Chapter 1 – Once Upon a Time

Everyone knows that monsters are magical beings, made of hopes and dreams, and that this makes them predisposed toward goodness and virtue. Though they have the ability to do wrong, and have done wrong, it is greatly harmful to their souls' wellbeing, and they will always naturally gravitate toward a more righteous choice before choosing their final path.

But what if this were not so?

What if monsters were neither inherently good nor evil, equally capable of both, just like their human counterparts?

What if monsters could, as a whole, become as embittered and nasty and unkind as humanity at its worst?

What if monsters lived in a world filled with darkness more than any other, that yet could be filled with light more than any other?

In all worlds, love and LOVE fight their bloody battles.

In this world, they fight their fiercest ever.

And, as in all worlds, the question arises: which will prevail?

In order to understand, we must start before the beginning.

Long ago, two races ruled over 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…

There was a human child.

This child fell into the Underground, befriended the Prince of the monsters, and even joined the Royal Family as one of their own.

The goodness of this child, the love they had for monsterkind, gave the monsters hope that someday they would reconcile with the human race and live in peace on the surface again.

Then the child became ill and died.

The Prince absorbed their soul, crossed the barrier to the surface, and was mortally wounded by the humans above.

When he returned to his home, his dust spread across the gardens, and his soul and the child's were lost.

The King declared war against humanity in his grief and anger. The Queen, hoping it was only a passing desire, tried to convince him to stay openminded.

But a new child fell, and the King took their soul, and the Queen could not bear to see what her husband was becoming. She left her home and took refuge in the Ruins on the other side of the vast caverns, not to be seen by outside eyes for hundreds of years.

Decades, even centuries passed between each new human soul gained, and each new generation of monsters became more bitter and brokenhearted than the one before it.

Now, the monsters have lost all of hope of ever reconciling with humanity—indeed, many of them have lost all hope of ever being free.

The only thing that keeps them alive is spite and their King's plan for revenge.

Overcome by their anger, they turn on each other, and violence spreads unfettered through the Underground.

But there are some monsters who still remember the light from generations past, who cling to goodness and mercy in hopes that they will someday return in full.

These monsters are few and far between, and most stay quiet about their true feelings, for mercy is considered a weakness. For anyone else to know could mean the death of themselves, and worse—the final stamping out of the light, the final triumph of the darkness.

Most of these monsters stay hidden, sharing their light with each other and teaching it to their children, sometimes taking in the few other monsters who wish to know of anything more than violence. Few of them venture out from their homes to do anything other than work and gather food, and none of them risk going anywhere near the King.

Except for one.

One monster, who has more of the light than anyone else, works as the Royal Scientist, right near the top of King Asgore's inner circle.

This one monster has two small sons whom he loves dearly and with whom he wants to share the light.

And it is with this monster that our story truly begins.

oooooooooo

A/N: hey guys! I went on vacation for a week, tried to work on my papyton fic a little bit, and came back with a new story lol, because of course the best new fic ideas come when you're trying to think about another, already-existing fic you're writing...

this is based off the version of Underfell I like to daydream about. I can't really get behind the most common version of the AU-not that people can't enjoy it, or that I wanna get on a high horse and act like My Version Is Better, but it just seems so mean-spirited and antithetical to the original spirit of Undertale, having the monsters be Naturally Evil or whatever. I really prefer versions where the monsters just got bitter instead, hence why I'm writing this.

so yeah, you can tell from the title this story is going to focus on Papyrus, shocker, he is my favorite character after all. but I needed to establish the world first, and introduce a character who will be integral to the story, even if he isn't around for long...

first few chapters might be a bit short, but maybe that'll be easier on you guys anyway. I imagine things will get longer later.

I'm going to be writing this pretty much in tandem with my papyton fic, so updates for both will probably switch off until one or the other is finished (probably this one will be done first).

anyway I hope you all enjoy! I know not much is happening at the moment but there'll be some heartwarming and cute stuff next chapter, and maybe some sad stuff, too.