Prologue
My name is Frisk. Or, at least that's what everyone calls me. My real name is Fortune, but that's something my entire life hasn't been.
I used to live with my parents, or should I say parent. My mother died giving birth to me. Then, when my father died in a car accident, I went to live with my grandfather. When he died from old age, my brother and I just kind of became wanderers, living off of our parents' and grandparents' savings and life insurance. Because my brother was only eighteen, and I was only eight at the time, the insurance companies and the government didn't trust us with the money. They assigned an investor to take care of the money, giving us what we needed sort of like a pension fund.
We mostly went between the cities our parents and grandparents lived in. We would sometimes sleep in our parents' house, sometimes our grandparents' house, sometimes in some random hotel along the way. My brother and I would cook our own food and wash our own clothes, and I mostly homeschooled myself on my brother's laptop, taking interest in history. We maintained this lifestyle, not the worst possible outcome, but not the best we've ever had or dreamed of, until he died.
He died one day in a freak pothole accident. No one knows why, the engineers said it should have been secure, officials blamed the engineers for not being careful enough, and I only had a few things left to remember him by. I had his laptop, always pristinely maintained in that black laptop bag, his wallet, which I found in my bag, and a heart-shaped necklace he brought for me, in the case if he couldn't be with me anymore, I would have something to remember him by. I distinctly remember clutching that necklace, staring at his broken body at the bottom of that hole. For some reason, the necklace felt warmer than my hands. I could never get that detail out of my mind.
That was two years ago. I'm twelve now. I've been alone ever since, no friends, no one who really cares about me in this world. To everyone, I'm just another part of the backdrop of everyday life. I still go back to my family homes, but I never stay for long because they bring back too many memories of happier times. Now, I just wander the cities, staying near the streetlights to feel safe. When I'm bored, I read the old legend of Mount Ebbot, or play one of the numerous games on my brother's laptop, still like new. Or sometimes, when I'm feeling particularly bored, I go to my grandparents' house, get on that old moped, and ride around Mount Ebbot. When I'm lonely, I lie down in a bed or sit in a chair and hold my necklace, remembering my brother through that necklace of mine. I've told myself, "This is childish." But some part of me always wants to hope that some part of Jeffrey is still with me, either following me, or in that necklace.
And just when I thought this was about to be my life, that one day came along…