Long ago, far away…

Two races ruled over Earth.

They fought side by side, to protect all from evil. All from HARM.

But one day, war broke out. Evil spread. It TAINTED.

Humans grew distant and hurtful. Monsters? They grew accepting. Understanding.

Full of HOPE. Full of LOVE.

This is the tale of not one- but two humans who change it all.

What are their names?

…*Frisk…*Chara…

And so, begins their journey.

UNDERMELANCHOLY

Frisk walked up the cliff, grabbing their oversized sweater by the sleeve, and clinging to it. Anyone at this point would be as nervous as Frisk was right now. Only being at the age of 1ͬͫ҉3̓̌ͦ, this human wasn't the best human. If they were ever asked about their life, they'd respond in nothing, only letting the horrid memories of their life past by them in their mind. And this thought and plan of theirs wasn't a spur of the moment.

Frisk had been planning to do this for the past year now, ever since their first two attempts were a failure. They continue climbing, remembering their old friend's little giggles and whispers and mixed stares at Frisk. "Remember the legend? Anyone who climbs the mountain can never return. Maybe if they want to die, they should go and climb that.

That had been a month ago. When Frisk first started the plan. And soon, a suicide note and locket later, Frisk was at the top of this mountain. But the first thing they noticed was the many vines, and happened to step OVER them. Soon, they were at the edge, looking down. It was too far down for Frisk to notice anything that would stop the landing, stop them from breaking any bones and ultimately leading to their death. They take a deep breath, making a mental checklist to make sure they did everything in their plan the correct order, correct style. They could not mess this up. They could not allow their parents to think that they were dying here. They hoped they managed to make them believe that they were drowning themselves, and hopefully leading them to a different direction.

Frisk thinks for a quiet moment on how stupid many suiciders think that drowning would be the correct option. No, it wouldn't be. The water would flood your lungs, causing you to feel like you're burning. It would be slow, and painful. No one wanted a death like that. Rearing back, Frisk continued to stare down. Do NOT get off topic. Getting off topic is one way your mind tries to stop you from this. But they weren't going to let their survival instinct out smart them again. They were GOING to do this.

And so, following their own words, they fell. They took one step, and then another, before falling. And falling. Their eyes were shut tight, and they were...smiling? For once in their life. But...it was short lived, that smile. When they fell, they were knocked unconscious, and Frisk finally, finally, thought they were dead. But no, that's wrong. A few, short moments later, a low groan came unwillingly from Frisk. And then they began to stand, pain searing through their body.

What had they landed on? Why were they not dead? They looked down, and saw the patch of yellow flowers. That's what must've broken their fall. "Hello!" a cheery voice spoke up. Frisk looked over to the voice, and saw a ghostly figure floating not to far away from where they were. What? A ghost? Maybe Frisk was dead. If they were, this was one sucky afterlife, they decided. "My name is Chara!" they pipe up, floating over. Frisk could see their facial features more now, bright red cheeks, brownish red hair, and red piercing eyes. They had a happy smile on their face, and a few yellow flowers trailed down their mouth and chest. It almost looked like the flowers came from their mouth. Frisk nodded curtly, allowing the other to know they heard them. "...Frisk" they say softly. Chara seemed to brighten up at this, and extended a hand. "Nice to meet you!" Frisk stared at the ghost hand for a moment, before turning to the hallway down the patch of flowers. They pointed at it, and looked at Chara. Chara looks at them, then the hallway. "Oh! That's the pathway that leads you to Mom's house!" they float a bit ahead. "Come on! We can go together!" Frisk watched them float, and begins to follow them. Their dark blue and dark purple sweater was definitely all dirty now. Great.

Soon they reach another room, and then a flower. It appears from the ground, eyeing Frisk. They speak with a grin. "Howdy! My names Flowey!

They realize that quite possibly there may be knives or something harmful to hurt Frisk, to result in their death. They didn't WANT to be alive, they remind themself. Chara speaks a bit as they continue walking past a green patch of grass, then into a large passage. They walk through the door now, and is shown a larger room, only seeing stairs, and then a patch of red flowers. They also see a bright star thing, curiously moving towards that first, as Chara goes to the door. "That's a save point!" Chara pipes up. "Go ahead, and save. It'll help!" Frisk, not knowing what such a thing was, follows Chara's orders. They lightly touch the SAVE point, and read the text that shows. *(The shadows of the ruins looms above, filling you with melancholy). Frisk didn't know what that meant, and didn't ask any questions, moving into the next room.

"This is called the Ruins!" Chara tells Frisk cheerfully. "The Ruins are full of puzzles! You like puzzles, right?! I sure do!" they speak, and Frisk looks down at 6 stepping plates. "Oh! I know this one! You'll love this one!" they speak, and float over each step in a certain pattern. "Come on!" they waved their hands to alert Frisk. Frisk follows the pattern, and the door opens. "Cool! You're awesome!" Chara cheers, and floats into the next room. Frisk, curiously wondering if they might die if they stepped on the wrong plate, do so. Nothing happens. They say nothing, but disappointment is clearly sketched in their mind, as they move to the next room.

This was beginning to feel a lot like follow the leader.

Chara shows them the large walkway. "Down here, you'll have to flip some switches! It's okay though, don't worry about pressing the wrong one! Mom labeled them!" they began to float down to the first switch, and as Frisk follows, they see faded yellow arrows pointing at a switch, next to a switch that has nothing pointing at it. Frisk goes for the one that is blank, and Chara pipes up from next to them. "No no! The yellow one!" they remind Frisk, and disappointment flares up again, as they press the yellow switch, then doing the same to the other switch down the walkway. Chara cheers, congratulating them and leads them into the next room. There is a dummy in the next room, Frisk notes, and Chara floats to it.

"Down here, Monsters are everywhere! So their gonna try to fight you. When you do fight, please don't actually hurt them. That's really bad!" they chime, and speak again. "You'll just need to talk to them!" Frisk thinks for a moment. Monsters? That'll mean they'll try to kill, right? Frisk has a wonderful idea, as they encounter the dummy. They know this isn't a real monster, so they follow Chara's advice. They talk to the Dummy, which was actually just staring. The Dummy says nothing, which, in a white text box between the two, reveals that the Dummy has spared. And that they won. Chara claps their ghostly hands, and begin to lead them to the next room. And then the next. Soon, they're in a room with Chara, and something, a Monster, Frisk assumed, walked to them and prepared to fight. Now was their chance.

They look over to the side and see Chara watching, and as Frisk moves to hit [*Mercy], and then *Spare, nothing happens. Froggit, they realize was their name, begins to throw something at them, and Frisk just allows them to get hit. Soon, their at 5/20 of health. Frisk can see Chara growing worried, but say nothing. Something shifts in the Froggit's demeanor, and they stop fighting. '*Froggit is sparing you!', Frisk reads, and curses mentally. They were supposed to kill them, not spare them! They move to hit *Spare, and the battle ends. Chara floats over, and congratulates them. "Wow! What a neat tactic!" they tell the other, and Frisk is silent, walking on.

Soon, after several, and several encounters of this happening, Frisk and Chara reach the Home. Chara is giggly, and Frisk is tired. Why has none of the monsters killed them? They've all pitied them. "Come on!"" Chara calls as they head inside the house. "I don't think Mom is home, so we can just go on outside!" they tell. Frisk sighs mentally. They won't be able to grab a knife either, now. Chara leads them straight down to a long hallway after introducing Frisk to everything in the house (which Frisk had hope for once more, but alas, the knives were nowhere to be seen). Chara points at the purple door. "Just go through here! It's not that bad! But be warned, it's gonna get really cold!" they smile, and Frisk nods curtly again. They move to the door. Maybe Monsters out here could kill them. They open the door, letting the bright flash of light consume them, Chara following. The last thought they think in the ruins was. 'Maybe hypothermia can kill me, if not the Monsters'.