abomination

They could feel themselves falling. Down the cursed mountain and into… somewhere. They didn't know where. It was really dark. And suddenly, their fingers touched something soft, for barely half a second, and then everything went even blacker than before.

Out of the darkness, there came a person. They walked forward, the person in the darkness. The fallen didn't even know they were on the ground until the darkness person extended their hand. The fallen took it and the dark person pulled them onto their feet. The area around them lightened, and became a grey. It was light enough for the fallen to see them now. The fallen looked at the persons face and saw a pale face, a wide smile, pink cheeks and red irises. The fallen couldn't remember if that was strange or not. In fact, they couldn't remember anything.

'Hello. Nobody ever comes here anymore. My name is Chara- what's yours?' the person- Chara- asked the fallen. They shook their head. They couldn't remember. 'I'll give you one, then. Um… Taylor?' The fallen shook their head. It didn't feel right. 'Sam? Casey?' The fallen kept shaking their head.

Chara bit their lip in thought. The fallen looked at them, looked properly. Chara wore a green sweater with one paler stripe, and brown trousers. Then, brownish-black trainers. The trainers looked really comfortable- the fallen noted that they should get a pair, if they saw any. The fallen saw their own jumper out of the corner of their eye- it was blue, with two stripes instead of just one. They wore darker blue shorts, exposing their leg from just above the knee down. Semi-formal shoes adorned their feet. They reached up to touch their hair, and saw it was dark-brown, and fell to just above their shoulders.

'What about Frisk? I once knew someone called that, but it was a nickname…' Chara trailed off, and the fallen nodded their head. 'Frisk! I like it.' The newly-named Frisk smiled.

'Can we leave here, Chara?' Now that they were named, they felt confident enough to talk. They didn't remember learning to talk, but they knew how to anyway.

'Yeah. I needed another person to help me leave, but now you're here, we both can. I need you to wear something- I can't go back, not fully. Don't ask why. But if you wear this, we can go together. I'll be right by your side- well, neck,' Chara smiled a little wider, and then held up a necklace, with a locket on it. It was the shape of a heart. Frisk bowed their head a little, and Chara unfastened it and clipped it around their neck. Frisk lifted their head again, noticing how Chara was several inches taller than them. 'Okay then, let's go back!' Chara lifted their hand, and tapped the locket.

Frisk woke with a start on a bed of yellow flowers. They lifted their head and spat out mouthful of dirt. Shaking, they pushed themselves up, and looked up.

'I-I fell down that?' they said aloud.

Yeah. You met me when you got down here! Chara's familiar voice echoed. Frisk looked around and, there they were. They were translucent- if Frisk focused, they could see right through Chara. I'm incorporeal, by the way. Like… a ghost! Frisk knew the definition for a ghost, but nothing else came to mind. It seemed to be that they remembered nothing, but that didn't feel weird. How could they miss something that they never knew they had?

'O-okay, Chara,' they replied, voice shaking a little. They glanced at the flowerbed, and saw just at the edge was a long stick. It had a little fork, where a brown leaf hung on stubbornly. Frisk picked it up and pulled the leaf off, dropping it into the flowerbed. Looking up, they saw a small corridor and a large doorway, with no door. The pair walked up to it (Chara floated) and they could see it had parts broken off it. Still, it was obvious it had once been grand.

Go on then. I'll be through in a second, Chara murmured, and Frisk nodded. The child walked through the doorway, leaving the ghost.

Through the door, Frisk saw a flower. It was bent over, petals towards the ground. 'Do flowers talk?' Frisk asked themselves, and shrugged. They didn't know. Upon hearing their voice, the flower looked up and its eyes widened. Chara floated in then, and saw the flower in front of Frisk. They came up beside Frisk, and looked disdainfully at the flower. Frisk didn't notice, only sensing they were there.

'What do we do, Chara?' Frisk asked. The flower's eyes widened further.

'C-Chara?' it whispered. Frisk didn't hear, but Chara did.

Talk to it. Get its name, Chara ordered. Frisk knelt down to the flower's height, and its eyes followed them.

'Hi, flower. I'm Frisk, and that-' they jerked their thumb over their shoulder at the being '-is Chara. Who're you?' at least they remembered how to form sentences.

'H-howdy! My n-name's Flowey…' the flower said, voice shaking. His eyes wouldn't move from where Frisk had pointed. 'B-but you guys can call me Asriel.'

Frisk heard Chara take in a swift breath. A-asriel? But, he died! Chara muttered. Realizing Frisk could hear them, they cleared their throat. He was… a friend. A close one. He got ill and fell asleep, and never woke up. Frisk couldn't detect the lie, and nodded. Get him to touch the locket. Frisk nodded again.

'Asriel, then? Touch the locket. I don't know what it'll do, but Chara wants me to get you to do it,' the human said, and the flower seemed to nod. He extended a vine and tapped the locket so it swung from the human's neck. For a second, he breathed in quickly, and then sighed in disappointment.

'I only saw them for a moment,' the flower huffed. The vine hit the locket again and wound around it, stilling it. 'Chara,' he spoke, his voice full of awe. 'I missed you, Chara. Where have you been all these years?' he asked, eyes fixated on theirs.

Frisk looked around the small room- it wasn't much. A small patch of green grass in a dark room. There was another doorway straight ahead, just like the one they had entered through. Suddenly, Chara yelled 'ASRIEL!'-and a ball of fire zoomed over where he used to be. A small mound of dirt was all to show he was there. Frisk's head whipped to the side to see who had hit their friend, and all their instincts told them to flee, to raise the stick in defence. They felt Chara's cold hand on their shoulder and they calmed, although still raising the stick slightly.

Out of the shadow walked a monster. It had a long face and horns, and long floppy ears that Frisk felt the sudden urge to stroke. They supressed that, and instead searched the monsters red eyes- they were a different shade to Chara's. Asriel had black eyes, so maybe people only had red or black eyes? Frisk wondered which colour eyes they had, in a corner of their mind.

'Hello, my child. You have fallen down, have you not? Do not worry, my dear, I will not hurt you. My name is Toriel, and I am the caretaker of these Ruins. Follow me, I will guide you through the catacombs,' and with that the goat monster extended a hand. Frisk looked up at Chara, who was staring at Toriel. Frisk wouldn't get help with this until they snapped out of it. Frisk reluctantly took it, but didn't move, still looking up at Chara.

'Chara..? You coming?' the human asked the spectre, effectively snapping them out of their hocked trance.

Yeah, I'm coming. But please, don't say my name around anyone but Asriel. They might not be as nice as him and Toriel, Chara said, and moved up until they were the other side of Toriel. Toriel was looking at Frisk in confusion.

'An imaginary friend? Well, you are one of the youngest humans I've seen fall down. Many young monsters have them,' Toriel informed the child. 'May I hold their hand also? I would feel better knowing that I am guiding both of you safely,' she said. The goat seemed to know how to handle children. She held out a paw, but Chara shook their head violently.

'They'd rather you didn't, miss,' Frisk told, the goat, who just smiled in a motherly way. Frisk didn't know why they were being polite- just a feeling that they should be. They didn't really know why, but it felt good to have Toriel smile at them in that manner. The goat monster led the child, and therefore the ghost, through the door.

Through the door was a large room, with two staircases going up to a door. In between the staircases was a patch of red roses. On the roses, there was a yellow star, and Frisk looked at Chara in curiosity.

It's a save point. Go on, touch it! Frisk nodded, and let go of Toriel. They walked up to the 'save point' and laid a hand on it. Two boxes appeared above it, and they looked at Chara. RESET will take you back to the flower patch. SAVE will let you come back here at any point. If you SAVE at another point, you won't be able to come back here. Capiche? Frisk nodded in understanding. Toriel had climbed the stairs and watched the child pat the air above the roses.

'Falling down may have really damaged them. Oh dear,' Toriel murmured, her smile falling. She smiled weakly at the child as they got to the top of the stairs, and she led them through the purple rooms of the ruins.

The three approached the dummy, and Toriel hesitated. If they were as damaged as she thought, it was probably best if she got them to Home as quickly as possible. She carried on, gently pulling the child away from the dummy.

Once the child had reached the end of the long room, Toriel frowned. They talked to their imaginary friend so much. The goat was worried. 'My child, I must go. Please, stay here. Talk to your friend. I will be back soon,' she told Frisk, and left the room hurriedly. Something about the child wasn't right. It felt wrong and disturbing. The goat had to get away and sort her mind out.

When the goat left, Chara floated in front of Frisk. C'mon, Frisk, let's go! We have the whole ruins to explore! Chara was grinning and their eyes were wild with excitement.

'Toriel said to stay here, though,' Frisk said, sitting down. They looked up at Chara.

Chara's grin fell, and their eyes calmed. They floated down to be at Frisk's eye level. Are you gonna listen to her over me?

'O-of course not!' Frisk had to admit, Chara could get a little scary. They knew that now. Quickly scrambling to their feet, Chara smiled again and floated up. Frisk held out their hand to hold Chara's in. Chara put their hand in Frisks, a cold pressure in the child's hand. Together, they walked out of the long room and into another.

The next room was the same colour- a purple. There were two pillars to their left, and a corridor to their right. A monster hopped up to them and butted its head against Frisk's leg. They jumped, throwing their arms out and clinging tightly to the stick. The monster was small, and had large bulging eyes. Once they regained their footing, they felt something in their chest, hot and being pulled out. They tried to grab it, but their hand went straight through it and their world turned black and white. No longer being able to see anything, their hand went to their locket and squeezed it.

Ow! Watch it, Frisk! Chara growled. You're in a FIGHT, okay? There are four options at the bottom. You can read them yourself. That there is a Froggit. Let's go with the namesake of this situation, huh? It hit you, now FIGHT it. Hit it back, with the stick. Go on. Chara ordered, and Frisk hesitated. Go on, you idiot. Hit it.

Frisk lifted the stick, no longer brown but black with a thin white outline. They raised it, and brought it down hard on the monster. It thwacked its head hard on the floor. The surroundings turned back to purple, and other things than the Froggit became visible once more. An upside-down heart rose from the monster's prone body. Frisk reached out and tapped the heart, and it disappeared. A hill ran from their finger to where the heat had been pulled out, and a warmth spread through their body. They could feel the hot thing from before as they touched their chest, and they saw a slight red glow. The most curious thing, though, was that it felt like another heart was beating on the other side of their chest, but when they touched it, it was cold rather than warm. They dismissed it as something that they just hadn't noticed before and looked at where the Froggit had been. Only a small bit was there- but on their shorts was a lot of white powder.

It's just dust, Frisk, wipe it off and let's check up here. Chara's grin from before was back, plastered across their face. They floated to the left, finding an altar and a bowl. Upon further investigation, Frisk found sweets inside, and grabbed a few. When going back for more, though, the bowl tipped off the altar and they felt too guilty to take any more. Chara laughed a little, and they progressed onwards.

Several rooms later, and at Chara's insistence, Frisk had walked around a little until they'd fought a lot of monsters. The feeling after touching the hearts was intoxicating, and Frisk was feeling exuberant. Chara led them through a corridor, telling them they'd find a ton of spiders and where they could find good food, when a ghost not unlike Chara appeared. They had the same translucent body that Frisk could see through, but the ghost was a lot more rounded and didn't have any limbs. It was the only monster which hadn't tried to attack Frisk first, so they weren't sure what to do.

What we've been doing the entire time. C'mon Frisk, hit it! Chara encouraged, but Frisk shook their head. If you don't do it, I will. If I get hurt, then that blood is on your hands, Chara warned, their voice becoming a threatening growl. Frisk shook their head again, but their expression was becoming pained. Frisk. Do it. The spite in their biting voice was enough to throw Frisk over the edge. Chara didn't sound happy. Frisk wanted to keep them happy. The child started forward and jabbed the ghost with the stick. Surprisingly, the ghosts outline dipped in where the stick forced it down, and the ghost repeated the sound 'z' as if pretending to sleep.

'..please don't make me move…' Frisk heard the ghost whisper. '…i don't want to go back to happsta's empty house..' Chara could see the pity in Frisk's eyes as they pulled the branch off the ghost, their skin pinging back to normal. '…i guess there are other places than waterfall…' and the ghost phased away, fading from sight.

I told you fight him, you idiot. He's gotten away.

'I-I couldn't hurt them. They reminded me of someone. Funny that, I can't remember who..' Frisk trailed off, lost in thought.

Whatever, idiot. C'mon, let's get this over with, Chara's scorn-filled voice growled. They grabbed Frisk's wrist, a hard cold pressure. They pulled the child to the spider room and Frisk paid for a donut, swallowing when Chara refused to meet their eye. They decided to let them have their silence, and just hoped Chara would follow them still.

Frisk moved on through another few rooms before coming to a fork. One way led up to a room with a large, black tree, and the other way led to a corridor. Frisk ran into another Whimsun and quickly dispatched it, touching the heart and the warmth spread through them again. Chara came up again, to float beside them. It seemed they'd had their fill of sulking. They decided to go forwards instead of toward the tree, so they walked slowly down the corridor.

The red glow illuminated their chest now. If they held their hand very close to their body, they could see a white light reflecting off their hand. The red light playing along the brick walls as Frisk passed through the corridor. Finally, they approached the room and walked in.

The wall was a wonderful sight. It showed a black and white city in the distance. Frisk glanced at Chara, to see them staring wide-eyed over the distance. The sight bored Frisk, so they looked around the room instead, and saw a plastic toy. Immediately intrigued, they moved forward until they could make out the toy- it was a knife. Somewhat blunted, but nicer than the stick. Frisk looked at the stick. In comparison to when they first found it, it no longer had the little brank poking into their hand- they'd stripped that off quickly, before it got too annoying. The stick was covered in pale dust, varying in shades of grey. They dropped it and picked up the knife. It fit into their hand like it was made specifically for them. Tightening their grip around it, they walked back to Chara.

'Look, Chara! Look what I found!' Frisk waved the knife in front of Chara.

Woah, watch where you put that thing! Nice find, Frisk. I like your style. How about we go find Toriel now? Chara suggested, and Frisk nodded in agreement.

In exploring Toriel's home, Frisk found a mirror. Finally, they could see what they actually looked like. They had red eyes, like they thought they might. However, they also had black eyes, as the parts around the red were fully black. They weren't too striking, and Frisk could see better when squinting anyway.

Frisk and Chara decided to go and talk to Toriel. She was interesting.

'Is this the whole underground? Do only monsters live here? Am I a monster?'

Toriel peered over her snail fact book and at Frisk. 'No, my child, there is far more to the underground than just these RUINS. Yes, only monsters live here, except for you, my child,' and at the last question, Toriel frowned. 'Of course you are not a monster! You are a human. Did you… really not know that?'

'I don't remember anything, nothing at all. All I remember is that I fell and C-'

Frisk. Remember? Don't mention me to ANYONE but Asriel!

'N-never mind,' Frisk stuttered, and Toriel smiled.

'Come, my child. You must be very tired. I have a spare bedroom you are welcome to.'

The next day, when they awoke, Chara urged them to get Toriel to show them the rest of the underground. Toriel went stony-faced and told them to stay there. Much like when she had done that the previous day, Frisk didn't listen. Chara suggested they check downstairs, and they found Toriel down there.

'I knew something was wrong with you. You smelt of death. It felt colder near you. I see none of the residents anymore. No Whimsun to cheer up, no Froggit to play with. You were covered in dust. I have seen plenty of monsters become dust in my time- you have killed them, have you not? And knowing my child's name… Chara. They are here, no doubt.' Chara swallowed. 'I cannot let you past, death child. I do not even know your name, but I know I must stop you.'

*TORIEL BLOCKS THE WAY.

The familiar feeling of the heat being pulled out of their chest, but this time, the cold went with it.

Frisk, you know what to do, don't you. The knife. Use it. Chara sounded almost defeated.

'If it will make you happy again…' Frisk murmured, and raised the knife. They shut their eyes as it came down in an arc, cutting through the goat's face. Frisk opened their eyes when they felt a heavy thud. Toriel was on her knees in front of the pair of children, one alive and one ghost.

'I know who I was protecting by keeping you here. N-not you-' Toriel grunted, her matted with dust '-but them. Forgive me, A-asgore…' and with that, the goat fell forward but became dust before she hit the floor. The upside down heart floated above the dust, and Frisk grabbed it with their whole hand. Hotter than before, it was painful when the effect lanced down their arm.

Everything fell silent. And then the door beyond the dust creaked open.