Chapter 1: falling into madness

I knew the stories, even back then I had heard them, but I hadn't understood them… no I understood nothing back then, I was a child, a poor innocent youth afraid of his world, afraid of those who he called family, suffering from delusions and nightmares. God! How I wish I knew then what I know now. maybe then… maybe then I wouldn't be here forced to play this out until it's truly over.

I'm rambling again aren't I, well perhaps in revisiting the past I can figure out how best to face the future… I had run away, all I remember was my mother screaming at me "Get out of my house!" she had yelled in an angry drunken stupor, my brother tried to stop her but I was to angry to care

"Fine!" I had yelled running out of the house "I'll leave and never come back!" That's how it all had started. But perhaps I should tell the tale better, My name is Frisk by the way, one of two children born to a veteran father that suffered from PTSD and Bi-Polar and a mother who had turned to alcohol to escape the reality of her husband's harsh treatment. Though back then I suppose I didn't really get all that. I just knew that my father was cold and my mother was angry.

I remember running, I remember the mountain, I remember thinking that if I climbed it my brother wouldn't find me, they said those who climbed it never returned, but I figured if I only climbed a little I would be fine. So I did, it got dark, three trees seemed like monsters and I was afraid. I found a cave, it looked warm so I entered and that's where this nightmare began.

"Maybe I can sleep here tonight." Frisk said aloud "I'm not all that far up the mountain it should be safe." He sat against the wall and curled his legs inward, remembering the events that transpired only hours ago he hung his head "Damn it." He uttered sadly. Eventually he relaxed and allowed himself to lay down, his eyes slowly closing as his mind wandered from reality.

Darkness surrounded him, he didn't know where he was. Things that were shaped like people were all around, he could hear them talking to one another but he couldn't make out the words. He heard anger and strife then he heard his name, it sounded off somehow, he wasn't sure why but he was scared so terribly scared then all of the sudden he felt like he was falling and something slammed into his back.

His eyes snapped open, what had happened? It was so dark, but there was sunlight filtering through a hole far above him. Oh right, he had ran away, he was in a cave, the light must be from a hole further up the mountain. He sat up, but the movement was so painful terribly so, his muscles screamed in agony as he moved himself. What had happened? Everything around him was dark, he didn't remember the cave being like this, it wasn't that deep and the sunlight should have been blasting through the mouth of the cave as well, but there was nothing like that here. Was he still dreaming? He supposed it was possible, but it felt so real.

He moved his hand and looked down, there was a bed of flowers beneath him, he didn't remember that either, hadn't the cave been made of rocks alone? What if… what if he had fallen somewhere very far, his brother wouldn't find him, but… he wasn't sure he wanted to… to… be all alone already. He sniffed and tried to straighten himself up. His dad always told him men had to be strong, so… he would have to be strong like a man now too he guessed. Damn, his back hurt bad.

He got up and felt around in the darkness until he came upon another bright spot of light, this one, unlike the last, illuminated only a single flower on a tiny knoll of grass, the flower looked like it had a smiling face on it, he wondered what kind of flower it was.

"Howdy!" the flower said startling Frisk thouroughly, the boy fell back onto his rump in surprise "I'm Flowey!" the flower continued "Flowey the Flower!" then he seemed to inspect the boy a moment "hmm… You're new to the undergroung aitn'cha? He asked and waited patiently for an answer.

"I don't know…" the boy said "What is this place anyway?"

"Oh," the flower responded with understanding "I guess someone's gonna have to teach you about this place huh?" he half asked half stated "Guess little old me will have to do. Here, let me give you something." He said lifting a leaf and offering a little round black item.

"What is it?" Frisk asked he wasn't sure if he should trust this strange creature.

"Well," the flower said "It's hard to explain, but you're a human right? there are things you won't be able to see or feel without help, things the denizens of the underground can see and feel, you'll need this to be able to do the same. Just swallow this and you'll understand."

The boy timidly reached out for the small item and put it in his mouth, it tasted awful but he forced it down anyway, he couldn't tell but it seemed that the flower's smile widened a bit for a moment. Then he felt weird, his body shook all over and he felt something in his chest. His vision swam and became blurry, then sharpened

"What! What's happening?" he asked.

"Don't worry!" the flower said, now look down at hour chest."

Frisk did as he was bid and saw a glowing red heart shape inside his chest.

"Wh-What!?" he asked unsure what was going on or why suddenly he could see something like that.

"See that," he said "That's you're soul, the culmination of you're entire being, it's small and weak right now, but you can get it stronger of you gain lots of LOVE!"

"What?" he said "What does that mean?"

"Well…" the flower responded "You want LOVE right? Everyone wants love!"

"O-okay…" Frisk said

"Well here!" the flower said as several small white, almost bullet like object seemed to surface around him from the darkness "Down here LOVE is shared through little white… friendliness pellets! Be sure to move around and catch as many as you can!"

The objects began to move at a moderate pace as though defying gravity towards him, closing in on him, something about it made him uneasy so he moved a little and only reached out for one, as soon as he touched it, burned his hand and red energy blasted through it like a bomb blowing a hole in his body. Frisk was numb for a moment, not really believing the hole that was now in his hand he could see the flower's face change into a nightmarish hellish looking thing.

"You idiot!" His voice had changed as well into a nightmarish whispering thing "The only rule in this place is kill or be killed!" he laughed maniacally. This had to be a nightmare, he couldn't believe what was happening before him, he was so numb he couldn't feel the pain in his hand though somehow knew it was there anyway.

"Why would anyone pass up a chance like this!" the demonic flower said happily as he summoned a plethora of his burning little bullets in a sphere around him "DIE" Flowey said as the "bullets" closed in slowly towards him and the demonic being before him laughed in glee. But before the "bullets" could hit him a small white flame appeared near the flower causing it to turn it's head and look at it in confusion "What?" Flowy said not understanding before the flame rushed towards him causing him to uproot his form and jump back before it had the chance to to hit him. As a result the "bullets" fell harmlessly to the gorund before fading away.

"Damn goat woman!" the flower ground out angrily before disappearing into the darkness.

Now the pain came in full force, his hand screamed it out at him, what kind of nightmare was this? He was in pain, something must've happened, a snake bit him or something maybe in the cave, this couldn't be real it just couldn't demonic things like that didn't exist in the real world!

"What a terrible creature." A new voice spoke as it grew nearer, a furred foot stepped into the ring of light "Torturing such a poor innocent youth." The voice came yet closer and the light slowly revealed a large humanoid goat like person, this person, despite the small horns on her head and the somewhat disturbing shape of her body wore a kind and understanding face. But Frisk did not trust it, what if this was just like the flower, simply a deeper level of betrayal. This was a nightmare he was sure and this goat woman was just another part of it.

"Do not be afraid my child," the goat woman said "I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down." She reached out her hand, even if she would betray him later it was probably best to take the offered hand for now, at least he would survive but a little longer.

Gripping his hand Toriel continued "You are the first human to fall down here in a very long time." She said "Come, I will guide you through the catacombs, this way." She pulled Frisk off the ground and let go, walking forward and motioning for him to follow. Still suspicious he did take note that the darkness seemed a little less dark now, the flower had told him one truth, that black pellet thing had in fact made it possible for him to see and sense things he could not before.

The darkness gave way to a torch lit hall with stairs leading upward towards a door, red leaves were scattered on the ground before the stairs and a number of them were arranged in a square shape in the center of the floor. He walked forward as he sensed something else near the bottom of the stairs it was a small golden light shining there, based on Toriel's actions she could not see or otherwise sense the light hovering above the red leaves. The goat woman walked up the right set of stairs and waited patiently for him.

Frisk touched the golden light and an energy flowed into him, he felt his heart fill with determination as he looked up at the ruins before him. Something else happened he sensed a feeling as though he was being tied to something, what was the word his father used a lot? Anchored that was it. He was being anchored to something, but it was not as though he could not move about and do as he pleased, The hole in his hand also disappeared along with any pain it had caused he wasn't sure if he should trust it, though he continued forward and up the left set of stairs anyway. The goat woman passed through the door and beckoned him further in.

Through the door lay another room, there was a locked door before him and several pads on the floor before him and to the right. Toriel stopped about mid room and looked at the door sighing slowly then turning around to face him.

"Welcome to your new home innocent one." The woman said.

My new home? Frisk thought to himself Bull! I may not like reality so much but at least it's survivable."

"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the ruins." Toriel said as she walked towards the pads on the floor and quickly stepped over four of them, then pulled a switch he had previously failed to notice in the wall, after this the locked door shook and opened with a shrieking rumble.

"The ruins are full of puzzles," Toriel explained "Ancient Fusions between Diversions and doorkeys. One must solve the puzzles to move from room to room, please adjust yourself to the sight of them."

Damn brain Frisk thought You come up with some convoluted stuff.

Toriel proceeded through the door and Frisk followed, over the course of the next several rooms the goat-like woman explained various puzzles and how they were "solved" or avoided, in the fourth trap room a frog like being appeared, at first Frisk was curious, but when it attacked him he struck back killing it and breathing heavy because a giant frog just tried to kill him. Several more made appearances throughout the ruins and he quickly dispatched them all, Better safe than sorry he thought This place is scary enough as it is.

Eventually they came to a long empty hallway, "I must now ask you to accomplish a difficult task." Toriel said "You must walk to the end of this room alone. Forgive me for this." Afterwards Toriel proceeded to walk forward and disappear into the air as though teleporting or something. Unsure of what was happening Frisk looked forward.

That's it? He thought walk to the end of a room? Geez, I'm not helpless! He began to walk, realizing that the room was in fact quite long, he couldn't see it's end in fact, though that may have been because it was lit by torches as were the other rooms in the Ruins so far. It took him nearly a solid five minutes just to reach it's end, there near a door was a single grey-white pillar. From behind the pillar Toriel appeared and hung her head.

"I am truly sorry," the Goat woman said "I did not leave you alone, I was here watching you the whole time. But it was important to do this… I had to test your indempendence, I cannot be here for you at all times, in fact I have to go and run an errand now, please stay here until I return. Oh! " she reached into her pocket "Here is a cell phone, so if you need anything just call me, I've already put my number in it." Toriel walked out of the room and into the next chamber where she faded from sight after making a left turn.

"Stay here my foot." Frisk said crossing his arms "This 'errand' is probably to get stuff to cook me in." he walked forward and saw another orb of golden light over yet more red leaves, the floor had a lot of red leaved on it in various places, there were holes in the ceiling too where they likely fell from. "I wonder how trees grow here, don't they need sunlight?" Frisk wondered. He approached the golden light and touched it, he again felt the energy flow into him and again felt that weird feeling of being anchored to something.

A noise rang out as the cell phone in his pocket rang He looked at it and Toriel's name was displayed on the screen, he decided he should answer it, he didn't want to give the goat lady a reason to kill him early. Pushing the green button and putting it next to his ear he listened as the woman spoke

"You haven't left the room I left you in have you?" she asked prompting Frisk to feel a stabbing fear grip his heart if she knew and wasn't happy… "There are a lot of puzzles up ahead that I haven't explained yet, it would be dangerous to attempt them without help."

"I'm fine." Frisk replied "I'm still right here."

"Oh good." Toriel said "Be a good boy while I'm gone." The phone call ended abrubptly after that. Frisk cocked an eyebrow but otherwise ignored the odd call. He headed towards the next room another being approached him, this one looked like a giant fuzzy fly, it startled him by approaching from behind and he flung around stabbing through it with a stick and jumping back, like the others he had defeated so far the fly-like being's body turned to dust, and he retrieved the stick from it's remains. Breathing heavily he continued into the next room.

The floor in this room was unstable, it cracked beneath his feet and he fell once again landing on a pile of the red leaves he had seen throughout this place. He was in a small square room with two doors, he chose the door on the right and walked through finding a more enclosed room with a ladder leading upward, fortunately this small room was also lit by torches so he could see that the ladder eventually led to a platform of somekind. Climbing up he discovered that the platform was stone and had a short rectangular crevasse leading out of the room, crawling through that crevasse brought him back to the room he was just in, though further along from the unstable floor.

"Huh." Frisk uttered "so these are just puzzles too? Man a place like this would be hell to live in." Moving along to the next room he found several more unstable floor puzzles, then he ran into a room with a ghost laying prone in a pile of red leaves. At first he was hesitant to get near the thing, fearing what it might do, but convincing himself that his was all a just a nightmare he approached, the horrific monster attacked with tears and Frisk fought hard to defeat it, it seemed to fade away eventually, only to be replaced a few moments later by slime like beings that tried to completely devour him. He found that they could be crushed and destroyed. He could feel himself getting stronger too, which was good, he was getting better, he'd be able to defend himself he guessed.

After a few more puzzles he reached a hallway with a T-intersection, choosing to continue forward he found a balcony overlooking a large forest with a floating castle in the distance. Nearby was a knife, or it looked like one anyway, it was a toy though, not real. He gripped it's handle and felt something stir, this felt… right somehow. A knife was a good weapon, perfect for killing the monsters under the bed…

He chose to hide the knife for now, it was just a toy, but it also broadcasted his intentions so there was no reason to let everyone else see it. He headed back and made the turn into the T and walked over some more red leaves, he approached an old dead tree and saw Toriel approach as well grabbing her phone, she hadn't noticed him yet, she dialed the number and jumped startled when she could hear Frisk's phone ring within the same room as her.

"What?" she questioned before looking forward and seeing the boy standing on the other side of the tree. "How did you get here?" she asked, then shook her head "It doesn't matter, at least you don't look hurt, It was irresponsible for me to try and surprise you like this." Frisk tensed up at the word 'surprise' surprise me, he though with what a wonderful human steak dinner? He was thoroughly convinced that she did not have his best intentions in mind.

"Well I suppose there's no hiding it anymore." She said "Come with me." She looked almost… bashful. He followed tensly, his hand sliding into his pocket to grasp the toy knife, his childish mind believing it would offer protection. As they walked they approached a small neat brick house in good condition laying in the ruins another ball of golden light appeared before it, again Toriel seemed not to notice it and walked right in as though it was not there. He touched the golden ball again, and again felt as though he was being anchored. He then walked inside hand still clutching the knife in his pocket.

"Do you smell that?" Toriel said Frisk scented the air and indeed smell something sweet coming from the room to the right. "That is a cinnamon butterscotch pie I've made, it's not quite ready yet so you'll have to be patient. But I have another surprise for you."

She grabbed his hand and pulled him down a hallway which made him feel uncomfortable. She then showed him a door. "A room of your very own." She said pleasantly "After all that you mustve gone through in the ruins, it might be wise for you to take a nap while you wait for the pie."

Oh no, Frisk thought going to sleep is not a thing I'll be doing right now. even if this was a nightmare he had no desire to watch himself get devoured by a goat lady before waking up. Though he did decide to stay in the room for a bit to perhaps convince her that he would fall asleep so he could ambush her and escape when she came for him… if she came for him, if he was honest, there was a part of him that doubted that she had any ill intent, she seemed so nice after all, he didn't want to believe it, but he had to for sake of his own survival… in a dream… why couldn't you just wake up from these things when you wanted to anyway?

He saw a bunch of shoes in a box, all of them childrens shoes, some girls, some boys, it made him uneasy, there were also clothes in the wardrobe that seemed to be for children as well. Maybe he was right about the goat lady. He should confront her, make her let him leave.

He approached her in the living room where she sat upon a large chair reading a book.

"I don't feel tired." He stated bluntly.

"Well that's okay," the Toriel said "I have many books, I would love to share their knowledge with you."

"No thank you," Frisk said bluntly "I want to go home."

"Home…" Toriel answered looking almost hurt "but… This IS your home now."

No no no no! That's well over the damn line! "No, I want to leave this place," Frisk said "The Ruins you called them?"

Toriel was silent a moment then stood. "I have to go do something." She said suddenly as she moved towards the entrance room. "Please stay here."

Like hell! Frisk thought following her through the room and down the stairs into a dark basement area.

"Up ahead is the exit to the ruins," Toriel said "A portal into the rest of the world, I'm going to destroy it. Go back to your room." She ran off again before Frisk could respond, but he followed she stopped again. "If you go out there, they… Asgore, with kill you, I've seen it so many times, humans come here, they leave, they die, I will make sure no one can leave again. This is your final warning, do not follow me, go back to your room."

He continued to follow her to the door hoping to make it out before she destroyed it, but she stopped before the door and sighed. "If you want to leave so badly, then prove to me you can survive this harsh world!" with that her hands moved and flames shot out at him.

"I knew it!" Frisk yelled angrily "You're no different than that flower! You pretend to be nice but just try to kill me like everything else!" he pulled the knife from his pocket, he didn't think it would really do a lot of damage, just scare her maybe, but red energy covered it and when he cut, it sliced through her clothes like a real knife.

Toriel stared at the boy before her, but she didn't see him, she saw another boy, in a green striped shirt crying desperately for help, she was never able to help him like she thought she could, but she couldn't let Asgore get his hands on a seventh soul if that meant that she had to… had to… so be it.

The goat woman moved too swiftly for her form and appeared beside him with a ball of flame in her hands, she looked sad "Forgive me child." She said blasting the flames upon him. He felt the heat intensify felt himself burning, he screamed in agony and pain as his flesh melted before his eyes , the red heart now visible to him thanks to the flower's pellet cracked and he watched in horror as it shattered and all went dark.

"You can't give up yet!" a voice called into the darkness "You've only just begun." Golden light showeren his vision and he was standing before Toriel's house once more

"What?" he wondered aloud "This… This doesn't…" he chuckled then "Well, I guess it really is a dream huh? So that's what those little gold lights do."

He walked into the house again preparing to surprise Toriel by appearing again and this time beating her or escaping her, but the moment he stepped inside there she was. His hand shot down to the knife and his eyes widened.

"Do you smell that?" she said smiling pleasantly

Wait what? Frisk said smelling the air again and again smelling the pie from before.

"that's a cinnamon Butterscotch pie I made," she said "But it won't be ready for awhile so you'll have to be patient, here, but I have another surprise for you."

He was so numb by the absurdity of what he was seeing that he didn't resist when she took his hand and again showed him to his room. What? What happened? He wondered Did I… go back in time? He stood there for he wasn;t certain how long before wandering back out, and out of curiosity he approached tamriel and demanded to leave again, being insistent as he was before just to see if this would all play out exactly the same… and it did. He followed her down and she again blocked his way and insisted that he "prove his ability to survive."

But this time he was ready, he knew what she would do, he attacked with the reddened blade and missed, then when she tried to roast him like before he dodged, rolling and slashing her up her chest and into her chin, the gouge was deep, to deep for any human to survive, apparently this also extended to monsters as Toriel dropped to her knees, her breath becoming shortened.

"You are strong enough after all." She said she sadly stared up at him, tears forming in her eyes "Be good… my child." Strangely there was no blood, he body simply disintegrated into dust, a disturbing end. But a small white heart remained there hovering for a moment. It cracked, just as his own had done before and shattered.

He had mixed feeling about this, part of him really thought that she was a nice person and wanted to spare her… but, he had done the right thing right? Oh what did it matter anyway if this was all a nightmare, he'd wake up and forget the whole thing within a day or so wouldn't he?

He approached the door, unsure what he would find on the other side… he pushed it and it opened into a plain of white…

Author's note: So yeah… I watched a bunch of undertale playthroughs and like the rest of the internet I have fallen in love with the damn thing. So here I am making a fanfiction for it. I know I skipped Flowey's dialogue after you kill Toriel but I didn't think it was too incredibly importanl;t plus the room he is in at the end there "doesn't exist" as Sans mentions talking to Toriel through the door which would be impossible if a whole room existed between two doors. Let me know what y'all think!