"Thanks momma." The little girl smiled as her mother tied off the black French braid with a deep red ribbon. Today they were going hiking on Mount Ebott, collecting leaves for a collage. "Momma momma! Imma be a warrior! If we see any monsters, I'll protect you!"
"Well, warrior Kylie, we're bundling up today! We have to equip armor, for defense!" Her mother played with the creative seven year old daughter, slipping a light blue and peach striped sweater over her. Kylie popped her hands through the sleeves and brandished her toy knife, holding it close to her stomach. "Kylie, you better not bring that!" Her mother exclaimed, frowning at the present Kylie's father gave her for her birthday.
"Aw, but I need it to protect us!" Kylie complained and her mother raised an eyebrow. Kylie's mom handed the little girl a bag and smiled.
"You can find a wand when we get up there, the sticks are perfect in magical qualities." Her mother responded and Kylie bounced around, agreeing happily. Still, she slipped the toy knife into her bag. She knew her daddy had given her the toy because of the other little girl that had disappeared a while ago.
A little bell rang, and Kylie fell still and silent as her mom gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry dear, I'll be just a moment." Her mother rubbed her head before answering the phone and speaking urgently into it. Kylie knew that her mother disliked her messing around while she was busy.
Instead of entertaining herself with mischief, she stood still and imagined protecting her mother from a hideous beast. Although, she supposed the best case scenario would be for neither of them to get into danger at all. Sighing softly, Kylie studied the walls of their latest apartment, and fiddled with the ribbon in her hair.
3 hours pass
"Momma...?" Kylie called softly, having gotten too excited at a shadow in the trees. She had run towards it, and lost her mother somewhere behind her. She had taken another phone call, but the connection is bad and she'd gotten frustrated. Kylie didn't want to interrupt her, so she decided to find her way back herself. She'd never know Kylie was gone!
The only thing she could see was a dark and deep hold in the ground, and the sun that started to touch the tree line.
Suddenly, branches rustled and Kylie jumped. "Is anyone there?" No one responded, but instead, a dangerous growl sounded all around her. Slowly, she waited until the growl dimmed and then pulled out her toy knife. She held it close to her, and her bag slipped and fell off her shoulder.
It tumbled away from the chasm, and Kylie tried to reach for it as it slipped down the steep hill and towards the growling noise. "I'm sorry." She whispered as the growl intensified at her movements. She carefully took a step back, deciding to try moving away from it, but her foot didn't hit solid ground.
She slipped backwards, closing her eyes and gripping the toy knife tightly as she fell.
And fell.
And fell.
Somewhere in the drop, she'd lost consciousness. When she did open her eyes, the sweet smell of flowers overwhelmed her. "Huh?" she mumbled, pushing herself up weakly. Her arms were scratched and her legs sore, but beneath her was a bed of flowers that must've caught her fall.
"M-momma!" She called out, the cavern in front of her dark and cold. "Momma!" She called again, hoping for someone, even if not her mom, to respond. When nothing came back, she waited and studied the darkness around her. Eventually, someone would find her.
"Look." A strange voice said, and after several hours of waiting, Kylie perked and lifted her head from a droopy position. "Isn't that a human?" No sunlight shown into the cave, so when something grabbed her wrist Kylie had no idea what it was. She felt around, afraid of the harsh grip, and found her toy knife.
"I-I am a warrior!" She stammered and hit the hand with the hilt of her knife. "I fight monsters!" She pulled her hand away and quickly moved away, finding the wall of the cave and keeping close to it. One hand on the wall, and holding the knife out as a warning.
"Humans have taken everything from us." Another voice said regretfully, as if it was in pain. Kylie tilted her head, and stopped moving along the wall to see if she could strike up a conversation.
"What are you?" She asked and the voices seemed to whisper to each other.
"I am a Vegetoid." One of the two monsters tried to reach past her knife and grab her. "Our king needs your soul." It said and she kept moving, seeing a lit up space ahead. She moved into it and turned back to look as the two creatures stepped into the light.
One was a strange thing with a circular body and two antenna. The other was simply a carrot, that seemed to push itself through the ground. It's eyes were turned up, and smile on it's face seemed forced, like her mother after a bad work day.
"You can't be a veggie!" Kylie said and giggled slightly. "Veggies can't talk!" She took her chance when the two turned to each and considered the thought. She moved past a mound of dirt with a few splotches of green grass, and headed into a purple building. There was a wide open door, and some pressed buttons on the ground. She thought it was odd, until she saw worn tracks and carrot leaves close to the buttons.
"Momma!?" She called out again, peeking through around the corners of the ruins. Behind her, the two strange ones were following her. She didn't want to eavesdrop on their conversation, so she tuned out and instead moved around the purple ruins. "Is anyone out there!?" Aside from the two creatures behind her.
It took a while, but she eventually made it through a lot of the rooms. Most of the puzzles had been solved, or weren't completed yet. She turned back to look at the creatures behind her. Vegetoid had grown a pair of carrot legs and was walking. Kylie turned back around and missed a step, her foot slipping through the ground and taking the rest of her with.
She screamed and hit the ground a floor below her, the heart in her chest threatening mutiny. "I-I am a warrior!" Kylie told herself and felt her legs throbbing. She couldn't continue like this...she'll just have to wait for them to feel better again. It didn't take that long, and soon enough she was able to walk again.
She saw a switch on the wall and pressed it, hearing something move above her. She found a tunnel that went up, and saw other rooms that the tunnels connect to. Kylie felt a breeze almost push her over, and held onto the walls while her weak legs kept her standing.
She never noticed, after making her way up again, that the wind had blown off her red ribbon. "A human passed through...it looked young!" The creature with a circular body said, and Kylie peeked out to see the two creatures talking to a great many other creatures. Some appeared like frogs, others could fly.
All look angry.
"A human!"
"Kill it!"
"Take it's soul!"
"Deliver it to Asgore!"
The shouted and exclaimed, causing Kylie to shiver in fear. Monsters. Kylie's mom told her that monsters had been locked away a very long time ago, and that they could never come back. Kylie tightened her grip on her knife and waited at the edge of the tunnel. They all dispersed, and Kylie felt a bit of pity inside her.
The monsters before had said that humans had taken everything from them. Kylie supposed that she too, would be upset, if everything were to be taken from her. Perhaps when she found her momma again, she could ask her to help the monsters. She waited until she couldn't see any, and moved out of the tunnels.
She advanced slowly and carefully, coming into a room with lots of pillars. She saw monsters patrolling, as if waiting for her to come. She felt special and terrified at the same time. She made it through the room after several perspective shifts by waiting for the monsters to pass and moving to the next pillar.
Along the way she heard conversation, and though she tried to tune out she didn't want to let her guard down incase they saw her. She didn't understand much of what they talked about, but she caught hints of a girl named Chara being 'lost', along with a prince. Kylie wondered why the monsters seemed to blame the humans for it all.
After the room with the pillars, she heard loud voices speaking somewhere in the large room. "No! Asgore I don't want you to come here!" A woman's voice yelled and a door slammed shut. Kylie flinched, recognizing 'Asgore' as the name of the king that wanted her soul. She glanced around a corner to see all the monsters that were supposed to be patrolling were watching the scene.
Kylie took the chance and moved past, slipping into the next room, and then the next after that. She went up a few stairs and saw a growing city. Her mouth dropped, and she studied the sight in front of her with awe. "Young one." A voice behind her said and she turned around slowly.
Lots of monsters had grouped up behind her, and she shivered slightly. "Please don't hurt me." She murmured and saw a monster, much much larger than all the others, step into the room. It had a complicated expression, the one her mom wore when she had to cancel plans.
"Your kind doesn't deserve mercy." A Vegetoid said and she whimpered as the big goat monster moved closer.
"I'm sorry for this, but we all need your soul." He said and she held out the knife, both hands on it and her elbows locked. She bent her head down, hoping that if she waited long enough they would be intimidated and move.
"I am a warrior!" She exclaimed fiercely, but gentle hands knocked the toy knife away. "Momma?" She pleaded and opened her eyes to see a light blue heart floating in front of her. Something hot hit her, but she hardly felt anything as her eyes closed and her body hit the ground.
"Woah." Frisk lifts her head up and looks around, her mind scrambling to remember what she was doing. Did she fall asleep while doing homework again? A pencil rolls of the table, and Frisk bends down to pick it up, raising her head again to find herself in her classroom. Nope, legit fell asleep in class.
"Miss Rune, have you come to a revelation about the quadratic theory?" Her teacher addresses her, and she shakes her head, keeping her mouth locked tight. Rune is the last name Toriel decided they would take, while Az and Agore kept Dreemurr. Mr. Smite sniffs and continues teaching, while Frisk pulls out a piece of paper and starts jotting down what she remembers. She can feel Asriel giving her an imploring look, she just hopes Mr. Smite thinks she's taking notes.
What was that? It happened so fast, and Frisk remembers it so vividly. Once she's got every detail written down, she focuses on catching up on her actual notes, more so mechanically writing them down while thinking about what she just saw. Nothing like this had happened since they gave Azzy enough souls to come back.
Politically that had been actually a major controversy, but over the years it's calmed down. Frisk is fourteen now, and she thought all the adventure had been put behind her. Soon, the bell rings and she gathers her things and smiles at the impatient fluff-bucket waiting for her.
"What was that?" He asks as they walk out of room, and out of the school. "It wasn't 'her' was it?" Chara had dropped by a few times, but after Frisk had taken back control during the fight with Sans, she'd never tried to reset and murder everyone again.
Frisk shakes her head, lightly nudging him with her elbow. "Didn't feel like her, it was almost... like a dream." She says and tries to keep a smile on her face. She knows it was in the ruins, and the toy knife and the ribbon seem familiar. She was looking through someone else's eyes, like when Chara had taken her over. It seemed like a fallen human. "Don't worry about it, I was up all night working on that science project. Probably just need a nap."
Asriel gives her a strange look and she holds up her coin purse, eager to get his mind off it. Ever since they'd saved him, she understood more than ever how Sans felt about Pap. If Az is happy, then so is she. "Wanna get some nice cream? Mom says dinner will be a bit later tonight." She tilts her head and he gives her a worried look.
"Fine, but I'll pay." He says stubbornly and Frisk laughs, holding his arm and changing the topic to when milk came out of her nose at lunch. Surely, it was just a dream. All of that is behind her now, it's behind all of them.
Right?