It was a long time ago that the darkness was threatening to overtake the land. This darkness, originating from deeply negative emotions, had somehow grown into something far beyond that...and even far beyond itself. It threatened humans and monsters alike, corrupting them until they barely resembled their real selves. Even animals and inanimate objects weren't safe. Chaos and destruction seemed to be imminent.
However, it did not come to pass. A scientist known only as W. D. Gaster was able to create a system to contain this darkness. The system was flawed, unfortunately; it could only contain it for a limited amount of time. After the initial darkness passed, Gaster sought to create a more permanent way to contain it or even eradicate it outright.
One day, though, he mysteriously disappeared. Nobody knew where he went to, and nobody heard from or saw him after that. His disappearance remains a mystery to this very day.
...
Many years later...
Clunk... clunk...
...what?
Clunk, clunk, clunk...
...no. It was still dark. Not time to wake up at all. The nearby clock said it was five in the morning. He could see it. He just had to close his eyes and-
Clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk clunk-
"Ugh...!"
Twelve-year-old Asriel Dreemurr sat up in his bed. What was making this noise at this hour? He was lucky that he was on break from school; alarm clocks were a rude enough awakening, and at least those went off at slightly more reasonable times! He lifted his paw and focused as well as he could while only being half-awake; green fire magic shimmered from his fingers, allowing him to see just what was making that noise.
"Oh... it's just my lamp hopping across the floor..."
Now that that was settled, Asriel lay back down and closed his eyes...
...which promptly shot back open.
"My lamp is hopping across the floor?"
He sat back up and conjured the flames again; his lamp was no longer hopping across the floor, but now it was hovering right over him.
With his free hand, Asriel gripped the bedsheets for dear life, trembling at the sight before him. Nobody had done anything weird to his lamp, as far as he knew (well, except for that April Fool's joke where Chara secretly replaced the bulb with a green one, but that was some time ago), so why was it suddenly moving?
But before Asriel could ponder this further, the lamp suddenly swung its cord at him, the plug hitting him right in the nose. He cried out in pain and scrambled out of bed, nearly taking the bedsheets down with him. More fire magic - he looked around, frantically trying to think of what to do... he saw it.
"The door!"
A mad dash to the bedroom door - his parents would surely know what to do about-
Nope. The lamp (was it sentient now?) wasn't having any of it. Floating in front of him, threateningly extending its cord whenever Asriel's paw even slightly moved towards the doorknob - and did it just start glowing, despite not being plugged in?
Asriel felt a twinge of sadness. There was only one thing he could do, and although he really didn't want to resort to this, he had no other choice.
I just hope I can explain this to Mom and Dad...
Frantic running towards elsewhere in the room. Asriel grabbed something made of plastic (was it a toy? He couldn't tell right now) and threw it hard at the lamp. It recoiled from the hit. This was his chance. Asriel ran up to the lamp, it extended the cord to hit him - only for Asriel to grab the cord himself. The lamp tried to break free, but Asriel's other paw also gripped it.
Asriel glared. It was now or never.
Remembering how he had seen athletes do the hammer-throw, Asriel let out a yell as he swung the lamp around and around by its cord. He hoped, he prayed it wouldn't bind him or strangle him or-
Crash!
The glow disappeared.
Asriel let go of the cord, and just stood there. He breathed in. He breathed out. For at least the third time in the past few minutes, he used his fire magic to see what just happened.
The lamp lay on the floor, its body broken, and its lampshade undoubtedly damaged. Asriel found himself mourning a little bit; this lamp may not have been a family heirloom, but it still did have some slight sentimental value to him.
He exhaled again. At least it was no longer attacking him. Now maybe he could-
click
"Asriel? What's going on here?"
He gasped as the door creaked open. His mom Toriel was standing there, looking rather concerned. Asriel thought she would've been a little more upset, and he still didn't know what to expect. He began to explain himself.
"Mom, you're not gonna believe this, but I got woken up because my lamp suddenly started hopping across the floor. I promise I'm not making this up! And then it started hovering and attacking me, and-"
Toriel raised a paw. Asriel became quiet right away.
She sighed. "So it looks like your father and I weren't the only ones."
Asriel blinked. "Wait, are you saying your lamp attacked you, too?"
Toriel nodded. "We were woken up at around midnight. Our lamp had started flickering on and off at random, and then it started hovering and attacking us, like your lamp did. Unfortunately, we also had to break the lamp in order to make it stop. After that, we checked on you and Chara, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary." She sighed once more, gently hugging Asriel. "We should have realized that something might happen again."
Asriel hugged his mom back, still feeling confused. "So... you're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad, Asriel?" Toriel looked into his eyes. "If this is about breaking the lamp, then I can assure you this: we could always get another lamp, but we could never replace you."
She scratched her head. "Although, I'm not sure why you didn't tell your father and me that your lamp was attacking you. We won't get mad if you wake us up in an emergency."
Asriel laughed nervously. "I really wanted to, but the lamp was blocking the door."
Toriel chuckled a bit. "Well, that certainly explains-"
A loud male scream from another room cut her off. This voice was not as deep as Asgore's voice was, so there was only one conclusion for Asriel and Toriel to draw.
"Chara!"
They ran into Chara's room, where the light was already on. By the time they got there, Chara, still in his green pajamas, was holding up his favorite toy knife and glaring down a plush rabbit that was floating in midair.
"Stay back!" Chara said. "Just because you have sentimental value to me doesn't mean I'm gonna let you get away with this!"
Asriel ran up to him. "Chara, what happened?"
Chara looked at his brother. "I know this is gonna sound crazy, but this old toy rabbit woke me up by hitting me in the head! I don't know why it's doing this, but I think I'm gonna have to fight back. My classmates already think I'm a joke, so if word gets out that I lost a fight against a stuffed animal...!"
He ran at the rabbit, trying to hit it with the toy knife. The rabbit levitated out of the way. He swung the knife. It dodged again. Stab, stab, stab. Dodge, dodge, dodge.
Toriel formed a plan. "Asriel, stand over there. I'll wait right here, and we'll both try to catch the rabbit. Chara, try to lure it towards one of us. I don't want to have to use fire magic, since it could be hazardous."
Asriel stood where he was told. He held out his paws and kept his eyes on everything.
"Here I go." Chara made stabbing motions with his toy knife, trying to lure the toy rabbit over to where Toriel was standing. He carefully ran forward, not wanting to trip or collide with his mom. The rabbit was too smart for that, and flew away from them. However, it wasn't smart enough to avoid flying close enough to Asriel, who pretty much pounced on it.
He hit the floor. He looked around. "Did I get it?"
"Yeah! You pinned it! Stay down!" Chara ran up to Asriel; part of the toy was sticking out from underneath Asriel's stomach and glowing with dark magic. "I got this!"
Chara lifted his toy knife and dealt a decisive blow to the plush. The glow surrounding it seemed to slowly fade away. Everyone stood (or lay) there in silence for a brief moment; Asgore had come over and was peering over Toriel's shoulder, wondering what was going on.
Finally, Chara grabbed ahold of the plush. "Okay, Asriel, you can get up now."
As Asriel stood up, Chara inspected the plush. Aside from its "fur" being ruffled a bit, it looked no worse for wear, and Chara gently smoothed out the fur.
"Does the music box still...?" Chara reached over to the back of the rabbit and turned a small wind-up key. A five-note melody began playing; somehow, both Asriel and Chara felt like they had just committed this tune to memory.
Asriel closed his eyes. He had a vision of a small human toddler, lost and alone. He saw himself, at a much younger age, in his father's arms, reaching out to the toddler happily. He saw his mother gently take the toddler's hand, and lead him to their home... to his new home.
And then he opened his eyes. Here they all were, around ten years later.
"Phew! That was, just..." Chara placed the rabbit back where it originally was; it did not move from that spot. "Since when did toys attack people? I've had this since I was little, and it never did that!"
With a nervous chuckle, Asriel rubbed the back of his own head. "I don't know, Chara. But at least this time it was something soft."
Chara raised an eyebrow. "Whaddaya mean 'this time'? This hasn't happened before!"
"It hasn't happened to you before. Mom and Dad and I? We all got attacked by our lamps!"
"What the?" Chara's jaw dropped. "So that's why you were yelling!"
Toriel looked around at everyone. "I don't understand how this is all happening..."
"I have a theory."
Two goats and one human turned to look at Asgore, wondering what he thought. In all the confusion, Asriel and Chara hadn't even noticed he was there.
"The last time I heard about something like this happening, it was due to a strange force, known only as 'the darkness'."
Asriel tilted his head slightly. "Darkness?"
Asgore nodded. "The darkness in everyone's hearts and souls. Feelings of pure hatred, contempt, and malice. They somehow managed to become something more... something to corrupt not only people, but also animals, and even objects. No one knows how it happened, and no one had any clue as to what to do. That is, no one except for an old friend of mine."
"Who's that?" Chara asked.
"His name was Dr. W. D. Gaster. He was a brilliant scientist, and he somehow managed to invent a system that would siphon the darkness away, from all corners of the land, and contain it indefinitely. It was only a prototype, though; in this case, 'indefinitely' didn't mean 'forever'. He eventually started work on an upgraded version that would permanently contain the darkness."
Asgore looked down, sighing sadly. "Sadly, that was the last time I, or anyone else, ever heard from him. One day, he just... disappeared. Search parties went looking for him everywhere, his own sons were always writing to the local authorities, begging for his return or at least to find out whatever happened to him - but we never found any trace of him. No evidence to suggest that he was either dead or alive. He was just gone."
Asriel listened to the story in shock, feeling his eyes fill up with tears. If either of his parents just suddenly disappeared one day, he didn't know what he would do. Although he didn't know Gaster's sons personally, he couldn't help but want to give them hugs, if they were willing.
"And it seems as though the darkness is returning once more..." After saying that, Asgore stood there, contemplating something.
"What are you thinking, Gorey?" Toriel asked. Asriel and Chara wondered the same thing; he didn't stand like that, with that look on his face and his paw idly scratching his beard, unless he was seriously thinking about something.
"...Asriel."
Asriel approached him. "Yes, Dad?"
"Although I'm reluctant to spring this on you so suddenly..." Asgore took a deep breath. "I'm honestly considering having you go out into the world and investigate."
"Wha-" Asriel stood back, his jaw dropping. "Uh, Dad, thanks, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to do much; I'm only twelve!"
"He does have a point." Toriel gave her husband a concerned look. "Are you sure it's safe for a twelve-year-old, especially with the darkness going around?"
Asgore still looked convinced. "I understand both of your concerns. However, while Asriel is twelve years old, that is only one year away from being a teenager; he is becoming more independent, and I'm sure he can find ways to stay safe. In addition, Asriel, you're a boss monster; it would be good for you to start honing your magic at this age in case you ever need it to defend yourself, or for any other purposes."
"Did you want me to come along with him?" Chara asked.
Asgore shrugged. "Quite honestly, that's up to you. But if you want to go, you should at least find a way to defend yourself first. Your soul is not as magically-inclined as his soul is, so ideally you should think of a weapon to use."
Toriel put a hand on Asgore's shoulder. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Before we ask if Chara is coming along with Asriel, we should ask if Asriel even wants to do this."
Asriel found each of his family members looking at him, waiting for an answer. He weighed his options; he didn't know how long this was going to take, or how safe it was going to be, or whether he would see his family again for a while. On the other hand, the scope of this journey was still unclear; he would just be asking around town, wouldn't he? And he did need to hone his magic...
Finally, he spoke. "Dad has a good point. Lots of bad things are happening out in this world, but if I don't do anything to stop them, even if what I do is small, I'm gonna feel bad about it if things get worse. I could end up learning information that could save someone's life... and yeah, I do need to start learning how to use my magic in-depth. I have to learn it sometime; why not now?"
Toriel stood there for a moment, blinking. "Well... all right. Just make sure to use your cell phone to keep in touch with us. Either come home at night if you're close enough, or if you're too far from home, call one of us and let us know where you are."
With a nervous laugh, Asriel gave his mom a hug. "I think I'll be fine, but thanks. I'll let you know what's going on."
Asgore nodded. "I can tell that you have a lot of potential. But the sun isn't even up yet; let's all get a little more rest before we think of this any further."
Asriel yawned. "You're right, I should get some more sleep."
As he left to go to his room, Toriel called out, "And make sure you watch where you step!"
Asriel looked back and nodded. "Don't worry! I will!"
A few hours later, after everyone had done their best to get some more sleep (Asriel and Chara still looked slightly tired; wondering if something else will attack you in your sleep will do that to you), they were all sitting around the table eating breakfast.
"So, Dad, where do you think I should start?" Asriel asked before sipping his milk.
"Well, if I were you, the first thing I would do is check in the basement," Asgore said. "Dr. Gaster left one of his diaries in there, and it explains the nature of the darkness quite nicely. There's also an old practice wand for you to use; I've found that wands can be helpful when learning to focus your magic."
With a nod, Toriel continued. "And after that, maybe you could ask our neighbors Tina and Kid if they've seen anything suspicious. Even if they didn't, you could at least ask them to let us know if something comes up. But if you feel really exhausted at any point, just come home and I will fix a nice meal for you."
"Thanks, Mom!"
Asgore set down his silverware for a moment. "And if something doesn't fit in your backpack, let me know and I will hold on to it for you until you need it."
"Sure! I'll keep that in mind."
Chara raised his hand. "And I'm gonna...um... provide moral support, I guess? Cause y'know, Az, you never told me whether you wanted me to come along or not."
"Hmm..." Asriel thought about it again as he took another bite of his food. Once he finished, he looked at Chara. "I'm thinking maybe I should scout it out alone first, just so I know what we'd be up against. I wouldn't want you to get hurt because of me..."
"Pfff. Do I look like a wimp?" Chara asked, resting his chin on his hand.
"He's just concerned about your safety, Chara," Toriel said. "Your soul type is Determination-Intelligence, and while I'm not saying that makes you weak, I am suggesting that maybe you should think about the best way to approach this situation."
Chara sighed. "Okay, okay..." Why'd I have to get Intelligence? Why couldn't it have been Strength or Magic? Maybe then I could stand a chance...
All too soon, and yet not soon enough, everyone was finished with their breakfast.
"All right, I'm gonna go get dressed and then check the basement," Asriel said.
Asgore winced. "Er, well..."
"What's wrong, Dad?"
Asgore felt a bead of sweat roll down his face. "I forgot where I put the key. But I'm sure it's somewhere around here. Last time I had it with me, I was walking home, and a little white dog started walking beside me. I looked out the window before we started eating, and I saw that dog sleeping on our front lawn. Maybe he knows where the key is."
Chara smirked. "Better hurry, Az, before he finds a squirrel!"
Asriel nodded. "Right!"
Asriel walked out the front door, having changed out of his pajamas (blue, with yellow stars) and into a green shirt and black pants, with a yellow backpack. The dog had woken up, but it was still sitting there, wagging its tail.
Asriel blinked. "Okay... so... hi there?"
Suddenly, a lightbulb switched on in his head. Wait! I remember what Mom taught me to do last year!
He looked into the dog's eyes, concentrating very hard. Suddenly, he heard a voice.
Congratulations! You can read my mind!
Asriel drew back. "...It worked?"
Yep! Now why don't you check my collar? I found this shiny thing, but it's a little scratchy, and not in a good way. This other guy - I guess he was your dad, or something - dropped it, and I wanted to hold onto it.
"Okay... thanks." Asriel crouched down, noticing that there were two shiny things on the dog's collar. One of them appeared to be a tag, normal for any dog collar. The other thing, of course, was the missing basement key. After shifting things around a bit, Asriel removed the key from the dog's collar.
Phew! That feels better!
Asriel smiled. "All right, I guess I'd better be going now. Thank you!"
No... thank you!
And with that, the dog went back to sleep in the grass.
Asriel walked back inside. "Hey, Dad, I found the key! Which door was it to get to the basement again?"
Asgore got up from his chair, grinning. "Wonderful! I'll show you where it is." He led his son to the basement door, and as Asriel unlocked the door, Asgore gave him another tip. "Watch out for the staircase."
"Sure." Asriel opened the door, flicked the nearby lightswitch, and carefully went down the stairs. This place seemed a bit dusty and forgotten; Asriel nearly sneezed when he took in the musty smell. Storage boxes containing old possessions were all neatly piled up against the walls, though not enough to completely cover any of them. There was, however, a desk in one corner of the room. Asriel saw a mysterious book resting on it front and center, as well as a simple plastic wand (that almost looked like a toy) right behind it.
"This must be Dr. Gaster's diary..." Asriel took the mystery book, and was about to skim through the pages.
Asgore, who was still waiting at the top of the stairs, suddenly remembered something. "Oh! Asriel, I forgot to tell you. You might want to be careful, because I've seen a few small creatures in here, and-"
Suddenly, there was a loud squeak. Something skittered across Asriel's toes, and he yelped, nearly falling over as he tried to kick the thing away. It went flying. He grabbed the wand, and glared at the creature when it started running back up to him. At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a common rat. But Asriel could also faintly see a dark aura; it was the same one that surrounded Chara's toy.
He could hear his father's voice from up the stairs. "Try using your magic, Asriel!"
"Right!" Asriel pointed his wand at the rat, repeatedly whispering "Fire magic, fire magic..." In the past, his fire magic was a simple utility for when he couldn't or didn't want to turn on the lights. He had never used it to fight before, for good reason.
I hope I don't start a fire...
A small stream of fire came forth from the wand, nearly engulfing the rat. It ran around in a panic for a bit, with Asriel both wondering if it was okay, and hoping it wouldn't attack him. The fire soon dissipated, however, and with it the dark aura. The rat skittered back off into hiding.
However, before Asriel could even begin to think it was all over, a second rat dashed out just as the first one hid. This rat, after running towards Asriel for a bit, made a flying leap and clamped its jaws into Asriel's paw. Asriel yelped, shaking his paw. Get it off get it off get it off- But it wasn't coming off. Asriel glowered, smacking the rat with his wand (and trying not to hit himself in the process).
The rat fell to the floor, but the aura was still there. Asriel swung his wand a few more times, the first time just barely grazing the rat, but the next two times being direct hits. That was enough for the rat; the aura faded away, and the rat ran off.
"Phew! Glad that's over." Asriel took the wand, took the diary, and made his way over to the stairs. Unfortunately, he should have known not to speak too soon, for what else was waiting for him at the base of the stairs other than an unusually large, and unusually violent, roach?
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
The violent roach threw a punch at Asriel, who jumped out of the way. His heart was pounding. Did he just-? When he saw the roach standing nearby, with its back to him, knitting its brow, he knew he had done something right. Asriel pointed the wand at the roach, focusing intently. Another stream of fire came out, shrouding the roach in flames... but when it dissipated, the roach still wanted more. It still stood there, now facing Asriel, and still very threatening. The roach threw another punch, and this time Asriel couldn't dodge; it struck him right in the eye. He yelped again, rubbing his eye, so badly wanting to cast another fire spell, but finding himself unable to concentrate. Like something in his mind was blocking the rest of his mind from drawing out the basic power...
So instead, Asriel swung his weapon at the roach. The roach's feelers started twitching wildly, and it screeched; Asriel seemed to have made a critical strike. It shrunk back down to its normal size, the aura disappearing with it, and ran off behind the boxes.
Asriel stood there, taking deep breaths. In the depths of his mind, he felt a little bit of the mental fog clear up. And somewhere else in his mind, there was a new piece of knowledge. He had never even thought of this before, but right now, it was as if it came naturally to him.
He concentrated as he pointed his wand at himself. A shimmering green mist emitted from it; Asriel slowly felt himself calming down, and the rat bite on his paw began to heal until there was neither pain nor a mark to show that it ever existed.
When it was through, Asriel felt the mental fog return. He stood there and stared at his wand, puzzled. "Wha... what did I just do?"
Asgore chuckled. "You should first come back upstairs, and I will explain."
"Oh! Right!" Asriel made his way up the stairs, making sure he still had the two things he came here for. "I don't want anything else to attack me right now."
Once Asriel was back up the stairs and in the hallway, Asgore closed and locked the basement door, giving the key to Asriel. They made their way into the front room. "You see, Asriel, that spell you just cast was a simple form of healing magic."
"Oh..." Asriel looked up at his dad. "I didn't even know that I knew how to do that. After I defeated the roach, it was suddenly... as if I always knew how to do it."
"That is normal for learning new spells. When you were born, your mind was ready to let you use many spells, but to ensure your safety and the safety of those around you, it blocked off access to these spells until you were physically ready to control them. As you become more powerful, your mind will remind itself of the spells, and you will be able to use them yourself. This is true for all magically-inclined souls."
"Wow... interesting."
Toriel walked over to them, having overheard part of the conversation. "Hello! Did you learn a new spell, my child?"
"Yeah, I learned a healing spell, I guess." Asriel gently clutched his forehead. "But please don't ask me to demonstrate it right now, because my mind feels kind of 'eh'... that's the best way I can describe it, is just 'eh'."
"It would seem you are experiencing magical burnout," Toriel said with a knowing smile. "This happens whenever you cast too many spells in a short amount of time; your mind feels as if it can't relax. You will be able to cast more spells before being burned out as you keep practicing. For now, though, the best way to cure magical burnout is through either taking a nap, or eating food that was made with magic."
She giggled. "Such as, perhaps, a slice of the butterscotch-cinnamon pie that I made last night."
With a big smile, Asriel went off to the kitchen. Toriel was grinning, having fully expected this to happen.
After polishing off a slice of pie, Asriel felt the fog clear from his mind; it all felt clear as crystal now, and he was ready to use magic again if he wanted to. But for now, he was reading Gaster's diary.
While the darkness does cause the afflicted to suffer from intense negative emotions, it does not affect natural feelings of hatred. Thus, a human affected by the darkness, no matter how hateful they may seem, will not be able to kill a monster unless the human was already that hateful before the darkness took hold of them.
"Hmm..." Asriel felt at least a little relieved. On another page, he found an intriguing note.
The flower of darkness blooms not in the light. It may look delicate, but it's surely a fright.
"...Huh?" Asriel tilted his head and blinked at that entry, rather puzzled. He shrugged, feeling that it was just Gaster's attempt at being poetic.
After reading the diary for a little longer, Asriel put it away in the backpack. He set his wand in one of his belt loops, and slung his backpack over his shoulders. "I'm heading out!"
"Have fun, Az!" Chara called out.
Toriel waved at him. "Take care of yourself!"
Asgore also waved. "Let us know if you need anything!"
Asriel smiled at them. "Thanks! I will!"
He headed out the door, on the road to his neighbors' house. This mission was still very mysterious to him, but he had always believed that the morning sun would rise again, even after a bad day. Why shouldn't he believe that this mission would go well? But as he walked down the pathway, he had no idea that this would lead to the biggest adventure of his life...
A/N: Here is the first chapter of my new story. At first, it may seem like a ripoff to some, but I have my own twists that I plan on incorporating; I am not merely copying and pasting the script of the original game and replacing the characters with Undertale characters. But some of the elements aren't set in stone; for example, when naming the towns, do I use the names for the towns in the Mother game itself, or do I replace some of them with the names of the Underground settlements, or what do I do?
If you're wondering about "Frisk and Asriel's Special Day", rest assured that I have the final chapter in progress (I lost my internet for three months, and even after I got it back, I briefly lost my inspiration). Hopefully, I will get the spark I need to finish the chapter.
Before I go, here's a note on how souls work in this universe. Each person's soul (human or monster, though they both have fundamental differences like in canon) has one of the seven traits from canon, but there are also three secondary traits, of which each individual can have one: strength, intelligence, or magical aptitude. If an individual wasn't born with magical aptitude as their trait, that does not necessarily mean they can't do magic, period; it simply means that whatever spells they may be able to cast (if they can cast any spells) are more limited than if they were born with the trait. Here are a few sample trait combinations from some of the characters in this story.
Asriel: Kindness-Magic
Toriel: Patience-Magic
Asgore: Integrity-Magic
Chara: Determination-Intelligence
Frisk: Determination-Magic
Undyne: Determination-Strength
Alphys: Perseverance-Intelligence
Kid: Kindness-Strength
These may not be set in stone, though. Anyway, let me know if you liked this, and if there's anything that needs improvement.
