I was looking through my original chapters, and comparing them to the more detailed version of this story that I had posted on A03, where I fixed many of the old errors I had made when I orginally posted this here on FF. I wanted to improve the story, and as I have grown a bit better with detail as I've worked on this story, I'm slowly rewriting my chapters to give more of a feel of realism to this story as well as fix any errors I left. So I'm slowly going to be reediting my chapters over the next few days. The story itself will not change, but I'm working to make my descriptions better and give the readers more of a feel for the world around Frisk and the monsters we all know and love. I hope this version is better than the previous.
I also fixed the error I made on Napstablook's gender. I hadn't seen the phone call with Undyne where their gender was determined, and I got mixed up(mostly due to them having all male voice dubs).
...
"Ow..." Frisk groaned as she sat up, finding herself on a patch of golden flowers. She started to inspect herself. Her arms and legs were scraped up pretty bad and her ankle really hurt. She moved her arms and legs to see if anything was broken. Thankfully, nothing was, though her ankle had definitely been twisted.
She looked around to see she appeared to be in some sort of ruins with stone walls around her. She could see a hallway nearby. I never saw this before...Am I in some secret part of the mountains? Or am I dead? She certainly didn't feel dead. She doubted her ankle would hurt this much if she was. She stood up and though her ankle flared in pain, she could still walk.
Looking for a way out, she came across a hallway. Seeing no other options, she limped down it, heading through a huge doorway.
And that's when she came across a golden flower, planted in a small patch of grass, looking much like the ones she had been about to collect, but this one had a face, creepily enough. Frisk jumped about a mile when it moved suddenly, raising its head on its own to look up at her. Its beady black eyes locked onto hers and it gave her a wide grin, almost if it had been expecting her.
"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!" it told her in a somewhat high pitched male voice.
Frisk's eyes were wide with shock. "And I think I hit my head..." She closed her eyes, but when she opened them, the talking flower was still there. She then pinched herself, making the flower look at her weirdly. The pinch hurt, but the flower still didn't disappear. "Okay, I know I'm still dreaming! Flowers can't talk, so I have to be dreaming!" She gripped her head and yanked at her short hair, then shook her head, trying to snap out of it. "Okay, I won't wake up, so I have to prove to myself I'm dreaming! See, my hand will go right through you!" She reached out a finger, expecting it to go right through Flowey.
*poke*
Flowey glared at her. A vine slithered out of the ground and smacked her hand. Hard. "Hey! Hands off the goods, kid!"
"Ow! That actually...hurt?" She stared at him, eyes wide.
"You done having your little episode now?" he asked, rolling his eyes.
"Um, yeah, I guess...Holy shit, you're actually real?! Oops, if you are real, I was super rude to you... Sorry about that... Um, hi?" she babbled.
"Of course I'm real, stupid!" Flowey snapped, then forced himself to calm down. He then came closer and inspected her. "Hmm... You're new to the Underground, aren't 'cha? Not sure why I asked, due to your total cluelessness, so you must be new. Golly, you must be so confused!" He gave her a friendly smile, but something about it made her feel more uncomfortable than welcomed. "Someone will have to teach you how things work around here. I guess little ol' me will have to do!"
"Um, thank you?" Frisk said, more like a question than anything else. Something felt...off...about the way this flower was smiling at her, but she didn't want to piss him off until she understood what was going on.
"Now, in the underground, we have a very special way of spreading LV around." the creepy flower said.
"Um, LV?" Frisk asked, confused and beyond uncomfortable.
"Yeah, LOVE." Flowey explained, saying it in a strange way. "It makes your SOUL grow much stronger. SOULS are weak at first, but with LOVE, they get more powerful. Now, you want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!"
"Um, I appreciate the offer, but I'm okay." Frisk said, backing away quickly from the flower.
"Hey, I'm happy to help you! Now down here in the Underground, we spread love through little white..friendliness pellets." he explained, still grinning.
"Look, I'm not interested, so leave me alone, you pervert!" she yelled, trying to sound braver than she felt. "Keep your "white friendliness pellets" to yourself!"
"Wait. Wha? Kid, I think you're confused again. Settle down. All I want is to be friends!" Flowey quickly made some white seed-like pellets appear in the air. "Are you ready? Move around! Catch as many as you can!" He shot the pellets at her and she yelped and leapt out of the way, her ankle flaring in pain.
"Hey, buddy, you missed them. Let's try this again, okay. Catch the bullets...I mean, friendliness pellets!" Flowey said with a faint smirk, a taunting edge to his voice. He shot them at her and once again, she tried to dodge, but though she missed most of them, her ankle slowed her down and she was hit by a few in the side, causing her to cry out in pain.
Flowey's face then changed from his sweet and innocent facade to an evil grin, looking completely demonic. "You idiot...in this world, it's kill or be killed!" His evil grin grew wider. "Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?" He made a massive ring of white bullets around Frisk, leaving the girl with nowhere to dodge. "Die!"
Frisk looked around for an escape, but she had nowhere to go. She dropped to the ground and curled into a ball, trying to protect her head and vital organs as the bullets moved closer...
And then a sudden blast of fire came from her right, hitting the evil flower and sending him flying, making the bullets dissipate before they could hit her. "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth..." a soft, motherly voice said and Frisk uncurled and glanced up at her savior. Her eyes widened as she saw a white furred monster who looked female with the face of a goat, floppy ears, a small set of goat horns, and surprisingly kind red eyes who was wearing a long purple dress with grayish white sleeves. A strange symbol in a lighter shade of purple was on her chest. The monster knelt and offered a five fingered hand with small blunt claws to help her up. Frisk flinched away at first, frightened.
"Do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins." the monster said gently. Frisk looked up into kind dark eyes and felt herself relax. Unlike Flowey's falsely sweet tone, this person's voice felt genuinely kind and caring with no sort of deceit about it. "Oh, you poor thing! You're hurt! Let's get you through the catacombs and get you healed up." She gently scooped Frisk into her arms effortlessly like the teenager was nothing more than a small baby.
Frisk was still nervous, but Toriel had just saved her life and was being nicer to her than she had ever had an adult be. And if Toriel wanted to kill her, she would have already or she would have let that evil flower do it. Frisk allowed herself to relax into Toriel's arms. "Thank you." she whispered.
"You're very welcome, little one." Toriel told her. She was extremely gentle and careful not to jostle Frisk's swollen ankle as she carried her into a bright purple room and up a set of concrete stairs. She then passed through another doorway and entered a room with several rows of stumps and walked across the second and fourth rows. "The ruins are full of puzzles as a security measure." she explained to a confused Frisk. "They're ancient fusions between diversions and door keys, and you need to solve them to get from room to room." The next room contained several switches and Toriel showed her which ones she could press to get to the next room. She actually had them marked so guests in the ruins wouldn't get confused. Toriel also admitted sheepishly that the markings were for her benefit as well.
They then entered a room with a training dummy and Toriel remembered something. "Now, despite what that horrible, horrible flower told you, violence is NOT the best way to handle a fight, little one. Sometimes talking will calm everything down, and kind actions will help ease a conflict. Sometimes monsters will attack if they're angry or afraid, but stay calm and be gentle. There's always a way to end a fight peacefully with no bloodshed."
They finally stopped in a room with some medical supplies, where Toriel tenderly treated Frisk's bruises and scrapes, fussing over her like a mother would. She then wrapped a special bandage around her ankle. It glowed and immediately began soothing the pain. Toriel explained that it was magical and had healing properties.
"The sprain will be completely healed by tomorrow." Toriel told her with a smile and gently ruffled Frisk's hair like Frisk had always done for her little sister. "Now, will you be all right alone for a bit? I need to pick up some groceries." She looked over Frisk's underweight frame with worry, remembering how a certain other little girl had been that thin when Toriel had taken her into her home. "You're much too thin. We need to get some decent meals into you."
"T-Thanks, but you don't need to..." Frisk started.
Toriel gently cut her off. "I want to. Now, I'd like for you to stay in this room. These ruins can be dangerous to explore alone. Here. I'll give you this cell phone." She handed Frisk a flip top cell phone with her number programmed in. Frisk took it, holding it carefully in her hands like it was a priceless jewel. "If you have a need for anything, please call. Now, be good, all right?" She then said goodbye to Frisk and went off.
Frisk waited in the room for a while. Fifteen minutes later, Toriel called up, telling her she would be a little late because a white dog had stolen her flour. Frisk hid a laugh and reassured her that this was fine. About ten minutes after that, Frisk got bite-dialed by said dog and could hear it panting and Toriel calling in the background for the dog to please come back with her cell phone. Frisk hung up the phone, laughing and hoping Toriel got her phone back from the thieving white canine.
A while later, Frisk was restless. She knew Toriel wanted her to stay in that room, but she also wanted to find a way around and out of the ruins. Quietly, she left the room, getting a call from Toriel a few minutes later.
"Hi, it's Toriel. That dog stole my phone, but I got it back. You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them by yourself. Be good, all right?" Frisk felt guilty for leaving the room, but she reassured Toriel that she would be good before Toriel hung up.
"Ribbit, ribbit. Excuse me, human." a sudden voice said from behind her.
"Augh!" Frisk yelped and jumped a foot in the air before turning to see a creature that could have been a frog, but was much bigger, almost up to her waist. It was mostly white, but had a faint hint of green on its cheeks, three black spots on its chest, and a black belly that had a pattern with what looked like big white eyes and a frown. She could have sworn the eyes on the stomach blinked at her, but she ignored this as best she could to focus on the main creature, wanting to keep her sanity intact.
"Sorry. I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them, they might not want to battle you any more. If a monster does not want to fight you, please, use mercy, human." The frog looked at her with pleading and a bit of fear.
"Don't worry. I'm not going to hurt anyone." Frisk said, shocked that the little frog was acting like she was gonna seriously hurt or kill someone. Did she look like a genocidal maniac or a serial killer?
"Good." he said with a sigh of relief before hopping away.
Frisk shrugged with a confused expression before continuing on. She then accidentally stepped on a sleeping Froggit's toe. It yelped and jolted awake, instinctively firing a sharp barrage of flies at Frisk.
Frisk quickly jumped out of the way, freaked out at first and then remembering what Toriel had said. "Whoa. That was a fast attack. I'm sorry for stepping on you, little guy. I didn't mean to." she told the creature, hoping soft words would calm it down so it would leave her alone.
The Froggit didn't understand her words, but he liked the tone of them and smiled, and seeing that she wasn't going to hurt him, dropped a few pieces of gold at her feet before hopping off.
"Ookay...That was really weird." Frisk muttered to herself and continued on. In one room, she got a piece of Monster Candy which she stuck in her pocket to give to her sister later, then nearly fell through the floor and encountered a tiny, timid creature that looked like a cross between a bedsheet ghost and a moth with fluttery little wings which calmed down as soon as she spoke soothingly to it. It dropped a piece of gold at her feet shyly, then ran away before she could even thank it.
She then got called up again by Toriel. "For no reason, which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?" Frisk had never had much of either, but chose butterscotch and thanked Toriel. But only five seconds later, Toriel called up again, asking if she minded cinnamon with butterscotch. Frisk wasn't picky and was just grateful to be fed, so she reassured Toriel that she didn't mind.
Toriel called her yet again a few minutes later, asking if she had any allergies, which she confirmed that she didn't. She then continued through the rooms, and being pretty terrible at puzzles, took at least half an hour to solve a complicated floor puzzle which involved having to step on the right places to avoid falling through a hole in the floor, and fall she did at least eight times before getting it right. Thank goodness for Toriel placing soft cushions at the bottom of each hole, or she would be suffering from more than just wounded pride.
Along the way, she had to calm down a few more nervous monsters which did give her a hit or two when she couldn't figure out how to calm them right away or accidentally made it worse, but then they gave her gold once calmed, either as a thank you or an apology; she wasn't sure, but she didn't care. If this was real gold, she could sell it when she got back home and if she played her cards right, make a huge profit and keep her and Tina fed and clothed for a long while as well as set some aside to get an apartment when she was old enough to take custody of her sister.
The thought of being able to provide for Tina filled her with determination and she felt a rush of energy as she continued forward. Next, she had to solve a bridge puzzle which was thankfully pretty straightforward and beg a sentient rock to move in the right direction for her so she could deactivate the spikes on the bridge. This world she had fallen into was so weird...
Once entering the room, she saw what could only be a ghost, slightly translucent white with closed eyes, laying on a bridge that she needed to get across, saying "z" over and over again for some weird reason. "Are they gone yet?" she heard them mumble before they resumed saying "z" out loud repeatedly, pretending to sleep.
She hid a giggle as this weird ghost was cute rather than scary. "Sorry, I'm not gone yet. Can I get through?" She gave the ghost a gentle nudge, which only succeeded in scaring them, and they started crying, which somehow made tears drop down from the ceiling in a hard rain that actually HURT. "Ow! Hey, please don't cry! I didn't mean to hurt or scare you. I just wanted to get through." she said soothingly, trying to keep her voice calm so she wouldn't frighten the ghost more, then giving them a gentle smile.
Their tears lessened and she hid a sigh of relief. She decided to tell them a little joke to cheer them up more and blurted out the first one that came to her mind. "What's a ghost's favorite food?"
"I don't know, what?" they asked, sniffling.
She smiled. "Boo-berry pie!" It was a dumb joke and she hoped three seconds later that it wasn't offensive, but thankfully it cheered the adorable ghost up, making them let out a little laugh.
"H-Hey, I want to show you something."they said shyly. They sent their tears upwards, forming a top hat on their head. "I-I call it Dapper Blook. Do you like it?"
Frisk let out a giggle. It was cute and dorky. They started to look worried, so she clapped her hands. "That's awesome!" she cheered.
"Thanks. My name's Napstablook, by the way." they said, looking down at the ground.
"I'm..." she started but they kept speaking.
"I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around, but today I met somebody nice! O-Oh, I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way."
"You don't have to..." she started to say but they had already vanished.
Frisk sighed and continued on. Taking a wrong turn, she hit a dead end, a small room with two spider webs. "Oops, nothing here but spider webs...man, this place is a maze." She was about to turn and try another way, when she saw a little sign. "Spider Bake Sale?" she read in confusion, then rubbed her eyes to make sure she read that right, though she didn't know why she was even surprised after everything else she saw today. "Huh. That's...different."
"Hi!" a tiny voice said. It sounded like a little boy around Tina's age, maybe a little older.
Frisk jumped and looked around in confusion. "Hello?"
"Down here." the little voice giggled and Frisk followed the sound, looking into the smallest web to see a brown spider the size of a tarantula waving a foreleg at her. He was wearing an adorable little blue polo shirt and black pants that covered all eight legs.
"Oh, hi there!" Frisk said with a smile, though she felt like she had wandered into the plot of Charlotte's Web.
"Wanna buy a doughnut? Mommy let me bake them all by myself and she let me come here today and sell them with the others!" he told her happily and looked up at her with puppy dog eyes...all eight of them.
Even on a spider, Frisk was a sucker little kid puppy dog eyes. "Sure, I'll buy one. How much?"
He was bouncing eagerly at making his first sell. "Umm...seven G."
Frisk counted out seven of the little gold pieces she had, guessing that was what he meant. "Here you go!"
"Yay!" he said happily and he, along with some other spiders, brought her down a doughnut, one clearly frosted by a little kid as it was covered with lots of messy vanilla icing with sprinkles everywhere. Tina would love it. Frisk thanked them and gently placed the doughnut in her backpack before heading on her way again.
It took her a while to solve another puzzle which involved dropping down through a hole and finding a switch(which took five rooms for her to find), but she did get to run into Napstablook again, who had fallen down a hole and gotten stuck, forgetting that ghosts could fly before finally remembering that little fact and vanishing again. She then had to solve two switch puzzles, which took her a little while and a few wrong switches to figure out,, and deal with more monsters which were now deciding to come in pairs, which added more bruises to her collection. She was limping again by the time she got out of there. Maybe wandering around hadn't been such a smart idea...
Eventually, she reached a room with a large tree and saw Toriel. "Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would." Toriel muttered to herself and started to dial before looking up to see Frisk standing there, looking like a kid who got their hand caught in the cookie jar. She ran over to her. "What are you doing here, my child? Are you hurt?" She checked her over and saw the new bruises. "There, there. I will heal you. You shouldn't have been wandering about alone." she scolded gently, then sighed. "And I shouldn't have left you alone for so long either. It was irresponsible of me, but I wanted to surprise you. Err...well, I suppose I can't hide it any longer. Come, my child!" She led Frisk into her cozy home and a sweet, delicious smell filled Frisk's nostrils as soon as she got in the door. "Do you smell that? Surprise! It is a butterscotch cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival."
"You-You did this for me?" Frisk asked very softly. Her mom had never baked her a pie or treated her bumps and bruises or even seemed to care. How was a total stranger acting more like a mother to her than her own mother? She looked up into Toriel's eyes, her own guarded yet vulnerable at the same time. but saw that Toriel's were open and honest.
Toriel was caught by her expression, so identical to that of Chara's when Asriel had brought her in; the gratitude for even the tiniest kindness, the fear in her eyes that it would all disappear, and the very slight suspicion that it was all a trap. "Of course. Let's get some dinner in you first and then you can have a nice big slice of that pie." She gave Frisk a big plate of food and the fifteen year old thanked her and ate, politely enough, but pretty quickly as well, like she hadn't had a decent meal in a while, which made Toriel worry more.
"I have another surprise for you." she told Frisk once the girl had finished eating. She led her towards a bedroom. "A room of your own! I hope you like it."
Frisk gulped inaudibly. "T-Thank you, but-but I can't stay...I need to go home...my..."
Toriel flinched a little, but tried to keep it from the girl she had taken in. "Right now, you cannot go anywhere on that ankle. You will just make it worse, even with that bandage on. Please, stay here." she told her quickly.
Frisk wanted to go back to her sister, but she knew Toriel was right and thought Toriel only meant for her to stay the night. There was no way she could get down the mountain and back to town with her ankle, and it was very late already. She nodded and took out some gold, holding it out to Toriel. "Thank you. I can pay you for the stay..."
"No, no dear. You keep that." Toriel told her, gently pushing her hand back. Frisk wanted to protest but Toriel gently shushed her.
As Frisk went towards the bedroom, she caught sight of one of the mirrors in the hall and thought she heard whispering coming from them and felt a faint tug at her very soul. Confused, she wandered over. Two of the mirrors simply showed her reflection, but the third came as a shock. There was a brown haired girl, looking around her age, maybe a few years older, in what looked like a yellow and green jumper. "It's me, Chara." she thought she heard the girl whisper pleadingly and Frisk fell back in shock with a small yelp, landing on her butt.
Toriel rushed over. "What is wrong, child? Are you all right?"
"The-The mirror...I thought I saw..." she stammered and got up, looking in the mirror again. But the only thing she saw in it was herself. "I-I don't know. Did-Did you see or hear anything?" Toriel just looked confused and shook her head. "Maybe-Maybe I'm just seeing things..."
"You must be tired. Let's get you to bed." Toriel said in a motherly tone, helping Frisk to the bedroom. Frisk thanked her again for the millionth time that night as she lay down. Toriel tucked her in and kissed her forehead before leaving the room. Frisk closed her eyes, feeling a confusing mixture of contented at being cared for for the first time in her life, worried for her sister's safety, and confused about what had happened with the mirror. But exhaustion took over and she was soon asleep.
In the other room, Toriel could not fall asleep so easily. She hoped she could convince this child to stay. She would NOT lose another one to her ex husband's plans, especially this one, so small, so thin, and looking so much like... Her heart ached and she got up to go read. She had the feeling she would not be sleeping much tonight.
Entering the main room, she saw the rest of her pie still sitting on the dining room table and cut a piece, plating it and carrying it to her charge's room, entering quietly so she wouldn't wake her. She placed the slice of pie on the floor. That way, she can have a little snack if she gets hungry in the middle of the night. And if her story is anything like Chara's, which I fear it is, having food around wherever she is should comfort her. She watched over the sleeping child for a few minutes, then quietly headed back down the hall.
...
Frisk awoke the next morning, sleepily thinking the events of yesterday had been a dream. But when she opened her eyes, she realized she was on a nice, soft bed in a beautiful little room rather than her own dingy one with its moth-eaten mattress. She got up and found the piece of pie, thankfully right before she was about to step on it. She carefully picked it up and covered it, placing it in her worn backpack. It would make a good breakfast for her sister.
She wandered down the hallway, checking the mirrors to see if she could see the mysterious figure again, but she didn't. Entering the living room, she saw Toriel sitting in a chair, reading a book. "Up already, I see." Toriel said, smiling. She then looked to Frisk earnestly. "Oh, I want you to know how glad I am to have someone here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come to you as a surprise, but I have always wanted to be a teacher. Actually, it may not be all that surprising to you." she said, kind of quickly.
Frisk looked down. "T-Toriel, I can't stay. I-I have to go home...my s..."
Toriel looked down as well. "This is your home now." she said softly before Frisk could finish. The fifteen year old flinched back at this, making Toriel's heart clench.
"Let me go!" Frisk begged, now absolutely terrified that she was being kidnapped and not knowing what to do against someone who could shoot fire from her hands. "I have to go home!" She then tried to bolt towards the only door she hadn't been near, but Toriel gently caught her. Frisk cried out and struggled, but Toriel didn't let her go.
"Please...stop struggling and just listen for a moment. I will never hurt you. You have nothing to be afraid of here in the ruins, but there's a reason you have to stay." Toriel told her, still speaking softly and gently, though there were tears in her own eyes now. Frisk stopped struggling, but she still looked at Toriel with some fear in her eyes. "You don't understand. I'm only trying to protect you. It's very dangerous out in the underground. It's not nearly as easy to leave here as you think. You don't know the history of what happened between our kind and yours. A long, long time ago, there was a war between our races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They used a spell to seal us here in the Underground. There is a magical barrier between our world and yours. And while it's easy to fall into it, it's not so easy to get back out again. And the monsters here; some resent or fear humans greatly."
Frisk opened her mouth to speak, but Toriel cut her off. "I know that none of this is your fault. This happened long before your time, but there is still fear here. I believe most will calm if you show them kindness...but-but there are some that will want to take your soul." Frisk shivered at this and Toriel felt terrible, but she knew she had to tell her to get her to stay. "You see, a human soul has much more power inside it than a monster soul, even able to linger after death. And-And it's said if they were to gather seven souls and use their power, the barrier could be broken and set us free. And that's why you have to stay here with me." She then let Frisk go before getting up.
"I'm going to destroy the entrance to the ruins, that way no one can get in or out." Toriel then headed towards the exit. Frisk's eyes widened as she chased after her down the stairs and through the long purple hallway.
"Toriel, I know it's dangerous; I know you're trying to protect me, but I have go home! My..." Frisk started, but Toriel cut her off again.
"I'm not letting you out of here! Every human that has fallen down here has met the same fate! I have seen it again and again! They come. They leave. They die. You naive child; if you leave the ruins...they...Asgore... will kill you! I am only trying to protect you! Why don't you understand?!" She looked down. "Go-Go to your room."
"I-I can't. Toriel, I have to go!" Frisk begged.
"Don't try to stop me from doing this. Child...I know whatever happened to you at home wasn't good. You're much too thin. I know you weren't being taken care of at the very least. Stay with me. I will take care of you and raise you as my own child. I will not let anyone harm you. Please...just stay. I will not lose another child!" She walked to the door of the ruins and Frisk ran after her.
"So you wish to leave that badly. Hmph." Toriel said. "You are just like the others. There is only one solution for this. Prove yourself to me. Prove that you have what it takes to survive!" She took a battle stance.
"I'm not going to fight you, Mom!" Frisk yelled and both her and Toriel's eyes widened at what she had just blurted out in her agitation and sadness. "I'm not going to hurt you! But-But I still have to go! I have a little sister at home! She's only six. I need to go home and take care of her. My...My parents won't. I-I don't want to do this...but...but I have to. My sister needs me, and I'm going home to her." She looked down. "You've been amazing to me. You-You've been more like a mom than my real mom, but...but I still have to go back. I'm not leaving my sister alone." She looked into Toriel's eyes. "Please...let me go."
Toriel looked down. "I..." She let out a sad laugh. "How pathetic. I...I can't even protect a single child. But...But I understand why, little one. I know that you love her a lot. Your determination to go back to her is strong. I-I cannot stop you. I'll do whatever I can to help you, but-but I won't be able to protect you all the time out there."
"I-I know. And I know it's extremely dangerous. But I have to do this anyway." she whispered. "I-I can protect myself out there...I always have..."
"I-I know, my child. But you never should have had to." Toriel enveloped her in a warm hug, crying softly. "Please...please be careful. And if you want to come back, you will always have a home here. And remember, you have my phone number. Call me whenever you need me or even if you just want to talk. I will always have my phone on me and I will always be here."
"Thank you. Thank you so much for everything." Frisk whispered, tears falling from her eyes as well as she hugged Toriel back tightly. After a long moment, Toriel let her go and moved out of her way. Frisk's hand shook as she opened the door to the ruins. She gave one last look back at Toriel before she stepped outside, feeling like her heart was breaking in a million pieces.
...
Toriel watched sadly as Frisk left, hoping she would be all right on the perilious journey ahead. She hoped the friend she had been talking to would keep his promise and protect and help this brave, determined little girl. But what she didn't know was that someone else had silently vowed to help the girl along her way as well. She never felt the ghostly arms that wrapped around her or heard the tiny voice of another young teenage girl whisper "Goodbye," and "I love you, Mom." She never saw the spirit of her first adoptive daughter leave the ruins and follow along behind Frisk as she down the hallway out of the ruins, the young spirit stopping one last time to wave goodbye.