Half a year later.

With the Froggits' many gossipy warnings engraved deep within of my soul, I stalked through the halls quietly, not wanting to awaken the goat Monster that lived in this, admittingly, lovely cottage.

I was bored of the Ruins, and to be honest, I wanted to escape from this dull place. The only exit out of this claustrophobic location was within of the goat Monster's house, from what I've heard.

I had already explored everywhere, and the only places I avoided were the goat Monster's bedroom and the stairs leading to her basement. Determination shone through my eyes as I walked down the steps, eager to adventure the whole of the Underground outside of the Ruins.

When I came across a metal door that was as tall as the ceiling, I swallowed my nerves and pushed. It opened without much resistance, and I wondered if the Monsters had been pulling my fibula all along. They had said that the doors were heavy and impossible to budge, but there was only one door and it was easily enough to push.

When I passed through the door, I realized that maybe I had spoken too soon. Just further down ahead was another set of metal doors, and they looked intimidating. I squared my shoulders and walked until I stood directly in front of the damn metal doors that were keeping me separated from the other side. With a determined huff, I placed both of my gloved hands and pushed.

Welp. It seemed that the Monsters were not joking at all. The only thing that creaked were my bones. A dejected sigh slipped passed my lips and I thunked my forehead against the doors that were keeping me imprisoned. What now? Perhaps I should go before the goat Monster woke up.

Before I had the chance to decide, I fell backwards in surprise when I heard two knocks coming from the door. I landed on my tailbone. Which hurt. A lot. A groan and a cuss later, I glared at the door. It looked smug.

Was I losing my mind? Did that really just happen or am I hearing things now?

*Knock knock

There went my theory of going insane. I hesitated but decided that if I couldn't open the door, the Monster on the other side must've had trouble with it as well. I did the single most handedly stupid thing I could've done in this situation.

I answered. Even though I wasn't sure if the Monster was a friendly one or a dangerous one.

"Who's there?"

Silence greeted me.

A shrug later and I turned, pivoting on my heels. I had only managed to take a step before I heard a deep baritone coming from the other side of the door-of-shittiness, causing me to stop and returned to my previous position of staring suspiciously at the heavy hunk of metal - which was probably reinforced by magic, come to think of it.

Was this guy (or maybe a girl with a very deep voice?) really telling a knock knock joke, or was it simply coincidence?

"dishes."

Yep. They're definitely telling a knock knock joke alright.

"... Dishes who?"

"dishes a very bad joke."

That was terrible. But still... With gloved hands covering my mouth to hide an ugly snort, I shook my head and took a few steps back.

"Nope. Nu uh. I'm outta here, buddy."

"what's wrong, pal? not hitting your funny bone right?"

My steps faltered. The guy shouldn't have been able to know what kind of Monster I was, right? There were no peep holes anywhere, right? With a few beads of sweat trickling down my cheeks, I forced out a pretty strained laugh - even to my own ears.

"W-what? Monsters don't have b-bones, silly billy. You- uhm, we're all made of magic. And besides, hitting a funny bone won't be humorous at all."

And I knew that from experience. I've also stopped questioning the hows and whys I could still feel sensations even though I'm literally just made out of bones. The answer was pretty simple. Magic. I left it at that.

"you sound pretty rattled there, buddy."

"Haha. Good one. I should really be going, though."

"welp. don't let this punny sentry keep ya from whatever."

"I'll, uh, see you around, then. Or, well, hear you around."

With that, I retreated at the speed of lightning. The last few words of the unknown Monster not entering my ears.

Another half a year later

I made myself comfortable on the bed of golden buttercups, my bony arms positioned behind of my head as I closed my eyes, reminiscing about my experiences down here.

It has been a hell of a year since my falling into the Underground.
Having encountered my first Monster, having found out that I was underneath Mount Ebott, having found out that I was trapped here forever unless the barrier breaks or I die first, having made a friend with a Ghost, having made a punny door buddy after a few bone-rattling exchanges, having stolen a few snail pies and getting addicted to the taste, having had many breakdowns. The overall experiences were overwhelming at first, but I got over them quickly since I myself had been turned into a skeleton Monster. Well, not really. More like a human-skeleton hybrid.

Everything about me screamed human, especially since I wore long sleeved turtlenecks with long pants, but that was only because I still have human features like skin and hair above my neckline. Anything below that was degraded into porcelain-like bones. I am severely conscious of that, so I usually wear long-sleeved shirts and pants to cover up my insecurities. Also in dark colors so my ribs don't show their outlines too much.

I had once been fascinated (ahem, touching myself) by the changes at first to take notice, but after calming down a bit, I did note the disappearance of my boobs and genitals. And wow, I had instantly had a freak out session - one of the many.

I wasn't entirely sure if I could reproduce or even be considered a female now. I could very well be agender. Skeleton Monster were not exactly... seen around here. I was the only one, in fact. It was kinda lonely at first, but now it just felt normal and somewhat irritating. Especially when the other Monsters tend to give me gazes full of pity and/or fear. No idea why I was given the latter, though.

Other than that, my life here was quite peaceful. I avoided a certain Monster to hell and back, though. A Froggit had once upon a time stuttered nervously in the passing told me that they were intimidated by her, so I decided to myself to give a wide birth to the goat Monster. It was hard at first since she patrols much too often, but when I got used to her schedule, it became a walk in the park. Literally. What with all the plants she tends to grow.

A blissful sigh left my lips as I enjoyed as much sunlight as I could here. This was the spot which I had fallen; the only place where sun rays could penetrate through the whole Underground, so this had become my favorite location to spend my days.

I think I dozed off there for a second, because when two somethings crashed directly on top of my ribs, I wheezed out a chain of words that would make even a sailor blush. The weight was quickly removed from my person as I forcefully shoved it off, and was quick to roll away and pushed myself to my feet.

What I saw almost made me choke on my own spit.

Two humans. Two human children.

Holy shit.

I quickly took out a pair of purple gloves and tugged them on, pretty sure that my bone-afied hands would freak the two children out. I cleared my throat as I crouched down.

The two children were unconscious and appeared to be siblings - or twins by how identical they looked. Their genders were a little unclear because, truth to be told, children were mostly androgynous until they hit puberty. They looked to be around nine years of age, with brown short hair and pudgy cheeks that all children seemed to possess. One of them was tanned, whilst the other was awfully pale, almost sickly so. They both wore striped shirts with different colors, the tanned child's being blue and pink, whilst the pale child's being green and yellow.

I decided to show them the ropes here, and maybe they could live with me in my apartment if they choose to do so. There wasn't much to do here, but they would be safer since the other Monsters would definitely mistake them to be one of my 'species'. Monsters were naive like that.
In order to break the barrier, I had learnt that we needed one more human soul. Even though I miss the above ground, I would never sacrifice a child to resurface. That was... simply an inhumane thing to do, even though I can't call myself a human any longer.

With my mind made up, I shook the two by their shoulders, hoping that they would not notice how alien my fingers felt, even with my gloves on. After all, bones felt different than flesh.

The two children groaned in unison as they felt someone shake their shoulders. They were probably aching from their unexpected fall, but thanks to me having unintentionally softened their landing, they survived with no major injuries and minimum amount of bruising. Quite lucky for them, but unlucky for me. My ribs still were feeling their impact. I'll have to check if there were any hairline fractures afterwards. That was quite a fall, and though I hate to admit it, my current body was unnaturally fragile. I had learnt from experience to never do strenuous activities. My HP was still in the midst of recovering from my previous attempt of curing my boredom.

The first one to awaken was the pale child, their eyelids fluttering open as they looked around blurrily. It took them a minute or two to realize that something was amiss, and I could only assume that they had remembered their fall, since they bolted up into a seating position, those red eyes of theirs wide and scanning the place in a panicked manner.

Their eyes soon landed on their unconscious sibling, which made them cry out said sibling's name.

"Frisk!"

Frisk, huh? What a weird name.

The child then noticed that they weren't alone and was quick to position themself defensively in front of their still unconscious sibling.
I only raised an inquiring brow at the child's action. Did they seriously think that I would hurt them? If I wanted to, I would've off'ed them when they were still dead to the world.

With deliberately slow movements, I raised my hands to position them into the univerasal sign of peace and surrender.

"It's okay, kid. I mean you no harm. Just a simple artist who had fallen down the same hole you both did."

That reassuring sentance somehow made the kid's eyes widened in disbelief. Was it that hard to believe that I had somehow managed to fall as well? I mean, why not? It wasn't as if there was a sign that said; 'adults are permitted to fall!'.

The pale child managed to slightly creep me out with their blatantly non-blinking staring, and I could feel beads of sweats rolling down my spine. I shook that feeling away as soon as the child nodded jerkily, their shoulders relaxing slightly. That was an enough cue for me to move towards them, intentionally showing a gentle expression - wanting to convey to the spooked out kid that I had only wanted to help.

They allowed me to move in closer so that I was standing directly next to their sibling. Without a moment of hesitation, I crouched down onto one knee and lifted the still unconcious child, Frisk - I reminded myself - so that they were resting on one side of my hip bone, their chubby cheek pressed softly into my clothed clavicle.

Wasn't one of my wisest decisions, I have to admit in the near future.
I decided to break the ice after making sure that I had a firm hold on the precious burden.

"So, I'll assume that this little one is named Frisk. What about you, little merrer? Got a name?"

They made a face at being called merrer - or was it little? I wasn't sure, but I simply shrugged it off. It was better than simply being called brat.

"... Chara. Who're you?" They replied after a moment of hesitation, their question accusing if my ears heard correctly. I pushed it away, thinking it was more due to anxiety rather than hostility.

"Gasterin, though I simply prefer to be called Rin," I answered with a slight smile. The first name I had provided wasn't my original one from when I was human - it was Rin. To be honest, I had no idea where that had come from. When I had first introduced myself to a random Froggit, the name had simply slipped out. I was a little unnerved at first, but it had felt so right, so I went along with it. "Keep close, little merrer, I wouldn't want you to disappear on me."

I gestured with my chin for the other kid to follow, before I walked briskly towards the entrance of the Ruins. I didn't need to look back, hearing the pitter patter of rushing feet behind of me. Perhaps I should slow down?

... Nah. The goat Monster would be here soon. It would be better to hurry back to my apartment before things get complicated.

As if the universe wanted to complicate things for me, I was forced to stop in my tracks, the child that was rushing to catch up to me bumping into my body. I swore under my breath as I felt her nose come into contact with my hip bone, but that wasn't what I was worried about.

Unlike any other day, however, my way back was blocked by a smiling golden flower. If I had not lived here, I would've been awed and creeped out at the same time by a plant with a face. But now, I only felt a bubble of worry for the two kids at encountering a Monster that may or may not potentially know what a human looks like.

The flower's eyes widened slightly in disbelief and excitement before they returned to their original happy curve. That caused me to sweat. Shoot, what if this Monster knew!? I risked a glance at Chara, the kid's smile merely widening to borderline creepy.

My neck snapped back to look at the flower as it spoke.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower! You lot are new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"

"Actually, little bud, -"

"Golly, you lot must be so confused."

"No, we're not, actu-"

"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here!"

"Thanks but no tha-"

"I guess little old me will have to do!"

"Listen to me!"

"Ready? Here we go!"

"Are you seriously disregarding my words in favor of following whatever script you're-"

I was cut off, once again, much to my irritation and Chara's amusement, when the weed had actually dared to pull out all three of our souls when I was off guard. That caused me to stiffen in rage at the audacity of the little plant. If it really wanted to fight, I would most definitely wipe the floor with its petals in a heartbeat.

Two of the heart shaped souls, which was obviously the two children's, were bright red and brimming with DETERMINATION. It made my eyes linger on theirs, captivated by their beauty. They were stunning when compared to that to a Monster's. Or to that of mine.

My cartoonish soul was an opposite of theirs. Rather than the pulsing and determined glow that was associated with the majority of human souls, mine was like any other Monster - with slight changes. My heart was upside down and split into two colors. Purple that gradually fades into white. It was a sign that I was a boss Monster that had absorbed a human soul.

Luckily for me, it seemed that the knowledge wasn't widespread because all of the Monsters that had engaged me in BATTLE thought I was a unique type of Boss Monster - or a Monster that came close to having the title of Boss Monster. They usually cower and flee, apologising profusely.

As I was busy being fascinated by the two human souls, mine was unknowing to me, ogled at by Flowey, a strong glint of desire in his beady little eyes.

"S-see those hearts?" The slightly shaky voice of the golden flower brought me out of my daze. I was quick to step protectively in front of Chara, my grip on Frisk tightening. I missed the way the child in my hold had stirred awake, my gaze solely focused on the threat. "Those are your respective SOULS, the very culmination of your being!"

"Big words for a plant." I murmured to myself, slightly agitated that the plant seemed to have a thing for ignoring any words that were not coming from itself.

"Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow stronger if you gain a lot of LV. What's LV stand for? Why, LOVE, of course! You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" Flowey winked with its tongue poking out in a playful manner.

... It was like conversing with a damn door-to-door salesman. The little shit was giving so many false information, yet their expression made it all seemed that it was explaining everything in facts.

I decided at that very moment that as soon as I reached back to my small apartment within the Ruins, I would draw this flower lying miserably in a pool of blood and on the verge of turning to dust.

"Down here, LOVE is shared through... Little white 'friendliness pellets'. Move around and try to get as many as you can!"

Okay. First thing, stop it with the anagram. Chara, as spine-chilling as they are, was still a little kid and might get the wrong idea. Second, the little shit of a weed had obviously averted his gaze when saying 'friendliness pellets'. Its grin had also grown wider - a sign of sadistic pleasure. Lastly, the little shit obviously knew I was a 'Boss Monster', yet was still playing its game. Either it was suicidal and dumb, or just thinking that I had wanted to kill these kids and was helping me do it.

I'm seriously thinking that it was option number one.

Flowey then proceeded to summon a few 'friendliness pellets' and rained them down on us. I sighed slightly with irritation and lifted Chara under an arm, ignoring their indignant squeak of protest.

Nimbly, I moved around, dodging the pellets one after another whilst keeping my hold on the two human children, making sure that their soul, as well as their body, was out of harms way. Flowey's grin slowly faded into a frown as it continued to rain pellets onto us. It was another minute or two that the flower roared angrily and surrounded the three of us with its attack.

I wasn't all that worried, seeing that I could simply evade easily. A whimper of fright sounded beside of my ear and as my attention wavered, some pellets managed to hit me, causing me to curse under my breath as my HP dropped to a single digit. I'm seriously hating my measly DEF right now.

"Hehehe! You idiot!" The flower cackled happily as it watched me drop to one knee, my - as much as I hate to admit it - brittle arms shaking with the exertion of carrying two human children whilst dodging. "In this world, it's KILL or BE KILLED."

More than a hundred pellets began to close in on us. Well, it has been fun, but I guess it was about time I blasted this weed into oblivion. I didn't want to raise my LV, but I won't risk getting myself killed just to remain at my current one.

Just as I was about to summon my own brand of Magic, a fireball sailed over my head and blew the flower away. I took this chance to summon my soul back into my body, doing the same for the children' after a moment of considerate thought.

Now that I was out of BATTLE mode, I was able to feel Frisk's tiny fingers digging into my clothed clavicle (hopefully the child would just think that I was super skinny or not question anything at all), her chocolate brown eyes glossy with tears. I was quick to drop Chara, who gave an oomph when they landed on the ground, to comfort the crying kid.

"Shhh. It's okay, little one. I won't let that plant hurt you or your sibling. You're Frisk, right? I'm Rin. It's nice to finally meet you, sleeping beauty. I was worried there for a second that I would have to be some kind of prince charming and kiss you awake."

The child sniffled a little, but they did giggle at what I had said. I kept cooing and making silly comments as I turned on my heels and prepared myself for another BATTLE when I saw that it was the goat Monster I had desperately avoided.

I felt Chara moving closer to me, but I paid them no mind, my attention focused solely on the furry one. She was tall, with me only reaching her chest, covered in white fur and wearing a purple dress with the delta rune sewed on it. What unnerved me the most was her expression of on her face as she glanced at the two children.

I knew that there were various sizes of children shoes in one of the rooms at her house, and I could only assume the worse. Were goats carnivores? I didn't really didn't want to find out.

TBC!

Oh yeah, just to clarify a point in case some of you thought it was a plot hole or something; even though Gasterin is the combination of both human and monster soul, they're not able to break through the barrier like Asriel could. For reasons that will be explained in the future.