Hello everyone, hope you're having a super spiffy day! Wanted to say thank you to Timberw0lf for following the story, and to dream1990 for following ME. I'll do my best to keep writing something interesting and worth those follows. And now for chapter 3. Please adjust yourself to the sight of it.
-X-
The two caskets lowered into the earth, surrounded by people all dressed in black. The priest was speaking of the virtues of those departed and what awaited their souls in the afterlife. There was hardly a sound, save for a young baby who knew no better. Their red eyes looked around with curiosity, though any gaze that met theirs had different emotions. Indifference, contempt, fear, anger, hatred, all directed to the child who was ignorant of it all.
The only one who would not look at them was the woman holding them, the sister of the woman now being covered in dirt. She'd promised long ago to take in any children her sister had if something happened to her, and she would keep her promise. However, she never said anything about caring for them, and since this child, this demon spawn, had to be the source of the illness coursing through the town, she most certainly would not care for or about them. It could be no coincidence that people were growing sick and dying just after a red-eyed abomination was birthed into this world.
When she finally did look down at the baby growing bored and agitated in her arms, it was not with the love an aunt would give her sibling's child, nor that of a foster caregiver taking in an innocent who had lost their parents. Instead, it was sneer filled with malice. She would make this child...no, this THING pay. It would grow up knowing what it did, what it was, and suffer for it. She would take it in, not only because she had to, but because she could get revenge.
-X-
Warm, quiet, comfortable, safe. As Frisk slowly awoke, rousing from a nightmare-less sleep, their foggy mind registered these out of place senses. Their eyes opened a little, just enough to look around and get their bearings. It was a bedroom, though not one from their own house. As they turned to look more, the covers wrapped around them a little tighter.
Wait.
Oh no. Oh no OH NO!
They shouldn't be here! They're not allowed on a bed, or any furniture. Now wide awake, they quickly get off the small bed, moving quietly and remaking the sheet and blanket to the point it looked like no one had slept in it. It wasn't easy to do with their hurt leg causing them to limp, and their arm protesting with every movement, both causing them to wince until the end. With the evidence of their transgression now hidden, they sat on the rug and took a moment to remember why they were in a bed in the first place.
Through the haze of first waking up, they pieced together the events leading up to their current situation. Their wounded arm and leg helped them remember the fall and its aftermath on their body. Their memories after that were hazy at best, a blur of fluffy white people and purple corridors, as well as their injuries being healed somehow, or at least mostly healed.
Looking down, they saw themselves still in their normal clothes, though they looked even more ragged than before. Frisk supposed days spent walking through a forest and climbing up, then falling into, a mountain would do that. They wondered if they were as dirty as the shirt and shorts, since it'd been a long time since they'd been allowed to bathe. They shuddered as they remembered their last bath with cold water and a rough sponge running too roughly over their shivering form.
They became aware of hushed voices floating in from out the door, where a low light could be seen under. Tiptoeing in order to be as quiet as possible, they inched the door open, not letting out so much as a squeak from the hinges and peered out. Outside stretched a hallway, whose floors and doors were painted a bright yellow, with the walls being a little more muted orange, and a matching rug on the floor with an alternating diamond and circle pattern. However, the light wasn't coming from any of the lamps in this hallway, but instead from an open area further to their right.
Frisk passed a mostly empty room painted a much more subdued peach, with a door to their left and a stairway leading down to their right. The small shelving right of the stairs was lined with books, while the corner table to the stairs' left held a potted plant. They gave the stairs a wide berth, remembering being locked inside a cold, dark, damp basement back on the surface. When they reached the end of this room, they stopped and peered in from the corner, finding the source of the voices.
One was the monster woman, it was...Tu...Toriel. That's it, Toriel! The one that made them feel better with just a touch, promising them food, and then called their eyes 'lovely.' They touched around an eye softly, hardly believing that was real, knowing they'd have passed it off as a rare good dream were the woman not sitting in the room before them. Even though she was facing them, they took no notice, as their attention was on another figure.
A fireplace was the only light in the room, casting a warm glow over everything except for a large section of shadow. The one casting such a shadow was standing in front of Toriel, speaking in a deep, resonating tone that seemed at once both calming and commanding. His figure matched his voice, easily the largest person Frisk had ever seen before. He seemed to be the same kind of monster as Toriel and Asriel, with pure white fur all over. However, his horns were much larger and curved back, bright blonde hair covered much of his head, including as a beard and mustache, and on top of his head sat what looked to be a golden crown. It was strange then that his clothes seemed normal, a pair of black trousers and a white shirt. Even so, his physical presence would be enough to scare anyone Frisk knew. Except, it seemed, Toriel.
"I will not abandon a poor, innocent youth in need, Asgore. Only a terrible creature would do something so heartless," she said firmly yet calmly, looking up at him from her place on the chair next to the fireplace.
"I am not saying that, Tori. We just need to be careful. Humans, even ones in their youth, are incredibly dangerous. You found them hurt and alone, so they accepted your help, but who's to say they won't lash out when they're better? There could also be others that follow, looking for them. A human knight or warrior coming through here would be a disaster. We just have to keep them hidden and guarded until..."
"You mean locked in a cell like some crazed animal threatening to bite. I will be having none of it. That child will be allowed their freedom to roam around, just as anyone else here." Toriel interrupted, casting a stern gaze toward the larger figure, Asgore. He looked like he wanted to object, only to sigh and sag his shoulders for a moment before straightening back up.
"Alright, but what about their safety? We've both agreed it's better to stay down here than attempt to return to the surface, but not all monsters feel the same. Letting them run around unsupervised would only result in some monsters trying to fight them for their soul." Asgore said with worry in his voice, afraid both of what the child could do, and what could become of them. At this point though, Frisk limped into the room, catching Toriel's attention as they entered the fire light near the end of the room, who's altered gaze caused Asgore to look at the child as well.
"It's fine if a monster wants to fight me. I don't have a soul for them to take anyways." Frisk said with a hush, looking down at the ground submissively. The two goat monsters looked at them in stunned silence. Finally Asgore went to move towards them, only for them to move backwards when he took a step forward. Instead, he knelt before the human, doing his best to be eye level with them.
"All humans have a soul, child. Why do you believe you do not?" His voice was low and quite, but not in a menacing way, like others used on them before. It helped Frisk gain the courage to answer back.
"Because I'm not human, I'm a demon. Demons don't have souls. If I did, I would have my parents, and everyone wouldn't hate me for being alive." They took a few shuddering breaths to calm themselves as they spoke, keeping their head low to hide their face behind their scraggly brown hair. Toriel stared at them in a mix of surprise and sadness, wondering what kind of horrible beast would lay such burdens on a child, while Asgore did their best to smile warmly.
"I don't believe that. I can prove to you that you are a human. I can show you your very soul, if you want." Asgore offered, smiling as the child looked at them with squinting eyes. When they gave a small nod, he stood and backed up a few steps, then held his hand out towards Frisk. They felt something inside them, coming together, taking shape. A second later, a bright red heart burst from them, hovering in front of them. Their hands instinctively went to their chest but felt no hole, as if it had been immaterial. Meanwhile, their eyes opened wide at the sight, the irises matching the color of the soul as both seemed to glow.
"That, child, is your soul, the very culmination of your being. While both humans and monsters have them, a human soul is much stronger, allowing the trait they attune most strongly with to show through as certain colors. Your red soul is that of determination, the drive to accomplish anything you put your mind to. It is also considered to be the strongest type of soul, as those with it are known for defying all odds to achieve their goals." Asgore explained to the enraptured child, who had taken their soul into their hands, cradling it.
"An orange soul is that of bravery in the face of danger, while blue is integrity to stand by your principles. Purple is perseverance through the greatest of adversity, green is kindness even to those who do not deserve it, yellow is justice delivered to those who do wrong, and aqua is patience to handle any situation. Humans are capable of having all these at once, though not all humans seem to do so." With that, Asgore released the magic that made Frisk's soul materialize, causing it to reenter their body, leaving the stunned child before him.
Toriel had sat in silence as her husband gave Frisk a lesson on their soul, though she watched them both for any sign of trouble. She let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding as the soul went back into that striped shirt. However, she couldn't help but notice the way the child seemed to lean a little to one side, putting more weight on one leg. So she brushed herself off and stood up, heading for the kitchen.
"Frisk, you must be starving after everything that's happened. You fell asleep too quickly after coming in that I just put you to bed, so I'll have to make you a nice big breakfast to make up for it. Gory, please show them the washroom and fetch them some clean clothes. They look about Asriel's size, so a set of his should work." With that, she headed into the other room, lighting the lanterns inside with her fire magic in order to prepare breakfast for everyone.
"Come along, human. I'll will draw you a nice warm bath, and have some clothes waiting for you when you're finished and dry." Asgore talked while walking towards the yellow hallway, followed by a lightly limping Frisk. Looking back, the large monster frowned at seeing this and turned, scooping up the child before they could move out of the way and carrying them into the hall and towards the only door on the right side. Frisk at first gave a small struggle from surprise, but stopped when he realized nothing had really happened to them.
Inside this other door was a rather large washroom, made specifically for a monster of Asgore's size. The tub was more round, almost circular, with two nozzles at one end, red and blue. Asgore, after setting Frisk down, turned them both to certain points with practiced ease, waiting a moment for the water to become the right temperature, then stepped aside.
"Human...Frisk, is the water temperature to your liking?" he asked, hand motioning to the pouring water to indicate to the child to test it. Frisk put a hand over the side and into the stream coming out, expecting freezing cold water, but surprised at is felt hot, but not scaldingly so.
"It feels good," they replied, taking their hand away. Asgore gave another soft smile and turned to leave, the towels on the rack behind him swaying slightly at the movement.
"Just knock on the door when you're finished washing and drying. I will be waiting with some fresh clothing, then we can have something to eat once we're all ready." Exiting the room, he left the child to themselves, heading to the room they woke from to get a set of clothing from the wardrobe. Using his magic to light the lanterns, the room took on a bright red hue. He wondered why Asriel chose red for everything in the room, as their favorite colors where yellow and green. Speaking of his son, Asgore was going to have to return to his room and wake the boy if he didn't get up on his own soon. It was still a little early, but with breakfast already being made and the human awake, he was sure the younger goat monster wouldn't want to miss out. With these musings, he selected a set of clothes consisting of undergarments, tan trousers and a green shirt with a large yellow horizontal stripe in the middle, then headed back into the hallway to wait for the knock from the door.
Meanwhile, Frisk had been left alone in the washroom. Feeling the water again, they then removed their dirty and torn garments, carefully placing them on the side of the sink. The tub was so large, they practically had to climb into it, careful of their leg and arm when getting in. Sitting down, the water came up to their belly button, warming them up nicely. They turned the levers to stop more water coming from the nozzles, content with how much there was. Looking around, they saw a bar of soap and a large wooden bowl with some kind of cream inside, with the label 'fur cleaner' on the side. Well, they didn't have fur, but maybe their hair was close enough to use that.
Laying back, Frisk submerged their hair and body in the water, careful to keep their mouth and nose above the water line. Sitting back up, they took a handful of the cream and spread it all through their hair. They'd unknowingly taken way too much for their hair, several large globs falling back into the water while they combed their fingers through their hair, feeling the dirt being lifted and the knots coming undone. Dunking their hair back under the water while still running their hands through it, they rinsed the fur lotion out, taking the dirt with it.
Next came their body, which consisted of running the bar of soap over themselves. Unbeknownst to them, there was magic infused into it to make the bather feel refreshed and energized, helping with the clean feeling they got. They were extra careful on their leg and arm so as not to aggravate the wounds they still had there. While washing, their mind began to wander, going over the events that had happened recently.
First, their goal of finding and possibly living with monsters had been successful. They'd more than once thought they would just find their end on that mountain while climbing it. Surely everyone in the village would think that's what befell the child. Second, they weren't a demon after all, but a true human with a soul.
Frisk had many emotions running through their head about that last revelation. They were happy that the horrible things said about them were untrue. They were angry that everyone lied to them, hurt them, and ignored them for so long when they were just like everyone else. Then they were sad, thinking that since they were human, maybe they were just like everyone else in the village, that they too could be so cruel and hateful as to torture an innocent person who did nothing wrong. Finally, they worried that they would turn against these monsters who had so far been the best, nicest people they'd ever known.
They didn't know how long they'd been lost in thought, but when they looked at their hands, their fingers had started to prune, the bar of soap having long been returned to its place. Asgore was waiting for them, they had to get out and dry off. Pulling a plug at the end of the tub, they drained the water and climbed back out, taking one of the towels and patting the water off. The towel was extra fluffy, probably to help soak water out of fur, meaning it worked extra well on the fur-less Frisk.
Stretching for a moment, they knocked on the door to the hallway, standing to the side so when it opened they were mostly behind it. Open it did, with a large furry hand holding a set of clothing in, though Asgore was looking away in order to protect the child's decency.
Frisk took the clothes daintily, with the large monster closing the door afterwards. They looked at the clothes on the counter, the ones they'd been wearing for so long, then at the new set in their hands, their eyes start to wet. They hadn't had new clothes since they could recall, and these felt much softer than their previous outfit. Putting it on before they had a chance to cry, they looked at themselves in the mirror by the sink. The clothes were slightly baggy, but they were sure they could grow into them. As they turned away and reached for the door handle, the possibility of having a better life with monsters filled them with determination.
