Author's Note: I was looking around for works of fanfictions that dealt with what would happen if humans lost the war and were banished underground. I couldn't find anything I was looking for, so I decided to write one. I will be adding a few other touches to this that diverge from the canon "universe" and a typical human lost the war AU.

I'm looking forward to writing this! I hope you enjoy! Thank you for reading!

Mt. Ebott

201X…

The young child readjusted the cowl of his black cloak so his face was covered in shadows.He peeked out from behind a tree at the single guard in front of the cave entrance. He had to get past the guard, and he had to do it quick. The sun had just begun to peek over the horizon, but his absence had likely already been discovered. As soon as his parents were informed, they would have the whole castle looking for him. He didn't want to ever be found by them.

What he was about to attempt to do was all about timing. He had to stay patient. He would mess everything up if he didn't. The guard would catch him and take him home. His parents would assign someone to watch him at all times. He would never have another chance like this. He just needed to give the guard a few more seconds. They would walk into the cave to retrieve the package always sent up through the pulley system monsters had installed for the humans. They would then meet someone tasked with pick up a little less than halfway down the mountain. He would make his move then. He counted as he waited.

One…

Two…

Three…

Four…

The guard started the process at the time he had known they would. He had access to the schedule of the guards. One of the few perks of being the prince. They disappeared into the cave for several minutes and then walked out with a wooden box filled with jars that held a strange looking substance. The child had never seen in person before. He'd only been taught about what it was. He wished he could have allowed his curiosity to shine through, but he didn't have the time to dwell on the substance too much. The guard walked down the mountain. The trip would take the speedy monster guard about ten minutes. More than enough time to execute his plan so long as he didn't dawdle.

As soon as the guard was out of sight, the boy dashed out from his hiding spot and ran into the cave. His hood fell off his head. He skidded to a stop in front of the hole to the Underground and held in a gasp. The space was enormous and high, making him feel small in comparison. If he dared make a noise, his voice would echo. He wished he could have tried it out, but he didn't want to alert anyone of his presence. He didn't want to leave behind even the slightest evidence of where he had gone.

He gingerly stepped over the ivy that grew untamed and uncontrolled. He would feel really stupid if he tripped. He would hate to say he fell down because he had been clumsy. Of course, saying he fell down on purpose wasn't a good idea either, even if it was the truth. With a hole this big, there wasn't a chance of coming up with a good reason. He would either have to say he fell because he had been clumsy, an idiot, or he hated his life. Now that he thought about it, clumsy did seem to be the best way to explain.

He positioned himself on the opposite side of where the pulley system – a tool of rope, levers, and platforms going down into the dark abyss- was located. Though small for his kind, he was still too big to use the pulley system to go down. His weight would break the rope, and he wouldn't fit on the platform. The platform wasn't even big enough to fit the box. It was only designed to take the small jars up one at a time. The guard boxed them as he collected them. The small size of the pulley system prevented humans from using it to escape.

He didn't know how high a creature could fall without dying, but he hoped he was close enough to the bottom that he wouldn't die. He hadn't come here to die. He only wanted to get away from the life he lived now. He wanted to learn the truth after years of being lied to.

He had to admit, he felt guilty and sick for all his actions. By climbing the mountain, he was also running away from home, disobeying his parents, abandoning his friends, and possibly betraying his people. He was well aware this had been an awful decision, but he had thought long and hard about it. He couldn't keep living as he did now. He just couldn't. He couldn't pretend everything was fine and dandy. He couldn't shove aside his morals and look up to his parents as he once had. This was the path he chose to go on. It could blow up in his face, but he wouldn't allow himself to regret or have second thoughts about his decision.

His lungs constricted when he stepped closer to the hole. He closed his eyes and struggled to breath normally. Taking slow steps forward, his foot eventually dropped down onto nothing. He lost his balance, biting back a scream as he tumbled headfirst into the darkness.

Present Day

The room was lit lowly by blue mushrooms hung on the dirt cavern wall. The soft blue light they emitted cast shadows in the corners of the room. Seven children called this dark room their home. The children had better light sources they could use to brighten their room. In the eighty or so years humans had been stuck underground, they had discovered different resources they could use for light that were brighter and more efficient than the mushrooms. The children used the other sources in the daytime. They preferred the mushrooms for night. Not only were they one of the few magical items humans had, but the light of the mushrooms also gave a calming atmosphere to their room which helped the kids relax… More or less. The two middle children were young and carried energy with them at all times. They jumped between the beds lined up against the wall, despite the late hour.

The eldest watched the younger kids with a mixture of amusement and exhaustion. She held two yawning babies in her arms. She wanted to put them down for bed. An action she couldn't do with the noise the two were making.

"Frisk should tell us a story," one of the older kids said, noticing how tired the eldest was and wanting to help out.

Their reaction was instant. The two middle children stopped jumping and scampered to the eldest. They hopped onto the bed Frisk was seated at and sat next to her.

"Oh, yes, please!"

"Tell us a story!"

"I will, but only if you promise to go to bed when I'm finished."

"Okay, we will!" The two grinned. "We promise!"

"What story should I tell you?"

The other two older children also placed themselves on the bed with Frisk. They enjoyed hearing her stories too.

"Tell us the one about the war!"

"That one again?" Frisk feigned exasperation. "Fine, I'll tell it to you."

"Yay!" They leaned closer towards the eldest.

She bounced the babies in her arms and took a breath. "Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, war broke out between the two races."

"Why?" the middle children asked, even though they had heard this story plenty of times. They always got into it. She counted on them to get into it. The story was always better when they asked questions.

"No one knows for sure," Frisk replied. "We just had trouble getting along. Monsters were worried about us and our strength. We were scared of monsters."

"Why were we scared of monsters?"

"Monsters have the ability to take our SOULs when we die."

"What is a SOUL? People keep talking about them, but I don't know what they are."

Frisk nodded. "You wouldn't. We lost our ability to call upon our SOULs when we were brought here. The knowledge of them is slowly fading away. They're these hearts that glow and come out of our bodies when we fight."

"Have you seen a SOUL? How do you know about them?"

"I… Should get back to the story. We're getting off track." His question brought up memories Frisk didn't want to think about. She focused on the babies instead. She smiled down at the little ones when she noticed they had fallen asleep. She stood up to place them onto their bed next to hers. "We certainly should have had no reason to fear monsters. We were so much stronger than them. We should have been able to win that battle… We didn't. After a long battle, the monsters were victorious."

"How come we didn't win?" One of the older kids asked, right on cue.

"For one, they took away our sorcerers. They also found a way to take away what made us so strong: our determination. They found a way to suck it right out from our bodies." Frisk sat back down on the bed. The second youngest girl settled herself into Frisk's lap. The other middle child rested his head against her side.

"With our sorcerers and determination gone… It was easy to take us out. They sealed us underground with a magical spell. To keep us from freeing ourselves, they force us to extract the determination from every newborn child and send it up to them through the pulley system."

"We're under a mountain, right?"

"Yes. Mt. Ebott."

"And monsters who climb the mountain never return home."

"Not really. It's just a story monsters like to tell to scare the young ones. Monsters climb the mountain all the time and return home. Only one monster has climbed the mountain and fallen down." Frisk smiled sadly. "It's more like whoever leaves the mountain never returns."

"Tell us how humans leave the mountain."

Frisk lovingly ran her fingers through the hair of the girl who sat slumped against her in her lap. She had fallen asleep now too. Frisk picked her up and tucked her into bed. The boy took the girl's place in Frisk's lap when she sat again.

"Every year, we have a festival to see if there is any child aged eight to sixteen who haveretained enough determination to cross through the barrier. You see, each human needs a certain amount of determination to keep them alive. We can't extract it all from their bodies or else they will die. Some humans are born with more determination than most, thus they need more determination to live. Those humans can pass the barrier and go to the Surface where the monsters live." Frisk grabbed the hand of the second eldest. She gave him a comforting smile. She knew this part of the story could be hard for him. "They are sent to try to make peace with the monsters, but… So far, their efforts have been unsuccessful. We don't know what has happened to them, but they are believed to be dead. Only seven humans have passed through the Barrier. Six are because of the festival."

"Because the festival is new, right?"

"Yes, it is."

"It started because of-"

Frisk gently shushed him. She didn't want to speak of this part of the story. "You should go to sleep. It's getting late."

"Yeah, okay…" The boy allowed himself to be picked up. She placed him on top of his bed on the boy's side of the room. She gave him a good night kiss on his forehead and wrapped his blanket around him.

"Good night, Brion."

"Good night, Frisk. Thank you for the story." He rolled over and fell asleep within minutes.

Frisk began tapping the mushrooms to turn them off. She kept one lit and grabbed it from its holder. She took it over to the other two who were still sitting up on her bed.

"What's wrong?" Frisk asked. "You both look worried."

"The Determination Festival is tomorrow, isn't it?" the other girl asked.

Frisk nodded.

"Are you nervous?" The girl clasped her fingers together.

"Why would I be nervous?"

"One of us might get picked."

The thought had crossed Frisk's mind. "I know, but… I don't think that will happen. There are so many other kids."

"But what if it does?" the boy spoke up.

Frisk rested her hand on his shoulder. "It won't. I won't let that happen. We have to stick together."

"I don't want to lose any of you." The girl began to cry. Frisk pulled her into a hug.

"It's okay. I know. All we have is each other."

The group were orphans. A small group among many. Orphans weren't rare in the Underground. The living conditions weren't the best, so many lives were lost due to accidents or sicknesses. Humans were still trying to adapt to their environment. Frisk and the other children were only the fourth generation to live in the Underground.

Life was hard for orphans. They were adopted rarely since no family wanted to take on another mouth to feed or clothe. The orphanages did their best to care for the children but there was only so much they could do. Frisk was one of the lucky ones who had been admitted into one of the four orphanages. She had been able to form this strange family.

Frisk had been the first one in the group to be orphaned. She was the eldest by a year, though she looked younger than she really was. She didn't know what it was about her that made others think she was so young. Her below average height was a likely factor, but it could also be her child-likehairstyle. Her brown hair was cut almost to her shoulders. Her bangs were messy and looked a little uneven. Her dark brown eyes carried a youthful light, despite how much she'd had to mature. She had been five years old when her mother died from a sickness of unknown causes. Her father had never been in the picture. He had left shortly after her mother had become pregnant with her. Where he lived or the status of his life was a mystery. He hadn't stepped up to claim her after her mother's death.

Amin had been the next one. He was the second eldest at ten years old. He needed a haircut because his dark brown hair was itching the back of his neck and strands kept falling into his face. His skin was slightly darker than Frisk's light brown tone. He had warm and calm brown eyes. He had come to join her at four years of age. His older sister, Anah, had been admitted with him but she had been chosen at the Determination Festival shortly after their arrival. Frisk hadn't known her very well, but she had seemed like a very good big sister. Amin missed her greatly. His story was opposite to Frisk's. He had no idea what had happened to his mom, but his dad had died from asphyxiation.

It had just been her and Amin for a year and then Donielle had joined them when she was four. She was nine years old and could easily be considered one of the middle children, but she acted older than her age. Unlike Amin and Frisk, she liked her hair to be out of her face and as tidy as possible. Someone in the orphanage had taught her how to style her hair. She experimented with a lot of different styles, but her favorite seemed to be braids. She had dark brown skin. Her brown eyes always glittered with a kind and strong light. She had lost both her parents in an accident when a tunnel collapsed. They had shielded her from the rubble with their bodies. She had been injured, both physically and mentally. She would sometimes break into spontaneous panic attacks. It would take everyone comforting her to calm her down.

The three of them had been together with no new additions for a year. Brion came alone at three years old. He was seven years now, and he liked to make it known how big he was. He had reddish brown hair that started the day nice and straight but always ended looking like a ratty mess because of his wildness. A trait shared with all the young ones in their group, Brion had very pale skin from the lack of sunlight. His eyes were hazel. Brion's parents had died from the same sickness. He only had a few memories of his parents, but he never let their deaths bring him down. He seemed to have begun to believe Frisk was his mom.

Shiloh had come very shortly after Brion at around two years of age. She was about six years old now. She had very fine, light blonde hair with a bit of a wave. She liked when Frisk put it up in a ponytail. A splash of freckles dotted the skin around her nose. Her blue eyes were gentle and friendly. They didn't have much information about her past. She had been found abandoned near the orphanage. She didn't even know what her birth name was. Frisk and Amin had been the ones who suggested her name to the caretaker of the orphanage. Shiloh, like Brion, also didn't think about her birth parents much. Frisk and the others were her family.

The newest additions were the twins, Ezra and Ellis. They had only been with the group for a few months. They were about a year old. They were almost identical in appearance but would still be considered fraternal twins. Ezra was male, and Ellis was female. They both had black hair that didn't seem to knot no matter what mess they got themselves into. The differences between them was their eye color. They both had been born with hazel eyes, but Ellis' had changed to brown. Ezra's had stayed hazel and didn't look like they were going to change. Their mom died in childbirth. Their dad had chosen to give them up. They too would grow up believing Frisk and the rest were their family, assuming they survived their next two or so years. Frisk didn't want to think about them not surviving.

The seven children might not be family by blood, but they had bonded in their shared trials and hardships. They were as much of a family as biological brothers and sisters were, and family stuck together. Frisk would never allow them to be separated.

"Frisk… what if you're picked this time?" Amin asked. "You evaded the past three festivals. We all know you're going to be placed into one of the first groups to test it out this time. You're chances are really high."

"I know you're both worried, but… Everything will be okay. I will try my hardest to keep us together." Frisk pulled away from Donielle and wiped her tears away with her sleeve. She stood up and grabbed their hands, pulling them towards Donielle's bed. She nudged the girl into her bed. "For now, we should rest. It's getting late and the caretaker is going to wake us up early tomorrow to get ready for the festival."

Donielle nodded sluggishly and pulled the covers around her. "Good night."

"Good night, Doni." Frisk turned to Amin. He didn't look convinced or reassured. She guided him to his bed.

"Do I need to tuck you in too?" She asked with a grin. He answered by grumpily settling himself into his bed on his own.

"The elders say you're the most determined human they've met since we were banished here. They said your determination could have rivaled some of the humans of the past. Lesser ones, they say... But that's you with most of your determination extracted," Amin said. He glanced over at the other sleeping forms and kept his tone low. "If you get the chance… you're going to be able to go through the Barrier. You'll be chosen."

Frisk dropped her gaze, knowing she couldn't argue with him. Her family and the elders had told her about her high determination levels before. Frisk knew the only reason she hadn't been chosen yet was because of the policies they had. Kids were split into groups of five at random. At random. No one specifically picked which kids should go in which group. The groups were numbered, starting from one. The first group always went first and then went down from there. Frisk had always gotten lucky and been placed in one of the later groups. A kid able to cross the Barrier had always been discovered before her group's turn. Frisk and the kids all knew it was only a matter of time before she got a group that went closer to the beginning. They had a bad feeling about this time. All the people whispering about how determined Frisk was… They thought Frisk's placement into a group was going to be rigged. She liked to believe humans had enough decency not to hijack anything, but she understood the orphans had reason to be afraid.

"We need you, Frisk."

Frisk sighed. She accidently tapped on the mushroom and its light diminished, plunging them into pitch black darkness. "I can't run from my fate. If I am to be picked… It will happen. We will figure out what to do then." Frisk tapped the mushroom again and looked down at Amin. The usual warmth from his eyes were gone, replaced by horror and fear. If she were chosen, he would hurt the most. She knew it. He had already lost one person he loved to this stupid festival.

She reached out and gave his cold fingers a reassuring squeeze. She said no words. Her gentle smile said enough for both of them. She always turned to him when the stresses of life brought her down. She tried to be there for him when he needed stability.

"Good night, Frisk."

"Good night, Amin."

Frisk crossed the room to her bed. She set the mushroom on the bedside table and climbed into bed. She leaned over and turned off the last remaining light source. She listened to the sounds of everyone's breathing. Only when she was certain they were all asleep did she curl up into a tiny ball. She squeezed her eyes shut and held her breath, trying to keep her tears in. She said everything was going to be okay. She acted like she wasn't worried. She did it for their sake, but it wasn't the truth.

She was scared.