Chapter 1: The Secret of the School
The dark and the light coexist in this world. It's a part of life. But the dimly lit path is just as bright as the brightly lit one.
"Asriel! It is time for school!" Toriel called. Asriel was sound asleep in his cozy bed. When he heard his mother say that, he groaned and turned the other way.
"Oh, come on, wake up." Toriel urged. Asriel covered his head with a pillow.
"Then guess I will have to finish that butterscotch pie I made for breakfast." Toriel said, shrugging. He jumped to his feet and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as soon as he heard that.
He exclaimed, "Good morning, world!" That was always the best trick to wake her son up early. He stretched his arms and glanced over to the bare side of his bedroom, which had a bed adjacent to his but was never used.
He struggled to put on his green striped shirt and black pants as he rushed downstairs, and he nearly lost his balance. His favorite dish was butterscotch pie, which his mother made to perfection.
He excitedly dashed to the kitchen table with a knife and fork already in his hands.
"Oh my, aren't you hungry." Toriel gasped lightheartedly. She placed a plate with a slice of butterscotch pie on it in front of Asriel. The eleven-year-old devoured it as if it were nothing.
"Thanks mom!" he said with his mouth full.
"Asriel! How rude!" Toriel scolded. Asriel quickly swallowed the pie he was eating and repeated himself.
"Much better." Toriel approved, smiling. Just then, the doorbell rang.
"HEY AZZY! YOU UP?!" a voice called from outside.
"Coming!" Asriel called out, quickly grabbing his backpack and making his way to the door.
"Have a great day today!" Toriel encouraged.
"Thanks mom! Love you!" Asriel said as he was making his way out the door.
Outside were three skeleton children each varying in age.
"Sup Bodoni, Frutiger and Garamond." Asriel greeted them. Bodoni was one year older than Asriel, Frutiger was three years older than Bodoni, and Garamond was in his late adolescence.
"Why are you here so early? Don't y'all like to sleep in?" Asriel asked them.
"You won't believe this Asriel, but there is a rumor going around that a portal to another world is somewhere in our very school!" Bodoni said excitedly. Asriel gasped. Regardless of how crazy that sounded, it was not out of the realm of possibility for him. Toriel used to tell him bedtime stories about other worlds, which she claimed to be genuinely real.
"Wait, what? How do you know that?! Did one of your uncles plant that in your head or something?" Asriel asked perplexed.
"Nah, Uncle Papyrus and Uncle Sans would probably say 'JK' after saying something as silly as that. Hehe!" Garamond clarified. Their uncles (mostly Sans) enjoyed playing practical jokes on them, so it was sometimes hard for the nephews to tell if they were being serious or not. But this time, they were sure. But before the conversation could get any deeper, Frutiger interrupted.
"ARE Y'ALL FORGETTING THAT WE HAVE CLASS! WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS LATER, I DON'T WANT TO BE A TARDY SKELETON!" Frutiger chastised.
"Ok, ok, no need to be so sternum! Bahahaha!" Garamond joked. They all laughed except Frutiger who did a facepalm. Asriel could see their uncles' personalities shining through them.
The kids hurried down the sidewalk, passing by Bratty and Catty's house, QC's diner, and Sans' and Papyrus's house. They took a left onto the street where the librarby was located. At last, they arrived at the school that Asriel's mother taught at. Because of it, some students thought he was a dork, but he learned not to care about that since luckily his mother only taught the much younger students.
"Now come on, we gotta find that portal." Bodoni urged taking his friends but the hands. But Frutiger pulled away dramatically.
"WAS I TALKING TO MYSELF EARLIER? CLASS IS ABOUT TO START AND WE'LL BE LATE!"
"Relax, we still got ten minutes. I promise we'll make it." Bodoni assured. Frutiger still crossed his arms and scowled angrily.
Asriel was also unsure about this. If his school really did have a portal to another world, he was terrified of what might be inside. One of those worlds, according to his mother, has cannibals who eat their own young, and another has giant scorpion shark whales that hunt anything that moves. He wanted to voice his objections to Bodoni but just didn't have the heart to ruin his friend's enthusiasm. Bodoni had a very strong interest in the other dimensions, something he inherited from his Uncle Sans. He would always read books explaining the parallel universe hypotheses and, rather than taking them with a grain of salt, he believed them all to be true. His brothers didn't really share his passions. Garamond was more interested in becoming a standup comic, while Frutiger was more concerned with his public image to the monsters like being a straight-A student.
Bodoni eagerly pulled out a large book from his backpack.
"Ok, according to the 'Otherworldly Guide for Idiots', portals appear in places you least expect them so let's look in those such places." He explained.
"Maybe…we shouldn't…really…" Asriel faltered.
"PLACES YOU LEAST EXPECT?! SO, LIKE WHAT? THE SUPPLY CLOSET?" Frutiger asked sarcastically.
"That's actually a great place to start!"
Frutiger did another facepalm and groaned, "I HATE MYSELF."
The children began to make their way across the hallway. They came to a halt as they approached the supply closet's doors. Everything around them seemed to get a lot darker and quieter. The kids all felt shivers down their spines, as if it had an influence on them.
"Ok, that was pretty weird, and I know weird." Garamond commented.
"WELP THIS IS OBVIOUSLY GETTING CREEPY, SO LETS JUST GO IN THE OTHER DIRECTION TOWARDS THE CLASSROOM." Frutiger urged.
"No, I have a gut feeling that something is beyond that door."
"How can you have a gut feeling? We're skeletons. Hehehe!" Garamond quipped.
"You know what I mean!"
Despite his caution, Asriel felt as if the door was a magnet attempting to pull him towards it. Unconsciously, he began to approach it slowly and reach for the door handle.
"Why does this feel so…familiar?" he asked himself. As soon as he opened the doors, everything around them went dark and the dark void that was in the door grew larger.
The kids then began falling, even though they had been standing on solid ground only seconds before. A magical beam encased their feet at that precise moment. It began to creep up their legs like a pair of pants being pulled up. Their clothing beneath the beam changed as the beam moved up them. Asriel's black pants turned a deep purple color. His striped green and yellow shirt was replaced by a red and violet tabard.
"What's happening to us?!" Asriel cried. Despite the fact that he was still falling, and his clothes were being changed, Bodoni reached into his backpack and pulled out the large book.
"According to the "Otherworldly Guide for Idiots", entering alternate worlds causes a change of attire to better fit into that world."
As soon as he finished saying that his casual clothes had changed into a blue wizard robe with stars.
"Gee, I'm looking stunning! A-ha!" Garamond said, revealing his new outfit; a harlequin suit with blue and red diamonds and a jester hat to go along with it.
"WHAT THE HECK AM I WEARING?" Frutiger fumed. He was wearing a tight brown tunic with equally tight pants.
"It's an is-shoe we'd need to ad-dress. Ahahahaha!" Garamond joked.
"I HATE YOU WITH EVERY BONE IN MY BODY." Frutiger grimaced.
"Guys, stop arguing, look!" Asriel said pointing to the ground.
As if by magic, a solid blue ground appeared beneath them. The children landed on their feet on the ground, but thankfully, none of them were injured. A beam of light shone in front of them, reaching all the way to the sky. Though everything was dark, Asriel was mesmerized by the sight. The air around him felt alive with magic.
"Wow!" he muttered. Bodoni quickly opened the large book again and began scrolling through the pages.
"If the 'Otherworldly Guide for Idiots' is right (which it usually is) then we are in the Dark World!" Bodoni declared. Asriel let out a gasp. His mother warned him that the Dark World was the most dangerous of all the worlds to avoid. He had forgotten what the consequences of this world were, but based on his mother's phrasing, he assumed they were dreadful.
"We've got to get out of here!" Asriel urged pushing the skelekids to the light.
"FINALLY, SOMETHING WE AGREE WITH!"
"But we just got here!" Bodoni objected, "And I have so many questions!"
"I'm sorry Bodoni, but if we stay here any longer, you won't be asking anymore questions ever." Asriel asserted.
"But we don't know that for sure. Would you really want to pass up this opportunity?" Bodoni persuaded. Frutiger was already in the beam of light.
"I WOULD! PEACE OUT!" he said as he was being shot up the beam.
"Have a nice light! Hehehehe!" Garamond joked.
"I'm not here to argue, my mother said terrible things will happen to you if you stay in this world too long." Asriel countered, "Please, we have to go back."
Bodoni looked in his friend's eyes and then at his book. As much as he loved stuff like this, he also had some common sense.
"I suppose it could be dangerous going into the Dark World unprotected. It is after all the world devoid of all light" he justified.
"Welp, we bright as well go home. Hahaha!" Garamond joked. He stepped into the beam of light and was transported out. Though Bodoni was sad to leave this other world, he nonetheless stepped into the light as well. But just as Asriel was about to step in, he felt a strange sensation. Shivers began to run up and down his back. Then he felt a strange sense of warmth washing over him, as if he were receiving a warm hug from his mother. He believed it as if the dark world was calling to him. He quickly shook off this feeling and walked back into the light.
The kids were transported back outside the supply closet, wearing their normal clothes again. Without a moment to spare, Frutiger took his brothers and friends arms and immediately began running down the hallway.
"HURRY, WE'LL BE LATE FOR CLASS!" he shouted. He kicked open the door to the classroom and rushed in with his acquaintances in tow. The students looked like they had just taken their seats and the teacher, Alphys, was about to write on the chalkboard.
"Oh there y'all are! Y'all are nearly one minute late." Alphys said.
Frutiger fell on his knees, looked up to the sky, and yelled "NOOOOOO!"
While the other children laughed at him, Asriel still couldn't shake off that feeling he experienced in the Dark World. Even though the Dark World appeared to be dangerous, he found it somehow felt comforting. His curiosity ignited.