"Sit down, children. Do not quail," A peaceful-sounding woman's voice said as she was shown to have curly red/brown hair, wearing a flowing light pink dress that almost looked white. She was the school instructor for a class of young teenagers who needed to hear this very important lesson. "With peace and love, we will prevail. If you climb along this trail," she then said, showing a map behind her which had a trail to a place known as Mount Ebott. "You will hear 'The Under Tale'."
"Under Tale?" The students repeated and murmured to themselves as they seemed a bit scared, curious, and overwhelmed.
"Hush now, little ones, I have a story for you," The teacher told them, making them be quiet. "I have a story for you. A story about men and monsters."
The students soon got quiet, but they still shared looks with each other. "Sorry, Ms. Rose."
"That's all right, now listen up," The teacher replied, softly and patiently, though had a hint of firmness in her voice. "Long ago, men and beasts ruled the Earth and had their feasts. Then one day, came a war, blood was spilled as ne'er before. No monster will know love. No monster belongs in the world above."
One student cupped her mouth while the others listened very closely. More of the girls looked scared while the boys tried to look tough in order to impress the girls they found hot and vulnerable.
"Seal them underground," Ms. Rose continued, almost sounding like she was singing as she had a lovely and maternal sounding voice. "Let this barrier surround them. The humans, filled with determination, won the war."
"Determination." The one student nodded her head, she was around the age of 14, as she put her hands in her black pockets, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with red stripes. Stripes were very common in her family, at least, that was what she believed.
"And sealed the monsters, deep beneath Mount Ebott, creating a barrier only a human soul could pass," Ms. Rose continued. "Many years, many tears, they live on despite our fears. There's no chance, they could have won, now they'll never see the sun."
"Hm... Serves those monsters right." The student nodded firmly to herself as some of the other students seemed to agree.
"Stones instead of stars above, they've lost hopes and dreams and love." Ms. Rose then said.
"Love?" The student scoffed to herself. "As if humans are even capable of love."
"Miss Zakiko?" Ms. Rose called sharply.
"Gah!" The student yelped as she sat up in her seat. "Y-Yes, Ms. Rose?"
"Please, keep your comments to yourself," Ms. Rose told her, a bit firmly. "Besides, all creatures deserve a chance, even if we are in war with the monsters."
"Oh, uh, yes, ma'am, sorry." The student smiled bashfully.
Ms. Rose nodded firmly as she went to continue.
"Stupid monsters..." The girl, named Zakiko, mumbled to herself.
"Angels cry from on high, will we free them or will they die? The monsters wonder this from time-to-time," Ms. Rose told the class. "They'll have no new friends to come around. This is sadly their life, down there underground. While on high, sits their king. They say if you listen, you might hear him sing."
The students soon looked curious of the king, but they shrugged it off. As far as they were concerned, monsters were a nuisance who deserved to be stuck underground so they wouldn't hurt or kill any human.
"There are stories of Mount Ebott," Ms. Rose then told the students. "Those who climb up the mountain, never return," she then said as she pointed on the map. "So children, should you ever go climbing... Do not cross this area... Otherwise, you might never come back out, but what are the chances of that happening?"
A couple of students seemed to smirk at each other while most of the other students looked wary.
Eventually, class was dismissed and it was soon time to go back home as Zakiko gathered her things as well as some money.
"Hey, Zak?" A voice called.
"Huh? Oh, hey, guys." Zakiko said as she turned around to see her two best friends.
Zakiko had two friends in life who were there with her since the beginning as far as she could remember. There was a girl who was pretty popular with the boys who wanted them as their girlfriend and she was the envy of most girls in school known as Porsche. There was also the girl known as Vee who was a bit of a rebel and a bad chick who could be a bad influence. Zakiko felt lucky to have them in her life as she viewed them as great friends, especially through some hard times, with what she had back home, which we will learn more about later.
"We were just thinking," Porsche smirked. "Ms. Rose was talking about Mount Ebott."
"Uh, yeah?" Zakiko replied. "What about it?"
"We were just thinking," Vee smirked. "Maybe we should climb up it and check it out for ourselves."
"Uh, I dunno about that, guys," Zakiko replied. "Ms. Rose did say that people who climb up it are unlikely to come back. Plus, I can't leave Frisk home alone."
"Then bring it along." Porsche grinned.
Zakiko narrowed her eyes. "Frisk is not an it," she then defended. "Frisk is just very special."
"Oh, we know that," Vee chuckled as she put her arm around Zakiko. "C'mon, what're you scared of? It's just a legend. Besides, it's not like we have to worry 'bout them monsters, right?"
Zakiko bit her lip a bit.
"Don't you wanna be cool like us, Zak?" Porsche asked. "We were just thinking of going on Saturday, just to see if it's true. What could possibly go wrong?"
"Hmm... Well... I dunno..." Zakiko said softly as she stared down at her feet. "Bringing Frisk too might be just as risky."
"Well, can't your parents look after her?" Vee asked.
Unknown to Vee, the word "parents" struck Zakiko deep in her heart. Nobody knew this, except for maybe a few teachers, mostly because Zakiko didn't want to make a big deal over this, but Frisk and Zakiko's parents were more or less out of the picture. Zakiko didn't want to risk leaving Frisk alone or climbing the mountain with the risk that sounded very dangerous.
"Don't you still wanna be friends with us?" Vee asked. "Maybe you'd be better off all alone."
"WAIT!" Zakiko shrieked before her friends could leave her as she heaved a sharp sigh which felt like it weighed over a thousand pounds. "...All right. We'll go to the mountain on Saturday. Frisk and I will meet you there."
Vee and Porsche both grinned at that.
"So glad you saw it our way," Vee smirked. "That's a good little girl."
"Ah, yes, yes," Porsche added. "This is going to be a weekend to remember. I can tell."
"...Well, it's not like I have to disappoint my parents..." Zakiko said softly before she collected some money and shuffled away from school.
And at that, Zakiko soon came over to a shack house which was were she lived. It wasn't big and fancy or comfortable enough, but it was still home. She brought over a bag of food with her and soon creaked the door open and there was a child around the age of 8 who had messy brown hair like their older sibling and wore a blue jumper with pink stripes and had black boots on who looked up as they read a book.
The child was usually pretty quiet around others with the exception of Zakiko, making them selectively mute. Frisk also went by "they" rather than he or she, so Frisk was just a younger sibling rather than a brother or sister, and Zakiko was perfectly fine with that, even if some bullies called Frisk an "it" which angered Zakiko because it made it sound like Frisk didn't matter and Frisk was Zakiko's whole world.
"Hey, Frisk," Zakiko smiled as she brought out the bag of food as she made dinner for her and her sibling. "I got us a big load of food tonight. I hope you're hungry."
Frisk smiled back and nodded before digging into a sandwich.
"So, uh, you have any plans this weekend?" Zakiko asked Frisk.
"...Not really..." Frisk soon spoke up. "Could we buy some books?"
"I'm not sure if we have enough money for this weekend, maybe next," Zakiko replied. "Ms. Rose gave us enough pocket change, plus I borrwed some money from others."
"Borrowed?" Frisk raised an eyebrow sternly.
"Aw, come on, don't look at me like that, tyke," Zakiko rolled her eyes with a scoff. "You know it's hard enough that we can barely afford groceries or a decent house."
Frisk let out a small sigh as they hated it when Zakiko would get like this. They also wished that Zakiko was a little more responsible, though deep down, they did love their older sibling as she was the only family they both had. Frisk then decided to ask why their sister asked about this weekend.
"Well, since you asked, Vee and Porsche made plans for us," Zakiko smirked. "We're going to this place called Mount Ebott. They say that those who climb the mountain never return. Of course, if you wanna stay here like a little scaredy pants, I'd totally understand."
Frisk frowned firmly from Zakiko's choice words. "I'm not scared."
"Then you're gonna come with us on Saturday," Zakiko replied. "I mean, it's just a legend, right?"
Frisk still felt unsure as they gave a very stoic stare at their older sibling.
"...You creep me out when you do that, stop doing that," Zakiko complained. "So are you in or out?"
Frisk heaved a sigh. "...I'm in."
"Good, Frisk," Zakiko nodded. "We'll leave bright and early so we can meet Vee and Porsche there."
Frisk and Zakiko then continued to eat together, having sandwiches out of the food that Zakiko picked up after buying it. It was almost the same thing every day. Zakiko was exhausted and not just from school as she had to find a way to keep house and find food for her and her younger sibling. She usually did her best, but most of the time, Zakiko was cocky and sarcastic, especially in darker times.
Eventually, it was Frisk's bedtime and Zakiko went to bed at the same time because there was not really a point in staying up late. Zakiko and Frisk slept in their own beds before their life-changing weekend would come as Zakiko secretly took out a very old photograph and hugged it emotionally before she would fall asleep. Who knew what Mount Ebott had to offer for them is Ms. Rose's story was true?
A/N: Okay, so how was that? No, this has nothing to do with Cartoon Network City or Cherry's Adventures. This is a story I just thought I'd make for a bit of fun without major help from collab partners. I'd like to ask you how you feel about Frisk being selectively mute and if I should keep it or not. This is also a bit loosely based on the Undertale musical that you can find on YouTube, so let me know in the reviews of how you feel or think about this. I'd really appreciate it.