Chapter 2: The Friend and the Flower
Darkness. No color. No sound. No sight. There was no up nor down. No gravity or light. Within this emptiness, physical laws held no meaning.
All there was, was nothing, unending yet never to begin.
Except… not quite. One thing persisted within this darkness; one fragment of existence, flickering on like the last spark of a long dead flame. A child drifted alone, curled in upon themselves, shoulder length hair fluttering from a non-existent breeze. A voice in the tone of a whisper but echoing like a shout carried from everywhere but their silently moving lips. The darkness itself spoke with their words, resounding a voice denied of its true owner.
"My chest… my throat... why…?" They spoke into the emptiness, their voice a melange of pain and vertigo with just a touch of fear. "No more… please. Mom, Dad… Brother, please… help me… I can't see. I can't… I can't feel anything."
Their eyelids slowly opened. Copper irises stared into the nothing.
"I am… My name is…" A pause. "My… name? What… is my name?" They blinked, but their thoughts were enveloped by an impenetrable haze. "I… huh? W-where am I? What… was I doing? I can't… remember."
A wave of skull-crushing nausea overtook them, and they might have heaved but for the lack of anything to give up. It took all the strength they had to avoid losing themselves in this emptiness. How long had they been here? Years? Or was it only seconds? Even now they could sense it, something within them… something elemental eroding away little by little. How long until their existence itself faded away as well?
Terror gripped them. Their tongue fluttered in a silent scream.
Then… the light. It appeared as if from nowhere, a faint glimmer nestled within the nothing that surrounded them. The child squinted. In the darkness something shined: gold of petal and green of stem…
"Flowers?" Fear receded, quickly replaced by the curiosity of a near-shattered mind. "Gold. Pretty, pretty. Pain… Pain? Flowers are pain?"
An echo of memory gave way to confusion.
That was when they heard it: a voice crying out, almost unheard in the darkness over the sound of their own chanting. The child looked upward in confusion, copper brown eyes, just shy of crimson shining with unshed tears. The voice rang out again, louder this time. They straightened, rotating their weightless body, and scanned the darkness for its source.
'Someone… please help me! I don't want to die…!'
Words… a cry for help.
"Help…? Help. I'll help…" The child muttered through the fog of their own thoughts. "Where… are you?"
Their eyes went wide, and a soft gasp emerged from their lips as pure white light flooded the darkness, as if called forth by their declaration. Piercing the blackness it encircled them, wrapping their body in alabaster radiance. The light shining upon their face revealed the features of a young girl, adolescent, having yet to develop into womanhood. Her clothing was simple: a green sweater with a single yellow stripe wrapping around at the center. Brown short pants began at the waist and extended just above the knee, giving way to a pair of black hose underneath. Leather shoes, simple and laceless covered her feet.
The girl called out. "Help… I can… help."
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" Called the voice she'd heard, shrill and scared as it echoed around her.
A glimpse of something caught the girl's attention in the instant before the light enveloped her fully; a vague heart-shaped image, carnelian red and exceedingly beautiful.
It was then that everything changed.
The girl lifted from the cold, moist earth, rising from a small bed of green and gold. The petals of the flowers fluttered lightly cross pale skin as her weightless body drifted into the air, dancing and swaying in an unseen breeze. Up and up she drifted, garbed in the hues of the flowers, until at last she slowed to a halt a few inches above their petals.
The light which enveloped her lowly began to fade, as if the flowers, far underground without sunlight, had deigned to feast upon the miniature sun she provided. As her eyes adjusted and the phantoms faded she noticed shapes slowly invading her vision. Stone walls, an empty cavern decorated with strange, handcrafted columns. She hadn't the time to question her circumstances for as soon as her eyes had cleared, they were met with the sight of a young boy falling through the gloom of the cavern and towards the ground below. An impact from that height and at that speed would have almost certainly been fatal, but for the golden flowers that bloomed from the earth. The boy landed supine upon the blossoms, their stems bending beneath his impact but not breaking, displaying strength much greater than that of typical flora.
The girl's initially frightful expression shifted to one of confusion mixed with relief. 'Gold flowers? Flowers are pain…? No… Flowers are good. They protect. They save. Good flowers… I like flowers.' She shook her head softly, clearing the fog from it as best as she was able before slowly floating toward the boy. His head turned wearily in her direction, the thin slits where his eyes should be focusing on her.
"...Hello?" The girl said, giving a small wave with her right hand, while raising the left to cover her face shyly.
The boy's gaze lingered on her for a few moments without responding. The whole situation felt surreal. He hadn't lost consciousness as far as he could tell. He felt no pain and all his limbs were where they belonged. If this was indeed his afterlife then it was so deep and so thorough that he couldn't tell where the line was drawn.
"H-Hi…" He said simply. It was the only word he could muster.
"Are you… alright?" The girl asked, her copper eyes peaking from behind her arm.
"Am I… dead?" The boy asked hesitantly. "Are you… an angel?"
Her head tilted to the side as if in thought. "An angel… am I?"
"I can see you." He said, with far more awe than such a simple statement should merit.
"See me? What…" Her words tapered off and her gaze fell upon his almost fully closed eyelids. At first glance they seemed normal, but on closer inspection she noticed the faint scars they bore. "Oh."
He nodded weakly.
"I'm sorry." She folded her hands before her.
"'S'okay," The boy said gently. "But where… are we?
"Well, um… I don't know. I heard a scream and… I… woke up? I saw you fall… from up there." She pointed upward to the inky blackness above them. "I wanted to help… and then the flowers, they…"
He looked at her for a while… the only image his eyes could focus on. She seemed almost as confused as he was… maybe even more so. Why was he able to see her after such a long time of never seeing anything? What was it about this girl that penetrated the shroud of his blindness? She seemed almost otherworldly… the way her legs dangled in the darkness, suspended in air and never touching the ground below. The way her movements were silent to the point that even his honed ears could pick up not even a whisper. At first he thought she was an angel… now he was starting to wonder if he was right about that.
Neither one of them spoke for some time. The only sound throughout this chamber was that of the wind's distant sigh far above their heads. If he had the means to notice, the boy might have wondered at the strange light that illuminated the chamber. There was no discernible source… it seemed to come from everywhere at once, evenly distributed throughout the spacious room. The girl did notice, but paid it no mind. Everything felt strange to her… what was one more? The golden flowers continued to cradle him, somehow supporting his weight despite how fragile they appeared. Their scent filled the chamber, calming them both.
"I don't… think you're dead," The girl said thoughtfully.
"I don't feel dead," The boy reasoned, and only then noticed the fingers of his left hand were still wrapped around the stick. He lifted it up and waved it in front of him. "And I still have this."
"I think the flowers saved you." The girl offered.
"Maybe… let me just-" The sentence caught in his throat. "Whoa…!"
His hand caught on the edge of a large golden petal as he tried to push himself up. It slid through the thin gaps between, causing him to fall back against the bed. The stems of the flowers bent and straightened, bouncing like springs as he fell back against them. The floating girl's hand shot to her mouth as she tried and failed to stifle a giggle.
"Here." She said through her laughter. "Let… let me help."
She floated closer to him and extended a slender hand to him. He reached up awkwardly, and took it. It felt odd… not like any human hand. It was cool and smooth, like the feel of a spring breeze against wet skin and its touch was light despite her firm grip. He laughed lightly at the pleasant sensation, feeling the last of his nervousness ebb way. She pulled him up and a soft smile spread across her lips, tracing a line between her rosy cheeks.
"Thanks…" he said, returning her grin. "That was embarrassing…"
"It was funny." She corrected giggling again. "You're such a klutz, um…"
"What?" He asked as her words trailed off.
"I don't… know your name." She said thoughtfully. He frowned.
"Oh yeah, it's… its Frisk." He wasn't sure why he bothered to remember it. No one else ever seemed to. "What about you? What's your name?"
The girl stared at Frisk for a second before answering… "Frisk… that's a cute name." She blurted out, smiling whilst dodging the question.
Frisk blinked in surprise, blindsided by the sudden compliment. The girl fidgeted beneath his silence, wondering if she'd said something wrong. Then, after a few awkward seconds, a snicker found its way from his throat before erupting into laughter. His arms wrapped his stomach to avoid falling again as he doubled over. The girl blinked, staring at him as if he'd gone crazy.
"Sorry…! I'm sorry!" He said while trying to wrangle his mirth enough to speak. "I've… haha… just never had anyone… s-say that to me before." His laughter echoed through the room. All the while, the girl continued to stare at him.
"Why is that so funny? Your name is nice, Frisk…" She replied softly as his laughter finally died off. Breathing hard, he waved off her worries.
"I guess I'm… just not used to it." Frisk said, forcing himself upright once more and meeting her gaze. "That still didn't answer my question though. What's your name?"
The girl looked confused for a second. "My name? It's..." She paused, and clutched her left shoulder, expression clouded with nervousness and confusion. "I… I can't remember. I don't remember my name…" She looked at Frisk apologetically. "I'm sorry."
"You don't remember?" He questioned. "Well, you don't have to apologize… I mean, I'm sure you'll remember eventually right?" He consoled her. With a slight grunt, he carefully picked himself up from the flowers and stood next to her. "Today's been one weird thing after another… it's alright."
The girl didn't respond immediately, looking thoughtful. Frisk tried to think of something more to say, but ultimately decided to give her some time. After a few moments of awkward silence, she spoke again.
"Hey Frisk? Why don't… Why don't you give me a name?" The girl struggled with how best to word her suggestion, hands rested against her chest. "I mean. If you want…"
Frisk looked surprised for a moment. "Um sure. I guess I can't just say 'Hey you' so." He took a good look at her, floating just above the flowers. "I could call you 'Pretty' or 'Angel'." He grinned. The girl's already rosy cheeks grew even redder at his attempt to flirt.
"C- come on Frisk.. you're embarrassing me. I… I really need a name. Please?" She asked, eyes pleading as she reached up to cover her cheeks.
"Alright alright. Let's see..." He trailed off, his head shifting left to right in careful thought. A snap of his fingers moments later signaled an idea. "I got it. How about 'Lily'? You remind me of a flower. And since the flowers saved me, and all… what do you think?" He asked, waiting for her reaction.
The girl pondered over the name for a moment. "Lily? It's… pretty. I like it." Frisk beamed at her approval. "Okay. Lily! My name is Lily." The newly christened Lily smiled brightly as she floated to Frisk, and gave him a hug.
The gesture was unexpected but far from unwelcome. Frisk reciprocated, wrapping his arms around her weightless form and returned the hug. In that moment a peculiar feeling washed over him. Something deep within his very being – something unknown – sparked to life within his breast. Its warmth flowed through his whole body, comforting and invigorating at the same time as it traveled downward, pooling at his feet like warm water.
His unseeing eyes fell upon a place some feet from where he was standing and that was when he noticed it, shining like a beacon in the blankness of his sight. "Hey. What's that? I don't think it was there before?" He mused, pointing out what he'd seen to Lily.
"Wha…?" She questioned, unraveling her arms from Frisk and following his finger.
There it was, emblazoned within the bed of golden flowers like a star of the same color. A glowing point, shimmering with soft light that even Frisk could see. Lily gasped for a moment and stepped back but quickly relaxed as the light's radiance seemed to soothe her spectral body as well.
"What is… that?" She asked. "I didn't do that."
"I think… I did?" Frisk said, scratching his neck thoughtfully.
"What…? How?" She managed to tear her eyes away from the light to look at him.
"I don't know how to explain it, really." He said, clinching his fingers thoughtfully. "I felt something just then. When I gave you your name and you hugged me…" He thought for a moment. "I felt like I could do anything I wanted to. Like no matter what happened, I would be alright. Determination… I think that's the word."
"Determination?" Lily asked. "What for?"
"I guess… to keep living." Frisk replied. "Just before we met, I thought I was going to die. But I'm alive… and now I've met you. This is the first time I've ever had a friend…"
"Your first friend?" Lily could not find the words to respond to that. Eventually she simply settled for, "I'm glad."
"Me too…" Frisk agreed. "I'm not sure why, but I think that will to live is what created that star."
She smiled earnestly – an expression that only made Frisk happier – before turning away from him with some effort. Without the sound of their voices to fill it, the silence was almost unnerving, but the light from the glowing star was emboldening and dampened her unease. But happy meetings or not they were still in the middle of an unfamiliar cavern and the most important question was 'how do they leave?' They couldn't very well get out the same way Frisk got here after all. Lily turned about to look at their surroundings and quickly noticed a pathway winding outward from the cavern. It seemed to be the only way forward.
"I guess we should go…" She said reluctantly. "There's only one way out of here."
Frisk concentrated for a moment, searching for any sounds or smells that might point him in the right direction on his own. The last thing he wanted was to be burden on the first person he could remember to ever show him genuine kindness. However, a faint buzz in the air and a odd tingling across his skin disturbed him, and while easily the keenest of all his working senses his nose could detect little outside of the flowers' fragrance. After a moment he sighed in defeat. Lily frowned and took his hand guiding him in the direction of the cave mouth.
"This way." She said gently, floating ahead and guiding him forward.
His right hand in Lily's and his left firmly clutching his stick, Frisk moved on, stepping away from the soothing light of the glowing star and the golden flowers that cradled it. It was dark here, such that Lily had to squint in order to see. The air was moist as they wound their way through the cave. Eventually Lily came to a sudden stop, causing Frisk to stumble a bit at the unexpected lack of movement. His stick brushed against one of the pillars flanking a massive threshold.
"What is it?" Frisk asked, focusing on her.
"I'm not… sure." She replied, staring thoughtfully at the strange symbol carved into the stonework above. "I feel like I should know this…"
"You said you couldn't remember your name." Frisk recalled. "What do you remember?"
"Some things… Like how I like flowers. But most of it is… hazy."
She shrugged, focusing on the symbol for a good long while, grasping for a memory that felt just out of reach. After a while of searching and coming up empty she gave up. Frisk walked behind her as she drifted through the threshold and into a large chamber beyond. It was much larger than the one he'd fallen into and the air felt 'freer'… less restricted than in the cramped cave they were in before. The flowers were here too, dancing in the slight, underground breeze. It seemed peaceful enough… but something felt off. Frisk could sense something around them… a presence belonging neither to him nor his spectral companion.
Just as he was about to ask Lily if she'd felt it too, a quiet shifting of earth gave way to its source. One of the flowers rose above the rest, shaking off bits of dirt from its petals and stem. It was taller than the ones that had saved him, and swayed back and forth like a dance. Six golden petals sprouted from its stigma which watched them from a cute, almost emoticon-like face. Lily gasped in surprise upon seeing it, Frisk looked up at her in confusion.
"The flower has a face…" She sighed. Frisk turned to where her eyes led and saw nothing.
"Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower!" The chirpy voice caused Frisk to jump. The sentient flower giggled slightly at this reaction.
"He- hello?" Frisk says in the direction of the voice.
"Hmm… You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?" Flowey guessed, and Frisk wasn't sure whether or not he should confirm that. "Golly, you must be sooo confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do."
The flower winked, and stuck out a little green tongue. Frisk wasn't quite sure how to respond, so he turned to Lily.
"Um, Lily…?" He began, looking up toward the girl who continued to watch the flower. "I don't-"
"Hey, who are you talking to?" The flower said, its expression reforming into one of confusion. "You're a weird kid… guess it's a good thing I'm here. Ready?"
Frisk's confusion was quickly replaced by a gasp as an unpleasant sensation washed over him. A pull against his chest, like something was being drawn from his body against his will. He stumbled back slightly when his eyes fell upon a red glow pulsing before him. A bright red heart-like shape sat level with his chest, the pulse timed perfectly with his own heartbeat. He looked up, and it was only then that he saw the flower, its features monochrome against a field of nothing. Lily also seemed to notice this as she managed to tear her eyes away from the talking flower and stare at him.
"Wait… isn't that?" She began, recognizing the image of the heart.
"See that heart?" Flowey said, his face a constant smile. "That's your SOUL. The very culmination of your being."
"My SOUL…?" Frisk repeated. He'd heard of the concept of the SOUL on the surface, but it was always treated as little more than speculation. They're real…?
"That's right!" Flowey chirped in that saccharine tone. "Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."
"LV?" Frisk asked. Lily shrugged. "What's that?"
"Why, LOVE, of course!" He said excitedly. "You want some LOVE, don't you?"
Frisk stopped himself before saying 'yes'. Something about this felt wrong… this flower's overly kind demeanor felt somehow hollow to him. It was unlike the honest kindness he'd felt from Lily… where he'd felt a sense of warmth and belonging. Here there was nothing, words and sounds yes, but no feeling. It reminded him of a few people he'd known on the surface… those people who acted nice only until they got what they wanted. It worried him.
"Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" He said sweetly, his stigma shifting to wink at Frisk again. Frisk felt the crackle of energy as five white seed-like objects fanned out from Flowey's petals, spinning like tops in the air above him. "Down here, LOVE is shared through… little white… 'friendliness pellets.'"
The hesitation in the flower's voice only made Frisk even more nervous. Flowey didn't seem to notice the reluctance in the human's expression as he continued to smile sunnily at him. Above him, the 'friendliness pellets' continued to spin, suspended in the air by his magic.
"Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!" He said and the pellets began to move.
They flew slowly through the air toward Frisk's pulsing SOUL. Magic hummed in the air and he was unsure what to do. He noticed too late that Lily had stepped ahead of him. She drifted toward the pellets, a smile on her face. Frisk reached out toward her even as she reached for one of the spinning projectiles. It slipped through her fingers and spun toward Frisk who stepped around it. She frowned briefly before reaching for another.
"Lily, don't!" Frisk called to her.
"Come on, Frisk!" She giggled. "He's a flower! Flowers are good, remember? They saved you!"
"But Lily-"
Frisk's argument was cut off as one of the so-called friendliness pellets struck his companion in the back. The spinning seed tore through her spectral form and emerged from her stomach. A cry of pain echoed through the chamber as she doubled over, clutching her abdomen and crumpling to her knees.
"No!" Frisk called out, rushing toward her.
Three more pellets flew in their direction; one of them passing dangerously close to Lily's neck… the other two wouldn't miss. Frisk grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her to the left, managing to narrowly avoid the magical projectiles. While Frisk could never be called strong, Lily's feather-light form offered no resistance and followed his movements without effort. When at last they stopped she collapsed again, and Frisk immediately noticed that while she was once floating, he body had descended to the ground. Whatever had once kept her aloft now no longer had the strength to do so. She looked up at him with eyes blurred with tears.
It was then that he saw it… a long band of energy hovering above her colored in yellow and red, almost like the line of an EKG. The amount of yellow was dangerously low…
"Hey buddy, you missed them…" Flowey said, he seemed annoyed. "Don't worry, they won't hurt you! Let's try again."
Frisk was appalled. Did the damned flower not even realize what he'd done? He was acting like Lily wasn't even there… like hadn't nearly killed her! He backed away from his companion and turned toward the flower just as he launched another salvo of pellets in his direction. Frisk knew now what the flower was trying to do, and he wasn't about to let any of those pellets touch either him or Lily. He stepped away from the pellets that drifted toward him, using his stick to bat away one that came close to his friend. It didn't seem like Flowey could see her, so Frisk moved further away, hoping to draw the flower's attention away from her position.
"Is this a joke? Are you brain-dead?" Flowey said, his expression growing more and more aggravated by the minute. "RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS- er, friendliness pellets!"
That sealed it. Another wave of bullets flew at Frisk, faster this time but he was easily able to dodge them without having to worry about Lily getting hit. He glared at the flower through his nearly-closed eyes, who at this point seemed to have had enough. Flowey's smile twitched and then shifted into a grotesque fanged image, abandoning all pretense of kindness. Frisk felt his blood run cold.
"You know what's going on here, don't you?" He said, his voice deepened into a sinister reverb. "You just wanted to see me suffer."
At that moment a ring of bullets surrounded Frisk from all sides. Magic hummed around him, almost deafening to the ears as dozens of deadly projectiles hung ominously in the air around his body.
"DIE!" Flowey shouted.
At once, the ring of magic began to close around Frisk, moving with agonizing slowness as if to draw out his final moments. Flowey's face shifted into a disturbingly vague image of a humanoid head, and from that head was loosed a howling cackle. Frisk stepped away from one arc of bullets, and felt the buzz of magic on his back, adjusting himself just before the ones behind him managed to shred into his SOUL.
"Frisk…" He heard Lily's voice as the bullets closed in, blocking any and all means of escape.
And then they vanished. Flowey looked at the boy in confusion. Frisk looked back, his expression a mirror of the flower's own.
"How in the-"
Flowey's question was interrupted as he was suddenly knocked away by a burst of fire – crimson to the world but ghostly white to Frisk – from seemingly out of nowhere. He hissed and looked in the direction the fire had come from, his petals blackened from the attack. Then his eyes widened and he immediately retreated beneath the earth.
Frisk blinked in confusion and followed the line of his gaze until he saw what the flower had. Another creature stood nearby, glaring at the place Flowey had been moments before. It was tall, garbed in a robe emblazoned with a strange heraldic image: a winged, spherical figure hovering over three triangles, the lowest of which was inverted. Like Flowey, Frisk could see the new arrival clearly, though the violet of her robes was bleached to his sight. Nevertheless, he was taken aback by its appearance. It resembled something similar to a goat, with two small horns upon its head, and long floppy ears. The fur covering its body seemed white as fresh snow, and a long muzzle ended in a pair of small pointed fangs.
"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth…" The creature said disdainfully, in a voice that was distinctly female before her eyes fell on Frisk. He saw her expression soften into a gentle smile as his sight fell away once more.
What's the first thing you do upon starting a new game of Undertale?
Name the Fallen Human…
We had a bit of a thought as to why you're given the ability to name the human despite the fact that they have a 'true name'. Then we figured "wouldn't it be cool to translate that into the story?" That's why the first human is going to be using the name 'Lily' for now. Now if you're a 'purest', don't worry. There's a plot-based reason for this decision. If it wasn't clear from the title, names are going to be an important theme in this story.
Next chapter we'll be meeting everyone's favorite Goat Mom.