The Adventure Begins

And Chapter 3 is now up! I know it's a bit shorter than the others, but I hope you guys enjoy!

...

Ralsei gently closed the door behind them as they stepped onto a violet colored path in a forest full of red trees. Frisk could hear animal cries in the distance, but they sounded like nothing she heard in her world, and it was unnerving. She was glad to have Ralsei with her. She hit the star on the other side of the door just to be safe, and they continued on quietly.

When the forest cleared, they found themselves in a grassy field, the grass a bright violet just like the path.

"I heard this place is called the Field Of Hopes And Dreams." Ralsei told her.

Frisk nodded. "Pretty name. A bit long though." She then saw a sign on the path and walked over to check it out. "Enemies ahead! You're gonna die! Signed, Lancer." She sighed. "Wonderful."

"We'll be okay. We have each other!" Ralsei said encouragingly.

Frisk took a deep breath and walked ahead with him. Immediately, she spotted a green and white sluglike being carrying a tiny sword. It immediately charged at them.

"They're a Rudinn. They're low level fighters from the Card Castle." Ralsei whispered to her.

Frisk didn't have time to ask anything else as the Rudinn shot diamond shaped bullets all around them. Thankfully, they were slow and pretty easy to dodge.

"Ralsei, I'm gonna talk to them. Cover me!" Frisk requested and Ralsei nodded and threw his scarf between them and the enemy like a shield.

Frisk took a deep breath and looked the Rudinn in the eyes. "Hey, stop fighting us! We're not your enemies!"

"Okay, that makes sense." the Rudinn said and slithered off, dropping some coins behind them.

Well, that was anticlimactic. Frisk thought to herself as she picked up the coins.

"We did it, Frisk! We won our first battle!" Ralsei cheered.

"Wasn't expecting them to listen to us so easily, but I'm glad they did." Frisk said as she divided up the coins and handed half to Ralsei.

He shook his head with a reassuring smile, gently pushing her hand back. "No, you can keep it. If we find some shops ahead, we can use it to buy some healing items, so we probably should combine our funds."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Of course."

Frisk finally nodded and put it in her pocket before heading forward. She saw another sign up ahead and read it. "If you're reading this... I guess you're dead. Signed Lancer again." She shrugged. "He's...an interesting kid."

They continued on down the path, thankfully not running into any more enemies. But when they entered the next area, Lancer was standing there casually. Frisk tensed in case he attacked, but he just gave a grin that he was probably intending to be evil but just came out looking mischievous. "Ho, ho, ho... If it isn't my two favorite people. Psyche! You guys aren't even in my top five!"

Ralsei just ignored this. "Lancer! Where's Susie?"

"You mean the purple girl..? Ho ho ho... You fools! You're too late to stop me...!" he cackled.

"What did you do?" Ralsei asked worriedly.

"Did you hurt her?!" Frisk asked angrily.

Lancer looked nervous for a second and then grinned again. "Hahaha.. It was SO simple!" He then looked sheepish. "She beat me up, so I ran away...!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Frisk sighed.

Ralsei seemed to agree with her. "That's a bit anticlimactic...So why are you just standing there? Why didn't you run to the right?"

"Because the purple girl's over there!" Lancer pointed out.

Frisk shook her head at this. "Let's just go get her."

But before they could take more than a few steps, Lancer called out to them. "Hey, if you head that way, my troops will thrash you."

"Is that a threat?" Ralsei asked angrily, puffing himself up. But he was so fluffy and cute that Frisk privately thought he looked as intimidating as a kitten, not that she would ever tell him that.

And Lancer wasn't intimidated either. "I prefer to think of it as an invitation."

Frisk would rather not tangle with an army, but considering she had to find Susie, seal the dumb fountain, and get back to school before Tina got out, she headed forward with Ralsei, holding her sword/shield.

And just as Lancer had predicted, two Rudinns charged at them. But while they might have claimed, "All hail the guy that pays us!" Frisk was able to just as easily convince them as she had the first, and they instantly lost interest in the fight and headed off. Frisk checked Ralsei, who had a few bruises from where he had accidentally misstepped into their attacks.

"Don't worry, I'm fine! I can use Healing Prayer if I get into any trouble." he reassured her.

"Healing Prayer?" Frisk asked him.

"It's a low level healing spell." Ralsei told her. "It takes a little more time to build up my magic to than Pacify does, but I can use it to restore your or my HP."

Frisk grinned. "That's so cool! You're awesome, Ralsei!"

Ralsei smiled shyly and looked at the ground, a slight blush on his cheeks. "Y-You really think so?"

Frisk nodded with an encouraging smile. "Course I do."

"T-Thanks."

But the good mood didn't last. When they reached the next room, a golden monster with a triangular face and body wearing a chef's apron was looking distraught in front of a smashed cake.

Ralsei headed up to him. "Hey. Are you all right, Mr..."

"Mama miba! I'm Topchef!" the monster told them, making a dramatic spin. "My latest cake worked me to exhaustion! So I took a little nap... But Mama miba! A scary noise woke me up! A beast was hunched on the table, eating the cake like an animal! I spritzed it with water, and it hissed and ran off! But, my wonderful cake is..." He buried his face in his hands.

Ralsei turned to Frisk. "Aww, Frisk, that sounds like Susie! We must be going the right way! Let's try to keep her out of any more trouble!"

Frisk sighed. "Ralsei, we don't even know that was Susie."

"It was a terrifying purple crocodile thing with wild hair!" Topchef wailed.

"Okay, that does sound like Susie." Frisk admitted, though silently, she understood why Susie had done it. She didn't think she'd be able to resist a cake sitting so temptingly in the open either.

"M-M-Mama miba! M-M-Mama SHIBA! You know that beast?! Please don't come back..." Topchef pleaded with tears in his eyes.

Frisk apologized, but Topchef just turned away, shaking, and she and Ralsei decided not to stress him out further. They ended up passing the wrecked cake, which was still smoldering, but still looked edible, at least to Frisk. Like Susie, she found she couldn't resist the temptation, though was more subtle about it and stole a massive slice from behind it where Topchef wouldn't see. Hey, he'd probably have to throw it out anyway since it was broken, and there was no need to waste good cake. Plus, it would be a great treat for Tina.

She happily put the cake in her inventory, and was contemplating stealing another slice just to eat, as she was hungry, but then Ralsei's voice cut her off. "Frisk, what are you doing?" He sounded mostly confused, though she felt there was some disapproval in his voice.

Frisk lowered her hand, her cheeks red with shame. Ralsei thought of her as a hero, and now he caught her doing something much less than heroic. She decided not to make it worse by lying. "He was going to have to throw it out anyway. Seemed a shame to waste it." she said quietly, looking down. Ralsei eyed her, but to her surprise and relief, he didn't scold her or push, and the two continued on.

They were immediately stopped by yet another Rudinn and another monster, tall with a green, heart shaped face, small pointed hat, and either a white body or white clothing that covered the rest of them with a heart printed on their chest. They had tentacles like a squid and carried a white scepter with a heart on each end. Ralsei told her they were a Hathy after checking his copy of his manual. Thankfully, both were easy to calm, with Rudinn taking the barest bit of convincing from Ralsei and Hathy immediately softening when Frisk complimented its tentacles. Soon they all went their own ways happy.

"You're doing great, Frisk!" Ralsei congratulated her, then went over to a glowing tree and plucked two black star shaped fruits that glowed softly. "Here! These are Dark Candies! They're really good and they heal HP." He handed her one. It smelled like marshmallows, and she knew Tina would love it. She thanked him and and put it in her bag.

They soon reached another room, one with blue walls, where there were three black tiles, a clock, and a sign on the wall. Sharp spikes blocked the way into the next room, and even though they looked short enough to jump over, Frisk wasn't going to chance a painful landing.

"Check the clock. In order to beat this puzzle, you have to hurry." Frisk read, then went over to check the clock. The boxes started to glow and she and Ralsei hurried to step on them in time. Between the two of them, they quickly solved it, and the spikes went down.

In the next room, there was another Save Star, and Frisk quickly saved before they continued. She then checked the nearby sign. It was once again a sign from Lancer, saying, "Behold the Maze Of Death! Prepare to get LOST, clowns!"

Frisk sighed as they headed through the maze. There was another sign up ahead, presumably Lancer taunting them more, but the much more worrying sight was a blob monster lying dazed on the ground. It looked like someone had clobbered the poor thing. Frisk had the unfortunate feeling that she knew exactly who had done it, though in a way she understood, considering the monsters here kept attacking them.

She scoped the maze as Ralsei used his healing magic on the injured monster. "Heh, it looks like Lancer got himself lost too." she told Ralsei as he returned to her, pointing to Lancer's latest sign. "Crazy kid."

Ralsei nodded as he tried to help her figure out where to go next. His eyes then lit up as they caught sight of a red treasure chest sitting at the end of a small, dead end path. "Hey, Frisk, there's a treasure chest over here." He opened it eagerly, pulling out a lovely white hair ribbon. He checked it and smiled. "This ribbon is armor! It increases defense." When Frisk looked confused, he elaborated. "I know it looks small, but it's got magic runes sewn into it that create a slight magical shield over your body when worn. It doesn't completely block attacks, but it reduces damage if you're hit."

Frisk's eyes shone. "Wow! That's so cool!"

Ralsei nodded with a grin. "I know! Here, put it on! I think it'd look great on you!"

Frisk thanked him and took it, trying to tie it into her hair, fumbling with it a bit. It was easy to tie ribbons in Tina's hair, but with it being her own and not having a mirror to look into, it was more difficult to do by feel.

"Here, I can help." Ralsei offered, and tied it into a bow for her. He then stepped back and admired his handiwork. "There you go! It looks really nice on you!"

"Thanks." Frisk told him, her cheeks heating up a little at the sincere compliment.

When they made their way back across, they spotted another pink blob monster. It looked a bit dazed and confused, but not badly hurt. ""W-woah! Wait a minute! Even if you're my enemy, I've got to warn you! A purple beast is roaming, clobbering anyone who dares block her way...!" He let out a sob. "We don't even like fighting... th-the King left us no choice..."

"O-oh... Frisk, we need to stop Susie, quick!" Ralsei gasped.

"We'll find her." Frisk told him reassuringly, though she had her doubts she could stop an angry, probably frightened Susie from lashing out.

Finally, they found their way out of the maze, where unsurprisingly, Lancer was waiting, having found his way out as well. "Ho ho ho! Somehow, you survived the maze! But don't count your blessings before they hatch...! Let's see how you fare against THIS team!"

He quickly darted aside as a swarm of three Hathys blocked the way. They sent a swirl of bullets around the two, but the bullets didn't even touch them.

Lancer looked shocked. "Hey, why aren't you guys thrashed?! You're totally outnumbered!"

"You made a team purely of Support Enemies." Ralsei explained. "Their bullet patterns aren't balanced at all. It's like a dinner made out of three glasses of milk."

Lancer blinked in confusion. "And that's, um, unusual somehow?" Frisk felt for him. That's what her dinner had consisted of a few days ago, except for it was just one glass of milk.

Ralsei, likely having a more "normal" menu than her or Lancer, sighed. "Why don't we talk about this AFTER the battle?"

Frisk turned to the tense Hathys. "I think you two are really great at supporting your teammates." she said slightly awkwardly, hoping this didn't come across as weird or insincere.

They seemed to be happy about this, smiles and blushes on their cheeks, but her words were nothing when it came to Ralsei's one-liner, and Frisk couldn't blame them as it was adorable. "Out of anyone, I'm glad we randomly encountered all of you."

The three immediately melted at the compliment. Two of them stood back and stopped fighting, though the final one glanced at Lancer and (rather reluctantly it seemed), sent a heart shaped ring of bullets around them that moved slowly at their chests, which both dodged.

Frisk smiled at the remaining Hathy. "We think you're really cool. We don't want to fight."

With that, the final Hathy was swayed and left the fight, dropping coins like the others had. Ralsei grinned as he helped Frisk collect and count them. "Great job, Frisk! We got 0 XP and 84DS!"

"Sweet! How much do I get?" Lancer asked.

Ralsei blinked. "You... lost, Lancer. You don't get any."

Lancer deflated. "Oh." He then brightened, smiling winningly at them. "Can I have some of yours?"

Ralsei glared at him. "No!"

Lancer crossed his arms and pouted. "Fine! Later, losers!"

He then moved a bit further and just stood there.

"I thought you were running away." Ralsei said in confusion.

Lancer shrugged. "Yeah, I finished."

Ralsei sighed. "Let's go, Frisk."

They left the maze and entered a blue hallway with yet another tile puzzle. Frisk and Ralsei tried to solve it, but the tiles lit up too quickly and there were too few of them. They were just about to discuss how to handle it when they heard a familiar voice. "Ugh, open up, you stupid door!"

They immediately turned and caught sight of Susie, standing in front of a stone door and angrily kicking it. "Susie?" Frisk called out hesitantly.

Susie jolted, then turned and groaned. "Oh, great. It's YOU GUYS."

"Susie! We were ever so worried about you!" Ralsei called out in relief. "...um, how'd you get past those spikes before?"

"Walked through 'em." she answered casually and Frisk winced at the very idea. "But this door... Sucks."

"Aww, don't worry, Susie!" Ralsei soothed. "It'll open after we solve the puzzle over there!"

"Sweet. Let me know when you finish it." Susie answered.

Ralsei blinked. "Uh, Susie. We need YOU to finish it. Sometimes, proceeding will take all three of us. Furthermore, only Frisk can seal the Dark Fountain with her human soul. So if you don't accompany us, you won't make it home!"

Susie paused. "...So you're saying I HAVE to stick with you guys."

Ralsei looked adorably smug. "Yep!"

Susie finally walked over to join them, looking annoyed. "Let's just get this over with."

"Yahoo! Susie's back on the team!" Ralsei cheered. Frisk offered Susie a smile, but the other girl just walked at a distance so no one could tell she was associated with them.

Frisk and Ralsei walked back to the puzzle. "Um, Susie, I know you're pretending you don't know us, but we kind of need you a LITTLE closer to solve this puzzle so we can actually get out." Frisk called to her classmate, who was standing as far away as the room let her. Susie glared at her, but sighed and walked up to them. Frisk turned on the clock, and they quickly solved the puzzle.

As they walked back down towards the door, they spotted a tiny round monster shaped like a red checker piece with an adorable puppy face. "Oh, Frisk! I just realized Susie missed the tutorial!" Ralsei whispered. "Next battle, we should show her how to act! I think she might really enjoy that!"

Frisk was honestly starting to doubt that, but nodded. They walked towards the little monster, which Ralsei identified as a C-Round.

"Susie, these monster guys are actually pretty easy to convince. You just need to..." Frisk started, but Susie just charged with her ax.

"Watch out!" both Frisk and Ralsei yelled to the C-Round at the same time. It barely avoided Susie's swing and ran away.

Susie glared at both of them. "What the hell was that for, you guys! Why would you give the ENEMY advice?!"

"So we don't end up accidentally hurting it...?" Ralsei pointed out.

"That's the point, you morons! It attacked US first, so it dies!" Susie yelled.

"But what if the enemy's...nice?" Ralsei asked.

"Susie, a lot of the enemies we ran into were really easily reasoned with." Frisk said gently. "We talked to one of them. They don't even want to fight. The king's making them do it."

"Yeah, but they're still DOING it! You can't just play all nice! Frisk, your HP is crap! You keep this up, you're going to end up running into somebody who takes advantage of you being a pushover and squishes you like a bug! You gotta strike first!" Susie yelled.

"Aww, you're worried about Frisk!" Ralsei cooed.

Susie glared at him. "I am NOT! I just don't want to get blamed for her getting herself killed when I'm not the one to do it!" Still, Frisk noticed that her cheeks had very slightly turned red, showing she knew they had caught her being "soft." She stormed out the door.

Ralsei and Frisk followed. "Oh, Susie, I know you missed what I said earlier. As heroes, we have the power to make a peaceful future. So from now on, let's try to avoid fighting, okay?" Susie just glared at him. Ralsei backpedaled a bit. "Umm, what if you just took it easy on them...? If you weaken an enemy, I can use my Pacify spell, which can put exhausted people to sleep!"

Susie just yawned in distain. "Yeah, you talking is already doing that."

"Well, um, just think about it!" Ralsei said hopefully. Susie just ignored him. Ralsei sighed. "We might need to warn enemies about her, Frisk." he whispered to Frisk.

"I know." Frisk whispered back.

Outside the door, beside a large tent that read "Shop," was another Save Star, shining its brilliant white light. Frisk went over and touched it, letting the magic within flow over herself and her teammates.

Teammates. She had teammates now, and Ralsei was already becoming a good friend. And even Susie, as terrifying as she acted... she had actually sort of been nice to Frisk, and was worried Frisk could get hurt, even if she pretended she didn't care.

The power of fluffy boys and mean girls with a soft side...it filled her with Determination.

...

Please review and let me know what you think!