Disclaimer: I in no way, shape, or form own Undertale. The world and characters of Undertale belong to their creator Toby Fox; I merely borrowed them for non-profit entertainment purposes. However, I do claim ownership to the cover art and words below. Please enjoy.

Part 1

The Human

Chapter 1

Gold surrounded her. Golden flower petals engulfed her, swallowing her in their sweet embrace. Golden sunlight rained down, entering from the hole in the mountain from which she fell.

Forcing her achy body to sit upright, the child took in her surroundings. As to be expected from inside a mountain, there wasn't much to see. Rocks, rocks, and more rocks. She looked down. The golden flowers, as well as their green leaves, where the only signs of life. The greenery was thick and deep. Even after she rose to her feet, the flowers stopped at her waist.

They must have broken her fall.

Another moment of observation revealed no way out from which she came, but there was a path to an ancient-looking doorway. The child forced one foot in front of the other, her heart racing in her chest. Narrow was the pathway, darkness growing as she traveled further inside Mt. Ebott.

She didn't know what she expected when she climbed the mountain, but this wasn't it.

Past the doorway, the child held her breath at the sight of a lone flower. She approached it only so closely before her feet, without warning, became like lead. As odd as it was that this golden flower wasn't with the others, that wasn't what made the child stop where she stood. What forced her to halt was that the flower had a face.

"Howdy!" the floral greeted, its tone cheerful and welcoming. "I'm Flowey. Flowey the flower! Heeheehee. . . ."

The child gulped, lost for words. She couldn't figure it out, but something about this flower's friendliness didn't feel right. This wasn't right.

"You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?" Flowey asked. The child's only answer was a stiff nod. "Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"

Then, without warning, everything went dark. The child couldn't explain it, but something about what was going on didn't feel . . . there. Before the child floated a little red heart, levitating so near the child could reach out and touch it if she wanted.

"See that heart?" Flowey asked despite the child staring at the subject. "That is your soul, the very culmination of your being!"

My . . . soul? It looked so delicate, so fragile, as if it would break into tiny little pieces at any minute.

"Your soul starts off weak," Flowey continued, "but can grow strong if you gain a lot of Love. You want some Love, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!"

The flower winked. The blackness faded away, and the flower and child were back amidst the ruins. The heart vanished with the blackness.

"Down here, Love is shared through . . . little white . . . 'friendliness pellets.'" The little white pellets the flower described now floated around the plant. "Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!"

The child couldn't move as the pellets hurled towards her. It was as if her shoes were nailed to the floor. She didn't have to move around to try to get as many as possible – they were all shooting straight for her.

When they hit, burning pain soared through every fiber of her being. They sliced through skin and pierced into her body. Blood began to flow freely. Crying out in pure agony, the child fell to her hands and knees. Droplets of tears and blood fell to the ground below.

"You idiot."

Despite the fiery pain that demanded she not move, the child tilted her head up. She sucked in a breath. Flowey no longer looked friendly. His face had changed from something innocent to a sight of terror. With a wide, sharp-toothed grin, Flowey stared at the child with murderous joy in his eyes.

"In this world," he went on to say, "it's kill or be killed. Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?!" More pellets rose from the ground and circled the child.

Her heart caught in her throat. One more hit like the first, and there would be no hope of survival. "Please," she whispered, though she didn't know what she was asking.

With black eyes and a crooked smile, all Flowey had to say was, "Die." He crackled as the pellets slowly came towards her, finishing the job.

"Please," the child whispered again, now knowing what she wanted. To be spared was too much to hope for, but there would be mercy in a quick death. However, it seemed the evil flower had no interest in mercy.

The child squeezed her eyes shut as she awaited her miserable end. Flowey's laughter would be the last thing she ever heard. Fear would be the last thing she ever felt.

I don't want to die. The child thought. She gritted her teeth. I won't die.

Filled with determination, the child pushed herself to her feet. The pellets continued to close in. Flowey kept laughing. There was no way of escape, but the child was filled with too much hope to give up.

Just as the pellets were about to sear what was left of her, they disappeared as suddenly as they came. The child looked at Flowey to see why he stopped, but the flower was just as confused as she. Before he could say anything, a fireball shot from behind and knocked the flower to the back of the room, and the child snapped her head in the direction Flowey flew. The child gulped as she slowly turned back around. Whatever was strong enough to so easily get rid of Flowey was bound to be far worse.

What stepped forward was a white monster taller than any adult the child had ever seen. The monster had a goat-like face, long ears, and small horns on the top of its head. Its fur was pure white, like snow freshly fallen from the night before, and it wore a blue dress with white sleeves and a symbol on the breast.

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. . . ." the monster said, its voice deep, feminine, and surprisingly kind.

"Ah, do not be afraid, my child," the monster now said, her eyes on the human before her. "I am Toriel, protector of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time." Toriel said that last part with a hint of sadness in her motherly voice. She then perked up. "Come! I will guide you through the catacombs."

Offering her hand, Toriel smiled at the small child. The child, afraid and injured and not knowing where else to go or what else to do, reached for the furry fingers. As Toriel's hand closed around the child's, she whispered, "Thank you."

Toriel smiled. "And what is your name, my child?"

"Frisk." The child looked hard at Toriel. "My name is Frisk."

"What a wonderful name," Toriel replied.

Frisk didn't notice it at first, but hanging from Toriel's neck was a locket. The red heart made itself at home on Toriel's breast, yet something about it saddened Frisk. It was almost as if there was a tragic tale to the insignificant piece of jewelry that called out to Frisk, only she was unable to hear it.

"Do you ever feel as if you're ready for something new?" Frisk asked as she lay swallowed inside the mass of golden flowers. The sunlight, falling through the hole in the mountain, warmed her with its sweet embrace. "Do you just feel yourself craving change so badly, yet at the same time you don't know what kind of change you're hungry for?"

Holding her hands out in front of her, Frisk studied her long fingers. Brown skin, chocolate eyes, and even darker hair – sometimes she felt out of place in the purple ruins with its predominately white monsters.

"I have lived here for eight years," she continued, "and I have always felt content. Until recently, that is." She turned her head so that she faced whom she spoke to. "What do you think?"

The Froggit stared unblinking at Frisk. "Ribbit," it eventually croaked before jumping away.

"Of course," Frisk muttered. She shook her head before returning her attention to the hole she fell through as a child, forever trapping her underneath Mt. Ebott. Legend had it that any human who climbed the mountain was never seen again, which was the reason Frisk climbed the mountain that day so long ago. Of all the things she expected, monsters living underground was the last thing that would have ever crossed her mind. Now this was her home.

"Frisk?"

Sitting up, Frisk responded to the voice that called out to her. "Yes, Mom?"

Toriel approached Frisk, a warm smile on her face. "You have been gone for too long, my child," the white monster told her human daughter. "Do not think you can get away from your studies. There is still work to be done before dinner."

"Sorry." Frisk rose to her feet and picked up her backpack, which was carelessly tossed to the side. "I lost track of time, but I did finish my math problems before I began daydreaming."

"As long as you didn't neglect your studies." Toriel turned. "Now come. It will be night soon, and I don't want either of us staying up later than necessary."

There was no hesitation in Frisk to obey her adopted mother. She trusted Toriel more than she trusted anyone, even her own self. If Toriel told Frisk to do something, no matter how strange or difficult it might be, Frisk believed with all her heart Toriel meant it for Frisk's own benefit.

As she followed Toriel, Frisk noticed something odd about her mom. Around Toriel's neck was the red heart locket Frisk had only seen her wear two other times. The last time she had seen Toriel with the locket, Toriel appeared ashamed to be caught wearing it. Something about that locket had to do with the secrets Toriel hid. Frisk had asked questions here and there as a child but soon gave up when she saw how asking them really hurt her new mother. In moments such as this, Frisk wondered if she should ask again now that she was older, or if she should just accept that she shall never, ever know the bits of Toriel's past that continued to haunt the monster.

Frisk decided the latter. If there was ever a time to ask, it was not now. Maybe one day she will learn the whole truth, but that day was not today. For now, her focus would be on trying to convince her mother of something she had been trying to tell Toriel for years.

"These puzzles are so easy, I can do them with my eyes closed," she told Toriel as she covered her eyes and walked along the spike floor. She sensed Toriel turn around and watch in horror as Frisk did just that without making a single mistake. When Frisk opened her eyes, she felt a little pride in seeing Toriel trying to not look impressed.

"That's because you have walked through here nearly every day for years," Toriel replied as she shook her head. "Of course the puzzles would be easy for you now, but remember how difficult they were when you first came here? Definitely not eyes-closed simple, I would say."

"Heh-heh." Frisk looked away, finding the walls suddenly interesting.

The first time she walked through the Ruins, Toriel left Frisk behind after testing the child's independence. Although she learned shortly after that Toriel did so in order to prepare her home for the new addition, Frisk still deemed those moments the scariest she had since coming to the Underground. She tried to journey the Ruins herself, and almost cried a time or two at how difficult some of the puzzles were. However, her tears were those of frustration – she always liked puzzles for as long as she could remember, but they lose their charm when one is surrounded by monsters and is trying to get away as quickly as possible. She found the way to Toriel's home eventually, but not without new cuts and bruises from monsters who saw her as a threat.

"If the puzzles were hard for you the first time," Toriel continued, both with the conversation and with her trek home, "they would be hard for anyone new. There's no sense in changing them if the only purpose in doing so is to give you a challenge."

"But didn't you say that I should challenge myself?" Frisk asked, jogging until she was walking side-by-side with Toriel. "Didn't you used to tell me that if I wasn't being challenged, then I wasn't learning; and if I wasn't learning, then I wasn't growing? 'You don't want a plant to stay within a small pot,' you would say. 'You want the plant to grow into a tree large enough for birds and squirrels to build their nests in.'"

Toriel laughed. "Do you really remember my telling you all that?"

"You had to say something to convince me to finish my homework no matter how hard I found it." Frisk grinned. "So, is that a yes in remodeling the puzzles?"

"No."

"Would you at least think about it?"

Again, Toriel shook her head. They went through the puzzle in which they needed to fall through the floor and take the stairs to the other side of the trap. When they emerged from below ground, Toriel answered, "I don't know why you are so insistent on this, but if you truly like puzzles so much, then I will let you design blueprints for the possible replacements."

Frisk's eyes lit up. "Do you really mean it?"

"Of course, my child." Toriel looked away. "Of course."

Noticing the frown upon Toriel's face, Frisk reached out and took her mother's hand. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, my child." Toriel squeezed Frisk's fingers. "You're just growing up so fast. I don't know how much longer it will be until I lose you."

"You won't lose me. I'm always going to be your daughter."

"Yes, you always will be my daughter," Toriel agreed, "but I can sense you're growing restless. Tell me, Frisk, do you desire to leave the Ruins?"

The question had caught Frisk off guard. Once, back when she first fell, she had asked Toriel how to leave the Ruins. Toriel merely dodged the question, and Frisk found herself soon giving up and never again speaking of it. There was nothing for her to return to, so it didn't make sense for Frisk to attempt returning to where she came. She found a mother in Toriel – a family she never knew she wanted and didn't desire to leave now that she found it. She used the time to push the rock onto the leaver to drop the spikes to think about her answer.

"I don't know what I want, to tell you the truth," Frisk replied as she and Toriel came to the second cracked floors puzzle. They got through this puzzle without a single incident. "Maybe I do want to leave, but I can't see myself doing so."

Frisk shook her head. "I'm not going to leave. I won't. There's nothing for me out there."

Toriel didn't answer right away. Instead she sighed, her shoulders dropping and her head lowering. "I can't protect you forever," she whispered so quietly that Frisk was certain that she was not meant to hear.

Instead of asking for an explanation, Frisk allowed the rest of the journey home to remain in silence. Toriel acted as if one in deep thought, and Frisk found herself resisting the urge to turn around to see who was following them. Although she could not explain it, Frisk knew that she and Toriel were not taking this walk alone.

It happened three days later. Frisk had returned from her trip to the beginning of the Ruins early. As she set her backpack down by the door, she called out, "Mom? Mom, where are you?"

No answer. Frisk shrugged it off. While Frisk took her daily trips, Toriel took her own. Toriel's absence was nothing to worry about, even if these trips used to scare Frisk a lot when she was younger and didn't like to be left alone.

Pulling her collarbone length hair into a high ponytail secured with the white ribbon Toriel had given Frisk for her birthday the year before, Frisk began to take out ingredients from the fridge in hopes of surprising Toriel with a homecooked meal upon her return. She searched the kitchen for Toriel's cookbook, but it was nowhere to be found. Frisk checked the bookshelves in the cozy sitting room, but the collection of recipes wasn't there either.

As she tied her apron around her waist, Frisk made her way to Toriel's room. It was the only place left she could think of to search for the book. If she could not find it, Frisk hoped that she could remember the measurements of the ingredients correctly.

Frisk knocked in case Toriel really was home and simply had not heard Frisk announce her arrival. The lack of response was Frisk's permission to enter. As she expected, the cookbook was on Toriel's desk, opened to a blank page as a pen rested in the spine. Her mother loved collecting new recipes, but she had a bad habit of writing them down before trying it out to decide whether or not she and Frisk actually liked the food.

The book was in Frisk's hands for only a second before she set it back down. There, by the edge of the desk, was the red locket she had seen so few times but always remembered. It was the first time Frisk had ever seen it not around Toriel's neck, and it might be the only time she would get to look at it.

After looking down the hallway to make sure Toriel had not yet returned, Frisk reached out to take the locket. Her fingers hovered over the jewelry for a moment before she pushed herself to pick it up. The locket was cool to the touch and was about the size of Frisk's palm. Half a minute of inspection revealed that the locket was meant to be worn by a child. It was red with the words Best Friends Forever etched in gold, and it didn't appear to be made of any precious material.

"Why would she hold onto this?" Frisk wondered aloud as she imagined a younger Toriel having a best friend she lost sometime between childhood and adulthood. It may have been her imagination, but as Frisk wrapped her fingers around the locket and held it close to her, she could feel it beating as if it were alive.

Frisk was about to set it down, but she stopped with the heart locket hovering above the desk. For reasons she couldn't describe, the desire to wear the locket overcame her. Like any little girl presented with jewelry, cheap or otherwise, the impulse to put it on hit her strongly. It was a silly reason to try on the mysterious necklace, but Frisk knew she might not get the chance again.

Using up more willpower than one would have thought, Frisk threw the locket's chain around her neck and let the locket rest on her breast. Suddenly it felt heavy, and the beating became more noticeable. Frisk passed the feelings off as paranoia, choosing to instead study in the mirror how the locket looked on her. Reaching up to hold the locket in her hand, Frisk wondered why Toriel kept such a useless necklace hidden away all these years.

"You're the child that monster replaced me with?"

Heart skipping a beat, Frisk let the locket fall back onto her chest and spun around so fast that she nearly toppled over. A scream built up inside her, but it was caught in the lump that appeared in her throat. There was a boy in Toriel's room. A human boy.

His piercing hazel eyes were the first thing Frisk noticed. The boy looked to be only a little older than she, but he glared at her with a hatred too intense for someone her age. He had pale skin, bright pink cheeks, and light brown hair coming to his chin. The outfit he wore was ebony pants, gray shoes, and a dark blue sweater with a dark gray stripe running horizontally through the middle.

For a moment, the two stared at each other, studying each other. Frisk had to make conscious efforts to remember how to breathe.

When the boy didn't make any move of attack, Frisk swallowed her racing heart and asked, "Who are you?"

Grinning like a cat about to capture its prey, the human calmly answered, "Greetings, Frisk. I am Chara."