Chapter 1 - The Ruins


Foreword: The following is an AU that has a personal interpretation of how things in Undertale like magic can operate, as well as my understanding of the game's lore. If I make an error or take artistic liberty to explain what has not been explained, like the CORE or GASTER, consider it an aspect of the AU. Additionally, this may contain spoilers for the game Undertale, if you're not aware of how things go in the game and don't want spoilers, then don't say I didn't warn you.


POV: Human. Age 30. Male. Brown Eyes. Short Black Hair, Hispanic, Filipino and Portuguese descent. Attire: Black Leather Duster, woodland camouflage T-shirt, black cargo pants, black tactical boots, black flat cap, black rectangular glasses.


The human rubbed their head, looking up and seeing the bed of flowers they fell face-first into. He sighed, picking up his hat and looking up, the little light he could see illuminating the flowers was bright, though not blindingly so. He was a bit amazed at the height.

"I survived that? Really?" he said to himself.

He dusted off his clothes and fixed the hat straight. He inspected the flowers he fell in, recognizing them as Golden Flowers, not to be confused with Buttercup Flowers, one makes delectable tea, the other is deadly poison.

Looking up he drew a revolver from his duster, he then said to himself "Even if I could climb back up, the Barrier would stop me from getting out entirely. Those villagers are insane if they think they'll get away with what they've done. The city has to know about their cult."

He checks the ammo in his revolver, six rounds of .45 Colt. he holsters it in his duster, concealed presently. Walking to the exit he mutters something. "I'll get justice, I swear it."


Reaching the next room, there was a crack of sunlight and a small patch of grass, a golden flower basked in the sun, alone.

The human walked up to the flower and noticed, it had a face.

"Howdy! I'm Flowey, the flower! Golly you must be new here! It's been so long since I've seen a grown up human!" said the flower.

The human was silent, in disbelief that the flower was talking.

"Do I have a concussion or something?" the human said to himself. Flowey snickered and said "You must be stupid or something! Don't you recognize a Monster when you see one?" The Human chuckled and replied "Monster? I guess the old tales are true then. I'm Ray Zenji."

Flowey kept that smile ever present, saying "I see. Nice to meet you! I suppose since you're new here, I should show you the ropes!"

The landscape faded, the background became outlined with green lines and Flowey was in black and white, as was Ray.

Flowey spoke, saying "That is yo-"

Ray interrupted, his yellow Soul of Justice shining brightly, he said "What do you take me for? An Idiot? Most people probably wouldn't recognize the Battlespace but I'm one of those few determined enough to make use of it."

Flowey chuckled, not in a friendly way, it was more of a evil snicker as his facial expression changed to reflect his tone of voice.

"Then I don't have to explain the obvious do I? Down here, it's kill or be killed!"

White flower petal magic bullets formed in a circle around Ray, closing in slowly on his SOUL as Flowey laughed with a wicked tone, Ray merely smiled and ducked, only for the bullets to adjust to his position, Ray scoffed and charged forward at Flowey.

"Huh?" flowey was caught off guard, this human didn't play by the rules, no matter, Flowey adjusted the magic so the bullets no longer followed the human, resulting in Ray's SOUL impacting some of the pellets.

Flowey checked the Human after this, a bit shocked to see their LV at 40 and their HP as a result was 155/188.

Ray spoke, saying "This is why I only pull others into this space when I have to. It's so much easier to take down your opponent in real time. I'll be nice and give you one chance to surrender."

Before Flowey could reply, a fireball came from the side, knocking him out of the battlespace, ending the fight.

Flowey cursed in a language Ray was not familiar with and fled into the ground.

Ray turned first to the source of the fireball. A large Goat like Monster stood before him.

"What a horrible creature, tormenting people like that! I am terribly sorry and I hope this has not soured your opinion of monsters immediately. I'm Toriel, Caretaker of the Ruins." said the monster.

Ray nodded and smiled, replying "Don't worry, I never judge based on first impressions and I'm not one to hold a grudge. I'm Ray Zenji." he held out his hand to shake, Toriel recognized the gesture and shook his hand, a calm smile on her face.

"Pleased to meet you." said Toriel. Ray nodded and Toriel waved her hand with a slight green light about it, healing Ray's injuries. Ray then spoke, saying "I, don't suppose there are six or seven other humans down here who could help me out with the barrier?"

Toriel's face seemed, regretful for a moment, she spoke in a manner as to try and change to topic. "I-I am sorry, not that I am aware of-"

Ray interrupted, drawing his pistol after stepping back and saying "You're a terrible liar, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself." Toriel was a bit shocked at how intuitive the human was, as well as how quick he was to violence, she paused, checked Ray and her face became shocked, then her expression went cold, she said "Have you come to slaughter us all?" in a serious manner. Ray sighed and replied "No, I don't approve of genocide, even if one or several of your kind have killed the missing children, I cannot hold your entire race responsible for that. Only those who did the deed or assisted in it. Please answer me honestly, there were reports of seven missing children for a few years now, all up here in Mt. Ebbot. I was hired to find out what was going on and if any of them survived, bring them back to the city. The last one to disappear was an eight year old boy named Frisk. I learned some, unsettling things about the village on the surface nearest to the mountain, suffice it to say, I don't expect to find them alive, but it would be nice if they were."

Toriel sighed and replied "I am sorry. There is only one human child alive down here, they have left some time ago, despite my warnings and efforts to keep them here." Ray nodded and said "And the other six?"

Toriel had a grim look on her face and said "Follow me, please."


Toriel led Ray through the ruins, the puzzles were easy enough to bypass as Toriel was used to the ruins by now, occasionally a Froggit or another small monster would approach, but a firm gaze from Toriel would cause them to flee.

Ray had by now holstered his weapon, but kept his hand on the grip, ready to draw again if necessary, upon entering Toriel's Home, she spoke, saying "Eight humans had come before you. It is best I start at the beginning, but it is a long story, would you care for some tea?" Ray nodded and leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on Toriel.

Ray followed Toriel up to the kitchen as she prepared some tea, Ray kept an eye on her as she prepared it, having a bit of patience, Golden Flower tea Ray recognized the scent. After a careful smelling of the tea when handed to him after the two entered the living room, he drank from it, knowing how to discern between golden flower and buttercup scents.

Toriel seemed slightly offended and said "I think I know enough to avoid mistaking Golden Flowers for Buttercups. I may be an old lady but I am not senile yet." Ray chuckled and replied "If anything consider it a compliment, not very many people would know how to prepare a poisoned buttercup flower tea, in most cases the cooking process changes the poison's chemicals into harmless ones, unless certain additives are placed to increase the chemical resistance to temperature by bonding with them." Toriel was a bit taken aback by his knowledge on poison and remembered his Level of Violence, she then said "Forgive me for asking but, is that how your level of violence has been raised so high?"

Ray shook his head and replied "I'd be lying if I said I never used poison, but I prefer firearms, swift, painless if you hit them in the right place, dead before they even hit the ground. All my kills were justified, well, most of them, the others..." he paused.

"Well I won't be so easily deceived like that again, that much I can promise." he continued. Toriel nodded and Ray said "Start at the beginning."

And Toriel told the story of the first human to fall into the underground. Chara. At the time, Asriel Dreemur, the son of Toriel and Asgore Dreemur, helped the young girl, eventually the two became best friends as well as being adoptive siblings. Toriel knew but never spoke of the screams however, Chara's nightmares, at first, they thought Chara was just traumatized at being trapped down here, but eventually they realized whenever humans were mentioned, Chara's expression was filled with hate. Toriel paused after explaining this, Ray nodded and said "That lines up with what I found out from the village. That cult has a history of abuse, but they conceal it well, I wonder if I'm the first person they've tried to kill to cover up their dirty secrets."

Toriel nodded and said "I would imagine they must be the descendants of the humans who fought us in the war, what little Chara told us seemed to suggest this much. My story however is not yet finished." Ray nodded and said "Sorry, please continue."

Toriel continued, getting lost in a few fond memories before bringing up the dreaded incident she recalled, how Chara became ill, how Asriel took her soul to cross the barrier and fulfill her last wish, to see the flowers of her village one last time. How he was killed by them, they had assumed he killed Chara. That he refused to fight back, how after losing Chara, losing Asriel as well had been too much, she explained how Asgore declared war on humanity, fueled by grief and rage, how he had taken the souls of the other children who fell down into the underground.

Ray had finished his tea and nodded, saying "I see. Then forgive me but I must take my leave as quickly as possible, if what you say is true, I have, to."

Ray felt some kind of, slowing effect and held his head briefly, Toriel looked puzzled and asked "Are you ok?"

Ray nodded and stood up slowly, saying "Yes, might have been the fall. I should get moving, I need to find Frisk and keep them safe." Toriel nodded and said "Of course, I understand. Please though, could you make me a promise?" Ray looked at her and said "Depends, what is it you wish to ask of me?"

Toriel had a serious look on her face as she said "Please, if you can, spare any monsters you encounter. They do not truly wish to harm others, but desperation is a powerful motivator, also, monsters can easily access the Battlespace, this is out preferred method of attack, and often we battle eachother to show off our magical attack patterns, as we are monsters, there is no risk of injury as without any intent to harm, magic can do no damage."

Ray nods and said "That matches the historical records. I can promise to spare those that I can, but if given no choice, you must understand I have a right to self defense." Toriel nodded and said "I understand this much, I only ask that it be a last resort." Ray nodded and replied "Of course. I can promise that."

Toriel smiled and said "Thank you, I will show you the way to Snowdin then. Do understand, I will not follow past the first door, I do not wish to see Asgore again or worse, if it is already too late, I would rather not..." Ray put his hand on her shoulder, saying nothing, the two understood eachother briefly and Toriel wiped her eyes as they teared up, she led Ray to the exit.


Exiting the first door, Ray came across another patch of grass, Flowey appeared again.

Ray gave a grin and said "You're lucky I just promised a nice old lady I wouldn't kill unless forced to. So don't force my hand flower."

Flowey laughed and replied "You must mean that old hag, Toriel. She's naive, just like you, just like the new kid! Oh golly you should have heard their screams as they got torn to shreds!"

Ray quickly drew and aimed his pistol, faster than Flowey could even keep track of visually, Flowey winked and said "Oh don't worry, it didn't happen! Not in this timeline anyway!" Ray replied "Don't toy with me. Where is Frisk?" Flowey snickered and replied "They're fine! They can RESET, SAVE and LOAD afterall!"

Ray had a puzzled look.

Flowey smirked and said "Oh you don't know about that do you? Boy you are such an idiot! Well at least I don't have to worry too much about you, you aren't the most determined person down here, so you can't RESET, that means I only need to kill you once."

A loud gunshot echoed as Ray discharged his firearm, however flowey was faster than the bullet and ducked out of the way, appearing to the right after popping back up again. Flowey winked as Ray cocked the hammer back, Flowey spoke, saying "Missed me! Don't worry, you'll get your chance soon enough. For now, I better go check on the kid as afterall, watching them get killed when all they want to do is show mercy is too fun to pass up! Catch you later idiot!"

Flowey again fled underground. Ray sighed and holstered the firearm, walking forward again, taking out the spent cartridge and replacing it with a fresh one before putting the gun away.

"Next time use the shotgun." he said to himself, opening the door, feeling the cold breeze of Snowdin's outskirts, he buttoned up his duster and pulled out a crimson red scarf from his satchel and wrapped it around his neck, good thing he was dressed for the cold.


To be continued...