Kasena - *evil chuckling* ...They're gonna have fun with the next chapter.
Kit - SO! We hope you enjoy this chapter for now. Hint, here's where it starts getting REALLY AU.
Chapter Five
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When Frisk arrived inside the entry hall, Toriel was already waiting for her, hands clasped in front of her as she smiled fondly. "Do you smell that?" She let Frisk sniff the air before she was speaking again, smile widening. "Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here, so I will hold off on the snail pie for tonight." At that, Frisk gave a wrinkle of her nose. She heard about how some weird people ate snails, but... Snail pie?
"Here, I have another surprise for you." At that, Toriel was taking Frisk's hand and gently leading her into a hallway, guiding her down a hall and stopping in front of a door. "This is it!" Opening it, she smiled warmly. "A room of your own. I hope you like it." There was a soft, warm smile as the monster stroked the child's head in a fond motion, smile soft on her face before she was pausing and sniffing the air. "Is something burning...? Um, make yourself at home!"
With that, Toriel was rushing off, leaving Frisk to explore the house at her own leisure. Frisk watched after her for a moment before exploring the room. It was like...another kid had stayed there, before. Maybe a long time ago. There was a box of different shoe sizes, some cool toys of no interest, and a dusty, empty photo frame.
When Frisk left the room, she was rubbing at her eyes and walking past the staircase she saw that led...somewhere. She walked into the sitting room where Toriel was reading by the fireplace. Wandering over to her curiously, she tugged on the older's robe, giving a quiet yawn. "Where's the...the pie?"
"The pie still needs time to cool, little one. Would you like to take a nap while it does so?" Frisk gave a nod, holding her arms out to Toriel. The other smiled and easily picked the child up, walking towards her new bedroom before setting the child down on the bed and kissing her forehead. A sweet gesture of tucking the blankets around Frisk and she was flicking the light off, smiling softly. "Sleep well, my child." The child gave a yawn, rolling over as her eyes closed, already starting to fall asleep.
What felt like moments later and she was in a dark place, body shaking as fear crashed down around her. Just what...she hadn't felt fear like this since- Well, but she had, though, hadn't she? Earlier that day, when that-
"HoWdY, FRIEND! i'M flOWeY tHe FlOWer! HoW abOuT soME FRIENDLINESS PELLETS?!" Blinding gold overtook her vision and shooting pain that filled her to the core, wrapping around her soul and squeezing and she could do nothing as attack after attack came and it was that horrible laughter and-
Frisk shot up in bed, a scream escaping her as she panted, looking around the room in terror before slowly calming down. On the floor, there was a small slice of pie on the ground. Tugging the blanket down with her, she picked at the pie, giving it a small bite, and she felt...much better, actually. Her blanket wrapped around her, she settled down to set on the ground, taking small bites out of the slice.
There was a sudden banging from her door where Toriel had burst into the room, black fire magic swirling around her fists and the monster looking like she was ready to fight hell itself. Frisk, herself, was looking a bit startled at Toriel, holding the plate a bit closer. Toriel only blinked at her, slowly calming down before she was giving a relieved breath, near sagging as she walked over to turn the lamp on, pausing long enough to pat the child's head softly before she was walking out of the room and closing the door gently behind her. Frisk blinked, looking back down at her pie. That was kinda like how her mommy acted whenever she had a nightmare. Thinking about her family again, Frisk was filled with a sense of DETERMINATION. She finished up the pie before standing and going to find Toriel.
Finding the woman reading as if she hadn't moved, the child tugged on her robe. "Up already, I see." There was a pause, Toriel looking a bit shy. "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have somewhere here. There are so many old books I want to share, I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot, and I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you...but I have always wanted to be a teacher. ...Actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising." A slightly stern look that was more teasing than anything. "Still! I am glad to have you living here. Oh, did you want something? What is it?"
The girl frowned, fiddling with her shirt a bit. Toriel was being so nice. Surely she would have told her if she'd seen anyone else, but still... "Have you...seen my parents? Or my brother?" Toriel looked startled, and a bit unsure what to say before she was frowning a bit.
"N- No, my child...I am afraid I have not seen any humans in a very long time, besides you. When...was it that you last saw your brother? And do you perhaps know how old he was?"
"Uh...ten. That was...a week ago? Someone said that they'd never come back from wherever they were. And people never come back from the mountain... I thought they were the same place." Toriel seemed to be filled with sadness, her smile just as sad as she gently picked the girl up and set her in her lap. Another lost child, then...
"No, my child, I have not seen your family. I do not believe your family is here...whenever they went, it was not to the Underground." Still...to leave such an innocent, pure thing behind... How cruel of them. "Um...would you like to hear about this book I am reading? It is called '72 Uses for Snails'. How about it?"
Frisk shook her head. Well then, if they weren't there... "How do I go home?" Toriel frowned at that, looking a touched confused.
"Young one...this is your home now."
Struggling with words for a moment, she tried again. "How do I leave?" Toriel looked to be a bit nervous at that, glancing back to her book.
"Um... How about an exciting snail fact? Did you know that snails have a chainsaw-like tongue called a radula? Interesting, yes?" There was a pause before Frisk was nodding, slipping down from Toriel's lap. Toriel frowned but gave as best a smile as she could. "Well, bother me if you need anything else."
"Okay." Frisk walked back to the entry hall. Looking to the stairs, she tilted her head a bit before walking down them to explore. She seemed to end up in a weird cave type of thing. She only got a few feet in before there was a shadow looming over her, causing her to squeak with fear.
"I think you should play upstairs instead." Toriel sounded a touch worried as she took Frisk's hand, gently leading her back up the stairs and into the entry hall before letting her go. And, yes...yes. Much better. Children were not meant to be down there. Frisk watched as Toriel went back to the living room. Sticking her tongue out in the direction of the woman, she walked back down the stairs, hurrying a bit to see more.
"It is dangerous to play here." Toriel seemed to have taken longer to notice her, but was still here to take her hand and lead her back up, nudging her towards her room. Honestly, such a rambunctious child. And so strange, as she was so much quieter and agreeable, earlier. Frisk gave a huff, running back downstairs as soon as Toriel left the hall.
Toriel was throwing her hands up in the air after she had noticed, looking beyond frustrated as she chased after the girl. Her expression was calm and controlled, however, as she led Frisk back up by the hand. "It is drafty here. You will catch a cold." Frisk sat down on the stairs with a pout, giving a quiet 'hmph.'
She waited for Toriel to leave, the woman keeping an eye on her for another minute or so. Once it seemed like Toriel had gone back to her book, the child was blowing a raspberry at the sitting room, running back down the stairs. It was hardly a moment of running before she was picked up from behind, Toriel looking a touch frustrated. "I do not like the game you are playing." With that, she was carrying the child back up, setting her down again near the living room so she could keep a better eye on her.
Frisk crossed her arms, muttering to herself. "I don't like your face."
"I heard that, young lady." Sticking her tongue out at her, Frisk tried her best to sneak down the stairs, even making sure to be quiet. She didn't even make it down the first set of stairs before Toriel was picking her up once again. "Really now." This time Frisk was put right in front of the fireplace, Toriel sitting down and keeping a constant eye on her.
The five-year-old looked up at her, narrowing her eyes at her in a pout. "How do I leave?" There was a moment of the two silently staring at each other before Toriel was standing up, expression schooled into something unreadable.
"I have to go do something... I'll be right back. Feel free to have another slice of pie, young one." With that, she was walking out of the room, hoping the offer of sweets would distract the child long enough to do what needed to be done. It seemed not, as Frisk was right on her heels, following her down the stairs.
Toriel was silent before she was staring at the child, looking the scariest she had since Frisk had met her. "You wish to know how to return 'home', do you not?"
The look caused Frisk to step back a bit. "Y- Yes..."
"Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground." The woman's voice was quiet and sharp, the caring and warmth having faded to something that edged towards cold and bitter. "I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be a good child and go upstairs." With that, she was walking off down the dark, cold hallways. Looking around, the child scrambled off after her, catching onto her robe and holding on tightly and she didn't like this... Why wasn't Toriel being nice? Did she do something bad? Maybe she shouldn't have tried to go down here. Behind Toriel, there was a quiet sniff, followed by another.
Toriel seemed to falter for a moment before she was steeling herself as best she could. Although her voice instinctively softened. "Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive child..." It sounded less like an insult, and more like a hopeless realization. "If you leave the Ruins... They... Asgore... Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?" Though the girl gave a small nod, she continued to cling tightly to Toriel, looking unwilling to leave her side.
The woman seemed to be struggling, finally giving the child a small nudge towards the stairs. "...Go to your room."
"It's not mine," Frisk forced out. Because it wasn't. She had to go home.
"It is now." The answer was rather short and clipped, Toriel - very gently - detaching Frisk's hands and nudging her again before resuming walking down the hall. What would her brother do in this situation... Setting her expression into one of stubbornness, Frisk followed after Toriel, her footsteps echoing loudly in the hall. Toriel frowned, trying not to make her voice too snappish. "Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning."
"What're you gonna do," she was blurting out before she could stop herself. "Ground me in the ground?"
"...Yes." Yes. Stooping to the child's level. That would work. "Now return to your room, child." This time, when Toriel tried to walk away, Frisk was following after again, her vision starting to get blurry and no. No, she was not gonna cry. She was strong! And determined, and... "You want to leave so badly? Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this."
"...I just wanna find my family..." Frisk sniffled, rubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand stubbornly. Toriel seemed to falter much more than before, looking at the crying child and...she had made a child cry. A little girl who didn't understand the situation she had been forced into and- ...She was no better than the others she scorned...
"I wish the same, sometimes, my child..." Sighing, Toriel picked the girl up carefully, rubbing a soft palm over her cheeks to clear away the tears. Frisk only hiccuped, her shoulders shaking as she hid her face in Toriel's shoulder, burying closer as she cried. Toriel easily curled around her, a gesture that could only be obtained from many sleepless nights soothing a crying child. "This...this is your home now, Frisk." That was right. This little one was named Frisk.
"You will be safe here, and well protected. I will take good care of you, and I am sure we will have great fun together. As long as you stay here, I can protect you. You can be happy here! Do you...do you not want to be happy?"
"I want Mommy and Daddy," the response came out muffled as Frisk clung tightly, her fist clenched in Toriel's robe. "I want Josh and I wanna go home." There was a moment of pause before a quiet, broken sigh echoed throughout the cold, drafty hallway they were in.
"...I am so sorry, my child...I am so very sorry." Could she really do this, to such a small child? She was hardly older than- Than her... Maybe...maybe there was a way- No. No, this was to be their home now. This had to be. There...there was no other- "I truly apologize, Frisk."
Frisk leaned against her, rubbing at her eyes to try to wipe away the tears. "'M sorry, too." Toriel gave a broken little chuckle at that, shifting the child so she could use one hand to wipe away the tears, being so very careful with her.
"For what, my child? What could you have to be sorry for?"
"Being sad. And crying. You're just being nice."
"Sometimes...crying is all we can do, in a situation." Shifting towards the stairs, Toriel glanced from them, to the child in her arms. "...Do you truly wish to return home, my child?" Frisk gave a tiny nod, still scrubbing stubbornly at her face. Because if your family had gone somewhere without her- She needed to find them. She was DETERMINED to do so.
There was a long few moments of nothing but the two breathing, a sigh finally resounding throughout the room from Toriel. "Then you shall. First, however, we have to prepare. The world outside...is not like the Ruins. There is far more danger in the Underground at large than here in this small place."
With that, she was walking up stairs, filled to the brim with DETERMINATION to protect this small child and see her home safely. Even if there was no one there...she still deserved to see her home again and be there.
Toriel would see to it.
Let's get this party started!
