AN- Me: Ok, so you're certain no one will murder me about how this chapter ends?

Muse Kitty: Meow

Me: *Sigh* I'll set up the barricade just in case.

Muse Kitty: Purr

Many thanks to LainaFantasyGirl for Beta-ing!

Disclaimer- I don't own Undertale

Chapter 2

You were vaguely aware of a warm hand on your back, rubbing in steady circles as a gentle voice reminded you to breathe. You took a shuddery breath, the haze slowly leaving your mind. The person carefully helped you sit up, and you squeaked when you realized it was covered in white fur.

There was slight laughter, "Be calm, my child," the voice said, "I will not hurt you."

You thought you heard a murmur at the back of your head before another voice fearfully shushed them.

"I am Toriel, Keeper of the Ruins. Are you alright my child?"

You followed the hand up to stare at the large goat woman who smiled at you. Part of you wondered if you had gone insane, it certainly would explain the voices in your head, the talking flower, and the goat person. Maybe you had hit your head when you fell down that hole and were now slowly dying from a concussion.

You startled at the mass of white that entered your vision, and you blinked as you realized that the goat had knelt down to your level. "Are you alright child?" she repeated, and you nodded on instinct. Her voice reminded you of some of the women in charge of the orphanage, caring and wanting to take care of the kids, but ultimately not wanting to get attached because one day soon they'd be gone.

Oh! Bravery shouted to your surprise, That explains a lot about Tori!

Orange! Half of the kids whispered harshly, and you winced.

Toriel sent you a worried look, and you thought you heard one of them whisper Mom.

"If you are sure," Toriel said, eying you skeptically. You nodded again, more firmly this time, trying to ignore the near inaudible whispers in the back of your mind. Toriel stood up and offered you her hand. "Come child. I will show you around the Ruins safely."

You hesitated, not sure if you could trust the monster in front of you and not wanting to get into a situation that you couldn't get out of.

It'll be fine! Bravery spoke up again, Tori's the most trustworthy monster down here! She makes the best butterscotch pie, though her snail pie is pretty good too! And she's really nice and caring and super tough! You took Toriel's hand, relaxing as you listened to Bravery ramble about the time 'Tori sewed me this awesome jacket.'

Toriel's hand was warm and soft, gripping yours gently, and you marveled at the texture.

Monster bodies are mostly made out of magic, Perseverance lectured, his tone slightly hesitant, and you tilted your head as if that would let you listen better, That means their inherent nature is reflected in them, often in the small details. For Toriel, this can be seen in the texture of her fur, the shape of her eyes, but strangely she's missing the paw pads. Her fur's shaped and colored like they are there, but they're not. Now, the details that change depending on the monster depend on their physiology.

You nodded, both to what Perseverance was saying, and to vaguely acknowledge that Toriel was saying something. So for some types of monsters, he continued, maturity is shown by height, or maybe if the monster is heat regulated, color shades can be an indicator. Over time, especially for Boss monsters, these physical indicators can changes as the monster does. Most cases, especially in their current society, this takes a major, usually traumatic, event. It is near impossible for all the indicators to change since they are, in the end, inherent.

You nodded again, and he kept talking, An interesting offshoot of this is how ancient monsters and humans judged each other based off of this. Monsters were reduced down to just their details, despite the fact that they can be hard to interpret, and people worried over what was relevant and what wasn't. Humans were trusted less because they didn't have these characteristics, and could more easily hide what sort of person they were. It was common for young monsters to misunderstand this, and trust the wrong human because they based judgement off of what would have been trustworthy in a monster. One example-

Hell, would you shut up already? Chara snapped, and you winced at the tone. No one really wants to listen to your stupid rambles Purple. Get over yourself.

You frowned, because you had been enjoying it actually. Perseverance spoke with a slow surety that came from earned knowledge, but also with the excitement of someone who was interested in the subject.

Oh, Perseverance said softly. There was hurt from Chara's statement in his tone, but it was fading into something warmer that you couldn't identify.

Deep, smooth laughter rolled through your head. Oh kid, Integrity said, You're something else.

Your brow furrowed in confusion, because as far as you knew there was nothing special about you.

I thought, Patience said firmly, we decided it would be best if we didn't talk to Frisk. After all, they have been in pretty bad pain.

It's been fine so far, Bravery insisted.

We don't know what's causing the pain, Patience pointed out, It could be extended exposure.

Or it could be when more than one of us is talking, Justice pointed out, That's what it's been so far.

There was a moment of silence before Patience conceded. Alright, but we should still be careful. This situation is unknown to us, and we don't know what to expect.

We just need to think positive LB! Bravery insisted and you smiled.

There was a ringing noise, and you glanced down at your hand to find a phone that you didn't remember having. It rang and you flipped it open, pressing it to your ear.

"I apologize my child," Toriel's voice came through smooth and clear, "It seems that this will take longer than I thought. Please continue to wait there."

You nodded before remembering that she was on the phone and not your head, so she wouldn't be able to tell that you had done so. Your mouth opened, but the moment you tried to speak it was like a clamp closed around your throat. Any form of noise died, leaving you silent except for a soft exhale.

"Thank you for understanding," Toriel said cheerfully, headless of the panic that was growing in your chest. You glanced around, not recognizing the hallway you were in, and felt tears build again as you struggled to breathe. You could barely remember walking to get there, but nothing more and that scared you. You didn't have the best memory, but you could at least remember how you had gotten how you had gotten around.

Idiot, Chara scoffed, and several of the other kids shushed her.

No seriously, Chara deadpanned, it's obvious that they just weren't paying attention to their surroundings while they were listening to you.

That doesn't mean that you have to be so mean about it, Integrity shot back sharply.

Doesn't mean that you should be so sensitive about it, Chara snarled. It became hard to think about anything as the two of them started to shout at each other, and black spots filled your vision because you still couldn't breathe. A headache began to build on top of the pain in your chest.

Why do you always have to be like this? Integrity shouted,

And you would know, Chara said sarcastically.

Frisk, Kindness's voice was quiet but steady, a whisper that would have been right in your ear. Do you think you could breathe in deeply for me? It's fine if you can't. Only within your abilities.

You made as large of a gasping breath as you could, and felt some of the tension leave as Kindness kept talking.

Very good, Kindness said warmly. Do you think you could let it out now? You're doing great.

You let the air out in a stutter, and then in again as he warmly coached you through breathing. When you finally felt the pressure leave your chest, you took a deep breath just to feel the air passing through your chest.

Feeling better? Kindness asked, and you nodded feeling an equal mixture of grateful and embarrassed. You had never felt that panicked before, and you weren't sure where it came from or how it happened. Either way you were getting frustrated with all the voices, and you stood up, deciding just to move forward for now. You didn't hate them or want them gone; most of them were rather nice.

It was just weird that there was more than you in your head and you couldn't tell if you were hallucinating them or if they were really there.

You carefully kept to the path, eyeing the frog like thing warily. It wore clothing, so you didn't think it was a normal frog, but it still just ribbitted at you. Toriel had spoken, but you weren't sure if that was a constant for all monsters. The frog croaked again, and you jumped when Justice drawled, The Froggit sound like it's telling you not to fight the monsters here.

You blinked and wondered how he knew that.

Dunno, Justice said, amusement leaking into his tone. If you can guess something close to the reason why, I'll explain.

You huffed, puffing out your cheeks and stomping forward with his laughter rolling in your head. You only went a few steps when another Froggit jumped into your path, only this one had a harder look in its eye.

You blinked and it was almost like the world changed. Everything else fell away from you except the Froggit, and you took a step back out of instinct.

In the next second there was the impression of a red heart floating in front of you, and if you looked closely enough, then you could see the faint outline of other colors, a pulsing rainbow that flowed around the edge. When you reached your hand out to touch it, a message flashed across your eyes.

*You examined your SOUL but nothing happened.

You felt nothing at all, and your confusion and panic spiked.

Kid! Integrity snapped, Dodge!

There was pain as the Froggit attacked you and successfully hit. But then your heart was flooding green and blue, and your body was wrenched violently out of the way of the next attack. Strangely, you barely felt anything, and it was like you were floating under a pool of water. You wanted to feel terrified, but all you felt was Determined to work through your confusion.

"Frisk?" your own mouth asked in confusion.

Here, you replied.

"I'm sorry!" Kindness whispered.

"Green?" Integrity asked.

What happened? You asked.

"I- I think we possessed your body," Integrity said in a horrified whisper.