Soft grass cushioned Frisk as a delicate scent opened their eyes to a sideways view of cheerful, golden blossoms. Buttercups. Lifting their head, dazed, they saw Vivaldi and Verdana standing beside them, hand in hand, staring up at the ceiling of a massive cave. Stone columns surrounded them and rose to frame a single gap high above their heads. Had they fallen through there?
"Mommy? Where are we?"
That snapped Frisk awake. Lifting themselves into a kneeling position, they scanned the distracted twins for injuries. Aside from Vivaldi's skinned knee—patched with an adhesive bandage Frisk had in their pocket—and a bump above Verdana's eye that would surely need ice, they were fine. However, a sharp pain in Frisk's right ankle made the human pause and look down. Sprained, not broken, but walking on it would be a problem.
"I...think we fell Underground," Frisk murmured, fumbling in their pockets for their smartphone. Its screen was cracked beyond repair and there was no signal, so it was impossible to dial Sans. Sunlight from the surface filtered down to where they knelt near the towering stone pillars, but they heard no noise except for their fidgeting children and dripping stalactites. The Ruins were structurally sound and well-kept by the many years of Toriel's care, Frisk knew, though they could have sworn the museum designers had added guardrails. Where did they go?
"We were by Grandma and Grandpa's old house, right?" said Vivaldi, as Verdana nodded at his sister and grabbed the largest stick he could find for a makeshift crutch. "This place looks funny."
"Right. You two," Frisk said, suppressing the panic that surged in their stomach, "haven't been down here yet. But I have." Patting Verdana's head in gratitude and giving Vivaldi their best reassuring smile, they balanced on the stick, climbed to their feet, and said, "I know the way out."
The twins looked at each other, confused, but nodded.
"These are the Ruins," Frisk explained as they led the way and hobbled around a craggy corner. "The other end of the Underground. Monsters settled here first after—"
Beneath a shaft of light ahead of them, a single flower popped up from the soil and smiled.
Frisk fell silent. Asriel?
"Howdy! I'm Flowey," cooed the talking plant, his voice dripping with saccharine. "Flowey the Flower!"
The twins blinked at Flowey out of curiosity. Frisk stared. They tried moving their lips, but no sound came out.
Gaining no response, Flowey continued, "You three are new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"
Frisk shook their head in shock while tears sprang to their eyes. How did their brother not recognize them? "No."
Flowey's smile slipped somewhat, but then he shrugged his leaves and gave them a sparkling wink. "Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! Your soul starts off weak, 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!"
This was wrong. Very wrong.
Frisk leaned against their stick and nudged the twins to hide behind their legs. This had to be a nightmare. Flowey, their best friend and brother, the companion by their side from the beginning, who had watched the first flowers sprout through their skull, would never, ever kill!
Suddenly, Frisk felt their soul yank forward. Losing balance, the human fell to their knees, scraped their palms against gravel, and clenched their jaw as their ankle throbbed in pain.
"Mommy!" Verdana and Vivaldi dashed in front of Frisk, joined hands, and glared at the flower. "Leave our mother alone!" cried Verdana. Thin, frail bones materialized around the twins like a cluster of reddened toothpicks, and Vivaldi chimed in, "You bully!"
"No!" Frisk crawled toward the twins. "Stop!"
"Your funeral, kids," Flowey said, producing an array of piercing bullets. His smile twisted and frayed. "DIE."
Frisk reached between their children, who were more precious to them than the red soul that hovered above their chest, and desperately tried to pull them to safety.
Flash!
Flame burst past the trio and knocked the flower out of sight. Frisk peered into the distance, knowing that fire magic. At the same time, the red magic that had superglued the twins' hands together faded completely.
"What a terrible creature, torturing such poor, innocent—oh!" Through black wisps of smoke emerged Toriel, clutching her bosom in surprise. "Three of you!"
Frisk nodded, smiling sadly as the twins helped them to their feet again. Toriel rushed to take over, allowing Frisk to brace their arms against hers and stand to full height. Unlike the Toriel that Frisk knew, this goat monster wore a long, purple tunic and stood a mere head taller than them. It felt surreal.
"Why's Grandma so short?" Verdana muttered.
"Maybe she's Grandma's cousin," Vivaldi said.
Frisk held a finger to their lips as soon as they regained their footing.
"These are your little ones, I presume. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins," she said, giving the human a kind grin. "Are you hurt? There, there, I will heal you."
Bending down to touch Frisk's twisted ankle, Toriel healed it with the gentle warmth that had blazed from her hands a minute ago. Spotting the minor injuries on Viv and Ver, she tended those, too.
"Thank you," Frisk said, sighing with relief. This Toriel was even kinder than the one who had adopted them. They felt a pang of guilt at the thought.
"You are quite welcome, dear," replied Toriel, leading them toward a looming entrance with a dual staircase. "I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down, but you three are the first humans to come in a long time."
"Why would they fall down?" Vivaldi cried. She and Verdana raised their hands in the air as if warming them on an invisible fire. "Grandpa said big men put a cap on top of the hole—"
"Ssh," Frisk hushed, tucking Vivaldi's hair behind her ear. They took that moment to look both twins in the eye before holding out their left hand and touching their right thumb to it in a downward "L". Later.
The twins stuck close to their mother after that, but began to cheer up as Toriel-but-not-Toriel introduced them to the puzzles of the Ruins. Frisk noted with great relief that they were called 'puzzles' instead of 'deathtraps'.
"Diversions and doorkeys," Vivaldi repeated to herself, fond of the phrase. Verdana took great pride in flipping switches as fast as possible and in chatting up the training dummy. Frisk digested the sameness and difference in silence. Froggits bounced toward them a few times but, between the warning stares of both mothers, stayed out of their way.
"Ah," Toriel said, stopping short at the end of a long hallway. Blushing, she turned toward Frisk and the twins. "I must attend to some business, but I would hate to make you stay alone."
Frisk realized what the errand was about. Managing to laugh for the first time during this strange run, they said, "Don't worry. We can make it safely to your house."
"Yup!" piped up Verdana, while Vivaldi tugged dried leaves out of her brother's hair. Both twins loved the crinkling sounds the leaf piles made. "We're determined!"
Toriel thanked them and gave Frisk her cell phone before departing. As soon as she disappeared, Frisk pocketed the clunky phone with care and led the twins into the next room.
After walking a bit in silence, Verdana copied his mother's gesture and said, "It's 'later', huh?"
Frisk nodded and took each child by the hand. Ahead of them was a puzzle: three dirt tracks set with three stones. After helping their daughter to sit on the middle stone, they moved to seat their son on the right.
"Whoa there, pardner!"
All three blinked. Did the rock just talk?
"I don't mind being a tush cushion," said the rock, immobile, "but ask next time, will ya, pumpkin?"
Frisk apologized and gave giddy giggles. Guess they did not have privacy just yet, after all. Once more, Frisk signed, Later.
After meeting a melancholy, yet sweet Napstablook that Vivaldi again assumed was his lookalike cousin, completing several more puzzles and tending to the twins' rumbling tummies with Vegetoid greens and Spider sweets, Frisk found a balcony with a breathtaking view of Home.
"Are we almost home, Mommy?" Vivaldi said, nudging Frisk's leg. Perking up at her question, Verdana skipped to her side after sticking something in his pocket.
"Come here," Frisk said, gathering the twins in close and rubbing their backs. This conversation could be delayed no longer. "I'm not sure how, but we're Underground. Just not our Underground."
"Told you that lady wasn't Grandma," Vivaldi said, elbowing Verdana.
"She is Grandma, but she's not your grandmother here," Frisk corrected, shaking their head. "Remember the story of Alice and the mirror?"
Both twins nodded, though Vivaldi enjoyed Lewis Carroll's quirky tale and its topsy-turvy world much more than her brother.
"We did that." Frisk held their gaze. "...We're in another world's Underground."
Verdana and Vivaldi gaped, their red eyes widening with fear.
"Don't be scared," Frisk added, kissing their foreheads. "I think we got here by your magic. We just need to get back. Do you remember how you did it?"
Chins trembling, the twins shook their heads and stammered at the same time, "We were playing, and then—that light—we felt magic like when Uncle Papyrus teaches us—but really strong—our hair clips lit up—we're sorry—"
Frisk felt their throat go dry. "Hair clips?"
Vivaldi nodded. "Now it feels weird when we hold hands."
"Yeah, like our magic's too big," Verdana said.
Alphys. What did Alphys do to them?!
Frisk closed their eyes, clenched their fists, and counted backwards from ten. Slowly. Opening their eyes once their rage ebbed, they forced a smile for the twins and said, "We'll find a way home. But we've got to be careful, so let's take the hair clips off." Reaching to grasp the clip in Vivaldi's hair, they added, "For now, I'll hold onto—aah!"
Yanking their fingers away from the jolts of magic that coursed through their body, Frisk quivered. Their fingertips were singed. The cavern began to spin.
"M-Mom!" Verdana shrieked as Vivaldi sobbed.
The spinning grew until everything went black.