DemigodTale
The boy awoke on top of the mountain, the howling wind at this back making shivers run down his spine. He leaped to his feet in shock. He couldn't remember why he was here, or where here was, or even… who he was. His mind was completely blank. He scanned his surroundings. He was standing on the peak of the mountain, dead grass crunching underneath his face. Stormy clouds swirled above him, their thickness preventing any light from shining through.
Another gust of wind that almost made him fall over blew past him. He rubbed his goose-bump covered arms and looked for somewhere he could hide from the cold. Luckily, he spotted the yawning mouth of a cave to his left. He hurriedly run to the opening, his bead necklace bouncing against his chest. Wait, bead necklace? Why was he wearing a… never mind. It probably wasn't important.
The cave was much warmer than the chilly outside, but the boy felt an ominous feeling as he explored it. It was covered in green grass and golden flowers, and in the center, there was a giant pit. He grabbed a rock for stability and leaned over the edge. It was so dark he couldn't see anything inside. He resolved to stay as far away as possible.
He walked back outside, almost to the edge of the cliff. At the foot of the mountain, he spotted a collection of lights and smoke. Probably some sign of civilization, he thought. When the wind died down, maybe in the morning, he would go down to the village and ask for help. Entering his shelter once more, he found a comfy spot at the edge of the cave. He lay down on the soft grass, staring at the stone ceiling above him. He had only been awake for a few minutes, but he felt exhausted. Closing his eyes, he fell into a troubled sleep.
Images flashed through his head. Nameless faces smiling or glaring at him, a pretty girl with blonde hair seeming the most familiar. Funnily enough, she smiled and glared at him almost at the same time. The boy wondered what he had done to make her feel such complicated emotions. A valley full of small cabins and many trees appeared, filling his mind with a feeling of longing. And finally, words echoed through his head: "Monster-slayer, hero of the gods, you will determine the fate of this world."
The boy's eyes flew open, his heart pounding. He didn't know what that dream had meant, but it had scared him. The faces, the places, and the titles, were so overwhelming it made his head spin. He leaned against a boulder, trying to make sense of it all. But no matter how hard he focused, the dots of his past just refused to connect. He sighed. Maybe he had done something awful, and this was his punishment.
The lighting of the cave had changed, but not in the way he had hoped. It seemed even darker than before. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face. He didn't know what to do with himself. He had no desire to go back to sleep after that experience, and he didn't feel like trekking down the mountain would be safe this time of day. But as his stomach growled, he realized what he needed to do. He had to eat.
He didn't know what he could find inside the cave, but it was still too risky to go outside. So, he crawled around the cave, feeling for some kind of edible plant. The longer he searched, the more hopeless he grew.
After he had been searching for what seemed to be an eternity, he felt a small tugging at his sneaker. A balloon of hope seemed to inflate inside his chest. Maybe there was a critter he could eat, or another person who hadn't made themselves known by now. He slowly turned to see what it was, but the tugging grew more insistent. Suddenly, it started physically moving him! He tried to grab onto something, anything, to prevent him from sliding any further. But there was nothing to grab. He turned and tried tearing at whatever was tugging him. It felt like some sort of root, which should have been easy to break, but this one seemed rock-hard. He cried out as his feet dangled over the edge of the pit. In one last desperate attempt, he tried grabbing onto some pebbles, but he failed, and he fell into the darkness.
He screamed as he fell further and further, the echoes bouncing off the walls and completely drowning out any other noises. Finally, he hit the ground, and everything went black.
Though he had lost consciousness, he regained everything he had forgotten. Memories filled his head, finally being able to associate names with faces. Annabeth, Grover, Mom, Tyson. The people he had known for so many years brought him comfort. He remembered his home at Camp Half-Blood, the quests he had gone on, the enemies he had fought, the prophecies he had completed. He was the hero of the gods, the one who had defeated Kronos, the lone son of Poseidon.
He was Perseus Jackson.
Every part of him resonated with this information. With his identity, the part of him that had been missing was back.
His excitement was short-lived however, as his least-favorite goddess appeared in his mind. She had her arms folded angrily, and her hair was more disheveled than usual.
"This was not part of the plan," Hera sternly said.
"Nice to see you too, Cow-breath," Percy replied.
Hera gasped. "You dare- "
"Yeah, well, I tend to get kind of cranky after a divine kidnapping," Percy interrupted, not caring if he was about to get smote.
"I assure you, me taking your memories had a good purpose. Your mission was not supposed to be in this strange world, but in your own," Hera explained.
"Wait, what do you mean 'my mission'? What kind of mission requires taking my memories?" Percy demanded.
"That's not important right now. Your new job is to make it to the other end of this cavern. I foresee that if you reach it, you will be able to return home," Hera told him.
"I am not doing anything until you explain what's going on!" Percy shouted.
Hera's image began to blur, as if some inter-dimensional toddler had just wiped its dirty hands all over her.
"I do not have much time. I give you this one final piece of advice. The inhabitants of this world are much different than your own," Hera warned.
"What is that supposed to mean?! What does any of this mean?!" Percy yelled.
"Goodbye, my hero. Good luck," Hera said as she disappeared.
Percy wanted to scream about how unfair all of this was, but before he got the chance, he woke up.
Percy awoke flat on his back, on something soft. His head throbbed painfully, as if the Minotaur had whacked him with all his strength. But despite the pain, Percy felt the relief of knowing who he was. He pushed himself to his feet and looked down at where he had been lying. A large bed of golden flowers covered the ground. It must have cushioned his fall.
Looking ahead of him, he spotted an opening into another room. Feeling wary, he crept through it, looking in all directions as he went.
The next room looked very boring. It was just a grassy area with a single golden flower in the center. Percy walked right past it and had almost reached the door when a small voice stopped him.
"Hey there, friend!"
Percy whirled around, reaching for his pocket to get Riptide. He saw no one standing there at first, but when he looked down, he scrambled backwards. The flower had a face!
"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" Flowey introduced himself.
Of course the flower's name is Flowey, Percy thought.
"Um, hi," Percy waved.
The flower had an odd smile on his face. He at first appeared very friendly, but Percy had spent years around monsters that faked kindness, and Flowey had that exact expression, like he was biding his time until Percy let his guard down.
"Gee, you're new to the Underground, aren'tcha? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here. Guess lil' old me will have to do! Ready? Here we go!" Flowey smiled.
Percy felt a strange tugging feeling in his chest, as if something was trying to escape. He placed his hands protectively over his chest and took a step away from Flowey.
Flowey's smile faltered. "What are you doing?"
"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll just explore by myself," Percy said, backing away.
He saw Flowey's expression change into a terrifying display of anger into a slightly sour smile in the matter of seconds. Yep, this guy's definitely dangerous, Percy thought. Keeping his eyes on Flowey, he started running backwards until he had reached the next room and breathed a sigh of relief. He saw a strange assortment of gray buttons on the floor, but before he could register them, he felt himself being dragged back into the previous room. Vines were wrapped around his ankle. Somehow, Flowey had extended his roots to grab onto Percy. Percy was pulled until his face was directly under Flowey's.
"Who said you could leave?" Flowey growled.
Even though his voice was incredibly high-pitched, somehow there was something menacing about the way his voice became raspy and low.
Percy grabbed Riptide and sliced the vine in half. Flowey hissed and pulled the rest of it into him. Percy tried to run, but suddenly, the tugging sensation grew stronger. Percy tried to stop it, but there was nothing he could do. He saw an orange and red glow coming from within him, growing brighter until a cartoonish heart with orange and red polka dots was sitting just outside of his chest. He tried moving his legs, but instead, the heart moved downward.
"We're doing this my way, human," Flowey laughed, the demonic tone making Percy shiver. "See that heart? That is your soul, the very culmination of your being. Your soul sta- "
Flowey paused, his little eyes flitting back and forth between Percy and his soul. Then, an awful, evil smile split his face.
"Why, it looks like I don't need to explain LOVE to you after all. You're already at Level 50! Golly, you must have killed a lot of monsters to get to that point!"
Little butterflies were flying all around inside of Percy's stomach. If Flowey was this evil, he had to be a monster! But then, why would he be happy that Percy had killed so many? Normally, monsters looked for revenge. Apparently, this flower was even more sadistic than Percy had previously thought.
Flowey must have misinterpreted his silence as Percy being ashamed. "Hey, there's no need to be embarrassed, friend! After all, in this world, it's kill or BE killed."
Flowey's face had morphed into a hideous smile, several rows of teeth covering almost his entire face. Percy questioned how his life had gotten so weird that he was analyzing how much teeth a flower had.
"Ok, well, if you agree with me, can I go now?" Percy asked, pretending to be bored.
Flowey's eyebrows turned downwards, his condescending smile making Percy decide he would never give Annabeth flowers again.
"Well, you did disrespect me. And I did say I would teach you a lesson. We'll just have to change the plans," Flowey grinned.
Small white objects appeared next to Flowey, seeming to float in the air. Percy guessed they were seeds.
"Where you come from, things might be a little different. But down here, LOVE is shared through little white 'friendliness pellets.' Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!"
The seeds flew at Percy at a blinding speed. Percy easily dodged them, and the seeds kept going until they disappeared at the edge of the room.
"Hey buddy, you missed them," Flowey smirked. "Let's try again, okay?"
Percy didn't know why Flowey expected him to trust him. The sadistic little sunflower had dragged him into the room with vines. There was something off about Flowey that Percy couldn't quite place. The pellets hurled towards him again, but this time Percy pulled out Riptide and sliced them in half, making them harmless.
Flowey looked annoyed. "Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLE- friendliness pellets!"
Percy had a feeling the word Flowey had been about to say was "bullets." So, the little psycho was trying to kill him after all! Well, he wasn't doing a very good job of it. Flowey's little smile came back, as if nothing had happened. This time, the bullets moved so fast Percy couldn't escape. They hit him at a break-neck speed, slicing his clothes and making Percy drop to his knees. He felt as if almost all his strength was gone.
Flowey's awful evil smile returned. "You idiot. Why would ANYONE pass up an opportunity like this!? Your soul is so unique, I'm sure it will help me achieve my plans! DIE."
A large circle of friendliness bullets encircled Percy, leaving no way for him to escape. He weakly reached for his sword, but the circle was enclosing too fast for him to escape. He crawled towards the center to prolong his death. Flowey sadistically laughed as he forced the bullets to grow closer and closer to Percy's limp body.
Just as they were about to hit him, Percy felt himself regain his strength. He quickly grabbed his sword. Flowey looked confused and scared. Percy felt a sort of sick satisfaction witnessing the flower's fear. He noticed a small fireball that was heading in their direction, but before it could hit either of them, he swung for Flowey's stem. Flowey glared at Percy and dove into the ground, tunneling into the dirt before he could get hit by either of the weapons. The fireball disappeared.
Percy looked in the direction of where the fireball had come from and was surprised to see a large goat woman standing on two legs. She was wearing a purple dress with a strange white symbol in the center.
"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. I intended to scare him off with my fire, but it looks like you did the job," she said, a kindly tone in her voice.
Percy wasn't sure why this woman thought he was poor or innocent. He had intended to slice Flowey in half. Maybe it was a way to gain sympathy. He dropped his sword by his side but didn't recap it. After Flowey, he didn't trust any monsters down here.
The monster's eyes dropped to his sword, a sad smile on her face. "Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker 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."
"Why do you look for people who fall down here?" Percy asked, suspiciously.
Toriel's eyes faced her feet, the corners of her lips doing the same. Then, she straightened herself up and smiled at Percy once again.
"Come! I will guide you through the catacombs!"
She turned and walked through the door, leaving Percy wondering what kind of strange world this was.
Thank you for reading Chapter 1! A couple important things: First, it is a hassle to make sure the Undertale quotes are exactly correct, so with the exception of famous lines, I will be paraphrasing most dialogue from now on. Second, please comment how I can improve or anything you liked! Constructive criticism is encouraged!
