Reminder: This fic and its AU, The Shattering, has a dedicated Discord server. Check it out if you want to talk speculations or theories, alongside hints, teasers, and sneak peeks of future chapters and/or stories, and even the occasional artwork.
Link: /smnqqVTZyB

The Ruins Part 2

There came darkness and dampness upon the ruins the further they went. Frisk couldn't see far, so she mostly tailored a few feet behind the large, goat-looking creature still holding the sunflower he called his son. The Creature didn't seem to mind the darkness and wandered through blackness without confusion. Meanwhile, Frisk held her phone up with the torch function on. She couldn't remember the last time she relied on it.

Frisk and The Creature went up some stairs leading into a half-circle, then wandered into a small dark room. It was empty, with nothing notable in this room at first glance. Then, as Frisk shone her torch around, she noticed the large stone slabs on the floor resembling buttons alongside an unreadable mural beside a closed doorway on the other end.

It was then Frisk noted the silence. It was even worse than the blackness.

"The monsters of old," The Creature began as if noticing her discomfort. "Built rooms like these to ward off humans. They believed that locking the entrance with clever and complex puzzles could break a human's patience and will, and then the human would simply leave in frustration or boredom."

"That sounds kind of far-fetched," commented Frisk. "We can be way too stubborn."

"Heh, perhaps," The Creature said. "I suppose I might be wrong about this. I am wrong about far too many things."

He walked over the buttons in a vertical line, and the closed door quickly opened.

The next room they entered was a bit larger but still just as dark. There was also a lot more to it: two dried-out lakes with tiny little bridges leading over them, and some of the walls had vegetation claiming it as their homes. Some of the walls had small levers. All of them pulled down.

At this point, Frisk's curiosity overwhelmed the knot in her stomach.

"What is this place?" she asked.

"This, my dear child," the nameless creature began as if he had answered this question many times. "Is the entrance to the remnant of an old place called Home. It was once a great city, a thriving metropolis founded soon after we monsters were thrust and imprisoned within these cavernous depths. But today, these once great halls and streets that bustled with life and monsters of all forms are now mere crumbling memories of gone days, with the only life here besides us here being spiders, Whimsums, Froggits, and the occasional stragglers that managed to break in here somehow."

An ancient city full of monsters, Frisk thought to herself, attempting to absorb that information.

She and The Creature passed through another entrance and entered a small circular room. Frisk thought about how her guide had mentioned "Whimsums and Froggits". Were these other monsters? Other inhabitants of these ruins?

"Are there, erm, others?" Frisk inquired. "In the city?"

"There are others, yes," The Creature replied. "But not in the city, no. Not anymore."

"Erm, why is that?"

The Creature paused.

"I… I cannot be certain," The Creature said. "Either the others left. Or they vanished. To where, I do not know."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. Then he chuckled, which spooked Frisk a bit.

"Eh, it's nice like this, eh?" he said. "Not much to bother me and my boy. Perhaps it is better, even."

He continued walking, and Frisk took a moment to notice it and follow.

"Oh, shit," she muttered.

"I do admit, though," The Creature continued. "I do indeed miss the energy and seeing all the nice folk that used to wander through, going to work and chatting about recent events. But now they are all gone. Where have they all gone to, I wonder? And why have they all gone? These questions haunt me every day. Yet, I have found no answer. Or maybe… maybe they never existed? Heh. Wouldn't that be a surprise?"

"Erm, s-sure," Frisk said.

She and The Creature found themselves in another small hallway, but this one had less life, if any, outside of them. There were no streams, and only a few of the walls had any vegetation in them, but Frisk didn't notice or care this time, as she was too invested in The Creature's tale. It brought back thoughts on class presentations and teachers droning about some history of a place long gone that she would never visit.

But descriptions of an old civilisation and species she had never heard about? She could be the first to hear about this in a long time, so why waste this opportunity? Perhaps what she had now was what explorers of old felt.

Either that or she just appreciated something else from silence. To remind her that life was still around her, even if it was life she never believed in.

"Whatever the case," The Creature continued. "I hope, one day, they will all return, and my son and I won't have to be so lonely anymore here in the dark. Maybe they will never return. But now that you are here, Frisk, perhaps we don't have to wait anymore. With you here, we can perhaps build something else. Something… greater."

This last sentence made Frisk stop in her tracks and pulled her back into plain discomfort.

Was he intending to keep her here? It sounded to Frisk like he was implying that. It could be that The Creature had trouble appropriately expressing himself. But that was not enough to shake off that knot in her stomach.

If that wasn't bad enough, The Creature was now looking at her, and his heterochromic eyes gave off a deranged look. His smile, revealing broken, pointy yellow sticks, didn't help.

Frisk began to back away from him.

"I, uhh…" she began.

The Creature seemed to take notice of her disquiet and immediately changed his expression and tone to one of sadness.

"Oh, dear Angel," he said. "I am so sorry. I have no idea what came over me just now. I guess I was overtaken by my longing, by wishful reminiscence of days long passed. Frisk, you really don't have to stay with me in this dark and damp cavern if you don't want to. You are a young girl, a fine young girl with the power and will to make your own choices in this world. And it should not be in my right or power to control them."

"Uhh, thanks, man, but umm," began Frisk. "You've been of great help, I swear. But y'know what? I think I am going to go my own way now, ok? I'm sure I've got the gist of this place, and… yeah. I'll just find my way out of these ruins myself. If you don't mind?"

"That's not a good idea," The Creature replied with sudden sternness.

"Why not?" asked Frisk.

"Because!" The Creature stated, his voice booming across the empty halls. "These ruins are not safe for you. They are not safe for anyone. I regret not informing you about it earlier, but… there is something here. Something other than just Froggits, spiders and so on."

He sighed.

"I haven't seen it myself," he continued. "But I have seen the results, the destruction this thing leaves in its wake. It corrupts. It corrupts good souls like you and me. It consumes their minds with madness and turns them into… creatures. Bad creatures. Into other monsters that are much more dangerous than anything you have seen or encountered and ones that will not hesitate to take your soul."

Frisk almost froze. Then parts of her, her logical parts, pointed out that the timing of this reveal seemed a bit too convenient.

"You-you are bluffing," she said.

"Of course not," The Creature said with a hint of sadness. "I understand your suspicions. I didn't tell you before because… because I didn't want to scare you. Oh, I hate that. But please, I beg of you to trust me."

One part of Frisk wanted to protest further, to yell at him, call him a liar. But the rest of her wasn't sure of anything. It wasn't sure if anything was actually real.

Shame crept up on her. It was shame towards herself for her behaviour towards The Creature, who looked genuinely sorry. But then again, was her distrust of this strange and seemingly crazy being unjust?

"But if you truly want to leave my child," The Creature said. "If you truly fear me so. Then I won't stop you. But I do hope you take my warnings seriously."

Without waiting for an answer, it wandered off, leaving Frisk standing in her spot.

What used to be an easy choice moments ago turned into a choice between a rock and a hard place. Either follow this strange entity she didn't fully understand or wander, alone and blind, through these labyrinthian caves and ruins where only God knows what lived. Frisk figured, even if it was bluffing about some eldritch entity that turns one to madness, who knows what else genuinely lived here.

So, after a short while of thinking, Frisk decided.

"All right," Frisk called out nervously, walking hastily after him. "I'm coming."

The Creature turned to her. A smile returned to the snout.

"Then I'll promise that I will keep you safe."

If The Creature had attempted to guilt her into this decision, as Frisk now began to suspect, it had succeeded. Either way, Frisk decided it was still the lesser of two poisons.

They went through another doorway, and the current path curved slightly to the right.

"Are you frightened, my child?" The Creature asked gently.

"What noooo," Frisk lied with a smile. "Of course, I'm not afraid. W-why would I be? You are here to protect me, after all, right? From all the big, scary, evil monsters, eh? Oh, sorry, I meant other monsters. The, erm, mad ones. N-not you, of course."

The Creature looked doubtful.

"It's all right to be afraid," he said. "It just means you are still sane."

"I promise you I'm fine," Frisk insisted.

"Alrighty then," The Creature said, then resumed the path.

Frisk wasn't sure if the tone in his voice meant that he was convinced or not. She thought it better not to pry, however.

The pathway now curved back to the left, and they entered a curious-looking room, perhaps the strangest one so far. On the path, a tiny bridge over a deep crevice in front of them led to a metallic platform. Frisk dreaded the thought of what could possibly lay in that abyss that looked like it once held water.

But that platform was covered entirely in dozens of tall, rusty metal spikes protruding from the ground. They were almost as tall as the nameless creature.

The Creature wandered close to the spikes in the centre as if he were going to phase through. Frisk felt that wouldn't have surprised her.

"Some monsters doubted the humans' supposed impatience and inadequacy," The Creature said, lightly touching the top of one spike. "They said that we should not underestimate their will, their determination, and so they built puzzles that were deadlier and more challenging. Ones where if you failed, you could suffer and even die."

The Creature put his hand away, and a small red blood drop ran down his furred hand. It ran through his wrist, then fell on the floor, instantly vaporising into a small cloud of dust. Seeing it barely made Frisk react.

The Creature turned his head down to face Frisk and resumed a reassuring smile on his bearded snout.

"But you shouldn't worry, though," he said. "My boy and I know these puzzles in and out. I will guide you through them carefully, and you will not have to fear getting maimed or impaled."

"I… I didn't know these were possibilities, but ok," Frisk said.

Then The Creature touched a spike on the right side, and, as if on command, it quickly shrank through grates on the floor. He then poked others on the right side, and they also shrunk, creating an opening.

"This is the path," The Creature said. "I remember it clearly now."

The Creature reached out to Frisk with one skinny, clawed paw, holding the flower pot with his other.

"Come take my hand," he said. "It's much safer that way."

Frisk hesitated a bit but then took hold of the giant palm. It was soft, fluffy, and so thin she could feel the bone structures. The closest resemblance was like holding a bird, with its small, hollow bones but soft, cosy exterior. It seemed so fragile that Frisk felt a single twitch could break it.

The Creature closed the palm and carefully squeezed hers, and he began to guide her through the spikes.

The Creature guided her through the spikes in a serpentine pattern, where at every step, they made the same sound as they shrank through the floor, only for Frisk to look back and see the spikes protruding back up when they were out of their way. It made her regret ever looking back, for all it accomplished was making her fear that the spikes below them would suddenly burst out from the grates below sooner.

After about dreadful 20 seconds that Frisk felt went on forever, they had finally reached the other side. At the moment they did, The Creature lightly let go of Frisk's hand, and she immediately put her hand on her knees and began to pant laboriously.

"Oh, oh my god," Frisk said between the panting. "I thought… I thought I was going to die there. Ho-holy fuck."

"Language, my child," The Creature gently said.

Frisk chuckled a bit.

"All right," she began. "I guess that's how it's going to be. Hey, wait a minute. I distinctly remember swearing like a sailor when we first met, so why now?"

Frisk looked at The Creature's face and could tell a slight hint of surprise.

"You did?" he asked and then looked a bit doubtful. "Well, it doesn't matter. Might as well start proper etiquette now-"

Suddenly, there came a loud clanging sound in the distance.

Frisk yelped a bit while The Creature looked worryingly towards the sound. The noise didn't come from this room but didn't echo much across the walls. It sounded close enough to be behind a few walls. And in the utter droning silence of the ruins, it might as well be a roaring trumpet.

Even worse, the noise was clanging that Frisk had never heard before. It was only by faulty resemblance that she even considered it a "clanging" noise.

"What the hell was that!?" Frisk asked frantically.

"Wait, you heard that as well?" The Creature asked in surprise.

"Uhh, yeah," Frisk replied. "Oh God. Is that the… thing you mentioned?"

"What now?"

Frisk turned to him with a perplexed expression.

"T-the entity you told me about," Frisk said. "You know? That thing that goes around corrupting people's brains or whatever?"

The Creature appeared to think hard about it, then seemed to have a spout of revelation.

"Oh, that?" he spoke as if he hadn't heard of it for a long time. "Nah, I suppose not. I suspect it must simply be a loose boulder falling on a metal board."

For a moment, Frisk felt a bit at ease.

"Either that," The Creature continued. "Or there's yet another ghost is prowling about."

"Wait, what?" Frisk asked in utter shock. "Did you just say ghosts? Like, actually living spectres?! They exist!? And they live here?!"

"Of course," The Creature said without a hint of jest. "Erm, perhaps not in the way you understand them. They're not lost souls, as in how you humans define them, but living forces of magic energy. Oh, I forgot to mention. Sometimes, spectres come to these ruins looking for habitation. Or simply for peace and quiet. I, unfortunately, don't know the reason why."

"Oh god, can we please get out of her?"

"Of course, Frisk, if you want to."

"Oh, I definitely want to."

"Ok, then let's move on."

And so they continued, and Frisk almost frantically began to tail after him.

"You know, I had a ghost living around her once," The Creature said. "They lived in a training dummy here. They rarely spoke. In fact, I don't think they ever said anything. Anyway, they're gone now. Left like all the rest-"

"Ca-can you go any faster?!" Frisk quickly asked.

"I understand your fear," The Creature replied. "But this is, unfortunately, the fastest I'll go. Any quicker, and I would risk dropping my son. I once did it before, and that was a horrible experience I do not wish to go through ever again."

Frisk sighed but decided it was not worth it to bargain further.

"I see," she simply answered, and they continued with their slow speed.

Then they passed through another entrance leading to an incredibly long dark hallway.

"This hallway was once of ordinary sorts," began The Creature. "But now, in its dark current state, it is a test of sanity for all who wander through alone. Thankfully, I have always had my son here by my side, but many may not have been as fortunate."

He paused as if the hall reminded him of something unfortunate.

"Frisk," he continued. "I suggest you stay by my side the whole way. If you value your mind."

"W-way ahead of you," Frisk said.

She was practically shaking at this point.

"Good," The Creature remarked. "Then follow me."

The hallway didn't seem so bad at first. Then, after a few moments, it still went on. The only thing Frisk could hear was her and The Creature's footsteps. She wasn't sure whether it was the silence or if the nameless creature's warning was somehow hitting her harder now. But the surroundings seemed to have gotten exponentially worse, despite not much changing from the previous rooms. She could barely see the walls surrounding the halls, but when she gazed at a spot for more than a second, Frisk's mind swore there were subtle movements, like worm-like tendrils bulging and slithering about. When Frisk turned to look back, she saw a pitch-black void that consumed more of the walls with each step. She shone her phone in that direction, and the light barely affected it.

Then, she noticed subtle, distant echoes. They seemed to be coming from somewhere far away in the ruins. Frisk remembered being scared of strange noises at night. She knew that in the past, she, like most young kids, was still ignorant of much of the world. Anything unknown Frisk heard at night sent her panicking under the sheets. Be it the howlings of animals, someone outside dropping something heavy, or things of the sort. If she didn't know the sound, it meant it was something that was after her. It waited for her to put down her guard and gobble her up at night. Where no one saw or heard.

Then, like most kids, she grew out of that as she realised the mundanity of most nightly sounds. There was nothing out there but blackness and occasional weirdness. But that weirdness was no longer unknown. She had no reason to fear the dark.

But this hallway brought back that childhood self she thought she had erased but had merely hidden, and every noise made her more and more desperate for the comfort of a blanket.

Trying for the closest thing, she grasped The Creature tighter. She could not speak, for she wasn't sure if it was dangerous to utter a single word in this place. Frisk put her face closer to The Creature, eyes pointing at nothing else. With nothing else to look at, she noticed loads of subtle things. The biggest thing you wouldn't see at first glance, but once Frisk did, she found it hard to ignore.

He was shaking. The room wasn't even a bit chilly.

Has he been shaking like this from the start? Frisk wondered

Possibly, he shook due to the entity in these ruins or the monsters that it turned into madness. Or perhaps he was hiding something from her?

Either way, Frisk figured he would, most assuredly, drop the flower in the pot if he shook even more. Frisk didn't want to be around him if that happened.

Frisk gave a peak to her sides. The hallway still went on. It seemed to go on forever.

She put her face back on The Creature, grasping him by the dirty robes. The grease and smell of it was more bearable than the dreaded hall.

Frisk finally couldn't handle the silence anymore. Even if it would kill them, she had to end it.

"H-how much further?" she nervously asked.

"Don't worry, child, we are nearly there."

Thankfully for Frisk, this was not an exaggeration. Only a few more steps and they had arrived at what seemed to be, at long last, the end of this dreaded hallway, signalled by a brick wall, a small entranceway, and a curious lonesome pillar to their left. They went through the entrance, and Frisk stopped to, once again, breathe.

"Holy…" she said. "Oh… God. Puh-Please, tell me there's not another hallway because I don't want to go through that shit again."

"Language, child," The Creature said. "No worries, you'll get there."

"Eh… whatever. Is there another hallway or not?"

"I… I can't be sure," The Creature began. "Hmmm. No. I don't think there is."

"Oh. Well, I really hope not."

This new room wasn't that small compared to others they had been through, but it still felt like an incredibly welcome change from the seemingly endless hallway. Here, Frisk saw piles of red leaves and two apparent new pathways, one straight to her left and another further down her right. She looked through the entrance they came from and noted how she could barely see the other end. Frisk smiled in relief.

"Holy hell, we actually did that," she said. "Yeah, this might be the worst fucking place I've ever been to. Sorry, I know. Language. It's just that I- uhh, mister?"

The Creature didn't seem to notice her, as it was too busy doing nothing but staring at a wall as if it spoke to him. Confused, Frisk shone her torch on it but just saw a plain wall.

"What now?" she asked with a hint of frustration.

"Oh," The Creature began and was pushed out of his sudden daze. "I just remembered something just now. I had completely forgotten about it. Thankfully, my son was kind enough to remind me."

"Erm, good for him," Frisk said, looking at the flower. "So what is it?"

The Creature looked at Frisk with a saddened expression on his snout, and Frisk felt dread.

"The thing is," he began. "I need to do something. Alone."

"What?" Frisk asked.

"You are going to have to stay here for a while," he said.

Frisk could feel an immense volume fill her stomach.

"Are you shitting me?"

"Language,"

"Agh, shut up," Frisk stated. "Are you seriously just going to leave me here?! Alone?! After that… that horrible fu-… that horrible hallway we just passed?!"

"Yes," The Creature answered.

Frisk couldn't believe it. Even if she was unsure of this monster, it was the only thing she knew even a hint about.

"Just take me with you," she said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Why not?!"

"This place in question cannot be accessed or seen by humans. I've done it with other kids before, and the place just vanished as soon as they arrived."

Frisk's line of thought almost halted when she heard that last line.

"I'm sorry?" she began. "Did you just say other kids?"

The Creature looked incredibly confused.

"Did I?" he asked in surprise.

"Of course you did!" said Frisk, almost on the verge of yelling. "You…"

She put her hands on her head as she wandered back and forth. It was impossible to organise all the thoughts in her mind.

"Y'know what," she eventually said. "I don't care. I'm still coming with you, and if the place vanishes, then so be it."

"Can't be done, I'm afraid."

"I-I am sorry, old man, but I am NOT just going to stay here, ok?"

"I know you are frightened, but I assure you I will only be gone for about a minute. At most."

He put up a reassuring smile.

"Besides, it's not like there is anything dangerous in these ruins," The Creature spoke without a hint of irony. "You'll be perfectly safe where you are, no worries."

Frisk wasn't sure if she heard right. Was her hearing growing worse? Or did The Creature just speak those words?

"Are you-?" Frisk began to speak. "You just… what the hell?! What about that… that monster that lives here."

"What do you mean?" The Creature spoke with confusion. "I am a monster."

"Gah, you know what I meant."

"No, I'm afraid I don't."

"The fucking-"

"Language."

Frisk couldn't care enough to fight further.

"Is there really anything in these ruins?" Frisk asked. "Is this, erm, this entity that turns one to madness even real?"

A dark aura seemed to seep over the monster's eyes.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked with urgency.

"You… you told me," Frisk said, fear returning.

The Creature turned thoughtful.

"I… I can't recall ever telling you that."

"But you did," Frisk said.

He remained silent for a moment as if deep in confused thoughts. Then, as if coming to a decision, he turned to Frisk with a smile.

"Well, I'm sorry I frightened you," he said. "But perhaps I had simply misspoken."

"What?" Frisk inquired. "Oh, BS. That was no misspeak! It was, like, several sentences."

"Trust me, my child," The Creature said, chuckling. "I have made far more embarrassing errors in the past. Now, I have told you, there is nothing to fear here. There is nothing that can hurt you in these ruins."

The last parts of what he said had such emphasis that it seemed almost artificial. Was The Creature trying to hide his contradiction? Or was this just another example of his eccentricity? It also showed similar confusion when Frisk brought up that he mentioned other kids earlier. Did he have some sort of terrible short-term memory? Maybe that was it, Frisk figured.

Just what the hell is going on in his head? Frisk thought.

"Y'know what?" The Creature suddenly said as if an idea just popped into his head. "If anything DOES happen, just use this to reach me, ok? And I promise I'll come right back to you."

With that said, The Creature grabbed a strange-looking, box-like object from underneath his robe and handed it to Frisk. This object was slightly longer than her two palms and looked like a large rectangle made of metal, with what looked like an old-school antenna at one end. It was surprisingly heavy, so much so that Frisk almost dropped it as soon as she grabbed it. On the front, or what Frisk assumed was the front, were dozens of numbers and symbols aligned in a 6x9 order, similar to keyboards on old cellphones.

Wait a minute, thought Frisk.

This item was a cellphone. Frisk recognised it from seeing it in a history magazine she read once. It confused her more than anything, for either it was an eerily similar object or an old cellphone somehow found its way to this place.

Because it barely fit into the ancient and medieval feel of the place and creature, Frisk wouldn't be surprised if he didn't even know what it was.

"Uh, thanks," Frisk said to The Creature. "But no offence, but I already got one of those."

She dangled her phone around to get The Creature's attention to it.

"Oh, that flashlight," The Creature said and smiled. "You are not going to be able to call me with that."

"Heh, it's actually not," said Frisk. "I'm guessing you've never seen a mobile phone before."

"A what phone?"

"Eh, long story," Frisk said. "Just know I have a much fancier gadget."

"Well then," The Creature said. "If you can use this strange flashlight of yours to call me, then you might not need mine after all."

The Creature reached out and grabbed the old phone from Frisk's hand.

"Hang on," she began. "Did you only have this one phone?"

"Yes," The Creature said.

"And you gave it to me… so I could call you… on your phone."

"Of course."

"You wanted me to call your phone… using your phone."

"Yes. What is the matter."

"And you had no other phone? Just this one?"

"Indeed. Why would I need another one?"

Frisk sighed. She didn't bother questioning this strange creature's circular logic any further.

"All right," The Creature began. "I think that's enough stalling for now. I really need to go."

The Creature began to walk towards the furthest exit.

"Wait," Frisk called after him. "You didn't give me your number."

The Creature stopped and turned to face her direction.

"My number?" he asked.

"You know, the number I use to call you?"

The Creature turned thoughtful.

"The strangest thing," he began. "I-"

"You don't remember," Frisk said. "Got it."

At this point, she mentally gave up.

"Y'know what?" she began. "If something happens, I am just going to yell instead."

The Creature smiled.

"That could do it," he said. "Now, are you going to stay here?"

Frisk thought for a moment.

"If it's only a minute if you said," she spoke. "Not much longer."

"Ah, no worries," The Creature said, a reassuring smile on his snout. "It won't be longer."

Then he turned away from her and back towards the next entrance.

"Now, my son," he said, looking at his flower. "Enough fumbling about. Let us go."

Then he walked down the room and towards the entrance. Then, once he passed that, he turned left and completely vanished from Frisk's line of sight.

Frisk huddled down by one corner, holding the phone and torch in front. There was no noise or anything resembling life besides the strange piles of red leaves. Maybe there was nothing there after all. But still, this darkness had awoken the dormant childhood instincts.

"Ok," Frisk said to herself. "Don't freak out, don't freak out."

*CHAPTER UPDATED*
26/08/2023

Author's note(written February 2019):

So here is the next chapter of The Royal Hunt. In this one get to learn more about Frisk and the "mysterious creature" that guides her.
So this was originally just the first half of a much longer chapter, but as I was writing, I realized that not only finish it in time, but it was also much longer than I anticipated. So I thought of the brilliant idea of simply spitting it in two.

Also here is a much less fun fact:
It might be a while before the next chapter comes out. It's not because I've lost interest in this story, far from it, but I am going to be busy as shit studying this week, with FOUR tests to prepare for, and a thousand-word essay to finish. That's also partly why I split this chapter in half. Because I didn't want to make you wait for a long time yet again. But once I'm done with the school stuff, I will get back to the story and try to get it out as early as I can. If I had to pick an estimate release date, it would be sometime in early March.

Oh and one more thing:
To those who are worried from this chapter that this AU is just going to be a beat-by-beat retelling of UT, but with changed roles, don't worry, this is NOT going to be one of those AU's. I am not going to spoil, but I promise you that shortly after Frisk leaves the ruins, the story will go in a completely new route and direction. It's only the first couple of chapters that follow the same formula but after that, it's a complete free-for-all.

Anyway, here is the next chapter and I hope you enjoy.