The Ruins Part 3

About 10 minutes had passed and the creature had still not returned. These 10 minutes, while short in hindsight, felt like a gruelling hour in this dark, silent place. Frisk hadn't heard a thing in a while beside her uneasy breathing, and distant cavernous echoes. Even then, she still felt that she wasn't alone.

To make matters worse, Frisk swore that she had sometimes managed to glimpse from her flashlight some silhouettes of what looked like giant frogs about the size of dogs. Were these the Froggits entities the mad creature had mentioned earlier? If so, were they harmless? Frisk figured they must be since the creature had mentioned them far earlier than he did that there were dangers here, but Frisk figured that could just be related to his unnatural memory loss. In fact, nothing she had seen for the last hour or so had been natural.

Frisk was even starting to question whether the silhouettes were even there in the first place. She had read a few things about mental illnesses online before. She didn't know any close relatives that suffered from it, but the cause wasn't always genetics. Could it be that the nature of this place was finally starting to make her crack? In fact, was anything around her real? Were these ancient walls and hallway mere cavernous rocks that manifested as building bricks to her mind in this near impenetrable darkness. Now that she was thinking about it, was the strange, unnatural creature from earlier even real in the first place-

No, Frisk thought to herself. He was totally real. I know it. I touched him. I felt him. The texture of the dirty fur. That was too real to be a hallucination. So was the fire he spewed. I could feel its heat. I know I'm not crazy. He HAS to be real. He must be. Oh god. What even is real anymore?

"This…" Frisk stuttered. "This place is really messing with my head it seems heh."

It was at this moment that Frisk realized she had finally had enough.

"Fuck it," she said and stood up.

Frisk had decided, she wasn't going to stay anymore in this dreadful place, despite the creatures clear order not to move. Didn't he also tell her that she was capable of making her own choices? Then why Frisk still decided to accept his bidding despite knowing that she would literally hate every second of it, she had no idea. Frisk figured she must've pitied the old monster, that madman, but now that he was gone to who knows where with no indication that he was ever going to return, Frisk figured that she was all on her own again.

That is… if she wasn't always alone, to begin with-

Frisk shook that uncomfortable idea from her head again. From here on out, until she would find a more satisfying alternative answer, the creature was real, and even if he wasn't, it didn't matter to her at the moment. Finding a way out was all that did.

She shone her flashlight around and examined the room. There were two entrance ways, one on her left that seemed to lead to a dead end, and one further down right where the creature had headed. Frisk decided to head down that way, thinking that she might catch his trail and maybe catch up with him.

But then she looked around once more to see if she missed anything, and then she noticed from the corner of her eyes, something glittering inside other room. She couldn't exactly see what it was, but to her, there was no mistaking it. There was something shiny in that room.

Frisk figured for a moment that this could maybe be an elaborate trap, but she couldn't resist her curiosity and so decided to take a peek inside before continuing her way.

"My curiosity is going to be the death of me," she muttered.

It was a small room, just about the size of two cupboards, and in the centre of it, on a thick pedestal surrounded by more red leaves, stood a large and rusty silver bowl. Right underneath it, there was something resembling a text carved into the pedestal. Curious as always, Frisk went closer to see if she could read it.

Sadly, most of the text had faded with age, but Frisk could still make out the main gist of it.

Candy, -ke one, it said in old fashioned English.

Who the hell would put candy in a bowl in this place, thought Frisk. Must be that crazy monster guy. It wouldn't surprise me, to be honest.

Frisk decided to take a peek into the bowl, but then she hurled back immediately afterwards and put her hand on her nose.

"Gah, fuck me," she said. "Fucking disgusting, ugh"

She only had one glimpse at the candies, but that was enough for her to say no to them.

They looked ancient and mouldy and had an incredibly foul smell resembling a rotting sugary carcass. Frisk could also swear that she saw some flies in it, or at least an insect of sorts.

"Welp," she said. "Don't know what I expected."

Then she turned around and saw something that made her completely stop with fear. In the room where she had just been, there stood now dozens of silhouettes each resembling what looked like massive frogs creatures, each about the size of a small child. The figures "heads" seemed to subtly bob back and forth like a bobblehead, showing that they were clearly not static. To make matters worse, they were all staring at her like they were analyzing her.

To Frisk, there was no mistaking it. These were the same figures she had only glanced at before, and since they looked much clearer now, that could mean that they weren't illusions.

Nervously, Frisk shone her flashlight at them, to see clearly just what these shadows could possibly be hiding.

Fortunately for her, the creatures didn't look nearly as frightening as the build-up had anticipated.

The creatures looked like large frogs with snow-white scales, and on each of their stomachs were what looked like a second, smaller mouth. Now that they were in clear light, Frisk saw that the way they stared at her seemed more like due to ample curiosity than malice like they had never seen such strange being before. If anything, Frisk found them to look somewhat adorable.

But Frisk learned a while ago that looks could be deceiving, so she crept to them with utter carefulness. Some of the "frogs" backed away slowly when they realized she was coming to them.

"It's alright," Frisk said softly. "I am not gonna hurt you."

The creatures seemed to stop after she said that. If they couldn't speak, they could at least understand her, much to Frisk's relief.

Finally, she thought. Some other intelligent life here.

When Frisk was close enough the one closest, she kneeled down in front of it.

"Don't be scared," whispered Frisk. "I just want to see if you can help me or not."

The frog said nothing and just croaked.

"Do perchance, know of a way out?"

The frog creature just stared at her and turned its head diagonally like a dog that was utterly confused. Frisk sighed.

"Of course you can't understand me," she said. "Why would you?"

Suddenly there came another clanging sound in the distance, and Frisk and all the frog creatures looked in its direction.

"Goddammit," said Frisk. "That sound again."

Then she turned back to the frogs and became even more nervous, because, whatever the noise was, the frog creatures looked immensely frightened of it. They began to look around themselves anxiously and some croaked frighteningly. Frisk was now scared again. These creatures obviously knew something she didn't.

"Gu-guys? What was that sound?" she asked, even though she was not really expecting an answer.

Then suddenly, the frog creature who looked the oldest judging by its tall size and droopy, elderly looking eyes, stared straight at Frisk and said in an uncannily human voice:

"Leave this place girl. Leave. If you know what's best for you."

This made Frisk more surprised than the clanging sound, so much so that she didn't manage to absorb its message.

"I'm sorry?" she began. "You can talk?"

Then, as if on command, the frogs all began to disperse and hop away from her into any random direction.

"Hey!" Frisk yelled. "What are you doing? Come back here!"

There were so many of them and they were all jumping around so wildly that it was nearly impossible to keep track of them all. But Frisk managed to spot from the wild crowd the old looking one who spoke to her, who was heading alongside a few others down the corridor where the nameless monster went. Frisk ran towards it.

"Hey stop!" she yelled. "I wanna talk you!"

Frisk turned left and through the entrance which led to a smaller corridor. There she saw the frog creatures hopping away in the distance.

"Stop, please. I have so many questions. Can I just-"

Her foot suddenly went through the ground.

"Gah, fuck!"

She looked down at her now trapped foot. Thankfully it didn't get damaged, but pulling it out still proved somewhat of a struggle. Frisk looked ahead and saw the frog creature vanishing in the darkness. Now mixed with utter frustration at her bad luck, Frisk used up all her might to pull it out.

"C'mon!" she said. "My leg's not that heavy!"

Then, like pulling out an old nail, she succeeded, and the grey marble dust ran down her dirty pant leg. But before she could celebrate, Frisk heard and felt an immense rumbling. It quickly became clear to her what was happening. The floor beneath her was now crumbling.

"Oh shit!"

Not bothering to take a breath, Frisk stood up and began to run. She didn't see the floor behind her fall, but she heard it clearly, and when she had reached the end of the corridor, she jumped and landed face first on the hard floor.

"Ouch!"

She turned around to her back and stared at the crumbled floor she had just narrowly escaped from.

"Shit," she muttered. "That was close."

When she had relaxed, Frisk stood up and shone her flashlight down at the newly formed pit. Even with her phone at full power, she could still just barely see the far bottom. There were what looked like piles of leaves there, but Frisk wasn't going to take the chance that they could soften her fall.

"Welp," she said to herself. "Sorry old man. Not getting back there again."

She turned around and shone her flashlight down the empty corridor ahead, and she just remembered how frightening this place was when she was alone. Still though, Frisk stood determined and brave.

"Alright," she said. "Where to now?"

After passing the 15th or so doorway, Frisk had completely lost track of time. All the walls and decors in these labyrinthian ruins seemed to repeat and become a pattern. It was only when she saw walls with large cracks on them that she felt she had made any progress or once or twice when she had entered a large, church sized room with pits and leaves, but these alongside the cracked walls became more infrequent as time went on. On passing the 30th doorway, all the rooms had become completely indistinguishable from one another. One time, Frisk swore that she was basically running in circles.

But as much as frustration was building up in her, that was only boosted by her urge to get out of this place of utter loneliness and terror. Throughout her entire lonesome traversal through these claustrophobic hallways with low ceilings, these empty and sometimes dusty gardens, Frisk hadn't seen a single soul. Not any the strange frog monsters from earlier, or the crazy goat hermit, or even any insects or worms. Just utter nothingness, as if everyone who lived in these halls just went up and vanished. She had tried calling out.

"HEY ANYONE?" she had yelled. "HELLO? BIG MONSTER GUY? I THINK I'M STUCK AN-AND THESE ROOMS KEEP REPEATING! PLEASE JUST ANSWER ME! SOMETHING! ANYTHING!"

She had gotten no response, but Frisk didn't stop until her throat began to hurt.

Frisk didn't hate being alone. She had been so many times of her life. But that was a different kind of lonesomeness where she could still see and fathom the loud bustling of people and cars, the singing of birds and insects. But here, there was nothing. No life and no sounds save for the occasional distant echoes. Nothing. For the first time in her life, Frisk felt that she was truly alone.

Still though, Frisk refused to give up. Refused to simply kneel down on the ground and cry. She knew it wouldn't help her. She believed there was a way out, and she was going to find it.

Then suddenly, as if whatever forces laid out there had answered her crying inward voice, she heard something that gave her much joy. Unlike the distant echoes, this sound came from very close by as if it was only a single room away, but it was what it sounded like that actually gave her joy. It sounded like deep croaking, almost identical to one of a frog. There could be no mistaking it. Frisk had found one of those frog creatures again.

She began to run towards it. She had become so desperate for another life, something she didn't think she ever would. Frisk didn't care at the moment whether it was unintelligent, non-sapient, or anything. She just needed someone, something, anything to keep her company, so much so that she didn't notice the unusual amount of dust on the floor she was stepping on.

"HEY THERE!" she yelled "I NEED YOUR HELP! PLEASE JUST STAY THERE, I NEED TO-"

Then she turned the corner and saw something pretty unusual, or at least unusual compared to what she had begun to expect. It was yet another of those frog creatures, but this one seemed immensely different, and a bit more frightening. Not only was it grotesquely fat, but its eyes looked dead and bloodshot like a zombie. The mouths, that being the "main" one and the little one on the stomach were overwhelmingly brimming with pale dust, so that a decent volume of it began leaking down them alongside the dripping saliva, like a bucket overfilled with snow.

The way the creature stared at her, with hunger in its coal black eyes, made Frisk regret immensely in revealing herself by shouting.

"Hu-human," it croaked.

Frisk backed down in terror.

"I-I'm sorry," she said. "I think I mistook you for someone else."

The frog's saliva seemed to increase.

"Hu-hungry," it croaked and sounded almost as frightened as Frisk. "Pl-please help me. Th-this hunger… it never ends. It just doesn't end."

"Th-that's too bad," Frisk began. "But sorry. I-I don't know how to help you."

The frog's expression seemed to suddenly change into utter sadness.

"I think you do," it said.

Frisk didn't like the implication of that sentence.

"I-I'm sorry," she said. "It was nice knowing you mister… but I think I need to go now."

The frog noticed her backing away.

"Please," it begged. "I want to try. Try to see if it would satiate me. Please. Just a foot. That's all I will ask of you."

Frisk began to back away faster.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Then she turned around and began to run away.

"Hey, HEY GET BACK HERE."

Suddenly, dozens of small, white, spiky spear looking things materialized in the air in front of her.

"What the hell!?"

Then the spikes began to fly at her like homing missiles, and in a hasty decision, Frisk turned back around. The fat frog stood still there and had a groaning face like it was constipated. The missiles were no mere coincidences, Frisk figured. The frog was some sort of sorcerer.

"You- you are not getting away," it said, and even more spikes materialized in front of it.

Before Frisk could react, the spears flew towards her in an unnaturally high speed, none of them hitting her, but enough to send her completely off balance and fall on her back.

"Gah!"

She hit her head on something falling down, causing immense pain and her vision to get incredibly dizzy. But just as her vision got better, Frisk saw that the frog was on top of her.

She screamed, and pushed it away from her with surprising ease despite the monster's size, but then there materialized something heavy which pulled her back down. She looked at her arms and saw something resembling white bricks holding them down. Then, with utter fright and a growing feeling of hopelessness, she looked back on the fat frog, whose mouths were still filled with falling dust, as it hopped back towards her.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Frisk yelled.

"I'm so sorry," the frog said as it jumped back on top of her. "But you left me no choice. I am really, honestly sorry about this, believe me. But I am just so hungry, and you're the only living thing with matter I've seen in years. You could be just the key I need. I promise I will be quick, but I cannot promise that I will only stop at the foot. I would like to apologize a whole lot preemptively, but I might end up eating you whole. Please, forgive me."

Then the frog turned her leg, and with its upper mouth licked its lips.

"Pl-please don't," mutter Frisk.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Suddenly the room lighted up by a distant fire. Frisk knew what it was, and her heart was instantly filled back with hope. It was the large goat monster, who left her behind, and he stood in the room, both arms filled with orange flames, and his blue and orange eyes shining unnaturally bright, and his face was filled with rage. The fat frog looked at the old creature and its white face became immensely filled with a fearful expression that said: "not him".

The frog hurriedly jumped of Frisk and tried to hop away the best it could. The nameless creature fired dozens of small fireballs in its direction, to the point of almost burning the room up, and just as the fat frog began to think it could maybe escape, it was hit point blank by a large hurling fireball that sent it almost flying of its balance. The fire quickly engulfed the poor frog creature, and it let out an unnatural screech, unlike anything Frisk had heard of before, and then it fell down limp on the floor. Then there flew some weird, grey energy from its charred body, and when the fire quickly faded, the charred remains crumbled into dust, completely unmistakable from the ones it's mouths were filled with earlier.

Frisk laid on the floor and panted heavily, as she watched the tall monster walk towards the newly formed dust pile, and then pick up some with his palm to examine. She also noticed that the immense weight on her had vanished. Frisk looked at the arms and saw no white bricks or anything that suggested they had been there. Frisk sighed in relief and looked back at the large monster.

"Th-thanks," she said.

She didn't bother being angry at him, especially since he had just saved her. Then the creature, seemingly not having taken notice of her gratitude, turned towards Frisk with an angry look in his face.

"What did I tell you!" he said, sounding almost on the verge of yelling.

Frisk was taken back immensely by that.

"Wh-what?"

"Didn't I tell you to stay?" the creature continued. "Stay exactly where you were? So that things like this wouldn't have happened?"

Frisk couldn't fathom it. This monster was angry at her? When he was the one that left her alone? Now, all the anger and frustration Frisk felt towards the monster came running back to her. He didn't deserve to be angry towards Frisk. Not for what he did.

"He-hey wait just a minute!" she protested and stood up. "Are you really questioning me? After all the shit you pulled?"

"Language!" the creature said harshly. "Do not speak back to me like that!"

"Oh shut up!" Frisk said. "After what I've been through I think I at least fucking deserve to do that much!"

"Language!"

"Ok first of all," Frisk began. "Where the hell did you go that was so important to leave me behind for so long, I honestly feel like I deserve to know!"

"It was not important!" the creature insisted. "What was important was for you to stay! Instead, you disobeyed me with you utter impatience!"

"U-utter impatience? I'm sorry, but you were gone for a long, LONG time. I don't know how it works to your people, but most humans my age aren't keen on staying alone and defenceless in utter fucking darkness."

"Hey, language!"

"Oh stop with that!" Frisk angrily said. "You are not my dad, and even if you were, is that really your fucking priority here? My language? Not you trying to help me get out of this hellhole where I remind you, I almost got killed?"

"That's only because you didn't stay still exactly as I asked you to!"

"What the- what the fuck did you think I would've done back there? You fucking left me behind back there! Alone! In a place with god knows how many monsters and NOTHING to defend me with! Besides, didn't you just say that there were dangerous monsters her?"

Frisk pointed at the pile of dust that used to be the frog.

"The what the hell is this then!"

"Tha-that was a rare exception."

"Then why the hell wasn't I allowed to move?" Frisk yelled. "Are you that paranoid over the smallest things? Besides, didn't you also say that I was allowed to make my own choices, or did you just suffer another convenient memory loss about that?"

"It's not that I don't want you to make choices," the creature said and his tone of anger was beginning to sound more like desperation. "But you could have gotten hurt! You could have fallen in a crevice or be attacked by random strangers, which may I remind you, is exactly what happened! You could have been killed! Gods, I dread to think what would've happened if that happened. A child dead under my watch, and… and… it would've been my fault. Be- because I didn't take care of them hard enough, because I left them alone. Because I… I..."

The creature became suddenly silent as if every light inside of him was turned off.

It was then that the creature did something that Frisk did not expect from him in the slightest. He was beginning cry. There was no doubt about it. Dozens of tears were running down the creatures furry cheek and down his golden beard.

Frisk didn't know what to think now, as her irritation toward the seemingly controlling monster seemed to be slowly being replaced by pity and empathy.

"I-I'm sorry mister," Frisk said calmly. "I didn't mean to-"

Suddenly, the creature leapt into her and hugged her tight.

"What are you- hey let go of me!"

The creature was now weeping, and Frisk felt the gigantic tears run down her hoodie.

"Let me go! Let.. me…"

Frisk began to slow down in her struggle against the creature's grasp when she began to finally hear the creature's words through all his loud sobbings.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," the creature muttered. "I left you. You could have been killed because I left you. I'm so sorry. You were right. I should not have done that. I should have taken you with me. I was so stupid to leave you all alone out there. Oh, gods. Why did I-"

Frisk couldn't believe it. She was feeling for this creature. The same creature that she was terrified of just a moment before, and one she just barely knew. But in this strange, perhaps overacting moment on the creature's part, Frisk felt that he was strangely human. Instead of the frightful, untrusty and mad creature she had come to recognize, she began to consider whether she was being hugged by a sad and lonely old man, that although crazy and unsure how to properly behave, seemed to have a good heart concealed behind terrible decision makings and awful word choices. Or at least, that's what Frisk currently felt, outside of the uncomfortable tightness of the creature's incredibly strong embrace.

"Hey, hey," she said in a calm voice. "It's ok. It's ok."

After a short while, the creature let go and Frisk found herself finally able to properly breathe again. The creature wiped the remaining tears from his heterochromic eyes with the back of his hand.

"Sorry about that," the creature said. "A bit of an overreaction on my part. I just wanted you to know I was sorry and-"

"It's fine, it's fine," said Frisk. "I mean you're right, it was totally an overreaction, but that's fine, that's completely fine. At least I think I understand you better now, I guess."

The creature chuckled.

"I should get going now," he said. "It's getting late. Do you want to come with me or…"

"Right back at you," replied Frisk.

And so the two of them walked together again.

"Hey," began Frisk. "Sorry about lashing out at you back there."

"Nah, don't be," the creature said. "You had every right to be angry. I know that now."

"Ok then," replied Frisk. "Whatever you say, old man."

The creature chuckled again.

"Y'know," he began. "You kind of remind me of a daughter I had actually. She… wait a minute. Daughter? That's not right. They were a boy, weren't they? A boy, yeah. I had two sons… I think. Wait. Are they even mine?"

The creature noticed Frisk confused expression and realized he was rambling again.

"Bah," the creature said and smiled. "Such needless details. They tend to… well, slip my mind sometimes."

Frisk chuckled. She was getting used to his eccentricity and weird memory losses.

"So um," began Frisk. "Where is this other son, or daughter or whatever at now?"

The creature smile waned as if he had just remembered something he didn't want to talk about.

"I do not know," he said simply. "Maybe they've gone home. Maybe they're far away, or maybe they never existed in the first place. I simply just don't know anymore."

"Oh, well sorry for asking."

"Nah, that's ok."

Suddenly, Frisk just realized something was missing.

"Hey speaking of children," she began. "Where the hell is your flower- er, I mean your son at?" she asked.

"Oh I brought him home actually," the creature said and his smile instantly returned. "I figured he would be bored staying with me, wandering around all day, so I dropped him at our home on the way here."

"Oh," began Frisk. "So where is this home exactly?"

"It's very close by in fact," the creature said. "Just right pass this corridor."

Then the two of them walked over a small patch of grass that had grown on the ground, and turned to a passage to the left, over another patch of leaves. Suddenly, they were in a large open room, with the ceiling being cavern walls far above them. The first thing Frisk saw of note in it was a large, singular dead tree in the centre that was clearly intentionally planted a long time ago. All the leaves had fallen off it, so it looked like there was a red circular bush around the stump. But it was what was behind the dead tree that was of much more interest to Frisk.

It was a cosy and small house made of bricks, looking like it had been built in, and sculpted out of the old ruins. There was only one floor, with two windows in front with dozens of red leaves underneath each one.

Just looking at this place gave Frisk immense comfort. It gave her nostalgic feelings of old, comfy cabins she used to visit when she was very young, away from the loudness and busyness of her old city. She had almost forgotten this hidden realm of calmness and solitude, but the old looking walls, the small empty garden and the clean air dragged those memories back from the depths of her subconsciousness. This place, in short, made her feel calm.

"Welcome," the creature began. "To my home."

Author's note:

Once again, sorry for the wait. Honestly, I expected me to finish this part much later.

I don't have much to say now. I will mention that perhaps my only downside with fanfictions, and that maybe relates to most fanworks in general, is that there are not any editors of sorts involved to help you out. Some of you may know that I fancy criticism as long as it's constructive, but in the chaotic world of fanfiction, nothing of the sort is there. Of course, editors aren't necessary in this hobby, but for aspiring writers such as myself, it basically means that I have to much boring work once I've "finished" the story, which boils down to reading the draft back, fixing any errors or things I don't like, and then copy paste it into Grammarly since Google drive doesn't support it for some reason, and THEN going back and formatting the story, putting in current fonts, and so on. But even then, there does occasionally slip through the crack some errors that I don't notice until I run over the stories after I have already published them and I think to myself: "Why the hell didn't I notice this before?"

Anyway, am I rambling? I think I'm rambling now. Eh, whatever. For now, just enjoy the story (or don't, I'm not forcing you) and hope you stay for the next.