FriskTale
Frisk got breakfast with the Dreemurrs. They were settling into their house quite nicely. King Asgore and Queen Toriel treated them like their second child and they loved every bit of it. Asriel showed them as much of the Underground as he could, with only minimal supervision from his parents. It surprised Frisk that they weren't so protective of Asriel, like they weren't afraid someone would try and hurt him.
Noelle would meet up with them on occasion, though Frisk could tell she was still nervous with them. When school started, they saw less of her. Toriel had concocted a lesson plan for Frisk and they found out that she already taught Asriel. But now Frisk had to "catch up" because they didn't have the same education.
Weekends were the best for Frisk because they got to play with Asriel and Noelle, yet they kept thinking of how to approach the topic of other friends for Asriel. Luckily, an opportunity came one day while Noelle was talking about her school.
They were at the park, Frisk pushing Asriel on the swing while Noelle swung by herself.
"…and he just pulled me aside, wanting me for his partner," Noelle finished.
"Sheesh, Berdly doesn't sound like he's any fun," Asriel said.
"Well, he means well, it's just…"
Frisk could see she was struggling to come up with anything positive to say about this bird Monster who took advantage of her.
"Is there anyone else in your class you could partner up with?" Frisk asked.
"Well, there is this one Monster," she said with a small blush. "But I don't think she's interested."
Frisk raised an eyebrow. She? And was that a blush? Well, they'd keep this Monster in mind, if only to see where it could go. But back to the subject at hand… "Anyone else?"
"I'm not sure," she admitted. "There's plenty of other kids, but some partner up automatically with others."
"Surely there's someone else you could partner with," Asriel insisted.
"Well, maybe MK. He'll be partners with just about anyone who so much as gives him the time of day," Noelle said.
"Maybe you should give him a try?" Frisk suggested. "Next time there's a group project ask MK if he'd like to be your partner."
"I guess I could try," she agreed.
Frisk decided to chalk that up as a win. If Noelle got a new friend, not only would it help her, but she could introduce this Monster to Asriel and they could become friends. Getting Asriel more friends would be hard. Most kids seemed to avoid him like the plague. They had yet to ask why but knew that simply getting someone else to play by directly asking wouldn't work. For this to work, they had to get him friends in a very roundabout fashion, which was why they were going through Noelle. It might take a couple weeks before Noelle would introduce MK to Asriel, but that was okay. They could wait. It wasn't like they were under a time limit.
Later, Asriel brought them through Hotland, the magma chamber they had been through before. They had to constantly fan themself as the heat from below the walkways – metal and rock – was intense. They could also see that Asriel wasn't too happy there, either.
"So, what do you think?" Asriel asked, gesturing around.
"It's very hot," Frisk said. "I can't believe you have a magma chamber down here. Usually, these only exist in volcanos."
"Well, mom said that Mt. Ebott may have been a volcano in the past, but it's since gone dormant," Asriel explained. "Then they added the CORE to convert the magma to energy and things got better."
"That might be the only reason the thing doesn't try to erupt," Frisk said. "You're keeping the molten rock at a low level."
As they walked, they passed another glowing point. Frisk touched it, mildly disappointed that it didn't cool them off. Asriel continued to show them around, keeping away from the edges of the levies.
"After this, we can cool down in Waterfall, which is a massive marsh," Asriel said.
"Good, because I think I'm overheating over here," Frisk said. "And if I'm hot, I can't imagine how you feel."
"Bad," Asriel said. "Very bad."
Frisk looked around and saw a white building nearby. "What's that?"
"Oh, that's the lab," Asriel answered. "It's where the Royal Scientist works."
"Huh. It's very futuristic," Frisk said. "I don't think we have anything like that up above." As they spoke, they failed to notice where they were walking.
"Really? Because a lot of our stuff is based on what you have on the surface," Asriel said. "Like your phones, your music, your cool robots, your flowery swordsmen…"
"Uh, we don't have those last two," Frisk said. "Well, the swordsmen aren't around anymore."
"But we have your history movies, and those were in them," Asriel protested.
"You sure you aren't confusing history with fantasy? We make a lot of that stuff."
"Uh, well, I don't know, I mean Alphys is the real expert – Frisk! Stop!"
Frisk froze, now noticing they were right by a ledge that dropped into the magma.
"Okay, slowly come back this way," Asriel said, motioning to him. "The edges around here aren't the most stable, so don't put a lot of weight on them."
"Right, good safety tip," Frisk agreed. They lifted one foot up and they heard something crumble. They looked down to see a crack forming around them.
"Okay, forget what I said, RUN!" Asriel screamed.
Frisk tried to do just that only for the edge to give out under them. A chunk of the ground they were standing on crumbled to pieces, causing them to fall backwards. Asriel ran forward to try and grab them but got there too late. They fell, hurdling right toward the molten rock. They heard Asriel scream as they fell. They flailed, trying to grab something to stop their fall. But there was nothing within reach.
They felt the heat and saw the light of the magma increase. They didn't want to die. Not now. As they thought that, some primal part of them kicked in, rebelling at the thought that this would be the end. As they started to burn up, something began to happen. A flash of light, an instinctive reaction, they reached out, not with their hands but with their will, grabbing something, and…
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Frisk stumbled as they felt solid ground under their feet again. They flinched their hand back from the glowing point, looking right at it.
What… what happened? They had fallen into the magma, but as they ignited, they felt some part of them rebel and then… they ended up right back here. The whole thing was like a bad dream.
"Frisk? Are you okay?"
Frisk jumped at Asriel's voice, which was much more level than the last time they heard it, screaming their name as they fell. They looked up at him, and he seemed fine, if confused why they had stopped.
"Yeah, just… really hot," they said.
"Well, don't worry. Next place we're going is Waterfall. It'll cool you down." Asriel continued walking, acting like nothing had happened. Which as far as Frisk could tell was the case. They were fine. They weren't on fire. What was all that? It felt like a dream, but something in Frisk told them that wasn't the case. That had really happened, but it was undone. Frisk glanced at the glowing point. Did that have something to do with it?
Nothing else interesting happened for the rest of the day, but Frisk couldn't help but shake the feeling that what they saw had really happened. Yet no one seemed to remember. They eventually forced the thoughts away, deciding it wasn't healthy to think of them. They ate and got ready for bed, still sleeping on the floor. Asgore said that it would still be a couple days before Frisk's own bed was ready.
It wasn't until they were dreaming that those thoughts came back. And they weren't alone. As Frisk slept, they had a nightmare of seeing the Monsters dying. They saw something slicing them up and turning them to dust. Frisk tried to stop it, but they couldn't affect the dream at all, barred from the world, as if they were a prisoner. They tried to get a look at what it was doing the killing, but they couldn't get a good look at the murderer.
Eventually, they woke up, panting from the nightmare. They buried their face in their hands. They could still hear the screams and smell the dust. Why dust? What was so important about that?
They were brought out of their thoughts when they heard sniffling next to them. They looked up and saw Asriel twisting and turning in the bed, sounding scared. When he turned to face them, they could see tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Mm… Frisk… no…" he whimpered.
They stood up and lightly shook him awake. "Asriel, wake up."
Asriel bolted up so fast their heads almost collided. "No!" he screamed.
"Asriel, are you okay?" they asked, then got promptly crushed by a hug from the crying goat.
"Oh Frisk, it was so horrible. I dreamt you fell into the magma and burned up," he wept.
Frisk froze, startled. That's what had happened to them in the sort-of-but-not-really dream.
"I tried to reach you to catch you, but I wasn't fast enough. I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" He cried into their shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay," they assured, wrapping their arms around him. "It was just a dream, Asriel. It wasn't real."
"It felt real," he whimpered. "And it felt like it was my fault. If I had been faster, if I had paid attention – "
"Asriel, stop," Frisk said. "It was only a dream, and I'm here now, aren't I? It's okay, everything is alright."
They stayed like that for a few moments, Frisk patting Asriel's back to help him calm down. Eventually, they parted from the hug. "Better?" they asked.
"A little, thanks," he said. He rubbed his cheeks, ridding himself of his tears.
"It was just a bad dream, Asriel," Frisk repeated. "Let's go back to sleep."
Asriel nodded, laying back down in his bed. Frisk moved to do the same, but Asriel held their hand.
"Wait. Can… can you stay? I… I don't think I can fall asleep on my own," he asked.
"Sure," Frisk agreed. They got under the covers of Asriel's bed, laying down next to him. Asriel dropped off a few moments later, snoozing peacefully. Frisk stayed up for a while longer.
Did what happen… actually happen? It was too coincidental to be a dream. Asriel had remembered it, though he clearly didn't realize what it had been. They had died but wound up to some point beforehand. How? What happened? And why were they the only one to clearly remember it?
A few days passed. Frisk thought on and off about the bizarre event from that day but couldn't come up with a clear answer. Asriel didn't have any more nightmares after that first one. He did tell his parents about it, and even how Frisk helped him get back to sleep afterward. They both praised Frisk for it, glad that they helped their son.
Noelle eventually managed to get MK as a partner for another school project, and as she kept talking about this armless lizard, Frisk could see that she was glad about it. Once Frisk was sure the time was right, they suggested she invite MK so all four of them could play together. She promised to ask next time she saw him.
Now Frisk and Asriel were at the park, waiting for her to show up. Asriel had plans in mind for them, but they wouldn't do any good if she didn't show up.
"Where is she?" Frisk questioned. "We've been here for ten minutes. She's never this late."
"Maybe something's come up?" Asriel suggested.
"I hope that's all it is."
Frisk looked around, eventually spotting Noelle. And they saw she wasn't alone.
"There she is. And she's bringing someone," they said.
As both got closer, Frisk saw his yellow coloration and the lack of arms. This must be MK.
"Hi guys, sorry I'm late," Noelle apologized.
"It's fine," Asriel said. "Though I do want to know what kept you."
"Yo! You're Prince Asriel!" MK shouted excitedly. "Noelle, you didn't tell me you're friends with the prince!"
"I didn't think it was relevant."
"Nice to meet you. I'm MK," he said, holding his tail out in place of a hand.
"Nice to meet you, too," Asriel returned.
"And who's this? I haven't seen them before," MK asked, pointing at Frisk. "What kind of Monster are you?"
"This is Frisk," Asriel said. "And they're not a Monster."
"What? Then what are they?" MK asked.
"I'm human," Frisk answered.
"Whoa! A human! Never seen one before!" MK exclaimed. "I thought your kind were bigger."
"I'm only twelve," Frisk rebutted.
"They live with me and my family," Asriel explained.
"Wow! So cool!" MK was bouncing on his feet.
"Well, now that we're all introduced, what's first?" Noelle asked.
"How about some games?" Asriel suggested.
"Awesome! What's first?" MK asked.
Frisk already liked MK. He was so eager and friendly. They could tell he'd be a good friend for Asriel.
For the next few hours, the four of them played together. As they did, Frisk could see Asriel warm up to MK quickly. The lizard was so open it was easy for Asriel to lighten up. And MK's nonstop chatter also seemed to help Asriel relax, probably glad that someone else was doing the talking.
By the end of playtime, Frisk was certain that MK was a friend for Asriel. They were glad, but two extra friends weren't quite enough for them. Asriel needed more friends. They intended to ask MK a few questions at some point to determine who a good fit for Asriel would be. They also hoped to ask him why other kids tended to avoid the prince.
As Frisk and Asriel waved goodbye to the others, Frisk thought about what to do next. They could see Asriel smiling out of the corner of their eyes. They were glad he had fun, and they hoped to expand on that. They were going to be here for a long time. And they intended to make the most of it.
End of Chapter 3