Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Greetings, I am Frisk Dreemur, formerly Adams. I am ten years old and are going to be eleven this summer. I have dark brown, shoulder-length, straight hair. My eyes are a light purple colour with light blue save-points as pupils. On my right cheek, there is a strange mark that is in the same shape and colour as my pupils. Clothes I usually wear have the same colour scheme of blue and purple, my personal favourite is my long-sleeved blue shirt with two purple stripes across the chest.

My family on the Surface consists of my mother, father and sister. Their names are Rose, Oak and Lily or more affectionately known as Lils. While both my sister and father have dark brown eyes, Rose has bright blue eyes. Although Lils inherited her eyes from Oak, she definitely got Rose’s long blonde hair. I inherited my hair from Oak, however, mine is a shade darker than his hair is. I was mostly happy with my sister and father, we had a lot of fun. However, Rose… complicated things.

One thing you should know about me is that strange things happen around me, even if I don’t want them to. When this happens my appearance changes ever so slightly. My hair changes to have a noticeable blue streak, my eyes turn blue and glow, and my mark changes shape into a heart. I found out that I could use these powers to help me, however, I don’t have enough practice or experience, so anything I do is accidental. However, it is good to know about these abilities sooner, rather than later.

With these abilities, I can shape objects from pure magic. For example, a frying pan to dodge attacks or a toy knife to intimidate others and deflect missiles. I can also create a toy gun and tough gloves. However, these things only appear when I’m being attacked and usually by accident, the only other times are when I’m feeling strongly about a particular soul trait or thinking about one particular friend, for example, if I’m thinking of Honor some ballet shoes will appear. The items that appear also help certain skills.

I suppose it can be a good thing, at least my sister and friends think so. My friends took it so when I was thinking of them, they would find a replica of the object I made by accident. Gritish got a notebook because of it, but at least he had something to write his observations in now. Honor decided that she would try ballet and found out she was incredible at it. Usually, Karuniya wouldn’t try cooking but when we all tried it together and she really took a shine to it. While Feolomaer didn't like the idea of a gun, he did like playing cowboy if only the gun was empty.

Another ability that I learned of was glamour, which hid something or could be used as a disguise. However, a downside to having these skills was not everyone saw them as good things, if kids at school ever saw they would pick on me. At home, it was even worse my parents knew of the glamour and saw it as an insult, they would blame me for knowing how to look normal yet choosing not to. Despite Rose knew full well that I was too scared and inexperienced to have that much control over my powers.

Now we move on, humans generally don’t like change or something that they don’t understand. They don’t like the unknown or differences in their life, if it doesn’t make sense to them, they cast it out. They reject it, kids at school saw me as that difference or unknown factor, the fact that I could do things they couldn’t only fuel their actions. Whether they were scared or curious I don’t know. Maybe they were jealous but that didn’t stop bullying, teachers didn’t try to stop it either, I had to fend for myself.

Sometimes I wonder why didn’t more kids go missing with behaviour like that. Do you know how some people say oh how ‘cute’ and ‘innocent’ kids are? Well, I hate to ruin that for you but… Kids are cruel even more so than adults, you see adults know the damage they cause, they actually think before they speak and guess the reaction. Kids don’t do that as they are still learning, they can cause more damage without meaning to, they can say things, they don’t know how the other will react.

My parents, as you may have guessed, unfortunately, shared views with most humans like people at school and teachers, along with most of the town. Even in the comfort of my own home, which is supposed to be safe, I was hated or at the very least heavily disliked. My parents wanted me to hide my eyes and cover my mark, though magic would have been easier, my parents saw it as unnatural and therefore bad. Even since then if something happened that they couldn’t explain, it was my fault.

They didn’t exactly hurt me, it was more neglect than anything else, although Rose did hit me with a newspaper on the head a couple of times. They mostly left me alone, however, if I was found practising my powers I was hit, that was also the punishment for my powers getting out of my control. It was a lose-lose situation for me. If I practice learning, I get hurt, if my powers build up from not using them and lash out, I get hurt. I can’t win. I’m ninety-nine point nine-nine per cent certain, Rose planned it that way.

Lils didn’t care about my powers or how much trouble it got me in, she loved just the same, even if I didn’t have powers, I was still her little sibling. She told me nothing could stop her loving me, not death or time itself. However she still thought my skills were pretty cool, she was the one who encouraged me to use them. If I didn’t know my limits and used it in anger I could seriously injure someone, I practised at school against some PE equipment in the Sports hall when possible, Gifuhard and Feolomaer joined me.

Gifuhard would usually practice his punches with a training dummy while Feolomaer would practise his with targets, moving and still. Gifuhard was very accurate and Feolomaer could get nearly all of them down. When I was around Lils, my powers made a frying pan and a toy gun, however as those were already taken by Karuniya and Feolomaer, she got an apron and a cowboy hat. Which she eventually gave to Feolomaer and Karuniya the years before they went up the mountain. Lils was the closest with Karuniya and Feolomaer so picked up some of their morals and traits.

Three years before I went up Mt Ebott Karuniya went up. When the first two, Jenah and Gifuhard, went up they all told me the same thing. “Stay determined until the summer term before you turn eleven. When there are three weeks left, leave for Mt Ebott, we’ll be waiting for you DT.” However Karuniya didn't say goodbye or anything really, just left with only a sighting of her running towards Mt Ebott with her frying pan and the apron Lils gave to her for her tenth birthday. So naturally, I was very upset, Karuniya was the extra big sister to me.

Teachers for once actually came in to give us work they always did on a day when ‘another ebott’s gone’. Normally I would be okay but with my relationship, Karuniya and the lack of parting words I got angry at the teacher and my magic pushed them out the door after they barely put worksheets on the front desk. Eventually, Honor and Gritish got through my barrier and calmed down enough so I didn't hurt them or Feolomaer, I fell asleep due to lack of sleep and very strong emotions. I was woken up when its home time.

However I still felt distressed and was still crying softly and silently while walking home, Lily didn’t notice as I had my head down and as I didn’t talk much she didn’t see anything wrong with me being quiet. Although I was upset I managed to keep control of my emotions and therefore my powers, all throughout dinner as I listened to how well Lils did on her latest essay and how Dad helped the lady next door with her shopping. Unfortunately, Lils noticed my tear tracks afterwards and in the living room asked what was wrong.

Unluckily for her, my magic was reaching a breaking point, I tried to pretend everything was fine until I got to my room where I could release my magic safely. Usually, Lils would leave me to talk about in my own time, for some reason today she wouldn't let it go and kept bugging so much that I accidentally summoned a frying pan and hit her right eye with it. Her eyes caught the sharp edge and formed a cut across it. I was horrified as my magic calmed down and I started crying.

Lils yelped in pain, looking shocked for a moment and held her hand to her eye, before noticing my expression and trying to comfort me. Behind her, I saw Dad who looked petrified as if he was the one I hurt, instead of Lily. He glanced towards the kitchen door and as soon as I followed his line of sight, I paled and put my hands over my mouth to muffle my whimper. Rose was in the doorway taking in the scene, blood trickled underneath Lily’s hand and Mum’s expressions turned into one of rage.

She ran into the room and shielded my sister from my gaze. She shouted at me but I hardly heard the words, I ran into my room while I tried to get my breathing under control. Half an hour later, Lily came in; she quickly got into her PJs and into bed. I thought she would be angry at the very least but to my surprise, it was quite the opposite. ‘I'm sorry for pushing you Frisk, we need to help you control your magic and I’m angry at myself, I don’t blame you one bit. You can tell me tomorrow if you want.’

The next morning I told the others and though they were surprised they reassured me that I couldn't control it. We would work on getting my magic to the point I wouldn't lash out to anyone by accident.

Chapter Text

When I was first taken to school when I was five, it was scary. I held tightly to Lily’s hand and hid behind her when others came too close, which was a lot of the time since Lils was super popular. Everyone wanted to catch up with the Star Student about what happened over the summer. Lily nearly complied with their wishes but she always put me first which I was grateful for. I didn’t think I could have spent another minute in the playground. We went inside the quiet building, it was almost too quiet.

Lils led me to a classroom with children around my age, most of them younger than me, however, I didn’t get any further than that. Until one the girl pointed at me and started asking me about my eyes however I was newly overwhelmed and the way the girl was asking was rude and taunting. Before I could say anything my bandage that hid my mark fell off and all the kids gasped. I heard whispers of Ebott cases and another one whatever that meant. That was when the teacher decided to walk in.

But that didn't matter; it had hardly been an hour and it seemed I was already being cast out. “Lily? What's going on, shouldn’t you be upstairs?” Lily smiled “Excuse me Miss, but my sibling is starting and needs help finding the classroom.” I turned to face the teacher and as soon as they saw my face they smiled at Lily sympathetically. “I’m afraid they’re an Ebott case, Lily take them to DPBKIPJD8.” Lily sighed lightly and as though resigned. “Yes, Miss.” She gently took my hand and led me out of the classroom.

I looked up at her in confusion. What was the big fuss about my mark and eyes? I know Mummy didn’t like them and Daddy said to keep them hidden but why did others not like them? They don't even know me or my name and they still don’t like me, did I do something without meaning to, I’m sorry! Eventually, we arrived outside a weird classroom, it didn’t look like a classroom it looked more like a play area. I was confused about why I was being separated from others?

There was no teacher just seven kids one from each age group. Why were they there? From what I could gather they should all be in different classrooms on different floors, so why were they here? On the door, there was a sign that said Ebott cases, I thought in confusion there was that phase again Ebott case. What does it mean to be an Ebott case? Why am I an Ebott case? Is it bad to be one, did I do something to deserve this treatment, was that why I wasn’t with the other children my age?

Before I could ponder any longer on those thoughts Lily pushed open the door and the kids turned to meet her. A light blue-eyed girl made her way over to us. “Hey, Lily, what brings you to our humble neck of the woods?” Sis sighed. “Another labelled Ebott Patience.” They turned their gaze to me and I shrunk back behind Lils. “Another one?” “Yep!” The girl looked at me with pity. “Poor kid!” She whispered and Lils replied. “This is also my sibling.”

Before either could say anything more, an orange-eyed boy came over. “So Lils gonna introduce us?” “In a moment Bravery, in a mo.” I looked at the others, there were two more girls and two more boys, they all had name stickers on their jumpers. The green-eyed girl was named Kindness while the other had dark blue eyes and called Integrity. There was a boy with sunny eyes with Justice as a name tag the other had similar eyes to mine and had Perseverance written down.

They all began introducing themselves along with their age, favourite colour and nickname/soul trait.

‘Greetings, I am Jenah. I am ten years old and are going to be eleven this summer.’ Her hair was ginger and at shoulder-length. While their eyes were alight sky blue. ‘My favourite colours are light blue and slightly darker blue. My nickname is Jen or Patience.’

‘Heya, I am Gifuhard. I am nine years old and I’m going to be ten by the end of this summer.’ He had ginger, shoulder-length hair. His eyes were bright orange. ‘My favourite colour is bright orange and light brown. My nickname is Gifu or Bravery.’

‘Nice to meet you, I am Karuniya. I am eight years old and are going to turn nine next summer.’ Their blonde, medium-length hair looked silky. However, their eyes were pretty forest green. ‘I like bright green and a slightly darker hue as well. I can be known as Karu and Kindness.’

‘Hello/Hi, I am Honor & Gritish and we are twins as well. We are seven years old and are going to be eight this summer.’ The boy’s hair was dark brown, shoulder-length while the girl was the same colour but medium-length. Their eyes were different from a dark sky blue (Honor) and light purple (Gritish). ‘ We like the colours dark blue and light purple and slightly darker blue and indigo. We like to be called Integrity and Perseverance.’

‘Good Morning, I am Feolomaer. I am six years old and are going to be seven this summer.’ His hair was blonde, wavy and at shoulder-length. A light sunny yellow was his eyes. ‘I enjoy the colours of light yellow and very light brown. I can also be called Feo or Justice.’

‘These are the Ebott cases, as they have different eyes and heart markings on their cheeks, teachers don’t bother with them and other kids don’t like them either because they look different.’ Lily explained. ‘They are gonna look after you while I go to class okay?’ I nodded knowing I can trust these people if Lily does. ’Bye Frisk, be good. Take care of them Jen.’ Jenah laughed. ‘No need to worry, they’ll be safe with me.’

‘Most people think that we’ll go missing on Mt Ebbot just before we turn eleven if we do we officially become an Ebott case. However, we plan on going there just before the summer we turn eleven anyway. Most of us don’t have the best home-life so we go up there to run away.’ Karuniya decided to elaborate more on what Lily said.

After the first hour, I became friends with the other kids. I learned that Gritish liked to read and listen but not take part in the conversation. Karuniya liked to make sure everyone was happy and fed while keeping with helping others. Patience was the teacher while Justice, Integrity and I played in the corner. Jen taught the other basic Maths and English along with a few other things. Bravery preferred to walk around the room and if we weren’t playing then he would act out stories for us. The one thing we had in common was the markings on our right cheek and our unusual eye-colours.

Over the year, they became overprotective older siblings, if one of us was sad, all of us would cheer them up. We looked after each other, the first time someone picked on me, Justice told the person off while Kindness comforted me. If one of us was hungry, others would share their food, if one of us was hurt, others would heal. However, there was something unusual about me that was present in the others. My weirdly shaped pupils plus while I had a mark, mine was a different shape.

Although it was a mystery, the others didn’t treat me any differently, they treated me as they always did, which was a relief. It made going to the house a little easier, knowing that in the morning I would go to school/home and see my brothers and sisters. During the mornings, we would start the day singing our collective favourite nursery rhyme, which was: Once Upon A Time

Every good rhyme starts with once upon a time
Long ago far away, centuries before our day
Humans lived monsters roamed, both shared earth and sky as home
Yet this peace came undone, war was waged and humans won
Forced below monsters fell, humans trapped them with a spell

Listen, children, to my words:
Ebott will eat you beware the curse
Monster teeth go clack, clack, clack
If you climb the mountain, you won’t come back

Human child, human child - won’t turn around
Human child, human child - oops they fell down
Human child, human child - look out below
Down underground, where the monsters go

Oops dropped your heart, be careful in the dark
Someone might take it and break it apart
Trouble on the left, trouble on the right
Will you SPARE them, run of FIGHT?

Oops dropped your heart, be careful in the dark
Someone might take it and break it apart
Trouble on the left, trouble on the right
Will you SPARE them, run of FIGHT?

The afternoons were Maths, English, Survival Skills, Stories or Play. It was all good, I had a great family even if one of them disappeared each year, at least they left with a warning and a promise to meet us when it was our time to go up the mountain.

It was all okay until the day I accidentally hurt Lily, the day Karuniya disappeared...

Chapter Text

My parents slowly got worse after that day. Rose seemed to try and make me lose control of my emotions so it would backfire on her and get me taken away or worse. Whenever Rose would be in one of her moods, Oak would bring me food or heal me as best he could without Rose knowing. Because of this Rose thought my magic was making me heal very quickly which made me more freakish.

Luckily for me and perhaps Rose, I was slowly getting control of my magic which meant I could release my magic efficiently and not hurt anyone in the process. If I needed to burn off some steam usually Justice would be more than willing to spar. Perseverance would keep track of my progress while Integrity would teach me how to dodge and ‘dance’ around the ‘enemy’.

Integrity and Perseverance being the oldest taught us now. Gritish taught us to bring Maths and English while Honor taught us Survival in the late afternoon. Then Feo and I would play unless Honor or Gritish had a story to tell us. Perseverance always told the best stories they usually made me so at ease I would fall asleep. Integrity was more than willing to play with us.

Rose was harsher about if something went wrong even if there was a reasonable explanation she’d blame me. Oak was too intimidated by her and Lils was usually hanging out with friends or not around. It made it harder and harder to go back to that ‘house’. I didn't even call it home anymore. My home was with my siblings at the ‘school’.

The school was so much like how a home should be that I had most of my belongings there. Since people never came in here, they didn't know about it, apart from obviously my siblings. I didn't have much stuff anyway, just a small blanket, pillow, my favourite story from each sibling plus a charm bracelet with a photo of each of them. To me those were my most precious possessions, they were all that mattered.

That year when summer term came around I learned that both Honor and Gritish were going down together as they would be turning eleven at the same time since they were twins. They gave me the stories and the photos before telling the same things everyone told before going up the mountain. “Stay determined until the summer term before you turn eleven. When there are three weeks left, leave for Mt Ebott, we’ll be waiting for you DT.”

After those two left it was just me and Feo and it was lonely though I grew the closest to Justice because of the one year age gap. It was the same without all of my siblings here even if I didn't know the others as well as Justice. We spent the last three weeks cuddled together reading the stories left behind and relieving old/new memories.

When it was time for Justice to go up, I nearly broke down. It was Lil's last year at the school as well as Feo's last year before he went up to join the rest of our siblings. I knew he had to go, but dammit it hurt to know it’d be one more year, till I saw them all again. He spent the morning with me, we even read some stories. Eventually, he gave the same speech, gave me the story, gave me the photo and set off for the mountain.

The last three weeks I spent were wrapped in my blanket crying silent tears while going through old memories and wishing my family was there.

When the summer holidays were over for that year I learned that Lily was going to go to a great follow-on school with all the good grades she got in her GCSEs. I was happy for her. She deserved it until I saw how far away she was going to be. It was overseas which meant she had to live over there. That wasn't the bad part. I was fine with her going to be close to her school.

The bad part was that I was going to be alone with Rose and Oak for a whole year with no family, no reassurances and no Lils to drive me on. The morning she left I was crying though Lily may have thought it was tears of happiness or pride. I was happy, just worried about how much worse it would be without my big sister there.

I wasn't allowed to talk to Lils as Rose said I should let her focus on her studies, I would just be distracting her from progressing. I knew that Lils wouldn't give a damn but I couldn't argue against Rose. I kept going to school and it got harder and harder to go back to that prison. Rose usually forgot to feed me and locked me from the outside so I couldn't sneak out. Even with my magic, I hadn't figured how to unlock doors.

Lils didn't know how bad it had gotten and without any way to contact her, I had no way of keeping myself positive. She knew our parents disliked me or at the very least, Rose did. She just didn’t know to what extent. If she knew when she went overseas, she probably would have taken me with her just to get away from our parents.

People have a breaking point as I am sure you know. When people pass that point there is no hope of fixing that wall, trust me. You can't fix it with words or actions at least not when you’ve been tolerating a lot before that. Which is why people don’t push people when they know their weaknesses. However, some humans want to see how far you’ll go before you break, just to see what you'll do.

The last thing Lils said to me was “Promise me you’ll STAY DETERMINED!” Just like my other siblings. I had tried my whole life to smooth over pain with smiles and good things. But they always tell others I am bad and no matter how hard I try, I always do wrong.

But I had enough. I couldn’t stay determined enough to last until Lils came home for the holidays. I couldn't wait another year to see my siblings again. I couldn’t even last two months by myself. I had no emotional anchor, no support, no comforting words that would help me through the days. By the end of September, I decided to leave.

I had to get away from the monsters called my 'parents'. I had decided there wasn’t anything worth living for. I mean I knew for sure that Rose wouldn't even notice I’m gone and would be happy that she could focus all their attention on their perfect, normal, natural daughter. Lily and Oak would notice and probably be sad for a while but they’ll eventually get over it.

I had no friends to say goodbye to. I was completely alone in this world, all of them already up the mountain I was headed to. I put on my favourite striped jumper, blue with purple stripes that matched my amethyst eyes perfectly. I put on my strong furry brown boots and tied them uptight. I put a bandage patch over my star mark and quietly waited until my parents went to bed. I got my backpack from school yesterday with all my possessions in it and hid it under my bed. Now I got it out and slung it over my shoulder.

I quickly and silently opened the window, that Rose thankfully forgot to lock and climbed out onto the backyard and closed the window quietly behind me. My backpack was enough to last me a few days at most. I was out. I saw a mountain in the distance just underneath the moon. I thought of my siblings ‘I’m coming for you.’

I stared up the mountain of no return. “Mt Ebott. Sorry, Lils.” I made my way up slipping and panting on the hard rocks beneath me. I found a small cave behind a curtain of ivy, I breathed out a sigh. As I rested I drank from the water bottle and ate one of the energy bars, I took from the kitchen plus a few other supplies I saved from Oak.

I looked around me to see my surroundings and gasped. “Whoa!” I went deeper in. “People are scared of this place, it’s beautiful! Did all of the others see this place?” You saw a giant yawning abyss at the far end of the cave, you inch closer. I took a deep breath, I couldn’t see the bottom. “What’s this? They wouldn’t have fallen, would they? I mean it explains why no-one returned but..?” I thought if this was true my siblings were most likely dead, just like everyone said.

"If it is true then...I’ll never meditate with Patience when the others are getting too noisy. I’ll never pretend to fight Bravery in his favourite story. I‘d never cook cookies with Kindness until the fire alarm goes off. I’d never been able to learn how to do the difficult ballet move Integrity was going to show me when we found each other. Perseverance was never going to read me to sleep again with his soothing voice. Justice and I would never cuddle in my blanket and read stories from the others."

I was moving slowly backwards from the hole. So lost in my thoughts about my siblings as tears pricked at my eyes. The thought of never seeing them again, never feeling their embrace, was unbearable. Too lost in my thoughts, I never noticed the root until I tripped. It was so close to the entrance of the hole, gravity started to pull me into the black abyss. So I started to fall back into the hole. So I fell, tears rolling down my cheeks and a small smile on my face.

Chapter Text

Usually, when people talk about almost dying in books they say their life flashed before their eyes or something similar. I had something like that but I was more feelings, colours and what would happen afterwards. What would happen when I hit the ground would I die or would survive the fall.

My thoughts drifted to Lils if I did die would she be okay? I knew she’d be sad but would Rose allow her to grieve? Would she get over my death? Would she find it when she came home for Christmas or would it be before that? Lils would be fine she had to be besides she had lots of things going for her hoping she wouldn't be sad for too long.

My thoughts drifted to my other siblings. I hadn't meant to fall so if I die and met them then I suppose they couldn't get too mad besides we would all be together again. What if they didn't die? What if I found them would they be happy that I fell or sad? I would join them but in what way? Hopefully alive and safe together. We would be okay.

Just as I finished thinking I heard voices that I recognised it was my siblings' voices. The memory of my first meeting with each of them echoed in my head with the advice they all gave me to help me during the difficult periods of my life.

I saw a flash of light blue and Patience's face came into my mind's eye and I heard her voice 'Greetings my name is Jenah, don’t move’. Next, I saw a flash of bright orange and remembered Bravery and I heard his voice ‘Heya my name is Gifuhard, just keep running’. After that, I saw a flash of soft green the same colour as Kindness’ eyes as I heard her voice ‘Nice to meet you I am called Karuniya, don’t forget to block’. The next flash was multiple colours of dark blue interlaced purple and I remember Integrity and Perseverance, the twins and I heard their voices ‘Hi I am called Honor, jump high.’ and ‘Hello call me Gritish, make to stay on the lines’. I saw a familiar flash of yellow and remembered Justice and I heard his voice ‘Good morning, the name's Feolomaer, shoot straight’. I saw a flash of rose red with a hint of white and couldn't think of anyone to remember but I still heard a voice ‘Hello? Are you okay? My name's _____, just stay determined’.

As I kept falling started to think if this was the right thing to do, what if I didn’t die? Would I have to go back? What happened to the others, did they even fall down this hole or were they somewhere else living waiting for me to come? If I had to go back what would the consequences be? I knew every decision had a consequence, Lils taught me that. But would they see this as a bad or good thing?

Probably happy I'm gone, but bad I came back. Although if I stayed it could have gotten worse at least this way if I have to go back there’s a reason for it too. Roses would be so happy for another reason to hurt the freak. Though I suppose, Oak wouldn’t be too happy about me being gone, I still loved my father even if there was bad blood between me and my mother. Although he might act like he doesn't miss me to get Rose off his back.

Suddenly I remembered. Before I fell I thought I saw a flash of green and yellow, I think I also heard a voice shout, “ WAIT! NO! STOP!” thinking back to the colours before the green and yellow reminded me of Lily but the voice also sounded similar to the person who’s soul trait was red. As I started to see the end of the dark abyss, I began to regret this decision. ‘Wait! What’ll happen after? I DON’T WANT TO DIE! I WANT TO CONTINUE!’

Suddenly I stopped falling with a THUMP! ‘Ow! Oh, I fell. This is why my siblings never came back to me? They fell as I did? I’ve got to find a way out of here! I need to find them! Everything will be okay as soon as I find them. Then everything will make sense.’

Looking around I saw golden flowers, they must have broken my fall and the reason I'm not dead. Though outside my blanket of flowers, I could barely see anything, if I called out would anyone hear? If they did hear me, would they help? Or just leave me to die?

I thought through my options something I learned from Patience (think before you act). I didn't have anything to lose at this point, so I called for help into the black darkness around me. I listened for a reply but there was no answer, just the echo of my cries coming back to me. Hugging my knees my eyes started to tear up, would I die down here? Just as I was about to lose hope that there was anybody out there who cared, I heard a familiar voice.

“Hello? Are you okay?” Somebody came...

Chapter Text

“Hello? Are you okay?” My head shot up from my knees at the closeness of the unfamiliar voice. Tears rolled down my face as I saw in front of me, a human that looked a little older than me, with a look of worry and curiosity.

Scared of this stranger, I scrambled backwards to get as far away as possible from the person without leaving the circle of light that shone down from above. They seemed startled by my sudden movement and I felt a little guilty, the first person to show me the kindness I asked for and I turned away.

“Woah, Woah. It’s okay, I'm not here to hurt you, I just wanted to help. ” As I looked closer at them I noticed they were slightly see-through though this doesn't seem to bother them. They seemed more concerned about my condition and reactions than their well-being. Were they dead? Was I also going to die? What happened to them? Were they the first Ebott case?

Slightly reassured by their words but still wary. After becoming a little bit calmer, I took time to see what they looked like. They had light brown, shoulder-length, straight hair, like me though a slightly different style. Their eyes are a bright yellow colour like Feo’s with light green hearts like Karu as pupils. On their right cheek, there is was a mark that is in the same shape and colour as their pupils, just like my siblings.

This just confirms that they're an Ebott case if they have the mark and unusual eyes they're an Ebott case. However, if they fell then what happened to them did they die or was this some sort of hallucination? Focusing back on them I saw they wore similar striped clothes to me. however, there was a long-sleeved green shirt with one yellow stripe across the chest rather than blue and purple with two stripes. They wore trousers that were rolled up halfway past their calves. They also wore what looked like strong laced-up boots.

They moved slowly downwards into a cross-legged position as to not scare me. They spoke once again, and I looked downwards, trying to relieve some tension. “You took quite a fall, huh?” I nodded shyly still looking at the ground. They glanced awkwardly to the side. “Um, my name is Chara, you wanted some help on getting out of here?” I nodded again this time sure of myself. I had to find my siblings! Chara chuckled. “Not much of a talker? That’s okay. I’ll help you get out, just trust me?”

Near the start of our first run, Chara told me that they indeed were the person who tried to stop me from falling and they had a determination soul which explained the rose-red I saw when hearing their voice. However, it didn't explain the white, whenever I asked about Chara would suddenly change the subject so I stopped. They felt like we were meant to meet, They hadn’t done this with any of the other fallen children which I hadn't told Chara were my siblings.

Even though some had called out for help as I did Chara told me their soul traits and I found out Karu did as well as Honor before Gritish stopped her. but I wasn't complaining they were helping me and that was all that mattered. The first few times Chara did everything the way they wanted it to go.

The first several times I fell, Chara took me over and got me through the underground while becoming friends with everyone and getting a happy ending on the surface. After a few more runs, I wanted to join in so we compromised on decisions while going throughout the underground and still making friends.

Chara wanted to reset and meet everyone again, I agreed as it was the least I could do in payback for their help. Chara always did a pacifist runs. A few pacifists run in and Chara gave me a locket in the shape if a golden save point like my pupils. It would block out possessive influences and would take me back to the latest save I or Chara made it could also make emergency save points.

But they knew by giving me this, I could block them out by putting it on. The fact that I didn’t block them was a huge show of trust and I knew I was just about the only human Chara trusted in many, many years. Throughout all our pacifist runs Chara allowed me to take over in situations that they knew I could handle easily like meeting Sans or Papyrus' fight.

It slowly gave me more and more confidence in my abilities. I remember the last run Chara and I did together, we were sitting on the edge of the mountain looking at the sunset when I asked Chara the question.
---
“Hey, Chara?”
“Yeah, Frisk?”
“Ca-can I do the next run on my own? I mean with you by my side obviously but like me, in my body the whole time. I promise I will ask you to take over when I’m in over my head.” I was nervous about their answer, I wanted to do one time where I could be myself.
“Sure, just don’t try and take the world on your shoulders, okay? Let me carry some of the weight plus we don’t need another royal family death. Let’s try to save Asriel this time, I want to save my goat bro.” they smiled at me happily and I smiled back at them with excitement.
I chuckled. “Of course, Chara. I will try to save our brother.”

We pressed the RESET button together and watched as the world disappeared.
---
I woke up and saw I was resting in a bed of familiar golden buttercups and felt excited. My first run as me, I looked in front of me where Chara was usually waiting and I reached out my hand for them. What would normally happen is I would reach out, they would help me up and we would talk in my mind about how to the upcoming run.

However just as they pulled me up, I was thrown out of my body and they entered. I then noticed they weren’t Chara, but someone different but not particularly someone bad, just different. Everything was fine, the new person was done two pacifist routes with charas help and they seemed to be on their third one, it all seemed to be going fine until they reached Alphys. Then for no reason whatsoever they RESET, this happened again only they only made it past the last room in Snowdin and once again RESET.

I got a bad feeling after that. I can remember the new person which I decided to call Player killed some froggits and other monsters that resided in the Ruins. They went through the Neutral Route completely just once. THey RESET and did it again but only managed until Waterfall. I could somehow feel that they were bored. I was horrified how could they kill them, they hadn't done anything to them.

They came up with a question, “What would happen if I killed everyone? I can always RESET and nobody would know!” That's when my vision started to blur and I tried to fight for control but whenever I did I was threatened that they would break my soul and take complete control of my body. In the first genocide, I tried and begged for every single monster I met to be SPARED but either they don't hear me or didn't care.

After the fifth genocide, I gave up fighting and trying they weren't listening to me and they weren't stopping anytime soon. With that depressing thought, I curled up in the deep recesses of my subconscious knowing that Player was ruining what could’ve been a completely peaceful timeline. I had seen the end so many times, I had seen chara come to a solid form and player refusing to ERASE the world. Killing monsters just to sate their sadistic curiosity and bloodthirsty ways, they reminded me of my parents with the way they treated Sans.

Killing and hurting family members just to see how long it would take until people would snap, in this case, that person is Sans. Unfortunately or perhaps, fortunately, it depends how you look at it, although Player did have a reset button to make everyone forget… Sans has an exceptionally good memory. Which means he can remember past timelines.

Sometimes I think this brings more harm than good, however, this does mean he knows how dangerous humans can be and would and will defeat Player as long as he is able as well as protecting who he can. Unfortunately Player doesn't work like that.

They always RESET after choosing to DO NOT to start the whole vicious deadly cycle all over again. It got to the point where Chara was helping them, they had lost themself in this genocidal quest. However, I can't blame being forced to watch your best friend jill your friends and family over and over and over again must be bad for your mental state.

Then just after they killed asgore, I pleaded for them not to kill Asriel however this time they somehow listened to my request instead flowey killed them by some miracle I was near the RESET button and before the player could press continue, I pressed RESET. After that, all I saw were swirling colours as I passed out from the mental strain and from being controlled. I watched as the world disappeared once again disappeared…

Chapter Text

I woke up with a start, my purple eyes snapping open. I looked around and noticed that I was resting on a bed of buttercups and figured out that I was back at the start where I fell. ‘Golden flowers. They must have broken your fall.’ The Player must have reset at the very end of the genocide route again. Then I realised there were no whispers, no movement from my limbs without my permission, no threats to my soul. I decided to test this with Player, I called out cautiously.

“Player? Are you there?” There was no response but I didn’t relax, while the Player may not be here Chara may be. Although I didn’t know if Chara was there or not I wasn't gonna call out for help. I knew better than that if anything it would make Chara come to me and I didn’t want that.

If there was one thing I knew about Chara was that they didn't like humans and if I called out to them they would probably attack me. Even if I hadn't seen much of genocide I knew that they thought all humans were like the player well before they met me. However, being controlled by the player they may think they were wrong about me.

Usually, I wouldn’t mind Chara’s help and kind words but after doing the genocide route over and over… Chara had become a bit unstable. Plus if they weren’t here now was a little spooky usually there were always there waiting.

I listened closely for any other voices, hopefully, one of my siblings but to no avail, I should probably get going but I was scared how I was supposed to get through the underground with no guidance. I could barely remember anything, I knew something’s but not enough to stay alive plus my confidence has shrunk since I asked Chara about doing my run like myself.

Slowly I calmed down it would be okay, chara would help I just had to convince them I'm not the player that's all. I sighed but decided to move and meet, I tried to remember. A talking flower? I wasn't sure of the name but knew it was one of the first of the many challenges that I encountered in my journey through the Underground.

I pushed themself up slowly, still sore from falling such a long way down and thought about my quest ahead. I knew that I would get saved from the talking flower by a goat woman and then make it through the purple place. There was a sharp burst of pain through my head before I then remembered the name - The Ruins.

I sat in a cross-legged position and took a look at my multicoloured soul and to my surprise, there was no blood-red glow around it nor golden yellow, I was alone. I could go through the underground the way I wanted, the mostly red soul pulsed comfortingly as the yellow and green inside swirled. The small white outline also pulsed with power. I put up a glamour around my soul so it would seem to be a completely red soul however I didn’t know if that would work against monsters who also have magic.

Although it seemed to have worked the past timelines I couldn’t think of one where someone found out, then again my memory was pretty hazy at this point. Jumping up excited, I started to walk and picked up the pace as I came to the doorway, the start of my adventure. It would be the first without Chara or Player guiding them and the only reason I wasn't calling for Chara was that I didn’t want them to mistake me for The Player. The reason I didn't call for The Player was I would do another genocide route, that one speaks for its self.

Although I had noticed a few differences when I was being controlled, for one thing, my eyes would change colour and my soul would change as well. Another thing was that the locket Chara gave me only to appear on me and chara but not on the player however now wasn't the time as I made my way to the end of the hallway. On top of the door, I took notice of the crest of the Dreemurrs, I knew that much at least. I took a deep breath in, blew it out slowly and walked through.

I walked forward and met, as I predicted, the talking flower. He turns toward you and gives a friendly smile. “Howdy! I’m FLOWEY. FLOWEY the FLOWER! Hee hee hee… Why’d you make me introduce myself? It’s rude to act like you don’t know who I am.” I interrupted Flowey's monologue, “Hi Flowey, my name is Frisk.” Flowey smiles a creepy smile and laughs. “Ah so a Pacifist Route, eh? Let's get this over with. don't worry, I’ll play along ‘Frisk’. ” He said the last part mockingly.

I decided not to correct him if he thought I was the Player or Chara that was fine by them as long as he didn’t kill me. Then again he though chara was the player so it didn't matter however it depends what he remembers from the genocide routes. If he remembered the player killing him he might be less eager to help them at least I hope so.

Flowey started to speak again apparently Flowey didn't know about the possession or the changes. “Hmmm… You’re new to the UNDERGROUND, aren't cha? Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready? Here we go.”

I felt my soul get pulled out, I glanced toward my soul, the glamour was still strong and Flowey didn't notice anything wrong. my soul was safe for now. my body somehow I now knew I had entered a FIGHT and tensed up. He continued talking.

“See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being! Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV. What’s LV stand for?” He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Why, LOVE of course! You want some LOVE, don’t you? Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!”

Flowey gives me a wink and sticks out his tongue playfully, five white pellets float above in a semi-circle around him. “Down here, LOVE is shared through...Little white…“friendliness pellets. Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!” Some feeling in your gut tells you that the pellets weren’t friendly at all and LOVE stood for something else. You dive out the way as the “pellets” come towards you.

Flowey’s expression changes to one of mild disbelief though I can tell it’s fake, as though he’s putting on a show. “Hey buddy, you missed them. Let’s try again, okay?” I move out of the way again determined not to get hit by the friendliness pellets. I can see Flowey getting mildly annoyed although you can tell most of it is just for show, he’s acting though I could see some real annoyance. “Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!!!” You changed your expression into one of shock, you knew that they were not friendly.

As soon as Flowey sees your face he 'realises' his mistake and 'corrects' his words. Putting on a smile that is fake, “Friendliness pellets.” I dove out of the way once again and flowey smile turned creepy and sinister. His eyes are two black tunnels and you can only see the sinister pinpricks of light. His voice changed from irritated to dark and crazy. “You know what’s going on here, don’t you? You just wanted to see me suffer.”

Suddenly I was surrounded by all sides with bullets there is no way I could escape them all and if my gut feeling was right which judging by Flowey’s expression, it was. I was gonna die by a demon flower, I was never going to dodge them all. Flowey spat “Die.” before laughing hysterically as the bullets closed in around me. Suddenly they all disappear and I see flowey being blown away by a fireball.

I turn toward where the attack came from and a tall figure comes into view. She looks like a goat with her long floppy ears and small strong horns but she wears a long purple robe with a crest of her people with long white sleeves and no shoes to cover her back paws. Mrs Dreemurr, Queen of the Underground and Mother of Asriel and Chara.

I felt tears in my eyes as I looked up at her. Her pink and purple eyes looking down at me in concern, just like Chara did forever ago. I put a hand to my mouth to muffle my cries. As I remembered the times when I was with her at home, safe and sound. She looked towards me and spoke.

“What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth… Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am TORIEL, caretaker of the RUINS.”

‘Mum...’

Chapter Text

Mum seemed to think it was best that she kept talking to calm me down, which seemed to be a family trait if Chara doing the same thing when I first fell was any indication. “I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen. You are the first human to come here for a long time.'' I thought back to before the Underground. It had only been a few months after Feo fell, right? So why would Mum lie? I figured it was a glitch in the code. “Come! I will guide you through the catacombs.”

I had left the fight. I stood on shaky legs and held back my tears at her familiar voice soothing me.

“This way.” I followed Mum through the doorway, she led me across a room filled with red leaves. At the end of the room before the stairs, there was a yellow star, it took me a second to remember the name. A save point. As Mum went up the stairs, I stopped to touch it. 

“(The shadows of the ruins looms above, filling you with determination. HP fully restored.)” I heard a familiar but unfamiliar voice whisper and I looked around wildly, it sort of sounded like Chara, I mentally shook it off. It was probably just a memory. I saw the save screen. I was given two options: Save or Return. Since I didn't have any progress to return to, I SAVED. Ruins - Entrance, File saved.  

It filled me with warmth and brought my health back up to full. Mum makes it to the top of the stairs and goes through the door. I followed, not wanting to be left alone in the Underground. Always being with Chara or even a player made me terrified of being alone, even more than I was before the Underground. As I entered the room I saw the exit on the other side, they were double doors. It was closed and it also had the Dreemurrs crest upon it.  

“Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the RUINS.”

There are six stones, four of the six are in a square on the four points. Another was in the middle of the box and the last one was outside on the side closest to me. Mum walked on the bottom left stone then to the bottom right stone. She then walked away from me towards the top right stone and then the top left. Beside the exit doors was a lever, she pulled it down and the doors opened. Mum faces away from the doors to walk back towards me and explains why she did that.

“The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them.” Mum walked through the door. I took the same path she took just in case a spear would pop out and kill me if I didn't complete the puzzle as I saw in comic books. I then looked towards the door she went through, taking a deep breath. I entered a room with a small river that had a thin wooden bridge over it. She stood just before the small bridge and turned to face me again.

“To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labelled the ones that you need to flip.” I followed her across the bridge. There is a switch on the wall to the left of me with three yellow arrows clearly marked by Mum, I flipped it. There was another river up ahead and another wooden bridge across it. I followed Mum across that one too. There are some spikes behind  Mum blocking the way forward. There are now two switches to the left of me and the one on the left had three yellow arrows pointed at it. Just to be sure that it wasn’t a trap I looked at Mum.

“Go on, press the switch on the left. You do know which way left is, do you not? Press the switch that I have labelled for you.” I walked to the left switch and flipped it, I heard a click and looked over to the spikes. I just saw as they sunk into the ground. 

“Splendid! I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room.” Before following Mum I flipped the other switch.

‘(This switch doesn’t even work….)’ I heard the sound-alike Chara again but didn’t test it yet. If it was them I would wait until we were alone, to either have a proper reunion or… something else. I followed Mum. I entered a room with a dummy in it.

“As a human living in the UNDERGROUND, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy.” Mum walked pass the dummy and I moved forward towards it. Again my soul got pulled out and again the glamour was going strong. I glanced behind Mum to see her reaction if she could see past the magical disguise but she didn’t seem surprised. Once she noticed I was looking over at her she gave a small smile and a pointed look at the dummy. I had entered a FIGHT.

‘(You encountered the Dummy. You pressed ACT. You chose DUMMY. You chose CHECK. DUMMY - ATK 0 DEF 0. A cotton heart, a button eye. You are the apple of my eye.)’

*.....

‘(Dummy looks like it’s going to fall over. You pressed ACT. You chose DUMMY. You chose TALK. You talk to the dummy.)’

*...

‘(It doesn’t seem much for conversation. TORIEL seems happy with you. YOU WON! You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.)’

“Ah, very good! You are very good.” After shaking off the familiar voice of Chara narrating my FIGHTS, I followed Mum through yet another door and into an empty room. It didn’t look like there wasn’t a puzzle in this room and the way wasn’t blocked either. 

“There is another puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?” I followed Mum through the room and down a corridor. But before we could get to the end of the corridor I unexpectedly had entered a FIGHT with a Froggit.

‘(Froggit attacks you! You pressed ACT. You chose FROGGIT. You chose CHECK. FROGGIT - ATK 4 DEF 5. Life is difficult for this enemy.)’

Toriel glares at the Froggit probably because they attacked me out of nowhere. The Froggit looks frightened and then with a sheepish expression leaves.

‘(YOU WON! You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.)’

I noticed a plaque on the wall and Chara read it out loud for me as I couldn’t read that well. As teachers ignored us we had to self-teach a bit, which meant even if we were ‘street-smart’ as others called it we weren’t school-smart.  Chara read. ‘(The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint.)’ I didn’t think about the message too long though as I saw a bridge over a big stretch of water however it was covered completely with spikes. Mum stopped in front of me and I looked up at her, slightly scared. I didn’t want to die with a big spike if possible.

“This is the puzzle, but… Here, take my hand for a moment.” Mum took my hand suddenly and I nearly pulled away until I felt her soft warm fur that I somehow knew used to comfort me after nightmares about my ‘Mother’. She gently leads me over to the spikes and through a path to not harm us. As soon as we were safe on the other side of the water she let go of my hand and I instantly missed the contact. And although as much as I wanted to hold her to hold my hand again I didn't want to seem needy or suspicious.

“Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now.” She must have seen my scared expression before and even though she looked a little anxious, I realised she probably just didn’t want me to get hurt. This hurt my soul a little as I followed Mum down a corridor to a room, I realised that she thought I was going to stay with her forever after she led me through the puzzles of ‘HOME’.

“You have done excellently thus far, my child. However… I have a difficult request to ask of you. … I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this.” Mum walks ahead to the end of the room so quickly that after a few seconds I couldn’t see her at all. I tried to calm myself down ‘It's okay, she's just up ahead, you're not alone, she's just out of sight, she hasn't left you. Just think Toriel is beside you, it's fine. Being alone was one of the things I hated the most, probably another one of the reasons that I left early for Mt Ebbott. I walked as fast as I could without running all the way to the end of the hallway. I stopped just before the pillar. I was so relieved when Mum walked out from behind the pillar, she hadn't left me! She faced me and seemed a bit sheepish at my expression.

‘Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise. … to test your independence. I must attend some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It’s dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea. I will give you a CELL PHONE. If you have a need for anything just call. Be good, alright?’ I decided to WAIT until called to chara. I wanted to know how mum was doing so went to call her.

*Dialing…

‘This is TORIEL. Huh?’

‘Hi, Mum …’ I heard a soft gasp and I was confused until I realised what I called her. ‘Mum’,  why did I call her that? I should have waited. Does she hate me now? Is she mad that I put her on that label? I was getting more scared as I heard the silence stretch on. Why was she taking so long to respond? Is she Upset? Angry? Shocked? As I waited I held my breath. However, when I heard her reaction, I was filled with overwhelming relief.

‘Did you just call me… “Mom”? Well… I suppose… Would that make you happy? To call me… “Mother”? Well then, call me whatever you like! Make sure to be good alright?’

‘Okay Mum, see you soon.’

*Click…

Chapter Text

Hi, the name’s Chara Dreemurr, once Tansey, though you may not know a lot about me, let me give you the brief history of my life on The Surface. I didn't like my family on the surface and my family didn’t like me apart from my mother and brother. I climbed up Mt Ebbot leaving a message to a little Jenah who had just started school that she should come to join me at the mountain just before she turned eleven. When she worried about the monsters I told them ‘Even if there were monsters, they wouldn't eat humans as they do in the song, promise.’. After that, I think you can guess the rest just like all the others after me and this strange new child I fell. However back then monsters were still inhabiting this part of The Underground so the King and Queen were having a meeting with some of the residents.

Their son, Asriel was bored so he asked if he could go and explore some more of The Ruins. I had hurt myself from falling quite hard on the ground as I didn't have buttercups to soften my fall like the others I called out for help. Asriel heard and helped me and from then on I became their ward after a few more months with the royal family, Asriel and I became as close as siblings. In doing so I became even more hateful towards my kind, Humans, for what they did to the monsters.

So I and Asriel came up with a plan. A little while before me and Asriel had tried to make the king a pie but we mistook cups of butter for buttercups which made him very ill. I thought if I ate enough and died, Asriel could absorb my soul, cross the barrier, get six more human souls and break the barrier setting all monsters free from the Underground. However, when Asriel went to the village he was holding my body as I wanted to see the golden flowers of my village.

Typical; Humans thought that Asriel had killed me and started to attack him very badly. In the crowds, I saw Jenah and I knew she somehow saw this wasn't Asriel's fault. I could see she was still going to go up the mountain even if I wasn't going to be there waiting for her. Although I wanted Asriel to fight back and get the human souls he just wanted to go back home. In the end, I gave in, listened to him and took us back. Asriel turned to dust just as Mum and Dad came into the throne room. Dad declared war on the humans for what they did to Asriel and Mum found it so bad that she ran away to the ruins to protect any humans that may fall.

After that I saw many humans that fell, I saw that Jenah took my advice as I knew she would and she even had her little siblings to pass on my message onto. They all left, the RUINS they all died by Dad’s hand and then I saw this last human and for some strange reason, I wanted to help them. It's like they and I already knew each other, we also seemed to have similar fashion sense so I tried to help them by narrating their journey and to my surprise I thought they heard me. But they didn't seem to react after that so I thought it may have been fluke until after she called Toriel ‘Mum’. They turned off the phone, screwed their eyes shut as though thinking hard about something and then looked straight at me.

Not through me, but at me. I was amazed. I was even more surprised when they said in a soft voice. “How have you been, Chara?” For a second it seemed as though the world was spinning. Who are they? How do they know my name? Do they have some kind of supernatural power? What were they? Were they human or some kind of unidentified monster that lived on the surface? I didn't realise I was mumbling until I heard their voice again, now slightly concerned.

“Umm, Chara are you okay or do you need a minute?” I shot a look at them and pointed at them accusingly. “Who are you and how do you know my name? Also, do you have some kind of power? Are you even human?” They put up their hands in a defensive stance and put on a soothing voice. “Whoa whoa, in order, I’m Frisk and that's not important. I have some kind of power but I'm not psychic if it's about knowing your name and I think I’m human I’m not then I don't what else I could be.”

I was confused “Then why do I feel like I know you? Do you have a trust magic glamour or something?” they looked up at me “A trust magic? Is that even a thing? No, I have DETERMINATION. Which means the power of SAVE and RESET. Not trust magic.”

“Wait so I do know you? I thought I would have remembered you since I have a DETERMINATION soul as well.” They laughed nervously “Yeah I don’t know the reason for that. Though I am happy you’re here I don’t think I could have stood being on my own a second longer.”

I frowned “Why not? You seem fine.” They laughed harshly. “Trust me, I'm having a deep down internal freakout in the back of my brain. I guess always having someone to look after me gave me separation anxiety.” I looked down at them realised for the first time that they were just a scared child, just like me. Just like all the others. Just like … Asriel. My eyes softened. “Hey, uh you want me to help?” They peeked up at me, eyes misty with tears about to fall and smiled. A small sad smile but still a smile and I counted it as a win.

“You did this the first time as well although we met where I fell. You offered your help and I accepted. You possessed me throughout our first journey-” I held my hand up and cut them off “I noticed you called out someone… Player right? I possessed you that doesn't seem like something I would do… But wait WAIT ‘our FIRST journey’!? How many did you do?!” They looked startled. “Do you mean me, you or the player? Because there is a difference.”
“Erm altogether?!” I asked, slightly incredulous.
“Oh em 27 plus 53 also the 3 runs uncompleted is 83 runs or roundabout there, I don't exactly know how many the player has done so I’m guessing so…” I was shocked, Frisk seemed to trail off quietly when they saw my expression.
“H-how many did I do?!?”
“That would be you and me partner and there were 27, all pacifist routes.”
“Well, that's a relief. Why did the player leave three incomplete and why 53 runs?”
“Two of the incomplete were pacifist, one was neutral.”
“Okay, you keep talking about pacifist and neutral what do those mean exactly?” “Plus what were the 53 runs? I mean I know a pacifist is someone who refuses to fight but what about neutral?”
“Right I forgot you don't remember somethings it might be easier if you grabbed my hand, like no offence but it’s getting harder to concentrate on seeing you and talking. If you grab my hand we’ll be able to talk telepathically and I won’t have to concentrate.”
“Okay…” I said unsurely. I leaned forward down towards Frisk. They seemed nervous about this but I had a feeling I could trust although I was very wary as well. As soon as I touched their hand, I felt a warm feeling run through me as I pulled them up into a hug. I remembered them but there were a few gaps in my memory that were missing. But most importantly, I remembered them.

“Frisk, what happened to you? Why did you kill everyone?” Then I remembered what they said about another person being involved. “Wait, you said another person did that right? You wouldn’t do that, you're too nice. I know you Frisk you're not bad.” They looked up at me and grinned. “I am guessing you remember me?”

I nodded wetly but said, “You didn't answer my questions, Sib.” They groaned lightly “Right … well let's say I got possessed again but I was trapped from the inside this time. I didn't want to kill anyone. Yes, another person did that but used my body, I doubt the skeleton player fought in judgement hall is going to forgive me…”

I thought about it. “Not necessarily, I didn’t remember you until I touched your hand so maybe his half memory from previous timelines is completely gone like mine was.”
“Maybe, but what if he gets his memories back by touching me?”
“Well, he doesn't do that right?”
“I don't know, I can't remember. My memory is fuzzy at best and I only have gut feelings to rely on and you know, I guess.”
“I was going to ask, you want me to do this run? I could get you through again and then we could live on the surface with Mum and Dad.”
They seemed to think about the offer and for a moment I thought they were going to take it but then I saw the determination in their eyes and I knew their decision.

“Not to be rude, Chara but I never got to do the ‘one run where I was myself’ because of the whole player thing so I'm going to do this run with your help from the sidelines. No possession and then we’ll save everyone and live happily ever after, okay? I’ll save Asriel as well and I promised to do that as well.”

They seemed so much like Azzy that I couldn't say no but still I warned “Okay but remember I’m always here to help and you promised I could take over when you are in over your head.”

They smiled as though they expected it. “I promise.” They turned back to the rest of the ruins and I knew they wouldn’t wait for Mum to come back. “Ready to head out?” I asked. They gave a smirk. “Just gotta stay determined.”

Chapter Text

“Do you also have the locket I gave you during our seventh run?” They looked around in their pockets. As they searched I thought to myself I don’t blame them for not wanting to be possessed they were probably traumatized by the Player. I looked back at Frisk, as they couldn't seem to find it, I felt my heart plummet. Would the player have thrown it away?

But Frisk suddenly smiled as they felt around their neck and brought a golden chain with a save point on the end of it.

It looked a bit beat up and it was scratched in several places but to me, it looked perfect. My relief must have been overwhelming cause Frisk looked at me briefly before doing a double at my expression.

“Geez, Chara you look as though you were a monster that just found out we were getting to the surface.” I smiled at my youngest sibling and admitted I was worried the player had gotten rid of it.

“The Player can’t do stuff like that. For all the things they can do they wouldn't have been able to get rid of the locket. When they fall, they are given a choice but only specific choices, they are limited somewhat. In this instance, it means that the locket doesn't appear on their person and even if it did they wouldn’t have the choice to take it off and throw it away cause it doesn't appear on their ‘options’. So you don't have to worry about the Player getting rid of it or me because I'm not taking it off.”

I breathed an internal sigh of relief, the Player couldn't get at it and one of the things I remember about Frisk is when they say something they mean it. Suddenly They shot up and I was instantly on alert. Did they remember something? Are they in danger? Was something bad gonna happen?

They turned to me quickly and asked “Did my backpack fall with me?” I blinked at them for a second. “That's why you shot up? I thought you remembered something important.” They frowned good-naturedly, a little miffed. “Hey, my backpack is very important, along with all the stuff in it. Did it fall with me or not?” I rolled my eyes but gave a good thought about it. “You weren't wearing it when you fell so unless you snagged the bag as you fell then probably not?” I shrugged, unsure.

They sighed but soon lit up with an idea and glanced at me with a grin. “Chara can you carry corporeal stuff as a ghost?” I was a little taken back. “I think so wait a moment,” I focused for a few seconds and was able to pick up a rock from the floor but as soon as I lost concentration it fell through my hand.

“Well, I can carry things. Any other questions?” They thought for a moment. “You can go outside the barrier, right?” I smiled back at them a little bitterly.“Not too far. From the ruins, I can get outside the cave. From the castle, I can't get to the place where we would usually see the sunset before the next RESET.” finished and gave an internal wince as frisk looked at little shaken up at the R-word. They shook themself to attention and continued on a bit more hurried. “Okay okay, do you think you can phase through doors or walls without the thing you holding getting left behind?” “That’s probably not since is corporeal and I'm not.”

“Okay, can you open doors or flip switches?” That was something I knew I could do “Yes though it takes some concentration.” They looked so hopeful and finally got the courage they needed to ask their big question. “So could I ask a big favour and I promise to be super good until you get back?” I already had an idea but let them ask anyway I nodded signalling them to go on. “Can you please please please bring my backpack to me? I promise I won't move from this spot.”

I sighed “Sure Frisky but you said you’d stay so you don’t move a muscle till I get back ok Sib?” “Aye aye Rara!”

~~~

As I flew back to the fall site in the ruins I thought about Frisk and how to help them. I knew they were going to save Asriel so we’d have our brother back but I wasn’t sure how Frisk would take knowing the other fallen children were dead. I don’t if they already knew because it only seemed like their memory came back when they got to that part in their journey.

I was surprised how easy it was to talk to Frisk with their memory being blurry and my memory having gaping holes in it, I thought it would’ve been harder to get along with since we can’t remember much about each other. We had fallen into an easy rhythm as I did after a while with Azzy. They reminded me so much of Azzy it hurt.

I swear I’m going to get them through this and everything is going to be alright we’ll get to the surface and we’ll get to be a happy family. Or I thought at least Azzy, Frisk, Mum and Dad will… Maybe I’ll finally get some peace like the others. I wonder if the other were ghosts too, I can’t remember them being ghosts from what I remember but they did become conscious when fighting… something I can’t remember what. Someone powerful I know that much.

I stopped my musing when I realised I got to the entrance, I began looking for the bag. I was about to go up to the cave when I saw it hidden in the shadows just outside the circle of light from the surface. From what I could see it was a nice study brown leather backpack and seemed to have quite a bit in it. I concentrated and picked it up and onto my back, it wasn’t too heavy just made it a little to concentrate and carry.

I wasn’t able to think on the way back to Frisk I dropped the bag several times on the way. Luckily it wasn’t on spikes or anything dangerous. Internally, I was eternally grateful for that since I couldn’t remember what was in here or if it was precious. I know Frisk must’ve shown me what was in it at some point so why couldn’t I still remember?! It frustrated me Although I understand I sighed internally, how am I supposed to protect Frisk and help them when I can’t remember what we’re up against?

“Rara, did you get it?!” I jolted out of my thoughts at Frisk voice and turned towards them. I noticed they kept their promise and hadn’t moved from the spot I left them in. I gave them a deadpan look and said very sarcastically. “No, I couldn’t find it anyway, it seemed to have vanished into thin air.” Frisk gave me confused look and replied, “Then what’s on your back?” I acted surprised. “Oh, I must’ve found it after all.” I handed it of=ver to them as they got the top off they talked to me. “You were being … sar-car-sick right? About my bag?” I snickered. “I think you mean sarcastic and yes I was.” They gave a nod as they looked through the bag to make sure everything was there.

“Okay! Everything’s in there, we should be good as long as I remember to get the bag when we ask Mum how to exit the ruins we’ll be fine. I don’t she’ll notice the bag either she didn’t ever from what I remember?” I shook my head, unsure. “I don’t know… she is a boss monster and somethings have already gone off ‘script’ remember when you interrupted Flowey?” I saw them contemplate that thoughtfully before gathering themself. “Well, it doesn’t matter either she’ll say something and it’ll be something new or she won’t and it’ll still be new since I got fuzzies in my head” I smirked. “How will you know which is which if you got fuzzies?” I saw a spark in their multicoloured eyes. “I just will the fuzziness is getting worse so it all be gone soon and I’ll remember everything.”

I smiled, I realized I missed having an optimistic little sibling running around, even if they are different species. “So let’s get going! If you don’t mind me asking what is so important that’s in your bag?” They started walking when I heard their voice but their mouth wasn’t open. ‘Things from home and the house but mostly gifts from the others’ I stopped a bit confused. “How did you do that?” They furrowed their brow ‘Do what?’ “That!? Speaking but not opening your mouth?” Frisk giggled. ‘Oh, you called it tele-path-tick, I think?’ I laughed internally, snickering responded, “You mean we are telepathic and you’re using telepathy?” They grinned in the confidence only kids can and replied with a ‘Yep!’

We were nearly when got to the doorway when I asked again. “So what is in your bag?” ‘Oh, right! Well, there is just a small blanket, pillow, my favourite story from each sibling plus a charm bracelet with a photo of each of them. To me those were my most precious possessions, they were all that mattered. There were also a few water bottles, some food and medical supplies.’ I was confused “Why medical supplies, did you think you would get hurt?” They frowned ‘Well no but Oak gave them to me so I thought I'd bring them just in case.’

I was about to ask who Oak was when Frisk grinned mischievously. “Ready to head out?” intentionally mimicking my words from earlier I smirked back equally. “Just gotta stay determined!”