Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the HUMANS were victorious.

They sealed the MONSTERS underground with a magic spell.

Many years later...

MT. EBOTT

20XX

Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.

-~-~-~-

A child sighs as he stares out at the sunrise for what must've been the millionth time. Stick in hand, he looks at the others standing next to him: his friends and family.

The ones that he murdered countless times without a second thought.

He's done this plenty of times, so why doesn't it feel right? Why does it still feel as though something is missing? Why can't he just find that content feeling he's been searching for? Why can't he find the satisfaction that comes with having whatever you want? Why can't he just get what he wants?

Another sigh exits him as his friends leave one by one, the only one to remain being the one he considers a mother.

She stands silently next to him for a moment before breaking the silence. "What are you to do now, my child? I assume you must have a family to return to.

Then it strikes him. Of course! Why didn't he think of that before? He has all the pieces to the puzzle but one, and all it should take for him to get his perfect ending is a little bit of persuasion. That shouldn't be too hard, should it?

With a determined look on his face, he turns to the one he considers his mother. 'I do.'

The mother looks at him with a bittersweet smile and gives him a hug, large paws resting lightly on his back. "Of course, child. I hope you find them, wherever they are."

She lets him go with a small pat on his back.

"Now, I must join the others. Someone has to stop them from getting into trouble, you know," she says with a small laugh. "Good luck, Frisk."

With that, he signs a quick 'thank you' before turning back to the sunrise, to which she responds with a light smile before walking away.

Now, Frisk tells himself, I have some work to do.

And with the press of a button, everything is gone.

Chapter Text

"Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS..."

[Name] lets a smile cross their face as they continue to tell their younger cousin his favourite bedtime story: the legends of the monsters that are rumoured to live underneath the infamous Mt. Ebott. Had Frisk not insisted on one final story before he falls asleep, they probably would've yet again spent the rest of the night wasting away at their desk, trying to finish some last-minute schoolwork.

When they put more thought into it, [Name] is honestly glad Frisk has asked for another bedtime story. Sure, it's more reading, but at least this type of reading is a lot more interesting than the near useless information in their college textbooks. So all in all, this is truly a win, and they're glad Frisk has provided them with this opportunity.

Frisk had come to live with them (and their uncle) for an unnamed reason. He showed up one day on the doorstep with a duffel bag and a social worker telling their uncle that he was now their business. With a sort of annoyed look on her face (as though she didn't even want to be there), the social worker walked off to the car she arrived in, pulled out of their driveway, and drove off. Frisk had been living with them ever since.

Speaking of Frisk, he still sits under his covers, an expectant look on his face and still very awake. [Name] gives him what they consider to be a smug look. "Aren't you supposed to be asleep by now?"

'Aren't you supposed to be reading to me?' he signs to them after removing his hands from underneath the covers. When he receives a slight look of confusion from them, he continues to sign. 'You spaced out again.'

"Ah," [Name] says with a grimace. "Right."

Of course, this happened again. That's what I get for staying up until the ass-crack of dawn doing schoolwork again. I should really stop doing that, shouldn't I? It's rather stupid honestly, I have plenty of time in the morning anyway, most of my classes aren't until-

[Name] blinks rapidly when a small hand is waved in front of their face, successfully pulling them from their spiralling thoughts. "Sorry."

Frisk moves to pat the top of their hand, before pulling his own hands back to continue signing. 'It's fine. I'll be fine without a story tonight, [Name]. You need sleep.'

They shake their head, quickly dismissing his concern.

"No, no, I'm fine. I want to read to you, so I'm going to read to you," they say, picking up the book that had fallen on their lap, briefly flipping between pages. "Now, where did I leave off?"

He puts a hand on the edge of the book, causing them to look up at him. '[Name]. How much sleep did you get last night?'

They freeze. Now, that was a bit of a problem.

Of course, they had the standard insomnia that tends to come with anxiety, and then there's the small pile of schoolwork they still have (which, was much bigger last night, by the way), but they just...couldn't sleep last night.

See, the thing about [Name]'s uncle is that he tends to go to sleep a little early, which isn't all too surprising, considering he's starting to get older and he already has to get up early for work anyway, but that's where the problem surfaces. They heard their uncle walking around late last night, and they were pretty sure they heard him talking to someone too, which is even more concerning.

For the past eight or so years that they've lived here, their uncle refuses to let anyone inside their house past 10 PM (which, a few years ago, had gotten them in a fair amount of trouble). No matter if it were a complete stranger or a family friend, there were no exceptions. So to hear their uncle walking and talking to someone near one in the morning certainly set off some alarm bells in their head.

When [Name] woke up the next morning, their uncle had already gone off to work, but that didn't stop them from being on edge for the rest of the day, and even until now. So they decide to tell Frisk a half-truth. It's not really a lie if there's some sort of truth to it, right?

"Enough." If enough was about an hour.

'And that's how much?'

[Name] winces. "Well, uh-"

Damn, he must be really concerned if he keeps pressing the question.

"If I tell you, will you let me finish the story?" they ask, pointedly avoiding eye contact.

Frisk nods quickly, pushing himself to sit further up on the bed, ‘Yes, of course!’

[Name] hums quietly. They considered lying, but that would hurt Frisk’s feelings if he found out the truth. Either way, he would be left concerned, so there’s not really a way of getting out of this without that. Frisk is a lot more observant than he seems, so maybe just a little bit of a stretch would be okay.

So [Name] lets out a small sigh. “It was only about a couple of hours.”

Frisk looks at them, unmoving with a look of conflict on his face. At least he seemed to believe it.

However, [Name] is taken by surprise when he jumps from under the covers to give them a hug. It was still very loose, but they could definitely tell it was a bit tighter than the ones he normally gave them. They let out a low hum before wrapping their own arms around him.

A few minutes pass before either of the two moves, Frisk giving [Name] one last small squeeze before letting go and sliding back under the covers, but pulling them up to sit next to him. [Name] laughs quietly before grabbing the book and moving to sit next to their cousin. He leans his head on their shoulder as they continue to read to get a better look at the occasional picture in the book.

When [Name] finishes reading a few minutes later, they hum again and set the book on the bedside table. They turn to look at Frisk to tell him they're heading to their own room, but upon finding him asleep on their shoulder, they chuckle.

Looks like I won't be moving anytime soon.

They grab the closest blanket they can without moving, awkwardly draping it over themself before getting situated. When ready, they quickly move themself to turn off the lamp. They begin to fall asleep easy, mostly due to the fact they haven't been getting the best sleep recently, but of course, Frisk being there helps too.

Unfortunately, they have no way of preparing themself for what awaits them in their dreams.

Chapter Text

You open your eyes to an empty void.

You open your mouth to shout, to see if anyone else is there with you, but despite your best efforts, nothing seems to come out.

You panic, eyes quickly scanning across the vast expanse around you. You can't seem to focus on anything, but that's mostly because there's nothing to focus on. You can't seem to feel the ground underneath you, hell, you don't even know if there is ground beneath you.

You feel as though you're floating, but not quiet.

You feel as though there's a sort of pressure around you, but at the same time, you can't seem to feel anything.

Your eyes try to focus on something, anything, but there's nothing to focus on. The only thing around you is what you would call a black void, but it's both black and not. Every colour at the same time, but also no colour at all.

(Your head hurts.)

You're taken out of your thoughts by the sound of another voice. It causes you to jump, even though you can't (can you?).

"Greetings."

You quickly turn to face the source of the noise, finding it to come from what appears to be a teenager with bright ruby eyes.

It surprises you at first, for two reasons, really. The first is the fact that you could actually turn in whatever the hell you're in right now, and the second is that you're not alone.

(You don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.)

(Something feels off.)

The teenager chuckles at your frightened state, so you glare at him.

"You may be wondering who I am."

You open your mouth to answer.

Nothing comes out.

"My name is Chara, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Chara sticks out his hand for a handshake. You don't move.

He raises an eyebrow but lowers his hand.

"I'm a good friend of Frisk's."

You pause.

Frisk hadn't mentioned a 'Chara' before.

You shake your head.

Chara's smile widens.

(Something is off.)

"You don't believe me?"

You shake your head again.

"Shame. I would've thought he'd have told you about me. We've helped each other so much, you know."

You furrow your eyebrows.

"We could use your help too, [Name]."

The use of your name causes you to freeze, even though you weren't moving.

"Frisk has told me plenty about you, you would help greatly."

You think you see something flash out of the corner of your eye.

You turn, there's nothing there.

Turning back to Chara, you shake your head. You want nothing to do with whatever he's planning.

He tilts his head.

"You don't want to help?"

You shake your head again.

"Guess we'll just have to change your mind, now won't we?"

You tense your shoulders. His eyes seem brighter, yet darker.

"We have a little surprise for you, [Name]. It's been in the making for quite a while now."

He folds his hands behind his back.

"We just need one small thing from you, and you can go about your merry way."

You shift backwards (but you don't).

"Have you ever heard of a SOUL before?"

You don't get to respond before he continues.

"It's the very culmination of your being. It's what makes you, you. Without one, you are simply an empty vessel."

Chara begins to walk (float?) around you.

"Of course, you're still alive, even if it's only partial."

You turn to keep him in your line of sight.

"But what's it matter if you've got no emotions? No real feelings?"

He stops, locking eyes with you.

(Something is very off.)

"No more stress, no more sadness. With no real emotions, you can't really feel those now, can you?"

Chara sticks out his hand once more, keeping the other behind his back.

"What do you say? Partners?"

You pause, for some unknown reason.

(The reason is very much known, even if it's only by the darkest part of you.)

(But you can't do that to Frisk, even if he's supposedly helping with whatever this is. You couldn't do that to your uncle.)

So, you shake your head.

Chara's smile becomes something much more sinister.

"You know, I can't say I'm surprised. You care a lot about your family, don't you?"

His outstretched hand returns to its previous place behind him.

"Shame, really. This could've been so much easier, but of course, now we have to do it the hard way."

At a moment's notice, you're pinned to the ground that isn't there, a knife glowing a bright crimson hanging above your head.

You struggle, holding a breath that isn't there, pressed against the ground that isn't there.

(This is all a dream, right?)

"Unfortunately, you were never the one in control."

You are enveloped by darkness.