Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You cannot stay here. Not in this village.

They hate you. They hate you for your eyes, and for not having parents, and for hurting them when they hurt you.

You hate them. You tried to run, tried to get to another village, maybe a city. The cops showed up, dragged you back to the village. They hurt you for that. You tried to hurt them more, to make them stop. You can’t. You tried to be nice, but it doesn’t matter.

You are going to the land of the monsters. To the mountain. If you die there, at least it’ll be your choice.

You take your stash of granola bars, and jerky, check that your pocket knife’s in your shoe, and you walk away. Slowly. Quietly.

You get farther than you thought you would. You find a hole. There’s a strange thing at the bottom. You lean in and-you trip. You try to get your feet on the ground, but you are falling.

There is something at the bottom. You are going to smash into it. You are going to die. 

You want to stare, to face death head on, but you can’t help but close your eyes as you hit the bottom.

Chapter Text

You roll over. Your ribs hurt. And your leg.

You don’t know how you survived. You stumble to your feet. There’s a patch of golden flowers beneath you. That shouldn’t have saved you, but you shouldn’t complain.

You ache, but you’ll be okay. You haven’t broken anything, at least nothing you can identify.  You’ve been hurt worse before. You need to go forward.

You walk slowly. You’re limping.

You can do this. You can do this.

There’s flowers in the next cave too. You can understand why there were flowers at the bottom, there’s light there, but not here. Flowers need light. You peer down, to see if you can spot any differences.

One of them pokes up. It has a face. You yelp.

(Flower) “ Calm down! There’s no need to be so overwhelmed by my beauty.”

You frown at it. It’s got a face, but it’s just-lines?

(Flower) “Golly. You’re not very polite, are you?”

You bare your teeth.

(Flower) “Well, I suppose that I’ll have to introduce myself.”

There’s some sparkles. Is that-magic?

(Flower) “I’m Frlowy. Frlowy the Flower!”

Uh.

(You) “Greetings. My name is Chara.”

It huffs.

(You) “Can you do magic?”

It smiles at you.

(Frlowey) “You noticed? You’re pretty observant, kid.”

You squash the smile down.

(Frlowey) “Alright.”

Something shudders-

And there’s a heart in front of you. You grab at it.

(Frlowey) “This-Do you want to see some magic?”

You try to step backwards. Nothing happens.

(Frlowey) “No, try to move your soul around!”

You do. It’s slower than you want it to be.”

(Frlowey) “Here in the Underground, everybody just wants to help each other. You feeling a little hurt? From the fall.”

You move up and down, a little. It makes you feel a little better.

(You) “Yes.”

The mouth-line turns up at the edges.

(Frlowey) “Alright. I’m going to some-friendship. In magic form. Are you ready?”

You nod. It doesn’t make sense, but none of this makes sense.

(Frlowey) “Come on!”

A swarm of white things come flying out at you. You barely manage to avoid them.

You glare at the flower.

(Frlowey) “No no no!”

They sound-a little pathetic.

(Frlowey) “That was the friendship. Come on.”

You think.

(You) “I-I wasn’t ready.”

You run into the white lines. It-it hurts.

(Frlowey) “Oh. You really believed me? That’s so sweet.”

You try to keep awake.

(Frlowey) “You seemed cautious. I’m glad you trusted me. Down here it’s BEFRIEND or be BEFRIENDED.”

A vine creeps towards your soul.

(Frlowey) “You’re a good test subject-And your soul will help a lot. So, thanks.”

Ugh-you want to close your eyes.

(You) “hurt…you.”

You can only see a bright orange light before you black out.

Chapter Text

You can taste vanilla in your mouth when you wake up.

You look up-And there’s a goat lady sitting next to you. Her face is the same as the flower.

You squeak, scootch away. She looks over to you

(Goat-Lady) “Hello, sweetheart. How are you feeling?”

You try to get up. She grabs your arm.

(Goat-Lady) “I’m terribly sorry, honey, but you can’t go wandering off before you are aware of the dangers of the UNDERGROUND.”

You bare your teeth.

(Goat-Lady) “Do not worry. Frlowey is gone now. I have healed you.”

You cough.

(You) “Do you think I will just believe you? After that attack?”

The lady shakes her head.

(Goat-Lady) “Uh-Let me try again. I am Torfriskel.”

What?

(Torfriskel?) “I am the caretaker of the ruins. It is my responsibility to take care of the residents.”

Really? What is she trying to say to you?

(Torfriskel) “It is my duty to take care of the humans that fall here.”

Hmm.

(You) “There’ve been more than just me?”

Well. It makes sense. You’d think you’d have heard about people going missing around here, but people don’t tell you stuff.

(Torfriskel) “Yes, but-I am sorry to comment-your face is different than anything I have ever seen.”

Oh my goodness.

You groan.

(Torfriskel) “It is, of course, uniquely beautiful-but it does make you stand out.”

You take a deep breath.

(You) “What do you want me to do?”

She claps her hands and turns away.

(Torfriskel) “I will teach you how to deal with FIGHTS.”

You don’t want to. You close your eyes.

(You) “Are you sure?”

She turns back.

(Torfriskel) “Do not worry, my child. It is easy to resolve FIGHTS. I will show you.”

She walks to the dummy. It has the same face.

(Torfriskel) “This is a dummy. Try to flirt with it.”

You blanch.

(Torfriskel) “You-you do not have to. Perhaps a complement?”

Okay, okay.

Torfriskel motions you forward, and your soul’s out again.

You reach for your knife.

(Torfriskel) “No-Do not! You could kill someone.”

You put it back.

(You) “Fine.”

You take a breath.

(You) “You’re really-pretty. Pretty dummy.”

Torfriskel claps.

(Torfriskel) “Lovely. Now spare them.”

You shake your head.

(You) “What does that mean?”

She doesn’t say anything for a couple of seconds.

(Torfriskel) “You feel it in your soul. You want them to be well. You have done all you need to. You have met them, and have done a thing worthwhile, and you wish them the best as you carry on.”

You stare at her.

(Torfriskel) “Or-you could FLEE. Run away.”

You try that.

(Torfriskel) “Very good. I am glad you managed that.”

She sounds grateful. Relieved.

You-you aren’t just going to leave it at being able to run away. You’re not just going to be cruel. You’re going to try again.

You step forward.

(Torfriskel) “You do not have to-”

You ignore her.

(You) “You’re pretty cute.”

Nothing happens.

You concentrate on a feeling in your chest. You want them to be gone. You want them to be okay. You don’t want anyone to get hurt.

When you focus again, your soul is away, and you can feel your body.

(Torfriskel) “That is great!”

You wait. Her face falls by a hair-a fur?

(Torfriskel) “It is a bit more-aggressive than normal. But-It will certainly work!”

She shifts on her feet.

(Torfriskel) “Human bodies are much more stable than monster bodies. If a monster spares you, and you FIGHT them, it will-It is the worst betrayal I can think of. But-Humans are sturdier. It will not hurt you like it will monsters.”

You grab your sleeve. Nod. You don’t know what to do.

(Torfriskel) “Um. How about you engage with-uh. This Frogfrisk?”

How are they all coordinating their names?

Chapter Text

You feel like you are walking through a house of funhouse mirrors, and they are catching the image of someone else. Frisk, presumably.

You haven’t met them. You don’t think you will. You think that this is a place made for them, purgatory, or a parallel dimension, or some sort of pocket universe.

You have no idea why this would exist. It’s driving you mad.

Everyone is nice enough. They flirt with you, not seriously. The Whimfrisks can barely say anything, or let you say anything without FLEEing. It’s cute. Makes you feel a bit like you failed, but cute.

You just need to stand around for the Loosks, and not say anything mean. You try, once. It yells at you, but it’s so pitiful, you apologize. Whatever Frisk is, they are soft.

The Vegifrisks feed you vegetables. It’s weird, but not the weirdest. Frismals wiggle at lot. You get the feeling you don’t understand it, but it’s cute. Napstafrisk is pitiful. Trying to keep you from seeing them cry, trying to help you, while acid drips down their face. They remind you of yourself.

You try to hold the ghost. They think you're silly. They eventually make a hat.

You don’t understand, but you enjoy it.

You run, but you help people. It gets easier to spare.

Chapter Text

Torfriskel gives you yogurt, and tries to send you to bed.

You don’t sleep for a while. You look through the toy chest. There’s a lot of costumes.

You can’t stay here. Even if this whole world is a reflection of another person, you want to run. You can’t stay here. Torfriskel is nice, but she doesn’t trust you. You can do this on your own. It’s a kind place, but you won’t stay with someone who can’t believe in you. You can survive on your own.

You go to sleep. When you wake up, you approach Torfriskel.

(Torfriskel) “Hello, sweetheart. Would you like to listen to some music?

You shake your head.

(You) “How do I leave?”

Her mouth tilts down.

(Torfriskel) “Please-no.”

She bends down.

(Torfriskel) “I know that I have not been good enough to you, but there are dangers out there. Please, stay in the RUINS, at least. They are safer than the rest of the UNDERGROUND.”

You take a deep breath. Tap your foot.

(You) “I know how to handle myself. I don’t need your help. Now, I need to leave.”

She sobs.

(Torfriskel) “No, please! There have been six children who have passed through the door-my husband killed them all.”

Oh.

(Torfriskel) “He does not come here-The door is locked. He cannot hurt you here.”

You sit down.

(You) “Tell me about him.”

She nods.

Chapter Text

His name is Friskgore. He has magic that Toriel does not, and fire. She helps you learn to dodge. You don’t hit her, even when she tells you it’d be a good idea. She’s a sad lady, you’re not going to do that to her.

She lets you out, and tells you that she cannot let you back in. You walk away.

Torfriskel is kind. You don’t regret leaving, even though it’s cold. And you can feel eyes on you.

You walk faster. A branch breaks. You look down. There’s a blue light somewhere.

Flip. You take out your knife, and slide it into your sleeve. You keep walking. You can feel it following you.

(Stranger) “ h e y  s w e e t i e . t u r n  a r o u n d  a n d  s h a k e  m y  h a n d . ”

You turn around.

It’s a weird skeleton.

(You) “Don’t call me sweetie.”

They shrug.

(Skeleton) “okay, bud.”

You grind your teeth.

(You) “Do you have something to say to me?”

Your voice pitches up at the end.

(Skeleton) “wow. did i really spook you that much?”

You glare.

(Skeleton) “well. uh. knife to meet you.”

He points at your sleeve. You roll your eyes, and stuff it back in your shoe.

(Skeleton) “well. i’m fsans the skeleton.”

What? Your mouth opens.

(Fsans) “it’s funny. if you took one letter off my name, it’d be alliteration.”

You are staring. Trying to figure out what’s happening.

(Fsans) “also. if you reversed it.”

What is wrong with this guy?

(Fsans) “but then i’d be snasf. that’d be worse.”

You laugh. You can’t help it.

(You) “No, I really think Fsans is a great name for you.”

He nods.

(Fsans) “thanks. always wanted a human’s approval.”

You stare, try to figure out what game he’s playing.

(Fsans) “so. mind telling me why you have that?”

You bare your teeth.

(You) “The lady told me her husband would kill me. Excuse me if I don’t go to my death gladly.”

You wait. Look around.

(Fsans) “pick it up in the ruins?”

You look away.

(You) “Will you let me go?”

He shrugs.

(Fsans) “long as you don’t kill my bro, i can’t judge.”

You squint.

(Fsans) “anybody tell you you look like a freak?”

You just walk away.

Chapter Text

The Snowfrisk’s joke. The Capped Frisk’s are weird- they look like they have normal faces, but it’s a hat? Somehow? The dogs are cute, even if they do pack a punch. The Gyftfrisk is nice. They let you keep the stuff people stick on them. It makes them uncomfortable, but they aren’t close enough to anyone to ask them.

Fsans’s brother makes you uncomfortable. Fsans threatened you about him, but that’s not all of it. He yells, and he doesn’t care about you. He wants to deliver you to the king. Torfriskel’s husband. Papyfriskus won’t let you say anything to him. He screams, and makes you do puzzles. He doesn’t hurt you, not really. But he’s scary.

You buy food from the shopkeeps, and get ready.

(Fsans) “hey, bud.”

You glare.

(Fsans) “y’know. you’ll have to fight my brother.”

You nod.

(Fsans) “you won’t kill him.”

(You) “No. Will he return that favor?”

Fsans looks you in the eyes.

(Fsans) “he can’t kill anybody.”

You grab the shoulder of his hoodie.

(You) “Please-tell me. It won’t hurt me if I spare him?”

He looks you in the eyes.

(Fsans) “You don’t have to?”

You roll your eyes.

(You) “Fine. I’ll figure it out myself.”

You can hear him mumbling as you walk off.

You approach Papyfriskus. He says a lot of things about himself. And then about you being his friend.

(You) “I don’t think you’re my friend.”

He gasps.

(You) “You’ve been dragging around. Making me nervous. I-I want to be your friend. But not yet.”

He decides the best way to resolve this is by fighting.

It’s kind of fun. He lets you eat, and you talk as he drags you down while you jump up. It’s fun.

He lets you go when you're out of food. Allows you into his house, to sleep on his couch. You’re tired. You don’t get to sleep easily.

Fsans is staring at you.

(You) “What?”

He shrugs.

(Fsans) “didn’t know paf let you in the house.”

You frown.

(You) “Tired.”

You turn away.

(Fsans) “okay. well. you haven’t hurt anyone.”

You close your eyes.

(Fsans) “sleep well?”

You turn over.

Chapter Text

Fsans has breakfast ready.

(Fsans) “papyfriskus went to talk to friskdyne.”

Of course. Why not.

(Fsans) “he was trying to look out for you, but uh. she’s pretty stabby. so she’ll try to kill you anyway. sorry.”

Of course.

He serves you a slice of quiche. You eat it.

(Fsans) “you, uh, ate a lot of food during your fight. thought you might want to stock up.”

He hands you a truly comical amount of hot dogs.

(Fsans) “oh. you can’t carry anymore.”

(You) “I’m fine. Thank you.”

He nods.

(Fsans) “i could stack more on your head?”

You shake your head.

(You) “There’re boxes scattered around?”

Fsans nods at you.

(Fsans) “alright.”

He doesn’t say anything else. You wave goodbye.

You trek into Waterfall. You can hear something coming from the flower. Instructions for how to use a flower.

You hum the tune of a song you heard at church. It’s pretty.

(?) “Yo. That’s a COOL song!”

You turn around.

There’s a little yellow lizard behind you.

(Lizard) “I thought I heard all the music. But that’s a new one!”

You nod. Get up.

(You) “Greetings. My name is Chara. What’s yours?”

They shake.

(Lizard) “You sound really formal! Like Friskgore!”

Hmm?

(Lizard) “My name’s Monfrisk Kid!”

Okay?

(You) “You like Friskgore?”

They roll on their feet.

(Kid) “I mean, he is the king? He’s kinda boring, though. He’s supposed to save all of monsterkind, but he just likes to take care of the flowers, and make tea.”

What?

(Kid) “You, don’t tell Friskdyne I said that. She likes the king a lot. She says he taught her how to fight. I don’t understand why he’s just in the castle, then.”

Oh goodness.

(Kid) “Don’t worry! Friskdyne’s going to like you. She acts pretty cranky, but she’s super cool, and she lets me hang around. And you’re a kid, too, right?”

You nod.

(You) “I’m not sure if I want to approach her, though.”

Kid nods.

(Kid) “Don’t worry, yo! I know how to hide.”

You raise an eyebrow.

(Kid) “Well, uh. She doesn’t really want me around. She tells me it’s ‘dangerous.’ I know she’ll protect me from any kind of threat, though.”

And she sees you as a threat. You gulp.

(Kid) “I’ll introduce you to her! Your face is weird, but she trusts me!”

They stick their chest out.

Chapter Text

This is terrible.

The kid keeps tripping the fish up. But when you’re alone-you have to run for your life.

She keeps spearing you. It’s so painful.

There’s food in the box, when you need it-You fall onto it, this time.

There’s time, in between. Time to spare people.

Frisrons are frustrating. You scream at them, and they leave you alone. They make you uncomfortable if you don’t shut them up. Frishuas are also strange, but they at least want you to be well. Friskrens are fun, but dangerous if you play too long. You can’t take too many risks.

Friskon sells you bad-tasting foods. You’re only a little bitter about having to track back and forth, and shove goop down your throat. It keeps you alive, which is what matters-but. Ugh.

Friskdyne eventually topples over when you cross into-The place with the lava? Hotland.

She’s overheated.

Fsans is right next to a water cooler. You look over it.

(Fsans) “d’yneed water?”

You think.

(You) “Can you take care of her? I don’t think she can follow me any further, but I can’t-”

You look him in the eyes, asking him to understand.

He stares at you.

(Fsans) “sure, buddy.”

You walk up to the big building. Open the doors.

Chapter Text

Alfrisk and Friskaton are a-weird pair.

The only thing you can figure out is that you’re doing a bunch of-tv pilots? Something like that.

They’re charming, when they’re not actively endangering you.

Alfrisk says she’s trying to help you, but she’s worse than useless when it comes to giving you directions. Friskaton is trying to murder you-very slowly, for ratings.

Vulfrisks are-also friendly. Very incompetent, but at least you know they're genuine. Final Frogfrisks are easy enough once you get the trick down. They’re cute. The Whimfrisklots make you uncomfortable.

Friskatism is a little weird, but they’re straightforward. The Tfriskplane is adorable. You don’t tell them that. Friskopes get easier every time you fight them. Friskjicks are silly once you get their orbs under control. Frisk Frisk is-just. Tiring.

Muffrisk is so-so hard. But she doesn’t come back.

You make it to the end of the line, which is a fight/dance contest. You inhale enough glitter to give you some kind of lung condition, but you’re smiling. A lot.

You never really trust Alfrisk, so you didn’t doubt that she had set this all up.

You didn’t expect the thing about the barrier-but. You knew Friskgore was going to try and kill you anyway.

You’ll just have to give it your best shot.

Chapter Text

Friskgore is a…tough enemy to fight.

Destroying the MERCY button takes a chuck out of his HP, for some reason. It’s cold comfort.

ACTing is useful, only in the ways that softening blows are useful-It won’t help you spare him.

So. You take your knife out of your boot and cut stripes across him.

He’s better than you are. You know it.

Maybe it would have been an easier fight if you had really practiced. But they’re alive, and you’re not dead, so you face him head on.

Again, and again.

You didn’t realize you were dying. Not much, not before now.

There’s someone, in the space you go when you die. They feel familiar.

You never get a good look at them, which is probably for the best. You’d like to survive this.

And you get him down to his knees, and go to forgive him, because-he gave up, already- and Frlowey kills him-takes the souls.

It’s a blur of colors, and deaths. They’re so quick you can only dodge blindly, and nudge at the souls-what would another human soul look like, in a FIGHT? One not taken by a murderous flower?

They don’t want to hurt you, they too are filled with the-kindness in this worlds fabric.

You can see things, things you shouldn’t, in this endless, spiraling death. You don’t hold on to most of them but-

(You) “Friskel!”

And something stops, just for a moment-just to try to gather the strength to hurt you more, but you use it, pluck the purple soul free, and get to work.

You hurt more, but the souls are helping, as the thing above you yells about power, and death.

Eventually, they break free, and leave Frlowey worse than he was at the start.

He coughs.

(Frlowey) “It’s done.”

You wait.

(Frlowey) “You can kill me now.”

Why would you do that.

(You) “I haven’t killed anybody this whole time. You’re not going to be my first.”

He stares at you. His face is broken-the souls tore themselves out.

(Frlowey) “You weren’t supposed to survive that. You should be-crazy, after that.”

You nod.

(You) “I think I am crazy. Crazy enough to walk away from this.”

You step around him.

(Frlowey) “Why are you letting me go?”

You shrug.

(You) “Feeling merciful.”

There’s a long hiss, and when it is finished, the flower is gone.

You step through the barrier, and feel the weight of magic, of families they were trying to protect, of hatred, of pity.

You cough, and head for town.

Chapter Text

It’s not your town. There’s no one like you.

They’re kinder-kinder than makes sense.

Their eyes are the same as the monsters, everyone in the whole world, except for you. You broke down into laughter when you first came.

They worry after you, these people. Make sure you are fed. Shield you from the rain. Save a computer in the library.

God, you want to go back. The mountain haunts you.

You could run, of course you could. You could accept a spot in someone’s home, maybe you could even forget you ever came from somewhere else.

But you won’t.

The journey softened you, you know that. And a part of you broke in Frlowey’s hell. Something filled it up.

You and the person you see when you die and the humans before you got tangled together. It’s only natural, really. You don’t hate it. Not for anything more than the wish to go back, to make it right.

You do. You can’t resist it any longer.

Chapter Text

It’s easier this time around, which makes it feel almost criminal.

You want to tell them that they hurt you, that they shouldn’t be able to do this to anyone, but it’s easier now. You aren’t cowed by their yelling, or chasing.

You hate the world, a little, for letting them forget, for letting this be easy.

But they love you, for being kind, for letting everything wash off your back. Fsans watches you with careful eyes, and a sad smile. Torfriskel is defeated gracefully, or as graceful as one can be when you smash MERCY into their face. Better than her husband.

She locks the doors behind you, and you don’t mind as much as you should. There are other places to be.

Papyfriskus is bewildered by how easily you waltz through. You joke with him, and he blushes. It’s a difficult battle, but he never hurts you too badly.

You save Monfrisk Kid, only barely. He wasn’t supposed to be there.

Somehow, dragging Friskdyne back home entitles you to cooking lessons, and her telling you about all her friends. It’s-charming?

You barely manage to keep her house from lighting on fire, but she hugs you, and proclaims you a master chef, so-

Alfrisk is trickier. You try to go to her, to bother her into telling you the truth, but she’s flighty, and Friskaton is willing to pounce on every second you leave open.

They’re trying to protect her. You snarl at them, once, and they almost fall over.

You play along, until the end. There’s some distrust in the robot, but you think the dancing takes it all out of you too. You let your emotions out, and no one will ever know what you meant, but you look at Friskaton, and you know a part of their soul.

Friskdyne calls you, asks you to give Alfrisk a letter.

An unmarked letter.

You don’t know why you’re in the Garbage Dump, but it’s fun to play along.

Friskdyne startles you badly, with her confession. They are sweet-and Papyfriskus takes Alfrisk to run laps, and everything goes well, and Friskdyne thanks you-and your soul is light.

You still have to go through the lab, though, and there are sounds from behind the curtain.

You step into an elevator, and out into a mash.

They aren’t recognizably anything-their forms are twisted, except the one that is a spoon. They-they think you’re like them. Because your eyes are different.

You laugh, and offer them what measure of comfort you can make out, amongst their forms.

Alfrisk comes, says she needs to tell the king-she doesn’t let you tell her no.

And as Alfrisk asks for mercy, and Friskgore stares, Torfriskel comes, trying to save you, and then-everyone.

This didn’t happen before. You didn’t need it-and Frlowey reveals himself-takes their bodies-and then their souls, and all the human souls.

And you see what Friskel is supposed to look like, and what God looks like, and he calls you Frisk, and your heart pangs for him, and you-well. You do a lot.

When your friends are almost free-you call to him, tell him that you’ll save him too, that you’ll keep going, and he cries and screams, and shrinks.

He thinks that you are his old, dead friend, who was Frisk. He doesn’t understand why you find the name so curious, other than the fact that it is not yours.

He jolts, when you tell him that you are Chara. He stares into the distance, and comes back. You don’t know why.

You think Frisk is maybe the one in the dead-place, but you don’t know how to tell him that, so you don’t.

You hold him, until he tells you to leave. He destroys the barrier, and you can taste the souls on your tongue, as they spiral into the infinity. They love.

Your friends are shocked by the sunset, by the freedom.

(Torfriskel) “Would you like to walk through the Underground alone?”

You nod.

You know the layout of most of the Underground down so well you could walk it blind. You talk to the people, tell them they are free.

You go to the very beginning. Because, why not.

And there Friskel is.

(Friskel) “You can’t take me with you.”

You raise an eyebrow. You hadn’t asked.

(You) “Why not?”

He quivers.

(Friskel) “I can’t stay like this forever.”

Oh.

(You) “The flower?”

He turns away.

(Friskel) “You can’t save me.”

You laugh. You don’t even try to stop it.

He makes a sad little noise.

(You) “You don’t think I can take a flower?”

He looks down.

(Friskel) “I’m not good like that-leave me here.”

You shake your head.

(You) “Nah.”

His voice squeaks from anger.

(Friskel) “You can’t save me, Frisk!”

He covers his mouth. You roll your eyes.

(You) “Well. I think that if you can’t remember my name, you’re just going to have to get to know me better.”

You don’t let him interrupt.

(You) “I’ll take you with me. Whoever you are. I’m not just going to leave you.”

He cries. It’s pathetic.

(Friskel) “I’ll hurt you!”

You pat him on the shoulder.

(You) “I can take you.”

You smile, sharply.

(You) “Besides. This world is all about friendship. And I think Frlowey could use a few friends.

You sit with him as he turns back into a flower, and then grab a flowerpot from Toriel’s house.

(Frlowey) “I can’t be him.”

He’s looking away.

(You) “You’re good enough for me-Let’s go. They’re probably worried.

And you trudge all the way back up, and no one asks any questions on the way down the mountain.

You bring them into the village, and though the villagers are shocked, they are as kind as you remember. Frlowey looks on in shock, as Torfriskel coordinates with the town’s leaders.

(Frlowey) “...this easy?”

You roll your eyes.

(You) “They’re so soft here. Come on.”

And he looks at you with awe in his eyes, and you don’t hate it.

You love this world, more than you should.

And the thing in the space beyond death croons in your dreams, tells you all about their brother. And your friends and family are here. And you make a home on the surface together, and you don’t ask why Frisk is caught up in everything, not much. You don’t need to know.

You know kindness, now. That’s much more important.