Chapter Text
“Frisk...you’re...you’re going to do a great job, okay? No matter what you do. Everyone will be there for you, okay?”
His head turned from side to side. A thick veil of darkness surrounded him. Those kind words from his friend rang through his head as he slowly gathered his bearings. Where was he?
“Well, my time is running out...goodbye.”
The young prince was nowhere to be seen. Nothing could be seen, for that matter. He tried to move around, but he couldn’t. The darkness seemed to absorb his voice as called out for someone, anyone to answer him. The air was warm, yet there was no sign of sunlight.
“By the way. Frisk...take care of Mom and Dad for me, okay?”
As his friend’s voice disappeared, he suddenly felt weightless. The black around him began to melt away until he was completely enveloped in light.
And then he woke up.
--
Cracks of sunlight pierced the darkness in the room. The faint sound of a rooster could be heard as the sun slowly rose above the peak of Mt. Ebott, its golden glow signaling the start of another day. The light beams intensified as they slowly made their way to the bed’s occupant.
It was a beautiful day outside. The birds began hunting to feed their young and a sea of flower petals unfurled to catch the sun’s rays. On days like these, kids like Frisk could be found playing outside with their friends. But as he slowly awakened, it dawned on him.
It was a school day.
“Wake up, my child!” cried a muffled voice. “We don’t want to be late!”
A stifled groan arose from the bed sheets, and a messy, mop-haired head slowly emerged. His arm shielded his eyes as he mustered the strength to pry himself from the comfort of his bed. Despite the beauty of the mountain range towering behind the neighborhood, the last thing Frisk wanted to do was directly face the sunlight. His feet met the plush carpet, and he made his way to the door, opening his eyes just enough to see himself in the mirror, dressed in his favorite striped PJs.
The door slowly opened, and the smell of fresh, hot toast motivated Frisk towards the kitchen, along with the calls from his adoptive mother. “Quickly, Frisk, before your meal becomes cold!” she said. His bare feet slowly shuffled forward, leading him down the hallway into the living room, trying not to go blind from the beams of sunlight coming through the large front window.
Footsteps approached him as he pulled his arm away from his face. Toriel emerged from the kitchen, giving him a warm smile, which he returned weakly as he extended his arms towards his loving mother. Removing her oven mitts, she knelt down for an encouraging morning hug. Her hands felt warm on his back.
She must have just finished making breakfast, he thought.
“Good morning, my child!” Toriel said. “Hopefully you had a good night’s sleep. Today looks like it’s shaping out to be a wonderful end of the week! Come, let’s eat quickly before we are both late for school.”
They sat down at the wooden table. The smell of toast was now accompanied by other delicious aromas, including scrambled eggs, biscuits and a snail omelette, a recipe which Toriel had come up with herself. Admittedly, it was an acquired taste; however, after living under Toriel’s care for several months, Frisk was used to it.
The rest of Frisk's morning routine went on as fast as his body woke up with him. After changing into his favorite striped shirt and matching casual shorts, he was finally ready to face the day. Toriel had taken off her cooking apron and was wearing her traditional Delta Rune royal garb, much to his surprise.
“It’s been quite a while since I’ve worn this, hasn’t it?” she remarked. “But considering what we’ll be talking about in class today, I decided it would be appropriate.”
Frisk nodded. His backpack rested on his shoulders as Toriel grabbed her reading glasses and a stack of books. After double checking they had everything, the duo headed out of the house, ready to end their week of work and enjoy the weekend ahead.
--
The school was located just outside of the suburban area, about a 15-20 minute walk for Frisk and Toriel. They didn’t mind the journey though, as it gave them the opportunity to get physically get ready for the day while enjoying small talk with their neighbors. Since Toriel was a teacher, Frisk had the chance to enjoy some conversation with his friends along the way.
The school building itself was rather large, capable of holding about 1,500 elementary students. It was two stories high and served as an impressive architectural landmark compared to the smaller suburban homes that surrounded it. As Frisk and Toriel entered, hundreds of students and faculty, both monsters and humans, were either running towards their classrooms or hanging out in the main foyer. A cacophony of different conversations surrounded them as they stepped through the wooden double doors.
Frisk had his first class with Toriel, so they headed towards the second floor. Along the way, teachers greeted Toriel and shared small talk while Frisk greeted his friends and shared new jokes they had come up with the day prior. Admittedly, having his mother as a teacher had made him the butt end of many jokes when he first made friends. As time went on though, they got used to it, so most conversation involved complaining about the homework their teachers assigned them instead.
“So Frisk, what’s your mom gonna drone on about today?” one boy asked.
“Monster/human interactions,” said Frisk, a slight tone of irritation in his voice.
“Oh man, that sounds really interesting,” one of his friends remarked.
“Definitely. I wonder how much she’ll be able to cover today. There’s a lot to talk about with that, after all,” said another.
“Ugh, don’t remind us. She loves to go on and on about anything she talks about. I can’t imagine having to live with that. No offense, Frisk,” said one girl, whose attention quickly returned back to a text conversation she was having.
Frisk sighed and turned his attention to his mother, who was laughing along with some other monster teachers. Many of his human friends didn’t find Toriel quite as engaging as him or his monster friends did, and while he spent an equal amount of time with both humans and monsters at school, it was discouraging to hear their snide remarks.
Before any more complaints could be vocalized, the shrill sound of the bell pierced everyone ears, signaling the start of the school day. The students and faculty in the foyer quickly gathered their things and ran to where they needed to be. Frisk waded through the sea of humans and monsters towards his classroom, sitting down in his seat just seconds before the bell rang a second time. Relief washed over him as he sunk into his chair. Now he remembered why Toriel encouraged him to hurry in the morning.
As the rest of the class eventually settled down into their seats, Toriel stood up in front. “Good morning, class! Happy Friday! I’m very happy to see that everyone is here today, because we’re going to be going over a subject that I’ve wanted to talk about since the beginning of the year: human/monster interactions.”
Frisk looked around. His entire class was made up of human students. Many of them pulled out a pen and paper to take notes on the lecture, with some rolling their eyes, expecting a long first period. Others looked like they hadn’t gotten their snail omelette that morning and were still half-conscious. There was a picture on the blackboard of a human with a spear and a monster that looked like a younger version of their teacher. Frisk didn’t take any notes, since Toriel had talked about this lesson many times since he started living with her. His thoughts were preoccupied with the clock, counting down the minutes until the period was over.
“Long ago, monsters and humans ruled over the Earth in peace. However, fear from the humans began to grow over time, and soon war broke out between them,” said Toriel.
A flurry of pencils jotted down notes on the lecture. One student raised her hand, “Why were the humans so afraid of them? Aren’t monsters weaker than humans?”
“Yes, that is true,” answered Toriel. “Good to see you’re paying attention in your health classes. Monster bodies are made mostly of magic while human bodies are made mostly of physical matter. These differences led humans and monsters to study each other peacefully for many years. Eventually, the humans discovered monsters had the power to absorb the souls of humans after a person died.”
Another student interrupted. “So, did monsters start absorbing dead humans’ souls, and that’s what started the war?”
“Certainly not!” Toriel quickly retorted. “But there were human magicians at the time who understood the capabilities monsters, and they became fearful of us. After a long war, the monsters were sealed under Mt. Ebott with a powerful barrier, trapped for a very long time.”
Toriel paused to allow the students to catch up. After a minute, a student from the back asked, “Our history teacher told us that the barrier could only be destroyed by the same power that those seven magicians used to create it. So, how did the monsters eventually get out?”
Frisk flinched. The flurry of pencils stopped all at once, as if they knew this question would eventually come up in the discussion. The room grew eerily quiet. His attention towards the clock was broken and instead directed at Toriel. Her body visibly tensed up at the question, her breathing becoming irregular. Looking more and more uncomfortable every second, she struggled to come up with an answer. After what felt like an eternity to Frisk, the former queen of monsters relaxed.
“Well, another part of that human history is the fable associated with Mt. Ebott itself," she continued, crossing her arms. "The legend stated that the humans who fell into the mountain never returned. The barrier was designed so people and monsters could enter but not exit, so any humans who fell down were doomed to die in the Underground.” Before any other student could respond, she quickly added “However, for the purpose of our discussion, the exact events that led to shattering the barrier aren’t relevant. What is important is that we eventually escaped.”
Toriel smiled and looked at Frisk. “However, due to the actions of the last human who fell into Mt. Ebott, we came back not seeking revenge against humanity, but peace instead. And every day, more monsters and humans are integrating because of his work as our ambassador so they may live together in harmony.”
Frisk smiled nervously. His fellow students looked at him, some with smiles but most with indifference or disdain. His face turned red as he began to sink into his chair. Eventually the students returned their gazes to their notes and Frisk returned to admiring the clock, the hands seemingly turning slower than before.
--
Despite his rough morning, the rest of Frisk’s school day went smoothly. He got a chance to meet with some of his monster friends during lunch, who were much more respecting of his mother than his human friends. They laughed and shared stories while enjoying their meal and spending their afternoon classes together.
Eventually, the final bell of the school day rang, and a swarm of students shoved Frisk out the front door, shouting with excitement. Even though he didn’t show it, Frisk felt he was more excited than anybody else for the weekend. For the first time in a while, he didn't have any important ambassador work to attend to.
As he waited outside the school for Toriel, watching the students hurry home, he thought about his embarrassment that morning and his choice to be an ambassador. It was a very important task that no one else could do, which was probably why Toriel mentioned it so often. She was very proud of him, and he knew that she dreamed of the day when all monsters and humans could live together in peace. No one else could help her achieve that dream but him.
The crowd of students was thinning out, and Frisk began to wonder where Toriel had gone. A few friends noticed him and had some friendly conversation while he waited, talking about their plans for the weekend. Frisk simply smiled and nodded, too distracted to contribute much else. His friends took notice and eventually left him alone, wishing him a happy weekend.
After half an hour, the front doors of the school flew open, and Toriel walked briskly to meet with Frisk. “I’m so sorry, my child. I was caught up in a meeting with another student and their parents. It was rather...uncomfortable, really. But I won’t bore you with the details. Let’s head home.”
Frisk smiled and nodded. The two took each other’s hands and began to make their way back home. As they walked, Frisk started to take his mind off his ambassador duties and began focusing on the weekend ahead. He had big plans.
“So, if I remember correctly, this is your first weekend in a while that you have to yourself, correct?” asked Toriel.
Frisk beamed and nodded with enthusiasm, causing his hair to fall in front of his eyes. Toriel couldn’t help but laugh as she helped push it back into place, “Well then, I guess you have quite a lot of friends to catch up with, yes? Do you plan to invite them over and hang out with them tomorrow? You should let me know so I can prepare. I’ve been experimenting with more snail recipes lately, and I think Papyrus would like to hear about my idea of ‘Pasta con Escargot’”
Frisk had to force himself not to visibly cringe at the idea and gave her a smile instead. While talking with Papyrus was definitely a part of his plans for the weekend, there was something he wanted to do first, and he had to do it quick. After getting back home, he quickly ran back to his room and dumped his backpack on the floor, some of his books spilling out in the process.
Looking at himself in the mirror, his thoughts turned to the rest of the day. Even after all the planning he did, Frisk still felt uncomfortable about this afternoon. After mustering some courage, he walked down the hall into the living room to find Toriel reading a recipe book on her reclining chair. The fireplace had a small blaze keeping her warm.
Frisk looked up at her and asked “Mom, would it be okay for me to visit some friends for a little while? I promise to be back by dinner.”
Toriel looked up from her book, marking her stopping place with her finger. “Who are you going to visit?” she asked him.
His heart skipped a beat. “Uh, just a few friends from school. Some human kids who live nearby. We’ll be at the school playground.”
Toriel smiled. “I don’t see why not. Just make sure not to get into any trouble.”
Frisk nodded. As he started to close the front door, the young child looked back and waved to his loving mother, who was busy revising her snail spaghetti recipe. Leaving her be, he quickly headed outside and breathed a sigh of relief. He peered through the large living room window to make sure she didn’t notice him walking in the opposite direction of the school.
As he walked down the street towards the edge of the suburb, Frisk put a hand on his stomach. He felt awful for lying to Toriel about where he was going, abusing her trust. His thoughts returned to his class with her that morning, which only made things worse. But as he continued on, he diverted his attention back to his plan and reasoned that it wasn’t that bad. It was only a half-truth.
After all, he was indeed going to see a friend. And thinking about what they would talk about brought a smile to his face.