Work Text:
It starts with a runaway.
—
Runaway children were not common in [≛⋯‣⋰≛⊚]. It was a small town on an equally small island. There were only so many places they could go.
This meant that when one did disappear, it caused quite the commotion.
Their Parent was a grieving widow. His wife was lost in the final battle of The War, the poor soul.
Their child took to lashing out to cope, playing pranks and bullying the other children. They were constantly covered in cuts and bruises (likely from their escapades).
Despite these rebellious behaviors, they safely returned home each night just before curfew, and rarely strayed outside the village.
The few times they did, the townsfolk would- of course- herd the child back with some chiding and deliver them right to The Old Widow.
The Old Widow would always keep them at home for the rest of the day- out of fear for their safety, the town could only assume!
However, one day during the schoolhouse's daily lessons, the time came to teach the children about Mount Ebott and its dangers. How their forebearers and beloved relatives sealed a race of horrifying monsters beneath it. How it can still be entered, just never left, so they should never go near it!
The child rarely paid attention in class (usually sitting with their head down on the desk), but for this single lesson their searingly bright red eyes cut through dark brown bangs, staying glued to the teacher the entire time. It was a bit unnerving, honestly, but the instructor was glad they finally seemed engaged in the lesson.
Well, until they disappeared after the lunch bell.
Until The Old Widow began asking his neighbors and friends if they had seen the child, who never arrived home after school.
Until one of the other schoolchildren finally revealed she saw them walking towards the mountain during the break and only stayed quiet because they threatened her with an old, worn dagger (a keepsake from their passed guardian). Their clear DETERMINATION made her take the threat seriously until it was clear they weren't coming back.
The townsfolk sent out search parties and messages to neighboring towns, asking them to keep a look out for the child.
They called and called, trying to SAVE the child.
But no one could be found.
---
It sounds like it came from over here…
Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you…
Are you okay?
Here, get up…
…
C H A R A, huh?
That's a nice name.
My name is-
---
Members of the town encouraged The Old Widow to make a Wish for the child's safe return. Wishes work best with strong emotions, after all. Surely the wish of a parent for their child's safety would be the strongest!
(and if it doesn't... well, maybe the few concerned voices of the town will find some evidence for their suspicions...)
So The Old Widow Wished in silent communion, as was tradition, and sent it out to THE UNIVERSE.
...I Wish we never had that blinded child. I wish I’d chased after her instead of staying with them. I don’t care WHAT happens to that blinding disgrace just give her back…!
THE UNIVERSE HEARD
Decades before, in the middle of a mad battle, A Parent abandons his child to burn. Instead, they run past the dusty, bloodsoaked fields and push their wife out of harm's way at the last second.
They embrace in relief.
This will be the last embrace they share, as their wife soon realizes what that rescue must have cost.
—
In the tiny rural town of [≛⋯‣⋰≛⊚], there lived a loving couple. They met just a few years after The War, while The Wife was still recovering from her former spouse’s betrayal. Thankfully, they were BLESSED with A Child soon after they began to court, found in a clearing nearby as if sent to them on a comet. Their snow white hair and icy blue eyes were beautifully reminiscent of a dwarf star. The couple loved them instantly!
Year after year, their little family grew and grew up, until their eldest was playing pirates in the yard with their friends as their parents watched on. They wielded the little plastic dagger towards their enemy (their mother hardly would have given a real one to someone so young), slicing and slashing in the air with impressive speed for a pre-teen. You would never know from all of their energy just how Patient they were with their younger siblings.
It continued like this for some time, and the town settled down into its sleepy obliviousness, none the wiser that a CHANGE had ever occurred.
At least, until The Monster came.
---
I… I don't like this idea, C H A R A.
Wh.. what? N-no, I'm not…
… big kids don't cry.
Yeah, you're right.
No! I'd never doubt you, C H A R A… Never!
Y… yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone.
I'll go get the flowers.
---
The Monster came down from Mount Ebott carrying the body of A Child.
Everyone NO ONE could recognize them, but they were all horrified regardless.
They were a very peaceful town, but there were still those who remembered The War among them. They knew how to drive back a Monster.
The townsfolk fought back, ultimately forcing The Monster's retreat.
They cheered and mourned the unknown child The Monster too with them.
All the while oblivious to The Eldest Child, who's eyes were still locked on the direction The Monster escaped to, frozen as the ice on the mountain's peak.
They are gone before the next sunrise could help them thaw.
---
The townsfolk were shocked, they hadn’t had a child run away since before the war! Right?
---
-RE!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?
…I understand your anger. I am quite furious as well, but please! They were not much older than-
…
...I cannot stand by and let you do this.
You know this.
…
Goodbye A S G O R E-
—
A decade later, on the other side of the mountain, a Ballet School of Change was doing quite well for itself.
There had been a bit of concern about it being positioned so close to where the monsters were sealed, but the school was quick to reassure concerned parents that they keep a close eye on all students.
They kept an especially close eye on one specific ballerina.
She didn’t have much talent for dancing, honestly, but she made certainly made up for it with all the time spent in the campus chapel! A student filled with such INTEGRITY will surely find the Change she's seeking soon!
...Surely!
The faculty watched her work on her form and movements, day in and day out. They spoke kindly and encouragingly as they took note of her increasing stress, all while whispering to each other about how little she had Changed.
They did not see her run off into the night, finally breaking from the stress and wishing she was anywhere but there.
They were all completely oblivious, tucked safely into their beds. When she tripped and fell down… Down… DOWN into the earth.
—
Ah-! Greetings my chi-
Oh dear- WAIT!
NO! Please come back! I do not mean any harm!
…
Angel protect them.
Please.
—
Her parents were devastated, of course.
Devastated enough that they were tempted to make a Wish, just on the chance it would come true.
But they did not believe in THE UNIVERSE, and could not make themselves try.
Instead, they prayed to the Change God, so they may Change into people that could cope with this loss.
Maybe it worked, maybe it didn’t.
(He’s a rather lazy god, after all.)
They still felt a bit better afterwards, regardless.
—
Half a decade goes by again, with little more trouble.
The woods around the mountain are now known for swallowing up children who go looking for trouble in them.
Most children now know better than to even try.
But for every good, obedient child, there are five teenagers ready to rebel.
This particular group was especially confident, as four of them had grown up around the mountains and were sure they could easily navigate its curving paths.
One, younger than the rest and still trying to Change into the man he’d become, believed the older kids when they said hiking up the mountain would lead to Bravery.
They were just trying to mess with him.
They didn’t actually think he’d go very far up.
They didn’t think he’d be BRAVE enough to try to get to the top.
But he was the Bravest person they’d ever get to know.
—
…Oh my! No no, please don’t run away!
Thank goodness…
Greetings, my child. My name is T O R I E L-
—
After that incident, fencing and guards were placed around the mountain. No one wanted to lose a fifth fourth child to The Monsters.
It worked. For twenty years, it worked.
Until one day, when the yelling and fighting became too much, a girl decided she and her younger sibling would have a better chance with The Monsters than her parents.
At least, that’s what their neighbors claimed had happened.
Who knows, maybe it was even true.
—
…Oh, why did he have to leave, he was doing so-
!
G-Greetings! My chil- children!
Oh my.
Are you quite alright?
Please, come with me- I have some items to heal you with at home…
—
For once, JUSTICE was wrought. The Defenders found a cache of evidence the eldest had hid in their room during their search for clues, along with a highly illegal stash of bullets and gun powder (the item outlawed right after the blueprints were Wished into existence). They were arrested sent back to Vaugarde to be tried.
The disappearances themselves were quite easy to cover up, after that.
As far as anyone else knew, the Lost Children stayed at Three.
—
More time passed, with people coming and going without comment or concern.
The Island was a busy hub of activity, with visitors from all over the world coming to learn about THE UNIVERSE and everything therein from their universities.
One such individual was a young lady from Ka Bue.
She had traveled the world in search of her mother, and PERSEVERED despite the odds. The young lady found her a Professor in one of the universities.
The Professor was originally from Vaugarde, but had become deeply devoted to THE UNIVERSE in her time on The Island.
Her daughter was cold at first, but they both quickly warmed up to each other. They bonded over their love of learning, sharing the esoteric facts and stories they both had learned from their travels.
The Professor even began to Wish she had known her child sooner, so they could have shared these joys much earlier.
THE UNIVERSE HEARD
One day, her daughter did not come to her lesson. The Professor had not seen her that morning and spent much of the afternoon searching the university grounds for her.
But no one could be found.
Instead, she found a book. Not the little notebook her daughter tended to carry, but an old, thick tomb explaining what occurred on the mountain and how The Monsters were sealed.
The Professor had been studying the myth for some time, trying to determine its truth. She had mentioned it would be much easier if someone knew the true location.
She Feels It.
The moment her daughter falls.
She Feels It.
NoNoNO please, not her. Not her. Give her back give my daughterBACK-
She closes her eyes against the feeling.
Her stomach hurts, like someone is tugging on it.
When she opens her eyes again, she is standing on the docks of Ka Bue.
It’s the day she left.
—
Hello? Did someone fall down?
Please, do not be afraid! I am here to help you.
…
I suppose I must have misheard, then.
I hope if anyone did fall down, however, that they will be careful!
There are so many dangers down here, after all…
—
The Professor stared at her husband, at the child she never knew, and knew in her SOUL that she will never meet that woman she grew to care for as a daughter again.
She left.
The boat she boarded sailed not to The Island, but to Vaguarde. Her original home.
She made one last wish.
I wish it had never happened. I wish NONE of this had EVER HAPPENED. I wish those blinding Monsters were ACTUALLY forgotten- stars, that the whole ISLAND and all its blinding crafts were forgotten. I wish I never had to deal with this blinding grief! I wish that girl, that brilliant, stubborn girl, will never meet me again.
THE UNIVERSE HEARD
In a large compound in Ka Bue, a university student absentmindedly adjusted her glasses while flipping through what appeared to be an old notebook of hers.
“Appeared” because it’s filled with absolute nonsense.
She can’t make sense of a lick of it, and even looking through it gives her a headache.
The woman knows it’s important, that she needs to know what it is and what she is forgetting-
[She snuck through the underground, dodging monsters and traps alike. She was learning so much. They had a system of government here, an economy, food and entertainment! They were even using old devices from above to provide heat and electricity! It was fascinating. And terrifying. Distracted, she never realized how close she was to the waterfall’s edge until it was too late.]
She's struck with a sudden, sharp pain and accidentally flings the book out the window.
...What was she doing?
Ah. Right. Her research on Vaugarde. She remembers now.
Now, what is a "Familytale"?
—
The coastal town of Bambouche witnesses the arrival of a teenager and her younger sibling. They have barely a coin to their names, but the people there are friendly and eager to help. They both feel like they’re forgetting something…
]gentle paws guiding the youngest along until they were suddenly absent, the taste of cinnamon-butterscotch pie still on their lips even as they fell to a trident’s strike.]
[The eldest held on longer, but she held no LOVE in her SOUL. She followed her sibling in short order.]
…but it’s probably nothing. They’re both much too busy to worry about a few foggy memories, anyways.
—
In the small, sleepy town of Dormont, a young girl looks down in confusion at her packed bags. She could have sworn she was going somewhere, but what trip would possibly require ballet flats? She doesn’t even take ballet! She feels like she must be forgetting something…
[Twirling and twirling, terrified but dancing because she wasn’t old enough to craft yet. She tried to be careful. Some of these things seemed friendly! But the FIGHTS always felt like life and death. She’s almost thankful when a hammer stopped her in her tracks in the shadows of those blue, rain-washed caverns.]
…Oh! She must have been heading to the House to become a handmaiden! They probably do have some ballet classes there.
—
In a bustling city, a teen wakes up to find their face smushed up against a boxing glove of all things. He vaguely remembered the boxing gloves and the “manly bandana” being a prank gift from a cousin after he told them about his Change, but where did-
[He learned from Ms. Toriel how to FIGHT without violence, but he couldn’t stay for long. He had to get out and show his cousins just how BRAVE he had become! He made it all the way to the core but- what- W H O W A S T H A T ?]
…Why did he have boxing gloves and a bandana again? Oh right! There’s that training course soon for The Defenders. He probably got them for that.
—
A child wakes up with a sudden start.
They are on a boat.
He does not know who they are.
They do not know what he was looking at.
He does not know why they have both a toy knife and a worn real one, or where the bow in their hair came from.
[He fell into the underground on purpose. He Knew he was supposed to. The universe filled his empty vessel with thoughts and emotions, but they were never really supposed to be alive. Just a way to fill the gaps. When they finally saw WHO he was filling the gap of, he knew he needed to find them. He had barely caught a glance of The Child before that trident came down on their SOUL.]
…No that’s not-
[They were supposed to save Monsterkind. They were SUPPOSED to SAVE MONSTERKIND. They were their HOPE. Their LAST CHANCE. HOW COULD THEY BE SO STUPID. STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID-]
…He shook his head. No use thinking about it now. Best to just get to land and see what they can find out.
Surely someone will know them.
—
Someday in the future, a man gone mad from homesickness will spread a curse across an entire nation.
Someday in the future, all but one of the fallen will rise up and fight against his Wish.
Someday in the future, one of these saviors will split back into two.
…
And someday, much farther into the future, the eighth fallen human will make their way through the underground, freeing all of monsterkind right as a beloved professor dies peacefully in her sleep, fulfilling her final Wish.
But that is far, far in the future.
For the moment, humanity continues on as it always has; living and dying, laughing and crying, no more aware of the great Change than they were the day before.