Work Text:
Kris flinched back at the feeling of something brushing their arm, eyes snapping open to see—light above them?
They sat up sharply, almost headbutting someone in the face on the way up. "What—where—how—"
Kris' eyes came into focus to see the child in front of them. They couldn't be older than six years old, their brown hair flopped over their forehead as they tugged Kris' sleeve.
"I—who are you?" Kris brushed their own hair out of their eyes.
"Frisk!" They said immediately, still tugging Kris' sleeve.
Kris tried to control their breathing as they scanned their surroundings. They were in some sort of cave, the walls a deep shade of purple, with light so distant above them, Kris and Frisk both sat on a small bed of golden flowers.
Kris cleared their throat and got to their feet. "How did you get here?"
"Fell!"
Kris blinked. "You—fell? From up there?"
"Mhm!"
Kris squinted up again. It had to be hundreds of feet, but the kid was just… standing without a scratch.
"We… we should get out of here then, huh?" Kris asked, weakly attempting to keep their tone light. Frisk nodded, grabbing Kris' hand and dragging them along through the archway at the end of the cave, leading into blinding darkness.
Kris couldn't see a thing but the doorway opposite them, and a yellow flower standing in front of it.
"Howdy!" The flower smiled—the flower fucking smiled—and it's stem extended to it's whole height. "I'm Flowey the Flower! And who might y'all be?"
Kris squinted. His voice—it was so familiar, so painfully familiar, yet they couldn't place it, like it was just slightly distorted.
Frisk stumbled forward happily. "Frisk! And Kris!" They pointed back at Kris.
"Well those are some mighty fine names! Say, Frisk, what do you say I teach you how to make friends around here? It'll be hard to get home if you can't make friends!"
"Okay!" Frisk plopped down innocently in front of him.
Kris froze at the look on his face—it was downright malicious. Kris sprung back into action the second those white pellets hovered in the air behind him.
"FRISK, MOVE!" They yanked them out of the way, the pellets hitting their back and leaving cuts like thorns.
"You idiot." Flowey laughed, aiming more of the thorns at Kris as they pushed the whimpering Frisk behind their back. "You aren't supposed to be here!" He singsonged, thorns glinting dangerously.
Kris flinched back, prepared for another onslaught of cuts and scrapes, but stopped when the flower was suddenly yanked from the ground and tossed away.
Their eyes widened. "Mom?" Kris' voice was barely a whisper.
Toriel turned to them both with curious eyes. "Hello, children. Come, it's dangerous to stay here alone."
…
Kris stared at the ceiling, Frisk snoring softly beside them. Toriel had left a plate of pie on the floor about thirty minutes ago, but Kris made the executive decision to leave it for Frisk when they woke up. Kris had had that pie every birthday since they were adopted—there was no guarantee Frisk would ever have a chance to have it again.
Quietly, Kris slipped from the bed, making sure Frisk settled again before they stepped out of the room.
Toriel didn't remember them, that much was obvious. It made Kris sick to their stomach. She had their mother's face, but she wasn't their mom. And Kris really wanted their mom right now.
"Hello, my child." Toriel looked up from her book. "Are you done sleeping already?"
"Um, yeah, I guess." Kris shrugged, leaning against the fireplace. "Hey, uh, Toriel? How do we get out of here?"
"Whatever do you mean?" She placed her book on her lap.
Kris shrugged. "I have to take Frisk home, don't I? They're just a kid, they can't stay down here."
"This is your home now. I'm sure Frisk will grow accustomed to it."
Standing up a bit straighter, Kris shook their head. "How do I take them to their home?"
"This is their home."
"No, it isn't." Kris shook their head. "How do we leave?"
Toriel suddenly stood, her book falling to the floor. She made no move to pick it up. "I have to go do something. Stay here."
"What?"
She didn't stop or answer.
Kris, of course, didn't listen, and followed her down the stairs.
"Wait—wait where are you going?" Kris almost tripped as they reached the bottom of the stairs. "What are you doing?"
Toriel took a deep breath. "The one exit out of the ruins—the sole way of getting back to the human world—is just through here. I'm going to destroy it."
"WHAT?!" Kris grabbed their arm. "You can't do that! I have to take them home!"
"If you do…" She shook her head. "The monsters… the king… they will kill you."
"I'll kill them first." Kris' fingers twitched at their hip— at the handle of the sword they'd found along the way to Toriel's house that she so graciously avoided mentioning. It had spatterings of ashes from the monsters that had tried a bit too hard to hurt Frisk.
"I do not believe you." She stopped in front of the door. "If you are so desperate to leave… prove yourself."
"… what?"
"Prove yourself. Against me."
Kris paled. "I—I won't fight you." My mom. It's my mom.
Kris stepped back as a fireball whizzed past their face, the heat making their face redden. "Stop it! I won't fight you!"
She didn't answer, eyes sinking closed as fireballs whizzed past Kris, but never touched them. Taking a deep breath, Kris stepped forward. "I won't fight you. You don't want to fight me."
"Prove yourself!"
"I AM!"
Kris stepped forward again, and again, until they rested their hand on top of Toriel's paw. "…I won't hurt you."
Toriel slumped, the fireballs twindling to sparks, and then to nothing. "…they will kill you."
"I won't let them. Just… please, let us go."
Toriel scooped them up in a hug as Kris' eyes burned. "… You can never return here."
"I know." Kris said shakily, burying their face against her.
Pulling away, Toriel gently kissed Kris' forehead before walking past them, gasping softly at Frisk stumbling into the room. "Kris!" Frisk said excitedly, running to their side and clinging to their leg, pie crumbs smeared over their mouth.
Toriel smiled so, so sadly. "Goodbye my children. I will be praying for you."
Kris scooped Frisk up into their arms, resting them on Kris' hip. "Thank you."
She disappeared down the hallway, and Kris turned back to the door, feeling…
Determined.