Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Frisk sat up in an unfamiliar place, their vision blurred from a throbbing pain that shrouded their mind. Right. They had fallen down, down a hole, and ended up… here…

Here. Where was here?

They looked around from where they sat, eyes adjusting to the darkness. There wasn’t much light to see with, apart from the small amount that filtered through the crack far above them, but they made out the distinct sight of heavier shadows surrounding them. Walls? They frowned. The whole place seemed much too artificial to just be a coincidence of nature. An old bunker from the war, perhaps. Or maybe a series of mines. The mountain they had been climbing previously was well-known for its rich ores.

It was also well-known for the fact that every human who climbed it was never seen again, but… that was just a myth.

Well. Probably.

Frisk stood up shakily, using an isolated branch they had found next to them to steady themselves. They vaguely remembered grabbing onto it and pulling it down with them as they fell, but the fall had left any other recent memories rather foggy.

Turning, they saw an exit in the dirt walls, and, relieved, they started towards it. This would lead to a way out, surely, because there was no way in hell they’d be able to climb out from where they came from.

They made it a few steps before freezing, the sound of voices causing their eyes to widen as they stopped, rooted to the ground. Who else could be down here? Who else… huh. At least… at least it meant they weren’t alone.

‘-sounded like it came from over here…’

It was barely audible, but Frisk could just make out what they were saying. They backed up slightly, suddenly reluctant to continue. The muttering got louder steadily, accompanied by footsteps, until two figures came into view. A child, and a… humanoid goat?

Okay. The fall had fucked them up more than they thought. They were definitely seeing things.

‘Howdy, human!’ He spoke, waving at them cheerfully. Shit. He was a monster. Which was fine, except for the fact that monsters and humans were meant to hate each other. ‘I’m Asriel, Prince of the Underground, as this is my little sibling, Chara.’ He gestured to the child who stood beside him, who turned round and glared at him as he spoke.

‘Hey, I’m older than you, fuck-face!’ They folded their arms, sticking out their tongue.

‘But you’re my little sibling, heh…’ He patted their head, grinning. He was right. They were about a foot shorter than him.

They turned away from him with a huff, then nodded at Frisk. ‘Hi. You should probably come with us, human. And don’t try anything funny.’ Their scowl hardened. ‘I know what your kind is like.’

Frisk shook themselves out of their stunned stupor at their words. ‘Um? Excuse me?’

‘You know, humans.’ Chara glared at the ground, failing to notice the irony in their words. Frisk decided not to point it out.

‘Um. Sorry? I didn’t mean to come down here. I just… fell. I need to get back home, if you could show me a way out?’

Asriel bit his lip, and even Chara’s accusing gaze softened into condescending pity at their request.

‘Well. About that…’ Asriel began to speak slowly.

‘There isn’t exactly a way out.’ Chara finished for him.

Fuck.

‘What…? But… I have to go home…’

Chara rolled their eyes, but Frisk noticed them stiffen slightly. ‘Look, human-’

‘My name’s Frisk.’

‘Human,’ Chara continued, pointedly ignoring them. ‘There is now way out. But, this place isn’t so bad. It’s better than the surface. And the peo- monsters here are much friendlier than you humans. So, let’s go.’

‘Um.’ Frisk glanced up at the chasm that stretched high above them. Scaling the walls was sounding more and more inviting by the second. ‘I think I’ll just stay here. Thanks for the offer, though.’ Climbing a 90 degree dirt wall was possible, right?

Asriel cocked his head to the side, frowning. ‘Why won’t you come with us, Frisk?’

‘Like I said, I need to go home.’

‘Yeah, and like we said, there’s no way out!’ Chara snapped, frowning at them. What was with this human? Normally the kids just accepted it and followed them out, but this one…

‘There has to be! Sorry, but I really, really need to get back.’

‘Well. I hate to have to do this, but in that case, you’re under arrest.’

‘Chara! You can’t do that!’ Asriel giggled nervously, hoping that they were kidding.

‘Yes I can! By the order of the Royal Guard-’ They tapped a badge that was pinned to their too-big jacket. ‘you’re under arrest!’

‘The fuck? What for?’

‘For trespassing!’

‘Then let me leave!’

‘Hah! Now you’re resisting arrest! That’s a double crime!’

‘What!?’

‘Yep! You’re under arrest! Sorry, human, but I can’t allow this horrible violation of the law to continue. Now, follow us.’

‘No! You’re crazy!’

‘Asriel! Restrain them!’

Asriel burst out into laughter. ‘Chara, this is stupid. Let’s just talk to them!’

‘Yes, please don’t arrest me. I’m too young for jail, etcetera.’ Frisk’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

Chara gasped. ‘Sass!’ But they were grinning too. ‘Okay, fine. I’ll explain what’s going on. But, we’re talking as we walk! Let’s go!’

Frisk rolled their eyes and decided to humour them, walking in step with them.

Asriel smiled, walking alongside them with a slight spring in their step. Cute. ‘Well, you probably know about the war between the humans and the monsters, right?’

‘Yea-’

‘Of course they know, it’s all those humans talk about. How they won. How they were heroes. How they left us here to die-’

Asriel shushed them by lightly slipping a paw (!?) over their mouth, rolling their eyes. Chara pushed his hand away, sulking, but stayed quiet. It was weird, the way they referred to themselves as a monster. The way they acted like they were related to Asriel. Frisk didn’t say anything about it, though. Not their business.

‘After the war, the humans sealed us monsters away underground. They made sure there was absolutely no way to escape, but in doing so… they created a trap. One way in, no way out. So… they’ve been unknowingly losing humans- children, for some reason- through their own defence mechanism.’

‘Because humans are idiots.’ Chara interjected again.

‘Yeah, that’s an, um, opinion.’ Asriel glanced nervously at Frisk, who simply looked more intrigued than offended.

‘I never knew that. I mean… I knew monsters lost, and were driven away, or something…’ Frisk shrugged. Maybe they shouldn’t have slept through their history classes.

‘Y…yeah. But… The first human who fell down here was, um, Chara.’ Chara stiffened as Asriel spoke, but stayed silent. Frisk had a feeling the whole ‘human’ thing was a sore subject for them. ‘I heard them fall, and took them to the castle. At first, everything was fine. Everything was great! There was so much hope, because everyone assumed they had been sent down here by the humans, as a peace compromise. But…’ Another nervous glance directed at Chara. ‘Well. That wasn’t Chara’s purpose. They… didn’t come here for a very happy reason.’

‘Bah! That doesn’t matter now! Basically, I didn’t have no ‘higher purpose’. I just fell. So! I was adopted. Because they thought I’d be useful. Like a hostage.’

‘That’s not true!’

‘Whatever. I’ve been here for six years now. This is my home. And every other kid who’s fallen down here feels the same. You will too, eventually. You just have to… get over the fact you’ll never see the surface again.’

Frisk looked down, shivering numbly. They’d never see the surface again… They’d never see their family, or their friends, or their home again… Was that really how their life was going to be? All their hopes and dreams just thrown away, because they fucking tripped.

Asriel and Chara were silent, leading Frisk through the darkness until they stopped at a tiled room. It was lit with a few flickering torches, so Frisk noticed how the walls were a pale purple, and there was an open door across the room.

‘Welcome to the ruins! This is the way to the rest of the underground.’ Chara grinned turning round to face Frisk. ‘You know, you’re lucky you fell at the right time! Asriel and I check for humans here nearly every day, but it can get pretty cold down here. Speaking of which…’ They frowned at what Frisk was wearing. ‘You’re gonna need some warmer clothes. That jumper isn’t gonna do shit against Snowdin’s weather.’ Laughing at Frisk’s blank expression, Chara dragged both them and Asriel onwards, through the door. ‘You’ll see. Let’s go!’

‘Chara, we should probably warn them about the... others.’

Chara frowned in confusion. ‘You mean the kids? Oh! You mean…’ They turned to Frisk again. ‘Just FYI, this place is riddled with monsters. But don’t worry! Most of them are cool with humans! Most of them… just don’t do anything to set any of them off. ‘Kay?’

Frisk nodded, slightly overwhelmed. Then they began to ask, cautiously, ‘Um. You mentioned the other ‘kids’? Who… are they?’

Asriel and Chara exchanged glances, before Chara launched into the story. ‘Okay, so, I was the first to fall down here, but. I wasn’t the last. Other than you I mean. There are six other kids. They… ahah. They’re… interesting.’

Chapter Text

‘Two humans fell at the same time, about 4 years ago. They were both 11. Twins, or something. Anyways, one of them is okay. Total nerd, obsessed with monster culture and shit, but y’know. He is okay. His sister, however…’ Chara paused, searching for the right words. ‘Well. She’s a bitch. She blames the monsters for trapping her down here, even though it was her own idiot fault. She acts superior to us, even though the only reason she’s stronger than me is because she’s a fucking murderer-’

‘Chara. Chill.’ Asriel said. ‘She isn’t so bad. Uh. Anymore.’

‘She is. But whatever. The next kid was better. He was all about kindness and shit. Until he realised he was fucked in the underground, because everyone was still pissed about the shit that went down previously and kinda hated humanity. So now he’s just sorta hanging around pointlessly. He doesn’t talk much. Kinda boring.’

Frisk nodded as they cautiously followed Asriel and Chara across a spiked floor, but it was mostly to show that they were listening rather than to pretend they understood. Which they didn’t. At all.

‘The next kid was really tiny. I think she was like, seven or eight when she fell. She was really weak, and she almost didn’t survive the fall. But she’s okay now. Mostly because her cousin followed her down here, and he’s super protective and shit. But now they’re both stuck down here.’

The ruins were a lot larger than Frisk was expecting, and they found themselves getting increasingly lost at every turn they took. Luckily Asriel and Chara seemed completely at ease as they led them through.

‘Lastly was another girl. She’s cool. Kinda boring though. Like this story. I’m bored! Let’s talk about something else!’

Asriel rolled his eyes and looked over at Frisk. ‘That just leaves you, Frisk. Sorry, you must be so confused! Welcome to the underground, I guess?’

‘Welcome to your grave.’ Chara corrected, grinning.

Frisk blinked. ‘Um. Thanks? I’m kinda creeped out, but thanks.’

Chara laughed. ‘Yeah, I do have that effect on people.’ They looked at Frisk properly. ‘Okay human, I kinda like you, so I’m gonna give you some advice. Don’t think that just because you’re human you’re gonna get privilege down here. That’s not how it works. In fact, it’s the opposite. You’re gonna be a target, for at least a few weeks. And, as much as I hate to say this… in this world, it’s kill and be killed when it comes to some of us.’

Asriel scowled. ‘That’s a little extreme, Chara. What they’re trying to say is you might be kinda unpopular for a little while… but you don’t have to kill anyone, jeez.’

‘I didn’t finish! If you kill any monsters whilst down here, you will be killed. I’ll make sure of it. No mercy is shown to the merciless. Got it?’

Frisk nodded slowly. ‘I uh… wasn’t planning on killing anyone. But I’ll keep that in mind.’

‘Good.’

They all walked in silence for a few minutes. Chara half-skipped alongside them, having to move faster to keep up. They were adorably short. Um. They were short. Just short. What.

‘Hey, so, who are you guys?’ Frisk said quickly, feeling themselves flush slightly. The other two didn’t seem to notice.

‘Asriel’s the prince, I’m his adopted sibling. So I’m royal too, I guess. Our parents run the underground. And! We’re part of the royal guard! Well, kinda, I still have two years before I can legally join, but we do stuff anyways!’ Chara stuck out their chest, proudly showing off their badge.

‘Oh yeah? Like what?’ Frisk felt themselves smiling at their enthusiasm.

‘We check for humans… and that’s kinda it, officially. But it’s important!’

Fuck they were cute. ‘Sounds important.’

Asriel shrugged. ‘I mean. It’s not that important. A lot of monsters don’t want us to help out humans.’

‘It’s super important! The humans could be dangerous! We gotta keep tabs on them! Besides… everyone seems to have forgotten about the prophecy. What happened to DETERMINATION!?’ Chara folded their arms.

‘…The prophecy?’ Frisk asked.

‘Oh right! So, dad made up this shitty prophecy about how a human would fall down here and release us all. But that’s not gonna happen. It’s just… it would be kinda nice if people still tried to be happy, you know?’ Chara sighed, looking down at the ground. ‘It’s mostly just defeatist attitudes and sadness now. So… it’s kinda good we have a new human down here! Maybe you can give them hope. The sanity of an entire race depends on you, human!’ They grinned at Frisk. ‘But, hey… no pressure or anything.’

‘Hah… okay…?’ Frisk played with the hem of their jumper nervously, a little weirded out. Or… a lot weirded out. This place was strange. These people were strange. The fact they were walking through a bright purple cave system was strange.

‘So, Frisk… You know why we’re here… why are you here?’ Asriel asked slowly, before quickly adding, ‘If you uh… wanna say, that is…’

‘I fell.’ Frisk shrugged. ‘Kinda thought that was obvious.’

‘Oh…’ Asriel laughed, slightly unsure of himself. ‘I uh… I meant, why did you fall?’

‘I tripped.’

‘Okay? How?’

‘Um, gravity?’

‘No but like… what were you doing on the mountain?’

‘Um, falling-’

‘Holy SHIT, human! You know what he means!’ Chara yelled, exasperated.

‘Right, um. I’ll tell you if you tell me? Your story, I mean.’ Frisk looked over at Chara, a small trace of a smile playing over their lips.

‘I already told you mine.’

‘Before you fell?’

‘…’ Chara hesitated, eyes glued to the ground in front of them. ‘Uh. Maybe some other time.’

‘Sure.’ Frisk let their eyes slide away from them, focusing instead on the surrounding hallways. Asriel shifted uncomfortably next to them. They all walked in a heavy silence for a few minutes.

‘Sorry.’ Frisk broke the quiet, looking at Chara again. ‘Didn’t mean to upset you. Just uh… I’m still kinda salty about the whole trying-to-arrest me thing. And the fact I fell.’ They clenched their hands together as they spoke. They really hated apologising.

Blinking in surprise, Chara returned Frisk’s uneasy smile. ‘You didn’t upset me, human.’

‘Okay.’ Frisk paused. ‘Good.’

The silence that followed didn’t feel as awkward this time.

Chapter Text

The cold was instant as Frisk, Chara and Asriel stepped out of the ruins. Snow seeped uncomfortably into Frisk’s boots, sending shivers through their body. The surrounding forest cast shadows around them, making the natural light (or lack thereof) of the cavern seem somewhat unnatural.

‘This is Snowdin forest.’ Chara glanced at Frisk, sighing as they noticed them shiver. ‘Yeah… I told you you’d be cold.’ They shrugged off their own jacket and handed it to Frisk, avoiding any eye contact. ‘Here. I’m used to the cold.’

‘Thanks…’ Frisk wanted to protest at first, but was instantly grateful at the warmth the jacket provided. They tried for a small smile in Chara’s direction, but looked over to see their eyes frozen into a scowl directed at the ground. Ugh. Great word choice. They shivered again.

‘No problem. The cold can be a bit of a shock to some humans. Was it summer up there or something?’

Shaking their head, Frisk replied, ‘Spring.’

‘Ah, right. I’d lost track.’

‘…Lost track?’

‘Yeah. Not much point thinking about seasons down here. Most monsters don’t remember the war, if they were even alive for it, so they’ve never experienced seasons or whatever. So… no-one really keeps track of it.’

‘I try to!’ Asriel objected. ‘I’ve never seen the surface before, but I like to imagine it. It’s so cool that the weather can just… change.’ He beamed excitedly. ‘But… I don’t think anyone else cares about time passing… except for birthdays and stuff.’

‘Seasons… don’t change down here? So… it’s just… eternally cold?’ Frisk scowled, kicking the snow as they walked.

‘Well. No, but if you don’t like the cold, there’s always Hotland! Or Waterfall!’

‘You’re just gonna have to get used to it, human.’

Human again. Frisk supposed they should be more concerned about what the hell Hotland and Waterfall was, but something about Chara- a human- calling them ‘human’… kinda bothered them. They just pushed away the thoughts. Whatever identity-crisis Chara was going through was none of Frisk’s business.

‘Um. Okay??’ They bit their lip, glancing at Chara, who was still focusing in front of them. ‘Where are we going now?’

‘Right now? Snowdin town. Home of…’ Chara grinned as they crossed a bridge across a chasm (which totally wasn’t scary at all pfft what), eyes locking onto a sentry station that housed a sleeping skeleton. A sleeping skeleton. Because goats and chasms wasn’t enough bullshit apparently. ‘…That guy. And others, naturally.’

‘…Right.’ Just don’t ask. Frisk didn’t even want to know.

Chara walked over to the station, smiling deviously, before leaning over and slamming their hands down next to him, yelling ‘HEY’ into his lack-of-an-ear.

The guy barely jumped, just slipped open one of his eye sockets. How was that even possible...!? ‘hmm…?’ He looked at Chara groggily, who crinkled up their nose in disgust.

‘Ugh. Have you been drinking? Dude. It’s like, just past noon.’ Chara said, hands on their hips. Fuck. They were even cute when being chastising.

Um-

‘just a little.’ The skeleton sat up, looking past Chara at Frisk, who waved slightly, trying not to freak out. ‘who’s the new kid?’

‘This is Frisk.’ It was the first time Frisk heard them say their name. That’s irrelevant. ‘They just fell.’

He nodded. ‘yeah, figured. well, kid?’ He beckoned them over. ‘I’m sans. sans the skeleton. don’t you know how to greet a new pal?’ He extended his hand as Frisk warily approached. They took his hand slightly reluctantly, cautious about how the bare-bone would feel. To their surprise, it felt like a regular human hand, just slightly… harder. The contact didn’t last long- Frisk recoiled their hand with a yelp as the feeling of an electric shock ran shot through it. He shot them a shit-eating grin and revealed a hand-buzzer which was attached to his hand.

‘heh. sorry, kiddo. I’ve always been a bit of a prankster.’ He winked (!?) at them, then turned back to Chara. ‘though… this one seems older than the others…?’

‘Yeah, that’s what I thought.’ Chara looked straight at Frisk this time. ‘Wanna explain that, human?’

‘Uh… What? I can’t exactly control my age, so…?’

‘How old are you?’ Chara said, eyes narrowing accusingly.

‘Uh, fifteen? Is that bad?’

‘Oh.’ Chara looked slightly relieved. ‘That’s not so bad.’

‘You’re nearly older than Chara! Cool!’ Asriel said.

‘Um, no, they’re not.’ Chara snapped, folding their arms. Frisk noticed Sans staring right into their eyes, a hint of confusion in his, but it was quickly replaced with his usual easy grin when he realised they were looking back at him. ‘Anyways. We should keep going. Good to see you, Sans. I guess.’

Sans nodded. ‘yeah, you should go. I’m a busy guy, y’know? got a skele-ton of work to do.’ He winked again. Both Frisk and Asriel laughed a little at the pun, but Chara just rolled their eyes and turned their unamused gaze onto Sans.

‘Busy? Doing what? Taking drunken naps at your station?’

‘nah. I actually just went on break. so you’re totally cutting into my free time.’

‘Jesus Christ you’re a fucking mess. Maybe, like, actually do your job?’

‘yes sir. just gimme a few days, I gotta sort out this hangover.’

‘How… how the fuck can you be hungover and drunk at the same time!?’

‘ughhh you’re worse than papyrus…’

‘Well. I’m leaving now. And where do you get your alcohol!? I told Grillby to stop serving you, god dammit.’

Sans just shrugged and raised a bottle to his mouth.

‘Where did you even get that!? For the love of—You know what, never mind. Drink yourself stupid, I don’t care.’ Chara began marching off. ‘Come on guys, let’s go.’

‘see ya, kid.’ Sans called after Frisk, winking at them again, as Frisk began following Chara alongside Asriel. He exchanged glances with Frisk and laughed nervously.

‘That… uh, that happens a lot.’ He explained in a hushed voice. ‘But… it’s okay. We all deal in different ways…’

‘Um. Sure.’ It didn’t seem very healthy, but he was a fucking skeleton. Liver failure probably wasn’t one of his biggest worries. And, shit, why did Frisk even care? An alcoholic skeleton shouldn’t be one of their biggest worries. Still, they found themselves glancing back at him in slight concern. He was frowning slightly, staring back at Frisk, but grinned and waved when he saw them looking. Weird. Something seemed… off about him. Or rather, something seemed to be off about them to him. His stares seemed heavy with suspicion.

Frisk and Asriel caught up with Chara, who was still scowling from their encounter with Sans. ‘Well. This is Snowdin forest. It used to be littered with puzzles and shit, but we convinced Papyrus to clear them. It got kinda annoying, seeing as Asriel and I have to walk through here nearly every day.’ Chara pointedly avoided talking about the whole Sans-incident.

‘Who’s… Papyrus?’ Frisk remembered Sans mentioning them too.

‘He’s Sans’ brother. Lieutenant of Undyne, who’s the captain of the Royal Guard. Now, those two…’ Chara grinned. ‘They’re awesome! They’re still determined as FUCK! I mean… There’s no chance of getting out. But! They still care so much about everyone else being happy with life down here!’

‘Everyone…?’

Chara nodded, though seemed to know what Frisk was getting at. ‘Yeah. Don’t worry about Sans. He’s happy, in his own way.’

‘…Sure, okay.’ Frisk said doubtfully, but they didn’t press the matter. They fell back into step with Asriel, as Chara continued walking ahead of them.

‘Is there anyone else I should know about? Because I don’t think I’m prepared to meet zombies and witches and ghosts or any other trick-or-treaters.’ Asriel cocked his head in confusion at the reference. ‘Never mind. It’s… it was a joke.’

‘Oh! Sorry!’ Asriel forced a laugh, though it sounded more like a bleat. ‘Don’t worry, everyone down here is really nice! Chara was just trying to scare you earlier. They’re like that… ahah.’

‘Yeah… about Chara.’ Frisk glanced at them, and they seemed far away enough to be unable to hear. Even so, Frisk dropped their voice to a quieter tone. ‘Uh… Are they single?’

Chapter Text

Asriel looked surprised for a moment, then burst into laughter. ‘Seriously!? Chara!? Haha omigod-’ He took a deep breath to calm himself and then looked at Frisk, biting his lip to hold back laughter. ‘Um. Well, yeah, but… they’re not gonna want to date you, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

Frisk tried not to look offended. ‘Oh. No, I was just… I wasn’t asking because of… ugh, why not?’

‘I didn’t mean that in a rude way!’ Asriel said quickly. ‘Just… they really hate humans. And… I don’t think they’re really the kind of person to want to date anyone. Sorry?’

‘…Right. It’s fine, I was just curious.’ Frisk turned away, cheeks burning in embarrassment.

‘But…’ Asriel giggled again. ‘Why Chara? I mean- they’re great, of course- but they’ve been pretty rude…?’

‘Yeah. But…’ Frisk smiled a little as they watched Chara turn and impatiently beckon them over. They were pretty far ahead of them still. ‘They’re kinda cute.’

Asriel laughed and shook his head. ‘O-kay. Whatever you’re into is your business, Frisk…’ He smirked a little and looked away, still trying to hold back laughter.

Frisk scowled at him, but had to fight to keep a smile off of their face. ‘Ugh, you make it sound so weird…’

They reached Chara, Asriel still spluttering with laughter. Chara shot them both a confused look, then just turned and leading them. ‘Okay, we’re gonna reach town in a few minutes. Like I said-’ They turned around and looked sternly at Frisk. ‘-No being rude to the monsters.’

‘Yeah, sure.’ Frisk nodded dismissively. Chara pursed their lips but stayed silent, falling into step with Asriel and Frisk as they continued walking.

‘So… what were you guys talking about…?’

Asriel snorted and looked away from Chara, while Frisk shot him a look that said don’t-you-dare-say-anything.

‘We were talking about Undyne.’ Asriel said, shaking his head a little.

‘Oh yeah? What did you tell them?’

‘Uh… about how she’s captain of the royal guard… and, uh…’ Asriel trailed off, shrugging at Frisk. He was a shitty liar, but… he tried?

‘Um. Okay then?’ Chara didn’t look like they believed him. ‘Well, human, this bridge leads to Snowdin town.’ They gestured to the rope bridge that hung across another chasm. Auggghhh.

Chara and Asriel began walking across it, completely unbothered by the height. Frisk stepped onto it cautiously, but it lurched precariously under their feet. They waited for Chara and Asriel to reach the end.

‘You coming, human?’ Chara yelled over, raising an eyebrow at Frisk.

‘Y-yeah…’ They squeezed their eyes shut, then sprinted across the bridge.

Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit---

They felt their foot hit the other side as it sunk into the snow. They opened their eyes to see Chara and Asriel staring at them wide-eyed.

‘What the fuck?? Why did you- Actually, never mind. I don’t even care.’ Chara shook their head, while Asriel looked back at the bridge, which was swinging manically behind Frisk. Frisk shrugged, following Chara into the town.

‘Hey, Sans.’

Frisk blinked at Chara’s voice, then noticed Sans leaning against a snowy sign that read ‘Welcome to Snowdin’.

…How the fuck did he get there before them?

‘heya. can I borrow the kid for a sec?’ Chara and Asriel seemed completely unbothered by the fact he had beaten them here. Which wasn’t supposed to be possible.

‘…Why?’ Chara asked, raising an eyebrow.

‘that’s for them to find out.’ He grinned at Frisk. ‘well, kid? wanna go to grillbys? I know a shortcut.’

Chara scowled and grabbed Frisk’s arm. ‘No! They don’t! We’re taking them to Papyrus and Undyne, like we always do. And… you’re meant to be working!’

‘nah, like I said, I’m on break. I’ll take them to my bro and shit after, k?’

‘No! It’s not ‘k’! This is official Royal Guard business!’

‘yeah, yeah. let’s go, kid.’

Frisk hesitated, Chara’s hand still holding a vice-like grip on their arm. ‘Um? I don’t-’

‘They’re not going anywhere! Not until you explain what you want!’

Sans sighed and stepped away from the sign. ‘chara. this is kinda a big deal. otherwise I would’ve just… not bothered with any of this.’

‘Yeah, I know that. But-’

‘but nothing. it’ll take a few minutes, then you can get back to your… ‘official business’, or whatever.’

‘It is official business! We finally have another human, and it- I mean, they could be what we need to-’

‘Woah. Excuse me?’ Frisk shook Chara off, raising an eyebrow at them. ‘Did you just call me ‘it’?’

‘Yeah, soz. Anyways. Sans, go back to doing nothing, Asriel and I have stuff to do-‘

‘Did you just say ‘soz’!? Who the fuck are you?’ Frisk said, though they were definitely more amused than offended. Asriel bit back laughter besides them.

‘I… what?’

‘You know, maybe I will hang with this guy. At least he won’t refer to me as ‘it’.’

‘yeah, it’s got a point, chara.’ Sans winked at Frisk, who flipped him off, laughing.

‘No way! You’re still under arrest, human!’

‘Nah. I un-arrested myself.’ Frisk pointed to the badge on Chara’s jacket, smirking. ‘Royal guard privileges.’

‘You can’t do that! In fact, give me my jacket back!’

‘Sure.’ Frisk gave it back, then turned to Sans. ‘Wow, I’m cold. You mentioned going somewhere?’ They shot Chara a smug grin.

‘yep, let’s go.’ He offered an arm to Frisk, grinning, who linked it around their own.

Chara stared at them both, dumbfounded, whilst Asriel burst out laughing again.

‘See ya around…’ Frisk nodded goodbye to Chara as Sans lead them back towards the bridge. ‘Human.’ Frisk just had time to see Chara’s face shift from stunned to completely pissed at that last word before the world shifted in a flash of blue.

--

‘whoa, kid, you okay there?’

Frisk jerked back from Sans’ grip as the world slowly came back into focus.

‘What… the fuck… was that?’ Frisk blinked as their surroundings started making sense- they were in some kind of pub, or bar, with Sans holding them upright, a look of slight concern playing over his regular grin.

‘uh. sorry.’

‘Did you just teleport!? What… what!?’

‘I thought you’d remember, ahah…’ He scratched the back of his skull, averting his eyes from Frisk’s.

‘Remember… what?’

‘hm. I thought you were just playing dumb back there, but…’ He looked back into Frisk’s eyes, and they felt the feeling of him staring right into their soul return. ‘so, kid, have you ever heard of something called… a reset?’

Chapter Text

As soon as Frisk and Sans disappeared, Asriel guessed he had about two seconds to prepare for a meltdown.

‘Asriel. Holy- WHO the FUCK do they think they are!?’ Chara yelled at the empty patch of snow.

‘Um, I-’

‘We have important shit to do, and they just… left! I can’t believe- how selfish is that!?- I can’t believe they just BLANKED me!’

‘Chara, um-’

‘And then they called me ‘Human’!? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’

‘Chara! Chill!’ Asriel grabbed his sibling by the shoulders, laughing as they looked at him in disbelief.

‘But they just… ugh! I HATE humans!’

‘I know, I know…’ He let go of them, still smiling, and instead took their hand and pulled them towards the town.

‘We can go talk to them, if you want?’ Asriel offered, looking back over his shoulder to see Chara sulking slightly.

‘No. We’re gonna report this to Papyrus and Undyne.’

‘Right, okay…?’

Chara folded their arms and marched ahead of Asriel. ‘They’ll be pissed too, you know. I’m NOT being unreasonable, if that’s what you’re thinking.’

Asriel laughed and shook his head, grinning at the ground. ‘Of course not.’

Chara put their jacket back on. It was still warm from Frisk.

…That was irrelevant.

--

‘Resets? I don’t know what you’re…’ Frisk trailed off as they noticed Sans looking away from them, frowning.

‘actually, kid, let’s go sit down…’

Frisk nodded as they let Sans lead them across the room to one of the booths. They noticed with a slight flicker of embarrassment that they were still clutching his arm, and that the entirety of the bar was staring at them both. Sans simply waved off the stares with a grin, sitting down opposite Frisk.

‘sorry ‘bout them. it’s been a while since we’ve had a new human down here.’

‘Oh, right…’ They couldn’t help but feel relieved when the low chatter of the place slowly returned to normal. ‘So…?’

‘um. so. you have no idea what I’m talking about, right?’

‘To be honest, I have no idea what anyone’s been talking about down here. I kinda feel like this is all some kind of cruel prank, or something? I don’t know. This place is just kinda… surreal. And cold.’ Though, admittedly, it was much warmer in here.

‘yeah, I know. but you’ll get used to it. or…’ His grin wilted slightly, as if he was just realising something. ‘you’ll be going to the capital, won’t you…?’

‘No idea.’ Frisk felt the conversation buffer a little. For some reason, it felt like there wasn’t much else to say.

‘oh, it’s uh, not a prank by the way.’ Sans’ grin had lifted again. ‘’cos you’d be able to see right through a guy like me.’

Frisk stared at him, then snickered a little. ‘Was that… a pun?’

‘heh. thanks for laughing, kiddo. no-one else has the manners to do that anymore.’

‘Oh? Maybe your jokes just don’t tickle their funny bones.’

Spluttering with laughter, Sans glanced at Frisk from across the table and grinned even wider at them.

‘good one, kiddo.’ He paused. ‘well, I’m gonna go get a drink. do you want anything?’ He said, standing up.

‘Oh. Uh… I don’t have any money.’

‘Okay…? Do you want anything?’

Frisk blinked, then seemed to realise what he was offering. ‘Oh! I’m good, thanks.’

‘kay. I’ll be right back.’

‘Okay!’ Frisk watched him walk off.

They sunk back into their seat, rubbing their feet together. Some feeling was slowly returning to them, and it was only then that they realised how numb their feet had been before now. Not to mention cold. And wet. Ugh. Who thought it was a good idea to make a snow-filled cavern one of the first places any newcomers would walk through?

Whatever. They could probably beg Chara’s jacket back when they inevitably met up again. If they weren’t too pissed about the whole ‘human’ thing. Maybe sassing them wasn’t one of Frisk’s brightest ideas.

Either way, it felt kinda nice to be here. Asriel was nice. Sans seemed cool. And Chara… Well. Chara was-

‘uh, kid?’ Frisk jumped and looked up to see Sans standing at the edge of the booth, grinning at them. He was clutching a large glass bottle. ‘sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. you just looked kinda lost, heh.’

‘It’s fine, sorry. I just kinda zoned out, oops.’

‘right.’ He sat opposite them again, taking a small sip from the bottle. He noticed them staring at it. ‘uhh…? you want some, kid?’

‘I’m like, fifteen.’

‘and…?’ He smirked at them from behind the drink.

‘And…’ Frisk scowled at him. This felt like peer pressure. But… ‘Fine, I’ll try some.’

‘seriously? I was just kidding, but okay…’ He pushed the bottle towards them, his smirk widening.

‘…’ Frisk raised the bottle to their lips, taking a tiny, hesitant sip. Bad idea.

‘Holy FUCK-’ They spat it out, heaving, as the drink hit their tongue. It tasted like shit, to put it bluntly. ‘Was that alcohol or paint stripper!?’

Sans snorted and took the bottle back, spinning it around so the label faced Frisk. ‘Spider Cider. It’s… an acquired taste.’ He winked and took a large gulp. Frisk felt sick, but giggled a little too.

‘So, THIS is what you call a serious, important conversation, huh?’ Both Frisk and Sans started and looked round to see Chara, arms folded and face twisted into a scowl, standing over their table.

‘hey chara, wanna join us?’ Sans seemed relatively relaxed despite Chara’s murderous glare.

‘No, Sans, I don’t want to join you. And human…’ Chara’s eyes hardened. ‘Drinking is illegal for minors.’

‘hey, it’s okay, they’re with a responsible adult.’ Sans winked at Chara, who continued looking completely unamused.

‘Hah. ‘Responsible adult’, huh? There’s nothing ‘responsible’ about an alcoholic layabout, as I’m sure your brother will reiterate, when he gets here.’

Sans looked away. ‘aw, c’mon, chara. you didn’t have to go and get him involved, you know…’

Frisk stayed silent, trying not to laugh. Something about the situation made them feel like a kid being chastised by their parent.

‘This isn’t funny, human.’ Chara snapped.

‘No, you’re right, I’m very sorry for… whatever I did.’

‘Whatever you did!? You committed MULTIPLE SERIOUS CRIMES, and just because you’re a newbie does not mean you will be shown any mercy in court!’

‘…Court?’ Frisk glanced at Sans, who shrugged back.

‘Yes! Court! We just have to wait for-’

Chara was cut off by the door to the bar swinging open and smashing into the wall. The entire place silenced as two armoured figures walked in, followed by a nervous looking Asriel.

The shorter figure marched right over to the table and slammed her helmet down onto it, glaring at Frisk.

‘Human! I’ve heard from some EXTREMELY reliable sources that you’ve been causing trouble for members of the royal guard!’

‘Uhh… I plead the fifth.’ Frisk looked nervously at Sans, but he was grinning sheepishly at the other guard.

‘…What?’ The girl shot a confused glance towards Chara.

‘What the human means is that they’re not gonna speak.’

‘Oh! Well, I guess that means…’ She turned back towards Frisk, a wicked grin stretching across her features. ‘We’re gonna have to FIGHT, punk!’

Chapter Text

‘Okay, um…’ Frisk stood up, dragging a smile onto their face and offering a hand to the girl. ‘Hi, I’m Frisk. I feel like we’ve gotten off to a bad-’ They were interrupted as a blue spear materialized inches from their face. ‘…start.’

The girl’s smirk widened as she leant forwards closer to Frisk. ‘Oh, it’s a pleasure to meet you, punk. It’s such a shame we couldn’t have met in better circumstances than this, but you know how it goes. We take offences like this very seriously.’

‘you take everything very seriously.’ Sans muttered from across the booth. The girl ignored him, instead pressing her spear closer to Frisk.

‘The name’s Undyne, though I doubt that will matter for much longer. You see, normally we would take any humans straight to the orphanage, but I can tell that you were sent here with specific purposes to harm us monsters. So, who sent you? Some sort of secret society? The human government? Speak, dammit!’

‘…What?’ Frisk was beginning to feel increasingly uncomfortable in the silence of the bar, especially as everyone else’s eyes were glued to them. ‘Look, I literally just fell down a hole. Why is that so hard for you monsters to grasp?’

Undyne’s mouth twisted into a snarl as she slammed her fist into the table again. Shit, that thing was beginning to break. ‘Are you sassing me, human?’

‘Um, no. Ma’am.’ Frisk considered saluting, but Asriel was already in stitches behind Undyne. This was embarrassing enough.

‘Good. I suppose I’ll believe you… for now. But if you cause ANY trouble…’ Undyne grinned again as she drew her finger across her neck.

‘Yeah uh… Got it.’

‘As for you, Sans…’ Undyne turned to him and rolled her eyes. ‘You stay here with Papyrus. I think you have… things, to talk about.’ Sans nodded dismissively as Undyne grabbed Frisk’s arm and pulled them out of the bar, with Asriel and Chara in tow. The door slammed shut behind them, which Frisk assumed was just an ordinary occurrence when it came to Undyne, blocking out the conversation/ one-sided-shouting-fest going on between the two brothers back in the bar. Something about pranks not being allowed on the job, or something.

And… it was cold again. Very cold. They probably should have thought about how they’d be walking back in the snow before giving Chara their jacket back.

‘Cold, human?’ Chara asked, smirking as they tucked their hands in their pocket. Frisk smiled back at them through gritted teeth in an attempt to stop their teeth from chattering.

‘Nah, it’s chill. Cool. Good. I’m good.’

‘Uh-huh.’ Chara looked way too pleased with themselves, and it was kind of adorable.

-

The boat ride to what Asriel explained was the capital of the underground was relatively uneventful, mostly made up of Frisk asking ‘stupid’ questions, which granted them clipped replies from Undyne, about a dozen eye-rolls from Chara and a few cheerful explanations from Asriel. Needless to say, it was kind of a relief to get back on land and continuing towards wherever the hell they were going.

The weather had changed drastically, from the ice-cold to blistering heat. Only Undyne seemed bothered by the change of climate as she slowed down slightly, then glanced apologetically at Chara and Asriel. ‘Uh. This is as far as I can go, as you guys know…’ She looked slightly embarrassed as she began shuffling back in the direction they had come. She cleared her throat and nodded goodbye. ‘I trust that you’ll be able to handle them. If not… um…’ She swayed a little on her feet. ‘Call Papyrus. Gotta go.’ With that, she turned and sprint-shuffled back towards the boat.

Chara fell into step beside Asriel and Frisk, straightening their posture and keeping an expressionless face. ‘Okay, human, do you think you can handle walking to an elevator without causing us any trouble?’

Frisk grinned. ‘Probably not.’ They admitted. ‘So hey, is that stuff lava?’

‘Augh…’ Chara rubbed the sides of their head. ‘Of course it’s lava, what the fuck else would it be?’

‘I don’t know. I’m new here. There could be entirely new rules of nature down here or some shit. Hell, as far as I’m aware, this is all a dream and in reality I’m in a life-threatening coma and this place is the best fantasy my deprived mind can conjure up. Or we’re actually in some badly-written fanfiction where the author has no idea how to move the plot along so just throws in ‘comedic’ dialogue. Or maybe I’m lying at the bottom of the pit I fell down experiencing hallucinations from the fall. Who knows?’

Chara stared at Frisk, then put a hand to their face and groaned. ‘Holy hell, what is wrong with you? What are you even talking about?’

‘Yeah, sorry, I have no idea. Can we hurry? I think I’m getting sunburn, which is ironic since we’re underground and all.’

‘I know right! I hate this place too. My fur always gets so… sticky.’ Asriel bounced alongside them, any signs of discomfort completely invisible due to his wide smile.

‘Uh, sure. It’s getting kinda late, anyways. My parents will want to meet you, human.’

‘Wow, so soon? This is such a big step, but if you’re ready, then so am I!’

Chara spluttered with laughter and shook their head. ‘Jeez, I have no idea how the other humans are going to put up with you.’

Frisk frowned. In truth, the prospect of meeting a bunch of other people overwhelmed them slightly, not to mention the fact that they would be living with them. In an… orphanage? That sucked too. They weren’t an orphan; they had an entire family back on the surface, dammit. But… maybe it was best they didn’t dwell on the past. As much as they were reluctant to admit it, this seemed like their new life now.

‘And… we’re here! Kinda…’ Chara stopped in front of an elevator door. ‘This leads to the castle and the city. Our royal scientist is a total techno genius, so it should only take a few minutes…’ Once inside, Chara hit one of the buttons and Frisk felt the elevator shift around them.

It felt scarily official, as they approached the capital in silence, that they were truly approaching their new home. They closed their eyes and leant against the walls. They had the feeling it was going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

Nova slammed her fist into the dummy, weakly knocking it back a few inches. She pouted and stepped back from it, scowling at Jet as she tore his gloves off her hands and threw them at his head.

‘These are shit! I could totally hit it properly if your gloves weren’t utter garbage.’ She flipped Jet off as he laughed at her, shaking his head.

‘Nah, you’re just bad. Maybe if you actually train instead of… well, whatever you usually do, you’d actually be able to do some damage to those training dummies.’ He replied smugly, tugging the gloves over his own hands.

‘Ugh, whatever!’ She rolled her eyes, forcing her voice to impersonate a bratty whine. ‘I can’t be bothered with that! It’s all so dull, especially with you.’ She smirked as she sat down next to him on the gym floor. Technically neither of them were allowed to be there, seeing as it was the training area of the royal guard with strict member-only access, but it wasn’t like any one would catch them. This place was always empty.

Jet shrugged off her comment and turned his attention to his flashing phone, which revealed a series of messages from his cousin, Sahana. His eyes widened as he read them.

‘Oh, shoot…’ He jumped up and brushed himself down, offering a hand to help the confused-looking Nova up. ‘Um… apparently Chara’s arrived with a new human. We should probably get back before they blow their top looking for us..’

Nova groaned. ‘Seriously? This is such bullshit. Why do we have to be there? And why does there have to be a new human…? Ugh, the orphanage is already way too crowded.’

‘Yeah, yeah. I know. Let’s just go.’

-

Frisk tried to act like an independent adult and not beg Chara to stay with them after they arrived at the orphanage. Which was hard, considering they were now faced with four new kids. Luckily Asriel seemed to have sensed their discomfort and stayed behind with them whilst Chara ran off to do more ‘official business’.

They were standing in front of the ‘orphanage’, which turned out to be a small brick building lined with other houses and shops in the city. It was painted in bright colours, which was a harsh contrast against the blander colours of the rest of the city.

‘So…’ Asriel prompted, grinning expectantly at Frisk. ‘This is Frisk. They’re new here, um, obviously, and uh…’ He looked unsure of what to say. ‘Why don’t you say a few things about yourself, Frisk? Ahah…’

Frisk nodded and looked at the unblinking faces that stared back at them. ‘Um, hi. I’m Frisk…’ They paused, feeling stupid. The others already knew that, idiot. ‘And I’m new here…’ Shit, they were just paraphrasing what Asriel had said. What the hell. ‘And uh…’ They glanced urgently at Asriel for help.

‘Um… they’ve met Sans?’ As Asriel said this, one of the others’ faces lit up. She was dressed all in blue, from some small flowers that were braided into her hair to the bright tutu that hung from her waist. She looked about twelve, but she must have had one of those faces that seemed younger than they actually were, as her stance was mature and steady. She beamed up at Frisk.

‘I used to know Sans!’ She said excitedly, her voice barely louder than a whisper. ‘Is he okay? I haven’t spoken to him in a while…’ She looked sad for a moment, then she shrugged and held out a hand. ‘It’s nice to meet you, Frisk! My name’s Blue. Welcome to the underground!’

‘Ditto…’ Frisk shook her hand gently, weirdly afraid to break it. She seemed so fragile, but she smiled again as they let go and spun away, humming some quiet tune. The other humans followed her lead.

‘Hey there, I’m Jay.’ A guy in an apron approached next, an easy smile and a relaxed aura making Frisk calm down a little. ‘Let us know if you need anything, Frisk…’ He waved a little and followed Blue away.

The next guy didn’t approach, simply nodded and stated his name. ‘Bruce. Welcome.’ He held a notebook in one hand and wore thick glasses, as well as soberly serious expression.

The last girl was smaller than the others, probably around the age of nine or ten. ‘Hi. I’m Sahana. Welcome and stuff.’ She looked bored as she stared past Frisk at Asriel. ‘Can I go now?’

‘Uhh… sure.’ Asriel sighed. Everyone else had left to go inside already. He turned to Frisk apologetically. ‘Guess I should leave you to get settled in, before you meet my parents…’ He trailed off, noticing how reluctant Frisk looked.

‘Do I have to stay here? I’m older than all these kids, and I really, really don’t feel like babysitting, or whatever, and also I’m really bad at groups so please don’t leave me here…’ Asriel’s expression softened to pity with every word.

‘Uhm. I guess I can try…? There’s an Inn in Snowdin, or a hotel back at the core, if you want… wait, I have no money, um…’ He frowned, trying to think of solution. He couldn’t just say no to Frisk, that would be mean-

‘Asriel, where did everyone go!?’ A familiar voice yelled from behind them both, causing both him and Frisk to jump and spin around to see the quickly approaching figure with two large goat monsters dressed in regal attire in tow. Frisk felt their heart drop. Chara, and who they assumed were the king and queen. This was too much for one day.

Deep breaths. Frisk forced a polite smile as the three figures stopped in front of them.

‘Oh, I introduced them all and then they left.’ Asriel said simply, choosing not to elaborate on how Jet and Nova were still missing.

Chara rolled their eyes but then gestured to Frisk. ‘So, this is the human I was telling you about.’

The king nodded and shook their hand, giving them a stern look before saying, ‘Chara told us all about the trouble you caused earlier.’ Dammit. Frisk had no idea why any of that had been such a big deal. And so much for good first impressions. They grinned up at him sheepishly whilst ignoring Chara’s smug smile. To Frisk’s relief, he started chuckling and patted their head fondly. ‘Welcome to the Underground, human. I hope you settle in well.’

The queen smiled, a little wryly but still, and said, ‘Yes, welcome, my child. Let us know if you need anything, and we’d be happy to help.’

It suddenly struck Frisk that they still hadn’t said anything, so they nodded and stuttered a ‘thank you’ before the king and queen walked away again. Well. That wasn’t so bad. Frisk had honestly expected a much longer discussion, but hey. They weren’t complaining.

Chara watched them leave then turned to Frisk, glancing at the building behind them all. ‘Has Asriel shown you were you’ll be staying?’

‘Um… no. But… I was wondering… do I have to stay here? It’s just… I’m not exactly an orphan, and all the other humans here are kids, and I don’t want like staying with strangers that much… um.’ They rubbed the back of their head and shrugged. ‘It’s whatever though.’

Chara looked completely unamused. ‘You’re staying here. There’s nowhere else to stay anyways.’

‘I texted Sans!’ Asriel blurted out, holding up his phone. ‘He doesn’t mind if Frisk wants to stay with him. I mean, if that’s okay with you, Frisk? Because maybe the orphanage is a bit insulting, even if none of the kids are technically orphans, but yeah they’re kinda young, and-‘ He cut himself off as he realised he was rambling. Chara’s look of un-amusement turned into a scowl.

For some reason, staying with Sans felt like a much better alternative, and Frisk couldn’t help the relief that flooded through them. Weird.

Chara gritted their teeth but shrugged, trying to act normal, and said, ‘Fine. Stay where you want. I mean, you’ve already insulted the entire system of the underground already, so why don’t you just continue to do it more. Whatever.’

‘Cool, thanks.’ Frisk said, grateful towards Asriel and glad to have another opportunity to tease Chara. Though opportunities like that seemed like they were going to come quite often.

-

Jet and Nova watched from an opposite alleyway, providing their own sarcastic commentary to the new arrival. Well, Nova did, whilst Jet just offered cynical smiles and rolled eyes at her. When Chara, Frisk and Asriel finally left the entrance to the orphanage, they both exchanged glances and sighed out in relief.

‘Wow, we really dodged a bullet there…’ Jet said, remembering the last time Chara had an outburst directed at them.

‘Yep. Hey, speaking of bullets, do you think I can finally get my confiscated gun back?’

Jet spluttered with laughter as they stepped back into the noise of the orphanage.

‘No chance.’