awakened

Your head hurts.

That's the first thought that comes to your mind when you regain consciousness.

The rest of your body hurts, too. There are scratches on your legs where your shorts don't cover, and your sweater didn't spare your arms from scratches, either. Your palms are scraped raw from when you tried to grab a vine to catch yourself.

Under your fingers, you feel you're laying on something soft. It must have broken your fall.

It's probably the only reason you aren't dead right now.

You crack your eyes open, squinting against the light high above you. A cavern stretches out farther than you can see, the glare from the light only obstructing your vision further.

You breathe in deeply, wincing when your ribs ache with the motion.

You can't lay here forever.

Pushing yourself into a sitting position is harder than it should be. Your muscles protest every movement, and your whole body is wracked with a bone-deep ache.

Once you're sitting, it's easier to get a look at your surroundings. You're in a cave, the only light source being from the hole you'd fallen through several dozen meters up. The walls of the cave are obscured by darkness, the light not quite reaching that far. The soft thing you landed on turns out to be a bed of golden flowers, not dissimilar to the ones you'd passed on the way up the mountain.

Shakily, you push yourself to your feet. Your legs nearly give out under you, but you manage to stay standing.

As you take your first step toward the extravagant doorway on the far side of the cave, only just visible in the limited light, there's a noise behind you, coming from the flower bed.

You turn to see what it is, and you see the flowers get pushed up slightly, like there's something burrowing beneath them.

You walk back over to get a better look, despite your aching limbs. You wonder if it's a gopher or a mole, and you disturbed it by landing in the flowers.

But when it breaks the surface, it isn't an a gopher, or a mole, or any other animal.

It's a hand.

You'd seen enough zombie movies to know that wasn't a good sign.

The hand scrambles for purchase, digging already dirty nails into the dirt.

Your mind screams for you to run, but your body fails to comply. You trip over your own feet when you try to turn around, and you end up lying prone on the stone ground.

Another hand emerges, similarly clawing at the dirt. Both arms strain for a moment, and more of the flower bed is pushed up from beneath. The head and body of a child, only slightly younger than you, emerge. They cough up mouthfuls of dirt and gasp and wheeze like they haven't taken a breath in years.

You're shaking. This is the part where the zombie eats your brains, right? You didn't want to die here, meeting such a gruesome end!

The zombie-child finishes hacking up their lungs, and they turn to you. All of your joints lock up in fear as their deep red eyes meet yours.

You are so dead.

"Would it have killed you to help me out?" The zombie-child asks. Were zombies supposed to be able to talk? You can't remember; all coherent thoughts had fled your mind the moment they opened their mouth. "Digging your way out of your grave isn't easy, y'know."

You open your mouth as if to say something, but snap it shut before you make a sound.

The zombie-child lifts themself out of their grave with their hands, pulling their legs out of where they'd been buried. The flower bed caves in on the hole they leave behind.

They rise to their feet, and you finally get a good look at them. Might as well take in what will probably be the death of you.

The zombie-child wears a sweater and shorts much like your own, though caked in so much dirt it obscures the colors. They also wear leggings and ankle boots similarly covered in dirt. The only part of their outfit that goes unobscured is a golden, heart-shaped locket dangling from their neck. They're shorter than you, you think. It's hard to tell from your position on the floor. Their hair, also caked in dirt—and were those worms—was a tangled mess of a chin-length bob, and their bangs hung just above their upper eyelids.

They raise an eyebrow at you.

"Are you going to get up, or what?"

You swallow down the lump growing in your throat and stumble to your feet. If the zombie-child is giving you a chance to fight back before they eat your brains, well, you're gonna take it. You snatch up a stick from the groud before you rise to your full height.

You are taller than them, you note.

They nod at you, but instead of rushing to attack, they calmly walk past you and toward the doorway you'd been heading for earlier.

You're... not so sure they're like the zombies you've seen in movies anymore.

You must've made a noise, because the child looks back at you with a raised eyebrow.

"You can follow me, you know. I know my way around here, unlike you, so you can either follow or you can fend for yourself." They turn and continue their trek through the cavern. "Your choice."

You choose to follow them.

The doorway opens up to another dimly lit cavern, and a single golden flower sits in the center of the cave.

You halt in your tracks when the flower turns to reveal a face.

The child also stops, staring at the flower impassively.

"Howdy!" says the flower, "I'm Flowey! Flowey... the flower..."

The flower—Flowey, apparently—locks eyes with the child. His eyes widen in... shock? Fear? Whatever it is, it seems he can't tear his gaze away.

"What?" the child demands.

Flowey doesn't look away, but he disappears underground in an instant, and a tension you didn't realize was there lifts off your shoulders.

The child shakes their head. "Whatever. Let's go, human."

Your mouth seems to open of its own volition, and you tell the child your name.

"So you can talk," the child turns to look at you with raised brows. "In that case; greetings, I am Chara."

Chara turns back around and continues on to another doorway across the cavern. The walls beyond are purple and well lit. You follow them, a little more closely than before.

When you cross the threshold, your eyes take in the new, bright surroundings. Two staircases curve upwards toward a doorway at the top of the room, withered red leaves are scattered across the floor, and in the nook between the staircases a light glimmers, seemingly produced from nothing.

You stop to stare at it, and Chara does too.

On instinct you approach the light, reach out, and...

The aches and pains you'd previously put out of your mind wash away like they were never there. A feeling of safety, or perhaps determination, fills your very soul.

You pull your hand away from the light. Chara looks at you like you've grown an extra head.

"I'm not sure I even want to know what you just did," they say with a sigh. They take the first few steps up the stairs. "Come on, or I'll leave you behind."

You take the steps two at a time to catch up.

The room at the top of the stairs holds a puzzle, but Chara solves it without even reading the hint on the wall. You guess they do know the way, not that you didn't believe them before. The next room has switches on the wall, two of them labeled. Chara flicks the labeled ones and the spikes blocking the door disengage.

You continue to follow them through the next few rooms. You come across a bridge covered in spikes, and you hesitate. Chara must hear your footsteps stop, because they turn to look at you.

"I know the route," they assure, "Step where I step and you'll be fine."

Your hesitation must show on your face, because Chara groans, takes your wrist in their hand, and pulls you along with them. The spikes retract where you step, leaving your feet unscathed. Before you know it, you're across the bridge, and Chara drops your wrist.

The next room takes a long time to cross, but when you reach the end, it opens up to another room with the logic-defying light. You reach into it again, and your resolve steels.

Chara shakes their head at you, and continues on to the next room. You start to follow, but something blocks your path.

There's a white, frog-like creature on the ground in front of you. It ribbits, and suddenly there are flies dive-bombing you. The flies hurt where they hit your body, more than you think they should. You weren't ready for the attack, so you don't have the time or ability to dodge. You feel your life draining.

The frog-thing jumps at you, knocking you to the ground. The back of your skull connects with the ground with a sickening crack.

Everything goes dark, and you die.

And suddenly, you're awake.

Light pierces your retinas. Your legs give out under you and your knees hit the floor. You keel over, squeezing your eyes shut and holding your face in your hands. Your heart hammers in your chest and your breath quickens.

What was that? You died. You swear you died!

But you're back.

You pull your head out of your hands, and your eyes meet the unnatural light.

Your pulse slows. Your breaths even.

There's shouting.

"What the hell was that, human?!" They scream at you, "You've got some messed up control of the timeline or something?! It would've been nice if you told me that sooner!"

You stagger back to your feet. You tell them you didn't know until just now.

They stop shouting.

Chara scoffs. They head for the next room, not bothering to check if you're following.

When the frog-monster attacks you this time, you're prepared. You dodge the flies, and when it jumps at you, you hit it as hard as you can with your stick.

It turns to dust when it hits the floor. You feel something settle in your chest.

It's not a good feeling.

You follow Chara into the next room. There are cracks in the floor a meter or so from the door, bisecting the room. It'd probably crumble if you stepped on it.

Chara ignores the cracks, instead slipping through an almost alleyway-like opening in the wall to your right. You probably wouldn't have even noticed it had Chara not made a beeline for it. You wonder where it leads.

"We're going through the city," Chara explains, as though they could hear your thoughts, "No puzzles and less aggressive monsters."

They shoot a glance at the dust clinging to your pants, then quickly look away.

"We don't need any more Froggits dying by your hands."

The words sting, but the tone isn't accusatory. It's merely a statement of fact. Chara's keeping the monsters safe from you just as much as they're keeping you safe from the monsters.

You trudge behind them as they weave effortlessly through the endless maze of back alleys. Every wall is the same shade of purple—or maybe it's magenta, but you don't really know the difference—and you're unsure how Chara is even keeping track of where you're going versus where you've already been.

Still, eventually the alleys open up to streets lined with houses and businesses. Most of the windows are dark or boarded up, lit ones coming few and far between. Even rarer are the monsters out and about. A few Froggits, some bug monsters, a carrot monster and a one-eyed monster that duck into the shadows of an alley when you look in their direction.

Chara's eyes never stray from the road ahead of them.

You and Chara walk through the streets for a while longer, until you reach a set of stairs leading up to some kind of overhang with a doorway at the top. You trudge up the stairs behind Chara as they ascend. Your legs are starting to get sore from all this walking.

You and Chara reach the top of the stairs and round the corner, and you come face-to-face with some kind of bipedal goat woman.

Chara's steps stutter to an abrupt halt, and you barely stop yourself from running into them.

The goat woman's eyes go wide and she rushes over to you and Chara. She bends down and looks over you both, asking if either of you are injured.

Her words fizzle out when her eyes land on Chara's face.

"Greetings, Mom," they say with a wry smile, and instantly they're smothered in a hug. The dirt and grime still clinging to their hair and clothes rubs off on the goat woman's dress and fur, but she doesn't seem to mind. Chara melts into the hug, disposition changing so fast that you hardly recognize them as the same person. Tears flow down the woman's cheeks, carving rivulets in her fur.

You get the sense you may be intruding.

Chara pulls away from the hug, and the goat woman lets them go.

"How long have I been dea- gone?" They ask.

The goat woman shakes her head, wiping tears from her eyes with a massive paw, and mutters, "Too long."

The woman's attention turns to you, and you freeze in place. Maybe you should've left, she probably didn't want you seeing that.

Despite your fears, the woman simply smiles.

"I apologize, you did not need to see that. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins and mother of Chara." She places a paw on their head as she says this. It's subtle, but Chara leans into the touch. "My home is nearby, perhaps it would be best if we all went there."

Toriel takes Chara's hand in hers and beckons you to follow with the other.

You turn another corner, and the narrow hall opens up into a high-ceilinged room. There's a tree in the center of the room, branches bare and the leaves that once decorated them in a pile near the roots. At the far end of the room, a façade of a house protrudes from the wall, a warm glow emanating from the windows.

Toriel continues to the house, but your eyes lock onto the light in the pile of leaves below the window. You brush your hand over it as you pass, and the soreness in your legs completely melts away.

Toriel opens the door, and she allows you inside.

The interior is as warm and cozy as the light from the windows suggested. The change in color palate is also appreciated; the purple-or-maybe-magenta of the Ruins was starting to hurt your eyes.

Toriel leads Chara by the hand to a hallway to the right, and she glances back at you to ensure you're following. She shows you both into the first room. It's a child's bedroom, indicated by the small bed and the toys.

"You two can nap in here, and I'll make us something to eat. I'm sure you're tired," Toriel says. A yawn escapes Chara's mouth, and you can tell their eyes are beginning to droop. She pulls a comforter, a pillow, and some blankets out of the wardrobe and lays them in a bed shape on the ground. "I apologize, I don't have a second bed for you. I hope this will suffice."

You tell her it's fine and thank her.

Chara climbs into the bed, body turned to face the wall. You follow suit with your own "bed", more for Toriel's sake than your own. You're not tired at all.

Toriel flicks the light off as she leaves the room, and you can faintly make out her footsteps as they leave the hall.

Chara falls asleep quickly, snores escaping them with every breath.

You lay on your makeshift bed and stare at the ceiling. It makes you miss your own bed at home. 

You get up and leave the room. Sleep obviously isn't coming to you any time soon, and you have some questions you need answered.

You enter the living room. It's just as comforting as the rest of the house. A fire crackles in the hearth beside a large plush chair, a book perched on the arm rest. Toriel isn't in it, but you can hear her humming from the doorway in the corner.

You call her name as you enter the kitchen, and she startles slightly. She sets down the rolling pin in her hands, brushes her paws off on her apron, and turns to give you her full attention.

"What can I do for you, dear? Was the comforter not comfortable enough to sleep on?"

You shake your head and tell her you aren't tired. You just want to go home, but you don't know how to leave since you fell. You don't you can climb all the way back up.

Her demeanor suddenly shifts. Her eyes don't quite meet yours anymore, and she keeps adjusting her apron.

"I apologize, there isn't a way out of the Underground from here." She's staring at the wall behind your head. Her paws smooth out her apron and dress for a third time.

There had to be a way out; It wouldn't make sense for there not to be. You tell her so.

Toriel sighs. She kneels down on your level and rests her paws on your shoulders. She looks you in the eyes, seeming to search for something before giving up.

"There... is a way out of the Underground. At the Capital. But..." She shakes her head and stands back up, pulling her apron off and hanging it up on a hook on the wall. "There is something I need to do. Stay here."

Toriel leaves the kitchen, walking off in quite the hurry, and you consider doing as she says for a mere moment. Of course, your curiosity gets the better of you, and you follow her through the living room, into the entryway, and down the stairs to the basement.

She knows you're following, you're not exactly trying to hide it. She makes it to the end of the hall, stopping just before a door nearly three times your height. You stop as well, a short distance away. She faces you, conflict dancing in her eyes.

"This is the exit to the Ruins," she tells you, "But the monsters out there are far more hostile than the ones here, and they have been ordered to kill any human they find to retrieve their Soul. I cannot, in good conscience, let you leave this place. I am going to destroy the exit. It is for your own good."

You protest, but it seems your words fall on deaf ears.

"Unless..." she says, almost as an afterthought, "you can beat me in battle. If you can prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

Fireballs appear in her hands, and she launches them at you.

You're able to dodge them by a hair's breadth, the heat searing your skin as they pass.

You surge forward, brandishing your stick, and you hit Toriel as hard as you can. She doesn't even flinch, and another wave of fire is thrown at you. You drop to the floor to avoid it, springing back to your feet as soon as it passes over you.

You attack again and again, dodging fireball after fireball. Your sweater catches on fire a few times, leaving burns on your skin that are much lighter than you think they should be.

The more you hit Toriel, the more your attacks seem to affect her. Soon, she's stumbling from every hit you land, but you're starting to feel the hits she landed on you.

Still, you dodge a blast of fire and land a final, devastating blow on Toriel. She falls to her knees, grunting from the pain. You stagger back, chest heaving. The burns dotted along your arms and legs sting.

Down the hall, you hear hurried footsteps echoing from the stairs.

Chara.

Horror at the act you just committed begins to creep in. You just killed Chara's mother. You-

"You are stronger than I thought..." Toriel whispers, just loud enough for you to hear, "Listen to me, small one... If you go beyond this door, keep walking as far as you can. Eventually you will reach an exit..."

Chara's footsteps grow closer.

Oh god, what have you done ?

" Asgore ... Do not let Asgore take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed."

Toriel turns to the sound of Chara's rapid approach.

"And... take care of Chara for me, will you not?"

Chara turns the corner just as Toriel's body turns to dust.

"MOM!" Their scream makes you flinch as you turn to face them. They sprint past you, straight for Toriel's soul, floating above her dust and barely holding together.

The soul shatters into pieces before they can grasp it.

The room turns deathly silent. All you can hear is Chara's ragged breaths and your own heartbeat pounding in your ears.

Chara turns to face you, face stony but clearly furious.

"I can't believe I gave you the benefit of the doubt," they spit. "Humans are all the same."

Regret, shame, fear, and the overwhelming desire to go back bloom in your chest, overtake your mind, grip your very soul. The whole world feels like it's spinning.

You squeeze your eyes shut, and when you open them, you're standing outside Toriel's house again. In front of that light. In front of your save point .

Chara whips their head around to glare at you, their hand that had reached out for Toriel's soul moments ago now held in her paw.

Toriel opens the door for the second time that day, unbeknownst to her, and you follow her inside, shrinking under the glare Chara continues to level you with.