Chapter 3
Feels sticky… Frisk frowned as they rested a hand on the wall to their left.
Kind of like Moldsmal, but there’s none of those around here…Well, they weren’t going to get back home by lingering. They continued forward, using their cellphone to light the way and keeping close to the wall. If they followed the left wall through every twist and turn, they might be taking the long way through, but they would eventually find the exit. That was what they’d been taught for navigating the more convoluted puzzles in the monsters’ new domain on the surface.
And they were pretty good at it, too. Even before that particular lesson, they’d somehow managed to make it through a whole series of caves full of puzzles and deadly traps. They could get through this…
…Even if it did scare them a little…
Frisk shook their head. This place wasn’t scary. It only seemed that way because it was dark and empty and they were all alone. If they could keep their head clear and stay determined, they’d get through this just like they’d gotten through the caves that kept the monsters trapped.
Besides, Toriel was probably looking for them by now. They’d been exploring this area for hours - long enough that their phone battery was starting to run low. It had been sometime in the middle of the night when they’d been taken, but surely it had to be past breakfast time now. Their mom would definitely have noticed their absence. Maybe she’d even recruited some of the other monsters for her search.
Frisk grinned at that thought. Their friends would come looking for them - they’d all rushed in to stop the fight with Asgore, after all. They’d probably see - or, more likely, hear - Undyne first, at the head of the search party, commanding a team of mostly-canine guards. Papyrus would be with her, if she allowed it, and Mom wouldn’t be too far behind. Maybe Sans would actually get to them first and then he’d teleport them home, where a delicious butterscotch pie would be waiting!
Frisk’s stomach rumbled, and they searched through the dimensional boxes on their phone. They usually kept a few snacks in there - usually a few ice cream treats and sea teas, though both Mom and Papyrus had been coaxing them into storing healthier foods there lately. They didn’t know why - all monster food converted into perfect energy as it hit the stomach, so it didn’t matter what they ate - but they knew better than to argue with either. Mom had that intimidating death glare with her dark red eyes, and Papyrus was just too sweet to argue with.
They managed to open one dimensional box and glance at the contents, but that was apparently the battery’s limit. The phone shut down before they could remove anything, leaving them hungry and in the dark.
Well…they had been through worse. They could get through this too, right?
For now, they continued forward. They knew there was an exit just ahead - they just had to find it. They placed their hand on the wall again as they walked, not wanting to get lost in a place like this.
It’s kind of lonely, isn’t it? Frisk frowned at their thoughts. The last time they’d been on a journey like this, they’d been discovered pretty much immediately, and had some kind of regular contact with at least one other monster. And even without the monsters, there had been Chara. Sure, Frisk and Chara tended to disagree on how to survive the journey to the barrier, but disagreeable company was still company. Here, there was nothing but quiet and the little mind-whisper in their own voice to distract them from their situation.
You’ve been left on your own before. Frisk shuddered and tried to force back that thought. They didn’t like thinking about the time before they’d fallen into the underground. Their life hadn’t been a happy one - it took them meeting Mom and befriending nearly every other monster to realize it, but now that they knew what life could be, it made everything from before seem so much worse…
The walls squeezed and stretched around them - they’d found a passage to another room, apparently. They continued forward, squinting at something bright up ahead. Well, there was something different. Maybe it was even another person! Maybe even someone they knew, who had a way out of this place!
Frisk hurried forward, eager to join whoever happened to be nearby. Mom might be angry that they didn’t check to make sure the person or people or whatever was safe first, but it would be all right. Frisk had gotten pretty good at convincing people not to kill them. Why would this be different?
The space around them opened, and they squinted against the light. Whoever was in this room with them wasn’t a monster - they’d have entered a battle by this point if it was. Frisk concentrated and initiated the battle mode anyway - it was at least useful for figuring out who or what was nearby.
Almost immediately, the light from the flashlight dimmed so Frisk’s soul and two others could come into focus. The change was more subtle than normal - the lighting in the room was too dim to show the surrounding colors fading into black and white - but seeing the souls let Frisk know they’d succeeded.
Of course, seeing the souls also had them at a loss. Souls tended to represent themselves as floating heart shapes - white and upside-down for monsters and any other color and rightside-up for humans. Frisk’s own soul was a vivid red, but they’d seen other colors - orange, yellow, purple, green, and two shades of blue.
And here…well…
The first soul they saw was a shade of green, though not a perfect match for the other. That wouldn’t be odd by itself, but it wasn’t heart-shaped at all. It was…sort of a mess of sparkles? Frisk couldn’t really tell what they were seeing, so that was their best guess. The second soul was pink, and seemed to be anchored to something diamond-shaped. Was it imprisoned there, or was that just how that person’s species worked?
That was probably one of those things they weren’t supposed to ask about…
There were more beings in the room - they could see a whole ring of them around the two souls. These beings didn’t have souls of their own, but they could see them moving seemingly at random. Frisk couldn’t tell if it was a dance or an attack or what, but a CHECK of the pair showed more than a little fear and wariness. Maybe there was something they could do to help?
“Another one?” Green-sparkle-soul - Dawn, according to what they could tell from CHECKing - looked from Frisk to her companion and back. “Now what do we do?”
“Maybe they know how to get to the exit?” Pink-anchored-soul - Steven? - suggested.
Frisk frowned and shook their head. “Sorry, no, but maybe we can help each other? I’m lost, too.” They looked around, trying to CHECK the weird flailing beings, but it was impossible to do without a soul to focus on. “What are these?”
“We’ve been trying to figure that out, too,” Steven responded. “I’m Steven, by the way, and this is Dawn. What’s your name?”
“Frisk,” Frisk introduced themselves, deciding not to mention that they’d figured out the names of the other two already. They continued to study the weird unsouled things. “These don’t seem to be sentient, do they? Hang on a moment…” They turned their phone around and pressed a button.
The battery may be dead, but this particular button worked on magic rather than electricity, and it affected Frisk’s soul rather than anything on the phone. The tingling, dizzy sensation was a little uncomfortable - it had been a while since they’d needed this mode for anything - but soon their soul was inverted and faded from red to yellow.
I hope this doesn’t actually hurt anyone… The things before them had no souls, so they wouldn’t have pain or emotions…at least, that seemed to be how Flowey was. They did act like a threat, though, and there were people to protect, so Frisk fired their soul energy at a few of the nearest ones.
There were no screams of pain, but the flailing things reacted immediately, shrinking into the floor and disappearing without any trace of having once been there. Dawn and Steven hurried to join Frisk gratefully, and the rest of the things disappeared.
“We need to get out of here. Come on.” Dawn started in the direction that Frisk had come from.
“That way doesn’t lead anywhere,” Frisk pointed out. “I just came from there.”
“But we just came from the other way,” Steven replied. “They can’t all be dead ends.”
“Maybe there’s a hidden door or something?” Frisk suggested. That was how it worked in video games, at least, and this definitely seemed like it could be a game level.
Dawn’s face wrinkled in disgust. “Do you wanna try and find it?”
“I don’t mind,” Frisk responded. “As long as I can stay with you guys.”
“Of course.” Steven beamed at them.
Dawn nodded stiffly and started walking. Frisk didn’t know if the girl didn’t like them or was just afraid. There was a lot to be afraid of in here, so maybe it was that. Either way, the boy and girl were letting them tag along, so Frisk walked against the wall, resting a hand on its surface to keep track of where they were and check for an entrance they couldn’t see with Steven’s phone’s flashlight.
For a few moments, they walked in silence. Frisk’s thoughts were set on home, and how all the monsters would react when they returned. Picturing their family’s and friends’ smiling faces filled them with the determination they needed to keep moving forward. They would return home, and they would see everyone again. They just had to keep walking. And now they had company, so they were better off than they had been before.
“Hey, Frisk?” Steven spoke after several minutes of fruitless searching had passed. “Can I ask you something?”
“Isn’t that technically asking her something? …Him? Ummm…Frisk, what do you go by?” Dawn sounded unsure and a bit awkward.
“Dawn, that’s rude,” Steven pointed out.
“No, it isn’t!” Dawn protested. “With those clothes, Frisk could go either way. Isn’t it better to ask than assume?”
“I don’t mind,” Frisk added in, stopping to give their companions their full attention. “But I’m a kid - that’s really the only label I’m okay with.”
Dawn frowned at them. “A boy kid or a girl kid?”
Frisk bit their lip. They were used to this question, and they supposed they were a little odd…as far as they knew, Chara and Monster Kid were the only other children in their lives that didn’t like being assigned a gender, and Chara was…well…gone. “A kid who wants to be able to like dolls and racecars equally.”
Steven beamed. “I’m more of a plushie man, myself, but those are also solid options.”
“But what do we call you?” Dawn’s frown deepened. “It feels weird to refer to you as an ‘it’.”
“My family and friends use ‘they’,” Frisk answered. “That seems to work well enough for most people.”
“All right…” Dawn still sounded unsure, but she dropped the subject. “Steven, your question?”
Steven gave her a confused glance, but then his eyes widened and he nodded. “Right. So Frisk, where did you come from?”
Frisk frowned. “I don’t think Mom would be happy if I told people I just met where I lived…”
“We don’t need specifics,” Dawn explained. “But, like, what town? Or country, even? …Planet?”
“The planet’s Earth…” Frisk frowned at the girl. “Isn’t it the same for you? Alphys told me that if there’s life on other planets it’s actually not that likely to look as human as you two do.”
“Actually…” Steven began, but then he closed his mouth and shook his head. “Never mind, it’s complicated.”
Frisk turned to Steven, waiting for him to change his mind and elaborate. He never did, though, so they shrugged. “I live in New New Home. King Asgore’s kind of famously bad at names…” They frowned, trying to think of what information would be helpful without being too revealing. “We were all over the news until a few weeks ago.”
“That pretty much confirms it,” Dawn muttered.
Steven nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” He turned to Frisk. “You’re probably from a different universe or dimension from either of us. We were talking earlier and figured out our versions of Earth are different from each other.”
Frisk frowned at that. Other dimensions? That’d explain the weird souls… “So you’re both from Earth, but different Earths?”
“Seem to be,” Steven replied. “I live in Beach City, in Delmarva. My Earth’s been influenced by an alien invasion that my mom was part of and then tried to stop, so we’ve got gem stuff everywhere. Dawn’s from…Sunnydale?” He paused to turn to the girl, who nodded in confirmation. “Yeah, Sunnydale, and instead of aliens they have demons.” He turned to Frisk. “So instead of either in your world, you have monsters?”
Frisk nodded. “I guess so. We have demons too, but they’re not really a commonplace thing. Angels and gods too, but they’re also kind of rare and not everyone believes in them.”
Dawn shuddered at Frisk’s mention of gods, and Frisk stared at her. Was she one of the people who didn’t believe in gods or angels? Or did she have a bad experience with one or the other? They were supposed to be good, but Frisk knew that wasn’t always the case. They shuddered at the thought of an evil god, remembering for a moment that they’d actually been forced to fight one before.
Poor Asriel…It was time for a subject change. The last thing Frisk wanted to do was cry in front of these two. They searched their mind for something - anything - they could discuss instead. This should be easy, right? Only…Dawn seemed like she was a good few years older than Frisk, and she might not be into things like anime or video games. Steven might, but Frisk didn’t want to leave anyone out.
So…what was there…?
Before they could think of anything, their hand sank through the wall. They yelped as they fell through the opening and into complete darkness.
Voices - a gasp that might have been Dawn and a call from Steven that sounded a bit like their name. They stood and dusted themselves off, attempting to initiate a battle in case that gave them a better view of their surroundings.
It…did not. But it did show them something very interesting, and potentially scary. They stared at the bright yellow heart in the distance.
“I’m fine!” they called once they remembered their companions. “But can you hurry in here?”
They drew in a deep breath. “I don’t think we’re alone.”
