Underearth/Book 1/Chapter 35

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The elevator ride up to Elysium was long and boring. When the elevator finally stopped, and the doors opened, however, Frisk was quick to exit the room and enter into a hallway that seemed to be made entirely of granite. Following the corridor, he eventually found himself at a precipice, looking down at a bustling city far below. The walkway followed the precipice for quite a while, eventually coming to a point where, after a sharp turn, passed over an area of Elysium itself, structures jutting up out of the landscape to be level or higher than the walkway. As Frisk walked forward, he eventually came to a sort of castle wall with a relatively large doorway. On the other side of which was an area that heavily resembled Toriel's home back in the Citadel. Frisk walked inside the house. The inside was also remarkably similar to that of Toriel's, only extremely monochromatic. The only color Frisk could see around was the golden color of numerous golden flowers strewn about in flower-pots.

The way to the stairwell not unlike the one he used to leave the Citadel was blocked with some chains that were locked down with two pad-locks. A note was attached to the chain with neat handwriting.

"Howdy! I'm in the garden. If you have anything you need to get off your chest, please don't hesitate to come. The keys are in the kitchen and the hallway. You'll need both keys to get through." is what the note read.

Frisk could have easily bypassed the chain, though he didn't want to seem rude to someone nice enough to leave a pleasant note on the obstacle blocking his progression. Instantly, Frisk turned to go down the hallway, once again very similar to the one back in Toriel's house. As he passed a door located in the same place as the room Toriel gave to him back in the Citadel, Frisk felt a desire to enter it. After a bit of internal debating, Frisk decided to enter the room.

The inside of the room was extremely dusty, and again strikingly similar to the room back in the Citadel, though there were a few differences. The first difference Frisk noticed was that instead of one bed, there were two. One side of the room had numerous things on it, and the other simply had a bed, a nightstand, a dusty picture, and a worn drawing of a golden flower. On the nightstand, next to the picture lay a dusty worn dagger, and a dusty heart-shaped locket, which had "Best Friends Forever" inscribed onto it. Frisk reached to grab the locket, but something inside of him grew sorrowful, more-so as he got closer to it. When he was just inches away from grabbing it, Frisk decided to grab the dagger instead. Pressing his finger against the edge of the blade, he found that it was, despite its age, rather sharp, though still relatively dull. With the dagger now in his possession, Frisk left the room to continue to find the key.

Further down the hallway, at the end, Frisk found the key the note referred to. When he picked it up and turned around, he saw that there was a winged humanoid android standing behind him. The sudden appearance, as well as what had happened the last time he found one of these, caused him to fall backward, and begin crawling away. However, the android just stood there, motionless, until it spoke.

"HUMAN." the machine said. "I HAVE BEEN SENT BY ASGORE TO TELL YOU THE TRAGIC TALE OF OUR PEOPLE."

The machine then offered out a hand, which Frisk begrudgingly took.

"Alright," he said as he began walking to the kitchen. "tell me the tale of your people, then."

"A LONG TIME AGO, A HUMAN FELL INTO THE CITADEL. INJURED BY ITS FALL, THE HUMAN CALLED OUT FOR HELP. ASRIEL, THE KING'S SON, HEARD THE HUMAN'S CALL. HE BROUGHT THE HUMAN BACK TO THE CASTLE."

By now, Frisk had made it to the kitchen, grabbed the key, and unlocked the chain, allowing him to go unobstructed to head down the stairs. The android followed, continuing to tell the tale.

"OVER TIME, ASRIEL AND THE HUMAN BECAME LIKE SIBLINGS. THE KING AND QUEEN TREATED THE HUMAN CHILD AS THEIR OWN. THE UNDERGROUND WAS FULL OF HOPE. THEN... ONE DAY... THE HUMAN BECAME VERY ILL. THE SICK HUMAN HAD ONLY ONE REQUEST. TO SEE THE FLOWERS FROM OCHYRO, THEIR VILLAGE. BUT THERE WAS NOTHING WE COULD DO. THE NEXT DAY, THE HUMAN DIED. ASRIEL, WRACKED WITH GRIEF, ABSORBED THE HUMAN'S SOUL. HE TRANSFORMED INTO A BEING WITH INCREDIBLE POWER. WITH THE HUMAN SOUL, ASRIEL CROSSED THROUGH THE BARRIER. HE CARRIED THE HUMAN'S BODY INTO THE SUNSET, BACK TO OCHYRO. ASRIEL REACHED THE CENTER OF THE VILLAGE. THERE, HE FOUND A BED OF GOLDEN FLOWERS. HE CARRIED THE HUMAN ONTO IT. SUDDENLY, SCREAMS RANG OUT. THE TOWNSPEOPLE SAW ASRIEL HOLDING THE HUMAN'S BODY. THEY THOUGHT THAT HE HAD KILLED THE CHILD. THE HUMANS ATTACKED HIM WITH EVERYTHING THEY HAD. HE WAS STRUCK WITH BLOW AFTER BLOW. ASRIEL HAD THE POWER TO DESTROY THEM ALL. BUT... ASRIEL DID NOT FIGHT BACK. CLUTCHING THE HUMAN... ASRIEL SMILED AND WALKED AWAY. WOUNDED, ASRIEL STUMBLED HOME. HE ENTERED THE PALACE AND COLLAPSED. HIS DUST SPREAD ACROSS THE GARDEN. THE KINGDOM FELL INTO DISPAIR. THE KING AND QUEEN HAD LOST TWO CHILDREN IN ONE NIGHT. THE HUMANS HAD ONCE AGAIN TAKEN EVERYTHING FROM US. THE KING DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO END OUR SUFFERING. EVERY HUMAN WHO FALLS DOWN HERE MUST DIE. WITH ENOUGH SOULS, WE CAN SHATTER THE BARRIER FOREVER."

By now, Frisk was nearing the end of the long corridors, nearing the throne room, the garden.

"IT'S NOT LONG NOW. KING ASGORE WILL LET US GO, GIVE US HOPE, AND SAVE US ALL." the machine then leaned down to make its head level with Frisk's. "YOU SHOULD BE SMILING, TOO. AREN'T YOU EXCITED? AREN'T YOU HAPPY? YOU'RE GOING TO BE FREE." With the end of that last sentence, the android opened its wings, and flew off out of sight. Just ahead of Frisk was another doorway in the wall next to him. "Like hell." Frisk said to himself. "If Asgore thinks that I'm just gonna lie down and die, he's in for a big surprise. I won't die, not unless *he* dies first."