Underearth/Book 3/Chapter 2

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As Frisk approached the front courtyard of Toriel's home, his phone began to ring again.

"Hello?" he said after answering it.

"Greetings. This is Toriel." Toriel said. "I have finished the errands I had, and I am on my way to help you reach my home."

"Don't bother. I'm already almost there." Frisk replied.

As he said this, Frisk entered the courtyard in front of Toriel's home. As he entered, Toriel spotted him, hung up the phone, and rushed over to him.

"The time is fast approaching." Frisk heard the whisper say as Toriel approached. "You know what must be done."

"How did you get here, my child?" Toriel said frantically as soon as she reached him. "Are you hurt?"

Toriel didn't wait for a response. Immediately after asking this, she began inspecting Frisk for injury. During her inspection, Toriel noticed thick layers of dust clinging tightly to Frisk's hands, boots, and pants. Upon seeing this, she brought one of her hands over to Frisk's and tried rubbing the dust off. When barely any came free, her eyes slowly opened wider and wider.

"What... what is all this dust clinging to you..." she said.

Frisk got the feeling that she already knew the answer to that question. Toriel then brought her hands up and grasped Frisk's shoulders firmly.

"What have you done!?" she asked hysterically.

While standing there, locked in place by Toriel's powerful grip, Frisk pulled the dagger from his pants and forced it straight into Toriel's abdomen. He then twisted it sadistically and tore it out one of her sides.

Upon being stabbed, Toriel's grip loosened. When it'd been torn out of her, she stumbled away from Frisk, hands covering the gash.

"Y... you..." Toriel worked out through raspy breaths, tears forming in her eyes. "You really hate me... that much?"

After saying this, Toriel's strength left her, and she collapsed to the ground, turning to dust soon after. All that remained was the purple robe she wore; a gash cut through one side.

Frisk watched the robe. She was gone. Frisk had expected to feel sorrow, pity, empathy of some kind, but instead he just felt... empty.

As he watched the robe, something rose from the ashes; a barely perceivable, small, white heart-shaped object. As it rose, cracks began forming all over its surface, and it soon shattered into a million pieces.

As soon as the object, Toriel's SOUL, had shattered, Frisk felt a great warmth overtake him, and he collapsed to the ground.

"I knew your resolve was strong." the whisper returned. "Your guidance is complete, and your LOV is strong."

"What should I do now?" Frisk asked.

"Now? The last SOUL within this section is ahead, within the empty house. Once it is destroyed, move on to the Snowdin Province."

"Snowdin? What about the other Monsters here, in the city?"

"It is still far too dangerous for you to attack them. You shall return here, but for now you must move on ahead. Eliminate those in Snowdin, but do not attack Sans."

Frisk was stunned by this order.

"Don't attack Sans? Why not?" he asked.

"The answer you seek will come with time. For now, do as you are told."

Yet another 'you don't need to know.' Frisk let out a sigh, he was already sick of this. Regardless, whatever was behind this whisper was helping Frisk achieve his goals: gain the power to protect those he loved. Remembering this, he decided that he could suffer with his lack of knowledge for a bit longer.

"Alright." Frisk finally said.

"One last thing, young Human." the whisper cooed.

"What is it?" he asked.

"As I stated before, your guidance is complete. I will guide you no longer. Listen to the LOV within you, it will tell you where every last Monster hides, and when to move on to the end."

"I understand."

"Good. Enjoy yourself, Human."

When the whisper ceased, Frisk walked into Toriel's home. One last Monster was hiding in here, yet there was nothing obvious around. The only thing that stood out to him was how unusually dark it was. Toriel's home was normally very well-lit with electric lights.

As he walked deeper into the foyer, the entrance vanished with a rush of air. Frisk shot around. Everywhere was now pitch black; so dark that, no matter how close Frisk held his hand to his face, he couldn't see it.

"You seem frightened, little one..." a soft, slow, deep voice echoed.

Frisk didn't speak. As he stood there, staring out into the complete darkness, he could feel some kind of breathing tickling the hairs on the back of his neck. As this sensation continued, Frisk's own breathing began racing.

Eventually, the darkness spoke again. "Why did you murder them?"

Frisk tried to speak, but the words seemed to get lost somewhere in his throat.

"Is it because you hated them all? Or is it simpler than that?"

The words finally found their way out. "To protect those I love." Frisk finally worked out.

"A noble goal. Be warned, Human, evil actions committed for a good cause only bring sorrow."

As soon as the voice ceased, the darkness withdrew, and Frisk found himself standing in a room he didn't recognize.

A bed filled one corner of the room. Various potted plants littered the furniture. Next to the bed stood a bookshelf stocked full of old, worn books. Next to that sat a dresser. At the foot of the bed stood a table with a lamp and book on top of it, along with a black stuffed doll with a single white button sewn into its face, and a row of stitches forming a smile. To the left of the desk was a door, which Frisk went through as soon as he saw it.

Once on the other side, Frisk found himself in the hallway just right of the foyer. While looking out into the hallway, Frisk suddenly heard a scratching coming from behind him. Looking back, he saw the doll, holding a pencil, scratching words onto a paper of the book it sat behind. It then tore the page from the book and held it between itself and Frisk. The page then fluttered to the ground; the doll having disappeared. When the paper had touched the ground, Frisk looked down on it. In large, sketchy letters, a single sentence featured the page.

**BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!**

A cold chill rose Frisk's spine as he read that, and he ran straight for the stairs, descending them as fast as he could and crossing the halls beneath until he reached the first door. Frisk then opened the door, crossed the threshold, and closed it as fast as he could. Once there, Frisk let out a sigh of relief and crossed the next hallway a bit more at ease. When he'd reached the end, he found that a familiar murderous flower was there smiling up at him.

"Hahaha... You're not really Human, are you?" Flowey said. "No. You're empty inside. Just like me. In fact... You're Chara, right?"

Frisk didn't answer. Flowey didn't seem to care one way or another.

"We're still inseparable, after all these years..." Flowey then went on to say. "Listen. I have a plan to become all powerful. Even more powerful than you and your stolen SOUL. Let's destroy everything in this wretched world. Everyone, everything in these worthless memories... Let's turn 'em all to dust."

Flowey then began laughing sadistically before retreating back into the ground.

Frisk stepped over to the door that led to the Snowdin Province. As he placed a hand upon the door, the thoughts of what had happened in Toriel's home resurfaced within his mind. Frisk looked back at the way he'd come from.

*It's too late...* he thought as he looked back to the door. *I'm already too deep...*

Frisk then opened the door and walked out into the freezing cold of the Snowdin Province.