Underearth/Book 5/Chapter 6

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The darkness of the ground beyond the bridge only seemed to grow darker from the glowing cyan water that surrounded it. The water was still for the most part, moving ever-so-carefully downwards, falling down waterfalls that led into the unknown. A strong, rotten smell overpowered the area, but it was a scent like those Frisk had grown accustomed to, and so he mostly ignored it.

"I had forgotten how beautiful this place was..." Chara said.

"Beautiful to the eyes, sure, but it smells pretty bad."

More properly looking around, though, Frisk did have to admit that it was a pleasant place to look at. Cattails sprung from the water, along with the occasional echo flower; dragonflies and mosquitoes landing on the face, crawling inside the central orifice, then crawling back out a bit later covered in glowing pollen.

"Hey Chara..." he eventually said.

"Hmm?"

"What *is* in the water? The stuff that makes it glow."

"I don't really know. Some kind of plant, I think. The Monsters called it fosasano and stayed far, far away from it."

Frisk's mind wandered to what he'd been told by the Timepiece in the previous World, about what Asgore had done with the fosasano.

"I see..." he said. "Despite Monsters staying away from it, I heard that Asgore used this stuff to massacre an entire city."

"What?" Chara breathed. "N... no. No, he would... he would never..." she drifted off.

*You idiot, why'd you tell her that?*

"What was he like when you were down here?" Frisk asked, trying to draw her mind from this news.

Chara focused back on Frisk.

"He... he was a wonderful father. Unlike..." she went quiet again.

"Unlike your biological father?" Frisk finished.

Chara brought her knees up to her chest.

"I'm sorry. If you don't want to talk about this stuff, I won't press..."

Frisk continued through the maze-like pathways, Chara floating along, curled up beside him.

Within the following chamber, the fosasano had yet to spread, so the water wasn't glowing. Walking down the isthmus, tentacles began emerging from the water. Frisk steadied himself and stopped walking.

"Hey... there..." a voice erupted from the water. "Noticed you were... here..."

Looking around, Frisk saw a yellow, onion-shaped head emerge from the water; large, sparkling eyes taking up a massive section of its head.

"Oh, hello." Frisk said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear!"

"Nice to meet you, Onionsan." Frisk said, continuing his progress down the isthmus.

"You're visiting Waterfall, huh! It's great here, huh! You love it, huh!"

"Um... sure?"

"Yeah! Me too! It's my Big Favorite. Even though, the water's getting so shallow here... I, have to sit down all the time, but... He-hey! That's okay! It beats moving to the city and living in a crowded aquarium! Like all my friends did! And the aquarium's full, a-anyway, so, even if I wanted to, I..."

Onionsan went silent for a bit, sinking slowing into the water.

"That's okay though, y'hear!" he suddenly shouted, bursting back from the water. "Undyne's gonna fix everything, y'hear! I'm gonna get out of here and live in the ocean! Y'hear!"

Frisk neared the opening at the end of the isthmus.

"Hey... there... that's the end of this room. I'll see you around! Have a good time in Waterfallllllllllllllllllllllllllllll." Onionsan said, slowly sinking back into the water.

*Well, that was eventful.*

Frisk walked through the opening ahead.

Within the following chamber, Frisk walked right into a fish-Monster who was trying to hide in a corner.

"Oh, hello." Frisk said upon regaining his balance. "Who are you?"

The fish-Monster remained quiet; its eyes hidden as it tried to make itself as small as possible.

"What do you think is wrong?" Chara asked, uncurling from her ball.

*Can't exactly respond without looking crazy, Chara.* Frisk thought.

"Try humming to it." she said.

Unsure why that'd do anything, Frisk began humming. Tentacle-like appendages on the Monster's head moved to the side, revealing a shy, yet smiling face. The Monster began humming back, imitating Frisk's tune. After a minute, Frisk and the Monster parted ways as the Monster headed further in.

"I can't believe that actually worked." Frisk said after the Monster left.

"Monsters are nice. They will typically leave you alone if you do not pose yourself as a threat."

"Good to know."

Frisk continued further in, looking briefly to the alcove containing the piano.

"This must be where Calibri brought me; where your SOUL was."

Chara looked around a bit before speeding off ahead.

"Eh, Chara! Wait up!" Frisk ran after her.

Continuing down the cavern, the sound of rain became more and more evident. Ahead, Frisk found Chara kneeling next to a dark grey, rain-laden statue, her eyes sullen.

"Hey, are... are you okay?" he asked.

"He is practically forgotten..." she mumbled. "Frisk... would you please grab an umbrella from the basket ahead and bring it back here?"

"Uh... yeah, sure."

Frisk ran ahead to a basket filled with umbrellas situated near the mouth of the cave, right before the rain. Grabbing one of bright silver, Frisk ran back to Chara and the statue.

Opening the umbrella when he got close, Frisk then placed it over the statue, blocking the rain from the fissure above. He then took a seat beside Chara, watching the statue. Though he didn't understand why she was invested in this worn statue, he thought it best to help her.

After about a minute, a low chime sounded from the base of the statue, which was quickly followed by a few more. Not long after, a series of notes began playing, as if from a music box. Frisk recognized the tune but couldn't place exactly where he'd heard it. Chara watched the statue, taking in the music that came from it.

"Know you are my chrysanthe," Chara started singing quietly to the tune as tears slowly began to pool below her eyes, "My golden flower child, I will be here by your side, Until the dawn does come. Oh my dear sweet chrysanthe, My golden flower child, You need not fear the darkness, For I am hear with you. Sleep now my sweet Chrysanthe, My golden flower child, Dream sweet dreams all through the night, I shall see you again."

Tears now streamed from her eyes as she tucked her head into her knees. Frisk watched this bizarre behavior, unsure of what to do. Bringing his arm around her form, he was quickly reminded that she wasn't actually there, that she was only a ghost within his eyes.

Chara sat still, here head tucked tight to her legs, her arms pulling them tighter, remaining this way for a few minutes.

*I hope she's feeling alright...* Frisk thought, feeling utterly helpless.

"I am sorry if I have worried you, Frisk." Chara eventually spoke, wiping her eyes on her sleeves. "I... it has been so long since I last heard this song like this..."

"I remember you singing a part of this a few Worlds back, in Helios."

"Yes. I was... seeking comfort within that mental prison of LOV. I had managed to wrestle control of a single section of that body, and so I sang."

"I see."

"The song—the lyrics, at least—were written by my mother... just for me. She used a melody written by her however-many-greats grandfather."

"If the song was Human-made, what's it doing here?"

"Uncle Wing told me that he knew the writer before the War, and so he used it as a gift to the King and Queen to commemorate the birth of the Prince."

"Why's it playing here, then?"

"Somebody must have placed the music box here."

"Well, yeah, but why?"

Chara took a deep breath. "Perhaps because they knew that..."

"... that what?"

"... that this *is* Asriel..."

Frisk shot a look at Chara. "What? But I thought Asriel died in the palace, in the throne room."

"Well then you were lied to. I was there. Asriel and I, within his wounded body, stumbled for a few days towards the mountain, using all our remaining magic to keep ourselves alive and fast enough to outrun the army that pursued us. By the time we reached the mountain, we were practically drained, and when the ground gave way beneath us, we fell... we held tight to my slowly rotting body for the time we fell, until we collided with this cave, breaking through it as well, and landing here. We held tight to my body as pain shot through us. By the time we... by the time I lost consciousness, I could feel our feet solidifying to rock."

Frisk remained silent. Chara responded in kind. The two sat there for a few minutes more, listening to the song of the music box. Eventually, Chara stood up.

"We should go." she said.

Frisk stood up as well and continued down the path ahead.

Pulling another umbrella from the basket, Frisk walked out into the deluge. Nearing an alcove, he found that the Monster Kid had yet to catch up. Continuing along the path, he eventually came to a deep-black lake, which soon surrounded the pathway completely.

After walking for about a minute, Frisk came to a tall, steep cliff. Placing the umbrella within a nearby basket, Frisk levitated himself to the top of the cliff and proceeded down the pathway beyond.

"You are really enjoying your magic, huh." Chara said.

"Yeah, why not. I have it, might as well use it."

Coming to a wooden bridge, Frisk stepped out onto it. Not far in, a glowing vortex of energy emerged in front of him, followed by many more appearing around him. All at once, spears erupted from the vortexes as Undyne approached from a lower bridge.

Immediately, Frisk took off running, leaping over the spears with gravity magic. While he ran, more spears shot past, smashing into the bridge. When the connecting cliff came into view, multiple spears shot through the piece of bridge ahead, cutting off its connecting pieces.

"Crap!" Frisk exclaimed, focusing on trying to float.

"It's okay, Frisk." Chara said. "Down there is the garbage dump. You can hide from Undyne there."

Frisk looked at Chara, then up at the collapsing bridge.

"Eh, it'd probably take a lot more magic to fly back up there anyway." Frisk said, slowing his fall with gravity magic.

The water below quickly came into view as he continued to fall. From the sounds above, it seemed like Undyne had given up the chase, or was re-routing elsewhere.

"How long do you think it'll take her to get down here?" Frisk asked, landing firmly on a pile of garbage.

"Not too long. She does live here, after all. She probably knows this place very well."

"Then we'd better get moving, huh."

Frisk stepped from the rotting pile of junk, landing on the water (using ice to keep him from falling into the water and getting wet). Once his footing was established, Frisk followed the current to a waterfall that delved into an unseen abyss below, from which he then went upstream.

After a minute of walking past the towering heaps of garbage, which featured many diverse forms of junk, Frisk reached another waterfall, which supplied the water and junk for this specific pathway.

Nearing this waterfall, a dummy, practically identical to the one in the Citadel, stood still within the flowing water. Ignoring it, Frisk approached the waterfall.

"Hahaha..." a loud, booming voice sounded through the cave. "It's just like you to run away."

The dummy erupted from the water between Frisk and the waterfall.

"I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy." the dummy continued. "My cousin used to live inside a dummy too. Until... YOU CAME ALONG! When you talked to them, they thought they were in for a nice chat. But the thing you ASKED! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE! Why would you EVER ask something like that!?"

"What? All I asked was if the dummy was a ghost." Frisk said.

"Wait, you asked a possessed object if it was a ghost?" Chara asked.

Frisk looked over at Chara. His look told her everything.

"Oh no..." she said, burying her face in her hands.

"HUMAN!" the dummy shouted. "I hope you're not too attached to your body, because your SOUL is about to get EVICTED!!!"

Immediately, Frisk ignited his arms in flame. The dummy flew backwards a bit, shocked at this development.

"M-magic!?" it said.

"Yes, magic. I'm quite good at it. Go away, or I'll destroy that thing you're possessing!"

"Ergh! FORGET IT, then! I'll go!" the dummy said, shooting straight down into the water.

Frisk waited a few minutes before extinguishing his flames.

"Chara," he then said, "why is everybody freaking out that I asked Heraton if she was a ghost?"

Chara lifted her face a bit from her hands. "Because it is... it is inappropriate to ask such a thing! And very rude."

"Oh... Oh crap."

"You think?"

Frisk, not wanting to think about it further, approached the waterfall. Using ice magic, he formed a sheet of ice within its path that divided the water so he could walk through the opening completely dry.

Following the long uphill pathway, Frisk eventually made it to a large opening, the main area of the Quiet Village. Within the center, taking up a massive portion of the Village's floorspace, was a great pond. As Frisk approached the pond, a ghost appeared from a far tunnel.

"Oh... hello..." the ghost said.

"Hello there."

The ghost floated over the pond, making its way over to Frisk.

"Say, you're looking nice today." Frisk said.

"What...? Oh... uh... thanks..." the ghost said, stunned by the compliment.

"What's your name?"

"It's... Napstablook..." Napstablook mumbled.

"Wow, he doesn't seem to have a sense of humor." Chara said.

Napstablook floated past Frisk, heading down into the tunnel behind him.

Frisk looked at Chara. "Oh, he's real funny." he said.

The two then continued through the Quiet Village without much hassle.

Beyond, past the shop of the turtle-Monster Gerson, the area grew darker and darker. Lighting a flame, Frisk walked down the tunnels for what felt like forever. Eventually, he finally reached a small pool of water. Crossing it, he found an echo flower situated by a wall at the end of a shallow recess surrounded by tall grass.

"Behind you." the echo flower echoed.

Frisk turned around. Behind him, standing in the midst of the pool, was a great tower of muscle and metal. Undyne.

"Oh hey, you made it." Frisk said. "Anything I can get for you?"

Undyne, stepping from the pool, summoned a spear. "Your SOUL." she said.

"Sorry, I can't give you that. I still need it."

"Not for long."

Undyne readied her spear and slowly approached Frisk. As she neared attack range, a small lizard-Monster erupted from the tall grass.

"Undyne!!!" he shouted as he emerged. "I'll help you fight!!!"

Undyne froze in place, watching the Monster Kid.

"Oh hello," Frisk said. "are you here to watch Undyne beat up bad guys?"

The Monster Kid looked over at Frisk. "Yeah!! This can't get better either. We've got front row seats to her fight!!!"

The Monster Kid then looked around, trying to find Undyne's opponent.

"Wait..." he soon said. "who's she fighting???"

Undyne dispelled the spear and grabbed the kid, pulling him back through the tunnel.

"H-hey!" he shouted. "You aren't gonna tell my parents about this, are you?"

"He certainly is the energetic one." Chara said soon after the kid's shouts of protest faded away.

"Yeah, but he gets in the way a lot. At least he drew Undyne away for a bit."

Frisk stepped back out onto the pool and crossed to the intersecting tunnel in the middle of it, crossing another pool beyond. Ahead, Frisk came to a narrow bridge that spanned a great chasm. Stalagmites decorated the cavern floor, one in particular Frisk recognized to be the one he so rudely impaled himself on in the previous World.

"Yo!" a high-pitched voice sounded throughout the cavern as Frisk was about half-way across the bridge.

Frisk turned to face the one speaking to him. It was the Monster Kid from before.

"Yo, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but... I wanna ask you something." he then paused for a second. "Man, I've never had to ask anyone this before... umm... yo... you're Human, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

The Monster Kid got visibly excited upon hearing this. "Man! I knew it! Well, I know it now, I mean... Undyne told me, um, 'stay away from that Human.' So, like, ummm... I guess that makes us enemies or something, but I kinda stink at that, haha. Yo, say something mean so I can hate you? Please?"

Chara floated backwards a bit when the Monster Kid said this.

"Why?" Frisk asked the Monster. "Just because I'm Human and you're a Monster doesn't mean we have to be enemies."

"Yo, what? Of course it does." the kid said. "Fine, if you won't, then I'll do it. Here goes nothing..." the kid looked Frisk straight in the face. "Yo, I... I hate your guts." he said.

Frisk simply stood there, unphased. The Monster Kid stepped backwards, as if he'd been the one who'd been insulted.

"Man, I..." the kid began saying. "I'm such a turd. I'm... I'm gonna go home now."

The Monster Kid turned around and ran back down the bridge. As he ran, though, his foot caught on one of the planks, tripping him over the side. Before falling too far, however, the kid managed to bite into the side of the bridge.

"Yo, w-w-wait! Help! I tripped!" he shouted, mostly muffled from the mouthful of bridge.

Frisk stepped forward to help the kid back up, but stopped when Undyne suddenly appeared at the other side.

*Damn it, not again!* Frisk thought.

"Go!" Chara said. "Undyne is distracted with wanting to save the kid as well. She will not attack you if you move to save him."

"I just hope you're right..." Frisk mumbled, making haste to where the kid had sunk his teeth into the wood. Reaching down, Frisk grabbed the Monster's head and heaved him back onto the bridge, collapsing into a pile from the weight. Back on the bridge now, the Monster Kid got off Frisk and turned to face Undyne.

"Y... y... yo... dude..." he said, stumbling clumsily over his words. "If... if y-you wanna hurt my friend... you're gonna have to get through me, first."

Undyne stepped back, probably shocked at this twist. After a few seconds, she walked back down the path. When Undyne had disappeared, the Monster Kid turned around to face Frisk, who was just getting back on his feet.

"She's gone..." he said. "Yo, you really saved my skin. Guess being enemies was just a nice thought, haha. We'll just have to be friends instead."

"Yeah, I guess. Gotta say, though, arms are quite *handy* to have, huh."

"Yo, seriously?"

Frisk chuckled a bit. "Sorry." he quickly said. "You alright?"

"Yeah... I'm fine."

"So, you got a name, friend?"

The Monster Kid looked back at Frisk. "Uh, Aamir." he said.

"Nice to meet you, Aamir. My name's Frisk."

"Frisk, huh. Cool name. Anyway, I should *really* go home... I bet my parents are worried sick about me, haha! Later, Frisk!" Aamir then ran off, this time much more careful about not tripping off the bridge.

Frisk, in turn, turned around and finished crossing the bridge.

"That was real noble of a think you did, but why didn't you just use gravity magic?" Chara asked.

Frisk stopped walking for a second. "Uh... because... I, uh, forgot I had it?"

"Seriously?"

"Look, I'm still new to the whole magic thing. It was the heat of the moment. I didn't really think."

"Well, at least you saved him."

"Yeah, at least."

Ahead, Frisk came upon a crag. Not just any crag, but *the* crag that Undyne has ambushed him on multiple occasions in previous Worlds. Just like before, Undyne stood at the top, standing all menacing-like as a great wind blew through.

"Seven." she spoke as Frisk approached. "Seven Human SOULs, and King Asgore will become a god." she turned to face Frisk. "Six. That's how many we have collected thus far."

"What!?" Chara breathed.

"You didn't know?" Frisk mumbled.

"A... a part of me did, but... no..."

"Understand?" Undyne continued, unaware of the interruption below. "Through your seventh and final SOUL, this world will be transformed." she turned back around. "First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far... I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people."

"No thanks, I'm just gonna... go." Frisk shouted up.

"WHAT!?!" Undyne shouted. "You're not *going* anywhere! You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Alphys's history books made me think Humans were cool... with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen."

"Their what?" Frisk and Chara said.

"BUT YOU? You're just a coward! Hiding behand that kid so you could run away from me again!"

"Excuse you," Frisk shouted up, "but his name is Aamir, and I wasn't hiding behind him, I was saving his life; unlike whatever you were doing by just standing there!"

Undyne didn't respond. Instead, she summoned a spear and shot it at Frisk, who simply summoned a shield to block it.

"So yeah, I'm just gonna go." Frisk started walking through the tunnel within the crag.

"HEY!!! I'M NOT FINISHED WITH YOU YET!!!!!" Undyne shouted, leaping from the summit and landing on the pathway, leaving a few impact fractures in the ground.

Frisk started running, Undyne hot behind him.

"Quick, use gravity magic to fall forward." Chara said.

"Hey, not a bad idea." Frisk moved up into the air a bit, gaining speed as he fell to his new destination.

Entering the Hotlands, Frisk reset his gravity back to Earth's, landing on the small island with the water cooler.

Undyne continued her chase, dragging her heels as the heat of the river of lava below instantly ate away at her energy. Just as she reached the island Frisk waited on, she collapsed to the ground.

Seeing her collapse, Frisk approached the armored figure of Undyne and gently slid off her helmet. She was unconscious, the heat baking her alive.

Quickly, Frisk stood back up and ran over to the water cooler, carefully unscrewing the large bottle on top. He then carried the bottle over to Undyne and poured its entire contents on the fish-Monster.

After a few seconds, Undyne opened her yellow eye again. Sitting up and looking around, she saw Frisk holding the bottle to the water cooler, and steam rising from where she was laying and her armor. Without speaking, she stood up, narrowed her eye, grabbed her helmet, and walked back to the Waterfall Caves.

"What a nice Monster." Chara said.

"Just wait, it gets better." Frisk replied, turning around to face the laboratory ahead. "It gets way better."