Elementale: Chapter Two, The Fall and Ruins
Falling. The feeling was something everyone knows well. Frisk remembered how they ended up here. The words of the other kids echoed in their heads as they fell, the names they always were called because of their red eyes and the random patch of white in their hair. Demon child was what everyone called them. Mainly the other kids in the orphanage would say it to their face, while the adults would say it when they thought Frisk wasn't listening, “Don’t get close to him… I heard he was a demon incarnated and killed his mother at birth, giggling while the light faded from her eyes….”, “I heard his family abandoned him when he was born because they believed his mother made a deal with the devil for money, and gave her body as a sacrifice…”, “Such a shame… She was such a lovely girl growing up. Too bad she gave birth to the devil's son.” These words kept them awake at night most nights before it became too much. They couldn't stand it anymore, so they ran away in the dead of night.
Running into the forest, they made their way up the mountain before out of nowhere, a storm seemed to have appeared. It started as a drizzle, and then it started to downpour. Frisk tried to go as far as they could, having a hard time seeing where exactly they were going, until they tripped, landing on their left knee, scraping it. Hissing a bit in pain, Frisk stood up, looking around before slightly making out a cave entrance ten feet away, doors that sealed the blocked off entrance, broken off and rotting.
Making their way through the trees, tall weeds, and grass, to the cover of the cave, arms wrapped around their chest as they did so, only wanting shelter from the storm. Once in safety from the storm, Frisk pulled their bag off their back, only to see that the main pocket seemed to have been ripped open, and everything that once was within, clothes, food, and their blanket is gone. The only stuff they had left was a bandage, their sweater, and a toy wand.
Seeing the bandage, they grabbed it and carefully placed it on their knee. Once that was settled, they stood up, pulling off their old, soaked, and dirty shirt, and sliding the new, much warmer sweater on over their head, making them feel much better and more comfortable.
Deciding to sit down for a bit and rest their tired and sore legs, they let out a small, shaky sigh. Now what? They are out in a strange cave, alone with no food or supplies, unable to go back now that they made it this far. At least not before the sun is up past the horizon, and everyone in the orphanage would wake up. If Frisk went back now, they surely would be punished. Bringing their legs up to their chest, the child would bury their face into their knees, shaking from the cold. While they may be a bit dryer and warmer, the air was cold, blowing against their face and wet hair.
“F……. r…… i……. S……. k…….”
Snapping their head up, eyes peering down into the pitch-black darkness of the cave, unable to see the walls in the deep dark area. They were on alert. Who was there? Why were they here? Then again, Frisk was here themselves. “Fri….sk……” The voice came again. The child got up to their feet, slowly walking in the direction of the voice. Why? Why were they walking towards it?? They didn’t know, but what did they know? They couldn’t stop.
Their feet were moving on their own, further and further into the cave, further and further into the dark. After a while, they could no longer see in front of their face, see the floor below their feet, or even the light from the entrance. It was so dark they didn’t see the vines that moved out in front of their feet, tripping them up, and causing them to fall forward, but when they reached out to catch themself, they didn’t feel the ground. No. All they felt was the wind whipping around their body and the loud sound of the wind hitting their ears.
A scream was ripped from their unused throat, as a weird sensation passed through them, before there was a sudden faint light below, showing the yellow flowers covering the ground below them, which was rapidly approaching. They braced themself for impact, waiting for the inevitable pain that they will soon be experiencing….. But the pain didn’t happen. Not yet. Slowly they opened their eyes, quickly seeing why. The flowers weren’t close like they thought, the flowers were just very large. Larger than themself.
When they were done processing this fact, they barely had the chance to shut their eyes before they hit the flowers. The petals caught them and cradled their tired and exhausted body, softening the fall before they bent, dropping frisk to the ground below. They had rolled a bit when they did finally hit the ground, but when they did, they opened their eyes, peering up at the cave’s ceiling. How did they survive that fall, they had wondered, eyes wide when they saw how far up the ceiling truly was.
Slowly once the shock wore off, they stood up, moving to get out from under the flowers and out from under their cover. The flowers were just above their head, with Frisk being 5’3 in height at the age of 12, it was a bit overwhelming to see these flowers, for they made the human child feel especially tiny.
When Frisk looked around, he noticed the hall and the open door at the very end, causing them to tilt their head. Why is there a door in a cave like this? Slowly, Frisk made their way down the mall mound of dirt, out of the strange source of light from above. Hugging himself, he was cautious and tentative with each step they took through the door. Slowly with each step through the hall, then through the door, they could see as the wall colors shift from that of the ray to a purple and red, the walls littered with all sorts of gems and crystals. At the end of this new hall, there was a wide opening, a room if you’d say, with a single flower sitting in the center, facing away from the light source.
Slowly as they approach, Frisk kicked a small rock, causing it to make a noise. Frisk watched it as its role, hit another larger rock, causing it to crack… and fall open showing a beautiful amethyst inside. He couldn’t help but stare before he felt eyes on him. Turning his head back to the other side of the room, the first thing they noticed was… the flower had turned to face Frisk. Not only is it facing him, but it also had a face staring right at Frisk with eyes pierced deep into his own.
Frisk couldn’t help but freeze like a deer in headlights, feeling the threatening aura that came from the happy friendly smiling flower. The flower was alive and was staring at the human in the room with a curious and calculating look. The petals move, as well as its stem and the vines around it. Coiling around its base and more so under the ground.
“.... Well well well… Look at what we have here. You must be new down here, now aren’t ya?” A voice said, coming from the flower as its- no his mouth moved. This sudden voice caused a chill to go up Frisk’s spine as he backed up, swallowing anxiously, almost tripping on a vine… that had not been there earlier. The flower seemed to be studying them closer now, watching the reaction. “Well, howdy! I am Flowey, and I’ll show ya how things work down here.” The Flower- Flowey- said when Frisk didn’t respond.
It was then that Frisk felt a tug in their chest, while the red and purple gem-covered room vanished in an almost grid-like box area replaced it. Within the grids showed leaves and vines wrapped around the gridded lines. Signs of plants, pulsing in and out of sight slowly, like a slow heartbeat. Directly in front of Frisk inside an empty box was a bright red heart, floating there in front of him, causing his eyes to widen slowly. “You see that floating heart in front of you? That is your SOUL. The very culmination of your being!” He said, in a very cheerful tone.
Frisk couldn’t help but continue to stare at the heart, now known as their SOUL, in amazement. Frisk almost missed it when Flowey started to speak again. “Your SOUL starts off weak but can grow stronger if you gain a lot of LV. What does LV stand for? Well… LOVE of course! You want some LOVE, don’t cha?” Flowey said, not even asking.
Frisk had a bad feeling about this. About ALL of this, but slowly nodded their head anyways, a slight hopeful feeling deep in their chest, that it was true. “Don’t worry, I’ll share some with you!” He said, his smile seemed to grow in size. Out of nowhere, large white pellets were summoned in front of Frisk in the box, almost surrounding his SOUL. “Down here, LOVE is shared through these… little white friendliness pellets.” He said, smiling at the human. “So move around and catch as many as you can!” He said as he sent them at the human.
It was then that the sense of danger grew more in his gut, but Frisk found that they couldn’t move out of the way as they came rapidly at them. Closing their eyes tightly, they braced as one hit their SOUL, causing pain to shoot through them, gasping and crying out, the yellow bar going down, mostly being red, the number 20 dropping down to 1 in an instant.
Flowey’s face soon changed to a dark grin, his tone changing. “You idiot! In this world….IT’S ILL OR BE KILLED!” He said before he started to cackle darkly. A circle of pellets appeared around him, circling him and trapping him fully. All Frisk could do now was watch with wide eyes in fear and despair as the threat slowly closed in, the dark cackling echoing in his ears. They shut their eyes, bracing for the inevitable to come. But it never came.
They heard something that sounded like a fire coming to life, before hearing Flowey scream in pain, then the ground shaking and knocking Frisk off of his feet as Flowey fled under the ground. They kept their eyes closed, bracing from whatever it was that scared Flowey off to do what they wanted with him, but instead, they heard a soft and gentle voice. “What an awful creature, tormenting such a tiny thing like you…” The voice said, which Frisk could tell was that of a soft-toned woman. Before they could open their eyes, Frisk heard her move closer, a shadow falling over them as she stopped. “Are you hurt, my child?” She asked them, worry in her voice.
Frisk by now had gained the courage to open his eyes, only to be greeted with a wall of red fabric. It took them slowly looking around, seeing it was just in front of them and no one was there before they slowly looked up. Then, when they finally reached the top of this red wall, is when they noticed it wasn’t a wall at all. Instead, it was a dress that a giant goat lady was wearing, her bright orange-red eye looking down at Frisk with concern and care. She didn’t wait for a response as she held her hand- no- paw- out to Frisk. “May I?” She asked, smiling as she waited. Friks slowly nodded their head, placing their smaller hand on her much larger, furry, and soft paw. The gentle goat monster carefully placed her other hand on top of their hand, closing her eyes lightly as the green gem around her neck started to glow, as well as a green light shining between and around her paws.
“There. Now don’t be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, the caretaker of the ruins. I pass through here every day to see if anyone has fallen into our little world. You are the first human to fall into the underground in a long time. Now, come along. This place isn’t safe for a human your size.” She said, slowly letting Frisk’s hand go and standing to her full height. Now that Frisk can see her, they would have to guess she was at least 17’9.
She folded her hands together, slowly walking o the door. Frisk went to follow but was stopped when they saw something red, shining in the corner of their eye. Slowly, they bent over, pushing the dirt away before picking it up. In their hand was a red gem on a golden chain. Something deep down was telling them to put it on, so slowly they did so, placing the chain around over his head, carefully tucking the gem and chain under his sweater. “My child? Are you coming?” They heard Toriel ask from the door. Frisk nodded their head, running to catch up to her, standing by her as she smiled down at him.
Taking ahold of the back of her gown, Frisk followed her through the many halls, listening to her explain about the traps and the history of why monsters were so obsessed with them, and honestly, Frisk could understand the enjoyment of puzzles, but only when they are his size, and not too large for him. Frisk couldn’t even reach the levers that were up high out of reach. Sadly that wasn’t something they didn’t need to worry about. What they needed to worry about it seemed was when a large shadow lept out and over them, blocking their way. It was a large monster. Before Frisk could react, the same grid-like area appeared, entrapping Frisk in with the Froggit, the grids having insects and lilypads and a ripple effect, almost like they were surrounded by water.
“Flirt…” was what he heard whispering in his ear. It was then Frsk noticed the buttons down below the box and in front of them. They reached out and placed their hand on the [*ACT] button. There they saw the option of flirt, which they quickly hit. The words of the same voice amusingly said. “Froggit didn’t understand what you said, but was flattered anyway.” Frisk tried to locate who said it but was cut off as Mrs. Toriel came into the frame, glaring threatening at the poor frog monster, and wisely ran away, ending the encounter.
It was at this point that Mrs. Toriel had to pick Frisk up to make sure he didn’t get attacked, or even impaled on some sharp spikes, but then again Frisk figured he could have easily just walked around the spikes at his size. “Mom will protect you… it is safe..” The voice said at some point. Mom? Why was this voice calling Mrs. Toriel's mom? Then again, she does act like that Frisk imagined a mom to act like to their child. Sadly, the calm and easy travel couldn’t last long. It wasn’t till they reached the next room that Toriel seemed to act strange.
“Now.. my child… I need you to trust me…” She said as she slowly and carefully placed Frisk down. “I am going to need you to walk to the end on your own… I am sorry for this.” She said as she quickly walked away, all the way down the long hall, just vanishing out of sight. Frisk was alarmed about what that was about, let alone why she left in such a hurry. Frisk quickly ran after her, in the direction she went. The hallway was long. Too long in their opinion. Seriously, why does anyone need a single long hallway with nothing in it? It took Frisk almost two minutes of running before they came to the end, and they saw Toriel step out.
“Do not worry, my child. I was merely behind this pillar. I am sorry I had to do that… but I needed to test your independence. You see, I have some errands I need to run, and I need you to stay here for the time being.” He said, pulling out a small device, kneeling so Frisk could reach it and take it. It was a small cellphone. Very old at that. “I want you to have this cellphone. And call me if you have any questions. My number is already programmed into it, so there are no worries about how to get ahold of me. Now. I must leave. Please stay here. It is too dangerous for you to continue on your own..” And with that she turned, leaving out of the long hall.
Now alone, Frisk took the time to look at the phone overt in their hand, studying it and all of its features to it…. All it had was buttons and a contact list. That is it. “... is that my old phone?” The voice spoke up again, causing Frisk to jump. They turned around again, determined to catch whoever it was that spoke, only to come face to face with another human that looked almost exactly like a mirror, minus their hair is a light brown, cheeks being rosy, and more pale skin tone. As well as the sweater they were wearing was Green and red.
Frisk yelped a bit, jumping and stumbling back with just how close the other was. The other seemed to be surprised by how Frisk responded, looking confused and alarmed. “..... Wait… can… can you see me?” They asked. Slowly, Frisk nodded his head, showing that they did can hear each other. “And you can hear me too- I thought you acted weird when I said things, I didn’t think you could hear me! Now it makes sense why you had looked around when you were in that encounter! I didn’t think anyone would see me or hear me-” They said, amazed and grinning.
Frisk looked them over wearily, frownings. Why did they think that? And didn’t Mrs. Toriel say that they had been the first to fall in a long time? “Oh- uh… you don’t know… uh- Hi, my name is Chara, and I died.” They said, smiling while holding their hand out, which only went through Frisk’s when they tried to take the hand offered. “What is your name partner?” Slowly opening their mouth, Frisk forced themself to speak.
