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Two races rule over Earth: Humans and Monsters.
One day, war broke out between the two races.
After a long battle, the humans were victorious.
But before the humans could seal the monsters away, something extraordinary happened.
An angel of light descended from the heavens and instantly destroyed the human forces.
The monsters' savior disappeared as quickly as it came.
Ever since that fateful day, an uneasy peace remains between both sides.
***It is said that it is impossible for anyone, much less a human, to come to the Monster Kingdom on accident. The hill on which the kingdom was founded sits isolated, an island in the middle of a grassy sea, with human land being almost out of sight if it weren't for the smoke emitting from the factories and the skyscrapers that look like straws from the distance.And yet as the last of the day's light vanishes, a human child, all alone, walks toward the forest that circles the kingdom's forts.Frisk holds a stick in one hand and wraps their arms around their shoulders. The pajamas Frisk wears are unsuitable for the increasingly cold weather. Of course, Frisk knows this, and so they keep moving forward, despite their aching feet.The sight of the castle's towers peeking above the trees fills them with determination.Frisk has reached the outer edge of the forest. They take a moment to look up at the bare trees that lean sideways and seem to howl at the twilight; the bitter wind reminds them to continue before it gets too dark to be able to see what's right in front of them.Almost immediately upon entering the woods, Frisk wades ankle-deep through damp red and brown leaves, but the crinkling sound that comes with each step is a comfort enough to suffer through this mild annoyance.The lights in the castle's windows provide a guide for Frisk, who begins waving the stick in front of them back and forth against every tree they pass.There are no stars out tonight - the forest grows thicker, darker; Frisk can't even see the color of the leaves anymore. They slow down their pace to a cautious tiptoe. At least the castle's towers are getting closer.On and on the child walks until they grow tired of their slow pace and break out into a run, even though their feet feel like someone is tying bricks onto the bottoms of their shoes.But, just as the forest is at its blackest, a sight for sore eyes, the kind that makes Frisk's eyes even sorer but is very much appreciated, appears: a harsh, beautiful, golden light at the end of the darkness, and somewhere beyond that, a bouncy tune plays.Frisk bounds towards the warm glow, nearly falling down several times. Finally, they stop at the source of the light to catch their breath.It shines through a hole in the stone wall that has guarded the Monster Kingdom for many centuries. Whatever made the hole, it was kind enough to make it big enough for Frisk to slide comfortably through – how convenient!Frisk thinks about this: they came all this way not knowing what to expect, and now here's a hole that's just the right size.It's almost as if something led them here…Ah well, probably just luck. Frisk muses that since this wall is so old, there must be other holes around, they just happened to find this particular one.The child enters the light…...Frisk wasn't sure what the other side of the wall would entail, but they never could have imagined this…Graves.Hundreds of them, maybe even more. Rings upon rings of marble-colored markers sprouting from the barren earth. At the center of these rings, twin statues overlook the dead: Painted in dull gold, the identical sculptures of intricately detailed flowers stand side by side. There are no signs or engravings of any kind that give the statues names.The next thing Frisk knew, they were somehow standing in the shadow of one of these twins.The music stops playing. The warmth from the dozens of light posts dotting the graveyard goes cold. The only things that exist are Frisk and this single statue.
"Howdy!"
Frisk is shaken back to reality. They whip their head around trying to find the speaker, but there seems to be nobody-"Down here, silly!" Frisk looks down at their feet. The voice was just a 2-foot tall talking flower. Frisk never heard of plant monsters before, but isn't surprised.The flower inspects the child with beady eyes and smiles. "Wow, you've traveled a long way, haven't you?" His tone is a mixture of sickeningly sweet and needle-sharp, but Frisk nods anyway."I betcha real tired and hungry, right?" As if on cue, Frisk's stomach growls, and the flower takes that as an answer. "Of course you are!" he shouts. "After all, it's a really long walk from wherever you came from. How long did it take ya? A full day? Two days? Where are you from, anyway? How come you're here?!"The flower is leaning forward too closely now, so Frisk takes a few steps back.For a brief moment the smile on the flower's face sags before he brings it back up less wide than before. He seems to realize that perhaps he's overplaying it, so he lowers his voice as well. "Let's start over," he says; for Frisk, however, a gut instinct tells them to leave.As Frisk tries to sneak away, the flower calls out at a frantic speed,"Wait! My name's Flowey the Flower, ya hear? Now ya know who I am!" Flowey winks at Frisk. "Since you're so hungry, how about I do something about that? Here, I've got just the thing for ya!"A bunch of little, white seed-shaped objects appear and float around the flower's head. He tells Frisk, "There's no need to be afraid, these pellets are edible, you've just gotta come get them!"Frisk continues to shuffle at a snail's pace so as to not be too conspicuous; unfortunately, there's really no way of not looking conspicuous. The seeds rotate faster. "Come on," says Flowey in that saccharine voice again. "They taste like friendship."He can see that the human's not about to stop for anything. Flowey makes a motion with his stem that suggests shrugging. "Oh well. I offered you my friendship…" a grin so hideously wide that his head must expand to fit it appears,
"You'll just have to accept my LOVE instead."
An inhuman yet delighted cackle pierces the night – Frisk turns away and hears the whistle of the seed-bullets catapulting toward their back.Frisk dives behind the statue they had just been standing under; a puddle of mud splashes all over their chest as they fall on their side.The bullets attack the flower statue and chip away at its front, raining gold pebbles onto Frisk's back. Flowey's laughter crescendos into a shriek as his magic leaves a depression in the sculpture.
"Idiot! Look what you made me DO!"
Frisk doesn't look back as they get back up and make a run for the other side of the graveyard. The gate's not too far away, surely they can outrun a little flower?Flowey shoots out of the ground in front of Frisk about five seconds later with such speed that Frisk falls backward. The terrible grin remains, but his eyes are burning like coals."You," he growls. "You deserve a slow death for what you pulled back there." Frisk tries to crawl away when a ring of bullets materialize from every direction around their head.Frisk closes their eyes, but the manic laughter follows them into the darkness,"What, you're not even gonna call for help? You're a smart kid. Too bad your luck's just run out..."…Nothing happens.Frisk opens their eyes. Flowey is looking off towards the gate. His face has shrunk down to its normal size, his wrathful glee replaced with irritation."Ugh." He shakes his head. "I thought he would've left by now." Flowey glances back at Frisk. "I spoke too soon. You really are lucky. Lucky that I don't have enough time to hide your body." He smiles again, but this time it poorly disguises disappointment."Well, I've got places to be, anyway. But tell anyone about me and soon enough you'll go to sleep and never wake up again." With a cheery-sounding "See ya around!" Flowey burrows into the ground, and the seed-bullets fade into nothingness.Frisk is left alone. Their heart is pounding, their body is shaking, but at least it means they're still alive.A short time passes, and just as Frisk begins to rise, they hear something by the gate: the voice that saved their life. Frisk stares at the stranger across the graveyard.
“I MAY NOT HAVE EARS BUT THAT HAS NO EFFECT ON MY HEARING ABILITY!” he was shouting at the graves. “I ORDER YOU TO MAKE YOURSELF KNOWN AT ONCE!” And then his gaze meets with Frisk’s.
“OH-HO! WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The stranger who unknowingly saved Frisk strides with confidence across the cemetery's brick path, each step he takes rattles as if the suit of armor were empty. He stops several feet in front of Frisk, who stands still as he peers at them.Nearly twice as tall as Frisk, the monster is clad from head to toe in black save for a crimson scarf that blazes like fire against the low light. The armor has a six-pack carved into the torso and the helmet is molded in the visage of a furious, sharp-toothed skeleton.All this should have made the stranger intimidating to Frisk, but they can't muster any sense of horror at all, especially not after that last encounter, because the armor is too squeaky-clean, polished to the point where the monster's body reflects all the light around him and, Frisk dares to think, sparkles as a result. Frisk looks into the reflection in his chest plate: it's them! Covered in dirt, but still them.The armored monster points a long finger at Frisk,"YOU'RE A HUMAN, CORRECT?" before Frisk can respond he goes on, "OF COURSE YOU ARE. I KNOW A HUMAN WHEN I SEE ONE. I, PAPYRUS OF THE ROYAL GUARD, DEMAND AN EXPLANATION FOR THE SCARY NOISES I'VE BEEN HEARING FOR THE PAST FEW MINUTES!" Frisk points toward the statues.Papyrus stands proud. "THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION, HUMAN. NEVER FEAR, FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS HERE! WAIT JUST A MOMENT WHILE I GO TO INVESTIGATE."Frisk does as they are told. Papyrus bolts over to the statues, circling around the vandalism, vocalizing "HMMS" and "AAAHHHS" every few seconds. He looks back and forth between the beaten and the untouched statues.Finally, he arrives at a conclusion: "I SEE. THIS MONUMENT-THINGY LOOKED JUST FINE WHEN I WAS HERE NOT TOO LONG AGO FOR MY REGULAR EVENING STROLL. THEREFORE, NATURAL CAUSES SHOULD BE RULED OUT. THE DEFILING OF ANY OBJECT IN THE CEMETERY IS A CRIME AND SOMEONE NEEDS TO ANSWER FOR IT!" Frisk nods politely. Papyrus turns his head to the child and asks, "DO YOU KNOW WHO OR WHAT MIGHT HAVE DONE THIS?"Frisk almost tells him but the words get stuck in their throat just thinking about that laughter; Papyrus of the Royal Guard doesn't come across as the type who would know what to do if a cute little flower popped up and started sweet-talking to him.So Frisk tells him - oh no, they have absolutely no idea what happened, they just came here like Papyrus did.Frisk can already tell he buys it a hundred-percent before he says, "OH WELL. DON'T YOU WORRY, HUMAN CITIZEN, I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I'LL USE ALL OF MY POWER AS A VERY POPULAR MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD TO BRING THE PERPETRATORS TO JUSTICE OR ELSE I'LL TURN IN MY BADGE, WHICH IS VERY UNLIKELY TO HAPPEN BECAUSE I AM VERY COMPETENT AT MY JOB ON TOP OF BEING POPULAR!"Frisk catches a case of the enthusiasm and smiles. Papyrus says in a pleased manner,"BUT JUSTICE CAN WAIT! FIRST, THERE IS THE MATTER OF YOU. YOU LOOK LOST." Frisk confirms this. "SOON, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU LOSE BEING LOST. IN A MOMENT I'LL ESCORT YOU SOMEWHERE SAFE, BUT BEFORE WE GO ANYWHERE..."Papyrus takes off his helmet, revealing a skull for a face, his massive teeth fixed into a lustrous grin. He asks, "MAY I TAKE A PICTURE WITH YOU? YOU'RE THE FIRST HUMAN I'VE EVER SEEN AND..." he shifts from side to side rapidly, making the armor go clank-clank-clank! and Frisk's ears throb, "I WANT TO SHOW MY BROTHER THAT I'M THE FIRST ONE TO GREET THE HUMANS!!"Frisk shrugs; sure, why not?The skeleton rubs his hands together triumphantly,"NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH!!!" He produces a phone from his armor and beckons Frisk to his side.Papyrus holds up the phone and commands, "SAY 'FUZZY PICKLES', HUMAN!!" Frisk doesn't say 'fuzzy pickles', but tries at the very least to look presentable, which is pretty difficult when your clothes are covered in mud and leaves, and you're tired to the point where your face makes you look not a little dead inside.After the picture has been taken, Frisk catches a glimpse before Papyrus holds the phone close to his face and starts sending a message: Papyrus's face was perfectly centered, but Frisk was cut off at the nose.A few seconds later, Papyrus gets a response. Whatever it says, it makes his eyes narrow, and he scoffs, "UN-FREAKING-BELIEVABLE." Papyrus begins typing back feverishly. A cycle starts where he gets a message and he sends one right back, each new message increasing the speed of Papyrus's typing. Frisk can see that the keys are covered in scratches and a few individual ones take extra effort to push.Out of curiosity, Frisk stands on their tippy-toes and reads the messages between Papyrus and his brother, starting with the first response underneath the picture:
cool
"COOL?" EXCUSE ME??? I'VE JUST MET MY FIRST HUMAN AND ALL YOU CAN SAY IS "COOL???
sorry my excitement didn't come through in text form
WELL IF YOU WANT TO SHOW EXCITEMENT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A LITTLE MORE EFFORT INTO IT. PUT SOME EXCLAMATION POINTS IN THERE, WRITE IN ALL CAPS, DO ANYTHING AT ALL.
ok
SANS!!!
ok!!!!
WE'LL WORK ON IT LATER. FOR NOW I HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE HUMAN. PAPYRUS: REPORTING OUT.
Papyrus turns back to Frisk, standing back upright. After a few moments of awkward silence, he puts on that toothy grin once more and says, "WOWIE. TIME SURE FLIES BY FAST, DOESN'T IT? I COULD HAVE SWORN IT WAS STILL ANGEL'S EVE, BUT SINCE A HUMAN HAS ARRIVED I GUESS IT'S THE NEXT DAY ALREADY." He shakes his head. Frisk informs him that it's still Angel's Eve. The child's response prompts Papyrus to tilt his head and scratch his chin. He takes a minute to stew over this: "HOLD UP," he leans closer to Frisk, "THE HUMANS AREN'T SUPPOSED TO GET HERE UNTIL THE NEXT MORNING. YOU ARE WITH THE OTHER HUMANS, RIGHT???"At first, Frisk thought about lying, but they decide to confess to Papyrus that they came here alone. The skeleton frowns.More silence follows as Papyrus thinks to himself. Frisk is getting tired of standing up. Finally, Papyrus turns his back on Frisk,"SO YOU AREN'T WITH THE AMBASSADORS." He doesn't wait for a response before he whips around to point at Frisk accusingly, "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS, HUMAN?? UNTIL THE AMBASSADORS ARRIVE, OUR ESTABLISHED POLICY ON HUMAN TRESPASSERS STILL STANDS!!!"Papyrus takes out a pair of handcuffs from his side and bellows, "HUMAN: YOU ARE ABOUT TO BE ARRESTED BY PAPYRUS OF THE ROYAL GUARD!!!"
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Papyrus just stands there as if he's waiting for any kind of protest, but Frisk gives him nothing. Frisk imagines a few scenarios where they try to run away: All variables show that they don't get very far before their legs turn to jelly and collapse to the ground, with Papyrus following right behind to pick them up.In short, there's no running away from this. But this time, Frisk doesn't sense any danger. The child holds up their wrists in a display of surrender, yet for a brief moment there seems to be uncertainty in Papyrus's face, an expression that passes as quickly as it came but can still be heard in his voice,"I DO APPRECIATE YOUR GIVING YOURSELF IN, HUMAN," he says slowly and with an air of caution, "BUT I CAN'T GO OVER AND ARREST YOU WHILE YOU'VE GOT A WEAPON IN YOUR HAND." Frisk looks at the source of Papyrus's trepidation in their reddened hand.The stick has almost been bisected (most likely from the amazing dive to avoid Flowey's attack) and so one half hangs uselessly by a strip of bark; even so, Papyrus views it, and by extension Frisk, with the same hesitation one would give to a weirdo holding a knife. Frisk had completely forgotten about the stick during all the chaos, though even if they had remembered, it probably wouldn't have been very useful in the end.Frisk tosses the stick onto the ground in front of Papyrus, totally snapping it in half, their hand screaming in relief as if it had just released its grip on an iron broadsword.After letting out a relieved sigh, Papyrus marches over to Frisk and with one quick motion sweeps their hands into the cuffs. Frisk holds their bound hands close to their chest while Papyrus stands beside them. He gives Frisk a look that seems to say: NO FUNNY BUSINESS, NOW, DO YOU HEAR?With Papyrus just one step ahead, Frisk walks toward the black gates of the cemetery. Before they cross the opening, Frisk turns their head to take one more look at the mauled statue.A flash of gold crosses part of Frisk's vision before vanishing. The wind is gone, but Frisk feels colder than ever before.Frisk follows Papyrus before he starts to get impatient.***The two make their way down a stone sidewalk that lies beneath a canopy of bare trees so dense that the posts that light the path can barely illuminate the way. The still-distant music finally reaches its final notes and fades into the air, leaving only Frisk's steps and Papyrus's rattling armor as the only sounds left.Neither person has been much for conversation so far; after some time, though, Papyrus casts a worrying glance down at Frisk. Seeing the discomfort spread across Frisk's face, Papyrus says,"IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT, HUMAN," he gives them a reassuring grin, "I PROMISE YOU WON'T BE IN JAIL FOR TOO LONG. AS SOON AS YOU'RE IN THERE, I'M GONNA CALL MY SUPERIOR OFFICER TO LET HER KNOW YOU'RE HERE. THEN, SOMEBODY WILL COME BY TO PICK YOU UP AND TAKE CARE OF YOU. WHY, I'M PRETTY SURE THAT THE QUEEN HERSELF WILL SEE YOU. SHE LIKES HUMANS."Papyrus keeps rambling, "YOU'RE GONNA BE SO LUCKY, HUMAN. I CAN'T IMAGINE WHAT IT'S LIKE TO MEET THE QUEEN AND KING FOR THE FIRST TIME ALL OVER AGAIN. THEY'RE AT A MEETING RIGHT NOW WITH SOME OTHER PEOPLE. MY BROTHER'S ONE OF THEM. HEY, MAYBE YOU'LL GET TO MEET THEM ALL!! THAT WOULD BE NEATO!!! OF COURSE, IT'S A GOOD THING THAT YOU JUST HAPPENED TO MEET ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FIRST..."Frisk is only half-listening to Papyrus at the moment. They appreciate the effort to make them feel better, but they aren't afraid for the reason that Papyrus thinks they're afraid. It gives Frisk all the determination they need to keep going.Once every minute or so, Frisk looks back at the path they just walked down, and every time they see nothing. Maybe that gold spot from earlier was just a trick their eyes played.Frisk and Papyrus have finally made it to the end of the path, the cemetery long out of sight. The stones under Frisk's feet turn into bricks, and the trees disappear, giving way to a vast, yet quiet town square.What would normally be streets lined with humble abodes and shops any other day of the year are now completely dressed in wreaths, multi-colored lights, ribbons, and other accessories similar to the ones Frisk sees every holiday with the humans. Since there were no other monsters out and about at the moment, one could easily confuse the monster village for a human one - and it did indeed invoke unintentional nostalgia in Frisk - except for one thing that you would never see in any human kingdom.Flags, banners, and murals all bore the royal crest, a sign that has come to represent all of monsterkind in the history books: the Deltarune. Not an intricate design by any means, but one that tells it's story clearly; the winged circle, the triangles - Frisk had it's meanings drilled into their head from a young age. Some said it was a mockery of the human race at its lowest point.Papyrus leads the way again, standing right beside Frisk. "SO THERE'S NO PANIC IF ANYBODY SEES YOU," he explains. Fortunately, the two don't encounter anybody, or at least anybody that Frisk would be able to see, though they do hear laughter and chattering coming from the different restaurants and shops they pass along the way (one place called Grillby's in particular is loud enough to be heard from miles away). Everyone else must be inside their homes.Suddenly, Papyrus sees what he's been looking for, clutches Frisk by the wrist, and pulls them along. Frisk soon sees their destination: a very cute building that almost looks like a house painted in blues. The word 'JAIL' is painted plainly on the front. It's awfully tiny for a jail; some of the shops just around the corner are larger than this."COME ALONG, HUMAN!!" Papyrus takes Frisk through the front door.The office inside the jail is much more of what Frisk expected; it's completely drab, with black-and-white tiles on the floor, and it smells like cleaning supplies. On the other side of the room is the booking desk. There's a ghost wearing a cap hovering behind the desk. They were wearing a set of headphones, but when Frisk and Papyrus came in, they immediately let the headphones phase right their body.Upon seeing Frisk, the ghost asks Papyrus,"oh no... is that a human?" Papyrus's voice returns to a more official-sounding tone,"YOU BET IT IS!!" He slams his hand on the desk, making the ghost jolt. "I'M GONNA HAVE YOU TAKE IT FROM HERE, OFFICER NAPSTABLOOK. KEEP THE HUMAN HERE UNTIL SOMEONE ELSE COMES TO TAKE THEM!!""ok. i'll try." Napstablook shakes their head, "wow, a human's here on angel's eve... this is almost too much excitement."Papyrus rapidly fills out a form. When he's finished, he puts the pen down and looks at the clock,"HMMM... SINCE THIS COUNCILOR'S MEETING IS EXTRA IMPORTANT TONIGHT, I THINK YOU'LL HAVE TO STAY HERE FOR ABOUT THREE HOURS," he hurriedly tries to make the situation lighter, "BUT IT'LL ALL BE WORTH IT WHEN YOU MEET THE QUEEN!!"Officer Napstablook flinches,"did you say the QUEEN is coming?""OF COURSE. I'M 100% SURE I'M RIGHT. SHE'S ALWAYS LOOKED AFTER THE HUMANS WHO HAVE COME HERE." And with nothing left for him to do, Papyrus puts his helmet back on and strides out of the office, waving goodbye to Frisk as he goes.The officer averts their gaze from Frisk,"i'm real sorry you have to be here," they say, "but i guess our whole human policy has to stay in place till all the treaties are signed tomorrow. so... i'm gonna take you to your cell now." Napstablook floats through the wall behind them, calling out, "uh, just follow the hallway on your right."After a few seconds they reappear to tell Frisk, "oh yeah, don't try to leave the building. there's sensors around here that'll activate a bunch of taser beams. yeah, the sensors turn on when it detects that someone in handcuffs tries to leave the jail or something, i dunno how it works. but it's pretty cool, right? the royal scientist made it."Frisk goes down the hallway, soon noticing that there doesn't appear to be any other officers in the whole building; this coupled with the fact that Napstablook makes no sound as they move, the deathly silence makes the entire jail feel frozen in time.Napstablook phases in front of one of only three cells. This cell is the largest one, containing a toilet and two beds. The officer uses their body to bump against a button on the outside that parts the cell's door, which is one of those classic ones with the bars.The ghost timidly informs Frisk, "i figured you might get lonely if you were by yourself, so i gave you the cell with somebody else inside. oh, don't worry, he's not bad. well, at least i don't THINK he's bad..." Napstablook almost questions their choice, but quickly stands by their original decision. "just give me a shout if he acts up. i'll try my best to help."At first, Frisk didn't know what the officer meant by a cellmate since they couldn't see anybody else, but after stepping inside they can see a small cage sitting atop one of the beds.Napstablook closes the door. They look at Frisk with a blank expression. "um. goodbye..." their voice grows fainter and they disappear.Aside from the cage containing a mystery cellmate, Frisk is alone again.