Upside-down

Frisk was walking as usual doing her errands when she found a strange hole. Could it be drilled by something? No..it was too deep and too wide. She was always tought about the humans residing inside the mountain; but they were sealed in by a barrier. Frisk got on her knees and looked down in the hole. She couldn't see the bottom of it!! As she leaned in closer the ground she was stedy-ing herself on fell, swallowing her up as well as light was getting farther away. And then it was all black. 

The next thing she could remember when she woke up was a bed of golden flowers. Golden flowers..? OH JESUS THOSE WERE BUTTERCUPS!! Frisk scrambled away from the bed of flowers as she fell on her butt. Where was she..? She lifted her muzzle up only to see the light far away shining down on the bed of flowers. Were these buttercups seriously what stopped her fall..? That was...unbelievable. She looked around then checked herself. her arms were intact, her hands were intact, her feet were intact. She felt her long ears her muzzle and her tiny horns. All good...Frisk was...small. She was almost as small as a todler in this form. She didn't like using all that energy to maintain her bigger form. Frisk's fur was white as snow and she liked keeping her eyes squinted and a neutral face. She had a tail that would remind you of a griphon...and its not like she was anything else and two silver horns. As far as she knew she was the only human like her. She could grow her tail and shorten it and she could also grow and get rid of a pair of wings. Griphons have been extinct for quite some time. That's the reason she was so small too. Not a lot of mosnters could change size like her, there was a minority big enough to not be judged and to make smaller stuff or ladders for her kind yes, but not many. She was wearing shorts and a stripped blue and purple sweater.Her ears twitched. Frisk looked around to see if her bag was down there. She spoted it around the stone-y walls. She picked it up carefully. She looked inside and she saw all her stuff was intact and sighed. She strapped it on her back like always and looked up. Yeah there was no way she could climb that. 

As she looked up ahead she noticed a big grey stone arch-way. Minners didn't usually go this deep...so how was there an arch-way? Unless..humans? no..they weren't real...right..? That's what they always used to tell her at the orphanage. She stopped when she remembered why she was in the orphanage. She searched for her little silver locket. She pulled it out and smiled a bit. She slipped it on and hid it under the sweater. She went back to her neutral face. She found a stick as she approached the arch-way. She picked it up and continued her way through it. If there were such structures down here...there surely was a way out. As she stepped inside the arch-way she found a person in the grass..he...was...HUMAN?! Frisk's squinted eyes almost opened. In surprise she backed away a bit. The guy looked at her and gasped. 

"You're a monster!!" Frisk's nose started twiching in fright. She hoped humans weren't as mean as they pictured them in the legends. 

"AWWW!! YOU'RE SO CUTEEE!!" The kid said. He looked to the side. 

"MOM! CHARA!! LOOK!! COME HERE!!" Suddenly a girl walked with her hands behind her back and a woman with a beautiful purple dress with a strange rune on it looked at her. 

"Oh my!!" The woman said. The girl looked at her and tilted her head. 

"what's this thing..?" Frisk started backing away more. The woman's eyes softened. 

"Do not be afraid my child." The girl started laughing. 

"OH PLEASE! That thing is good to take out of a top-hat!! BUAHAHAH--OWW!!" The woman smacked the girl. Frisk's nose started twiching more. 

"What a terible creature, torturing such poor innocent youth...thought i taught them better. Do not be afraid my child, i am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins. These are my children: Chara and Asriel." Toriel said. Frisk started coming closer. She analyzed the people better. They were way taller than her. She was bearly reaching the girl's knees and she was the smallest. That's...great... The girl had straight dark brown hair and rosy cheeks. She had red eyes and was wearing a stripped yellow and green sweather with long brown pants. She had a heart-shaped locket. The guy had the same clothes but he had blonde hair and his eyes were green. He was a bit taller than the girl. Frisk looked at the woman next. She reminded her of that guy. She was taller than the guy and she had light brown hair, almost dark blonde. The woman opened her arms to her. Frisk tilted her head in confusion. 

What was she doing..? Frisk slowly came out of the shadows more and looked at her hands. She looked up at the woman and waited. The woman tried to usher her to come closer. 

"come on, small one. we won't hurt you. come here." The girl scoffed as she looked at Frisk and knelt at her level. Chara poked her. Frisk did nothing. Chara then flicked her in the head and Frisk covered her forehead as she shut her eyes in pain. Her tail started wagging as she whimpered. Man that hurt!! 

"CHARA!! THAT'S MEAN!!" Chara put her hands up in defence as Asriel came closer. 

"come here little bud. I am sure she didn't mean to hurt you..RIGHT CHARA??" Chara nodded and gave her an awkward smile. Frisk went back to her neutral face. Asriel picked her up. 

"SHE'S SO LIGHTTTT!! AWWW!" Chara looked at him. 

"HEY I WANNA HOLD HER!!" Toriel shushed them both. 

"Now now, she isn't a toy. She is a person. Put her down. She doesn't seem to be enjoying being picked up." Frisk sighed in relief when she was back on the ground. 

"We pass here everyday to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first in a long time to fall down here. Come! We will guid you through the catacombs." Frisk nodded and took her stick off the ground. Chara and Asriel looked at each other dumbfound. 

"SHE CAN UNDERSTAND US??" Toriel gave the two a stern look before they all started walking towards another arch-way. This one was purple and the place it led them to was 100% not a mountain. The brick walls were made out of a purple stone, lighter on the ground than on the walls, with vines around the cracks and red leaves on the ground. Frisk looked in awe at the place as her tail started wagging. It was quite a beautiful arhitecture. She almost wanted to take out her notebook and start sketching; but she needed to focus on getting out of this place. There was a set of marble stairs, however at the bottom of the stairs was a shining golden star. Frisk looked at it and reached her tiny hand with small pads on it towards the light. A warm adrenaline type of feeling flowed through her veins and the start kep glowing..however..it felt different somehow. Chara and Asriel looked at each other after that but Toriel paid no attention. They all climbed the stairs and ended up in a room with a few stone pads. They were peculliar. Frisk was good at puzzles. She immediately noticed the change in shading at the of the colors and the way the pads were aligned. This was either step on the two light ones or the four dark ones. But now which ones were they..?

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one." Frisk's ears twitched a bit. New home..? That wasn't right...She scrunched up her little pink nose. 

"Allow me to educate you in the way of the RUINS." Frisk's interest was percked at that point. So that's how this place was called..? The Ruins..? If so..where are the people..? Or is there another place...? Maybe more? She had questions. Toriel however started stepping on the plates that were on the ground that was a darker shade of purple. After that she proceeded to 

"The RUINS are full of puzzles." Asriel nodded. 

"Acient fusions between diversions and doorkeys." Chara nodded as well. 

"One must solve them to move from room to room." Toriel frowned. 

"Will you mock my speech every time?!" The two snickered as they moved into the next room. Frisk looked up towards the ruins caretaker and gestured for her to continue. She smiled. 

"Why thank you...-ahem- my children were indeed correct. So please adjust yourself to the sight of them." The woman went through the door that just opened. Frisk was about to follow when she spoted a sign. She squinted as she looked up and tried to make out what was written on it. 

'Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.' Middle road? OH! So they did give you clues on how to get through the puzzles. Frisk proceeded to go in the next room where the three humans were. Toriel smiled as she was walking on her little feet towards them. Man this will take a longggg time. 

"To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches." Toriel said. Chara started snickering again. 

"Like that thing can reach the damn levers.." Asriel snickered as well. Frisk frowned. That was rude...she may be small in this form but she was as tall as her in her other form. Toriel shot daggers at them. 

"I have labled the ones you need to flip err...but are you sure you can reach the levers..?" Frisk tried to say something. The only thing that came out for them at least seemed to be little roars like ones you would hear either in toys. It kind of sounded like 'Ra'. Great...she forgot humans can't understand monster speech. Toriel looked confused. 

"oh...that will be..umm..inconvinient but do not worry, my child. I am sure we can understand each other past the language barrier" Frisk nodded as she then proceeded to keep going towards the levers. Chara snickered again as Frisk looked up at the lever and wagged her tail. Welp, here goes nothing. Frisk used her tail as she jumped to push herself higher and she grabbed onto the lever. She was heavy enough to pull it down. Chara stopped snickering. Asriel's jaw dropped. 

"I need a pet like that.." Chara said and Asriel smacked her. 

"It's not a pet...i think.." Were they seeing her as some pet you had around the house like a cat or a dog?! that's just rude!! Yes she was only twice the size of a cat...sometimes less if the cat was big and she was as tall as a big dog on 4 legs...BUT THAT'S JUST RUDE!! Frisk gave them a displeased look as she kept pulling the levers. The room with the levers was nice. There were small ponds with little small wooden bridges. It was quite fascinating what humans could do with their magic...monster now were only left with determination. It was kind of like an exchange when it happened. The humans souls became monster souls and monster souls became human. It was strage and the main reason that war started. Monsters did however still inherit the magical genes. Humans..? They were still chubby meatballs apperently, but monsters have become more, what the right word here...weak? no...sensitive!! They get cold and warm easier, they get hurt easier but they do have imense power if they put their mind to it. there is a reason after all that humans lost even with magic. 

"Splendid! I am proud of you little one!" Chara and Asriel went ahead as Toriel gave Frisk a pat on the head. She actually purred at that...dammit! her animal insticts kicked in...Toriel laughed as they went over the now retracted spikes in the door. 

"As a monster living in the underground humans may try to attack you!" Frisk was listening carefully to the woman. She seemed genuinly nice. Her two kids were sitting against the wall. She saw a cute cotton dummy. Frisk's squinted eyes twinkled at the sight. He was ADORABLE!! 

"You will need to be prepared for this situation. However worry not! The process is simple! When you encounter a human you will enter a FIGHT!" Huh? That sounded interesting. Ecounters like in video-games..? That's a cool concept! She did hear monsters used real life as referance. They must have seen some games and made up that idea! Frisk must have seen like a total psycho or something as she jumped up and down on her little paws saying "ra! ra! raaaa!!". She was excited because she loved video games..she was a total dork. of course no one knew that...How could they. She always liked to keep a low profile and seem like she was a normal little goat monster..After all Griphons were meant to be extinct. She bearly had any friends...and there wasn't much of a chance for relatives. She's spent her whole life in an orphanage...until she was 18 and got kicked out of the foster home. She was officialy all alone after that. Not that she minded that fact..the people at that foster home treated her almost worse than a sclave..and that says a lot...

"While you are in a FIGHT, strike a conversa...oh..Just stall for time! Me, Chara or Asriel will come to resolve the conflict. Practice on the DUMMY." Asriel and Chara started sncikering again. 

"Oh come on..That's dumb.." Frisk looked at Chara and she almost wanted to show her teeth and growl at her. She was SO RUDE!! Frisk looked at the dummy and tried talking to it.Her vision started getting blurry as everything became black and she saw herself in a tiny black and white box. There was a red heart in front of her chest and the dummy was white as well. How did....was this the 'encounter' Toriel talked about? it must have been. Frisk looked behind her as she saw some boxes with different actions. She chose the ACT box as she pressed it with the little red heart that she could control. She chose the check. It was just like a video game! Under the name of the Dummy and the 0 ATK and 0 DEF was a small line: 'A cotton heart and a button eye, you are the apple to my pie'. Such a cute line! She tried saying hello to the dummy. Toriel seemed happy. The screen faded and she was back in the room. Frisk looked at her little paws and wiggled her little feet. Then she tried to pat her chest. Nope no red heart. That must have been her soul...well if there were encounters..than those red starts must have been checkpoints!! Oh that was creepy...being able to come back from the dead..? However she didn't want to check that theory. 

"Ah very good! You are very good!!" Frisk smiled a bit at the praise. When was the last time she heard praises from someone. Chara knelt down and squinted her eyes at her. 

"man if only you weren't so cute..." She said making a pout face as she flicked her in the head again. She whimpered as she rubbed the spot she got flicked in. Man..that always hurt. Frisk walked behind the tall humans as she tried to keep up. Suddenly they got into a room with a weird pattern on the floor. That was..interesting indeed. She looked at the pattern before they got to a room filled with spikes...they walked this every...day..? Frisk looked panicked until she realized something..1. if she was truly desperate she could fly over this; 2. this must have been the pattern from the other room. She got on all fours and wagged her tail.

"This is the puzzle in the room..but..MY CHILD--" Frisk didn't listen anymore as she swiftly started stepping on the spikes she remembered to be in the room before. She got to the other side and sat down like a puppy waiting for the lady and her kids to cross. Asriel pointed at Chara and laughed. 

"you owe me now!!" Chara scoffed as the others crossed as well. Frisk got back on her legs and dusted her clothes when two hands picked her up and hugged her. At first she was terrified she did something wrong but...it just felt warm...Frisk smiled a bit as the caretaker of the Ruins scolded her for being so reckless. In the next room the lady looked hurt. 

"you've done excellently thus far, my child. However..i have a difficult request of you..." Did they all assume she was a child because of how small she was..? Fair enough...

"I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." Frisk tilted her head as the lady started running towards the end of the hall. Frisk looked at her two kids as they laughed. They ushured her to go forward as they were laughing. Frisk walked. She almost tripped on a vine which made Asriel say 'AWWW' really loud. That was embarassing. Frisk got to the end of the hall where there was a pillar. Frisk started laughing when she saw the woman come out from behind the pillar. It was quite amusing. 

"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, i did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time." Quite obvious but sure. 

"Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise...to test your independance." Independance....yeah..she didn't like that word. Being 'independant' used to mean being starved until you were practically begging on your knees so it looked like you were still..'dependent'. Which meant they could use you for longer as their little slave. Frisk scrunched her nose up at the word. 

"I must attend to some business and you will have to remain alone. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself." Toriel seemed to think about something. 

"I have an idea. I will give you a CELL PHONE." Frisk tilted her head. Why would she give her a cell phone...?

"If you have a need for anything just call. Be good alright?" Frisk was left dumbfound. Did the woman forget she couldn't ta-- and she was already leaving with both Asriel and Chara. Frisk raised her ear and waited. The steps couldn't be heard anymore and she waited just 5 more minutes to be sure. When she was entirely sure there was no one there she started walking in the direction of the sound. She was 21 after all. She could take care of herself. She bearly stepped in the next room when the phone started ringing. How in the world did she know?! Frisk stepped back in the other room and answeared. It was a bit big for her but nothing she couldnt handle. Plus it fitted in her bag. She also found she could summon a thing called 'Inventory' on her phone. That was cool. The human's magic was totally like a video-game.

"Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?" Frisk stayed silent. She couldn't talk anyways. 

"There are a few puzzles ahead i have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try and solve them yourself. Be good, alright?" So that's what a 'mother's phone call' felt like. It was...nice...Frisk smiled at the flip phone and put it back in her bag. She then found a human standing in the leaves. She looked at the person who had..a frog on their shirt and was apperently just playing on their phone in a nice quiet place. 

"Excuse me, little monster. I have some advice for you about battling humans. If you ACT a certain way, or FIGHT until you almost defeat them...they might not want to battle you anymore. If a human does not want to fight you, please...Use some MERCY." Frisk nodded. Mercy huh..? It was always a trait people found...ridiculous...but not Frisk. It was a trait she admired about herself. The power of carrying for others and to give mercy. She could just transform in her form and rip them all to shreads if she wanted to...but she won't. These humans deserved to live and these humans deserved...freedom. Frisk didn't know exactly how but she wanted to help humans trapped down in this underground. She went inside a room with a candy bowl. Oh man oh boy you already know she jumped up and took as many as she could. She felt bad when the bowl dropped..but if this was like a video-game she was 100% sure she'll need all the items she can get.After she exited and did what she thought was save at a checkpoint and probably was...she started going forward. As she walked down the ruin's hallway with red leaves on the floor she met another human. So apperently..based on their magic humans were like monsters: apart from not looking the same they dressed in the same colors and seemed to have the same attacks. Frisk checked the human and then tried to tell them they looked nice. It...seemed to actually work. She wasn't surprised their magic attacks were frog based...however she found it peculiar how he could sommon a giant magical frog to try and stomp on her and her soul...She spared the frog-human and went on her way. In the next room as she was walking she fell through some really thin floor that crumbled under her feet. She had to crawl back up on the other side of that patch of floor. 

It felt kind of out of place but she shrugged. Her phone started ringing again as she answeared again to Toriel.

"hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular, which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterschoch." Oh she loveeedddd cinnamon. But she didn't know how to tell the lady. 

"hmm..cinnamon..?" Frisk started trying to tell her 'yes'. She must have gotten the hint. 

"ok ok! Thank you very much!" Suddenly she heard Chara's voice in the background. 

"Is that monster dead yet?" Toriel gasped in disbelief and the line was cut. Man Chara was rude...She also didn't really seem human...she could swear she felt a monster soul in that body of hers, but oh well. But she didn't even get to make a step when the phone rang again. 

"Hello? This is Toriel. You do not, DISLIKE butterschoch do you? I know what your preferance is but...would you turn up your nose if you fund it on your plate?" Frisk wasn't really a picky eater. She tried to make a smililar sound to no. She got something like a 'ra-ah'. Close enough. 

"Right, i understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way." She smiled a bit after the phone call ended and went up to a sign. It said: 'Three out of four rocks recommend you push them." As she got close to the rock next to a weird pad however, another human, this time smaller, stoped her. He looked to be wearing some fake wings and raggy clothes. He looked so shy. The screen was black again and her little heart popped out. She tried to tell the monster she meant no harm..but when she saw it was useless she just pressed the 'spare' button. It was interesting how one's name would turn yellow when you could spare them. Just like a video game. Oh how she hoped all of this wasn't just some dream her fucked up lonely mind made up after reading at the library again...She finally was able to push the rock on the pad and she saw how the wall of spikes in frot of her went down. That's some good progress. Frisk then found herself in another room with thin floor. This was interesting. So in this puzzle there must be some fake thing floors. Those would support her weight..or maybe she needed to crawl up again? She let herself fall down and looked around. Under the thing floor there was a path, it was mapped out with red leaves being the border. That's when she realized she was right in the first assumption. She tried her best to memorize the path and after 2 or 3 tries she finally got across. 

The next room was another puzzle room. Three rocks with three pads and a bridge with spikes. She moved the first one, the second one and she was about to move the third one. The rock...spoke?!

"WHOA THERE, pardner! Who said you could push me around?? Hm? So you're asking ME to move over?" That's when Frisk was hit by the realization that there was a tape recorder taped on the rock...of course someone was pulling a prank. She sighed as she pushed the rock anyways. That's when three humans with jelly like dresses blocked her way on the bridge. She started wiggling and the three girls did the same. They wiggled away. Frisk laughed inside of herself at that. It was such a dorky way to solve conflicts...SHE LOVED IT! The spikes were down and she was able to cross the bridge. In the next hallway she found another star and a table..? There was a little mouse hole on the other wall and a table with cheese...even if the cheese was stuck to the table. As she was saving, some stupid lines came to her mind: 'Knowing the mouse might one day leave it's hole and get the cheese....It fills you with determination!'. The same adrenaline feeling hit her and she felt ready to take one more of what the Ruins had to offer.