{} Things in brackets signal a memory or dream.

{Frisk fell to the ground as he tripped on a rock sticking up from the cave floor.

"Uselesssss!" the walls all around him hissed out as he got back onto his feet to start running again.

He honestly had no clue why he was even running in the first place. But he felt deep within himself that this was what he had to do.

*Crash*

His desperate dash came to a halt as glass shattered in front of him, sounding like a broken bottle on the ground. This glass flew toward him, and he could barely get his arms up in time to protect his face. The rest of his body was peppered by shards that dug into his skin.

They felt like thorns and almost immediately morphed into long vines that slithered across his body, completely trapping him in place.

"HAHAHAHA!" Demonic laughter echoed across the cave as Flowey came into view. His face distorted into an even more terrifying grin than usual. "DIE!"

A long vine lashed out towards Frisk's chest, ready to impale him like it did so many times before—}

"AHHH!" Frisk cried out as he sat up, desperately trying to dodge an attack that wasn't there.

*Slam* He got tangled up in the covers of a bed and fell onto the floor.

"Owww," Frisk muttered miserably as he calmed down, realized where he was, and sighed in relief.

He was in a bedroom of what must have been Toriel's house. It was much larger than his old room, looking very much like the stereotypical 'kids' room. It had a small bed, dressers, and a cabinet. The floor was covered by a large rug in the center of the room, and pictures were hanging on the walls.

"My child!" The door opened quickly, and Frisk turned around to see Toriel walking toward him. "Are you alright? I heard a scream." She asked worriedly.

"Uhhh," Frisk looked down, embarrassed. "It was just a nightmare, nothing to worry about." He said while trying to get back onto his feet.

Just then did he realize he was actually covered in bandages, and his body was sore. Thinking back to the fight, Frisk was surprised that he wasn't even more injured. He was almost sure he had broken something by the end.

"If you're wondering what those are for, I healed you to the best of my abilities," Toriel said, reading what he was thinking from his expression. "I think I got the worst damage, but some burns and scrapes still remain." She almost looked apologetic for not being able to do more.

"Thank you, Toriel." Frisk expressed genuinely but then grimaced as he felt the burns on his right arm flare up in pain.

"Here," Toriel helped Frisk get back onto the bed. "There will probably be some fatigue still as well. Why don't you stay here, and I'll get something to help with that." Frisk nodded, and Toriel walked out of the room.

*Sigh*

Frisk leaned back onto the bed, feeling even more pathetic now than after the fight with Flowey. Deciding to try anything that might help, he activated his Aura, only managing to bring a weak trickle into his body. Then, finally, it started to try and heal the leftover damages. Still, it was barely making any progress while also increasing the fatigue that Frisk felt.

Not knowing what else to do, Frisk tried to look for that fire of PERSEVERANCE and use it to boost his Aura. After a couple seconds, he was able to find a small trickle, but when he tried to channel it, the burns on his arm screamed out in pain.

With a hiss, Frisk quickly stopped and waited for Toriel to return.

A couple seconds later, Toriel entered the room carrying a plate with something on it.

"Here you go, my child." She said, passing Frisk the plate. "This is butterscotch cinnamon pie; I hope you enjoy it. It should also help with some of the fatigue you're feeling."

"Why would it help with that?" Frisk asked. He knew in the game that the pie would heal you, but there were already so many differences he wasn't confident in his knowledge.

"I suppose you wouldn't know, being human. But all monster food is made out of magical energy. So while it won't heal humans like it will monsters, it should help you regain some of the magic you lost defending yourself from that terrible creature." Toriel explained.

Frisk turned to look down at the pie while inside; he grimaced. If Toriel knew that 'that terrible creature' was actually her son, he didn't know what would happen. It would probably be best to not tell her, though, Frisk planned on killing Flowey, and it would just make her hurt worse if she knew the monster her son had become.

With that depressing thought, Frisk took his first bite of the pie. It actually tasted delicious, typically, he wasn't the biggest fan of pies, but this one had an interesting taste. He swallowed with gusto and moved to take the next bite but stopped when he felt the energy from the pie running from his throat to his SOUL. It was similar in feel to his PERSEVERANCE magic, just more soothing than burning.

Toriel probably caught the look on his face because she laughed good-naturedly and moved to leave the room. However, before she left, she turned back to Frisk.

"Worry not, my child; I will leave you to rest now. You can stay here with me from now on, and I will protect you. We can talk more later. But, for now, it would be best if you took time to heal." And with that, she walked the rest of the way and closed the door behind her.

Frisk waited till Toriel was out of the room before a complicated frown fell upon their face. He knew from the game that Toriel had taken in most if not all of the kids that had fallen into the underground. But these kids had wanted to get home, so they left her behind and ended up dead, leaving Toriel horribly guilty.

Stolen story; please report.

Frisk still did want to save the monsters. He wasn't going to give up on his original goal just because some flower hopped up on DETERMINATION decided to get in his way. Well, maybe he would take a detour to punish said flower for giving him the worst couple hours of his life. But the problem was that both of these goals pretty much required Frisk to leave the RUINS and, therefore, Toriel.

Frisk shook his head and took another bite of his pie. For now, he had to focus on healing his body first and improving his abilities second. He couldn't count on the resets to get him through the rest of his journey, so he would have to be stronger.

After the second bite of his pie, Frisk felt like it had replenished a chunk of his Aura, and said Aura started to heal him faster than before. It looked like the first part of his plan for the near future would be finished more quickly than he had thought.

But it wouldn't hurt if he just laid in this bed for a little longer, right?

→ [Next Day]

Frisk woke up shivering from another nightmare. But, at least this time, he didn't end up screaming and disturbing Toriel again. He really hadn't remembered much about his dreams since he was young. Actually, Frisk guessed that might have been because he was now young again, and that would take some time to get used to. It was either that or the horror of being killed multiple times in different gruesome ways. Still, if he dwelled on that for long, he would waste the day crying on the bedroom floor.

When Frisk sat up, he got the feeling that much more time had passed since he fell asleep. Maybe his body had been tired before falling down the hol-

{Frisk stumbled through the underbrush, falling again as his pant leg caught on another vine. }

Frisk shook his head at that intrusive memory. Right now, he didn't have any more room in his head for more trauma, and he guessed the Frisk before him did not jump into a hole for no reason.

Deciding now would be an excellent time to get up, Frisk threw his leg off the side and hopped down. He was still a little disrupted by the change in height, but there was nothing to get your balance back better than a life or death fight.

Frisk looked across the room for a second time before deciding that it would be better to check in with Toriel before snooping through anything. As he made his way out the door, he looked down both sides of the hallway before his eyes landed on a mirror to the left. Deciding that a detour wouldn't hurt, he made his way over and looked into the mirror.

Frisk stared at himself in the mirror for a couple seconds before turning away. Honestly, he had never particularly liked what he had seen in mirrors in the past, but this was certainly weird. He looked… What was the word? 'Cute' would probably be the best way to describe it. The only part of his face that would make him look cool was his eyes, a deep purple on the right and a golden yellow on the left.

But the cool look was ruined by everything else. The way his hair was styled, the way he looked noticeably young for his presumed age, and even the shape of his face and eyes could only really be called cute. Well, it didn't really matter, he had never felt like he had to look 'cool' before, and maybe people would underestimate him now. With a sigh, Frisk looked away and set off towards the entrance to the house.

He quickly looked at the staircase that should lead to the exit of the RUINS before making his way into the sitting room.

Toriel sat in a large armchair, reading a book by the fireplace. She sat next to a large bookcase that seemed to be filled to the brim and across from a large table that took up a corner of the room.

"Ah! My child!" Toriel exclaimed, "You shouldn't be walking with those injuries." She seemed worried as she got up and quickly walked up to Frisk.

Frisk had noticed it earlier, but it seemed like that sleep had helped. His Aura had filled up thanks to the pie, and it had finished healing him sometime during the night.

"It's ok, Toriel." Frisk held up his right arm and took the bandages off. "See all healed up. Thanks again for the pie; it really helped."

Toriel looked at Frisk's arm skeptically. "Are you sure there isn't any damage? Those burns were quite serious."

"100%," Frisk replied confidently.

"Very well then." Toriel still seemed somewhat unsure but decided to trust Frisk's words. "Then, if you have so much energy, please come sit down; I have created a schedule that we can move up if you're feeling better." Toriel grabbed a seat from the table and sat it across from her armchair by the fire. Frisk followed and sat down.

"Well then." She began, "I was hoping to share some old books with you, but education comes first. It might surprise you to learn that I have always wanted to be a teacher, and I have prepared a curriculum for you. Next, of course, we will have to visit my favorite bug-catching spot. We can eat lunch while we are there. Finally, before bed, there will be free play time. Does this sound good?" She asked, and Frisk could tell she desperately wanted him to say yes.

Honestly, the day didn't sound too bad. He could probably even learn some things about monsters during the lessons. But more importantly, Toriel had been incredibly kind to him, taking him in, feeding, and healing him. So, in the end, Frisk nodded his head.

Flowey could reset the timeline at any time, but if he lived constantly waiting for it to happen… Would that really be living anymore?

→ [That Night]

Frisk wasn't usually one to enjoy sitting on other people's laps. It wasn't feasible when he was taller and was also kind of demeaning. But he was honestly pretty content sitting on Toriel's lap in her armchair by the fireplace. It also helped that he had a good book to occupy himself with.

The day had been surprisingly good. After breakfast in the morning, Toriel had started Frisk on the curriculum. But, after proving that he was academically beyond what she had prepared, she had suggested breaking for the day. Frisk used this time to his advantage, asking various questions about monsters and magic. He actually ended up learning a lot of cool and valuable things.

Lunchtime was filled with exploring some of the RUINS with Toriel. Then, eating at her favorite bug-catching spot and walking back home. Frisk even had his first encounter with a hostile Froggit. Unfortunately, it ended pretty anticlimactically, with Frisk dodging its magic attacks before Toriel came to shoo it off.

Surprisingly, Toriel had let Frisk hang outside the house in the afternoon by himself to 'play.' Frisk had used this time to focus on manipulating his Aura and Magic. And maybe he had run around playing with his newfound speed and strength. It was undoubtedly cool that he could jump twice his height into the air with ease, and he explained it to himself as parkour training.

Finally, after a surprisingly filling dinner, the two sat down at the fireplace to read.

Shaking his head, Frisk stopped reminiscing and looked up towards Toriel, wondering if he should ask the question now or tomorrow.

"Toriel?" He decided to get through with it now.

"Yes? My child." She answered back, turning her attention away from her book.

"Would it be possible for me to explore the RUINS tomorrow…" he hesitated for a second. "Alone?"

Toriel seemed genuinely surprised by the question. "My child, why would you want to explore the RUINS yourself? You know it can be dangerous."

"Yeah, but "Frisk was prepared "you still have to come up with an accelerated curriculum, right? And I can handle myself well enough out there, and even if I couldn't, you would only be a call away on the Cellphone you gave me."

Toriel hummed in thought. It seemed like she was contemplating this, time for the finishing move. "Plus, wouldn't it RUIN the fun of the RUINS to not solve the puzzles on my own?"

Toriel snorted softly and gave Frisk an appraising look. "Very well, my child, you make good points. As long as you promise to stay safe and return quickly, I will allow it."

"Thanks, Toriel!" Frisk smiled at the goat monster.

"Yes, yes. Well, I think it's time for you to go to bed now. So hurry along." She closed her book and set Frisk back down on the floor.

Frisk followed her out and back into the bedroom, where he woke up.

Tomorrow should be interesting.