Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: humans and monsters.

Or that’s what is usually said.

Along with them another race lived on Earth, creatures of such gargantuan size that they were considered like living mountains: the Titans.

These creatures roamed the Earth even before the appearance of humans and monsters.

They continued to live even when humans and monsters finally appeared and, for a period, the three races lived in absolute peace and balance.

That is until the Titans disappeared from the face of the Earth, going into hibernation in the depths of the planet, and the Titans for the descendants of humans and monsters became merely legends.

Many years after the disappearance of the Titans, war broke out between humans and monsters, and after a long battle the formers were victorious, sealing the monsters underground with a magic spell that created a barrier that trapped the monsters in the depths of Mount Ebott. 

And for years the only species that wandered over the surface of the planet were the humans.

That is until the year of 2014.

The year where everything changed.

The year where humans learned once again that they didn’t live alone on the planet.

The year where the Titans and monsters returned into the world.

Frisk looked upon the sunset alongside the friends they made during their long journey across the Underground.

They did it.

They finally were up on the surface, freeing at the same time the monsters who had been imprisoned there for so long.

They looked at all their friends as they watched in awe the horizon, wonder in their eyes and overjoyed smiles on their faces.

“Oh my…” said Toriel.

“Isn’t it  beautiful, everyone?” asked Asgore as he looked at all the monsters alongside him

“Wow… it’s e-even better than on tv…” said Alphys as she smiled “WAY better! Better than I ever imagined!”.

“Frisk, you live like this?!” asked Undyne as she looked right at the human child, who merely nodded with a small smile on their face. Undyne redirected her gaze towards the horizon with a big toothy smile “The sunlight is so nice… and the air is so fresh! I really feel alive!”.

“Hey Sans! What’s that giant ball?” asked Papyrus to his brother while pointing towards the sun.

The smaller skeleton looked at the taller one with his smile looking even warmer and happier than before “We call that ‘the sun’, my friend.”.

“That’s the sun?! Wowie!” said Papyrus with pure excitement dripping from his voice “I can’t believe I’m finally meeting the sun!”.

“I could stand here and watch this for hours…” muttered Asgore with a little nostalgic smile painted on his face.

“Yes, it is beautiful, is it not?” continued Toriel “But we should really think about what comes next.”.

“Oh. Right.” nodded Asgore while pointing his gaze towards the others “Everyone… this is the beginning of a bright new future. An era of peace between humans and monsters.”.

Frisk almost flinched at that.

Peace between humans and monsters? It could be possible. They knew it could.

But it would have been a hard task to accomplish.

Especially after…

“Frisk.” Asgore’s voice broke Frisk out of their thoughts as they looked at the king of the monsters “I have something to ask of you.”.

Frisk nodded “What is it sir?”.

Asgore smiled in amusement at the formality that Frisk kept showing and then continued talking “Will you act as our ambassador to the humans?”.

Frisk gasped, taken aback by this request from Asgore just as much as all the others.

Asgore looked at Frisk with a gentle smile “I won’t oblige if you don’t want to, Frisk. But I know, from the depths of my heart, that you have what it takes to be our ambassador to the humans. The choice is only yours.”.

Frisk hummed for a second, thinking it over, while their friends looked at them waiting for their answer.

The world changed a lot since the monsters were imprisoned.

A lot, in fact.

They needed someone who could show them the changes of the world and that could also show to the humans that the monsters were harmless, and wouldn’t have hurt anyone.

They finally came to a decision.

Frisk looked at Asgore with a determined face “Yes, Asgore. I’ll gladly be your ambassador.”.

Papyrus beamed at this “Yes! Frisk will be the best ambassador! And I, the great Papyrus, will be the best mascot! I’ll go make a good first impression!” and after saying this Papyrus started running away, excited to meet the humans and make new friends among them.

Sans rolled his eyes, while smiling fondly at his brother “Welp.” he said “Someone’s gotta keep him from getting into trouble.” he winked at all the others “See you guys.” and went after his brother.

Undyne sighed while putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head with fondness “Man, do I have to do everything?” a big smile appeared on her face “Papyrus, wait!” and run after the tallest of the two skeletons.

“Hey, Undyne! Wait up!” said Alphys, also smiling, while following the captain of the royal guards.

Only Frisk, Toriel and Asgore remained.

“Whoops.” chuckled Asgore at the awkward situation.

He looked at his ex-wife “Uh, should I do something?” he asked.

Toriel merely looked at him with an annoyed expression.

“Well, gotta go.” said Asgore in the end, and proceeded to walk away too.

Toriel looked over at all the monsters with a smile on her face “It seems that everyone is quite eager to set off.”.

More seconds of silence passed, with neither her nor Frisk knowing what to say next.

Toriel looked down at the child “Frisk.” she said.

The child looked up at her as she continued talking “You came from this world, right…?”.

“Yeah…” nodded Frisk.

Toriel looked sideways, looking sad “So you must have a place to return to, do you not?”.

Frisk didn’t respond, merely letting Toriel continue.

Toriel sighed and then asked “What will you do now?”.

Frisk remained once again silent.

They took big breath and answered “I… don’t have a place to return to.”.

Toriel’s eyes widened “You do not…?” she asked.

Frisk shook their head “No. I… lost everything months ago… my parents… they…” they sniffled. They didn’t even realize they were about to cry.

All those memories rushing back…

“Oh my child…” murmured Toriel hugging Frisk “I’m so, so sorry to hear this. So this is why you came here, to this mountain… because…”.

Frisk nodded while wiping away their tears “I had nothing… but when I fell… I met you and all the others… you people are not just my friend” Frisk looked up at Toriel, smiling “But my family… so my answer is this: I want to stay with you. I want to live with you.”.

Toriel gasped “What?” she smiled at them, with little tears appearing on her eyes “Frisk… know this, my child. Maybe me and all the friends you made along the way won’t be like the family you once had… but we will do our best to take care of you. I will do my best… as long as you need. All right?”.

Frisk nodded with a big smile on their face, hugging Toriel who immediately returned it.

After they separated from it Toriel held out her hand to Frisk “Now, come along.”.

Frisk immediately took her hand as Toriel continued speaking “Everyone is waiting for us.” and having said that the both of them started walking towards all the other monsters.

Frisk was happy. More than they have ever been in months.

This was a new beginning.

A new age.

Not only for them, but also for the monsters and for the entire humanity.

Frisk knew it wouldn’t have been easy at the beginning, for both humans and monsters.

But they knew that everything, at the end, would have been resolved.

It HAD to.

The arrival of the monsters would have caused an uproar with humans.

But Frisk was sure that the monsters would be surprised by how the humans, and the Earth had changed after so many years of imprisonment.

Especially after the biggest change in Earth's history.

A change that happened a few months before.

The same change that took away their parents and led in going to Mount Ebott.

Screams.

Fire.

Smoke.

There was so much going on, and that was overwhelming Frisk.

They, along with their parents, decided to go to the big city of San Francisco for a small vacation, just the three of them.

A vacation that was supposed to be relaxing and fun.

Yet everything went south when they arrived.

They heard it from the news.

They couldn’t believe it.

It was impossible.

Then they made landfall, bringing death and destruction.

Giant creatures that seemed to come out from the craziest legends and story possible.

Many people were able to hide in shelters but others weren’t so lucky.

Frisk and their parents were part of the unlucky ones.

They, along with many others, found themselves in the middle of a clash between the creatures without finding any place to hide.

They ended up getting separated during that battle.

Now Frisk was searching for their parents between the rubble, and it seemed many others were searching for their loved ones too judging but how many people were doing the same thing as them: searching through the rubble and screaming the names of the people lost.

“Mom! Dad!” screamed Frisk while trying to move away pieces of rubble, hoping to find their parents “Where are you?!”.

They could feel something wet and sticky on their forehead. Probably blood.

But it didn't matter.

It didn’t matter at all.

“Mom! Dad!” Frisk repeated, tears starting to come out from their eyes “Where are you?! Please, answer me!”.

*THOOM*
*THOOM*
*THOOM*
The sound of giant steps took Frisk out of their search, along with many others people.

Frisk pointed their gaze towards the thing that was causing those steps and widened their eyes.

One of the giant behemoths that was causing all of that destruction.

It was enormous, they couldn’t even tell how big it was.

It had a reptilian look, its body having dull grayish scales, with a squared snouth, its hands having four clawed fingers each, and its back trailed down by jagged and chipped dorsal fins that arrived to the tip of its tail.

Frisk looked in shock at the giant creature as it launched a roar knowing full well one thing: nothing would have been the same.

SKREOOOOOOOONK!

TITANTALE

Chapter Text

The humans of the little city beneath Mount Ebott were used to very quiet days.

Nothing ever happened there. It was, after all, a pretty quiet place.

This day was not one of these.

Not long ago something happened in the depths of Mount Ebott.

They knew that because they could feel the ground shake, with tremors never felt before coming right from the depths of the mount itself.

They never heard or felt something like that.

For a second they thought they were about to witness the same thing that happened to San Francisco months before.

When the tremors finished they immediately understood that it wasn’t the case.

It was something else.

Something totally different.

All the citizens of the little city were out of their houses now in front of the city hall, asking their mayor what was going on.

“Mayor, what’s going on right now?”.

“What were all those tremors?”.

“Do you know anything about this?”.

These were the questions that were being asked to the mayor, a fifty nine years old man with graying hair named Alexander Howard, who watched all his citizens with clear worry on his expression.

His gaze landed on Mount Ebott itself and, instinctively, his mind returned to the legends he always heard about it: that whoever tried to climb the mountain would have never returned.

Through the years many people, children, climbed the mountain only to never be found.

For some reason, for some unknown reason he thought this had to do with these legends… he just didn’t know why.

“Please, calm down everyone.” said Howard with a firm yet calming tone, silencing all the questions that were being fired to him “I know you all have questions about what has happened in the last hours, and you want answers. Trust me, I do too. However I don’t know what’s happening either. But do not fret. I’ll make sure to find out what has been happening but I need you all to return to your houses. Do not worry. Everything is going to be completely fine.”.

The various citizens looked at each other and murmured, seemingly more calm. Howard, in all his time as a mayor, always had a quite calming attitude capable of making the worries of anyone he was speaking go away.

The various people started slowly, but surely, to go away to return to their homes as Howard merely watched “Now we just need to find out what caused all this ruckus.” he thought ready to reenter the city all to make some calls and start the investigation.

But he was stopped by multiple terrified screams.

He looked back and saw all the citizens looking towards the same objective, their bodies paralized.

The mayor immediately run to see what was happening and, after making his way through the citizens, he too finally saw what was causing all of this and couldn't help but widen his eyes too.

Frisk knew, from the very moment the monsters were freed, the humans would have reacted with absolute shock.

And that’s exactly what they were welcomed with after they entered the small city.

Shock and expression of pure disbelief welcomed the monsters as they entered the small city with Frisk, Toriel and Asgore at the lead.

The monsters looked all around them with curious expressions and almost insecure: after all it had been many years since their imprisonment so they weren’t sure what exactly to expect.

“What in the actual hell is happening right now…?”.

“Who are these… creatures?”.

“Is there a costume party or something around here?”.

“What is a child doing in there?”.

These were the murmurs that spread among the humans as they kept watching the newcomers without knowing what to do.

In the end, after taking a deep breath, Asgore stepped forward “Howdy humans” he said and gathering the attention of all the citizens who looked towards him with surprised expressions, almost if they weren’t expecting him of being capable to talk “I’m truly sorry that me and my people caused you all so much fright. Do not be afraid, however. We are here in peace and, if your leader could step forward, I’d like to talk to him and let him know the situation.”.

Howard, just like Asgre did, took a deep breath and stepped towards Asgore “Greetings. My name is Alexander Howard, the mayor of this city… or the leader if you prefer.” he said, outstretching his hand to Asgore, although a bit hesitantly. But it was better to start off right.

Asgore smiled as he took the mayor’s hand and shaked it, surprising Howard at how gentle he was “It’s a pleasure to meet you, mayor. As I already said, me and my people aren’t here to cause any trouble. We are here in peace.”.

“Since you didn't attack us already I'm tempted to believe you. However I have a question” he looked at Frisk “What is a child doing with you all, exactly?”.

Asgore was about to answer, another voice rang out “Frisk?!”.

A woman with long, brown hair made her way through the crowd until she was right next to the mayor to look at Frisk who, after widening their eyes, immediately recognized her “Ms Morton?”.

“Oh thank god, Frisk! Where were you? You disappeared for days, and…”.

“Ms Morton, do you know the child?” asked Howard while arching an eyebrow.

“Uh… y-yes mayor.”.

“And you, my child, do you know thi woman?” asked Torile to Frisk with a little bit of suspicion.

Frisk looked up at her and nodded “Yes, Toriel. She… well, she was the owner of the orphanage I lived in.”.

Frisk’s words were heard by Asgore, Howard and Morton who nodded to give confirmation “Exactly. Frisk was one of the children of my orphanage but… they run away various days ago. I tried to find them but there was no use.”.

Frisk let go of Toriel’s hand, surprising her for a second, but she immediately understood what the child wanted to do.

They approached Morton saying “I’m sorry Ms Morton. I… I was overwhelmed. Still overwhelmed by what happened to my parents to the point I… I didn’t know what to do. That’s why I run. I needed a place to think of what to do and… Mount Ebott was the choice that came to my mind.”

Toriel listened to everything, a small frown appearing on her face after hearing everything Frisk had to say, with a specific phrase echoing in her mind.

‘overwhelmed by what happened to my parents.’ .

Frisk had never spoken about their parents to that point.

So her suspicions were true: Frisk’ parents had died. How? She didn’t know. She didn't want Frisk to tell her. She hoped they would… eventually.

Morton sniffed, only now noticing that she was actually crying. She wiped away her tears and smiled, while putting a hand on Frisk’s head and ruffling their hair “It’s… it’s fine, Frisk. All that matters is that you’re okay. I thought something horrible happened to you.”.

Frisk merely shook their heads “Don’t worry Ms Morton. I’m fine… also thanks to them all” they pointed to Toriel and the monsters “It’s also thanks to them that I’m fine.”.

“Is that so?” asked the woman, smiling “Then… I thank you all for bringing Frisk safely back.”.

“Indeed” nodded Howard “However, now that this situation is clear… there are still many questions remaining. Like who are you people? And why are you here?”.

Asgore nodded “These are questions that will be immediately answered, mayor. Tell me…” said as he looked not only at the mayor but also at all the humans so that they could hear “Have you all ever heard of the legend of Mount Ebott? Of the legends of how once humans coexisted with monsters, until the formers were trapped right in the depths of the Mountain that stands besides your city?”.

Small whispers began to make their way through the citizens as they recalled the legend that by now the whole world knew, until realization began to stir in all of them as they looked with shock at Asgore and the rest of the monsters.

The King nodded “Indeed. We are the monsters of the legend, who were trapped on the depths of Mount Ebott many years ago. Today we were freed” he put a hand on Frisk’ head “by this brave child, who destroyed the barrier to free us all.”.

Frisk would have so much wanted to correct him, to say that they weren’t the one to destroy the barrier, but their son Asriel who, by now, had surely returned to be a flower.

But they kept their mouth shut.

They weren’t sure if Asgore and Toriel would have been able to hear the truth.

More murmurs between the humans began.

“The legends were true…?”.

“You’re telling me we lived with an entire civilization under our feet and we thought it to be just stories?!”.

“So that’s what caused all those tremors…”.

“First the San Francisco incident and now this… this year is sure becoming stranger and stranger…” murmured Howard.

This particular comment caught the attention of the monsters and Asgre himself who, curious, asked the question that was now going through all the monsters’ heads “San Francisco incident? I’m sorry mayor, but what is this incident  you speak of?”.

Howard looked at Asgore and, after coughing a few times, he answered “Oh yeah, you people don’t know… considering you all have been trapped under there for all this time. I’ll answer this question later, it’s a bit… complicated… I’m sorry but all of this is just… unexpected and quite shocking. After all, we all thought you all were just a legend… no offense.”.

“None taken. After all this is a huge development for you all. Just so you know we haven’t come here to cause any harm. As I’ve said, we come in peace.”.

Howard merely nodded while putting a hand under his chin in thought.

This… was surely something he didn’t expect.

After various seconds of pure silence the man looked back at Asgore saying “Mmm. I see. I’m sorry if I don’t really have anything else to say, but this is quite the development for us all. After all we all thought you were alla a legend.”.

Asgore nodded “Indeed. I don’t feel any of you for feeling quite confused or overwhelmed by this news.”.

“Why, thank you Asgore. Now stay here and make yourselves comfortable. I’ll have to say about this development to various people”.

Asgore nodded “I understand.”.

“Good” Howard looked at all the citizens “To all of you, I know you are all confused at the moment, but I’d ask you to treat our hosts as best you can. We don’t want to start this the wrong way, don’t we?”.

This was met by various murmurs by the citizens, but no negative answers.

“Good. Now if you all will excuse me.” said Howard as he started to go towards the city hall.

After entering he took a deep breath and then loudly sighed.

“I’m getting too old for this…” he said while rubbing his nose.

He took his phone and started dialing a number while continuing speaking to himself “With what happened to San Francisco with those giant creatures and the monsters of the Mount Ebott legend appearing out of nowhere I can’t really be surprised about anything anymore…”.

After a few seconds he started talking to whoever had picked up the phone “Hello? This is the mayor Alexander Howard. I have to talk to the president… something quite unusual happened in my town, and I think he needs to hear it.”.