Chapter 1

Isaac ran as fast as his tiny little legs could carry him. Tears streaked down his face as he ran through the darkness of the basement.
He could hear Mother drawing ever closer. No matter how deep he ran, she always seemed to be closer.

"III~SAAAC!" her voice echoed through the darkness, filled with malice and intent.

"I'm sorry, Mommy!" Isaac sobbed as he darted around another dark corner of the seemingly infinite basement. "Please don't hurt me, Mommy!"

Isaac had no idea what he had done wrong. One minute, he was busy coloring with his crayons, the next, his mother had taken them away from him, stripped him naked, and locked him in his room.

Sure, she had never been the same since his father left them, but Isaac didn't ever think Mother would do anything so...crazy!

If his mother wasn't bad enough, Isaac also had to avoid and fight off several unknown horrors that had taken up residency in his basement.

Giant flies, angry spiders, and those were just the beasts he could recognize. He had faced monsters that had swollen heads that exploded into flies, headless corpses that would jump around and claw at him. He had even faced several rotting doppelgangers of himself. None of these made any sense.

All Isaac wanted was to hide, but no matter how deep into the cold basement he went, the monsters and his mother were always hunting him.

"I just wanna get away!" Isaac sobbed as he entered a large chamber.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut. A loud coughing and buzzing split the air as a bloated mass of rotting flesh floated down from the ceiling.

The fly filled carcass smiled a rotten grin and began to charge the frighten child. Isaac rolled away before this "Duke of Flies" could smash him.

Isaac felt several sharp pains flare on his back. His back was covered in blood red flies, each one were biting into him.

"Stop, please!" Isaac begged as he swatted the flies off his back.

As he did, several of his tears splashed against the bloated creature. The creature groaned in pain as the droplets of saline burned into it's rotting flesh.
In response, Duke released another cloud of flies. This time Isaac knew what to do. Isaac began to sob as hard as he could as the cloud of flies enclosed upon him. Each of the flies disappeared in a poof of smoke once his tears struck them. One by one, the flies were dispatched by Isaac's tears.

"GO AWAY!" Isaac wailed as his eyes began to grow bloodshot.

The Duke of Flies' dark rotten skin began to tear and rip as it's body began to take damage. It was now clear to Isaac that even defending himself against monsters would require him to suffer and cry like the lost child he was.

After a few more splashes of tears, the bloated beast erupted into a red mist as its guts were scattered across the cold basement floor.

Maggots squirmed and writhed within the putrid gore. Isaac felt his stomach lurch as the smell hit him like his dad's belt.

Why is this happening to me? Isaac begged. God, please shelter me!

As soon as he made his silent prayer, a trap door opened up in the center of the chamber. Isaac approached it cautiously. This was not the first time he had jumped down a trap door. None of the others had ever lead him to safety, why would this one be any different?

"III~SAAAC!"

He froze, the voice of his mother was echoing ever closer. The voice that he once cherished and felt safe by was now a thing of pure terror for the poor child.

"ISAAC!" her voice snapped loudly.

Isaac whimpered as his eyes returned to the open trapdoor. He had no idea what was waiting for him at the bottom of it's darkness, but he knew it would be temporarily safer than were he was at the moment.

"Sorry, Mommy!" Isaac cried out as he hung his feet over the edge of the trapdoor. "Please don't hate me!"

With that, Isaac pushed himself off the edge and hurtled into the darkness below.

Toriel hummed happily to herself as she tidied up her new home on the surface.
Life on the surface had been very rewarding for Toriel and her little Frisk. After the barrier was destroyed; she, Frisk, and all of her friends had all made new lives on the surface. She had become a teacher for the children of the Underground and was still filling the role of Frisk's adopted mother.

She still got regular visits from Sans and his brother Papyrus. Even her ex-husband Asgore would occasionally drop by, but those visits never lasted very long.

All in all, she had no real complaints.

Toriel felt a warm summer breeze waft through the open window, bringing with it the many scents of the night air. Toriel sniffed and sighed happily.

"The nights are much cozier here on the surface..."

Toriel was just about to pull a freshly baked butterscotch/cinnamon pie from the oven when she heard a loud crash and thumping noise.

The sound was coming from Frisk's bedroom. Quickly, Toriel ran to his door and flung it open. Frisk was lying on the floor of his room with his blankets coiled around his neck. In his struggling, he had kicked over his lamp and shattered it.

In less than a second, Toriel had ripped the blankets off Frisk's writhing body.

"My child, what happened?" Toriel asked as she held Frisk in her arms.

Frisk mouthed a response.

Toriel sighed with relief as she nestled the quiet human child.

"So, it was just a nightmare?" she asked him. "I've seen you have nightmares before, but you've never reacted like that..."

Frisk was silent as he pressed his head against Toriel's body. Her warmth made him feel safe and welcome. Toriel smiled as she looked down at her little Frisk.
He had done so much for the people of the Underground, but he was still just a child that sought the protection of his mother.

"There, there...the nightmare can't hurt you," Toriel cooed softly. "You're safe now..."

Frisk was silent for a moment, when suddenly, he spoke.

"Mom...Isaac is trapped in the Ruins..."

Toriel felt a twinge of surprise from Frisk's voice. He rarely spoke loud enough for anyone to hear him. But when he did speak, it was always about something important.

"Frisk...who is Isaac?" Toriel asked with a puzzled expression.

Frisk was silent again before he responded.

"A lost soul..."

This is happening...