(Hey, guys! So I really think you're going to enjoy this chapter. I'm not going to say anything about it because I don't want to spoil anything. Anyways, I'm glad you're still here, and have all still stuck by me through this journey.

This intro thing is going to be brief as I'm avoiding giving anything away, but I will say it's major, and I truly think you're going to enjoy it.... or so I hope.

Anyways! Let's get right down to it then, shall we?

Music for this chapter- The song I'm using for this chapter is MANDATORY to listen to throughout, otherwise it will not even REMOTELY have the same effect. When you hear it, you'll understand why. I choose songs very carefully for lyrics that fit with each chapter (as well as other reasons that I don't always say, but hope you guys figure it out), so please take my advice and let it play through while you read. I promise it will enhance the entire thing and make it SO much better. I promise.

Artist: Evanescence

Song Title: Hello

Link: http://listenonrepeat.com/?v=9MHGtlEYZBA#Hello-Evanescence-Lyrics

I truly love all of you SO very much, especially for all the wonderfully encouraging and sweet comments and compliments on both my style of writing, but the story's arcs and just the way it's written in general. You guys make me want to see this through to the end, and I truly hope it will be one hell of a story by the time it's finished. While I realize it's borderlining from AU to Fanfic, I'm honestly not worried about it. But I'll reiterate once again. Every chapter. Every single thing I do, I do for a reason. So you may not understand a lot of things now, but you soon will. I promise.

I love you guys, and with all my heart, I truly hope you enjoy!))

"The leaves of memory.....

                             .... make a mournful rustling in the dark." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Stirring, Frisk found herself heaving in a breath, gulping down air that had seemingly been siphoned from her lungs. A dim light was visible through her eyelids. Was she still in her apartment, or had she managed to make it back to Sans?

Hazel hues opened and immediately rounded at the sight before her. Her brows, knitting together in complete puzzlement. She was on the floor within a vaguely familiar room. Unfortunately, when she tried to recall why it appeared familiar, nothing struck a cord. The floor was covered in a thick gray carpet. The walls a light shade of vibrant blue. The ceiling vaulted from both sides, pitching in the middle and there was a moderately sized bay window with a generously wide enough ledge that pillows of all different colors were strewn about upon it. It seemed large enough to sit on for someone who wanted a view of the sky at night, or to simply curl up and read a book upon. At least, that's the way she'd use it anyway. The strange thing was how the pillows seemed to be in total disarray, like someone had moved them around looking for something.

A twin sized bed sat to the left side of the room, beautifully adorned with four wooden posters and draped with sheer white silk over the top that draped down over the bed itself. Even it had been torn and was pulled half off of several of the posters, the blankets that were visible tossed about along with the pillows. A large enough gap through that silk made it clear to her that there was no one within the bed. Thankfully. Frisk scrunched her nose as her brows slid even closer together and she stared at the sight as if scrutinizing it. "Where have I seen this before? It looks so familiar... And why the hell does it look like someone ransacked this place?"

The one thing she was entirely grateful for was the fact that the terrible headache she'd suffered from before was now gone.

Along one side of the wall that shared the door was a beautiful vanity set atop a finely crafted table with several drawers that were likely for makeup and such. Both were slightly ajar, only further confirming her suspicions that someone had been in here looking for something... and that someone was definitely not supposed to be in here. Rising to her feet, Frisk took a few steps toward the vanity and noticed pictures taped in a decorative way of what appeared to be... was that a... Goat? But... Goats didn't have bodies with the same structure as humans... Still, the horns, fur, and just his face alone made her certain it had to be. Was this a monster from the Underground? That was the only logical explanation... So if she was in the Underground now, that meant she could find her way back to Sans! Reaching for the door handle near the vanity, she tried to turn the nob, but no matter how hard she twisted, that door simply wasn't budging. Grunting in frustration, she leaned into the door and allowed her head to make an audible thud against it.

"None of this make any sense at all. I know this place, but why can't I remember the reason?!" She said audibly in a rather exasperated tone. Closing her eyes, Frisk stood there simply breathing to try and calm her frustration enough to continue searching. Obviously, there had to be some reason she was here in some strangers room, so no matter what, she was going to have to figure it out sooner or later. When her eyes opened, another thing she noticed where scads of more Polaroid pictures just like the ones on the mirror scattered all around the floor. Some facing up, others upside down, and when Frisk finally studied the wall, she spotted some of the marks where they'd been ripped down.

...... What the hell had happened here?

The room itself smelled heavily of flowers. And the more she took in it's lovely fragrance, she realized it was the same scent of the flowers that grew all over Waterfall. Turning her gaze, she spotted a white dresser on the opposite side of the door against the wall, only waist height. All the drawers had been emptied, clothes piled around the bottom drawer on the floor. They'd likely been ripped out and thrown there, which made her certain now that someone was here looking for something. What, she had no idea, but hopefully they wouldn't return while she was still inside.

Atop the dresser were a few random things. Some pens, several rolls of tape, but what really caught her eye was the gorgeous box with beautifully intricate designs and patterns carved into it. At first glance, it appeared to be the only thing in the room that hadn't been tampered with. Upon further inspection when she looked closer however, she quickly realized by the chipped wood around the lock itself that someone had tried to pry it open despite the lock sealing it shut with a keyhole. Maybe the thieves, or what she suspected had to be thieves, were looking for the key to open it, and that's why they'd torn the room apart? But what could this box contain that was so important? When she tried to lift it from the dresser, it wouldn't move. Like it'd been glued down. Out of curiosity, Frisk then leaned down to try and lift the dresser itself and found that it too wouldn't budge an inch. Had they actually nailed it into the floor? Or was she just not strong enough.

This was growing more and more strange by the moment. But Frisk wasn't one who could leave a mystery like that alone. She needed to know what was inside that box. On the wall opposite the bed was a small closet covered by long strings of tiny, multi colored beads. From far away, they'd almost looked like gems. Now that she thought about it, she actually kind of liked that idea. All the shelves had been cleared inside though, and all clothes torn from their hangers and tossed to the floor. It was as bare as a baby's bottom, and didn't appear to have any clues. Turning away, she started to walk back to the box when one of the Polaroid photos on the ground caught her attention. Slowly, she knelt down and picked up the picture, feeling her stomach clench and her heart begin to race. All color drained from her face as she stared at the image with wide eyes. Standing next to one another, one of each arm draped over the other's shoulder.....

....... The faces of Chara and.... herself stared back at her. They were both dressed differently, and seemed a few years younger, but there was no mistaking that the image was of them. As Frisk stared at the smiling faces, she hadn't even noticed the tear that suddenly began rolling down one cheek. Oddly, she hadn't even known her eyes had welled until that lonely drop had spilled it's way over. Raising a hand to her face, she pressed two fingers to that very cheek and pulled them away, averting her eyes to them momentarily simply stared. In that moment, her mind reeled at the overwhelming shock of this discovery....

So wrapped up in what was happening, Frisk hadn't even noticed the male voices outside the door, and the smoke that had begun to fill the room until she inhaled deeply and began coughing. The clouds became thicker as the temperature of the room rose more quickly by the moment. Her head glanced over toward the window only to discover flames blazing, climbing up the window and spreading. They began penetrating the room as the walls started warping. Soon enough, they'd broken through, seemingly on all sides and the silk above the bed took to the flames faster than a fly on shit.

So much smoke filled the room now, and the flames seemed to be everywhere, Frisk wavered, becoming disoriented and coughing so hard her chest felt like it had also caught the flames. She stumbled into the dresser, which strangely toppled over and the wooden box slid from it's surface and onto the floor. Army crawling, still gripping the photo in one hand, she reached for the box with the other and pulled it towards her, tucking it under her arm as she tried to rise and reach for the door. When the handle singed her fingers, she pulled back with a yelp and fell into another coughing fit which sent her back down to the floor. She held fast to the photo and box, trying desperately to keep her eyes open and move toward the window, but there was no way she could get through those flames either without being severely burned and possibly die that way too. It was no matter anyway. Her breathing began to slow and her eyesight dimmed, welcoming her back into the darkness that she'd now become so used to.

Waking with a start, coughing and still gasping for air, she sucked it in with more vigor than even she knew she had. It took a few moments before it finally subsided and she opened her eyes fully to realize that she was sprawled out on her kitchen floor. She grunted as she slowly sat up, feeling something slide from her lap, hitting the floor with a light clack. Frisk's eyes trailed down and her mouth gaped. It.... it was the box from the dream. Hurriedly, she looked to her other side and there, laying on the floor was the Polaroid. Once again stiff, but luckily no longer dealing with a headache that had her passing out constantly, Frisk rose and took the box and the photo into the bedroom where there was better lighting.

Once inside, she set the box on top of her nightstand after shoving her alarm clock over and turned on the lamp sitting beside it. She studied the photo for a long time before something strange caught her eye. Leaning down closer, around both of their necks were necklaces. Heart shaped pendants hung from gold chains, but each was specially made to be half of the heart with grooves along the middle to fit perfectly when placed together. Frisk flew from her bed and reached into her jewelry box, pulling out her half and dangling it in front of her face. "Friends" was written in the middle, and she stared at it as though it were alien to her now. 

"We... we were best friends? But.... How? I don't understand...." Knowing that she'd been found near a mountain, maybe they'd been friends before she lost her memory, and maybe that was why she'd been at that mountain in the first place. To find Chara. More tears began to line her lids in generous pools, daring to spill over. Frisk sniffed. "This doesn't make any fucking sense!" she finally let out, along with the tears she could no longer hold back. "There's gotta be more to it than just this."

Rushing then back to the image, Frisk sat on the bed and looked from it to the necklace, then back to the image. The background in the picture itself didn't look familiar, but that didn't surprise her. Bringing her sights back to the pendant, something she hadn't noticed before was there between the grooves.

"A... latch? Wait. This is a locket?" she said quietly to herself, and gingerly used one of her nails to pry it open, never having noticed it before. When it did, it revealed a small key that, because she hadn't expected there to be one inside, fell into her lap. Hurrying to close the locket, holding both it and the picture in one hand, she took the key and looked to the box, afraid to open it. Carefully, she slid the box into her lap and, with shaking hands and placed the key into the keyhole, which fit perfectly. Suddenly however, Frisk felt another wave of pain coming on.

"No, dammit! Not now!" she cried, but this time, the darkness came on quicker than it normally had. Still Determined to hopefully see what was inside, she turned the key that made a quiet snick before the 'wonderful' murky gloom that was now seeming to take over her life devoured her and all light winked out.......