You decided that this tree matched your personal aesthetic quite nicely. It was pitch black and actually made of stone, and limestone from miles above you slowly dripped on the structure. You couldn't figure out any reason why this stalagmite would be shaped this way, but you weren't complaining.
You had stepped into this area after a few more puzzles. You had to admit, the last few were pretty creative, especially the one where the room would shift when you passed though the next door. Though, you didn't quite know why it would need to. You had even bought a spider donut and a jug full of what tasted like apple cider.
Now you stood staring at this oddity of nature, before noticing what was behind it. A small, cozy house was tucked into the end of the cavern, a stark contrast to the cold cave walls and stone floors. When you approached, a wonderful smell wafted its way to your nose. It smelled warm and sweet.
You walked right on in, not even bothering to knock, since you were pretty sure you knew who lived here. The inside was even warmer, and you were drawn to where the scent came from. You passed by a low burning fireplace and empty reading chair, and into a kitchen. Sure enough, Toriel was inside, magically applying fire to a golden pie in what seemed to be a very well-known and practiced fashion for her. You walked up behind her, but you must have been pretty quiet, for when she looked over and saw you there, she jumped and caught the curtain on fire.
"O-oh! H-how did you get here, child?" she quickly pat out the small fire, but the curtain still had a charred black edge to it. You shrugged.
"Walked."
"Ah…" Toriel looked down at you, and you looked back up at her with the same bored expression you always wore. "Well, I suppose I cannot keep it a secret much longer." She motioned to the pie she was baking, which seemed done. "Ta-da! I made us a cinnamon-butterscotch pie to celebrate your arrival! Today's a special day, so I will hold off on snail pie for tonight." She moved the pie tin from the stove to a cooling rack on the counter, then looked down at you again and winked. "But first, we must let it cool. Come along. I have something else to show you."
You could tell she was really happy by how she almost skipped across the house, with you in tow. It was sort of cute. You two stopped in front of a door in the hall when she turned back to you.
"A room of your very own! I want you to have the best stay you can while you're down here. Please, go inside and take a look!" She clasped her hands together, watching you with a wide grin as you opened the door.
The room was small and quaint. It looked as if it were meant for children slightly younger than you, with stuffed toys and small shoes and crayon art, but it was not uncomfortable. The bed fit just right and was very soft, and suddenly you realized how tired you were. As if reading your mind, Toriel spoke up.
"Ah, why don't you take a nap? I will be here when you wake up, so do not worry. Then we will both enjoy that pie. Goodnight, child." She then closed the door and quietly padded off.
You're initial fear of her had faded off. Although it may have been true that she had ulterior motives, what did it matter? You'd just get what you wanted, and that wasn't so bad. You laid your head down and slowly dozed off.
You knew this place well. Your feet sunk into the stretchy elastic, but by now you were an expert at moving over it. Oddly, you felt none on you. You actually felt nothing on you, and nothing that was you, you felt like nothing. Where had you gone? Could it be that once you died, you left? That's not right, you heard you earlier today, both your voice and your gait. They were you. Were you chasing after you? Why couldn't you just come back in? You had never left before, so you didn't really know what was going on.
You reached the edge, where the elastic gave way to a sharp, white, abrasive surface. You looked down below to a familiar sight. It was a white, glowing orb, which had to be miles long at least. However, inside, instead of seeing a writhing ball of bandages, there was nothing. This was more than strange. Why wasn't your cage there? Where had you gone to?
Wait, there was something there. It was faint, but you saw it. There! There it was again. It swam across the surface, leaving a cloud trail behind it. It was a solid, flat piece of green. You didn't know what it was or why it was there, but the more you saw it, the more you liked it.
You woke up feeling as empty as when you went to sleep, but now also confused. Had your astral body really been detached from your physical body? Why else would you have been nothing, and seen nothing in your heart? You shook these thoughts away and flicked on the light. In the centre of the room was a plate with a slice of pie. You smiled to yourself, picked it up, and ate it on your way out to where you thought you'd see Toriel sitting.
And sure enough, there she sat, in front of the fire place, reading a book with cute little reading glasses. She put the book down and smiled when she heard you approaching.
"Good afternoon, did you sleep well?" You nod your head. "And I see your enjoying the pie. That's lovely. I want you to know how happy I am to have you here. There are quite a few books I would like to share with you, and I'd like to show you my favorite bug hunting spot. Also, I've prepared a curriculum for your education. It may seem surprising but, I've always wanted to be a teacher!" You give a small chuckle. "Well, perhaps it is not so surprising. Still… I am glad to have you living here. Oh, was there something you wanted?" You thought for a second before taking a deep breath.
"I want to know where I am."
"Why, you're in the Ruins, of course."
"No, I mean. Is this the afterlife?" Toriel laughed heartily at your question.
"Ohoho, no, of course not child! You and I are very much alive." You looked down, your suspicions being confirmed. Toriels look also went serious. "Why?"
"I just… I fell quite a long way, didn't I? I thought perhaps I had died." You smiled, hoping she wouldn't notice the lie. Luckily, she seemed to buy it.
"Ah. Well, you are in the Underground, where monsters such as myself live. But…" She chewed her lip, as if contemplating if she should tell you something or not. "…Well, the rest of the underground, is very dangerous, especially for a human. I would advise you to never go out there."
"Fair enough." Toriel looked up at you with wide eyes, and honestly you were a little surprised at yourself as well. After all, you came down here to die, so why would you choose to stay somewhere safe?
You looked down at Toriel, who's eyes were starting to water. This was why. You didn't understand it but, you knew you had to do this, for her. She knelt on the ground in front of you and scooped you into a warm hug.
"Child, I promise that for as long as you live here, I will do everything in my power to make you as happy as possible." You wrapped your arms around her as well, her back shaking slightly.
You felt something in your heart, like a piece being clicked into a puzzle, and you felt a little more whole. Not quite alive, but getting there.
You had spent one year there in your new home. Toriel tried to teach you things your age level, but you were much more advanced than that. Thankfully, she was able to get together a new curriculum for about high school level work. Her method of teaching was much more effective than those of the teachers back at school. She sparked a real interest in you for the things she'd teach, but more than the others, you enjoyed her teachings of history.
In school, they never taught you about monsters. No one had ever heard of the great war between humans and monsters, no one knew what their ancestors had done. It was kind of sad to know that the spoils of victory were getting to trap and forget about an entire race for uncounted millennia. But more than the war, monster's had their own decade-to-decade history. They had their fair share of influential idols, rebellion leaders, ground breaking riots, and impossible scientists. But overall, monsters seemed to have a much more peaceful life than the humans above, who were constantly at war with each other.
On the morning of your thirteenth birthday, Toriel skipped getting you up on time and snuck to the basement. She knocked on the large door there, waiting for a response. But no one came. She sighed and sat there, hoping he was on his way.
Ten minutes later, two pairs of footsteps crunched up to the door, and she heard a knock. Giddy, she clapped her hands and answered.
"Who's there?" Outside she heard a muffled man's voice.
"you wanna answer?" A woman's voice quietly answered him.
"Uh, no, n-not really… H-hey!" Toriel heard scuffling outside before someone finally called through the door. "H-hello, your majesty! S-sans told me, to, uh, to try and find some books f-for you?"
"Ah, you must be Dr. Alphys then! Splendid! And please, call me Toriel."
"Ok, uhm, d-do you wanna hear what I brought? You, you know, so I don't waste your t-time with things you d-don't need?"
"Sure, let us hear it!" Toriel heard a package being placed to the ground and opened, and its contents being shifted around.
"L-let's see, uh… 'An Advanced Study of T-time and its Properties', 'Masterpieces – A C-collection of the Greatest Authors of the Underground', 'Encyclopedia of Mental Ailments'…" Aphlys continued to list off about 10 more books, each with titles suggesting they covered pretty advanced subjects. Toriel was more than pleased.
"Oh! Those all sound lovely, I'm sure they'll love it! How much do I owe you?"
"A-actually, I paid for them m-myself, you don't have to worry about it."
"Nonsense! Surely you'd want something in return?"
"Uh, uhhh…" Alphys started to sweat a little, already knowing the queen would deny her request, but she figured it couldn't hurt too bad to ask, right? "U-uh, I was w-wondering if, maybe, o-one day you'd let me, you know, s-see the kid?"
Toriels breath froze. She was already getting used to the child being around, even thinking of them as her own. She had pushed the thought of them leaving to the back of her mind, never wanting to think about it. But she knew that one day the child would grow restless and wish to explore the rest of the Underground, even if they didn't want to go back to the surface. It was just the harsh truth.
"I'll… I'll see what I can do. Please be patient."
Alphys could hear the queen's melancholy tone, but couldn't stop her own relief and glee. She hopped a little in place and clapped her hands.
"I-I'll just send the book right over!"
Toriel heard some odd noises, some beeps and whirs and electricity, then suddenly a sound behind her. A box landed squarely in the middle of the room, little bits of electricity still fading off of it.
"Thank you, good doctor. I hope to hear from you again soon."
"T-thanks again!" One pair of feet quickly scuffled off, and another started to, but was stopped.
"Sans?"
"what's up?" Toriel breathed deeply. She knew this was something she needed to do.
"If the human ever- no… When the human comes through this door, could you please, please promise me something?" She paused, taking another shaky breath. "Watch over them, and protect them. Will you not?" She heard nothing for a few seconds, and when she started to fear he had left, she heard him speak.
"'course I can do that." Toriel let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank you. And tell Dr. Alphys I said thank you as well. Not just for the company, or the books, but for being open and willing to accept this human. It really gives me hope."
"no problem. later, Toriel."
"Until next time, Sans."
She heard him walk off, but she took a moment to sit there. She shook her head. Now was not the time to think about this, it was your child's birthday, after all!
When you looked at the clock on the wall, it showed it was close to 11 am. Toriel had not woken you up at 7 like she usually did, and you accidently slept in. You hoped she wasn't mad.
You got up and stretched. You didn't feel much different being 13. That is to say, you still felt like a walking corpse. Toriel had caught on by now, though you weren't exactly trying to hide it. The days you wouldn't get out of bed. The weeks you'd spend not showering. How you'd eat everything in the house one day and the next not be able to keep down one egg. The nights where you'd spend hours just crying, hoping she wouldn't hear you.
But she did. She noticed all of it, she just didn't say anything. You weren't mad, you knew she tried to help you the best she could. She taught you your favorite subjects, she made your favorite foods (you actually quite liked snail pie), she hung out with you everywhere you liked to go and told you silly jokes. She was the best mother anyone could ask for, no doubt. You constantly felt guilty for not being happy with her, but you like to think she understands. Nothing in the world could make you happy; you were not made to be happy.
You quickly got dressed and brushed your hair. Despite being a boy, you quite liked your hair longer. It only came down to just above your shoulders, but it was by no means a 'boys cut'. You thought it was stupid that there was such a thing as boys' hair and girls' hair. Why does everything have to be split into boys' or girls' categories? At least Toriel didn't seem to do that, she always referred to you with gender-neutral terms, and let you have whatever interests you wanted. Unlike your real parents, who scolded you for liking or not liking various things.
You were leaving your room when you heard someone come up the stairs. Toriel only had one rule, and that was that you never went down that staircase. At first she didn't tell you why, but eventually caved when she figured you weren't really interested in leaving. Apparently, the door to the rest of the Underground was in that basement. You wondered why monsters from the other side didn't just walk right in then, but you weren't that concerned about it.
"Morning mom."
"Ah!" Toriel jumped, moving to try and hide the box from your view. Though it didn't really matter, you couldn't see what was inside anyway. "C-Corvus! Do not frighten me like that!" You chuckled and said an apology, following her to the living room. She placed the box on the table, which shook under the weight. It must have been heavy, whatever it was. She then bent a little to look at you.
"Corvus, I have a very important request to ask of you." You nodded your head, and she led you by the hand back to her room, then handed you an empty bucket. "I need you to go collect some snails and parsley. And please, do take your time and enjoy yourself!" You smiled knowingly as she ushered you out the front door. You knew what she was up to, sly old woman. You shook your head and walked off.
On your way to the streams, you passed by a familiar face. Or, body, rather.
"Hey Napstablook." The ghost jumped from where it stood. Seemed like he was really enjoying himself, staring at that wall. "Did I interrupt something?"
"Ah, s-sorry, am I in your way?"
"Nah, not at all. What are you looking at?" Napstablook moved back a little so you could see.
You looked where he seemed to be looking, and to your surprise, you found an extraordinarily small frog!
"He says his name is Alejandro."
"Hello, Alejandro."
"He says your breath smells like rotting snails." You squinted your eyes at the frog meanly.
"Goodbye, Alejandro." You back up and face the ghost again. "Wanna walk with me? I gotta pick up snails for mom."
"Are you s-sure I wouldn't be a bother?" You smiled at him, motioning him to follow you. He gave a small smile back. Together, you two quietly walked to the streams.
Finally, Napstablook spoke up.
"H-hey, today's your birthday right?" You nod your head at him as you bent down in the damp mud and filled the bucket partly with water. "Well, I found something at the dump, that I think you'll like."
"Oh?" You looked intently into the water, scooping up any particularly large snails.
"I'm sorry… I can't tell you what it is. You aren't mad about that, are you?"
"Of course not, presents are supposed to be a surprise." The ghost seemed relieved.
You two passed the time talking about nothing and harvesting snails and plants. Napstablook was your main connection to the rest of the Underground. He told you about the king, King Asgore, and his plan to destroy humanity. He told you about Undyne and her drive for hunting humans. About Alphys the mysterious scientist, and Mettaton, a famous robot TV celebrity, at least, famous in the Underground. The rest of the Underground sounded so busy and interesting, but also dangerous for a human like you. More and more, you wished you could experience the rest of this odd community.
Napstablook followed you all the way to your house, though he seemed to disappear without saying anything when you actually got there. You shrugged it off, thinking he probably did say something but you didn't hear it. Now he was going to think you were ignoring him. Oh well, that was an issue to deal with another time.
You opened the door at about 3 pm. Three hours was enough time to get together a small celebration, you figured. When you opened the door, everything was pitch black. You smiled and turned into the living room, knowing what would happen next.
"Surprise!" Toriel's voice boomed as all the lights flashed on. Admittedly, you did jump a little, and threw on a great big smile.
You expected it to just be Toriel, but there was a few other guests as well; Whimsum, Froggits A, B, and C (you guessed Alejandro wouldn't come after you blew your gross snail breath all over him), Misop, Loox, Moldsmal. The only one that was missing was-
"S-sorry, I had to go get your present…" Napstablook floated in through the window, holding a rather large electric piano with no stand. Oddly enough, the piano phased through as well, though it seemed pretty solid. All of your friends were here. That was more than you could ever say for your time above ground.
You beamed. Of course, you weren't actually happy, you felt just as grey as ever, but you had gotten good at pretending, for everyone else's sake.
After playing an odd array of music and enjoying cake, everyone bombarded you to open your presents. Misop got you a cd full of old hip hop music from about a decade ago, Loox got you a toy knife, and Whimsum gave you a long blue ribbon. They were simple gifts, but you knew the ruins wasn't really filled with interesting things to give to others, so you appreciated what they could find.
Toriel's gift was obviously in the big box. It was wrapped neatly with a bow stuck on top. You neatly tore it open and looked inside.
Thirteen books were stacked neatly inside. You pulled them out one by one and read their titles out loud. They all sounded very interesting to you, but the other guests all seemed to think they sounded boring and lame. Thankfully, however, they did not pick on your interest in them, but you still felt bad for liking things others considered lame.
One really caught your eye, 'Encyclopedia of Mental Ailments'. Back when you lived with your real family, you did quite a bit of reading on mental illness, and concluded that you needed help. But when you brought it up to your parents, they showed no interest in taking you to therapy or anything of the sort. They told you to stop being so sensitive and life would hurt less. That was easier said than done, but you tried. You tried and tried until you were a wandering husk, a reactionless zombie. But you were still depressed, and now you couldn't figure out how to get the rest of your emotions back.
Toriel seemed to notice your grim expression at the sight of the book and suggested you try out Napstablook's present.
You walked up to the electric piano, Napstablook smiling meekly behind it. It was already plugged in and set on the table. You grinned widely at him.
"You remembered that I like playing the piano!"
"O-of course, how could I forget my frien-" he stopped, as if he were about to curse. You chuckle.
"Well, I'm glad you remembered, it shows you care about me. You're a really good friend, Napstablook." The ghost grinned as widely as it could, which wasn't that wide, and little tears formed in his eyes.
You sat down in front of the piano and rested your hands over it. It was a little worn, but everything worked fine. It wasn't even that old.
"Ah, hold on…" you got up and went into your room to grab something, and soon reemerged. You opened your notebook to the back and rested it against the stack of books.
You began to play, and the room went silent, save for your music. It was a short little tune that you played about 3 or 4 times over, before stopping and looking to see everyone's reaction. No one clapped. No one said they were proud. They all just sat there in silence.
"I know it's simple but, is it really that bad?" You looked to anyone around you that would give you an answer. Even Loox, who frequently picked on you for no reason, had nothing to say. Finally, Toriel spoke up.
"My child, where did you hear that tune?"
"This?" You pointed to you notebook. "I wrote it myself a couple years ago. Why?" Toriel leaned on a chair for support and looked down. It looked like she was about to cry.
"That is the Royal Lullaby, child. There is no way you could have heard it above ground…"
After an awkward silence, the other monsters slowly filed out. They thanked Toriel for having them over, and told you happy birthday one last time. When all of them had left, you and Toriel sat in silence. You looked up timidly at Toriel, who was looking at the fire across the room.
"Are you mad at me?" She sighed.
"No, Corvus. I am simply, confused, is all." She then got up. "Please, come with me." You followed her out of the house.
You two walked in silence for a good ten minutes before entering a dark cave. You knew this cave, but you hadn't seen it in a long time. It wasn't like you were ignoring it, you just had no reason to come back here.
She hesitated before looking back to you, as if to see if you were ok with this. You said nothing, and you two pressed forward.
Then, you were there; the hole where you should have died. You both looked up at the now rotting structure. Slowly, Toriel cast small fireballs to it, and it easily caught on fire, despite possibly being damp. She drew you towards her with her arm in a comforting side hug, and you watched your handiwork turn to ash. But you weren't mad. Somehow, seeing this made you feel stronger, like you were destroying a part of your past that was keeping you weak. Tears came to your eyes, and you didn't try to stop them. Toriel knelt in front of you and scooped you into a tight embrace.
"Corvus, my child, I want you to know that you are very strong. I am certain that you could handle any conflict in your path, but more importantly, you would do it without causing pain. You are very brave." With each word, you broke down more and more, until your knees gave out and you were practically laying on her. No one had ever told you these things, and while you could feel your mind try and reject them, there was something about the way she said it that made it stick to you.
When you felt strong enough to stand on your own, you did, and Toriel leaned back to look you in the face.
"That being said, I believe that there is something more to you knowing that song. I believe there is an important reason for you being here, not just for the Ruins, but for the entire Underground. Do you understand what I am saying?" You nodded, you think you did.
"As much as it pains me, one day, you must leave this place. I think that you need to be out there, and I do not think it is to shatter the barrier. No, you are only the sixth child to fall down here, and the barrier can only be broken with seven human souls. Still, my point stands. Corvus…" You looked up and into her eyes; they too had tears in them.
"You may not see yourself as worthy of life, you may think that there is no way to make yourself good enough. And I know that nothing I say can make you not believe that wretched lie, but I may be able to convince you of this; you can live for others, Corvus. You can give every ounce of love you have to those who also need it. And I believe that if you fill yourself with love, and caring, and good will for others, then nothing in the world could corrupt you. So please," Toriel now had tears streaming down her furry cheeks, "Please promise me that you will live for this reason?"
You nodded and buried your head back into your mother's warm fur. As ash slowly settled around you, you felt something come back to you. It made your heart beat and your face crack into a wide grin. You felt brave.
