Chapter 2 is up already, not much to say before starting this one. Reviews help a lot!
xXxXx
You steel your nerves and move to the right staircase, climbing the large steps one at a time. Toriel turns her head and sees you following her still. She tilts her large fuzzy head slightly and smiles at you reassuringly. You give her a toothy grin back, adding a small skip to your step to catch up to her.
You enter the new room. It's much smaller than the last one, but the large, purple brick walls make it feel enormous. You stop when Toriel stops, looking at the six stones to the right of the path you were previously walking on.
"Welcome to your new home, innocent one." She says, turning to you and folding her hands in front of her and on her robes. You nod, however you tilt your head in confusion at the 'new home' part.
Was there no way to leave this Underground place? But… is there really any point in leaving? Where would you go if you got back? To your parents? You couldn't. Plus, Toriel seemed like a caring parent figure-
You're once again cut off from your thoughts when you catch Toriel staring at you with a worried expression. You must have been staring with a vacant expression again, but she does not bring it up. You give her a reassuring smile, and she smiles back.
"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins." She continues, turning and moving towards the six rocks on the ground. She steps on them, and to your surprise, they sink down into the ground. You are pretty sure your body weight alone isn't enough to push down these switch-plates even if you wanted to.
After four of the plates are pushed down in a square sequence, a locked door you hadn't seen on the other side of the room opens with ease. Toriel turns to you when they finish opening.
"The ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doors. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." She says, and you nod enthusiastically. You always loved puzzles, whenever you were home alone you would solve 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles instead of watching the TV your parents left on for you.
You move forward again, watching the motherly goat monster turn and walk beside you towards the new room. She seemed content that you were happy at the mention of solving puzzles, it seems. You glance at a metal slate on the wall beside the door and read it inside your head.
*Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.
You are slightly confused as to why this would be here. You reach up to tug on Toriel's sleeve to ask her, but she had already moved into the new room. You decide not to dwell on it and follow her so you do not get lost.
The room you enter isn't very wide, but it is long. There somehow is clean water cutting across the width of the room, but a small wooden bridge has been constructed over the little break in the floors. Thick vines hang down from the walls, you are positive they would be able to hold your small weight.
"To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labelled the ones that you need to flip." She explains, then moves over the first makeshift bridge and down the long room.
There is another metal slate on the wall, you leave the path and walk over to it curiously after making sure Toriel has turned around to wait for you. She smiles at your curiousity, seemingly happy at watching the eleven year old explore. You make your way to the metal and make out the old words.
*Stay on the path.
You pause. That's all it said? You let out a small giggle, making your way back over to the path and crossing the small bridge. Toriel seems to brighten up after seeing you laugh at the silly, little ironic note.
As you make your way over to Toriel, the path splits to the wall. The path is a little broken, so you hop on each broken piece to make Toriel happy. Once you reach the wall once more, you read the yellow words scribbled onto the purple brick.
*Please press this switch. -Toriel
You look beside the note at the small lever on the wall. You have to stand on the tips of your toes to reach the top, but it slides down easily once her get your hand around it. It slides into place with a small thunk and you make your way back to Toriel. She has crossed over the second bridge and waits in front of the exit of the room. It has spikes shooting up from the ground; you are sure she could simply step over them if she wanted to leave.
You look at the split path, repeating your actions and hopping from broken path piece to another as if the floor was lava. You hear Toriel laugh at your antics, causing you to swell up with happiness. You look at the yellow note on this side of the wall.
*Please press this switch too. -Toriel.
You look at the two switches on the wall beside you. One had three arrows pointing at it, displaying the obvious choice. You look over at the unlabelled switch, your curiosity bubbling again. Allowing it to control you, you reach up to pull on the unlabelled lever.
However, you are stopped before you can pull it down.
"No, no, no! You want to press the other switch. I even labelled it for you…" You smile sheepishly at her word, your cheeks turning pink slightly. She seemed slightly worried that you didn't understand the puzzle. You reach up and pull the labelled lever, listening to the loud boom that ensues. When you look back to Toriel, the spikes behind her have lowered.
"Splendid! I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room." You swell up with pride, not used to getting praised like that. She smiles and turns, leaving this room and moving onto the next. You are about to follow her when your eyes dart back to the unlabelled switch.
You glance back at the door cautiously before moving back towards this switch. You reach up and grasp the handle, giving it a tug. It doesn't move.
This switch doesn't even work…
You tilt your head and cannot fight back the small laugh that escapes your lips. You turn and bounce into the room that Toriel disappeared in. This room is the smallest yet, just a small corner. The path turns, goes past a training dummy and directly into the next room.
"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time, I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy." She explains slowly. You nod, however you pause. You doubt simply talking to the flower would have done anything. But Toriel did come to your aid…
You step up to the dummy and feel the sharp tug from your chest again. Your red SOUL floats from your body and the background fades away slightly again. The same fight menu from before appears.
*You encountered the Dummy.
*Frisk - LV 1 - HP 20/20
You realize that it must be your turn because you stand there for several seconds and nothing happens. You lift your hand and place it over the *ACT button that hovers in front of you.
*Check
*Talk
You hover your hand over the first option and click it, watching the white text fill out the dialogue box.
*Dummy - ATK 0 DEF 0
*A cotton heart and a button eye
*You are the apple of my eye
You laugh in amusement at this discovery, how was it possible for an inanimate object to do this? You decide to add a tally to the many unknowns of this place. The dummy says nothing, passing its turn you assume.
*Dummy stands around absentmindedly.
You decide to try the *Talk option this time. Much like the Dummy's actions, yours become scripted to the dialogue box as well. You give the Dummy a small wave and a very quiet greeting.
*You talk to the Dummy.
*...
*It doesn't seem much for conversation.
You look over at Toriel, she seems happy with you. You feel a little embarrassed after talking to something with no conscience, but when you turn back to the encounter there is something else written in the dialogue box.
*You won!
*You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.
The FIGHT seems to fade away and your SOUL floats back into your chest easily.
"Ah, very good! You are very good." At hearing these words of praise again, you rush over to proud figure. You're beaming, never had you gotten this much praise out of something so little before. Toriel covers her mouth to hide a smile behind your enthusiasm before leading you into the next room.
The path now snakes back and forth in this similarly long room and Toriel pauses on the edge of the curling path.
"There is another puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?" You take this as a challenge and begin scouring the place for clues, making sure you stay on the path that is. You walk with Toriel down the twisted path, unable to find anything odd other than the usual straight path.
The room narrows to a corridor that is similar to the path, but before you can try and find anything different about this place, a huge frog hops out at you.
Startled, you try to move backwards. However, your SOUL is already pulled free from inside of you, causing your physical body to only move a step back stiffly. You look back towards this new monster. Upon second glance, you realize that it does look more like a huge frog than anything else. It is almost the size of your body.
*Frisk - LV 1 - HP 20/20
*Froggit attacks you!
You tilt your head slightly. This monster is a Froggit? You bubble up with laughter at the unintentional irony of it. Toriel is barely visible from the outside vision of the encounter, but you remember her suggestion. You place your hand on the *ACT option again and look at the options.
*Check
*Compliment
*Threat
You decide to *Check the monster again, seeing how the last one had amused you greatly.
*Froggit - ATK 4 DEF 5
*Life is difficult for this enemy.
You feel yourself frown slightly at this news. That certainly wasn't what you were expecting; however, before you can do anything, Toriel makes her way into the scene. She gives the Froggit a disapproving look, and you watch as the monster takes the hint and scurries off.
*You won!
*You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.
Your heart slides back into your chest and you tug on Toriel's sleeve, pointing at the way the Froggit went with worry. She gives you a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about the monster, small one. It will be fine." You nod after a second of consideration, figuring that Toriel knows more about this than yourself.
You continue along the small hall, stopping to observe another metal sign plastered on the wall.
*The western room is the eastern room's blueprint.
You read it again, taking in this obvious hint. You knew the weird path had something to do with it! You beam with self pride at figuring out part of the large puzzle. You rush over to Toriel to try and show you her discoveries. When you get to her, she is standing in front of a long corridor of spikes. Deep waters surround the outside, forcing you to stay on the spiked path if you wanted to stay dry. Which you did.
You think back to the blueprint hint. So if you just walk in the same back and forth motion as the previous room, you will be fine right? As you are about to take a faith driven step on the spikes, Toriel reaches out and grabs your hand. This halts your momentum and you look back at her with a confused look.
"This is the puzzle, but… Here, take my hand for a moment." She steps in front of you, stepping onto the spikes. As soon as pressure is near the spikes, they shrink into the ground. Toriel leads you through the same curling path as the previous room, confirming your ideals. Part of you is sad that you weren't able to show Toriel that you had understood that puzzle.
Once you reach the other side, she lets go of your hand once more.
"Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now." She explains, moving onto the next room. You eagerly follow after her, adding a small skip to your step to keep up with her strides.
The room you enter is long. Easily the longest room you have been in thus far. You can vaguely see the end. Toriel turns and faces you, a slightly worried expression on her face.
"You have done excellently thus far, my child. However… I have a difficult request to ask of you…" You tilt your head at this, your smile dropping ever so slightly. "I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." She finishes.
Upon finishing her sentence, she turns and walks at a fast pace away from you. Her long strides were enough to outrun you, never mind the pace she was speed walking at.
You stand there for a moment, slightly surprised at the change of events. You eventually come back to reality and start walking down the path. About a minute into the walk, you look around. The end doesn't seem to be getting any closer, so you start to wonder if there is perhaps a puzzle you have to solve. The room is barren, save the thick vines and purple bricked walls. You decide to continue on.
The stiff material of your jeans rub against the scrapes on your knees despite the holes it left, causing some aching to return to your body. You also take the time to survey the several holes in your blue and magenta sweater, ultimately deciding that you can't do anything about it anyways.
To your relief, the sheer size of the walls must have been giving you the sense that you weren't moving at all because you eventually reach the end of the long room. Before you are about to enter the new room, Toriel comes out from behind the only pillar in the room.
"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time." You smile reassuringly at the goat monster, showing her that you were completely fine. "Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise." You listen intently, wondering slightly what this could have tested.
"...to test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself." You frown slightly at this, you would rather explore. You are about to voice this when she continues talking.
"I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?" You pause, but nod after a moment. You reach out and take the phone, looking to see Toriel's number already installed. You look up at her, and she is watching you with a certain amount of confidence and worry.
You nod more confidently too, showing her that you will be good and stay safe. After a moment, she turns and leaves the room. You look around, unable to find anything to immediately occupy yourself with.
You walk over to the pillar that Toriel had previously occupied herself with. There is sturdy vines curling their way around them. You slide the phone into your pocket, grasping the vine. You pull your almost weightless body up, perching yourself in a makeshift hammock.
You close your eyes, suddenly a bit tired from being exposed to such a new world. When you open them again, about thirty minutes has passed you think. Your phone rings, startling you greatly. You pick it up and put it up to your ear.
"Hello. This is Toriel. My errands are taking longer than I thought they would. You must wait five more minutes. Thank you for being patient." There is a click on the receiver, and the call drops.
You climb down from the small perch and look towards the next room. If Toriel will be here soon, maybe you can meet her halfway! You move into the next room, looking cautiously at the piles of red leaves. You see a Froggit watching you curiously and you question if it was the same one as before.
The path turns and leads down the room, but there is a room off the path a bit. You turn and look around. Only the Froggit looks at you, so you take a tentative step off the path. You tense up, waiting to be scolded. But there is nothing.
Ring!
You jump, already tensed up before you realize it is only your phone. You pick it up again.
"Hello? You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?" She hangs up before you can say anything again, causing a small pang of guilt to seep into your conscience.
You pocket the phone again and make your way into the room off the path. You won't go far, you tell yourself.
Inside the room is a very small area. There is two canals of water on either side, and a small pedestal with a bowl of colourful wrappers in them. Leaves litter the area around the pedestal. Upon closer examination, you realize that it is some kind of candy.
There is a sign that says 'take one', so you reach up and take a piece of candy. You put it in your pocket for later. You look around, no one would know if you had another, right?
*You took more candy, how disgusting.
You feel a little guilty, but it doesn't look like anyone else is taking this stuff! You would probably put it to more use anyways. With that in mind, you take another piece.
*You feel like the scum of the earth.
You go to take another piece, but your hand knocks the underside of the bowl.
*You took too much too fast.
*The candy spills onto the floor.
The loud clang of the bowl hitting the ground makes you spin on your heel and bolt out of the room. You shove the candy in your pocket and your eyes dart around the area. There is no one here, even the Froggit left. You still feel bad.
Unsure what to do, you decide to wait a few more minutes and see if Toriel shows up. You move over to the first pile of leaves in the room.
*Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination.