A/N: Formatting is weird. Or maybe I'm just dumb. Thanks MasonMac for pointing out my mistake. It should also be noted that I have never actually played Undertale
before.
BETH LV 1
Ruins - Leaf Pile
Save Return
When I fell down here, it was quite possible that I hit my head. That would explain the evil flower and Toriel, the motherly goat women. Maybe the fall split my skull open, and maybe I'm lying in a coma at the bottom of a dried up well. Even if I couldn't remember what happened before this, I'm pretty sure I didn't live in a video game. Yet the black box before me looked like it had come straight out of an RPG. My hand hovered over the save button. I took a deep breath and tapped my index finger gently against it. The box disappeared and I realized that time seemed to have been frozen while I had stood there. Toriel was still only a few feet away from me. I quickly fell in line behind her.
At the top of the stairs, Toriel and I passed through the doorway into a roughly circular room. On the right were six switches and a lever. On the opposite wall hung a plaque with an inscription to small to see from where I was standing.
"Welcome to your new home, innocent one," She says. "Allow me to educate you in the operations of the ruins." I paid attention closely.
What was she about to show me? I wonder.
Toriel speaks as she walks across the switches in the first and second column.
"The ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door keys."
Because that makes sense. Then again, I was following a goat lady around like a lost kid, so maybe it did.
Toriel continued talking. "One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." We moved on to the next room. Toriel held my hand like I was a particularly dumb child. I didn't say anything, because she was the only help I had in this place.
Speaking of this place, It was kind of depressing. Why did such a nice lady (it was hard to think of her as a monster) live alone down here in the dark? It seemed strange, but I didn't think now was the right time to ask.
Several puzzles later, Toriel led me into a room which contained a rather angry looking dummy.
"As a human living here in the underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! When you encounter a monster, you will entire a fight. When you do, strike up a friendly conversation." Toriel kept talking while I observed the dummy. It looked like it wanted to beat me up.
Then, I felt a tug on my chest. I looked down, and there was my soul again, hovering above my heart. It still felt as strange as the last time, but at least this time I couldn't get hurt. Indeed, the dummy didn't do much but stare. Toriel was looking at me expectantly. I cleared my throat and mumbled out an awkward greeting. The dummy was silent.
Toriel looked happy. "Ah, very good! You are very good."
Uh, thanks. But it wasn't really that hard.
Toriel exits the room and I follow close behind.
"There's another puzzle in this room, I wonder if you can solve it?" She says.
Finally, I get to do something. Toriel, you're very nice, but you don't need to hold my hand through everything. I then examined the puzzle. It was much more...spiky than the others. Toriel seemed to sense my hesitation and quickly stepped in. She took me by the hand and led me through the spikes. When we made it through the other side, Toriel released my hand and continued on. We entered the next room.
"You have done excellent thus far, my child. But I'm afraid I have a difficult request to ask of you…" I waited for her to explain further, the tension that had been fading reappearing with a vengeance. "...I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself."
And just like that, the tension was gone again.
"Oh. Ok. I can do that." I told her and shrugged. It was a bizarre request, but considering the things I've been through today, It wasn't all that strange.
Toriel walks to the end of the hall and disappears, and I casually examine the floor.
Should I wait a bit, or just go across?
It seemed silly to wait, it was just a hallway after all. So I strode across it and arrived at the end, where Toriel had been waiting behind a pillar I had just now noticed was there.
"Greetings, my child. I was merely behind this pillar the entire time. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise. I needed to test your independence.
Toriel reminded me of my mother, which is strange considering I can't remember anything about her. But this was how mom's were supposed to act, wasn't it?
Toriel kept talking.
"I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for awhile. It's dangerous to explore by yourself, so you must stay here."
Toriel then reaches into her pocket and pulls out an ancient looking cellphone. She hands it to me. "If you need anything, just call."
"Ok." I tell her and, with a wave goodbye, Toriel leaves me all alone.
As soon as I hear her footsteps fade, I completely disregarded Toriel's request to stay put. If I wanted to find out more about my situation, I was going to need to do some snooping.
I can't believe this got even 1 follow. This chapter is for you :)