Aviana turned her head and saw what appeared to be a long hallway. She started down the hall and eventually found a door on her left. When she went through it, she spotted a lone flower in the center of the room. She stepped into the room, and the flower suddenly turned around. Aviana jumped back in shock, and the two simply stared at each other for what felt like years.

Finally, though, the flower regained composure and smiled at her. "Um, howdy there! Why not, uh, come a little closer and say hi!" it called. Aviana had a giant knot in her stomach and everything was screaming for her to run... but she had nowhere to run to. So, she hesitantly approached the living flower. "Hiya! My name's Flowey! Flowey the flower!" the flower introduced once she was almost directly in front of it... him or her? Do flowers have genders? It sounded male, but...

"Um... Hi? I'm Aviana," Aviana responded. Was she going insane? She was talking to a freaking flower. And even crazier IT WAS RESPONDING. "How, uh, nice to meet you! You must be new to the Underground, right?" Aviana nodded, but the question seemed rhetorical, as it... he continued speaking without stopping. "Someone oughtta teach you how things work down here! And since no one else is around, l'il old me will have to do!" Flowey chirped. "First thing's first: let's introduce you to your soul!" A vine appeared from the ground, and pointed towrd Aviana, glowing. Before she could fully register what was happening, the vine flicked back and Aviana's chest tightened. Suddenly, a warm pink envoloped the area. When Aviana tilted her head slightly, she found its source: a hot pink heart.

... What. The. Actual. Hell.

Even Flowey was giving the heart an odd look. It seemed like he knew what he was doing, but suddenly... it was like he'd never seen an object like that before in his life. He quickly shook his head and his smile returned, though it looked more forced. "W-well, um. Now we can continue with your lesson," he said. The already dim room seemed to grow darker somehow, until soon Aviana could see nothing but Flowey and the pink heart. "That heart-shaped object in front of you? That's your soul, the very culmination of your being." S-soul? What, like... like the spirit version of me or something? But then why doesn't it look like me? "You can use that soul to show other monsters you trust them! And when you do, monsters will want to share with you!"

He winked then, creating some kind of strange white... things to appear. "Monster share through these, uh... little white..." He hesitated for a few seconds before continuing. "Little white 'friendliness pellets'. Yeah." ... Somehow Aviana wasn't convinced. "And if you gather a lot of 'friendliness pellets' you'll gain EXP, which will increase your LV!" Aviana tilted her head. "LV? Level?" she asked. Flowey giggled. "No, silly! LV stands for LOVE! And you want a lot of LOVE, right?" Aviana decided not to answer. It... somehow felt like a trap. "So just move around, and gather as many pellets as you can!" The "pellets" began moving, converging on Aviana's soul. A chill ran down Aviana's spine. She did not like the looks of this. Seemingly in reaction to her fear, her soul moved closer to her and slightly off to the right. The pellets missed her soul by half a centimeter. She flinched when they came closer to her, but they seemed to pass right by her, as if Flowey had aimed specifically for her soul. Or as if he couldn't hurt her body? She hoped for the latter, but it was hard to be sure.

When Aviana looked back to Flowey, his smile had shrunken and his eye was barely twitching. "Hey. Friend. You, uh, missed them. All of them. L-let's just try again, shall we?" More pellets appeared and also moved toward Aviana's soul, even faster than the others. Aviana really didn't trust him now, so she made a conscious effort to make her soul dodge. It seemed visualizing her soul moving was all she needed to do, so she did just that. Flowey's smile finally fell. "Is this some kind of sick joke? Or is your brain just dead? I told you to run. Into. The. BULLETS!" he shouted, conjuring up twice as many as before. In a panic, Aviana only barely managed to avoid them all. When she did, she looked back to se Flowey smiling again- though not kindly, as before.

"I get it now..." Good, because Aviana didn't. "You have been here before, haven't you?" Um... No...? "You just wanted to taunt me..." Uhhhhh... "Well then." Suddenly, Aviana was completely surrounded by bullets. "DIE," Flowey said in a twisted voice. As the bullets began slowly closing in, Flowey laughed maniacally. Aviana drew her soul close to her and cupped her hands around it, frantically searching for any tiny gap. No... Th-there's no way out, I can't crawl under them, and there's no way I can make a jump... Oh no, no, I'm dead, she thought. Aviana closed her eyes tightly, waiting for the inevitable end.

... And she waited. And waited... And waited.

After a few seconds, she realized Flowey's laughter had stopped. Before she could open her eyes, a new voice greeted Aviana. "What a vile creature, making such a young human cry," it said. The voice was... soft. It sounded so... inviting. So homey. Aviana opened an eye to see what was in front of her now. The other opened from shock. The creature appeared to be a woman in a purle robe or dress, but she was covered entirely in pale grey fur. Instead of hair she had long, fluffy ears hanging over her shoulders, and their were horns- at least six inches long- near the back of her head. Her eyes were lilted slightly, and she was staring worriedly and carringly and Aviana. Most shocking, though, was her height; she had to be at least seven feet tall! It was... intimidating, even for someone Aviana's height.

It was only after Aviana registered her appearance that she realized what the woman had said. A hand went to her face and she felt something wet. So... I did start crying? Why...? she wondered. "Child? Are you alright?" the woman asked. Aviana swallowed and wiped at her face. "I-I'm fine," she mumbled. "Uh... Wh-what happened to Flowey?" she asked. The goat woman frowned slightly. "Do you mean the flower? Do not worry about him, child. I scared him off," she reassured. "Oh. Um, thanks," Aviana said. "It's no trouble at all," she said. "After all, I am the caretaker of the Ruins. I come out here each day to see if any humans have fallen. If they have, I take it upon myself to protect them," she explained. There was a pause. Okay...? How am I supposed to respond to something like that?

"Ah, I have not yet introduced myself, have I? My name is Toriel," the woman said. "N-nice to meet you. I'm Aviana," Aviana introduced. "Aviana?" Toriel asked, pronouncing it rather slowly. "Fascinating. I don't believe I've ever heard a name like that. It's beautiful," Toriel complimented Aviana blushed and looked at the ground. "Heh. Um, th-thanks. Most people just... say it sounds weird..." she admitted. Toriel crouched down and put a hand- paw? whatever- on Aviana's cheek, moving her head to look back up at her. "Then perhaps the world just needs more weird," she said. Aviana's blush deepened and she giggled slightly. Toriel smiled brightly and stood back up. "Come with me, Aviana. You must be hungry, yes?" As if to answer her, Aviana's stomach chose to growl just then. Both of them laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. I have a pie I finished baking, and it should be cool by the time we get back," Toriel explained, holding out a hand. Aviana looked at it hesitantly before taking it. Toriel then started leading Aviana throught the Ruins.