A/N: And so another day of progress! This one isn't nearly as long as the first day. This should be the second of three chapters setting up the changed setting. Which is most appropriate as during this stage of Undertale's storyline it's also similarly set up for the rest of the game. It's also a pretty good place to flesh out. I've heard it said that the Ruins area is graphically simplistic on purpose to assist in drawing focus to the character interaction rather than distracting from it.

Around 45K more to go. Let's get right down to it!

The walk to Toriel's home was… interesting. It would've reminded Steven of the pyramid temple from how the floors would move and the halls would contort to bring them back to certain rooms. Key word: Would've. He was too busy thinking over what Toriel had shared with him.

It wasn't as if this was the first time an alien being had laid it all out for him. All three of the Crystal Gems and his dad had taken their turn in sharing something with him. Pearl had done her best with explaining various bits of gem history and their place in Earth's history. That hadn't really been all that bad until he had heard what his dad had said. That had been heavy.

Amethyst had brought it even further home by revealing her past and the kindergartens. Steven hadn't been ready to understand at the time but after putting it all together he was starting to really get how badly the Gems had harmed the planet. It made him feel… cold. Just like he felt now.

"Steven?" Toriel's voice gently broke the silence, "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"

He bit his lips and felt a pressure build on his brow as his face furrowed. How was he supposed to word something so big?! He didn't want to bother anybody with this. It was like with Amethyst and Greg that one New Years. There's too much stuff and it's heavy and hard to deal with.

"I know I might've made it sound very bad but it wasn't all bad." She added with a weak smile that Steven didn't see. She gripped his hand a bit harder as her eyes glassed over slightly,

"The Gems, they… They tried to exterminate us several years after we'd hidden ourselves. They found our home and started an invasion into this city." She stopped and fussed with a switch to open a grate placed further into the room.

"I was around then. It seemed like we were going to be destroyed for sure. The Gem forces had smashed their way through our lines and what little resistance we could offer wasn't doing much to halt them. Everyone had evacuated to the the barrier at the time. I was here in the ruins coordinating the remaining soldiers. I had thought that I would make it through to see another day."

Steven frowned at the story as Toriel continued but now with a lighter tone, "But then the fighting ended." Steven looked up at the sudden shift in tone,

"The gem soldiers suddenly stopped attacking. I remember a lot of the soldiers fleeing from broken layers of our front lines reported that the Gems had been ordered to stop. I hadn't really believed them so I sent a few soldiers to confirm. To my amazement they returned with the same but with details that a rogue general in the Gem's command structure had ordered her men to pull back, sparring us."

Steven glared at the story in his head incredulously. He thought for a moment that it might've been his mother. Sure his mom had been very kind and very loving to all things but there was no way she'd been here! If she'd been there Toriel would've mentioned something about the other Gems. He shook himself but he couldn't help but think it pretty neat if his mom had been part of that. He chose to ask whom that general had been,

"So, did you ever find out who that general was?" Toriel let out a huff as she thought about it,

"To be honest, we didn't really know any of the gem's generals or who led their armies. Most of them tended to stay away from the fighting. I do remember one general but only because she was right in the thick of the fighting. She was this large stocky gem with a shield and sword. She terrified all those around her from the way she would almost dance their attacks and deal her own in turn. I saw her once and, my goodness, I got my group out of there as quick I could."

Steven didn't know to be happy or guilty. It felt nice to meet someone who'd seen his mother in action but to know that his mother had participated in some extermination war… that was less than awesome. Then again, Steven considered, if his mother had been here she really might've been the one that ordered the cease fire.

"Y'know my mother was a Gem that sounds a lot like that." Steven replied. Toriel's face flashed a series of conflicting emotions but settled eventually on looking bemused.

"Mother? Steven, I was under the impression that gems didn't reproduce and certainly not into humans." She commented. Steven chuckled. Welcome to my life he thought,

"Yeah, most people who know Gem stuff super well say exactly that. Dad says that I'm his little miracle. My mom gave up being her to be me, but it's okay because that's exactly what she wanted for me." Toriel started amused, then warmly parental then disturbed and lastly ended with confused with that last statement.

"Oh." She replied after a time. She blinked and mouthed to herself before she shook herself of it. "Well that's very strange."

Steven simply smiled at her. "I know it sounds a bit weird and Dad hasn't really explains how it happened. He says he'll tell me when I'm older." Steven noted the arch up ahead where the path branched. It was the same as most of Home's Architecture but there was a stone plaque of sorts carved into the arch's apex. On the plaque was carved what Steven thought of as a name in a fancy font:

"Dreemurr"

Under the name was a strange symbol that Steven recognized. He looked back at Toriel to see that it was the same as the one she wore on her dress. A winged sphere with three triangles beneath it in a sort of rhombus shape. He figured that it was a family crest, like the one on his shield and mother's sword. He tucked that bit of information for later.

"Good, we've finally arrived." Toriel exclaimed, "Steven, I do hope you'll like living here because we're home!"

Steven's face dropped at those words. He stared up at her in horror. Home wasn't some house in an underground city populated with monsters. Home was being surrounded by the Crystal Gems in their little place by the sea in Beach City. Home was where he and his dad would get together and barbeque. Home was where Connie and him met up before wandering around Beach city for the day. This wasn't Home.

But maybe she meant that in the short term like until he found his way back home. Maybe she meant in some other way that didn't imply him staying here forever.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Steven voiced as his mouth went dry all of a sudden. His tongue felt leaden and heavy and words seemed hard to form as he tried to process the situation.

"Just what I said. Oh I promise to take good care of you. It won't be like the surface but I'll make sure you'll be happy here!" She tried to sound cheerful but there was something behind that veneer. A sense of need for something. All this did was remind him of Pearl and Connie when they wanted to protect him so badly during their sword training. That had been scary!

"No, no, no no no. I don't belong here. I'm supposed to be back with the gems and my dad and and-" He explained in a frightened voice. Toriel clenched her jaw and Steven could see that she wasn't exactly looking at him. Pearl did the same whenever she confused him and his mother. Toriel almost looked like she was seeing a loved one like her son? Steven hoped not. The implications didn't hit him outright but experience led him through his memories. All of them involved loss.

"As-steven, I, I just want to keep you safe and trying to escape the underground isn't going to work." Toriel answered flustered and looking desperate for him to not push the issue. Steven flinched at that. Thinking quickly he thought of something to ameliorate her. A plan!

"Toriel, I just need to find that warp pad from when you found me back there. I can warp out of here and be on my way home." Steven answered confidently. It was such a simple idea and he knew he could do it! All he really needed was his legs and his shield. Piece of cake! "When I rest up and get a flashlight I should be okay."

"Oh." Toriel answered in subdued relief, "I had thought-" she fixed her expression back to a happy one, "well that's very good. I'll help you search tomorrow if that's alright."

"Yeah! I can even warp you out of here and maybe I can show you around Beach City!" He suggested. Toriel brightened considerably at the idea,

"Really? Oh, that does sound like a lovely idea." Steven breathed a satiated sigh as he watched her mood improve. It again reminded him of Pearl when she'd latch onto one of his ideas and calm down after a small panic attack. He started to wonder why, most people didn't make him feel like that.

"So show me around your place!"

Toriel happily obliged as she led him across the grounds and up to the house. The grounds looked very much like the park, except that unlike the public works operation going on there the grounds had a very finished and complete look to them. None of the rock layer peeked through the plants and packed compost. There'd had been a lot of landscaping done and it showed from the tastefully arranged beds of golden flowers and the way even the transient rays of sunshine from the holes in the rock layer had been taken into account. A small tree, bare of it's leaves, stood in the center of the grounds coloring the ground red with it's fallen leaves.

The house itself looked like something from a storybook. A stately manor embedded into the walls of the cave. Made of some light colored material that contrasted sharply with the dark colored stone of the city it shone even in the dim light of the cavern that held it. Oddly the manor retained its roof despite being underground and thus not needing one.

Inside the house Steven was pleasantly surprised to find the floors were made of wood! It was light varnished and complemented the off-white walls and the similarly caramel of the interiors finishings. Toriel was delighted to have him finally inside as she showed him his room,

The inside was pleasant. It definitely gave off the feel of a child's room. A cheerfully colored toybox sat at the foot of a bed next to a shelf absolutely brimming with storybooks and art supplies and other bits and bobs. An entire closet full of clothes stood off to the corner. Toriel made a comment that she could tailor anything to his size if he saw something he liked.

"Did you plan all of this?" Steven asked as they left the room. Toriel made a guilty face,

"Well, children are known to fall into the underground on occasion. If I encounter one I host them here for as long as they desire." Steven nodded. He was proof that people did find their way down here. He'd seen the holes that opened up to the world beyond. Actually he wondered why there were holes in the first place! These people sealed their home up pretty tight to escape the Gems. Why the holes?!

"Toriel, Why are there holes in the underground's roof?" He asked innocently. Toriel considered the question and after some thought answered,

"The Gems had weapons that could fire large beams of energy, they started using them closer to the end of the extermination efforts." Steven nodded sagely at the response. He felt a bit embarrassed to be honest. He was in possession of four such weapons. It seemed to him obvious that the Gems would've used them against these people. The gems were out of exterminate these people after all. They wouldn't have shelved their literal big guns for no reason!

"Anyways, are you hungry?" Toriel inquired. Steven opened his mouth to say no but a mutinous growl from his stomach betrayed him,

"I should've known. A growing boy needs to eat." She joked with him, "Now, do you prefer butterscotch or Cinnamon?"

The choice was obvious, "Butterscotch please!"

End of Day 2

Word Count 6867 words total; 2117 words for today. I'm maintaining my lead but I had hoped to put in a bit more to accumulate a sort of buffer. We'll be heading a bit off the rails tomorrow though so expect the next chapter to be a bit more interesting.

Cinnamon lovers, put down the pitchforks. I've only really heard people choosing Butterscotch! Steven's a junk food lover, he's obviously going to love butterscotch and it's sweetness!

Yes, I changed the world a bit by including brief gaps to the surface in the underground. It's something I picked up from another Undertale Fic that did the same. I also chose to use some terminology like Boss Monster. Source here: s/11577353/1/Onlooker