As Ruby stepped in, a pleasant smell wafted through the air. Toriel stood in front of her with an excited expression. "Do you smell that?" the monster asked. "Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I want you to have a nice time living here, so I will hold off on snail pie for tonight."
Ruby stepped forward. "Um, Toriel, I really appreciate you looking out for me, but… I need to get home."
Toriel looked nervous. "Um… this is your home now."
Ruby shook her head. "Toriel, I have friends waiting for me back on the surface. I've got people relying on me, and a family. I need to get back to them."
Toriel looked like she wanted to say anything at all to persuade Ruby, but eventually she just sighed. "I understand, and I want to protect you. I know you aren't a child like the others, but…" She paused.
"Others?" Ruby asked.
Toriel hung her head. "Yes. You aren't the first human to fall down here. The others… I let them go as well, even though I wanted to keep them safe here." Tears welled up in Toriel's eyes. "I have seen it time and time again, Ruby. They come. They leave. They die. If you leave the Ruins, they… Asgore will kill you." She took a deep breath and blinked back the tears. "And from what you've told me, the surface sounds even less safe than the Underground. So if you're set on leaving... I want you to prove to me that you are strong enough to survive. Please follow me."
Toriel turned, and walked down the stairs behind her. Ruby followed her down, her legs shaking. They continued through a long hallway, not saying anything. There wasn't anything else Ruby could think to talk about.
Finally they rounded a corner, entering a large, open room with a door at the other end. Toriel stepped in front of the door and turned around to face Ruby. "Are you ready?" she asked. Before Ruby could ask what was happening, a ball of fire appeared in Toriel's hand and sailed toward Ruby.
Now she understood. Grabbing Crescent Rose, she pulled out the scythe and extended it to its full length. She could see Toriel bracing herself as more streams of fire filled the air. Activating her Semblance, Ruby leapt forward as a red blur, throwing a sharp wind through the room and putting out some of the flames. She appeared in front of Toriel and swung the scythe downward, but the monster dodged the blow and hit Ruby with another bolt, knocking her back.
Ruby collected herself and planted Crescent Rose's blade into the ground, firing a few rounds at her from the built-in sniper. The first bullet hit Toriel, but didn't seem to hurt her very much. She conjured a glowing barrier that blocked the other shots.
The fight went on a long time with Ruby and Toriel landing multiple blows on each other. Until suddenly, Ruby used her Semblance at the wrong time, dashing forward just as a ball of fire left Toriel's hand. It knocked her out of her charge, stopping her in her tracks. Toriel's arm quivered as she held out her hand, causing the other fire streams to converge on the young girl and hit her all at once.
Ruby cried out as the attacks burned through her Aura and seared her skin in multiple places. The pain was too much for her, and she collapsed on the ground. She saw Toriel gasp in shock and cover her mouth with her hands before her vision blacked out.
As darkness surrounded Ruby, a burning feeling blossomed in the center of her being. I can't die like this. I won't leave them. As she felt her grip on the world slipping away, Ruby saw a golden light, the same light that had appeared in front of Toriel's home. She couldn't move, and only watched as the light moved towards her as she died.
Consciousness came back to Ruby all at once. She gasped and sat up, breathing heavily as she took in her surroundings. She was sitting outside the door to Toriel's home, sitting right next to the familiar golden light hovering in the air.
She checked herself over, but there were no wounds on her- was it all a dream? Only one way to find out, she decided as she stepped into Toriel's house once more.
Toriel was standing right in front of the stairs to the basement, just as she was before. "Do you smell that? Surprise!" she repeated. Looking around, Ruby could see that the interior of the house was exactly as she remembered. Toriel saw her confused expression. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
Ruby paused, then shook her head. "N-no. Um, Toriel, I really appreciate all this, but… I need to get home.
From then on, the conversation proceeded exactly as it had before. Before Ruby knew it, she and Toriel were already walking down the hallway to the door. Toriel turned around as she stepped in front of the door. "Ready?" she asked.
Ruby knew what she meant this time. Grabbing Crescent Rose immediately, she rushed Toriel as flames filled the room.
The fight went entirely differently this time. Ruby knew all of Toriel's moves and tactics, striking at her again and again while dodging the streams of fire, but the monster shrugged off the blows. One of Ruby's attacks staggered Toriel, and she took the opportunity immediately, dashing forward and bringing the scythe up in a deadly arc.
The blade cleaved through Toriel from hip to shoulder, stopping the monster in her tracks. The flames all around the room died like a candle being blown out, sending a cold wind through the room. Ruby's eyes widened as the full realization of what she'd done struck her, and Crescent Rose slipped out of her hands, clattering to the ground. She rushed over to Toriel, who leaned back into the young girl's arms.
Ruby's eyes filled with tears as Toriel gasped for breath, reaching up to gently caress Ruby's face with her furry hand. "Do not cry, Ruby." she coughed. "You are stronger than I thought you were. Listen to me. After you leave here, continue on until you reach Asgore's castle, and cross through the barrier to the surface." She took another raggedy breath between each sentence. "Do not let Asgore take your soul."
Ruby ran her hand up the back of Toriel's neck. "Toriel, hang on." she pleaded, her voice breaking. "Don't die. Please!"
Toriel simply leaned back and smiled. "Be good, won't you?... My child…" She went limp, and started to lose form, slowly crumbling to dust in Ruby's arms. A white light floated in the air where her heart was, then slowly died out.
Ruby covered her face in her hands and wept, her mind jumping all over the place frantically wondering what else she could have done. Suddenly her thoughts focused on the golden light. Could she do it again?
Thinking about the warmth that had spread through her as she touched the light, Ruby felt the same burning in her chest that she had felt as she died the first time, and suddenly she knew what she had to do. She focused on that feeling as the world went black around her once again.