You think really hard on what name you want for yourself. Has to be different then the fake name you used on the surface as well as your given name. In case there is a way to the surface again you'd rather not be tracked down again, though you have this feeling there is not a way out. You were perfectly fine with that. You had enough of humanity and are perfectly fine recluse away like a hermit down here with a race that is not your own. Perfectly fine. Much safer.
….. But at the same time you feel like there is a pull, something pleading for you to try and help everyone get out if they are trapped down here. Like someone reaching out in hope that you can help everyone. It is slightly unsettling. You were never the type to rush into trouble. Trouble just seemed to find you no matter how fast you ran or tried to get away... Right. Getting sidetracked.
Sighing as you glance back at the the white glimmering light that is nearby that you had touched earlier. Letting your thoughts clear as you stare at it. It looks so pretty, like a calm tranquil star that had somehow formed down here to grant your mind some solace and mercy from the trials and tribulations of this world.
"... huh... Mercy... sounds like a decent first name... at least.." You muse to yourself as the door opens and you stand smiling sheepishly at Toriel. You hoped that you would have a chance to come up with a full name but it does not matter. At least you had something to have yourself be called and not be called young one or... child? Though you got this feeling she would do it no matter what.
"Hello Young one. I hope I did not keep you to long." She said with a warm smile. She seriously reminds you to much of your grandmother. Though she looks and sounds to young for that. More of a mom age... you find yourself wondering what it would be like if your mother was like her? You probably would have had a bit of a happier life on the surface... though she may have been forced to leave like your grandmother. You let out a sheepish laugh as you push your thoughts away shaking head.
"N-no... You didn't... I was trying t-to remember my n-name... kind of forgot it a-after the fall.. I couldn't though s-so I decided that Mercy sounded n-nice for a name... if it is okay?" You say with a shy tone of voice as you lie a bit, though your used to lying to people when you have to make a new identity for yourself. You have a swell in your chest of hope that she accepts this. You look up and see her hold her paws... no fur covered hands... over her mouth as her eyes tear before she kneels down to your level and holds you close.
"Of course it is okay. Mercy sounds like a good name for you, at least till you remember your true name. Though if you still wish to go by it after I will not mind. Your free to be whom ever you want to be." She says warmth that you were not ready for radiates from her as you feel your walls crumble and you slowly hug her back tears stinging in your eyes as you try to not let them fall out. You let out a sound that you decide sounds like a dying cat and a scratching chalkboard when you really wanted to let out a awkward laugh.
Jeez if all monsters were like this you were going to die down here from trying to keep your walls you built up to protect yourself from falling down. You had them up for years on the surface to keep your metaphorical soul from shattering like your mind. Though... if all monsters were this nice would you still need them?
…. You feel really conflicted someone please just come along and kill you now so you will not have to suffer from your feelings trying to break loose from your self made barrier. You pull back from Toriel, surprised that she is allowing you to as you rub your eyes to force yourself not to break down and manage your best smile you can at her.
"T-thank you... So um... you said that you were going to uh... show me how encounters work and some puzzles? Though I do not really understand what you mean by either it will be good to learn more about either. I am a fast learner and I enjoy puzzles on the surface. Though something tells me monster puzzles and human puzzles are very different from each other." You state to hopefully change the subject and lighten the deep vibe that formed from the hug and comfort that was very... suffocating... for you at the moment.
"Yes yes of course. First we will have to go to a area that has a bit more space. If you would follow me my child." She says standing up and walking away from the house. You stand there a moment before sighing trying to recenter yourself before following her. Your feelings from before about her still calling you young one or child were correct. She probably has done it out of habit. It is fine though. If it makes her happy to call you that you would not mind to greatly as long as she calls you by that name you picked sometimes.
You follow her to what looks like a balcony and you feel your eyes widen with awe and wonder. There was a whole city down here. It looks so ancient and mystical, though you pick up on some sense of sadness and despair too it still did not change how timeless the city seemed to be. You find yourself resigned to be empathetic though also confused about the mismatched feelings swelling inside you as you push them back glancing over at Toriel whom was watching you as you took in the cite of the vantage point of the city below.
She was smiling softly with a saddened look in her eyes as she looked over the city. Almost like she was reliving a past memory. You had no idea what the memory was but... you had the urge to try and do something, anything to cheer her up. You look back at the city and try to think of something you could do.
You wished you had brought your drawing stuff in your back pack with you but it is back in the room she put you in. That was your go to. It made you feel good about your worthless life, and brightening strangers days with surprise pictures often had you feeling like your doing that was making the world a bit brighter. Like you had a sense of purpose. Filling you with frail hope.
You remember reading somewhere that jokes and puns were always good though to help people feel good. You were not the best joker or punner but it was worth a shot. You bit your lower lip deep in thought as you try and think of something while examining the area. You get nothing from your environment, but you hope there was something like this down here or it will go over her head.
"Hey Toriel. What do you call a laughing motorcycle?" You ask glancing at her. Her expression looks mildly surprised as she looks at you arching her brow a spark coming into her eyes for a moment causing you to have a grin com on your face as you wait for her to ask you the question.
"I don't know. What do you call a laughing motorcycle?" She said clear amusement in her voice. Well wither she gets it or not is fine. You seemed to have distracted her from sad memories and that is all you could have asked for. You may be perpetually sad but you do not like others being sad around you. You feel you grin turn into a shit face eating one that you have not had on your face in a while and unknowingly your eyes had a slight twinkle to them.
" A Yamahahaha." You state and no sooner had you done so she burst into a gut rolling laughter. You feel like you accomplished something as you start to laugh with her. When was the last time you laughed? Probably when you were eight. You quickly rack your brain to find a few more jokes or anything pun related. Not wanting to stop laughing for the moment.
"hahaha Why couldn't the bike stand up on it's own?" You say feeling a tear roll down you face. At the moment you could care less. Besides it was not from tense bed emotional tears. It should be fine.
"Tehehe. I-I don't know? What?" She said gasping a bit for air. For a moment you felt bad for her, so you decided you would hold back on telling another joke for now. Probably best you did not get to deep into it. This was not in your norm of doing things but hey if jokes and puns help make her feel good and at the same time had a effect like doing art for you... well you would not be opposed to improving your skills so you were not a total lost cause at it.
" It was two tired." You say bringing your hands up to your mouth as you can't help laughing as deeply as she is right now. Or dear lord she is barely able to stand any longer she is laughing that hard. Makes this all even funnier you can't help it as you snort as you both shamelessly belt out the laughs that are wrecking you both in the best of ways. It takes a while, roughly thirty minutes before you both come down from the laughing high and you feel completely satisfied as she looks at you with a joyous gleam in her red violet eyes.
"Thank you for that Mercy. I am sorry that you had to see me like that... I forgot that coming to this area brought back some... past memories for me" She said with a softened look on her face. You shrug feeling a little shy but not nearly as closed off as you were moments before. You are unsure if that was a good thing or bad thing. But for once you felt like you were actually safe... a feeling that you relished deeply and did not wish to pass up.
"It is fine... I get that and understand that sometimes that may happen. More so for you then me since I have not lived down here all my life. I am just glad I was able to help you a little bit. Though joking and stuff is not my norm... I usually do art and stuff to try and cheer others up when I can. Unfortunately they are back in the room at ho... at your place.
So I went with my gut and tried something out of my normal comfort zone. Have to say I do not regret stepping out of my box." You say with a halfhearted wink, grateful to catch yourself before you called her place home. It was barely over a day... probably... and you did not wish to jinx yourself in case she did not want you to live in her place and bum off her things. Even though you figured she would not mind. You hated being a burden to people.
"So you brought me here to learn about encounters and what to do in one right?" You say feeling a bit more confident as you push yourself away from the wall with a bright smile. Finding yourself rather curious now as to how these encounters work. You figured they were probably something otherworldly but you would not mind that badly. Not like it could be that bad. Right?
"Yes.. Yes of course. First I need to explain to you about souls. Humans have seemed to become detached from theirs, so much so that they can not do magic usually anymore. Usually." You blink wide eyed in shock for a moment before waving your hands.
"Whoa whoa hold up. Souls are real? Not some cheesy made up thing? And magic? Sorry for interrupting you but... what?! You meant to tell me it is really real!?" You state your mind buzzing with questions. Both from your inner child that is usually locked away, which is squealing with glee in your head at the moment hoping that you were one as she literally was running around leaping with excitement.
And you other half which was your rational logical side that tried to keep you in order and from mental collapse you had dubbed your warden over your sanity, or Woys, was trying to grab a hold of your inner child and tell her to calm down and that this was likely impossible. To which the little imp of your past self smugly points out that you were in a mountain filled with monsters that should not exist by humanity mythology standards, but do and are nice.
…... You chose to ignore the chaos in your mind and return to reality where Toriel had seemed to wait calmly for you to calm yourself down. You let out a awkward chuckle. "S-sorry. Please continue I will try not to interrupt more." You state glad that nobody can read your mind... at least you hoped it was not a skill that people could do down here. Toriel just lets out a amused giggle causing you to relax a bit glad you did not offend her.
"It is fine young one. I expected you to possibly not know these things. As I said humanity has gotten out of touch with their souls. Your reaction is completely justified and a natural response for someone of your age." She stated with a twinkle in her eyes before she continued.
"Mages, whom were humans thousand of years ago could do magic. Though the other humans that had... fallen.. before you did not seem to show that they had any magic or have the possibility to learn to use magic I sensed something... different with your soul. It is possible that your family line had a mage or two in it's past and you just happened to inherit the chance to be able to do magic yourself.
Which in turn depending on the color of your soul can let you do different things. Which if you wish to learn I will be willing to teach you another day. For the time the reason I am talking to you about souls is with a encounter your soul will leave your body, due to the fact your human. Monster souls do not leave their body since monsters are made of mostly magic, least when it comes to a encounter."
She pauses letting you, thankfully, process what she had told you. You can hear your inner child squealing in your head again as you can almost hear Woys facepalms themselves. You can not help letting the eager glee your inner child's contagious energy slip onto your external features and light up your eyes. While you were not fond of the idea that your soul leaves your body, you can't help but be excited for the possibility to learn magic. You just hope your soul was not to badly injured due to your past as you look down at your red boots listening to the younger version of yourself sound so happy.
"I-I guess that is okay... it can't be helped that my soul has to exit in a encounter... Though I have to admit it does sound exciting that I might be able to do some magic. I just hope that it is not one that could cause harm... I do not like seeing others sad or in pain..." You state looking up at her your blue eyes gleaming in the light. You see her expression look surprised.
She probably expected you to freak out or bolt out of there. You do not blame her. Most normal people would bolt in fear of the unknown... honestly you are surprised you did not do that either. But your mind seemed to have brought in the two other fractions of your mind which had not happened in a while... probably due to the fact you did not have your meds to help you be more in control of your thoughts. So you figured right now you were borderline crazy. Not in the way that hurts others thankfully. Just the way that has you talk to yourself when your left alone for to long.
"Oh.. well I am glad that you are taking this so well young one. Do you think your ready to be in a encounter right now? There is no shame in waiting until you have processed everything." She asks you and you shake you head with a grin relaxing. It was touching how she thought of you in that way to be honest wanting to let you have the chance to get used to it all.
"Naw that's okay. Sides now I am curious as to what my soul looks like. My curiosity is greater then my being overwhelmed at the moment." You state to her honestly, hearing Woys sigh exasperatedly and retreats letting the chaos reign until after the encounter for now. Probably wise Woys. Will have to make it up to you when sleep comes.
"Alright. It will feel weird for a moment but I assure you that I mean you no harm." She said as the area around the two of you turned black. You feel a weird sensation in your chest and close your eyes for a moment until the sensation is over. You hear Toriel gasp and for a moment it causes you to panic. Was your soul damaged as greatly as your shattered frame of mind.
You open your eyes looking in front of you and froze. You could not help but stare. Your blue eyes wide in awe. Sure, your should had faint signs of scars, up close. But not nearly as bad as you imagined... It was white in the middle with a golden glow that seemed to encompass it almost like a blanket. This... was your soul?
It.. seemed to beautiful to really be you. You feel your hands reach out a bit towards it, hesitant unsure what to do before deciding to not try and touch it and let your hands fall back to your sides and look towards Toriel, with a perplexed expression. Which only grows to more confusion as she herself looks to have a look of both awe and... wariness? Was there something wrong with your soul?
"T-Toriel? Is there something w-wrong?" You ask feeling semiconscious now. She shook her head and smiled slightly. It seemed a bit forced which did not boost your feelings about your soul one bit. She seems to have noticed and after a sigh relaxed.
"No Mercy. There is nothing wrong with your soul. Normally... human souls come in red which is determination, cyan which is patience, orange which is bravery, blue which is integrity, purple which is perseverance, green which is kindness, and yellow which is justice... I have heard that there are other colors but usually it is those seven for humans... I never heard of a bi-colored soul let alone a human possessing a white soul that is almost similar to that of us monsters.
If it were not for the golden color around your soul your soul would have been made entirely of love, mercy, and compassion like us monsters, but with the determination that is in every human soul's regardless of their main trait. I believe since your soul is like this it is why I sensed your soul was different than a average humans. But I did not expect this... I am not even sure what your soul type is." She explains, the best she could. You did feel a little.. reassured? Kind of.
You look back at your soul before taking notice of four floating buttons in front of you. The first one was [FIGHT]... haha yeaaahhh nope. Not about that life. You glance to the other three making note to forever ignore the first one and see a button titled [ACT], one titled [ITEM], and the last one, ironically due to Toriel's description of soul types and the name you chose, [MERCY]. You hear your child you laughing hysterically at it. You forgot that she got tickled pink very easily and you gave a amused snort. Deciding you would likely use these three greatly.
Looking at them a bit longer. You select mercy then press the [MERCY] button with your hand seeing the option's of *spare and *flee. You notice that the *spare option was yellow and you decide to select it looking up at Toriel smiling at her.
"I spare you." You say feeling warmth in your soul as your soul glowed brightly before receding into your body. Somehow, doing that simple action seemed to fill you like the star did. Like every small action before you knew what your soul looked like. You hold your hands over where your soul went back into your body. Even if Toriel did not know what it was. It was clear to you what it was. What drove you despite everything bad that happened. The feeling you got when you touched the glowing white star. You soul..
"... Let us head back.. I think I need to process this" You say before walking over to Toriel and slipping your hand into hers like a child would. Most likely due to your child side taking over while you were on autopilot before Woys could take control back. Toriel nods as you both head back to her place.
You close your eyes as you soak in the atmosphere of the underground. The home of monsters. The place where very few humans come. You find yourself wondering about the future; what it could bring if your hunch was correct. You could, possibly, call this place home one day even. You feel your lips tug into a small smile.
".. heh" you gave a weak laugh not loud enough for anyone to hear. You glance to the white light as you head back into Toriel's house and reach out to touch it.
[The desire to have a place where you finally can heal and feel like you belong... fills you with hope]