As _ traveled through the ruins with Frisk and Toriel, they could not be more happier. During their travels, Toriel had taught both Frisk and they that monsters might attack them because they were both human. So in light of that, Toriel had put them both through various exercises that involved with the both of them talking to a dummy.
Frisk of course happily spoke to the inanimate object while _ however seemed to be at a lost. A thought then occurred to them and they quickly pulled out their marker pen and drew a small heart onto the dummy. They didn't know why but they thought they could sense the dummy giving off an air of indifference to the both of them. Toriel on the other hand was very pleased with the both of them and proceeded to lead them further into the ruins.
As they all made their way halfway through the corridor a new room, a frog looking monster suddenly jumped out between them and Toriel. Before _ knew what was going on, that invisible space surrounded both them and Frisk once more, causing both of their heart shaped SOULS to glow from within them once more. Looking up worriedly at the frog monster _ then turned their attention to Frisk.
Frisk on the other hand, merely smiled back and placed a hand up towards their mouth before saying something to the frog monster. Whatever Frisk had told the frog monster though, seemed to have a immediate effect, as it seemed to tilt it's head to the side as if it were flattered.
Seeming to have noticed that both they and Frisk were not following her, Toriel had came back and glared down at the frog monster. Upon noticing Toriel the Froggit lowered it's head and seemed to skulk away under the monster queen's glare. Before they knew it the invisible field vanished and the child quickly ran on over towards Toriel's side.
"Oh, I am sorry for leaving you two behind like that. I have forgotten what it was like to walk with children..." Toriel seemed to have said sadly while slowing down with the two children beside her.
Upon hearing what Toriel had said though, _ looked up at the monster queen and then at Frisk, noticing that they both seemed to have sad expressions. Did they miss something? Shaking the thought away, Toriel then lead them all on once more and before long they came into a room filled with water and spikes.
"This is another puzzle but..." Toriel spoke aloud in a gentle voice before she looked down at the two children beside her. "Here you two, take my hands for a moment," Toriel offered.
Once Toriel had a good grip on the two children by her side, she cautiously lead the three of them through the puzzle. While they moved through the contraption, Toriel had glanced down to either side of her and noticed the child with the stick smiling up at her and the child with the stuffed bear toy, looking around in wonder before eventually smiling up at her as well. Once they had reached the other side, Toriel hesitantly let go of both of the childrens' hands and offered words of encouragement to the both of them.
"You both have done excellent thus far, my children," Toriel continued as they entered the next room. "However... I have a difficult request to ask of the both of you" Toriel spoke hesitantly. "I would like you two to walk to the end of the room by yourselves. Forgive me for this," Toriel finished before she suddenly ran off and disappeared into the long dark hallway.
The mute child let out a small gasp and quickly held onto their stuffed teddy bear at the sudden abandonment. What were they suppose to do? Why this monster whom had been so kind to them, just left them. Turning their gaze on over towards Frisk the child watched as Frisk offered them their hand. Putting their trust in them, they took Frisk's outstretched hand and slowly they two walked through the dark corridor of the ruins.
"Don't worry, she is just testing us," Frisk spoke softly as they walked down the long corridor, causing the child to hold onto their hand a little tighter.
Not too soon the two children made it to the end of the dark hallway and from behind one of the pillars, out came Toriel.
"Greetings, my children. Oh, do not worry. I did not leave you two. I was hiding behind this giant stone pillar the whole time. Thank you two for trusting me," Toriel said softly. "However, there was an important reason for this exercise. I had to test both of your independence," Toriel explained sadly.
Frisk nodded in understanding while the child simply looked up at Toriel in confusion. Then as if a thought had crossed the monster queen's mind she knelt down next to the two children.
"I have some business to attend to and must leave you two alone for a little while. Please, I want you two to remain here alright? It is very dangerous to explore the ruins by yourselves" Toriel spoke softly. "Oh, I have an idea. I will give you both this cell phone," Toriel said softly as she pulled out a small device and held it out with Frisk accepting the offered device. "If you both have a need of anything, just call," Toriel said as she slowly stood back up. "You both be good alright? I will come back for the both of you soon," she finished as she gently hugged both of the children before turning around and taking her leave.
Watching Toriel leave the child was at a lost of what to do. Should they stay here and listen to Toriel or should they venture elsewhere? The answer to their question did not take long before Frisk turned towards them and offered them their hand once more. Looking up at Frisk and seeing their calming smile the child smiled back and slowly reached out, taking Frisk's hand into theirs.
As they ventured on through the ruins, they had come across a very down trodden ghost monster who goes by the name of Napstablook, whom they quickly befriended. Along the way they talked to various monsters within the ruins, solved puzzles , and found helpful items during their adventure. There were even parts during their journey where Frisk would call up Toriel and call her mother, which of course would surprise the other monster at the other end of line. Toriel had then proceeded to ask them what flavors each of the children would prefer. Frisk had chosen butterscotch while _ had chosen the flavor of cinnamon. Toriel then bid them both a goodbye and telling them both to be careful before ending the call.
Taking a glance at Frisk, _ was starting to suspect that the other child seemed to know a lot more than they let on. However they decided to keep to themselves for now and if Frisk did indeed know something then maybe they were keeping it to themselves for a reason.
Eventually the two children had caught up with Toriel and she quickly fussed over the both of them when she had saw them. Toriel apologized to the two by saying how irresponsible it was to leave them. She then took the two children by their hands and lead them away from the ruins to what looked like a small tiny house. Once they had entered Toriel's home both of the children took in a deep breath at the aroma that floated in the air.
"Do you smell that little ones?" Toriel asked, turning to look down at the dreamy looks on both of the children. "Surprise you two! I have made us some butterscotch-cinnamon pie!" Toriel announced, causing the two children to let out small gasps. "I thought we should celebrate both of your arrival. I want you two to have a nice time living here... So I will have to hold off on the snail pie until tonight." Toriel thought aloud.
Live here? Why would they want to live here? _ had thought to themselves. Even as nice as it was to think about living with this Toriel monster, they thought that maybe this wasn't the right thing to do. Turning to look at Frisk though, they noticed the warm happy expression settled on their face.
"I have another special surprise for you two," Toriel suddenly said as she lead the two children into the hallway. "This is it," Toriel announced happily as she lead the two children by holding onto their hands. "A room for the both of you. I do hope you two like it," Toriel breathed contently as she patted both of their heads. "Oh dear, is something burning? You two make yourselves at home now," Toriel said quickly before rushing off.
Watching Toriel leave the two children looked at one another before Frisk decided to open the door that lead into the room. Seeing the small room littered with plush toys, drawers and a bed brought a smile upon the two children. Walking on over towards the bed, Frisk hopped on top of it and quickly patted down on the spot next to them. _ was hesitant at first but followed suit and made themselves comfortable next to Frisk.
"It's been a rough day, maybe you should get some sleep," Frisk suggested with the other child agreeing by nodding their head before falling asleep straight away with their teddy bear close to them.
Letting out a sigh and laying themselves down onto the comforting bed as well, Frisk stared up at the ceiling and couldn't help but frown slightly. Way back then when they had first fallen down Mt. Ebott, Frisk had what they would consider guardian angels with them. When they had thought that they were alone, these beings or whoever they were, would sometimes influence their actions, give them the Determination to move on. Eventually these beings helped Frisk bring down the barrier and helped them saved most of the monsters in the underground.
Now since Frisk has woken up again within the ruins, they felt not presence, no signs of those beings that had helped them before. It was as if they had just simply disappeared, leaving them all alone. It was so strange and scary for them, as of now they had no one to guide them and they don't know how this time line would play out. Heaving out a tired sigh, they had decided to not dwell on the subject and adjusted themselves so that they were on their side with sleep soon following.
Leaning his head back onto the giant double doors, Sans couldn't help himself as he let out a tired sigh into the frigid cold air.
"Might as well do this," he spoke quietly to himself, closing his eye sockets.
Like any other time lines, Sans started to practice his knock knock jokes by knocking on the giant door behind him with the back of his knuckles. Upon the fifteenth joke, Sans suddenly heard a voice.
"Who's there?" the womanly voice responded, causing Sans to smile.
"Cows,"
"Cows who?"
"Cows don't say who, they say moo!" Sans said aloud, eliciting a small laughter from the other side, causing him to smile slightly.
Even though Sans already knew who was behind that door, he was a bit sad that Toriel did not know who he was, only knowing him as just another monster to talk to through the doors. He had wanted to talk to Toriel about the RESETS but decided that it was best to leave it like this, with just them being two monster friends who spoke through each other through the door. Eventually their laughter started to die down and Sans knew what was coming after a long moment of silence.
"Excuse me,"
"Yeah?"
"If... If a human or any other humans ever comes through this door... Could you please... Please promise me something? Can you watch over them, and protect them, will you not?" Toriel asked.
Sans had always hated this part and leaned the back of his head onto the door again. But just like every other time line in the past, Sans closed his eye sockets and took a deep breath.
"Sure... I'll look after them," he finally responded.
"Thank you."
Sans then opened back up his eye sockets and stared down the pathway that lead towards Snowdin. Just like every other time line, Toriel had quickly said her goodbye and left him there all alone. Standing up slowly and stretching his limbs, Sans had decided to make his rounds. He knew that it would be a while before the kid showed up and it would probably be best if he cleared his head for the moment.
Waking up from their rather long nap _ had noticed a couple slices of pies placed onto a small table within the middle of the room. At the sudden realization they suddenly straightened up and leaned on over to gently shake Frisk up. They watched as Frisk rose up slowly with a yawn of their own before they too spotted the two pies. Bouncing off of the bed, Frisk made their way on over to where the pies were and with a flick they put it away within their inventory option. _ walked on over and they too placed their slice of the pie away into their inventory.
Both of the children then decided to go find Toriel and made their way out of the room. As they walked down the hallway, Frisk let out a sigh, prompting _ to glance in their general direction.
"We cannot stay here," Frisk said quietly, turning to see the confused face of the other child.
When _ had tried to ask why, Frisk only told them that they needed to move on and that they couldn't stay here, no matter how much they both wanted to. Even as nice as it was to stay with Toriel, Frisk told them that they needed to save the monsters which confused them but they decided to agree and go along with what Frisk was telling them.
Soon enough, the two children found Toriel sitting comfortably in a rocking chair near an open fireplace. They had both glanced at each other before they walked up to the goat monster and informed her that they needed to leave. Of course Toriel was appalled and shocked by the sudden action. She was deeply confused as to why the two children had wanted to leave and after trying to persuade them several times, she finally stood up from her spot and had asked them to stay while she attended to some business.
Frisk on the other hand, knew exactly what Toriel was going to go do and they quickly took a hold of the other child's hand. Ignoring their surprised gasp, Frisk lead the both of them down the stairs of Toriel's home. Once at the bottom though, they both saw Toriel standing in the middle of the long hallway.
"You both wish to know how to return home do you not?" Toriel ask, not even turning around to face the two children as they approached. "Ahead of us, lies the end of the ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground" she continued to explain before taking in a deep breath. "I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be good little children and go back upstairs," Toriel finished in a whisper, turning slightly to glance at the two before moving on again.
_ however was very confused by all of this. Just like before, Frisk urged them on again by taking a hold of their hand and they both followed the goat monster.
"Every human that has falls down here has met the same fate little ones. I have seen it, again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive children... If you both leave the ruins... They... Asgore... Will kill you both. I am doing this to only protect you two, do you understand? Please... Go back to your room," Toriel said aloud in a soft voice when the children had caught up to her once more.
As Toriel reached the end of the hall she was very disappointed to see that the children had still not done what she had asked.
"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning you two," Toriel said aloud as she made her way towards the entrance.
Staring up at the door that lead to the underground, Toriel took a deep breath as she heard the two children behind her.
"You two want to leave so badly? Hmph. You two are just like the others. There is only one solution to all of this then," Toriel said aloud as she turned around to face the two children.
Just as before that invisible field surrounded both of the children, causing their heart shaped SOULS to glow vibrantly in both red and cyan.
"Prove yourselves... Prove to me that you two are strong enough to survive." Toriel said aloud as pillars of flame suddenly erupted all around them, lighting the darkness within the ruins.
The two children huddled close together but not for long as Toriel started to hurl balls of fire towards their direction. Quickly _ had side stepped out of the way but did not see some of the flames change their course and waved in towards them. Luckily, Frisk seemed to know what they were doing and how to maneuver through Toriel's attacks as they rushed in and pushed them out of the way. Looking back up at Frisk they could see they could see them panting but with a smile set upon their features. At the sight of Frisk though, this had also cause them to smile in return as Frisk's exuberance seemed to be affecting them as well. Getting back up they both glanced back in Toriel's direction and then at each other before nodding.
Both of the children weaved through Toriel's attacks, the colors of both red and cyan hearts among the bright colors of red hot orange flames. Eventually Toriel had started to slowly stopped her attack and both children could now see tears falling down from her eyes. Soon enough, Toriel's attacks stopped all together and she had let her arms fall down to her side.
"I know you two want to go home, but... But please... Go back upstairs now," Toriel begged, seeing the children slowly shake their head in response. "I promise I will take good care of you two. I know we do not have much, but... We can have a good life here," Toriel tried to persuade only seeing the children frown in her direction whilst shaking their heads again. "Why are you two making this so difficult. Please, go upstairs," she begged.
Frisk although with tears clearly falling from their eyes, had walked up to Toriel and took a hold of her hand. _ meanwhile had stood back a little and watched on with sad worried eyes.
"Pathetic, is it not?" Toriel sadly laughed aloud as she reached up and wiped away at her tears. "I cannot save even a single child... Let alone two," She said quietly as she turned to look at both of the human children.
_ had noticed that the flames around them had died down significantly and turned back to look up at Toriel and Frisk.
"No, I understand. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For the both of you my two children... I will put them aside. If you both truly wished to leave the ruins... I will not stop you. However, when you leave. Please, do not come back. I hope you both understand" Toriel said in almost a whisper as she knelt down and hugged Frisk tightly.
After hugging Frisk, Toriel then made her way on over towards the other child and she too hugged them tightly. During all this time, _ had never felt so attached to someone before, especially a monster. However after realizing that Toriel was only doing what she thought it was best in order to protect them, it really struck their heart that they had to leave her. So to make the best of it, they quickly hugged Toriel back.
"Goodbye my children," Toriel sighed out as she stood back up and turned to look at the human kids one last time before walking back into the ruins.
Watching Toriel leave _ could see the conflicting emotion written on Frisk's face. Letting out a sigh, _ walked on over and placed a hand upon the other child's shoulder. Frisk had turned to look at them before quickly they reached up and rubbed away at their face.
"It is okay... I am alright. We have to go on," Frisk mumbled as they turned towards the door and opened it.
_ on the other hand paused a moment and looked behind them from where Toriel had disappeared off to. Letting out a sigh, they decided to follow Frisk through the giant door.
The two children made their way through the long empty hallway that had not monsters that would jump out and attack them. Eventually they both noticed a giant archway and upon going through it they were both met with a familiar face.
"Clever. Verrrryyy both think you're really smart, don't you?" Flowey spoke with half lidded eyes. "In this world, it's kill or be killed." Flowey spat out. "So you were both able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of a single person," Flowey goaded before a small laughter came from him. "I bet you both feel really great. You two didn't kill anybody this time. But what will you do when you both meet a relentless killer? You both will die and die again, all until you are tired of trying. What will you both do until then?" Flowey asked before his face suddenly changed. "Will you two kill out of frustration? Or will you two give up entirely on this world... And let me inherit the powers to control it?" Flowey growled out.
Before they could say anything to the menacing flower, Flowey rose up, gave off a menacing laugh and disappeared underground. Leaving just the two of them again within the silence of the ruins.
Turning towards Frisk, _ deeply wanted to know what was going on. While Frisk stared at the spot where Flowey was just at before the heaved out a long sigh.
"I will tell you. I will tell you everything soon. But please just give me a little more time to figure out what is going on," Frisk asked without looking back at the other child.
_ heaved out a tired huff and held their teddy bear closer towards their body for comfort.
Both the children then looked up at the giant gate that separated the ruins from the outside world of the underground. Frisk then turned to look at the other child and held out their hand.
"Ready?" Frisk asked.
Taking in a deep breath and not knowing of what to do the silent child slowly took Frisk's hand once more and waited for them to lead them away.
Even though Frisk knew that whatever time line they were in, they were going to do their best to fix everything fills them with Determination.
While being lead away by Frisk, _ couldn't help but look back and think about Toriel while they exited the ruins. As soon as they made it to the door and slowly opened it, _ could see the light of the outside would before them. Upon knowing that although they didn't know very much of what was going on and that their true journey was just starting, fills them with Hope.
Hello readers and thank you all for reading my story. As you all can see, these last couple of chapters have ridiculously similar as the game's intro. I just wanted to express that, that was intentional and that is where the similarities will end as from now on, things will start to slightly change. Anyways, thanks again my readers and if I haven't got back to any of my reviewers, I apologize and will get to you all soon, thank you.