I'm sorry for how late this is! I would rattle off a bunch of excuses, but I'm pretty sure you're not here to listen to me apologize even more. This chapter was beta'd by The Quiller, and wouldn't even be out yet if it weren't for them. Thanks to LittleZem for the fav and follow!
Reviews-
LittleZem- Definitely the first, means a lot that you think so! Being honest, I fangirled a bit when I saw your review.
Valkyriestar of wing clan- Oh, that's a great idea! I'll definitely incorporate them in, I already have so many ideas!
Thanks for sticking with me this whole time guys!
"Speaking"
"Frisk/You speaking"
Save point
'Reading'
As you walk into the next room, you see many piles of red leaves and a single Froggit sitting next to another doorway to your left. You walk to the Froggit cautiously in case it decides to start dancing like the other one. Before you can even get within two feet of the monster, the phone Toriel gave you rings. You answer it and hear Toriel, her voice slightly staticky.
"Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?"
You pause and shake your head no before remembering that she can't see you. "No ma'am, I haven't", you lie.
"That's good, there are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?"
As soon as she hangs up, you continue forward. You realize that the entire time you were listening to Toriel, the Froggit just stared at you curiously. You approach it a bit more confidently. If it wanted to attack you, it could have done so whilst you were distracted.
As soon as you were within hearing range, the Froggit began speaking. At this point, you've pretty much accepted that all monsters spoke. "Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about dancing with monsters. If they challenge you, please dance with them. Some of us know each other's dancing so well it's become a bit of a bore. A fresh face brings new dancing styles, so some monsters may be overexcited. If they hurt you very badly, please. . . Do not hold it against them. Be a merciful human."
"Of course, Froggit. I wouldn't hold an accident against anyone!" You reassured the monster and it looked a bit happier after. You both wave goodbye and you continue to a leaf pile, where you see another light. The same male voice from before spoke: The musical rhythm of crinkling leaves, it fills you with DETERMINATION.
You turn back to the room next to Froggit and walk in. Inside you see a pedestal with a bowl on top of it. You walk closer and see a note next to the bowl. The note reads, 'Take one'. Inspecting the bowl, you see that it is filled to the brim with candies. You take one and read the label. 'Monster Candy. Heals 10 HP'. You turn to the back and read, 'Has a distinct, non-licorice flavor'. You consider taking another candy for the Froggit waiting outside but decide not to in the end.
You walk back out to the main hallway and crash straight into some strange bug-like monster. Your SOUL moves out of your chest and flies in front of you. You try to remember what Toriel told you about dancing with other monsters. You bowed to it, but before you could even begin dancing, it burst into tears. As it ran away, you realized that it was crying tears of joy. You mentally shrug and continue your trek. The next hallway is pretty clear, but that seems too easy knowing that this place is full of puzzles. You walk forward, but halfway there you fall through a crack you didn't notice before. You land on a strip of leaves, leaving you breathless for a few seconds. You stand and walk up the stairs that are behind you. You didn't notice that there was another door far ahead of you.
You return to the beginning and remember another bit of information that Toriel shared with you. "The RUINS are full of puzzles. One must solve them in order to move from room to room. As I just demonstrated, one must dance to solve them correctly." You stand still and feel the beat of your SOUL. You close your eyes and move according to how you feel. A few seconds later you open your eyes to see that you made it across safely. Giddy and proud, you keep moving forward. Walking into the next room you see a rock in front of a pressure switch and a row of spikes blocking your way of the next room. You feel your phone vibrate in your pocket so you stop and answer it.
"Hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular. . . Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"
You ponder the question for a moment until you decide. "I like butterscotch a bit more!"
You can practically hear the smile in Toriel's voice as she responds, "Oh, I see. Thank you very much!" The phone clicks and you take a few steps forward before you get another call. "Hello? This is Toriel. You do not dislike cinnamon, do you?" You hear worry seep into her tone but before you can answer her question she continues. "I know what your preference is, but would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?"
"No Toriel, I like cinnamon, I just prefer butterscotch a little more!"
You hear her relieved huff before she says, "Okay I understand. Thank you for being patient with me, by the way." The phone clicks once more.
You go towards the rock and switch, pondering the puzzle. As an experiment, you step on the switch. Up ahead the spikes retreat into the ground. When you step off of the switch, the spikes return. You go back to the rock and begin pushing it to the switch. After a few pushes the rock is on top of the switch and the spikes sink, letting you go ahead. However, before you make it out, you crash into the same bug monster as before. Remembering last time, you decide not to bow and instead send the monster a small smile. Regardless of what you do, it seems as if the monster is fated to run every time. You decide to ask Toriel about it. You find her caller ID and give her a ring.
"Yes? This is Toriel. Are you okay my child?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I had a quick question about one of the monsters here."
"Do you know who it was? Or can you describe them to me?"
You try your best to describe how the monster looked. "Well it looked like a huge fly with antenna and a permanent sad look."
"Oh, you must be talking about Whimsun! Why are you asking?"
"No reason mom!"
You hear her pause for a moment and wonder if calling her mom was the wrong thing to do. "Did you just call me, Mom?"
". . . Yeah?" She pauses once again before asking, "Would that make you happy? To call me . . . mother?"
"Only if it's okay with you."
You hear joy in her voice as she responds. "Of course my child! Call me whatever you would like! Well, goodbye!"
"Bye mom!" You hear the click signifying that she's hung up.
The next room is very similar to the previous one. The only differences are that instead of one rock there are three of them. There are also three rows of spikes surrounded by water. Knowing what to do, you push the first two rocks with ease. You move to the third one but as soon as you start pushing it the rock speaks with a slight southern accent. "WHOA there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?"
"I'm sorry sir! I just needed you to move a bit to the side."
The rock speaks again, "So you're askin' me to move?" You nod your head. "Okay then, just for you pumpkin." The rock moves a little bit forward.
"Sir, can you move some more?"
The rock huffs and speaks again. "Alrighty, how bout this?" He moves to the left, away from the switch.
You giggle and say, "No that was the wrong way!"
He chuckles and says, "Okay, think I got it." The spikes disappear but before you leave you ask the rock to stay there, knowing that he was pretty sassy. "You're givin' me a real workout." You thank him and move to the next room.
Right as you walk into the next room you trip over a line of little jello-like creatures. They just wiggled around and didn't look like they wanted to dance. You just continued forward. This room was smaller than most of the others and had a small table with a very small phonograph resting atop it. A third light rests next to the table. You tap the light and the same male voice speaks to you. Knowing the mouse may one day start the music, it fills you with determination. You smile and continue forward.
The next room was empty except for a row of red leaves and a ghost laying there. *They looked vaguely humanoid, with all of the anatomy in the correct places, but with no features to separate them from a generic human. They lay there staring at the ceiling with their arms behind their head. The ghost must've heard you, because when they shifted their eyes to you, they quickly closed them. They started saying 'Z' out loud repeatedly - not the sound but the letter 'Z' itself.
You approached them and spoke a curt, "Excuse me?"
The ghost pretended not to hear you and merely began saying 'Z' louder. You try to tap their shoulder but your arm goes further than you expected, right through them in fact. You must've surprised them because their eyes widen in shock and your soul is pulled out from your chest.
*For the purpose of this fic, Napstablook is a humanoid sort of ghost. Their dance is a Jazz sort, and it involves a lot of leg work. So since they don't exactly have legs. . .
I'm planning on having one chapter dedicated to each mini boss/main boss dance, so get ready for Blooky dancing next chapter!
