-/- PACIFIST -\-
Not really looking where you were going, you raced into the next room and instantly felt yourself falling. With a thud, you crashed into the floor below you. Luckily, a pile of brown leaves cushioned your fall. You growled almost silently when you realised this was probably another falling puzzle you would have to endure. Rubbing your eyes in frustration, you got up to your feet and exited the small room you had fell into. Once you had traversed up some stairs, you finally took an actual look at the room you had rushed in to. It was a fairly large room, with six patches of darkened earth set into the floor. The one immediately ahead of you had a big hole placed in the centre of the patch... You guessed that this is where you had fallen. Making sure not to step on any of the darkened patches, you made your way towards the next room, but stopped when you noticed that a set of spikes were protruding from the path.
"Hah Hah Hah!", laughed a loud voice from behind you. You didn't even have to turn around to realise who it was. Within seconds you felt that tug on your soul, and the Final Froggit was stood proud in front of you.
"Idiot! You need to press a lever to get rid of those spikes! Now stop running away and let me kill you!", he spat before lunging towards you. Acting quickly, you jumped to the left, intentionally landing on another patch of darkened earth. As expected, you tumbled into a pile of brown leaves. You couldn't enjoy their comfort for too long however, as the Final Froggit had soon decided to jump down and join you. You rolled to the side just as his feet crash-landed in to the space where your head had just been. Final gave you a dark glare and readied himself to speak, but stopped when you ran out of that small room and back into the room with the darkened patches of earth. Remembering to watch out for the darkened patches, you jumped over the first one you had fell in, and decided to jump into the second patch. Once more you fell into a pile of brown leaves, and once more you rose to your feet. Before you could rush out of this small room however, you noticed a lever protruding out of the wall. Deciding that this must be the lever Final was talking about, you pulled it down and ran back into the room with the darkened patches.
As expected the spikes were now retracted back into the ground. However, Final had taken their place and was staring at you with a determined look.
"This ends now human. No more fleeing... Just fight me!". Noting that you had no other way past him, you reluctantly sighed and sat down on the ground. The Final Froggit was obviously not expecting this, as the tug on your soul lightened slightly.
"What are you doing human? You were all up for fighting me before! Why not now!?". You cut your eyes at him, before pulling out his crown which you had taken from him in the previous room. His eyes lit up, as if expecting you to throw it at him to harm him, but instead you rolled it along to floor to him so that he could take it back. It stopped when it touched his feet, yet he made no move to pick it up, instead he stared back at you with a strange look in his eyes. It was quickly masked however, as a darker glint took over his eyes.
"This is a trick! As soon as I pick up my crown, you'll attack me like before! You'll dust me won't you! Well I'm not going to let that happen. This is the last time you'll hurt anyone here!", He cackled as he marched towards you, yet with each passing step that you didn't make a single movement, he lost his momentum until he was basically standing right in front of you. You clenched your eyes closed, expecting his attack, but instead he relieved the tug on your soul and sat down before you. His face portrayed no anger, only pure confusion.
"What is this act? What are you proving this way?", he asked genuinely. You shrugged, honestly not sure of the answer.
"I haven't attacked you before... I'm not going to start now", you eventually explained. Final seemed to laugh at this, obviously believing you to be lying, but the more he thought about, the more you could see the guilt in his eyes.
"You- I- I... I'm sorry human...", he whispered whilst looking down. "We only needed one more human soul... and the last human who fell down... Well they were meant to be the last soul we needed... but the way they died... It's no wonder their soul was obliterated. They were stupid... and evil... and I guess... I guess I just thought you would be the same".
You took this information in, completely horrified that these monsters have been taking human souls for whatever reason. He seemed to notice the look of terror on your face and sat backwards in fear you might strike him. When you didn't however, he took a deep breath and carried on explaining himself.
"When I saw you. I thought I would be able to destroy you... Why you ask? Well because none of the other monsters here are dead yet. Not even that god awful Tem". You frowned at his last statement, but he carries on seemingly ignoring your scowl. "I didn't think for a single moment that you had spared them. I didn't think you would've given them mercy. I didn't even think that you wouldn't have even tried to hurt them... I just thought you were too weak to try... So I thought I'd destroy you myself before you gathered up the strength to do so". Final took another breath, staring his big eyes into yours. "With each encounter we had, you never attacked me once. I got myself injured in each encounter, but never by you. The spiders, my magic fly swarm, falling down the holes in this room. With each piece of damage I took, I blamed you... yet it was my own stupidity. I'm sorry human". With this said, he stood up and made his way back to the room where you had met Napstablook. Before he completely left however, he turned his head back to you a sad smile. "Human... If we ever meet again, and if you ever go to Tem Town Centrol, we probably will... I hope we can be friends... Besides, I technically owe you a Spider Croissant seeing as I made you drop your other one". You let out a small chuckle and nodded your head. Final reciprocated your chuckle before giving you a small smile and heading out of the room.
It took you a few moments to gather yourself, but once you had, you rose to your feet and walked slowly into the next room. Fortunately the spikes didn't extract themselves whilst you were sat down, so passing into the next room was easy. Walking into next room, your eyes were instantly attracted to the three pillars stretching from the floor all the way to the roof. Inside the same room was the small flying monster that Tem had raced after earlier. As soon as it noticed you, it fled to one of the pillars, clicked a switch and zoomed of into the next room. Acting quickly you ran after it, and when you entered through the doorway, you were in... the exact same room... except it had rotated? You heard another click, and as you turned your head to the noise, the same flying creature from before went rushing off through the next doorway. "Hey! Wait up!", you called whilst pursuing after the Whimsum. Once more, you were in the same room, however this time it was rotated a further ninety degrees. This time, the Whimsum was flitting between two pillars, looking very unsure of itself, and very afraid. As you walked cautiously towards it, it span around to look at you before bursting in to tears. Deciding not to get any closer to the creature in fear of scaring it even more, you decided to sit down on the ground, much like you had when you last encountered the Final Froggit, and simply surveyed the room. Your relaxed manor seemed to successfully get the Whimsum to calm down a little, as her panicked shrieks soon turned to uncomfortable murmurs and finally relaxed whispers. Deciding to stay seated on the ground so that Whimsum knew you meant no harm, you spoke softly to her.
"Thank you", you said, whilst making sure to keep your eyes away from her so that you didn't make her uncomfortable. She squeaked nervously at the sound of your voice, but eventually realised what you had said, and managed a quivered reply.
"Wh-Wh-Why Th-Thank Y-You?". The fact she had even replied caused a smile to grow on your face. One was also growing on hers, most likely due to the fact she was proud she was managing to talk to someone without fleeing.
"You showed me that this room can rotate. I never would've known that if you weren't here. I would've just walked right through it". The Whimsum let out an awkward titter.
"H-Hah. N-No pro-problem. B-But I w-was act-actually tr-trying to get a-away... fr-from you. N-Not be-because your hu-human. But be-because I'm n-not good at meet-meeting new people". You nodded at this and glanced a look at the Whimsum. Her beady eyes were busily inspecting everything in the room except yourself, and her lips were wobbling with anxiety.
"Oh...", you began. You almost instantly saw the Whimsum give a little flinch, so you made sure to try extra hard to not upset her with your reply. "Well then I've got to thank you again. I never would've learnt you needed to press the levers to get through this part of the ruins". The Whimsum seemed to beam from the praise. Her smile seemed to grow when you saw her have an 'Eureka' moment. With great precision, she flew to one of the switches and clicked it. "I-I pr-pressed the ri-right one I- I think", she mumbled as she turned to you. "Ar-are you co-coming al-along?". Lifting yourself to your feet, you nodded your head happily and followed Whimsum into the next room. Once more, it was the same room, but rotated again. Fortunately for you both, Tem was in this room, clearly on her way to meet you. The surprise on her face at having to find you hear was evident, yet so was her happiness.
"HOI Human! Tem sorriez for leaving. Tem got you da rooms ready! Is so cute!". You gave her a grateful smile, as she pulled you into a hug. "How did you get all da ways here human! Did any of the munsters tries to take you soul?", she asked as clicked a final switch and lead the three of you through the final doorway. Deciding not to worry Tem, you told her that they had not, and instead told her about how she was right that making friends with all the monsters was a great idea. She seemed to smile sadly when you mentioned how you had made friends, not in a way that made it seem like she wished you hadn't, but more like she wished she had been there to see it happen and maybe even be involved.
"I made friends with a few different monsters. I even got given a badge by the spiders and everything".
"Oh so you went to da Spiders cakey bake sales too! Is so yummy! SO YUMMY! Tem means- Tem didn't go to da spiders to buy a surprize for- Tem was- Ermm... Human! Tem wants to shows you, you room!", she spluttered nervously before leading you to the left when the corridor split in two. The whimsum gave a shy wave and headed off in the other direction. You had managed to boost her confidence by telling Tem about how she had helped you in the last few rooms. Tem had seemed beyond thrilled to hear this, and had invited Whimsum over afterwards to talk about it. You had initially been surprised, but Whimsum had agreed to this almost instantly. Your thoughts were cut off when Tem nudged you lightly so that you didn't walk into the tree that was planted in the centre of the room. As you walked around it, you couldn't help but stare at the perfect little house that was hidden all the way back here. Looking pleased, Tem cleared her throat.
"So human..! Welcom to Tems House!".
-/- NEUTRAL -\-
Not watching where you were heading, you almost instantly fell through the floor of the next room. With a panicked scream, you landed on to the floor below you. Fortunately for you, you had been spared any pain due to your body landing on a pile of brown leaves. Your nostril flared when you realised that the room you had entered was more than likely going to be another falling puzzle. Sighing, you stood up and exited the small room you had fell into. Once you had made your way up some stairs, you paused to take in the surroundings of the room you had rushed in to. It was a fairly large, and had six patches of darkened earth set into the floor. The one nearest you you had a gaping hole in the centre, shaped quite comically, in a form that looked like yourself. Being more careful now that you knew the risks, you made sure not to step on any more darkened patches of earth, whilst on your way towards the next room. You stopped short when you finally noticed a sharp set of spikes blocking your exit. As you turned around to look for a switch of some sort, you noticed that the Final Froggit had followed you into the room.
"Idiot!", he laughed, whilst pointing to the hole your body had left in the floor. "You need to watch where you're going! Otherwise you might end up dead", he proclaimed, before laughing once more. "You'll be ending up dead quite soon anyway", he eventually added before bombarding towards you. Acting quickly, you jumped to the left, intentionally landing on another patch of darkened earth. As expected, you tumbled into another pile of brown leaves that had accumulated there somehow. Before you could even stand, you felt that familiar tug on your soul, and raced from the small room just as the Final Froggit jumped down to join you. Once you had returned to the big room you were just in, you jumped over the first patch of darkened earth, and decided to jump into the second patch. Yet again, you fell into a pile of brown leaves. Fortunately, you had managed to hit the jackpot, as this small room seemed to house a lever which you assumed would retract the spikes and allow you to continue into the next room. Deciding it was worth a try, you pulled it down and ran back into the room with the darkened patches.
As you had hoped, the spikes were no where to be seen, in their place however, stood the Final Froggit.
"Look human", he began, "It is either you die, or the whole of monster kind die... I know which option I prefer... I know which side the whole of monster kind would prefer... You're outvoted... and as such, that means you lose", he spat. Realising there was nothing you could do to get past him, you brought back your fist and catapulted it into the Froggits chest. His whole body shook, and he let out a pained moan. His colour faded slightly, almost as if you had punched the life out of him in one hit. He seemed to expect you to hit him again, as his eyes were clenched shut. However, instead you wrapped your arms around him in a guilty hug, and kept apologising. The Final Froggit seemed very unnerved by this. Probably due to the fact that you could most likely kill him in another hit, yet you had chosen not too for some reason. Almost too quickly, the tug on your soul became none existent, and the Final Froggit fought his way out of your grip. Once he had, he gave you a harrowing look.
"You could've killed me. You've could've turned me to dust in just one more hit... yet you gave me mercy... even after I chased you down and attacked you... You don't want me dead..?", he questioned. "I don't know why you didn't kill me", he continued, "but I thank you human". With this said, he rose to his feet and made his way back to the room where you had met Napstablook. Before he completely left however, he turned his head back to you with a straight face. "Human... You may be able to dust me in two hits... but not all monsters are as pathetic as me... One day you might meet a monster that can kill you in two hits... If you can willingly give mercy to us monsters, then you at least deserve mercy yourself but you should know... you won't always get it". With this said the Final Froggit left the room, leaving you to stand alone to think about what you had done.
It took you a few moments to shake yourself from your stupor, but once you had, you rubbed your eyes and walked cautiously into the next room, a promise in your head to make sure you never hurt another living creature for as long as you are Underground. Passing into the next room your eyes were instantly attracted to three pillars stretching from the floor all the way to the roof. Inside the same room was the same small flying monster that Tem had chased after back in Tem Town Centrol. As soon as it saw you, it flew to one of the pillars, clicked a switch and rushed of into the next room. Acting swiftly you chased after it, and when you entered through the doorway, you were now in... the exact same room... only your perspective of it had changed. You heard another click, and as you turned to face the noise, the same flying creature from before went rushing off through the next doorway. This repeated twice more. Eventually, you exited the room to find yourself in a small corridor that split off in two directions. Luckily for you, Tem was standing in said corridor, returning from one path, and heading towards you. The Whimsum you had been following had seeming disappeared without a trace. Upon noticing you Tem's face lit up with surprise and relief.
"OMG Human! How did yous get all da ways here by youself!? Human so smarts! SO SMARTS!". You gave her a grateful smile, as she pulled you into a hug. "Did any of the munsters tries to take you soul?", Tem asked as she grabbed your hand and led you down the last available path. Deciding to be honest, you told her that some monsters had tried, but that you had spoke to all of them so that they would leave you alone. That wasn't the actual case, yet it was all you wanted to disclose to Tem at the moment. Tem seemed as upset as you did at the fact that you hadn't managed to make friends with the monsters you had encountered yet. "Human! This was meants to be a super-duper surprize but cause you is upset Tems will tell you! Tem wants humans to live at Tem's house. Tem even gots you, you own cute room. Is very cute! VERY!", she proclaimed with so much emphasis that you couldn't help but let out a snicker. She seemed to take pride in the fact she made you laugh, as her smile grew tenfold just by from your laugh alone. "Also Tem went to da Spiders cakey bake sales! Is so yummy theres! Tem gots you another surprize from theres! But first, Tem wants to show you, you room!", she announced as she led you around a tree that had grown in the centre of the room you had entered. As she led you around it, you couldn't help but stare at the pleasant house that was hidden all there. Looking pleased with herself, Tem cleared her throat.
"Welcom to Tems House!".
-/- GENOCIDE -\-
Entering the next room you pause to take in your surroundings. There was nothing too noticeable about the room except for the six patches of darkened earth set into the floor. Remembering the same dark patches being used in the falling puzzle you had traversed earlier, you stayed clear of them and kept to the path. Following it, you noticed that there were spikes at the end of the path, but that someone had retracted them back into the ground. Thanking your luck, you continued on your way out of the room.
In the next room your eyes were instantly attracted to the flying creature that Tem had chased after earlier. It seemed to notice you almost instantly and screamed loudly. Acting quickly it flew to one of the pillars, clicked a switch and rushed of into the next room. Without a word said you chased after it. Room after room, switch after switch, you kept your eyes trained on the Whimsum ahead of you. Before it could fly out of the fourth room, you managed to leap upon the creature. It lets out a blood-curdling shriek as you squeeze it. Within seconds you've squeezed it in to a dust. Just as heavy footsteps come from the last doorway you had left to exit through, you blow the dust from your hands and laugh.
"Oh... Human..? Has you saw da Whimsum?", came Tem's familiar voice.
"I did. It's gone now", you spoke, purposely cryptic. Tem seemed to think you meant the Whimsum had passed you on her way out of the room, and let out a small laugh. "Well Tem is happy to see you! I got yous a gift from da Spider Cakey Bake sales! To make ups for those meanies trying to steals you soul in Tem Town Centrol!". You smiled appreciatively as Tem led you out of the room and into the next. Before long you were in a room, where a tree was growing in the centre, and a small rustic house was situated against the far wall.
"You is covered in dust and dirt human! Perhaps the human should have one of the baths? Feel free to use da bathrooms in my house!", she offered as she gestured towards the house she was leading you too. "But first, Tem wants to show you, you room".
- Responding To Reviews [29/08/2016 - 12/09/2016] -
Guest - Yes, school will be affecting updates soon. However I plan on trying to release a chapter at least once every two weeks when it starts. Sometimes even more often than that. It depends on whether I have the motivation to write the story or not mainly, so as long as I'm motivated, the chapters will keep coming.