Chara and Frisk followed Toriel into the RUINS' entrance where they found the first familiar puzzle.
"Welcome to your new home, innocent one." Toriel said to Frisk with a kind smile. "Allow me to educate you in the operation of the RUINS." Toriel quickly solved the puzzle before continuing, "The RUINS are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them."
After Toriel left the room Chara sighed and said, "We don't have time for this."
"I'm sorry Chara." Frisk replied. "But you know that we need to solve them to continue."
"I know, I know, let's just get this over with." Chara said as she followed Toriel into the next room.
Seeing them both, Toriel smiled as she explained the next puzzle, "To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labelled the ones that you need to flip."
Toriel walked to the end of the room and waited in front of the spikes blocking the way.
"Okay Chara, if we work together we can get through these puzzles much more quickly." Frisk said in a cheery voice.
"Fine, I'll take the furthest switch you take the closest." Chara said already bored.
After they solved the puzzle, Toriel's smile widened as she said, "Splendid! I am so proud of you, little ones. You two seem to be getting along very well. Let us move into the next room."
After moving into the room with the training dummy, Toriel turned to Frisk and said, "As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. But you've already met and befriended Chara, so I don't believe you will need to worry much if you can make friends with them so easily. Still, there are some monsters that can be quite... grumpy at times. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come and resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy."
Toriel walked over to the doorway and said, "Chara, you may wait here next to me."
Chara said nothing as she did as she was told while Frisk walked up to the dummy and entered a FIGHT with it. Chara watched impatiently as Frisk pressed the ACT button and selected Talk.
"Hello my name is Frisk." she said with a small smile.
Toriel was pleased as Frisk exited the FIGHT.
"Ah, very good! You are very good." Toriel said before turning to Chara and saying, "Chara I know that you are a monster, but would you like to give it a try as well?"
Chara rolled her crimson eyes and said in a flat voice, "Sure, why not."
Chara and Frisk switched places and Chara entered a FIGHT with the dummy. As the FIGHT began, Chara noticed several things. The first being her LOVE was at 20. The next thing she noticed was that the MERCY button was gone. But the things that caught everyone's attention was the SOUL that floated out of her chest.
Chara's SOUL was completely black and had a red outline, it also didn't glow like Frisk's but rather it was as if it pulled the light towards it.
"Oh my, you have quite the unique SOUL for a monster don't you?" Toriel said.
Chara said nothing as she pressed the FIGHT button and attacked the dummy, slicing it in two.
"Ahh, the dummies are not for fighting!' Toriel exclaimed. "They are for talking! We do not want to hurt anybody, do we...? Come now."
After Toriel left Frisk said, "Chara you didn't have to do that."
"Does it matter? It was just a dummy." Chara replied flatly. "Come on let's go."
Chara walked past Frisk and after a moment of hesitation, Frisk sighed and followed.
Seeing them both Toriel said, "There is another puzzle in this room... I wonder if you can solve it?"
Toriel lead them over to the spike covered floor, but halfway to it a froggit pulled them both into a FIGHT.
"What?!" Frisk exclaimed. "How did it pull us both into a FIGHT?"
"Forget how, why did it pull me in to begin with?" Chara said as she tightened her grip on her knife.
"I'm not sure but it looks like you're the one that decides what to do." Frisk said as she looked at the FIGHT's buttons which were hovering in front of Chara minus the MERCY button.
"Okay then what am I supposed to do?" Chara asked.
"It's okay Chara, just try complimenting the froggit." Frisk replied.
Sighing Chara said, "Unbelievable, fine."
Chara pressed the ACT button and selected the compliment option.
"Hello froggit, you look very... nice today... I guess." Chara said halfheartedly.
Frisk winced slightly at the compliment but froggit blushed regardless after hearing Chara's compliment. Before the froggit could do anything more, Toriel appeared next to it with a stern look on her face. The froggit took one look at her and quickly hopped away, ending the FIGHT.
"What the hell, why am I being involved in FIGHTS?" Chara thought out loud as she scratched the back of her head.
"I don't know." Frisk said as she tried to think of some reason for the froggit going after Chara.
Chara sighed and said, "Whatever, let's just get moving." Before walking over to Toriel who was waiting patiently next to the spike covered floor.
Frisk followed Chara and stood next to her as Toriel said, "This is the puzzle, but... Here, take my hand for a moment." Toriel gently took Frisk's hand into her own. "Chara you'll need to hold Frisk's hand and follow behind us."
Chara rolled her eyes before taking Frisk's free hand, noticing that it was soft and warm. After making sure that everyone was ready, Toriel led them through the spiked floor maze without harm. After reaching the other side Chara quickly let go of Frisk's hand.
"Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now." Toriel said as she released Frisk's hand as well before heading into the next room. The girls silently followed after her and found her waiting for them at the end of a long empty hallway.
"You both have done excellently thus far, my children." Toriel said with a small smile. "However... I have a difficult request to ask of you." After a brief pause she continued, "I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourselves. Forgive me for this."
Toriel quickly took off down the hallway, and was soon out of view.
Chara simply shook her head saying, "Seriously just how old does she think we are?" Before following Toriel.
"Chara I don't think we even know anymore." Frisk said as she walked next to her. "Though if I had to guess I would say we're now about sixteen or maybe seventeen."
"The number doesn't exactly matter, it's the why that I wanna know about." Chara replied.
Frisk thought back to when she had reset the timeline and remembered the strange error message that had appeared in front of her. But before she could say anything to Chara about it they had reached the end of the hall and Toriel appeared from behind the stone pillar.
"Greetings, my children. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However there was an important reason for this exercise. To test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay here for awhile. Luckily you will have Chara for company. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourselves. I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything just call."
As Toriel handed Chara's old phone over to Frisk, Chara said, "Gee thanks mom."
Toriel gasped and looked at Chara with wide eyes.
"Did you just call me... "Mom"?" She said in a quiet voice. "Well... I suppose... Would that make you happy? To call me... "Mother?" Well then, call me whatever you like! Be good, alright?"
Toriel smiled sweetly before heading deeper into the RUINS. Frisk looked over at Chara but her face was expressionless.
After a few moments of silence Chara finally said flatly, "Alright come on, let's go." and followed after Toriel.
Frisk followed silently into the next room. As they were taking in their surroundings Chara's phone suddenly rang. Frisk quickly answered it and put it on speaker so Chara could hear as well.
"Hello? This is Toriel." Toriel said from the other end of the line. "You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourselves. Be good, alright?"
After hanging up, they looked around and saw a save point hovering above a patch of dry leaves. To their left sat a froggit, who looked uninterested with them, next to an open doorway. As they made their way over to the save point they were both attacked by another froggit. Chara sighed as the three buttons appeared in front of her, waiting for her input.
"Is this going to happen for every FIGHT now?" She said as she pressed the ACT button and complimented the froggit. The froggit blushed at Chara's compliment. It was now the froggit's turn and though it didn't want to fight anymore, it still had to use it's turn. So it summoned several fly like bullets and sent them towards the two girls.
Chara's eyes widened as her SOUL suddenly hovered next to Frisk's in the path of the froggit's bullets. She and Frisk quickly dove to the left and right, moving their SOULS out of the way of the froggit's attack. After the attack ended, it was Frisk's turn as the four buttons appeared in front of her and both of their respective SOULS quickly floated back in front of them.
Frisk quickly spared the froggit, ending the FIGHT. As the froggit hopped away, after giving them 5 gold for being nice, Chara released the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.
"So now we're both participating in FIGHTS." She said wiping a drop of sweat from her forehead as her heartbeat slowed.
"I guess so. Are you okay Chara?" Frisk asked with concern in her voice.
"I'm fine, let's just get going." Chara said coldly as she walked over to the save point and waited for Frisk.
Frisk, slightly hurt at how harsh Chara was, hesitated for a moment before she joined Chara and they both placed their hands on the save point.
*Despite reaching the end of the second chapter, you are still filled with Determination.*