Chapter IV: The Pacifist Route (Prelude)
"Uh..."
As Sirus and the others entered through the door, they were a bit confused and underwhelmed when they saw a shivering goat-like humanoid sitting in the middle of the ovular room they had walked into. The walls were made of pristine oak, with support columns jutting into the wooden ceiling placed around the room; The floor was made up of black and white-checkered tiles. Another door sat at the opposite end of the room, across from where the group had emerged from.
"Uh, are you doing good?" Sirus asked curiously, gazing at the shivering goat boy; With stygian-black fur, covered by cyan-colored clothing and a pointy hat- both were dirtied in mud and other mysterious substances. A tattered magenta scarf hung somberly around his neck, and a set of broken glasses sat pathetically on the bridge of his snout. He himself was dirtied and caked in unnameable substances.
The goat boy seemed to notice their presence and nodded solemnly.
"G-Greetings, travelers..."
"More Keidran?" Brahn muttered in a low, derisive tone.
"You Templar are scum!" Flora shouted in outrage, overhearing Brahn. He turned his gaze on Flora, sneering.
"What an ironic statement, coming from a feral-"
Sirus could see the room was about to explode into hostility; These were already tenuous circumstances, putting Keidran and Master Templars in the same room. He could see both sides reaching for their weapons...
"Brahn." Sirus interjected. "Not now."
Brahn looked to him in outrage, as if he wanted to say something; However, once his eyes connected with Sirus, he clenched his teeth in repressed anger.
Flora noticed the gesture from Sirus and felt a mix of confused emotions. This Templar didn't seem as genocidal as the tales told of them.
Meanwhile, Trace was disheartened to see the goat boy shivering and sniffling; It looked as if he had just went through some kind of trauma. The goat boy's eyes glanced over his, and they seemed to connect for a moment, sharing nonverbal messages; before moving along the rest of the group.
"I... am Ralsei... and..."
"My friend," Sirus asked more insistently. "Are you well? You're shaking really badly..."
The room seemed to succumb to silence for a moment as Ralsei looked up at Sirus. His eyes were filled with guilt and sorrow beyond normal grief; Sirus had seen this kind of look in those who survived village massacres...
Sighing, he knelt before the creature, examining him. Trace watched from a distance; It was refreshing for someone else to take the lead for once. He instead focused on looking at his surroundings. Ever since that Gaster fellow had spoken to him, he felt more on alert than he'd ever been in a while.
"So, before we can help you," Sirus continued, speaking calmly to the goat boy. "Can you tell us where we are? And your name, perhaps?"
The goat boy stared at the ground with an empty, drained expression.
"...Ralsei. I'm... Ralsei."
Sirus nodded in understanding, as Trace continued watching the interaction. Although he had never met any of these Master Templars before, he was perplexed by Sirus' behavior.
This 'goat boy' certainly looked like Keidran, yet Sirus was giving him affection as if he were a human boy. At the moment, Trace was focused on getting through this little task as quickly as possible; However, he wanted to speak with this Sirus person more, in the future.
"Mister Ralsei... it seems you wanted to tell us something."
Ralsei nodded once more, still entrenched in misery. Although no one else noticed it, Natani was disturbed by the emptiness in the goat boy's eyes- as if he were drained of his own personality.
"I... am your guide for the journey ahead." Ralsei muttered.
"The what now?" Eric interjected harshly. "What journey? Because I'm already on one journey, I do NOT need another!"
Ralsei cowed at the aggressive voice, mewing in fright; Much to the shock and guilt of Eric.
"Wha... I..." He muttered.
"Eric!" Kathrin chastised him. "You need to learn how to-"
"No." Euchre interrupted. "He's completely right. We are all justified in knowing why we were brought here, and where you plan on leading us."
Even as they demanded an answer, Sirus could see that Ralsei was clearly not in the mental place to be interrogated like this. That look of horror... of trauma in his eyes... What had he seen?
And yet, Sirus was not particularly concerned with Ralsei's emotions; He needed his help to navigate through whatever challenges were coming.
"What do you mean by 'our guide'?" Sirus asked in a soothing voice, lightly placing his hand on Ralsei's shoulder. The comforting gesture caused Ralsei to break down sobbing, much to everyone's surprise; Except Sirus.
"P-Please..." He sobbed, his cries echoing throughout the room; the raw emotion behind it wrenched at everyone in the room. Kathrin covered her mouth as tears pooled in her eyes, and Flora charged forward, aggressively hugging Ralsei as she cried with him; Evals and Mike watched the scene with morose expression, though suspicion still crept in their minds; Natani looked away, trying to hide her tears.
The Master Templars were dead silent, their faces deadset. However, they seemed to be listening intently to Ralsei's words.
"Please..." Ralsei cried. "Stop that menace from killing us again... stop her from killing anyone else... just kill her... if you have to... please..."
Her words resonated with everyone present. They sat in silence, listening to the sobbing of Ralsei.
"...Alright, then." Sirus stated, an ominous expression on his face. "Lead us, Ralsei."
Ralsei looked up at him, and Sirus smiled.
"We'll deal with the 'menace'."
After a few minutes of preparation and encouragement, Ralsei eventually got up on his feet, nodding gratefully to Sirus and the others. His head turned towards the door on the other side of the room.
"I... was told by Mister Gaster... to tell you guys a few things about this trip."
He turned towards the group, his eyes darting between everyone. Trace noted how Ralsei knew the name 'Gaster'; Now it was confirmed that he was not just a psychotic vision or hallucination.
"First... stay by me... Don't walk too far away from the area we have... you could fall into, erm... as he said it, 'The Void of Spacetime'."
"Uh..." Natani muttered, scratching her head. "What exactly is 'space time'?"
"I... don't know, either. But he said to 'avoid it all costs, if you don't want to have your soul trapped in Hell'."
Needless to say, that rule was deeply ingrained into everyone there.
"Second... don't get lured by whatever you see in the Theatre. He says that all of it has already happened, and this is a look back in history. So... don't follow any of the 'characters' out of the path."
"Characters? What the hell is going on?" Mike muttered in frustration. Ralsei seemed distressed by his words.
"I... I assure you, he says that all of this will make sense once you see. He says... that he just wants to show you what happened..."
Ralsei turned around, facing the door that stood before everyone. It resembled the doors to a theatre, with long, golden vertical handles for pulling open the velvet-styled double doors.
"What's with all the doors around here?" Evals muttered in annoyance. "Is this really necessary to go through whatever sorcery this is?"
The group fell silent as Ralsei turned around one more time, bowing to the group.
"I'm sorry... I just need to make it clear... please do not go off on your own. From what Mister Gaster has told me... this is like a narrow path on a mountain. If you fall off-"
"Yeah, yeah, we get it." Brahn said impatiently. "Let's get a damn move on."
Ralsei turned back around, grabbing the handle of one of the doors and pulling it-
"Ergh." He muttered, struggling to pull the large door completely open. It squeaked embarrassingly against the floor as Ralsei desperately tried to pull it fully open.
"Do you... need help?" Trace asked tentatively.
"...Yes." Ralsei mewed, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
Trace stepped forward, grabbing the door handle and yanking it open-
The door flew open with ease, much to Ralsei's humiliation; Revealing a pitch-black interior, with the outline of a long hallway stretching outwards. Cautiously, Trace stepped forward, examining the mysterious tunnel; Before eventually continuing inside.
Once seeing Trace go through, the rest of the group followed, mumbling and muttering in uncertainty, fear, curiosity...
The tunnel seemed to go on for a while. They found themselves walking, and walking, and walking...
...
...
...
...
At some point, the tunnel had expanded into a more vast space, with that familiar, ominously thick mist pervading the atmosphere. There was a distinguished area of less fog, which was clearly the path for them to walk. Ralsei began to take the lead, escorting the group through the misty void...
...
...
...
...
(Queue 'Undertale - Once Upon A Time' by Pennoink)
"Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS..."
"Wha- The hell is that?"