Where was Bea? It had been a long time since she had left to go play out in the Ruins and dinner had already started to cool.

Although she was worried about their safety, Bea assured her that since they had already made the journey alone it wasn't that dangerous and adamantly proclaimed that they were an 'experienced adventurer' and 'prepared for anything' with their arms on their hips and chest puffed out. Then they pulled an umbrella out of their soul and shot streams of bandages out of their palms. 'I'll be fine, I can protect myself!' Bea said as she pointed at the crumpled heap of magic fabric on the floor. She brought up some good points so, after some debate, Toriel relented and allowed her to leave, but not without making Bea promise to return soon.

The green bean and mushroom casserole she had baked had long gone cold on the countertop, but the bubby child was nowhere to be found. Had something happened to Bea? Was she worrying too much? She had taught them about the dangers of the Underground so she should be safe. There weren't any powerful monsters roaming the Ruins either…

Perhaps she would walk around the Ruins and look around herself. Toriel got off the couch and put the 'Math & English for the Gifted' book back into the bookshelf. Patting down her robe, she walked up to— the front door was open.

Oh, Bea had already come back! Bea was probably tired from playing outside and forgot to close the door properly.

Closing the front door, she walked over to the guest room and opened the door. It was dark, but Toriel noticed the blankets bunched up into a bundle on the bed.

"Bea? Are you here?" she said with a relieved smile as she walked up to the bed covers and flung them away.

She was not greeted by the pout of a child disappointed to have been caught so easily. Just the familiar sight of an empty bed, cold and deserted. Nothing. "My child, I do not like this game we are playing." she desperately called out, a terrifying thought was wriggling inside her mind, 'What if she—

No.

Perhaps she had snuck into one of the other rooms? Bea did seem like the curious type, perhaps in her room?

Nothing.

Asgore's room, maybe maybe maybe—

Nothing.

There was one place left, if Bea had returned to her house, there was one place that could possibly be where Bea was. But it couldn't be. She had no reason to go down there.

The stairs stoked the emerging fear within her mind, like the gaping maw of some horrible being, promising a short end to whomever entered. Every look was a reminder of every goodbye, every 'come back soon!', every smile that she had forced upon herself as she watched her children leave her. Her last moments before she left her children to be devoured whole by the monsters waiting outside, receiving phone calls on a daily basis about their journeys and all the interesting things they had come across… before the phone stopped ringing entirely… as she waited and waited to no avail.

All because she was too much of a coward to stop them. She had always called Asgore a coward in her mind, but she was one too. She was too much of a coward to face the monsters that dwelled within the Underground. To tell Asgore to withdraw his decree, to take away the hope of her people. To look at their faces and deny them the freedom that they deserved. To decide between humanity and her own kind. She was supposed to be the Queen of Monsterkind. She was supposed to put their interests above her own, yet she ignored their cries, ignored the cries of monster children. She chose to hide from her responsibilities, barricading herself within the Ruins. Helping neither humans nor monsters, telling the human children 'do not leave the ruins my child' and offering no aid beyond that. Just some sick sense of morality to protect children that in the end… benefited no one.

No.

This was not the time to be thinking of such things.

She shakily descended the stairs, a desperate hope still dwelled inside her.

A trail of clean spots, as clear as day in the remnants of bricks that had gone neglected for a millennia. A straight path forwards. A single set of footprints. Just one set. Away from her. Away from the Ruins. Away from her. A cold draft blew across her fur, despair grasped her as the walls seemed to wail and cry.

'Please don't cry, things will get better'

'Mom, it hurts'

'Why didn't you save us'

'You said you would protect us'

'You left us by ourselves''

'We waited, yet no one came'

'I just wanted to live, is that too much to ask?'

'Mothers protect their children… right?''

'Why didn't you protect us''

She had failed. She had nine tries, yet she had failed every single time. It was such a simple task… protect your child… a task that every mother is given, yet she had outlived every single one of her children. What kind of mother was she?

Toriel crumpled to the ground, her robe splayed apart around her. Soon another one of her children would depart from the world. Leaving her grasping at the memories of better times… happier times. When she would be greeted by a smile, a hug, playful jokes. It never lasted. The memories she held onto would disappear as the years went by. Like grasping at sand, bits and pieces slipping by, one by one, they would disappear.

Another innocent child that had done nothing wrong. Asgore would have his 7th human soul and he would unleash the monsters upon the humans, leading the charge as people died in droves and blood would mix with dust once again. The remnants of a war that had caused so much pain. Rekindled into a crimson bonfire that tore an ancient alliance apart yet again.

She had failed and she had failed and she had failed and she had failed, again and again.

...child after child, death after death. What had she done to deserve this, why couldn't she protect any of her children? What had she done wrong?

Toriel looked up in despair. Choking through sobs as she tried to forget. The good and the bad, were nothing but painful reminders of what could have been and what was.

She wept and wept in the gloom of the tunnel, alone. And when she could weep no more, she gazed hollowly towards the end of the tunnel. Where another child was wandering about, ignorant to the horrors that awaited them…it was only a matter of time.

Everything would soon be over.

—

Another sentry station?

With my two sneakers still in my hands, I move closer to get a better look. Prepared to chuck them at anything dangerous that might pop up.

It looked as if someone had flattened out about… six cardboard boxes and arranged them in the shape of what I assumed was a sentry station? It had walls, a counter, and a roof made of two flimsy pieces of cardboard which appeared to be barely holding back piles of snow that threatened to wreck the entire… whatever it was.

A cardboard sign was plastered below the counter with two fake iron nails drawn on it, in what appeared to be a black marker. The sign read, 'You observe the well-crafted sentry station. Who could have built this, you ponder…' Oh, Papyrus had made this! I continued to read the sign.

Clearing my throat, I yelled "I BET IT WAS THAT VERY FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!

(NOTE: NOT YET A VERY FAMOUS GUARDSMAN.)" I felt like I had done the Great Papyrus justice. Only a loud commanding voice could truly convey the greatness that he emanated from every bone. I could imagine him now, dutifully continuing his quest to capture a human. Waiting for the stoney door of the ruins to open once again. His scarf-cape thingy billowing in the non-existent wind as he stood guard.

Moving on, I kicked another pile of snow that stood in my way. I could already imagine all the snowmen I would make… snowwomen too… and gender-neutral snowpeople!

There was another station a bit in front of me. It didn't look like a food stall, it wasn't made of cardboard either, but it did look like a doghouse. A tad strange, but the previous two were also strange so maybe my idea of a sentry station was wrong? It wasn't like I had ever seen a sentry station on the surface before.

As I passed the station, a dog's head peaked out… and their body soon followed. An anthropomorphic dog to be exact. It was most certainly not a cute four-legged fluffy puppy with a dog treat in its mouth, but more of a gruff-looking dog standing on its hind legs… with a dog treat in its mouth, well would you look at that!

He stood there turning his head left and right like a security camera as he chewed on a dog treat. Right left right left, again and again, not relaxing in the slightest. He seemed like the type who would say 'blinking is for the weak!' and sleep with both eyes open.

He wore a pink tank top pulled tight against the chiseled muscles adorning every inch of his body. His eyes were set into an eternal glare… a glare pointed directly at me. The two giant knives he was holding… also happened to be pointed at me.

"Did something move? Was it my imagination? I can only see moving things."

Who would ever admit to only 'being able to see moving things.' That seemed like a glaring weakness that someone would at least try to hide from others.

If something WAS moving... For example, a human... I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!

Darn, I was a big fan of being alive and this guy didn't seem like a big fan of me being alive. Should I move? Should I stand still? Was he lying?

"Don't move an inch!"

His two blades seemed to shimmer with energy as blue tendrils wrapped around them, lighting up his arms.

Jumping back, I dodged the shimmering blue knife that he had swiped at me.

"It moved! It didn't NOT move!" The knife-dog exclaimed as their eyes seemed to light up with a renewed fervor as he stared directly at me. What was with this guy and moving? Did he expect me to not move when he was stabbing me?

Quickly pulling an umbrella out of my soul I flung it in front of myself as he lunged at me again. The edge cut straight through the shaft, leaving me with nothing, but the handle.

Throwing away the handle, I quickly materialized another shimmering umbrella. And put it between myself and the manic Knife-dog.

The blade sheared through half of the faux fabric before coming to a grinding stop—

He twisted his body and grasped his other blade in a backhand grip and lunged again.

I sprung back again, escaping by mere inches this time as the edges sliced through a patch of my already tattered shirt. The bipedal dog simply growled in annoyance, face scrunched up into a glare. Stab-puppy was most definitely not in a good mood, whether it was just from a bad day or a failing to stab me, I had no idea.

He retracted his blades to his sides and lowered his body. As if he was waiting, waiting for me to make my first move. Hind legs tensed to pounce, ears perked up, prepared.

"Who are you?" he asked with a growl.

Seriously? He didn't know what he was attacking and he started slicing away regardless? That was just reckless! He wasn't even using magical pellets! That was a knife! TWO knives in fact! Solid and sharp, not something you just sic on someone you came across.

"A friendly monster?" I answered it worked on Papyrus, it might work again!

"Why do you smell like a human?" He sniffed and eyed me suspiciously.

Ah well, plan A had failed, also known as my only plan, things weren't looking so good. More importantly, why did he know what humans smell like and how was I going to get out of this situation? What magical excuse could my brain think of…

"Oh! I think it might be these shoes I found laying out in the snow!" I said as I silently whispered goodbye to my sneakers.

With an underhand toss, my two companions soar through the air. He caught both with one hand, having switched both knives to the other while I wasn't paying attention… even though I had been looking at him the entire time.

Bringing my beloved partners up to his snout, he paused.

…

…

…

"Sorry kid, my mistake." He said with a sheepish grin as he looked away. Seeming to find the bland trees and snow very interesting at this very convenient moment.

"Mhm, I'll be going now." I wasn't going to argue with this stabby maniac. I was getting away as fast as I could. If I stayed any longer he might realize that I was a human and I wasn't going to stick around and admonish him for trying to gut me like a human.

Fast walking as fast as I could from the sneaker-wielding dog. As soon as the maniac was out of sight, I collapsed. I didn't care that the snow was seeping into my clothes. I deserved a rest after all that. Future Bea would have to deal with it. Present Bea wanted to lay down. My heart was beating out of my chest the entire fight, both figuratively and literally.

My magic wasn't strong enough, not even close. His knives ran through my magic like a hot knife through an umbrella. I had no idea why he was so much stronger, but I was not going back to test how strong he was. One demonstration was enough.

Even though I got out relatively unscathed… how long would I last before my luck ran out?

—

Fallen Human llI

King Asgore and Queen Toriel have stopped research in the soul unit.

They have adopted the fallen human.

Fallen Human lllI

Requests to study the human have been denied

There is a possibility that artificial souls could be created using the human's soul as a basis. Requesting permission. Permission denied

the King and Queen have declared it… too risky. I do not understand. This human may be the key to the surface world, the risks are negligible in front of the potential rewards.

—

Author here again, someone asked for a Toriel POV after Bea left. They asked, so I delivered and wow! This was most certainly not a cheerful chapter, maybe I lost a bunch of my viewers in the process, who knows!

P.S If there is anything you feel I could improve on, feel free to comment. This is my first time writing non school stuff.

P.P.S I'm not a mother, I haven't lost anyone important in my life either… so eh, don't know if I did the whole situation justice.

P.P.P.S Also the first time I have written a fight scene, so also eh, don't know if I did that justice either.

P.P.P.P.S I have stuff going on in my life, so sorry for 2k words a week updates.

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