Alice in Undertale
By Lolitafreak88
Chapter 2 Very Seldom Follow It
"O-Oh!" Alice gasped through her tears as she started looking around frantically.
Still grasping the cell phone for no reason in particular, she'd have thrown the thing way if it wasn't a way to contact Toriel, her eyes soon found the voice. It was astonishingly the child who led her here. They were standing with a somewhat disappointed expression directed towards her. Alice at first was filled with some relief and wiped the rest of her tears away, glad to see a somewhat familiar face. But then she suddenly felt a rush of anger and frustration at the child. After all, this place was extremely dangerous and she had already been nearly killed before getting to see much. This child had played on her hopes and led her into a possible death trap. Getting up and clenching her fists, Alice proceeded to scold the child,
"H-how could you leave me behind and take me to such a dreadful place?! This is in a completely different time from where I come from for heaven's sake! I also recall you telling me I would 'create' this Wonderland and so far it appears that the monsters are what create it."
"My apologies, I was testing to see how you would handle your first experience in this world. You… did about average." The child's apology sounded very insincere and even seemed exasperated.
This did little to calm down Alice's temper.
"Average? I didn't come here to be tested… I was hoping to find… something curious and wonderful… the exciting feeling of something strange beginning… but rather I found myself nearly murdered by a flower. How did that flower even summon those bullets?! That's completely mad!" She bellowed.
"The same way the goat mother summoned her flames. This world has magic. It's why I'm here, why you're here, why this is here, it's integral to the monsters and the humans. It's also the only way you'll be able to escape here if you are already tired of your Wonderland." The child told her confidently.
"You… were spying on us…? But there was nowhere to hide..." Alice asked curiously.
"... I'll only tell you this once… listen well." The child's voice suddenly took a very drastic tone to something quite serious and even frightening.
Alice flinched and stepped back nervously only to suddenly find the child dashing towards her and stopped right before her with a twisted smile.
"Ah-" Alice could only gasp.
"I am THEM. The one that comes when people call its name. It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter how. Time after time, I will appear. Together… we can create this world."
Truly fascinating… Alice thought both shocked and quite in awe. Whoever this person was they seemed to be filled with influence, power, and something that no one else could possess. It also hinted that this person could make themselves known quite easily… the only matter being what it would do after making themselves known. When Alice first met the child, he had known exactly what she had wanted and seemed to escort her there. So perhaps some sort of wish-granter…?
"Then, what exactly do you want from me?" Alice inquired, relieved when the child stepped back from her.
"Essentially there's one key way to create this world… and that is to play by the rules and eventually adapt to them and adjust them once you've gained enough power. You need to know though a few important things: your goal vs the monster's goal, the scope of this world, and the major players of this world." The child spoke composed.
"That sounds awfully complicated… but I suppose I have no better alternative and I'm well aware of my fragility. Please tell me more." Alice sighed and sat down again, laying out her skirt elegantly.
"So as you know, the monsters are sealed down here by a magic spell caused by the humans. A barrier that prohibits any monster or even other human from getting through it. They've been trapped down here and living that way for a long time… and some want out. They've come up with a way… a plan to do to this. They need the power of seven human SOULS." The child explained the first part.
"Souls…? What do they mean by souls?" Alice asked curiously.
"SOULS are the life essence of both humans and monsters… even I have one too. They have power too… magical power… the power to break, repair, create, and reshape. Monster soul's aren't as strong as human souls though monsters tend to have a greater grasp over their power than humans. Human souls though are what this kingdom needs to gain enough power to break through the barrier."
Alice was quite astounded by this explanation, finding it more of a fairy tale than anything logical or scientific. She even giggled a bit.
"But that's silly… I mean in my world there are magicians who can perform 'magic' but those are often a sleight of hand. Magic is often a sort of thing as well that can only be believed by seeing and sometimes illusions like say a magician turning something into a dove. At the very least what I'm trying to say is magic truly is not as… roundabout as you put it here…" Alice, fond of displaying her knowledge, told the child her point of view.
But the stern look on the child spoke volumes of what effect it had. The child looked very cross at Alice.
"If you want to survive anyway, you'll need to harness the power of your soul little girl. Unless you'd prefer to die if you encounter that flower again. Whether or not it was different in your world doesn't matter in the slightest, what matters is that you need to have DETERMINATION." The child spoke passive aggressively at her.
"Determination? … Now what do you suppose that means here?" Alice asked, tapping her chin.
"It's a quality of human souls… the will to keep living… the resolve to change fate… the will to kill, slaughter, murder…" The child's voice slowly got quieter to the point Alice couldn't hear him.
"Could you please speak up?" She asked politely.
The child rebounded, noticeably shifting their arms from what looked like a pose of power and control to a neutral position.
"DETERMINATION keeps you alive here and also can be your weapon. I think you can harness it on your own but I'll help you if I feel you need it."
Alice nodded at the child's words before going on a speech of her own in accordance to what the child told her earlier.
"Currently my goal would be to return home then… I mean I simply can't imagine living in the future, without those I knew and held so dearly in my heart. This place is also really dangerous… yet… and I know I am asking simply too much, but I also want to see more about this world." Alice admitted with a slight smile.
The child sneered at her words much to Alice's surprise and anger. But he eventually 'tsked' and said,
"As long as you believe in that strongly, you can make it out of this world and make those goals come true."
"Y-yes… but must you sneer at me?" Alice pouted and put her hands on her hips.
The child appeared to think for a moment after hearing Alice's question before shrugging its shoulders dismissively. Alice glared and was about to scold again when she heard something surprising.
"It's just… going home… being with those you knew and held in your heart… once you fall down here, that's sealed away. Or at least… I've been at it all this time and I haven't had much luck in seeing my parents again. Things should be different this time." The child confessed.
Alice softened her expression and felt sympathy for the child. It did seem as though this child had been through the same sort of intense ordeal that Alice was going through. Perhaps If I succeed I'll be saving him and others too, Alice pondered in a noble sort of way. But she suddenly realized several things. The first being that if there were seven souls in need to break the barrier, that meant seven lives would have to be taken. The second being a quality of this child she was speaking to and their familiarity with this world.
"Forgive my curiousity but you are a human too correct? Have they not attempted to ta-"
"Moving on from that, basically what this means is if certain monsters see you, they'll hunt you down and try to kill you for your soul and use it to break the barrier. They have six souls already." The child interrupted her with a severe hit to her assuredness.
"... Y-you mean… humans have already died here…?" Alice gasped with frightened eyes.
"Yep and who were the culprits? You guessed it, the monsters. This world is unforgiving towards humans… which is why if you want to go home… there's only one way of dealing with monsters. That being to KILL the monsters before they can KILL you." The child spoke with a calculating grin.
Alice flinched and looked very shaken. Killing anything, be it a tree or a bug or another living being was far too cruel for anyone to do. It was a sin that would follow you for the rest of your life, and for very good reason. It was most certainly a crime in her world and the young girl couldn't fathom committing such a dubious act. Furthermore, how could she when Flowey had pinned her into a corner so easily with magical bullet? Then there was what Toriel said earlier about how mercy was a legitimate and preferred way of dealing with monsters.
"B-but… I'm just a little girl… a-and you ask me to try to kill these monsters? That have been trapped down here and are completely mysterious to me. That's far too big of a demand!" Alice got up again and screeched at the child for saying such things.
The child frowned at her, in a way that implied they very much disagreed with her reasoning. Somehow this frown seemed a lot more direct and scary than a normal frown of disagreement. They also clearly looked like they wanted to say something scathing but instead they closed their eyes as though considering her opinion. Then they spoke quite strictly to Alice,
"This is for your own good Alice. If it'll help you don't have to kill everything, I'm going to warn you about who's out for blood, and who you'll need to spill their blood if you want to live and find a way home. I'll warn you only when we run into them for now."
"I… very well you may at least warn me about them if you feel like it though I simply cannot commit murder…" Alice conceded in a withdrawn way.
"First… you've met her already… Toriel. She's a deceitful witch who abandoned her love to live in these ruins and take care of the humans who fall from here. She's never going to help you, you would never return home if she offers a place to stay. After you see her home, stay for a bit, hear some of her meaningless jokes, she's going to try to seal you in here forever. She has fiery magic but if you show her enough empty mercy… she'll lower her guard and you can just slay her from there." The child recounted this information in a very satisfied way.
It was far too satisfied, as though the child was looking forward to Toriel being killed and giving reasons as to why she should be killed that weren't true. Alice didn't approve of this sort of behavior at all, in fact it started to sprout a seed of doubt in her mind. It seemed as though this child preferred a more violent solution over trying to find a peaceful solution. Considering how patient Toriel was, Alice felt Toriel was a lot more open-minded than this child was being. Though the startling revelation about Toriel wanting to keep her here instead of going out was a bit startling. It was a threat to her curiousity as well as her chances of returning home.
"She wants me to stay here forever? But why? Is she afraid of me getting killed myself?" Alice asked the child.
"Or maybe she just wants to torture you." The child mockingly answered her question and offered another reason all in one.
"D-don't joke please… especially not that sort of vulgar joke. Furthermore, you should be ashamed of yourself trying to frame and encourage the killing of such a kind woman! I-I don't know what you know but I can tell Toriel's the kind of person who would never forgive herself if she harmed me." Alice yelled at the child, pointing at them furiously.
But as she found herself pointing at the child, she suddenly saw something different in front of her eyes. It was long… and metallic… and reflected light like a mirror. Alice, who was now associating metals with danger after the bullets from Flowey, took a few moments to observe exactly what was aimed at her forehead. It was quite simply… a KNIFE. A knife… a tool used to cook but could also be used to kill. The knife in questioned being wielded by the child who had a grin. Just a grin… like a cheshire cat.
"Use this to help you. It saves time." They spoke.
Alice flinched back and at this point was so spellbound by the knife she couldn't even scream… she just continued to stare at it dumbfounded. Seizing this chance, the child decided to place the knife into her hands, Alice not even making any attempt to prevent this exchange. How could this happen? Alice thought grimly, slowly worrying that maybe killing was the best option. If this child said it was the best way and that it was true that Toriel herself, the one who advised mercy wouldn't let Alice out of here, then… maybe she should just take the knife. This child must've been through a lot more than Alice and had this knife on them as a survival tool.
"..." She just stood motionlessly, staring at the knife now firmly in her hand.
"Enticing isn't it? Well I think I'll let you explore these ruins at long last. I was going to tell you about more of this realm but you seem like the kind of person who wants to discover things for themselves. Remember, if you want to get home you need to channel your determination and use the power of the souls to break through that barrier. Or… perhaps you can create this world to your liking, depends on your preference Alice." The child added an unpleasant laugh to the end of their sentence.
"J-just a moment…" Alice spoke quietly but didn't even switch her attention to the child.
The child looked frustrated but they eyed Alice with a disturbing interest. Like some sort of experiment or project going in the scientist's favor.
"What is it?" They asked.
"T-two things… one, why exactly are you assisting me like this… forcing ME to commit murder… second, why did I know that Froggit's name when I encountered it earlier…?" Alice inquired, finally turning to face the child but still looking as though in a trance.
"One…. let's just say I need you to survive… whether I like it or not… two, call it a gift from me. I don't want to make you have to guess their names when some of them don't even speak your language so I've given you my memories of the monsters so you'll know them once you see them. Now then, we'll meet again… just make sure that you open that door with your own two hands… because mercy isn't going to open that door for you." The child spoke their final words for the matter and left the room out where Toriel had gone.
Alice, currently in an unstable grief and confusion turned to look at the knife. She felt like a goddess wielding her scepter. This knife granted her untold power in this world and just holding it made her believe that. Also it seemed that she had some power in her that rivaled that of the monsters. DETERMINATION. Using that would allow her to return home… and then there was the revelation of Toriel's plan: to keep Alice in these ruins forever, trapping her curiosity and crushing her hopes of ever returning home. I don't want to live in the future like this, Alice thought, not without Dinah… She looked to her cell phone, the one Toriel had taught her to use, and looked at it scornfully.
"If… if by killing I can finally return… p-perhaps… if I never tell anyone…" A grim resolve set, Alice took the knife in her hands, put away the cellphone, and slowly crept out of the room.
Going through the open door showed that the child had disappeared somewhere and that she was in a long hall with a sharp turn to the right along a path of more red leaves and another open door on the left. To her further astonishment, a Froggit was sitting in the hall present and unmoving. Alice shiftily looked around like an assassin… not one of a curious girl but of one wanting to ensure no witnesses. She turned to the Froggit and gave a grin scarily similar to that of the child. One step… two step…
"RING!"
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" Alice screamed, mostly out of a feeling of stunned disbelief rather than fear and dropped the knife almost instantly as she scrambled to find the source of that sound.
It was an unusual sound, shrill and distinct but with an undertone that didn't sound natural. Alice then noticed she felt a strange vibration in her apron pockets. But most importantly, Alice's eyes seemed to regain color and focus and she felt like her mind had been cleared. Previously disoriented with despairing facts and conflicting decisions, it was now free to think. Startled nonetheless, Alice made a blind guess and reached into the pocket she felt the vibrations were coming from. To her amazement it was the cell phone that was vibrating and making that sound. So that's how you can tell when one is making a call, Alice thought reasonably. Recounting the steps that Toriel taught her, Alice answered the call.
"H-hello? This is Alice." Alice spoke hesitantly.
"Ah, Alice. This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them by yourself. Be good, alright?" The most soothing and gentle voice of the Underground spoke to Alice
"CLICK!" The sound of the phone call ending rang out.
"Ah… T-Toriel…" Alice in that moment was suddenly consumed by a feeling of enormous regret and horror.
She had nearly bought the child's ideology, that killing was the only way. Almost forgetting how Toriel protected her from Flowey, answered all her questions and even guided her through these Runs so far. Despite being told to always follow good advice, she had nearly accepted advice that would have gone against her morals. Perhaps it was just the sheer shock value of the knife and the child's unusual behavior but Alice still let her paranoia cloud her mind in that moment. Thankfully that call had restored her trust in Toriel as the goat mother had been genuinely concerned for her. While her curiousity was still too strong to simply stay behind, Alice knew she simply had to thank Toriel the next time she saw her.
"S-she's right… mercy is the best way… to kill an innocent life… would carry over through my life… I very seldom follow bad advice..." Alice atoned for her near mistake.
Then, looking at the knife that lied dormant on the ground, she picked it up and hurled it as far as she could back into the hall where she had exited from. She would not be tempted by the idea of slaying monsters anymore. Alice then turned to face the Froggit who was clearly looking at her now with a strange expression she could not read. But knowing that it had not harmed her yet and eager to find out more from the monster's point of view after Toriel's call, she asked it,
"Hello there. May I kindly ask which way I'd oughta go?"
"Ribbit Ribbit!" The Froggit's reply was no more than an ordinary frog's noises. But somehow… Alice then made out surprisingly good advice from the Froggit.
"Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you ACT a certain way or FIGHT until you almost defeat them… They might not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please… Use some MERCY human… also just keep going down the right path though the left room does have some candy. Ribbit."
"Ah, why thank you kindly sir. I believe I'll put that advice to good use." Alice curtsied properly as she thanked the Froggit.
Her curiousity was now free to do what Alice wanted it to do. She was going to finally explore more of these ruins on her own and hopefully with no flowers to interfere. So she entered the left room. Inside the room was two small rectangular lakes, an almost Grecian pedestal in the middle of the room, a curtain of ivy against the back wall, and a cute yet out of place candy bowl on the pedestal. Alice was rather relieved though to have found something edible as she was well aware that food was necessary for traveling this far.
"It says 'take one'. Huh, don't mind if I do." Alice read the note and proceeded to act upon the note, taking one piece of candy out of the jar.
Taking more was tempting but at this point following the rules of the signs and codes of the ruins seemed a lot safer and more promising than blindly disobeying them. Alice put this candy in the right pocket of her apron, the cell-phone being in her left pocket. Then with a cheerful smile, she exited the left room. But something astounding happened as soon as she exited the hall. She saw something standing in the middle of the hall… it was...
"A white rabbit… in a waistcoat… and a watch!" Alice exclaimed.
Truthfully though there was something unusual about it… it appeared to be transparent and glowing, dominantly of a color akin to Alice's apron and the clothes it was wearing were gold… as though blessed by the Midas Touch. It appeared to be something magical so Alice remained fairly alert but she softened her expression when she saw the rabbit look at its watch and then wave to her. Her curiousity had already been quite high but when she saw the rabbit clearly wanting her attention, it skyrocketed.
"Y-yes? Do you want me to follow you Mr. Rabbit?" Alice asked as she moved forward a bit.
The rabbit nodded cheerfully and soon rushed down the hall and around the corner. Alice quickly gathered her skirt and went to make chase when suddenly something flew at her. It was a small, winged creature with a sorrowful expression and a pair of antenna. The term 'Whimsun' appeared in her head instantly and thus she realized this was another one of the creatures down here. She also appeared to understand they were very passive creatures, too sensitive to fight. So Alice simply curtsied and said,
"I do not wish to fight you so please run along where it is safe."
"I'm sorry…" The Whimsun said and flew off. A bit surprised by the easy yet somewhat depressing encounter, Alice followed after where the white rabbit had went off.
She found herself in an unusual hall that seemed straightforward but there were four suspicious cracks in the ground, almost screaming 'trapdoor'. The white rabbit appeared to have been waiting for her on the side she was on. Alice watching with amazement, as the white rabbit gracefully hopped over to the other side, leaving a trail of golden sparkles. It was almost as though they had showed her how to bypass the suspicious cracks. Alice looked very relieved to have another ally on her side though she was curious about where it came from.
"Thank you kindly Mr. Rabbit. I believe I shall do the same." Alice affirmed her trust in the rabbit after curtseying politely in thanks.
Taking a few steps back before going into a sprint, Alice took a bold leap of faith and successfully made it onto the other side without falling through the cracks. Feeling very proud of herself Alice laughed joyfully. She was really starting to have fun and she certainly didn't need the knife or the child's grim advice to do so. So skipping merrily, she went after the white rabbit and moved on.
The next room was relatively unique compared to some of the other rooms Alice had seen. There was another text on the wall, a suspicious rock not too far from what appeared to be a stand, and spikes akin to the ones from earlier splitting the room into two different territories. Namely territory that could be crossed and territory that couldn't be crossed. Most curiously, Alice's phone began to ring again and so Alice answered it with a hunch that it was Toriel.
"Hello? This is TORIEL. For no reason in particular… Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?" Toriel asked innocently.
"Hmm… on one hand depending on which cinammon you are referring to it could wind up uncomfortably spicy or delightfully sweet. Butterscotch on the other hand is very pleasant and decadent with an air of elegance and sweetness. I believe I will choose butterscotch." Alice gave her answer after some considerable thought.
"Oh, I see. Thank you very much." Toriel replied gratefully and hung up.
I wonder if she's making some sort of dessert for me, Alice thought as she started to examine the room. The mysteriously magical white rabbit in the golden attire was pointing towards the text on the wall. But as Alice approached it, the phone rang again.
"Toriel is there something else you need?" Alice asked, realizing that only Toriel was probably going to call her for now with this phone.
"My child… you do not DISLIKE cinnamon, do you? I know what your preference is, but… Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?" Toriel asked kindly.
"As long as it is a sweet cinnamon which in hindsight would work lovely with the butterscotch or any dessert really I have no issue with cinnamon." Alice answered properly.
"Right, right I understand. Thank you for being patient by the way." Toriel responded and hung up once more.
Alice sighed, slightly anxious from all these interruptions. Still it was very reassuring to know that Toriel was checking up on her like this and it made her feel less alone. However when she got off from the phone, she observed that the white rabbit in the gold attire had completely vanished.
"Eh… Mr. Rabbit? Mr. Rabbit?! Oh dear…" Alice gasped as she noticed she was now alone again and left with more mysteries about that rabbit.
Still she remembered how the rabbit had pointed at the text so Alice went over to examine it. 'Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them.' Curious, Alice thought, it's as though they are saying the rocks have a mind of their own… Turning back to face the rock and seeing the presumable stand that probably acted as a switch, Alice began to push. After some effort as Alice was not one to do this sort of thing as a hobby, she pushed the rock onto the switch and the spikes went down.
"Perfect!" Alice cheered to herself.
Successfully opening new doors for herself, Alice continued forth. Alice found herself in a very big room where regrettably there was a vast number of cracks that couldn't be hopped over on the floor. She looked distressed and confused.
"H-how is anyone supposed to move forward like this?" She complained.
Deciding this was a textbook case of trial and error, Alice instantly stepped on a crack and found it breaking underneath her feet. She proceeded to fall through it and ended up landing in a room strikingly similar in size to the above floor. She had been prepared for a fall so she had not screamed and instead started to look around as she got back onto her feet. There was a noticeable amount of leaves arranged in a seemingly specific way. Furthermore, there was another text against the wall like in the previous room. Alice walked towards it, careful to not step on the leaves and read the sign. 'Please don't step on the leaves.'
"Hmm… oh I understand! The leaves are almost like a blueprint of where the trapdoors are on the above floor. So if I memorize the correct path down here and apply it to up there, I should be able to solve this puzzle." Alice hypothesized a very believable solution.
Delighted with the joy of solving puzzles like this, she went back to find stairs that perfectly led to the above floor through somewhat of a secret passage along the wall. But as she was about to attempt this puzzle again, a strange gelatinous and slimy creature appeared in her path. Alice shuddered as it did appear to be a very nauseating creature called Moldsmal. Somehow she also recalled it being… 'attractive?'
"That seems rather preposterous... " Alice muttered.
But Alice gasped when the Moldsmal sent out slime balls at her that moved slowly but still required Alice to evade them. Hmm, so I need to show it mercy, but how so? Alice pondered ways of kindly getting through to the creature. She decided to try lying down immobile by the Moldsmal to consider it's point of view. It did help Alice understand things better but she wasn't sure if the Moldsmal was ready yet. Slimy noises did little to comfort Alice so Alice decided to try another tactic. It did consider itself attractive so perhaps if Alice did something attractive it would appeal to the Moldsmal and make it understand that Alice meant well. So Alice curtsied as elegantly as she could to the Moldsmal.
The Moldsmal responded by wiggling in a way that would be very obscene in Alice's time. There was also a very peculiar lime-flavored scent in the air… so Alice said,
"Don't worry, I shall spare you." This seemed to cheer up the Moldsmal who wobbled away but interestingly, a gold coin seemed to be left in it's place.
"Oh! Perhaps this is the Underground's currency! I better hold on it then." Alice exclaimed as she picked it up and placed it in the pocket with her candy.
With no more interruptions, Alice followed down the path of cracks the same way she had memorized it downstairs. Sure enough, she found herself not falling through any of the cracks she had stepped on meaning she had chose correctly. She saw a text that was lying above some more leaves along the wall but she didn't want to risk falling down again so she skipped past it. Poised and graceful, Alice had solved yet another puzzle and reached the other side of the cracks.
In the next room, Alice observed that this room possessed three rocks and three stands with a bridge lined with spikes over a river in the middle of the room. It would seem she would need to follow the same solution as that room with that text about rocks… Come to think of it it said three out of four rocks didn't it…? Alice looked over the three rocks intently but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Shrugging her shoulders, she began to push each of the rocks onto the platform. But as she was on her way to pushing the second rock, a pair of Froggits hopped towards her and stared at her. Alice was a bit nervous about encountering a duo but she recalled the Froggit from earlier…
"Oh hello there, I met another Froggit just like you earlier a few rooms beyond this direction. Perhaps you should go see him and give him some company." Alice offered thoughtfully.
The Froggits croaked a bit but they didn't quite understand what Alice was saying. Still, they seemed excited and proceeded to hop towards the entrance Alice had just come out of. This time four gold coins were left behind which Alice scavenged quite quickly. With no other distractions, she finally finished pushing the second rock into place but then when she placed her hands on the third rock, something very starting happened.
"WHOA there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?" A booming voice rang out that seemed to come from this particular rock.
"Oh! I-I'm terribly sorry sir… i-it's just… how are you able to talk?" Alice inquired after stepping back instinctively.
"Mama, dada, and a mind of my own. But again, why were you pushing me? It's kind of rude y'know?" The rock scolded Alice.
Alice gave a flabbergasted look as while she may have been slightly rude, it was completely astounding that a rock had such a complex opinion. Still Alice was not one to forego her manners so she bowed respectfully and apologized,
"I'm very sorry sir… it's just I am hoping to navigate my way through this ruins and I need you to move to a certain stand to activate a switch that will lower the spikes so that I may cross…" Alice finished her rather long sentence with hand gestures expressing where she'd like him to move.
"So you're ASKIN' me to move over? Okay, just for you, pumpkin." The rock agreed in a flirtatious manner.
Alice resisted the urge to blush as strongly as she could and managed to succeed. She was not one to think much of love or at least not yet. Other girls her age were dreaming of prince charmings and fairy tale endings but she instead was the girl wishing for a world of her own. That Wonderland she had thought this place would be but so far… while it was on it's way now, it had a long way to go. She observed the rock as it moved forward… but not nearly enough to get onto the switch.
"Um… could you please move forward until you reach that switch sir?" She asked as kindly as she could.
"You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?" The rock offered.
It however moved upward this time instead of forward. Alice now resisted the urge to sigh in exasperation and stated,
"Not upwards sir, forwards. Like when you moved the first time."
"That was the wrong direction? Okay, think I got it."
Sure enough, this time he moved onto the switch precisely and the spikes descended down on the bridge. Alice was very delighted and rushed over to the bridge only to suddenly notice the spikes rising up again to her confusion. When she turned around, she noticed the rock had moved off the switch. Quite put out, Alice lost her patience.
"Excuse me sir but I needed you to STAY on that switch until I could cross! Then you can move as much as you'd care to!" She screamed.
"Yeesh… you're giving me a real workout but ok then." The rock finally moved back onto the switch after saying this final line.
Alice was still cross about the delay though she was relieved to cross over the bridge at last. How many more rooms are there…? Alice thought to herself, noticing she had gone through a good number of puzzles thus far. The next room though surprised Alice. It was a straightforward hallway but what stood out was the fact there was a small mousehole along the wall and that there was a medium-sized table holding a single plate of cheese. Alice examined the cheese first.
"Why it's stuck to the table… it must've been here for quite a while… I wonder if Toriel put it here…" Alice thought aloud.
She then walked over and crouched down to peer inside the mousehole. While it was too dark to see anything, she could hear the very cute sounds of a mouse. It felt very innocent yet somewhat unusual for a ruins to have. Perhaps it'd make sense in some country home but this was supposedly ancient ruins… still the idea of the mouse someday leaving the hole to retrieve the delicious cheese gave Alice determination to keep moving forward. So the young English girl did just that… and in the next room she found…
"A-a ghost…?"
To be continued...
