Alice in Undertale

By Lolitafreak88

Chapter 3 Dapper, Desserts, Dreams

Quite specifically, the ghost in question was lying on a bed of the richly scarlet leaves in an unusual hallway with an empty spot and an open passageway on the left as the hall seemed to continue to go on forward. Now realizing this was her first ever encounter with the paranormal, Alice pondered on how she should approach it. The ghost had big square eyes, was white like snow, with a squiggly bottom and was about as big as a dog. It also appeared to be sleeping on the leaves which made sense to Alice. Piles of leaves are certainly inviting as a place to rest, she thought in admiration. Alice wanted to make sure it was sleeping so she approached it on her tip-toes.

"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.." A resounding snore confirmed her suspicions

But curiously, when she continued to listen in, she heard something else.

"Are they gone yet?" The ghost whispered.

"…" Alice wasn't sure what to make of this realization.

The ghost was not really asleep but was merely pretending to be asleep. Furthermore, this ghost was quite aware of Alice being here and wouldn't get up until she left. As much as Alice would've liked to have done that, the path was blocked by this ghost. So if she wanted to move on she would have to direct this ghost out of the way. While she had felt a bit more comfortable with the monsters after the several encounters where being a pacifist paid off, a ghost was a whole other level of monster in her mind. Ghosts could fly and had unusual powers that could cause mischief and harm. Still…

"My apologies sir but I simply have to keep going." Alice spoke sincerely as she gently attempted to lift the ghost out of the way.

The ghost instantly took flight and stared down Alice with an expression that seemed awfully depressing. It's name also became clear to Alice.

"N-Napster… block…?" Alice inquired confused.

"N-Napstablook… oh, I'm REAL funny huh?" The ghost corrected her in a cynical tone.

Alice could tell this creature didn't have much of a sense of humor. She was also a bit upset at herself for getting their name wrong which would no doubt have offended it. Sure enough, Napstablook began to cry tears that seemed to fly towards Alice. Alice gasped and quickly did her best to avoid the small tears that seemed to be moving in an intricate formation. She was fortunately able to do so and observed that Napstablook appeared that they didn't want to be here. Alice knew she had to make up for her mistake so she began speaking to him.

"I sincerely didn't mean to get your name wrong… Napstablook. I simply want to know if you could perhaps let me by?" Alice asked as kindly as she could.

"Really not feelin up to it right now. Sorry…" Napstablook seemed to apologize as their answer.

Napstablook also didn't do anything which seemed to confirm his words. Alice now felt guiltier but refused to give up that easily. So she offered a patient smile and said,

"Well that's quite alright. If you need to prepare yourself and get into the spirit of things I can give you as much time as you need."

Fortunately for Alice, this did seem to lift the ghost's mood up and it looked a bit better.

"Heh…" It said as it's tears now fell simply to the ground, a noticeable acidic sizzle being heard.

"Hmm… what do you call a book where the pages are nothing but pictures? A Pictionary!" Alice went for a good-natured joke next.

"Heh… heh…" Napstablook chuckled.

Napstablook's mood was now significantly improved which made Alice very proud of herself. Pacifism should be a more common practice, Alice imagined. Then she suddenly was surprised to hear Napstablook say,

"I want to show you… let me try…"

As these words were spoken, the tears emitted from Napstablook's eyes floated upward around his head and suddenly seemed to combine. A fairly tall but mysterious shape was being formed by these tears until suddenly it began to look quite familiar to Alice. It looked like a very polished, elegant hat that a gentleman or a hatter would sport. Alice clapped cheerfully at this splendid trick to show that she was appreciative of the magical display.

"I call it "dapper blook". Do you like it…?" Napstablook asked Alice.

"Oh it's simply lovely! You look so distinguished and proud." Alice complimented Napstablook gleefully.

"Oh gee…" The ghost shyly murmured.

With that, two final tears fell and it seemed that Napstablook was perfectly ready to engage in conversation with Alice. Alice clasped her hands together and emitted a sigh of relief. This ghost did seem like a friendly ghost and she was always eager to make new friends (and to a lesser extent new allies) in this Underground. Alice decided to be the first to engage in conversation,

"It is a pleasure to meet you Napstablook, my name is Alice."

"Alice huh…? That's a pretty name… I usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around… but today I met someone nice…" Said Nabstablook.

"Really? So I take it you haven't met Toriel?" Alice inquired curiously.

"Toriel…? That sounds kind of familiar… but I don't think I've met a Toriel before…" The ghost shook his head as he replied.

"So you say you usually come here… where do you live then?"

"In a little house in… WATERFALL…"

Alice's eyes immediately brightened up in excitement. Waterfall, Alice thought, that sounds like a truly marvelous place. A number of fantastic ideas soon began to develop in Alice's mind as she heard the name of that place. A tropical oasis under a gleaming sun, a fantastical waterfall cascading down, a beautiful river with exotic fish, and basically that there was more to this world than the ruins. This further strengthened her determination to get out of these ruins and see more to the world though she had to wonder how she would be able to express this to Toriel… Either way, Alice had to know more.

"WATERFALL? What kind of place is that?" Alice asked politely.

"It's a dim, wet place with a lot of rain and also very special flora… it's a nice, tranquil place for me and my hobbies… oh, i'm rambling again, I'll get out of your way…" Quite abruptly, Napstablook ended the conversation and vanished.

"Oh! Wait… Napstablook… hmm, they certainly seems like the type to go at their own pace…" Alice considered as she futilely reached out to where he had disappeared.

Alice began to wonder quickly and vividly about what kind of place was outside the ruins with this new information. Perhaps it's some incredible tropical island with lush vegetation… or maybe a magical kingdom with curious creatures and beautiful architecture… or it truly may turn out to be the Wonderland I've dreamed about for so long… As Alice thought about all this, a very important fact she had nearly forgotten was quickly remembered. She had fallen down here through the rabbit hole and thus was underground. So in a sense, it would be very difficult for it to be a truly lush place with no sunlight and it would also support this WATERFALL being a dark place like Napstablook had said.

"But wouldn't being closer to the center of the earth indicate some sort of heat and light source being close by? At least that's what I've been led to believe when it was discussed to me…" Alice reasoned out loud, fixated on what was out there.

Carrying on her way after a disappointed sigh, she noticed some more gold on the ground and picked it up until she had 7 gold. Wondering if Napstablook had left it there, she went straight ahead to what seemed to be a dead end. There were very interesting details in this room though like a classic sign and two spider-webs of differing sizes along the wall.

"Spiders! Oh my… those are the sort of creature I would prefer stay small and do not talk. These webs are quite beautiful though." Alice shuddered before managing to find a compliment to say.

Spiders being creatures that entrapped their prey with their web and could sometimes be poisonous were very frightful creatures to Alice. Furthermore, knowing that even a mere flower in this world could be very dangerous, she was panicked about the possibility of a spider in this world. Still, she decided to see what the sign was about. 'Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders."

"A bake sale…? Oh, well then that's a different story entirely. With all those limbs they probably could bake the most beautiful cakes… with delicate tea in an beautiful garden," Alice daydreamed nostalgically, recalling the many tea parties she had in the past.

Thank goodness Toriel appears to be making me something, Alice thought, I'm getting a bit hungry and I want to save that candy from earlier for later. Examining both webs closely, she saw that both were asking for a donation of gold but with different amounts. The smaller web asked for 7 while the bigger web asked for 18. Alice wasn't sure what to do with the gold on hand yet, and she did sympathize with baking, so she placed the 7 gold she had on the smaller web. To her amazement, small spiders appeared and took the gold gracefully while handing her a baked pastry. It looked clearly like a donut.

"Oh why thank you kindly. I believe I shall indulge on this." Alice curtsied politely and proceeded to take a bite of the donut.

It was a very sweet, fluffy, perfectly baked texture with a hint of a delicious cider taste. Alice quickly devoured the pastry and felt a great deal more satisfied. Remembering the alternate route from the hall she had just come through she went out back into the hall and made a right into the new path. The first thing she noticed was more Froggits across the way and another sign. The signs becoming increasingly interesting the deeper she went, Alice eagerly read it. 'Did you miss it? Spider Bakesale down and to the right. Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!'

"Mmph… th-that's not exactly very appealing advertising…" Alice groaned as she resisted the urge to vomit.

It had tasted delicious but had it really been made of spiders? That idea repulsed Alice to no end but she figured it could've been worse than having a bad meal when there wasn't a reliable source of food yet. Moving past the sign, she took the time to talk to the Froggits.

"Sigh… my friend never listens to me…Whenever I talk, they skip my words by pressing X-"

Alice walked by that one in sheer confusion and not bothering to know what they really meant.

"I heard using "F4"-"

"S-sir… what are you talking about? I don't understand what you are trying to say. X? F4? Is that some sort of code?" Alice asked a bit flabbergasted.

"I think F4 stands for 'Four Frogs' but there's only ever been three frogs in this room. This is troubling, to say the least." The Froggit replied sheepishly.

"… Never mind." Alice gave up on them and carried on.

Talking to the third and final Froggit she heard,

"I have heard you are quite merciful, for a human… Surely you know by now a monster wears a YELLOW name when you can SPARE it. What do you think of that?"

"That's preposterous, I haven't seen any monster wearing yellow yet… although come to think of it I did see a white rabbit wearing GOLD which is certainly a shade of yellow. Is that what you mean?" Alice asked after considering that mysterious creature.

"Yes… though I don't recall there ever being rabbits around here. Remember human, sparing is just saying you won't fight. Maybe one day, you'll have to do it even if their name isn't yellow." The Froggit replied.

"… I-I see… thank you. I shall keep that in mind." Alice kindly concluded the conversation.

To be honest she had been very confused by these frogs though the third one at least had some good advice to share. As she tried to make sense of the strange terminology her phone rang again. Alice eagerly answered it to find out it was indeed Toriel making another call to her.

"Hello?" Toriel asked.

"Yes Toriel it is Alice, what is it that you need?"

"I just realized it that it has been a while since I have cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon. There are probably a lot of things lying about here and there. You can pick them up, but do not carry more than you need. Someday you may see something you really like. You will want to leave room in your pockets for that." Toriel elaborated to Alice.

"I didn't know you invited company over, who are they?" Alice asked a bit puzzled by that.

"I mean you my child. You my dear Alice are the first company I've had in such a long time and I definitely want to make things tidy so that we may enjoy our time together." Toriel giggled as she spoke.

Alice smiled and felt quite exclusive to have this level of consideration by Toriel. It certainly made her feel less alone and like these ruins were easily capable of being navigated safely through. Blushing a bit though out of the sheer kindness, Alice responded,

"That's very kind of you Toriel. I look forward to getting to know you better."

With that the conversation was done and Alice put her phone away. In the next room, Alice saw something that looked very much like a puzzle. Six cracks laid across the floor quite carefully and another sign on the wall. Furthermore, entry to the far end of the room was blocked off with spikes very much like the ones from earlier. Reading the sign, Alice found out there was only one switch that would presumably allow her to move on into the next room. So it appears I have to fall through these cracks to find the one with the switch… Alice realized. Alice frowned as falling through sudden holes that popped out from under her was about as much fun as dodging monster's attacks. Still she had no choice so she started with the bottom left one and found herself descending.

"Oof…" Alice yelped as she landed on a bed of leaves.

To make matters worse for her, she found herself encountering a very familiar and a very unfamiliar creature. One was a Moldsmal and the other looked like some large cockroach with teeth and beady eyes. A Misgosp, Alice understood. Positively revolted by the combo of slime and cockroaches, Alice got up and tried to reason with them. She curtsied politely to the Moldsmal which managed to appeal it but she soon heard,

"IN UNISON NOW."

This intimidating and nerve-wracking voice came from the Misgosp and Alice soon found herself surrounded by flies and slime. The flies picked at her a bit resulting in Alice smacking them away before she was able to convince the Moldsmal she was safe and it departed.

"Bein' me is the best!" Said the rather grimy voice that was the Misgosp.

To her astonishment, rather than send flies her way, it did a simple and amusing dance. It was when Alice figured out it seemed evil, but was really only in the wrong crowd… Such a thought made Alice warm up to the creature as it said,

"Mm, cha, cha, cha!"

"Oh that is a very lovely dance. Though I simply don't really have time to dance at the moment." Alice apologized for not joining in.

The Misgosp seemed to understand and left as well, Alice quickly noticing a faded ribbon on the ground. It was red and not nearly as nice as the ribbon she was wearing in her hair at the moment so Alice headed back upstairs. She tried the top left one next and noticed some sort of vegetable on the ground in the room she landed in. As she approached it, to her horror, it uprooted and revealed a disturbing grin.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Alice shrieked at the scary expression.

The Vegetoid as it was called started at her smiling horrifically though wasn't doing anything yet. As it turns out it appeared to be edible, with a serving size worthy for 1 monster. Who in their right mind would eat this? Alice thought incredulously.

"Farmed Locally. Very Locally." It said in a droll yet unnerving voice.

Vegetables suddenly emerged from the hole it uprooted from and flew at Alice, Alice proving to be getting better at dodging these projectiles.

"Well Vegetoid… I don't really feel like eating you and I don't mean any harm so-"

"Plants Can't Talk Dummy." To her amazement, Alice's attempt at a conversation was repulsed by a rude statement from the Vegetoid.

"Excuse me?! It sounds as though you want to be devoured you rude weed!" Alice exclaimed offended.

"Eat Your Greens." Vegetoid offered a healthy meal.

Dodging another series of vegetables, Alice spared the Vegetoid in exasperation and departed with a huff.

"The nerve of these plants, first Flowey and now a vegetable. You can learn lots of things from the flowers, humph! I suppose they could learn a thing or two about manners." Alice ranted to herself which did make her feel better.

Furthermore she was earning more gold which could prove to be useful later. The next room she decided to try was the bottom middle floor and to her astonishment, Napstablook was there. Regrettably she found this out after landing on them.

"Urk!" It groaned.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Napstablook, I'm simply trying to solve these puzzles and I had no idea you were down here." Alice apologized after quickly picking herself up and curtsying.

"That's ok Alice… I fell down a hole… and now I can't get up… go on without me…" The ghost spoke a bit melodramatically for it's cynical tone.

"That's out of the question! In fact, now that you're here, perhaps you could be so kind to accompany me through these mysterious ruins? It's so much more comforting to be traveling with a friend." Alice requested sincerely.

"... But are you sure…? I'd only slow you down… and keep you from having more fun… come to think of it ghosts can fly huh…?" Napstablook rambled off-subject.

"It'd certainly help me for when we deal with some of these monsters. Besides, perhaps I can introduce you to Toriel."

"What's Toriel like…?"

"Why she's simply a very lovely goat woman who's honest and kind and takes very good care of those who fall down into these ruins. She saved me from the the most malicious flower earlier and has given me some very good advice. I think she'd love to meet you too." Alice explained gleefully.

"... Well… ok… I can at least meet her since you want me to… but I do want to go home soon… so I'll just stay with you until we see her…" Napstablook agreed at last.

"Oh thank you!" Alice thanked them with another curtsy

Napstablook appeared to blush a bit at the kindness Alice was displaying. They liked how curious and interested Alice was in this world and how polite she was to everyone. She also seemed a bit delicate so Napstablook thought they could indeed use some company. Alice in return was simply delighted to finally have some sort of companion beyond Dinah with her in this Underground. It would also help immensely with solving the rest of this puzzle. So with this in mind, they headed upstairs and Alice gave commands to Napstablook,

"Napstablook, since you are indeed a ghost, I want you to check the right cracks and see if the switch we need is in there. I'm going to try this middle top one."

"Got it…" Napstablook said and quickly set off.

After falling through the crack, Alice found that there was indeed a switch on the wall to lower the spikes. Feeling proud of her cleverness, she activated the switch and heard a rather sudden and violent sound that meant it had worked. As she went upstairs she waited briefly for Napstablook to reappear and sure enough they did.

"There was a Vegetoid in one room and nothing in the other… I don't really want veggies…" It spoke sincerely.

"Haha… me neither. Now we can finally proceed." Alice giggled.

Having solved the riddle, Alice and Napstablook moved onto the next room. To her amazement, this room simply outshined all the other rooms thus far in detail. There were large and stoic pillars but most curiously, colored figurines like dolls sitting against them. Yellow, blue, and red dolls spread out along the room and a sign that read, 'The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective.' Alice thought hard about what that could mean as Napstablook looked at the colored figurines.

"Well this certainly sounds like there's another riddle up ahead. Let's do our best Napstablook," Alice spoke, trying to sound proud and like a leader.

"Ok…" Napstablook replied.

Moving down onto the next room, she noticed more pillars, another yellow and red doll, another text, and yet more spikes. The text read 'If you can see this, press the blue switch.' Alice began to wander around looking for a blue switch but then suddenly a strange creature that almost seemed to be a giant eye on legs with horns approached. A Loox, Alice identified it effortlessly.

"Dont pick on him please…" Napstablook urged.

"I shan't." Alice replied.

"Please don't pick on me." The Loox joined in the conversation with a frail voice.

"I… I assure you I wont…" Alice responded a bit flustered.

Strange bubbles floated towards Alice but some acidic tears from Napstablook helped nullify them.

"Finally someone gets it." Loox said with an unmistakable relief.

It then proceeded to depart leaving Alice and Napstablook to continue to work towards this riddle. After looking around the room, Alice noticed behind one of the pillars was a blue switch.

"Oh! I didn't even notice this," Alice exclaimed surprised and pressed it, a clicking sound meaning it was successful.

In the room beyond the now absent spikes, there was a similar layout as the last room but the blue doll was much more visible this time. Reading the new text on the wall, Alice realized she would need to press a red switch this time. Alice sighed a bit, these riddles were getting a bit tiring and she felt like she hadn't been able to catch a proper break. Pressing the red switch did lower the spikes nonetheless and the ghost and girl moved forward much quicker than the last room. The final room had more pillars and a blue doll and a text…

"The designs of these riddles are beginning to leave a lot to be desired." Alice groaned at the repetitiveness.

"But this sign says a green one needs to be pushed this time…" Napstablook pointed out.

"Y-yes… but I've been traversing through these ruins quite a bit and at this point am all but ready to either see Toriel again or go somewhere new." Alice complained as she activated the green switch hidden behind a pillar.

"... A lot of monsters also feel that way... "

"... Huh?" Alice gasped when she heard Napstablook say something very intriguing to her.

"... I-it's nothing..." Napstablook look away, worried it had said something that had offended Alice.

"Well actually… that reminded me of something Toriel spoke to me about. She said monsters have been trapped down here ever since a war of some sort occurred. Does that mean the monsters want to escape?" Alice inquired as they carried onto the next room.

The next room was actually quite beautiful and benevolent, suggesting nothing to do with riddles here. In addition to a large pile of leaves, there was some green ivy along the ground and it was clear this room had a large hallway to the left and a path forward. Alice was definitely thankful to not have to deal with anymore puzzles as those were getting increasingly boring. Riddles are only as much fun as the length you do them, Alice thought to herself.

"... Yeah… the monsters feel scared and trapped with nowhere else to go down here… they really want the barrier to come down… but I don't really think I should tell you all this… I mean… I'm not that knowledgable about it…" Napstablook confessed.

"Oh… well that's alright, I could always ask Toriel about it if I really wished to." Alice comforted Napstablook as she decided to move along the forward path.

"... Just know the monsters are working on it… and have been working on it for a long time…" Napstablook spoke a bit more seriously this time, as though trying to warn her.

"That's very brave of them."

With these words, Alice soon came upon another Froggit. Currently being the most sociable monsters she'd encountered randomly, Alice approached it eagerly.

"How are you this fine day?" Alice asked it.

"Fine. Just between you and me… I saw TORIEL come out of here just a little while ago. She was carrying some groceries. I didn't ask what they were for… We're all too intimidated to talk to her." It croaked.

"Oh you don't need to be… well I suppose she is very protective but she truthfully is a very nice lady." Alice replied considering the stern expressions Toriel had shown her before.

"If you say so human…" The Froggit said.

Feeling proud of herself for sticking up for Toriel, Alice noticed another corridor by the Froggit and went forward it to see a dazzling sight. She saw majestic buildings with domes, windows, all in a gorgeous if dreary dimness. It was the sort of sight you'd see from the tallest tower of a castle and it was by far the most beautiful thing Alice had seen in these ruins yet. Alice's eyes were sparkling as she said,

"Oh how stunning! Is this the world beyond the Ruins?"

"...Yeah… part of it… huh… never really saw this before… nn!" Napstablook's eyes trailed as it spoke before it flinched.

"What… why'd you flinch?" Alice asked curiously.

"... That…"

"W-what do yo- OH!" Alice gasped in fright.

Lying on the ground was something Alice had saw before here… a knife. There was something a bit more fake and even rubbery about the knife but just the idea of seeing another blade was anything but reassuring to Alice. Approaching closer and Alice could see it was indeed plastic. The idea and concept of it though was utterly terrifying given what Alice had been tempted with earlier. Worrying about if Chara had left it here or not, Alice calmly told Napstablook,

"L-let's just leave it here…"

"I agree…"

With that the two of them departed the room and returned to the main hall with the ivy and the leaves. With only one new direction to go Alice and Napstablook made a right from where they had left the Froggit, and continued onward. In a very unique room and even majestic room, they found a very large and ancient tree barren of leaves with a pile of them lying appropriately under its branches. Furthermore, a voice rang out as soon as Alice and Napstablook entered,

"Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would."

"That's Toriel!" Alice pointed out to Napstablook.

Sure enough, the elegant goat woman appeared and stopped by the tree to pull out her phone. It seemed she was about to make another call to Alice when her eyes caught the sight of Alice and Napstablook. Looking very surprised, Toriel rushed over to them.

"Alice! You're here… but how did you get here? Did this ghost escort you here?" She asked after glancing at Napstablook.

"Yeah… she asked me to help accompany her and wanted me to meet you so… here I am… I'm Napstablook…" Napstablook introduced itself nicely.

"Oh that's truly generous of you. Thank you. I have heard there was a ghost who visited these ruins from other monsters but it's very nice to know you are kind." Toriel bowed respectfully as she praised the ghost.

"... I-it was really nothing… she just seemed like she could've used my help… and I was worried I'd spoil her fun…" Napstablook said shyly.

"Oh but you simply made things a lot more fun and interesting for me Napstablook. I hope we can meet again." Alice added sincerely.

"...S-sure… you know where to find me… bye…" Napstablook said and disappeared.

I can't wait to tell my sister that I befriended a ghost, Alice thought with a small grin. To her surprise Toriel put her hands on Alice's shoulders and spoke,

"Are you hurt? There, there, I will heal you. I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this."

"A surprise… oh so you were preparing something for me? Is it the butterscotch cinnamon dessert you told me about?" Alice inquired.

"Err… well I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, small one." Toriel blushed a bit and soon led Alice past the tree.

It was then that Alice noticed Toriel was guiding her to what looked like a beautiful and quaint house in the ruins. With two open windows and an open door. As Toriel walked inside, Alice couldn't help but feel determined at the cue and tidy house. When Alice entered, the first thing she noticed was a large stairway leading to a bottom floor of some sort, pleasant cream and chocolate colors and brown wood floors, a cabinet with a gorgeous flower in a vase perched on it, a bookcase filled with books, and a simple wall lamp. The house looked just the sort fit for the animals that Alice had envisioned in her Wonderland. It feels like I dreamt it so long ago when it was only morning… Alice thought with a slight melancholy. But the sight of a clearly excited Toriel made Alice feel a lot more confident.

"Do you smell that? Surprise! It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight." Toriel told Alice with the biggest smile Alice had seen from her yet.

"Thank you so much and… snail pie…? That doesn't really sound very… um… appetizing to be honest." Alice admitted looking down.

Between the Spider Donut and snail pie what sounds less revolting… Alice asked herself, being reminded of the delicious but dubiously made dessert she had earlier. Toriel simply laughed.

"It is a lot better than it sounds my dear. I know of people who would describe it as an amazing dish… Here, I have another surprise for you." Toriel spoke quite dreamily for a moment before heading down the right hallway.

Alice's mind was very curious to see all the intriguing things up close and personal but it was also very worn out from all the riddles and traveling. She was perfectly hoping for Toriel to lead her to a bedroom to take a well-earned rest. So Alice followed after Toriel after stifling a yawn. In this hallway was a pristine golden appearance with a psychedelic carpet on the ground, more lights on the walls, more cabinets, and more potted plants. Toriel stopped and took Alice by the hand.

"This is it…" Toriel said as she led Alice to the first door on the left.

"A room of your own. I hope you like it!" Toriel announced.

"Oh why that's simply too kind of you to give me Toriel. Thank you…" Alice spoke in deepest gratitude.

Toriel smiled brightly and even rubbed Alice's head gently. Alice blushed a bit, caught off-guard by the gentle and simply loving gesture. It felt a lot more sincere than if it had been from anybody else. It just said a lot about Toriel to Alice and made Alice even more glad she had listened to her instead of Chara earlier. Just at that moment Alice noticed a distinct smell…

"Hmm is something burning?" Alice asked.

"Oh um… make yourself at home!" Toriel stammered and quickly went to go see the source of the smell.

Free and on her own again, Alice entered the room with a natural grace. When she entered, she gasped. The room was positively brimming with charm and fine taste. There was a perfectly sized bed, beautiful plushies that looked similar to Toriel or maybe an elephant, a toy chest, a hand-drawn picture of a flower, a closet filled with clothes, a table with a lamp, a bookshelf with figures and a picture frame, a box of kid's shoes and so much wonder. As much as Alice really wanted to play and explore, she was simply exhausted and the very warm pale red colors of the room made her even more tired. Without a word, she turned off the lamp's light, crawled into the bed, and let herself go to dreamland.

When she came to, she found herself standing in what appeared to be a part of the ruin She looked around curiously, wondering what brought her here. It was when her eyes jumped to something unusual… or at the very least curious. There was Toriel, standing in front of a giant door but her expression appeared to be… a pained smile. It definitely was not the kind of expression Alice could imagine Toriel giving to her so it made Alice worried. But even more surprisingly was there was something in front of Toriel, their back facing Alice. On closer inspection, this person had long platinum blonde locks, a lavender dress, a grey… ribbon?

"I-is that supposed to me?" Alice recognized the appearance of the mysterious figure almost instantly.

It appeared to look a lot like Alice and how she looked like right now except the colors seemed… paler, even dustier. It was a bit unnerving just seeing someone even dressed like her so Alice approached and prepared to ask something when she suddenly noticed… the figure's hands behind her back. They were clasping something tightly, almost as if they were trying to break it. Is that a… Alice thought as she suddenly began to sweat. It was most indefinitely… A KNIFE. It was unmistakingly the same knife that Alice had been handed to Chara earlier and this person had it.

"Toriel! NO!" Alice tried to warn Toriel but it was too late.

"SHINK!" A sound much too painful for the ears rang out.

A gash impossibly long and big marred Toriel's robe and her face appeared to somehow have a crack or perhaps a slash mark appear. But what hurt Alice the most was Toriel's stupefied expression filled with unfathomable shock and dismay. The figure had indeed stabbed Toriel with the knife, their expression still hidden from Alice. Before Alice could even scream, Toriel said what was perhaps the most horrifying series of words that she had ever heard in her life,

"You… at my most vulnerable moment… To think I was worried you wouldn't fit in out there… Eheheheh! You really are no different from them!"

A grin, oozing with almost a bold respect and horrifying sympathy found it's way to Toriel's face as she finished this. She then knelt down, her life clearly fading away.

"Ha… ha…" Toriel appeared to dissolve into dust as she uttered a weak laugh.

A heart appeared to be left in it's place before it shattered into two and broke into pieces. Alice was left breathless and felt as though she was to have a heart attack. She looked weakly at the figuring realizing in horror why her clothes were so dusty… They are dusty with the dust left behind by slain monsters, Alice thought.

"It's the only way… the only way to get her to open the door… slay her…" The figure spoke in a voice that Alice could've sworn was not hers.

It did sound like hers but there was something inhumane and unearthly about it. As though this figure was possessed by something menacing and malevolent. Alice just whimpered in terrified gloom. The figure slowly turned it's head…

"ISN'T THAT RIGHT?!' "Alice" said with a grin that only belonged to Chara.

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Alice shrieked in terror as she woke up from what had not been a pleasant trip to Dreamland.

She rose and breathed heavily as she considered the ramifications of the dream. If she had killed those monsters… that was what she was going to become… someone willing to kill Toriel. But what if that was the only way…? Chara did say Toriel wanted to keep her here forever and have Alice live with her but… but…

"T-that's too cruel… why won't… oh there must be some other way…" Alice mumbled weakly and saddened.

That was when Alice noticed something on the floor, something delicate and decadent. Something that would represent a choice, consisted of a choice, and provided a choice. Butterscotch or Cinnamon, stay or leave, pacify or slay… On the floor was a slice of Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie.

To Be Continued...