(12)

Toriel and L stood side by side at the break in the cavern, thinking of the task ahead of them. When they ended Asgore's plan to get through the barrier, what would life down here be like? L was somewhat unsure of just what he would do with himself, and Toriel had little desire to return to the Ruins, especially now that they were sealed. How would the people of the Underground feel, knowing that the surface was even worse than life down here? How would Asgore react to L when the two eventually meet?

The two decided that they could cross those bridges once they needed to.

After they had spent some more time just taking in the view, the duo felt it was time to keep moving, and they found another entry into the caverns just to the East of their spot. A receptacle for umbrellas conveniently awaited them just inside. Right after that, there was a steep ledge that L easily climbed up.

Once he was up, he took a knee and looked down at Toriel. "Would you like a hand getting up?"

She eyed him momentarily, then decided to accept his gesture, hamming it up somewhat. "Oh, most certainly kind sir, I would."

L held a hand out for her to grasp and she took it, letting him assist her up as she used her magic to levitate herself just enough to get off the ground.

Once up, she gave the man an exaggerated curtsy to match her acting. "Thank you, oh good sir-knight."

L was caught off guard by Toriel's gesture momentarily and quickly had to recall what the response was supposed to have been. He executed a rather sloppy bow and followed it up with an acted response to her thanks. "Of course, it is my duty to assist you, my Queen."

While she had maintained her composure before that, her heart certainly beat a bit faster hearing L call her "his Queen."

Just a bit.

The two continued on after the little act, more markings visible on the walls ahead…

'The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly and without mercy… in the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single soul was taken, and countless monsters were turned to dust…'

L knew he had no part in this ancient war, yet he still felt… guilt? Yes, guilt is what he felt. He felt shame at the actions of his kind… though he was one to speak, he only existed up until this point by snuffing out the existences of others. But was it really the same…? Was he as bad as his predecessors? They had attacked an innocent race, a near genocide… true, he killed, but was it in the same scope as his ancestors' atrocities? Toriel accepted and trusted him, even though she knew he has done terrible things just to survive the surface. That made him feel like he was personally redeemed if someone as kind and good as Toriel could find it in her capacity to walk beside someone like himself…

He was so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't noticed the loud creaking that was now sounding underfoot as he walked. Toriel finally broke him from his trance, concern lacing her voice.

"L… I am not certain these thin boards will support your armor's weight…"

L looked down, noticing they were standing on what seemed to be suspended wooden boards all nailed together at the sides.

L's mind boggled as he looked down, amazed he hadn't fallen through yet. "What kind of fool designed this path…?" As he inspected the wooden path, a blue glow on the boards just ahead appeared. Then another… and another… they were surrounded by the blue glows.

L's eyes suddenly flashed in recognition. 'No! not here!'

He gave a panicked look to Toriel. "Get away-!" Just as he uttered the words, the glows flashed and magic spears replaced them, two jutting up and bending away against his armor, one slicing at Toriel's right arm, ripping her cloak and robe's sleeves, the rest of them missing. Once the spears vanished, L looked below, spotting Undyne beneath them on a lower path.

He could feel anger bubbling.

He had never felt like this before. He'd experienced very little in terms of emotion before Toriel helped him, but now he could feel a burning red rage building. Undyne had hurt Toriel, who was tending to the injured limb. L wanted to smash through the boards that held him up so he could get down to Undyne then give her a piece of his mind. What happened to "monsters don't hurt monsters?"

He was about to do something rash when more glows appeared, and Toriel reacted by running back to the start of the path, shouting "Run, L!" as she went.

L would have to continue on alone for now. Undyne would certainly not have this go unmentioned though. That was a given.

L broke off into a sprint down the path, his acceleration actually damaging the boards beneath him as he went, sending splinters every which direction with each thundering armored step. He ran full tilt even as the path began to split and change direction, and he'd put on the brakes with his cleat-like boots when needed, then keep going.

L had no clue which direction was correct, but he knew Undyne wasn't able to keep up even on the straighter path beneath his. She was definitely newer to armor than him. She had totally given up even trying to spear him a while ago, and she was slowing down her attempts to run after him.

Suddenly a wide expanse of boards opened up ahead. He tore across this too, finding his way to one of the branching paths. The path came to an abrupt stop…

He ground to a halt, looking over the edge, seeing nothing but darkness below. "Really, who made this path!?" He turned and was about to run back when he noticed Undyne standing at the start of the branched path. She looked rather tired, and quite irate if her body language was anything to go on. She lifted her hands up, and with great effort, brought them back down with force and what seemed to be an air of finality. L was confused until a wave of blue spears fell from the dark above, slicing through the weak boards between them. L's weight then broke off the section of the path after the cut, resulting in him falling into the dark below. There was nothing he could do in time. So he just let himself plummet.

The end of his fall came strikingly quick… he felt like he'd done this before.

vvv

'Dark again. Just like after the flower attacked me. I need to…'

"It sounds like it came from over here…"

'What? Whose voice… was that a child?'

"Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you…"

'What…?'

"Are you okay?"

'What is happening!?'

"Here, get up…"

'…?'

"...Characas, huh? That's a nice name. My name is-"

vvv

L's eyes suddenly bolted open, somehow fully awake again. A name floated on his mind… "Asriel…"

How had he experienced that? Why had he dreamt of Characas and Asriel? He made to get up, but a familiar feeling was beneath him. With one gauntleted hand, he felt at the ground beneath him, then pulled some of the material up and to his eyes…

'Flowers… again…?'

L placed the flowers back into their places, standing. Once again, he'd landed in a bed of golden-yellow flowers…

'Something odd is happening here, this is no coincidence.' He brushed off his cloak while looking up at where he had fallen from, seeing, as usual, nothing but darkness. He was worried about Toriel, how would they meet up? In fact, he had no clue where he was. A look around himself revealed he was in a closed off area, a waterfall and walls creating a linear path to go. So he walked.

The ground beneath was flooded over, soggy, and covered in broken walkway planks. It reminded him of the swampy forests he'd been to in the past. His boots sank quite a bit with each step, but he kept moving to not get stuck. At least it wasn't as bad as Blighttown, the swamp there has diseased fumes roiling above, the smell alone could make a living person violently ill. Compared to that, this was a walk across a castle courtyard.

As he kept going through the wet area, he noticed what seemed to be a burlap training dummy just sitting in the middle of the watery pathway. He didn't feel like trifling with it, so he kept walking, not giving the dummy a second glance as he passed.

A voice came from behind him. "Yeah, that's right keep walkin'. You don't want any of this!" L turned to see it was the dummy that had spoken. It had become animate and was now floating around, with big angry eyes that glared at him.

L could only give a deadpan look at the mannequin, he was not impressed. "...Still not the strangest or most horrifying thing I have experienced. Who or whatever you really are, mimic, monster, what be you… I do not have time for this. I must be on my way."

"HEY. DON'T YOU WALK AWAY FROM…" The dummy didn't get anything else out before L simply kept walking, totally ignoring him as he went into the next room. "...me. Ah, who needs enemies, I have knives…" The dummy looked down, noticing he only had one knife. "Dammit."

The next room was thankfully unflooded, however, it branched off in quite a few directions. L decided to check these branches in a clockwise pattern, starting with the one on his immediate left. This path led to a small… bird. Chicken? Duck? He wasn't sure. The bird kept trying to grab his hood and seemed to want to lift him up and towards a small gap across some water. After the bird gave up, L decided to leave it be. The next path led to an oddly fishlike house that strongly resembled a face. The path after that, a duo of oblong homes that mirrored each other. The next few ways were connected to that, and they featured an odd collection of fences and snails…

In the end, the final way available was the correct choice. Going this way led him to an intersection, with a way to go in three directions. Following his previous pattern, he checked the leftmost one first.

He ducked through a small door frame in the cave wall, which opened up to a cramped chamber filled with glowing rocks inlaid in the walls, as well as numerous stalagmites and stalactites. A monster who appeared to be a turtle in some form of tan outfit was examining the far wall. L decided he didn't wish to bother the monster, he seemed quite busy. And besides, L needed to keep going.

He left the room, and checked the path opposite to the turtle's room, seeing that it abruptly ended at a still and peaceful river, unflowing.

Once again, he had one last way to go, and it was unsurprisingly the correct way.

'Is everything in this place to the East or West…?'

Not only was it the final path, but it was the path that had more wall markings. It must be the way forward if that was any indication.

"Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives, we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest magicians sealed us underground with a magic spell. Anything can enter through the seal, but only beings with a powerful soul can leave."

'This means that even if Asgore does not destroy the barrier… what lies above may get in here regardless if there are other ways in. This is far more perilous than I thought it was…'

"There is only one way to reverse this spell. If a huge power, equivalent to seven human souls, attacks the barrier, it will be destroyed… but this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped down here forever."

'These markings must be before the time of Asgore's plot then, six humans have already fallen to him…'

Just ahead, the cavern darkened immensely and he could see nothing in the tightly walled paths, save some glowing plants and mushrooms. He decided not to rely on them, instead, he unsheathed his claymore and casted a Light spell to illuminate his own way forward. After wandering about keeping the area around him lit, he found a way forward. His light shone on a wall marking, and he stopped to read it.

"Without candles or magic to guide them Home, the monsters used crystals to navigate."

'It is a good thing I have illuminating magics then…' He continued on, noticing faint purple glows around him embedded in the walls occasionally. Eventually, he found his way out of the purple glowing area and found himself in a somewhat flooded corridor. He could see an echo flower ahead…

He walked up to the flower and brushed his hand across its petals, eliciting an unfamiliar woman's voice to venomously whisper from it. "Behind you." He turned around to find Undyne standing and staring at him through her helm. He stared back, standing unperturbed by the shorter monster knight. For a moment, the whole of the world seemed to have become silent, until…

"Seven. Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity… and give back the suffering and pain we have endured."

As Toriel said, she is just another monster convinced of Asgore's plan. "Undyne. You follow your lord's command, and I commend you for your honor in his service. But respectfully… you, your people, and your king are horribly misinformed. The surface is lost. Mankind already suffers a vicious cycle of undeath and rebirth, and beings you should hope you never lay eyes upon have taken dominion above. Your king's… plan, plot, idea, what have you, will only lead to your destruction."

Undyne summoned up a large spear to wield and dropped into an aggressive stance. "You're lying! You only want to try to save yourself from our vengeance, but I, Undyne, will strike you down and take your soul so that Asgore will lead us out of the Underground! Now, enough running! Get ready to defend yourself!"

L needed to show her just how vain her attempts to fight really were… he sheathed his claymore and took a few steps towards her, opening his arms wide and lifting his chin ever so slightly. "Then make your attack! Strike me down now, if you think you can defeat me!"

Undyne was getting angry, she thought this knightly human would put up a fight. "You aren't taking me seriously, are you?! FINE!" With a yell, she ran at the human, spear aimed for his chest. He did not move an inch as she thrust the magical weapon at his breastplate, striking him and his soul. A gasp issued from a patch of grass that neither had been paying attention to.

She was jarringly stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she made impact, as if she had struck a great wall. It felt like she had slammed her spear solidly into him… but… she had done practically nothing to him, his armor, or his soul.

'How…? What! That's impossible!' She looked up as L stared down at her, unmoved.

"Is that it? Is that all the greatest of Asgore's Royal Guard has to offer in response to my challenge? You would not last even ten seconds in the world above…"

Undyne growled angrily through her helmet in response, then jumped back and prepared to attack once more. "My form was just off! Here it comes, for real-!" Before she could make it to L, the yellow shape of the monster kid darted out from the tall grass right in the way, causing Undyne to halt dead in her tracks.

The boy stood as tall as he could, eyes closed as he shouted: "Undyne! I'll help you fight!"

Both L and Undyne stared in disbelief at the child. Undyne dispelled her spear and grabbed the boy by the cheek before dragging him off into another corridor as he complained.

L watched them go down the path he'd passed by in favor of checking the flower. "That boy is going to be in quite the trouble… he is lucky Undyne stopped her attack." He shook his head as he refastened the safety latch on his sheath, then took a quick drink from his Estus flask. He'd actually felt that spear attack, it didn't damage his armor but it still seemed to have struck his soul. He decided going the way the boy and Undyne went would be best, since once again, it was his only choice. It was flooded, and more echo flowers awaited him.

"...hmm… if I say my wish, you promise you won't laugh at me?"

"Of course I won't laugh!"

"Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around… that's my wish."

Laughter… "Hey, you said you wouldn't laugh at it!"

"Sorry, it's just funny… that's my wish too."

After the echo flowers, a wall marking…

"However… there is a prophecy. The Angel, The One Who Has Seen The Surface… they will return. And the Underground will go empty."

'There is certainly something larger afoot here… this… "Angel," I can only wonder who has seen the surface, yet did not return-'

Again, a name seemingly floated to the forefront of his mind. Asriel.

L recalled everything Toriel told him of her late biological son. He had been to the surface, and he succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter, but how would he return to the Underground? Would he be resurrected in some way? Why had L dreamed of Toriel's children?

'Surely Toriel must know of this prophecy… has she not made the connection that it may be her own son that it speaks of…?' His thoughts were cut short when he saw that his path had become a narrow plank bridge that spanned the gaps in the sections of walkable cave floor; large drop offs were on all sides here. He slowly walked out onto the alarmingly small bridge, and was about to make it to the other side…

"Yo!"

"I cannot believe this…" L carefully turned to the voice, seeing the monster child standing a ways away from him. The boy slowly walked over to him, stopping just before him and looking up at him.

"Yo… I know I'm supposed to go home, but… Undyne said you're a human and that… she said… if you go any further, you'll hurt a lot of people. Yo, you don't hurt monsters, do you? You and that lady are friends, aren't you?"

L simply gave the boy a nod.

"Yeah! You don't hurt monsters, you're friends with one! Man, I don't think Undyne knows that. I bet if she did, she wouldn't think about you so bad! Well… I think I'm gonna go home now."

"That would be best. You almost got yourself hurt last time. Get going." His voice was not scathing, but it was stern. The kid didn't argue and started walking the way he had come.

And of course, he tripped, again. This time on a narrow bridge.

The boy fell over the edge, and having no arms, gripped onto the boards with his teeth.

L was shocked that the boy had managed to be so clumsy as to trip while walking on such a precarious bridge, and went to assist him when Undyne walked out of the corridor he and the boy had come from. She stared at L through her helm as he slowly made his way to the fallen boy, and she tensed as L got to the boy and carefully took a knee and reached down to pull him up one-handed. L let the boy regain his footing before standing up himself. Undyne took a step towards the two, and the monster boy took one in return.

"Y-yo! Undyne! He's not bad! If you wanna hurt him, you're gonna have to get through me, first."

L could tell from her stance after that remark that Undyne was shocked. She seemed taken aback at what had just happened, then slowly backed up, before walking off into the passage before the bridge. Once she was gone, the boy gave a sigh and looked back up to L.

"Man… I really gotta go… my parents must be worried sick about me! Later, dude!" The kid then ran off into the passage, somehow not tripping as he went.

"Finally… I can only hope he is not lying." L wasted no time and got off the alarmingly small bridges. Once he had cleared them, the cavern seemed to open up once again, a red glow visible in the cracks of the cavern wall, as well as a tall mound of angular rocks with an opening in them. He looked up to see that somehow Undyne had not only gotten ahead of him, but she was standing atop the tall mound, her back to him.

"Seven. Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god. Six. That's how many we have collected thus far. Understand? Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed." She had now turned and was looking down at him through her glow-eyed helm.

L shook his head up at her."You fail to understand the gravity of the situation at hand. Even if you could take my soul, Asgore cannot be allowed to make your people known to what lies on the surface, it will only bring ruination to you all. What I am doing is what is best for monsterkind..."

She pointed a gauntlet down at him. "How can you say that, as a human? One of the very race that sealed us down here! Our ruler knows what's best, not some-"

"...and I am not alone in my endeavor. The former queen, Toriel, has been accompanying me throughout my journey so far. In fact, this is wholly her quest to begin with, she is the one who wishes to prevent Asgore from destroying the barrier, she is the one who you hurt with that ambush you set for me on the bridges, and she is the one whom I have made a promise to, a promise to not harm any monster I meet."

"Why should I trust that promise?! And so what if you've got the ex-queen on your side, Asgore's the current king, and I follow his orders! I could care less about some traitorous monster and her human friend! I mean look at you! How could you not try to hurt something with a sword that big…!" 'I know I would want to…!'

"You may think me a beast, a horrid human… but trust in me when I say it… the rest of my kind are in a far worse condition than I, and you should do all in your power to not expose your people to them. I ask you now, one warrior to another, do not stop me further. If you do, I will be cornered and will be forced to resort to a… secret technique… in order to defeat you."

"A secret technique? So that means you'll actually fight!" Undyne tossed her helmet off, revealing that her "plume" was, in fact, her hair. Her head and face were somewhat humanoid-fishlike, and she wore an eyepatch over her left eye.

The Royal Guard captain pointed an accusatory finger at the human below her. "You! You're standing in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams! Alphys' history books made me think humans were cool… with their giant golems and flowery swordswomen. But you! You're just a coward! You just keep running, and you hid behind that kid when I messed up that spear attack and on the bridge, just so you could run away from me again! And let's not forget your wimpy-goody-two-shoes-promise-schtick! Oh! I'm making such a difference by ignoring all my awesome gear and being a coward in the face of danger! You know what would be more valuable to everyone? IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right human! Your continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom! Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose!"

L couldn't help but laugh at this. She was so stubborn and set in her goals. Just like his old ally, Solaire… but just like with him, reality had to come in some time to shatter the illusion. L's laughter reached Undyne, and she grinned angrily.

"WHAT'S SO FUNNY?!"

He answered, in between laughs at first. "The fact… that you have the drive to do this… when in reality you have lost long ago. After the seventh human, the surface fell into chaos! There is nothing for your kind there! And you call me a human, you say I should die… well, I am not human! I am undead! Like the rest of my kind, I have died countless times! I have become something different, something less, yet more, in some twisted sense. We have lost our humanity, and have been more than punished for what we did to you long ago… leave the surface be!"

"NGAAAAH! Enough of your lies, human, whatever you are! Let's end this, right here, right now. I'll show you how determined monsters can be!" Undyne summoned up a spear like before and leaped from the rocks above, landing right before L in a combat stance.

L got ready as well but did not draw his claymore or prepare his shield. "Very well… I, L, will gladly show you my secret technique!" He reached down to a pouch on his belt and pulled a clump of green blossomed moss from it, then munched on the herb, before spitting it out once he got what he needed from it.

Undyne gave the man a sideways look. "Why are you eating a-" Before she could finish that thought, L took off in a dead sprint right past her into the break of the cavern, the speed of which she had never seen before.

"HEY! THIS IS YOUR SECRET TECHNIQUE?!" She ran after the man, not nearly as fast as he was. How was he not tiring from this? She could just barely see him by the time they came to the "WELCOME TO HOTLAND" sign.

"COME BACK HERE YOU PUNK!" She poured on the speed, just barely able to stay on her feet.

'How can he run in armor like this?!'

The man had run right past Sans, who was 'sleeping' at another one of his posts. Undyne would have stopped to wake and berate the skeleton, but she noticed that L stopped a little bit ahead, and was looking at her. She had to keep going. She made to run at him, then she felt it. The heat, and her physical wall. She hated heat… this wouldn't end well.

Undyne slowly walked, tired and sapped by all the sheer heat radiating from the lava below. "Armor… so hot… so tired… but I can't give up…" She collapsed into a heap on the ground two seconds after saying this.

L and a strange clam-monster were staring at the fallen Royal Guard. The clam man was standing next to a water cooler, which he slowly pulled a cup off of, filled, then handed it to L.

L silently and contemplatively looked between the cup of water and Undyne, before promptly turning the cup over and spilling the water all over her head. After a few moments, she shot up to her feet. She looked around for a second, then to L and the clam man, before she just decided to walk off.

As Undyne left Hotland, the clam man looked at L. "O, k, k, k, k, what was that about?"

L did not look at the odd clam/oyster person. "It is a rather complicated and… lengthy… story."

"Whatever you say, pal."

(12)