Even though Frisk has known Toriel for several generations it felt like, this was the first time they saw her look so blindsided. For all they knew and heard, she always seemed like the rock, the one who knew everything, the one that kept her cool no matter what befell her. And yet here she was, sitting with them, lightly patting their head with a look of silent regret. Her hands lightly trembled as they slowly glided by their left ear. It felt so surreal to the child but deep down in their soul they felt that what just happened was what needed to happen. They didn't know why they believed this but the warmth of Toriel's hand and the clean soft feeling of her robe on their cheek made them not want to push the matter further.
"Frisk," Toriel began with a sigh. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that. That was very unbecoming of me."
Frisk stirred out of their little nap and muttered. "I didn't know Ed was that strong either, you don't have to be sorry. It scared me too."
Ed breaks down a 3000 year old door built to stop the strongest siege weaponry and the first thing I do is scream, Toriel thought. He must think I'm scared of him. I need to make this right before he thinks I want him to leave as well.
It was then she got an idea. "Hey Frisk, just off the top of your head what type of meat do you like?"
Frisk looked at Toriel with a look of mild surprise. With much pondering they asked. "You can get meat in the Ruins?"
"Of course," Toriel's eyes sparkled. "It's a little pricey but I want to make you and Ed feel comfortable for your first night here."
Frisk thought for a moment and drew a blank. "I'll get back to you on that," They resolved.
"That's fine, you don't have to choose right now," Toriel smiled. "And for no particular reason, which do you prefer: cinnamon or butterscotch?"
Now that question was more familiar. Frisk answered. "Cinnamon, but I like butterscotch too."
"Oh good, that makes it easier," Toriel smiled. She then got up to her feet. "Are you ready to continue?"
"Yeah," They said. Then the two of them entered the next room. The first thing Frisk saw was the sign they could never read buried under purple door fragments. One day I will figure out your mystery Sign. They thought
"Ed? Are you here?" Toriel asked over the bubbling streams. The presence of spikes and no sign of her "child" made her start to tremble again. Did he- jump the spikes? Worry then filled the woman's head. Oh no, if he did, that means he could be anywhere now. The sound of the spikes receding startled her. She turned and saw Frisk at a switch.
"Puzzle vanquished," Frisk gave a thumbs up.
"Ah," Toriel squeaked. She then returned their smile. "Well done Frisk. You solved the puzzle without me needing to explain it."
"T-the labeling helped," Frisk pointed at the yellow writing around the switch.
"Even so, I'm proud of you all the same," Toriel replied. "Let's move on to the next room."
I think things are coming back into order. Frisk thought as they followed.
That notion was thrown back out the window in the next room. Not from an addition of something but rather a lack of something.
"W-where's the training dummy?" Toriel asked as she felt little sweat drops form on the back of her neck.
"Training dummy?" Frisk asked feigning ignorance.
Toriel snapped out of her puzzled expression and returned to her charge. "Well- As a human living in the Underground, monsters may try to attack you or Ed, I left a training dummy here to help you learn what to do in the event that happens. But it seems to have disappeared."
No dust. Frisk pondered. Maybe it got bored.
Toriel was in a deep thought as well. I guess I could take its place. You don't really need a dummy to learn how to handle things non-violently.
"Ok Frisk, the process is simple. When you encounter a monster, more often than not they will want to attack you. If that happens strike up a friendly conversation," Toriel lectured as she walked closer to where the dummy used to be. "Stall for time, and I will come and resolve the matter."
She then turned to Frisk. "When you're ready, walk up to me and when the FIGHT starts practice talking to me."
"Huh?!" Frisk asked shocked. They started trembling. "Y-you want me to fight you?"
"It will be alright my child," Toriel reassured. "I wouldn't dream of hurting you."
Her reassurance didn't work. It isn't you I'm worried about. They thought as dread grew in their stomach. I can't see the shine flower anymore. One strike and I'm out.
"Oh, that creature," Toriel lowered her head. "I'm sorry Frisk, I should of thought about that. It's not fair to make you fight after you almost-," She then shook her head and gave a warm smile. "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to practice later."
Frisk breathed a sigh of relief. If the powers that be dictated them not to spare anyone, they at least allowed Frisk to prolong it. As the child grabbed their caretaker's hand and followed they noted that they have spent more time with Toriel than they ever did during their previous runs through the Ruins. And for some reason they felt like they sincerely wanted to thank Ed for this.
Ruins - Act 3
"(33, 34, 35,)" Counted Vi as flies darted to and fro in a glass jar. "(You're a natural at this human.)"
"Yeah, no artificial colors and preservatives," Ed grinned lifting his arm near another crack in the wall. A good number of flies wafted out of the crack. Vi bounced into the swarm and caught some in his mouth. He then hopped back to the jar and spat his catch into it.
"(That's 18 right there. Last crack,)" Vi hopped into position.
"Last crack!" Ed repeated over the sound of his feet shuffling over the massive piles of red leaves that filled the room. Like the others before, the new fly hoard was distributed into the jar. With a jubilant croak Vi made a final count.
"(77!)" The froggit exclaimed. "(That's triple last week's yield!)"
"Is that enough to power up your brothers Vi?" Ed asked excitedly.
Vi murmured some calculations, "(I need to test it.)" Vi looked through the holes Ed made trying to "not step on the leaves" as the nearby puzzle description stated. On the ceiling sat three rather large moth-like figures huddled together. He could hear them weeping in fear.
This was a familiar sight today.
As they traversed the ruins to get there, Vi noticed that his brothers avoided Ed like the plague. And the whimsun were timid way before the human appeared, now they didn't try to fight even when Ed was directly under them. Vi noted silently to himself that Ed didn't notice any of this. "(But finding someone to test with is a problem.)" Vi concluded.
"Why?" Ed asked following Vi action.
"(Not sure but it's getting annoying,)" Vi grumbled. He then yelled. "(Hey!)"
The whimsun group yelled in fear and two of them flew away. The third however looked down through the holes at the Froggit.
"V-Vincent?" The moth responded trembling like a leaf. "I-is that you?"
"(What's going on? Everyone's on pins and needles today,)" Vi asked.
"Y-y-you haven't heard, there's a human attacking monsters left and right," The whimsun stammered.
"What does the human look like little moth?" Ed asked getting a good look at the timid moth.
"A-another one?!" The whimsun cried out. "I-I can't handle this."
"(Hey hey! Calm down, he's with me,)" The froggit croaked. "(He's helping me get bot flies. Go ahead and answer his question and I will give you some if you need them.)"
"B-bot flies? T-those are hard to get out of the cracks," The whimsun said. Vi's offer must have been tantalizing enough for the moth. Because it started to lower into the lower area. Ed was able to see the moth fully. Upon closer inspection it appeared to have more in common with a white sheet ghost than an insect. It had tiny arms, legs, and antennae. It also had an open mouth and two black dots under their closed diagonal eyes. As it got near Vi opened the jar slowly. A couple flies tried to escape but Vi made a little dance and his own flies were sent out of the little fly nest under his belly. The magically controlled flies corralled the bot flies closer to the moth. The whimsun slowly captured the bloated flies and ate. After a few flies the moth's trembling lessened.
"She's tall, l-long hair the color of Toriel's clothes, and sounds like she has trouble breathing," Whimsun explained as Vi closed the jar. "She wears something that looks like a school uniform with black stains."
"(Anyone you know?)" Vi asked turning to Ed.
"Not I," Ed answered. "But it sounds like she is not a human but a human puppet corrupted by the shadow lands from the comic "It came from the Inversion Zone"." Ed then pointed up heroically. "We must capture her before she starts sending echoes through the time stream to her cohorts!"
The two monsters didn't follow any of what Ed said but Vi felt inspired whereas the Whimsun shivered.
"Retreat," Whimsun cowered and it tried to fly away but was intercepted.
"(Oh no you don't!)" Vi yelled hopping onto the fleeing moth. The two landed with the sound of a squeaky toy. "(You're helping us too.)"
"B-but Vi we're just a moth, a runt froggit, and some guy, if this girl human really is a puppet or whatever there's no way we can win if we fight it," the whimsun squirmed.
"(Oh so we just let that thing do whatever she wants?)" Vi waxed hypothetical. "(And excuse me, "runt"? Who are you calling a runt?)"
"I-I'm sorry, I misspoke, I'm sure 10 less hp is normal for fully developed polliwogs," Whimsun retorted.
"(You know for someone who was crying like a baby in the corner a second ago, you seem to not have a problem pointing out the flaws in others,)" Vi croaked angrily.
"Guys, guys," Ed jumped in. "We can't fight now. If the puppet calls her cohorts the whole world will be pulled into a 1000 year war between the shadow lords and the holy sentinels."
"W-war?!"
"(War?!)"
The two monsters looked at each other. They didn't expect the seriousness of this situation. Ed knelt down to the pinned moth.
"What's your name little moth?" Ed asked softly.
"C-claire," The whimsun squeaked.
"Claire," Ed repeated. He then brought out his hand. "I'm Ed."
Vi adjusted himself to allow the moth to timidly shake the human's hand. They returned their hands. Ed expression softened. "I'm sorry we're pushing you into this Claire, but we really do need your help."
"E-eh? But what- can I even do that's helpful to you?" Claire asked.
"We need someone to protect us," Ed nodded.
"Huh?" Claire asked deeply surprised that a human would ask that of her.
"(Where are you going with this human?)" Vi added a little uneasily.
"Vi's ambition and my strength are not enough against something like that, we need someone who can see what person the puppet is going after, someone who can fight sneakily and can provide distractions when the puppet unleashes her true power," Ed's imagination was in overdrive. But the interested monsters followed intently all the same. "And I believe with your help we can prevent this war ourselves without having anyone else be put in danger."
"Human I- I don't know what you see in me to make that assumption," Claire resolved obviously very touched by the human's trust in her. "B-but if you and Vi need me, I- I'll do the best I can."
"I thank you Claire," Ed smiled warmly. "And soon the world will too."
A little blush appeared in the moth's features. She also stopped trembling after a few moments of gazing into the human's emerald eyes.
"(Do you know where this puppet is?)" Vi asked hopping off the new member of his party.
"She's in the "perspective puzzle"," Claire answered calmly. "But if she is as strong as you say human, we'll need to prepare ourselves first." She started to fly again.
"We can go to the bake sale," Ed offered.
"We Whimsun usually have no need for G so I don't have any to help you buy anything," Claire responded. "S-sorry."
Vi looked at the jar of flies nearby with a solemn sigh. "(I see where this is going.)" He murmured. "(I hate delayed gratification.)"
"It's for a good cause noble amibo," Ed consoled.
"(77 bot flies,)" Vi grumbled. "(Just pocket them before I change my mind.)"
Ed did what he was told and Vi lead the Ed-boy to the exit vent as Claire just flew through a hole. Back top side Ed slowly went down the only set of places he didn't fall through his previous attempts. His stride improved by feeling a part of a three man team again. He was filled with determination.
Even after another spot caved out underneath him. He screamed down into the leaves below. It was the 18th spot he fell through.
"I'm ok, I think I did a flip," Ed responded with a laugh.
"(Yeah, he doesn't do well on puzzles,)" Vi whispered to Claire.
After another lead up back top-side it took two more attempts by Ed to walk the path. But he finally managed to do so with much fanfare from his new friends, and the newly formed party rolled on further into the Ruins.