King: Hello there, littles ones. Allow me to tell you a tale. A tale of a human, not meant to be where he is. Or perhaps Something else is out of place instead. What an interesting outcome, isn't it? Any who! I'm happy to announce the first chapter of a new story. Arc-Tale. A what-if centered on the idea of 'what if Jaune was in Undertale instead?' What could happen I wonder~? But here's one warning, a shipping bit will be in this story. Shipping is garbage and I'm a romantic trash panda. That said, I took so long I've ended up coming up with too many possible answers as to who gets the ship with Jaune. We'll see won't we? Until then, we begin anew.

I hope you enjoy.

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Jaune started to stir, feeling groggy as he started to sit up from his lying position. He brought his hand to his head lightly, shaking off his sleepiness. "What happened last night?" Then he started to remember what had and when.

It wasn't over a night, but rather sometime around noon. He and his friends had climbed the old mountain, Mount Ebott. He remembered losing his footing at some point and ended up falling into a large hole in the ground. He was sure by the height of the fall that was going to die.

But apparently he didn't. Maybe? He still felt like he was alive. All his body parts were still there. Something must have broken his fall. He looked to his side to find a pile of yellow flowers. There was no blood around him, either or injuries on his body. Which made NO sense because there's no way they could break his fall. Much less one from that height. So either he was dead, or something else was going on.

He stood up and brushed himself off as he looked for a way out. Thankfully, he found a path off to the side. He quickly made his way over and down the path, finding a large double-door waiting at the end. A symbol was etched into both doors depicting a set of three alternating triangles and a circle with a pair of wings arranged to resemble an angel. Jaune wasn't sure what to think of it, having never seen it before, but just decided to expect it was important to whoever lives and/or lived here.

As he pushed open the door, he found some sort of antechamber. It was fairly dark save for the light shining down from the top of the chamber at the center. There was a weird single yellow flower poking out from the floor. He closed the door behind him as he started to walk through the room. He ignored the flower and tried to just pass by.

Then a voice rang out behind him. "Is that anyway to treat your friend?"

Jaune felt a chill run up his spine. He slowly turned toward the sound, finding only that flower.

Then he saw the center of the flower had a face. A face! It was smiling and swaying lightly as it spoke, "Howdy!"

Jaune instantly let out a scream and fell onto his ass. "W-w-what the heck?! Flowers don't talk!"

The flower's face turned deadpan, "Gee, thanks. Some friend."

Jaune started to feel a little bad. "S-sorry, but… talking flower."

"Yeah, I guess I'm pretty rare." The flower chuckled. "Anyway, I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower."

"Um…" Jaune started to calm down a bit, "I'm Jaune."

"Hmm." Flowey narrowed his (its?) eyes. "You seem pretty old to have fallen down here."

"What do you mean?" This just confused Jaune.

"Well, others fell in over time, but they were usually pretty young."

"Hey! I'm not that old. I'm only 17."

"Still older than the others." Flowey chuckled again. "Anyway, I'm here to help you out."

"Help me out? What do you mean?"

"Well, do you know how to get back to the surface?"

Jaune was silent. Technically, he didn't. But, if there were ruins in a mountain, then there has to be a door connecting them to the outside again.

"I bet you think there's a connection back up top. Well there is!"

Jaune's mood improved.

"But!"

And instantly died again.

"It's covered by a magical barrier that keeps everything stuck down here. The only way to break it," the flower paused, "is to build up your EXP and LV."

"My what?" Jaune was confused. That just sounded like stuff in a video game.

"Experience and Love!" The flower seemed to jump slightly with excitement. "And the best way to build that is with these!" A series of small white petals flew off around it.

Then Jaune was surprised again as what looked like a red heart appeared in front of his chest. "What the heck?!"

"That's your soul."

"My soul?!"

"Yep~" Flowey chuckled. "And these are friendship pellets. I can use them to give you EXP and LV. You just have to catch them."

The blonde could just feel like this flower was not to be trusted. He sidestepped the pellets, one of them passed through his arm, but didn't seem to affect him.

Flowey growled a bit, but tried to keep a smile. "Okay. I'm not dumb enough to think you still believe me. But it was worth a try." Flowey's face turned more demonic as he snapped, "so I'll just kill you the old fashioned way!" More of those petal bullets flew out and shot toward Jaune.

The blond ducked under a wave but knew staying here was a bad idea. He ran toward the open door at the hall's end, hoping that thing was rooted in the ground and couldn't follow him.

Until the door was suddenly covered in vines, causing him to skid on the floor and fall onto his rear. He looked up as that flower appeared among the vines, "You're not getting away from me!" Its voice was nothing short of demonic at this point. "This world is kill or be killed! And I'm just playing my part in it all!" Its voice and face returned to normal for a moment, "No hard feelings, guy." Then snapped back to the demon flower, "But this is going to hurt a lot!"

A flurry of petals flew at Jaune again like an ocean wave. The petals that his body broke off fairly easily, but the ones that hit that floating heart / soul thing… He could feel those. Excruciating pain from the inside out, like his very existence was getting pelted. It was hard to explain what it was like to have your literal soul attacked. The pain caused him to fall to the ground, clutching his body around the soul in an attempt to keep it from getting hit again, but the damage was done. He only had one thought in that moment, I don't want to die. As he lost consciousness, he could swear he heard something like an explosion, or some kind of burst of fire.

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Jaune's eyes opened rather slowly. He grumbled, at least confirming he was alive. "What happened?"

"You cheated is what happened."

Jaune was instantly on guard again and up on his feet to find that damn flower in the room again. However, it was different. Three of its petals were singed and the vines once covering the door seemed to be replaced by ashes. "What… what's going on?"

The flower mumbled, but did answer, "You've got a lot of DETERMINATION. More than you should. Frankly, it's not fair. You're supposed to die. Maybe reset if you're DETERMINED enough. But no. I can't even kill you! It's not fair!" The flower was starting to sound like a child that just had its favorite toy taken away.

Jaune, obviously, felt far better about the flower's failure. But he was also confused about what it meant by 'determination.' And why he felt like he wasn't understanding the underlying power of that word here.

But, the flower just let out an annoyed roar. "Whatever! But this isn't over. This world is kill or be killed! I might not be able to kill you now, but I'll find a way! I'll figure out how to put you down for good! Until then!" The angry tone fell away a bit, "have fun. Be merry. Do whatever you want! But I'll be back soon enough. Bye-bye~!" The flower retracted into the floor and left Jaune alone in the room.

Jaune groaned as the adrenaline was wearing off, causing his legs to give out from underneath him. As he caught his breath, he looked back up to the door. Somehow, there was a large burn mark that formed over the center area where the flower had locked him in. It was, supposedly, his fault. But he wasn't sure if he wanted to take the murderous plant at face value. It was probably a backfire and it wanted to save face.

After a moment of rest, Jaune stood up again and made his way to the door. "There's got to be a way out of here."

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Jaune fell onto a pile of red flowers again. He grumbled, having solved this particular puzzle already, but was stuck thanks to his own dumb feet. Unlike the last few times, he just lied there, looking up at the ceiling, contemplating his life to this point.

He'd wanted to go to Beacon. To be a Huntsman. But he was rejected outright. His transcripts were fake, but it didn't seem like they figured it out. Or they did know and just decided to look the other way and reject him instead of pressing charges. Either way, the result was the same. His friends tried to cheer him up with a hike, a trip up Mount Ebott. For some reason, the Grimm gave Ebott a wide berth, avoiding it like the plague. It was the one safe place in all of Remnant. Pretty ironic now…

He took a deep breath and sat up, ready to take on this challenge again, only to come face to face with an ethereal face staring at him. After a moment to jump away and take stock of the situation, he found an odd sight. A ghost, an actual, honest to gods ghost, was floating there.

The ghost spoke with a wavering voice, "oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just… that's one of my spots for lying down and feeling like garbage."

Jaune blinked in surprise. What the heck is going on? "Oh! Uh… sorry for taking your spot. I was just going."

"Yeah." The ghost was silent for a while as it floated over to the spot.

As Jaune watched the ghost, he got the feeling that he should say something. The ghost's words didn't sit right with him. "It's, um, nice to meet you."

"Huh?" The ghost sounded like he was surprised that Jaune was still here, much less talking to him. "Oh, yeah."

"I'm Jaune." The young man held out his hand to shake, only to realize the ghost didn't have hands. He felt pretty awkward at that point.

"Napstablook." Blook (for short) didn't hold out a hand, but did nod.

"I'm sorry to ask, given we just met, but is there a way out of here? The ruins, I mean."

"Yeah. Keep going down the main path. It'd probably be easier if you were a ghost. But you're not…" Blook seemed to lose what confidence he had, even if it wasn't much, "sorry. That sounded weird."

Jaune just waved it off. "No, no. It's fine. Thanks." Jaune made to leave before calling back, "it was nice to meet you."

Blook didn't mention he'd repeated himself. Just let him leave and lay down in the leaves.

Jaune returned to the surface area and moved carefully. He was getting out of here, damnit!

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Jaune fell with his back against a wall. I'm never getting out of here at this rate.

He'd somehow been walking in circles, in and out of the same room. He didn't know how that was even possible, but it was hard to deny at this point. Same architecture, three pillars, and not much else. He looked over to the doorframe nearby where he used a stone to mark the side. That same mark he'd placed when this started was still there. Taunting him!

He groaned and sunk his face into his hands. He should have asked the short how to get through.

Except it was a ghost. That can phase through walls. So it probably didn't need to solve this problem. That was when Jaune was hit by inspiration. Problem. No… puzzle!

That was it! The path to this point was filled with puzzles! Granted, most of them were too old to work and he was able to sidestep the actual puzzle, but that's the secret here! He just had to figure out the pieces he was working with.

He started to look around the room for the details rather than the big picture. He ended up finding three buttons of various colors and an etching hidden on the wall by the door. The etching said, [A simple change of perspective will help you move forward. Use the red switch and see what I mean.]

Jaune turned back to the room and made his way to the red switch. It was weird, but it felt like something changed. He made his way to the door again, tentatively stepping through. At first, he was annoyed it seemed to be the same room again. But he noticed that the curve of the walls had changed to a new direction. It was as if he'd flipped the room entirely.

Jaune nodded to himself, "a change of perspective. I get it now." He found the etching again and the lighting seemed to change its message to [Now the Blue button.] He repeated the process and found another version of the room telling him to hit the yellow button. After another repeat, he was in a new room again with a new passage out.

As he ran through the door, he was ecstatic to finally be in a different hallway. "Finally." He started to walk through the hall, only to trip on something and face plant onto the ground. "What happened?"

He started to pick himself up and found a large frog staring at him, seeming apprehensive of the situation. It was easily the size of a seven-to-ten year old child. After the bit with the flower and the ghost, he wasn't sure what to expect, and just tried to seem friendly. "Uh… hi. Sorry about that."

The frog just stared at him, as if expecting something. Then, it just let out a ribbit and hopped away.

Jaune just stood there for a moment before speaking. "That was kind of weird. I guess there are just big frogs here." He looked back down the hallway and put on his best determined face. "Okay! Keep moving forward."

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'Forward' turned out to be difficult when the floor had caved in. Jaune leaned over the hole, showing a bottom floor underneath covered in red flower petals. This room was likely similar to the area he met the ghost in, but it must have fallen apart at one point. He looked around for some kind of stable way across, maybe a stray board, fallen ladder, whatever. He did notice some stairs on the lower floor, but they seemed to connect to a doorway on his side of the hole.

After a minute of searching, he found nothing that could help him across. "So much for the easy way." He looked over the hole and did his best to judge the distance. He might be able to jump across. The distance might also result in him face planting into the wall on the other side.

Jaune took a breath before slapping his hands against his cheeks. "I'm not getting anywhere just standing here now." He walked away from the small canyon and stretched his legs and back. "Just gotta keep moving and find the exit."

After a sufficient hype-up time, he took a deep breath and ran full tilt over to the mini-canyon. "Here we go!" He jumped over the edge and into the air. It all felt like an eternity, but barely reached a second. He did end up hitting the wall on the other side, but at least his hands caught the edge of the other side, allowing him to pull himself over.

As he returned to solid ground, he lied back as he looked up to the ceiling. He didn't feel too hurt, but it was best to check.

Arms? Check.

Legs? Check.

Chest? No discernable damage.

Head? A bit on the light side, but functional.

Any noticeable pain? A bit, but that's to be expected.

He picked himself up again and groaned as his muscles started to ache. But it wasn't anything too bad, so he endured. He was Determined to get back home!

He felt a shiver run up his spine. What was that? He thought. He looked around, half expecting that ghost from before playing a trick on him or something. But there was nothing.

He started to walk away, but felt compelled to turn around, trying to catch whatever it was that he felt. Turned out, it was two of those frog things he saw before. He was confused, but more so when that heart appeared in front of him again. Then he remembered the encounter with the flower, "uh oh."

One of the frog-things charged at him, colliding with his still sore leg. It knocked him down and made him roll to the side to escape the second trying to jump on him. As he got to his feet, he couldn't help but flinch as his sore leg reminded him how painful his earlier stunt was. Dang it. No, calm down. There's a way out of this. Survival 101 from Dad. If you're attacked, one method is to seem more threatening.

Deciding this was the best first option, Jaune slammed his good foot onto the ground, adopting a boxing stance. Sloppy as it was, it was better than nothing. "Come on then! I'll beat you both right here! You hear me?!"

While he was sure they couldn't actually understand him, they did flinch from his tone and posture. They seemed to back away somewhat.

Jaune chose to seize this opportunity, "N-now get lost! Or else!"

With that, the frogs leapt up, spinning around before running off. Jaune sank to a seated position and let out a sigh of relief. He was so glad that worked. He started to rub his sore leg, hoping that would pass soon as well. For now, though, he had to move before those things came back. He picked himself off the ground, brushing off his pants and took a step. A strange rattle met his ears, causing him to look down to find a series of small gold coins. Deciding they might be useful, he picked them up and placed them in his pocket.

With that done, he made his way down the hall again, hoping things would be easier.

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He blinked at the sign before him.

[Spider Bake Sale! All proceeds go to spiders in need!]

Admittedly, it was a little weird to him. While not necessarily afraid of spiders, he rarely had good interactions with one. But after dealing with more of those frogs, big bug things, a weird carrot that wanted him to eat his greens, and whatever that weird pile of jelly-looking stuff was, he was hungry and that donut looked pretty good. Ah screw it. He took some of those coins from before and counted out enough for the donut, placing them in the jar nearby. Sure, no one was there, but he wasn't a thief. He picked up his donut and walked off, biting into the cooked dough and not seeing the spider on the table collect his payment.

As Jaune walked, he ate more of the confection and actually started to feel better. Not just the hunger issue, but his body hurt less and less as he ate more. Maybe it's a special recipe, he thought.

Skipping over the possible implication of a donut made with painkillers, he made his way around a corner and his eyes widened at the scene. It was a city, an entire city, underground! As he looked on, he felt so small. Even looking at the giant mountain from the surface felt like it wasn't doing the sheer mass justice. This place must be massive!

Finishing off his donut, he wiped his lips on his sleeve and started to make his way back toward another pathway. Of course, the image of the city was burned into his mind by this point. And as he passed another hallway, he was surprised once again. There was a house down here, and unlike the rest of the ruins, it actually looked taken care of. Whoever lived here, or nearby, was handling upkeep for the building.

More importantly, someone is here! And recently! He mentally celebrated and ran his way past a large tree and to the door. He pushed away the pessimistic thought that it could also have been just built better, which it was, so it would still be intact compared to the rest of the ruins. He really didn't want to think that he'd just found another dead end.

As he reached the porch area, he practically leapt over the stairs and before the door. Quickly trying to brush off any dirt, gravel, or petals, he took a deep breath as he looked toward the wooden surface. "Here we go." With one last exhale, he knocked on the door.

Everything seemed to slow after this. He looked for a doorbell, but didn't find one. He heard nothing from within, so he knocked again, hoping someone would call out that they had heard him. He stood there for what felt like hours, even if he knew it couldn't have been more than a minute or two. Internally, he was screaming for someone to answer. He debated knocking again, holding his hand up and ready to strike the door again, only for it to finally open.

From within, a soft, feminine voice rang into his ears, "I'm so sorry! I'm not used to visitors anymore. I was certain I was hearing…" she paused as the door was finally open, allowing her to see him, "... things." She stood there, frozen with wide eyes like a deer in headlights.

To be fair, Jaune was in a similar state. The woman standing there was clearly not human. She was a goat. Not like a Fauna, but an actual goat! I think. She looked like a goat standing on two legs, wearing clothes, just kind of like a normal person. Just… goat. She wore a white and purple cloak with that same symbol from the ruins.

The goat-woman blinked after a bit of an awkward silence, clearing her throat as if to break the tension. "Again, I apologize. I was preoccupied and wasn't sure I heard you knocking."

The break of tension worked well enough for Jaune to speak up again, "Oh! It's no problem. Sorry I kind of just… showed up. I fell down onto a flowerbed back there and I've been trying to find a way out of these ruins and back outside." Jaune gave a nervous chuckle, scratching his cheek anxiously. "Do you know where the exit is? From the mountain, I mean."

The goat-woman nodded, seemingly understanding what he was saying. "I do." There was a solemness to her words. "But unfortunately the path is blocked." It felt like she was choosing her words carefully. As if she'd done this before, but with some kind of variation.

Jaune nodded, "some kind of barrier, right?"

This made the woman concerned as she held onto the door, "That's correct. So, you know the story then."

"Not really. You're going to think I'm crazy, but some kind of talking flower told me about it when I woke up down here."

The woman seemed to ease her tension. "Talking flower?"

"Yeah. I don't get it." He decided to leave out the part about it almost killing him for now. "It said something about EXP and LV, whatever that is."

The woman's tension was instantly back and worse than before. "O-oh! I see." She looked about ready to either slam the door onto his face or run if need be.

The situation was obviously going poorly as Jaune could see it. So, he decided to start over as best he can. "I'm Jaune Arc, by the way. Sorry I didn't start with the introductions. Seems a little backwards doing it now." He tried to put up a friendly appearance to ease the woman's fears about him, whatever they were.

And it seemed to work a little, "I am Toriel. My apologies as well. Admittedly, humans are… a rare sight in the Underground. Even less so at your age." She seemed to fade off into her memories, something painful and long passed. She shook her head back to the present and smiled, albeit a bit weakly, "Anyway, yes, the barrier separates us from the surface and keeps everyone sealed down here. No monster has ever been able to pass through it."

This caught Jaune a little off guard, "Monster? What do you mean? Like the Grimm?"

And this, in turn, got Toriel off guard and confused. "I'm sorry?"

"I think there was a miscommunication somewhere."

Toriel nodded. "Indeed." She paused a moment before giving a quick, single nod. "If you wouldn't mind, this seems like it would take more time, and I'd rather talk about this sitting down instead of standing in the door." She moved to the side a bit. "If it's okay with you. I actually have a pie just out of the oven if you like."

Jaune was taught that he wasn't supposed to just go into a stranger's house. But he genuinely thinks the possible danger would be better than going back into the ruins to likely starve. "That sounds nice."

As Jaune and Toriel disappeared behind the closing door, Flowey sprouted out from a crack in the stone ground. "Grimm, huh? I wonder what he means by that."