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A Toy Knife?

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The small child froze at the entrance to the next room. Feet refusing to move as a chill ran down her spine. Spider webs covered the walls and it could just be the little girl's imagination running wild on her but she could have sworn she heard little tippy tapping of spider feet throughout the small room. There was a sign post a few feet away but...

"No way..." Turning, the child retreated from the room. Sure, there was a deep shame in her soul but at least there weren't spiders in her hair. And at the end of the day, wasn't that all that really mattered?

Stepping into the next room, a new sign post was waiting for her.

*Did you miss it?*

*Spider Bakesale down and to the right.*

*Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!*

An involuntary shudder went through the human's body after reading the sign. Deciding to further distance herself from potential spiders, she quickly proceeded further into the Ruins.

*Ring...*

The child continued walking as she lifted the cell phone and pressed the button below the goat lady's name.

"Hello?" Toriel spoke from the device. "I just realized that it has been a while since I have cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon. I hope you don't mind a little clutter."

"I-I don't mind..." The child answered uncertainly as she listened to the sound of frantic sweeping on the other end of the line. Was she cleaning? Why? "Are you coming back?" The little girl asked, failing at hiding the slight whine in her voice.

"Yes, my child, I am almost done. Please be a bit more patient." Toriel responded, humored understanding in her voice. "Just give me a few more minutes."

*Click*

With a sigh, the child pocketed her cell phone again and continued on her way.

The next room and its occupants were extremely confusing to say the very least. First there had been pitfalls in the floor which appeared to be on purpose this time. The exit was once again blocked by spikes and a switch needed to be flipped to lower them. It wasn't that difficult of a puzzle actually. The switch was easy to find and the fall to reach it on the floor below wasn't deep. It was the monsters that were the problem!

First there was a Vegetoid, a carrot monster that kept laughing and throwing vegetables at her, and a Loox, a weird hypocritical eyeball monster that, despite saying it didn't want to be picked on, kept attacking for no real reason.

After steeling herself before eating one of the offered veggies, and then vowing never to pick on Loox both monster's stopped their strange assault.

It hadn't been all bad though, since she had found a ribbon down one of the pitfalls. It was faded but still pretty. Of course, this human child would neeever wear the ribbon. It was far too girly! Even so, she couldn't bring herself to throw it away either since it was super cute...

Making the mistake of reading the stone tablet in the next room, the child's brain nearly melted.

*The far door is not an exit.*

*It simply marks a rotation in perspective.*

"What does that even mean!?" No real surprise, shouting at the tablet did nothing and the puzzle was still unsolved much to the child's grief. As if to add to the mental antagonism, there were two more monsters in this room. One of them named Moldsmal only wanted to jiggle and that made perfect sense since it looked like it was actually made of gelatin. The only problem with this one was that it wanted the child to jiggle back and was only satisfied until she finally gave in and wiggled her hips. The other monster, much to the child's displeasure, was named Migosp and its appearance was that of some kind of insect. A cockroach maybe? Not only was it unpleasant to look at, but its narcissistic personality made everything worse. The child basically had to pretend to be interested until the monster was done talking about itself and all of its supposed greatness.

The little girl was nearly in tears when she finally flipped the last switch and exited the large puzzle room. That was the absolute worst! So many switches. So many false switches! Why did they have to be hidden so well? Most importantly, why were these Ruins filled with pointless puzzles to begin with?!

A large cross made entirely of red leaves lay on the floor in the next room. Its importance was not overlooked as it seemed to point to the final room. Off to the side, however, was one more room and curiosity was calling. Passing the red leaf cross, the child kept walking to her right until she came to another small room.

*Ribbit, ribbit.*

A Froggit greeted as it sat outside another door. "Just between you and me..." It began conspiratorially. "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."

*Ribbit*

"You know the goat lady?" The child smiled brightly. "Where is she?"

"She is somewhere around here..." The frog monster answered vaguely. "She never leaves the Ruins."

"Oh... Well thanks anyway." The small human nodded politely before walking past the amphibian and into the next room.

"Whoa..." That was all she could say as she stood on a stone balcony overlooking the enormous expanse of the yet unknown Ruins. The mighty city, now abandoned, was bathed in the gloom of the underground. The picture was almost as haunting as it was sad. Where did everyone go?

The child stayed there longer than she probably realized. There was just so much to see, it was awe inspiring. Finally able to pull her attention away from the view, she looked around the balcony she stood on. There wasn't really anything here... Except.. What was that? Walking over to the object laying a few feet away, the child bent down and picked it up.

"What is this?" The human frowned, examining her find. "A toy knife?" That's exactly what it was. Just a toy. Tossing it away carelessly, the child shrugged in disappointment. She didn't need a toy! She needed her bag. It had her REAL knife inside. Nothing fake like that. This just made the child depressed. She missed her runic blade. The one her sister had given to her as a gift. It wasn't just a knife either, it was more like... like... a good luck charm? Something special that brought her a sense of security? She wasn't sure how to describe the item. Remembering that she had accidentally left it behind, gave her a feeling of loss for some reason. Now she was upset.

Bending down, the child recollected the toy knife and tucked it away for safe keeping. It was better than nothing, right?

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In the next chapter, the small child discovers what it's like to have a Mom.

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Sheii Bae~