The somewhat dusty scent of the old house was completely overridden by the warm aroma wafting throughout from down the left hall. Toriel sniffed the air, then emitted a content sigh.
"Do you smell that?"
Holy mother Siv. What IS that? It's incredible.
Ginger had never smelled anything as pleasant as it in her entire life.
"Yeah, I do. What's it coming from?"
"~Surprise! It's a butterscotch-cinnamon pie! And it's nearly done, I believe."
"Wow..." the human marveled, clearly impressed. "It's amazing..."
"I'm very glad you think so. I thought we might celebrate your arrival, so for the time being, I thought I would hold off on the snail pie."
"You can make 'em out of snails, too?"
"Why, yes," she responded, surprised that Ginger seemed so in-stride with the concept. "You...don't find this strange?"
"Strange? Why'd it be strange? Sounds delicious."
Toriel cocked her head; a human that liked snails? This was certainly a first.
"Well...From personal experience, I have concluded that most humans do not seem keen on the idea of eating snails. I can't imagine why; they're an absolute delicacy down here."
"Neither can I; they're picks, if I say so myself."
"Well...I must say, you had your own pleasant surprise for me, it seems! Come this way; there is something else I have to show you."
Ginger followed her back down the hall, and they stopped at a familiar-looking door; it was the room Ginger had found herself in when she awakened from her shock.
The monster opened the door and flicked the light switch, something Ginger had failed to find before the doorknob itself, and revealed what the inside looked like. The walls were a warm, shade of orange, accented by the matching area rug and birch wood floors. The other objects in the room she'd spied were clearer now; the lamp in the far corner, the wardrobe, the bookshelf, and the bed, the covers on which were the same, autumnal orange as the walls and rug, with darker patterns.
"This is going to be your room. I hope you like it, dear."
"This whole..."
"Yes, and everything in it is yours."
Ginger was without words; this was nearly too much for her to accept.
Toriel sniffed the air again.
"Is...something burning?" she said quietly, as not to alarm the human. "Um...Why don't you make yourself at home, Ginger?"
She left her and the room to themselves.
"...Okay...Let's, uh...see what we got here..."
The human went around inspecting things; she couldn't possibly accept everything in the room, especially when she left for the rest of the Underground, so she decided to only keep the things she could bring with her.
She noted a crudely drawn picture of a flower hung up by the lamp, the corners on which had yellowed and curled; it must have been hanging there for a long time. Beneath the picture was some sort of small chest. When Ginger opened it, it revealed a collection of shoes, in a vast disparity of shapes and sizes.
An interesting thought came to her mind; could humans weaponize shoes? Owls had essentially done just that with the invention of battleclaws by Theo all those centuries ago.
But she already had a decent-looking pair, so she shut the lid.
There was a shelving unit beside it; the top shelf was covered in some old knickknacks and small toys, and the bottom one sported an array of books.
Books! Perfect!
She skimmed over the titles, looking to see if any of them held any useful information.
"The Littlest Echo Flower"
"If Snails Could Talk"
"Grumpy Cat and Scaredy Dog"
"Peek-a-Boo with Fluffy Bunny"
"Ugh..."
CHILDREN'S books; not what she was looking for. It looked like they hadn't been touched in the longest time, so maybe they'd been long forgotten. At least, she hoped; Toriel had been more than kind to her since her arrival, but if the monster decided she wanted to read her any of these, that was where she would draw the line. All of the books seemed rather dusty; perhaps Toriel had once had children herself? If she did, she had yet to meet them if they had since left home.
At least the wardrobe was more her taste; it was full of striped shirts and solid-colored bottoms, and the drawers were full of socks and under armor. The shirts were just as varied as the shoes; some had long sleeves, others short, some were thin cotton, some were thick wool, but they all had one thing in common; stripes. Some were yellow on green, one was purple on blue, another pine green on red, and one was even a stark white on black.
She decided that she liked the purple sweater with the blue stripes; maybe she could take that along in case she needed it. The human pulled it off the hanger and laid it down across the bedsheets.
The chest at the foot of the bed had some more toys in it; mostly stuffed animals...and stuffed monsters, it looked like. She recognized one as a Froggit. Nothing particularly useful, except...
Some odd-looking brown fabric caught Ginger's attention as she rummaged through the toy chest. She pulled it out to examine it.
An old, small, and somewhat worn messenger bag.
The human beamed; this was a lucky strike, if she ever did see one. How did this end up in a toy chest? One thing was for sure; this would certainly come in handy during her expedition.
She placed it on the bed beside the sweater, then looked over the two items, proud of her accomplishment. For the time being, her work here was done; she'd be sure to thank the monster for her generosity before she left.
Ginger nodded, satisfied, and left the room, making her way past the entry hall and into the living and dining area. Toriel was in there, sitting in a large, comfy-looking chair, her nose stuck in a book. The human's approaching footsteps finally made her tear her eyes away from the pages.
"Oh, hello! Done looking around for now?"
"For now."
"Well, dear, the pie is done, but it has yet to cool down. In the mean time, would you perhaps like to hear about this book I am reading?"
"What's it about?"
She tilted her head to read the title.
"'72 Uses for Snails', huh?"
"How about an interesting snail fact?"
"Sounds fine with me."
"Let's see. Here's one. Did you know that snails sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature?"
"Really? That's...weird."
"Apparently so; it does sound quite strange, does it not?"
"It does...Ah..."
Ginger had only just noticed the immense bookshelf covering the wall to the right of the fireplace. It towered nearly all the way to the ceiling, each shelf generously stocked with books. And these weren't picture books like the one's she'd seen in the bedroom. These were cookbooks, well thought-out novels, guide books, almanacs, and...
"Monster History: The History and Legends of Our Kind"
This. THIS was what she'd been looking for.
"See something you'd like to read?"
"You, uh...don't mind me skimming through some of these old books you got here, do you?"
"Not at all. Just make sure to put them back when you are finished. I am going to check the pie."
"Will do..."
She immediately pulled the history book from the shelf, opened it to the first page and began to read.
"INTRODUCTION:"
"Trapped behind the Barrier and fearful of further human attacks, we retreated. Far, far into the earth we walked, until we reached the cavern's end. This was our new home, which we named..."Home." As great as our king is, he's pretty lousy with names."
So she'd been right; there was indeed a monarchy down here. But who, exactly, was the King of the Monsters? She kept reading.
"Asgore, our king, renewed the people's hope. He carried the promise that, one day, we would break the Barrier and be free to dwell on the surface once again."
King Asgore; an imposing name. Fit for someone of such high authority.
"Breaking the Barrier, however, is no small feat. To shatter the Barrier forever, a power equivalent to seven human SOULs is required. And the only way to obtain a human SOUL is through taking the life of another human. As much as the humans hurt us, they did so only out of fear. Revenge is out of question. On the day which the Barrier is destroyed, our hope is to live peacefully alongside humans once again, as we did all those years ago. If a human should ever fall through the Barrier, we shall treat them as no more or less than our own kin."
That was where the passage ended.
"THE WAR OF HUMANS AND MONSTERS"
It was going into another chapter. She decided to stop for now; she had a basic idea of exactly what had happened from the first passage; humans and monsters went to war with one another at some point in history, and the victorious humans trapped the monsters underground with a magical Barrier, and now the monsters were all living down here. Their king at the time, Asgore, made a promise to free them.
But what in the world happened since the time of Asgore?
The one thing that didn't align with what she'd experienced down here was the statement that the monsters only wanted to continue living peacefully with humans, including any that happened to fall down here. Most of the monsters in the Ruins hadn't hesitated to attack her, despite their reluctance. And they'd said that she was the last SOUL required to shatter the Barrier, which had to mean that six other humans had not only fallen, but died some time before her arrival. Was there a new order? Had Asgore's old policy been overthrown by the newer leaders?
Her thoughts were interrupted when she spied movement from the corner of her eye. Toriel was bending down beside her, placing a slice of her confectionary creation down before the human, accompanied by a fork, a napkin, and the plate it was on.
"It's cooled down, now. You can eat it while you read, but please make sure you do not make a mess of yourself," she said to her before sitting back in her chair and picking up her own book about snails again.
Ginger took the plate up off the floor and took a good look at the pie slice; it was just barely steaming, and the bottom of the platter felt well-heated on the palm of her hand. She cut off the tip of the slice with her fork and gave it a try; it was warm, smooth as the butter it was made from, and delightfully sweet with just the faintest hint of spice. The pie custard practically melted away in her mouth and went down her gullet like pudding.
A culinary masterpiece.
Ginger could barely hold the corners of her mouth down; they threatened to form the biggest, goofiest-looking smile they could manage, which she knew all too well would not be a flattering image. She cleared her throat, then commented.
"This is the work of a master chef, Toriel; you've outdone yourself."
"Oh, well, thank you very much," she answered, looking back up from her reading. "Um...I just want you to know how glad I am to have you here, child. There are so many old books I would like to share, and places to show you, like my favorite bug-hunting spot."
"Bug-hunting spot?"
"Why yes; I usually go there to see if I can find any snails for my cooking. They do sell snails in a lot of places here in the Underground, but I think they're always better when one collects them right from the wild. It's actually not far from where you first fell; just beyond the first cavern. They like to hide away in the damp parts of the cave."
"Yeah; if they're out in the dry air, they'll die, isn't that right?"
"Quite right. And I've even prepared a curriculum for your education."
"Hubba-whah?"
Ginger barely breathed her confused reply, and it failed to fall upon the monsters ears.
"This may come as a surprise to you, but I have always wanted to be a teacher...Well...actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising."
A curriculum for her education? This monster didn't really think she was going to keep her here in the Ruins to school her, did she?
"Still, though, I am glad to have you living here."
"Living" here. The human's suspicions were immediately confirmed; Toriel had every intention to keep Ginger here and raise her as her own; a kind thought in general, but considering the circumstances, this was outrageous. She had no idea who Ginger really was, what she was really like, where she came from, anything, and she thought she could just take her in?
"Um...Toriel?"
"Is something the matter?"
The human sighed; she didn't want to go about this in an offensive manner, but it had to be said.
"I was just wondering..." she started, putting the pie slice aside. "You remember what I said about my, uh...profession, right?"
"Um...You said something about being here on business, right?"
"That's right. By now they're, you know...probably wondering where I've gone off to, and...well...I should really be finding my way back home soon."
"...Back home? But...This-"
"Don't get me wrong, I appreciate all of this. Really I do; the puzzle help, the phone, the pie, everything. But I can't just stay here in the Ruins. They need me back up there, and if I just ignore that, then...well...That's not just lazy and irresponsible, it's...disloyal."
Disloyal. For reasons she couldn't quite comprehend, that word stung Toriel the most. It was almost as though the word itself were calling her out on something...but what it was, exactly, was just beyond her mind's reach.
But she couldn't comply; even if she did want her to leave, she knew it would be foolish to let her go out there, knowing...
"I...I have to go do something. Stay here, alright?"
Toriel closed her book, got up out her chair and made her way out of the living area with unnatural haste.
Something that Ginger noticed.
She knew something was up. All she knew was that Toriel wanted to keep her here with her.
And she couldn't let her do that, even if she did mean well. She had to find a way out of these Ruins.
Before the monster had a chance to hide the exit from her forever.
She turned and looked at the pie beside her; all of a sudden, she didn't feel very hungry anymore. And if she was going to try to leave, she almost felt guilty eating any more of it, even.
Ginger stood up, slid the history book back onto the shelf where she'd found it and made her way back to the bedroom to collect and pack the things she'd claimed; if, in any event, she found an exit while looking for the monster around the house and Ruins, she would have to be prepared for the trek. She felt a bit bad taking the things along, but it was more out of need than of want.
She wrapped her slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie in the napkin, then carefully folded the striped sweater around it to protect it in the messenger bag. And then she patted the toy knife in her pocket; if she rain into trouble, all she had to do was draw it and feign an attack, and it would hopefully ward off most attackers.
The human slung the bag over her shoulder, then decided to start looking for the monster. She eyed what she assumed was Toriel's room, and peered inside; nothing but her empty bed, desk and other belongings, so she turned away. The room beside it was locked.
"ROOM UNDERGOING RENOVATIONS"
She pressed her ear up against the door; no noise. Maybe Toriel had gone outside the house somewhere? She went out the front door and looked around the perimeter of the cottage; she was nowhere to be found there. As she turned to go back inside, her foot accidentally kicked the star on the pile of leaves outside the door.
*Ruins-Home
*File Saved
Maybe she could find out more about the glowing stars that were invisible to Toriel somewhere outside the Ruins; if they were there, and if she could interact with them, she couldn't possibly be the only one who was aware of their existance.
Ginger went back in the door, her eyes immediately falling upon the stairs leading down into what she assumed was the basement. Maybe she'd gone down there.
She descended down the stairway into what she believed was a basement. The corridors ahead were painted purple, just like the rest of the Ruins outside of the monster's house. And there, just ahead...
"...Toriel?"
She stiffened upon hearing the human call her name, then let out a forlorn sigh.
"...You wish to know how to return...'home'...do you not?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at the human.
She nodded lightly in response.
"...Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins; a one-way exit to the rest of the Underground..."
Silence reigned between them for an uncomfortably long time before Toriel spoke again.
And what she said was bone-chilling.
"I...I am going to destroy it...No one will ever be able to leave again." Now...be a good young lady and go upstairs."
The monster continued down the hallway, Ginger staring at her, wide-eyed with horror. She couldn't let this happen.
"...No..."
The word alone was enough to make Toriel stop dead in her tracks, and she looked back at her again. Ginger had an...unnerving expression on her face.
"I'm not going to let you do that," she said to her before approaching more.
"Ginger...Every human that falls down here meets the same fate," she said to her. "I have seen it again an again. They come...They leave...They die."
"I'm different," the human replied.
"...You naïve child...If you leave the Ruins...they...Asgore...will kill you."
Wait...Asgore...Wasn't he the king from the history books? Perhaps the new king had been named after the one from so long ago; there was no way it could be the same Asgore. The first one had to be long dead if he ruled over monsterkind before and during the War of Humans and Monsters.
"I am only protecting you, do you understand?" she continued. "...Go to your room."
Her voice was stern, yet not angry. Not yet, at least. Ginger continued to follow after her.
"Do not try and stop me," Toriel said to her. "This is your final warning."
She turned around the corner, and Ginger did the same, merely a few yards behind. At the end of the hall was a great stone door, the familiar emblem of the winged circle hovering above the three triangles displayed on it. The goat monster stood before it.
"You want to leave so badly?" she asked, her tone somewhat condescending. "...Hmph...You are just like the others."
"...That's where you're wrong," Ginger corrected. "I told you; I'm different. I'm more capable than they were. Faster. Smarter...Stronger."
"...You are a very determined young human, aren't you? There is only one way to settle this, you know."
Ginger braced herself for the worst; her gut-instinct was telling her exactly what would happen next.
"...Prove yourself...Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive."
Toriel rose her hands...
And they immediately, spontaneously went up in flames.
Oh, crap...
The monster turned around and sent an array of flames across the short corridor, and they wavered around, threatening to ram head on into Ginger, then seeming as though they would rather go around. Ginger managed to maneuver around several, but one of the flaming projectiles grazed her arm, leaving the familiar, painful shoot, as well as an accompanying burn. This wasn't something she could solve by talking; she had to fight back.
She pulled the toy knife out of her pocket and cut the blade across her palm; the dull plastic blade couldn't have cut through her skin if she'd applied double the pressure she had. The sight of it barely made Toriel flinch. She spread her arms again, sending flames bouncing off the walls at sharp angles, a blank look in her eyes. This time, they were near unavoidable; most of them hit the human head on, but she wouldn't cease approaching.
Finally, the monster rose her arms and sent the flames coming down from off the ceiling; her sides were exposed, and Ginger, as quickly as she saw the opening, slid in for the strike, sliding her toy knife across Toriel's left side, with only the intention to stun.
But the sound of tearing cloth was not what she'd expected to hear.
Much less the tell-tale wet ripping sound of tearing flesh that accompanied it.
The next thing she knew, the monster had fallen to her knees; her robes were torn, her face had contorted with pain, and the royal violet fabric around the rip was running red.
She was bleeding. She was bleeding badly.
Ginger's eyes widened, horrorstruck. This was not at all what she'd intended.
"Toriel!"
"Urgh...You...are stronger than I thought..."
The human bent down and tried to assess the wound; the gash cut deep into the monster's side. Too deep. She could have sworn she saw a rib poking through.
The sight of it was sickening.
"Listen to me..." Toriel told her, barely possessing the strength to speak. "If you go beyond this door...Keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit."
"No, no no no, We gotta get you back to the house, first," the human replied, trying to lift the monster up over her shoulder. It was no use; she was too heavy, and she wasn't complying. It was almost as though she didn't even want to be helped.
"Come on...Get up...!"
"Don't...worry about me," she said to her in a feeble voice.
Toriel was holding her side, now; the blood spilling out was beginning to pool. That much blood loss was bad news, Ginger knew that much, and paired with the damage...
"...Asgore," the monster hissed through clenched teeth. "Do not let Asgore take your SOUL. His plan...cannot be allowed...to succeed..."
"...Toriel...I..."
"...Be good...won't you?"
The horrible realization hit her like a ton of boulders.
She was fatally wounded.
She was beyond help.
She was dying.
"I'm sorry..." the human gasped, choking back tears. "I'm so sorry..."
In spite of her sealed fate, Toriel managed a tender smile.
"...It's...alright...I..."
The arm holding her up gave way, letting her collapse onto the stone floor.
"...I...for...give...you..."
The monster released her final breath in a content sigh.
And to Ginger's horror, Toriel's body wavered, then dissembled into a cloud of dust, which scattered across the floor.
Something appeared out of the ashes; what looked like a white, upside-down heart, shaking where it stood. The human bent down to look at it...was that Toriel's...
Before she could inspect it, the soul cracked in two, then shattered.
Ginger fell to her own knees, landing in the pile of dust that was once Toriel. She sifted her hands through it and picked some up, perhaps hoping that she could reassemble the dust back into a monster; the white powder ran through her fingers.
"No..." the human denied, letting her tears spill freely. "...No..."
The monster had showed her the layout of the Ruins.
She'd taught her how to associate peacefully with the other monsters.
She'd have happily taken her in as her own.
She baked her a butterscotch cinnamon pie.
She tried to protect her.
And what had she done in return?
She ran a knife across her side, unknowing of how much damage it would actually deal.
She killed her.
"What have I done?" she croaked. "What have I done, what have I done, what have I done..."
She repeated it over and over, with the false hope that her own guilt would somehow undo her unforgiveable action. But she knew it was impossible.
"I wish I could go back," she lamented, scooping up the dust as though it was still her, and that she could still hear her apologies, her eyes shut tighter than they'd ever been. "I wish I could do this all over again. If I knew what was going to happen, I never would have...I never wanted this to happen. I wish I could go back, I wish I could. I really, really do..."
She opened her eyes to clear her vision, and...
She was in front of the house again.
"...What?"
She dried her eyes, then looked about in confusion; she wasn't seeing things, she was really back in front of Toriel's cottage.
But how? She'd been inside the house and down the hallway. How was she back here?
From the corner of her eye, she saw a shimmering light; it was that star on top of the leaf pile, right in front of her.
For some reason, it appeared to be shining ever so slightly brighter.
Odd...
Ginger went back into the house; maybe she'd gone outside without realizing it in her grief. She descended down the stairs, wiping away a stray tear; she wished she would be there to stop her, like she'd been before. Just so she could tell her she was sorry.
"...You wish to know how to return...'home'...do you not?"
The human turned pale. Toriel's voice rang throughout her ears like the phantom she thought she was seeing before her.
"...Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins; a one-way exit to the rest of the Underground..."
Something was wrong; she'd already said all of this. It was almost as though...
"I...I am going to destroy it...No one will ever be able to leave again." Now...be a good young lady and go upstairs."
It was almost as though she'd never died to begin with.
"...Toriel?"
The monster turned her head to look at the human.
"You...You know I can't stay here. I have to go..."
"Ginger...Every human that falls down here meets the same fate," she said to her. "I have seen it again an again."
"They all left and died...right?"
"...You catch on quickly. If you leave the Ruins..."
"Asgore..."
Toriel stiffened again; she knew about the king. She must have learned more about monster history from that book than she thought.
"Just...go upstairs. I am only doing this to protect you."
"I've witnessed and done things you can't possibly fathom, Toriel," Ginger said to her, the terrible memory of the plastic blade somehow cutting deep into her coming back. "I'll be able to hold my own out there."
She didn't answer, merely returning to the gateway to the exit.
"You want to leave so badly?...Hmph...You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this you know..."
"I'm going to have to fight you, aren't I?"
The monster turned to face the human; she had broken out into a cold sweat, and her face was nearly as pale as her own fur.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?" she wondered aloud. "...It's almost as though you have seen a ghost."
In Ginger' eyes, this may have very well been the case. But if she put it that way, it had to mean that she was really standing there, in the flesh. But she'd killed the monster; what was going on? Toriel was back from the dead...but apparently, she had no recollection of anything that happened past the point of her descending down he stairs. How did this happen? Had she actually even...
The human paused. Had she somehow been given...
A second chance?
"Do you, perhaps, know something that I do not?"
Ginger stiffened at the question; she did. But she would be a fool to try and tell her, even if she asked further.
"...No...That is impossible."
And just like before, she rose her flaming paws and released the flurry of flames. This was real.
By circumstances unknown, she'd actually been given a chance to make things right.
The human meandered around the barrage of flames. Toriel sent them in waves, spirals, straight paths across the floor and through the air. She had years of experience with fire magic, for cooking, for warming the house, but she seldom used it to fight, unless a human were trying to leave again, only to get themselves killed. With every wave of flames, only one or two actually made contact with the human. But even that was enough to deal gradual damage.
And all the while, she refused to fight. Whenever she gave the human an opening, just to see how strong she was, she just stood there, unmoving and looking her dead in the eyes until she gave up and used her next attack.
"...What are you doing?" she finally questioned. But she got no response. The human just stood there; she was battered and burned, but she still stood her ground. Another array of flames came her way; she dodged everyone except the last, and it struck her right below the heart.
It was enough to make the human collapse. But even after no more than a moment to catch her breath, she still got right back up. And she still wasn't retaliating.
"Attack or run away!" she called out. "That is the point of a battle!"
"I'm not going to hurt you," the human replied, and she said nothing more.
"But look at yourself. You can barely stand anymore. What are you proving this way?"
"That I can play by my own rules."
It was enough to make her hesitate with her next attack. When the flames finally did pour out, most of them tried to go around the human instead of hitting her directly. Ginger stood there, her face covered in soot, and her arms displaying several bruises and burns; one of the larger burned spots looked like the skin was coming away, and a few, tiny drops of blood were beginning to leak from the opening. She looked right through to Toriel's SOUL; the face of one who had seen the face of war, but refused to put her experience to use. She wasn't going to attack.
"Stop looking at me that way."
She sent more flames going out around her, moving far enough away that they wouldn't harm the human. Maybe if she went easy enough on her, she'd get tired after a while and either give up or fight back; either option was fine with her. She just didn't want to have to fight the poor human anymore.
She attacked again, the flames even lesser and farther from the target. But she did nothing except look at some that whizzed past her. She wasn't going to stop doing what she was doing.
And she was doing absolutely nothing.
"I...I know you want to go home, but..."
Finally, the flames stopped; she couldn't do this anymore.
"Please...go upstairs now. I...I promise I will take good care of you here."
Nothing; if she would just say something. Anything. She didn't care what. She just wanted the human to say something instead of just standing there with that determined stare on her face.
"I know we do not have much, but...We can have a good life here."
"...I can't. We both know I can't."
She at least bothered to speak this time; no matter how much it hurt, she at least said something.
"...Why are you making this so difficult? Please...Just go upstairs."
No answer. The human's gaze softened, but she still remained steadfast. Toriel laughed in spite of herself.
"...Pathetic, is it not?" she just barely chuckled. "I cannot even save a single child...Why? I gave you so many chances to finally prove yourself; why wouldn't you take them?"
"It's called MERCY."
Now it was the monster's turn to stare, and her own words came back to her from when she was first showing the human how to keep herself safe.
"We...we wouldn't want to hurt anyone, now, would we?"
She hadn't forgotten.
The human's gaze displayed a mix of emotions; fear, yet confidence. A bit of anger, yet patience surmounting it tenfold. MERCY, and yet more DETERMINATION than she'd ever seen in any other human.
She wasn't going to give up.
"...No. I understand," Toriel finally gave in. "You would just be unhappy trapped down here like this."
And Ginger's gaze showed a new emotion; surprise. It was as though she didn't think the monster would be backing out of the fight anymore than she'd planned to.
"The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It...It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations...my loneliness...my fear...For you, I will cast them all aside."
The human looked up at her. Despite the situation, she seemed somewhat confused. What was going on in her head? She was honestly somewhat afraid to know.
She kneeled down and placed a furry hand on her shoulder, and Ginger's entire body stiffened.
"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins, then...I will not stop you. However, if you...no...when you do leave, please...Do not come back. I hope you understand."
The human looked down at Toriel's side, in the place she'd sent her weapon tearing through. There was no blood. No scar. No tear in the fabric. And the monster quite apparently had no recollection of the event. It was almost as though Ginger had been taken back in time to before the ordeal occurred in order to do everything again the right way.
"I..." she stammered, convinced that this was real, but still confused as ever. "I guess I should be going now. I'm sorry I have to leave you here all alone, but...I have a job to do and places to be. I-if there's anything else I can do for you in return before I leave, then-"
"No, no, I've already put you through enough. Just..."
She sighed, then, without warning, wrapped the human in her arms.
"...Just be careful."
Oh, no; not hugging. She tensed again; she was less bothered by the feeling of being far too close to someone else than the notion that she had seen this monster die. Either way, as warm as the embrace was, it was not a welcome one.
But she didn't complain; the least she could do was let the monster say goodbye the way she liked.
Toriel had to have noticed the human flinch, because it was only a mere second or two before she let the human go and stood back up.
"I won't forget everything you did for me. It's...It's probably really gonna help me out."
"I wish you the best of luck out there, Ginger. Always remember to show some MERCY; if it got you up to here, then it should take you far," she bid as she turned to go back up the stairs. Before she disappeared from view, she looked back one more time. The two made eye contact.
"...Goodbye, my child."
Ginger managed a reassuring smile, then a small wave, and Toriel vanished around the corner. Ginger savored the last brief moment before she left; she would probably never see her again.
But she was alive and well; that much she could at least appreciate, no matter how impossible it seemed.
Ginger slowly pushed the doors open, and they complied with a heavy creaking sound. She stepped into the next hallway; far up ahead, she could see the end of the Ruins; there was no second gate. It was just an open walkway.
She shut the gates behind her, then straightened her messenger bag by pulling on the strap, continuing toward the door as briskly as she could with all of the depressing thoughts booming like a storm in her mind. How had she been given a second chance? One moment she was mourning over the monster's body, which had mysteriously turned to dust, and the next, she was back in front of her house, right next to one of those stars that were scattered around the Ruins. And Toriel was perfectly fine, and didn't seem to recall anything, only noticing the human's fearful shock. Had she really gone back in time to before she'd been killed?
Finally, she reached the doorway, and stepped outside. And then she gasped. Right there before her sat...
"Clever. Verrryyy clever."
"You..." she growled.
Flowey. And he was wearing one smug look on his freaky little flower face if she ever did see one.
"You must think you're awfully smart, don'tcha?" he drawled in that high-pitched, eerily cutesy voice of his. Ginger forgot the promise she'd made to herself about stepping on him in her own disgust.
"In this world, it's kill or BE killed," he continued. "So, you were able to play by your own rules up until now. You spared everyone...Must feel really good, doesn't it?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Hee hee hee...'What am I getting at'..." he chuckled to himself, his face contorting into that giant, demonic grin, his eyes black seas of hatred with blood red pinpricked for pupils. "Well, since you wanna know so bad, I'll tell you what I'm getting at...I know what you did."
"I know what you did." Ginger felt as though her heart had stopped entirely. What had he seen her do?
The plant read her mind and gladly answered her question.
"Heh heh...You murdered her."
The human was completely frozen in terror.
"And then you went back, because you regretted it."
"...You..."
Ginger's voice quivered, and her words barely came out as an audible whisper.
"I know what you're thinking...'How did I do that? How did I turn back the clocks, exactly?...And how does HE know?"
The human's horror curdled into something that made her far stronger; anger. And not just any anger. Rage. An anger that Pure Ones accumulated within their gizzards to use for the battlefield in order to fuel their fighting spirit. Rage; the most powerful form of anger there was, and the most coveted tool for tempering one's mettle.
She bent down and grabbed the flower by the stem, threatening to pluck him right off of his roots if he didn't comply.
"Tell me," she snarled. "Tell me how I went back in time and tell me how you know or else I'll tear you leaf from leaf and petal from petal!"
"Ah!"
For the first time, Ginger could see fear in the devilish flower's eyes.
"No...please...I don't want to die...not yet...! Have MERCY!"
She paused...No matter how terrible Flowey had been, she couldn't find the will to slay him in cold blood. She let go, shoving his stem back.
"Explain. And no funny business."
"Ah...hah...hah...heheh..."
Flowey seemed to regain his snarky confidence in a snap; a ruse. The little lying coward...
"Alright. I've got nothing better to do. It's called the ability to Save. And with the ability to Save comes the abilities to Load and Reset. I saw that you got pretty curious about those little shimmering stars all over the place. Let me tell you something; they're not just there for decoration. I call them Save Points, because interacting with them makes you Save at that point. And once you save, the only way to go all the way back to a previous Save is a Reset."
"And what's a Reset?"
"When you Reset, you go all the way back to the beginning. In my case, that was when I first woke up. In yours, I'm guessing that if you Reset, you'll be taken back to the point at which you fell in through the Barrier. And before you waste your breath asking, Loading happens when and if you die down here somehow. Down here, your DETERMINATION basically makes you unkillable. When you die, you're taken right back to your last Save Point. You come right back instead of moving on to the next life...if there even is one. Furthermore, since I was able to Save and Reset myself once, I remember the all of the alternate timelines...including the ones YOU trigger."
"...How does that work?"
"You idiot. Do you honestly think I know? I found out about it the same way you did; through experience. I don't know HOW it happened, except that it has something to do with DETERMINATION. I thought I was the only one with that power...but I can't Save anymore. Not since you've come down here. Apparently, you're DETERMINATION is stronger than mine. That's why I acted the way I did when you threatened to kill me like that. I'll be honest; I didn't think you had the balls for that, especially since you saw what I was capable of the LAST time we met."
"Oh, just because you've got your little 'friendliness pellets' you think I'm afraid of you? YOU'RE the one who should watch their back. If I can Save and you can't, that means trouble for you if you cross my path one too many times."
"Ha ha ha ha ha...Don't get cocky. In the mean time, I'll let you enjoy the power while you have it, simply because of how curious I am. But I'll be watching. Every move you make, every step you take...I'll be watching you. Ehee hee...hee hee...ha ha..."
The flower burst into a maniacal cackle, and then, in an instant, retreated back into the ground where he belonged. Freaky little weed...She almost regretted not grabbing him before he could burrow back into the earth and rip him to little green and yellow shreds; he deserved it.
But she only would have done it AFTER she'd gotten him to talk. In spite of how disgusting he was, he at least was able to provide her with something useful.
The ability to Save.
The ability to Reset.
She could use these powers whenever she wanted to reshape the world, to predict the future, to undo fatal mistakes.
To play God.
She sighed; if this was indeed the case, she was truly blessed to have received such a power. But she decided she would use it sparingly; one false move, and there was potential that she could not only lose the power, but at the most terrible time, as well.
Use it wisely. You don't know how many chances you have.
The human sighed; the exit, which was just like the entrance to the Ruins, lay dead ahead, just beyond the patch of grass, only this one was sealed by a two more stone doors. Ginger approached them and grasped the handles, turning them. The great stone doors made an ominous creaking sound as they cracked open.
She stepped out of the Ruins, planting her feet on cold, snowy ground, turned back to face the doors, then shut them. She could hear them lock from the inside. Now, she had reached the point of no return.
The rest of the Underground lie ahead in wait. She couldn't just stand here forever. She had to keep going.
And she was filled with DETERMINATION.
A/N: Okay! This came out fairly well in my opinion! This is fun...
Just for some extra laughs(this chapter was kinda grim...) I'll let you guys in on something; I give my documents some pretty random names(this one is literally just called "waluigi." I might be watching Sr Pelo's "Underpants" too much XD)