Toriel looked over the bookshelf, she had woken up early and prepared some drinks and snacks for Bea's first lesson. The fire danced in the fireplace, warming the room, creating a cozy atmosphere. She had made sure everything was perfect to help the child adjust.

What would her first lesson be? Puns for Fun… perhaps later. The War… they would need to know why they mustn't let others know they were humans. Math & English for the Gifted… she would need these of course, but those could be held off until later. 72 Facts about Snails… perhaps after the history lesson. Barrier notes by ███… the child wouldn't need to know about the Barrier… Human Magics... there it was. They would need to learn to protect themselves. The Underground wasn't kind to humans after all.

—

Marching with determination, a plate of pie in my right hand. Passing by Toriel studying the bookshelf to my right, glancing at one title after another.

Entering the kitchen, Hopping onto a stool, I started shuffling through the drawers. "Where are you, fork... Those are chopsticks… Can I eat pie with chopsticks, I've never tried before… Soup ladle, that's just a really big spoon, that might work… A spatula, maybe— there it is!"

Grasping my prize in my left hand, I strode out of the kitchen

Hustling back into the living room, I couldn't dilly-dally! It was pie time, the most important part of the day! The second most important meal of the day, only beaten by breakfast by a slight margin. I placed the plate on the table— this place was most certainly made for taller people— and tugged the mammothian chair back. Ms. Toriel was so engrossed by the bookshelf she didn't even notice the scraping sound as the chair was dragged back.

Lifting my fork, I cut off the front corner of the pie and started delicately shoveling mouthful after mouthful into my mouth. It was as good as I remembered. It took me back to just yesterday when I also ate pie.

Munching on the delicacy, I watched as Toriel continued to pull out book after book, sorting them into different piles.

Ms. Toriel was huge, more than 3 feet taller than myself. I would've probably been terrified if she didn't look like a fluffy goat, with her droopy ears and nubby horns on either side of her head.

She wore a robe with a symbol of an orb with two wings on either side and three triangles pointing away from the orb below it.

As I finished up the last morsels of pie, Ms. Toriel picked up three books and walked over to me.

"The Underground is very dangerous to a human such as yourself, do you know of the history between humans and monsters?"

"No... monsters are just stories now and so is magic" I responded

"The humans before you said so as well... How much has changed in the millennia humans and monsters have been apart?" Toriel mused to herself as she pulled a thin book out of the three she had brought over, The War.

As she opened the book, the first picture I noticed depicted what I assumed was the moment before two armies collided.

On the right, a horde of humans, with a lion insignia etched into the armor of every soldier, the soldiers wielded broadswords, spears, bows, and other brutal instruments of war. Splatters of color shining from the chest of every soldier, rays of multicolored light colliding to create a light that put even the sun to shame. All led by a single man. His ruby red soul hovered in front of his chest, plunging the land around him into a dark red hue, indistinguishable from blood. He stood in front of his soldiers, his pose oozing confidence out of every pore as if all obstacles were as flimsy as paper mache before his sword.

The army on the left, A torrential swarm of monsters of all shapes and sizes. Some with claws, fangs, tentacles... some that made having four limbs feel like a laughably small amount. Some that forgoed limbs for they were unneeded. Some were fluffy, jagged, featureless, grotesque, devilish, ethereal— A veritable cacophony of differing appearances. All led by a bipedal beast with twin curved horns. The beast towered over both the humans and his monster kin alike... The humans looked like disobedient children in front of this unadulterated mass of muscle and fur. Plated armor of pure steel adorning every inch of their body, save the head, a mane of golden fur that outshone the sun on their otherwise snow-white fur. Fastened onto golden pauldrons was a billowing cape as dark as the ocean depths that caressed the ground. They wielded a blood-red trident that matched them in height, radiating a crimson light that illuminated the confrontation like a raging bonfire. Within their eyes, an indomitable spirit that drove the monsters behind to hold onto a flickering conviction that refused to die. A desire to fight for what they believed in until the very end.

Both sides watched the other, muscles taut, but never moving. A moment burned into history that would be remembered by the earth even when all had forgotten.

"This image depicts the last stand of monsterkind, the vast majority of our combatants died on that day, those that survived were still recovering from previous battles. This battle was the one that drove the last embers of hope from our souls," Ms. Toriel confessed with a sigh.

"The war was short, led by King Leo during 1018 AD. The most determined human of them all, the king, feared the powers a monster could possess with a human soul. With a human soul, a monster would truly become godlike in power. He led his men in battle, a strategic prodigy they called him. Every attack directed at a weakness in our defenses. Every surprise attack was as apparent as the day before his gaze. Every effort futile. Every battle was bloodless, but dust filled the air. With naught a single victory for the monsters, we lost hope." Ms. Toriel lectured solemnly

"King Asgore of the monsters and King Leo met under a ceasefire. An agreement was met. All monsters would be sealed beneath Mt. Ebott. The king and his six most powerful wizards sealed the monsters far, far, below the ground. Where no humans could possibly enter, ensuring that no monster would ever be able to absorb a human soul. The king and his wizards erected a barrier that prevented anyone within from escaping."

"Since then humans have resided on the Surface and monsters have lived Underground. Do you have any questions, my child?"

"How am I here? What happened to the barrier?"

"You fell down the hole on Mt. Ebott. A mountain named after a man who spun every syllable he uttered into stories that enthralled the masses, filling their lives with wonder... What was once a reminder of a man who brought joy to the lives of both humans and monsters alike, reduced to a graveyard of hopes and dreams." She replied with a dejected tone.

"After we were first sealed within these walls, we tried everything to break free from our prison… A millennia came and went with nothing to show for our efforts. We had long given up any hope of ever seeing the light of day again. Then from the place, we were first exiled below… We saw sunlight. At the time we thought nothing of it. A bitter reminder of all that we had lost perhaps, but nothing more. Then a human fell... then many more… and then you. Every few years and sometimes longer. A human child would fall from the Surface, like you." She said with a sad smile and held onto my hand with a fuzzy paw.

"What happened to the other children before me?" I asked

"They left the Ruins... none of them ever came back."

—

Barrier notes by ███

The Barrier

The barrier is a spherical shape encompassing an area roughly 4188.79 km3 in size with the center of the sphere roughly 10 kilometers below the location where we led Underground and the path back was destroyed.

Barrier Edges l:

Multiple expeditions have been sent out to chart out the edges of the Underground. No new data was gathered.

Barrier Resilience l:

The Barrier emanates approximately 100 lumens of light, expeditions to the edge in all directions have similar reports. No distinct or immediately visible flaw.