Chara could not believe her eyes as she stared at the furry boss monster. She did not know how much time had passed since she and Asriel died in the throne room, but despite that Toriel hadn't changed one bit. She still wore the same long robe complete with the Delta Rune, the symbol of the royal family, on the front. Her fur was as white and fluffy as it had always been. She had a kind and warm smile on her face as she stood where Flowey once was.
"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth." Toriel said. "Ah, do not be afraid my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come down here in a long time."
Chara was suddenly reminded of when she herself had fallen down into the Underground, so many years ago, and was found by Asriel.
"Come! I will guide you through the catacombs." Toriel said as she began walking towards the Ruins' entrance with the human following close behind.
As they arrived at the entrance Chara noticed what looked like a small twinkling star between the two staircases leading up to the archway. Chara knew that it was a save point. She had seen them all over the Underground when she was alive, but none of the monsters could, only her. The human must have seen it as well as they walked right up to it and placed their hand on it.
"The shadow of the ruins looms above you, filling you with determination." Chara said teasingly, knowing the human couldn't hear her anyway.
Toriel walked into the next room and the human followed with Chara floating close behind. In the next room there was a closed door, six buttons on the floor, and lever on the wall.
"Welcome to your new home, innocent one." Toriel said to the human. "Allow me to educate you on the operation of the Ruins." Toriel proceeded to step on the left and right buttons, avoiding the middle ones, and throwing the lever, opening the door.
"The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." She said before walking through the newly opened door.
I see they changed the puzzles in this area. Chara thought as she and the human followed Toriel. I wonder what else has changed since I died.
In the next room there were a couple of small channels filled with water and a short bridge over each. On the north wall there were three switches, two of which appeared to have writing next to them.
"To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches." Toriel told the human. "Do not worry, I have labelled the ones that you need to flip."
Chara giggled, "That's just like her to practically give the answer away on a silver platter."
The human flipped the labelled switches without even bothering to read the labels themselves. The last switch lowered spikes that had been blocking the room's exit.
"Splendid! I am proud of you, little one." Toriel praised the human. "Let us move onto the next room."
In the next room Chara immediately noticed the dummy to the right of the entrance as Toriel said, "As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation."
Chara was slightly alarmed by this. When she had fallen down into the Underground almost all of the monsters were peaceful. She thought the only exception nowadays was that talking flower. She remembered the only monster that had "attacked" her was Asriel with his tickle attack while they were playing in the castle garden.
"However worry not! The process is simple." Toriel continued with her explanation. "When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. While you are in a FIGHT strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict."
"Practice talking to the dummy." she said gesturing towards the dummy in the room.
The human did as they were told and walked over to the dummy entering a FIGHT.
The human pressed the ACT button and selected TALK. To Chara's surprise the human actually spoke to the dummy.
"Hello, my name is Frisk." Said the human.
So that's their name. Frisk. Chara thought. She could tell right then that Frisk was a girl. The sound of Frisk's voice reminded her of a violin, delicate and beautiful yet with an underlying sadness to it, as if she had suffered a great deal of hardship.
As Frisk exited the FIGHT Toriel was very pleased with how she handled herself.
"Ah, very good! You are very good!" She said with a big smile.
In the next room Toriel turned to Frisk and said, "There is another puzzle in this room... I wonder if you can solve it?"
She walked to the right of the room and stopped in front of a large platform covered in spikes. As Frisk followed she was suddenly pulled into another FIGHT by a Froggit. She immediately did what Toriel had told her and complimented the Froggit on it's appearance.
Chara could tell Frisk didn't know that the Froggit couldn't understand what she was saying, so she said, "Froggit didn't understand what you said, but was flattered anyway." Pretending Frisk could hear her.
Toriel walked over and glared at the Froggit. The Froggit gave her one look and shuffled away from them, ending the FIGHT.
Frisk walked over to Toriel who was standing in front of a floor covered in spikes.
Toriel looked at Frisk and said, "This is the puzzle, but... Here, take my hand for a moment." Toriel grabbed her hand and led her through the hidden path in the spikes as they retracted into the ground when she got near. Chara simply floated above them sighing, as she knew Toriel was being a bit overprotective of Frisk.
The next room was so long Chara could barely see the end of it.
Toriel turned to Frisk and said, "You have done excellently thus far, my child. However... I have a difficult request to ask of you."
Chara wondered what could possibly be so difficult in such an empty room.
She soon got her answer as Toriel said, "...I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." Before she immediately turned around and briskly walked towards the end of the room.
Chara looked at Frisk who, without missing a beat, started walking towards the end of the room as well. Chara sighed and floated after them as she shook her head thinking, Of course Mom would think this would be difficult. How old does she think Frisk is? Before she realized she herself didn't know either.
As Frisk and Chara made it to the end of the room Toriel came out from behind a stone pillar that was standing next to the exit.
"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me."
Chara looked over at Frisk who was clearly not worried in the slightest. She simply looked at Toriel like one would look at a statue.
"However, there was an important reason for this exercise. ... to test your independence." Toriel said. "I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself."
Chara doubted there was anything more dangerous than a few Froggits past this room but she knew that Toriel always had a reason for the things that she did.
"I have an idea! I will give you a cell phone. If you have need for anything, just call." she said as she handed over a very old cell phone.
Chara recognized it as her old cell phone saying, "Hey that's my old phone! I can't believe you're still holding on to that ancient thing."
"Be good, alright." Toriel said as she left the room.
Frisk surprised Chara as after a few moments had passed she too left the long hallway. Wondering what she was up to Chara followed her.
Almost as soon as they moved into the next room their phone rang. Frisk answered it and Chara floated close so she could hear too.
"Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room have you?"
What?! How does she do that?! Chara thought bewildered. She remembered that while she was living with the Dreemurrs, Toriel always knew when she or Asriel were misbehaving, as if she had a sixth sense for trouble.
"There are a few puzzles that I have yet to explain." Toriel continued. "It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?" She then hung up.
Frisk moved over to a save point that was floating above a pile of dried leaves and touched it.
"Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with determination." Chara said with a smirk.
As Frisk moved away from the save point she was pulled into another FIGHT with Froggit.
Chara could tell it was the same one that Toriel had scared off earlier and sighed as she said, "Man this Froggit is really persistent."
She noticed that Frisk hadn't selected anything yet. Wondering if there was something wrong she looked over at her and saw that Frisk had tightened her grip on the stick in her hand. Chara could only stare, eyes wide, as Frisk clenched her teeth, pressed the FIGHT button, and hit the Froggit with her stick as hard as she could, killing it instantly.
*19 Left.*