"...What is that?"

The robot frowned, reaching the point of his boot out gently to grace the figure, upon which he felt it sink inward slightly and quickly retracted it. In front of him was what looked like a large, whitish-tan marshmallow. Its outline was the shape of your typical ghost, and were it not for the fact that he could see through them in some areas, Mettaton would have assumed that it was just a little kid in a trick-or-treat costume. Two small, same-colored horns protruded from the top of its head, and besides its eyes (which were firmly shut), there wasn't much else in the way of design. He noticed a faint insignia across its...chest? The pattern looked like a shield, almost, a circle hovering near the top (were those wings?) with three triangles below it, but otherwise, the spirit seemed blank.

"Um…" Alphys leaned inward a small bit in order to get a better look at the creature. Is that…? No, it couldn't be…

*Th-this ghost is fast asleep on the pile of leaves. Move it with force…?

"Force?" Mettaton repeated, bringing up the point of one boot to gently prod at the ghost's side. "Is that even possible?"

"Of course! Well, uh, n-not with me, but with a lot of ghosts, yeah."

"Hmm…" He examined her further, observing that her "chest" did not rise and fall, that her eyes looked as if they were being forced shut unnaturally. In one swift motion, Mettaton brought his foot back high in the air and then released it down, letting the kinetic energy from gravity increase his power as the point in the front of his boot dug into...whatever the thing was made of. Its eyes shot open, and the pair could then notice those same red ovals dart around hastily as their owner regained consciousness.

*Here comes...Toriel?

Alphys couldn't believe it. Was that really the former queen? She narrowed her gaze, but still remain frozen in disbelief. This whole time, when no one knew what happened to Toriel...this is where she went? It...it wasn't…

Mettaton blinked as his heart once more flew out of his chest, and again did he let it hover over the 'Check' option while taking in the ghost's appearance. Toriel? That's a weird name. Though, maybe he should pay more attention to the fact that she actually felt him kick her and now she was gasping for air, as if he'd kicked her in an actual physical side and was in staggering pain. The ghost sat straight up, her gaze settling upon the pair with no less than a look of sheer terror that, of course, disappeared quite quickly when it caught them.

"I can't believe it!" the lady cried, now floating into an upright position. Her red eyes glowed, sparkled, crackled, and the robot could have sworn he felt heat emitting from them, though he was pretty sure ghosts couldn't do that. "Hasn't anyone ever taught you manners!?"

"I…" He quickly stole a glance at his companion, heart still on the 'Check' option, though was only able to receive a shrug in response.

*Uh...T-Toriel - Attack 10, Defense 10

Alphys stumbled a bit as she moved away from the specter. Her hands wrapped around each other almost immediately, rubbing up against each other while her mind played through the various options of dialogue.

*Her humor is, um…

"What's wrong?" Toriel asked, a very small grin etching its way onto her face.

Mettaton lept back another three feet or so as her eyes became consumed in flames. His own widened, hand moving to his mouth to gasp. "Excuse me…!"

"You look like you've seen a ghost!"

With this, several balls of fire came soaring at the robot, in turn causing Alphys to let out a quick, half-second scream and shield her eyes. Oh, that metal wasn't supposed to be heated… This can't be good…

Fortunately for her, all but one of them had been dodged thanks to Mettaton's skillful dance moves (see? He knew tagging along to his cousin's lessons was a good idea!), the one that did make contact only brushing against the outer layer of his cheek. He winced and reflexively began to drop to the floor, however, stopped after catching himself. Oh, no. He wasn't going down without a fight. If he could stand up to Chara, he could stand up to this lady.

His eyes darted down to the buttons sprawled out before him and reached an arm out to the side so that his heart would follow suite. There was only one other option left under the ACT menu, that being Talk, so he allowed the purple shape to rest there before turning back toward the woman.

"Toriel?"

When he noticed her attention snap to him (as opposed to the fire that had fallen behind), he nodded once, registering the name into his memory bank.

"Toriel, I wasn't expecting you to feel that. Truly sorry, darlin-"

"TORIEL CALM DOWN!"

Mettaton's head swiveled to face the source of the interruption. His traveling partner was now holding her hands out to the opposing ghost, it seemed, eyes bulging and body leaning towards Toriel. Alphys's eyes danced between the two before quickly covering her face again. The robot could have sworn she was shaking, on top of it…

"Alphys?"

At the sound of the queen's voice, Alphys took yet another step back, shaking her head. "I-I'm just going to, um...I'll leave…"

Mettaton watched, seemingly no more confused than Toriel, as the dinosaur lady began to vanish out of sight. When she had completely faded, Mettaton reached out a hand, but felt nothing, and turned back to the still-visible specter.

The specter, however, squinted for another reason. The fire in her eyes died down quite drastically as her attention focused on who she knew as the Royal Scientist to just...stand there. She, too, moved her head in order to lock eyes with the still physical one of the three. Right. Tori, you're still the queen. You still need to be proper.

"I, too, apologize for my hastiness," she said, floating a few inches toward Mettaton and biting back a yawn. "Though it is quite rude to wake someone up by kicking them in the side."

Without even noticing his heart slip back into his chest, Mettaton frowned, placing both hands on his hips and swishing them out to the side. "I did already say I was sorry for that." He retracted one of those hands, however, and let it dangle loosely instead while he turned to face the spot his companion had been in only moments before. "Now where the heck did Alphys go?"

"Alphys?" Toriel repeated. This time, she turned back to the scientist with a rather blank expression. "She's right there."

"What?"

Alphys, who still remained in the same spot up until this point, took a small step back, her eyes trained on the former queen. "Y-you...you can see me?"

"Of course I can see you. Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh, I-I, um…" Another step back, and her attention turned to the ground. "I should go…"

"Alphys, wait."

Mettaton looked between Toriel and the spot that she seem fixated upon. Was Alphys there? He couldn't see her, he couldn't hear her, but...oh, Toriel's a ghost, right? So then maybe it was a ghost thing, being able to see other ghosts when living people (or robots?) can't. He made a mental note to mark that down when he got a chance.

"Uh...yes?"

The queen would lean forward slightly, allowing her to closer inspect the other ghost. "Are you trying to be invisible?"

Alphys didn't look up for her response. In fact, she didn't offer one. When words attempted to come out, they stuck in her mouth and just jumbled into a stuttering, incoherent mess. Another few moments passed as she slowly backed away, desperately attempting to hide her face. Eventually the woman turned to sprint down the hall and didn't bother to stop when she heard the former queen calling for her.

Toriel stared along the path that she had went for some time before blinking, muttering as she refocused on the robot beside her, "Well that was odd…"

"If I may," Mettaton cut in when he realized her attention was centered on him, "What was that about?"

Tori shook her head. "Oh, I don't know...I assume she was trying to turn invisible, but only a ghost can do that to my knowledge."

The robot, in turn, would blink, his hands falling behind his back as he cradled his notebook against it. "But...she is a ghost."

"She is?"

Judging from the widened eyes and expressionless mouth, Mettaton assumed it was safe to say the woman had no knowledge of this. He lightly tapped his foot against the ground, taking a quick glance over at the pathways ahead of him and nodding. "At least, that's what she told me. I couldn't see her. I assumed when she vanished that something had happened."

"Oh, I…" Toriel frowned. Her gaze meandered toward the floor beneath her for a moment before fixing onto the robot. "If it's no trouble, would you mind telling me how she died?"

To this, Mettaton tilted his head. How she died? "She didn't mention that part."

"Oh, I see…"

For a moment, the two simply stared at each other, a tension hanging above them, but only for a moment. Neither of the two had a difficult time interacting with others, and they were both quick to realize what hung over them, and just as quick to break it.

"May I ask who you are?" Tori asked, just as Mettaton opened his mouth to speak.

Instead of starting a conversation, he smiled rather quickly. "Meckenzie," the robot replied while running a hand through his hair proudly. He froze, however, eyes shooting open at the memory of the living human who had saved him from that weird fish thing giving him a new, less male name. Honestly, he much preferred the one Chara gave him over his old name any day, which led him to correct himself. "I mean, Mettaton! Mettaton."

"Mettaton?" The ghost seemed to be examining him now, letting her eyes take in his robotic form. "So you're a...robot?"

"No." He paused. "...Well, yes. But I wasn't before."

This was the point where the lady would squint in confusion, those same red eyes dulling slightly as they wandered to his glowing heart. "Before?"

"Before falling down… Apparently I died." This was accompanied by a loud, over-the-top sigh and Mettaton glanced behind him. He made his way over toward the nearby wall, which his back then slid down before feeling his rump hit the soft bed of leaves. "I used to be a human. Alphys had mentioned something about making me a body because I wouldn't come out of mine, or...something along those lines."

"I see." The ghost frowned. Wouldn't come out of the body? That's...awful. Mettaton must have been so attached to life… Slowly, Toriel floated over to where the robot was seated and lowered herself so that her incorporeal form was just barely gracing the top leaf. "Then, if it wouldn't be too much to ask, how did you die?"

"I fell down a hole," Mettaton replied, his head turning back in the direction he had come from.

Toriel nodded once, her eyes following the direction that Mettaton's seemed to be pointing to. A hole? But that way… "Do you mean you came from the surface?"

"Uh…" The former human made an attempt to bite his bottom lip, however froze upon feeling the metal that served as such hold firm. It was rather dissatisfying. "Yes, I did, and ever since I fell down here, everything's been so strange! I'm a robot, there's a fish that tried to kill me, and then I'm saved by this awfully kind person named Chara, but next thing I know there's a ghost of a dinosaur following me around and-"

He cut himself off, allowing a small sigh to escape as his attention trailed down to the leaf patterns scattered on the floor below him. Why was he telling all of this to some random ghost he had just kicked in the side a few moments ago? There was honestly something about her he couldn't quite describe...something that just screamed, "Tell me your woes! I shall provide all the motherly comfort in the world!" Mettaton really hadn't had a chance to escape the oddness that ensued since falling down that hole, but at least he felt safe enough to alleviate the pain a little by talking. After all, she was a ghost, so she had to know how it felt to die. Out of everything to happen to him, that's by far been the worst, not to mention the very first.

"Are you sure I'm not dreaming?" Because, honestly, it wouldn't be surprising. Isn't that how a lot of dreams start? Falling somewhere or dying but not remembering it? Something like that. A talking fish pretty much screamed symbolism.

"I cannot prove to you that this is part of your real life," the former queen replied with a small sigh while shaking her head, "but I can share with you my experiences if that's what you wish. All I ask is that you take my advice."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Advice was usually a good thing, and Mettaton really couldn't shake the motherly feeling that this dead woman was emanating.

Slowly, the woman swiveled her head towards the robotic human, a warm yet serious look projecting off of her while her eyes radiated a hidden sorrow. It reminded the protagonist of his favorite cousin, almost, and made an urge to reach out his arms and hug her creep over him. Though, that would be too strange…

"Mettaton, if that really is a human SOUL you have inside you, you cannot exit the Ruins. I understand how much you want to go home, but that would require moving beyond this area, and there are monsters out there…" She shook her head. "Chara will offer you a place to stay. I'm sure of it. They're a nice wo- person, and they'll be more than willing to get you situated down here. The residents of the Ruins are very nice monsters, if not a little shaken at times. They'll welcome you with open arms, no doubts. Just be kind to them."

Toriel finished her speech with a small smile, gaze returning once more to the metal human. He, however, looked more curious than anything, if not, a small bit confused.

"So...what happens if I leave?"

The smile faded. It was quickly replaced with a cringe and Toriel swung her head away. "I...have to do something."

"Wait, but you didn't answer my-"

He was too late. By the time Mettaton reached his hand out to grab what served as a shoulder, the ghost was already gone, and it seemed that all he could do was shake his head.

I'm sorry this is late and kind of crappy... Toriel is difficult to write for whatever reason.

Also, EquationTale has an official blog! ...I seriously hate Fanfiction's anti-spam stuff since there's no place to post updates and such...but go look for EquationTale on Tumblr. That is the URL, and, as of currently, the title is 'Trapped in the Ruins'. I, uh...I'm going to be changing that each time Mettaton makes it to a new area, or at least trying to ^^' Asks are open! However, I need to finish some requests and art trades, so until those are done, it'll be text answers only. Chara will be answering the questions unless you specifically ask for someone else (and keep in mind, Chara has to be able to reach them).

Also, uh, IF ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO USE TUMBLR...please help me. I have little to no idea what I'm doing, heh...