LOUDERTALE
Arc 1 : Ruins
Part 1 : New world, new rules
New chapter ! We enter the realm of the monsters, and the Louds are about to make their first encounters. One nice, and one WAY less nice. Pray for the children.
Also, I thank those who have left reviews with SOUL colours ideas, but I was also disappointed that many were just telling me to give them the colours in the intro. While an interesting idea, I want to stay faithful at some rules of the UT universe, including the one of the seven colour traits. But your support for this story is still highly recognized.
The Loud House is the property Chris Savino, and Undertale is Toby Fox's. Enjoy !
After countless hours of dreaming about a pulsing wall of red that seemed to speak to him, Lincoln Loud stirred. The first thing he noticed was the numb feeling in his whole body, and while it made him feel very uncomfortable, the mere fact that he could feel his body meant one thing to him.
He was alive. He had survived the fall. But how ?
Still drowsy, Lincoln took his time to fight against the numbness invading his body. Once he felt he had rassembled enough strength, the child slowly lifted his eyelids open. The first thing he blurrily saw was a blinding light. Then, he saw a large and swaying shade of yellow.
But the most potent next thing he saw was a blurred human form. Distinguishing a green sweater, messy medium-sized brown hair, light brown pants, and dark brown shoes, Lincoln immediately thought of Lisa. But he discarded his little braniac of a sister when he noticed that his/her sweater had a yellow horizontal stripe, the figure was too tall, and there was a severe lack of glasses on their face.
In fact, Lincoln could only notice one clear feature on the figure's blurred face. Their eyes, who shone a calm yet piercing blood red.
They did not move a muscle, only staring straight back at the white-haired boy's eyes. Lincoln felt confused by this, and decided he wanted to know more about this seemingly young red-eyed human.
Lincoln closed his eyes, shook his head to further fight the dizziness away, and took a better look ahead of him.
The mysterious child had vanished.
Lincoln blinked. 'What was that about ? Was it my imagination ?' He decided to tag this view as one of his half-asleep visions, like when he had mistaken a mop covered in black tar for his sister Lucy. The good morning kiss he had given it definitely woke him up though.
Our hero decided to use the bout of energy he had given himself to fully wake up, and rise his body from the ground. The oddly soft ground, he quickly noticed. Looking down at himself, he saw no gash or wound through his clothes, nor on his arms. He felt weirdly fine for someone who was supposed to have-
Lincoln felt his nervosity quickly rise up. First, he looked at the ground, noticing he was lying on a bed of golden flowers. Those must be what have broken his fall. But he quickly turned his gaze up to the sky, or rather the ceiling, where he saw that the source of sunlight seemed to come from large hole very high in it. And this hole's shape, even from afar, the boy could recognize it, as he knew this was the same hole he had fallen in. And not just him.
Lincoln gasped externally. By Ace Savvy's lucky underpants, he remembered ! "Guys ?! Guys, where are you ?!" shouted the boy with extreme worry, feeling tears of guilt and dread already stinging the corner of his eyes.
He was shut up however, when a hand aimlessly slapped him across the face. "Hnng... five more minutes, you dumb clock... *Snore*"
Lincoln immediately recognized his athletic sister's voice, having slept with her before, and not just when she had gotten in a fight with Lucy. Rubbing his sore cheek, Lincoln rose up again, this time on his feet, and looked around him. The bed of golden flowers seemed to be quite large, more than the size of his room's floor. But his view concentrated on something else, and tears of joy threatened to spill out as he looked over the ten slumbering figures who comfortably rested amongst the plants.
"Oh thank goodness, thank goodness..." whispered the child with a chuckle, drying up his tears before they could fall. He analyzed them again, and saw no wounds on any of them, much to his further relief. He didn't know if a four-leafed clover had gotten stuck inside his shoe during their fall, but he was simply glad they were all okay and accounted for.
As he took breath after breath of delicious, soothing oxygen, Lincoln began to see the dark side of their sudden stroke of luck. Well and alive they all might be, they still were stuck inside an unknown dark cave, with their only known exit being at least two hundred feet above, meaning they themselves were at least two hundred feet underground. Those were not promising odds.
But his sullen train of thought was pulled to the station when he heard an adorable yawn, one he knew very well. It was indeed Lily, who was oddly enough the first sister to wake up, tiredly rubbing her eyes with her chubby little hands. She looked around with curiosity at the unknown sights, then looked at the sleeping form of Lori, who had seemingly craddled her during and after their fall. She then turned her sights to the other person awake, and her lips perked upwards in a jovial smile.
"Linky !" called the baby, making a 'pick-me-up-please' motion with her arms.
Lincoln couldn't help but chuckle at his sister's enthusiasm. He scooped her in his arms, and the baby let out a coo of appreciation. "Hey Lily, glad to see you're awake. Had a good nap ?" he asked. She gave him a little happy clap in response. "Yeah, me too. Kinda."
Lily then looked around, and her expression became worried. She let out a long blabber, which Lincoln, thanks to Luan's lessons, translated in being something about their present situation.
"Yeah, I'm a bit worried too. Looks like we took quite a fall, and we aren't coming out the way we came in."
Lily gave a little whine. Lincoln hugged her a little tighter.
"Don't worry Lily, your big brother isn't giving up just yet. And neither will your big sisters, once they wake up." confidently said Lincoln. His lips tightened as he heard the collective snore of the aforementionned girls, and looked at the obscured stone walls surrounding them.
Lily blabbered a question. "Yeah, maybe we should wake them up right now." he acknowledged. Lily tapped her brother's chin as he put on his thinking face. "Hmm, maybe I should go for plan H. What do you think ?" Lily thought about it too, then nodded earnestly. Lincoln exhaled as he prepared himself. "Alright, here goes nothing."
Lincoln took a deep breath, and unleashed his flawless ace in the hole.
"Why Hugh, what ever are you doing here ?! Wow, you're taking off your shirt, and rubbing your perfect bod with melted chocolate ! What's that ?! Looking for the next Ms. Hugh, you say ?!"
"WHERE ?!" was the instantaneous reaction, as the girls' eyes blew open, almost-maniac grins adorned their faces, and completed their creepy act by collectively popping like a well-oiled jack-in-the-box, looking hungry for a piece of foreign hunk.
A moment later, the girls looked around to notice the blatant absence of the dreamy British man, and turned to their brother, furious at the trick he had pulled on them. "Lincoln ! I thought we agreed you were to never use the image of Hugh against us !" said Lori, audibly fawning at the mention of his name.
"Yeah, and doing it to wake us up is only in case of emergencies, not for your personnal fun !" reprimanded Luan. "It's not very Hughmorous, you know. Hehe, get it ?"
"Oh yeah, emergency. Right, I didn't think this one through at all." nonchalantly said Lincoln, giving himself a slap on the forehead and blowing a short raspberry in a 'Duh !' manner. "How silly of me to think that having fallen down a couple hundred feet and being stuck down a dark hole could be any sort of emergency." added the boy with heavy sarcasm.
The comment was quick to sink inside the girls' minds, even Leni's, as they glanced at their surroundings again. Panic was quick to spell itself on their faces, more or less depending on the sisters' traits.
"Huh... that does change a couple of things." said Luna, gulping as she tried to keep a kinda cool head about it.
"Oh my gosh, it wasn't a dream..." mumbled Lori, rubbing her temples in hope that when she'd reopen her eyes, she'd be back in her tent like nothing happened. But nope, she was still here, much to her rising anoyance, that only rose further when she checked her trusted phone. "And would you look at that ? No reception."
"Wait, I've got an idea !" bounced Lana. "What if we shout as loud as we can ? Someone will hear us scream, and they'll come to rescue us !"
"Great plan, I love ice-cream !" squeed Leni with childlike glee.
"No Leni, she meant a scream, as in what you do when you see that you are having a 'bad hair day'." explained Lisa, slow enough for the blonde to understand. She then turned to the much shorter blonde. "As for Lana's idea, I doubt that the attributes of the present hole will allow enough resonance to echo all the way through a cave of which few know its existence, and even fewer wanting to go near it." She looked upwards, and shielded her eyes from the sole sunlight point. "If only I had my tools and the proper materials, I could try to construct a lift that would most certainly allow us to ascend to freedom."
"What about you, Lynn ? Can't you try and climb it ?" proposed Lola.
The young teen's brow scrunched in reflexion as she observed the wall. She scratched a bit of its dirt, and shook her head. "No can do on this one. This wall's too fragile, it'll crumble for sure if I attempt. It's just too dangerous without some protective gear. I'm all for rash and improvised sports, but I'd rather not fall while I'm almost at the top, and miss the flowers. I'll get more than a sprained ankle, and you'll get more than a nasty bump on the head if you try to catch me."
"But there's gotta be something we can do !" pressed the princess in desperation.
"Well we wouldn't be in that situation, if a couple of ankle-biters hadn't turned into ankle-bumpers." frowned Luna, the normally cool sis apparently soaking the bad feelings around her like an annoyed sponge.
"I approve." supported Luan with a frown of her own. "Both the pun, and the pointing finger."
The twins gaped at the acccusation thrown at them, then turned sour. "Hold on, are you trying to pin this whole thing on us ?!" growled Lana.
"All we're saying is that we were both pulling off that gig, until you decided to crash the party by bowling us over !" said Luan, to which Luna nodded.
"We were trying to help, you nimwits !" cursed Lola, livid to hear herself being yelled at for trying to do the right thing for once.
Seeing the argument on the rise, Leni decided to intervene. "Guys, now's not the time to fight ! I mean, Lisa wasn't much help earlier, and like, you don't see me making fun of her."
Lisa's eyes widened, as Leni had unconciously hit the biggest, but touchiest part of her very expanded psyche : her ego. She threw a murderous glare at the blonde, who shrunk back. "Excuse me ? I feel obliged to remind your feeble mind, that it was your faulty footwear and fiddling appendages that cost us precious time and leverage !" accused the toddler genius. She took a nearby stick, and illustrated her point by whacking one of said appendages.
Poor Leni recoiled her hand with a yelp, and felt tears nearing her eyelids as she tried to rub and kiss the pain away. Her face then morphed into an angry grimace. "Oh yeah ? W-w-well, you're a shortie, always needing a wooden 'sta-oul' to get anything she wants !"
Lisa felt herself trembling with fury, as her glowering glare would have melted the lens of her glasses if it could. "Try saying that again, you ignoramus maximus. I dare you..."
"Shortie, shortie, shortie ! I can't even hear you because of how short you are !" childishly insulted Leni.
The two-against-two argument had become a six-way glare-battle royale in a matter of seconds. Lincoln cringed at the more and more palpable tension. And when he saw Lola stop them, he had a feeling it wasn't to stop the hostilities.
"Wait you guys ! I've just been thinking, it's clear who's the real cause of all of this. Lucy !" she pointed a gloved finger at the emo, who emitted a light "gasp".
Lynn was quick to put herself defensively in front of her roommate, glaring at her snarling sisters. "Hey, leave her alone ! She didn't mean to fall, it was an accident !"
"Could have fooled me." huffed Lola. "As if it would annoy Ms. Vampire-wannabe to fall inside a pit of eternal darkness, far away from the sun that dares to hurt her fictional love of her life."
"Maybe I wouldn't have been forced to fall, if someone's big sparkly butt hadn't pushed me backwards." spat Lucy, irritation clearly straining her monotone voice.
Lola was known to have more than one berserk button, and her body appearance was the third most explosion-prone. "GO GET A HAIRCUT, YOU HIPPIE, AND THEN WE'LL TALK !" shouted the pageant queen in great wrath.
Lucy loudly gasped. She had just been called an overoptimistic tree-hugger, who dressed in all colours of the rainbow, and kissed 24 kittens a day. Her teeth and fists clenched in boiling ire. How dared that little pink troll ?!
Lynn could feel her spooky roommate's anger, and began to feel it flowing through her veins too. "I said back off, or you're gonna get it !" she shook her fist in warning.
"Oh go chase a ball, Fido." grumbled Lisa with a 'shoo shoo' gesture.
Lynn's face scrunched in a snarl. Now they had made it personnal. She felt her combative spirit itching to throw in a good jab or two in order to cool her blood down. And her mind decided that maybe her veins were right, prompting her to crack her knuckles with a sneer.
The tension, now between eight sisters, was becoming almost suffocating. Lincoln and Lily eyed the arguing ball of anger with great concern. Things were getting sour a bit too quick for their taste. "This is getting too vicious, we've got to stop them somehow." whispered Lincoln to Lily and the viewers.
"Girls, stop arguing, it's pointless to declare whose fault it is." suddenly berated Lori with a stern frown. This made the other girls drop their tension a little.
Lincoln sighed in relief. Never had he been so glad to hear his sister's angelic voice of reason.
"Yes, it is litteraly useless, because I know who's at fault here. And the answer is : ALL OF YOU !" suddenly snapped Lori, to the collective shock and anger of the accused.
Lincoln's smile drooped. Yeah, he should have seen that one coming from all the way up there.
"Is it really that hard to understand a simple order ?! When I say let's get out of here, it means we hightail back on the double ! But nooooo, we had to look at that stupid hole ! Don't listen to Lori, it's not like she is trying to protect us from problems ! Well guess what, SHE IS, AND SHE'S SICK OF A BUNCH OF TWERPS NOT LISTENING TO HER !"
"Oh pipe the nagging, grandma." Lynn spat her venom.
Yeah, so remember that talk about berserk buttons, about a minute ago ? Well, Lori had her own buttons. And it turned out insulting her age, was the worst one her siblings could press. "RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHH !" hollered the crimson-faced Lori like a raging animal, as she rammed her verbal assalliant, immediately going for her ponytail.
Thus, hell broke loose, and so did another brawling dust cloud. Yelps, growls, and insults emanated from it, as punches and kicks flew in all directions. Yet another scuffle between the Loud siblings, a pure battle royale of clawing and biting galore.
Lincoln took a wise step backwards, really not wanting to be sucked inside one of her family's eternal fights by accident again. He groaned in exasperation. Couldn't they see this was not the time ? The boy hesitated for a second though. The last time he had interfered with one of his sisters' fight, the results got... less than pleasant. But a quick look around and at the slightly upset toddler in his arms quickly reminded him why he needed his sisters to focus at the moment.
Lincoln's eyes gained a sparkling glint. He was determined to stop this nonsense.
The boy put his index and thumb in his mouth, and let out a sharp whistle, which immediately froze the sisters in their quarreling. The only one who moved in the following ten seconds was Luna, who spit Lana's sneaker from her mouth with a confused and disgusted expression. How did that get in there ?
Lisa frowned at the interruption. "Lincoln, I thought you were briefed on the principles of the Sister Fight Protocol during the last 'Raging Volcano Alert'. Am I to be advised that you've gained Leni's shorterm memory as well ?" said the scientist, glaring at the ditzy blonde, who blew a raspberry in response.
Lincoln rolled his eyes at the condescending reproach. "Oh no, I learned my lesson. I can't resolve fights in a snap of my fingers, sometimes I've got to step down to see if you can resolve it on your own, and only intervene when it drags on for too long. It's a rule I've accepted to follow in our dear home."
The sisters raised an eyebrow, impressed by his bout of maturity, but knew that there was more to it. And indeed there was.
"Oh, but I've just noticed a teeny weeny snag in the application of this theory at the moment : WE AREN'T HOME !" the Loud brother suddenly yelled. "In case it's still not apparent to you, we are in pure unknown territory, far from everyone, without any guaranteed exit ! And you fighting over who made who fall down isn't getting us any closer from coming back to Mom and Dad ! Besides, it's pretty clear who's the one to blame for being here in the first place."
Even Leni caught on who Lincoln was talking about. It was pretty clear that the snow-haired boy was blaming himself for the whole ordeal. They were tempted to agree with him for a second, but were dissuaded by the heavy guilt radiating from his sullen expression, making them feel pretty bad for their poor brother.
Lincoln shook his head, clearing his misty eyes from any liquid, and gaining a look full of will. "Look, I understand that this is different. This emergency is clearly bigger than our usual "Only one pudding cup left" or "The toilet is clogged again" types. But we just can't let the stress get to us and fall into petty bickering. We have to stay tight and united, until we can find a way back to the surface. Please guys, we're all into this mess, so let's fix it together. For us. For Mom and Dad. For Lily."
He accentuated his last argument by lifting Lily in front of him and in clear view. The baby's pupils tripled in size, and gave the most imploring pout she could make. At the view of utter cuteness in front of them, the sisters began to feel terrible, ashamed of starting a fight during such dire times. But being the Loud siblings, they were quick to bounce back on their feet.
"Dudes, Linc's right. We can't affort to lose our focus this time." perked up Luna, feeling the same fire of will igniting inside her heart. "We gotta act like a team on this one, or we'll be stuck down here forever, eating rocks to survive."
"Studies have indeed proved that an geologic diet is properly inadequate for human digestive transits, as is a complete lack of sunlight for too long. Thus, you can count on my support." said Lisa with a small smile.
"While I spoke of this situation as a personnal dream, we do need to go back. Not only because I don't want to drag you into my torment, but also because I now feel that my own decaying soul is not yet ready to wholly experience eternal oblivion." monotoned Lucy. "After all, I haven't known the excrutiating pains of puberty yet."
"We'll show that cave that the Louds don't cave in, hahaha !" joked Luan as she high-fived with Luna, who groaned at the pun.
"Adventure time ? You can sign me up !" grinned Lynn, puffing her chest with bravado.
"Oooh, I should have packed my exploring outfit. I had the totes cutest blue jacket for the occasion !" chirped Leni.
"Let's do this !" cheered the twins in a rare session of twin-talking.
Lily giggled along, showing that she was just as ready to explore.
Lori looked at her siblings, and sighed. Once again, they had rallied without her say-so. But it's not like they were wrong, just that she would have wanted to be the first one to say it. She nontheless smiled at her siblings' excitement, and cleared her throat to get their attention. "Well, it looks like we're on all the same page. So let's establish some ground rules to respectwhile we are down here." The siblings groaned at Lori being 'in charge' once again, while Luan joked about something being 'Underground rules' instead.
"First rule, no petty fighting. If you've got a problem, you talk it out. Second, if we find something to eat or drink, we share it in eleven equal pieces, no matter how small it is. And third rule, the most important one, No more splitting up ! Unless it truly can't be helped, we stay together at all time. If someone even thinks about slipping up from the group for some freelance exploring, I promise this person a wedgie so bad, they won't feel their butt for a week, am I clear ?!"
The others hastily nodded. Lori's wedgies, when she put her heart into it, were a force to be reckoned with. Seeing their approval, Lori let her threatening snarl fall to match her siblings' determined smiles. "Then let's find our way home." The others cheered at the words of their de-facto leader.
Lincoln smiled. This was the Loud family they needed to be right now. He handed Lily back to Leni, who accepted her without complain. "Okay, now that we are ready, where do we go first ?"
"Perhaps we should begin with the only path that's been waiting for us since we've been there." Lisa pointed behind them.
The others looked, and indeed saw a short but large grey-tiled path that ended with an entry on the left.
"Wow, can't believe I didn't notice that." said Lincoln to no one in particular. "Okay, then let's go !"
"As a group !" reminded Lori.
The Louds thus left the flower meadow, and trudged along the path, before finding themselves in front of the entry. They quickly took note of its peculiar design, being craved in perfect rectangular shape with dark purple columns supporting it. A small engravure rested above it, but it was too small to be discerned by the travelling youngsters.
"Wait, why would there be columns inside a hole ?" said Lana. She then gasped. "You think we've fallen into some kind of lost city, with spooky ghosts haunting it ?"
"Yesssss." cheered the little poet in her own Lucy way.
Lori rolled her eyes at the absurdity of her sister's words. "Yeah right, ghosts. Why don't you throw in some skeletons while you're at it ?"
At this precise moment, the Loud siblings could have sworn they had heard a roaring bout of can laughter of the ones they could find in some of Luan's cheesy shows from the 80's. They shook it off though, having dealt with weirder stuff just by being near Lisa's lab.
Speaking of Lisa, she was looking quite interested in the entry's decoratives.
"This is quite the fascinating work nontheless. I detect some Merovingian inspiration, but I can tell that I've never seen this particular architectual style before, nor do I recognize this strange symbol, although I could swear I've seen an obscure mention of it somewhere. Oooh, this new information makes our current blunder much more interesting !" squealed the young genius, delighed at the idea of discovering what could be some of mankind's lost history.
"Well, what are we waiting for ? Let's go in already !" said Lynn impatiently. The others approved, and entered.
In the new room, everything seemed shrouded into darkness. The walls, ceiling, and ground were all as dark as night. The only things that didn't seem to be so were another archway at the end of the room, and a grass spot in the middle of the room bathing in light.
And on this little grass patch rested a golden flower, slightly bigger than the ones in the previous room, and with its back turned on the siblings.
"Aah, fow-er." cooed Lily.
"Lily's right, it is a pretty flower." said Leni with the same wonder in her eyes.
"Man, looks like we are gonna stop to smell all the flowers of this place, hehe !" laughed Luan, initiating more groans.
"Well, unless it can talk, I don't care." refuted Lori sternly.
"Well then, it's your lucky day !"
The Loud siblings jumped when they heard the weird voice coming out of nowhere. "W-who said that ?" said Lori in slight fear.
"Why me, silly !" said... the flower ? As it turned over ? WHAT ?!
"Howdy there friends ! The name's Flowey. Flowey the Flower ! How are you all doing in this fine day ?" said the flower with a giggle, produced by its mouth. That it apparently had. It rested on its white face, that it had, under his two black eyes, that it also had. Flowey's petals bounced, as he swayed like an amused child who had a merry tune in his head.
If the Louds' lower jaws were to descend any lower, they would certainly just detach themselves, and tumble on the ground. Their eyes were all wide open, and their pupils had shrunk in shock. Their brains were currently trying to figure if what they were seeing was real, or if last night's burgers and marshmallows were really that bad. Slowly and through pinching themselves on the arms repeatedly, the siblings slowly had to accept that this was no food-poisoning dream. They all kept sort of calm about it.
Well, all but one.
Lori's left eye twitched, before her lips slowly creaked upwards, and a slight giggle escaped her lips. "Heh... Hehehe... Hehehehehe. Hahahahahaha ! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !" guffawed Lori hysterically, her eyes going in two different directions, and some of her hair pointing and curling, soon becoming a wild hairy mess.
As they looked their oldest sister in surprise, the siblings' reaction was immediate. "Oh no, she's gone cuckoo !" pointed Lola.
"Quick, lay her on the ground !" said Luna, usual next-in-command in that kind of situations.
They were quick to do so, guiding their cackling sister as gently as possible to the ground. Great concern passed over the features of the ten sisters and brother, as they watched the usual wall of morale that was Lori crumbling into insanity.
"It appears that she is in a state of deep shock over what she just saw. It would seem that under that appearance of placated authority, she hid a great bubble of stress and pressure, that popped by this revelation." analysed Lisa, slight unease appearing through her large glasses.
Lincoln, though just as concerned, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the little genius. "Honestly, I thought you'd be freaking out too. Doesn't that go against anything you've ever believed in, or something like that ?"
Lisa looked at her brother with an indeed strange calmness. "Well, I might look like so on the outside, but I can assure you that my psyche is experiencing a great deal of chaos at the moment. For you see, my scientific self is currently curled in fetal position, crying that all she knows is a lie, and all her carefully tucked theories igniting without any blaze being started. My inner child on the other hand, is dancing on the back of a space unicorn, gleefully screaming at the top of her lungs about the discovery that magic might actually be a reality. As such, the intense rational despair and youthful ecstasy that I am currently experiencing balance eachother out, making so that I am not 'freaking out'. I'm not quite sure how this operates yet, but I'm just grateful that it does."
This mystery cleared, the two looked back to Lori, who didn't look like she had calmed down at all. If anything, she looked even more frazzled.
"How do we get her back to normal ?" asked Lana, scratching her head.
"Let her tire herself out ?" proposed Lynn with a shrug.
"Negatory, we can't let her fall deeper into shock." answered Lisa with upmost seriousness.
"But can't we do something ?!" said Leni, afraid for her only older sister. Luan caressed her hand in reassurance, but to little effect.
Meanwhile, the little flower observed the scene with a slightly akward smile. This... wasn't at all what he expected to happen. "Uh, is she okay ?" asked Flowey in some degree of 'concern'.
Lori's insane laughter stopped for a moment, and she dressed herself back on her butt in a flash, her cheek-splitting grin making the sisters back off in slight fright. "WHY YES, MISTER TALKING FLOWER ! EVERYTHING IS ALL DIDDLY FINE ! AND WHO KNOWS, MAYBE BLARNEY THE DINOSAUR WILL PAY US A LITTLE VISIT AS WELL, AND WE CAN ALL HAVE SOME PEPPERMINT TEA IN LITTLE DANCING CUPS ! HAHAHAHAHA !" And when her rant was done, she crashed down on the ground again, maniacally cackling to the point of tears.
The sisters cringed some more. They really hated to see Lori in that predicament. Lincoln especially did, remembering a less-grumpy Lori accompanying him for his first strolls in the park, and introducing him to the wonderous world of ice-cream. Unable to keep seeing her being so vulnerable, so to speak, the brother gripped her by the shoulders.
"Lori, you've gotta snap out of it ! I need you here, we all do ! We need the severe, but just leader of our chaotic sibling bunch with us !" said Lincoln, looking the young woman right in the eyes. Lori's demented cackles began to soften up, reducing to brief chuckles, uncertainty appearing in her eyes. Undeterred, Lincoln pressed on. "We are going to be alright, you hear me ? The stakes don't matter, we'll overcome this new ordeal like we've always done before, together. Just please, don't give up the race while we are at the starting line."
The others gave their own compassionate words and gestures, slowly bringing their big sister back to her right mind. Her unhinged chuckling progressively stopped, and the fear in her eyes dissipated. Once she felt herself calm and sane enough, she brought herself back on her feet with the help of Lynn and Leni, the latter arranging her wild hair with the comb she always seemed to have on her. For some additional comfort, Lily was handed to her, and the baby cuddled her. The poor teenager still looked a bit shellshocked, but definitely seemed better. She let out a shaky sigh.
"I'm good, I'm good. I-It was just a little moment of weakness, that's all."
"A little ?" said Lincoln with a raised eyebrow.
"Fine, I litteraly crashed ! I got scared, but that won't happen again, I swear." Lori smiled. "Thanks guys. Just, don't remind me what just happened here ever again." she amended. They quickly shared a collective hug, and the blonde felt at peace for an instant. She felt in control again, and sensing her family so close to her, she promised herself that no rational force would stop her or her siblings.
Yeah, about that... (*Narrator nervously tugging on their collar sounds*)
"Feeling better ?" asked Flowey in a sweet voice, the little plant still radiant as ever.
As the hug broke up, the eldest teen allowed herself a grateful grin. "Yeah, much better, thanks."
"That's a good thing to hear ! Hmm..." Flowey took a pensive stance. "Say, not to be rude or anything, but you guys aren't from around here, are you ?"
"No, we kinda fell down a hole." bluntly admitted Lincoln. "We're actually from up here."
"Golly, you don't say. That makes you humans, right ?"
"Well, yeah. What else could we be ?" asked Luan, raising her eyebrow.
"Why, monsters of course !" chirped the talking plant.
"MONSTERS ARE REAL ?!" yelled the Louds in unison, some in wonder, some in confusion, and others in terror.
"Why, what did you think I was ? Down here in the Underground, you enter the Kingdom of Monsters ! Things are not quite like they are up there, there are many things you should know if you wanna stay safe."
"But how can we learn them in time ?" said Luna in slight worry.
Flowey allowed himself an internal smirk at the Louds' expectant looks. A couple of sentences, and they had walked right into it. Boy, they were just as naive as that man-child dunce in a cape...
He shook himself back to reality. After all, a trap couldn't be expected to properly work if the preys inside it could still escape. A bit more sweet talk, and then the real fun would begin. "Well, looks like it's your super lucky day !" perked the flower, bobbing on his leafy pivot. "Because you have lil ol' me to explain you how things work down here !"
"You'd do that for us ?" grinned Lynn.
"Why of course ! What are friends for ?"
The Louds cheered, all in their own way, but Lincoln found his joy to be a bit strained, something not feeling quite right with this situation. Not getting why, he shrugged the unsettlement off.
Two leaves appeared on Flowey's stem, and he rubbed them together in anticipation, positively beaming at the human group in front of him. "Alright, let's get into the most basic stuff ! Now, you may feel weird for a moment, since it's your first time, but it's all gonna be okay. Ready ? Here we go !"
The coach in petals' eyes suddenly gave an odd glint, and a weird feeling passed through the siblings. They felt as if their bodies were concentrating their energies into a single point per sibling. And out of the blue, this point of life energy felt like it was jumping out of their chests. And after shaking their heads off, they looked ahead, and realized it wasn't just an impression.
In front of their respective chests, floated a little glowing heart, no bigger than their fist. A strange energy emanated from those floating shapes, but they just felt... right to the children for some reason.
"Oooh, so pretty..." Leni's eyes twinkled at the view of the small green heart in front of her.
"What the heck are those ?" whispered Lynn, as she clutched her own orange one. When she squeezed it gently, the little heart sent a shiver down her spine, followed by a warm feeling of pride.
"Those little hearts floating in front of you, you all see them ?" asked Flowey, to which the humans nodded. "Well, those are your SOULs, the very culmination of your beings."
The revelation sent wonder into the hearts of the Loud group. One, however, found herself more taken aback than the others, and not in the same kind of amazement. "Wait, are you trying to tell us that those small glowing very cartoon-used shapes of our cardiac organ represent everything about us ? Our psyche, our living essence, the functionalities of our entire body, are actually all relied to a tiny magic SOUL ?" articulated Lisa slowly in disbelief, her purple heart secured in her small palm.
"You got that right !" winked Flowey with the same peppy tone.
The little genius looked at the little thing with wide eyes. She didn't want to believe that this could be real life. This was basically admitting that MAGIC was a fact that did not just exist here, but had always existed. Just the thought of believing in such lunacy burned her tongue. She could feel her throat bloating with all the refutal rants she wanted to induce herself into, as well as towards this weird little weed, whose his and the floating object in her hand's sole existences were an insult against everything she stood for. Her eye twitched, her mouth opened, ready to flare statements left and right !
But then, she remembered her inner child and what had happened to Lori two minutes ago, and came to a simple conclusion. "Sure, why not ?" mumbled Lisa in a 'I can't be bothered to care' tone. She had a feeling that this was just the beginning of her world's vision crumbling into pieces. What a fun time that was going to be.
"There must be a problem with mine, then." droned Lucy, looking at her bright yellow SOUL. "Not only do I have one, but it's shining as bright like that cursed ball of gas, instead of its supposed cold and empty ebony colour." She glared closer at it. "Dim and decay already." The SOUL only shone brighter, almost making the annoyed little goth crush it like an annoying mosquito.
"Well, I like mine !" Lana grinned her almost-toothy smile, poking her orange SOUL with great amusement. "Not only is it dirt-coloured, but it tickles when I touch it !"
Lola scrutinized her own blue concentrated self with critical eyes. "Hmm, it's sparkly, but it would be way better if it was pink. Well, I guess sapphire is in season."
"Man, this is both the freakiest and coolest thing I've ever seen ! Safe for Mick Swagger, of course." smoothly said Luna, spinning her own yellow SOUL on her finger like a guitar plectrum. "If only I had my axe right now, I feel some sick lyrics coming to me !"
"Well, I'm sure you'll remember them, as long as they come from the heart ! Hahaha, get it ?" guffawed Luan, taking her eyes off her luminous blue heart for an instant.
"Oi..." Luna shook her head.
"Well, mine at least blends with my dress." commented Lori. She quickly noted that the cyan colour of her SOUL blended perfectly with the one of her opposite on the sibling age spectrum, although the size of the two hearts were relative to their owners' age difference. The youngest child pointed at her little SOUL with a coo, making her big sister smile warmly. "Yes Lily, I did notice that we are twins in pretty little heart colour. Do you like to have the same colour than your big sister ?" she added in baby talk, greatly amusing the giggling Lily.
Lincoln kept silent, eyeing the reactions of his siblings, then turning back to his own little SOUL. Personally, Lincoln knew he was more of an Orange guy, he liked the colour enough to wear it day after day. But he had to admit that there was something endearing into the bright Redhue his life energy was reflecting him. It felt like a fire that could never be put out, telling him to never give up, and that bothered the boy a little. He had had resolve before, but never to this intensity. Except perhaps when he was at the edge of the hole he was now trying to escape from.
Another thing that Lincoln managed to pick up, was the SOULs' outlines, both his and his sisters'. While theirs displayed one resembing his own crimson chroma, his essence's outline seemed to faintly reflect the colours displayed in the SOULs of the ten females, chiseled in ten equal parts. Lincoln's brain rattled against his skull, not quite knowing what to get from that detail. Were they related somehow ?...
Lincoln's face melted in a light frown. Great, now Luan was getting to him too.
Soon enough, Flowey interrupted the excited and loud babble of the children by clearing his throat. That he had. "So, as said before, these are your SOULs, the very essence of your beings. Every monster that you encounter can reveal them. For now, your SOULs are quite weak, as indicated by your HP."
Lincoln felt his mind wander to his many video game memories at the word, but he could only wonder what that had to do with them. "Uh, HP ?"
"Oh, silly me, I forgot. Now, look above your heads, and you should see yellow bars and some numbers."
The Louds obliged, and indeed saw the yellow lines. They collectively wondered if those had been there the whole time. They also saw the same type of characters at their left, which consisted of their names, HP and 20/20.
"Yellow again. The universe seems to keep taunting me." mumbled Lucy. "Sigh, misery is found under the layer of happiness being constantly shoved to your face."
Lucy's siblings gave her a long look, both spooked and in awe at the deepness of her words, while Flowey just kept grinning, though he groaned inside. 'Why do I only find weirdos down here ? Well, it won't be that way much longer anyway...' the flower mused, then continued his lesson. "So, those are your HP, the amount of life energy circulating inside your SOUL. If attacked, your HP will be delepted, more or less depending on your endurance and your enemy's strength. And if it reaches zero, well... let's just say you really don't want that to happen."
Flowey's grim words sent chills down the eleven's spines, as they quickly caught on the threat of their Life Force being drained to zero. It meant death, and they were now aware of it. Things just got a lot darker to the Loud siblings.
The petaled teacher was quick to bounced off their paleness though. "But do not worry ! As I told you before, your SOULs do start off frail, but you can make them stronger by gaining a lot of LV."
"More acronymes ? Urgh, this whole thing sounds like a lecture of a board game's rules by Lisa." groaned Lynn, ignoring the little genius' grimace and mumbling about her explanation of Capitalism Supremacy teachings inside Monopoly being very accurate.
"Now, what do you think it means ?" Despite it being a question he was about to answer, Flowey blinked when he saw Leni bounce on the spot, and lift her hand like a little school grader wanting to be interrogated. "Uh, yes ?"
"It means LOVE, right ?" chirped Leni innocently, prompting the others to roll their eyes at her answer's naivety.
Flowey blinked. "Huh. That's actually the right answer, yes ! LV does stand for LOVE !"
"Yay !" rejoiced Leni.
"And because I like all of you, I'll even share some LOVE with all of you ! You'll be strong in no time !" winked the flower.
"Creepy way to say it, but thanks !" said Luan.
While the others smiled at the prospect of the help provided by their new friend, Lincoln scratched the inside of his ear with fervour, as he couldn't get a strange whistling out. It felt like someone was whispering something to him, but he saw none of his sisters doing it. Feeling a bit disturbed, he decided to focus on Flowey, who had made little white seeds appear in the air, gently twirling on the spot.
"You see, down here, LOVE is shared through... 'friendliness pellets'." shifted Flowey, as though he was making the name on the spot. "All you have to do is stand there, and catch them. I even made enough for each of you !" There were indeed eleven 'friendliness pellets' on stand-by. "Alright, here you go my friends, get them all !"
The sisters stood expectantly, ready to accept the gift provided by the friendly plant. Meanwhile, Lincoln's face scrunched up as the hissy whispering got noisier. Not only that, but he could feel an odd grasp overcoming his red SOUL, as though the message itself came from it. Louder and louder it became, until he heard.
*He is not your friend, and neither are his pellets.
Lincoln let out a sharp gasp of realization, and he looked back at the approaching seeds, closing in on his oblivious sisters' SOULs. His brain sent a single message, and his body obliged in a heartbeat. He threw himself against his sisters, and managed to push them all out of the way, making them fall in the process.
Lori grunted at the sudden roughness, and turned back to glare at his brother. "Lincoln, what is wrong with you ?! You can't just-"
But she didn't get to finish that sentence. When Lincoln had pushed the girls to the ground, he had taken their place as the receiver of the pellets. And while the girls thought for a brief instant that he was going to greedily hoard them all for himself, their view changed dramatically when the 'friendliness pellets' collided with his SOUL. The boy suddenly let out a sharp cry of agony, and fell to the ground in a heap. The sisters' protective instincts were kicked to overdrive.
"LINCOLN !" they yelled, circling their fallen brother. To their horror, he now sported cuts all over his body, and looked positively horrible. Looking at his HP bar, they could see that it had decreased drastically, to the point when he only had one remaining. His little SOUL was dimming, and looked like ready to spit in half at any moment.
The poor boy hacked and held himself immediately, the simple fact of coughing sending great pain into his body. "It hurts..." was his weak and pitiful cry.
"C'mon Lincoln, stay with us !" called Lana, close to tears at the view of her hurt big brother.
"Let him lay down, he musn't move too much or it will induce his body into some nasty draining of his hemoglobin through his cutting marks !" warned Lisa, barely managing to keep her professionalism through all of this.
As the girls fretted over the boy, the only non-human of the room simply kept his smile on, altough its sweetness was starting to ebb away. "Golly, looks like your brother was smarter than you, ladies. But it seems it wasn't without a cost." chuckled the flower, mocking condescencion appearing in his voice.
Lynn turned to the plant, scathing anger appearing over her features. "What the 'H' is wrong with you ?! You said you were gonna help us, not cripple us !" shouted the jock heatedly.
Flowey lowered his smiley face, veiling it in the shadows. "Hehehe... Golly gee, you guys are one sad bunch of idiots." chuckled the flower darkly, his voice morphing from sweet and childish, to a demon's high-pitched one. In place of his cheery face now stood dark eyes and a sharp toothy grin, both oozing with malice.
This change struck cold fear inside the sisters' looks, and Flowey enjoyed every second of their pathetic trembling. "Help you ? Why would I ever do that, when your journey is ending this very instant ?!" sneered the flower with malevolent glee. "Though, let it not be said that I can't hold all of my promises. You see, I've still got to finish my lesson, by teaching you the one Golden Rule of this world. And that rule... is that it's KILL OR BE KILLED !"
The sisters huddled even closer, their fearful shaking intensifying. Lily and the twins were even tearing up, the flower becoming a nightmare surpassing everything they had ever imagined. Yet in their fear, they did not forget to protectively encase the wounded Lincoln, who likewise wanted to protect them, but the diminished boy was too weak to even lift himself from the ground.
Flowey's grin diminished, but his overall malevolence didn't, as his dark eyes were now illuminated with two gleaming red dots. "Looks like we know on which end of this rule you and I stand. But don't feel too bad. Keep in good mind that nobody will miss you down here. Or maybe that's a bad thought ? Well, too bad, too sad. Now, be good little children, do one last favour for your friend Flowey..."
A sound close to the one of a machine gun resonated, and hundreds of 'friendliness pellets' trapped the Loud Siblings in a circle, cutting any tactical retreat or possibility to lunge at the traitorous weed. The ball of fear formed by the Louds tightened a bit more. Their SOULs shuddered in unison as they realized that this could be the end.
They glanced one last time at Flowey, who beamed in wicked ecstasy. "...and DIE." he finished, then released a high-pitched delighted cackle as his pellets slowly closed in. He relished in the dread he was finding in the children's terrified expressions, and even more by imagining the millions that would display the same feeling of terror very soon. With these idiots' SOULs in his possession, he could finally make his dreams come true... as well as the nightmares of all beings of this world. HIS world.
The sole Loud brother looked at the approaching doom-bringers, and ignoring his body's excrutiating aching, passed his arms around as much of his sisters as he could, embracing them tighter than he had during the time when a twister had nearly blown their house away. Was this it ? Was this how the cookie crumbled ? After his courageous speech earlier, they were getting a Game Over on the very first foe ? His body seemed to accept the idea, so did his brain, but his heart did not. The little red heart was weak, and its light was dangerously fading. And yet, it still told him to hang on. Lincoln knew he had no better plan, so as he shut his eyes from the murdering seeds only inches from ripping into human flesh, he acted.
'Help ! Somebody help us !' he called internally, hoping for someone, anyone to hear his distressful message. 'Please...'
…
And somebody came.
*VROOSH !*
Startled by the sudden noise, the siblings opened their eyes at once. To their surprise, the friendliness pellets were being burned by a ring of embers, making quick work of the seeds and turning them to mere ashes, which disappeared in thin air. Tentatively, they looked at Flowey, who looked just as bewildered than them, although in a more annoyed manner.
"Huh ?! How did you pesky kids even do tha-" He was promptly shut up and catapulted to the side by another fireball he had failed to notice. After an impressive double front flip and an unceremonious landing on his face, accompanied by an audible thump, Flowey cursed under his breath, wondering who the [Mercy] was responsible for this unexpected and unappreciated interruption.
Then he realized. Such expertise of fire magic, burning his seeds without leaving a mark on the kids. He frowned. Oh joy. Her.
Knowing he needed to scram, Flowey casted a murdery glare at the siblings, who warily watched back. The nasty little plant let out one last hiss with forked tongue effect, contently sending one last bit of fear into the Louds' hearts. He then replanted his stem, and departed through the soil.
The Louds blinked collectively, still very shaken by this near-death experience, and turned their eyes from where Flowey had stood to find the source of those shots of fire. They quickly found it, but were now kinda wishing they hadn't.
By the entrance across the room, stood a figure engulfed in shadows, except for its right hand which was still burning with the flames it had thrown at the Louds' assailant. The figure was tall, the siblings could tell from where they stood, attaining seven feet in height or so. This grand figure also featured two horns on the top of its head, and two crimson eyes glaring at the spot where Flowey had been.
The siblings gulped. It seemed they had jumped out of the frying pan into the fire. Well, those were Lisa's brain quote and Luan's internal pun. The others' thoughts were along the lines of 'Ah crud' and 'Dang it'. One thing was for sure, they did NOT like this turn of events. They'd almost been rolled over by a little flower, and they were now facing something bigger and apparently more powerful.
And it could shoot fire, that was scary too.
The mysterious being's arm lost its blaze, and was lowered. Suddenly, he/she turned in their direction, making their hearts skip a beat, and their tension got progressively worse as he/she slowly walked in their direction. They heard a breathing intake, and sweated profusely at the deep and menacing words that were about to come through the being's mouth.
"Oh, what a miserable creature, torturing such poor innocent children. For shame, truly."
Their minds drew a blank. Those certainly weren't the words nor the voice they had been expecting to come from the creature's maw. Then, it stepped into the light, and its appearance was revealed. Her appearance, they quickly noted.
The best way the 'monster' could be described was one of an antropomorphic goat woman. She had two little horns on the top of her head, that were followed by two long fuzzy ears tumbling from her face. She possessed none of the sharp teeth the Louds expected her to have, and her eyes, while still red, radiated now a warm and soothing aura. She was barehanded and barefooted, ending into fluffy white paws and feet that pratically demanded to be patted. Finally, the female monster was clad in long purple robes with white sleeves. On her chest and stomach resided the blurry symbol that the Louds had seen a couple of minutes ago, only now it appeared clearly : Three triangles, one being upside-down, standing under a white circle with angelic wings.
Again, this was an unexpected sight for the eleven humans. They simply did not know what to make of their saviour. And when she gave them a warm smile, their guard lowered, but their confusion only grew. "Are you quite alright, children ?" asked the monster in a gentle tone.
But the memory of saccharine talk given by another monster, as well as what he had done to their brother, were quick to get the girls' alarm levels spiking red again. Through their 'sibling mental link', which only activated during great emergencies, mistrust resonated across their minds and they made their positions clear.
Leni, Lisa, Lucy, and Lily grouped around Lincoln to shield him, without squeezing too hard, while his other older siblings plus the twins took fighting stances. They had been yellow dogs and scaredy cats with that traitorous weed, but this time they would fight, uncaring about the fact that it was against the one who had made said weed run away in the first place.
"Step back dude. If you mess with us, we'll shred ya more than a Flaming Chili Spices solo." threatened Luna, going into her rare 'sister wolf' mode.
"Those braces aren't just for show you know, so don't make me have a tooth against you." glared Luan, baring her buck teeth to show that she was ready to go for the bite.
The heated glares thrown in her direction made the monster stop. She lost her smile for a moment and blinked, but it swiftly came back, only a tad more careful, somehow. "Oh my. You have nothing to fear, children. I mean you no harm."
"Likely story, lady." sneered Lola, readying her sharp nails. "A bit unoriginal though."
"Yeah, the little daisy served us the same malarkey before he tried to murder us. Sorry, but we ain't taking any more chances." growled Lynn, cracking her neck and knuckles in anticipation.
The Goat Woman's features fell in concern. But not for herself, mind you. She saw what the girls were so dearly trying to protect, and let out a soft gasp at his HP's number. She needed to help him, but she knew she had to convince his fierce guardians first. "But I assure you children, I will not harm you, I merely want to help. I can see that one of you is injured, and I might be able to heal him."
The sisters were not convinced one bit by the woman's speech. "You ain't touchin' him. Not on my watch." said Lana, dropping on all fours and baring her teeth with a growl like a hound on the verge of attack.
Lori took her own stance, remembering her self-defense classes. "You heard them, lady. Don't come any nearer, or we will attack." she menaced in a tone that meant business.
Meanwhile, trapped in his sisters' protective hug, Lincoln gathered all his strength to stay focused on the palpable tension progressing between his aggressive sisters and the midly flustered monster. He eyed the Goat Woman intently, and felt another whisper in his ear. Only this one didn't warn him about the creature before him, but rather assured that she was telling the truth.
The strange little voice also seemed somewhat bitter about it...
"Guys, let her through." weakly interfered Lincoln, his raspy voice managing to crawl out of his throat.
The sisters looked at him as though he had became insane. "Are you nuts, Lincoln ?! We can't risk it, not after what that mean dirt-eater did to you !" voiced Lynn.
"Hey, what did I- oh right, Flowey." reacted Lana, sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck.
"We don't want you to get any more hurt." murmured Lucy, concern dripping over her emotionless tone.
"I know, and I'm grateful for that." feebly smiled the boy. "I know it sounds weird, but my guts are telling me to trust her, just as they told me that Flowey was dangerous. So please, I beg you... give her a chance."
The sisters looked at one another, great apprehension in their eyes. But looking back at their brother's pleading eyes, they resolved themselves to oblige. Lori gave a small nod, and the fighters hesitantly stepped aside, as the huggers gently laid their brother on the ground. They kept a laser focus on the Goat Woman passing before them, ready to jump on her at the first suspicious movement, though she only smiled thankfully at them in return.
Once she was at Lincoln's level, the woman monster gave him a tender look. She kneeled in front of him, and held her hands. Flames accumulated in her hands, and the siblings immediately tensed, but quickly got confused when they turned to a shade of bright green, and even more when they didn't burn Lincoln when she applied them on his chest and SOUL. The boy felt a warm and fuzzy sense comfort invade his being, as though hundreds of kitten were kissing his boo-boos away. His wounds were closing, his SOUL was getting brighter by the second, and his HP were slowly flourishing back.
Once the bar had reattained 20/20, the monster stopped and quickly stepped back. Lincoln looked at himself, and saw that it was as if Flowey's attacks had only been a bad dream. He jumped on his feet, feeling as good as new. In fact, he felt even better than before. Immediately, he was affectionally mobbed by his sisters, but nothing he didn't expect.
"Lincoln !" cried the twins as they hugged his midsection. With a chuckle, he ruffled both of their hairs.
"Oh Linky, like, are you alright ?" asked Leni, squishing his cheeks to see if he was okay.
"Am' foine." answered Lincoln.
Lisa quickly analyzed her brother's form, even looking under his shirt to be sure. When she saw nothing, she let out a sigh of relief. "You seem to have been perfectly cleansed of all your injuries, there are no traces of the gashes left by this hateful Bellis Perrenis. Simply incredible, how did she do such a fine work ?"
"Magic ?" shrugged Luan, just happy to see her little bro to be back on her feet.
Lisa opened her mouth, then thought for an instant, then closed it with a small grimace. "Sure, why not ?" she mumbled distastely.
"Dude, we were so worried." quipped Luna, giving her bro a hug on her own.
"Yeah, we thought we had lost you back there !" said Lynn him a punch in the shoulder, which Lincoln rubbed with a smile instead of his usual annoyance at the display of tough love.
"Guys, I'm fine, really. I'm just glad that whacko didn't get to harm any of you." said Lincoln with a light shudder, as he remembered the vicious glee in the deranged flower's eyes, a sight that was sure to become the main theme of his nightmares for the next two weeks. "I mean, we sure got lucky to be saved by... by..."
He stopped as he glanced at the person he was trying to name, who was smiling at the sight of loving humans. Was she really just content of saving them ? Could a person be that nice ? Well she needed some recognition, was what Lincoln thought.
He carefully shook off his sisters' embrace, and took a few steps in the woman's direction. He gave her a polite bow to illustrate his gratefullness. "Thank you for saving us, miss Goat Woman. We would have been toast if not for your help."
She politely chuckled. "Oh, it's quite alright, my child. I simply could not let that horrible person harm you poor children just for some repulsive pleasure." she explained, scrunching her face at the end of her sentence. She smiled again. "But pray tell young one, what is your name ?"
Lincoln mentally slapped himself for having forgotten to even introduce himself to his saviour. "The name's Lincoln, ma'am. Lincoln Loud." He turned to his staring sisters. "And those are my sisters."
The Goat Woman blinked in surprise. "Oh my, ALL of them ?"
"Yep, the Louds are one big family." chuckled Lincoln. He then began to point his sisters in order. "In order, the tallest one with the blue top is our eldest, Lori."
"Um, hello." said Lori a bit akwardly, as she reproduced Lincoln's polite bow.
"The one with the sunglasses is Leni, our stylist."
"Hi~" waved Leni enthusiastically.
"Then there is Luna, our rocking musician."
"What's shakin' ?" grinned Luna with her cool attitude.
"The grinning one with the braces is Luan, our um, comedian."
"Loony Luan, at your service !" cracked Luan.
"Next up is Lynn, athlete extraordinaire."
"Yo." simply greeted Lynn with a flick of her hand.
"Lucy, our dark and spooky poet."
"I salute you in this long and meaningless trek that is life..." recited Lynn, prompting Lynn to lightly bump her. "It means hi."
"Under all that gloom, she's a really neat person. Anyway, we then get to the twins, with Lana the handygirl and her red cap..."
"Nice to meet'cha !" Lana grinned a toothy smile.
"And Lola the pageant queen with her pink dress."
"A pleasure, I'm sure." curtly bowed Lola.
"Green sweater plus glasses equal resident genius Lisa."
"My most sincere greetings." lisped Lisa, adjusting her glasses.
"And last but not least, our baby sister, Lily."
"Poo-poo." giggled Lily.
"And that makes eleven of us." smiled Lincoln. He then noticed how far back the siblings were from the Goat Woman, and called them. "C'mon guys, get over here. She's not gonna bite."
The sisters glanced at one another, and slowly walked to join their brother in front of their rescuer, a bit of hesitance still visible in their step. Assuming her role as leader, Lori cleared her throat and advanced closer. "Um, hi again. I just wanted to say, on behalf of the others, that we are all very glad for your help. Thank you." she said with an even tone, extending her hand as a sign of friendship. She stiffened a little when the woman clasped it in a gentle but firm shake with her larger paw, but soon felt very relaxed at the sensation of her comfy fur and warm smile.
"Thank you as well to have let me intervene, Lori. You seem to possess authority amongst your younger siblings, a gift I trust you use wisely." said the fuzzy monster.
Lori shyly smiled at the praise, then glared back at the siblings she had heard snickering at the mention of her 'using her authority wisely', who were now whistling innocently. She let the woman's hand go and placed herself back with them.
"So, who are you exactly, lady ?" asked Lynn with a bit of suspicion. She wasn't going to completely trust her yet, it had almost cost them big time a minute ago.
"Oh ! How silly of me. I am Toriel, guardian of the Ruins. I come here every day to see if a human have fallen down, which haven't happened for quite some time." She then chuckled a bit. "Though I must say, it's the first time I find multiple humans at once, let alone eleven of them, and all siblings even."
Toriel's sentence about humans having fallen down before clicked something inside Lincoln's brain. "You think she's talking about the six others that have disappeared ?" whispered Lincoln to Lisa.
"It's a possibility..." murmured Lisa back. She thought of asking, but decided that it was better to hold that thought for the moment. In the meantime, she asked for another matter entirely. "Am I to understand you have knowledge of this region ?"
A bit of surprise passed through Toriel's features at the bespectacled toddler's vocabulary, but she understood perfectly. "Indeed, I can safely guide through the catacombs. I'd just hate letting children fend for themselves. But... I suppose it is up to you." she spoke the last sentence with a bit of apprehension, almost worried that they would say no.
The Louds looked at eachother, and knew what to do. "Um, can you excuse us for a minute?" said Lori. She then ordered, "GROUP HUDDLE !", and they did just that in an instant.
"Well, what do you think guys ?" asked Lincoln.
"She's pretty rad in my book." nodded Luna.
"She's so pretty too !" added Leni.
"Her robes make a nice style, even if they are too colourful for my taste." said Lucy.
"Her fur is begging to be stroked !" Lana said with her animal-loving enthusiasm.
"I know it's rare, but I totally agree with her on that." vouched Lola with an equally excited grin.
Lily agreed too, clapping her hands with all her childlike adorableness.
"I dunno guys. I'm kinda still reeling from what happened with that rotten little dirt-bag back then." Lynn sneered at the thought of the plant that had harmed her family, and made her look like a coward. "I mean, what if it's an act too ? What if she wants to eat us or something ?"
"While you make an interesting point, and my knowledge on herbivores' eating habits is worth zip in that particular situation, it would still be most insulting to simply shoo her away like a nuisance after what she's just done for us." concurred Lisa with expertise.
"I guess..." relented Lynn.
"Yeah ! Plus, I don't know about you guys, but I have a pretty goat feeling about this ! Heh, get it ?" Luan threw her joke, resulting again in groans and eyes pointing to the sky.
They then turned to Lori, who bit her lip, looking a bit torn. This was no decision to be taken lightly, she knew that. This was her siblings and her own safety that were at stake here. On one hand, they were asking her to put their faith into a complete stranger. A nice one, but still someone they had met a minute ago, who could be very well hiding something like Flowey.
On the other hand, without her, they would be left to trek aimlessly in the Underground, without knowing where the exit could be, or if there there even was an exit ! How would they find food ? Water ? A resting place ? What if all the other monsters were like Flowey, or worse ? Lori's face gained a little more paleness. Toriel being gone also meant that Flowey could jump from behind any bush and finish the job. And it would be all her dang fault ! And then she would never pursue her career as mayor, never marry Bobby, never settle down with their two kids they'd name Louise and Roberto-
She slapped herself back to reality. Dagnabbit, no time for another panic attack ! Knowing she had weighed the good and bad of this decision, Lori took a deep breath, and took action. "Okay, since we litteraly have no other choice, I say we follow her. All in agreement ?" The others let out a cheer of approval. She nodded, and turned back to Toriel, who was humming a little tune. "We accept your help, Miss Toriel."
"Hehe, so polite. But you can simply call me Toriel, my child." giggled Toriel, making Lori blush a little again. She turned in direction of the other entrance. "Now come along."
And with that, she departed. Not wanting to be left behind, the Loud siblings excitedly followed. Lincoln gave one last glance at the patch of grass where Flowey had been, before being pulled forward by Lynn.
Many of the Louds found themselves whistling at the impressive sight before them. Bathed in a strange light, the walls of the Ruins' entrance stretched all the way to a high and leafy ceiling. Even though age was clear on the purple columns, they still stood strong and dutifully accomplished their role. Vines were slithering along the old walls, their green clashing with their purple hue. In fact, the colour pattern of the entire room only seemed to consist of shades of purple.
"Y'know, they could have made a little artistic effort when they gave this place its paint job." criticized Lola.
Luna raised a tentative eyebrow as she looked at her own purple garments. "What's so wrong with purple ?"
The little princess shrugged. "Nothing's wrong with purple, it just seems a bit lazy to paint an entire room in one colour. They could have added some silver, maybe some shades of red. Or better yet, shades of pink."
On this wise decoration advice for your grand halls, the siblings carried on along the room, and arrived at a small twin set of stairs. Both of them led to another archway to pass, where Toriel stood in front of, waiting with her ever-motherly smile. "This way, children." she said, and passed the doorway.
Between the stairs were a few dead leaves, their crimson colour attracting the eye of Lynn, Lana, and Lily. They wanted to play with them, but were stopped by Lori. "Girls, I'm sorry, but we've got no time for silly games." she argued, much to the disappointement of her little sisters, especially Lana. Crispy dead leaves were the reason Fall was her favourite reason, even more than mud itself.
Lincoln felt a pang of sadness at Lana's sad face, but as he gave her a pat on the back, he noticed something amongst the leaves.
A twinkling little yellow star, giving away a mysterious, yet reassuring glow.
"Guys, do you see that ?" asked Lincoln, pointing at the shimmering light.
The others noticed it, and began to approach it like moths, but still carefully enough. Their eyes collectively twinkled at the small gleam pulsing in thin air, making for a quite adorable effect if one was to look at the group.
Curiosity got the better of the sole boy, and before he even realized it, his hand was on the shiny star itself. And when they made contact, the star twinkled brighter and released a harmless shockwave that sounded like the pulse a heart. But though there were no physical consequences, the hidden SOULs of the siblings shuddered in unison.
This greatly startled the sisters, who chattered worriedly and chatised their brother for acting without thinking. But before the boy could apologize, he heard it again.
That voice.
*The shadow of the Ruins loom above you... You are filled with Determination.
"Huh ?!" yelped Lincoln, quickly whipping his head around to find the one who had prevented his siblings from getting hurt. But once again, he found none. He scratched his head. 'Am I losing my marbles already ?'
"LINCOLN !" yelled his sisters, shaking him back to reality.
"W-Whazzup ?!"
"Are you alright, Linky ? You, like, spaced out, kinda like Lisa when she is in deep in her big books with the big words." said Leni.
"Those are called Encyclopedias, but she's right, you were failing to answer us. What seems to be bothering you ?" asked Lisa.
Lincoln watched his sisters' more or less concerned stares, and wondered if he could tell them his problem. 'They'll either think I'm nuts, or laugh at my face.' he frowned internally, but progressively mellowed at the concern in their eyes. 'Well, maybe now's not the time to keep secrets from them. Besides, they'll be more mad if they find out later I kept something like that for myself.'
With a sigh, he relented. "I know it's gonna sound weird, but... I think there is someone talking to me. In my head." He braced himself for the incoming roar of laughter... but it never came. Opening his eyes, he just saw the plain confused faces of his sisters, and their looks still plagued with mid-concern.
"Lincs, what are you talking about ?" asked Lynn.
Lincoln scrunched his lips as he tried to deliver a satisfying answer. "Well, just five seconds after touching that star, I heard a strange voice. None of you heard it ?"
The sisters looked at eachother, then back at him. "Are you sure it wasn't one of us you heard ?" said Luan.
Lincoln shook his head. "No, it was clearly someone different, it wasn't feminine, and it had a bit of a... ghastly tone."
Luna, one of the most worry-looking, kneeled at her little bro's level, and touched his forehead to detect any heat surplus. "Love, are you sure that crazy flower didn't hit you too hard in the noggin ?" she spoke soothingly in her british accent.
Lincoln gently removed her big sis' hand. He was glad for her concern, but he knew one important fact to debunk this theory. "That can't be it either, because I heard that voice just before I pushed you out of the way of Flowey's attack. It told me that Flowey was no friend of ours."
Lisa tapped her chin in thought, trying to get a semi-rational explanation out of this. A hard task when the natives of the place they were standing in already defied logic. But as true as her adoration for cookies, she was a tough one too. "Hmm, if I had more informations of the physics that define this world, I could give a proper answer, but for now, I think our verse-prone sibling would the most appropriate find a potent theory at your conundrum." she motionned to Lucy, who nodded.
"A presence from the past could be inhabiting you, one that clearly joined you when we entered his realm, just as Great Grandma Harriet's ghost can only talk to me when we are home instead of accompanying me everywhere I go. If everyone that live here can use magic like Toriel or Flowey, it might be able to follow you through the entire Underground." said Lucy as she paced a bit, delving deeper in this mystery like the sleuth she had learned to be like with her big bro. "The thing I'm not getting is why it only took a hold on you. I am clearly more inclined to communicate with the spirits, and if it wanted an easy mind to access, it would have chosen Leni's head."
"Hey !" interjected Leni, visibly offended. "I'm not an easy girl ! I totes got complicated tastes." She passed her fingers through her blonde hair, and gave it a 'whooshing effect'.
"Leni, you litteraly kissed a poster once, thinking it was a cute guy." countered Lori in a deadpan tone.
The ditzy fashionista grinned. "Ah, such a sweet talker that Nick..." she dreamily sighed.
Lucy ignored the small bout of banter, and pressed on. "This spirit must have found something else to bound with your own soul. Tell me, what has it told you ?"
"Um... I think it was something about the Ruins, looming above us, and feeling us with... damnation ?" the boy scratched his head, before snapping his fingers. "No, Determination, that's what they said !"
"Brr, that word gives me the willies for some reason." Lana shivered in her sneakers.
"I'm pretty sure that's what this whole place is doing." sighed Lori, massaging her temples. She wasn't experiencing any stress this time, but a dry feeling of tiredness instead. Too many weird things were strangely happening way too suspiciously fast. "I can only wonder what this place is gonna surprise us with next."
Since Lori had asked so politely, the universe answered her demands in record time. Because as soon as she had said those words, a large black panel blinked in existence, floating above the star and frankly freaking out the sibs. The dark rectangle, with its white borderlines, simply stayed silent for a moment, before a white keyboard appeared at the Louds' level, and words appeared on the screen.
Please insert the name of your grouped SAVE file.
"SAVE file ?" parroted Lola.
"Why do I always have to ask ?" groaned Lori.
While the meaning was lost on the girls, an old reflex quickly sprung off inside Lincoln's mind. "Hmm, I think I know what we have to do here." he said with confidence. He briskly stepped towards it, and his sisters could only watch as he typed a name he knew would please everyone.
LOUDS
Is this name correct ?
"What do you think ?" he asked.
The sisters looked and felt officially lost. Many of them could only wonder if that was how Leni felt all the time. "Huh ?" resumed Lynn in a simple word.
"In video game jargon, a Save file is basically something that allows you to Save your game at a certain point so you can come back to it, and as many times as you want until you Save somewhere else. I'm not sure how it works here, but because I didn't want to lose time, I just went with a name that would content everyone." explained Lincoln like it was an absolutely normal thing to describe.
Lisa rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "And now properties of those electronic brain cell chokers seem to appear in real life." she mumbled through her teeth. "A little bit of sense. Is it truly too much to ask from this place ?"
"Just enter the name and let's go. If we wait too much, our fuzzy guide will be worried, and that'll turn into one hairy situation. Why, she could even get furious ! Get it ?" joked Luan, getting groans and a raspberry from Lily.
Lincoln rolled his eyes at the pun, and pressed the Enter button. The keyboard immediately vanished, and a little ping indicated the success of the operation.
LOUDS – Ruins Entrance
LV1 – 0:12
File saved successfully !
And with those words, the panel vanished as quick as it had appeared. Compared to what the Louds had already gone through, this barely fazed them, and they thus shrugged it off. Never mind the general suspicion that they would get to see much freakier stuff as they'd go on.
But along this thought of slight dread, a feeling of unity began to resonate among them. They even joined hands as they collectively ascended the stairs and passed the entrance which Toriel had gone through. It was a small gesture, but it held a very deep and soothing meaning for the usually chaotic bunch.
Twisted dream or brand new reality, they were in this together. And none would be left behind.
This thought what was truly feeling them with Determination.
LOUDS Group analyzed. Individual names saved in SOUL and alphabetic order.
Lily LOUD, Patience
Lori LOUD, Patience
Lana LOUD, Bravery
Lynn LOUD, Bravery
Lola LOUD, Integrity
Luan LOUD, Integrity
Lisa LOUD, Perseverance
Leni LOUD, Kindness
Lucy LOUD, Justice
Luna LOUD, Justice
Lincoln LOUD, DETERMINATION
LOADing properties of old SAVE File overwritten.
LOADing Function now avaliable to LOUDS Group.
…
…
Extra member detected.
New Entry being added. Loading...
CHAR_
Author's Note : Woah, I got really lost in that one. It was supposed to be 10 pages max, and it suddenly turned into a 26 pages beast ! I always do that...
Well, what do you think ? Do you like the Louds' SOUL colours ? Does Flowey feel in-character ? Is Toriel motherly enough ? BTW, Toriel will be the first one to personally bond with one of the Louds, maybe two. I wonder if you'll guess them before the next chapter...
Next up, kindness training with Coach Toriel ! And then maybe recess ? We'll see ! In the meantime, this is Superdimentio77, advising you to keep a weedkilling spray in hand. With this story, you never know...