Chapter 2: Guidance

This new room was smaller than the first. There were six pressure plates on the floor, and a golden switch on the far wall near a closed door.

Toriel watched me enter with a smile. "Welcome to your new home, innocent one," she said.

I was only able to begin to comprehend the fact that she had said "new home" before she kept speaking.

"Allow me to educate you on the operation of the Ruins." I watched as she walked over four of the buttons, then pulled the golden switch. The door swung open with a clank. "The Ruins are full of puzzles, ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. You must adjust yourself to the sight of them, for there are certainly more to follow." She spun on her heel, almost excitedly, and entered the newly opened door. I followed, intrigued.

The room we entered was much longer than the others had been. There was a path down the middle of the room, which extended to the right, and little streams with bridges over them going across. Vines snaked up the violet walls.

Toriel observed my interest with glee. "To make progress here, you must trigger several switches," she explained. "Do not worry, I have labeled the ones you need to flip."

"I-I do it? Not you?" I stammered, still a little nervous.

She smiled warmly. "Yes, child, you. I think it would be good for you to practice the puzzles for yourself, so in case you were to stray from me, you would know what to do." She made her way to the far end of the room. "So come! You can do it. Do not worry, the puzzles near here are quite easy, and I will help you if you need."

I nodded and made my way across the first bridge. On my left was another golden switch, with many arrows that pointed to it. I walked up to it and flicked it downward.

"Good!" Toriel complimented happily. "Only one more!"

Across one more bridge, there were two golden switches. The purple wall around one had more arrows drawn on it, and the other was blank. With confidence, I pulled the labeled switch. There was a CLANK, and the spikes that had blocked the far door retracted into the floor. Proud, I walked over to Toriel.

"There we are!" she said, patting me gently on the head. "It wasn't so hard, was it?"

I giggled a little at the mother-like touch. "Y-yeah."

Toriel touched me lightly on the shoulder. "Come, let's try the next room."

We walked through the doorway and into a smaller room. The only thing in it was a stuffed mannequin- a training dummy, by the look of it. I wondered what kind of puzzle this would be for.

"Now, this is not a puzzle," said Toriel, diminishing my last thought. "I figured, though, that as a human living in the Underground, you might be attacked by monsters that do not understand your presence here. If this happens, I wish for you to be prepared. But, worry not! This is more simple than you may have thought." She looked down at me, then continued: "When a monster approaches you, they may engage a fight. But, remember… Monsters are not enemies! While you are in an encounter, strike up a friendly conversation! If you stall for time by doing this, I will come and resolve the conflict." She walked further into the room and pointed to the mannequin. "Try talking to this dummy as practice."

I hesitated, then slowly approached the stuffed monster. I looked at its tiny, button eyes for a moment, then chuckled and glanced at Toriel. "This seems kind of silly."

"I know, my child, but I just want to make sure you are comfortable when a situation like this comes to pass. I need to know that it will not be hard for either you or the monster you come across."

I looked at the dummy again. Gently, I touched its nose in curiosity. To my surprise, those strange flashes came again, and the glow from under my sweater came back in that unmistakable heart-shape. I stared at it, alarmed. Was Flowey here again?

"Is this new to you, child?" Toriel asked, seeing my surprised expression.

"N-no…" I said quietly. "It just startled me. I-it happened when that flower tried to hurt me."

"Oh, do not fear it. It is your own Soul. It will be shown every time you enter an encounter," she explained. "I have seen it happen once a long while ago. I know how it works, so do not worry. I can guide you if you need. Please tell me if you need help here."

I looked back at the dummy and sighed. The stick hanging at my side would be fun to beat it up with, I thought in a childish way.

Seeing my grip on the stick shift a bit, Toriel spoke, "Why don't you talk to it? Think of it as a friendly monster. You want to be friends with it, do you not?"

The dummy seemed to be looking at me expectantly. I cleared my throat. "H-hello, there. How are you doing today…?"

Obviously, it gave no response.

Toriel seemed happy with me, though. "There we are! Very good, my child!"

I smiled. Although it was silly to talk to an inanimate object, I no longer felt need for the stick in my hand. "Y-yeah."

"Why don't we move to the next room? There is another puzzle there." Toriel walked through the door behind her. I gave the dummy a friendly little pat before walking to join her, and I noticed that my glowing Soul vanished again.

Toriel watched me enter. "There is a puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?" With a giggle, she walked down a curved hall at the end of the room.

I blinked. Having not done a puzzle completely on my own before, I wasn't quite sure what to do. I looked around and found a sign. "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint," it read. I raised an eyebrow in question. Wanting to make Toriel happy with me, I looked around the room to see if I could figure it out. Although… Nothing was there. I stared at my surroundings for a moment longer before giving up. "Toriel…?" I called, walking down toward the hall. "I don't get i-"

Suddenly, the flashes came again, causing my Soul to appear. From behind one of the corners in the hallway, a strange looking frog jumped. It stopped in front of me, gazing upward at my face curiously. "A-a human…" it said in a croaky voice. I wasn't sure how I could understand it, but I knew for sure that it had spoken somehow.

This was my first true encounter. I froze up, nervous I might do something wrong. I considered calling for Toriel, but reconsidered. I decided to see what might happen. The frog monster glanced at my stick and looked a little scared. When I realized, I threw it behind me so I looked harmless.

"I-I'm sorry," I told it. "I don't want to hurt you."

The frog looked a little relieved, but didn't respond. I searched for more words, but they didn't come. Before anything else could happen between us, I heard footsteps come down the hall, and Toriel appeared from behind the frog. She ran up as soon as she saw what was happening.

"Oh! Shoo! Shoo! The child does not want to harm us, please do not feel frightened, Frogit!"

The frog monster, Frogit, apparently, glanced at the floor and hopped away with an intimidated ribbit. "Sorry, Toriel…"

"Quite alright, dear." She looked at me worriedly. "Did that Frogit hurt you, my child?"

I shook my head as the heart vanished yet again. "N-no, I'm alright."

Toriel sighed in relief. "Oh, good. I was worried. I am sorry, I thought I heard you call about the puzzle, but I figured you were on your way to me anyway, so I thought…" She shook her head. "No, I am sorry. I will be more careful in the future. Come, I will show you how the puzzle works."

I followed her down to the far end of the hall. In the room that lay through it, there was no open floor, but instead a field of spikes surrounded by a moat. The Ruins looked like they continued on the other side.

"This is the puzzle, but…" She put a claw to her chin in thought. Suddenly, she knelt down to my height. "Here, take my hand for a moment."

Still not fully sure if I should trust her or not, I hesitated, but then figured she seemed to have no intent to hurt me. I put my hand in hers again, and she gently held it as she began to walk toward the spikes. I was startled, but assumed she knew what she was doing. I understood as soon as she reached one section of the spikes, which retracted as soon as she was about to step on them. We continued walking in a strange pattern. Spikes shifted and clanked as we went. Actually, I began to recognise the pattern. It was in the shape of the pathway in the room before the hall! I nearly laughed at myself for not trying hard enough to get it.

When we reached the other side of the spike field, Toriel let go of my hand. "I think… puzzles might be too dangerous for now," she sighed with a soft smile. We walked through the next room was a very long hallway. We began walking in silence. A few seconds down the hall, Toriel spoke. "I just realized… I feel very bad for this… But I never asked your name, my child."

I looked up at her and hesitated. She noticed right away and looked worried. "What is it?"

"Well… To be honest…" I clutched my arm in embarrassment. "I've been teased about my name a lot back up there," I pointed upward, gesturing to my home. "So I kinda started keeping it to myself."

We reached the end of the hall and Toriel knelt down before me and gave a gentle smile. "Do not worry, I will not make fun of you, my child. I have known others that have special names, too."

I paused, nervous for a moment, then smiled in determination. "Well… I-I'm Frisk."

Toriel giggled, and at first I was offended, but then heard her say "That is a wonderful name!"

I perked up. "R-really?"

"Yes, it is. I really like it, child."

I laughed a little. "Ha ha…! Thank you."

Her face lit up suddenly. "My child… I had an idea," she said. "I must do something, but… I am afraid you must stay in this room until I return. It is too dangerous beyond here for you, for now." She perked up. "Ah! But I shall give you something to contact me with. A cell phone!"

She pulled a small device out of a well-hidden pocket in her dress. It was grey and looked to have a tiny, stubby antenna. Obviously, the world I came from was ahead with technology if this was what a normal phone in the Underground looked like. I took it and turned it over in my hand. Yes, it was quite old. My phone back home was way more advanced.

"I promise I will be back soon, my child," she said as she began walking toward the next door. "Be good and stay here where it's safe, will you not? I will help you through more of the Ruins when I return."

"Okay," I accepted obediently. "Thank you for the phone."

"Of course, small one," she giggled with a smile. "Be good!" With that, she exited through the door, and it shut - not all the way - with a slow creak.

I simply stood there for a moment. What should I do while she was gone? I decided to check out the phone. I looked down at it in my hands and tried to figure out how to activate it. It turned out to be a flip phone. With my knowledge of technology from the world above, I quickly figured out how to use it. There was nothing on it save for a single contact, labeled "Toriel". I took note of it but decided not to call yet.

The Ruins were silent. I decided to sit down and wait. Leaning against the wall, I absently played with the antenna of the phone. Thoughts crept into my mind. I realized that I should have asked Toriel how I could get home instead of following her into this strange place. My parents would be worried about me by now, and I had no way of contacting them because I had left my phone at home. In sudden realization, I snapped open the flip phone and speedily typed my home number. When I put the phone to my ear, I heard what sounded like a pre-record voice: "Sorry, the number you dialed cannot be reached. It is a surface phone, which cannot be contacted through the barrier's magic. Have a nice day." I hung up, defeated.

I continued sitting there. Another thought occurred to me, which I was surprised hadn't earlier. I think I had just gotten confirmation through the phone that I really was where I had feared when I woke up on the flowers. I had learned, when I was young, that thousands of years ago, monsters had lived with humans in harmony, up on the surface world. After a war (that I didn't remember much about), the humans banished the monsters to a place called the Underground, and sealed them there with a magic barrier. And by falling through that hole on Mount Ebott… I had ended up in that very place. I was trapped in the domain of monsters.

I shivered at the thought. There was no way I would be able to be down here for very long without getting attacked. The monsters would surely think I was to blame for their banishment. I sat in morbid silence for a few moments. Maybe, though, I could show them that I didn't want to hurt them. Then maybe they'd let me go without hurting me. I hoped for that to be true with all my heart… And all my Soul.