At first, there was nothing said between the trio. Emma just floated next to Lara with her head down. After a few more minutes, Flowey called out: "So? We´re listening."
Emma lifted her head.
"Oh sorry, I was just lost in my thoughts. Why I'm here, in this... form. Well, after the barrier was destroyed, all souls that were channeled for its destruction were released and sent back to their rightful owners. Monsters' souls went back into their bodies. Unfortunately, that didn't work for us human souls. Our bodies were buried after we died in a way that they were well preserved, but not well enough that we could live in them. Instead we manifested these spirit bodies."
"Hold on for a minute, I wanted to ask you that before: how and why did people die down here?" Lara asked. "I thought Monsters weren't killers? Was it one of the Underground dangers Flowey mentioned? Did you die because of icicles?"
Emma gave Lara an odd look, but then shook her head.
"No, we didn't die because of natural causes. Me and the others… we were killed. Tho I can assure you that Monsters are actually really nice, I made many Monster friends when I was alive. But after all this time down here, they became desperate. They finally wanted to be free. And the only way was to collect seven human souls and use their power to destroy the barrier. That's why the Monster king, Asgore, and his guard agreed to hunt down every human down here and collect their souls." When Emma said this, a strong panic rose in Lara.
What if she… but before the human girl could finish the fear filled thought, Emma continued: "But then they found a way to bundle all the monster souls underground, which together were then as strong as a human soul. With the six already existing human souls, the barrier was destroyed."
"So all the humans who fell down here are like you now?" Flowey asked.
"Exactly. Me, Klyde, Lizzie, John ...Simon… and Emily are all now ghosts."
Lara felt relief when she didn't hear the name of Frisk… wait a minute! But didn't that mean that her lead was wrong and that she went for Mt. Ebott for nothing? Well, Lara would have to take care of that once she was back on the surface. After a few more silent minutes, Lara's eyes fell on Emma's light blue soul.
"Hey Emma, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Flowey said that human souls represent a certain trait depending on their color. What trait does your soul have?"
"Light blue or cyan represents patience. Always wait for the right moment to react. What color is your soul Lara?"
"Eh, yeah... about that… apparently I am an anomaly if we go after Flowey?" Emma looked at her confused. Lara showed her soul. Flowey tried and failed to stifle a laugh as Emma jumped back in surprise and disappeared into the wall behind her. Shortly afterwards she reappeared.
"Okay, I didn't expect that. I've never heard of a white soul." Emma turned to Lara: "I hope my reaction didn't make you uncomfortable."
"No, it's fine. But I have one more question. Why does your soul shine much brighter than mine? Is your soul trait more powerful than mine?"
"No, it's not that. It is that your soul is very weak at the beginning. Different things can make it stronger. The easiest way would be to collect LV. or LOVE. Uh, but I hope you don't have to worry about that."
"Why?" Lara asked. "Isn't LOVE supposed to be something good?" Emma shook her head and replied: "No, not love. LOVE. LOVE is an acronym. It stands for level of violence. A way to measure the willingness to kill. LV. increases when you injure or even kill someone."
"Oh... I... that sounds messed up. But I wont be any trouble, I promise", Lara said.
"I didn't think you would be, Lara. Most people aren't killer material. But you should better know, accidents happen easily with Monsters. Remember that in the case we meet any down here, no matter how unlikely it is."
"Emma, what do you mean by that?"
The spirits face become solemn. Flowey answered instead: "Monster, unlike humans, posses more magic than physical matter. They are very vulnerable to a well placed attack form a human. You could kill a weak Monster… by doing nothing more than push them towards the ground."
The way Flowey said that sentence, and the content of what was said itself, sent an icy shiver down Lara's spine. The idea that someone could easily be killed by accident was pretty terrifying. Lara vowed to careful as possible around Flowey and other potential Monsters.
But there was also something else that made Lara uneasy.
"Emma, did you…?"
"WHAT? Oh god no! I thankfully managed to either avoid conflict or resolve them peacefully." Her voice became shaky. "I would never do something that could remotely harm someone. I would never…"
The ghost girl became very quit. She hugged herself and had a conflicted look on her face.
Lara asked her what was wrong, but Emma just avoided eye contact and didn't answer to any of the other girls questions.
"Just leave her alone for now", said Flowey and continued to lead them trough the ruins. And even tough the girl with the white soul listened to her new flowery friend, she couldn't help but give the cyan ghost some side glances. What was Emma hiding that could upset her so much?
After solving a few more restarted puzzles, the trio reached the end of the ruins.
It was a quiet courtyard. A tree grew out of its ground. The earth was covered with its red fallen leaves. At the end of the courtyard was a house. In contrast to the rest of the ruins, it looked very new and well maintained.
"Does anyone live here?" Lara asked.
"Recently yes," Flowey replied.
"Who?"
"Toriel," Emma answered. It was the first thing the cyan ghost said since the talk about LOVE went kinda sideways. "She was Asgore's wife before she left him when he declared war on humanity. She moved into the ruins to help the humans who fell down here. When I landed here, I sustained a serious head injury. Toriel found me, nursed me back to health, and took care of me. She was like a second m-mother to me." Emma's voice trembled at the word 'mother'. Then she continued, "Toriel wanted to keep me from traveling through the rest of the Underground. She wanted to protect me from the other Monsters. But I continued with my journey because I still had things to do. Even though I died, I don't regret leaving her. I experienced many great moments and even made friends on my journey through the Underground. And as a ghost I found someone…" She interrupted herself. „Well enough about me. Let's go in."
She tried to give the others a smile, even tough it didn't reach her eyes. Lara opened her mouth to ask again what was wrong, but the spirit just flew into the house. The human girl looked at Flowey but the flower just gave her a look that said: If I had shoulders, I would shrug them.
So they decided to just follow Emma and enter the house.
It had a very homely feeling to it. It was comfortably furnished and the walls were painted in warm tones. Lara looked around with wide eyes.
"Man I wish I could live in something like that."
Flowey, who himself had examined everything deep in thoughts, turned to Lara.
"What? Did you say something?"
"No nothing", said the girl a bit defensively. Flowey noticed but decided not to say anything about it.
The flower led Lara to a bedroom and then went for a search of Emma and a medicine kit.
Lara decided to sit down on the bed, while holding her injured hand closely to her. After a while she thought:
This is really happening. I'm sitting in an underground house waiting for a ghost and a talking flower to fix me for hurting my hand on a riddle involving spikes and piranhas. My life has always been a bit unusual, but this definitely tops it all. Heh... it's almost like one of those fantasy adventures I dreamed up when I was a little kid.
She looked at her hand. Blood trickled between the improvised bandages. But this is real. I can get hurt. I'm already hurt. Thank god, Flowey and Emma found me, I don't know what else I would have done.
... I wish you were here, I'm sure it would be great to share this adventure with you. You have always loved exploring… Frisk. I just hope…
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Emma and Flowey. The latter dragged a medicine case into the room with his vines.
"We got everything we need." The flower looked at Emma. "Now tell me what I need to do."
The ghost girl waited while Lara removed her makeshift bandage and held out her injured hand to Flowey. Then, as before, she dictated how to properly disinfect the wound and apply the bandage. After that, Lara thanked the both of them.
"I am really glad for your help. I'd be completely lost if I was down here alone. So thank you for being there for me." She gave them both a smile. "You seem like really nice and helpful people."
Flowey looked very uncomfortable at the compliments, but tried to return Lara's smile. Emma, on the other hand, clenched her fists and looked down.
Without her really realising, she shook her head while mumbling: "No I'm not. What the hell was I doing when…" The cyan ghost realized that she was speaking her thoughts out loud and that Lara and Flowey were looking at her.
"Emma whats wrong?"
Embarrassed she turned away from them, her ghostly body stiffening. "It doesn't matter."
Lara got up from the bed and took a few steps towards Emma.
"Look, I know it's not my businesses, but you've helped me a lot. If I can help you with whatever is bothering you then..."
"IT'S NOTHING," screamed the ghost, making the other girl flinch. Her reaction caused Emma's face to become apologetic. She added in a more quit tone: "Sorry for shouting. It's just your words… they remind me of…" Emma shook her head again. Her voice took on a shaky tone: "I need a moment for myself." With these words she floated out of the room.
Lara looked at Flowey. "Do you know whats bothering her?"
"No, I know Emma, but not on a personal level. I've seen her a few times while she was alive Underground. She did have episodes like this from time to time, but I was never able to find out exactly what was causing them. I suspect she's trying to suppress something."
"Suppress something", Lara whispered softly to herself. She started walking after Emma.
"Where are you going?" Flowey called after her.
"What do you think, I want to know what's going on with Emma."
Flowey gave her a critical look. "Didn't you say that you shouldn't just tell everyone everything?"
"I know, but..." Lara sighed. "I also know that you shouldn't just suppress things. If someone is not comfortable, which Emma definitely isn't, then you shouldn't leave that person alone."
Flowey opened his mouth. Then closed it again. He thought about Lara's words. He remembered days when Chara had been extremely closed off, with a haunted look in her face, and then always acted extremely irritated. He had always left her alone because of that. But if his new state had taught him anything, it was that Chara´s and his friendship hadn't been the best and there were many things they both could have been done better.
"I guess you're right. We better should check on Emma."
The duo split up and searched the house. They searched Toriel's old home for any sign of the ghost girl, but couldn't find her.
"If she´s not up here, then she must be in the basement," Flowey said, nodding towards a long set of stairs. Lara climbed them down while Flowey grew out in the desired spot. They reached a long floor and saw something glowing behind a corner. As the duo rounded the corner, they entered a small, square room. At the end of the room was a large stone door. In front of it stood Emma, looking downwards and her arms wrapped around her body. Her soul was shaking inside her ghostly body.
"Why always so urgent, so hectic? Why couldn't he just be quiet for once. Why didn't I get... what are you two doing here? I told you I want to be alone."
"Emma, whats wrong?" Flowey asked. Emma turned her back on them. "Nothing´s wrong, I'm fine. Now leave me alone."
"You're definitely not fine. Something is bothering you, worrying you. Can I do something for you?" Lara asked in a concerned voice.
"Leave me alone," Emma repeated.
"No, if I leave you alone, your problem will eat away at you even more. Let me…"
"Leave. Me. Alone!" A wall of blue glowing knives formed in front of Lara and flew towards her.
"Don't move!" Flowey yelled. His voice sounded so urgent that Lara obeyed. That, and because she freezed up a little as she suddenly saw these blades coming towards her. She stood still, so the knives just flew through her without doing any damage.
What the… how did… you know what, doesn't matter now.
After she had recovered from her shock, Lara took a few more steps towards Emma. Another knife wall. Lara stopped again and the knives flew through her again without causing the slightest damage.
"Emma let me help you."
"Stop bothering me. Why can't you wait until it's over. I need time for myself to process it!" Three knives whirled towards Lara. This time they were made of a white energy.
If they are a different color means that they have a different effect, she thought to herself. Lara ducked under the attack. "Good," Flowey exclaimed.
Okay, blue means don't move and white should be avoided completely. A line of white knives came flying at knee height. Lara managed to jump over them. Flowey, on the other hand, who was right behind her, was nearly decapitated.
"Dammit! Stop it Emma! You're going to kill us!" he shouted. Emma's attacks stopped briefly. Lara used the moment and went closer to her. "We just want to help you. We don't want to bother you, but if you don't talk, the problem will only weigh on you more and more. Some things just can't be waited to be over. Sometimes you have to act immediately. Believe me… I know."
Lara's words had an effect. Emma's posture loosened, she slowly raised her head and turned around. She seemed very depressed and tired. Tears glistened in her eyes. "I... I'm sorry. I don't know what had gotten into me."
Sighing loudly, she hovered cross-legged over the floor. "I think... the memories just overwhelmed me. Again."
Lara sat down next to Emma and asked her what was wrong. The addressed summoned a white knife. For a moment, Lara worried about being stabbed, but Emma just started scratching marks on the ground with the blade, lost in thought. Then she said: "Do you want to know why I climbed on Mt. Ebott and jumped down here?" Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "When I was ten, my mother got cancer. It was bad. The whole time she was in the hospital. My father worked all the time, he rarely came home. I think that was how he tried to distract himself from his worries. Me and my little brother were pretty much alone. I tried to take care of everything but it was just so much. My brother always asked me what would happen now, with mom, with us. I couldn't answer. Couldn't tell him she would most likely die. I wanted to do something, wanted to help in some way. I always tried my best to help others. But in this situation I just couldn't do anything. Nothing at all! I waited and hoped things would get better. But no. It didn't come to that. Dad was becoming more and more distant from his family, Mom's condition was getting worse and my brother was becoming more and more helpless because he just didn't understand what was going on! I couldn't take his helpless, confused looks and constant questions anymore. At some point I just couldn't take anything anymore! It became too much. I ran away from home and ended up here. I was too weak and cowardly to help my family. I have never done any harm down here. But on the surface… once I fell into the ruins, I wanted to go back and face my mistakes. But I died. I died knowing that I had disappointed my family. Then I came back as a ghost. But I still can't do anything. I'm too scared of what would await me on the surface. And so I stayed here because I'm too afraid."
Lara and Flowey were silent. Neither of them really knew what to say. Lara would have liked to give Emma a comforting hug, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. Finally she said, "I'm sorry for what you've had to go through. But don't blame yourself for everything. As you said yourself, you couldn't really do anything. You could only endure the consequences."
"No, I couldn't. Otherwise I wouldn't have run away. I was too weak."
Lara shook her head. "You´re not weak. It had just been too much for someone our age to take. I don't want to seem mean, but your father shouldn't have left you alone. He was suffering, but so was you and your brother. Parents... Parents shouldn't just leave their children alone."
Emma didn't say anything. She just sniffed.
"Look what happened happened. You can't change the past. But now you have a chance to find out what happened to your family. And you should use this chance." Emma looked sadly into Lara's eyes. "But I don't feel ready to see what's going on with my family."
Lara gave her an encouraging smile. "Do it when you feel ready. Until then, join me and Flowey. We could help each other. We could leave the Underground together. And if you're still scared, I'll help you meet up with your family."
"You would do that for me?"
"Yes, I will."
Emma wiped away a few tears. "Thank you. Thank you for being so patient with me."
"You're welcome. But please promise me never to do that knife thing again."
"Sorry. I've only had this magic since I became a ghost and I can't really control it yet."
"So that was actual magic? How did you get it?"
"Well, I think…"
They were interrupted by Lara's stomach growling loudly. She blushed.
"I'm sorry. I haven't... eaten in a while."
"I bet Toriel must have left something here. We can find you something to eat and I'll tell you a little about my experience, Lara."
"Yeah you're gonna need the power for the rest of the Underground," Flowey said.
"I guess you're right."
While the trio went upstairs to search for some food for Lara, said girl wondred what else would happen on her travel under Mt. Ebott.