On her way to her resting place, Lady considered the conversation between herself and Toriel. Surely her friend knew that Frisk, sweet as he seemed, wouldn't want to be trapped in the ruins forever? Being half human herself, Lady knew that humans and captivity didn't mix well, no matter how good the intent of the captor. As much as Frisk might've liked Toriel, Lady somehow doubted that the female monster could keep frisk cooped up for long. Maybe if She and Tori talked it out in the morning some more, her friend would see reason. Just then, Lady was jarred from her thoughts by a "thud" noise. Instinctively, she turned invisible and went to investigate. She saw that it was only Frisk, Messing with the books. Lady was almost about to turn visible and ask how he was doing in his explorations, when Frisk suddenly left for the living room. Curious what he was up to, Lady decided to stay invisible and follow him. Frisk walked up to Toriel, who was sitting by the fireplace reading a book called "Phantoms: The white owl", and Frisk asked "When can I go home?"
"Silly child, you are home. The ruins are your home now, you are safe here with us." Toriel responded gently, but her response only seemed to bother Frisk.
"But when can I go back to the word above?" he asked.
"I'm afraid you can't return my child. The great barrier keeps us all inside, humans and monsters alike. Many have tried to cross, but all attempts have ended in tragedy and suffering. It's best you forget about the other world." Toriel said.
Frisk's expression became determined. "No, I won't believe it. There has to be a good way to get back." he said.
"It is a dangerous world child, and you would only get hurt in trying to leave it. Please stay here, Stay safe with me." Toriel pleaded desperately, her eyes becoming watery as they welled up with tears.
"I'm sorry, but I have to find a way back to my world. I have to return home." Frisk told Toriel sadly.
Toriel's expression became hard and sad. "I'm sorry child, but I grow weary, let us talk of this sadness no longer. Now please excuse me, I must go attend to some business." Toriel said, and put down her book, and left the room.
Lady saw the direction that Toriel was moving in, and she let out a faint gasp of realization. The main Tunnel! would her friend be desperate enough to take it out with her magic, even knowing that she herself would be as trapped as Frisk? Lady knew that her friend had once lost her own child, though she seldom mentioned him. Lady knew that Toriel would go to any length to prevent herself from suffering that kind of grief again and to protect Frisk. That settled it! Lady had to stop her friend from destroying the tunnel, before it was too late. Lady quickly raced after her friend and caught Toriel in the middle of the first part of the tunnel. Lady turned visible and called out to her friend "Tori stop! this isn't right! You can't destroy the tunnel, you'll be trapped here forever!"
"It's a sacrifice that I'm willing to make to keep him safe! I can't lose him, not again! now please, go away!" Toriel said, and began to run to the end of the tunnel.
Lady took off after Toriel, and hoped that she could make it in time. the women finally reached the tunnel's end. "Tori your'e my friend but I can't let you do this! Frisk needs to be free!" Lady exclaimed.
"He needs to be protected! That's why I'm doing this!" Toriel protested.
"Um, don't I get a say in this?" Frisk asked.
both Lady and Toriel blushed as they realized that Frisk was standing a short way behind them in the tunnel. "Frisk? how long have you been there?" Lady asked.
"Please go back upstairs child, Lady and I have matters to take care of." Toriel told Frisk.
"No. I'm tired of you two discussing what I'm gonna do without me. I know you've been talking about me behind my back. I know that I'm still young, but please, let me have my say." Frisk said.
"Sorry Frisk. I guess we got carried away. but what are you gonna do?"" Lady asked.
Frisk thought for a moment. "I'm gonna leave. I know it's dangerous, but I have to try to cross back to the world above." he finally said.
"No! I cannot allow this! If they find you, if Asgore finds you, He will kill you." Toriel said, and blocked the entrance.
"Not if I protect him." Lady said quietly.
"What?!" Toriel exclaimed, shocked by Lady's bold statement.
"I've saved my town, not to mention a bunch of universes multiple times. Also, I've fought more ghosts, monsters, and evil sorceresses that I care to count. If I go with Frisk, I'll be able to keep him safe and get him back to the world above." Lady said confidently.
"I have seen you use your powers before, and I do not know if they will be enough. So, Prove yourself." Toriel said, and prepared an attack.
Lady just barely put up her shield in time and doge Toriel's fiery blasts. Instinctively, she checked to make sure that Frisk was safely behind her, safe from their battle, which to her relief, he was. "Tori, I don't want to hurt you. you've been one of my only friends down here, and I wouldn't want to use my powers against you in some pointless violence. Please, for both our sakes, stop fighting." Lady said, desperately trying to hold back and not hurt her friend.
"No, in order to know if you are truly worthy of protecting Frisk, I shall continue to fight on. Friendship, respect, Loyalty. These I shall temporarily suspend to make sure that no monster kills another human again. Now fight me, dear friend. I have seen you use your powers, I know you cannot sustain your shield forever. Sooner or later, you shall have to act." Toriel pointed out, her expression hard.
Lady Frowned. Toriel was correct, and already, she could feel her shield beginning to weaken."Frisk, I know this is hard, but I don't want you to get hurt, so you're gonna have to be brave and trust me. When I say so, grab on to my hand and don't let go, Ok?" Lady told Frisk, and he nodded in understanding. "Okay, ready...Now!" Lady called out, and the moment she felt Frisk's hand holding hers, she dropped her hand and turned both herself and Frisk intangible.
Lady's Plan succeeded, sort of. "Wow, this is weird. what the? Hey, that fireball went right through me!" Frisk exclaimed, watching in wonder as a stray fireball phased straight trough him. Lady however, wasn't as lucky, as a Fireball attack grazed her shoulder, burning her slightly.
"Ow! What the? But I was intangible! hurting me should be impossible!" Lady exclaimed, staring at her shoulder in shock as her burn healed at a supernatural pace.
"I'm sorry, I never wanted to hurt you. Please stand down and return back upstairs and forget all of this. I know it is not much of a life, but we all have each other, and we've been a good family, we can still be a good family. Why are you making this so difficult?" Toriel asked sadly.
For a second, Lady wavered as she was tempted by Toriel's words, but then her expression became firm. "I'm sorry Tori. But I think I'm here for a reason; to protect Frisk and help him get back home. I can't just turn my back on that. I hate to do this, and it breaks my heart, but if I have to fight you, then so be it. I will try to end this as quickly and painlessly as possible." Lady said, and she began firing Ecto-blasts at Toriel's Fireballs, making sure that none of the blasts hit Toriel. "What can I do?" Lady thought "I don't want to hurt her, but I have to win this battle for Frisk.". Just then, Lady spied a medium sized rock on the ground behind Toriel, and she got an idea. "I've only got one shot at this, better make it count. " Lady thought, and she used her mildest blast and fired it directly at Toriel. To the monsters surprise, the force of the blast sent Toriel flying backwards and she tripped over the rock, falling to the ground and causing her to drop her guard. Lady pointed her hand at Toriel's head, it was glowing a radioactive green with Ecto energy." Do you yield?" Lady asked, and Expecting Toriel to say yes, Lady momentarily dropped her guard as she prepared to offer her friend a hand to help her up.
But for once, Toriel was Mad. While Lady's trick had only left her mildly bruised, it had also caused Toriel to lose her temper and most of her reason. " You... at my most vulnerable moment... To think that I was once worried you wouldn't make it out in there... Eheheheh! You really are no different than them! No. I shall not yield. And our battle is far from over." she said, and the temperature of the tunnel began to grow very hot. in a few seconds, Toriel was surrounded by fire, the shadows danced through the flames and made the kindly monster look very terrifying indeed. Toriel stood up, and the flames surrounding her began to glow white hot as she prepared her attack. Before Lady had a chance to do anything, Toriel fired at her in full force, and Lady was caught by the blast, which knocked her down.
As her wounds sealed themselves up again, Lady picked herself up off the ground. "That... that actually HURT." She said, and her expression turned dark. "You wanna bring out the big stuff? Fine." Lady said in a monstrous voice, and two black rings formed around her, and they traveled across her body, turning Lady into her Ultimate form, a nightmarish creature too horrible to put into words. She was just about to counter attack with all her power, to battle on with all her spirit, when Frisk's voice voice caught her attention, making her pause her onslaught.
"Please...STOP!" Frisk called out, tears streaming down his face. He had bravely/foolishly run in between Lady and Toriel, so that niter of them could fight without risking hurting him.
"Frisk, get out of the way!" Lady and Toriel said in unison, both worried about Frisk's safety.
"No. I don't care if it means that I have to stay trapped in the ruins forever. I just don't want you to fight each other." Frisk said.
"Frisk, are you sure about this? it's safe here, but if you stay, it's likely you'll never return home." Lady told him as she reverted to her normal form.
"Yes. I'm sure. Thanks for wanting to protect me though. Come on. Lets go back upstairs." Frisk said sadly, his head hanging low, and he began turn around and head back for the stairs.
Toriel took a hard look at Lady, and then one at Frisk, and her expression softened, and she powered down. She finally understood. "Stop. I am letting you go." she said.
"What?" Lady and Frisk both exclaimed.
"Ha Ha. Pathetic is it not? I cannot even save a single child. But No, I finally understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down there. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to be cooped up in a place like this. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my child... I will put them aside. Listen to me, young one... once you go beyond this door, Keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach an exit. ... Asgore... Do not let Asgore take your soul. His plan cannot be allowed to succeed. ... Be good, won't you?" Toriel said sadly.
Frisk nodded. "Yes mam." He said.
"If you wish, you may stay the night and gather supplies and recover. But once you leave, please don't come back. I shall be upstairs." Toriel said, and she left for the stairs.
"So, what should we do now?" Frisk asked.
Lady looked at the door, and then at the stairs. "If... If you don't mind, I'd like to stay in the ruins for the rest of tonight. That battle took quite a bit more out of me than I care to say, and I'd like to spend one last night in the ruins while I fully recover." Lady said.
Frisk nodded. " M'kay. I'm gonna turn in now. See you in the morning!" he said, and headed back upstairs, presumably to his room.
Lady decided to take a walk in the ruins, and take it all in before she left the next morning. As she visited her favorite pile of leaves outside of Tori's house, she felt a stinging sensation in her shoulder where Toriel's Fireball had grazed her. "No,no,no! Now is not the time for the underground's magic to be canceling out my powers! AArgh! come on! heal back up already!" Lady exclaimed in frustration and then she closed her eyes and concentrated. It was slow, but after a while she was able to access her ghostly powers and resume her healing. She had kept it a secret because she didn't want to worry Tori or Blookie, but something about the underground world had been messing with her ever since she arrived, and it was getting harder to keep her powers in check. If this kept up-. Lady stopped as she was abruptly brought back to reality by her ghost sense going off. And Lady could tell that it wasn't Napstablook this time. No, the one who had caused her sense to go off was far more sinister. She spun around to the direction the sensation had originated from, and faced down a flower with golden petals that was currently residing near the old oak tree. "You!" Lady growled as her eyes began to glow an angry Neon Green. Lady glared into the flower's evil eyes, and once more, she prepared for the fight of her afterlife.