This is set after a post-neutral run with use of a Reset. It'll make more sense as the chapters continue. We thank you for you feedback and hope you continue enjoying this little AU of ours!
Chapter Two
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"Welcome to your new home, innocent one." At that, Frisk frowned, looking up at Toriel. Well, that was a little funny. She already had a home. Why would Toriel say something like that? Toriel didn't seem to notice her expression, just continuing on to a new room with metal tiles in the floor - they almost looked like buttons - and a closed door. "Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins."
With that, Toriel was walking on four of the six tiles with practiced ease before walking over to a lever on the wall, pulling it down. A moment later and the door was opening, Toriel flashing Frisk a warm smile. "The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." Frisk nodded along with an understanding look, completely lost. She knew how to do puzzles, especially the ones with the cartoons on them. But that wasn't a puzzle. It was just...weird.
Toriel nodded, walking into the other room and making a motion for the young child to follow after her. Frisk gave a nod, starting to follow after, though she also started to wander towards the buttons. Curiously, she stepped on the other two that Toriel hadn't pressed, the tiles being pressed into the ground as Frisk waited for a reaction. But nothing happened. With a frown, the child hurried after Toriel, not eager to be left behind.
As soon as she was through the door, Toriel was speaking once more. "To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches." A small gesture to the wall where one of the switches was, bright yellow arrow marks drawn around it. Frisk looked towards the switches, giving a small sneeze as dust swirled around her. Toriel only looked startled for a moment before continuing, "Do not worry, I have labelled the ones that you need to flip." The child nodded, watching as Toriel walked a little ways away, right over a wooden bridge that had been built over a small, flowing river. Frisk started to follow after before she paused on the bridge.
Looking over the edge of the bridge, Frisk tilted her head as she looked into the small river below. With a small giggle, she hopped into the river, kicking her feet to splash around. "Oh, no, no, no, small one! You might get sick, that way." Toriel was bustling over and gently pulling Frisk out of the river, almost absently fretting over her wet socks and shoes, and the edges of her pants. "Oh dear...you seem alright. Yes, yes, you are quite fine. Perhaps you should try pulling the lever, now, yes? The first switch is over on the wall."
Though the girl pouted, she gave a small nod and ran over to the lever, taking a running leap at it. Her hands caught on the knob, and she pulled it down with a laugh. Toriel had to cover her mouth for a moment, hiding the giggle that almost came out because really. This small human was adorable! Frisk ran over to Toriel with a proud grin, bouncing on her toes. Nodding, Toriel smiled and ruffled the child's hair, walking over towards the second bridge and walking across it.
Looking DETERMINED, Frisk got a running start and jumped into the river, splashing around. Toriel looked startled before sighing and rushing over, pulling the child out of the water and nudging her towards the two new switches, "Go on, press the switch on the left."
Frisk looked towards the wall, seeing the two switches. Seeing one that wasn't labelled with bright yellow marks, she frowned and walked over, jumping to try and reach the switch. "No no no! You want to press the other switch. I even labelled it for you..." Nodding slowly, Frisk hopped to the other one and gave a great leap, dragging the lever down.
There was a dull click and then a rumbling around the room they were in, the spikes blocking the archway going down at once. Toriel was smiling greatly, looking very happy and proud. "Splendid! I am proud of you, little one..." There was a tiny cough, and a muttered comment that Frisk couldn't hear. "And the fact you could reach the levers."
Heading out of the room, Toriel made a motion to follow. "Come. Lettuce leaf this room." Frisk giggled, following after before pausing and looking to the lever she hadn't pulled. Running over she pulled it, waiting for something else to happen only to find out that the switch doesn't even work... Pouting, she crossed her arms and kicked at the ground, following after Toriel.
"Stupid dumb puzzles." Toriel slowed down enough to ruffle her hair again, looking rather amused and...almost fond.
"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple." Frisk looked over to the dummy in the room.
She tugged on Toriel's robe, pointing over to it. "Is that a monster?"
"No, but for the sake of the lesson, we shall pretend it is one," Toriel smiled, looking down at the girl. "When you-"
"What kind of a monster?"
"A...fuzzy one," Toriel finally said, nodding slowly. "Yes. A fuzzy monster."
Frisk wrinkled her nose at that, shaking her head. "But you're fuzzy. And fluffy."
"Ah, but notice I did not say fluffy, my child. I simply said fuzzy. While I am both, this Dummy is merely one. Understand?"
"Ohhh." Toriel smiled, pleased with herself and, yes. She still had it.
"Now, when you encounter a monster, you will enter a fight. While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict." Toriel gave another smile, a hand on the child's back as she nudged her towards the dummy encouragingly. "Practice talking to the dummy."
Frisk looked at the dummy, stepping a bit closer and blinking as her soul appeared in front of her, again. Toriel nodded at the glowing red heart that appeared in front of the child, bathing her in light before she walked to the door. She was sure the child would do well. She had already encountered the dummy, after all. Frisk looked up at the dummy, stepping back a small amount as it seemed to lean closer, shadow bearing down on her. Gulping, Frisk tried to slap at the dummy, missing by half a foot.
The dummy didn't even move, doing nothing but looking like it was going to fall over. Seeing that, Frisk tilted her head, stepping a bit closer to the dummy. Its cotton-stuffed head somewhat lolled to the side, its button eyes shining a bit in the light. It looked like the dummy didn't really wanna hurt her.
In response, the dummy only stood around absentmindedly. Frisk paused, nervously glancing back to Toriel. "Uh... Hi?"
"..." The dummy doesn't seem much for conversation. Toriel, however, seemed very happy from where she was by the door. Startled at seeing her soul disappear, Frisk looked back at the dummy, who looked the same as ever. It appeared as though she had won, although nothing about her changed at all, and there seemed to be nothing gained.
"Ah, very good! You are very good!" Toriel seemed pleased as could be, exiting the room with a bright smile in place. Frisk grinned brightly, bouncing after Toriel. "There is another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it?" As they walked across a room and through a hallway, Frisk's path was cut off by a frog-like creature. It looked like a Froggit. Either a Froggit, or a Bob, but Frisk was pretty sure it was a Froggit. When Frisk's soul appeared in front of her, she set her expression into one of DETERMINATION.
She looked the Froggit over, eyeing him before tilting her head. "I like your face." There was a pause, Froggit not looking to understand, but judging by the expression, he seemed rather flattered anyways. At that moment Toriel was glaring from behind, the Froggit looking nervous and slightly terrified before hopping off, Toriel nodding in satisfaction. Frisk grinned up at her excitedly. "Was that good?"
"You did wonderfully, my child," Toriel smiled, the look even more fond than before as she returned her attention to where they were. There was a door on the other side of the small pond, but between them and that, there was a large bed of spikes. "This is the puzzle, but... Here, take my hand for a moment." Looking at Toriel's hand, Frisk only paused for a moment before taking it and looking up at her curiously. Toriel smiled and began leading her across the spikes.
They walked in a certain way, Frisk noticing that the spikes retracted before popping back up once they were past them, Toriel hardly seeming to notice. Reaching the other side, she gave Frisk's hand a light squeeze before letting go. "Puzzles seem a little too dangerous, for now." Frisk stared down at her hand for a moment before looking back up to Toriel and nodding. Glancing over, she grinned as she noticed there was another river nearby.
Before she could hop into it, Toriel was gently scooping her up and carrying her into the next room, setting her down gently and patting her head. "You have done excellently thus far, my child. However... I have a difficult request to ask of you." A pause, Toriel seeming troubled for a moment. "...I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." At that, Toriel was walking off quickly, soon out of view.
Frisk watched for a moment. She'd come back. Of course she would. After a moment of Toriel not coming back, Frisk began to fidget and look around the room. Possibly seeing a flash of yellow out of the corner of her eye, she gave a scream and started running in the direction Toriel had walked off in. It was only a few running steps before she was tripping and scraping her knees against the stone walkway, giving a quiet sob and crying more.
Shaking more than a bit, there was a moment of silence before she was looking up with narrowed eyes, standing up with a bit of trouble and nodding, filled with DETERMINATION. That was right, if Toriel wanted her to walk to the end of the room by herself, then that was something she could do! She was DETERMINED! Without another glance back, Frisk was running to the end of the hall until she bumped into something soft, falling backwards on her rear. Confused, she looked up with a quiet sniff.
"Oh, there there, my child." Toriel was scooping Frisk up into a hug, nuzzling against her and warming her up from the cold that seemed to seep in from the Ruins constantly. "Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time." The monster was already wiping away her tears and checking over wounds, making sure she wasn't too bad off - even sticking a bandaid on a rather 'serious' one on her cheek. Frisk sniffled, leaning into the hug and rubbing at her cheek a bit.
"I- I thought I saw- I-" Toriel hushed her, rubbing her back and keeping her close for a few moments longer, letting the girl calm down before speaking again.
"Thank you for trusting me. I wish I did not have to put you through that, however, there was an important reason for this exercise. ...To test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while." With that, she was pressing a light kiss to Frisk's forehead, setting her down like she was something very fragile. "Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself." Frisk looked around the room before moving to sit, and giving Toriel a nod, looking completely trusting of her.
Toriel nodded, pausing a moment more. "I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call." With that, she was handing over a cell phone to the girl, a little skull charm attached to the keychain on it. "Be good, alright?"
Halfway out the door, she paused once more, glancing back to the girl with a tilt of her head. "Young one...what is your name?"
Frisk was toying with the charm a bit, not looking up as she gave a quiet hum. "Frisk."
"Frisk...a very lovely name." With that, Toriel was out of the room, leaving Frisk in the stone room with nothing but quiet wind blowing through. Nothing but a whisper of a sound. Looking down at the phone, Frisk slowly rose to standing before leaving the room. What was it that Toriel said? Stay in the Ruins?
Poking her head into the next room, Frisk looked around. Well, that looked like it was still the Ruins. So, it must have been okay! A few more steps and her phone was ringing with a cute little jingle. Answering it, Toriel's voice was coming through only a /bit/ static-y. "Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you?"
There was a long pause before Frisk looked back to the room. Well, there wasn't a door... "Nooo..."
"Good! There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?"
"Okay. Love you." Frisk hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket before wandering towards the nearby Froggit, tilting her head at him.
"Ribbit, ribbit." It almost seemed as though the ribbits were saying 'Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them... They might not want to battle you, anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please... Use some mercy, human.' "Ribbit." It was quite a bit to convey with a few ribbits.
Frisk gave a quiet giggle. "Ribbit." 'Newspaper.'
"...Ribbit." 'Human...are you well? Do I need to fetch someone for you? Is there something wrong, human?'
"Ribbit." 'Taxes.'
"Ribbit, ribbit." 'Ah, say no more. I completely understand. Have a fine day.' Frisk giggled again before bouncing off and seeing pile of leaves, grin widening as she ran over and jumped into them, scattering them about the room and air. Hearing the leaves crinkle under her feet, and watching them float to the ground, it filled Frisk with a sense of wonder and DETERMINATION.
Ribbit, ribbit.
(We hoped you enjoy this chapter.) (New ones shall be coming out rather soon and on as frequent a schedule as we can manage it.) (Also see how many game references you can spot.) (We're pretty good at word-for-word dialogue.)
It seems a lot to be conveyed in a few ribbits.
