Toriel lead them down a long violet hallway. Mary found herself missing the warm, inviting feeling of the house within minutes, and hoped that it wouldn't take long to reach their new destination.
"How long is this frickin' hallway?"
At least there was plenty to distract her in the mean time. Chara's complaint echoed slightly, and the child squirmed in Toriel's grip. The goat woman remained unfazed.
"Patience young one, we're almost there." The group turned a corner. "See? The doors are just up ahead."
A large pair of wooden doors stood at the end of the hallway. As they approached, Toriel shifted the human she carried to free up one of her arms. She ran a furry hand down the center crease of the doors before pushing against them. There was a barely audible thrum and both doors started to drift open. Mary bounced on her feet and tried to look around the tall monster, eager for her first view of what existed outside the Ruins. A laugh came from beside her.
"We're not going outside just yet Mary." Asriel said.
Mary deflated a bit and stopped bouncing. Still, she was quick to follow Toriel through the doors once they opened completely. The scene before them made Mary think of the room she had first woken up in. Most of the room was dark but there was a single circle of sunlight near the center of the room. The spotlight illuminated a patch of grass, upon which sat something Mary had never seen before. It looked sort of like a table, with metal legs and a wooden top. It was too short to really serve as one though, and most tables didn't have connected legs, or tops that tilted upward on one end, or came with ropes attached. Her curiosity about the object was strong enough that Mary ignored her desire to run over and bask in the sunlight in favor of examining it.
"Wow, a sled! That's clever Mom. When did you get one?"
"I sent a migosp to fetch it from town last night. He seemed delighted at the idea of staying up so late."
Toriel continued to talk as she set Chara down on wooden surface. Mary didn't register the words though, because she was stuck on what Asriel had said. A 'sled', some of her story books and mentioned sleds. Sleds were used for going down big hills covered in-
Realization struck Mary. Ignoring the shouts of her companions, Mary ran to the only other doors in the room. The double doors were too heavy for her to open them both, but her burst of excitement gave her the strength to move one of them. Mary gasped in awe at what she saw.
Snow! She'd never seen snow, just read about it in her books, but that's what this had to be. Nearly everything was covered in a white powder that seemed to glow in the low light of the Underground. Her gaze darted around, taking it all in, from the barren trees to the snow that just managed to cover her shoes. She noticed that some of the white power glittered when she looked at it just right, and that sparkle was reflected in her own eyes when her imagination took hold. The snow held the imprint of her feet when she took a few steps, so she could use to draw little pictures, or make big designs that could only be seen from the treetops! She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, wondering if it would stick together like clay or shift around like dust. She packed and poked it experimentally, and was utterly delighted when it managed to do both under the right circumstances. If she was careful enough, she could probably make sculptures out of it.
The sound of the doors opening broke Mary out of her reverie. She clutched the ball of packed snow to her chest and turned around with a smile so big it was starting to make her face hurt.
"My child! Please do not go running off on your own, you could get hurt."
"Yeah, with the way you ran out here you'd think you'd never seen snow before." Asriel said with a laugh.
"I haven't." She said quietly, almost reverently. The goat boy's eyes widened and his jaw went a little slack.
"Really?" Chara asked in disbelief. They were now settled on the sled, their feet forward and their back supported by the inclined end. The ends of the rope were attached to the metal by their feet, and Toriel held the middle of the rope in her hand so she could pull the child along.
"No, not ever! But it's so amazing! It sticks to everything and it's like dust and clay at the same time and it's so sparkly and I wanna make stuff with it!"
Toriel, who before had been nearly as surprised as her son, suddenly looked mischievous.
"I see, so you've discovered that snow it pretty cool." There was a beat of silence, before Asriel gripped the base of his ears and wailed.
"Mooooom! Dooon't!"
"Come now Asriel, don't be so cold just because of a silly little joke."
"Mom!"
"Icy was you did there." Chara commented with a sly grin.
"Not you too! Mary!" He turned to the blond. "You've gotta help me! If you join me they can't take the majority and we'll be able to stand against them."
Mary stared at the three of them in confusion. She wasn't sure what, but she felt like she was missing something. She understood Asriel's request well enough, but how could she help him? She looked down at the snow in her hand. The next moment the little ball was sailing through the air and then disintegrating against Chara's chest. The two monsters snickered at the affronted look on Chara's face; then the human narrowed their eyes.
"Oh, it's on!"
Chara leaned over and scooped up a handful of snow. She quickly crushed it together and hurled it at Mary, who just managed to dodge it. Asriel laughed, but stopped when something cold and crumbly smacked his ear.
"Hey! What did I do?" He demanded to a smirking Chara. To the boy's surprise, his mother also smiled.
"I do believe it was you who organized the teams Asriel."
From there, things quickly developed into a whirlwind of laughter and flying snow. Mary and Asriel both took cover in the trees, each taking their own shots and covering each other when one of them ran out of ammo. Toriel and Chara took a different approach. The goat woman hunkered down next to the sled and focused on making snowballs while Chara threw them. It was a surprisingly good system, since Chara was hardly ever without something to throw. Even when Asriel and Mary tag teamed them the two children had a hard time taking them on, especially since Chara was amazingly accurate.
Toriel eventually called the game to a close, saying that they had to get going if they wanted to reach town before it got too late. Though the suddenness of the stop might have had something to do with the fact that Chara kept 'forgetting' about Toriel's 'no head shots' rule. The children gradually came down from their exercise high as the group made their way down the snowy trail; Toriel in the lead pulling Chara with Asriel and Mary strolling behind the sled. Mary couldn't remember the last time she had felt so genuinely satisfied. Her mood hadn't even been dampened when Toriel stopped her from making a snow angel, the goat woman saying that much friction could irritate her burns. Mary's skin was starting to feel itchy again, so she had gone along with it.
"You're really lucky to have a Mom as great as Toriel." Mary commented quietly. She saw Chara nod slightly.
"I know." Asriel replied, gazing at his mother's back with clear affection. Mary felt that pang in her chest again, and looked away. "So what are you're own parents like?"
"None of your business." Chara immediately responded. Asriel looked taken aback, but did his best to hide it.
"Oh, okay, that's fair enough, I guess. What about you Mary?" He noticed her looking away from everyone. "Mary?" No response. "You don't have to talk about it..."
"I...it's just that, I've never really had a mother. I had a father...but he's been gone for a while now."
"Golly, I'm sorry Mary." The girl gave a little shrug, suddenly lacking the energy to do much more. The group fell silent. After a minute of contemplation, Asriel came up with a question. He took another minute to bolster his courage before voicing it.
"So, if you're parents weren't around, who was taking care of you?"
"Well, I had siblings, in a way."
"Oh, okay."
Throughout this entire exchange, Toriel stayed quiet and didn't let on that she could hear their conversation.
"What's that little wooden building for?"
The long silence after Mary's revelation made her eager to come up with a new topic of conversation. As much as she enjoyed just taking in the beautiful landscape around her, Mary had also had enough silence to last her a lifetime.
"That is one of the sentry stations for the Royal Guard. I know we haven't seen much of anyone today, but there are actually quite a few monsters that live in this area. So members of the Royal Guard are stationed at different points, to be available if anyone needs them."
"Their like the police then." Chara commented.
To be honest, Mary understood the concept of a royal guards much better than the idea of police. A lot of her fairy tale books had guards in them after all. She still nodded when Chara spoke though, not wanting to display her lack of knowledge. She filled her mind with unrelated questions instead of dwelling on it. Where were the monsters that lived here? And where was the guard if his station was here?
"Oh look, we've just caught him returning from a patrol." Toriel commented. Looking ahead, Mary could see a strangely shaped figure in the distance. As they got closer, she could tell that the person seemed to be covered in both metal and white fur. The strange shape was because the shield the guard carried was as tall as the guard himself, and a long sword stuck out from his hip to drag along the ground.
"You're guard is a dog?" Chara asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Asriel asked, his little brow furrowed in confusion.
"Dogs aren't sen-"
"Hi mister!" Mary interrupted whatever Chara had been about to say and ran up to the approaching guardsman. "I'm Mary. What's your name?"
The guard barked several times, short and sharp. Mary tilted her head, looking up at the guard in confusion. Thankfully the pair was saved from potential miscommunication by Toriel.
"I'm afraid that that language of dogs can be a bit hard to understand at first, my child; so let me introduce you. Mary, this is Lesser Dog. Lesser Dog, this is Mary. The child on the sled is named Chara, and you remember by son Asriel."
"Hi LD!" The boy called out.
Lesser dog yipped happily. Mary beamed and reached her hand up, but hesitated. Was it okay to pet a guard? The guards in her books were usually polite, but also pretty stiff. Would he get mad if she touched him? Lesser Dog answered that question before she could come up with the words to ask it. When he saw her hand reach up, he stretched his neck down so his head met her fingers. Mary jumped a little at the sudden movement, but soon she was giggling and scratching him behind the ears. Toriel watched them with fondness, while Asriel snickered at Chara's slack-jawed expression. They smacked his shoulder.
"How does that not hurt him?" They asked, bewildered.
"That's just how he is." Asriel said with a shrug. Chara didn't look satisfied but didn't question further. Asriel smirked then, and went up to pet Lesser Dog. The Guard's neck stretched out even further. As he pet the dog, Asriel looked over his shoulder. This time both he and Mary laughed when Chara's eyes bugged out.
The guard's neck returned to normal when Toriel started to speak with him and explain where they were going. He barked at her a few times, and she started to protest something.
"Oh no, that's really not necessary."
More barking.
"We'll be fine on our own, and I wouldn't want to take you away from your post."
The most barking.
"Well, I suppose we would get there quicker that way, which would be best for the children. Very well then." Lesser Dog yipped and bounded down the trail ahead of them.
"What was that all about?" Chara asked when they began to follow him.
"LD is going to escort us to Snowdin, right Mom?"
"That's right my son, you're dog speak is improving greatly!" Asriel's blush was just visible through is fur.
Snowballs became popular once again. When Lesser Dog ran ahead to solve a puzzle for them he was often sidetracked by chasing after snowballs thrown by one of the children. He often didn't return with the same bit of snow they had thrown, but nobody minded too much.
After crossing what appeared to be a bridge (Mary knew a painting when she saw one), they finally reached their destination.
It was ironic, how a town built in a place so cold could feel so warm. A lovingly handmade banner welcomed them to the town; it was a fine prequel to the main street. Light spilled out from the windows of small building, encouraging any who passed by to come closer and say hello. The people that walked the single street turned that encouragement into outright invitation. The multitude of monsters that were out and about greeted them with a smile and conversation the moment the group came into sight. The simple design of the buildings and linear layout of the town could have been boring, but when combined with the monster's friendliness it became cozy.
Toriel must have been someone well known, Mary now realized, because once word got around that she was there the group amassed a crowd of monsters. The monsters greeted the goat woman warmly and they all had different questions to ask her. It was when they were just outside of a place called 'Grillby's' that the group could move no further due to the crowd. It was at this same point that Toriel adopted a look similar to the exasperated amusement she'd shown Asriel, and decided to stop for a while and talk to everyone. Asriel stood beside her, straightening up and doing his best to look important.
Mary gazed at the group with wide-eyed fascination. It wasn't until she saw this, a thriving town with a variety of talkative monsters, that it truly sunk it that Mary was in a new world. The Ruins, while of course being different from the gallery, had shared many similarities to her place of origin. It was small, there were puzzles, and the majority of its residents couldn't hold a conversation well. But now there was a whole town full of creatures that were just like her, aside from appearance.
When she was in the gallery, she'd read every storybook there was available to her. When she ran out she started making up her own stories. She came up with wondrous back stories for herself and the painting characters, and amazing adventures she could go on with them. But now she wouldn't have to rely on imagination for everything. These were real people here! They had lives and stories and adventures of their own, and she wanted to hear all about them!
While Mary had her revelation, Chara was peering into the the nearby building. Their sled had been left right by windows, and it didn't take long for them to grow tired of watching the crowd. The bar like interior was pretty empty, most likely because everyone was outside talking to Toriel, but there was one monster still inside. Taking in the monster's form, Chara's lips curled into a malicious smirk. She wiped it off before turning away from the window.
"Hey Mary?" They called out. The girl turned to them, looking slightly dazed. "I'm really thirsty, but I don't wanna bother Toriel when she has so many people to talk to. I'm pretty sure this place is a restaurant though, could you run in and see if they have any water?"
"Uh, sure." Mary reluctantly agreed. She didn't want to miss what was happening, but she also didn't want to make Chara mad at her. Mary walked up the short flight of steps and knocked twice on the door before pushing it open. There was a small jingle as she stepped inside. She didn't get more then a couple steps in before she noticed the monster standing behind the counter. She froze, taking in the white eyes and the flickering flames that surrounded them.
A moment later a scream erupted from within Grillby's. Mary burst out of the door, still screaming, and ran to Chara. She fell to her knees and threw her arms around the human, crying and burying her face in their chest.
"What the- hey!" Chara wriggled in Mary's grip. The girl just held tighter, her scream having dissolved into trembling sobs.
"My child! Mary what's wrong?"
Toriel was there, kneeling next to the pair and running a soothing paw across Mary's back. The jingle of a bell caused Toriel to look up. She saw the restaurant owner, a flame monster named Grillby, standing hesitantly in the doorway. Well, that explained a lot. She waved him back inside; he nodded and disappeared.
"Mary, dear, let's get out of the cold for a while alright?" She tried to gently pry Mary off of Chara, but the girl's grip just tightened further. She also started murmuring something, but Toriel couldn't hear what she was saying. "Very well, how about we compromise. You can sit here on the sled with Chara, and Asriel will bring you to a safe place, alright?"
Mary didn't say anything, but she moved to sit on the edge of the sled. Toriel took it as acceptance.
"Asriel, dear, please take them to the library. I'll join you in a few minutes."
"Okay Mom."
Asriel took the rope and began to tow the sled toward the brick building across the road. Once the children were far enough away, Toriel let out a heavy sigh and turned to address the concerned group of monsters.
After seeing the man of fire, Mary had a hard time remembering her surroundings. Some part of her brain managed to guide her back to the last friend she'd talked to, but everything else was a blur. Memories of heat, pain, and nothingness consumed her.
She became aware of a voice speaking to her, and she tried to clamp onto it like before. But two words resonated within her, and sent her reeling back into her memories.
"what's wrong?"
The voice that spoke and the voice she heard were not the same.
"What's wrong? Whaaat's wrrrooonnnggg? Mary's wrong, all wrong, wrong wrong wrong."
Mary wasn't sure how loud she was speaking, or if she was even speaking at all. She felt something try to pull her away from her friend, but she resisted and tightened her grip.
"No, no, said we'd be together, don't leave, want to be together." Mary murmured into her friend's coat.
The voice spoke again, and this time Mary was able to grasp it a little better. It was enough for her to understand that doing what the voice said meant that Mary wouldn't have to leave her friend, so she complied. She felt herself moving, but without the voice to distract her she slipped back into her frenzied thoughts.
'Why couldn't you have been good?! Their going to leave you forever!'
"It's dangerous to stay with her."
"What are you doing Mary?!"
'Father! Don't leave me!'
'bad girl, bad girl...'
"Mary?"
Asriel's voice broke through once again.
"Mary, we're inside now, away from all the other monsters. It's okay now please...don't cry."
Mary finally moved, tilting her head up. They were in a place with lots of books. Books were good, she liked books. Her eyes drifted to the left, where she'd heard Asriel's voice come from. He stood between the sled and a tall counter, tugging on his ear with one hand and using the other to grip his sweater.
Still hiccuping with sobs, Mary reached out and took the hand Asriel had clenched in his shirt. She held it tightly, and looked into his worried eyes.
"D-don't leave." She managed to say.
"Okay, okay I won't." Asriel assured her, shifting his hand so the grip was mutual. They stayed like that for several minutes, quietly waiting for their guardian to return and Mary's cries to silence. The latter had almost happened by the time the former did.
Toriel entered the library braced for the worst. She was relieved to find Mary wasn't crying her eyes out anymore, but could tell the child hadn't completely recovered from their panic. Toriel sat cross-legged on the floor beside Asriel, and gave Mary a kind smile.
"Hello my child, how are you feeling?"
"Bit better." she mumbled. "I'm sorry."
"Whatever for?"
"I...I was bad. I scared all the other monsters and- and I probably embarrassed you, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was bad." Mary looked to be on the verge of tears again. Toriel shushed her and opened her arms in invitation. It took Mary a minute to decide, but she disentangled herself from Chara and Asriel and went to sit in Toriel's lap, gripping Toriel's coat the moment she was settled. The mother wrapped her arms around Mary, strong and protective.
"You aren't bad Mary, not for this. You didn't scare the other monsters, they were just worried about you. They thought you might be hurt, and they were all very understanding after I talked to them. Plus, it takes a lot more than a loud child to embarrass me." She ruffled Mary's hair a bit, and the girl let out a breathy giggle. "You aren't bad, you just need a little help, and I will provide as much as I can."
"Me too!" Asriel said earnestly, and Mary gave him a watery smile.
Chara sat silently, watching the scene. No one noticed how their lips quirked up into a little smug smirk.
A.N.
Well, that chapter became a bit of an emotional roller coaster.
I tried to make some reference to the meaning of Mary's soul color in this chapter. As pixys on AO3 suggested, her soul trait is IMAGINATION. I like to think that the soul colors represent the trait that has helped a person most in getting through life's struggles. For Mary's trait I flip flopped between Hope and Creativity for quite a while, but then decided that Imagination embodied the best of both traits.
Here is the image reference I used for the sled. Just imagine it with some simple metal runners and the ropes on the other end and you'll have an idea of what I was going for in the story.
wiki/Sledding#/media/File:Wooden_ (tag it onto the end of wikipedia's main site)
Also, someone did lyrics to Mary's theme from the game. Listening to them helped inspire the way I write Mary. Here's the end of the youtube link: watch?v=989srijf4OA&app=desktop
Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thanks so much for reading!