Your village is beautiful!

It's okay, I guess.

Are these big metal things cars?

Yup.

They are so much bigger in real life.

The surface is a big place. We should be reaching the village center soon, that's where...

...

Are you okay Chara?

Yes... fine, thanks... lets just keep going...

Asriel awoke to the clatter of feet against stone and peeked above the surface; the square was packed with monsters. Without natural sunlight there was no way to tell how long he'd been asleep for... not that it mattered.

He pulled his head back down and began planning his rout. To reach Waterfall he would need to pass through Hotland, which was directly beneath a large part of the Capitol. The problem with Hotland was the "Hot" part. Open pits of lava were great for fire-like monsters... but not so much for a plant. He could burrow down there without a problem, but the risk of falling into one of these molten death-vats was a little too high for his liking. He wracked his brain for a solution...

When he'd had been alive a connection between the castle and Hotland had been a planned feature, so the land beneath would be safe... relatively speaking. He stretched out his roots and stem; even plants ached after sleeping in such confined spaces. It was the best plan he had, time to head out.

The rock which supported the castle was dense and there was very little of anything to navigate by. Traveling blind wouldn't be too much of a problem, all he had to do was keep heading downwards... but the deeper he dug, the more something felt off. Something faint that was becoming stronger, like interference. It was beginning to give him a headache so he retracted his magical nav-net and carried on without it.

Asriel vaguely noticed when the rock became metal and before he knew it there was nothing. He fell and landed against a hard floor. Thankfully, It didn't hurt, that was one benefit of being so small and light... but next time, he should really pay better attention.

He was in a corridor, the walls were blue and paneled; several of the panels were missing, revealing coils of insulated wires underneath. The ground was warm and hummed gently like a dormant beast. Everything was made of metal, this all seemed very high-tech! The magical interference was also very strong here. Asriel grabbed at a floor tile with his roots and pulled himself down, relieved to find space underneath. A line of dull lights highlighted several conduits which ran the length of the room, for lack of a better option he decided to follow them.

This place was like a maze. From underneath, many of the rooms looked like they could be rearranged and slotted together like a giant puzzle. Which made sense, he supposed. Puzzle building was a long-time monster tradition, but whoever had built THIS puzzle was in a league of their own!

It took a long time, and there was a moment where he'd nearly fallen into an unfortunately-placed fire-pit, but Asriel found an exit. A bundle of pipes and conduits formed a bridge over a chasm of molten lava, they connected to a stone building on the other side. He shimmied along the underside, wrapping his roots tightly around the slippery cylinders. His heart would have been beating out of his chest if he'd had one, but slowly, steadily, he made it across and planted himself into the the rock on the other side.

Asriel decided to investigate the building which turned out to be some kind of hotel. He surfacing behind a potted plant in seemed to be in the main lobby. The room was done up in gold and red and an old looking fountain took pride of place in the center. It was also very busy, so he didn't hang around for long.

Beyond the hotel the land became barren. He popped up frequently to check his bearings but every formation of rock looked just as confusing as the next. Occasionally he would see conveyor belts, deactivated puzzles and other high-tech things in the distance. It was impressive the first couple of times, but it all ended up looked pretty similar... hey, didn't he just see that exact same set of vents a few minutes ago?!

He resurfaced with a sigh, slowly and shakily exhaling some of the pent-up frustration from his body. He'd been digging around the same Hotland rocks for goodness knows how long and he really needed a break. Sitting on the edge of an outcrop, he looking out across the vast ocean of magma which illuminated the cavern. In the distance loomed a large structure constructed of metal and pipes, menacing in the red glow. He stared at it, was that where he'd just been?

"Quite the sight, eh deary?"

Asriel spun around, he was getting a little tired of being taken by surprise. A spider monster with black pigtails and wearing a red pinafore and pantaloons had approached him. She knelt down and smiled sweetly, her fangs glinting.

Oh well, a little chat could help to cut the monotony he supposed. He gestured towards the ominous structure. "What is it?"

"You don't know?" She looked genuinely surprised "That's the Core, it's been around since before anyone can remember."

Asriel shook his head. "Not during my time... what does it do? Who made it?"

"Well... no one knows who made it, but it powers the entire underground." She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Anyway, enough about that. You are a long way from home. You do know that the king is worried sick about you, right?"

"I'm not going back." He gritted his teeth "Is that why you came to me, to tell me to go back?"

"Not at all! Is something eating at you deary?" She seemed to make a sympathetic expression, but it was hard to tell with her fearsome features. "If you need to talk I can offer you tea and pastries at my web. Free of charge, of course... I won't force you to go back."

Asriel shook his head. "I can't stay."

"Why ever not?" The spider smiled only slightly wider. "Wherever you're going, are you really in such a hurry that you couldn't even spare a few moments to get away from this unbearable heat?"

Asriel clamped his mouth shut, he wasn't going to tell her anything... though she had a point about the heat.

"Please. It won't be for long." She stated with face unmoving, quietly insistent.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why do you want me to stay?"

The spider adjusted her position and glanced away. Asriel caught a glimpse of a phone in one of her hands, she hid it behind her back.

"For your own good deary. You aren't in the right mind, coming all the way to Hotland on your own like this, and without telling anyone! I just want to help you." She said with smile yet wider.

He smiled too. "Well, thank you for your kind offer, but I must decline." Then ducked down into the ground before she could respond.

A moment later there was a thud - more of a feeling than a sound - followed by muffled cursing. He stayed motionless, waiting and listening as the spider paced and huffed up above, then something new and heavy rumbled near.

"MUFFET, DARLING! WHERE IS OUR PRECIOUS PRINCE?" Someone else was here, their voice sounded robotic.

"Ahuhuhu!" Muffet laughed bitterly. "For a TV star your timing is terrible! He just left."

Asriel wondered if this was the same robot monster his dad had turned away from the castle gates a few weeks ago.

"YOU LET HIM LEAVE? SO YOU MADE ME COME ALL THIS WAY FOR NOTHING?!"

"No, it's not like I just 'let him leave'. I tried to convince him to stay but he wasn't interested in my hospitality! Anyway, I've been neglecting real customers for this. Keep your reward money, I can't let the poor dearys go hungry~"

"Darling... no one ever shows up for your bake-sales! You don't have the same... inviting quality that I have."

"Nonsense, I've been taking etiquette lessons. I am the model of politeness! Now, if you would excuse me, I have my own business to attend to." She stalked off, her footsteps surprisingly light.

There was silence, then the rumbling noise started up again. Asriel decided to follow. He wanted to know why this robot had taken such an interest in him... also he was lost. There wasn't anything to lose by taking the chance.

The robot led him to a high-tech elevator; there was no cord, the entire thing seemed to be suspended in place by magnets. He secured himself to the outside of the car with vines and held on tightly as it lurched downwards and then, to his surprise, sideways. When the lift finally stopped, the door opened and he burrowed out. The robot didn't travel far.

"Mettaton! Did you find... oh" Dr. Alphy's voice, this was unexpected.

"Sorry doctor, I arrived just moments too late..."

There was a pause before she answered him. "W-well, I guess at least we know he's in Hotland... somewhere."

"You know, I may be able to cover ground more quickly if-"

"Yes I know. I'm still working on it... but, I-I suppose I could throw something together to make you a little faster, in the mean time..."

There was another pause, Asriel moved to what felt like a safe distance and pulled just enough of himself above the surface to see what was going on. The robot - Mettaton - was constructed of a large, rectangular box with a screen and several dials on the front, and a large switch on the back. He balanced on a single wheel. It looked precarious, yet was somehow stable.

Alphys was not looking at him, her face was turned to the ground.

"Please keep trying. I- we, really need to find him. I can't..." She trailed off, her eyes glazed over for several seconds before she looked up again. "Lets just go inside."

The two walked - and rolled - into a tall grey building with the word 'Lab' written above the door. It also seemed to be the only building around.

Asriel had expected monsters to attempt to find him after he'd run away, but Dr. Alphys' behavior continued to make him suspicious. He knew that he should be feeling bad for her right now, but he just couldn't. He'd written off the awkwardness of their previous encounters as her simply being an awkward sort. Many monsters were shy and nervous around others and he assumed they might also chose to fulfill reclusive types of work. Alphys would have filled that definition... but he just couldn't get that look of guilt out of his mind.

Suspicions aside, he had to get away from Hotland. Ducking under the ground he caste out his navigation magic once more. Several signals, just on the edge of his range formed familiar shapes that he had not seen in a very long time. Asriel smiled, finally!

Echo Flowers!