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"War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend."
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
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Mom left a cinnamon-butterscotch pie on the night stand.
I woke up not to the pink canopy surrounding me, or the warmth of a hand-knit quilt wrapped around me. Not to the smell of flowers on the nightstand, or even the softness of a plush toy. No, I woke up to a voice in my head. The voice of the dead.
I slowly opened my eyes and glanced to my side. And there, behold, was a pie. And I bet that if I ate it, it would taste of cinnamon-butterscotch.
Something tells you that you might need it for later.
I sighed at hearing the Narrator again. It seemed to me that they are only helpful when I'm in danger or when I needed encouragement. I touched the side of my head, feeling the blue ribbon I equipped to remind me of that fact. I quickly grab the pie and put it into my inventory.
And, oh boy, what a surprise that was. Having an inventory. Having the power to put any object I have in my grasp into my very own hammer space where only I can access it. That really blew me away.
I check my inventory, noting that the cinnamon-butterscotch pie was slotted next to the toy knife I acquired from my journey to Toriel's house.
And wasn't that intriguing. The fact that other children fell down here. I wondered if they also had the same mechanics for the game as I have, but considering the fact that Frisk is the only playable character in Undertale, probably not.
It wasn't hard to guess what happened to them afterwards. They were probably killed down here. After all, many of the people who were missing from Mt. Ebott never came back. And most of them were children. Looking back, hiking on the mountain was probably a stupid idea.
I move out from under the quilt and step out onto the hardwood floor. I grimace at how dirty my shoes are and move to the drawer on the other side of the room.
There I find a pair of snow boots, jogging shorts, and even a net shirt I could wear. I quickly change my clothes, saving my striped purple and blue sweater. It was probably dirty, but that wouldn't stop me from wearing it. It was the only thing that I had of Mother.
Speaking about mother . . . I blushed, remembering what I called Miss Toriel last night. When I finally made it to her home, I was exhausted. Going through the ruins without dying once was a miracle. I only made it through due to the monster candy I picked up earlier. Not to mention the spider donut that helped me survive Napstablook.
When I finally saw Miss Toriel, I relaxed. A little too much it seems. When she tucked me into bed, I automatically called her 'Mom'. I couldn't help myself. The feeling of being cared for, of being loved, made me wonder if this was what having a mother was like.
Still, calling her 'Mom' was probably a bad idea. I might have offended her. But she didn't seem mad. So, maybe, calling her Mom wasn't a bad thing.
It seems that something is going on downstairs.
The Narrator brought me out from my thoughts, directing my attention to the humming I heard downstairs. I quickly put my striped sweater on and opened the door to the hallway.
Once out of the room, I followed the humming downstairs. There, in the living room, was Miss Toriel- Mom –sitting down in a lounge chair, knitting something. Right next to her was a steaming cup of tea and a plate of . . . snails?
I cleared my throat, making Mom look towards me. "Oh, my. You're awake? I hope that you got a good night's rest." She said with a smile.
"Yeah, the bed made my body quit on me pretty quick . . . Mom." I replied, a shy smile painted on my face. When she heard me call her 'Mom', her eyes were practically sparkling.
"Oh, my child. Come, sit here. You need to tell me of your adventure coming home. I am quite curious." She patted the lounge chair next to her.
I walked to the chair and sat down. But, before I could speak, Mom gasped. "Oh my, I forgot. You must be hungry. I will get you some more cinnamon-butterscotch pie for you to eat. The one I left for you might not have satisfied you!"
She quickly went into the kitchen and came out, in her hands was a steaming pie with a fork placed on the side of the plate. She put the pie on my lap and returned to her place in the lounge chair.
"There! Now you can eat while telling me about what happened."
I blinked at the pie and quickly cut a piece of it and stuffed it in my mouth. Ahhh, what a delicious pie~.
Eating the pie fills you with DETERMINATION.
After eating the pie, I began to speak. "It was hard to go through the Ruins. Many of the traps and puzzles were clever and dangerous but they were easy to pass through as long as you figured them out.
I met many monsters on the way here. I got into a lot of fights but resolved them all without getting hurt much. There were some monsters who didn't fight me. In fact, they helped me out. I actually made some friends with them. A lot of them were very cute. I even ran into this ghost! They were a pretty nice, yet sad fellow."
While she was processing what I said, I placed the plate and fork on the stand next to me. "My, that was . . . eventful. I am glad that you weren't hurt from neither the puzzles nor the monsters. You even made some friends with them!" Mom looked relieved.
"However, there was something I was quite curious about." I tilted my head to the side.
She smiled at the action. "My child, please answer me honestly, where did you get that ribbon in your hair?" She looked nervous.
I licked my lips in thought. Telling her might get me more information about this place. Something I need desperately considering that I'm completely blind down here. She might even tell me more about the so-called War between humans and monsters. I take a deep breath and answered.
"I found the ribbon in one of the corners in the Ruins."
A sad look crossed Mom's face but disappeared as soon as it came. I bit my lip and decided to ask the questions that have been bothering me the entire time I was in the Underground.
"Uh, Mom, I wanted to ask you: Did any other children fall down here? If they did, what happened to them? Did they also get attacked by monsters? And why do boards come up when I engage in fights with monsters? What does LV mean?
Also, why were monsters trapped in the Underground? And how come there is no evidence of them on the surface? No one remembers the war. And many humans don't even believe that monsters exist. In fact, Mt. Ebott is the only place that believes in monsters."
Mom blinked in surprise at the barrage of questions I threw at her.
"I will try to answer all your questions, however, it might take a long time. So please, get comfortable." I snuggled into the chair in response. She smiled at the silly reaction.
"Many other children fell down here. About seven, actually. And, unfortunately, all of them are d-dead." Her voice hitched when she spoke the word 'dead'. "You see, everything all began with the first fallen child."
Mom took a deep breath and began telling the story.
"When the first fallen child fell into the Underground, the Prince of Monsters found them and brought the child to the King and Queen. The King and Queen, seeing how lost and scared the child was, brought the child into the family, making them royalty. Hope bloomed in the Underground with the happiness of the Royal Family.
However, one day, the child became very sick and died. Later that day, the Prince was missing. He was found coming back through the barrier, slowly turning to dust. In his arms, his dead sibling.
He told his horrified parents that he brought his sibling to the Surface so that they may die surrounded by their favorite flowers, Buttercups. However, when the humans saw him, they attacked him. The Prince did not fight back and instead ran back home, where he would soon die on the Golden Flowers of the kingdom."
My heart twisted for the tragedy that occurred.
It was then a thought occurred to me. This story sounded shockingly familiar. In fact, it sounded like the story Grandpa once told me about his family.
"Mom, mom, this sounds like the story Grandpa told me!" She seemed concerned. "What do you mean, my child?"
"Grandpa's family lived in the village at the base of Mt. Ebott for generations! He once told me of how his great-great-great-grandmother's sibling once disappeared into the mountain.
Many people in the village wondered where they went. However, after a few years, they came back. But they were dead. And they were in the arms of a bea- monster.
Many of the villagers thought that the monster killed them. So they all gathered together and decided to fight the monster to stop it from killing all the other village children. But the monster escaped.
Do you think that the monster with my dead ancestor could actually be the Prince and the first fallen child?"
Mom's eyes were wide open in shock at the suggestion.
"I-I . . . oh. Oh. Oh, my. E-Everything was a misunderstanding. A-A misunderstanding! Oh, god. Oh, god, why?! Why, Asriel?! Why?!" She sobbed in despair. Her paws covered her face, but it couldn't stop the tears from falling.
I quickly got up and hugged her, offering whatever comfort I could. From what she said before breaking down in hysterical sobs, the monsters must not have known the human side of the story. They must have thought that the humans killed the Prince for no reason.
I wondered who Asriel was. Were they connected to the Prince?
A keen of anguish made me lose my train of thought. It didn't matter. Mom needed me.
After a while, Mom calmed down. I was afraid to go back to my seat, but with a weak wave of her paw, I sat down.
"I-I'm sorry, my child. What you have told me was . . . hard to digest. However, it makes much sense. I know that humans are not evil, that they wouldn't have harmed As-the Prince for malicious pleasure. The fact that the hope of the Underground died because of a misunderstanding is . . . heartbreaking." She weak smile on her face.
"Finding out that you might be related to Ch-the first fallen child, though, is surprising. But, now, when I look at you, I can see the similarities. You have the same hair style and bone structure." Mom commented.
"Wait, you know how the first fallen child looks like? B-but that was eight generations ago!" I shouted in surprise.
Mom giggled, "Monsters age longer. In monster years, I might be the equivalent of a 40-50 year old woman. While in human years, I might be 2000-3000 years old."
I felt dizzy. The fact that Mom was born before the Dark Ages was astounding! It was something that was I couldn't imagine.
The light-hearted atmosphere disappeared, however, when Mom sighed. "I suppose I should continue on with the story."
I gently told her, "You don't have to do that! If it makes you uncomfortable then you don't have to continue."
"No, no, I'll continue. You need to know this information anyways, since you're going to stay here." She glanced at me, a tender look in her eyes.
A sudden weight appeared in my chest. I felt guilty. I wasn't going to stay here. I couldn't. Grandpa was still sick, he needed me. I can't just leave him in the hospital all alone, leaving him to think that I was dead.
Mom continued on, not noticing my guilty demeanor.
"After the death of the Prince and the first fallen child, the King declared that any human who fell into the Underground should be killed and their souls brought to him. He wished to use those souls to break the barrier and declare war on the humans for what they had done to his son. The Queen, hearing this, disappeared. She did not want to be part of such horror.
Many of the children who fell traveled through the Underground to the only other place that had a way beck to the Surface. It was the gateway the Prince used to enter the Surface. And it was located in the King's home.
Despite how foolish it seemed to travel directly to the person who ordered for their death, many of these children were desperate to go home. And, one by one, they were slayed by the King. Oh, those poor children."
At that last sentence, Mom stared off into space. It was like she was lost in her own mind. I watched her in concern. She must have took care of the children that died, the child's room she had was proof of that. Hearing about their deaths must weigh a toll on her.
I shake her lightly, snapping her from the daze she was in. "Uh, oh. Sorry, my child. I was lost in my own world for a second." She apologized to me.
I shook my head, "It's okay."
She smiled at the concerned expression on my face.
"Well, I should probably continue on, shouldn't I? Boards! Long ago, in the beginning of the world, monsters were a very . . . uncivilized species. Monsters often killed for territory, spouses, and food. They even killed just for the sake of killing. Monsters were born with magic, so we often used it for killing as well.
However, a problem soon occurred. Our species as a whole was slowly numbering us down to extinction.
The strongest monsters of that time, seeing slow extinction in their future, came together and used their magic to create the boards. These boards were created so that whenever a magic user went into a fight, they would pop up to assist said magic user.
These boards helped weaker monsters avoid stronger monsters, find other ways to resolve conflicts, communicate to other monsters, stop unnecessary killing, and even gave time for monsters to flee when in trouble. Because of these boards, many monsters stopped killing others, making the population increase as a consequence.
And, LV. Well, LV is actually called LOVE. However, LOVE is an acronym for 'Level Of ViolencE'. It was what monsters used back then to distinguish who was dangerous and who was not.
With LV comes EXP. EXP is also an acronym. More specifically, it is an acronym for 'EXecution Points'. EXP made it so those monsters with high levels of LV should be killed due to how dangerous they were. Often many monsters formed mobs to execute those kinds of monsters." She explained.
"Wow . . ." That was the only thing I could say to the entire lecture. To think monsters had such a blood thirsty history . . .
The smile Mom wore, however, soon faded away with what she had to explain next. She pursued her lips and had a pensive expression on her face.
"As for the War between humans and monsters . . . well . . ."
Toriel could remember everything as if it just happened yesterday.
The quietness of the night, the cold chill of the air, and the twinkling of the stars surrounded her once more. She was back in the familiar hallway of her family mansion. Blending in with the shadows, she placed her ears against the hollow walls of her home on the Surface.
In front of her eyes was a door that was opened slightly, allowing the burning light of a candle to shine out. She held her breath, hoping that the stillness of her body would make her pass by unnoticed.
She was in the dark eavesdropping on her parents like an unruly child. If Father saw her right now, he would be trembling with rage! He would twist her ear and scold her that a proper princess does not eavesdrop on other's conversations like a simple commoners boy!
But Father didn't see her. No, Father was in the other room right now, fighting with Papa. She tried to remember the number of times her parents ever fought and came up blank.
A shout from the room brought her attention back to the present. The familiar voice of Papa was unnaturally loud in the quiet mansion. "ERNEST WINDSOR! How could you! Engaging our little monster to . . . to . . . to those fools! It's their fault that we're in this mess. It's their fault that the War began. Why should we reward them with our little monster's hand?!" Engagement? Fools? The War?
Toriel blinked. What were they talking about? Who was she engaged to? Who started the War? What was going on?
A large bang startled her out of her thoughts. "HAAKON! Enough! Those fools are our King and Queen! It doesn't matter if they started the War or not. In the end, we will do our duty and side with the Royal Family like always!" Father said.
The Royal Family? What about the Royal Family, Toriel thought, what do they have to do with this?
A large sob came from the room. "Why, Ernest? Why? What they did . . . ? What they have done . . . ? To my own nephew . . . To all of monster kind . . . Why?" Papa cried.
T oriel heard a sigh, then the sound of a chair being pushed. Toriel heard the sound of footsteps walking somewhere before stopping. A shadow blocked the light. All Toriel could she was one figure holding onto another figure.
"Oh, Haakon. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, my dear. I-I . . . We are the Windsor family, cousins to the Royal Family. Because of that, we must always side with them. To not do so makes us weak. And even though you might have been an Atkins, you are now a Windsor, forever and always.
Toriel must be engaged to the Prince. It was ordered by our King, to strengthen the ties between our families. I know you are upset, but think of this: our little princess will one day become Queen. And, maybe, she can fix the mistakes that we made. Maybe peace can come again."
Father's voice was soft and sweet, one of the rare times Toriel has heard his voice sound like that since the War started.
Toriel quickly left, hearing what she wanted. All the information that she learned swirled around in her mind. The thought of being engaged didn't surprise her much, most people got engaged when they were young. However, it was the thought of being Queen that was surprising.
More importantly, the thought that being the Queen might help fix the mistakes that led to the War. Did that mean that the War happened because of the Royal Family? And what did they do to her cousin? The only male cousin Toriel knew about was Aunt Rowan's son, Prince Azariah Vanderbilt, the Red Mage of Determination.
Before she could think any more of the conversation she eavesdropped on, Toriel made it to her room and slipped inside. She quickly hopped into bed and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep.
The last thing she thought about was what did the Royal Family do that led to the War?
Toriel focused back on the present. She was staring off into space again, and judging by Frisk's worried expression, stopped talking. She cleared her throat and began to speak.
"Sorry, my child. I was just lost in my memories. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. I do not remember much of the War. I was young at that time. However, I know that the War began because humans feared that monsters would steal their souls. This fear was so great that the humans waged a war against monsters.
The War was hard and brutal. Many humans and monsters were dying. And many even thought that the War would last for ages. However, it all ended when seven human mages came together to defeat the monsters. They used their power to create a barrier to seal the monsters under the mountain.
Asgore, the person who took up Kingship in the Underground, found out with the help of his Royal Scientist that the only way to break out of the Barrier is with seven souls. Seven souls for the seven mages who cast the Barrier. Which leads to the situation we have currently. This is all I know of the War. I'm sorry if it wasn't much information, my child."
Frisk shook their head. "No, no that's fine. I'll just find out in the future."
Toriel smiled in relief. "Well, I suppose I should answer your last question. Hmmm. You say that the humans don't remember the War nor monsters? Well, when the War was going on, the Church would preach that monsters were demons in disguised. Because of that, perhaps when the monsters were sealed Underground, the Church destroyed any trace of monsters on the Surface. There might still be, however, a few things that were left over from monster kind. But most of it is probably destroyed by now."
Frisk nodded their head in understanding. "That makes sense. I mean, if the War began at the beginning of the Dark Ages it would explain the lower human population and the signs of war that historians have discovered. Not to mention, the lack of literature and the dominance of the Church. In fact, the Church even had the burning of the books! That could actually explain the lack of any information about monsters."
Toriel smiled at Frisk, proud of how intelligent they were. Their smile grew wider at hearing Frisk's stomach growl. Frisk blushed, embarrassed about such a normal thing.
"I believe that after such a long and emotional Q & A session, we should eat." Toriel got up and quickly grabbed Frisk's hand. She led them to the dining room and then let go of their hand. Toriel went into the kitchen and brought out some casserole she cooked earlier that day.
When she went into the dining room, Frisk was already seated down. Toriel flashed a smile at Frisk then handed them a plate of casserole while she kept the other piece for herself. She then sat down and started to eat. While eating, she watched as Frisk devour their casserole as though they were starving. She giggled quietly to herself. A warm feeling soon pulsed in her chest from the sight.
She wished moments like this would never end.
( * )
Asriel: Oh, and Frisk... Be careful in the outside world, OK? Despite what everyone thinks, it's not as nice as it is here. There are a lot of Floweys out there. And not everything can be resolved by just being nice. Don't kill, and don't be killed, alright? That's the best you can strive for.
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