You wished for help, your body weak from the sucker punch bullet that hit you. The concept of being betrayed is new to you, you aren't exactly expecting a monstrous Flowey assaulting you for little to no reason. The cold reality sinks in as you come to terms with the fact that he played you for a fool.
You fell for it, under the guise of being friendly with you he actually wanted your soul... but why?
"Isn't it obvious why I want your soul?!" Flowey hackles, his laugh sent an icy feeling up your organs. You lock eyes with the flower, still refusing to believe that he would betray you. You're too stubborn and trusting of him, even when he's about to kill you... even though you know he tricked you. "Wow, you really are an idiot."
You demand he answers you.
"Nay, I have no reason to! You never had a save to begin with in the first place!" Flowey grins sadistically, but he allows a save point with orange particles to appear next to you. He condescendingly gaze at you. "Go on, touch it. Prove me wrong."
You touch the save point... your hand goes right through it. and he bursts out laughing. Hysterically laughing, he rumbles in the ground as he can't control his laughter. You notice you don't feel determined at all, nor did you even touch the star.
While he was laughing, he didn't notice a flicker of green light that shot across and smothered your SOUL. The light turned transparent, invisible.
"Hee hee hee," Flowey wipes chloroplast away from his eye. "You have to be the only moron to ever fall for that! Oh my gods, you really don't know anything about what I said! It's plunder or be plundered, matey! There's not a chance in W.D Gaster's locker that I can take this opportunity and waste it, the amount of power I can get from your SOUL is only the first part to my plan of becoming a god!"
His words rings throughout your head.
"Hee hee he... okay, for realzes this time, die." Flowey grins. The bullets inches closer every second passes, up until it touches your SOUL. The bullets are absorbed into the SOUL, and it ends your convulsive pain...
"What...?" Flowey looks stunned, so are you until a fireball strikes Flowey and uproots him. It sends the evil flower far away, probably off the cliff. You turn to the direction the fireball came from and your eyes gazed upon a figure leaving the bushes, her back to you. your savoir wears a brightly colored purple bodice and white petticoat without an overgown. Her bodice has deep tabs at the waist and virago sleeves.
"What a terrible creature," Your savior comments, "Torturing a poor child who can't defend themselves..."
She turns around.
There's a triangle shape on her belly up to her chest. You don't recognize the symbol, but you're eager to trust this figure. There's no way it can be human, you conclude, but it's better to get any form of help then nothing at all. The figure must be The Monster Queen, as Flowey previously mentioned.
"Ah, do not be afraid, my child." The Monster Queen softly greeted, her hands... paws... interlock each other in front of her. She's a goat, you concluded. You saw plenty of mountain goats in Mt. Ebott, the only difference was the horn size. Hers is very small compared to adult goats. "I always come down to the pillar to see if my snail farm is improving, it always seem to be a favorite spot for humans to drink the water..."
Your eyes light up at the sound of water.
"The water is poisonous, however," Toriel executes the thought in your head. "It's a breeding ground for Froggits and Watadpoles, it irradiates the water with slime. It always made the humans sick."
Never mind, you thought.
"I am Toriel, care maiden of the Ruins." She gives a warming smile as she looks at you up and down, she seems to be determining your reason to be here without you even speaking. Like she was searching for any... evil in your SOUL. She loosens up her gaze, voice a little broader. "You, however, are the first human to have come to this island in a very long time!"
You silently wondered why you were the only human to visit in presumed ages?
"Come! I will lead you through the forest!" Toriel turned around and strolled back into the bushes. You wonder if you should follow her or not, she is literally the Queen of all monsters and history books really don't paint The King and Queen of Monsters in a very good light.
You have no choice, realistically. Even if she doesn't kill you, you'll die from dehydration. You figure the only reason you're alive now is your SOUL, or was it Determination? Either or, it's not going to prevent your body from shutting down. You quickly run after Toriel through the bushes, not wanting to be crow-food.
You run after the figure of Toriel until she stops in front of a colossal castle gate. The gate is closed, although there is a way to go through the rubble of what possibly was the greatest castle you never had the chance to see. On the right side of the gate are three rows of stone panels in a 3x3 on the ground with an extra on the bottom of the rows.
"The Ruins are filled with puzzles and traps, my child," explains Toriel, pointing towards the left side of the gate is a rusty iron lever with a dull gold knob. "Some of the traps are meant to keep unsavory figures out of the castle... or at least they were meant."
Toriel simply and gracefully steps on each of them in a peculiar pattern, starting in the middle left row, up one, right two, down one, left one, down two. The she goes to the lever, and pushes the level inside. The gate raises as she pushes the lever into the stone wall, you can only stare in amazement at the ingenuity of the gate.
Wait, were the panels even necessary?
You follow Toriel through the gate and the sight almost made you raise an eyebrow, a thin layer of dust covers the ground of the courtyard. You look at Toriel and she has a somber look in her eyes, quickly leading you out of the dusty gardens and entering a door on the other side of the room.
You notice this room had water inside, but it was more like a moat. The bridge was covered in spikes with a crusty green liquid on it, there's dust on it too. The spikes, in a pattern, flicks up and back down... actually... you decide it's random. This is a trap for those with basic brain functions...
The dust everywhere... this place really that old?
"This one's a little dangerous, and it's not a puzzle. It's a trap. For you, my child, we will go past it." Toriel stops you from advancing by taking your hand with her left. For the first time, you actually see her eyes. They look purplish-red. "My child, I will show you a little magic."
Toriel's left eye flickers orange, then her right eye flickers blue; Toriel's left hand engulfs in a plasma spiral of orange and blue and she flicks her wrist towards the spikes. They turned into orange spikes, and some of them blue.
You gush over her magic, it being the first you ever seen in y
The same shade of blue the boar's tusk was, the same orange the boar's skin was. Toriel catches you glossing over her magic. She smiles warmly, but paid no mind to it. "I see you recognize the blue attacks, however, when you approach the orange spikes, do not stop moving."
You nod at her instructions.
"Although, it is best to not be in the way of any attack," Toriel warns, "I will not sugarcoat it, there will be an instant in you life where simple words won't work and you must come to defend yourself. That's for later, however, let us pass this trap and move on."
Toriel, leading you through the spikes, would only stop for the blue spikes to decend into their sheathe before moving on. Toriel, throughout the entire time, had her gaze on your wellbeing. You meet her loving gaze and you smile, for the first time in your life; you have an adult who actually cares about your health.
As you leave the spiked bridge room, you let go of Toriel's hand and she does to too. You watch her walk past you into a corridor, you follow suit. Toriel disappears in a right turn, you go to turn the corner when you're confronted by a Froggit.
No...
That's a Watadpole, given the tail.
The same Watadpole that blew you out of the water earlier, the same one that you had petted without permission. You know this by the unpleasant look in it's eyes and the way it waddles towards you. You smile nervously as your SOUL flickers in front of you, ready to defend you.
You tried to apologize to the Watadpole.
The Watadpole has no idea what you said, but is infuriated by your awkward tone.
The Watadpole lunges at you.
Your SOUL and you duck under the Watadpole and ran through the opening.
The Watadpole looks surprised at your speed, but it still seems to want to kill you.
You decide to not retaliate, you place your hands in front of you in an attempt to pacify the Wadtadpole. In the corner of your eye, you see Toriel glaring daggers at the Watadpole with red irises. The Watadpole instantly knows what the glare means and shamefully waddles away.
"Perhaps we should take a break," Toriel suggests.
You feverishly wolf down the large cup of water, fresh water. The ice inside of the water, you couldn't believe you would miss something as trivial as water. But you down it without trouble. You can feel the dehydration disappear from your throat.
"Apologizes, the inhabitants of the island became feral soon after everyone else left to colonize the islands." Toriel explains, taking your hand and leading you into the next room. A dummy there stood, you aren't sure what creature it represents but it doesn't look menacing in the slightest bit. "Normally, I would have you practice talking to your opponent but in this day and age: Everyone is obsessed with dying for a cause, no matter how ridiculous."
Toriel leads you to the dummy and releases your hand, she takes a practice sword from the wall and appraches you again. "My child, I must warn you, everyone in this Posideon-Forsaken ocean has a mission. That mission is to be fulfilled or to meet the Grim Reaper. When you draw this sword, or any sword, for any reason, for any manner, do not sheathe it until you are absolutely sure you have ended the fight."
Toriel looks hesitant. "The Ruins is among the various islands that are invaded annually, pirates and privateers eager to look for the fabled Chest of Odysseys."
You ask Toriel what the Chest of Odysseys is.
"The Chest of Odysseys is not a treasure chest, my child, there's no gold inside. It's a key," Toriel explains, using the sword to strike a triangle in the wall. "The legend goes, when Odysseys and Nile banished all monster-kind into this triangular prison, there are three keys to shattering the barrier.
"The first key is the Spear of Atlantis, which is currently held by a ruthless Admiral of The Royal Navy: Great White Undyne," Toriel says dangerously, "The second key is seven human souls, all but one of them held by him... The final key is The Chest of Odyessey."
Toriel sighs.
"Truthfully, even I don't know what it looks like or know where to look," Toriel hands you the sword, you take the practice sword carefully. You never held a weapon before in your life, you weren't old enough to do so. You look up to Toriel, who was watching you carefully.
"I apologize for giving you such a inadequate weapon, but I cannot give you such a dangerous object until either you come of age or you prove you are competent enough to use it," Toriel says firmly, her plum colored iris turns brown for a quick second before going back to their original color. "There is many different styles of swordplay, but because of the timeframe today and to instill a 'Do no harm' mindset, I will teach you Pacifista De Armas."
You look back to the dummy and it's silluette has taken a physical form. You gaze over it, and it takes a fighting stance towards you with a rapier of shadows. Your SOUL flickers alive to defend you. Toriel, from behind you, moves your legs apart and puts you in a defensive stance, with your SOUL out of range but not your sword.
"Look alive, my child," Toriel instructs, "The swords can cut you, but the biggest hit a weapon can do is attack your SOUL."
The shadow thrusted it's rapier, you instinctually lowered your own sword to deflect it.
"You have experience with defensive measures, my child?" Toriel comments, you are amazed yourself on how you know how to use the sword. "The basic disarm is to attack your opponents hand, but since this rapier has a hand guard that would be futile. Scan your opponent, do you see anything out of the ordinary?"
You do, the dummy looks reluctant to fight.
"Do you see it, my child?" Toriel inquires, you nod your head. Toriel praises this perception with a smile. "I'm not even teaching you, perhaps you're a natural at this."
"Now, swordplay is not at all about swords," Toriel explains further, "It is like chess, you must one-up your opponent by predicting their movements, and if you can't, trap them in a position they cannot escape from."
As if by muscle memory, you step forward with a rushing slash to the left. The opponent already guessed your movement, but you did not go all the way with the attack. You feigned your attack, went behind your opponent, and placed your practice sword to the dummy's neck while at the same time wrenching the shadow's sword out of their wrist. The dummy is subdued.
"Oh my, I didn't have to teach you a thing!" Toriel claps, "Perhaps you have practiced Pacifista De Armas before! I thought it was only a art known by a small minority of humans, bravo!"
You remain silent, unsure where or how you got the ability to swordfight, even less know how to do THAT, with your first time picking up a weapon ever. You don't even know what Pacifista De Armas meant before today and you still don't.