Soft humming can be heard flowing through the underground ruins of an ancient city, the monstrous denizens pausing in their movements as they smile at the happiness of their princess, the teen having grown far from her fall. At a patch of flowers underneath a sinkhole, a teen with cyan hair and forest green eyes with a ring of red near the pupil hums, tending to the golden flowers. Naru's robes swish as she moves, the purple hakama gently twirling around her legs, the outline of a golden Delta Rune embroidered in the pants. The sixteen year old smiles as she finishes watering the flowers, adjusting her white hakui and flicking her hair back over her shoulders, tightening the white ribbon holding the low ponytail together.

'Still no sign of Flowey… Hopefully it stays quiet.' As the whiskered teen leaves the room, a young child falls from the Surface, landing on the flowers and slowly sitting up, making sure they aren't too badly injured before moving on and encountering Flowey.

"Howdy!" Naru pauses at hearing Flowey's speech, the maniacal flower talking to someone and giving the same speech he gave her before attacking, rushing back to one of the previous rooms and quickly throws a katana made of magic, healing the child and sending Flowey running.

"What a vile creature, attacking an innocent like that." The pale teen turns to the child, healing them with a gust of wind, "are you alright little one?" The kid nods, smiling brightly as they quickly sign.

"Thank you for saving me. My name's Frisk, what's yours?" Naru smiles as she tells the child her name, gesturing for them to follow her.

"I'm Naru. Please, allow me to be your guide. The RUINS are quite treacherous if one doesn't know their way." Frisk nods, following the young woman into a room with an elegant stairway and an odd star with a pile of leaves behind it. Frisk notices that Naru doesn't seem to see the odd star and decides to interact with it.


[The shadow of the RUINS looms above, filling you with DETERMINATION.]

[HP fully restored]


Frisk tilts their head at the text before running up the stairs at hearing Naru call their name, entering a room with a few buttons on the floor and a small plaque.

"There are puzzles littered throughout the RUINS. While most are fairly simple and straightforward, it is always good to pay attention to your surroundings to see if they hold an answer." Frisk nods along to Naru's words, "I want you to try and solve this puzzle. Don't be afraid to ask for help though." The brunet starts inspecting the room and buttons, reading the plaque. "Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road." Frisk's eyebrows crinkle as they reread the sign before looking at the buttons and gasping. "I'm guessing you figured it out then?" Naru smiles as Frisk frantically nods, moving to press four of the six buttons, the other two being highlighted by a lighter purple tiling around them and being in between the others. The door clicks open after the last button is pressed and Naru claps. "Great job kiddo! As you can see, these old puzzles were ancient fusions between doorkey and diversion, meant to slow intruders and give the denizens time to escape and reach the old Castle. Nowadays, they are mainly just games and, well, doorkeys as they are needed to proceed through the rooms." Naru guides Frisk into the next room, having bridges and spikes in it. Frisk runs over to read the plaque on the wall, Naru smiling in amusement.

"Stay on the path." Frisk huffs slightly, knowing that the words are important, but not fully understanding yet. They run back over to Naru.

"This room has switches you need to pull. Mom marked them once but… well, it didn't really last over the years. Shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out." Naru explains as they cross the first bridge. Frisk quickly pulls the lone lever they see, dropping the spike on the next bridge and opening the way forward. They look down for a moment and notice the lighter tiling, perking up as they realize what the plaque meant and quickly running past Naru to pull the other switch to open the doorway. The teenager tilts the corners of her lips up, knowing exactly what's running through the younger's head. The spikes blocking the door retract, Frisk standing proudly in front of the lever as Naru laughs, catching up, "well done, Frisk. Let's get going, shall we?" As the duo walk into the following room, there is a dummy that Naru gestures to.

"I'd like you to practice ACTing against the Dummy. Many monsters will simply back off if you ACT a certain way, allowing you to SPARE them." Frisk nods, starting a battle with the Dummy. Frisk's world turned monochrome as a red heart came from their body and the glow of it surrounded them.


[You encountered the Dummy]

Frisk HP 20 LV 1 EXP 0

[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]

[CHECK] [TALK]

[You talk to the Dummy. ...]

[It doesn't seem much for conversation.]

[NARU seems pleased with you.]

YOU WON! YOU EARNED 0 EXP AND 0 GOLD.


Naru smiles as the battle ends, "excellent job." The two continue on, Frisk running to the next sign in the wall as Naru looks contemplative for a moment.

"The western room is the eastern room's blueprint." A Froggit hops up to Frisk as they read the plaque.


[Froggit Approaches. It ribbits in surprise at seeing another human]

Frisk HP 20 LV 1 EXP 0

[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]

[COMPLIMENT] [FLIRT] [THREATEN] [CHECK]

[Froggit doesn't know what you said but it blushes anyway.]


"Ribbit ribbit." Frisk easily dodges the fly-like bullets as the Froggit blushes heavily. They miss one in their haste and get hit.


Frisk HP 19 LV 1 EXP 0

[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]

[FROGGIT]

[SPARE] [RUN]

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE EARNED 30G. YOU HAVE EARNED 0 EXP.


Frisk takes the small bag Froggit gives them as they look confused by their menu for a minute. Naru smiles softly as she kneels down and gives the Froggit a piece of monster candy, "You did quite well. Both of you." The teen stands back up as they also give a piece of candy to Frisk. "Now, while the monsters here in the RUINS only really FIGHT to train, there will be other monsters that will attack you due to a law the King made when he was grieving." As the two humans continue, waving bye to the Froggit, Naru explains the Underground, "King Asgore is quite a calm man. I believe he regrets the law but it gave the monsters hope they lost."

"What do you mean?" Naru frowns.

"Ah, I'm probably not the best person to ask about this. I don't know the full story, but it isn't a happy one." Frisk nods as the duo reach a large bridge covered in spikes. "Hmmm, this one might be a bit too dangerous for you to do on your own. Here, take my hand." Frisk complies and Naru leads them through the spike maze, easily reaching the other side. As they walk to the doorway, Naru's phone rings. "I have to take this. Go to the end of the next room without me. Oh! Before I forget, here." Naru hands Frisk an old brick phone, "in case we get separated." Frisk nods and walks into the empty room, faintly hearing Naru say something on the phone behind them.


Sorry for such a delay. Unfortunately, life hit hard and Writer's Block hit harder. I hope y'all enjoy.