Chapter 4: Breaking Floors and Rocks

After playing the leaves, we began traversing to the next into the next room. There were two large openings on the upper wall to the left, and between them, the floor was extremely cracked.

Frisk approached the cracked floor, and stopped by it. She then turned to me, and signed, the floor breaks, pointed down, then pointed across

I nodded and carefully inspected the floor. If it broke and we would drop... I couldn't even guess how far down. ...The thought scared me.

I was starting to freeze up at the thought of falling, when I got a call on my phone. I backed up, and answered, taking the chance to take a breather while I heard the voice of Toriel finally picking up.

"Hello? Hello? This is Toriel. My apologies. A strange dog stole my phone," she said. "So if you called, I could not have helped you. However, I have recovered it. And you are still in that room, are you not?"

"Yeah, sure..." I said, just getting the last few breaths out. "Just glad you're okay. I got a bit worried."

"Oh, thank you! You are very responsible. Now, there are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. Be good, alright?"

"Say, may I ask you something, Toriel?"

"Oh, yes, you may."

"So... what brought you to the ruins? I'm just curious, but it seems rather lonely... Like, why are you here? ...Who are you?" I felt awkward asking that last question, since I already knew her, but I wanted to know what had changed, and didn't want to bother her with the knowledge.

"Oh, so you want to know more about me? Well, I am afraid there is not much to say. I am just a silly little lady who worries too much!"

"Are you sure. There's nothing I should know?"

"I don't believe so..."

I felt a tug on my sweater, and looked down to see Frisk. "Excuse me a second," I said into the phone, and put my attention to Frisk, "Yeah, did you want me to tell her something?"

Frisk nodded, and held up her hands.

Repeating what Frisk signed, I told Toriel, "You give me determination... you lovely thing..." I covered the phone speaker. "Frisk, what did ask me to say to her? What is..." Then I realized what it was. "Did you just make me flirt with her?"

Frisk just smiled at me.

"...Huh? Oh, heh... heh... Ha ha ha!" Toriel replied on the phone. "How adorable... I could pinch your cheek! You can certainly find better than an old woman like me."

"No! No!" I quickly told her. "That wasn't me! That was Frisk! Please don't think I meant to say that, mom."

"Huh? Did you just call me... 'mom'? That's... Why do I..." Toriel got quiet for a bit.

Should, I didn't mean to call her that, I thought, she doesn't remember me. It wouldn't mean anything to her.

"Well... I suppose..." Toriel continued. "Would that make you happy? To call me... 'mother'?"

"Y-yeah, sure," I said. Well, that's at least a weight off my shoulders.

"Well then, call me whatever you like! Goodbye, Chara. I'll see you soon." Then Toriel hung up.

I took a big sigh. "Okay, Frisk, I'm not mad, but can you tell you-"

I turned to find Frisk by the edge of the cracked floor. She seemed nervous standing next to it, but then she got that determined look of hers, and stepped back a bit.

"Hey, um, Frisk, what are you doing?" I asked, worried.

Without turning to answer, Frisk took a running leap... but didn't get very far with her small legs. She landed on the cracked floor... and it broke below her.

"FRISK!" I cried out, as she fell below. I steeled my nerves, and ran over to look down the pit.

The good news was that the pit wasn't too deep, and Frisk was alight. She was just getting up and didn't seem hurt. The bad news... a monster was down there.

A small bug-like monster that seemed a bit too nervous to fight themselves. Still, it approached Frisk to fight, albeit meekly.

"Frisk! Behind you!" I yelled down. Frisk turned around and saw the monster behind her. She stepped, scared herself. "Frisk, don't be scared. It's a Whimsun. They're too sensitive to fight. Try... consoling it, make it feel better."

Frisk looked up at me with a nervous look on her face, then nodded. She tried putting on the biggest smile she could, and attempted to give it a reassuring head pat.

But she couldn't even do that, as the monster burst into tears, and ran away.

"Hey, Frisk, good job, ...I guess..." I said that last part under my breath. "Now, let's see if we can find a way for you to get back up."

Frisk looked at me again, nodded, and then ran into one of two doorways in the pit I didn't notice before. Wondering where it was supposed to lead, suddenly I heard a shuffling from one of the openings on the far wall. When I looked up, Frisk was climbing out of the opening, tumbling out on the other side of the pit.

"Oh... okay," I responded. "So that's how you get across." I looked around. I wasn't sure if I wanted to jump down there, even if it was the intended way across. Hm... "Hey, Frisk, step back a bit."

Frisk nodded and took a few steps backward, while I prepared my magic. While learning magic under Gaster, I learned to use Blue Soul Magic, a type of magic you can cast on one's Soul, enabling you to change the effects of gravity on them. You could make them lighter or heavier, or even change the direction of their gravitational pull. Making them fall sideways can be pretty fun.

Though I trick I use, that no one else ever had attempted, apparently, is using blue magic on myself. I focused, and my Soul popped, its red visage now glowing blue around the edges.

With the spell cast on myself, I lightened my gravity, made a running start, and effortlessly leaped across the pit, right next to Frisk.

Seeing this spectacle, Frisk clapped happily.

"Thank you, thank you," I said, enjoying the small praise. "Now, Frisk, would you mind telling me why you had me flirt with my mom."

My first mommy used to flirt with people, Frisk signed, she always seemed to make a lot of friends doing it. Plus, it looked fun!

"Um, well, that's not... Ugh, you know what, we'll talk about it later." I had no idea on how to explain to her that flirting is intended to make more than simply make friends. Though, assuming no one had a problem with her muteness, she would have no trouble getting dates. "Now, please, don't go on without me. I might not know everything you do."

I mean, I knew Waterfall pretty well, and a bit of Snowdin and Hotland, but I didn't know what has changed since then, and Frisk has been traveling through the Underground as a whole longer than I probably have. She clearly knew more than I did.

Frisk nodded in response, and then grabbed my handed, excitedly trying to get me to move on to the next room. I figured it was time to move on.

As we entered the next room, I got a call on my phone. "Hello," I said as I answered the phone.

"Hello, this is Toriel," she answered. "For no reason in particular... Which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Oh, I could guess the reason she was asking. In fact, I knew the recipe. But, to make sure Toriel didn't know, I choose to keep quiet. "Hang on, let me ask Frisk." I covered the speaker, and asked Frisk, "Frisk, cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Frisk raised her hands, then stopped. She signed, I don't know their signs.

"Oh, um, raise your left hand for cinnamon, right for butterscotch."

Frisk thought about this, then raised both her hands.

"Okay," I uncovered the speaker. "So, seems Frisk likes both. And I don't have any problem with either of them as well."

"Oh, okay. Yes, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way." And then she hung up.

I felt a bit guilty after that last line. We left to try to find her, but she didn't need help anymore. And we were still traveling through the Ruins. I mean, if I remembered correctly, there would be a house to pass through at the end of the Ruins. Toriel probably stayed there.

Still, I wondered if we should've gone back and waited for her? What would she do if she got back, and didn't find us?

Frisk patted my leg, pulling me back into focus. "Oh, sorry Frisk. Uh... yeah, let's keep going," I decided. I was sure we'd run into her again.

This was another simple room. There was a rock on a darker colored path leading to a switch on the other end. A line of spikes separated us from the exit. And there was a sign on the wall. I walked to it, and it read, "Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them". Knowing the Underground, that probably meant more than it seemed. I bet there was something strange about these rocks.

While I read the sign, Frisk began to push the rock. She had a bit of difficulty, but she managed to push it onto the switch. I turned just in time for the switch to be pushed down, and the spikes to go down.

"Heh, good job, Frisk," I told her, "let's go!"

Frisk nodded and we entered the next room.

In the hallway leading up to the room, there was another hole on the upper wall. I had an idea what that meant, and I proved right in the next few seconds... More cracked floor, probably breaking into a lower room.

Nervous about falling, I asked Frisk, "s-so, how do you get past this, Frisk?"

Frisk looked at the floor, and then signed, please don't step on the leaves.

"What leaves?" I asked. Then I thought, wait, maybe...?

I felt out my hand, and summoned a few fireballs. I sent them towards the floor. I didn't summon enough to destroy the whole floor, only enough to test it. Parts of the floor broke open, but others remained solid, despite their cracked appearance.

I gulped and looked through one of the holes. There were piles of leaves down there, arranged to make a clear path... and they seemed to be.

"So, some parts of the floor won't break. The parts that do, you'll land on leaves. And you 'don't want to step on the leaves', right?"

Frisk nodded.

"Okay." I looked back down, and studied the clear path. "I think I got it."

I grabbed Frisk's hand, and attempted to guide both of us across the strong floor. We reached a pile of leaves on the upper level, and above it, read a sign that said, "Didn't you read the sign downstairs?". I guess what Frisk told me was the sign below, and this was referring to that.

So, of course, Frisk jumped into the pile for a few seconds.

"Geez, Frisk, don't you know how to listen to signs?" I joked.

We reached the other end of room, and made our way into the next room. There was a body of water with a spike-covered bridge spanning. There were three more rocks adjacent to switches.

Frisk ran up to the rock on the left, and followed suit, approaching the middle rock. "Together," I told Frisk, and we pushed the two rocks onto their switches.

The spikes didn't go down, so I figured we needed all three switches. "Okay, let's get the last rock then-" I said, reaching for the last rock. But as I barely tapped it with my finger...

"WHOA there, pardner!" a cowboy voice emanated from the rock. "Who said you could push me around!?"

"Oh, GEEZ!" I jumped back. "A talking rock? I ...oh, that's what the sign meant..."

"Sign...?"

"Yeah, the one saying only three rocks like being pushed. Sorry, but we need to move you. Could you help us?"

"Hmm? ...So you're ASKIN' me to move over?"

Frisk and I nodded.

"Okay, just for you, pumpkins." The rock moved over... just a foot or two.

"Uh, a little more," I replied.

"Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?" And the rock moved... in the wrong direction.

"Um, wrong way. You need you on the switch," I told them.

Frisk pointed to the rock, and then the switch.

"Hmm? That was the wrong direction? ...Okay, think I got it." And finally, he moved to the switch, and the spikes lowered.

"Thank you," I replied. And Frisk and I walked to the bridge. But then I heard a click, and I realized... "Wait... Watch out!" I stopped Frisk as the spikes popped back out, almost skewering us. I turned to the rock, who had moved off the switch, yelling, "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!?"

"Hmm? You wanted me to STAY there!? You're giving me a real workout." And moved back on the switch.

Giving YOU a workout! REALLY! I thought, as I grabbed Frisk's hand, and dashing across the bridge, before he could let spikes back up.

We reached the other side, entered the next room, and finally stopped. I turned to Frisk, and said, "I'm sorry, Frisk. I didn't mean to-"

I thought Frisk would've been crying or something, but instead, she was smiling.

"You okay?"

She nodded. But then she looked behind me, and pointed to something.

I turned around to find a table with cheese on it. I got up to inspect it. Frisk ran to the other side, really excited.

After inspecting the cheese, I told her, "this cheese has been here quite a long time. It's stuck to the table..."

Frisk ran to a small, tiny hole in the opposite wall. She crouched by it, and I heard a small squeak come from it.

I chuckled. "Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese... It fills you with determination!"

Frisk jumped up, and ran behind me, tapping the air. I suppose it was another star, but I couldn't see it.

"Okay, let's keep going," I told her. We continued into the next room.

In it, there was simply a leaf-covered path into another room, and in our way was what appeared to be a ghost, one of those bed-sheet-costume type ghosts, with two simple eyes.

And I recognized this monster...

"Napstablook?"

Author's Note: The first chapter after the initial three to start with. Now the duo has left to really start their adventure. Toriel seems alright, but Chara still decided to continue on, and runs into a few shenanigans along the way.