Welcome to Your Undertale

There was a light above them. Was that the light people talked about when you died? It was pretty small and looked far away. Were their parents right? Was this how far from heaven they were? Was this even the path to heaven?

It must be some kind of afterlife or something, because they didn't feel any pain. They fell into a mysterious dark hole in a cave high up a mountain. There's no way that the hole was shallow enough to not kill them when there was a far away light above them.

They continued to lay there for a bit. The light wasn't moving. Did they have to try to go towards it? Was this some sort of test in the afterlife to determine their worth? Or was that light actually oblivion and by staying away from it, they could exist a little longer?

If this really was oblivion or the afterlife or some sort of space where only souls existed, then why did they still have their sense of touch? They didn't feel any pain, though they knew that the scrapes on their palms were still there, and the small cut on their forehead hadn't quite closed up yet. They slowly curled their fingers and felt something soft. It felt kind of like grass, but it wasn't narrow and thin. It was wide, bendy, and slightly springy. Was their fall somehow broken by whatever this was?

Did that even make sense? One thing gym teachers had made sure to emphasize during swimming classes is that any surface can kill you if you're moving fast enough and don't cushion the landing or entry somehow.

Technically, there was no evidence that they came from that light, but it seemed like the most probable scenario. They remembered falling, and gravity only works in one direction. Since they were laying on their back, what was straight ahead must be up. What is down must have fallen from up, so they must have come from that light above.

Was the afterlife rejecting them too? That would be hilarious if it wasn't so pathetic.

Regardless, it didn't really matter. The how and why of what happened mattered less than what they needed to do in response to their situation.

Their body felt heavy, and their thoughts were slow. Still, they made the effort to sit up and look around. It appeared that they were somehow saved by a small patch of buttercups. So far, this world made no sense. As they stood up and looked back, they could see a clear imprint where they had been laying.

Clearly, these were normal flowers. Some stems were snapped, some petals torn, other flowers were bent at weird angles. Clearly they weren't magical bouncy flowers that could have cushioned a fall. Landing on them should have been the same as landing on solid ground, realistically.

Maybe they didn't come from the light then? There was only one way in or out of this room, and they didn't remember walking in. They also didn't see any footprints in the flower patch leading to the spot that they were laying in. The patch was big enough that if they had tried to jump into the spot they were laying, they probably would have overbalanced and crushed many more flowers.

Either they fell and didn't die because magic or else they just appeared in this flower patch somehow because magic. This place made no sense.

If it was the afterlife or something though, did it really have to make sense? Who's to say that the afterlife or whatever this place was had to follow the same rules as Earth?

Again, it didn't matter. The hows and whys aren't important. The only important thing was what they were going to do now that they were here. There was clearly no way back. The only way to go is forward.

They followed the only path forward. It was dark, but they could still see the way. The echoing of their footsteps felt ominous. It seemed to reflect them, and how empty they felt. They couldn't care.

Ahead there was a lone flower with a small spotlight on it. They looked around but couldn't find a light source. It was strange, but a flower was harmless.

Then the flower turned around.

"Howdy! My name is Flowey. Flowey the flower." The flower told them. It was yellow like the buttercups, but clearly a different species. Maybe this place just had talking plants or something. Some sort of magic was almost undeniably at work in this place.

The smiling flower quirked its eyes, as if it were raising an eyebrow, "Not much of a talker are you? That's okay! You don't need to say anything. Your good friend Flowey the flower will teach you how things work around here."

They continued to stare at the flower. It was awfully convenient that this random talking flower seemed to know that they didn't belong here and offered to tell them the rules of this place. They were suspicious, but quickly dismissed the feeling. They had no other choice.

"Wow, your expression sure is hard to read. You're not gonna help me out a little here? Let me know what you're thinking?" Flowey questioned, "Whatever. The most important thing you need to know about this place is your soul. You need to see it, move it, use it, and present it.

"Monsters here communicate and show their intentions by exposing souls and celebrating with their personal magic." Flowey explained. It seemed strange to them, but they just nodded. It that was how things were in this place, then that's just how it was going to be.

"Alright, a nod. So you probably do understand me. That's good, I think." Flowey commented, "Here, let me show you your soul so you can practice."

Their vision darkened, and the flower appeared to them in high-contrast monochrome. They looked down at themself, only to see a shadow of their physical body and a small, bright red heart.

Flowey giggled, "That heart there is your soul. And what a pretty red colour it is too. Red souls are special, you know. Doesn't that just make you feel so important? Try moving around a bit. Experience the feeling of your soul moving separate from your body."

They concentrated on feeling where their body stopped and the connection to their soul started. From there, it was like reeling a fishing line. Slack made the soul move away, tension moved it closer, twisting a bit made it move left and right. It was an odd sensation, but manipulating their soul wasn't too difficult.

"Good job!" Flowey exclaimed, "You seem to be a natural at this. That's the first thing already done, just two more!." Flowey grinned conjured some floating white seeds behind himself, "These are my personal magic. Since I am a flower, my magic takes the shape of seeds. These ones are my special friendliness pellets. I only show them to my friends to show how much I care about them."

They nodded. Their soul bobbed a little bit as they did so. Separating their physical and soul movements wasn't hard, but if they weren't focusing completely on their soul, it was easy to accidentally move their soul unintentionally.

"Alright human, I'm going to send them over to you slowly. All you have to do is touch them with your soul." Flowey instructed.

Just as he said, the pellets slowly drifted towards the spot their soul occupied. This whole thing seemed weird, but how were they supposed to know if this was normal or not? Going along with whatever the flower said would probably be for the best. If nothing else, they wanted to be able to blend in so they wouldn't get targeted by whatever bullies existed in this world.

They slackened the connection and their soul drifted forward. When it touched a pellet, they felt an intense pain in their chest.

Damnit. This flower was the bully that they were trying to avoid, wasn't he?

Flowey had an unkind smirk on his face as he taunted them, "You fool! I can't believe you were so stupid to believe that my bullets were something harmless like friendliness pellets! Humans are so stupid! With your soul, I could take over the entire underground, break the barrier and bring chaos to the human world!"

They were gasping with pain and couldn't find the concentration to move their soul. It felt like they were dying for real this time. They were blind, but they could hear Flowey's laughter as he boasted about his easy victory.

Suddenly, they felt a hot wind rush past them, and Flowey's laughter stopped.

A woman's voice reached through their pain and met their ears. The pain subsided and they were able to hear what she was saying.

"What a miserable creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth. My child, you are safe now. I am here and I can protect you." The voice told them.

When they looked up, they felt like they should have been surprised. It was a giant talking goat in a dress. If they could feel anything but pain, they would probably be confused or panicked right about now. Fortunately, their emotions were still stuck behind a wall in their mind. They stared calmly at the goat woman who claimed to be their saviour.

They briefly noticed that the colour had returned to the world. They could no longer see their soul either.

"My name is Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. This place is filled with many puzzles and traps that you are not ready for. I will guide you through the Ruins and take you back to my home where you will be safe from any monsters who would try to harm you."

They didn't know if they could trust her or not. That flower had just tried to kill them or steal their soul. They didn't know if there was a difference. Whether or not they could trust her didn't matter. If she was going to kill them, there was nothing that they could do about it. At the very least, if they went along with her easily, they might be able to run off. If they lulled her into a false sense of security, then she might drop her guard enough for them to escape.

They had escaped once, after all. They could do it again.

Toriel stretched out her hand, and they took it. They had to play the part of the innocent child that she thought they were. If she learned about how awful they were, about how much they didn't belong, she'd probably skip the pretense and turn on them like Flowey did.

She walked slowly and led them through an arch. As they passed through the arch, they thought they heard another child whispering in their ear.

"Welcome to your Undertale."

The Ruins were an odd place. The walls were made of pink stone and the floor was pink dirt and grass. Red leaves formed piles along the sides of the room and in the space between the double staircases ahead. They were definitely not on Earth anymore.

A bright yellow star blinked at them from the leaves between the stairs. They let go of Toriel's hand and went to go touch it. When they did, the pain in their chest disappeared completely. Their hands also felt itchy.

Toriel put a hand up to her mouth and chuckled, " Oh ho ho! What an adventurous child you are. Do you enjoy playing in the leaves? Well, there is a large pile right in front of my house, where the tree has recently shed them."

Could she not see the star? Or maybe she did and it's a normal thing. They couldn't tell. They also couldn't muster up the courage to ask. Even if they did ask, it probably wouldn't have mattered. She was under no obligation to answer any questions that they might ask her. Even if she did answer, they had no way of knowing whether or not her answers were true.

They were completely at her mercy. They were familiar with this kind of relationship. They knew that to survive, they just had to stay quiet and take it. Speaking up or fighting back never works out in their favour.

They stood up and walked back to Toriel's side. They hoped that she would pity their weak and pathetic disposition and either help them get to wherever she wanted them or would at least leave them alone.

"The Ruins are full of puzzles and traps. They are too complex for a child such as yourself, so I will take it upon myself to guide you safely through." Toriel told them. There were six pressure plates on the floor. Toriel walked on the four outer plates and the door at the top of the stairs opened.

"Come this way, my child. We still have a quite a way to go if we want to make it home before supper." Toriel watched them as they followed her. She led them through a spike trap of blunted rubber spikes. As she moved, the spikes on the next correct tile retracted automatically.

If this was what these monsters considered "traps" or "puzzles," then there was no way they could possibly be hurt here.

Toriel stopped in front of a training dummy and turned to them, "My child, during your stay in the Ruins, you might come across monsters who wish to greet you. Do not worry, it is not their intent to harm you. However, it is likely that many of them will become too excited upon seeing a new face. The community within the Ruins is quite insular and small. New faces are always a pleasant surprise." They were a bit suspicious of her explanation, but there wasn't anything they could or would say.

She briefly waited for a response before continuing, "If the monsters get too excited, you might accidentally enter a battle. This is a scenario where monsters show their soul and show off their bullets to other monsters. For us, this is an important means of communication.

"However I would like you to keep in mind that these monsters do not wish to harm you. To stop the battle, all you need to do is talk to them. By talking to them, you can convince them to stop the battle before they accidentally hurt you."

This explanation seemed too convenient. Was she trying to make them speak and reveal something important? If they spoke, she might be able to use their words against them. They absolutely couldn't allow that.

Toriel gestured towards the training dummy. "Here, practice on this dummy. Simply greet it and ask it if it would please give you some space. Do not worry my child, a training dummy has absolutely no chance harming you."

They did as instructed and stepped towards the dummy. Unexpectedly, they were pulled into the monochrome space again. Their soul was in front of them, the dummy was a white silhouette in front of them, and Toriel was behind them, similarly drained of colour.

If this was just a regular training dummy, lifeless and with no consciousness, then this shouldn't happen. Unless Toriel pulled them into this battle mode? Maybe she was testing them. They just had to try to appear harmless.

The way they saw it, they had four options. First, they could hit the dummy. It was a dummy, after all. But if they seemed aggressive, then Toriel might think that they needed to be punished. Second, they could do what Toriel said and talk to it. That would be awkward, and it might give her too much information. They definitely didn't want to do that. The third option would be to walk away. They had no idea if walking away would exit this battle mode, though. The final option was the only one that they could reasonably do.

They waited.

And waited.

And a translucent shape drifted upward from the dummy, disappearing into the ceiling. The battle mode ended. Colour returned to the world.

"W-well, I see you are not much of a talker, my child. You will just have to do your best to avoid getting too close to other monsters until they become used to your presence here." Toriel said. She looked mildly uncomfortable. Her words suggested that distance could, in fact, end that battle mode. That was good to know.

Toriel led them through the next archway and let go of their hand. "Forgive me my child, but I must test your independence. Please walk to the end of this room on your own to show me that you can handle yourself." She walked away too quickly for their small body to keep up.

They didn't understand how this was supposed to be a test either. It was just a long empty room with pillars along the side.

After a few minutes, they reached the end of the room. Toriel was not in sight. Maybe this was the real test? Did she want to test their independence by seeing if they would move on without her?

They stopped to consider what to do when Toriel come out from behind the final pillar of the room.

"Well done my child. I'm glad to see that I can trust you to roam the Ruins without me. At least, the areas without traps and puzzles. I am so proud of you." She told them. They could feel something beating at the wall in their mind, but the apathy quickly crushed it. All they did was walk across a room. How did that earn them any amount of praise or pride?

Seeming to not notice their thoughts, Toriel continued, "As a reward, I would like to give you this cell phone. It already has my number in it, so you are free to call me at any time. I will always answer your call, my child."

If there was such a thing as GPS in this place, Toriel was probably using it to track them. They'd have to ditch the phone if they wanted to run away from her. However, they could also use it as a strategy to keep track of her too. How long would it take her to follow them when they got a certain distance away? Maybe they could find a place to inconspicuously stash to lead her off their trail when they escaped.

Those were plans that could be finalized later. They needed to learn about the Ruins first if they wanted to have a chance of hiding the phone away. It wouldn't do if they hid it in a popular or obvious spot.

Toriel continued to walk forward, so they followed. There wasn't anything else that they could do for now.

In the next room, Toriel stopped and looked worried. "My child, I have something difficult to ask of you. I would appreciate it if you could stay here and wait for me. I have something I need to do, but it shouldn't take me too long. If you could please wait here until I come back to guide you, it would help me immensely."

Was she actually just going to let them run away? No, there must be some sort of tracking device installed on the phone. There's no way that she would just give them a phone before leaving them alone if there wasn't a way to track them with it.

They nodded. Compliance, at least for now, is important. They need to get through this somehow.

Toriel walked off into one of the rooms ahead and left them alone. There was another leaf pile with a star in it. These stars must be pretty common in this place. It's no wonder that she was ignoring them.

They touched this star too. They didn't feel too different. It didn't suddenly make their palms itch this time. They looked at the band-aids with curiosity. They clenched and unclenched their hands a few times. There was no pain. When they pulled the band-aids off, they saw that their skin had healed.

They unwrapped the bandage around their forehead and touched the spot where they had been scraped. The bandage had dry blood on it, but their skin felt smooth. They tucked the dirty bandage into their pocket in case they need it later. They'd carelessly left all their first aid supplies in the cave with their backpack. That was a stupid idea.

Toriel had told them to wait here for her. There were only two things that they could do. Either wait for her to return or get a head start on their reconnaissance and intel gathering. If nothing else, they could try to find the range of the tracking device.

With their mind made up, they started to walk forward.