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Chapter 3: Leaving

"Do you smell that?" Toriel asked.

The air. When I smelled it, I swore I felt my stomach rumble. It had a delicious, sugary smell. So sugary, I knew it would be good enough to make me devour it whole. Hell, I felt my mouth fill up a little. Maybe because I smelt sweeter treats than this, but I honestly cannot tell the difference, because this smells like the baked goods in the mall.

"Surprise!" Toriel said. "It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight."

Frisk and I held in a disgusted expression at the thought of snail pie.

Snail pie?! I thought. Eww! God, no! Don’t give us that!

"Here," Toriel said, "I have another surprise for you two."

Toriel went to the hallway on the right and we followed her. Then we stopped to see two doors on the left side of the wall.

"This is it..," she said. She took our hands and walked to the first door.

“Here, little one,” Toriel said to Frisk. “A room of your own. You, dearest.” Now referring to me. “Your room is the other one over there.”

She pointed to the far door on the right.

Okay, separate rooms, I thought.

“I hope you like it!" she said.

She gently rubbed our heads. I smiled and let her ruffle our hairs lightly. But a second later, I remembered about the pie after I smelt a new smell of the pie. It was still the scent of baked goods, but with a hint of smoke. Before I could speak, Toriel turned to us.

"Is something burning...?" she said. "Um, make yourself at home!"

Then she rushed to the kitchen to get the pie out of the oven.

Me, I just smiled. Toriel is quite the motherly monster and I cannot help but feel safe in her presence. I hoped I would get a taste of that pie and that it tastes better than it smells.

Frisk opened the door and we went in. It was a small room, but still big enough for both me and Frisk. I looked at the bed. It was small. Well, not too small. Possibly big enough for a kid like Frisk. I saw a box of toys and a shelf with pictures and two large stuffed animals on the left side of the bed.

“This looks like a kid’s room,” I said.

“Isn’t it?” Frisk asked before he yawned.

“Yeah.”

My ears caught the sound of Frisk yawning and I looked at him.

“All that walking must’ve made me tired,” he said.

"Maybe it did," I said. "You rest up. I'll stay awake and explore for a bit.“

"Alright," Frisk said. "Night."

"Good night," I replied.

I smiled before I turned off the lamp on the top left corner of the room and left the room, slowly closing the door as Frisk climbed up the bed. Then, I walked into the kitchen and saw Toriel with purple glasses on, about to get a book. As soon as she heard my footsteps, she looked at me.

"Oh!" she said. "Hello, my child."

"Hey, Toriel," I replied.

I sniffed the air for a bit to get more of that sweet, sugary scent of the pie. My god, I swore I heard my stomach demand a slice.

“That smells good,” I commented.

"Are you hungry, dear?" Toriel asked. “I can get you a slice if you want.”

"Well, y-yeah," I replied, a little shy. "I haven't eaten in a while, but you don’t have to—“

“My child, no need to be shy. I’ll be happy to give you some food. Please. Have a seat.”

I laughed a little before I walked to the table and pulled out a chair and sat on it. Now I waited as Toriel was in the kitchen, cutting up a slice.

Butterscotch-cinnamon pie, I thought.

I don't remember eating butterscotch before, but I gotta give it a try. Besides, thinking about it is already making me starve for it. And the name of it sounds delicious. After a while, Toriel came to me, holding two plates and placed one in front of me.

"Thank you," I replied and grabbed the fork.

"You're welcome, my child," Toriel replied. "Enjoy!”

I smiled and took a piece and ate it. My eyes widened.

“Mmhm!” I exclaimed before I swallowed my piece. “This is good!”

It was tasty! Tasty enough I cut up a bigger piece of the slice and ate it, feeling my body get powered up with ecstasy. Now my stomach is becoming appeased by such dessert, but not appeased enough.

"Do you like it?" Toriel asked.

I swallowed the piece of pie I ate and turned to her to see her heading back to the bookshelf.

“Yes," I replied before taking another piece.

Toriel chuckled. “I’m glad you like it!”

I smiled at her and looked back to the pie, eating more of it and enjoying the sugar taste that came after eating it. As I ate the pie, I watched as Toriel sat up and grabbed another slice of pie. She walked out of the kitchen with a plate with the pie in hand and went into the bedroom where Frisk was sleeping in. I was halfway done with my pie when I saw Toriel walk out and go back to her couch, continuing to read her book. When I finished the pie, I stood up from my chair and picked up my plate.

"So, how’s Frisk?” I asked.

Toriel smiled. "I already checked, dear. He is alright, my child. Still sleeping.”

“Okay.”

“Hm... Speaking of Frisk, I remember you trying to tell me something before I left you. I apologize for not letting you finish."

"It's fine," I replied.

"I did call you his sister, right? Are you truly?”

I shook my head. "No. Just a friend. We’re not related to each other in any way. Not cousins, not siblings, and Frisk isn’t even my niece."

Toriel's eyes widened a little. "Oh. I apologize for confusing you as such."

"It's all good."

The goat-like monster then smiled a little. "Well, I’m glad you were there for the little one. That might be why you two survived without scratch. Because you both worked together."

I smiled. "Thanks. But nahhh, every monster we encountered were nice. No one was too suspicious around and not a single one has decided to try on hurting us both. So, I did nothing but lead the way for him. Mostly.”

Toriel chuckled a little. “Even if the monsters were nice, dear, your little friend will need all the guidance and protection from any kind of harm. Because chances are, some monsters might not be as nice as the ones you've encountered, not even to children like you."

I looked down a little at that statement. That is true, even if I never saw Undertale. I know there will be bullies in this world like in the Unknown World and my homeworld.

"While it is true that you are not his sister," Toriel continued, "I can tell that you don't want him to get hurt, yes?”

“Yeah,” I replied as I put the plate down a bit as we chatted, “I guess. He's young and I don't want kids his age to get harmed. Let alone killed...”

”I assume you have little siblings, dear?”

”One little brother. Even though I’m a kid, my family always tells me to take care of him, even when I’m grown. Especially since he has a bit of a disability. I guess it’s just my Ate Senses talking.”

Toriel tilted her head a little at what I said. “‘Ate Senses?’”

“‘Ate’ means ‘older sister’ in Tagalog,” I replied. “Frisk reminds me a little of my brother. So, I honestly can’t help but feel the need to protect him.”

Toriel smiled at what I said. "Then, my child, do not let him be harmed in any way. You may not be his sister, but I know that you can be there for him like one. I say trust your ‘Ate Senses.’ It can help you greatly."

I just smiled and said, "Okay, I will."

Then I picked up the plate again and carried it into the kitchen. I placed the plate into the sink and saw the pie. My god, it looked so good, I’d stuff myself to death. But right now, I can’t. So, I left it alone and walked back into the living room.

"Hey, Toriel," I said.

"Hmm?" Toriel replied, looking at me.

"May I read a book?" I asked.

"Oh, of course, little one," replied Toriel. "Please, help yourself!"

I looked through the middle section and saw a history book about monsters. I grabbed that one and opened it to a page and began reading. I read:

Trapped behind the barrier and fearful of further human attacks, we retreated. Far, far into the earth we walked, until we reached the cavern's end. This was our new home, which we named... "Home." As great as our king is, he is pretty lousy at names.

I chuckled quietly at the last sentence. But, yeah. I felt sympathy for the monsters.

Jeez, humans! I thought. You fight against monsters and you used magic to trap them. How could you?!

I closed the book and placed it on a different spot, because I was lazy.

“Sheesh,” I said. “Humans did a bad move on all y’all, huh?”

“Indeed, my child,” Toriel said, her face looking grim. “They feared us and they trapped us here. We’ve been stuck for quite a long time. Many of the monsters have grown tired of living here and children wonder what it’s like to be on the Surface. And many never got to see what it’s like. It’s a shame.”

“Wow..,” I said. “I wish things didn’t have to end that way.”

Toriel smiled somberly. “I wish that as well, my child.”

I stared at the sentences in the book again and I felt curiosity strike me. Monsters being feared by humans. To be honest, this feels kind of new to me. Not too long ago, I met some other monsters myself back in the Unknown World and they acted like nothing was wrong. No hating by humans, no harm. It honestly breaks my heart to know that even a mermaid can be hated by humanity.

“My child?” Toriel said.

I looked up from my thoughts. “Yes, Toriel? Or, Miss Toriel?”

Toriel chuckled, “Any is fine, my dear.”

I smiled. “Okay. Anyway, what were you going to ask me?”

“Ah, yes. I was going to ask, how is the surface?” Toriel asked.

I blinked. How the hell am I supposed to answer that? I did not get even a glimpse of what the surface world is like before the portal dropped me from quite a height.
“It’s okay,” I replied. “The sun is shining, birds and animals are doing their thingies, people are chatting. Nothing really new. Why you ask?”

“Ah,” Toriel said. “I was just curious.”

I smiled at her. Even though she is the goat mom, she seems pretty adorable.

"Well,” I said, “I should go check on Frisk. Nice talking with you."

"You too, dear," Toriel replied.

I walked past the stairs and went to the hallway, heading to the room he was in. When I went to that room, I opened the door and I saw him sitting on the bed, swinging his legs, and checking out the room.

"Hey, Frisk!" I said.

"Hey, Sophia," said Frisk. "How are you?"

"Good!" I replied. "I tried Toriel's pie. It was so, freakin’, tasty!”

"Ooooh," Frisk said. "Speaking of pie, Toriel put the pie on the floor while I was asleep. Why?"

I shrugged. "So you can eat it when you wake up?" I asked. “I don’t know why she’d put a slice of pie on the floor of all places.”

“Uh-huh.”

Then we were both met with silence, except the faint humming heard from Toriel in the living room as we sit here. We had no topics to chat about, which made things feel a little awkward, until...

“So, Sophia,” Frisk spoke. “Do you like this place?"

"It's pretty cozy," I replied. I went to the bed and lied down on it. "So, it’s not bad. This bed is so soft, I'll roll on it for days! But so far, this place is nice.”

Frisk giggled. “You know you got the other room.”

“Screw that. I’m sitting here.”

Frisk laughed. “Are you that lazy?”

“I guess.”

Frisk laughed. “Wow, you’re so weird.”

“And I’m proud of it, bruh. The haters can hate.”

And we kids just dissolved into laughter at that before it faded away into silence again.

I sighed. As I remained lying down, I felt the waves of boredom get bigger and consume me whole. I wanted to draw, I wanted to watch YouTube, but no. I don’t think there’s WiFi in the Underground and I didn’t bring my own phone or even my iPad. At that point, I began to think about what's beyond the Ruins. I thought of some Undertale characters and how I would interact with them. Especially a certain skeleton. I giggled at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Frisk asked.

I looked at him with a smile.

"Nothing!" I replied. "I tend to laugh for no reason." Even though it's hidden.

Frisk giggled again. “You’re funny.”

“Depends on how you define ‘funny.’”

I laughed softly before I sighed afterwards, looking upwards to the ceiling, letting the feelings of boredom cloud my mind and make me think about going out. But as I thought so, I began thinking about what to do. But that did not last long. And speaking of what to do, I wondered about Mrs. Wolf. How she's doing and if she's watching me from the Unknown World. If the Unknown World can watch someone like me experience the events of a game.

“I’m bored..,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Me too,” Frisk replied. “Since you can do magic, can you maybe do more than talk to animals?”

“No. Not yet, at least. I don’t think I’ll learn more at this point. Or maybe? I dunno, yet. Some magic is too dangerous for me to play with, so I don’t expect me to become some sort of magic expert or whatever the freak. So, when I return home, expect me to be the same magician girl that accompanied you. Or maybe not.”

“Who taught you magic?”

“No one in particular. Just got magic from this necklace. And that’s it.”

“Can you show me some of your other magic?”

“Newsflash: I don’t have much useful magic.”

“Oh, come on! You must have more!”

I laughed. “Nahhh. I have a few, but I’m just using the power to talk to animals. Besides, both won’t do much to help us.”

“Really?”

“Nope.“

Then, Frisk walked up to me and looked at me with those brown eyes that had the intent of getting every answer about magic out of me. I sighed.

Great, I thought. He's gonna start a QnA session.

“Do you have a second power?” he asked.

“I wanted to go with shapeshifting as my second power..,” I replied, smiling at the fact that he’s not gonna let this magic topic go. "My chosen forms are mermaid and wolf."

Frisk's eyes opened wide. “Really?! You can turn into a mermaid and a wolf?”

I giggled. “No, not yet. I was told that when I turn thirteen years old, I will gain this new power.”

“Aw, man,” Frisk said as he slumped back to bed. “Are you gonna learn more magic tricks after that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”

“Tell me when you do. I wanna see more of that magic of yours!”

I smiled and rolled my eyes a little. “Well, we don’t know when that’s gonna happen so... Yeah.”

“Who knows? You could become a princess or something! Or maybe command an entire army of animals!”

“Yep. But I don’t know if that’ll be my power. Who knows? Like I said, maybe I will, maybe I won't.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

A bit of curiosity hit me. “Why do you want to know more about my magical powers anyway?”

”Because no human here has magic,” Frisk replied. “You’re the only one I know who has. I read a little about humans doing magic back home, but I never heard of them having powers like yours. Talking to animals and shapeshifting.”

”So, I’m guessing no human has the same powers as me.”

”Nope.”

Then, silence again. Looking at Frisk, he was again sitting down and rocking himself lightly. Me, I was a little sad that this magic topic is done, but I didn’t want to reveal the entirety of the secret I’m holding. But even so, I’m back to boredom. And when over ten seconds or more had passed, I sighed and sat up. Then I looked at Frisk.

"Hey, Frisk," I said.

"Yeah?" Frisk replied, looking at me.

"Do you wanna go out of the Ruins?"

Frisk looked at me with wide eyes like I was insane to think about leaving.

"Go out?" he asked.

I nodded. "Mmhm... I don’t want to stay here forever. It’s nice, but I gotta leave this place somehow. Besides, I’m bored and I already have a home to go home to.”

Frisk began to think for a moment. I waited patiently as he went deep into his thoughts. Me, I just remained still as I let him think of his final decision. And after maybe a minute or two has passed...

"Yes," he said.

"You do?" I asked.

Frisk nodded. “Toriel is a nice lady, but... I kind of like to go out too. Besides the fact that I’m also bored. So, yeah. I’m going with you.”

I smiled.

"That's good," I said. ”Besides, a magician like me gotta go out sometime. Gotta help me gain an idea of what I will control when I reach the new level.”

“Like a magic high school?” he asked, jokingly.

I snickered as I gave him a look. “You’re not gonna stop bringing that magic thing up, are you?”

“Nope! I met a magical girl, so I won’t stop bringing it up!”

Dammit.., I thought while chuckling. He really has the soul of determination.

"Let's go tell her that we wanna leave," I said. “But do NOT tell her I have magic. My magic is secret. I repeat, secret.”

“I won’t!”

"And also, don't call me a magical girl. Just call me a magician. When you say magical girl, it means something different."

"Okay! A magician."

And just like that, we left the room and walked to Toriel, who was still reading her book with glasses on. I was the first to go up to the goat monster while Frisk went beside me, on my left.

"Hey, Toriel?" I asked.

Toriel looked to see Frisk awake.

"Up already, I see?" Toriel asked. "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have you two here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you... But I have always wanted to be a teacher." She paused. "...actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. STILL. I am glad to have you living here."

She looked at us for a moment and saw we were unfazed by the thought of her being a teacher.

"Toriel," I said. "Can we... talk to you?"

"Oh, did you want something?" Toriel asked.

Me and Frisk nodded.

"What is it?"

"Where can we leave?" I asked.

The millisecond after I asked that, Toriel looked at us like we were crazy.

“What?" she asked. "This... This IS your home now. Um... would you like to hear about this book I am reading? It is called '72 Uses for Snails.' How about it?"

"We're not quite interested in it, sorry," I replied. “If anything, I kinda got curious about the outside world. Particularly, down those stairs.”

"Miss Toriel?” Frisk asked. “How can we leave the Ruins?”

"Um..," Toriel replied, trying to find a way to make us get our minds off of leaving. "How about an exciting snail fact? Did you know that snails... Sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature? Interesting."

"It is," I replied. "But still, how do we leave the Ruins?"

“And where can we leave?” Frisk asked. “We want to go outside.”

Toriel remained silent, her eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed.

"...I have to do something," she said. "Stay here."

Then she closed her book and put it on the chair. Then she took off her glasses and put them on her book and walked past us, going down the stairs.

Sheesh, I thought, feeling a little discomfort by her just barging out on us like that.

"Do we follow her?” Frisk asked.

“I guess,” I replied, shrugging.

And so, we quickly followed Toriel to the stairs. We quickly walked down the steps and into the purple hallway. It was darker than the Ruins before we walked into this home-like setting. For some reason, I got that eerie feeling, like something is going to happen.

"You wish to know how to return 'home,' do you not?" Toriel asked. "Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be good children and go upstairs."

Toriel started walking.

I shook my head and started following Toriel. Frisk was following right behind me.

We can’t stay here forever, I thought. And oh, jeez...

Hearing Toriel say that made me almost see how sane, yet so internally insane she is. It’s scary.

Frisk and I followed Toriel through the hallway until she stopped.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate," Toriel said, her voice quiet and full of gloom, with a bit of despair. "I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive children... If you leave the Ruins... They... Asgore... Will kill you. I am only protecting, do you understand? ...go to your room."

Toriel then started walking. But we children did not listen and just followed Toriel. There, she stopped at a corner.

"Do not try to stop me," she said. "This is your final warning."

But obviously, we still didn't listen and we followed Toriel to the door. The door was big, slightly taller than Toriel. It had the symbol that Toriel has on her dress. The exit of the Ruins. The end of the hallway.

"You want to leave so badly?" Toriel asked. "Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this.”

Toriel paused, her hands curled into fists. Frisk and I were left a little intimidated by what she’s doing.

“Prove yourself..,” she said. “Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

"Oh, no,” I said.

Then Toriel turned to us, fire balls in her hands. Frisk grabbed my arm and held it tightly, fear in his eyes as he saw the flames. I gotta admit, I was NOT ready for this! But no going back now, I just gotta try to avoid getting burnt. And hope I don’t die!

Shit, shit, shit! I thought.

Toriel let in a deep breath and suddenly sent the fireballs at us.

"Frisk, stay close!" I said.

The fireballs went past us, splitting off before they hit us at the front. It was such a useless attack, but thank god. But the heat and smoke of the fire made me feel the feeling of my eyes going dry. I blinked and coughed a little to gain my composure.

“Miss Toriel!” Frisk cried. “Stop!”

But Toriel didn’t listen. She just readied her fireballs as she glared at us like she’s disappointed in us. Frisk tried to think of any topics to discuss, but he had nothing in mind.

Clearly saying that we'll be fine once we leave is not going to convince her.

Dammit, I thought.

She swiped her right hand and left a line of fireballs and they went straight for us. I quickly moved to the left and Frisk followed. Apparently, that was dumb of me because we felt ourselves getting burnt. I screamed in pain and so did Frisk. I looked down to my arm and saw a red rash. I blew on it to make it less painful. Frisk quickly ran to my protection as Toriel readied another attack. She then shot us some more fireballs. It's when they move side to side. We went through the spaces and survived that attack. I groaned with pain from the burns, but managed to not get another. I felt a few sparks burn me, but that’s not enough to burn the hell out of me or Frisk. Then Toriel swiped her hand again and the fireballs formed a line and came toward us again. We moved to the left again but this time, Frisk was hit. He yelped in pain.

I quickly grabbed him before he hit the floor. I looked at Toriel and saw them still glaring at us both, but I also saw the pain in her eyes.

"Dang it!" I exclaimed. “Get up, Frisk! We gotta keep going!”

Frisk held on to me as we moved to face Toriel again. She began sending us fireballs, and they were moving almost like that of a DNA strand. We sat through the spaces and survived.

Toriel sent another wave of flames, but we kept dodging and not laying a single injury on Toriel. We held onto our injured arms and moved our legs that felt burnt from the fire. But not one single injury.

"What are you doing?" Toriel asked.

"What does it look like?" I asked as she sent us more fireballs and we dodged them, since they were moving side to side.

"Attack or run away!" Toriel exclaimed as she sent us more fireballs.

The fireball moved and they were almost like bouncing off of each other, but going to the left or right, and we had to move, but we unfortunately gained more burns.

"What are you proving this way?" Toriel asked.

Frisk and I didn't answer since Toriel began shooting us more fireballs. They moved side to side again and we went through spaces to avoid getting hurt more.

"Fight me or leave!" Toriel exclaimed.

"No way!" I replied. “We’re not gonna hurt you!”

"No!" Frisk replied.

We stood there when the fireballs were bouncing off of each other. We sat in the middle to avoid the flames and waited until the attack ended.

"Stop it," Toriel said.

Both of Toriel's hands swiped and they all came towards us. I grabbed Frisk's hand and ran to the left, and thank god that was a smart move, since the flames missed. When they disappeared, we quickly headed back to our spot to face Toriel.

"Toriel, stop it!" I said. "We'll be fine if we leave! I promise to protect Frisk once we get outta here!"

"Please, Miss Toriel!" Frisk said.

"Stop looking at me that way," Toriel demanded, the feeling of pain in her voice.

Toriel sent us more fireballs, we got ready to move, but the fireballs were scattering into different directions and they weren't hitting us.

"Go away!" Toriel exclaimed.

The fireballs came in, but were not aiming for us. It gave us the chance to stand up to Toriel.

"Toriel, that's enough," I said. “Don’t burn us to a crisp!”

"Please..," Frisk whispered.

Toriel remained silent.

The fireballs keep coming in weak. They weren't aiming for us. They were just passing by. Like Toriel is too tired to even land another burning hit. When the attack was over, Frisk and I looked at Toriel. I don’t know why but... I wanted to speak up, regardless of the amount of burns I had, I didn’t want her to keep attacking and preventing us from leaving. Toriel still remained silent, but her facial expression changed to a sad one. Fireballs kept passing us and leaving us free from anymore burns. And when it was over, I spoke up.

"Tori," I began.

But I was cut off.

"I know you want to go home," Toriel said, "but... But please... go upstairs now."

"No," Frisk and I replied.

"I promise I will take good care of you here," Toriel said, with a sad smile on her face. "I know we do not have much, but... We can have a good life here."

Jeez, I thought.

When I’m looking at her, it’s like she‘s that desperate to become a mom... But I look into those eyes and I see… Heartache… And a very painful one at that too. Toriel looked like she was about to cry.

"But it's better if we can leave, Miss Toriel," Frisk replied.

"Yeah," I replied. “Besides. I’m not that young anyway and won’t be young forever.”

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Toriel asked with tears in her red eyes. "Please, go upstairs."

We refused to go. All we did was stand in silence coming from all of us. Until Toriel laughed somberly.

"Pathetic, is it not?" she asked. "I cannot save even a single child. Not to mention two... at once."

Toriel was silent again.

"Toriel," I spoke up. “We—“

"No, I understand," she said. "You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my children... I will put them aside."

I felt sadness wash over me as Toriel turned to the door.

"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins..," she said, "I will not stop you. However, when you leave... Please do not come back. I hope you understand."

Then Toriel turned around, knelt down, and gave us a hug. Frisk hugged back while I hesitated. I’m not much of a hugger, but this feeling... I felt sympathy for her... But not only that, I even felt the motherly love that she is emitting... This hug made it be emitted ten fold! My heart was hit with affection and that alone made me hug the goat monster back. After a long while, she let go of us and stood up.

"Goodbye, my children," Toriel said, tears rolling down her cheek before she started walking back to the entrance to the hallway that leads to her home. Before she took a step into the hallway, she stopped and turned around to look at us one last time, her eyes still shining with tears. She looked at me and smiled. And I can see that she knows that I will do a great job protecting Frisk from the upcoming bullshit. And after that, she turned around and left.

Me and Frisk just stared with sorrow back at her.

"Mom..," Frisk whispered.

Damn, I thought.

I was touched by Toriel’s motherly love, I forgot the pain I had in my burns. But we don’t have time to think about it now. We wanted to leave and we’re going.

"Let's go, Frisk," I said, quietly.

I started walking and Frisk held my hand as we pushed the door open and we both walked through a long, empty hallway until we reached the exit, to reveal Flowey was waiting for us at the very end.

"Oh," I said, my voice low. "Hello again."

"Clever," Flowey said. "Very clever. You think you're really smart, don't you? In this world, it's killed or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules."

Flowey showed us a creepy face. "You spared the life of a single person."

Then he giggled evilly before returning to his normal face.

“I bet you feel really great,” he said. “You didn't kill anybody this time. But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Until you tire of trying. What will you do then?"

Flowey's face changed to an evil one. "Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you give up entirely on this world... and let ME inherit the power to control it? And what about you, girly?”

Flowey looked at me.

“What will you do?” he asked. “You’ve got magic. What was it again? Talking to animals? That power is so useless, I almost feel sorry for you! You should have gotten that shapeshifting power earlier!”

Flowey laughed at the fact I only had one useful power before he looked at me. “What will you do when you only have that power in the face of a killer, hm? Will you command an army of animals and kill? Or will you give up? And give the power to control this world to me? I am the prince of this world's future."

Yeah, right, I silently replied.

Frisk glared at Flowey.

"Don't worry, my little monarchs," said Flowey, "my plan isn't regicide. This is so, SO much more interesting."

Then Flowey laughed evilly while Frisk and I just stared at him with anger. Personally for me, I was insulted, but that’s Flowey. After he laughed, he went into the ground again, letting us pass.

I stared into the entrance in front of us.

Oh, boy...

Into a land where it's cold and full of snow we go.

And I just remembered...

What the hell should I do to heal these burns?

”I need to get food, ASAP.”
———

< Cover | Chapter 4>>

Battle scenes, I SUCK

EDIT: 1/6/24, Art picture

Undertale (c) Toby Fox
Story, Art, Sophia (c) me

Description

Chapter 3: Leaving

"Do you smell that?" Toriel asked.

The air. When I smelled it, I swore I felt my stomach rumble. It had a delicious, sugary smell. So sugary, I knew it would be good enough to make me devour it whole. Hell, I felt my mouth fill up a little. Maybe because I smelt sweeter treats than this, but I honestly cannot tell the difference, because this smells like the baked goods in the mall.

"Surprise!" Toriel said. "It is a butterscotch-cinnamon pie. I thought we might celebrate your arrival. I want you to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight."

Frisk and I held in a disgusted expression at the thought of snail pie.

Snail pie?! I thought. Eww! God, no! Don’t give us that!

"Here," Toriel said, "I have another surprise for you two."

Toriel went to the hallway on the right and we followed her. Then we stopped to see two doors on the left side of the wall.

"This is it..," she said. She took our hands and walked to the first door.

“Here, little one,” Toriel said to Frisk. “A room of your own. You, dearest.” Now referring to me. “Your room is the other one over there.”

She pointed to the far door on the right.

Okay, separate rooms, I thought.

“I hope you like it!" she said.

She gently rubbed our heads. I smiled and let her ruffle our hairs lightly. But a second later, I remembered about the pie after I smelt a new smell of the pie. It was still the scent of baked goods, but with a hint of smoke. Before I could speak, Toriel turned to us.

"Is something burning...?" she said. "Um, make yourself at home!"

Then she rushed to the kitchen to get the pie out of the oven.

Me, I just smiled. Toriel is quite the motherly monster and I cannot help but feel safe in her presence. I hoped I would get a taste of that pie and that it tastes better than it smells.

Frisk opened the door and we went in. It was a small room, but still big enough for both me and Frisk. I looked at the bed. It was small. Well, not too small. Possibly big enough for a kid like Frisk. I saw a box of toys and a shelf with pictures and two large stuffed animals on the left side of the bed.

“This looks like a kid’s room,” I said.

“Isn’t it?” Frisk asked before he yawned.

“Yeah.”

My ears caught the sound of Frisk yawning and I looked at him.

“All that walking must’ve made me tired,” he said.

"Maybe it did," I said. "You rest up. I'll stay awake and explore for a bit.“

"Alright," Frisk said. "Night."

"Good night," I replied.

I smiled before I turned off the lamp on the top left corner of the room and left the room, slowly closing the door as Frisk climbed up the bed. Then, I walked into the kitchen and saw Toriel with purple glasses on, about to get a book. As soon as she heard my footsteps, she looked at me.

"Oh!" she said. "Hello, my child."

"Hey, Toriel," I replied.

I sniffed the air for a bit to get more of that sweet, sugary scent of the pie. My god, I swore I heard my stomach demand a slice.

“That smells good,” I commented.

"Are you hungry, dear?" Toriel asked. “I can get you a slice if you want.”

"Well, y-yeah," I replied, a little shy. "I haven't eaten in a while, but you don’t have to—“

“My child, no need to be shy. I’ll be happy to give you some food. Please. Have a seat.”

I laughed a little before I walked to the table and pulled out a chair and sat on it. Now I waited as Toriel was in the kitchen, cutting up a slice.

Butterscotch-cinnamon pie, I thought.

I don't remember eating butterscotch before, but I gotta give it a try. Besides, thinking about it is already making me starve for it. And the name of it sounds delicious. After a while, Toriel came to me, holding two plates and placed one in front of me.

"Thank you," I replied and grabbed the fork.

"You're welcome, my child," Toriel replied. "Enjoy!”

I smiled and took a piece and ate it. My eyes widened.

“Mmhm!” I exclaimed before I swallowed my piece. “This is good!”

It was tasty! Tasty enough I cut up a bigger piece of the slice and ate it, feeling my body get powered up with ecstasy. Now my stomach is becoming appeased by such dessert, but not appeased enough.

"Do you like it?" Toriel asked.

I swallowed the piece of pie I ate and turned to her to see her heading back to the bookshelf.

“Yes," I replied before taking another piece.

Toriel chuckled. “I’m glad you like it!”

I smiled at her and looked back to the pie, eating more of it and enjoying the sugar taste that came after eating it. As I ate the pie, I watched as Toriel sat up and grabbed another slice of pie. She walked out of the kitchen with a plate with the pie in hand and went into the bedroom where Frisk was sleeping in. I was halfway done with my pie when I saw Toriel walk out and go back to her couch, continuing to read her book. When I finished the pie, I stood up from my chair and picked up my plate.

"So, how’s Frisk?” I asked.

Toriel smiled. "I already checked, dear. He is alright, my child. Still sleeping.”

“Okay.”

“Hm... Speaking of Frisk, I remember you trying to tell me something before I left you. I apologize for not letting you finish."

"It's fine," I replied.

"I did call you his sister, right? Are you truly?”

I shook my head. "No. Just a friend. We’re not related to each other in any way. Not cousins, not siblings, and Frisk isn’t even my niece."

Toriel's eyes widened a little. "Oh. I apologize for confusing you as such."

"It's all good."

The goat-like monster then smiled a little. "Well, I’m glad you were there for the little one. That might be why you two survived without scratch. Because you both worked together."

I smiled. "Thanks. But nahhh, every monster we encountered were nice. No one was too suspicious around and not a single one has decided to try on hurting us both. So, I did nothing but lead the way for him. Mostly.”

Toriel chuckled a little. “Even if the monsters were nice, dear, your little friend will need all the guidance and protection from any kind of harm. Because chances are, some monsters might not be as nice as the ones you've encountered, not even to children like you."

I looked down a little at that statement. That is true, even if I never saw Undertale. I know there will be bullies in this world like in the Unknown World and my homeworld.

"While it is true that you are not his sister," Toriel continued, "I can tell that you don't want him to get hurt, yes?”

“Yeah,” I replied as I put the plate down a bit as we chatted, “I guess. He's young and I don't want kids his age to get harmed. Let alone killed...”

”I assume you have little siblings, dear?”

”One little brother. Even though I’m a kid, my family always tells me to take care of him, even when I’m grown. Especially since he has a bit of a disability. I guess it’s just my Ate Senses talking.”

Toriel tilted her head a little at what I said. “‘Ate Senses?’”

“‘Ate’ means ‘older sister’ in Tagalog,” I replied. “Frisk reminds me a little of my brother. So, I honestly can’t help but feel the need to protect him.”

Toriel smiled at what I said. "Then, my child, do not let him be harmed in any way. You may not be his sister, but I know that you can be there for him like one. I say trust your ‘Ate Senses.’ It can help you greatly."

I just smiled and said, "Okay, I will."

Then I picked up the plate again and carried it into the kitchen. I placed the plate into the sink and saw the pie. My god, it looked so good, I’d stuff myself to death. But right now, I can’t. So, I left it alone and walked back into the living room.

"Hey, Toriel," I said.

"Hmm?" Toriel replied, looking at me.

"May I read a book?" I asked.

"Oh, of course, little one," replied Toriel. "Please, help yourself!"

I looked through the middle section and saw a history book about monsters. I grabbed that one and opened it to a page and began reading. I read:

Trapped behind the barrier and fearful of further human attacks, we retreated. Far, far into the earth we walked, until we reached the cavern's end. This was our new home, which we named... "Home." As great as our king is, he is pretty lousy at names.

I chuckled quietly at the last sentence. But, yeah. I felt sympathy for the monsters.

Jeez, humans! I thought. You fight against monsters and you used magic to trap them. How could you?!

I closed the book and placed it on a different spot, because I was lazy.

“Sheesh,” I said. “Humans did a bad move on all y’all, huh?”

“Indeed, my child,” Toriel said, her face looking grim. “They feared us and they trapped us here. We’ve been stuck for quite a long time. Many of the monsters have grown tired of living here and children wonder what it’s like to be on the Surface. And many never got to see what it’s like. It’s a shame.”

“Wow..,” I said. “I wish things didn’t have to end that way.”

Toriel smiled somberly. “I wish that as well, my child.”

I stared at the sentences in the book again and I felt curiosity strike me. Monsters being feared by humans. To be honest, this feels kind of new to me. Not too long ago, I met some other monsters myself back in the Unknown World and they acted like nothing was wrong. No hating by humans, no harm. It honestly breaks my heart to know that even a mermaid can be hated by humanity.

“My child?” Toriel said.

I looked up from my thoughts. “Yes, Toriel? Or, Miss Toriel?”

Toriel chuckled, “Any is fine, my dear.”

I smiled. “Okay. Anyway, what were you going to ask me?”

“Ah, yes. I was going to ask, how is the surface?” Toriel asked.

I blinked. How the hell am I supposed to answer that? I did not get even a glimpse of what the surface world is like before the portal dropped me from quite a height.
“It’s okay,” I replied. “The sun is shining, birds and animals are doing their thingies, people are chatting. Nothing really new. Why you ask?”

“Ah,” Toriel said. “I was just curious.”

I smiled at her. Even though she is the goat mom, she seems pretty adorable.

"Well,” I said, “I should go check on Frisk. Nice talking with you."

"You too, dear," Toriel replied.

I walked past the stairs and went to the hallway, heading to the room he was in. When I went to that room, I opened the door and I saw him sitting on the bed, swinging his legs, and checking out the room.

"Hey, Frisk!" I said.

"Hey, Sophia," said Frisk. "How are you?"

"Good!" I replied. "I tried Toriel's pie. It was so, freakin’, tasty!”

"Ooooh," Frisk said. "Speaking of pie, Toriel put the pie on the floor while I was asleep. Why?"

I shrugged. "So you can eat it when you wake up?" I asked. “I don’t know why she’d put a slice of pie on the floor of all places.”

“Uh-huh.”

Then we were both met with silence, except the faint humming heard from Toriel in the living room as we sit here. We had no topics to chat about, which made things feel a little awkward, until...

“So, Sophia,” Frisk spoke. “Do you like this place?"

"It's pretty cozy," I replied. I went to the bed and lied down on it. "So, it’s not bad. This bed is so soft, I'll roll on it for days! But so far, this place is nice.”

Frisk giggled. “You know you got the other room.”

“Screw that. I’m sitting here.”

Frisk laughed. “Are you that lazy?”

“I guess.”

Frisk laughed. “Wow, you’re so weird.”

“And I’m proud of it, bruh. The haters can hate.”

And we kids just dissolved into laughter at that before it faded away into silence again.

I sighed. As I remained lying down, I felt the waves of boredom get bigger and consume me whole. I wanted to draw, I wanted to watch YouTube, but no. I don’t think there’s WiFi in the Underground and I didn’t bring my own phone or even my iPad. At that point, I began to think about what's beyond the Ruins. I thought of some Undertale characters and how I would interact with them. Especially a certain skeleton. I giggled at the thought.

"What's so funny?" Frisk asked.

I looked at him with a smile.

"Nothing!" I replied. "I tend to laugh for no reason." Even though it's hidden.

Frisk giggled again. “You’re funny.”

“Depends on how you define ‘funny.’”

I laughed softly before I sighed afterwards, looking upwards to the ceiling, letting the feelings of boredom cloud my mind and make me think about going out. But as I thought so, I began thinking about what to do. But that did not last long. And speaking of what to do, I wondered about Mrs. Wolf. How she's doing and if she's watching me from the Unknown World. If the Unknown World can watch someone like me experience the events of a game.

“I’m bored..,” I said, breaking the silence.

“Me too,” Frisk replied. “Since you can do magic, can you maybe do more than talk to animals?”

“No. Not yet, at least. I don’t think I’ll learn more at this point. Or maybe? I dunno, yet. Some magic is too dangerous for me to play with, so I don’t expect me to become some sort of magic expert or whatever the freak. So, when I return home, expect me to be the same magician girl that accompanied you. Or maybe not.”

“Who taught you magic?”

“No one in particular. Just got magic from this necklace. And that’s it.”

“Can you show me some of your other magic?”

“Newsflash: I don’t have much useful magic.”

“Oh, come on! You must have more!”

I laughed. “Nahhh. I have a few, but I’m just using the power to talk to animals. Besides, both won’t do much to help us.”

“Really?”

“Nope.“

Then, Frisk walked up to me and looked at me with those brown eyes that had the intent of getting every answer about magic out of me. I sighed.

Great, I thought. He's gonna start a QnA session.

“Do you have a second power?” he asked.

“I wanted to go with shapeshifting as my second power..,” I replied, smiling at the fact that he’s not gonna let this magic topic go. "My chosen forms are mermaid and wolf."

Frisk's eyes opened wide. “Really?! You can turn into a mermaid and a wolf?”

I giggled. “No, not yet. I was told that when I turn thirteen years old, I will gain this new power.”

“Aw, man,” Frisk said as he slumped back to bed. “Are you gonna learn more magic tricks after that?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know, yet. Maybe I will, maybe I won’t.”

“Tell me when you do. I wanna see more of that magic of yours!”

I smiled and rolled my eyes a little. “Well, we don’t know when that’s gonna happen so... Yeah.”

“Who knows? You could become a princess or something! Or maybe command an entire army of animals!”

“Yep. But I don’t know if that’ll be my power. Who knows? Like I said, maybe I will, maybe I won't.”

“Okay, whatever you say.”

A bit of curiosity hit me. “Why do you want to know more about my magical powers anyway?”

”Because no human here has magic,” Frisk replied. “You’re the only one I know who has. I read a little about humans doing magic back home, but I never heard of them having powers like yours. Talking to animals and shapeshifting.”

”So, I’m guessing no human has the same powers as me.”

”Nope.”

Then, silence again. Looking at Frisk, he was again sitting down and rocking himself lightly. Me, I was a little sad that this magic topic is done, but I didn’t want to reveal the entirety of the secret I’m holding. But even so, I’m back to boredom. And when over ten seconds or more had passed, I sighed and sat up. Then I looked at Frisk.

"Hey, Frisk," I said.

"Yeah?" Frisk replied, looking at me.

"Do you wanna go out of the Ruins?"

Frisk looked at me with wide eyes like I was insane to think about leaving.

"Go out?" he asked.

I nodded. "Mmhm... I don’t want to stay here forever. It’s nice, but I gotta leave this place somehow. Besides, I’m bored and I already have a home to go home to.”

Frisk began to think for a moment. I waited patiently as he went deep into his thoughts. Me, I just remained still as I let him think of his final decision. And after maybe a minute or two has passed...

"Yes," he said.

"You do?" I asked.

Frisk nodded. “Toriel is a nice lady, but... I kind of like to go out too. Besides the fact that I’m also bored. So, yeah. I’m going with you.”

I smiled.

"That's good," I said. ”Besides, a magician like me gotta go out sometime. Gotta help me gain an idea of what I will control when I reach the new level.”

“Like a magic high school?” he asked, jokingly.

I snickered as I gave him a look. “You’re not gonna stop bringing that magic thing up, are you?”

“Nope! I met a magical girl, so I won’t stop bringing it up!”

Dammit.., I thought while chuckling. He really has the soul of determination.

"Let's go tell her that we wanna leave," I said. “But do NOT tell her I have magic. My magic is secret. I repeat, secret.”

“I won’t!”

"And also, don't call me a magical girl. Just call me a magician. When you say magical girl, it means something different."

"Okay! A magician."

And just like that, we left the room and walked to Toriel, who was still reading her book with glasses on. I was the first to go up to the goat monster while Frisk went beside me, on my left.

"Hey, Toriel?" I asked.

Toriel looked to see Frisk awake.

"Up already, I see?" Toriel asked. "Um, I want you to know how glad I am to have you two here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you... But I have always wanted to be a teacher." She paused. "...actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising. STILL. I am glad to have you living here."

She looked at us for a moment and saw we were unfazed by the thought of her being a teacher.

"Toriel," I said. "Can we... talk to you?"

"Oh, did you want something?" Toriel asked.

Me and Frisk nodded.

"What is it?"

"Where can we leave?" I asked.

The millisecond after I asked that, Toriel looked at us like we were crazy.

“What?" she asked. "This... This IS your home now. Um... would you like to hear about this book I am reading? It is called '72 Uses for Snails.' How about it?"

"We're not quite interested in it, sorry," I replied. “If anything, I kinda got curious about the outside world. Particularly, down those stairs.”

"Miss Toriel?” Frisk asked. “How can we leave the Ruins?”

"Um..," Toriel replied, trying to find a way to make us get our minds off of leaving. "How about an exciting snail fact? Did you know that snails... Sometimes flip their digestive systems as they mature? Interesting."

"It is," I replied. "But still, how do we leave the Ruins?"

“And where can we leave?” Frisk asked. “We want to go outside.”

Toriel remained silent, her eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed.

"...I have to do something," she said. "Stay here."

Then she closed her book and put it on the chair. Then she took off her glasses and put them on her book and walked past us, going down the stairs.

Sheesh, I thought, feeling a little discomfort by her just barging out on us like that.

"Do we follow her?” Frisk asked.

“I guess,” I replied, shrugging.

And so, we quickly followed Toriel to the stairs. We quickly walked down the steps and into the purple hallway. It was darker than the Ruins before we walked into this home-like setting. For some reason, I got that eerie feeling, like something is going to happen.

"You wish to know how to return 'home,' do you not?" Toriel asked. "Ahead of us lies the end of the Ruins. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. No one will ever be able to leave again. Now be good children and go upstairs."

Toriel started walking.

I shook my head and started following Toriel. Frisk was following right behind me.

We can’t stay here forever, I thought. And oh, jeez...

Hearing Toriel say that made me almost see how sane, yet so internally insane she is. It’s scary.

Frisk and I followed Toriel through the hallway until she stopped.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate," Toriel said, her voice quiet and full of gloom, with a bit of despair. "I have seen it again and again. They come. They leave. They die. You naive children... If you leave the Ruins... They... Asgore... Will kill you. I am only protecting, do you understand? ...go to your room."

Toriel then started walking. But we children did not listen and just followed Toriel. There, she stopped at a corner.

"Do not try to stop me," she said. "This is your final warning."

But obviously, we still didn't listen and we followed Toriel to the door. The door was big, slightly taller than Toriel. It had the symbol that Toriel has on her dress. The exit of the Ruins. The end of the hallway.

"You want to leave so badly?" Toriel asked. "Hmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this.”

Toriel paused, her hands curled into fists. Frisk and I were left a little intimidated by what she’s doing.

“Prove yourself..,” she said. “Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

"Oh, no,” I said.

Then Toriel turned to us, fire balls in her hands. Frisk grabbed my arm and held it tightly, fear in his eyes as he saw the flames. I gotta admit, I was NOT ready for this! But no going back now, I just gotta try to avoid getting burnt. And hope I don’t die!

Shit, shit, shit! I thought.

Toriel let in a deep breath and suddenly sent the fireballs at us.

"Frisk, stay close!" I said.

The fireballs went past us, splitting off before they hit us at the front. It was such a useless attack, but thank god. But the heat and smoke of the fire made me feel the feeling of my eyes going dry. I blinked and coughed a little to gain my composure.

“Miss Toriel!” Frisk cried. “Stop!”

But Toriel didn’t listen. She just readied her fireballs as she glared at us like she’s disappointed in us. Frisk tried to think of any topics to discuss, but he had nothing in mind.

Clearly saying that we'll be fine once we leave is not going to convince her.

Dammit, I thought.

She swiped her right hand and left a line of fireballs and they went straight for us. I quickly moved to the left and Frisk followed. Apparently, that was dumb of me because we felt ourselves getting burnt. I screamed in pain and so did Frisk. I looked down to my arm and saw a red rash. I blew on it to make it less painful. Frisk quickly ran to my protection as Toriel readied another attack. She then shot us some more fireballs. It's when they move side to side. We went through the spaces and survived that attack. I groaned with pain from the burns, but managed to not get another. I felt a few sparks burn me, but that’s not enough to burn the hell out of me or Frisk. Then Toriel swiped her hand again and the fireballs formed a line and came toward us again. We moved to the left again but this time, Frisk was hit. He yelped in pain.

I quickly grabbed him before he hit the floor. I looked at Toriel and saw them still glaring at us both, but I also saw the pain in her eyes.

"Dang it!" I exclaimed. “Get up, Frisk! We gotta keep going!”

Frisk held on to me as we moved to face Toriel again. She began sending us fireballs, and they were moving almost like that of a DNA strand. We sat through the spaces and survived.

Toriel sent another wave of flames, but we kept dodging and not laying a single injury on Toriel. We held onto our injured arms and moved our legs that felt burnt from the fire. But not one single injury.

"What are you doing?" Toriel asked.

"What does it look like?" I asked as she sent us more fireballs and we dodged them, since they were moving side to side.

"Attack or run away!" Toriel exclaimed as she sent us more fireballs.

The fireball moved and they were almost like bouncing off of each other, but going to the left or right, and we had to move, but we unfortunately gained more burns.

"What are you proving this way?" Toriel asked.

Frisk and I didn't answer since Toriel began shooting us more fireballs. They moved side to side again and we went through spaces to avoid getting hurt more.

"Fight me or leave!" Toriel exclaimed.

"No way!" I replied. “We’re not gonna hurt you!”

"No!" Frisk replied.

We stood there when the fireballs were bouncing off of each other. We sat in the middle to avoid the flames and waited until the attack ended.

"Stop it," Toriel said.

Both of Toriel's hands swiped and they all came towards us. I grabbed Frisk's hand and ran to the left, and thank god that was a smart move, since the flames missed. When they disappeared, we quickly headed back to our spot to face Toriel.

"Toriel, stop it!" I said. "We'll be fine if we leave! I promise to protect Frisk once we get outta here!"

"Please, Miss Toriel!" Frisk said.

"Stop looking at me that way," Toriel demanded, the feeling of pain in her voice.

Toriel sent us more fireballs, we got ready to move, but the fireballs were scattering into different directions and they weren't hitting us.

"Go away!" Toriel exclaimed.

The fireballs came in, but were not aiming for us. It gave us the chance to stand up to Toriel.

"Toriel, that's enough," I said. “Don’t burn us to a crisp!”

"Please..," Frisk whispered.

Toriel remained silent.

The fireballs keep coming in weak. They weren't aiming for us. They were just passing by. Like Toriel is too tired to even land another burning hit. When the attack was over, Frisk and I looked at Toriel. I don’t know why but... I wanted to speak up, regardless of the amount of burns I had, I didn’t want her to keep attacking and preventing us from leaving. Toriel still remained silent, but her facial expression changed to a sad one. Fireballs kept passing us and leaving us free from anymore burns. And when it was over, I spoke up.

"Tori," I began.

But I was cut off.

"I know you want to go home," Toriel said, "but... But please... go upstairs now."

"No," Frisk and I replied.

"I promise I will take good care of you here," Toriel said, with a sad smile on her face. "I know we do not have much, but... We can have a good life here."

Jeez, I thought.

When I’m looking at her, it’s like she‘s that desperate to become a mom... But I look into those eyes and I see… Heartache… And a very painful one at that too. Toriel looked like she was about to cry.

"But it's better if we can leave, Miss Toriel," Frisk replied.

"Yeah," I replied. “Besides. I’m not that young anyway and won’t be young forever.”

"Why are you making this so difficult?" Toriel asked with tears in her red eyes. "Please, go upstairs."

We refused to go. All we did was stand in silence coming from all of us. Until Toriel laughed somberly.

"Pathetic, is it not?" she asked. "I cannot save even a single child. Not to mention two... at once."

Toriel was silent again.

"Toriel," I spoke up. “We—“

"No, I understand," she said. "You would just be unhappy trapped down here. The Ruins are very small once you get used to them. It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, my children... I will put them aside."

I felt sadness wash over me as Toriel turned to the door.

"If you truly wish to leave the Ruins..," she said, "I will not stop you. However, when you leave... Please do not come back. I hope you understand."

Then Toriel turned around, knelt down, and gave us a hug. Frisk hugged back while I hesitated. I’m not much of a hugger, but this feeling... I felt sympathy for her... But not only that, I even felt the motherly love that she is emitting... This hug made it be emitted ten fold! My heart was hit with affection and that alone made me hug the goat monster back. After a long while, she let go of us and stood up.

"Goodbye, my children," Toriel said, tears rolling down her cheek before she started walking back to the entrance to the hallway that leads to her home. Before she took a step into the hallway, she stopped and turned around to look at us one last time, her eyes still shining with tears. She looked at me and smiled. And I can see that she knows that I will do a great job protecting Frisk from the upcoming bullshit. And after that, she turned around and left.

Me and Frisk just stared with sorrow back at her.

"Mom..," Frisk whispered.

Damn, I thought.

I was touched by Toriel’s motherly love, I forgot the pain I had in my burns. But we don’t have time to think about it now. We wanted to leave and we’re going.

"Let's go, Frisk," I said, quietly.

I started walking and Frisk held my hand as we pushed the door open and we both walked through a long, empty hallway until we reached the exit, to reveal Flowey was waiting for us at the very end.

"Oh," I said, my voice low. "Hello again."

"Clever," Flowey said. "Very clever. You think you're really smart, don't you? In this world, it's killed or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules."

Flowey showed us a creepy face. "You spared the life of a single person."

Then he giggled evilly before returning to his normal face.

“I bet you feel really great,” he said. “You didn't kill anybody this time. But what will you do if you meet a relentless killer? You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Until you tire of trying. What will you do then?"

Flowey's face changed to an evil one. "Will you kill out of frustration? Or will you give up entirely on this world... and let ME inherit the power to control it? And what about you, girly?”

Flowey looked at me.

“What will you do?” he asked. “You’ve got magic. What was it again? Talking to animals? That power is so useless, I almost feel sorry for you! You should have gotten that shapeshifting power earlier!”

Flowey laughed at the fact I only had one useful power before he looked at me. “What will you do when you only have that power in the face of a killer, hm? Will you command an army of animals and kill? Or will you give up? And give the power to control this world to me? I am the prince of this world's future."

Yeah, right, I silently replied.

Frisk glared at Flowey.

"Don't worry, my little monarchs," said Flowey, "my plan isn't regicide. This is so, SO much more interesting."

Then Flowey laughed evilly while Frisk and I just stared at him with anger. Personally for me, I was insulted, but that’s Flowey. After he laughed, he went into the ground again, letting us pass.

I stared into the entrance in front of us.

Oh, boy...

Into a land where it's cold and full of snow we go.

And I just remembered...

What the hell should I do to heal these burns?

”I need to get food, ASAP.”
———

< Cover | Chapter 4>>

Battle scenes, I SUCK

EDIT: 1/6/24, Art picture

Undertale (c) Toby Fox
Story, Art, Sophia (c) me