(***So music is something that is VERY important in my world. So when I post a video to a chapter, its not just because I like the song. It's because it actually applies to the chapter and the central them. So when you see '*PLAY' thing show up in a chapter, that means to start said video right then and then continue reading. Trust me. Just do it.***)

"Oh dear, that took longer than I thought it would." Toriel says, walking out of the house in the ruins that we had stumbled upon. She takes her phone out and puts it to her ear....and catches sight of Frisk. She puts her phone down immediately and runs to him. "How did you get here, my child? Are you hurt? There, there, I will heal you. I should not have left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this."

"It's okay," Frisk says. "I'm fine!"

"Errr....well, I suppose i cannot hide it any longer. Come, small one!"

Frisk follows Toriel and stops outside the house. He lingers outside near the leaves beside one of those yellow things. He puts his hand in it.

"*Seeing such a cute tidy house in the Ruins gives you determination. (HP fully restored.)"

He walks into the house.

The house is adorable, just like I remember it to be. It has light brown flooring and walls...

"Do you smell that?" Toriel's voice claims my attention. "Surprise! 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 the snail pie for tonight."

"Snail pie?" Frisk whispers, looking horrified.

"Here I have another surprise for you." Toriel says before I can say anything. Frisk follows her.

"This is it... A room of your own. I hope you like it!" She stands there for a second, lost in memories. She pats his head, just like she used to do to me....

Suddenly her head snaps up, "Is something burning...? Um make yourself at home!" She runs to the kitchen.

Frisk walks into the room. We start to inspect it.

"Look at these cool toys! They don't interest you at all." I say.

"A box of kids shoes in a disparity of sizes."

"An empty photo frame. It's really dusty..."

Frisk yawns as he sits on the bed.

I recognize that look. "Go to sleep," I advise.

"But I'm not tired-" He starts to object, but is interrupted by another huge yawn.

"Yeah, sure, kid, keep telling yourself that. C'mon, you have a long day tomorrow..."

"Okay," He settles himself under the covers. I position myself next to the bed with my back against the wardrobe. I drift off to a light sleep...

And wake up to Toriel walking into the room. She smiles at Frisk, who's fast asleep, snoring lightly. She tucks him in a little more, and places a slice of pie on the floor next to the bed. She turns off the light and the music in the house changes to Home, music box version. I listen to it for awhile, remembering when I was alive. Then I drop off into a dreamless sleep. Ghosts can sleep, but don't dream. It's partially a blessing and partially a curse. I can barely remember what Asriel looked like....and I don't see him in dreams....

***

I wake with a start as Frisk blinks awake.

"Did you sleep well?" I ask him while stretching. Not that I need to stretch. its just a habit, like sleeping, y'know?

'Yep!" He gets out of bed.

"Careful. Don't step on the pie." I warn him.

"Pie.. oh!" He sees the pie and looks at it, confused.

"Toriel came in here while you were sleeping and put it on the floor." I explain.

"Oh. Well that was nice of her." He says. He picks up the pie, which is wrapped in something like a Ziploc bag, and sticks it his pocket.

I stand up, and we walk out of the room together. We walk into the living room, where Toriel sits on her easy chair, reading a book.

"Up already, I see." She smiles when she sees Frisk. 'Um, I want you to know how glad i am to have someone come here. There are so many old books I want to share. I want to show you my favorite bug-hunting spot. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education. This may come as a surprise to you....But I have always wanted to be a teacher....Actually perhaps that isn't very surprising. Still. I am glad to have you living here. Oh, did you want something? What is it?"

"Uh..." Frisk seems at loss for words after all of that information.

"*nothing *When can i go home." I suggest helpfully.

"*Nothing." I says with a smile.

"Well, talk to me again if you need anything." Toriel says, she goes back to her book.

We continue to inspect the house. I keep up a steady stream of commentary the entire time.

"You have seen this type of plant before but do not know its name."

"Just a regular old bucket.....
of snails."

Frisk shudders. "Snails...."

"You don't have to eat the snail pie if you don't want to Frisk...." I tell him.

Frisk looks frustrated, "But I don't want to disappoint her...!"

I shake my head and smile as we continue to inspect Toriel's room.

"Toriel's small chair. Its name is Chairiel."

Frisk snorts at that. "Wow that was bad."

"Yeah, it was, but it made you laugh, didn't it?" I point out.

Frisk concedes, "True."

"*It's Toriel's diary. Read the circled passage?
*Yes  *No."

"*Yes." Frisk says. He squints at it. "Could you read it, I can't decipher the handwriting..."

"Why did the skeleton want a friend? Because she was feeling BONELY..."

"Wow...that was even worse than Chairiel...." Frisk tries to grimace, but ends up laughing instead.

"It looks like the rest of the page is filled with jokes of a similar caliber..." I trail off.

"Definitely bigger than a twin-sized bed."

Frisk picks up a random book of the bookshelf and opens to a random page. I peek at the cover and observe aloud, "It's an encyclopedia of subterranean plants."

Frisk reads outloud, "'Typha' - a group of wetland flowering plants with brown oblong seedpods. Known more commonly as 'water sausages.'"

"Interesting." I say, peeking over his shoulder at the book.

He puts it away.

"Scandolous! It's Toriel's sock drawer."

"Ah the cactus. Truly the most tsundere of plants."

"What's a tsundere?" Frisk asks me as we leave Toriel's room.

"It's....hard to explain...." I tell him.

"Inside the drawer there are flower seeds and some broken crayons."

"Oh! It is a 'water sausage.'"

"It's you!"

"These books are worn...they must have been read many times."

"An old calendar....from 201X."

"Um....2015 is this year..."

"Really? It's been that long? Huh....well monster time is different from human time, given that we- er- they can't see the sun, so they can't tell the days from nights. They mostly guess....201X is in monster years. That was the year I came here."

"It's a history book." I say when Frisk picks up another book off a bookshelf and reads a random page.

"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 don't remember anything about that..." Frisk says with a frown.

I recite something I'd memorized....well if Frisk's right about the year...it must've been like 40 years ago, "Long ago, two races ruled over earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell."

"Magic...?" Frisk says with wonder.

"It's real. That's what monsters have been attacking you with."

"Cool! Can I learn some!" Frisk says excitedly.

I wince, "Frisk, from what I've heard and from what I know, Humans lost the ability to do magic a long time ago...."

"Oh..." He sounds disappointed.

"Instead we have this thing called determination..."

Frisk perks up, "What's that?"

"It's complicated..."

"Oh.." Frisk says when he realizes I won't elaborate any more on the subject.

We continue to inspect the house.

"The stovetop is very clean. Toriel must use fire magic instead."

For some reason, there's a brand name chocolate bar in the fridge.

"Can I have it?" Frisk asks.

"No." I tell him.

'What, why not...?"

"Because its mine." I look positively fierce for a second.

Frisk drops the subject rather quickly.

Frisk walks up to Toriel again.

"Oh, hello! Did you want to hear about the book i am readin? It is called '72 uses for snails.'"

"How about it?"

"*Sure *How to exit the ruins." I whisper suggestions.

"Uh, *Sure." He says.

"Here is an exciting snail fact. Did you know that snails... make terrible shoelaces? Interesting."

"*Yeah *How to exit the ruins." I say.

"*How to exit the ruins." Frisk asks.

Toriel stands up and says, "I have to do something. Stay here." She puts her book down and leaves the room. Frisk goes to follow her, but sees that she's disappeared.

"Where'd she go...?" He asks.

"Where do you think, Frisk." I say, looking at the stairs. "Where's the only place you haven't gone in this place?"

"Aw, crap." Frisk blanches, but follows Toriel downstairs.

We encounter her in the hall downstairs. Sh'es stopped in the middle of it, with her back to us.

"You wish to know how to return 'home,' do you not?" She still doesn't look at Frisk. "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." Her voice is hard and brittle. "No one will ever be able to leave again."

"Again?" Frisk repeats, "So....this has happened before....?" He looks at me. I say nothing.

"Now be a good child and go upstairs." Toriel keeps walking.

Frisk hesitates for a moment, but then follows.

"Every human that falls down here meets the same fate. I have seen it again and again. "

"They come...."

"They leave..."

Mine and Toriel's voices sound hollow as we say at the same time, "T h e y d i e."

Frisks eyes widen as understanding dawns on his face. "The seventh...."

"You naive child..." Toriel continues. "If you leave the Ruins..."

"They..."

"ASGORE..." Me and Toriel speak in unison once again.

Toriel keeps talking, "Will kill you."

She sighs. "I am only protecting you, do you understand?...Go to your room." She keeps walking.

Frisk follows.

"Do not try to stop me. This is your final warning." She sounds kinda scary....I've never seen her like this. Frisk doesn't back down, but keeps following her.

Toriel reaches the door to the rest of the underground and stops. Frisk stops, too.

"You want to leave so badly?" She harrumphs, "hmmph. You are just like the others. There is only one solution to this."

The air hums with a strange energy as she says, "Prove yourself....Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.

The room seems to darken and Frisk's SOUL appears.

"Wait, what!?" Frisk yelps. "Toriel...? Goat mom?"

{*PLAY}

Heartache starts to play, and that's when I know this is bad. "Frisk get ready...."

"*Toriel blocks the way!" I tell him.

"Wait, we're fighting!?" Frisk squeaks. "Um, *Check."

"*Toriel - ATK 80 DEF 80. Knows best for you."

"That doesn't help me at all, Chara!" He shrieks.

The room lights up as Toriel summons a bunch of fireballs.

"Whoa..." Frisk says softly. His eyes reflect the flames.

Fire starts to cascade all around the room. Frisk screams as he's burned.

"*HP is at 15/20." I say urgently. "Come on Frisk, get good..."

"*Toriel looks through you."

"Options?"

*Check *Talk."

"*Talk." He says. He's silent.

"You couldn't think of any conversation topics." I say.

She does another fire magic attack. Frisk loses another 5 HP. He collapses to the ground, holding his arm, which got badly burned. He looks up at Toriel. Determination burns in his eyes as brightly as the flames Toriel summons.

"*Toriel looks through you." I say again.

"*SPARE." Frisk says. There's something else in his voice now.

Toriel looks at him funny.

Fire cascades around the room again. Frisk gets hit multiple times, because he doesn't even try to dodge.

"FRISK WHAT THE HELL." I yell at him, panicking. "YOU IDIOT YOU ONLY HAVE ONE HP LEFT." I remember the pie. "USE THE PIE, FRISK!"

Frisk ignores me, "*SPARE."

Toriel continues to look at him funny.

She does another fire attack. Frisk stands still.....but the fire just falls around him. I blink in surprise.

"*SPARE." Frisk says firmly.

There are more flames but again they avoid Frisk.

"*Toriel is acting aloof." I say.

"*SPARE."

"What are you doing?" Toriel asks Frisk.

She casts another magic attack that avoids Frisk.

"*SPARE."

"Attack or run away!" Toriel yells.

I stay silent next to Frisk, watching this all go down with wide eyes.

"*SPARE."

"What are you proving this way?"

"*SPARE."

"Fight me or leave!"

"No, I *SPARE you." Frisk says quietly.

"Stop it!"

"No! *SPARE."

"Stop looking at me that way."

"*spare." Frisk says softly.

"Go away!"

Frisk *SPARES her again. This time instead of yelling she looks sad.

The fire still falls around us.

Frisk keeps *SPARING.

"I know you want to go home, but..."

The attacks stop.

"*SPARE."

"But please... go upstairs now."

"*spare."

"I promise I will take good care of you here."

"*spare."

"I know we don't have much, but..."

"*spare."

"We can have a good life here."

"*spare."

"Why are you making this so difficult?"

"*spare."

"Please, go upstairs." She practically sounds like she's begging now.

"*spare."

He continues to spare her as she keeps talking.

"Ha ha..."

"Pathetic is it not? I cannot save even a single child."

"No. I understand. 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 child, I will put them aside."

She faces away from Frisk and says, "If you truly wish to leave the ruins... I will not stop you. However, when you leave... Please do not come back. I hope you understand." She turns around and gives him a hug. I try to not notice the tears running down her face. I fail.

Then she walks away.

Frisk goes to the door, but turns around and starts following her. I don't ask what he's doing, because I already know.

He finds her where he fell. Where he started and where I found him.

"Do not worry about me," She tells him with a sad smile, "Someone has to take care of these flowers."

***omg when I found out about this Easter egg in the game I about died. THE FUCKING FEELS MAN!!! AHHH STOP TOYING WITH MY EMOTIONS***