Underearth/Book 1/Chapter 3

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On the other side of the doorway, there was a large hall spanning down to Frisk's right. There were piles of dead leaves all around the room. On Frisk's left was another doorway, though the lighter path didn't go into it. Frisk walked forward slightly when the phone given to him suddenly rang. Frisk answered it.

"Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left the room, have you? There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them by yourself. Be good, alright?"

The phone hung up. Frisk's perception of Toriel had soured just a bit at that phone call. It would seem as though she didn't trust him. Sure, he'd left the room, but the thought of him still being in the room when she called just caused Frisk's mood to worsen just a bit. After pocketing the phone again, Frisk began making his way across the room to a pile of leaves. There was a protrusion in the pile. Frisk reached out and pulled it out. It was a relatively large, sturdy stick. He decided to take the stick with him, just in case more Monsters were to attack him. Frisk then began moving towards the door the path lead to.

When Frisk had made it to the door, another frog-like creature had appeared, though this one was accompanied by a moth-like creature. Frisk immediately took the stick and brought it down on the moth Monster. It turned to dust. The frog Monster's eyes started to glow red, followed by projectiles appearing and flying at Frisk, who nimbly dodged each projectile, and brought the stick down on its head. The Monster let out a shriek of pain, and recoiled backwards, though didn't turn to dust just yet. Frisk brought the stick up for another swing at the creature. The Monster saw Frisk winding up another swing, and jumped right at him, knocking him down. The Monster then summoned more projectiles and hurled them straight at Frisk's head. Moments before they hit, however, Frisk punched the Monster in the head. The Monster flew off Frisk and turned to dust. Frisk got back up on his feet and proceeded into the next room. As Frisk was walking, he noticed a few wide holes in the wall with a strange rank smell creeping out of them. Frisk was used to this sort of smell by now, the smell of rot, so he just continued past.

When Frisk had entered the next room, his phone began ringing again.

"Hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular... which do you prefer: cinnamon or butterscotch?"

Frisk was a bit stunned at the strange question. "Cinnamon."

"Oh, I see. Thank you very much!"

The phone hung up.

Frisk put the phone back in his pocket and walked forward into the room a few steps before his phone suddenly started ringing again.

"Hello? This is Toriel. You do not dislike butterscotch, do you? I know what your preference is, but... Would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?" Toriel asked.

"I don't know. I've never had butterscotch before." Frisk replied.

"Right, right. I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way."

The phone hung up once again.

Frisk looked at the phone for a few seconds longer just in case Toriel called back again. When nothing happened, he put it back into his pocket. Frisk then looked around the room. There was no path in the middle of the room, though only one other doorway than the one he just walked through. In the middle of the room was a boulder a bit smaller than Frisk, what appeared to be a pressure plate near the boulder, and a row of spikes stretching across the room from wall to wall, restricting progress. There was also a plaque on the left wall, though no doubt it was also written in the same language that was on the other plaques. Frisk looked upon the puzzle for about a minute before determining that the boulder must be pushed onto the plate for the spikes to retract. Frisk walked over to the boulder, setting down the stick next to it, and pushed as hard as he could. The boulder, for some reason, moved with ease. When it landed on the plate, the spikes retracted, just as Frisk thought they would. Frisk picked up the stick and moved towards the doorway. Before reaching the doorway, Frisk's phone began ringing again.

"Hello? This is Toriel. You do not have any allergies, do you?"

Frisk was again stunned at such a question. "Why are you asking?" He asked.

"No reason... No reason at all." She replied quickly before hanging up.

Frisk stared down at the phone before putting it away. Frisk walked towards the doorway, and into the next room.

When in the next room, a musty, moldy scent filled Frisk's nostrils. This was much stronger than what he'd smelled coming from those wide holes in the walls. As Frisk continued forward, he saw another one of those holes in the wall. The rank scent seemed to be coming from the hole, though it didn't explain why it was so strong throughout the entire room. As Frisk continued through the room, he turned a corner to find the entire floor worn and cracked with some parts collapsed. Frisk poked one part of the cracked floor, causing it to collapse. Below, Frisk saw a ton of leaves covered in entire sections of mold. It looked as though some of the mold was moving. Frisk prodded at a few more sections before finding an area that didn't collapse. he prodded that section a few more times before stepping on it. He continued this routine until he reached the other side of the room. From there, he could see the exit, though the cracked floor continued all the way to the doorway. Frisk made his way directly towards the doorway, prodding at the floor with his stick to make sure it wouldn't collapse when he stepped on it. This continued up until he prodded at a section of floor that held when prodded but collapsed when he stepped on it. Frisk reached out to surrounding sections, grabbing at anything, though the sections he grabbed collapsed as well. Frisk fell straight into the pile of leaves and mold.

When Frisk landed, there was a loud 'squelch', and then the sound of something turning to dust. Frisk sat up to find himself sitting in a small pile of dust. The smell of mold was overwhelming now. As Frisk looked around, he saw the mold moving towards him.

Monsters.

Frisk grabbed the stick and prepared for a fight. One of the mold-Monsters launched something out of its central orifice straight at Frisk. As the object got near, it exploded, hitting him many times throughout his entire body and knocking him back. Frisk looked down at where he was hit, and saw nothing out of the ordinary, just like when he was attacked by Flowey. Frisk tightened his grip on the stick and struck the mold-Monster that had attacked him. The force of the impact caused the Monster to turn to dust almost instantly. Two more mold-Monsters launched similar objects. Frisk made special care not to be hit again. He then hit one of the Monsters on its side, causing it to fly at the wall and turn to dust upon impacting. The final mold-Monster tried to escape, though to no success, as Frisk approached the creature and brought his stick straight down into its orifice. It turned to dust shortly after. Seeing no other Monster in sight, Frisk retraced his steps back, though on this lower level.

This lower floor appeared identical to the one that Frisk had fallen from. He looked around the area, from side to side, to up and down. On the ceiling, he saw some supporting beams preventing certain sections of the floor from collapsing. On the far wall just below the hallway Frisk had entered from, he found a larger hole in the wall, this one more like a doorway. As Frisk looked through it, it seemed to connect with the wide hole in the upper floor's wall. Frisk looked at the surrounding walls of the shaft, finding very worn out-crops, which must have been used to climb out of this hole before. Seeing as they were now unusable, Frisk placed his boot on one of the walls, and his other boot on the opposing wall. He did the same with his hands and started up the shaft by pushing his way out. Once at the top, Frisk collapsed in order to catch his breath. Once finished, he re-approached the mostly collapsed section, and recalled where the support beams were. He then followed that path flawlessly, finally making it to the exit doorway.

The next room was very similar to the one with the boulder in it a few rooms back, though this one had three boulders and a trench of water. Spikes were positioned on the bridge that spanned the gap. Seeing how it was visually similar to the earlier room, Frisk figured it must have been functionally similar as well. Frisk walked over to the left-most boulder and pushed it onto the plate and did the same with the center boulder. When he got to the right-most boulder, he tried pushing it, but a voice came from the rock when he applied pressure.

"WHOA there pardner!" The rock said. "Who said you could push me around?"

Frisk was stunned at the sudden outburst of what he thought was an inanimate object. He looked over at the spikes that protruded up from the bridge. He had to do something, otherwise the spikes wouldn't disarm.

"Um, could you move that way please?" Frisk meekly asked, pointing towards the plate.

"HMM? So you're ASKIN' me to move over there?" The rock paused for a moment, as if in deep thought. "Okay, just for you, pumpkin." The rock moved towards the plate a few inches, then stopped.

Frisk asked the rock to move a bit more. In response, the rock moved to Frisk's left, towards the center rock's path.

"Wait! That's the wrong way." Frisk said, a bit alerted now.

The rock looked at Frisk (at least Frisk was pretty sure it did), then remained there for a few seconds longer before responding with "Okay, I think I got it." and moving over onto the plate. Frisk, seeing as the spikes had retracted, hurried over to the bridge, though just before he stepped onto it, the spikes erupted back up. He looked back to see that the rock he'd been talking to had moved off the plate. He walked over, a bit annoyed, and asked the rock to stay on the plate. After a second of complaint, the rock stepped back onto the plate. Frisk said a slightly displeased "thank you" before hurrying over to the bridge. He stopped before crossing it, and looked back at the rock, who was still on the plate. He then turned back towards the bridge and sprinted across it. The spikes remained down. Frisk then hurried through the doorway on the other side of the trench.

The hallway between rooms was a bit longer once again. To the right of this expanded hallway was an alcove. On the side closest to Frisk was a table with a slab of cheese stuck to it. Frisk, a bit tired out from the puzzles he'd solved, took a seat in the corner opposite the table for a quick reprieve