Underearth/Book 5/Chapter 1

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A sudden gasp for air erupted throughout the hollow caves as Frisk's blue-brown eyes shot open. He was back in the Underground, back on the bed of golden flowers. Sitting up, the Human looked around. The stone around him, along with the cracked section, were the same as they ever were.

Frisk brought his hands up to rub his eyes, though stared at his hands quickly after they made contact.

*The gauntlets...* he thought. *They're gone.*

Looking around at the rest of himself, Frisk found that the knife and scabbard were also gone. Everything was as though it had been reset back to the point at which he'd first woken up.

Frisk looked down at the ground around his butt, listening hard. Between the stems of the golden flowers, he saw it. A mysterious pocketwatch cased in bronze. Frisk pulled it from the ground and tucked it away in his pocket. With the pocketwatch secure, he stood up and started walking to the only opening in the surrounding stone wall.

*Wait,* he thought after taking his first step. *what about my magic?*

Frisk brought his hands up. Like flicking a switch, fire ignited in his palms. It was then just as quickly replaced with ice, which was then replaced with a subtle green glow.

With the knowledge of his magic secure, Frisk pressed forward through the alcove.

"Howdy!" a high-pitched voice sounded soon after Frisk stepped through an archway beyond the alcove.

Frisk looked down. In the center of a pillar of light stood a single flower with a bright, shining smile stretched across its face.

"I'm Flowey." the flower continued speaking. "Flowey the Flower!"

"I know who you are."

The smile vanished from the flower's face as its beady eyes widened.

"And I know what you're thinking right now, so why don't we just cut to the end where I set you on fire?" Frisk ignited his arms upon finishing.

Immediately, Flowey retreated into the earth. Frisk extinguished his arms soon after.

"YOU SERIOUSLY MUST RELAX." a cold, metallic voice echoed within Frisk's head.

Frisk pulled the pocketwatch from his pocket. It was strangely warm to touch.

"YOU NO LONGER NEED TO KILL OR SLAUGHTER ALL. YOU HAVE WHAT YOU SOUGHT, AND MORE."

Frisk let out a heavy sigh. "Right..." he said. "Thank you."

"TORIEL APPROACHES. ACT AS YOU DID IN YOUR SECOND WORLD. EVERYTHING IS OKAY."

As the Timepiece finished speaking, a giant anthropomorphic goat appeared in the archway ahead.

"Hello..." she said. "Are you all right?"

"Nah," Frisk replied, "I'm a nice balance between right and left."

The goat cracked into a smile and began howling with laughter.

*Didn't realize it'd be **that** funny.*

After a bit, she slowly stopped laughing. "I am sorry." she said, wiping her eyes. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through here every day to see if anyone has fallen down here. You are the first Human to come here in a long time. I will do my best to protect you during your time here." Toriel then turned around and walked back through the archway. "Come! I shall guide you through the Citadel."

*It feels so strange not to be greeted with hostility.*

As soon as Frisk stepped out into the darkness beyond, he started a small fire in his hand, which illuminated his surroundings. Seeing the light, Toriel turned around, a look of awe on her face.

"Humans have re-discovered magic?" she asked.

"Eh, not really no.

"Yet, here you are, producing a skillful flame within your hand."

Frisk remained silent as Toriel watched with invested interest.

"Shoot it upwards into the darkness above." she eventually said.

Knowing what was about to happen, Frisk pointed his hand upwards, towards the Torchweb, and launched the flame. Up it climbed, further and further, until it suddenly began to expand in a chaotic web-like pattern, expanding until the flame engulfed the entire sky. Toriel nodded.

"Excellent. You are very good." she said. "Now, let us press forward."

With the courtyard now illuminated, Frisk laid eyes upon a great structure that stood before him. It was grand in design, as if meant to be an entrance, towering up close to the slanted cliff-face of the mountain they stood within.

"Come, my child. The Citadel can be dangerous."

Frisk snapped back into the courtyard. The pale white stairs situated in front of him led up to the tall doorway that led inside. Climbing it, both Frisk and Toriel entered the structure.

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one." Toriel said within the room, which looked more to be a dead-end than an actual entrance. "Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Citadel."

Toriel walked over a few protrusions in the floor, setting them level, before flipping a switch at the far-side of the room. A part of the wall beside the switch then opened, revealing a way forward.

"The Citadel is full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and door-keys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." Toriel said before stepping through the newly formed opening.

Frisk looked around the room, his main focus being placed on a section of featureless wall that, in the previous World, he'd found a staircase behind.

As he stared at the wall, a small glowing white orb shot past, drawing Frisk's attention. He looked around, yet nothing proved evident that anything had passed. Heaving a great sigh, he stepped through the same opening that Toriel had.

"To make progress here," Toriel said as Frisk came into sight, "you will need to pull several levers. Do not worry, as I have labeled the ones that you must pull."

Frisk looked around the room as Toriel advanced across a bridge that spanned a small span of flowing water. Crossing the bridge himself, Frisk caught sight of the lever he needed to pull. "Please pull this lever" was written next to it in big yellow letters, with arrows pointing directly at the lever. Pulling it down, a metal-grinding sound echoed throughout the room. Looking back, Frisk saw Toriel cross a second bridge, then stop by a set of spikes.

After he himself had crossed the second bridge, Toriel pointed to a pair of levers in a nearby wall. Of the two levers within the wall, only one shared the fanfare of yellow words and letters of the last. "Please pull this lever too."

"Splendid!" Toriel cheered after Frisk pulled the lever. "I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room."

"As a Human living in the Underground, Monsters may attack you." Toriel warned as they both entered the next room. "You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a Monster, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice by talking to this dummy."

Frisk looked at the dummy standing at the far-side of the room. It was a simple cotton construct, standing on a single wooden leg. Its face was long and made of cloth, with a single button eye on a side of its head.

"What should I talk about?" Frisk asked.

"Well, I often start with a simple 'how do you do...'" Toriel answered. "You could ask them about their favorite books... Jokes can be useful for 'breaking the ice'. Listen to this one... What does a skeleton tile his roof with?"

"Hmm, that's a good question. What *does* a skeleton tile his roof with?"

*"shin*-gles!"

Frisk and the dummy simply looked up at Toriel.

"Well, I thought it was amusing. You can say anything... The dummy will not be bothered. Practice talking to the dummy."

"What makes you so sure the dummy won't be bothered? I mean, there could be a... a *ghost* living in there."

Toriel sucked in some air, but said nothing, pondering that point.

Frisk didn't wait any longer. He turned back to the dummy. "Hey dummy, I just wanted to ask, are you a ghost?"

"What are you doing? You cannot just ask that question."

"Why not?"

"Because it is... er... nevermind. Let us continue."

Toriel walked through the doorway into the next room, followed soon after by Frisk.

"There is another puzzle in this room." Toriel said. "I wonder if you can solve it."

Toriel then walked off into a hallway to the side of the current room, which featured a path broken from the main one Frisk had been following. Entering the hallway himself, Frisk soon found himself standing face-to-face with another Monster—one that had fallen from the ceiling as Frisk approached. Landing in front of him, Frisk shot backwards, avoiding it.

The Monster was a frog-like creature, a Monster Frisk had learned—in a previous World—was called "Froggit".

"Hello there," Frisk said upon regaining his posture, "nice of you to drop by."

The Froggit said nothing, it simply stared at him.

"My child?" Toriel called, backtracking through the hallway.

"I'm fine. A Monster just dropped by to say hello is all."

Toriel hurried back, glaring at the Froggit until it got nervous and slunk away.

With the Froggit gone, Frisk advanced alongside Toriel to the puzzle she spoke of earlier; a small island connecting to the hallway and exit surrounded by water and covered in spikes.

"This is the puzzle, but..." Toriel began saying. "My child, if I may ask, how good are you at magic?"

Frisk looked up at her. "Uh, pretty good I guess."

"Can you create a protective orb like this—" Toriel brought her hands together, generating a small ivory-colored orb between her palms. "—except all around yourself?"

Frisk knew exactly what she meant and summoned a protective aura. Toriel clapped her hands together.

"Excellent." she said. "Try and solve this puzzle. Worry not, I shall be right behind you."

Frisk entered the puzzle ahead, carefully navigating the maze he'd traveled through at least seven times by now. Toriel stood close behind as he navigated, making sure he wouldn't be harmed by the spikes.

Upon reaching the end, Toriel spoke once again, gleeful in her tone. "Wonderful! Let us continue."

The pair continued into the following room, which was just an extensive hallway.

"You have done excellently thus far, my child." Toriel said as they entered the hallway. "However, I have a difficult request to ask of you." She took a deep breath, followed by a cleansing exhale. "I would like you to make it to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this."

As soon as she finished speaking, Toriel made a hasty dash for the end of the room, leaving Frisk behind.

*Not really an arduous task, Toriel.* Frisk thought as he himself began walking.

Reaching the end of the hallway, Frisk stood unsurprised when Toriel revealed herself from behind one of the many pale-grey pillars.

"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you." she soothed. "I was merely hiding behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me. However, there was an important reason for this exercise." Toriel dropped down to a knee, trying to equalize the difference in height between them. "... to test your independence. I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Please remain here, it's dangerous to explore by yourself. I have an idea; I will give you a cell phone. If you ever need anything, just call. Be good, alright?" Upon finishing, Toriel stood up and walked through the doorway behind her.

Instead of continuing himself, Frisk instead took a seat by the pillar Toriel had hidden herself behind moments before. To pass the time, he decided to take a look at the cell phone he'd been given. It was an ancient construct, appearing more ancient than cell phones have been around. The phone itself was a black box with a screen taking up the top third. The numbers on the number-pad didn't feature the same symbols he was used to, though Frisk knew from earlier experimentation that the layout was exactly the same of typical number-pads.

Stashing the phone into his pocket, Frisk stood up, figuring enough time had passed for him to continue.

Approaching the doorway, a small glowing white orb shot into his vision, followed by a few more orbs. Drawing Frisk's focus, the orbs than shot off behind him, drawing him to look where they sped off to. In the middle of the corridor, Frisk saw two figures standing immobile. The orbs first shot towards the short, skeletal figure—who wore a blue jacket and black shorts—before making their way over to the more Human-looking figure and vanishing in a red flare.