Part 2A - The Painted Ruins.

*Aurora and Harper, led by Winter leave the small room and they find themselves in a large room made of a purpleish-pink brick. There is paint all over the walls and buckets of paint, as well as paintbrushes all over the place.*

Winter: Come along you two, I will guide you through The Painted Ruins, even if you know the place like the back of your hand Harper.

Harper: What can I say? I've been around the block a few times!

Aurora: Let me guess, it's called The Painted Ruins because of all the painting supplies around here?

Winter: You'd be right. The Painted Ruins are filled with many talented artists, such as myself.

Aurora: Did you do all of this?

Winter: Haha... no. I cannot take credit for all of this. Some of the other monsters around here enjoy painting too, and that is where it came from.

Aurora: Monsters?

Winter: Ah... right, I suppose it is complicated. I'll tell you everything in due time. For now, let's keep moving.

*As they move ahead, Aurora stops at a glowing yellow star.*

Winter: Hmm? Is something wrong?

Aurora: Huh? Oh, it's nothing. Just give me a second.

*Aurora reaches her hand out and touches the star. A warm glow comes from it and she feels a comforting warmth inside of herself.*

*???: \*The shadow of The Painted Ruins looms above you. From within the darkness not far back, comes a new light.*

*???: \*You have awakened something within your heart. A burning determination burns brightly within you. HP fully restored.*

*Aurora isn't quite sure how save points work quite yet, but she'll figure it out soon enough. She saves quickly, then follows Harper and Winter into the next room. There appears to be some large buttons on the ground, as well as a large, locked door.*

Winter: Around here in these ruins, things function as they did when we found them long ago... through a series of puzzles and door keys.

Winter: From what I know, most of the underground functions like this, so you'll have to adjust yourself to the sight of them.

*Winter is about to solve the puzzle before Harper stops them.*

Harper: Well if that's the case, shouldn't we let them figure out the puzzle for themselves? It would probably be good practice.

Winter: Huh, yeah I suppose you're right. Go ahead kid, take your time.

*Aurora walks over to a large stone slab on the wall, just left of the large door.*

*???: \*It does not take a fearless heart to proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones... while both walk not the middle road, sometimes a straightforward path is not the answer either. What truly matters is the kindness of your heart.*

*???: \*Kindness is a virtue, and with kindness comes creativity to find the solution to a problem.*

*Aurora scratches her head and looks around under she notices a switch in the bottom left corner of the room. She moves over to the switch and presses it, causing the door to open. Even if the player could not figure the puzzle out, if they stumbled around for a bit, Winter would eventually give them the solution.*

Winter: Splended job! You are a very clever child. Maybe these puzzles will be a little too easy for you! Now, let's move ahead.

*Aurora follows the two into the next room. The room is a lot longer, with some switches on the wall.*

Harper: Since you solved the last puzzle, this one should be a breeze for you! Give it a try kid!

*Aurora walks over to a small sign and looks at it.*

*???: \*A useful tip! Make sure to read signs or anything you can. Sometimes any information you get can be useful information.*

*Aurora nods and walks to the far left corner, looking at a stone tablet in the wall with an inscription in it.*

*???: \*Press onwards with a brave heart, but always remember to be cautious. Curiousity killed the cat, after all.*

*Aurora presses the first switch, lowering the spikes, and she does the same for the second, before coming to the third row of spikes, where there are two switches. Aurora looks back and forth between the two switches before noticing that one of them has a small red X painted next to it. Aurora presses the opposite switch and the spikes lower.*

Winter: Excellent job! You're pretty good at this.

*The three proceed, finding themselves in a room with a dummy.*

Harper: Alright kid, I've taught you how to defend yourself during an attack, but obviously you get a turn in battle too! This seems like a good time to continue your training in that field with this dummy over here!

Winter: That's a wonderful idea Harper. Go ahead, I'll wait for you two in the next room.

*Winter leaves Harper and Aurora alone. Aurora interacts with the dummy, causing the world to turn monochrome yet again.*

*???: \*You encountered the training dummy.*

Harper: Alright kid! Time to explain YOUR side of a battle! As you can see, you have four options. FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY.

Harper: While we don't want to hurt anybody, teaching you how to fight is important. So how about you try fighting first?

*Aurora chooses to attack and selects the dummy. The battle bar appears in front of her.*

Harper: That's the battle bar! Depending on what you're attacking with, that bar will look a little different, but with that stick, it looks like that! Now, to explain HOW you attack.

*Here comes the white bar, just like the normal Undertale. It is moving extremely slowly to give Harper time to explain.*

Harper: That white bar right there is your attack! The closer you can get it to the center of your battle bar, the more powerful your attack will be. However, if you just let the bar go all the way through the battle box, you won't attack, and instead nothing will happen. How about you do that for now just so we don't damage the dummy?

*Aurora nods and lets the bar go fully through the battle box, purposefully not attacking. Obviously the dummy has no reaction.*

Harper: Right! In the case of a normal battle, after you make your decision, the enemy would launch their attack, so this is where you would have to dodge... but since that dummy can't really attack you back, it'll just go back to your turn!

*It goes back to Aurora's turn.*

*???: \*The dummy just stands there.*

Harper: Now let's move onto acting! Just select ACT and target the dummy.

*Aurora does just that. An array of options appears in front of her. Unlike the normal dummy battle in Undertale, Aurora has more options than just checking the dummy's stats and talking to it, she also has the option to flirt with it, as well as the option to stare at it.*

Harper: Right! Those are your act options! You can select one and you will perform that action.

Harper: The one act option you have that will be in every battle is the option to check your opponent's stats, and that one is labeled obviously as "check." Why don't you start with that and then we get into the real options?

*Aurora nods and decides to check the dummy's stats.*

*???: \*Dummy: 0 ATK, 0 DEF, Attack Speed: None, Special Ability: None. \*A basic training dummy. Not much else to say about it.*

Harper: As you can see, not only do you get to see their ATK and DEF stats, but you also get to see how fast their attacks will be and if they have any special abilities. Not every enemy will have special abilities, but some are special and have one or even multiple!

*It goes back to Aurora's turn again.*

Harper: Now let's try some real acting!

*Aurora decides to talk to the dummy.*

*???: \*You talk to the dummy... it has no reaction... you know, because it's a dummy.*

Harper: Good job kid! Sometimes certain enemies like some actions more than others, or if there are multiple opponents, then some will react to the way you act to others!

*Back to Aurora's turn again!*

Harper: Now let's move onto ITEMS! You don't have any right now, but that doesn't mean it isn't a learning experience!

Harper: Items can work in a variety of ways! Some can heal your HP, some cause certain enemies to react certain ways, and some can do other things! That's pretty self explanatory, right?

Harper: So let's just say that you appeased the dummy and move onto MERCY!

*Aurora opens up her mercy menu. It works exactly the same as the normal Undertale's mercy options, allowing to spare or run away from a battle.*

Harper: So, since the dummy would be appeased, you could chose to spare it! This would end the battle peacefully!

Harper: Or, if you aren't sure how to deal with a foe, you're low on health and don't want to fight, or just don't have the time to deal with a fight, you can choose to flee from a battle! But since you've appeased the dummy, you can just spare it!

*Aurora spares the dummy.*

*???: \*YOU WON! \*You gained 0 EXP and 0 Gold.*

*The world's color returns and the battle ends.*

Harper: Good job kid! That's everything you need to know about a battle! How confident are you feeling?

Aurora: Pretty confident. Thanks Harper.

Harper: No problem buddy! C'mon, let's go meet up with Winter in the next room!

*Aurora and Harper leave the dummy, going to meet up with Winter in the next room.*