Hi there reader LeafeonLover here

and I'm back with another of SoulTale

So it's been a while since I updated my new fic but then again what else is new

unless you are actually new to my stories

and if that is the case then I'm sorry to tell you this

...

I'm a slow updater

Anyway~!

So in this chapter we get to meet one of my favourite side characters Napstablook and see some more monster fights

Blooky needs more love

And we get to see, or rather hear a bit more from chara

She (yes in my story Chara will also be portrayed as female just so you know) is pretty fun to write

I don't know how many of you have seen Btooom! But Kosuke Kira has the basic personality I kinda think Chara (or at least my version of Chara) has (although it has been a while since I watched Btooom! but it was a darn good anime)

anyways!

This is chara talking just to remind you

Thank you to all the people who favourited, followed or reviews the story because all those things mean a lot to me so please continue to do so.

now without further ado

ENJOY!

Chapter 2

Never Alone

The next chamber we came to was very long, with parts of the wall completely covered in ivy and a lighter purple coloured path on the floor. Toriel padded off down to the right side of the room and I followed after her.

I was easily able to keep up with the monster woman's pace despite how much bigger than me she was. I suspected she was walking slower than usual to accommodate for the difference though. We entered a corridor that wound back and forth.

A metal sign hung on the wall in the corner read 'The western room is the eastern room's blueprint'. I wasn't sure exactly what that meant. That part of the room had been empty after all. Shrugging my shoulders I continued on with Toriel, the corridor eventually emerging into another section of the chamber.

This part of the room was in the centre of a large pool of water. There was a path across the water but it was completely covered in deadly looking spikes. They glinted at me in the light of Toriel's fire magic looking very sharp not to mention dangerous.

"This is the puzzle, but…" Toriel trailed looking apprehensively at the spikes then back at me.

Honestly I was considering swimming across through the water rather than walking over that spike bridge.

"Here, take my hand for a moment." Toriel spoke offering me her large paw.

I put my hand on the soft paw without debate, enjoying the feel of Toriel's silky fur against my skin as she held onto me. Holding tightly to my hand Toriel took slow steps toward the spiked bridge. I was a little concerned by this. As soon as she stepped out onto it the spikes wouldn't they impale themselves through her paws?

However Toriel did live in the ruins and she obviously knew this puzzle. She must know the solution to have come through this way in the first place. I trusted Toriel and followed closely behind her as she drew her paw up and placed it atop a spike.

Surprisingly the spike sunk into the ground as Toriel stepped on it along with three others with it on that tile. Toriel continued doing this pressing down the spikes and holding them down for me as I took large steps after her to keep up.

After about a minute of winding through the spikes, we came out safely on the other side of the bridge and without any holes in our feet too.

"This puzzle seems a little too dangerous for now." Toriel let go of my hand slowly before folding her paws in front of herself.

She turned and went into the next room hurriedly. I curiously bent over by the spikes on the bridge wondering how we had gotten across so easily. Pressing my hand toward the spikes we just crossed I found myself touching something cool and flat.

Leaning down further toward the ground I noticed the light in the room reflecting off something clear. It seemed that there was some kind of clear glass plate placed over some of the spike tiles protecting our feet from the spikes.

Getting back to my feet I nodded in understanding before going into the next room. Toriel was waiting for me, her head hanging a bit lower than it usually did. She made an effort to brighten her expression when I looked at her curiously.

"You have done excellently thus far, my child. However… I have a difficult request to ask of you." Toriel's glanced away from me a frown emerging on her furry muzzle.

It seemed as though it was something hard for her to ask. I decided it may be best to try and make her more comfortable in asking. After all Toriel had helped me so much so far.

"I'll do anything you ask of me, Toriel." I replied waiting patiently for Toriel to voice her request.

Toriel eyes widened slightly before she grimaced lightly then swiftly covering it up. I began to wonder if I'd said something wrong.

"Very well… I would like you to walk to the end of the room by yourself. Forgive me for this." Toriel murmured turning her back to me.

Picking up her flowing purple dress slightly Toriel ran off swiftly down the hall without much more of an explanation.

"Toriel?!" I called after her surprised by her sudden departure.

She hadn't left my side since we met, so why now? My heart was sinking down into my stomach causing a horrible feeling to arise. I shook my head and ran after Toriel. However her long strides had already carried her far away. Even while running to catch up, I lost sight of her.

I ran to the end of the chamber thinking Toriel had already gone into the next room. I saw a singular stone pillar at the end of the room that had a bit of purple fabric peeking out from the side. I slowed to a walk going over to the pillar and leaning over to look behind it.

Toriel had herself pressed up against the pillar her eyes closed and a pained look on her face.

"Toriel?" I questioned clueless as to what she was doing.

The goat woman blinked her eyes open to give me a fanged smile.

"Greetings, my child. Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time. Thank you for trusting me." Toriel explained stepping out from behind the stone structure.

A frown tugged at the end of my lips at Toriel's words. I did trust Toriel but, I had actually thought she'd left me for a second there. It wouldn't be the first time some-one left me…

"Why?" I tilted my head at Toriel curiously.

It wasn't like her to run off like that suddenly. She never went that far ahead of me the whole time we'd been walking together.

"T-there was an important reason for this exercise! To test your independence." Toriel exclaimed at my questioning.

I raised an eyebrow a little at Toriel. I hardly thought walking to the end of the chamber by myself showed a high level of independence. I had run after her frantically, after all.

"I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while… Please remain here. It's dangerous to explore by yourself." Toriel told me seriously.

I felt that sinking feeling return as I pressed my lips together for my expression to remain neutral. Despite my attempt to not look disappointed or sad Toriel seemed to sense my feelings. She put a paw to her chin shortly before her eyes widened and shone with an idea.

She smiled putting a paw into her sleeve "I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone. If you have a need for anything, just call."

From the sleeve of her dress Toriel produced a black cell phone with a little heart shaped keychain. I wondered how many things Toriel kept in her sleeve. She reminded me vaguely of a magician producing things from nowhere like that.

Toriel handed me the device which I stared at curiously. It was a flip phone, a pretty old version of the phones we had on the surface currently. It was no iPhone but still, I'd never had a cell phone of my own.

"Thank you." I held the phone to my chest appreciatively.

Toriel smiled down at me and I found a smile coming to my own face also. I hadn't known Toriel very long but she had been kind and gave me something I had wanted since I was ten.

Everyone in my class that wasn't from the orphanage had a cell phone it seemed. I had longed to have one of my own. Of course, I didn't have anyone to call so it would be pointless. But now I had a phone and someone to call. It… made me happy.

"Be good, my child." Toriel put a paw on my head and rubbed my hair.

I found myself leaning into the affectionate touch she produced. It had been a long time since someone had done this to me. It reminded me a lot of her. Toriel gave a sigh moving her paw away as she turned to leave.

"Come back soon, Toriel." I requested quietly.

Toriel nodded waving at me as she disappeared through the doorway of the ruins. I was alone. It didn't take long. Soon the happiness I had felt faded into loneliness. I walked up and down the room a few times, playing with the features on the phone Toriel had given me.

It had a few nifty things. You could call people –obviously- but it also had a storage feature. At first I thought this was for data storage, like numbers, games or other things. But this turned out to be a magical storage system. The phone would spit out a green cube when this feature was used.

When you closed the Items feature the box would shrink and be reabsorbed into the phone. I didn't put anything in it just yet. I wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Come to think of it how did this phone even work? I doubted you could get reception from surface cell towers down here.

Did the monsters have their own cell towers here? Did the phone even run on electricity? Due to the presence of that strange storage box I wagered it was run on some form of magic. I wished Toriel was here so I could ask her about it.

I gave a sigh shuffling over to the stone pillar to lean against it. After a moment I got tired of standing and slid down to sit on the floor. It seemed like Toriel had been gone for a long time. When in reality it probably hadn't been that long.

I pressed my back against the pillar drawing my legs up to my chest and closing my eyes. It was quiet. There was no sound at all. In the silence I thought back on things I hadn't had much time to dwell on until now. I had climbed mount Ebott and fallen down inside it.

As it turned out my mother's stories seemed to be at least somewhat true so far. Monsters did exist and they did live in mount Ebott. For some reason I didn't feel surprised by this. It felt as though I had known this already. That was strange wasn't it?

Any normal person who had fallen down here would probably be freaking out wouldn't they? Monster? Real? Preposterous! It must be a dream, or a hallucination. But I knew it wasn't. My heart told me this, and there was the matter of that voice saying something similar…

I shook my head deciding not to dwell on that. What else had my mother told me? She had said the monsters were trapped down here by a magic spell. Was that true? Or were they just hiding because humans were cruel and wouldn't understand them?

Hate them even, I wasn't sure. I gave a sigh. The only sound was my breathing in the room. Usually I liked the quiet, but this quiet was suffocating almost. There was no wind, no sky and no sunlight. I found myself missing the surface already.

I wanted to go back up there, back into the sun. I was homesick. There was still hope though. These ruins seemed pretty large and there were even more of them past the doorway. Somewhere down here, there has to be an exit. Toriel lives here so she must know where it is.

I'll have to ask her when she comes back. I'm sure she'll tell me where to go.

Hehehehe no she won't!

My eyes shot open, breath hitching as I froze where I sat. There it was again, that voice. Laughing at me and whispering things. Slowly I stood to my feet but didn't move from my spot near the pillar. My eyes scanned the entire room but I didn't see anyone.

"W-who's there?" I called quietly into the empty room.

Not even the air seemed to move. There was no sign of life. Yet I knew there was someone here with me. I could feel them like a shadow hanging over me. That feeling scared me.

Are you talking to little old me? Came the reply.

It was the soft voice of a child but had some dark undertone to it. This voice felt familiar, extremely so.

"Y-yeah? But what are you exactly? Where are you?" I questioned my eyes shifting around the room quickly.

It felt as though it were close to me but somewhere I couldn't reach at the same time. I really was beginning to think I'd gone mad.

Wondering if you've gone crazy now? Well don't worry, you haven't. Not yet anyway! Hehehe~

The voice that giggled sounded like a young girl's and was full of mirth.

And to answer your question I'm a spirit. A soulless consciousness that has taken refuge inside you.

I paused at these words putting a hand to my chest and feeling for my soul. I could picture in my mind a red light that had a figure standing inside it. The silhouette of a girl grinned at me.

But if it makes it easier for you, you can call me… Chara.

If I had thought this voice was familiar before, now that I knew her name my mind was reeling. I knew her. But no matter how much I thought this I couldn't place where from.

"Well then Chara, what do you know about Toriel?" I swallowed nervously.

This was strange. But I guessed if monsters could exist, then why not spirits who use you as a host as well.

Hahaha what do I know? I know everything. When you've been around as long as I have, you get to know a lot of things.

Chara laughed as if there were some kind of inside joke I wasn't in on.

"So are you and her friends, were friends?" I questioned.

Chara seemed to take a long pause before she ground out.

I wouldn't be friends with a monster in a million years.

I felt as though Chara was now smiling and tilting her head childishly.

Because ya' know, as a consciousness with no physical presence, my existence is only known to you. No-one else can hear, feel or see me right now. So it's probably best you keep our little chats to yourself. Even down here, contacting spirits is really strange. Okay?

"O-okay." I stammered back.

I wasn't sure who I would tell anyway. Toriel was the only one I knew down here but I didn't feel as though telling her would be a good idea.

"If you um… know the underground so well, Chara. Can you tell me if there is an exit?" I questioned slowly.

It seemed Chara was prone to mood swings. I didn't want to upset a spirit who was hiding in my body. That didn't seem as though it would be a good idea.

There sure is! Chara's voice chirped in my head.

It seemed as though she was fine and dandy at the moment though.

But it's quite a journey from here. You should leave the ruins as fast as possible.

I nodded in understanding "Toriel must know where the exit is. I'll ask her to show me the way too."

I'd rather go there with Toriel then by myself. She had said the ruins were dangerous.

Tch. Chara sounded as though she were gritting her teeth.

I got the sense that even though I couldn't see Chara well she'd be frowning at me disapprovingly.

You're so trusting. How naïve. You should know that… it doesn't matter who it is, a monster, a human, they're all liars.

My eyebrows tweak slightly in concern at the tone of hatred Chara had taken. It took a moment for me to hear her voice again, but by that time it was in the sweet voice of a child once again.

But do as you see fit. Not like I'd care if you die. Just know that I'm here… I can help you, if you want me to. Hehe~

My fingers twitched slightly in discomfort. Why did it feel like, if I accepted Chara's help then it'd be like making a deal with the devil?

Let me use your body and I can guarantee you, you'll see the sky again.

I felt a sensation like arms encircling my body as a faint hand was placed over my hand, near my soul.

"Use my body? Like control me?" I asked unsurely my mind was beginning to feel foggy.

Yeah, I can make sure no-one gets in our way. This time we'll make it.

"This time…" my mind was slow and my eyes felt droopy.

What did that mean? This time? Chara talked like this had happened before. My vision seemed to be tunnelling, red washing over my eyes as I felt a hand grasping at the soul in my chest. Something in the back of my mind stirred at the sensation.

No!

Many flashes of different images, faces, people, places. They all went by too quick to make out anything but suddenly my mind felt light again. The hand reaching for my heart seemed to have retreated now.

"Thanks, but I think I can do this myself." I spoke confidently my chest swelling with determination.

…

Suit yourself. I can wait.

With that Chara's voice became quiet. I shook my head pushing off the stone pillar and walking toward the doorway at the end of the room. I know Toriel told me to stay here and wait for her but… surely I could handle whatever was out there.

If the puzzles had been anything like the last ones, I'm sure I could do them. Besides, I really had to ask Toriel the way out of this place. The sooner I left, the quicker I could get back home. I'd be sad to leave Toriel but I knew I didn't belong here. I was a human.

I didn't belong in the midst of monsters. With that saddening thought in mind I went through the doorway and into the next room. In this room there was a doorway to my left. There was a little white frog monster standing next to it, with the rest of the room stretching to the south.

I looked at the frog that wiggled slightly where it stood. We both stared at each other before the frog looked away and at the doorway to my left almost longingly. Walking forward I stopped when my pocket buzzed. Reaching into my shorts I took out my vibrating cell phone.

Flipping it open the caller ID read 'Toriel' so I pressed the green button to answer and held the phone to my ear.

"Hello? This is Toriel." I heard the goat woman's kind voice from the speaker.

It hadn't been very long but it was good to hear her voice.

"Hi." I greeted smiling into the phones receiver.

"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 and solve them by yourself." She cautioned as if she knew but didn't at the same time.

I felt a bit of sweat run down the side of my head. I didn't want to lie to Toriel so I decided I should probably tell her I'd left the room.

"Um…"

"Be good, alright?" Toriel stated hurriedly before the phone clicked the call ending abruptly.

Hmm, she seemed to be in a rush. I decided I'd continue on anyway. If I came upon a puzzle that I couldn't solve, or that was too dangerous then I could always turn back. I went into the room the little frog was standing outside of first.

Inside there was a single pedestal with a bowl of wrapped candies and channels of water in the sides of the room. A little sign read 'take one' by the bowl. I picked a random piece of candy from the bowl and walked out of the room. The wrapper said it was called monster candy.

I wondered if monster candy tasted any different from human candy. Taking the wrapper off the candy, I found it held a small shiny black ball. At first I thought it was black liquorice but it didn't smell like liquorice did.

Just when I was about to put the lolly in my mouth I noticed the little frog staring at me from the corner of my eye. I turned to look at the frog that rather than staring at me seemed to be looking at the lolly in my hand with great interest. I lowered the lolly from my mouth looking down at it before holding it out to the frog.

"Do you want a lolly?" I asked it.

I was unsure of if the frog could speak, because it was a frog but it was also a monster and monsters could talk. The frog looked at me tilting its head in question as it croaked at me. It didn't look like it understood my question.

So instead I knelt down and offered the lolly to the frog. It seemed happily surprised. It looked between me and the lolly before shooting a long pink tongue out that stuck to the lolly and drew it into its mouth. The frog chewed the lolly while ribbiting at me in what appeared to be appreciation.

I laughed as it hopped happily in place before jumping away to who knows where. I went back into the room and took another lolly for myself. Popping it into my mouth I was met with a strange taste. The candy was hard on the outside but soft in the middle.

It was gooey, slimy and did not have a nice texture at all. Immediately I spat out the lolly in disgust. Looking at its remains I thought that candy looked a lot like a snail. Grimacing at the candy I wiped my tongue on the sleeve of my sweater to get the taste out of my mouth.

No wonder that little frog had liked it so much. Continuing on throughout the room it lead into a chamber where the middle of the ground looked unstable. It was sunken slightly and had obvious cracks on its surface. I didn't like the look of that.

I thought about jumping across but I wasn't sure if I could make it that far, being the athletic person I was. Apart from the cracked floor, there were two glassless windows in the room that seemed to go somewhere else.

Climbing through the closest window brought me to a lower level directly below the floor I'd just been on. I walked over to the other window and pulled myself into it then up onto the ground floor. Now I found myself on the other side of the cracks in the ground. I continued on into the next room only for my phone to ring again.

"Hello? This is Toriel. For no reason in particular… which do you prefer? Cinnamon or Butterscotch?" she asked obviously trying hard not to sound suspicious.

I raised my brow lightly at the odd question but shrugged it off.

"Cinnamon." I answered easily.

I hadn't actually had anything with butterscotch in it before. They didn't have many fancy foods back at the orphanage, but I knew what cinnamon tasted like and I liked it.

"Oh I see. Thank you very much!" Toriel chirped, the phone clicked signalling she'd hung up.

I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at it, as if it would tell me what was going on. Shaking my head I closed the phone and pocketed it once again. Looking around the room I'd come into it was mostly empty.

There was a plaque on the northern wall, a row of spikes blocking the exit and a button at the end of a furrow in the ground that had rock at the other end. This puzzle seemed pretty straightforward to me.

As I was about to go read the plaque on the wall my phone buzzed yet again. Toriel was calling again and so soon after the last call.

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

I couldn't help but wonder why all her calls seemed to be pertaining to food.

"No, of course not." I replied slightly taken aback.

Was she planning on baking something with these ingredients?

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

I on the other hand felt bad she still thought I was waiting where she left me. But the call ended once again before I could even begin to tell her. She always seemed to be in a hurry for some reason or another. Going over to the plaque on the wall I read 'Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them.'

I tilted my head at the plaque's odd statement but none the less did what it said. I pushed the rock down the horizontal trench and onto the compressible button. Once the rock rested on the button it clicked. The spikes blocking the exit sunk into the ground with a sound similar to that of a sword being sheathed.

The next room looked to be a lot of trouble. The majority of the room was covered in cracked ground that was so obviously not secure and just waiting to collapse under me. There was one of those vent like windows near the start of the room but from what I could see, there wasn't another one anywhere else.

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to cross the room without falling onto the lower level I presumed was below. There had to be some key to it though. Taking an experimental step toward the cracked ground my foot sunk a little but shakily held.

Maybe if I was fast enough, I could get across without falling. How wrong I was. As soon as I put my full weight onto the fractured ground, it gave out underneath me. I let out a short scream as the earth swallowed me up, only for me to land in a pile of dried red leaves.

I sat up from the leaves shaking myself to get rid of the plant matter stuck to my form. Standing up I stepped out of the leaf pile and onto a leafless path. I recognised these leaves from other parts of the ruin but still no tree to be found. At the moment I was more thankful than curious about their coincidental placement.

However, once again I couldn't help but notice the leaves were arranged in a strange pattern. They were put in rectangular piles that differed in sizes and left a weaving path to a metal plaque. The message asked me not to step on the leaves. I sighed slightly having already fallen into the pile of leaves.

I did my best to push them back into the pile they'd been in leaving the path clear. Still it was strange. Why were the leaves arranged in such a strange way? Where did they even come from? Leaning my head back and closing my eyes I sighed. If I couldn't solve this puzzle it'd be time to turn back.

Opening my eyes I was about to accept defeat when I noticed something odd about the ceiling. It seemed this room did lie directly beneath the one I'd just been on. The floor and the ceiling, they were quite close together. I could nearly touch the upper floor despite how short I was.

Toriel would nearly have to duck to walk around under here. Being so close I was able to notice that above the path devoid of leaves, the ceiling didn't show any evidence of weakness. Everywhere else flaws were evident, especially around the area I'd just made a hole in.

It seemed that the leaves showed a safe path through the erratic ground. What the sign said finally made a bit of sense. I went over the path counting my paces so I'd know where to turn before going back to the window.

I walked over to the ridge in the wall at the start of the chamber feeling slightly accomplished. Climbing onto the ledge I then pulled myself up onto the upper level and through the window space. I stood up going as far as I could east before I was stopped by the eastern wall.

I then walked straight south from that point onto the cracked ground until I hit the wall again. During this first part I tested each step carefully to make sure the ground wouldn't give way. The fall would be much harder without any leaves to cushion it.

It seemed the ground over the leafless path was stable like I'd thought. Taking three steps east turned sharply and walked northward until I hit the upper most wall. I walked east again for a three more steps then south, east again and finally north until I my feet rested on solid ground.

I moved onto the next room with a sigh of relief escaping my lips. The next room looked similar to the one I'd been in before the last chamber. Except this one had three buttons with corresponding rocks and ditches. I assumed it had the same solution as the last compression button room.

I went left to the rock that was closest to the wall on that side. Putting both hands on the short rock I pushed it. Unlike the last small boulder I'd pushed this one didn't want to glide easily along the ground. Digging my heels into the ground I shoved the rock more forcefully finally getting it to budge.

Pushing it forward I noticed a lime coloured substance on the ground in a circle. Putting the tip of my shoe to the light green goo it stuck to it slightly like gum.

"Gross." I whined drawing my foot away.

The substance seemed to quiver suddenly at my words. I took a step back as the flat disk puffed up taking on a jelly like shape. The world flickered into grey as my soul shone in my chest. The monster was named 'Moldsmal' and had a full health bar.

The jelly like monster wiggled at me in a seemingly aggressive manner making loud squelching noises. I realised I must have disturbed this monster's resting place under the rock... and called it gross. Oops.

"S-sorry, didn't mean to bother you." I apologised quickly.

In response the Moldsmal inflated slightly before spitting out some white bubbles from the centre of its top. The spheres floated down in the air slowly before they burst spraying smaller, much faster circles toward me.

I dodged the attack using the gaps between the orbs, as more seeds burst around me. The attack reminded me vaguely of when coral would spawn sending out many tiny seeds into the ocean. After spitting out a few more globes of this attack, the Moldsmal deflated and wiggled at me annoyed but seeming less angry.

Putting a hand to my chest where my soul glowed the action buttons appeared in front of me. Pressing the Act button it lit up orange before showing two options 'check' or 'flirt'. I didn't think the check option would be very helpful at the moment.

Moldsmal appeared to be lime flavoured jelly crossed with mould that was sentient but couldn't talk. I decided the flirt choice would probably be my best bet for now. But how did you even flirt with a jelly creature? It seemed to only be able to communicate by a series of wiggles and squishing noises.

Since I couldn't talk Moldsmal language I resigned to just wiggle my body in an imitation of it. Pressing the flirt button I put my hands on my hips and wiggled them in what I hoped was a slightly suggestive manner.

The Moldsmal's wiggles slowed and it seemed to watch me for a moment before letting out a quiet squelch and wiggling back. It inflated slightly spitting out more spores, but these ones were smaller and didn't burst like the last ones.

It was a lot easier to avoid these than the last attack had been. After I managed to make it through the attack with my HP still fully intact, the Moldsmal shrunk to a smaller size. Its name floating above it had turned yellow so I pressed the Mercy button and spared it.

"I'm really sorry about moving your rock but I need to get through." I told the Moldsmal earnestly moving my hips slowly in a hopefully apologetic manner.

The Moldsmal wiggled lightly in response and then slowly jiggled away leaving a few gold coins behind. I picked up the gold coins and pocketed them. I took this as it having forgiven me. The world returned to colour and I continued with my mission of compressing all the buttons with the boulders.

After the first two I came to the third rock about to push it when a voice snapped suddenly "Whoa there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?"

It surprised me so much I jumped back immediately. It took me a moment to realise that it was actually the rock that was talking to me.

"Sorry! I didn't know. I need to get through here, so… do you think you could move back a little? Please?" I pleaded politely.

The rock didn't move but instead spoke again "Hmm? So you're ASKIN' me to move over? Okay, just for you, pumpkin."

The rock then scooted about a metre back by itself. It still hadn't moved far enough back for it to rest on the button though.

"Um do you think you could move a bit further?" I requested again awkwardly.

I wasn't sure how it could move without any arms or legs but brushed this off.

"Hmm? You want me to move some more? Alrighty, how's this?" The rock said moving to the left.

I was beginning to feel bad for forcing this rock to move around so much but I still had to get through.

"Um, not quite. I really need you to move onto that button there." I pointed to the grey button a metre away.

I couldn't see any eyes on the rock but I assumed it could see anyway.

"Hmm. That was the wrong direction then. Okay, think I got it." The rock grunted finally dragging itself onto the button.

I realised it was probably difficult for the rock to move around like that and bent over in front of it.

"Thank you for moving. I just have to get past those spikes, and then you can sit wherever you want." I explained gratefully.

Standing up again the rock chuckled at me like I'd told it a joke.

"You're a pretty kind human. Most of the other humans that came through here weren't so kind. I think I've had enough moving around for a while." It sighed breathlessly despite having no lungs.

Nodding I went on past the spikes and into the next room. Well it was more of a long corridor than an actual room. There was a wooden table in a jut of the hall with a piece of cheese on it. Directly opposite to the table there was a small mouse hole in the wall.

Looking at the cheese it looked, a bit old. Brushing my hand on the cheese the outside was very hard and it was actually stuck to the table. The mouse would never get the cheese at this rate. Putting my foot on the table to keep it in place I tugged strongly at the cheese.

The top half snapped off leaving a rectangle of cheese stuck on the table. It smelled pretty gross but I wagered the mouse wouldn't care. Leaning over I put the cheese just within the mouse hole. I guessed the mouse -or mouse looking monster- probably wouldn't take it until I left, so I continued on.

The next chamber was split in two by a dividing wall. In the gap between the walls there was a pile of those red leaves with a white blob resting on them. Approaching slowly, I spotted a pair of closed eyes and a mouth on the blob near the curved top.

Looking at the whole shaped it looked like one of those enemy characters from the Pacman game only much larger and white.

"Zzzzzzzzzzz... Zzzzzzz…" the ghost pretend snored then murmuring "Are they gone yet?" under its breath.

I stood there ringing my hands together not sure how to get past without disturbing it. The encounter with the Moldsmal had taught me monsters didn't like having their naps interrupted. Even if this ghost did appear to be faking it until I left.

"Um I'm sorry to interrupt your err, sleep, but do you think you could move a bit?" I asked quietly as civilly as possible.

The ghost didn't respond to my question continuing to make exaggerated snoring sounds. I wasn't sure if the ghost had heard me and went to tap it lightly only for my hand to phase right through its form. Of course being an actual ghost I couldn't actually touch it.

Still the ghost's eyes opened and the world flash grey initiating a fight. This monster was called Napstablook according to the text. The ghost floated up from its position on the ground until it was floating straight in front of me. It had a sad frown on its face and watery looking black and white eyes.

The ghost had such a sad look, as though it would burst into tears at any second. Putting a hand over my soul the action buttons appeared again. Surprisingly I was already used to the flow of battle even though I'd only been in three so far.

Did the Dummy even count? Err nevermind. Shaking my head I pressed the Act button seeing four options 'check', 'flirt', 'threat' and 'cheer' I read. Flirting had worked on the Moldsmal but I didn't feel as though that would work on Napstablook.

I didn't want to threaten it either, that would be mean. That left me with only one option, cheer. Pressing that button I gave Napstablook a patient encouraging smile.

"Heh…" Napstablook gave a single humourlessness laugh.

Napstablook blinked its eyes some wavy white lines coming out of them and flying toward me. I ran around in a circle and the lines seemed to follow me until I was cornered and struck by the magic. I winced in pain as my HP dropped by three points.

At least the attack wasn't very powerful I thought clutching my chest. It seemed as though Napstablook wasn't putting much effort into its attacks. Maybe, it didn't want to fight. Still my cheering seemed to have at least a small positive effect, so I decided to try it again.

"Hey Napstablook, don't look so down. You should really… lift your spirits." I joked good-naturedly.

Napstablook's demeanour didn't change but it laughed a little more. I took this as a sign I was getting somewhere. Napstablook floated high above me white liquid collecting under its eyes until fat tears were raining down above me.

I craned my head upward dodging the drops as they splashed into the ground and disappeared. Napstablook didn't do this for very long before coming back to float just off the ground. It looked very unhappy with itself.

Pressing the Act button and cheer options once again I told Napstablook "Hey you don't have to cry. I won't hurt you or anything, I promise. You- you're really cool!"

Napstablook cast its eyes away solemnly but somehow its mood seemed a little better.

"Let me try…" Napstablook whispered.

Once again the ghost's eyes began to water as it cried huge tears. Oddly the gravity of these tears seemed to be reversed. They floated upward melding together and slowly forming a white top hat on Napstablook's head.

"I call it "dapper blook". Do you like it…" Napstablook stated monotonously.

I smiled at Napstablook wearing the cute top hat pressing Act then cheer again.

"It looks great on you." I told the sad ghost honestly.

Napstablook's ghostly lips pressed together before they turned upward in a faint smile. The world suddenly returned to colour the fight ending without me having to spare the ghost.

"I usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around… but today I met somebody nice… oh I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way." Napstablook immediately phased through the floor disappearing.

I didn't even get the chance to say anything else to the miserable looking ghost.

"Thanks…" I spoke aloud anyway hoping Napstablook might hear me.

I hoped we would meet again because Napstablook was actually very sweet I thought. Besides seeing someone as sad as that ghost was pulled at my heart strings. It seemed like Napstablook just really needed a friend, and I was happy to be that person.

After all, I knew what it was like to be lonely and depressed too. I had always been alone since my mother died.

Hehehe~

But now… you've got me.

YAY!

there you go

I know you all know how the puzzles go but I'm not one to leave anything out

if anything I just end up going into way more depth than is necessary haha...

now for review answering time!

The Rude Girl asked if Flowey is able to remember the other timelines even though Frisk doesn't (not consciously anyway)?

I'm glad you find it interesting that's my goal ;) Weeeeeeeell~ I try to make this story as close to the game as possible while taking my usual creative liberties, and in the game Flowey is able to remember certain events and other timelines however, if a True Reset is done all of Flowey's memories are erased along with everyone else's (he even says so himself). Now in this story while Frisk is the cause of the resets, but is not particularly in control of it, she sort of just DOES it. So it is definitely safe to say Flowey remembers some things but not others, you'll get to see more on that a bit later.

kyuuryuu13 asked when Frisk would ketchup (nice) with the other souls?

And I'm sooooo glad you asked that because I was gonna tell you anyway. Next chapter Frisk will be meeting our first human lost soul. And, if you've played the game (why else would you be here) then you'll probably know who it is (*cough* equitable items *cough*). I'm glad you thought it was punny. Many undertale characters remind me of my family which is probably part of the reason I the love the punny humor so much.

FioFionavar didn't really ask a question but I'll answer the review anyway!

You should review more often because it gives me DETERMINATION whenever I get a review and your english is fine, don't let that stop you! Thank you so much for the compliments and the warm fuzzy feelings they give me. Good writing, long chapters and fast... updates... er yeah, that's me ahaha ha ha...

said please next please

HERE YA GO MY LOVELY READER!

and finally

Guest (Your talking to mwah! oh right the author, yep! that's me)

haha very good.

hey guest?

What does a skeleton order at a restaurant?

... Guest: "what?"

Spare ribs!

*drum sound effects* ba dum tsss!

yeah I know it was bad, yours was better haha. I'm going to have to up my game when Sans finally joins the story. Or ya know I could just ask ewe *troll face* haha I'm so terrible it's funny, of Toriel I'll soon be on your level, not height wise because nobody is that gosh darn tall. anyway I'm getting carried away aren't I. Look what you've done to me guest! I'm addicted to puns, well I already was since before that soooo *shrugs*

anyway!

until next time

If you have any questions, suggestions or just wanna talk send in a review or PM me cause I'm always happy to chat.

Leaf out!

REVIEW!