Man you guys... it's been a LOOOOOOONG time since I've updated any of my stories!

Blame that on stress I suppose, and laziness. I got really sick( still am) and, see, I NEVER EVER get sick, so it's a big deal. Two of my friends moved, I changed schools, I had a public debate which turned into a public execution (of my pride; I was slaughtered out there, and it wasn't my fault!) I had family troubles, and then on top of it all I got so sick (again; still am) that I had to go to the doctor's twice. Today they drew my blood - and guys, I have Aitchmophobia, which is a fear of needles. Let me tell you I was not in the least bit dignified... though I did manage to save my blubbering for when I was alone.

Annnnywhoooooo I have an update for youuuuu~

I dodged the falling acid tears easily, since it wasn't those stupid ones that go up the sides and fall AGAIN. Yet.

ACT.

Cheer.

"*You smiled patiently at Napstablook." I could hear the muttered '*loser' Chara added on.

Dodge dodge dodge.

ACT.

Cheer.

"*You told Napstablook it's nice to meet him."

No dodging, because-"*Not really feeling up to it, sorry."

ACT.

Cheer.

"*You told Napstablook a joke."

"*Hang on, let me try..."

Dodge dodge dodge. "*Napstablook wants to show you something."

"*What do you think...?"

ACT.

Cheer.

"*You told Napstablook that he looked awesome...? Alright then, loser."

Napstablook SPARED you.

"*I usually come here to be alone, but today I met somebody nice." Napstablook said with the smallest of smiles. I wanted to hug him so badly, but of course he was a ghost. I had as good a chance trying to smack Edgy Danny Phantom over there, because he was making rude gestures and snide comments as usual. "Bye, Napstablook!" I waved and continued on after he vanished.

"*So..." Chara began, coming to walk alongside me. I glanced over curiously. Normally his conversation consisted of insults and attempts to get me to kill someone.

"Yeah?" I asked when he didn't continue. He snorted, crossing his arms. "*I'm getting to it, geez! Be patient, Disaster." I bet Chara has no idea I liked that nickname. He wouldn't use it if he knew. "*Anyway! I was going to ask about the surface. What's it like now?" Chara still managed to ask the question like it was an insult and not an inquiry. I mentally gave him points for the pure skill in grumpiness required to perform that feat.

"Well... um, let's see. We have computers and cars now. I don't know if you guys were around for that. Airplanes help us travel from one side of the world to the other in hours instead of days or weeks. There's still plenty of war, but now we have advanced weapons to fight with. We don't even need soldiers now, really, what with drones and missiles and stuff." I thought a little. "And... books are awesome. We have the Internet... I think you guys have a- er, nevermind." THAT would have been bad! I can't know about the Undernet until LATER. "Aaaannnnd that's it really." I concluded rather ineloquently.

He stared at me for a good long while before scoffing. "*That explanation was terrible."

"Welp, that's what you get! Can't tell me you expected better."

"*Of course not." He snorted and walked on ahead of me. I smiled and shook my head, looking around. Everything was the same, purple and dusty lavender- which, luckily, was my favorite color. Purple, not lavender. Particularly DARK purple, like the color of Perseverance. Anyway, that's off topic.

"*Spider Bake Sale..." I didn't listen to the rest of it; I knew them well enough already. I had 9G, luckily- usually, in the a Pacifist Run, I had to go back and grind for some Gold. This time I did not, and it was awesome. I got a Spider Donut, tucking it safely away for later in my adventure, and turned to Chara. "Want anything?" I joked with a grin. He scowled and walked away as far as he could go. "*Let's just get on with it."

I stopped to talk to each of the Froggits in the room. When the last one mentioned a fourth frog, I remembered a post of a thread about the fourth one being hidden right about... "Found you!" I chirped with a grin. Chara looked over my shoulder, snorting in disdain. "*There's an ant-sized frog in a crack in the wall... It waves at you." Needless to say, I waved back.

After receiving Toriel's call about picking up around the Ruins, I remembered something from my past playthroughs of the game that I wanted to check. Canon-testing time. Does Flowey follow you around?

Now, I knew I'd seen him in this room in all of my plays; after the first time I made a point to catch him every time, for fun. So, while Chara followed behind, I turned on my heel and walked back to the start of the room and- loand behold! A flash of gold disappeared into the ground. I reached out to shove Mr. Edgyblook's shoulder(of course my hand passed through, but the effect was the same) and pointed at the spot our 'Best Friend' had been moments before. "Did you see that?!" I asked quietly. Chara snorted, crossing his arms. "*That stupid weed is following us, huh? Well, no doubt HE'S disappointed about your wimpiness too." Pausing only to roll my eyes, I turned and continued our journey.

"Come on, Grumpy. We're almost to the end, I think."

"*Shows what you know." He complained, following after. The next room was the one with all the holes to fall into. I thought back to what I remembered of the game. Napstablook was in one of them, the Ribbon was I another, two had Vegetoids, one was empty, and the last one had our lever. I turned to Chara. "Go down and tell me what's in them."

"*What? No way, YOU do it."

"Dude, you can float. I don't want to fall down like, fifty holes."

"*I'd like to see that."

"You'd have to follow me down and up every single one." I pointed out. He saw the logic in that and reluctantly agreed. "*Vegetoid. Fight 'em?"

"No, what's in the next one?"

"*A Faded Ribbon." I thought about it for a little bit, whether I wanted to wear the ribbon in my hair or not. Seeing as my hair was in the same style as Frisk's (I swear it is, this is what I meant by thinking I'm a copycat!) it would probably look fine, but I wasn't much for accessories. "Nah, what's in the next one?" I finally decided.

"*That IDIOT ghost from earlier."

"Napstablook?" I jumped down the hole without a further thought, landing hard but relatively okay. "Hey, Blooky! Whatcha doing down here?" I asked, looking a little concerned for effect.

He explained he'd fallen and couldn't get up, subsequently realized he was a ghost, and floated away apologizing. Chara looke rather deadpan. "*That was pointless."

"Be quiet, Char, he's a friend. We got to help him even if he didn't need it." I lectured, wagging a finger like my mom before shimmying up the... shoot... ladder... stairs? I'm not really sure how I got back up to the top, but one second I wasn't and the next I was.

With a shrug, I hopped down the hole with the lever. A second too late I realized Chara hadn't told me which hole had it, so I had to make up an excuse pretty fast. "Ha, look! I'm the BEST at finding things!"

It worked well enough, I suppose. Mr. Edgy Danny Phantom just grumbled and said a few oaths... which I stored away for further use in case of frustration when I got to Undyne and her boss fight.

The next room was one of my least favorites; the Shifting Perspective Room. Hate this roomwith a passion. I don'teven know why, it's just reaaaaally annoying. Chara read the signs for me, and we got to work. Time passed faster IRL than it had in the game, surprisingly, but that's probably because I could see the monsters coming as opposed to randomly generated Encounters.

Finally, finally! We reached the end of the Ruins. "Which way?" I asked Chara, looking North and East. Of course I knew what was in both directions...

Without waiting for an answer, I went East. "*Toriel passed by not too long ago with some groceries. We don't know what for... frankly all of us are too scared of her." The Froggits said, curtesy of Chara's translation. I stood for a moment taking in the scenery. Yet again the game does no justice...

The city before me spread for miles perhaps, looking quite like a ghost town (pun intended) save for a few Whimsuns and Froggits. It kept with the Ruins theme, all purples and deep lavender hues, with great towers and quaint houses alternating. If not for the Toy Knife catching my attention, I probably would have spent the rest of my life exploring that part of this world that the game had no access to.

But as it was, the Toy Knife did catch my attention. I walked over and picked it up.

The blade was dusty.

I felt guilty just looking at it, remembering all the things I'd forced poor Frisk to do with it before I found a better, stronger weapon... "*Hey! Snap out of it, you great Disaster, what's the big deal? Now you can actually kill something!" Chara interrupted snippily, waving his transparent hand in front of my eyes. I blinked, looking up with a serious glare. "I'm not going to kill anyone." I told him firmly, throwing the Toy Knife away like the trash it was.

"Come on, Tori's probably waiting on us." I heard Chara's ghostly footprints falter behind me for only a moment before he caught up, saying nothing.

We reached the dead tree right as my CELLPHONE rang and Toriel appeared from her house. She saw me, ended the call, and ran over in a rush. "*My child! Oh, it was so foolish of me to leave you alone. You don't seem injured, though, and I suppose since you are old enough to care for yourself..." She hummed uncertainly, then smiled. "*All is well, then! Come, I have a surprise for you!" She hurried towards home, though I paused to look at the tree.

"*Every time a leaf grows on it, it just falls right off." Chara noted thoughtfully. I made a vague noise in agreement before walking to the Save Point- ah! I forgot to mention the cheese table Save Point! Hah, well, you didn't miss much if you've played the game, I suppose.- and, obviously, Saving.

The feeling of golden water rushing around my hand, the sight of such a nice house filling me with Determination, it was the best feeling I'd ever had. Home rang to life; whether only in my mind or if it was really playing, I couldn't tell.

I stepped inside.

The taste of a cinnamon-butterscotch pie filled my mouth, the warmth of a friendly fire curled around me, and the smell of old books reminded me of all my favorite things.

In that moment I wanted to stay there forever, screw the Surface.

In that moment...

Well...

...I was Home.

Alright and there we go... I can honestly tell you I have no clue when the next update is... but probably sometime tomorrow? Depends on if I end up sleeping all day or not.