Chapter Text
Toriel led William through the remainder of The Ruins, teaching him many things that he was quite sure would be useful later on in his journey, so he played along and observed. He was taught how to defend himself from monsters; how to fight them, how to spare them, how to act and how to use his items. She even taught him how to solve puzzles. Eventually they reached a house that apparently belonged to Toriel. Despite its nice exterior and welcoming interior, William never truly let his guard down.
Despite being provided with food, water and a comfortable bed by Toriel, William found his eyes remaining wide open, unable to sleep despite his best efforts. His mind raced with a million questions, thoughts and theories. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was NEVER supposed to be here. And yet… here he was, due to his own insolence. During the day, William had attempted to look around, but Toriel made it very difficult. She was dismissive of his questions and never let him out of her sight. Was there something that she was hiding or not telling him? He had to know. His curiosity was killing him.
After what felt like an eternity, William finally decided to sneak out of his designated room, deciding to explore this monster's house while it rested. Thankfully, he had quite a bit of experience with sneaking around right under people's noses.
Exiting his room and entering the hallway, his eyes landed on a mirror. The flash of an unfamiliar silhouette standing just behind his own reflection startled him, but as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. Perhaps he was just hallucinating. He narrowed his eyes,
“It's you.”
He shook his head, moving onto the neighboring room, which appeared to be a child's room. Could this monster have housed the humans that had fallen before him? It was an unsettling thought to him. Despite this, he continued exploring the room, discovering many nick nacks and items, some of which he decided to keep for later use; including a golden pendant necklace. He was unsure why, but something inside of him beckoned him to keep it, so he shoved it inside of his pocket, not wanting the monster that he currently lived with to find out that he had been snooping around without her permission.
After he was done and there was nothing left to find, at least to his knowledge, he returned to his designated room, acting like nothing had happened, like nothing had changed.
-
William huffed with frustration, stubbornly following Toriel downstairs despite her many warnings against it. Every warning Toriel gave him in that dark, cold hallway only fueled his curiosity more and more, until he stood facing the exit to the ruins, as well as Toriel, her back facing William. He stood tall and determined, silently challenging the monster, his face remaining stoic even when she turned to face him.
She had warned him time and time again, but he had refused to listen. He was already sick and tired of Toriel treating him like a kid who couldn't defend themselves, and had told her that exactly; so she decided to test that theory with a fight. It wasn't what William was expecting, but it was nothing that he couldn't handle.
William's soul suddenly appeared in front of him, the telltale sign that he was entering the start of a battle with Toriel. He should've seen this coming. She had taught him the ropes of battle, afterall, with that stupid dummy and those strange monsters that littered The Ruins. William would make her regret blessing him with such knowledge.
William sighed, lifting his axe over his shoulders and taking a defensive stance once again, his eyes frantically darting around as multiple fireballs spawned around him in all directions. Was she trying to kill him?
A menu popped up before him with the options; FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, MERCY. Toriel had taught him the ropes of this as well. As if it was in second nature, William pressed fight without a second thought.
William attempted to parry the fireballs that flew towards him, but to no avail. He hissed as a fireball flew right past his head, burning a few strands of hair off of his ponytail. Realizing that he had to take a much more direct approach in his attack, he stepped forward with intent.
The monster attempted to talk to him, to warn him, to reason with him, but every word she spoke simply went in one ear and out the other; at least, for now. If anything, it only fueled his resolve to end this here and now.
Now with burns littering his body, William swung his axe once again with rage, bringing it down upon the monster for a final time as he successfully tore a huge gash into the monster's torso. Toriel's eyes widened, and she spoke in a weakened, dying voice, but William did not listen, too invested in the monster's deteriorating form before him.
William watched in awe as the monster’s physical form turned into dust, leaving behind an upside down soul that lacked pigmentation, however it still seemed to glow. William approached it carefully, wincing as the soul slowly began to crack. He reached out to touch the soul, only for it to turn to dust as well the moment his hand made contact with it.
William's eyes widened as he witnessed remnant come from the dust on the ground. It whisped around him, as if teasing him, daring him to catch it; that he did and without hesitation.
William’s confused frown quickly turned into a maniac smile. A flood of ideas entered his head. This was... perfect. Now he didn't have to kill human children in order to gather the remnant that he needed. No one on the surface would care if these monsters were dead. He gripped his axe with a newfound resolve. As he pushed the double-doors open to reveal a snowy path, he knew exactly what he had to do now. Monster remnant was not as powerful as human remnant, so William would have to harvest much more to make up for that setback. That would be fine, though. He had the entire Underground to go through.