Chapter Text
Halting his movement as he approached, Steven noted the ghost staring up at the ceiling with an unfocused gaze. Looking around their incorporeal body that laid on the leaf pile, he noted he couldn't really walk around due to the walls bordering the left and right of the pile. I probably shouldn't jump over, either... that would be rude, wouldn't it? Clearing his throat softly, Steven gently raised his voice.
"Um, excuse me," he started, "could I pass through really quick?"
The ghostly sheet gently sat upright, looking at the child interrupting their moment of peace. Taking in the request and processing it, they realized the issue at hand. "oh, i was blocking the way for you, wasn't i..."
"I... I-it's okay!" Surprised by the sheet's sudden downcast manner, Steven shook his head. "I just need to pass through really quick." He watched as they floated from the foilage and hovered gently above it.
... Wait, are those tears? Can ghosts cry???
"oh... i shouldn't have picked such a spot for lying down and feeling like garbage," they whispered, accented with obvious guilt. Facing the ground, their tears began to fall and sprinkle upon the ground. A stray one would partially come in contact with Steven's foot, completely unprotected by his salmon sandals. Strangely, as the waterwork touched the skin, it stung weakly as if it were acid. Pulling back a little and sharply drawing in breath through his teeth, Steven ignored the minor sting of pain.
Oh no, I'm sending everybody into tears today, aren't I!? Steven sputtered and held his head in panicked thinking, struggling to think of a way to turn the situation around. Through his guilt and worry, an idea suddenly sparked within his brain.
"Say, you should ride an elevator!"
The ghost looked up from their tears, with their sorrow expression being replaced with one of confusion. "ohh, why..."
"It would lift your spirits!!" He snapped his fingers into a gun position to emphasize his attempt at a pun. Steven held this position and stood in place awkwardly, silently hoping that his joke would actually work.
The moment of silence that his opponent took to understand the pun felt almost crushing as Steven watched their empty expression for anything. At least the tears had stopped, that was probably a good thing. Then, a small chuckle of laughter echoed out from the spirit. "... haha, that was kind of funny."
Yes! It landed. Steven internally fist-pumped and took this as a sign to continue. I've got more where that came from!
"Okay okay, what's a ghost's favorite type of pie?" A small giggle slipped out from him in anticipation.
"what?"
"Boo-berry pie!"
A faint smile faded onto the ghost, quietly laughing along. Clearly, ghost puns were working in elevating their fragile spirit. Steven held back snickers as well, trying to rack his brain for more jokes of a similar calibur.
"Huhuh, alright, where does a ghost prefer to live??"
"...a dead end?"
A jokingly exasperated look flashed onto the young boy's face. "Whaat, you heard that already!?"
"yeah... someone already told me that one," they explained, looking apologetic for a moment. Floating in place with a gentle grin, a small look of surprise and excitement popped into place. "hang on, let me try..."
Tears flowed from their eyes once more, this time without hitting the ground strangely enough. They flowed upwards, defying gravity itself... Steven cupped his hands to his mouth in worried surprise. Oh gosh, are they crying again??? Aghh, maybe my jokes weren't enough--
He then noticed the object the tears were connecting to, above the ghostly spirit's form. As he watched with worry and curiosity, he realized the shape was beginning to look a lot like...
"...A top hat!?" He gasped, still covering his mouth.
The sheet looked down anxiously. "i call it 'dapper blook,' do you like it..." They looked back up shyly, awaiting an answer.
Steven slowly removed his hands, revealing a large, goofy grin. His eyes seemingly sparkled at his fancy friend. "I love it!" Excitement taking him over, he rushed in to hug them without considering the possibility of not being able to meet anything solid. Surprisingly, you can hug a ghost. Steven retracted the hug as quickly as it came, giving the spirit their personal space again. "You can make stuff with your tears?? How do you even do that!?"
A bit flustered and nervous by the sudden hug and support, they stammered. "oh, it's just magic..."
"I'm kind of magic, and even I can't do that! That's super cool!"
"humans can be magic...?"
Shoot, shouldn't have said anything about myself. "Well, I'm a special case. The magic's from my mom's side..."
"ohhh... that makes sense."
Well, that's an outing he can take. Redirecting the conversation, Steven shook his head. "Anyway, I'm Steven! What's your name?"
"my name is napstablook..." A much happier smile was on their face, with the sad crying of earlier showing no signs of returning. "i usually come to the ruins because there's nobody around... but today, i met somebody nice..." The last sentence was more of talking to themselves, but it still expanded their gentle grin. However, it instantly disappeared much like how the sad crying came so quickly earlier. "oh, i'm rambling again, i'll get out of your way."
"Wait, it's okay!!" Steven reached out to them, but Napstablook had already faded away, as if they never were there at all... Or, maybe they were still there and just blended in like a chameleon. Probably the first one, though.
Steven sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I should really stop making people cry." As he passed over the crimson leaf pile where his ghostly friend originally laid, he noted two pathways that split from the room he stood in. The one directly across from him seemed small with nothing else but a sign, while the one on his left seemed to lead deeper in the Ruins. Taking the detour into the smaller room, he approached the sign and read its text.
Spider Bake Sale
All proceeds go to real spiders.
Gasp, a bake sale?? In front of him though were only two webs, with the one right being significantly bigger. Perhaps if he approached the webs, he could see what they were selling! What if they sold tiny little sweets??? What if they were the size of my fingertip?????? The idea of tiny baked goods sounded adorable to him, so in curiosity and excitement he skipped up to the smaller web and kneeled on his knees, spotting a spider in its center. While spiders weren't his favorite bug or insect, he did appreciate the things they did for the world. Especially if it meant having a bakesale!
"Hey, little guy!" With a peppy grin, he leaned in a little. "Heard you got a bakesale. Whatch'a got?"
The arachnid reached behind themself, and pulled out a normal-sized donut. Its bread was dyed a mauve, decorated with lilac icing. The boy gasped in surprise to how such a tiny creature is able to hold up something the size of his own hand, but didn't really question it. What he did question, however, was the price. "How much do you want for it?" Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a small stack of cash. He flipped through the paper, trying to estimate a potential price. They're usually about two dollars or so, right? Pulling out a generous five dollar bill, he placed it gently on the web next to the spider. "Here you go! I hope this covers it!!"
The spider placed the donut onto the web, then approached the bill. It lifted the money with ease, as it crawled from the string to the wall as it ascended towards a crack in the ceiling.
Picking up the pastry carefully with one hand to not disrupt the structure it laid on, Steven got up from his knees to his feet once more, pocketing the rest of his money. He waved towards the parting arachnid, grateful for their service. "Thank you, and good luck to the rest of your tiny bakesale!!" His attention now turned to the good in his hand, the icing seemingly sparkling and inviting him to taste the pastry.
Well, no time like now to eat it, right? Swiftly taking a small bite, the dulcet flavor quickly flooded his tastebuds. The dough's warmth, as if it came right from the oven contrasted the cool of the icing. While it wasn't exactly a notable flavor that stood out, it was still a pleasure to experience. Man, I wish there was a spider bakesale back home! Leaving the room with his snack and turning right into the room from the split pathway, he came across another sign. Swallowing before taking another bite of the donut, Steven read the text...
Did you miss it? Spider Bakesale down and to the right.
Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!
...Wait a minute, what? Rereading the sign once again, his eyes stuck on the last two words of the text. Of spiders.
Of spiders...
Swallowing hesitantly, the boy looked at the donut more closely. Although nothing grotesque like spider guts or limbs stuck out of the pastry, the taste immediately went from sweet to sour upon the realization that he just ate spiders. Dead, dead spiders. Baked into a pastry. Without his knowledge, consent... who knows how those spiders ended up deceased? From a cruel fate, forced to cease their life to become edible? Or, perhaps, it was willingly?
None of these potential outcomes, even the idea of spiders consenting into being made into edible pastries, soothed him. It only disturbed him more. Steven shivered as he glanced down the hallway, noting there wasn't a trash can nearby. In fact, he didn't really remember encountering one on the way, either...
Well, down the gullet it goes. No turning back now. Sorry, lil' spiders. He took a hesitant, small bite of the sweet, hating the great quality of its taste. Roughly three quarters of the donut were left, but either he forces it down or he holds onto it for who knows how long until he finds a garbage can. And, from what he's seen so far, that would be for a while. Surprisingly, he hadn't even ran into at least one can. Weird...
As he entered the next room, he paused in front of the sign to quickly finish the pastry and assess the room. After shuddering from swallowing, he noted three dark spots on the floor on the leftmost and rightmost walls, with cracked parts in the middle of the spots. It reminded Steven of the first puzzle he skipped over by himself, the one before the first rock trap. He turned to his left, reading the sign he stopped in front of.
There is only one switch.
Well, that was good to know... if he was doing the puzzle. Fortunately, the exit to his connundrum was only blocked by spikes, something he can easily jump over. As Steven quickened his pace and would work his way over, something quickly came out around the corner of the doorframe and charged their way towards him. Because of how fast it came after him, Steven wasn't able to stop and move out the way in time and as a result was knocked onto his back.
"Umph--!" With the wind completely knocked out of him upon impact, his eyes screwed shut as he crashed onto the cold, hard ground beneath. Steven lifted a hand towards his forehead and another to what had collided into him, currently laying upon his chest. "Agh... Hey, be careful, one of us could have gotten hurt!" After rubbing his temple, he sat up and managed to open his eyes, finaly able to see what was the trouble.
Surprisingly, it was the small and frail monster he had sent running into tears the first time! "Wait a minute, it's you!!" The monster's antennae twisted in different directions before using their small limbs to push themselves up. Their wings began to flutter, allowing them to lift from the ground gently. As they wiped their face, they took a glance at who they ran into...
And immediately started shivvering and crying. Again.
"W-wait, don't cry again!!" Quickly pulling himself to his feet, he ran a hand through his hair in stress. "I might be a little scary looking, I guess, but i-it's okay!"
Surprisingly, they didn't run away immediately again! The monster muttered quietly, voice cracking, "Oh no... I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Oh, this might be the only chance I can catch their name! Breathing in slowly to clam his own nerves, Steven would lower his voice a few notches as a small compromise between his normal volume and his opponent's. "Um, I forgot to ask... what's your name?"
They squeaked under his gaze. "W... Whimsun..." More apologies sqirmed their way out of them, wing movements becoming faster. They held their hands together, twiddling as they averted their own gaze toward the stone floor.
The child nodded, happy with his answer. "I'm Steven. What's got you so bundled up, huh...?" He would take a hand and at a catipillar's pace bring it closer toward Whimsun, who only suddered the closer it got.
Before Steven was within two inches of distance with his opponent, Whimsun quickly covered their face and squirmed violently. "I'm sorry!" Zipping past him, they quickly zoomed out of the room and towards the area of Ruins the human child came from.
Forgetting completely about his volume, Steven shouted after them. "Wait, please! I won't hurt you!" He took a few steps after, but decided against persuing Whimsun. He can't force people to not be scared of him, even if he tries his best to be nice.
Man, he really needs to work on not making people scared of him. He sighed, still unhappy with how the situation played out. At least I got their name and they didn't run away immediately. That was still progress in his book, even if it was small. He was at least doing something right!
Steven carefully stepped over the spikes of the unfinished puzzle, entering the next room. Three pillars stood in the L-shaped room, with a switch behind each. He noted that the closest switch was colored blue, next being green and the farthest as red. Kneeling down to get a closer look, he noted that they looked a lot like mushrooms, although shiny. Steven took a hand and gently pressed the top of it, hearing a satisfying clicking noise. Maybe I should do at least one of these... Standing back up and looking for a sign with instructions, he turned to the sign on the wall behind him.
The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective.
Marks a rotation in perspective...? What in the world does that mean? Feeling confused, he resolved to just skip this puzzle for now. Maybe the next one won't be so puzzling.
Steven snickered to himself at the joke. "Pffbpt, heheh, I should save that to tell someone sometime." Passing each switch and its pillar, he noticed the spike trap that would normally partially block the exit was actually retracted. Suppose that one was already solved, anyway. Then again, none of the others were, so...?
His wonders were set aside as he entered a room that was exactly like the last, although the sign wasn't in its proper place. Confused to if he was seeing things or not, he glanced behind him. Yep-- they're definitely the same thing.
Ookay, this is a little weird.
Unsure of which switch to press, he held it to himself to solve this one puzzle. After all, he must be close to that Toriel lady, right? What harm would it be to have fun in a place you'll be in for a while? Steven approached the spikes, but refused to step over them. Noticing a sign to his right, he glanced at it and read its words.
If you can read this, press the blue switch.
"Oh, that was... surprisingly easy!" A bit disappointed with the answer given to him, he approached the blue switch and smiled at the sound of its click. As he exited the room into the next similar-looking one, he couldn't help but feel at least a little satisfied with actually completing a puzzle.
Even if it was stupidly easy.
Just like the previous, he would look for the sign spelling out the answer and press its corresponding switch color. As he finished the last two puzzles, his grin turned somber upon the realization of the potential fun he missed out on. Skipping puzzles, just hopping away from his problems... he wansn't learning anything from it. I'll have to go back later to make up for it. Toriel wouldn't mind, would she? Probably not.
Steven picked himself up and walked past the pillar leaving behind the green switch, when something in the corner of his eye begged for him to stop. Curious, he turned back to the pillar with his pupils flowing downward. At the pillar's base was a jello-like monster, reaching just below Steven's knees in height. Its translucent lime surface glimmered in the light as its flan-shaped body wiggled a little.
"Oh, hey little guy!" The child crouched to somewhat meet the jiggly monster's height. As the boy stared at it, a small part of him was entranced by its subtle squishy movements. However, he realized... it didn't really have any features suggesting it was alive. Steven began to second guess if what he was facing really was a monster. I mean, there's no eyes, no mouth... can it even make a noise or do anything on its own?
Cautiously and slowly, Steven gently brought his fingertips towards the surface of the opaque being. A sudden cold feeling jolted up his arm, causing him to squeak yank his hand away in surprise. Rubbing his fingers together to feel what he did touch revealed a slimey, cool texture, not unlike real jello.
Blurble blurble...
The boy looked back at the wobbly creature, confused if he imagined the wet, squishy sound seconds ago. Tilting his head in confusion, he squinted. "Did... did you do something?"
Squorsh squorsh.
"Okay, so I wasn't imagining it." Getting over the strangeness of the monster he squat in front of, a smile popped onto Steven's face. "You're pretty cool for... what is everybody, a monster?" Bringing a hand to his chin, he pondered. "Calling you guys 'monsters' feels really degrading. It's like calling dirt, 'dirt,' you know?"
The flan-shaped creature wiggled in response.
"Something tells me you understand." The child chuckled to himself, knowing full-well that the lime green jello being didn't understand a word he said. Propping himself back to full height, he waved goodbye. "Well, I'll see you around, little guy!" Exiting the final three-switch puzzle room, he overheard the monster blurble its farewells.
I really should come up with a name for them sometime. "Moldsmal," maybe?
As Steven stepped over a leafy, green vine that sprawled over the lilac pathway, he noticed two directions the hall had split. On the left lead to an area barring a charcoal tree-like figure, while straight ahead eventually turned to the left with nothing interesting yet in sight.
...Well, if I know games well enough, usually the more interesting pathway is where you want to go after exploring. Noting that Toriel hasn't yet called him out of worry or concern helped ease his mind and convince him to take one more look around before catching up with her. Steven carefully stepped over a second vine on the path forward, entering the next small room. A small, white amphibious friend much like the pal he encountered a long while ago had sat itself next to a doorway, peeking upward as the human child's sandals alerted them of his presence.
"Oh, hey, you're one of those frog guys from earlier!" Smiling, he knelt down temporarily to give them a small pat on the head. It was strange though, how he only had saw them when he was at the beginning of the ruins... He hadn't accidentally overlooked them earlier, had he? "Sorry about earlier, I didn't think Toriel would scare you off like that."
Strangely, the frog only tilted its head and croaked in confusion. Maybe there's more than one of them...?
Steven facepalmed himself a tad bit harshly upon the realization. "Oh, wait, there's multiple of you little guys, aren't there?" He shook his head, clearing himself of his misconception. "Sorry about that."
"Ribbit, ribbit."
"I'll take that as forgiveness." Chuckling to himself, he paused when a strange vibration was felt in his pockets, followed by a familiar ringtone...
Digging quickly to retrieve the phone, he answered the phone call. "Hhhh'yello?"
"Hello? This is Toriel." The motherly voice that had gone forgotten by the boy spoke from the device. "For no reason in particular, which do you prefer: cinnamon or butterscotch?"
The question would pull him from the small feeling of discomfort triggered by her motherly nature. What a strange question! Considering each of their taste with a hum, Steven only shrugged. "I don't really have a preference, I like them both!"
"Oh, I see. Thank you very much!" The call immediately ended afterward to Steven's surprise. Why would she call to ask me that...? What is she doing???
Putting his phone away alongside his confusion, he stepped through the doorway the frog monster had stood beside. Immediately upon the sight that was held inside, he gasped with awe.
A railing that encased a small, but wide balcony would just be below Steven's chin. The boy approached and stood on the tips of his toes to try and get a better view of what seemed like an ancient city. The buildings that made up the land below were the same purple that colored the Ruins' walls, with some darker shades thrown in as accent. Right in the center far off, however, was a building with a dome-shaped roof that towered over the rest of the buildings. It reminded Steven of fancy houses he saw in pictures online with its structure. However, despite the plentyful buildings and housing, nothing that announced its citizens' presence was heard. All was quiet, as if it was a city long abandoned a hundred years ago...
Finally being able to pull his eyes away from the sight, Steven took a glance to his left and spotted a knife just cast aside on the periwinkle floor. A bit confused and worried from its strange placement in an underground world such as this, he knelt down to pick it up and inspect it. Relief swept over him as he noted the dull edges of the plastic, fake blade and its lightweight nature. "Who would leave something like this here...?" Brows furrowed, Steven rose back to his feet and took one last look at the toy before putting it into his back pocket. "I'll have to give it to Toriel when I see her..."
Toriel...
Although they didn't interact too much yet, he wasn't exactly sure how to feel about her. The way she spoke and treated him felt all too much of his own mother, who was talked up as someone so caring, yet, disconnected. She was described as doing what was best for everyone around her, even if that statement fell apart over the year. And Toriel, acting pretty similar...
No, I can't be thinking of her like that. She's not mom. Shaking his head while leaving the city and its nearby white frog behind, he focused on the pathway and slugged forward. Even if she sounds a bit like her, she's not her. I mean, she wears purple instead of pink! She's not like her.
Stepping back over the vine, Steven pulled his vision up from the ground to the path in front. He stopped as he realized that a group of three monsters would meet in the intersection of the pathways. While he could always step around, a part of him felt curious to what they were up to.
One monster looked like a cockroach, although much larger than their non-monster counterpart. Another was a large, wide carrot-like vegetable with leaves on top of its head. Its dark eyes focused on the final monster, who's body was nothing but a sphere with two arms and legs connected to it. Small horns would peek from the top of the head curling inwards, complimenting its sharp fingers. A large eye would be in the center of the body, with knifelike teeth in its mouth underneath. The group all roughly met the height of Steven's shoulders with some variations.
The conversation from the trio was too quiet to properly make out anything, so Steven leaned forward with his back against the ruins wall a little, cupping a hand behind an ear. The effort would be proved fruitless, as the cyclops took note of the young boy's presence and eyed him with aggression.
"...Um, hi?" Steven awkwardly waved hello, with his body pushing against the brick wall of support.
The bug monster twitched its antennae, before scowling. "FILTHY SINGLE MINDER..." They beckoned their teammates as they stomped toward the human boy. "IN UNISON, NOW."
Steven found himself intimidated by the surrounding monsters. "W-wait! I won't mess with you guys, I..." He stumbled for a moment, mind going blank. "I'm friendly! Just a friendly human!!" A pink shield summoned itself in front of Steven, who used it to hide behind.
The cyclops monster stopped in their tracks and lowered their shoulders in thought. The vegetable and cockroach monster however continued their planned assault, with the latter spewing out "I DON'T CARE." Magical bullets, some resembling cockroaches with wings while the rest appeared like various vegetables whisked itself into existence. The roaches blocked any chances of running away by acting like a square boarder around the trio, while the vegetables rained from above. Steven pulled the shield he hid behind and held it above like an umbrella, watching as the vegetable bullets bounced off and dissipated back into magical sparkles.
Glancing past the two attackers, Steven took note of the one who had separated themselves from the group. He realized that they had stopped their aggressive approach upon saying he wouldn't bring any harm, and wondered if a similar approach would work with the rest. Perhaps showing that he will be friendly would help!
Watching as a magical carrot bounced onto the lilac floor and dissipated, an idea sprouted into Steven's mind. Turning his head to the carrot monster, he smiled. "So, you make vegetables, right? Could I try one?"
"Eat Your Greens"
Steven held out a hand, and as requested, a small, stout carrot popped into existance right upon his palm. It wasn't very long, only being half of the length of his hand. He pulled the leaves from the top of the carrot before puting the vegetable into his mouth and eating it. With satisfying, small crunches, the subtle sweet taste sprinkled itself onto the tastebuds. "Mm, I like it!" With a smile, Steven gave a thumbs up to the vegetable monster. "I'd like to try your other stuff sometime!!"
A bashful blush seeped its way onto the skin(???) of the monster, flattered. They muttered a "Thank You" before hopping off and parting ways.
And now, Steven saw only one monster left. The cockroach. However, examining their expression, he noticed that no longer did the monster stand tense and bare a scowl of hostility...
...But, rather a kind, peaceful grin, waving his arms and bouncing in place! Even the magical roach bullets were gone! "Mm, cha cha cha!" They hummed to themselves as they danced, elated. "Nothin' like alone time!"
Although Steven was confused to the sudden shift in their attitude, he wouldn't discourage the upbeat feeling. "Well, if alone time's what you want, I'll leave you to it!" With gentle waves from both parties, they would split into their own directions.
Finally, the Ruins would allow the human child to go in the direction of progress. As the boy stepped over the vines scattered along the floor's pathway in order not to trip, he turned to the path previously left for later. What he was met with was what felt like the "front yard" of an ancient home, decorated with the same purple bricks found on the ruin walls. The only plantlife that accented the yard was a seemingly deceased charcoal tree, surrounded by the familiar crimson leaves Steven had encountered plenty of times. There were even piles of them in front of the windows on each side of the doorway into the presumed home...
Turning right briefly, he noted to himself to come back and explore the other pathway later. For now, he just needed to get in and make sure Toriel isn't worrying about him. Hopefully she isn't as bad as Pearl. As he entered the "yard," leaves crunched under each step he took. Though, he paused before completely passing the stump of the dead tree. Curiosity peaked within him, wanting to know why the forestry was in the state it is in. Backing up partially, he put a hand upon the coal bark. Some of the wood would peel under Steven's palm as he dragged it downward on the trunk, a sure sign of death. Some flakes fluttered towards the stump and its roots, sprinking on top of the crimson leaves at its base... A part of the child couldn't help but wonder what lead to the demise of the lone forestry? Were there more throughout the Ruins...? Was it devoid of the basics to survive: water, sunlight... love?
The rapid thump upon wood getting closer dragged Steven from his wonders. From the sound of it, he assumed it was the rushed footsteps of Toriel. Glancing towards the doorway, he barely missed the sight of her running from the right side of her home to the opposite, with something long in her hand. What was she doing to be such in a rush? Before leaving the tree behind, he wondered if his healing powers could affect plants. Well, if I can bring melons to life, maybe... Taking his index and middle finger, he licked the tips and wiped it on the tree before rushing cautiously into her home, stepping quietly onto the birch floor planks.
A single, pale pink bud bloomed on one of the dark branches.