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Twisted Punishment (Meg and Apollo in Undertale)

Chapter One: Fallen Down

Sun God Apollo

Is now Lester Underground.

Where is the justice?

My name is Apollo. I used to be a god. In my four thousand six hundred and twelve years, I have done many things. I inflicted a plague on the Greeks who besieged Troy. I blessed Babe Ruth with three home runs in game four of the 1926 world series. I visited my wrath upon Britanny Spears at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. 

But in all of my immortal life, I have never been thrown down a mountain. That was my brother, Hephaestus’s, thing. No one would dare throw such a glorious being as me off of a cliff, but here I was, plummeting into a colossal mountain.

I’m not even sure how it happened. 

I simply woke up falling. Darkness whizzed past my view, flames streamed off of my body. I tried to fly. I tried to change into a cloud or teleport across the world or do a thousand other things that should’ve been easy for me, but I just kept falling. I plunged into a small hole in the center of a mountain and BAM!
Is there anything sadder than the sound of a God hitting a bed of golden flowers?

I lay groaning and aching in the suffocatingly sweet buttercups. My nostrils burned with the smell of pollen and dirt. My ribs felt broken, but that shouldn’t have been possible.

My mind stewed with confusion, but one memory floated to the surface--the voice of my father, Zeus: YOUR FAULT. YOUR PUNISHMENT.

I realized what happened to me. And I sobbed in despair. Even for a god of poetry such as myself, it is difficult to describe how I felt. How could you, a mere mortal, possibly understand? Imagine being stripped of your clothes, then blasted with a fire hose in front of a laughing crowd. Imagine the ice-cold water filling your mouth and lungs, the pressure bruising your skin, turning your joints to putty. Imagine feeling helpless, ashamed, completely vulnerable--publicly and brutally stripped of everything that makes you you. My humiliation was worse than that.

YOUR FAULT, Zeus’s voice rang in my head.

“No!” I cried miserably, “No, it wasn’t! Please!”

Nobody answered. The cavern around me was dark and hollow, my cries echoed endlessly. The light above was barely visible from the ceiling. It seemed to seal my fate, You’re not going back anytime soon.

I tried to remember the details of my sentencing. Had my father told me how long this punishment would last? What was I supposed to do to regain his favor?

My memory was too fuzzy. I could barely recall what Zeus looked like, much less why he’d decided to toss me to… Whatever this place was.

There’d been a war with the giants , I thought. The gods had been caught off guard, embarrassed, almost defeated.

The only thing I knew for certain: my punishment was unfair. Zeus needed someone to blame, so of course he’d picked the handsomest, most talented, most popular god in the pantheon: me.

I lay pitifully in my bed of flowers, staring up at the faint traces of light coming from the ceiling. Not only did Zeus have to take away my godhood, but I was sent somewhere Underground to live out my sentence. He knows how much I hate being cooped up, I’m the sun god for the fate’s sake, so he sent me here to exacerbate his cruelty.

Zeus will reconsider, I told myself, He’s just trying to scare me. Any moment, he will yank me back to Olympus and let me off with a warning.

“Yes…” My voice sounded hollow and desperate, “Yes, that’s it,”

 I tried to move. I wanted to be on my feet when Zeus came to apologize. My ribs throbbed. My stomach clenched. I clawed at fistfuls of dirt and managed to push myself onto my knees, causing a wave of nausea to run through my body.

“Araggeeddee,” I whimpered through the pain, “Stand up. Stand up!”

Getting to my feet was not easy. My head spun. I almost passed out from the effort. I stood in a small, dark cavern. About fifty feet away, the only exit opened up to an expanse of inky darkness.

I inspected my new body, though it was difficult in the dim light. I appeared to be a teenaged Caucasian male, clad in sneakers, blue jeans, and a yellow and light blue striped sweater. Oh dear, a striped sweater?  Zeus must’ve been really angry with me. I felt sick, weak, and so, so human. 

I will never understand how you mortals tolerate it. You live your entire life trapped in a sack of meat, unable to enjoy simple pleasures like changing into a hummingbird or dissolving into pure life.

And now, heavens help me, I was one of you--just another meat sack.

I fumbled through my pants pockets, hoping I still had the keys to my sun chariot. Not that it would do me any good this far underground. No such luck. I found a cheap nylon wallet containing several gold coins. I didn’t recognize the currency, which alarmed me. I’ve used every currency from Drachma to Bitcoin, so the fact that I couldn’t place what these coins were from was unusual. They were large, heavy, and had a G branded in the middle. 

I looked around my flowery cave, hoping my bow, quiver, and lyre might have fallen to Earth with me. I would have settled for my harmonica. There was nothing.

I took a deep breath, Cheer up , I told myself, I must have retained some of my godly abilities. Matters could be worse.

“Urgh…”
I jumped backward as a noise echoed from behind me. For a moment, I was terrified it was a monster or something else that would try to kill Lester.

Instead, I was met with a strange sight. The crumpled figure on the floor was a girl of about twelve. She was small and pudgy, with dark hair chopped in a messy pageboy style and black cat-eye glasses with rhinestones glittering in the corners. Her outfit looked like it had been picked by a kindergartner--red sneakers, yellow tights, and a green tank dress. Perhaps, before she had fallen to this strange world, she was on her way to a costume party dressed as a traffic light.

Her eyes snapped open and she backed away from me, “Who are you? Where am I?”
I raised my hands in surrender. Whoever this girl was, I didn’t want to provoke her, “Calm down. My name is Apollo. I woke up here too,”

She glared at me, “How do I know I can trust you?”
“How do I know I can trust you?” I countered.

She looked me up and down and scowled, “Lester,”

“I beg your pardon?” 

“The name tag on your sweater. It says, Lester. Not Apollo,”

I looked down, and sure enough on the front of my striped sweater was a sewed-in name, Lester Papadopoulos. The cruelty of Zeus knew no bounds!

I seemed to develop a tic in my right eye, “Ah. So it does,” I ground my teeth together. He couldn’t have at least let me keep my name?

“My name’s Meg,” The traffic light girl eventually decided to disclose, “Isn’t Apollo that sun guy?” 

Hearing this child call the glorious god Apollo ‘That sun guy’ physically hurt me, but I decided not to comment, “Yes. I am the god, Apollo,”

She frowned, “You don’t look like a god,”

“I’m not at my best,” I admitted, “My father, Zeus, has exiled me from Olympus,”

She smelled faintly of apple pie, which was surprising since she looked so grubby. Part of me wanted to find a fresh towel, clean her face, and give her money for a hot meal. Part of me wanted to fend her off with a chair in case she decided to bit me. She reminded me of the strays my sister was always adopting: dogs, panthers, homeless maidens, small dragons.

“You said your name is Meg? Is that short for Megara or Margaret?”

“Margaret. But don’t ever call me Margaret,”

“Do you know anything of the gods, Meg?” I asked. I didn’t want to ask if she was a demigod outright for fear of her just being a strange mortal.

“Who wants to know?”

Her reaction was suspicious. She had to have known something, whether she was a demigod or a clear-sighted mortal, I couldn’t know, “You aren’t a regular mortal, are you? You’re a demigod,”

Meg raised an eyebrow, “What makes you think that?”

“Well, you’re here for a reason. My father must’ve sent you with me on purpose, which means it’s highly unlikely you’re a normal girl,” I pointed out.

Her expression turned guarded. I got the impression I might have said something wrong, though I couldn’t imagine what. Either way, her reaction more than confirmed my suspicions. She must’ve heard the term demigod before, where I didn’t know.

“I think I’m just going to take your money and go,” She said, advancing on me.

I tried to get into a defensive stance, but my body ached too much to provide any real resistance, “No, wait!” I cried, growing desperate, “Please, I- I may need a bit of assistance,”

I felt ridiculous, of course. Me--the god of prophecy, plague, archery, healing, music, and several other things I couldn’t remember at the moment--asking a colorfully dressed sixth grader for help. But I had no one else. If this child decided to take my money and leave me alone in this dark cavern, I didn’t think I could stop her. As hard as it was to swallow, it would be impossible to defend myself in my weakened state.

She stopped and frowned, “Say I belief you…” Her voice took on a singsong tone as if she were about to announce the rules of the game: I’ll be the princess, and you’ll be the scullery maid. “Say I decide to help you. What then?”

Good question, I thought. I looked around and realized that I didn’t know. I’d never been to this place before in my four thousand years of existence, and that more than frightened me, “I- I don’t know. I don’t know where we are. I don’t know why this is happening. And I don’t know what’s in store for us. All I know is that we’re the only ones we have. Do you want to wander this strange place all on your own?”

Her expression flickered. The idea of being alone in this place was as pleasant to her as it was to me. That was a start.

“I have an idea,” I stood as straight as my injuries allowed. It wasn’t easy to look confident while I was clutching my broken ribs and dirt stained my clothes, “I don’t know what this place is, but there must be an exit up ahead. Accompany me, and I shall reward you,”

Meg made a sound between a sneeze and a laugh, “Reward me with what? Do you have any money?”

I pulled out my wallet on a compulsion, “I have this,”

Her eyes glittered and faster than I could react, my wallet was snatched, “I’ve got your money! I’ve got your money!”
“Hey!”
She gave me a cheeky grin, “Now what are you going to reward me with, Lester?”
I stifled a growl, “Listen, child, I won’t be mortal forever. Someday I will become a god again. Then I will reward those who helped me, and punish those who didn’t,”

She put her hands on her hips, “How do you know what will happen? Have you ever been mortal before?”

“Yes, actually. Twice! Both times, my punishment only lasted a few years at most!”

“Oh, yeah? And how did you get back to being all goddy or whatever?”

“Goddy is not a word,” I pointed out, though my poetic sensibilities were already thinking of ways I might use it. “Usually Zeus requires me to work as a slave for some important demigod. I do whatever takes my new master requires for a few years. As long as I behave, I am allowed back to Olympus. Right now I just have to recover my strength and figure out-”

“How do you know for sure which demigod?”
I blinked, “What?”

“Which demigod you’re supposed to serve, dummy.”

“I… uh. Well, it’s usually obvious. I just sort of run into them. That’s why I have to get out of this blasted cave and find a demigod. My new master will claim my service and-”

“I’m Meg McCaffery!” Meg blew me a raspberry, “And I claim your service,”

Far, far overhead, the faint sound of thunder rumbled. The sound echoed through the cave like divine laughter. 

Whatever was left of my pride turned to ice water and trickled into my socks, “I walked right into that, didn’t I?”

“Yep!” She announced, “We’re going to have fun!”

With great difficulty, I resisted the urge to weep, “Are you sure you’re not Artemis in disguise?”

“I’m that other thing,” Meg said, counting my money, “The thing you said before. A demigod,”

“How do you know?
“Just do,” She gave me a smug smile, “And now I have a sidekick god named Lester,”

I raised my face to the faraway heavens, “Please, Father, I get the point. Please, I can’t do this,”

Zeus did not answer. He was probably too busy recording my humiliation on Snapchat. 

“Cheer up! This cave can’t go on forever. Let’s go,”
I sighed miserably. It was going to be a very long servitude.

“As you wish,” I said, “Let’s see where this cave leads,”

Chapter Text

A Flower Attacks.

Wait, did it just start talking?

Where’s the weed killer?

Meg and I hadn’t been walking for long when we saw another patch of light. This light seemed more artificial, however, like it was coming from an unseen spotlight. The girl who’d previously been leading the way with gusto hesitated.

I frowned, “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like this place. The plants feel… Wrong,” She explained.

“What do you mean? How do plants feel wrong?”
“They just do!” She snapped, “Something weird’s going on,”

I sighed in exasperation, “Well, there’s nothing we can do about it if we don’t keep moving. Do you want to stay here any longer?”

She seemed to think that over, “No…” 

“Then, let’s go. Lead the way, Meg,”

She began walking forward again, though the spring in her step was long gone. I thought about what she said earlier, about the plants feeling wrong. Who was this child’s godly parent? Such instincts about plants… No. There was no way. Not even Zeus would be that cruel, right? She was probably just the daughter of some minor god. Some minor, obscure-

“Howdy!”
I nearly jumped out of my skin as a voice that was neither mine nor Meg’s echoed through the room. My eyes darted around until they found the source of the voice. 

Was- Was that a flower? 

I looked at Meg to make sure that the fall didn’t mess with my head, but she appeared to be seeing the same thing that I was.

The flower continued its speech like it had done it before a thousand times, “I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower. Hmmm… You’re new to the Underground, aren’tcha? Golly, you must be so-” It suddenly stopped, the grin dropping off of its face and replaced with a terrifying glare.

“Who the hell are you?”
I was too confused and frightened to speak, but Meg saved the day, “That’s Apollo and I’m Meg. We’re kinda lost,”

“Lost?” The weed growled, “You’re lost? ”

She nodded, “Yup,”

The flower looked between them in an enraged confusion, “What- But this- This is impossible! Why are there- Where is-”

I didn’t know what it was talking about, but its rambling more than unsettled me, “Uh… Flowey, was it? I don’t know-”
It glared straight at me, sending a shudder through my body, “Where are they? What did you do to them?”

I raised my hands in the air for the second time that day, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, I swear, I-”

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH CHARA?”

Chara? 

I’d never heard that name before, but for some reason, it sent a horrible chill down my spine. Whoever it was, the flower was pretty angry that the two of us were not this mystery person.

Meg stepped forward, “Listen, buddy. I don’t know who this ‘Chara’ is, but you’d better get out of my way,”

The unstable flower giggled, “Or what? What are you gonna do kid, tell me, ”

“Meg,” I hissed. Something told me that she shouldn’t provoke this angry plant.

She ignored me and in a flash of golden light, she was holding twin swords, “I’ll make you get out of my way,”

The look on her face was frightening, somehow more so than the demonic flower. I wanted to slowly inch away from the fighting pair, but some unknown force kept me locked in place. The whole atmosphere of the area seemed to change, and suddenly everything appeared in black and white. A number appeared just below my vision, 40. Hm. I wonder what that means.

Meg made the first move. Before I could stop her, she attempted to attack the flower. 

Hit!

Her blades barely hurt the small flower, doing exactly 1 point of damage to it. It started cackling, “Wow! That almost tickled. Is that really the best you can do?”

I would like to say that I did something heroic, like jumping into battle or protecting the young girl with my body, but we were both paralyzed with fear as the flower continued.

“I’ll let you two in on a little secret~! In this world, it’s kill or be killed . Why would anyone pass up the opportunity to gain some more LOVE?”

The word, LOVE, sent another uneasy chill through me. I had no idea what it meant, but it wasn’t good, whatever it was. It definitely wasn’t referring to love .

I wanted to ask what he meant, but before I could, he surrounded the two of us with a circle of smooth, white pellets.

“DIE!”
The pellets slowly circled closer to Meg and me as the vile creature laughed. In that moment, dear reader, I thought we were finished. There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide as the bullets slowly encircled my young companion and me. Meg will claim that I cried. I did not cry. I did, however, beg for my life.

“Father, please! I’m too young and pretty to die!”

“Augh!”

The scream didn’t come from Meg or myself but from the flower. A ball of fire blasted the creature, sending it flying out of the battlefield. The color slowly bled back into the area. The near-miss left both of us shaken up, but the small girl seemed more focused on our savior.

“Who are you?” She demanded, “What do you want?”
I wanted to tell her not to be rude to the person who just saved our lives, especially since they were strong enough to defeat Flowey with a single attack, but I didn’t get the chance.  Our savior stepped into the light, smiling kindly at both of us. She appeared to be some kind of large, bipedal goat, “What a miserable creature, torturing such poor, innocent youths,”

I wanted to tell her that I was a four-thousand-year-old deity that has destroyed civilizations, most certainly not innocent, but I decided that would be a bad ice breaker. Instead, I waved at her, “Hello, Mrs. Goat! We’re lost,”

She laughed, “My name is Toriel, dear. I am the caretaker of these Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You two are the first humans to come here in a long time. Come, I will guide you through the catacombs,”

I truly don’t know why I trusted her so quickly. Perhaps I was desperate for someone to help me, perhaps it was because she reminded me of my own mother. Either way, when she walked, Meg and I followed.

“I’m not a human, normally at least,” I said, her comment bugging me. Was this place full of monsters? Was it some kind of mini Tartarus? If Zeus sent me here on extermination duty, I would be sure to- Well, I would smite something . 

Toriel frowned, “Oh?”

“I am- Was the great god Apollo. I do not know why my father has sent me here, but I am grateful for your assistance,” I explained.

“I apologize, but I have never heard of Apollo. We monsters don’t have a formal religion, though there is an ancient prophecy of this land… But no matter! All that matters is that the two of you are safe now,” 

She had never heard of Apollo?! I fought to keep my jaw from dropping. They had a prophecy, and yet they had never heard of Apollo? These poor, poor people. 

I gave her a truly sympathetic look, “I’m so sorry,” 

She chuckled, “Whoever Apollo is, I’m sure he’s an excellent god,”

My face lit up, “Oh! I was. I inspired all of the greats, William Shakespeare, Elvis Presley, Micheal Jackson, The Beatles,”

Toriel was confused, “‘Beatles’? You inspired a type of bug?”

I stopped dead, staring at her in horror, “You’ve never heard of the Beatles ?”

Meg sighed, “Can we keep moving? This place gives me the creeps,”

“Of course, my child,” Toriel led the way, Meg following close behind.

I was still in a state of shock, but there was no time to dawdle. I would just have to educate our dear goat guide about the joys of famous rock bands later.

We made our way through purple ruins, which were mainly empty save a few puzzles, which our guide solved for us.

“There are a lot of puzzles that are still active from when all monsters used to live in these Ruins,” She explained, “I’ve modified most to be harmless, but you should always be cautious when you venture through,” 

I frowned, I haven’t seen so many puzzles in an area since I accidentally stumbled into Hephaestus’s Saw chamber. Don’t ask, it was traumatic .

“Why are there so many puzzles? Isn’t it inconvenient for those who live here?” I asked.

Toriel’s expression turned sad, “I’m afraid I’m the only one who still lives in this area. It is the Old Home of the monsters. Most have moved on to the other regions of the Underground. The few who stayed are wild and can attack if provoked. Don’t be afraid, my children, they don’t want to harm you. If you simply talk things out, I promise you that everything will be alright,”

So not only had this lady never heard of Apollo or the Beatles, but she was also living alone in the Ruins? Sympathy filled my chest, “Thank you again for saving us, Ms. Toriel. You will be rewarded handsomely when I return to Olympus,”

She didn’t look like she believed me, but decided to humor me, “Thank you, Apollo. That’s very kind of you,”

“Of course! When I return to godhood, I promise to reward my benefactors,”

I noticed then that Toriel stopped. I looked around in confusion, “What’s going on?”

She pointed at the dummy standing in the middle of the room, “As I mentioned earlier, the Ruins are filled with monsters who may try to harm you or block your way. But you’ll find that if you just talk to them, everything will work itself out,”

I frowned. That didn’t sound like the monsters I knew. The ones I knew were horrifying and bloodthirsty beasts from Tartarus. Well, as a god they’d been nothing more than nuisances, for the most part, but I didn’t want to encounter any as a mortal, “Are you sure that will work? The monsters I met in the past were… Not exactly friendly creatures,”

Meg scowled, “Don’t be racist, Lester! 

My face flushed an interesting shade of scarlet, “I’m not- Ugh, I’m not racist , Meg. I’m just saying that we should be cautious, that’s all,”

“Whatever has happened to you in the past, I assure you that monsters around here mean you no harm. It isn’t in nature to cause pain. Our souls need love and compassion to survive. The only reasons any wild monster would fight you are fear and loneliness. Fighting is how a lot of monsters around here express themselves,”

I blinked, “Wow. I had no idea a fight could be thought of that way,”

Toriel laughed, “I imagine humans- and Gods- don’t do that, then? Think of it as a sort of competition or game. Most monsters who would attack you are only showing off what they’re capable of. They don’t know that it can hurt you,”

Meg frowned at the fighting dummy, “So… You want us to talk to this thing?”
“Think of it as practice. I will, of course, intervene in any fight that gets too dangerous. But most can be quickly resolved through ACTing. If you can talk for long enough for me to arrive, there’s no monster that you can’t defeat,” She explained.

“Okay,” She said, almost as if the concept of pacifism was alien to her, “I’ll talk to it,”

Immediately, the strange feeling filled me. My body was locked in place, vision growing dark as a bright red heart floated before me. Four options glowed enticingly: FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, SPARE. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, a large 40 and a meter popped into existence. I was in battle. 

Meg took the reins on our little heart vessel, moving to the space that said ACT. From there, she chose the option to talk.

“Uh… Hi. I’m Meg,”
You talk to the Dummy.

It doesn’t seem much for conversation…

Just as quickly as the battle began, it was over. The heart disappeared and my legs unlocked, causing me to stumble forward into the doll we were just conversing with. I quickly composed myself with an I totally meant to do that look.

Toriel was pleased with our choice, “Very good! You two are naturals. As long as you go into every fight with peaceful intentions, everything will turn out fine,”

She continued walking down the corridor, “If you’ll just come this way,”

I followed after her, utterly bemused. 

What exactly was this strange world I’d been cast down to?

And what did my father want from it?