Chapter Text
Beyond the door, the goat lady named Toriel let Clark's hand go as she walked up one of the two staircases that led up to another doorway. Clark paused to take in the room, with all of the purple stone and red leaves that covered it. Between the two stairways, Clark spotted a small, glowing object that he approached cautiously. It appeared to radiate a pleasant warmth, not unlike the sunlight up above, and Clark paused to warm his hands on the object’s surface.
“What are you doing?” Toriel called down at him.
“Warming my hands.” He replied as he looked up at her.
“Upon what?” She asked.
Clark looked down at the object, then back up at Toriel.
“Uh,” he replied as he tried to examine the starlike object. “I don't know.”
Clark bounded up the stairs two at a time to join Toriel.
“Be careful you do not fall!” She cautioned.
Clark laughed bashfully at the warning.
“I think I'll be alright.” He replied. “I've never been hurt as long as I can remember.”
Toriel glanced at him nervously, then led him through the doorway into a room with six pressure plates, a switch and a locked door, with a stripe dividing the plates into two groups of two. The boy peered at the sign on the wall from the doorway.
“This place is called The Ruins, Clark.” She said as she turned to face the boy. “It is full of-” Toriel stopped mid-sentence as Clark skipped merrily across the four outside plates, and pulled the switch. The door opened, and Clark beamed proudly at the shocked goat lady.
“It's a puzzle door!” He exclaimed. “Pa has some games with puzzle doors at home.” Clark said as he pointed to the plaque on the wall with the instructions. “‘Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.’ Middle two buttons are on a strip of floor colored differently, so it's pretty simple. Push the four outside, not the ones inside.”
“...” Was all Toriel could muster at first. “Excellent work!” She finally replied. Toriel gestured for Clark to follow her. “It is exciting to meet someone who likes a good puzzle.”
“Ma doesn't like me playing those games, but Pa’s alright as long as I get done with chores first.” Clark replied as he strolled alongside her into the next room. “The Spencer Mansion's practically a second home to me! Are there any creatures down here that'll jump out and try to scare us?”
Toriel chuckled nervously.
“There may be.” She replied. “It is dependent on the day and their moods.”
The next room was much longer, with two small bridges across small streams of running water, and a series of vines growing up the walls.
Toriel could tell that Clark was picking up the details of the Ruins quickly, as he spotted the wooden sign in the ground, the metal sign on the wall, and three bright yellow switches on the wall further away. Beyond the bridges, he spied the set of spikes, and stared at them for a brief while, before tracing his eyes across the floor, to the switches on the wall.
“To make progress here, you will need to-” Toriel began, but was cut off as Clark made a merry dash for the spikes at the end of the room, and before Toriel could so much as cover her mouth in panic at the boy’s recklessness, he vaulted over the deadly metal prongs with the ease of one of the many flying creatures that populated the Underground, and landed in a perfect pose, arms outstretched beyond the dangerous barrier.
“Ta-da!” He exclaimed with a grin that could’ve lit up the entire planet.
Toriel’s shock at the boy’s recklessness was overtaken by the sheer joyous energy he exuded.
“I must admit.” Toriel said as she tripped the switches on her own so that she could follow along with the boy. “The idea of jumping over it had not occurred to me!”
“Oh, that was nothing!” Clark replied, lacing his fingers together and placing his hands behind his head. “I can jump way higher than that!”
“That is simply marvelous, my child!” Toriel exclaimed as she followed Clark into the next room, a corner room with a simple stuffed dummy.
“As a human living in the underground,” Toriel said as she led him toward the dummy, “Monsters may attack you.”
“Monsters?” Clark asked. “What kind? Are they big?”
“Some are big, some are small.” Toriel replied. “Regardless, you will need to be prepared for this situation.”
“Are there just monsters down here, or other creatures like you?” Clark asked.
Toriel was taken aback by the question, as she’d never considered it before.
“I suppose… There may be some like me.” She reasoned. “But everyone down here is a monster.”
“Not you, right?” Clark replied earnestly. “You’re fluffy and friendly! Monsters, the ones I’ve seen, are cruel, and try to be scary.”
“Well, you should-”
“Always be prepared, regardless of the situation?” Clark asked.
“Uh-” Toriel was taken aback by Clark’s quick response. “Yes, indeed!”
“I’m an Eagle Scout!” Clark proclaimed proudly. “We’re always prepared! So, what’s the deal?”
“Well, when a monster approaches you, try and strike up a friendly conversation!” Toriel continued. “Try walking up to the dummy and speaking with it!”
Before Toriel could continue, Clark strolled up to the stuffed dummy, and extended a hand which he placed on the dummy’s shoulder.
“Howdy!” He exclaimed with a wide grin. “My name’s Clark, who ar-”
Toriel’s eyes grew wide as the dummy appeared to launch Clark over its’ shoulder, onto the floor behind it. The dummy flipped over backwards and SLAMMED into Clark’s chest with all its’ cottony might.
In a panic, Toriel rushed to pull the dummy away from the boy. As she ripped the inanimate cotton dummy away from him, she found that not only was Clark unharmed, but he was laughing.
“I’m sorry!” He said between gasps of laughter. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist! I saw a video on YouTube of a guy wrestling a doll, I just wanted to try it!”
“Well, it looked like it really attacked!” Toriel replied as she set the doll back on its’ stand. “While this may have been fun for you, I would appreciate it if you didn’t do that again, you gave this old lady a fright!”
“Alright, I’ll tone it down!” Clark replied cheerily. “Sorry I scared you! I figured you’d… Cotton on to my ruse faster.”
Toriel was momentarily taken aback by the pun, and then snorted with laughter.
“It is alright.” Toriel said as she ruffled Clark’s hair. “Come along!”
Toriel led Clark into the next room, a corridor with a path leading down it and climbing vines reaching up the walls in several spots, almost concealing holes in the walls.
“There is another puzzle in this room.” Toriel said as she turned to face Clark. “I wonder if you can solve this one as quickly as you did the other?”
“Let’s take a crack at it!” Clark replied enthusiastically as he cracked his knuckles.
Toriel led him further down the corridor, until a shadowed figure leaped out at Clark from one of the vine-covered holes in the wall!
The medium-sized Froggit croaked as it hopped towards the boy, who looked at the Monster as though it was the most fascinating creature he’d ever seen.
“Oh gosh, you’re a big fellow, aren’t you?” Clark exclaimed as he fell to his knees in front of the white, hoppy creature. “I’ve never seen a white frog before!”
The Froggit didn’t quite understand Clark’s exact words, but seemed as though it was moved by his tone nevertheless.
“Please hop along,” Toriel said to the Froggit sternly, but the white creature had already hopped into Clark’s arms, and the boy was cuddling the amphibian.
“Aw, he’s not gonna hurt anyone!” Clark exclaimed as the Froggit nuzzled his cheek. “He’s just a big ol’ sweetheart, isn’t he?”
The Froggit nodded, and grinned wide like a happy dog.
“Listen, I have to get back up to the surface, but I’ll come back and play with you later, alright?” Clark said. “Promise!”
The Froggit tapped Clark on the cheek with his tongue. The boy placed the amphibian on the ground, and hopped happily away.
“I have a friend like that back home,” Clark said as he continued to follow Toriel through the corridor. “He’s white too, but he’s fluffy, like you! We call him Skip.”
Clark read a metal sign on the wall as they passed it.
“The western room is the eastern room’s blueprint.” It read.
“That is wonderful!” Toriel replied as she led the boy up to a spike-covered bridge across a wide pond.
“This is the puzzle.” She said as she turned to face Clark. “But…”
Clark looked around to see if anyone else was watching, then pulled a ring out of his pocket and slid it onto one of his fingers as a cocky grin grew across his face.
“No sweat!” He exclaimed as he wiped his hands together. “Don’t look down!”
Toriel’s heart threatened to leap out of her mouth as she felt the boy scoop her up in the strongest, yet gentlest hands she’d ever felt.
“Oh my!” She exclaimed as the two of them launched into the air across the spiked floor, and landed mere seconds later, safely on the ground beyond the puzzle, where Clark deposited Toriel safely on her feet.
“I did not know humans could fly!” Toriel exclaimed.
“Uh…” Clark said as he removed the ring from his hand. “Kinda sorta, not really? It’s more the ring that lets me fly.” He said as he presented the L-engraved ring for her to examine.
“Fascinating.” Toriel mused. “Is it magic?”
“Not hardly!” Clark replied as he pocketed the ring once more. “It’s from the future!”
Toriel made a mental note to ask the boy more about this ring at a later date as her expression changed from mere interest to sheer bafflement.
“Fascinating!” She repeated as she led him to the next room.
“Well, you have done excellently thus far, my child!” Toriel exclaimed as they walked down a far longer corridor than any of the others.
“Thanks!” Clark said, beamingly.
“I had expected to have to test your independence at some point but…” Toriel trailed off as they strolled down the long corridor together. “Well, to be honest, you’ve taken the initiative at every turn. I don’t see much else that I could teach you in that measure.”
“Like I said,” Clark replied casually, “I’m an Eagle Scout back home!”
“What do ‘Eagle Scouts’ do?” Toriel asked.
“Well, you have to get a bunch of badges saying you’re good at things, and then someone has to say you’d be a good leader, essentially. That’s not everything, but-”
“I think I understand.” Toriel replied. “One day, Clark, you’ll be a fine leader.”
“That’s what Pa’s always saying!” Clark replied. “I just hope I can get back in time for supper!”
Toriel felt her heart sink at Clark’s wishful statement.
“Clark,” She said softly, “Many have tried to leave over the years, but none have succeeded.”
Clark merely shrugged as they reached the end of the corridor.
“First time for everything!” He exclaimed optimistically. “You should meet my Ma and Pa, I think you’d like them!”
“Indeed I might.” Toriel said as she slowed to a stop. “However, there is a magic barrier around the Underground… It allows some in, but it has only ever allowed two to leave.”
“So you, the flower, the frogs, you’ve all been trapped down here by that barrier?” Clark asked.
Toriel nodded.
Clark grinned, and slung his hands behind his head.
“I guess I’ll just have to find a way to get you out then!” He exclaimed.
Toriel chuckled at Clark’s optimism, and tousled the boy’s hair once more.
“Perhaps.” She replied. “Now, I’m going to give you a cellular phone-”
“Oh, I’ve already got one of those!” Clark exclaimed as he pulled a futuristic-looking rectangular glassy slab from his jacket pocket.
“Oh, how wonderful!” Toriel exclaimed. “Then I suppose I’m just going to have to give you my phone number.” She passed him a slip of paper, which Clark took. “I’m going to run some errands, please stay here.”
“Okay!” He exclaimed as he sat down in the middle of the corridor, and entered her phone number into his contacts.
Toriel was tempted to tell the boy to “Be good!” but his immediate compliance with her request and general demeanor told her that this request would be unnecessary.