Resilience (Undertale: Sans x OC)

Ch4-The Ruins

     After spending some time walking through the ruins, Toriel tells Amelia that she wants to give her a surprise. Surprisingly, Amelia's phone connects to the phone service down in the underground. She isn't sure how that works, but considering the place runs on magic maybe that explains it. Toriel gives Amelia her phone number in case she needs it, and ventures off. Since Amelia is a young adult, Toriel sees no issue in giving her a chance to explore the underground on her own.

     Amelia continues down the path navigating the ruins, and finds a frog along the way. Though she shouldn't be surprised at this point from everything she's seen today, it still catches her off guard when the frog starts speaking.

     "Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them, they might not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, use some mercy, human." His voice comes out in a croak, it's a little difficult to understand him but she can comprehend what he's saying. She gives him a nod and a thumbs up. This is still a very strange place and she isn't fully convinced yet that it's real, but she's slowly growing used to it.

     She continues on her journey, sparing every monster she comes across along the way. Toriel was right, it is fairly easy to talk them out of a fight. Just a few words of flattery or taking the time to get to know them a little seems to be working thus far. As peculiar as this place is, it brings her a sense of peace. For some reason, fighting for her life down here feels easier than living on the surface. The burden of her alcoholic father is gone, and she doesn't have to worry about being unable to pay rent. It truly feels like she's taking a much needed break from reality.

     Although, as charming and peaceful as this place is, it's a bit dull. Room after room, she's faced with the same purple floor and purple brick wall. Along with the blandness of it, the infrastructure of the ruins seems questionable. Too many pillars and walls are cracked and unstable. This place is covered in rubble, dust, and cobwebs. She doesn't understand how Toriel can spend day after day in here. Sure, it's cute and cozy. But every room looks the same. It has to get boring after a while, Amelia's starting to feel it and she just got down here.

     She walks along the path until she comes across a ghost laying in the middle of the pathway. The ghost seems to be pretending to sleep, saying the letter "z" over and over. She laughs a little at how silly it is, before kindly asking him to move. Just then, a battle starts up. But she's had some practice with this by now, so she isn't alarmed. She notices the ghost is rather shy and seems to have self esteem issues. He appears to be so sad, which pains her to watch. She understands how crippling social anxiety and depression can be, so she does her best to cheer him up. She notices that he gains a little confidence, and creates a hat out of his ghostly tears. She thinks the look is rather cute, and flirts with him to give him an ego boost. She learns the ghost's name is Nabstablook, and she is pleased to see that she's managed to make Nabstablook happy. He lets her continue on her way without any more issues.

     Eventually, Amelia makes her way to Toriel's house after making new friends and solving an abundance of puzzles. She walks through the door, and inhales the warm scent of butterscotch and cinnamon.

     "Why hello there, Amelia. Did you enjoy your trip through the ruins?"

     "Yeah! The puzzles were fun and the monsters are nice." She answers her with a smile. Toriel seems happy that Amelia has been making friends with the monsters in the catacombs.

     "That is wonderful to hear. I hope you are hungry after a long adventure. I have some pie baking for you in the oven. But why don't I show you to your room first? You look rather tired, my dear." She guides Amelia to her guest bedroom, which is very clearly a child's room. She notices a toy box along with stuffed animals on the bed, and she also spots a child's drawing of a flower. "I apologize, I hope this room will do for now at least. I do have another room under renovations, but unfortunately it does not have a bed. The bed in this room may be a little small... The previous humans that fell down here were all children. I hope you can still get comfortable."

     That statement hits Amelia like a ton of bricks. Six children have died down here... That's awful. She understands that the monsters need the souls for their freedom, but the thought still makes her sick. How could these sweet monsters do such a cruel thing?

     Amelia slips into the bed and turns the lamp off. Luckily she sleeps with her legs curled up anyways, so the bed isn't too short or uncomfortable for her. She wraps herself in the blanket, bundling up in its warmth. The exhaustion from the day washes over her as she quickly falls into a deep sleep. As she sleeps, her dreams entertain her mind.

     She's spending the day with her mom, as if that car accident never happened. As if everything was perfect. As if everything was happy. Amelia is simply at the mall with her mom, trying on clothes and performing a little fashion show for her mother. Peace and love consumes her, as she walks store to store with her mom. The pair eats Chinese food and then gets some sweet ice cream after. As she sits at the table, licking her ice cream cone, her mother grows somber.

     "Milly, you have to move on." Amelia is caught off guard by this. Within her dream, she has no idea what her mom is talking about.

     "What?"

     "From losing me. From your relationship with Dina. From everything in your life that you've lost. You have to move on." Suddenly Amelia grows conscious the more her mother speaks. She realizes this is a dream. Her perfect fantasy land... It's all fake.

     "It's not that simple." She loses her appetite and the ice cream cone disappears from her hand. Silence slowly creeps throughout the food court, until all of the strangers fade away as well.

     "You can't just stop living." Despite this being a dream, her mother looks exactly as she remembers her. Every detail on her face. Every mole and wrinkle, it's the same.

     "I tried to."

     "I know. That's how you ended up in the underground after all." Amelia can't tell if this is her Mom's spirit coming to talk to her, or if it's her subconscious trying to heal itself. Either way, she needs to hear it. Despite how much she doesn't want to.

     "Why are you here?" A stream of tears flow down her face. Even if it's a dream, the warmth and salty taste the tears leave as they trail to her mouth feel so real.

     "To help you heal. And to tell you to take this chance." Her mom takes her hand. It feels so real, so natural. Her mom squeezes her hand warmly, the way she would always do when Amelia was young.

     "What chance?"

     "This place." Unexpectedly, the food court transitions into the ruins. She blinks in amazement at how bizarre yet real this dream is. "It's a whole new life for you. I don't want you to throw it away."

     "What do you mean, throw it away?" She sits on the red leaves with her mom, looking around the room where she first encountered the frog who explained mercy to her.

     "Don't act like you don't know." Her mom says gently with a sigh. "You're considering giving your soul up."

     "I'm the last soul they need." Amelia says matter of factly, though there is a hint of sadness in her voice.

     "You should live for yourself, Amelia. Not for other people. Stop making decisions for the good of others."

     "It feels selfish not to give up my soul."

     "Well sometimes it's ok to be selfish." Amelia let's her mother's words sink in. She sighs as she grabs onto a red leaf and fidgets with it, thinking.

     "Yeah... I guess you're right."

     "I'm always right." Both Amelia and her mom chuckle at her words. The irony is she was right about that too.

     "I miss you." Amelia whispers as she looks up at her mom. Tears continue to fall down her face as she wears a bittersweet smile.

     "I miss you too, Milly. We'll see each other again one day. But I don't want that day to be anytime soon." She gives her daughter a gentle smile before pulling her into a hug. Again, Amelia is shocked at how real it feels. She nearly forgot what it felt like to hug her mom, she needed this reminder.