Undertale - A New Home [ENG]

Chapter 4 - Home

"Ooooo..." I heard a voice from the ground. Indeed, it seemed to come from another creature from underground. The voice echoed in the ruins and sounded empty, almost sad, and this creature resembled a ghost. Its body was not particularly transparent, however, and it wore headphones on its head of sorts. I wondered what kind of music it was listening to as the ghostly creature began to cry."Hello, who are you?" I asked him."Oooo, get away from me, you're just here to laugh at me like everyone else," the ghost cried. He must have been talking about the Froggits, who lived here in large numbers."Why should I laugh at you? We don't even know each other! What's your name?" I asked, trying to convince him that I didn't want to hurt him. But that didn't really seem to cheer him up. The tears continued to roll out of his black, empty eyes."What does it matter? You're human and every monster knows you'll be the end of us. Not that I would care if we all turned into dust..." the ghost mumbled gloomily to himself. Somehow I wasn't entirely comfortable in his presence. He began to float and lifted off the ground. His sad and empty eyes scrutinized me and apparently he didn't want to let me pass."May I please pass you?" I asked kindly, but he didn't answer and remained in the same position. I was slowly becoming impatient with him."Please hover to the side, I want to continue here," I asked him again, but there was no response. So I pressed my hands forward and tried to push him so that I could move on. My arms slipped straight through his body and I heard the indignation in his echoing voice."You humans are all the same, trying to solve every problem with violence, ooooo..." the ghost cried, his tears rushing towards me. His voice echoed through the ruins and the Froggits gathered around us and began to dance. Strange, their dance style resembled a classic jazz choreography... But there was no music playing. My shield reappeared on my arm to protect my soul, which began to shimmer green. He pretended to be asleep as I dodged his tears and looked worriedly in his direction."Zzzzzzzz (is he finally gone?) Zzzzzzzzz," it echoed through the ruins. He simply repeated the letter Z out loud."Tell me who you are!" I shouted, as I really wanted to avoid a fight with him, especially as he was really starting to get on my nerves."I'm Napstablook. Oh yes, I'm REALLY funny..." Napstablook spoke. Now I had to think of a strategy to cheer up this stubborn spirit. I pondered something while his tears rained down on my shield. So I started smiling patiently at him!"Heh..." he chuckled, but the tears still didn't stop. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but that was it. My smile really took a lot of patience because Napstablook had a habit of not accepting compliments, but he looked a little better. I thought about what else I could do to cheer him up. Jokes usually helped to make a person laugh, but I wasn't dealing with a human here. The funny Froggits were still dancing around and inspired me to tell a little joke."When two Froggits meet, one says to the other: 'Quaaak. The other replies in amazement: 'Hey, I was just about to say that too! We totally harmonize! Isn't that funny? I made that up myself!" I said, sounding as humorous and hopeful as I could with such a flat thigh-slapper."Heh... heh..." he giggled now, but he was still crying. Still, the joke seemed to have improved his mood! His tears were streaming in my direction from two sides this time and I found it very difficult to protect my back. The large drops rushed towards my soul and a stabbing pain spread through my chest. Napstablook forced me to my knees, but it was more the shock that hurt so much. I looked at him in fear, but this time the spirit seemed amused."I don't feel like fighting right now, sorry. Can I show you something?" asked Napstablook. Completely confused, I just nodded slightly, actually thinking that another attack would follow. This time his tears shot upwards and gradually formed a small cylinder on his head. It looked really funny and perfectly suited this ghost!"What do you think of it? I call it the 'Dapper Blook'!" he asked excitedly, waiting for my answer."Hey, that trick was very impressive! That hat looks great on you!" I exclaimed. I could have sworn that his white cheeks were reddening slightly. He also formed a little bow on his torso with his tears. Everyone around us started clapping, just like I did. That was too much for poor Napstablook and he started crying again."Oh my goodness, oooo... I usually come to the ruins because there's no one there... But today I met someone nice.... oh, I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way. You wanted to go further in that direction, didn't you?" he now spoke and the tears slowly became fewer and fewer."Great class, Napstablook! I bet you've impressed a lot of monsters with your tricks. But yes, I'm heading in that direction. Can you by any chance tell me how to get out of the ruins? I want to go back home," I asked him now. Napstablook always returned all these compliments with a fading 'ooooooooo...', but he couldn't answer my question."No, I don't know. Ooooooo... Are we no longer friends? I should have known, you're going to hate me now. Well, it can't get any worse if I tell you that you'll eventually come across Toriel's house if you keep walking in that direction. Ooooooo, I always screw up new friendships...", moaned Napstablook, slowly becoming more and more invisible."Please don't disappear, I still have questions for you! Napstablook, please! We're still friends," I called out, but the ghost disappeared with a deep 'oooooooo...' Toriel's home? I wandered a little further straight ahead through a corridor in the ruins, covered in orange leaves like before. Fortunately, I moved forward carefully, as a hole in the ground would have guaranteed my death if I took an unfortunate step into it. The leaves tumbled down into the depths and floated lightly and slowly in the air. I quietly whistled a strange tune to myself that suited this ominous place. The purple and vine-covered walls were crumbling in places, revealing old and apparently empty houses made of the same material in the distance, enveloped in mist. Two creatures chased me and one meek creature flew towards me crying and tugging at my green mesh sweater. It resembled a fly and was completely pale. Its face was distorted and its two antennae stretched upwards. The small, delicate legs and weak arms pressed against me and this little creature disappeared as soon as I raised my arm to wave at it. She flew away, sobbing."How can they do this to me poor little Whimsun? I lead a bitter life..." cried Whimsun, that was her name. The second creature that slowly moved towards me, however, was much larger and more cumbersome than Whimsun. A sticky, green, pudding-like creature wobbled towards me. It looked a lot like the familiar custard molds that we humans used to make desserts."Hey, a pudding!" I shouted, but the creature seemed directly outraged. So it did feel emotions. I called it Moldsmall. Somehow it did nothing but wobble around. That must have been hard work! It made slimy noises and a lime scent suddenly filled the air. A few small pellets floated towards my soul, emanating from the little Moldsmall. However, they were not difficult to fend off, so I spared the green goo and walked away resignedly. Past my encounter with Moldsmall, I felt like I understood the world better... After the most eventful few minutes of my life, I nevertheless got myself together to walk further along the corridor and crossed a small archway, on the other side of which I found a kind of balcony. From here I could overlook a large area of the ruins and my body flinched slightly; both from the cool breeze blowing up here and at the thought that the ruins were a huge labyrinth of collapsed houses and that I might not find an exit any time soon. Deep down, I felt hope and I felt better straight away. Suddenly, a small object in the corner caught my attention... some kind of knife, but it wasn't sharp, it was more of a plastic toy. When I picked it up, it felt strange in my hand. People didn't really joke around with weapons; they weren't toys and only ever ended up leading to wars. I held my hand with the toy knife over the balcony where I found it and dropped it. I waited for a sound of impact, but there was nothing. So I wandered back to the intersection to take the other path I wanted to take before approaching the balcony. The trail of orange leaves that led up to here also ended here on the path. Now I also understood how they had reached this point in the first place; a large, broad tree with a deep black trunk protruded from the ground, under which a carpet of leaves spread out. The tree itself was barren and all the leaves seemed to have come from it. Behind the tree, I finally found what Napstablook was talking about earlier. He mentioned that I would find Toriel's house if I continued in the direction I was walking. Two sets of stairs led up to a stone terrace where the large front door was located, matching Toriel's height and width. It had to be here, without a doubt. But before I entered, I decided to reach for my cell phone and see if I received any more calls from Toriel. In fact, she tried to reach me several times, but I rarely answered my cell phone. I opened the large door and slowly entered. I was first greeted by a wonderful smell before I saw the light wooden planks on the floor and walls. Straight ahead of me, a staircase with a banister led down and I assumed it would take me to the cellar."Who's there?" a familiar female voice called from a distance, from another room. I heard steps and, given her height, she didn't have to walk far to reach me."Oh, Robert! It's you, if you only knew how worried I was about you! You could have been hurt, you could have been seriously injured! Why didn't you answer my calls?" Toriel's often so calm voice bubbled out worriedly. Now I felt a little guilty that I rarely answered my calls."I'm sorry I didn't listen to you. I had completely disregarded my cell phone because I was carried away by the impressions of the ruins. There's so much to explore here, I didn't know what to do. It felt wrong to wait for you in the same place. I hope you can forgive me, Toriel," I spoke and after a moment's hesitation, I decided to hug Toriel. I slowly spread my arms out and tried to embrace her, which was quite impossible for me due to her width. I could feel her flinch, but she still enjoyed the hug. She pressed her arms against my back and I knew that she was seriously worried about my well-being. But then I remembered something important that I finally wanted her to know."But I'm not a child anymore, Toriel. I don't know why, but somehow I get the feeling that you've had experience with children. It's none of my concern, of course, but I'd still be interested to hear what you have to say. About you, your life, the underground, what happened here and..." I began, but didn't have the heart to finish my questions."Well, there's not much to know about me. I'm just a simple woman who enjoys her life in the ruins, nothing more. But before we talk, I've prepared a little surprise for you! Why don't you take a look around the house while you're at it," Toriel said, but she didn't really seem interested in my questions. It felt like she didn't want to tell me everything she knew about my questions."Sure," I replied bluntly. Toriel walked away and I looked around the house a little. The entrance area was nicely furnished; a plant in the corner of the room and a calendar in a chest of drawers were already gathering dust, but they added a nice contrast to the bright ambience. In the room to the left of the entrance area, a fire was crackling in the fireplace, but its temperature was mild enough that I could put my hand in and not get burnt. A large bookshelf contained many books about snails of all kinds. Toriel seemed to be interested in biology! I wondered what she did in her spare time other than read books about snails and apparently cook, as the sweet smell I caught earlier became more intense the closer I got to this door, which was currently locked. An oversized armchair, with a yellow knitted blanket draped over the back, stood in front of the fireplace. It was so wide that I could easily sit on it twice side by side. Its cushion was worn through and a few white hairs lay on it, as well as an upturned book, which Toriel was probably reading. There stood a long dining table in this room too, with a scrawny plant growing in a pot in the middle of it. After leaving the room and heading towards the right side of the house, I found myself in a long hallway. Most of the rooms were locked, but one room door could be opened. I made a note of this for later, as I wanted to explore the corridor a little more. In the meantime, I slowly realized that monsters also lived in normal facilities, just like us humans. It was reprehensible to assume that monsters were completely different beings to humans. They were similar in some ways, I had already noticed that. There was a mirror on the wall with a reflection of me! After all that walking around, I still looked the same as I did when I fell down the hole that I had to thank for getting me stuck underground. My curly brown hair twirled on my forehead and formed waves. By now I had become terribly tired, as my hazel eyes were now so small and heavy that I had trouble keeping them open. My pale green collar no longer sat properly on my collarbone, so I straightened it. As tired as I was, I could hardly think clearly as I double-checked that all the rooms were really locked. So I entered the last open room in this hallway and was surprised by the sight of it; it was a fully furnished children's room! Toys were lying around on the floor. How fascinating! They didn't interest me in the slightest. I saw a chest of drawers with a small picture frame on the top. The glass was broken, however, and the face of a person in the picture itself was completely scribbled over in green crayon. A poster of a golden flower hung on the wall. The color of the flowers looked familiar to me from somewhere. I thought I remembered that Flowey had the same shape and color of these flowers as the ones on the poster. A bed blessed my wishes of sleep as I felt so exhausted that I kept my clothes on and just switched off the light before throwing myself into it and leaving even the blanket off. Within minutes I fell asleep and this whimsical day flashed before my eyes as soon as I closed them. Here, for the first time since my arrival, I felt at home.