Undertale

Chapter 11: Napstablook

 This cavern had several paths branching off of it in various directions. It was very quiet here; even the water wasn't rushing so much.

I feel a calming tranquility. I'm filled with determination.

"hey... my house is up here... in case you want to see... or in case... you don't..." Napstablook floated down one of the paths. I followed him. There were two houses side by side, each very strangely shaped. They had rounded tops that seemed to be bent over away from each other, with triangular roofs perched on top. I walked inside the house on the left. Strange music was playing inside. "oh... you really came..." Napstablook said softly. He was wearing headphones. "sorry, i... wasn't expecting that."

"That's okay, Napstablook."

"it's not much, but make yourself at home." There was nothing in the house but a desk with a computer (its web browser open to a music-sharing forum), a television, a refrigerator, and several stacks of CDs. I figured ghosts probably didn't have many necessities. "uh, do you wanna... listen to some tunes...or something..."

"Sure. This is some... interesting music, Napstablook." I peered at his television.

"oh... that's my tv... there's a show i like to watch on it... sometimes..."

I looked at the refrigerator. "I didn't know ghosts ate."

"oh... are you hungry... i can get you something to eat..." Napstablook floated over to the fridge and opened it. It was empty. He closed it and turned to me. "this is a ghost sandwich... do you want to try it..."

"Uh... sure," I said, wondering what I was supposed to by trying. I attempted to bite into the ghost sandwich. I passed right through it, and was biting thin air. I wondered why ghost food needed to be refrigerated.

"oh... nevermind... after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage... it's a family tradition... do you want... to join me..."

"Sure," I said, not wanting to dissapoint him.

"okay... follow my lead..." We both lay down in the middle of the floor. It wasn't particularly comforatble, but after a while, it became rather peaceful. "here we go..."

After a few minutes, it seemed as though the room faded away. It was like I was floating in space, surrounded by stars and galaxies that spun slowly around me... I moved. The room came back. "well, that was nice... thank you..."

I played a few of Napstablook's CDs. They were strange, slightly creepy songs. "oh... a classic spooktune... they don't make songs like this anymore." I picked up the next CD, which was labled 'Spookwave'. It was the same song, but more ambient. "dang... that ambience... it's like my whole body is being spooked."

"Thanks for letting me visit, Napstablook. I'm going to go for a walk."

"oh... bye..."

I left Napstablook's house. I could still hear the music playing. I wondered where I should go next, when I ran into two monsters: Woshua and Aaron. They started to initiate a battle, when suddenly, Aaron looked very frightened and Woshua looked slightly angry. "...what the heck is that creepy music?"

"I-I DUNNO, DUDE, BUT IT'S SPOOKING ME OUT!" Aaron cried, trembling.

"...this is worse than Shyren," said Woshua irritably.

"No way, Shyren is way less scary," said Aaron.

"...if you're so scared, why do you keep winking?"

"THESE ARE WINKS OF FEAR!"

"Forget it. This beat is too... filthy," said Woshua. He left.

"Wosh! Wait! Don't leave me!" Aaron cried. "Is this creepy music my punishment for being creepy? Please... stop... I'll never creep again. Wahhhhh!!!!!" he left.

"Sorry!" I said, though I was glad I had avoided a fight.

I glanced at a nearby sign: 'North: Blook Acres. East: Hotland. ???: Temmie Village'. Question marks, Temmie Village?

I walked up one of the paths, where I found what looked like a paddock that had snails in it. It was just a little bit to the right of Napstablook's house. I thought about Toriel's snail pies, snail books, and bucket of snails. I stared at a snail. For some reason, I couldn't help but wonder what it tasted like.

"A long journey extends in front of you..." said a snail. It was blue and it had a mustache. "Reach far and stretch beyond the horizons. So snaileth Sam Byool." Wisdom of a snail.

"I've been long overdue for a second house," said another snail.

Napstablook materialized next to me. "awkward... i'm working right now..."

"Oh, sorry, Napstablook."

"i mean... welcome to the blook family snail farm... yeah. i'm the only employee. this place used to get a lot of business... but our main customer disappeared one day..." Toriel, I thought to myself. It had to have been Toriel. "now it's just some hairy guy that shows up once a month..." Some hairy guy? Who was that?

Beside the snail farm was a small racetrack, with several snails lined up in a row. Napstablook materialized again. "do you want to play a game? it's called thundersnail. the snails will race, and if the yellow snail wins, you win. it's 10 gold to play."

"Okay. Sure, I'll play."

"okay. encourage your snail. ready?"

"Yup."

"3... 2... 1... GO!"

The snails took off. The yellow snail was barely moving. "Come on, snail! Come on, snail! COME ON, SNAIL!" The snail flipped over, shrank inside its shell, and... spontaneously combusted? "Wh—what?"

"oh............ looks like you encouraged your snail too much... all that pressure to succeed... really got to her... oh..............."

"S—sorry..."

Despite the spontaneous combustion, the snail seemed fine. Not knowing what to think, I walked away.

♥

I decided to wander around the area a bit more. Down the third path was a house of some kind. The oustide of the house was made of metal. It was fish shaped, with a dome for its body, windows for its angry-looking eyes, and a doorway for its mouth, which had interlocking teeth that must open vertically. It had fins on either side of it and a tail that curled around the side. The metalwork was done to look like scales. The doormat had a fish skeleton on it. It looked like a very... vicious house. I knocked. No one was home.

On another, larger fish skeleton mat was... the Mad Dummy, acting like an ordinary training dummy. "What. What WHAT!?" it cried. "It's a living."

I walked back into the main cavern and decided to go down the path to the right of the entrance. It seemed to lead onward.