Betrayed Innocence [ On Hold ]

Sing Out Your SOUL [ EDITED ]

A/N: I'm really very sorry for the delay in getting this up, in my rush to put it out by today, I didn't make all the edits necessary for it to really flow. If you'd like to wait, I'll be taking the time to edit when I have it. Once it's done, I'll put [ Edited ] after the title. Sorry, guys.

Songs are Waterfall except for Enemy Approaching during the encounter.

Edit: This chapter has now been edited for better flow. You may reread if you'd like, or if you had been waiting for the edit, here it is! Apologies for its lateness.

------------------<>------------------

The Phone call took a bit, but it was a mostly one-sided conversation. The loud voice on the other end, from where Toriel could hear, seemed to have been Papyrus, but from how loud he seemed to be, the words were muffled and hard to hear. Toriel waited for Mari to finish, but Mari suddenly had a grim aura about her as she hung up. Toriel looked worriedly at Mari. "What happened my child? What was the conversation about?" She couldn't help but ask. It was hard not to, especially when Mari seemed quite unsure. To her, anyway. She just wanted to make sure if she was alright. She hoped it didn't have anything to do with the person who had chased them earlier. Undyne, was it?

Mari wasn't quite sure what to tell Toriel. She really didn't want to worry her, but she wasn't comfortable lying either. She never was. That didn't mean she wasn't good at it. But she didn't want to lie to Toriel. She was the first mother-like figure in her life to care about her. Being at home with her "mother" hadn't felt like the time she spent with Toriel. Not for a long time. With the Goat Monster, it actually felt like she was wanted, cared for . . . safe. She couldn't lie to someone who loved and protected her. She supposed she could still tell the truth, but try not to worry Toriel at the same time. "I-It was Papyrus. He, um, m-misunderstood me . . . It's not his f-fault." she said softly, but firmly. It was not Papyrus' fault. At all. He just thought she was smarter than she was. He was so sweet, just trying to be everyone's friend, there was no way Mari could blame him for this at all. She could blame Undyne, though. How dare she use her friend like that!? Friends were not resources to be used and abused!! Though Mari had never had a friend to compare to . . . She still knew that being friends was more than that. It was helping each other without expecting anything in return, cheering them up when they were down, giving them space when they needed it. And if Undyne didn't understand that . . . then she didn't deserve Papyrus as a friend. And Mari would tell her that. . . . Maybe. If she had the courage . . .

For now, she turned to Toriel and gave her a confident smile, taking her furry paw back into her hand and setting off back down the path, which was curving now.

The answer that came forth was a bit strange. Toriel listened as Mari stated that Papyrus had misunderstood her. She wasn't sure on how he misunderstood her, but she was sure that it probably meant she was in trouble. She would have a talk with Papyrus to see what was going on, but honestly, she wasn't sure if she had to actually ask Papyrus what he had said. If it was a misunderstanding, then it wasn't his fault. She was, however, curious as to what had happened. With the way she seemed disheartened by it, though, she was sure she should ask later. Seeing the confident smile that followed, however, Toriel smiled back. Maybe Mari will be alright. She has grown more confident ever since they started on their journey. Toriel believed she would overcome anything, at this point. Toriel held onto her small hand once again and continued to walk with her. "Well, I'll be here to assist you, my child." She reassured, and walked along the curve of the path. There were some more echo flowers up ahead. Maybe they'll listen to those too.

Reassured by Toriel, Mari smiled up at her Goat Mom before looking ahead again. They had taken a left turn and were now walking over a short bridge. Next was a right turn, then straight again. But halfway across the path, she ran into a battle! Her vividly red SOUL--she still wondered why it changed like that--appeared in front of her as she found two gello-like Monsters wiggling only a few feet away.