Love Has Its Barriers | Soriel

Chapter 3: Opening Up

After that day, everything changed for the queen. Soon enough, she left the king, as she was unable to deal with the pain of losing her two beloved children.

Asgore, although he had lost his wife, continued to be a strong king for his people. He couldn't let something like his affect his leadership nationwide. Just for now, he had to put this aside, and hope for the best.

Toriel on the other hand, escaped to the ruins, and locked the door to the rest of the underground. 

Although some monsters stayed with her and gave her some sense of company, it just wasn't the same. None of those monsters had any initiative to spend time with her either.

The former queen spend her days in the ruins as a cold, distant, and upset monster. As a bold contrast to her previously sweet, motherly nature, she was no longer looking to befriend any monster.

Most of her days were spent taking walks along the ruins, angrily looking down at any monster who dare glance at her.

Of course, there was always a part of her that never left her, even after all this time.

Even with her imposing demeanor, all she wanted now is a friend.

A good friend.

A pleasant monster to talk to. An understanding monster to listen. A comforting monster for her darkest times. And a supporting monster during her highest breakthroughs.

It's been so long since she had the privilege of having any of these.

In an instant, her husband, her children, her castle, and the rest of her kingdom all escaped her life.

What pastimes could she enjoy here? There was barely anything to do, and rarely anything new to explore.

However, when a new human fell into the underground, this solved all her concerns.

She was always beaming whenever she met a visitor. Happily, she took them in her home and treated them just as she lovingly cared for her two children long before.

She took them across the catacombs, provided them a flavorsome feast, baked delectable pastries, read them stories along the warm fire, and finally rest their heads their sleep for the next day.

However, something always remained the same with these humans. No matter how hard she tried, they always, sooner or later, wanted to leave the ruins. She fought with all her might to stop them, but the humans always prevailed. Each time with a new, elaborate strategy it couldn't even give Toriel the privilege of learning from her past mistakes.

Each time a human passed through the door, she could feel herself breaking.

By now, how could she recognize herself in the mirror, if all that looked back at her was a face of anguish, agony, and worst of all, regret.

As the smallest fragments she could gather of her joy escaped her, she only felt the deepest wounds of regret and pain hurting her day after day.

If she let these humans go into the hostile, dangerous world outside the ruins, was she any better than the king?

Today, Toriel was feeling especially thoughtful. As such, she got up from her small, comfy home and took a walk around the ruins.

As she neared the door, she heard a familiar voice yet again cracking jokes.

This has been going on for some time now.

Any time Toriel was to wander the quiet ruins, she would often catch someone telling jokes, specifically 'knock-knock' ones. Sometimes he would add in the response himself, in his own falsetto voice, or perhaps, he would say nothing at all.

Usually, the queen would go someplace else until he was gone, as she found him rather infuriating. She was here to grieve, and reflect on the past. Most importantly, she wanted some peace and quiet. Who was he to intrude on that?

On another note, he must be remarkably lonely. Having jokes to tell, but no audience to listen must be difficult. Comedians are known to make others laugh, but rarely do others ever think of how they feel. Mostly, their own feelings are often overlooked by others.

It's been a while since she'd had someone to talk to.

A husband, a daughter, a son?

Well, she no longer had them, now did she?

Maybe, just maybe, this monster could help free her from her woes.

Perhaps, this monster could be..a friend?

As these thoughts kept reminiscing, she heard the same voice come through the large door.

"Knock knock?"

"Who is there?"