StevenTale

Chapter 2: The Ruins

Hearing a distant gasp, Steven struggled to open his eyes, trying to recollect the previous events. A small, white figure stood over him, a look of sympathy in his eye.

"A-are you OK?" He asked, looking over the young humans.

"N-No, I don't think so," Connie started, inspecting herself. "My leg... it hurts."

"I'll go get Mom!" The figure cried, running north. Steven stared at him, trying to figure out what species the creature was.

"I think I'm seeing things... I thought he had white fur and long ears. He... kinda looked like a goat."

"Yeah, sure... Steven, can you please get off me?"

"Oh, yeah... sorry I fell on you, Connie," he replied worriedly.

"It's ok..." she stated, sitting up. Sitting next to Steven, she, too, inspected the now distant figure. "Wow, look at how long those ears are."

"Hehe, yeah, they look so cool," he replied, watching the little goat disappear. Barely seconds later, he returned with a much larger figure.

"I'm back!" Called the youngest, pulling on his mother's hand, working to rush her to the scene. Concerned, the woman bent down over the pair.

"Are either of you hurt? In any way?" She asked, cutting right to the point.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine..." Steven continued, glancing anxiously at Connie. "But my friend..."

"I think I scraped my leg," she said, and the woman pulled out a bandaid.

Handing it to the girl, she said "Here, this may help."

"Howdy! I'm Asriel!" said the smaller figure, jumping in front. "Nice to meet you two!"

"And I'm Toriel. Greetings, it's nice to meet you both," the mother said, smiling at the children.

"Hi, I'm Steven!" Steven said, taking Toriel's hand.

"And I'm Connie. It's... nice to meet you both."

Beaming, Asriel looked back up at Toriel, who continued. "Oh, jeez... I... have to go do something. Are you OK to stay?"

Nervously, Connie shook her head, following Steven, who seemed confident. As if sensing Connie's anxiousness, she added, "Don't worry; Asriel knows his way around. Stay in a group, and I'll meet you at home."

In unison, the three said goodbye to Toriel as she headed off down the Ruins. Turning back to his new friends, Asriel smiled. "C'mon, follow me!" He said, heading off in the opposite direction. As the three wandered through the Ruins, Steven built up the courage to ask Asriel the question he had wondered since he'd arrived.

"So, Asriel... what are you?" Connie elbowed him in the stomach, but luckily, the youngest didn't seem to take any offense.

"I'm a monster!" He answered, a little unsure of what the humans' reactions would consist of. However, the two didn't seem to mind, either.

"Wow," Connie replied, but Steven cut her off.

"So you're like a gem?" He asked, intrigued in Asriel's choice of words.

"Huh? Do you mean, like the ones on the walls?" He inquired, pointing to the glistening gems lined up along the brick.

"Heh, no, like me!" Steven replied, lifting up his shirt to reveal the Rose Quartz gemstone that lay underneath.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Exclaimed Asriel, bending down to see it. "I wish I had one of those- all I have is fur."

"Hey, what's that?" Connie asked, interrupting the conversation. She pointed down the hallway to another small figure- much smaller than Asriel, however.

"Oh, that's a Froggit!" Asriel answered, running over to it. In response, it croaked.

"Ribbit, ribbit (Hello there! I saw your mom run by here, Asriel.)"

"Hey, what's he saying, Asriel?" Connie inquired.
"Oh, he just said that my mom-" he started, but was interrupted by the ringing of his cellphone.

"Hello, Asriel?" She said when he picked it up. "Can you ask your friends if they like cinnamon or butterscotch?"

So Asriel asked. "Butterscotch," answered Connie.

"Cinnamon," said Steven at the same time. Asriel repeated the answers back to his mother

"Yes, I see..." Toriel said in response. "Well then, I know what I'll do. Thank you, Asriel... and try to be home soon, please. See you soon!"

Putting his phone away, Asriel looked up at Connie and Steven. "My mom wants us to be home soon," he said, "so we should get going. Do you guys like puzzles?"
"Sure," Steven said. "Why do you ask?"
"We can get home faster if we take the other route, but... there are a lot of puzzles!" He replied, smiling. "But I can help you through them if you need help."
"Well, we'd better get going, then," Connie said, looking up.

"Follow me!" Asriel continued, running in the opposite direction. The humans struggled to keep up with him as he raced through the corridors

"Asriel, wait for us!" Steven called, laughing. He grabbed Connie's hand and sped toward the young monster. Luckily, they approached a large door, where Asriel stopped. Swiftly, he began to solve the puzzle, working fast. Unfortunately, he wasn't tall enough the reach the lever that sit above him, flipped up, inches out of his reach.

"Here, let me help," Connie said, lifting him up as to put him within its reach. Beaming, he flipped it downward, opening the large, metal door.

"Thanks, Connie!" Asriel exclaimed.

"Heh, no problem," she replied, smiling.

"Let's get going!" Asriel marched off into the next room, the others following close behind him. As he wandered, he explained the next puzzle. "Now, luckily, my mom labelled all the levers... yet there's one that I forgot the solution to. Oh, well, I'll remember it when we get there!" As he rushed ahead, Connie leaned over to Steven.

"Hey, Steven, I wonder what the other puzzles are like," she stated.

"Why don't you just ask him?" Steven asked, gesturing to Asriel. As if on cue, Asriel continued.

"There are a few... the first one has three levers that you pull. You just gotta know which ones! The second one is a path of spikes, etcetera... so, where are you two from?" He finished.

"I'm from Beach City!" Steven exclaimed.

"And I live outside of Beach City... my parents call it the 'Maheswaran Residence'." Connie said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, I live here, in the Underground!" Asriel said, a look of emptiness in his eyes. "I've... never really been to the surface. Only a few monsters have. And I wasn't one of them. What's it like? "

"You've never been to the surface?" Steven asked.

"How come?" Connie continued. Asriel sighed.

"Well, you see... LONG ago, two races ruled over the Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, a broke out between the two races and after a long series of battle, the humans were victorious. The greatest of their magicians sealed the monsters to the with a magic ." Asriel looked away quickly.

"That's... kinda sad, don't you think?" Steven said solemnly.

"Y-Yeah..." she whispered. "I mean, never seeing the Sun..."

Asirel bounded up to the two. "I really don't know what I'm missing, so I can't be sad about it... oh, we're here!" The young goat stopped in his tracks, gesturing proudly at his home. "C'mon!"