Hyruletale - An AU of Undertale

Act 1 Scene 2: The Ruins Part 1

Toriel certainly didn't waste much time leading Chara into the Ruins. He had to scramble up the stairs just to keep up with the tall blonde woman, and even then she had already reached the first room, which seemed to be home of a puzzle make of six buttons on the floor, arranged in lines of two. Chara looked down at them, curiosity suddenly overwhelming him. Toriel smiled gently. 

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins," she took a couple of steps forward into the puzzle, "This place is full of puzzles. Ancient fusions of diversions and doorkeys, and one must solve them to move on. Each shouldn't be too difficult for you to figure out, since they all have some form of description or hint to help you."

Chara kept his eyes on Toriel, slightly nervous, "What's the one for this one?"

"Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road," the taller guided the child to stand beside her, facing the buttons, "Allow me to test you. Considering that clue, what do you think you must do the solve this puzzle?"

Hesitant, Chara looked over the puzzle again, "Both walk not the middle road... Hmm..."

Toriel waited patiently for his answer as he kept looking over the puzzle, thinking hard about how the hint linked with the buttons and switch before him. Maybe if... The middle road...

"Do I need to press the buttons on the left and the right, but not the ones in the middle?"

The taller woman smiled warmly and walked over the four buttons Chara had pointed out, before flicking the switch up. Much to Chara's relief, the door opened with a very satisfying clunk.

"Exactly right, my child. Come, there is much more I need to teach you," Toriel offered her hand to the human child, who gladly took it, smiling all the while. She led him through the door, deeper into the Ruins, entering a room with two streams running through it. There were three switches embedded in the walls, two with tiny golden letters etched into the stones beside them. Chara looked around, a touch confused.

Toriel smiled warmly, releasing his hand as she moved slightly further into the room, "To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Don't worry, I have labelled the ones you need to press."

She turned to watch Chara quietly, as he wandered around, studying the writing closely. Each dictated the exact same thing: Please press this switch - Toriel. He chuckled quietly at the blatantly obvious hint - could it even be called a hint? - to the puzzle, flicking the two switches up. Spikes he hadn't noticed when he first walked in sank into the ground with a thud.

"Splendid! I'm proud of you, little one," Toriel smiled, reaching out to Chara once more, "Let us move on."

Chara paused for a moment, glancing back at the third switch, the one he hadn't touched. He must have been staring for a while, because Toriel leaned down a little to whisper in his ear.

"That one doesn't work at all. I suppose it needs to switch up its game."

The human couldn't help himself; he burst into peals of surprised laughter, making the taller woman chuckle lightly as she lead him through the slightly run-down passage, coming to a halt in front of what appeared to be a harmless training dummy. He tilted his head in confusion.

"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you. However, the process is very simple! When you encounter a monster, you will enter a Fight. While you are in a Fight, strike up a friendly conversation and stall for time. I will come and resolve the conflict," Toriel smiled, releasing his hand, "How about you practice with this dummy?"