"PERCEPTION" [ENG]

Chapter 1: "The Fall"

The pain was not severe, but it was still somewhat annoying. His back and limbs were the ones that had taken the brunt of the load. Consciousness came to him and he wondered how he wasn't dead, as the fall seemed deadly, especially being so young. The little boy slowly got up and looked up.

The opening he had fallen into was large, the light was streaming through it, illuminating the area, and roots were peeking through some areas of the walls of that opening, rocky and very high. He thought a little. It was clear that it would not be possible to climb out using some vines since they were already quite withered and would break easily...

Then, he looked down at his feet.

Below him, some golden flowers were growing, absorbing the sunlight that was provided to them, but, unlike most of the plants, these did not perform the typical competition for this valuable resource, but they all peeked out and joined together, forming the flower bed that saved him from having received a worse fate, or at least it seemed so, he still thought it was somewhat improbable.

The boy, after a while, managed to get used to the body pain, wiped his blue sweater, decorated with a light blue line, thin and horizontal, in the area of his chest, proceeded to do the same with his light blue almost white short-sleeved sweatshirt, and finally, shook his head, getting rid of the fragments of flowers and leaves trapped in his brown hair. She checked his somewhat dirty hands and rubbed them in the air until his tan skin was restored.

"Well... That sure was a good fall..." He said to himself, although he was a bit confused, as he had a big doubt in his mind... How did he end up in that spot in the first place? Maybe he wanted to prove his bravery in front of a group of friends? Maybe something had fallen to the bottom? Could it be that he saw something or someone inside? Or was it just clumsiness? Thinking about the possibilities, he took some time so he could test any of those theories...

But nothing came up.

Nothing at all.

The worry he felt grew even more as he realized that, to make matters worse, there was no memory, neither of what he did in the place, nor before that, nor of what he ate, nor of school, nor his family or friends. The only thing he had was a name that, to be honest, he didn't even know if it was his.

Samuel.

"Maybe, it was the fall? Well, that doesn't matter. In time I'll remember. Now I must get out of here..." He took a good look at the surroundings, it seemed there would be no way out until his eyes stopped at a kind of tunnel at the end of a corridor. Somewhat hesitantly, he followed the path until he found another room.

In itself, it was very similar to the area where he fell, however, the light was more limited, falling in a more exact point and covering a shorter area. Under this one, he could see a child, who was listening to someone... He approached a little closer and managed to look at the other subject...

It was a flower. A talking flower.

Samuel rubbed his eyes, unable to believe them, but it was real. The "flower" whose appearance was similar to a golden flower, continued its talk without noticing his arrival.

"To strengthen your soul, you will need to raise your LV. what is LV? Well, LOVE, of course!" he said with a wide smile, captivating, even hypnotic. "You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I can share some with you!" out of nowhere, petals appeared, surrounding him. "Here, LOVE is contained in these .... Petals... Of Friendship... Are you ready, go ahead and take as many as you can!"

As rare as it was, the flower looked sympathetic... However, deep down, the young brunette felt that something wasn't right... Especially in the smile, he had: it looked twisted... He had no concrete proof, but he knew he had to intervene... His PERCEPTION in his soul made him see it.

The petals headed for the other boy with some speed, so Samuel ran with all his might and lunged at this one, effectively managing to miss their target by causing them both to fall. "What the— two humans?! But this can't be possible..." the flower was thoughtful and then, its face became twisted and devilish "Heheh... It doesn't matter. After all—"

Both boys managed to get back on their feet but were surrounded by more petals, with no chance to flee.

"I HAVE TWO HUMAN SOULS AT MY DISPOSAL!" Evil laughter echoed, flooding the place. They both watched as these slowly closed in on them, but they could do nothing to stop it... They were more than surrounded... It was the end.

Bam! A flame flew in the form of a projectile towards the creature, launching it far away.

Both little ones looked at each other, confused, then the sounds of footsteps burst forth, catching their attention. From out of the shadows, a figure approached them. Samuel stood in front of the other, shielding him.
Then the silhouette finally made sense as the light fell on it: it was a woman in a long robe.

"What a horrible creature, torturing such poor and innocent little ones...!" She said, softly. "Do not worry, it won't hurt you anymore."

Samuel, still on the defensive, asked her "Who are you?"

"Fear not, my name is Toriel, and I am the guardian of the Ruins. Every day, I come to this place to see if any humans have fallen. This place can be tricky for a little one... Come, I will take you to a safer place."

The other little one looked confident with the woman's words, approaching her, however, Samuel blocked his way, still not very convinced of the creature's nature.

"How do we know you won't do the same thing to us as that 'flower' or whatever that thing was?"

"I know it must be difficult, but I assure you that I don't want to hurt you... Many have fallen before and I have taken them in as well. Don't worry..."

The woman gently extended her hand towards Samuel, smiling, while he still felt unsure.

"Easy... Take my hand."

He saw her and then to her hand, he moved a little closer to it and slowly extended his own, and these then brushed and joined, filling him with security and calm after a storm.

"Are you calmer now, my child?"

"Actually, yes... I feel much better." A smile broke out on his face.

"Come, I will take you through the Ruins."

She, still holding Samuel's hand, set about leading both children through the place, Samuel then looked at his new companion.

"By the way, I'm Samuel, and you?"

The other boy began to move his hands in precise ways, praying certain shapes? Signs.

Samuel didn't know how to react, and it wasn't because he didn't understand him, on the contrary, he did perfectly. But, without memories, he had no idea how on earth he knew what this one was saying...

After a short time, he reacted.

"Frisk. Well, it's a pleasure."

Frisk also looked at Samuel in surprise, smiled, and continued to talk to him in signs.

Thank you for saving me earlier.

"You're welcome, but, you should be more careful with who you trust..."

Yes, you're right. This one gave a small laugh, which infected Samuel. Toriel watched sweetly as the two interacted, beginning a powerful friendship.

After a while, Toriel was explaining the different puzzles of the Ruins, there was everything: doors that opened with sequences, levers, and even a hidden path between spikes, fortunately, the kind woman showed them the way. She also explained to them about the underground, its dynamics, how to battle and forgive. Both kids learned a lot, laughed and enjoyed, and Toriel did not abandon them, even if that was her plan, she decided to accompany them the whole trip, going through various puzzles, allowing the little ones to interact with these and learn, they talked to Napstablook, a rather unhappy ghost, but who managed to show a smile while playing with the little ones, they donated money to some hardworking spiders and met more monsters and creatures, which started to show themselves closer and closer to the fallen humans.

"I don't know if I'll ever get out of here... But... This place sure is beautiful." Samuel said to himself, as he followed the group.