1920s vocabulary for this chapter (yay! you're learning new words!)
- Gal: Woman
- Grab (a little) air: Put your hands up
- Gat: Gun
- Pump metal: Shoot bullets
- Spitting: Talking
- Square: Honest
- High Pillow: Person at the top, in charge
- Chilled off: Killed
-Clean sneak: An escape with no clues left behind
-Bird: Man
-Clipped: Shot
-Blow: Leave
-Bee's Knees: The best
-Take on: Eat
-Know one's onions: to know what someone's talking about
-Mug: Man (referred to dumb ones)
-Copper: Policemen
-Big House: Jail
My head was ready to burst, I can't remember the last time I felt so much pain before. Everything that just happened began to flood my memory and I sit up in a panic. "Oh my God I'm not dead!" My face slowly twists into confusion. "But how?
I get up with no grace in my movement, my back cracking as I stand up in pain. I look down at what prevented my death and saw matted Marigolds in a poorly shaped form of where I landed. I look up and shield my eyes at the sun ridden entrance I came from, dread filling my head of how I'm going to get out of this mess.
"Hey gal! You better grab air or my gat here is gonna pump metal!"
I spun around to the sound of a kid's voice and couldn't believe what I was looking at: A little boy that looked like a white goat was wearing some kind of 1920s paperboy outfit with a slingshot in his hand aiming right at me. "Don't make me repeat myself and grab air!"
I hadn't the slightest clue what this boy was talking about but the fact that he was aiming a slingshot at me and yelling "Grab air" probably meant he wanted me to put my hands up. I listen to the goat boy and put my hands up still confused about the entire situation.
The goat boy seemed pleased with my actions and came a bit closer with a smug look on his face. "Alright lets spit square, who are you and where did you come from!?"
I tried my best to keep a straight face as this little goat boy circled me with his slingshot still in hand, ready to fire at any moment.
"My name is (y/n) and I came from up there." I pointed to the hole I fell from. The boys eyes widened for a few seconds but went back to being serious and continued interrogating me.
"You wouldn't happen to be the High Pillow that keeps dropping whatever these are?" He pauses and pulls something out of his pocket to show me.
I gasped and saw that he had all six lanterns that I had lit last night, most of them had some holes where the flame burnt through. I never thought there was anything down in this hole that was alive. Hell, no one has ever gotten to the bottom without dying!
"If you're the one that keeps sending these down here, then how come this one doesn't even look like it was used at all?" The goat boy dropped all the lanterns on the ground in front of me except for the seventh dark red lantern that looked completely destroyed from the fall it endured.
"Look," I sigh. "It's kind of a long story, I didn't mean any harm when I lit those lanterns. They were meant for the seven children that have fallen down here as a memorial for their deaths."
I look down in frustration as the red lantern reminded me of my failed attempt of trying to light it with an empty lighter while surrounded by winds that resulted with me falling down into this damn mountain, now questioning my own sanity as I answer questions from a goat boy. He looks at me in silence and finally lowers his slingshot and puts the little white pellet ammo into his pocket. I slowly lower my hands down.
"Those children didn't die! They fell down here and landed on ma's flowers," He pointed at me. " Just like you did."
"Where are they now?" I ask.
"Well, the thing is,"The goat boy hesitates and takes off his hat revealing a pair of floppy ears and puny horns that barely stuck out on the top of his head. "ma told me they didn't want to stay with us anymore and they wanted to go where 'Uptown Snowdin' is and we haven't heard from them since—but I know they all got Chilled off."
The amount of vocabulary questions I have at this point is hopeless, but I wasn't going to bother with them until I get this kids name. "Sorry to switch topics but what's your name?"
The kid looked at me weird and took a step back, "How do I know I can trust you?"
At this point I was getting irritated with this precautions boy but then again I shouldn't blame him since I practically fell out of the sky, "I haven't attacked you yet have I?" I tried convincing him.
"Hmm, good point." The kid puts his hat back on and reaches out with his fuzzy hand. "The name's Asriel, but you can call me "Clean Sneak" if you want." Asriel whispered the last part when he told me his nickname even though I had no clue what it meant. "Follow me, my ma is gonna be glad that another human has fallen down here that's much older." I didn't like the way Asriel emphasized my age but he is a kid who probably can't tell age differences.
The amount of questions I have been forming to myself has gotten out of control, I still don't know where I am or what this place is other than from my guess that I could be in some sort of ruins. Asriel was rambling on about some famous gangsters and mobsters he likes and how they are all enemies with this mafia group of some sort but alas, I had no clue what he was saying because this kid's vocabulary was super confusing. "...And then there was this one bird that got clipped by the Infernum group so they had to blow,"
"Wait," I interrupted. "I thought you were talking about gangsters and mafias, not some guys bird getting their wings clipped."
He gave me a strange look. "I wasn't talking about a bird getting their wings clipped." Asriel sounded confused.
"But you just said—" Asriel cut me off and sighed. " You're just like all the others that fell down here, they never knew what I was talking about."
I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Asriel since he had made friends with all the other children that fell down here that all seem to be dead. I wanted to make Asriel feel better and I got a great idea how to, "How about you teach me all these fancy words, Asriel."
This got Asriel excited, "Really!? This is the Bee's knees!" He starts jumping with enthusiasm.
"How about you start with teaching me what "Bee's knees" means." I smile.
"I'll help you know one's onions as soon as you meet my ma, she'll probably want to know more about you." I didn't bother asking about the part with onions.
"So how much farther do we have left until we get to your house?"
Asriel laughs, "We're right in front of it!"
I look away from Asriel and see a purple bricked cottage covered in vines as a smoke stack pushed out the smell of sweet pastries. My mouth began to water at the delicious scent while Asriel pulled me along and opened the door for me.
"After you (y/n)." Asriel takes his hat off as I walk in while he closes the door behind me. "Wait right here while I get ma," Not soon after him taking ten steps Asriel lets out a loud shout, "HEY MA!!!"
I could feel my ear drums bursting as I stood wincing in pain by Asriel's loud voice. There was a two second pause until Asriel shouted one last time and the sound of distant music stopped. Rustling pans and shuffling of footsteps was heard, along with a motherly yet strained voice.
"For Pete's sake Asriel I have told you time and time again to actually look for me, not shout for me!" Asriel's mother stopped herself from nagging him as she spotted me while turning the corner and walking through the doorway. I stood awkwardly not knowing what to do but smile.
"H-hello, you must be Asriel's mom, my name is (y/n)." I hesitated and wondered what this busy mother could be thinking.
She looked just like Asriel but with nicer kept fur; she had on a dark purple knee-length buttoned dress on with an apron that's covered in flour. She looks as if she has been baking for hours on end.
"Well (y/n), it's nice to meet you," She brings out her hand for me to shake but stops halfway and notices the dried batter on her hand and hesitantly puts her hand back and curtsies instead. "I'm Toriel, I must apologize for the state I'm in."
"No need to be sorry, Toriel. Do you need help with anything?" I wanted to be of some use since Asriel did technically bring me uninvited and Toriel did look busy.
"I'm glad you asked! You can help me clean up the kitchen while little Asriel over here washes himself up and sets up the table." Asriel groans at his mom's demands, "But ma, I wanna take on now!"
"Young man, now what have I told you about using all those slang words and all that jazz?" Toriel scolds.
Asriel sighs and turns down to the other hallway practically dragging his feet behind him. Toriel apologizes for herself and her son's behavior and shows me to the kitchen that was riddled with every kind of cooking tray you would use for all types of pastries; cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pies. The amount of ingredients that were scattered around was beyond ridiculous, I can't imagine how busy this lady was in her kitchen.
"So sorry, I didn't realize how big of a mess I made until now. I usually have my friend Betty over that helps cook with me but she had other things she had to deal with so I had to do all the baking by myself today." She sounded a bit more nervous with every second going by.
"It's okay, its my fault for coming here uninvited—and falling down here in the first place." I squeezed my left arm and looked down feeling ashamed.
"Oh my dear you shouldn't blame yourself like that," She hugs me. "Asriel probably has told you that you're not the first to fall down here, correct?"
I nod as I try to bite back tears, I never really got any time to process what happened after I fell once Asriel found me. If I had just went with my gut decision of coming back the next day to light the last lantern then I would've been at home and not down in this strange world; but my determination of lighting that last lantern had got in the way.
I helped clean the kitchen with Toriel as she told me about her bakery she owned outside of the ruins and in a city called Snowdin. She said she couldn't run her Bakery inside the ruins since she never liked the city. She went on about that her favorite pastry is pie because it was the first thing she ever made which inspired her to want to have a bakery.
Dinner was quite interesting as I tried my best to be polite and eat as much of Toriel's soup as I could, the soup tasted fine but avoiding parts of it was quite difficult given that the main course were snails.
"So where is (y/n) going to stay, ma? We don't have another room." Toriel looks over at Asriel who was playing with the empty snail shells, pretending that they were battle ships as he made gun firing noises.
"Well, since someone decided to go out in the ruins without finishing their chores, I think he is kind enough to let them sleep in his room." Toriel made sure she emphasized enough for Asriel to understand that she was talking to him.
"That's not fair," He stops playing. "If I never went out today, I would never have found (y/n) here." He points at me as I felt more out of place in the conversation.
Toriel glares at Asriel who was starting to pout. "That may be true but you still broke the rules."
"You don't have to kick Asriel out of his room, I'll be fine sleeping out here." I pointed to the small couch by the fire place.
Toriel wasn't convinced that I would sleep on such a tiny couch and thought for few seconds before answering, "There is technically one other bedroom but it hasn't been used for years,"
"You mean since you left dad." Asriel finishes his mothers sentence.
She darts her eyes back at Asriel while clenching her teeth, "Yes, since I left your father, now run along to bed so (y/n) and I can talk about grown-up stuff."
"Yes ma, goodnight (y/n)." Asriel picks up his bowl and puts it in the kitchen and runs out making sounds of a machine gun while pretending to be a gangster, "Come on you mugs, we gotta blouse if you want the coppers to to put us in the big house!" His machine guns effects continued down the hallway as they faded into his bedroom.
Toriel rubbed her face with her hands and sighed, clearly something had been bothering her the moment I set foot in her house, "I'm sorry (y/n), I'm not usually like this. It's just ever since those children came down here and wanted to leave the ruins, i've never heard from them since and I can't accept the fact that those greedy gangs and mobsters have taken them!"
"Why would a bunch of gangs want to kidnap human children? I thought gangsters like money and power." I questioned.
"They do and that's exactly why they needed those children," Toriel tried her best not cry in front of me. "And it's just not human children, but humans in general."
"But why? What's so special about humans down here that make us valuable?"
Toriel wiped back a tear and pointed to the center of my chest, I felt a pulling sensation as she slowly moved her claw away from me. I looked down at my chest and saw something glowing a deep red and could make out the faint outline of a cartoon shaped heart. The heart suddenly popped out and had a small pulse every time I breathed as it floated in front of me.
"This is what makes humans valuable here in the Underground."
"W-what is this!?" I was amazed and shocked that whatever was floating in front my chest, actually came from me.
"This is your soul, it makes you who you are. Nearly every monster soul in the Underground equals the power of one human soul. That's why any gang and mob would do anything for that kind of power. They could take over the entire Underground if they had a human soul."
"Can you tell me more?" I felt like a child asking so many questions.
"I'll talk more about souls and your current situation of where you'll be staying later in the future, but for now i'll take you to where you'll be sleeping tonight." She quickly pushes my soul back into my body before I could revel longer by how fascinating it is as I felt a slight weight in my chest return where my soul went.
I follow her down to the very end of the hallway while Toriel unlocked the door. A small cloud of dust came up after opening the room and caused Toriel to sneeze and wave the dust away from her nose.
"Sorry that it's all dusty in here, I never really clean this room so I apologize in advance if you're allergic to dust."
I cough a bit but smile from Toriel's concern for me. "I'll be fine, thank you for letting me stay here."
"You're welcome dear, my room is right next door if you need anything." She closes the door behind me, leaving me with my mind to ponder the entire day of how my life has drastically changed.
I didn't bother to look around the room as I dusted off and climbed into the king-sized bed. I figured it wouldn't be easy for me to fall asleep after all that's happened but I felt a strange presence coaxing me to sleep as my eyelids slowly closed.