“Let me tell you, being small is not so bad, even if you don't get to watch Mad Hatterton’s cooking show.” The caterpillar’s face morphs every second to match his emotions to their extremity. “I, I mean I like being a caterpillar, I just don't like being small. I've learned in my five years of living, though, that it's best to stay the same size you're born with. Even if it means never getting noticed by your favorite star!” The cat hybrid seems to be going through an existential crisis every other second.
You ask him if there's a way to become big again.
“You lucky kid, you have the again, and I don’t. Imagine a giant caterpillar! That’d be ridiculous.” His voice and face droop as he continues to ramble. “There isn’t a way to grow again, I mean, you’d have to find a tiny bottle in the flower meadow, and that’s really far. I mean, if you really feel like walking aaaalllllll the way there. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to go back in time and not get shrunk!” Burgerpillar looks like he’s almost in tears, and his face is contorted from biting his lip.
It strikes you. Go back in time. Maybe, you have enough determination to go back before the Chesans fight! Or, even better, to go back before you went through the looking glass. Wouldn’t that be nice, to not have murder on your hands…
You thank Burgerpillar before squeezing your eyes shut. “No problem, I’ll be here, regretting my life.”
You clench your fists, and you hear a loud wind fly past you, whispering dialogue in reverse. The wind stops and you open your eyes to find Chesans in front of you. You groan as he bats a bony paw at you. “Back, huh?” He winks and gets up.
Before he can stretch, you close your eyes again. You have to go before this. You feel a brush of wind and find yourself again at the savepoint. Chesans looks a little startled. “Frustrated, huh?” You ignore him and concentrate. You can feel a wall blocking your mind from travelling farther into the past. You press as hard as you can against it, gritting your teeth. Suddenly, it gives way, and you feel yourself go flying back in time. The screams of battle and the scattered conversations blast past you before you can stop. You feel your sense of reality renew itself, and the soreness of your muscles dissapear. Too late, you open your eyes. Looking around, you find yourself in the dim spotlight of a dark room. The floor beneath you is made of tile, with grass sprouting between the cracks. To clarify, you look up. You see a long tunnel with a speck of light at the top. Tears spring to your eyes as you realize you had returned to where you had fallen. Do you really have to do all of that again? You look up again and stare at what little light comes from the sun. This reminder of home pushes you forward with the want to get back.
You don’t even bother to talk to Gersnob, who is looking at you with surprise, and instead head straight to the door that leads to the rest of Underland. You just keep walking through the tunnel, not looking right or left, and you storm through the flower fields.
“Hi! I’m Flowey, Flo- wait, stop!” The yellow flower turns its head to look at you, but you keep walking anyway. You hear a ssshhhhooop behind you as you push forward. All the blue flowers are screaming “stop” at you, and the tears spring up again. You know that you aren’t emotionally stable right now.
You obey the flowers’ screeches when you’re startled by Flowey springing up a few feet in front of you. He looks rather cross. You shake your head and take another step forward. “Look at me! Just because this is your second time doesn’t mean you get to ignore me.” Those last few words morphed from his usual squeaky voice to static. You stop short in your tracks as you realize that he knows. You feel a little paranoia as you wonder if anyone else remembers you.
“Yeah, I know you went back. You better look at me.” You turn your head to towards the flower, who is baring his fangs at you. His eyes are as hard as flint and shining with anger. “You really want to do this all again, then fine. I’ll do it with you. But, this time, I’ll make it harder. I’ll make sure you absorb the madness of this place, until you don’t have a drop of sanity left in you. You’ll be trapped here, with me, and all these mental monsters. I’ll make you forget who you are.”
You feel a little freaked out from his threats, and you force yourself to run. A knot forms in your throat as you lay your eyes on the “forest” made of towering red teeth. Your heart pounds as you remember how much insanity is embedded in this place. But, as you keep running, you wonder if it was worth going back, if everyone still remembers you. You have to check. You run as fast as you can between the teeth. The veins on the ground pulse, as if the cavern is alive. That would explain the dripping eyeballs on the roof.
“Hey, kid! It’s not very smart to go rushing into places you’ve never been before.” You hear a slight panting behind you and the clicking of claws against bone branches. An out-of-breath Chesans comes to a stop on a branch to your left, and you stop and turn to him curiously. “So, you’re a human, huh? The name’s Chesans, but you can call me Sans if you want. What're you doing down here in Underland?”
He seems to not remember you, and you let out a sigh of relief. Your voice deceives you with a few voice cracks as you try to pretend you’ve never been here before. You tell him that you want to go home, almost like how you had told him before. His slit pupils seem to survey you carefully, making you feel a little uncomfortable.
“Anyways, I should let you go on your way, I’ve got some stuff to do. See you, human.” The little skeleton cat winks. You jump a little in surprise when you see Chesans fading before your eyes. His grin lingers, until that fades too and he’s gone.
You give yourself a shake as you strain to keep a grip on the reality of the world above. You continue to race through the forest, trying to rerun the memories of your home in your head. Even if you’ve only been down here a day, the overworld feels like years ago. You stumble to a stop at the clearing of Mad Hatterton and the March Alphare. The robot sits peacefully with his sexy legs on the table. He turns his head to look at you.
“Why, hello there, darling. I’d invite you to tea, but all of the seats are taken.” He gestures to the twelve empty chairs around the dining table. You can’t help but roll your eyes and smile a little. Even though Underland is almost incomprehensible to the eye, the people here were still funny and charming.
You nod at him and tell him that’s fine, and you walk past the clearing and back into the forest. The ground switches from a fleshy red to patches of green and blue. You laugh when you find those tiny cats from before at your feet. They all squeak at you, ““Hoi! I’m Temmie! And deez are my friends, Temmie!”
Your mood is gradually lightening as you begin to enjoy and appreciate Underland. Soon you come across Toriel’s house, and, remembering how much closer to reality it is, you approach the door. Goat mom opens the door and looks down at you with concern. “Hello there, little one. Will you come in?”
Entering that house is like reaching the surface of the ocean and being able to breathe. You hadn’t realized my mind had already been drifting from reality, and this soothing home hooks it back in place. Toriel guides you to a bed, and you let her. You take a short nap, and wake up to the sound of talking, muffled by the walls of the bedroom. You get out of your twin-sized bed and walk down the golden hall until you reach the front door. The aroma of cinnamon butterscotch pie entices you, but you ignore when you find Toriel sitting on the doorstep with Chesans, cracking jokes at each other.
Chesans turns his head and looks at you with a little surprise. His grin, having seemed genuine when laughing with Toriel, loses its happiness and merely sits there on his face. Toriel turns to look at you too, and smiles. “Hello, my child. You feel better?” You nod. “Good. Can you tell me your name?” You reply by telling her that it’s Alisk. “Ah, that’s pretty.” Deja vu, even though it had been gently prodding you before, feels a bit stronger now.
“Yes, it is pretty,” Chesans said thoughtfully, looking at you carefully. You gulp quietly and cross your fingers as you tell them you want to get to the Queen’s castle. You know Chesans can get you there instantly, and you hope he still will, even if he’s acting different from before.
“Why do you want to go there?” You tell her that you want to go home.
“It’s true. That is the only way back. But, is it really so bad down here?” You nod, because from one glance past the doorway your mind already feels a little rocked.
Chesans is still staring at you when Toriel sighs. “I know. I’ve seen it all before. Every human that’s found my little home has said the same thing. All of them were killed. Our queen, Queen Asgore, is set on killing every human that comes down here to take their soul. He claims he just wants to break the barrier, but that much power…” Her voice drifts away and tears brim her eyes. “Don’t go, Alisk. Please. He’ll kill you.” Deja vu is coming on you in waves as you shake your head and tell her you can’t stay. Toriel sniffs, smiling slightly. “You probably wouldn't be happy down here. I… I won’t hold you back. For your sake. Just, please promise me you won’t let him kill you. You’re the thirteenth soul, and if that happens…”
You go up and hug the goat mom, just like last time. You hope that Chesans, if he has any memory of the past runthrough, realizes that you’re not a bad person. “Be careful.” You tell her you will be. “Don’t… Don’t kill Asgore. He may be bad, but I do not think he deserves to die. Okay?”
You nod and tell her that you would never kill anyone. Chesans looks a little startled from the emphasis on those last words. You squeeze between the two monsters to get out of the peaceful house. The fictional appearance of Underland thumps against your mind as you begin to walk between the teeth.
Chesans calls after you. “Wait!” You turn to find the poor cat looking down at his paws uncertainly. You can tell he’s having an internal argument from the way his slit pupils are flickering. “I’ll… I’ll help you.” Toriel gives a look of surprise as she watches the skeleton cat jump down from the doorstep and climb up the tree next to me. The trunk of the tooth slices open, revealing a doorway to the royal castle. You thank Chesans as earnestly as you can. “Yeah, just go through,” he grunts, and his countenance looks strained from the effort of keeping the tooth open. You walk through the doorway, filled with determination at the prospect that you might actually make it home this time.
