Save Point

Frisk hugged Linde tightly, burying her head and closing her eyes as she waited for Flowey's attack-

Bang-

"Aah!"

Huh, did I just hear Flowey scream? Frisk slowly opened her eyes and raised her head-

Standing right in front of her was a goat over two meters tall, upright like a person and dressed in a purple robe, murmuring:

"What an evil creature, hurting such poor, helpless children."

Frisk couldn't help shivering. A humanoid with a goat's head-wasn't that a demon?

Linde weakly patted the back of Frisk's hand.

"Don't be scared... she's... a good person... uh... I should say... a good monster."

Just then, a strange energy flowed from the goat's hands and enveloped Linde's soul.

The energy rushed into the soul at Linde's chest, and its cracks disappeared. Linde felt better than ever, but he stayed lying in Frisk's arms.

"There, don't be afraid, children. Everything is all right now."

Toriel reached out with both hands and helped the two children up.

"I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I come here every day to see whether any humans have fallen down. It has been a long time since anyone came here before you. Now, children, please follow me."

Linde sprang out of Frisk's arms and stretched. "All right, let's go. She's a good monster. We should trust her."

Frisk stared blankly at Linde, her mind full of confusion and questions.

Then she suddenly realized something, and a blush quickly spread across her face.

Linde had been fine for a while, but he had deliberately kept pretending to be hurt, making her worry sick. Now he had stood up as though nothing had happened. He was clearly messing with her!

At that thought, Frisk's anger flared. She clenched her fist, punched Linde hard in the shoulder, and shouted, "You jerk!"

Her sudden punch caught Linde off guard, but instead of getting angry, he chuckled.

Frisk shot Linde a fierce glare, then turned and followed Toriel. Linde hurried after them.

They passed through another doorway and finally reached the interior of the Ruins.

Long, long ago, when the monsters had first been sealed underground, the Ruins had been their original capital. Later, King Asgore had moved the capital to New Home, and this place had become the Ruins.

Although it was called the Ruins, it was far from abandoned. Plenty of monsters still lived here.

In the game, Frisk could only gaze at the city in the Ruins from afar, not enter it. That didn't mean they couldn't enter the town, though. In the original game, Toriel bought her pie ingredients in the town within the Ruins.

Purple dominated the Ruins, giving them an air of dignity and tranquility.

Suddenly, Frisk spotted a golden, four-pointed star slowly spinning at the foot of the stairs ahead.

She tugged at Linde's clothes. "Look at that."

Linde saw the Save Point too. An idea struck him, and he asked Toriel:

"Auntie... Toriel, uh... can you see this star?"

Toriel looked in the direction Linde was pointing, puzzled. There was nothing there. "What star?"

Hmm... could it be that only people with determination can see Save Points?

Thinking this, Linde turned to Frisk. "Looks like only we can see it. Want to take a look?"

Frisk nodded, and the two walked up to the star under Toriel's puzzled gaze.

Toriel didn't interrupt them. She was wrestling with her own feelings, and all she wanted was to keep these two children safe. Whatever they were doing, she wouldn't interfere.

"Nothing happens when I touch it. Why don't you try?"

Linde spoke to Frisk as he withdrew his hand from the Save Point.

Frisk nodded and reached out-

With a swish, a panel appeared before them both-though, of course, Toriel couldn't see it-and they felt a surge of power flow into their bodies.

The panel displayed:

[Frisk]

[LV 1]

[Ruins - Entrance]

[File saved]

"Yeah, good. Looks like you have the ability I had before." Linde nodded.

Seeing Frisk's surprised look, Linde explained:

"Actually, before you fell down, I had this ability. I even spent a little time studying it. About a minute later, you fell down, and I lost it."

"Oh, is that what happened?" Frisk felt a little awkward, as though she had taken something from him...

"It's fine. It doesn't make much difference whether you have the ability or I do."

Linde waved it off and ruffled Frisk's messy hair. "Try it, though. You should be able to open your personal panel."

Open panel, Frisk said silently, and sure enough, a panel with white text on a black background appeared before them. It had two tabs.

[Items]

[Party]

Party? Linde wondered. I remember it being "Stats." Could it be because of me?

Frisk opened the "Items" tab. It was completely empty.

Then she opened the "Party" tab.

Sure enough, both their details were visible-

[Frisk]

[LV 1]

[HP 20/20]

[Attack 0(0)][EXP 0]

[Defense 0(0)][Next: 10]

[Weapon: Stick]

[Armor: Bandage]

[Gold: 0]

[Linde]

[LV 1]

[HP 20/20]

[Attack: 0(0)][EXP 0]

[Defense: 0(0)][Next: 10]

[Weapon: None]

[Armor: None]

[Gold: 0]

"Nice. Seems pretty smart-it even included me." Linde rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He was starting to suspect that this panel was actually the work of Chara's lingering soul underground.

How else could it adapt to the situation? In his previous life, he had always suspected that Chara was actually the narrator. Viewed that way, it made sense for the system, panels, and so on to be connected to Chara.

"Children... are you, um... planning to keep standing there?" Watching the two children stare into space and occasionally exchange a few words, Toriel grew a little concerned about their mental state.

"Oh! We're coming!" Linde called excitedly. He eagerly grabbed Frisk's little hand and hurried up the stairs.

Startled by Linde's sudden move, Frisk instinctively drew her hand back, trying to pull it out of his grasp.

But Linde held her hand tightly, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't break free.

"Hmph." A blush spread across Frisk's cheeks, and she gave a soft huff. "Jerk."

Perhaps because of what had happened with Flowey, she felt a deep trust in and reliance on Linde. In the end, she stopped resisting and let him lead her forward.

As they made their way deeper into the Ruins, Toriel guided the children through several puzzles.

The two children grew increasingly comfortable with each other, teasing and playing as they followed Toriel deeper into the Ruins.

Both of them forgot that, all along the way, they were still holding each other's hands...