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Cheryl didn’t know her last name. She didn’t know her parents and she didn’t know why she was alive. If her parents didn’t want her so much, why not just abort her? Why did they go through the effort of birthing just to shove her in an orphanage? The only happiness Cheryl had was cooking for the younger children but she was beginning to get too old for the orphanage. Grabbing her favorite kitchen utensils and clothes, she took her life into her own hands.
While hiking up Mount Ebbott, it occurred to her that maybe she could’ve just gotten a bus to the next city when suddenly, she fell down a hole. She doesn’t remember the fall but, after waking up on a flowerbed and seeing the sky too far above her, she can figure out what happened.
“Oh goodness! Are you okay?” Asked a nearby voice. Cheryl stood up and saw a tall goat monster looming over her. She paused.
“Yes I’m fine thank you for asking. My name’s Cheryl, who are you?” She asked. The monster smiled.
“I’m Toriel. Would you like some pie? Surely you need some food and rest after that fall.” She said, gesturing upwards.
“Yes I’d appreciate that very much!”
-
“I can see that this topic makes you uncomfortable but I’m afraid I have to ask, have there been humans before me?” Toriel paused and Cheryl continued, “You didn’t question me at all and you seemed almost like you expected me to be at the flowerbed.”
“I.. yes there have been humans before you. Other children who have fallen into our Ruins.”
“I’m so sorry but… What happened to them?”
“... To my knowledge, they all died.”
“I see. I think I’ll sleep now if that’s okay.”
“Of course! Here, let me find you some clothes.” Toriel said, running off to find a nightgown for the girl. Cheryl considered her position. She understood that at the very least, she could stay with Toriel for a little bit.
-
After a few weeks living together, Toriel and Cheryl went out for food.
“So the snails aren’t another form of monster?” Asked Cheryl as she snatched a few from a crack in the wall.
“In the same way that the spiders are. Only the royal spiders are considered monsters. I once knew of a kind family that bred racing snails, we wouldn’t eat those. I do hope you don’t mind eating so much snail.” Cheryl smiled as her snail basket filled up more.
“I don’t mind it. I only wish that there were more ingredients here so I could cook you something.” Toriel frowned.
“You’d love the rest of the Underground. There’s not much but certainly more than here. The best we can manage here is snails and I’m running out of the other ingredients I brought with me.”
Cheryl stopped for a moment. “Toriel, why is it that you live here? I can see that you don’t enjoy it.”
“...” Toriel looked away. “I once lived in the capital of the Underground with my husband. We were happy but our children died and something… Changed. I came back here- where we used to live- and here we are.” Cheryl put a gently hand on Toriel’s arm.
“Thank you for telling me that. Do you want to go back?”
“Yes I’d like that.”
-
“So I’m sure you understand why I have to leave. I’m very sorry.”
Toriel lifted her wet eyes and gave a watery smile. “I suppose I do. You are old enough to know what’s best for you. I’m afraid that this isn’t the best place to live a life and the older you get, the smaller it seems. But promise me only that you’ll make it out of here. I’ve lost too many children already.”
With a smile and a hug, Cheryl left the Ruins. Once the door was closed behind her, she let her tears puncture the snow and, wrapping her apron around her for warmth, she continued.
“SANS IS THAT A HUMAN?”
“yeah i think it is.”
Cheryl looked ahead of her at the skeletons staring her down.
-
“I’m so sorry hun but could you explain it to me again?” Asked Cheryl. Papyrus Nye’d and said that if she simply didn’t want to solve it, a switch on a nearby tree would help.
“THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NOTHING IF NOT FAIR!” And he spun out of the room. Cheryl sighed and ran a hand through her hair, jumping at the sound of another voice.
“ya know, you don’t have to keep doing this. i appreciate it but i can tell you hate this.”
“He’s a sweetheart and I want to be nice to him. I really can’t stand these puzzles but he doesn’t seem to mind helping me out.”
Sans frowned as well as his body would let him. “you’re pretty nice for a human. shame, if you weren’t, i could have killed you much earlier.” Cheryl stared at him and his now-dark eyes and laughed.
“Please, that is such bullshit! I lived with Toriel for weeks and I know you could kill me in an instant. I know your secret.” She paused for dramatic effect, “You’re just as much of a sweetheart as your brother!” And she left to smile through more puzzles.
-
“You said that I’m nice for a human. What were the others like?” Asked Cheryl while Papyrus got his next puzzle ready.
“not that bad actually. the first one i ever saw was a killer but only out of panic. after that, we had two girls. one of them really loved puzzles, she got along with papyurs great. me and paps never saw the other one but i heard she was really young. young enough that most monsters still feel guilty about letting her die.”
Pursing her lips, Cheryl sighed. “Will I have a lot of trouble getting out of here?”
“... yeah. i dont think papyrus is gonna try to give you any trouble but undyne, his boss, might. she’s been out of it though. she killed the young human and she felt the most guilty. asgore is our kind and he’ll definitely try to kill you if he finds you.”
“Huh. In that case, I think I’ll just stay here.”
Sans choked on food that he hadn’t eaten and turned to stare at her. Cheryl blinked and understood what he thought.
“Don’t worry Sans, I won’t bring my trouble to your family. I just meant stay in the Underground. If I can’t get out I may as well get comfy.”
He took a deep breath, hoping that this human didn’t get in terribly too much trouble. Paps would be heartbroken.
-
Oh no. Papyrus was crying. He wasn’t actually really sad but seeing the tall skeleton weep was awful. It made Cheryl not want to leave.
“Hey… Paps, it’s okay. I’ll be sure to visit!” Cheryl consoled, rubbing his back. Sans frowned from a few feet away.
“YOU, YOU’RE SURE YOU’LL VISIT? OH THANK YOU SO MUCH HUMAN!” He blubbered, his tears staining Cheryl’s apron orange. Cheryl looked at Sans. He glared and tried to make the protective brother in him more obvious. She met his eyes and smiled, nodding in understanding that if she didn’t, he’d make her regret it.
-
Cheryl smiled, Waterfall was far warmer than Snowdin and for that, she was grateful. A few little Woshuas and Aarons tried to cause trouble but nothing came of it. She was fully prepared to sit down at the nearest bench when she heard sobbing.
She walked quietly into the next room and suddenly found a scaly hand on her mouth.
“You say one word and I’ll kill you.” Whispered the monster behind her. Cheryl nodded and was released. Before stepping away she heard a small voice say something about a cinnamon bunny. Cheryl was yanked away before she could listen harder.
A cold wave of magic passed through her and she felt something sharp against her back.
“Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?” Asked the monster. When Cheryl didn’t answer fast enough, she was turned around to face what looked to be a female fish monster. “Please give a reason not to kill you.”
“I… uh… I haven’t done anything worth not killing me but I don’t think I’ve done anything worth killing me either.”
“Have you killed anyone?” She asked.
“No.”
“UUUURRGH!” She screamed and dispelled her spear. “WHY DIDN’T PAPYRUS CALL THIS IN? IF HE CAUGHT YOU THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH EASIER!”
“You know Paps? You must be Undyne!” Cheryl said, extending a hand of greeting. “My name’s Cheryl.”
Undyne stared dubiously at her hand. “You know that goober?”
“Yes, I met him and his brother in Snowdin.” She put her hand back down.
“And they both trust you?”
“Yes. Well, I don’t know that Sans will ever trust me fully but I think I have his approval.”
Undyne grunted. “Sans doesn’t trust ANYBODY. Not even Paps, but I guess Papyrus doesn’t always make the best decisions. He’s such a LOSER!” She paused, acknowledging the situation around her. “I guess if THEY trust you then… I don’t trust you yet, kid but I’m not gonna kill you. I’m not gonna do THAT again unless I have to.”
Losing her energy, Undyne sagged her shoulders. She gave Cheryl vague directions to her house and left. They both smiled, knowing that the other couldn’t see.
-
“So… What’s he doing?”
“singing... he does this a lot… he wants to be famous.” Replied a sullen ghost.
“MEW MEW KISSY KISSY CUTIE CUTIE KITTY CAT!”
“he’s been watching a lot of anime lately…”
Suddenly, the singing robot turned to see Cheryl and gasped in his raspy, robotic voice.
“OH DEAR, I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WOULD BE HERE SO SOON!” And the robot wheeled away.
“So… I’m sorry, I don’t know if I caught your names.” Cheryl said. The white ghost drifted a little lower.
“oh... i’m napstablook. that’s mettaton. he’s my cousin…” drawled Napstablook sadly.
“And he wants to be famous? I didn’t know the Underground had celebrities.” Napstablook sighed and drifted just low enough to faze slightly into the floor.
“he wants to be the first. i-” Mettaton then burst into the room, his rectangular face covered in makeup.
“Hun… come over here.” Said Cheryl firmly. She wipes all of the makeup off of his screen, replacing it with the best makeup that she could do on a calculator with limbs.
“Oh… Thank you. I really don’t know much about human traditions.”
“It’s okay.” Said Cheryl, smiling brightly, “It takes practise. I’ve been human for around 17 years now and I still mess up a lot!”
Mettaton buzzed sadly for a bit. “I’m sorry you have to be stuck down here while you have friends and family above ground.”
“Well… I really didn’t have many friends or family. I’d say I’ve got better family here than I ever had on the surface. I’ve learned so much here too!”
“Like what?”
Cheryl looked at Napstablook, floating silently in the corner. “Like just how smoochable ghosts can be!” And she pecked them on their ghost cheek. Napstablook blushed hard and drifted through the adjacent wall as Cheryl giggled.
-
Cheryl almost laughed at the ridiculousness of the fish shaped house before knocking on the door. Light pounding could be heard before Undyne opened the door.
“Oh… I didn’t actually think you’d come over.”
“Well… I’m here!” Said Cheryl. They both looked at each other and then looked away. Neither could think of anything to say.
“Do you want to come in?” Asked Undyne, pointing a scaly thumb to her house.
“Yes I’d like that very much.” They both walked into the fish shaped structure. Sitting down inside, the two struggled to find conversation.
“Have you got anything to drink?” Asked Cheryl. Undyne scrambled to her fridge, grateful to have something to do.
“I have some… TOMATOS?” Cheryl giggled and joined her in the kitchen.
“Not much for drink but there’s ingredients here to make pasta!” She said.
“PASTA? Sounds TERRIBLE!” Cheryl got the ingredients out and turned the stove on.
“Trust me, it’s pretty good.”
-
“You had better take good care of her.” Growled the well dressed spider.
“Don’t worry sir. I’ve been taking care of children my whole life.” Said Cheryl. The older man huffed and, grabbing his wifes coat, left for their date.
“So what’s your name?” She asked.
“I’m Muffet. What are you?” asked the spider girl.
“Well what I am is human but who I am is Cheryl. I imagine you must like muffins Muffet!” Cheryl exclaims. Muffet tilted her head and half of her small body tilted with it.
“Well, if you don’t know what muffins are then today is as good a day as any!” Cheryl took ingredients from the Spiders full store of ingredients.
“So what’s your favorite flavor?”
“Spider!” Shouted the little girl.
“Well, I think I can figure out how to put that in a muffin.”
-
“Shhh! I-I-It’s abou-t-t-t to st-art!” Said Alphys in her most commanding voice.
“But ALPHY PAPYRUS thinks he’s BETTER than me!”
“WELL OBVIOUSLY MY PASTA MAKING SKILLS ARE FAR SUPERIOR!”
“You’ve only been cooking it or THREE days!”
“BUT A SKELETON OF MY CALIBER SUCCEEDS IN ALL THINGS!” Sans magiced pasta into both of their mouths and nodded to Cheryl. She turned to tv on to their favorite rectangular robot interviewing an old turtle on all that he’s done for his community.
-
“I’ve been thinking of renovating the dingy apartments to make a more fabulous place for monsters to live!” The robot spun in joy.
“What sort of place are you thinking?” Asked his human companion.
“Well, somewhere glamorous like a hotel. But I wouldn’t want to kick any of the current residents out so they must stay.”
“That’s very kind of you,” Cheryl smiled “I’d love to help!”
-
“I know your family prefer to keep their goods to themselves but your spiders have the Undergrounds biggest supply of simple ingredients.Imagine the change you could bring to the Underground if you shared that!” Cheryl said. The Spiders frowned deeper. Cheryl slyly smiled at them. “Imagine the profit.”
-
Lights and cameras focused on Cheryl as she taught the Underground how to cook.
“And what temperature should the oven preheat to?” Asked Mettaton with more drama than the question needed.
“About 350 and when we’ve got this in a pan, it’ll bake for half an hour.”
-
“Dear Mettaton,
Your human has made a very positive impact on the Underground since she arrived. Her ‘soup kitchen’ is admittedly genius and our people have never been so well fed. However, I’m afraid I can’t let this slide any longer. She is human and therefore cannot stay. I understand she means alot to you but let it be known, if you, Sans, Undyne, or Papyrus don’t kill her in the next month, then I will.
With genuine sorrow, Asgore”
Sans frowned as Mettaton finished reading the letter. Papyrus’s tears were the only audible sound among the small group of monsters and one human, faking her smile.
-
“I’m worried about Mettaton. All of his shows are just pro human propaganda now. And I LOVE Asgore but he isn’t gonna like that.” Said Undyne.
Cheryl brushed sweaty bangs out of her face. “He’ll be okay. He’s smarter than he seems.”
Undyne stopped in the hot room. “Yeah, well what about YOU? ASGORE is gonna COME FOR YOU AND YOU’RE NOT WORRIED AT ALL!!”
“I’m not. Honestly, I wouldn’t mind dying.” She said, turning to Undyne and falling to the ground with a bullet in her head and a strange human standing behind her.