#i was working on this a few months ago and then gave up but flowey week has motivated me

[sukifoof-art]

wooooo its flowey week!!! here is my day one art :)

[undertalethingems]

Bark at the Moon, Chapter 4: Antagonized

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Or read on my Ao3>

Rating, Setting: Gen, Pre-canon

Chapter Warnings: None?

Chapter Summary: Flowey’s run out of things to do. At least, he thinks he has.

Flowey flinched at heavy crashing further up the channel; it sounded like something big had fallen in the trash heaps. Big things didn’t come through often, so as bored as he was he figured he may as well check it out. It'd be wild if it were a human or something besides garbage, but he wasn't going to get his hopes up. He ducked into the murky water and burrowed through the mud below to pop up between the piles of garbage, the best vantage point for spotting anything new. Didn’t look like much… wait, that one looked lopsided. He popped up closer to it, peered around the refuse, then checked the other side and gasped.

A skeleton lay half-buried in the pile.

It wasn’t just any old skeleton—or any new skeleton, for that matter. Inching around, Flowey could make out the shape of the skull and knew he’d seen it before. Only, it hadn’t been attached to a body, or appeared outside of battle. All of this was new.

“Um, howdy! You alright there, friend?” he called, wondering what kind of response he might get. As it turned out, he got none. The creature just laid there, eye sockets closed. Flowey frowned, and extended a vine to poke its scapula. “Hello? What are you, dead?”

Fangs sheared through his vine in a blur, and he grunted at the pain. The creature’s jaws snapped open and Flowey braced himself for the next strike, but his nerves faded to curiosity as the beast seemed frozen, jaws still open and eyes wide but dark. Slowly, it reached up with heavy claws to tug at its own teeth, then shut its mouth and curled a hand tight around its snout as if to hold its jaws shut. A hushed, weary whine escaped from it, and Flowey thought the tone was familiar.

“Uh, hey there!” he tried again, and the creature slowly turned to face him. “Sorry to wake you, but you didn’t look so good. Are you okay?”

The creature seemed to think for a bit, and he wondered if it understood him until it bunched its shoulders up into a shrug. Of course it would, if it was one of his.

“Fair enough. I probably wouldn’t be doing too good if I’d just fallen into a pile of garbage too,” Flowey joked. “Wait here, I’ll get'cha something to eat.”

It wasn’t far to the cooler of astronaut food someone had left down here ages ago, and he picked a couple packets up before heading back to his interesting new pal. He’d never thought he’d be making friends with one of these, but maybe it’d tell him how to beat that smiley trashbag. He pushed his way back up through the mud, and presented the snacks to the creature.

“Okay! Here you go, just take the wrapper off and—yeah, pretty good right? If you’re into weird, dried-out food, anyway. How ya feelin’ now, buddy?”

The creature made a humming sound. It was weird how much it sounded like him, and the glowing cyan irises that now filled its sockets were also familiar, but Flowey tried to ignore that. Probably just side effects of who it belonged to.

“So what are you doing all the way out here? I bet Sans is looking for you, he doesn’t let you guys out like, ever. Say! My name’s Flowey by the way, Flowey the flower. What’s yours? Do you even have one?”

The creature narrowed its eyes, then extended its left paw. Flowey gave it his vine, his own eyes narrowed as they shook, and the thing he knew as a gaster blaster cleared its nonexistent throat.

“heya. i’m sans.”

Flowey felt his brain break. “…What.”

“you seem surprised. have we met before?” the creature—Sans—observed, slowly sitting back on his haunches.

“Gh—no,” Flowey replied shortly, trying to recover his composure. “Not properly! I-I mean, I’ve heard of you, so, I know of you.”

“of course you have, everyone knows me,” Sans agreed. He leaned closer, grin seeming to turn sharp despite the fact it was already made of jagged fangs. “now, the real question is… who did you think i was before i introduced myself?”

Flowey grimaced--he’d slipped up.

“listen pal... i don't wanna jump to any conclusions, but it seemed like you recognized me. and if that's true… i think we’ve met before, and it was NOT under good circumstances.”

He’d really slipped up. Sans was standing now, looming over him ominously. No, no—he wasn’t ready to end this run yet, not when it had finally gotten so interesting! Sans was too perceptive for his own good.

Sans grunted as vines wrapped around his limbs, lashing him to the heap of garbage before he could skip away. More vines whipped out and wound around his jaws—Flowey was taking no chances, not when he had something so new to toy with. Sans was supposed to be a round, talkative, terrifying jokester, not a weird animal. But here he was, covered in heavy spines and on all fours with a long tail. Flowey wasn’t sure what he’d do with him, but he could figure that out later. Right now, he wanted to take his prize somewhere no one would find it.

Sans gave a bit of token resistance, but eventually went limp and let Flowey drag him along through shadowy caverns. There was much of Waterfall still uninhabited—places where it was too dark, too damp, too cramped—corners where perhaps no one had set foot for centuries. Flowey worked his way along until he found a small cavern that seemed perfect—he couldn’t even hear the distant dull roar of rushing water, and the only light came from a few glimmering crystals embedded in the stony walls.

“Okay smiley trashbag, wakey wakey!” Flowey sang harshly as he deposited his captive. “We’re alone. Tell me what the hell you are.”

Sans lifted an eyelid to gaze at him. “why?”

“I’m the one asking questions here! Besides… I’ll kill you if you don’t! Hee hee!”

“hm. sure you will.”

"Yeah! It won't be hard!”

“nope.”

“So, you don’t care if you die… but maybe… your brother!” Flowey threatened with a wicked grin, only to be met with the same nonchalance.

“ok.”

Flowey glared at him. “What, you really don’t care about what happens to your beloved, precious Papyrus?”

Sans shrugged. “eh. if you’re what i think you are… then it doesn’t really matter what you do, does it?”

Flowey curled his lip. “I’ll make you watch as I dust him bone by bone! You’ll be haunted by his screams forever!”

“that’s… pretty messed up, my dude. you need to talk?”

“Don’t turn this around on me!” Flowey shrieked. “I’ll destroy EVERYONE and make you watch!”

“hm… well, chances are you’ve already done that at least once. after all, you know what i look like,” Sans replied. “but it doesn’t matter what either of us do. i accepted that a long time ago.”

“And that’s why you’re a lazy slob who never does anything,” Flowey stated with contempt.

Sans shrugged. “yup.”

“Ugh, whatever. It's way more interesting to keep you alive now anyway,” Flowey grumbled. “You’re even more of a freak than before. I wonder… does your brother know you’re like this? I wonder what he’d think if he saw you.”

“wouldn’t care.”

“…Wait, are you saying you wouldn’t care, or that he wouldn’t care?” Flowey pressed, and Sans shrugged yet again. He was so frustrating sometimes, and Flowey scowled. “Ugh. I know what I’ll do. As much as I’d love to finally kill you, I think I’ll keep you alive… as my pet. You’ve humiliated me too many times, and now I’m going to repay the favor!”

Flowey laughed until he noticed Sans was falling asleep.

“Hey! Wake up! You really don’t care what I’m going to do to you?!” He shook the vines restraining his prize, jostling him awake.

“hmm? eh… not really. can’t be worse than what i’ve already been through, so it doesn’t really matter,” Sans murmured in reply, snuggling against the rough stone floor despite how he was bound.

“W-well…” Flowey stumbled, “maybe… you don’t care now! But let’s see how you feel in a month! Maybe even longer! Hee hee hee!”

Sans shrugged again. “in that case, i’m going to sleep. wake me in a month, ok pal?”

Flowey growled and tightened his vines until Sans was pressed to the floor, and leaned in to leer at him. “You listen here, trashbag. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be—”

Bones stabbed up from the floor inches from his face, and he leapt back with a yelp.

“i’ll be what, kid? broken? dusted? flower’s best friend?” Sans said, a deadly chill in his voice as he fixed Flowey with one piercing eye. “fine. you have fun trying. but don't think this is gonna be easy. i'm not some helpless puppy you picked up off the street. i'm not like ANYTHING you've seen before."

Flowey felt a shiver run through him as he stared into Sans’ dark sockets, but he pulled a smirk. “Hah! What do you think I am, an idiot? 'Cause I'm not.”

Sans only chuckled dryly. “you keep telling yourself that. i’m going to sleep.”

Flowey growled, but held back. He needed to strategize. Sans wasn’t someone he could just threaten into submission, and knowing his stats, he couldn’t torture him either if he wanted him alive. He’d have to come up with some other way to get to Sans--but for now it might be fun just watching what his absence would do to his friends. Another smirk curled at the corners of his mouth, and he ducked below-ground to head for Snowdin, making sure to keep his prize tied up tight. He knew what the world looked like with everyone but Sans gone--it was time to see the opposite.

[lins-fandom-hub]

a sorta prolonged absence

Hey everyone!

Some of you guys may have noticed that my activity on Tumblr has decreased significantly. Apart from the fact that I got one more violin student to work with starting this month along with all the others I have over the weekends, I also decided to participate in NaNoWriMo this year, tackling a new fandom I have never worked with before and only recently got into.

Yes. Undertale.

So far I’m well over 10K words, and the writing itself is very unrefined (at least compared to the Hogwarts Mystery shorts and the retells I have here) but I hope that I can reach the goal of 50K before the month is out. That said, though, I’ll be on and off here for the next little while and maybe into December as well (I am participating in the secret santa gift exchange once more), but I may pop in with a little drawing or an edit if I can.

If anyone wishes to follow along, I’m publishing the fic on Wattpad! The story is called “Eyes Open”, and it follows an adult protagonist going through the neutral, then true pacifist, routes of the game.

https://my.w.tt/lJW6WhHnabb

Click more if you want to read a snippet!

"You see this heart?" Flowey asked, clearly ignorant to the look of surprise on my face. "That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being. It starts off weak, but it can grow stronger if you gain a lot of LV."

"Wait, wait. That is my--no." I shook my head. "I thought a soul defines a person emotionally, or spiritually--it reflects upon our personality and how we live among the world. That can't be..."

"Human, are you going to pay attention to my lesson or are you going to challenge me at every step?" Flowey demanded, his face morphed into a scowl. "I at least gave you the dictionary definition of the soul. Is that not enough?"

"Ugh." I groaned, placing my fingers on my temple--this was not how I imagined this trip to be. First, a backstabbing act from my twin sister, and now a talking flower who talks back if I argued with him. How much weirder was this day going to get? "Fine. You mentioned LV last--what does it stand for?"

Flowey brightened now at my reluctant surrender, his friendly smile returning. "LV stands for LOVE, of course. And down here, LOVE is spread through a little something called..." He scrunched his face up. "Hmm... 'friendliness pellets'."

As he spoke, a few white pellets the size of a gun bullet appeared out of nowhere, spinning in the air behind him. I raised an eyebrow again at the claim--they definitely did not look to be friendly.

"You want some LOVE, now, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some!" Flowey reassured me. "Now come on, get as many of the pellets as you can!"

Something about the pellets did not seem friendly at all to me. They seemed to close in on my soul, in a manner akin to that of a giant unpleasant beast honing in on my fear, the most vulnerable point of my being. I shook my head and ducked downwards--to my pleasant surprise, the floating heart followed my movements, and the pellets soared right over the heart and out of sight.

Flowey immediately deadpanned at the sight of me ducking away from the pellets, the heart still pretty intact. "Hey, buddy, you missed them. Let's try this again, shall we?"

Another group of pellets soon sped towards the heart, and I instantly dropped into a roll, coming up on my right knee as the pellets whizzed by my right ear and out of sight once more.

"Is this a joke?" Flowey cried. "Are you braindead?"

He summoned another group of 'pellets' and scowled at me. "RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!"

Bullets? Didn't he just refer to them as pellets not too long ago? My eyes widened as they shot towards the heart with the speed of a flying bullet shot from a gun--and this time, I couldn't dodge them in time.

I watched in horror as one of them grazed the left side of the heart--not exactly at the optimal spot to tear a hole through it, but still hard enough to leave me feeling suddenly winded. The heart as well, once pulsating with a brilliant scarlet glow, had suddenly dimmed like the dying flame of a candle flickering at its dying stages. Instantly, Flowey's expression changed into maniac glee, his grin so wide and menacing he looked almost creepy enough to pass as Jacqui from last Halloween.

"You idiot," he finally cackled, clearly enjoying the sight of my suddenly weakened state. "In this world, it's kill or be killed. Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?"

A ring of bullets soon surrounded me and my SOUL, and I somehow felt the urge to collapse. So this was it, then. I failed to heed my professor's warnings, I was betrayed by my twin sister, and now I was about to die to this demonic flower who faked being friendly just to see me at my most vulnerable state. I tried to move, but gravity somehow rooted me firmly to the ground. Guess this was how I was going to go down, then.

"DIE."

[hoodie-lover]

Testing Part 2

Sans saw their subject open his eyes, it was a success. Papyrus was in the shower, washing off the blood of another fallen child. 

“Hey Flowey. Are you ok?” Sans asked, poking the flower in his face. 

“Who’s Flowey?” The flower asked, recoiling at the sight of the unknown monster. 

“You’re Flowey. Don’t you remember?” Sans said, faking his shock. 

“No. I don’t remember anything.” Flowey said, and Sans internally jumped for joy, the amnesiac worked. 

“Flowey, I’m your dad.” Sans said, pretending to hold back fake tears. 

“Dad...” Flowey latched onto the word, and Sans held his breath. 

“Try to remember.” Sans urged, testing to see if he would need more of the amnesiac. 

“I can’t. I’m sorry, what’s a dad?” Flowey asked, and Sans sighed in relief. 

“A dad is someone who takes care of you. Gives you a home and helps you grow strong.” Sans explained, petting Flowey.

“Ok, Dad.” Flowey said, still confused, and Sans picked up the flower pot. 

Sans walked past the room where Stephanie was being kept, he paused for a moment, long enough for Flowey to take notice of the door. 

“What’s that?” Flowey asked, and Sans gave a sad sigh. 

“Your sister is in there. She’s really sick and we’re trying to help her.” Sans lied, a somber smile spreading across his face. 

“What’s a sister?” Flowey asked, very confused. 

“A sister is someone who has the same dad as you, but they’re a girl.” Sans explained and Flowey wilted. 

“I don’t remember them.” And Sans pat Flowey. 

“It’s ok. We can make new memories together.” Flowey beamed when he heard those words.

“Who’s we?” Flowey asked and Sans smiled with joy. 

“My brother. He’s like a sister, but a boy like me. Brothers help dads with their kids, like you and your sister. You can call him Uncle” Sans said as he opened a large metal door.  

“This is your room Flowey. I need to leave you here for now ok. I need to get my brother.” Sans said as he left Flowey in a 5x5 concrete cell and left. 

Tragically, the smile on the former prince’s face was one of pure joy as he looked around his room. Nothing felt familiar, it was foregien, something had made him scared. But he buried these feelings, he knew he had a dad and a sister, and someone who helped his dad keep him safe and loved. It would all end up ok, he just knew it. 

Sans was more happy than ever, the flower was sentient, and it was the only one that came alive. It also happened to me the only one that had monster dust sprinkled on it. He rushed to his room, which was a quick teleport away and pulled out one of his many notebooks and scribbled down his thoughts. Once again he cursed his ability to not have a notebook in the secret lab. 

He was awoken from his trance by a loud knock at the door. Papyrus. 

“Brother, I assume the project went well?” Papyrus asked, and Sans nodded, his eyes sparkling. 

“I’m glad. Can I go and meet my nephew now?” Sans nodded once again and the two teleported outside Flowey’s cell. 

“Here he is!” Sans announced as he opened the door with authority, startling the small flower.

“Hello dear Flowey! I am your Uncle Papyrus!” Papyrus said, his voice loud and overwhelming. 

“H-hi...” Flowey whispered, cowering away from Papyrus. 

“Do not be scared my dear nephew! I am so sorry I scared you, I will try to be more quiet.” Papyrus said, as he lowered his voice and picked up the small flower pot. 

“I’ll do my best to not scare you.” Papyrus said as he pet Flowey, and then placed him back down on the ground. 

“Ok!” He chirped, smiling cute smile. 

“We’ll need to check up on Frisk, your sister, for a while. We’ll be back soon to help train you in your magical abilities.” Sans said and Flowey perked up. 

“Magical abilities?! What’s that?” Flower asked, and Sans winked as he left the flower in the cell alone. 

“That was rude Sans.” Papyrus commented as they made their way to Stephanie’s room. 

“I need to keep him asking questions, see what he thinks about and deduce from our hints. It will tell us how Frisk might think, it's the same dust after all.” Sans explained as he opened the door to the comatose child.

They had to put an oxygen mask on her due to the lack of DT keeping her together, so she needed more help. 

“What if he can’t use magic?” Papyrus asked, and Sans gave him a wicked grin. 

“Inject it into him.” Papyrus returned the grin, chuckling grimly. 

“Could something like that strengthen him?” And Sans got an amazing idea. 

“If you can get me some, subjects, we can see.” Sans said as he stroked the thinning hair of their poor child. 

“Consider it done dear brother of mine.” Papyrus said as he teleported out of the room. 

“Hold on my dear Frisk. You’ll meet your father soon, and you better make me proud.” Sans threatened, his fingers trailed over her thin form, gentle but itching to make her bleed. 

He made his way past Flowey’s room, where muttering could be heard, and to a large password protected door. He entered GASTER and walked into a prison. Children and adults lined the walls, chained, bloodied, beaten, and many other horrible things. He approached the last cell in the row. The person inside was a teenager, they had a soul of perseverance, perfect for being Sans’ toy. 

“Hello Fredrick. Happy to see me?” Sans asked, taking off his hoodie and putting on a black trench coat. 

Fredrick was unresponsive, glaring at his skeleton captor.

“Shame. I was hoping you had a snarky remark or a new pun for me. But I’m sure your screams will suffice.” Sans said as he entered the cell. 

He grabbed Fredrick’s arm with both of his hands and drilled his fingers into the flesh. Fredrick bit his lip, trying not to scream, but Sans only forced his fingers deeper into his arm. By the time Sans could grab Fredrick’s arm bone, he pulled the muscles, slowly dragging them out from the limb. 

“S...t...o...p...” Fredrick breathed, panting. 

“Oh, you want me to stop? Why should I? You’re nothing but a pathetic human who, like an idiot, fell into our kingdom. The place your kind banished us to.” Sans explained, tugging on the ripped muscles. 

“Why do you do this?” Fredrick asked, gritting his teeth. 

“I’ve answered this before but I’ll repeat myself. I want you to pay for what you did to us. You're a human, and therefore guilty.” Sans said as he ripped the muscle from the arm. 

His hands were bloody, and the meat in his hand was tempting. Using one of his bloody hands he grabbed Fredrick’s chin and forced him to watch Sans’ face. As Sans’ eyelights blanked out, he opened his mouth and bit the piece of muscle. Unable to blink, with his eyelids ripped out a few months ago, Fredrick was forced to watch as his captor ate his arm’s muscles. 

Sans, Papyrus, and Flowey belong to Toby Fox

Next

First

[frankpanioncube]

Fic: It’s Something You Earn

My gift for @ thesweetpianowritingdownmylife  for @undertalesecretsanta .  We have HAPPY! Papyrus and Flowey spending time together as friends. 

I have to admit I haven’t ever had to write Flowey when he wasn’t explicitly being a manipulative little git so I hope this is alright. 

Without further ado: Life on the surface is pretty great. Papryus has it all: Friends, family, a bright future ahead of him with plenty of opportunities, but someone’s missing....and oddly enough he seems to be the only one who knows it.  (Bonus points if you guess what show exactly Papyrus is paraphrasing.) 

The clock on the wall ticked into the two-o’clock position as the bored-looking grad student proctoring the exam at the front of the room practically leapt to their feet, subtracting another fifteen minutes from the countdown on the room's whiteboard before settling back into their seat at the front of the room. Only forty-five minutes remained and around Papyrus similar sounds of indecision were forthcoming from the students who remained, mixed with the frantic sounds of the desperate.

Papyrus was in fact on his third check through of his work. He knew he needn't have worried; he'd performed exceptionally well on the midterm and the case study and by his math already had secured the necessary minimum grade point requirement to advance in the program...if he chose to pick this as his major. He'd also learned long ago from one Captain Undyne never to give anything less than his absolute best...but surely three double checks was enough.

Having reached a decision, he folded his test booklet closed and brought it to the proctor who copied his student number off his ID card and wished him a ‘Happy Holidays’ under their breath..

After that, the door to the building soon clicked shut behind him, and he was free! Done! Well, that was, until next semester.

Papyrus allowed himself a short whoop, ignoring the stares, but was quick to move on. He was eager to get back to the house. Sans would be coming down today and he hadn't seen his brother in months. He didn't mind stopping at the coffee kiosk as an afterthought. He did after all have nearly 45 minutes, and when had his brother been early to anywhere?

The younger of the skeleton brothers had come to love University life. The Underground had been a little short on anyone in his age bracket and once the initial excitement of being above ground had worn off, he felt at a bit of a loss as to what to do with himself. Not because his options were limited but because suddenly there was a massive surplus of potential. Apparently, lots of humans felt the same way and University or College was one of the things the ones that most closely matched his own age did about it. He hadn't picked a major yet, but apparently most humans in their first year didn't either...and boy had this been a lot easier to get into than the guard. And then there was the Fraternity. Who knew that all this time that he'd thought Sans was just being annoying, he was actually secretly training him for his new brotherhood and friend-making experience! Why, hazing had been an absolute breeze compared to the quagmire that was his brother’s slovenly ways...

Speaking of whom, he picked out two frosted cookies as a ‘good to see you again’ gift and rushed through the holiday niceties with the cashier. Papyrus might be an independent academically minded, grown bones University student now, but he missed his big brother. Besides that, he knew he had the latest final time of any of the brothers and David, their chapter president couldn't leave himself until everyone else was finished and off to their homes for the holiday.

Moments later, he burst through the doors of the Beta Gamma Epsilon house to some very familiar laughter.

"Sans?"

If Sans was at least early, he probably wanted to get going home.

Papyrus ducked into the common room, to be greeted by the sight of David and Sans laughing, and, judging by the surrounding bottles, possibly more than a little drunk (but par the course for a Frat house, despite Papyrus' best efforts to keep the infernal empties confined to a recycle bin. They were worse than Sans’ socks.).

His brother seemed to have a few more worry lines around his sockets and his clothes seemed wrinklier than normal, but Papyrus was overwhelmingly glad to see him again. It had been too long.

"SANS!" he barked, only half meaning the admonishment. "You're drunk...and I have to drive!"

"That's...not how it works bro." Sans informed him, but he was laughing too.

"Here, I have cookies." Papyrus offered his bounty and a massive hug to Sans who accepted both gifts happily before Papyrus went to collect his packed suitcase from his room.

"Okay here you go." David had followed him, presenting him with an envelope. "Last one. Luckiest brother in the house."

The skeleton barked a laugh. "Nyeh heh! I am indeed a lucky brother!”

"Nah, guy in the envelope."

"Well I do suppose I am ALSO the coolest person to have as a secret santa!” Papyrus hefted his bags and took a harder glance over at the human. “Are you okay to drive?”

"Huh? Oh I’m going to my girlfriend’s before I go home. I’m not driving. And yeah, all the guys have been going on about which one of them is going to get to have some cool monster shit."

"Oh..."

"Damn, was that insensitive?"

"Well, the language was a little blue I suppose.”

David chucked a bit. “You’re a good guy, Papyrus. Have a happy holiday, dude.”

The older student was true to his word apparently, locking up the Beta house and marching out of the parking lot with only a slight waver to his step. Papyrus watched him go diligently (he was a good brother of course!), then loaded his suitcase into his car and Sans packed himself into the passenger side.

They drove in silence for awhile. Papyrus was just beginning to wonder if he should say something when Sans broke the silence, apparently feeling similarly.

Ya ain't worried about your test are ya bro?"

"The great Papyrus has no need to worry!"

“New roomies good?"

"Yeah!" He liked his other the other two pledges who shared his living quarters. “Mark and Derek are worthy human roommates!”  The latter of whom owned a fairly sizable action figure collection himself and had helped Papyrus to restore a few of the pieces he'd brought from his old home in Snowdin. “Well, ALL of the brothers are roommates you see! Although they are not brothers like you and I are, but brothers in SPIRIT!”

Apparently this was the correct response as Sans’ concerns slipped from Papyrus’ social life to more generic ‘older brother’ concerns

"What about your homework?"

"Brother, I am hardly a baby bones! I am already reading ahead for my next semester classes! I do not procrastinate like SOME skeletons!"

“Nothin’ wrong with a little procrastination.” Sans punctuated the remark with a stretch and raised a brow bone at the envelope. “That ain’t what I’m talkin’ about.”

"Oh That! It's a ‘Secret Santa'. It's a human thing. Everyone in the Fraternity gets someone's name who they have to buy a present for. Then we all have to try and guess who gave us what."

"Sounds right up your alley, bro. Bet you've got a real puzzle in mind."

"Naturally. I have to think of something excellent as my presents is required!”

“Good one, bro.”

“Only ten minutes with you and already I’m picking up on your bad pun habits.”

Papyrus stole a peek at Sans out of the corner of his eye who was presently leaning back in the seat, eye sockets closed. It seemed as though the pun deflection had worked the way he hoped it would.

Papyrus returned his eyes to the road, determined then and there that his little mission would remain a secret between he and himself. Papyrus knew it had been...less easy for Sans to adjust to life above ground. It was strange to think of his brother as the tightly wound, high strung one, but he finally started to be attempting to relax and Papyrus was not about to be the one to disturb that balance.

Everything surface-wise so far for Papyrus had been a joy to experience, but it felt odd. Like he alone was missing something...or more exactly; someone. It had become weirder still when it seemed he alone seemed to even notice. Papyrus knew his friends list wasn't exactly the biggest and longest in the underground, so he had never been dismissive of even the most distant acquaintances he did have. There was Sans and Undyne of course, and everyone knew them. There was the self-appointed President of his Fanclub, MK….and that right there was the thing. MK wasn't the president of his fanclub.

The present of his fanclub, or...the last president was...to put it frankly, missing. ...and no one seemed to know anything about him. He'd once in a fit of desperation even tried asking King Asgore who had only looked confused by the question and ended up bestowing on him about six tins of golden flower tea.  It was as if Papyrus was the only person who knew Flowey existed

Sans; the other person who knew everyone (or at least everyone who liked hot dogs, bad jokes and/or grease) had simply looked troubled when he was asked and mentioned something about having an imaginary friend as a Babybones he'd named Gaster...and dropped the subject shortly after. Papyrus had predictably insisted Flowey wasn’t his imaginary friend. Still Sans had simply apologized for the insinuation. That was odd too; his brother would normally never miss a chance to give his brother a little bit of the business for something as immature as clinging to a childhood imaginary playmate.  

It did however mark the last time he'd brought it up with other people, and he’d hoped to put it from his own mind now that he had studies and friends but somehow it kept creeping back in. In bed at night, During the lulls in conversation. In the middle of reading one of Sans’ or Frisk’s update e-mails about how life was at home. Now with an excuse to go to the Underground ready made, Papyrus had decided to personally put the issue to bed once and for all.

Whatever he was speculating he would find, there was little time to think about the plan further as the next few days flew by in a whirlwind of activity. Monsters were a bit behind on their Calendar due to the length of time spent in the Underground versus the actual advancements made in human understanding, and there had been a whole issue on when Gyftmas should be celebrated. The real thing by Monster Calendar fell mid-Hanukkah, but the traditions were evidently taken from Christmas. As it happened, Frisk had celebrated Hanukkah before they fell down, so Toriel had arranged for a gathering of course, the night Papyrus came home from school. It also worked out well for Sans’ Gyftmas present; a reservation for 'Christmas Day' at Grillby's newly instated surface version of his establishment.

He was a bit distracted that day by the time they got to the restaurant as inevitably the ‘plan’ as it was now officially titled in his mind and all that it entailed had crept into his thoughts once more. He wasn’t being deceitful, not really, but he wasn’t sure what the reaction would be if he did happen to casually mention it. As it happened, the person in the frat he was to buy a gift for was Brian, rather known for his legendary ability to drink someone under the table, not to mention being 'that one guy who would eat anything'. He was here, at a Monster Bar and he knew Grillby sold product that would go over well and fill the expectation to bring something ‘Monster-made’. He could just buy a small bottle of something or the other and forget the plan altogether. Being naturally honest by nature, it rankled with him that he felt he needed secrecy.

If he did that, it would be better for his brother’s SOUL.

And then he imagined Flowey, alone in the Underground, even though they were free, imagining Papyrus had forgotten him fore---.

"Hey, Bro...it’s your turn..."

With a gasp, Papyrus returned to reality, doing his best to refocus on the gift in front of him. Sans' gift too., no less.

"Uh, YES! THANK YOU BROTHER! I WAS JUST ...ADMIRING THE BEAUTIFUL WRAPPING JOB!"

Now THAT was a lie if there ever was one.

Fortunately, Toriel came to his rescue. "Oh that does remind me of when Asriel was small...I made him three whole boxes of his favourite cookies and knitted him a brand new jumper out of Spider silk. It really was darling, but of course, Asgore wound up eating the biscuits and those sharp little claws had pulled runs in the poor sweater by the next day." She chuckled, a touch sadly.

"Sounds a bit better than me." Grillby had finished clearing down and had joined the party, having kept the restaurant open for their group, which did after all did include his best mate and the Queen of all Monsters.  "My Niece Fuku used to eat the boxes. And the tissue paper."

Sans snorted with absolute delight. "Eating trash. A Monster after my own SOUL."

Papyrus put a hand on the wrapping paper and tore it off enthusiastically, and the evening proceeded.

He didn't think about the Plan again until two days later when all the excitement had officially wound down and he’d made his calls and wrote his thank you letters. Midway through comparing present notes, he was once more reminded he still had one present left to obtain.

>>oh and a gift certificate from Alphys and Undyne to a cosplay armour maker they found at a con they went to. They're going to make me a new Battle Body."

>>cool. Yeah dude, I'm going to bed. I'm super bombed right now. My Dad made Eggnog and it kinda makes the Betas look tame."

Papyrus bade his friend goodbye and flopped back on his bed. And that was that. Decisions made. Tomorrow...was the day.

He slept better than he thought he might.

As it happened, his excuse-which-wasn't -really-a-lie got out smoother than he thought it would.

"SANS?"

"Sup Bro?"

“I AM HEADING OUT TO PROCURE MY SECRET SANTA GIFT!"

"Have a good time." Sans called back from the kitchen.

"Bundle up warmly dear."  It is rather cold outside."

It eased Papyrus' nerves to know that Toriel was around to distract his brother. For her sake he added another scarf; the new one he'd received for Christmas and took his gloves with the peel-off mitten tops too.

He parked his car in the lot of a nearby grocery store that didn't have a time limit on how long people could spend in the space and walked to the chain coffee store at the end of the block. . Someone, he couldn't remember who, had given him a gift card for the place, which didn't have a shop on Campus.  He treated himself to something with god knew how much unhealthy sugar  and snapped a few photos of the monstrosity before he gathered his reserves of determination and began the true journey.

The nice, merchandise stores changed into gas stations and fast food joints, then into garages and the odd warehouse and then there was yet-untamed forest area that allowed him to know he was getting close. He finally spotted the turn he was after and veered off to the path they'd taken down the mountain A glance at his phone told him he was out of range of any human networks but a few steps later he had gotten onto what remained of the Undernet.

Some monsters still lived underground, like Gerson and those too old and unable or unwilling to make the journey.

He resolved to stay out of their way though. Undyne often visited the old turtle and something still niggled at him about this mission being ‘exposed’.

He consulted his clock. Even with his stopover at the coffee place, he'd made good time. He wouldn't risk the River Person.

Once Hotland had been cleared, it was much smoother sailing. He passed the dump, remembering when he and Sans used to come there for his Gyftmas gifts. He also picked some crab apples. In Snowdin he pottered around the old house, marvelling at the smell that had seeped in without anyone to clean it and let himself out (without discovering the long-molded spaghetti still in the fridge). He did however unstring the fairy lights from around the windows., winding them into a neat coil. Brian would appreciate the decorations for his room.

He hemmed about it for a while and finally let himself into Grillby's picking over the liquor that had been left. He selected one that was full and as an afterthought stuck some money under the register.  He could make sure the bartender knew about it later. After this was over.

Monster alcohol, monster food and a special decoration from his own home. Satisfied with the present, he sorted his finds into his inventory and sat himself down on the step of the old pub, leaning his chin in his glove with a quiet Nyeh.

He had been so sure that he would have attracted the attention of his old friend...that the flower would have followed him and popped up to scare him as he had the habit of doing, so many times during his youth.

There'd been no flash of gold in his periphery however though he'd spun to surprise CHECK many a time.

He pulled out his phone again.

Still...Papyrus was never one to do things halfway. He might be late to supper but...yet...

He moved deeper. Past Snowdin, into the forest...over the bridge and sparing a laugh at his embarrassing attempt at a 'gate'. Why, he'd taken Engineering 102 and he could build a gate twice as good.

He felt a little better for his self-congratulatory inner monologue and perhaps it was this that had given him the strength to march deeper into the ruins.

This was uncharted territory. His brother as he now knew had only knocked on the door and had been eager to leave without a backwards glance. Papyrus had never questioned that desire, nor thought about it.

It was peaceful there, at least and the puzzles were interesting, to be sure.

He found a mostly depleted bowl of Monster candy somewhere along the way and added a piece to his present for Brian, but was starting to grow somewhat hopeless about the status of the rest of his mission.

The doubts from earlier sprang to his mind., the odd conversations with Asgore, the reactions of Sans. He knew Sans didn't tell him everything, but perhaps it was true that there was nothing to  his behaviour after all.

Had he dreamed Flowey? It was...after all a childish name...They'd been 'presidents of eachothers fanclubs’, when Papyrus had no friends.

He was the Great Papyrus, and so must his imagination be very Great....but he was so...real.

"Ah?"

"Hello?"

Papyrus found himself talking to...a patch of flowers, but just now  had sure he'd seen white fur there too. The annoying Dog?

That might not surprise him; the puffball had followed them up to the surface and had become quite comfortable under Sans' care...it had only shown up twice at his Frat House, so he knew his brother was putting in effort.

He was this time however seeing things. The flowers were devoid of anything white...and what was more, this was it seemed, the end of his fruitless hunt, as there was a dead end and the hole through which Frisk had fallen down, just directly above him, bleeding in winter sun.

The Skeleton's shoulders slumped in spite of himself.

"Howdy."

Papyrus's eyes lit up. There was no mistaking that voice. He hadn't been crazy!

Taking sudden note of where he was standing, Papyrus skipped back off the edges of the flower patch.  

Sure enough, the little flower monster (Something in the back of Papyrus' mind told him that was wrong, that Flowey wasn't a monster...but then, what else would he be?) popped his head up through the blossoms, a full ‘head’ above the other flowers.

"Well well, the Great Papyrus is back to deign to pay little old me a visit..."

Papyrus knew Flowey well enough by now to ignore the edge to the flower's voice.

"Of course I did! I have been hoping to see my best friend for ages now!” Papyrus insiste sincerely.

"Ugh, you're so nice."

The initial shock and delight having passed, Papyrus  couldn't keep back the wave of confusion and hurt nor quite keep it out of his voice. "Why...why didn't you come to the surface? With all of us! You ....you could have stayed with us. Me and Sans...Or...Or Frisk. I know you were their friend too!"

For a brief second, Papyrus thought he saw something like sorrow flash across the flower's visage, before it was replaced by something else much nastier. "Because I just Love it down here sooo much Papyrus."

"Oh well then, I'll leave you to it, and you won't mind if I take a walk. It's a long trek back to the surface."

Flowey had been this way ever since the skeleton knew him. Sometimes the flower would say things that even Sans, an accomplished Physicist would have struggled to come up with, other times, he would be no more or less childish than the Snowdin kids who called HIM weird.

Predictably, Flowey shot down into the earth, just long enough  for Papyrus to decide maybe he had decided to go sulk after all, only to re-materialize right under his boot.

"Nyeh!" Papyrus was still Papyrus and though it was a narrow thing, his reflexes were still in good enough condition that he balanced back to avoid crushing his friend.

"Why must you always do that?" he admonished Flowey. "One of these days I will crush you into dust by accident!"

Flowey only giggled. "You must really hate me Papyrus, thinking to step on me with such LOVE that you'd dust me!"

"That's not what I meant!" Now Papyrus couldn't help but be offended by the insinuation.

"Oh, alright alright, don't cry." the flower groused.

Papyrus  hadn't been (really), but he brushed imaginary tears - it was most definitely just the falling snow!) from his eye sockets anyway.

"Come on, Climb up me!" the Skeleton insisted, holding out his arm for the flower.  "We cannot carry on a proper conversation as friends if you keep tunnelling underground like that."

Papyrus extended his arm and after a moment's deliberation, Flowey deigned to climb up., the flower's surprisingly extensive root system anchoring him to sit comfortably astride Papyrus' shoulder as the Skeleton's long strides took them swiftly back through the ruins.

"You might enjoy it you know." If you gave it a try."

"Gave what a try?"

"The surface of course." Papyrus repeated, knowing full well the flower knew exactly what he'd meant.

"I don't trust anything that walks on two legs."

Papyrus imperceptibly shook his head. It was classic Flowey, that much was a fact, but even he could tell that the jibes and jabs were falling a little flatter, that the old spark had been replaced by something that if the skeleton didn't know any better, he would have called resignation. As such, he responded in kind, merely inclining his head towards his passenger. "I walk on two legs." he reminded Flowey mildly.

A beat of silence reigned before a hint of the old spark came back into Flowey's face. "Yeah, but you're really bad at it!"

In a split second, a vine which had unfurled unnoticed behind Papyrus, bound his ankles loosely together and sent him tripping forward and frighteningly close to the edge of the bridge. The skeleton's hand shot forward instinctively, grasping to catch hold of the bar, but - in a flash of  further regret for his woefully terrible engineering skills from his formative years, the support was too far away.  His fingertips barely grazed it and the duo plummeted arse over teakettle down the steep slope, with Flowey clinging to his Papyrus-shaped toboggan.

The drop wasn't that far but the incline was steep and Papyrus immediately lifted his head out of the snow bank he'd ploughed face-first into to knock the grit and snow from his eye sockets.

The flower slithered off onto the snowbank to look down at him.

"Golly Papyrus, are you alright?"

"I..." and Papyrus cut himself off as he noticed the extent of the damage. Far from dusting, the impromptu spill down the hill had nevertheless twisted Papyrus' foot and ankle from it's socket.

"Oh...I'll never be able to climb back up like this..."

"Look at the bright side, pal." Flowey knotted his vines in a very good approximation of a nonchalant human shrug. "Now you can stay down here with me!"

Papyrus struggled himself into a sitting position, the injured leg stretched out in front of him. and gazed up into the grey haze of Snowdin's endless fall of magical snow. That grey would turn to navy soon, a sign that dusk was coming in the world above. He wondered how long it would take for Sans to panic over his lack of checking in. What would happen when the store he'd parked down shut its doors for the night and his car was still parked there. Would some random night security guard take down his licence plate call his house? Would  it be a tow company?

Would they figure it out that he'd gone to the Underground right away or would it take them days to come to that conclusion?

He fixed the flower with his steeliest gaze. "You kow my faamily's going to come looking fo r me."

"Of course they are."

Papyrus opened his mouth to protest that he had lots of friends now, dozens even. Dozens of dozens. More than Flowey...and it dawned on him that was, well...the whole issue. The crux of the problem. The missing piece of the puzzle.

"I can't fix you." the Flower sulked, looking at him askance like he was daring Papyrus to blame him outright.

"No?" Papyrus refused to take the bait and adjusted the way he’d propped himself against the side of the rock wall. "This isn't really going to change anything. Sans or someone will come for me...and I'll have to explain what I was doing down here."

"I..."

"Looking for a present to bring back to my assigned person for the gift exchange." Papyrus cut the flower off, freezing the onset of his scariest smile right off his face.

The manic fang-filled nightmare grin melted into something that Papyrus swore was familiar but somehow also could not remember seeing on the Flower's face at any point.  "You wouldn't tell them...about me?"

"No. I wouldn't." Papyrus said simply.

"Hee Hee, you're almost predictable Papyrus."  That translated in Flowey speak to 'Thank you, I appreciate it.”

Papyrus responded in kind."You're welcome."

"So what kind of crap did you get the humans anyway?"

Papyrus produced his inventory. Predictably the flower ignored the liquor with only a passing glance, but seemed intrigued by the choice of fairy lights "What are the lights for? It’s after Gyftmas, even I know that."

"I thought they could put them up in their room."

"Humans do that? Indoors?"

"Yeah Lots of them do that for decoration."

"Golly, that is cool!" You should have gotten something better than crab apples though, blegh."

"I got monster candy...and apples are at least a healthy snack!" Papyrus protested. "You and my brother both! There's nothing wrong with healthy food!"

"DON'T compare me to your brother!  Flowey screeched, but his outrage was genuinely false this time and the two of them fell about laughing a little bit.

"Just for that, I won't fix you."

Before Papyrus could react even the slightest; the flower's magic flared to life, the world melting away to the specific concentrated blackness and focus of an encounter. A dozen thoughts occured to Papyrus at once: to Check, to increase his defense, and even to attack, but  instead he focused on Flowey who apparently was not giving him a chance for any of it. The wave of green magic was knitting his bones together before he knew it,  and the snow and and magically replicated overcast atmosphere of Snowdin was shimmering back in.

Papyrus flexed his foot experimentally, finding to his delight that  the action caused him no more than the briefest of clicks as the magic that bound him finished knotting itself together.

"Thank you."  he hefted himself to his feet, with relief, wondering not for the first time  how Sans did it; sitting around like that all the time and doubly glad that the snow in question was mostly magic, or his trousers would have been feeling a lot more unpleasant...but it still left them at the bottom of a ravine.

"Well come on, let's see if becoming a school book nerd hasn't made you go soft."

Flowey's thick roots shot upwards and again, Papyrus found himself having little trouble questioning his innate knowledge that the vines would support him easily, despite being sure he had no frame of reference...maybe. Possibly.

"The Great Papyrus would never let something like books get in the way of his training!"

He used the wide, flat thorns and coils as foot holds to slowly but surely, hand over hand make his way back to the top..

It was hard work and by the time he finally managed to heft his arm over the foot path of the bridge, he was heaving with exhaustion. He leaned against the strut to catch his breath, and busied himself as Flowey wound himself cobra-like  up the same path, the long vines shrinking as though they'd never been and he was nothing more than a facsimile of a golden flower once more.

They were silent a moment.

"It's not going to go back to the way it was." The flower intoned at length, his usual bobbing slowing to an introspective sort of sway.

Papyrus privately agreed.. He had checked his friend and that was something he knew he wouldn't unsee.

"No..." he began.

Something seemed to resolve in Flowey and it sparked something in Papyrus as well. He got the drop on Flowey this time, opening his mouth and speaking before he overthought it too much.

“You know...there are many humans that say you aren’t born with a soul. You earn one through facing adversity and overcoming obstacles and the decisions you make in your life. Kind of like you, just now.”

“Did you hear that from your human school?” the flower scoffed, though from the lack of follow up disparaging comments Papyrus knew he was both considering the statement and not angry with Papyrus for acknowledging the situation.

“Actually I got that from a human television show. But yes, it’s taught. It’s called ‘philosophy’”

“Even though they must know now that souls are real?”

“...Yes. I think it’s like LOVE and love.”

Flowey was silent another beat. “If I don’t want to come back to the surface...ever, will you still come to visit me?”

“Of course! We’re friends. Best friends.”

“Even after…’

“Pushing me off a bridge?”

“Y...yeah. Pushing you off a bridge.”

“Or any of the other stuff.”

Flowey’s expression shifted briefly to one of shock before he recovered himself and started to laugh. “Papyrus, that’s why I like you!”

“Maybe you can give some pointers to the new President of my fanclub.”

“That los--”

Papyrus looked at him.

“He’s probably doing a great job.”

“Yeah.”

***

Two Years Later:

"BROOOO!"

Papyrus  looked up from the project he was working on grateful for the distraction. His nasal bone had been inches away from his drafting table  and the proximity to the table wasn't exactly helping him work out the kinks in the design.

"COME ON! TWO DOLLAR SHOTS NIGHT! PLEDGES ARE BUYINNNNNG!”

"Yeah! yeah! Take a break at least!"

Papyrus still wasn't exactly known for being the booziest guy in the house or the biggest advocate of the party time, but the idea of stepping away from this work for awhile was a very tempting offer.

"Um...Go ahead." he told the brothers. "I will be sure to grace you with my GLORIOUS presence shortly!"

In spite of his resolve to try to focus on his work for another hour yet, the Skeleton found himself putting away his books and rolling up his blueprints. almost immediately after he heard the large group 's multitude of voices muffled by the door shutting behind them. He made no move to run after them, drumming his fingers on the tabletop in an uncharacteristic display of stagnation.

"Hmph. I can see these lazy human slackers have rubbed off on you. Sitting here staring into space."

The burst of intuition that had him eager to push off the outing suddenly made sense, and Papyrus picked up on the usual banter without missing a beat as easily as if they spent everyday together. "I WAS MOST CERTAINLY NOT BOONDOGGLING!" he screeched in mock anger, stomping his foot...to give him a leveraging anchor to heft the immensely heavy old bedroom window up far enough to allow his friend access. As a third year he' was now eligible for a single private room in the house, but it hardly mattered now as the housemates were long on their way to their campus event by now and those that had not gone probably assumed he was chatting with Undyne again. The flower was contained to his windowsill fern it seemed with no magic soil to move in, but Papyrus had offered his arm as he had in the Underground years ago.

The vines coiled around him and the Skeleton felt something. Something more than determination, a small thing that was not quite magic, and more like a shadow than anything but still tangible and barely there but like a candle guttering doggedly away with the urge to grow stronger.

It was what had brought Papyrus back to see Flowey that first Gyftmas above ground and what had brought him back after that...and finally what had brought him above ground for the first time tonight.

And that was enough.

[ciara-clycone]

UnDead Set- one shot {Undertale Zombie AU drabble piece}

UDS/ZATale- Zombie Apocalypse AU for Undertale

Very Heavily Based on @13thcat​ / @selamat-mencari​ ‘s  / @13thdoodle comic which was inspired by my Zombie Apocalypse AU.

Asks/Comments/Likes/Reblogs are welcome, and help fuel my creativity.

If you see any errors let me know.

Summary: Frisk has been underground for a while, and hasn’t attempted to get back to the surface, Flowey comes to ask why. 

This causes Frisk to remember the horrors behind their actions.

Frisk sits in the Wishing Room, looking up at all the false stars in the ceiling. The quiet murmurs of the monster's wishes creates a relaxing white noise for them as they try to forget about their problems.

I thought I had escaped all my problems by falling underground long ago.. Frisk sadly thinks. If only that was the case... if only...

The soft sound of someone digging in the ground next to them disrupted their thoughts, and they looked beside them to see a little yellow flower pop up out of the ground.

"Howdy!" Flowey chimes pleasantly.

Frisk stares coolly at Flowey. They remember what he was capable of at the end of the Perfect Pacifist Route- how he was able entangle their friends and absorb all the monster souls...

"You know,” Flowey says, interrupting Frisk’s thoughts, “it's been three months and you haven't even been trying to advance through here like you normally do.. " He gives them a questioning look. "Why is that?"

Frisk wraps their arms around themselves and tries not to listen to the question. Because that would make them remember. And they don’t want to remember. They try desperately to distract themselves so they won’t think about it. But it all comes flooding back to them...

They found themselves back in that old house on the surface. They huddled in a corner, shielding their eyes with their arms. They tried to mentally block out everything they had seen... all the blood and dust everywhere...

They’re dead... all of them dead... except Sans and Papyrus...why... how...?

Their thoughts were interrupted by the lifeless moans of undead surrounded the building they were in, and dull thuds were frequently heard as the zombies tried to force their way in. With each attempt the horde made, Frisk shuddered.

Why... Why does it always come to this... there has to be a way right? A way for us all have our happy ending... I didn't struggle and fight so hard to dodge all those attacks for this... not for this...

When Toriel and Alphys were killed, they had tried to RESET, but they found their nerves were too shot to be able to turn back time. Since then, they had tried on several other occasions, but each time they had, nothing happened. They feared that they were stuck in this nightmare.

A loud bang caused them to curl up even tighter. Frisk trembled, not knowing what they should do.

Sans walked over to Frisk and gently put a hand on their arm, trying to give the small human some comfort.

"hey, kiddo, it's gonna be ok, we're not gonna let any of em harm you, alright?" Sans said, trying to reassure them. 

"YES, SANS IS CORRECT!  WE WOULD NEVER LET THEM HARM YOU! NOT THAT THEY COULD FOR THEY'D HAVE TO COME THROUGH THE GREAT PAPYRUS FIRST!  NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus exclaimed. 

Despite giving his usual pose and sounding confident, Papyrus felt very much the alarmed and frightened. But he had to keep an eye out on Frisk and watch out for his brother, he did only have 1 HP after all. So he had to put on a brave front for both of their sakes.

He saw the human child peer out from their arms and chuckle a little bit. Success!

Sans bent down near Frisk and gave them a soft hug. 

“don’t worry kiddo. papyrus and i have been talking. we’ve got a plan. when this all started we decided that heading back underground would be safest thing to do. so before the internet died, i did some research on ways to reach the moutain, and this house came up in the search results. seems like it has some secret underground tunnels, and one of those tunnels leads back to the base of mt. ebott.. so at least that means we’re close to being back home.”

Frisk gave the two brothers a weak smile. “Yeah...yeah you’re right.” They said, trying to sound more relieved than they actually felt.

Sans grinned at Frisk, and gave them an affectionate pat on the head. “don’t worry bud, it’s all worked out. i found the tunnel to lead us home and told papyrus all about-”

He was interrupted by a horrible noise. The door shrieked as it was ripped from its hinges and smashed down onto the floor.

Frisk bolted up from their spots, as panic filled their heart.

The ghastly moans of the undead filled the house as did the horrid smell of decaying flesh. The zombies shuffled into the house, their dull lifeless eyes looked about for their prey. As they sniffed the air, they suddenly turned to the room where the three were in, and headed toward them.

Sans glanced at the zombies and then at his brother and Frisk. If he had more energy, he'd teleport them all away to safety, but he hadn't eaten anything in about a week, and his magic levels were dangerously low. 

Sighing sadly, he put himself in between the others and the horde.

i don’t want it to end this way....but i can’t just run and hide...not any more...i don't want any more deaths on my conscious, he thought as he faced the undead mob. He glanced back at his brother and Frisk.

"go! i'll hold them back!" Sans told them. 

"But...!" Frisk started to protest.

"BROTHER..."

"Now!" Sans's said with urgency in his voice.

Tears filled the taller skeleton's eyes as he nodded. He took Frisk by the shoulders and hurried them down the hallway.

The sounds of gaster blasters lasers being blasted nearly overcame the sound of the zombies.

As Papyrus and Frisk headed toward the house's secret exits, they heard Sans cry out. 

Their feet slowed to a halt, and they glanced back in his direction. They quietly waited to see if they could hear anything else from Sans-either from him, his movements, or his blasters. 

But there was nothing. 

Blinking back tears, Papyrus turned back to the destination. He gently placed a hand of Frisk’s shoulder, and gently prodded them to continue. 

As they ran through the derelict house, the floor boards underneath them creaked. 

Frisk leg’s felt like they were on fire from all the running they had been doing the past few days. This was worse than when they were underground. They could at least stop and rest there and grab something to eat.

Their legs started to cramp up and they found themselves slowing down.

Papyrus saw this and hurried over to them.

"FRISK! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” 

“Y..Yeah... just tired.”

“I-I UNDERSTAND. BUT WE MUST KEEP GOING. WE....WE’RE ALMOST THERE AND.. SANS... WE HAVE TO KEEP GOING...”

Frisk nodded, and struggled to keep on running. They followed closely behind Papyrus and winced each time the boards beneath them moaned.

Creak.

Was it all really worth it though?

Creak.

To get to the Mountain when everyone else was dead?

Creak.

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE!

Creeeeaccccccck!

Suddenly the floor boards underneath Frisk gave out. They found themselves falling backwards toward pitch black hole where the floor once was.

“HUMAN!” Papyrus grabbed onto one of Frisk’s outstretched hands.

 But their thin arms slid out oh his gloved hands. 

They felt themselves falling down.

“FRISK!”

Down into the darkness of the depths below the house.

“Frisk!”

The sound of Papyrus calling out to them grew fainter.

Down.

Down.

Down.

With the last bit of their determination and concentration, they summoned up the red button with the bold letters that read:

R E S E T

“Frisk!”

Frisk jumps, waking up from their terrible memories. They look at Flowey who huffs at them.

“Finally,” he says. “I’ve been yelling out your name for a while now. You’ve been sitting there all zoned out like a zombie for several minutes not saying a single word to me. Hmph.” He tilts his head at Frisk. “So, are you finally spill it? What’s your reason for not reaching the surface?”

Frisk averts their eyes. “No reason. No reason at all.”

[serendipitousstudiosyt]

Chapter 4: Pies And The Past

{When Pain Was My Everything}

TRIGGER WARNING

If you or someone you know has experienced or is experiencing the real world events portrayed in this chapter of When Pain Was My Everything, (rape, abuse, etc) please contact the appropriate authorities, or tell a councillor or guardian. Thank you for reading

My eyes slid open, finally being released from my subconscious. I lay still, going over the dream with a fine tooth comb, again and again. It had been...what, months? Well...that may just be wishful thinking, that I may have gotten away that long ago. It felt like months...time really doesn't have much meaning to me.

My eyes wander around the room, realizing that the lights in the room, are off. As I became more alert, I notice the smell of...cinnamon? No...it's closer to butterscotch...but also, strawberry.

I slowly slide up in the bed I'm laying on, and look around. Close by, on the ground, is a plate with a large piece of pie sat on it. A very small smile engulfs my features, as a stare at it...that lovely woman really does have a soft spot...there has to be something I can do to help her.

I look over to flowey, seeing that he isn't there. I grow curious, standing. I pick up the plate, along with the fork that is sitting on the plate, and gently poke it, it cuts with the fork like pudding...how all pie should be...

I took a chunk, and put it in my mouth. My tongue tingled with the taste, as my lips curled upwards. My mouth is consumed by the taste of cinnamon...butterscotch, and...strawberries?

I swallow, looking back at the pie piece. I hadn't realized how hungry I had been...well, I've been running a long time...I allowed myself another bite, consumed by the taste once more.

After a few more small bites, I set the pie piece down on the bedside table, wiping my mouth a little bit. In the darkness, I wandered over to the closet, and opened it. Looking down at myself, I realize how mangled my clothing is, and elect to change into something....cleaner. I hope the children that previously occupied this room, can forgive me.

I took a larger looking turtle neck sweater, black, with red stripes, a pair of...white, shorts, some brown tights, and an extra pair of boots. I peel my old clothes off of me, looking over my various scars and bruises that just never healed, and a little sigh escapes me...so dirty.

I pulled on the tights and shorts, and a dark blue tank top, and stared at the sweater. It smelled a lot like buttercups. Pushing past it, I pulled the sweater on over my head, my hair shifting away from my eyes. Finding a hair brush, and rid myself of the tangles, pushing the hair in front of my eyes once more.

I set the brush aside, and went to put on the boots I'd found, when a small poke at my side stopped me. I noticed a small lump in the pocket of the shorts I was wearing, and pulled away for a moment. I dug my hand into the pocket, and pull out a large golden ribbon...along with a little birthday card, covered in golden flowers. The card reads 'happy birthday momma!! We found this ribbon for you in papas Garden!'

I thought it cute, as I stared at the ribbon...then up at the wall, thinking. I pushed my hair away a moment, and began to wrap the golden strand of ribbon around my eyes, closing them tight. Once I tied the small bow in the back, my hair fell back into place. The familiar darkness consumed my eye sight, and I am left standing there, in the familiar darkness, alone.

"Y/n...?" I turn to the sound. It was small, and gentle. Flowey. "Yes?" I muttered. He climbed up me again. Resting on my shoulder. "I...noticed you tossing a little last night..." silence engulfed the room. Nothing was said on the matter.

I dug a little into the closet, finding a bag, and setting it on the bed. I looked back at the pie, my stomach growling at me in anger and hollowness. I gave into the need, and finished the pie piece, sharing some with flowey. He loved it too.

I took the plate and fork, and silently exited the room. I walked down the hallway, and saw the goat woman sitting on the cloth chair. I peak around the corner, and she looks up from her book she's reading. It's a cook book. Resting on her muzzle are a pair of glasses. She really does look like a kindergarten teacher. She gives a smile...warm, and gentle. Much different than expected, or anything I've seen up until this moment. The world around this woman, really didn't...affect her. It's like she was...damaged, in some way, that made her think she needed to act malicious, and cause pain.

I stopped myself at the thought, and reached up to the ribbon...this was supposed to hide my eyes...I scoffed a little bit to myself, bitterly. Lotta good that did me.

I stepped into the room, plate in hand. I gave a little smile, passing her and going into the kitchen, washing my dish and putting it away. I could sense the woman in the door, watching. "Thank you, for washing your dish" she spoke. I turned around, to face her. I could almost see her figure through the ribbon, in my mind...

Such a small thing, gained me praise. It was something so insignificant but...it made me feel good. A little smile played my face. I seemed to do that more, now than ever. It pleased me "of course" I spoke. My voice crackled a little bit, and a whisper finished my words. My smile fell, and I gently touched my throat...

                •••

The woman gave a little hum as she watched the child carefully. She grew concerned when she saw the child touch their throat in fear. They seemed, frightened.

Toriel knelt before the child, causing them to shift a little, uncomfortably. The woman knew this look. It was the look of a wounded child...someone had hurt them, but she couldn't place it.

"My child...are you well?" She asked. The child's blood ran cold, indicating that Toriels suspicion was correct. She placed a large hand on the child's arm, concern evident in her eyes.

"I expected not...come" she spoke warmly, leading the child into a bathroom, and grabbing a few vials from a cupboard. "Sit, young one" she spoke gently. The child sat down on the edge of the tub, waiting in silence.

The woman came back to them, a box of herbs and such in hand. She set it on the ground, kneeling before them. The child looked up at the woman, their eyes covered. They slowly removed their new woollen sweater, exposing their thin, almost bone like arms...malnutrition plagued them, the woman realized...but the thing that spoke to the motherly creature more, were the large black and yellow bruises that looked old, and the long scars that looked like someone had taken a mule whip to the child's arms. Their closed eyes pricked with clear liquid, but they refused to cry anymore.

The woman ran her fingers over the large bruises, and the permanent rings around the child's wrists. She pulled a sparkling green liquid from her box of medical herbs, and popped the little lid off of it, pouring a few drops into her white furred hands. She began to gently run the liquid over the bruises, which healed within moments of the liquid drying. She did all she could for the child, taking more liquid and time...it took a few hours before all the bruises and freshly scabbed cuts were closed and healed...a few were infected already, so she had to use other kinds of liquid.

A few moments passed, before the child spoke up. "How...how did you know" they spoke, their words crackling gently. Their mother looked up gently, with pity in her eyes, along with concern.

"I used to have two children...when me and their father were together" she began, now working on the child's back. "One child was human, having fallen down a long time ago...I knew by the way they acted that, something had happened to them in their past" she explained. The child winced, when the woman's hand pressed against what felt like a broken bone...a rib. "Oh- my, I am so sorry" she spoke quickly, pulling another liquid from her box, this one was silver, with flecks of green bubbles in it. She gently ran it over the area, it giving a small shimmer. The bone didn't heal, but it was safe, and it would soon.

"I didn't realize it then, but...the child had been hurt up on the surface. I didn't help them, when I could..." she finished, checking the child over once more. "I could see the way you shook when I was near...someone has hurt you too, haven't they" She asked softly...the woman may have seemed cruel and shrill, giving the impression that she would tear you apart if you made eye contact with her...but in this moment, she was a concerned mother, who wanted to protect her child.

The child gave a shaky hum, pulling their shirt and sweater back on after giving the Okay. The mother began to put away her items, the child simply sitting it silence. There was one thing, in the child's mind that ate away at them...but they didn't know what kind of reaction they'd get. They'd feel bad, if they used their ability to invade the woman's mind but...they needed to know.

They carefully used their finger to make a small hole in the ribbons layers, their eyes peaking out...they looked back up to the woman, and focused.

You see, we already know that this child isn't...human, per-say. They have the ability of wish, and a soul made of satisfaction, but there's one more thing, that makes them special...their eyes. The reason they keep them covered, is because if they didn't, kingdoms would fall at their feet simply by the look they could give. Their eyes allowed them to read the thoughts and feelings of any person their eyes could see, which helps them to grant wishes...to see the pure desires of the people around them...they were told to keep them covered, or they'd never be trusted, or loved...no one could know...no one.

Their eyes landed on the woman, and they saw right through her...looking to her soul. It was white, and upside down, but they could see the feelings and thoughts within it...the woman loved the child. The woman loved them so much, even though they'd barely known her....

The child then quickly hid their eyes again, to give the illusion nothing had happened...they took a deep breath, and spoke.

"Thank you...mom"

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How would y'all feel about another fanfic? Undertale, probably. If you think it's a cool idea,  which au, or au characters would you wanna see me rip apart mercilessly and piece back together but like to the left? It's up to y'all. Peace