Patta slept until the afternoon. They couldn't believe how well rested they felt. It was one of those rare moments when one felt in peace, physically and mentally. The descended to the lobby, noticing Graham was once again sitting behind his desk. "Hey" they greeted.
"Hi there, Patta. You look different" Graham looked at them with interest "Okay, that's a lie because you look the same, but there's something different about you"
"I feel different, that is all. Has anything happened while I was asleep?"
"Annie arrived. She's with Asriel and Frisk in the parlor and requested me to not to bother them. Maybe they'll allow you to check on them" he pointed in direction to the parlor.
Graham, a kind man who only wants people to be okay. From giving temporal shelter to a monster, to trying to help a friend to reach their dream, he is a good person who wants to help.
I suppose that's the reason why, until Frisk fell Underground, Graham was the one who survived the longest. He avoided fighting, trying his best to appease any monster he encountered, and he was actually pretty damn good at that!
He wasn't the type to accept a situation without wanting something better, either. While he was thankful Toriel offered him a home, he wanted to return to the surface. Toriel wasn't happy at the idea, which is to be expected after seeing three children go through the door just to die. Graham understood her fear, but he was sure he would manage to survive! "I have to go, Toriel!" Graham had exclaimed "It won't be easy, but I'm sure monsters aren't bad people. I'm sure we can get along"
Toriel warned him about Asgore, though, and remarked he had killed three children already. Graham wasn't scared of that, though, and although he never said it to Toriel's face, he did say to other monsters he met later that he planned to talk to Asgore.
He had a curious philosophy, too: friends are made through sharing food. He was convinced the way to get along with monsters was through their stomachs, which made Toriel chuckle and support wholeheartedly. They spent hours preparing a lot of food; so much Graham almost couldn't lift the backpack he took with him. But it was a sound strategy.
Graham avoided attacking, instead preferring to talk and try to reach a mutual understanding. Then, after that, he would usually give them some food, and everything will be okay. He managed to make many friends, get along with many type of monsters and overall he grew to be accepted by a lot of people! He would have been very happy underground.
At some point he did realize that. His objective changed from asking Asgore to let him out of the Underground, to ask Asgore for help to establish himself somewhere in the Underground in exchange of his SOUL when he died of natural death someday. Graham wanted to be a famous chef for the Underground, and he was convinced with Asgore's help he'd be successful. From what I know about Asgore I'm sure he would have accepted that and helped in any way he could.
...
...it's a shame he never reached New Home. Even if Graham was a nice child that didn't mean the Royal Guard wouldn't try to stop him and take his soul, or some stray monsters would accidentally engage in FIGHTs with him.
It was shortly after he encountered another member of the Royal Guard. Graham had already reached Hotland, grasping the frying pan but without using it to attack anybody. He convinced the foe to stop attacking him, and gave him the last piece of the food he had brought. Another friend was made!
However the encounter had been taxing for him. He hadn't managed to protect himself against all the magical attacks, and for that reason he had lost almost all of his HP. Knowing he needed to heal himself, he decided to return to the closest place where he could find some type of healing item. And it was during that path he encountered the monster that would be his doom.
It was the first time he saw a Vulkin. By now he was more than used to the different species of monsters, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. That didn't mean he was off-guard. He raised the frying pan, ready for the attacks that could come. "Ah, ah!" the Vulkin said. "You are hurt!"
"...kinda" Graham replied. Vulkin frowned.
"I can help!"
That was all Graham wanted to hear. He put his frying pan aside, relieved. "Thank you, thank you so much" He had nothing to fear, after all. The Vulkin was sweet and Graham could see it wouldn't hurt a fly. Why not to trust him? That's what being kind was all about, it was all based on trust. And that's how he had managed to make friends with so many monsters, because he had trusted them, and they returned his trust.
So he left himself wide open. He trusted Vulkin to heal him, and Vulkin was willing to do it. It waddled closer, happy to help. "Yep, yep. Healing magmas!" There wasn't enough time for Graham to block the magical attack; Vulkin was way too close for that.
Needless to say, after the ordeal there was one heavily traumatized Vulkin.
Graham hadn't done anything wrong. His only fault was that he trusted too much, and it wasn't like that truth was wrongly placed. It was nobody's fault Vulkin had such a misconception about its own lava.
All the monsters who had befriended Graham mourned his death, but in a way they were more grateful than ever. Thanks to his SOUL, they were all one step closer to freedom. They figured that's what Graham would have wanted, and while they weren't wrong, he would have preferred to continue living.
The news of Graham's death also made Toriel determined to not to let any other child to go out. Four children had perished, and that is why Ananas had to sneak out instead of simply being asked to be let outside.
Poor Graham, it was all a terrible misunderstanding, but at least he was proven right, and Frisk soon would make it be even clearer: a bit of kindness does help.
That's why in so many timelines monsters manage to have peaceful lives in the surface, because a lot of people like monsters and want them to be around, or have been treated well by monsters, and are grateful for that. A lot of people would consider that a happy ending, wouldn't it? But it isn't enough. It can't be enough.
Frisk and I know that.
Sometimes he resets the timeline and all I do is watch if they can make any progress on achieving a better ending. Sometimes I take the timeline and create a new one from scratch, changing details and trying to see if modifying the events would lead to a better future.
And sometimes...sometimes it's somebody else who manages to change everything. By that I mean it's Flowey or Chara the one to reset, but that almost never happens now. At the beginning it was very often and out of my control, but recently they haven't really intervened.
Either way, it doesn't really matter. We made a promise, and for that reason I'm going to follow it to the very end.
It's for everybody. I won't be able to be there myself, but that doesn't matter, does it? I promised it, and I don't break a promise.
We'll create the best future.
"She is?" They looked at the clock. It was a little past 4 PM, they had slept for quite a while.
"Remember they are in the lounge. I'll be here, if you need me"
Patta nodded and prepared to step towards the parlor, but before they could move a knock sounded on the door. They froze, looking at it, and it seemed Graham hadn't expected anybody to be here, either. "I'll deal with that"
"Were you expecting anybody to come?"
Graham walked to the front door to peek through the window and see who it was. "Ciruel is coming tomorrow, not today. It may be a potential client, looking for a room" he pulled away the curtain and took a look outside. "Oh dear"
"What?"
"Right, act natural, Patta. I'm going to open the door, but as long as you don't act suspicious there's nothing to be worried about"
That sounded very ominous. Dozens of potential bad scenarios crossed Patta's mind, but they stayed calm. "Is it the police or something?"
"It'd be better if it was the police. They would have to follow protocols and all that stuff, but these guys aren't like them. He wouldn't be here unless he suspected there was something noteworthy going on in this inn"
"What's going on? Who is outside?"
Graham grasped the doorknob, ready to open the door, and answered in a way that made it sound much more dramatic than it should have been:
"Teenagers. It's the Youth Troop"
