Happy Flowers Fall Up

Chapter 13

I stopped by the nice cream guy first and got two nice creams. Headaches don't feel so bad in the cold. Then I went back to my house and snuck around in case Papyrus was home. But that didn't save me. Papyrus had stumbled home after the fight and had seen me at the nice cream cart. He hid back at our house, knowing that I would have to come home eventually.

He grabbed me with his magic so that I couldn't escape. In truth, I could have gotten away at any time. Papyrus's magic wasn't strong enough to hold me, but I humored him just so I could figure out what he was up to. Papyrus yelled, "YOU FOOL! YOU ARE AIDING A HUMAN! THAT IS GROUNDS FOR EXECUTION! WHY?!"

I hung there in the air without moving and said, "I think you know why. You know this is wrong. That human never hurt anyone and she spared your life. She wants to help us without any more unnecessary death. Why can't you see that? Why won't you help us save the underground?"

Papyrus was furious. "I WILL SAVE THE UNDERGROUND FROM THE LIKES OF THOSE REPULSIVE HUMANS! AND I WILL DO IT WITHOUT YOU!"

He raised some bones and blasters and aimed them at me. I sighed, "I didn't want to hurt you, but you leave me no choice. I can't leave her unprotected." I broke free from Papyrus's magic and flipped down to kick him in the chest and send him flying across the room. I continued forward with my eye flaming. "I can't let you hurt her or warn anyone else about her. I'm sorry bro, but you're gonna have a bad time." Papyrus put his arms up and used his magic as a shield, but that did next to nothing. I was much more powerful.

I left Papyrus on the floor in a heap. He was barely breathing and he had 1 HP left. I couldn't bring myself to kill my own brother, or at least I couldn't kill someone who had once been my brother, even at the risk of Alice's safety. I teleported back to find her gone.

At the same time, with Alice…

As soon as I left, Alice curled up into a ball in the shelter. She tried to sleep, but she couldn't push the nightmares out knowing that I wasn't with her. She decided to try and walk off the pain. She started in circles, but that just made her insoles hurt. She wrote me a text on our phones saying, "Going for a walk. Hope to clear my head. I'm taking the giant blaster for protection."

After walking for a while, she found a cave and went in. There was an old turtle. He was sleeping but he held a sign that said, "Humans beware! You need armor or strong friends to pass Undyne or you won't last 10 seconds. Find Temmie." That last part was scratched out but Alice could still read it. At least she thought she could. By now, her head was just pounding dully so she almost didn't notice it anymore. Almost. She was on her way back to her little camp when she found another cave. This one had a music box in it that was playing some beautiful music.

She returned to the camp long enough to see that I hadn't returned yet. She looked at her phone and noticed that the first text had not been read, so she sent a second one saying, "I hope you are okay. You sure are taking a while. I went to the cave with the music box. I hope you know where that is. It is dark and cool and the music is very soothing. I'll see you there when you get back." Just as she left again, I teleported back.

All I could think was that Undyne captured Alice and was holding her until I showed up so she could kill us both together. But then I looked at my phone and saw both of Alice's messages. I instantly teleported to the cave with the music box. Of course I knew where it was. I had been all over the underground more times than anyone could count. In my haste to find her, I called out, "Alice! Are you in here?!"

I heard a "shh" coming from behind a large boulder. Alice said, "It was nice in here until you came and ruined the ambiance." I could hear the smile in her voice.

I sat down next to her and said, "Sorry. I was concerned." She leaned her head on my shoulder. I still had to get used to that. No one had touched me with kindness in such a long time. I liked the feeling, but still didn't trust the action entirely.

All of a sudden, Alice gasped and leaned away. She said, "You're bleeding. What happened while you were gone?" I guess I hadn't noticed the miniscule injury. She began wrapping my bleeding arm with a spare rag. I loved that even though we both knew I could heal on my own she still wanted to take care of me.

I chuckled and replied, "Had a little run in with my bro. Nothing I couldn't handle though."

Alice looked horrified. She whispered, "Did you… kill him?"

I looked down and said, "I left him alive but I made sure that he won't be able to follow us or warn anyone this time." She let out a sigh. I remembered why I had left in the first place and handed her the nice cream cone. It was really melty by now but was still cold. She took it gratefully and let the cold soak through her until the rest of her headache was gone. She stood and swayed to the music. I watched her with a gentle smile. I got up too and took her hand and asked, "Do you dance?"

Alice squealed happily and said, "Yes. I love dancing. I'm particularly fond of the polka, cha cha, and waltz."

I twirled her in towards me until we were in the proper ballroom dance position. I listened closely for a second and said, "Well, you're in luck. This song just so happens to be a waltz." Alice giggled and let me lead her in a waltz. Throughout the dance, I twirled her and dipped her. She was having so much fun until she started tripping. She became weaker and weaker. I caught her for the tenth time. Still holding her up I asked, "What's wrong, Sweetheart? Is your headache back?"

She shook her head as she tried to stand on her own and failed. She finally admitted, "Sans… I can't feel my legs."