I want all of you guys to pull up a chair and get comfortable. This chapter is going to be a long one. And it's not like the last time I went and said that. I just thought it was going to carry on for a while. This one though, BOY IS THIS ONE LONGER THAN THE OTHERS. This is the longest chapter in the story by far. I doubt there'll be another chapter that'll be longer than this one. It meshes two fights in one chapter so that's probably why it's bloated as heck. Anyways, don't skip through anything! Until then!

stop reading this text if you don't want to have a bad time.

I walk down a narrow hallway and see a sign.

'Throne Room' it says.

There was a cluster of leaves leading into another room, they're in the shape of a doormat. I take out my diary and write down my encounter with Gaster. Right before I pass into the next room, I notice another path that led farther down. I head in that direction and head down the steps. I step into a room and see coffins with different color SOULs on the front. My mouth drops open and I look around, horrified. There were seven coffins, all right in front of me.

"What in the...!?"

I look at the first coffin and see the name "Chara" on the front. Come to think of it, I heard the name "Chara" in Waterfall during that dream.

I walk out of this traumatizing room and head back upstairs. When I pass through the door, I realize that this throne room looks more like a garden than anything else. It's color shines in contrast with all the other gray rooms. I can see golden flowers all gathered in one area. There was a large figure watering them, the King maybe? I slowly walk up to get a better look. The monster had golden hair and two horns. They wore a long blue robe. I could hear them singing a little tune to themselves.

"Uh...hello?" I greet.

"Oh? Is someone there?" A deep, male voice asks,"Just a moment! I have almost finished watering these flowers,"

The monster turns around with a smile on his face.

"Howdy!" he says,"How can I...Oh,"

He pauses and backs away, his face in a bit of shock. It wasn't too drastic, his mouth only dropped open slightly, but he had the biggest smile on his face just a while ago. This monster is definitely King Asgore. Not only does he say "Howdy!" he also has a striking likeness to Toriel.

"...I so badly want to say,'would you like a cup of tea?'" he says,"But...You know how it is,"

This guy is immensely kind. It's kind of hard to imagine him as a murderer. He really strikes me as the "family man" kind of guy. One that's always there for them, no matter what.

"Nice day today, huh?" Asgore asks,"Birds are singing, flowers are blooming...Perfect weather for a game of catch,"

"It is pretty nice, huh?" I ask,"Is it always this quiet and peaceful?"

"Well, there's no weather in the UNDERGROUND,"he says,"Rarely do people ever wander up here. Yes, it's almost always quiet,"

Asgore turns and looks out of a window, frowning. He sighs and looks towards me.

"You know what we must do," He says,"When you are ready, come into the next room,"

He walks off and I follow him, not really sure where else to go. I walk into another room. It wasn't as nearly as colorful and bright as the last.

"How tense...Just think of it like...A visit to the dentist," Asgore says.

I'm not sure how to picture my death as a visit to the dentist. Maybe he's saying that it hurts, but works out eventually. I'd be more accepting of those words if they weren't about me dying. Also, my death probably won't solve anything. Sans DID say that humanity was going to be destroyed. Probably after a second war. And then what? Will the survivors just duke it out or be forced to rebuild the entire area from the ground up?

"Are you ready?" He asks,"If you are not, I understand. I am not ready either,"

He heads into another room. I take this small moment to write down what Asgore looks like and the small talk we had. I use my phone and realize that I have two dimensional boxes that I can move stuff from. I check the first one and find the butterscotch pie and golden flower in it. I take both of those items along with the snowman piece and they fade into my ITEMS. I take out the golden flower and put it in my hair. It stuck out towards the side of the top of my head.

I walk into the next room with Asgore. A light pulses on the walls and travels farther off to who-knows-where.

"This is the barrier," He says,"This is what keeps us all trapped underground,"

"It's...quite eye-catching," I say, trying to lighten the mood a bit, but failing to think of anything decent.

"If...If by any chance you have any unfinished business...please do what you must," he says.

"There's nothing for me to go back for," I respond,"Whenever you're ready..."

"...I see..." He says,"This is it, then...ready?"

Seven containers appear from the floor. One of them is empty. I take it that the empty one is where my soul is supposed to be. My SOUL appears from within me. It's finally happening.

'A strange light fills the room.'

'Twilight is shining through the barrier.'

'It seems my journey is finally over.'

'I'm filled with...DETERMINATION.'

"Human, it was nice to meet you,"Asgore says,"Goodbye,"

Asgore takes out a big red trident. With it, the four options 'FIGHT' 'ACT' 'ITEM' AND 'MERCY' appear. He thrusts his trident out and breaks the mercy option. I stand there and watch as the broken pieces scatter around me, terrified. I look back at him and his head is facing downward. I guess he can't look at me without feeling sadness or shame.

"Listen, I don't want to fight you," I say,"I came up here to help the monsters and I escape,"

"There's no time for that," He says,"This is it..."

I thought my words had no effect, but I saw his hands tremble for a small bit. The trident shook a small bit from it, but he calms down a bit later. He casts fire magic at me and I dodge it. These attacks reminded me of Toriel. I knew how her patterns worked so this was no problem.

"This isn't the way to fix everything," I say,"There'll only be more deaths after this!"

"Everyone will finally...be free," Asgore replies,"This is what...we've been working so hard for,"

He looks like he had to force those words out of himself. He looks pained to say it and I know for a fact that he doesn't want this battle to happen in the first place. He sent wavy lines of fireballs down in my direction. I know Toriel had a variation of this attack, but I never managed to get it down. I misstep and get burned, scorched.

I clench my side and look at Asgore. He pauses for a slight moment and hears my heavy breathing. I nearly saw the king drop his trident right there and then, but he just grabs it firmly after a second.

"I don't want to fight!" I yell,"So cut it out!"

Again, he nearly drops the trident right in front of me. I just chalked it up that talking wasn't going to solve a thing. If I'm going to get through to King Asgore, I have to find another way to end this. I guess the only option is to fight. But before that...instant noodles. A little microwave pops up and I put the noodles in a bowl and push it inside.

"Um...t-the battle..." Asgore starts.

"You mind? Wait a bit!" I snap.

Asgore gives an apologetic look.

-Six minutes later-

I'm dodging blow after blow and suffer burns all over. It hurts to stand, but I can definitely feel the strength of the burns lessening. He must be holding back. It sort of reminds me of Toriel. Although, she would outright make her attacks avoid me instead of just weakening them. This guy is nice even when he knows he has to kill me. I can respect that.

It was finally my turn to strike back. I waste no time in landing a blow on him using the dagger I found. I held back the first time because I'm not used to outwardly trying to hurt somebody. He senses my hesitation and even seems to encourage me to continue. I guess he feels that if I attack, it'll take some of the pain of doing this act off of his mind. Knowing what he's going though is painful.

"Only one of us is going to survive this!" He insists,"Don't hold back, no matter what!"

"Only if you do the same, I can tell this is hurting you," I reply.

He nods slowly, his head directed at the ground again.

"Give it your all!" He yells.

I run towards him, passing easily through an orange scythe attack, and give him a sharp cut across his right cheek. I back away just in time to avoid some fire magic. He would send clusters of it at the sides, but would shoot a small line of it down the middle. I kept to the middle. Though it hurt and burned me, I was mostly alright. He and I traded blows as the battle carried on. He sent a cluster of fireballs that covered every end of the field. I slip between them and give Asgore one final shot.

He collapses and is reduced to kneeling just to stay up. He continues to fire shots at me. I got trapped and was covered in burn marks. I pick this moment to take out the butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It was still warm, even after my entire journey. It looked just like it had been when Toriel had left it for me. I was going to start eating before I took a look at Asgore. He stares at the pie in my hand, sniffing the air a small bit.

"S-something the matter?"

"I never COULD replicate her pies," He said,"They were so unique,"

I frown and look at the pie for a bit. I wanted to save this pie for when I needed it most. Now, it seems like that time is here. But, I never would have thought that Asgore would enjoy these kind of pies. I slowly take my gaze away from it and walk up to Asgore, hold it out in front of me, offering it to him.

"Y-you..." he falters,"I had so long ago forgotten what they had tasted like...after all these years...I still can't remember it,"

He gingerly takes it from me, looking at it with a sort of nostalgic look on his face.

"I don't want this fight to continue," I say to him,"I want to help you guys escape...we can find another way,"

"...I remember the day after my son died," Asgore says,"The entire underground was devoid of hope. The future had once again been taken from us by the humans. In a fit of anger...I declared war. I said I would destroy every human that came here,"

"W-why?"

"I was rash and blinded by anger," He says.

"Asgore, I know that humans can be hasty to make decisions when it comes to seeing something they don't know or understand," I say,"But you have to remember, not all are bad. Some of us are amazing and loved by everyone!"

"I understand that. Meeting you, those words seem to be more true with every passing second," He says,"You did your best to show mercy. I had to even tell you it was alright for you to even begin fighting back. And even then, I attacked more than you did. You acknowledged that this fight was hard for the both of us,"

"Asgore, you're a great king. You put all of this effort into keeping everyone's hopes up. I can imagine that going about all of this chaos must have been extremely tough for you,"I say,"But you have to realize, violence isn't always a solution to everything,"

I take the golden flower out of my hair. Asgore holds the butterscotch-cinnamon pie in his right hand and takes the golden flower in his left. He stares at it for a bit before looking at me.

"Sure, violence is easy. It is EASY to hurt someone. It is EASY to just not care and throw them aside without giving a second thought,"I say to Asgore,"Learning to care is difficult. Whether you like it or not, caring for others isn't always easy. But if you take the time to understand and put effort into every fiber of your being, it can go a long way. I've met so many monsters that just needed to have their problems solved. They care about each other so much,"

"...Where...did you get this flower?" Asgore asks me.

"Let's just say...a friend of mine gave it to me. Think of it as...forgiveness for everything that's happened. I know you don't want to fight. So why not end it here?" I ask.

Asgore looks at me for a moment before sitting and looking down at the ground, dropping the flower and setting the pie down gently. I can see a tear drop from his face and he shakes a bit, sobbing silently. I can't tell if he's truly saddened or if he's crying tears of joy that this battle is over. If the latter is the case, then it's nice to see he's got most of the weight of his problems off of his back. I walk up to Asgore to comfort him, but he motions for me to stay where I am.

"Truthfully, I do not want power. I do not want to hurt anyone," He says,"I just wanted everyone to have hope. But...I cannot take this any longer. I just want to see my wife. I just want to see my child. Please...young one...this war has gone on long enough. You have the power...take my soul, and leave this cursed place,"

"Asgore, as much as I want to see my family again, I can't," I reply,"You expect me to choose over staying down here, or going up there? I won't! For a while, I thought my goal was simple. Go throughout the UNDERGROUND and escape to my family on the surface,"

Asgore looks at me intently, listening to my words.

"But...along the way, I've met so many different monsters. I've learned that they all love each other like family. I used to be a young girl who would do everything she could to fit in with everyone else. I wanted to be like everyone else because I was afraid of what would happen if I was deemed 'different," I explain.

'But...now I want to help everyone out here.'

'I want to pay them back for what I learned from them.'

'I learned that life is going to be full of strange and new things.'

'I learned that violence isn't always the solution.'

'I learned...that I can just be myself. I won't have to worry about being judged.'

"I even started to love being down here! The friends I've met aren't like any other human I've met before. Of course, there's my family, but...some people just aren't replaceable," I finish,"So, no, Asgore, I'm not taking your soul. We're doing this some other way,"

Asgore looks at me, completely baffled. His saddened face had turned into a tearful grin.

"...After everything I have done to hurt you...you would rather stay down here and suffer, than live happily on the surface?" Asgore asks,"Human...I promise you...for as long as you remain here...My wife and I will take care of you as best we can. We can sit in the living room, telling stories...eating butterscotch pie...We could be like...like a family,"

I was about to hug Asgore before I noticed a swarm of bullets surrounding him. He looks about, horrified before being struck with them.

"ASGORE!"

He turns to dust and his SOUL is left there. One last bullet strikes it, shattering it. Flowey suddenly appears from the ground, smiling the biggest smile ever. I clench my fist tightly as I pull my face into a look of disgust and anger.

"You IDIOT," Flowey says,"You haven't learned a thing,"

I draw my dagger and charge at him, intent on ripping this guy from the ground. He just goes back into the ground and pops up somewhere else, laughing.

"In this world, it's kill or be killed," He says,"But, believe me, I understand. You're not able to comprehend it AT ALL. You weren't even supposed to exist,"

"W-what do you mean?"

"Remember how I said Frisk's relentless resetting was causing everything to go crazy?" Flowey asks,"Well, during that craziness, you were brought into being,"

"How do you know all of this?"

"Let me explain. The timelines in the world are like a quilt. They're all heading in the same direction at first, all at the same time. But then, they're crossed over by something, and that results in a different path happening. In one of these paths, you came along," he says,"Frisk, seeing you for the first time, did his best to RESET the timeline to get rid of you. I guess he realized just how much he screwed up,"

"H-he what!?"

"But, to his horror, he couldn't get rid of you. Your strive to exist overtook his efforts. The only thing he could do was erase your memory and make you start off above ground again," Flowey says,"Anyway...I want you to see something,"

A red SOUL suddenly appears. It glows and floats a little bit over the ground.

"Is that?"

"Frisk's SOUL?" he asks,"I found them, defenseless, alone, and at the CORE, looking for you. Apparently they wanted to explain what happened with you and apologize, hoping to help you fix this entire mess. Let's just say...I jumped at the opportunity to...prove my point from earlier. It's kill or be killed,"

"You're horrible!" I say,"You're a horrible, horrible freak!"

He just laughs at me. The other SOULs that Asgore had gathered with Frisk's. They swarm in a circle and surround Flowey. My vision slowly gets white before I'm blinded. When I open my eyes, I'm thrust into a black void. I have no idea where to go or what to do. I begin to take out my diary to load my save again. To my horror, I see that it's filled with the names of the kids that died down here. I read them over closely.

'Chara & Frisk' - Red Soul: Determination

'Alice' - Aqua Soul: Patience

'Owen' - Orange Soul: Bravery

'Belle' - Blue Soul: Integrity

'Percival' - Purple Soul: Perseverance

'Gene' - Green Soul: Kindness

'Yusef' - Yellow Soul: Justice

At the bottom of the list, I see a name slowly appear. My eyes widened and I drop the book.

'Anna' - Maroon Soul: Friendship

The diary slowly moves away from me and floats in the air. It slowly rips in two as Flowey's head appears from the rip. The ripped pages fall onto the ground and the words disappear like someone just spilled white-out over them.

"Howdy!" Flowey says,"It's me, FLOWEY! FLOWEY the FLOWER!"

My frightened look turns back into anger.

"I owe you a HUGE thanks," He says,"You really did a number on that old fool. Without you, I NEVER could have gotten past him. But now, with YOUR help, he's DEAD. And I'VE got the human SOULS!"

'Boy! I've been empty for so long...'

'It feels great to have a SOUL inside me again.'

'Mmmm, I can feel them wriggling...'

'Awww, you're feeling left out, aren't you?'

'Well, that's just perfect.'

'After all, power is power.'

'I'll use your SOUL to help erase this world and start a new one!'

'And don't worry, you won't have to go through this pain again.'

'Because you're not coming back.'

'Your SAVE file, it's gone.'

'But, no worries, your old friend Flowey has worked out a replacement for you!'

'I'll SAVE over your own death.'

'So you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces.'

'Over, and over, and over...'

I begin to get enough of this guy and decide to shut him up for good. I step towards him, challenging him.

'...What? Do you really think you can stop ME?" Flowey asks,"You really ARE an idiot,"

The six SOULs and Frisk's begin to appear and scatter around. My maroon-colored SOUL appears from my center. I look about as a giant black silhouette appears. Flowey's face appears on a white screen and looks normal for a slight bit. That quickly changes as it's eyes become a red with green pupils. He lets out a spine-chilling laugh as he reveals an absolutely horrific look. I don't even know where to describe it. It's literally something you'd only know the words for if you saw it yourself.

-88-

I was getting knocked around and hit from every angle. Walking started to hurt after a while because my legs were injured. I dodged attacks from flamethrowers and moved out of the way of vines. One of the thorns on the vines scraped my leg and I fall to the ground, clutching it. I get up slowly and attack him. It didn't seem to do a single thing. I was about to give up before the screen at the top started flashing. I saw an aqua colored heart appear. The girl's name...Alice, I think that was it. She was associated with patience.

I'm then thrust into a cluster of spinning knives. They looked like the toy knife I found in the RUINS a long while back. I dodge them rather easy as they switch their directions. I see an ACT button floating towards me. Pressing it, I'm finally able to get some words out of my petrified self.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I yell out, unable to think of anything else to do.

I thought what I did hadn't done anything before I saw the knives starting to shake. They then turn into bandages and begin heading towards me. They phase into my SOUL and I felt my wounds being healed. It wasn't long before I was back to normal and fighting Flowey again. This time, Flowey tried killing me with bombs. I dodge them all, but take damage from the vines. Fingers come out from the sides and shoot bullets at me. I dodge all of them and see an orange soul appear. I'm sure that kid's name was Owen. He was associated with bravery. I'm then taken to another area where gloves begin to appear and spin around in circles. I remember seeing a glove like those in the box I had. Though, I'd never taken it out.

In one of the clusters of gloves, I see another ACT button. I press it and call out for help. The gloves shake and change their shape to look like a thumbs up. I run through them and watch as the gloves phase into my SOUL, healing my wounds. Back to the battle with Flowey, bullets come from two of the four eyes of this...thing. Vines start to appear. I learn to just edge to the side a bit and they'd all wind up clustering where I used to be. Flowey notices this and shoots more vines. This time, though, he lets me move around and stop before LOADing and letting the vines hit me. I stagger for a small moment and look around, completely baffled.

Unfortunately for me, my health didn't change when he would SAVE and LOAD. He would start doing it more often. He'd SAVE and LOAD when he was firing bullets, shooting vines, everything. I was about to collapse when I saw the blue SOUL on the screen. What was it again...integrity...the child's name is Belle. I was sent to another area where ballet slippers would hop up and down, keeping me trapped in very closed spaces. This would be an absolute nightmare for someone who's claustrophobic. I'm kept in a closed space because there were star-shaped bullets covering the top part of the area. So, I was forced to stay at the bottom and dodge the ballet shoes.

Come to think of it, I think I saw ballet shoes in Waterfall behind a cluster of leaves. My SOUL was also blue when I was battling Papyrus. Maybe Belle was a ballerina. It's likely, considering that I also found a dusty tutu there. I notice an ACT button among the ballet shoes and I hurriedly press it. Calling out for help again, I watch as the ballet shoes lift from the ground and the stars turn into music notes. I watch as the music notes phase right into my SOUL, my wounds disappearing again.

Back to Flowey, I notice that my hits are doing more damage than they used to. He starts to make giant bugs appear and fly in my direction. They seem to be heading towards some sort of flytrap. I dodge them and avoid the incoming bullets. A circle of bullets surrounded me and headed inwards. I take damage from them, not being able to react in time. The bullets he shot from his eyes are a lot slower now. They're much easier to dodge than last time. The purple soul appears on the screen. Percival, I believe the kid's name was. They had perseverance. I look left and right as books appear and shoot words at me. I remember seeing a torn notebook that Gerson had. My SOUL was purple when I was hopping from web to web while fighting Muffet.

The words that came eout of the books were completely negative. Hatred, murderer, horror, slaughter, terror, despair, ruin, trapped, doom, corrupt, cruelty, nightmare, and sadness. Among the words, an ACT button. I press it on sight. As I called for help, the negative words slowly turned to positive ones. Protect, relief, luck, love, dreams, create, dreamer, calm, mercy, and hope. The words went to my SOUL and my wounds were nearly gone. I wasn't quick enough to heal this time. Flowey was relentless, he would constantly SAVE and LOAD. I was unable to keep up with the constant switching and I winded up tripping over my feet. I move my neck as a vine comes down, barely missing me.

I see a green soul appear. Gene, I think the name of the kid was. He was associated with kindness. I'm taken to another area where frying pans appear. Flames would jump out of them whenever the frying pans would thrust upwards, like how a chef would if they flipped a pancake. I dodge the flames and keep my eye out for an ACT button. One eventually appears. I call for help again and watch as the flames turn into eggs. I grab every one I could and they would phase into my SOUL. I remember seeing a frying pan somewhere in Hotland. My heart was also green when I blocked the attacks from Undyne.

Flowey was starting to get a bit more predictable. But then, he started to send out these...I don't even know what...that would bounce off the walls of the area we were in. They were pretty big, but easy to dodge since I had so much room. The hits with my dagger were doing a lot more damage. Flowey sends bombs after me and starts the finger bullet attack again. After a while, the yellow SOUL finally appears. Yusef, the yellow SOUL, was associated with justice. My SOUL was yellow during the fight with Mettaton. I was given a gun to fight him with. A giant gun appears and shoots bullets at me. The two girls in the alley outside of MTT Resort had an empty gun. There were targets that showed where the bullets were going, so it was easy to dodge. It suddenly shoots out an ACT button. I press it and call for help. The bullets started shooting out four-leaf clovers.

When the gun disappears, the SOULs from before appear and begin to circle around me, healing my wounds. One of them, Frisk's red SOUL, appears and phases into my SOUL. The locket on my chest and the dagger in my hand glow a fiery red coloring.

'Flowey's DEFENSE dropped to 0!'

I smiled and thanked the SOULs for helping me. They float off to somewhere and Flowey begins attacking with his eye-bullets. They're slower than normal so they're easy to dodge. I started to attack Flowey with my dagger and smile when I notice that's it's doing an incredible amount of damage. I dodge and whittle away at Flowey's health. Flowey then speeds up his attacks. I get hit, but I don't feel much anymore. I'm not taking as much damage as I used to. I slash away at Flowey's giant form. Eventually, my efforts finally payed off. Flowey starts to shake violently.

"No...NO! This CAN'T be happening!" Flowey cries out,"You...YOU..."

FILE 3 LOADED

"You IDIOT," Flowey laughs.

A beam comes from Flowey and pierces my SOUL. I collapse and clench my chest in pain. The light within the locket and dagger disappear in an instant. That wasn't the end. Flowey continuously loaded the file and would repeat that same attack. My health didn't heal when he did it, so I had to endure even more pain each time. A circle surrounds my crippled body. Flowey laughs maniacally at my wounds.

"Did you REALLY think you could defeat ME!?" He asks,"I am the GOD of this world. And you? You're HOPELESS. Hopeless and alone. Golly, that's right! Your WORTHLESS friends can't save you now,"

I was in pain, but managed to glare at him from my spot on the ground.

"Call for help. I dare you. Cry into the darkness!" He says,"Mommy! Daddy! Somebody help! See what good it does you!"

An ACT button appears and I press it.

"IF ANYBODY IS THERE! PLEASE!" I yell,"Please...!"

Nothing...

"But nobody came. Boy, what a shame!" he says,"Nobody else...is gonna get to see you DIE!"

The bullets slowly close in on me. But then, for a split second, the locket glows one last time and causes all of the bullets to heal me back to full health. I stand up and give Flowey a look of determination.

"What? How'd you...?" Flowey falters,"Well, I'll just.."

LOAD FAILED

I smirk at Flowey's apparent distress.

"Wh...where are my powers!?" He asks.

"Sorry, Flowey, but..." I start.

The six SOULs appear again. Frisk's SOUL appears from mine and joins the rest of them.

"The souls...?" he asks,"What are they doing?"

"YOU'RE the one that's hopeless," I finish.

They instantly start to circle him. The area becomes a giant flash of color and chaos. The SOULs speed up, going faster and faster.

"NO! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" He yells,"YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO OBEY ME! STOP! STOP IT! STOOOOPPPP!"

But they didn't, they continued. They kept going round and round until...it was all white. I close my eyes to avoid being blinded. When I finally open them, Flowey is leaning like a wilted flower. The two options, FIGHT and MERCY appear. I press MERCY without a second thought.

"What are you doing? Do you really think I've learned anything from this?" He asks,"No,"

I press MERCY a second time.

"Sparing me won't change anything," He says,"Killing me is the only way to end this,"

MERCY again...

"If you let me live, I'll come back,"He warns.

MERCY

"I'll kill you,"He threats.

MERCY

"I'll kill everyone,"

MERCY

"I'll kill everyone you love,"

I press MERCY again and Flowey just looks at me, baffled by what he's seeing. I keep pressing MERCY and Flowey starts to get aggravated with me.

"...why?"

MERCY

"...Why are you being...so nice to me?"

MERCY

"I can't understand,"

MERCY

"I can't understand!"

MERCY for one last time.

"I just can't understand..."

Flowey ran away.

I walk out of this dark place to who knows where. I'm met with another dark void. I don't know where to go, what to do. There isn't anywhere left for me to return to.

-88-

I've been here for quite some time now. I've thunk about my entire adventure and the people I've met. It took a while, but I got a call from my phone.

"heya," I hear,"is anyone there...?"

It looks like Sans is speaking. I just stare at the phone in silence.

"well...just calling to say...you made a snowman really happy," he says.

I smile at those words. I'd almost forgotten the snowman wanted me to help him.

"guess i should say something else, too," Sans says.

'so...it's been a while. the queen returned, and is now ruling over the underground.'

'she's instated a new policy...all the humans who fall here will be treated not as enemies...but as friends.'

'it's probably for the best, anyway.'

'the human souls the king gathered...seem to have disappeared.'

'so, uh, that plan ain't happening any time soon.'

'but even though people are heartbroken over the king...and things are looking grim for our freedom...the queen's trying her best not to let us give up hope.'

'so, uh, hey. if we're not giving up down here...don't give up wherever you are, ok?'

'who knows how long it will take...but we will get out of here.'

"SANS!" I hear a loud voice say,"WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"

"oh, nobody," Sans replies.

"WHAT!? NOBODY!?" Papyrus says,"CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO?"

My god, Papyrus.

"here, knock yourself out," Sans insists.

"WAIT A SECOND...I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER!" Papyrus says,"ATTENTION, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS...AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

'Nice job, Paps!' I think to myself.

"IT'S EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DREAMED OF...EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING, WE JUST WATER FLOWERS," Papyrus explains,"SO THAT'S EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT,"

That's a bit of and odd thing to have a guard do. But it IS Toriel after all. She's a gentle creature.

"AND, WE'RE HELPING DR. ALPHYS WITH HER RESEARCH!" Papyrus exclaims,"SHE'S GONNA FIND A WAY TO GET US OUT OF HERE. UNDYNE IS HELPING HER TOO! THOUGH, TO BE HONEST, HER METHOD OF HELPING...IT SEEMS KIND OF...EXPLOSION-INDUCING. BUT I THINK ALPHYS LIKES HAVING HER AROUND...UH OH"

Well, that's Undyne, for you. Always taking the hard road and doing things in her own unique way.

"Hey! What are you up to, punk!?" I hear a female voice say.

That must be Undyne. I hear a small scraping sound over the phone.

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE PHONE," Papyrus says.

"Hey! Who's in charge here!?" Undyne asks.

"ME," Papyrus says.

"Oh...yeah, that's right!" Undyne says,"I quit my job as leader of the Royal Guard,"

What?

"Actually, since we won't be fighting anymore...the Royal Guard totally disbanded,"Undyne explains,"There's, uh, only one member now,"

WHAT!?

"BUT HE'S EXTREMELY GOOD!" Papyrus boasts.

"Yeah! He is! C'mere!" Undyne says.

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON," says Papyrus.

"Anyways, now I'm working as Alphys' lab assistant," Undyne says,"We're gonna find a way out of this dump once and for all!"

Hopefully that works out...

"Oh, yeah, and I'm a gym teacher at the queen's new school," She says,"Did you know I can bench-press seven children!? Awesome, right?"

I'm not going to even ask why or how she knows that.

"...Hey, I'm sorry about what happened with ASGORE," Undyne says,"You were just doing what you had to. It's not your fault he...Ah, darn it, I miss the big guy,"

I do too...he was a nice King.

"Come on, Undyne! Snap out of it!" She says,"Uh, I guess I'll tell you how Alphys is doing,"

I almost forgot about Alphys.

"Well, she's the same as ever. Maybe a little more reclusive than normal,"Undyne says,"Seems like something's really bothering her...But, she can get through it! I'm there supporting her! That's what friends are for, right?"

Yeah, THAT'S what friends are for. They're NOT for promising to pummel someone into the ground if they hurt anyone.

"Hey, wherever you are...I hope it's better than here," She says,"It took a lot of sacrifice for you to get there. So, wherever you are...you have to try to be happy, okay!? For our sakes! We'll feel better knowing our trouble was worth it,"

Sad to say, this place isn't better than where I used to be. I actually miss the UNDERGROUND more than ever now.

"We're all with you! Everyone is! Even the queen!" Undyne says,"HEYYY! WAIT a second! TORIEL! TORIEL! Do you wanna...? Heh, she says she's busy,"

"BUT IF SHE KNEW WHO WE WERE TALKING TO..." Papyrus said.

"we wouldn't get the phone back for at least a few hours," Sans finishes.

"WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!" Papyrus says.

"But call back any time, ok?!" Undyne insists,"She'd love to talk!"

"oh, whoops,"Sans says,"this thing's almost outta batteries,"

"so, hate to cut this short, but...be seeing you, ok, Anna?" says Sans.

"BYE BYE FOR NOW!" Papyrus says.

"See ya, punk!" Undyne says.

The phone cuts off and I'm left in this dark void again.

-88-

I roll around and try to find something to do. Nothing comes up in my mind and I'm left sitting here, alone with my thoughts. The only things I can think of are the friends I've made in the UNDERGROUND. I thought about myself. I'm not even supposed to exist. All those family memories...Then, there's my family. The family I've put myself through pain to get to. Dad and Charles.

"I'll miss you guys," I say.

At that moment Flowey appears in front of me.

"Why...?" He asks,"Why did you let me go?"

I stare at him in silence, not caring that he'll probably try and kill me.

"Don't you realize that being nice...just makes you get hurt?" He asks,"Look at yourself. You made all these great friends...But now, you'll probably never see them again,"

He's right about that. I mull over his words for a small bit. All I can do is frown.

"Not to mention how much they've been set back by you," Flowey says,"Hurts, doesn't it? So, I don't get it. If you really did everything the right way, why did things still end up like this? Is life really that unfair?"

'Jeez! He's right! I've gotta get out of here!' I realize.

I stand up and look around frantically, trying to find a way to escape. There is none.

"Hey, calm down," He says,"What if I told you...I knew some way to get you a better ending?"

I stop looking around and stare at him, surprised.

"You'll have to load your SAVE file, and, well, in the meantime, why don't you go see Dr. Alphys?" He suggests,"It seems like you could have been better friends,"

That's right! I didn't patch things up with Alphys yet. Maybe that's what's bothering her so much. Her lying to me caused her to become even more reclusive.

"Who knows...maybe she's got the key to your happiness...?" He suggests again,"See you soon,"

And with that, he disappears. I look around this endless dark void for any sign of my diary. Then, right as I'm about to give up, there it is! It was alone and ripped in half, but hopefully, it still worked. I realize that the pages are back to normal. Looking for where I had the final talk with ASGORE, I hold my finger to that page and try to remember his words. As the image becomes clear in my mind, I open my eyes.

Here I am, again.

Well, it took me quite some time to finish this chapter. Usually all of them take a few hours, but this was the longest I've ever done so far! I'm relieved that I managed to finish this because that took some serious effort! Anyways, be sure to review, favorite, or follow if you enjoyed this chapter! Until then!