It felt a little weird walking this path without Papyrus. Undyne had grown so used to the two of them always taking this path together that it almost felt out of place walking through Waterfall by herself. The conversation that played out before they left played back in her mind like a record.
"YOU GOING SOMEWHERE, UNDYNE?"
"Uh...Just gotta stop by Waterfall real quick to do a couple things."
"OH! I'LL COME, TOO!"
"No! Ah...heh heh...No, thanks, I got it."
"OH...YOU'RE QUITE CERTAIN?"
"Yeah. I shouldn't be that long, though. We can head back over to my old house to train later today if you want, though."
"OOH, WE HAVEN'T DONE THAT IN A WHILE! THAT SOUNDS WONDERFUL! WELL, CARRY ON AND GOOD LUCK!"
She actually felt kinda guilty she hadn't invited him along for a second...But then she reminded herself why she hadn't wanted him to be there. What was to be said between her and her old idol was something she didn't want him to catch wind of...Not yet, at least.
She peered into the cave opening. Gerson was at his stone table, zoning out a bit, it looked like, his good eye not really concentrated on anything. It was only when she came into his shop that he noticed the movement from the corner of his eye and looked up to face her, and that got him to perk up.
"Oh, hey there, Undyne! Heh, you just saved me from dozin' off there! What brings ya here so early?"
She wasn't sure why, but the energy of his voice sounded just a bit...forced. And it was ever so slightly rougher than usual, she noted. But she didn't think much of it.
"I, uh...I've kinda been...thinkin' about something important over the past while, and I wanted to...well...ask you what I should do, since you'd probably know."
"Well, I'll be of any help I can to ya, then. Why don'tcha have a seat here?"
Undyne sat across from him at the flat-topped stone serving as his store counter, resting her arms on the rock and tapping her fingers together in a somewhat awkward manner.
"So...Ah...Where do I even start...I haven't really told anyone about this yet, and honestly, I didn't think I would be for the longest time, but I guess...Eh..."
She trailed off, glancing off to the side.
"...Well?" Gerson urged. "What's on yer mind, eh?"
"Ugh...So...You know Papyrus, right?"
She immediately slapped her hand on her forehead.
"Why am I even asking you that, of course you know him, he freaking came here and we all chatted, what kind of stupid question is that...? Agh..."
"Yeah, I know the fella. What about him?"
"Well...You see...I think that...See, he's really had my back for a long time, and...he's, like, my best friend. Like, REALLY the best person I...Well, I mean, except you and Asgore, but, you know what I mean, no offense, right?"
"'Course I know whatcha mean."
"Ah...Good. Sorry if I-"
"You mean to say you got 'em in yer sights."
She flung a hand over her mouth and turned as pink as ever.
"How'd you figure it out!?"
"You know how many times someone's come to me with that same look in their eyes, that same thoughtful flush 'n' dancin' around the subject like you just were when they were lookin' for my say in what to do 'bout it? More times than I can even remember. Ain't hard to read someone when you've been doin' it for a thousand years! Wah hah hah ha-"
His laughter curdled into a coughing fit pretty soon afterward. A wet-sounding one, at that. Wetter than usual, Undyne realized. And it might have just been her, but his eye seemed a bit more...glossed over than usual. That wasn't exactly normal.
"Heh...My bad, lil' guppy. Those are gettin' a bit more frequent these days..."
"Are you okay?"
"Oh, you know, stuff like that just comes with age. Happens t' everyone once they get up to where I'm at. Only reason I naturally outlived even the late king himself was...Well, I dunno, really. Sure, I mean, look at me. I'm a gosh-dang tortoise. But even those things don't really git much over a century old before kickin' the bucket. Strange...Then again, I ain't the actual thing, so...Heh. I couldn't say. Magic-related stuff, maybe?"
"Could be...So, you know I like the guy...Guess that point's out of the way."
"Eh...Thought you swung the other way."
"Yeah, so did I," she scoffed. "...Guess everything has at least one exception, huh? And in my case, that'd be him."
"I see...So, tell me. What is it that makes Papyrus so special to ya?"
"Well...Oh, boy, where do I even start...? He's just...So amazing. Like, I never would've expected it when we first met. The night he came to my doorstep and begged me to join the Royal Guard, I thought...Well, to put it lightly, my first impression of him was that he was a naïve dork that only cared about himself...But then I started training him, and I saw through all that. Papyrus is just...He's super friendly, and good with the people around him, and he's so thoughtful, a-and really sweet, and...It seems like he always knows exactly what to say to someone when they're goin' through something tough. I know that first hand. And what's crazy is that if I hadn't given him the chance, I probably never would've known all this. See, he had like...a superiority complex, sort of. Made himself out to be proud and confident, but...He was lonely, you know? All he really wanted was a friend. And that's what he got...That's what I got. And we make a great team...And...and then everything went down with Mettaton, and Asgore and..."
"The Royal Scientist?"
She sighed.
"...Did you hear about what they found in the lab?"
"The amalgamates. I did...I've seen 'em 'round here lately. Shyren's sister's one of 'em now, didja know that?"
"Wh-You're serious?"
"You know what's amazing, she didn't seem at all bothered by the fact she was all stuck up 'n' melted together with Aaron's cousin and a Moldbygg. She was just happy to have her back at all. I hear the two of 'em are tryin' at voice lessons. Shyren's really improved, y'know? Almost sounds like an actual song now."
"Heh...Yeah, that's part of why I used to give her piano lessons, to help with that...She stopped coming when her sister fell down, though. Hey, now that she's back, maybe I could ask her if she's interested again, huh?"
"Sounds like a good idea."
"Yeah...But I digress. I liked Alphys, but...Looking back, now, seeing that she was convinced people didn't really care about her as much as they did...I'm not sure if thinking that is selfish or self-deprecating, but either way, it wasn't good for her or for anyone else. If...If she'd been willing to give herself another chance...To give ME a chance and come clean to me about what'd happened, then...Things might have been a little different. I don't know...Honestly, after everything Papyrus and I have been through together, I...actually think the two of us might be a better match than me and Alphys would have been. And...I was so distraught about her when I found out that she...went and left us. He's told me over and over again, whenever I'm having a bad day, whether I'm down in the dumps or under the weather, he always promises me that he won't ever leave me. For any reason. And I can tell he means it, because he's already proven it time and time again, and..."
She'd begun to tear up at that point, and she blinked them away as best she could.
"I'm not really all that mushy and sentimental, but it just...really touches me deep down, that someone really cares about me that much...I don't think he's just the friend I always wanted anymore, I think he could be...'the one.' You know what I mean?"
"I know exactly what'cha mean."
"...But I'm scared to tell him," she admitted. "I mean, I don't want to keep it a secret from him anymore, but we're so close, and I...I don't want to ruin what we already have somehow. I know he said he'd never leave me, and I know he means it, but...Something like this is big. I'm...I don't know how he might react."
"Hm...I know that feelin'. Can't say I didn't have the same things on my mind at one point."
"You did?"
"Heh...It's one of the few things I can really remember well from way back when. We were still on the surface. I was a spritely young thing, I was...And ever since I could remember back then, I'd always been pretty good friends with another monster that lived nearby. A lively, actually kinda scrappy, young terrapin, she was. Shell was covered in iridescent diamond shapes, and it was the prettiest dang thing I ever did see...Kilpi, her name was. I always saw her as just a good friend...And then the war against us was declared. This was before the big battle that got us sent down into where we are now, but it was gettin' to that point, and tensions were risin'. A few smaller fights preceded the big one...She helped me at my station, and even assisted in handin' out enemy plans. She was a good spy, she was. She had her shell covered in mud and dust, and it made her look like any other rock you might come across in that area. She and I always met everyday from then on out. I fought on the field, and she told me everything I needed to know. Ended up savin' my hide with when she told us to evacuate. We got everyone out, and they set fire to our camp...Now it was that day I realized, with everything she'd done for me, I'd begun to see her just a bit differently. I knew times were tough, but...That sliver of hope told me to keep on goin', and maybe, just maybe, I could make somethin' else out of what we already had. So...The very next day, at sundown, I called her up onto the top of the hill, and...told her how I felt."
"What'd she say?"
"Wouldn't you know, she smiled right back at me and decided to give me a chance...I'd say it was the happiest day o' my entire life."
He chortled to himself for a few moments, but his smile was quick to falter, and he cleared his throat.
"...Sorry to say it only lasted three days."
That really caught Undyne's attention.
"Three days? What, well...What happened?"
"...The War of Humans and Monsters. The big fight. The humans allied their strongest forces and raided what little land we already had. I had my hammer, and she had her trusty scythe. We hurt people. Lots of 'em. I broke the limbs and she cut 'em clean off...We made an amazing team on the battlefield that day. And I swear, she just barely, if she'd been just the TADDEST bit closer to the last human she fought, she'd have made like Death himself and reaped his SOUL for her own use. She might've even absorbed it and used it to secure us a victory that day...But she swung too early, and that was when he struck back..."
He paused and cleared his throat again.
"...One minute she was standin' there, and the next, I see an axe swing. A head went in one direction and a body went in another, and then...Then she was nothin' but dust."
Gerson shook his head in regret.
"...Wish I could've been able to save her, but...Guess I failed her with that."
"No, Gerson, it's not your fault that happened," Undyne assured him. "You probably didn't even have the time, and...Oh my God, I never knew anything about that. I...I'm so sorry."
"Hm...Well...That was a long time ago. Don't think much of it anymore...Anyways, long story short, we lost the battle, and...Here we are now. I'd have thought that without the humans, peace and love between monsters might finally come to be. And for a while, it did...But then the prince was killed, and...Egh...Terrible things have happened since then. We both know first hand."
"Too well."
"...See, now, here, that sorta bond between two people is...Well, picture a flower. You know how it just starts off as a tiny lil' seed, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, you see, sometimes, the seed's there, but it's waitin' for somethin' to happen for it to get planted. Sometimes, it never gets planted, and the two people, be they human or monster, either just end up bein' friends or they might fall apart over time...But under the right conditions, that lil' seed just might find itself gettin' buried in some caring soil and watered with love...And lo and behold, it starts to sprout. But it don't stop there. If that new plant keeps gettin' takin' good care of, with lots o' time and effort and patience, the bud begins to form. And once the bud forms, that's when it's almost guaranteed what you've been workin' too all that time is finally gonna come to be, so you work harder than ever to make sure it blooms...Now, every so often, something goes wrong, and the bud might just...never become anything else but a bud. But most of the time, now, I've seen it before. If it's already gotten to that point, just one more push is all it takes, and then..."
He spread his fingers out, signifying the bud opening and the petals spreading out.
"...You got yerself the blossom you've been waitin' for all along."
"Hah...That's amazing," Undyne marveled.
"It is...But the work don't stop there. Oh, no. Even once the flower's bloomed, you gotta keep workin' hard on it to make sure it stays all nice 'n' pretty and full...Sometimes, flowers are neglected, and they...Sorta wilt and dry out. Now depending on how badly it goes down the tubes, you might be able to fix the flower right back up again...But if you let it get too far, that flower just might shrivel up all the way and just plop dead off its stem. No gettin' it back at that point. But as long as you keep that flower goin' it's gonna keep bringing you joy and happiness, and all sorts of wonderful things. It'll be the gift that keeps on givin'...And if you keep that up, and then get to a...'certain point,' so to speak, heh heh...Then that flower will drop seeds. And all of those seeds will have the potential to grow into the same thing."
"Oh...Yeah, heh. I know what you mean by that."
"And sometimes, a frost might come. Hard times, fear, tragedy...If the flower's strong enough, it might pull through and live on to see the better days ahead of that cold, unforgiving winter...But the cold can vary in strength, and if it's too strong, and the flower can't withstand it...It dies."
Undyne shook her head in grim understanding.
"...That's what happened to the Dreemurrs," Gerson gave as an example. "Their flower was so big 'n' beautiful and sweet-smelling, it made other people sick! Hah! And then, one day, it dropped a hopeful seed."
"Prince Asriel..."
"That's right...And then came the day he went to the surface, then came back and dusted. Eaten up by the birds before he could blossom into anything...And that was when the big frost fell on that wonderful flower. Asriel passin' struck a blow to it, and when the storm came...it couldn't withstand it. Asgore called for war, and Toriel was so disgusted with what he said she got up and left...Now, it's the strangest thing, but part of me thinks that flower, as wilted and as dead as it might seem, was just BARELY kept alive all those years up until recently. Asgore...He still loved her. Even though she left him, he never stopped carin' about her and wondrin' where she might be...and hopin' that one day, he might finally see her again...But then another storm came and...snapped what was left of the flower right in two."
Both he and the fish monster sighed in unison
"...Still...Even with Asgore gone, I can't help but feel like somehow," he continued, not really talking to Undyne as much anymore, rather himself. "SOMEHOW on earth that that flower, that darned, persistent, determined, but seemingly dead as a doornail flower...is still somehow alive. Alive and...waiting for something. I haven't got the foggiest idea as to what it might be, but...I feel like something's gonna happen. What exactly it might be, though, I have yet to see it..."
His expression faltered for a moment.
"...I might not even get to see it," he murmured, too quietly for his guest to hear right.
"What was that?"
"Huh? Oh, oh, it wasn't anything important, just mumblin' to myself 'bout things...Eh...So, you're not sure whether or not you should tell him how you feel 'bout everything you two have been through with each other, huh?"
"That's basically why I'm here. To ask you if I should. And if so, then when and how. I'm...not exactly the best at tellin' people stuff like that, I found out a while ago...Do you know how many times I revised what was going to be a love letter to Alphys? Like, ten. I just...I don't want to screw it up and push him away."
"Hm...Well," Gerson began, clearing his throat again, a bit more harshly than before. "...First off my answer to your first question is 'absolutely.' As for how, what I did with Kilpi, if I do remember correctly is I took her to the top of the hill. Nice view, green grass under our toes, sun settin' off over the horizon, stars forming overhead...I mean, you don't always have to do somethin' like that, but if you ask me, atmosphere is important enough to consider. I mean, I doubt you'd wanna tell him all you wanna tell him in a place like the CORE, where it's all muggy and industrial, and just kinda...'bleugh,' if ya know what I mean."
"Oh. Yeah, I don't like the CORE, either. I mean, at least it's moist, and not bone-dry like the rest of Hotland, but still...Yeah, I see what you mean. Eh...Stars, you say, huh?"
"That's what I did. Of course, the closest we have down here are the rocks dottin' the cave ceiling. 'Specially in the Wishing Room."
"That's the place. I love it there, and he likes it, too, and...Yeah. How's that sound?"
"Heh...I couldn't have thought of anything better myself. As for everything else, I'll just tell ya from my personal experience...What I did was I sorta struck up a bit o' conversation. Not about anything in particular, just...small talk, I guess. It'd sorta be like...I dunno, a warmup, so to speak."
"Got it. And, uh...How do I tell him?"
"Well, when the moment's right, you just tell him you got somethin' important to say."
"And...?"
"Well, you just say it."
"How?"
"First way that pops into yer head."
"...That's it?"
"That's as much as I know 'bout it."
"There isn't a specific way to actually say it? Like, do I need to build it up, or just say it flat out?"
"Whichever works best."
"But what if I say the wrong thing, and...What if it all just..."
She groaned in frustration, hiding her head in her folded arms on the stone table.
"...I'm not so sure it's a good idea. I mean...What if he says no? If he knows, but isn't interested, won't that make him...you know...uncomfortable around me?"
"Didn't you say that he was always sayin' just how much he cares 'bout you and that he'd never leave you for any reason?"
"Yeah, but..." she answered. "...Something like this, I just...I don't want to put a strain on anything. What if he gets the wrong idea, and it ends up messing up the friendship we already have? He's...You and Papyrus are all I really have left. Sure, Sans is here, a-and I have someone who looks up to me and Papyrus back in Snowdin, but...I don't want to lose him, too. What we have might not be exactly where I want it, but...It's special. I don't want to ruin it...But I also don't want to keep it hidden away from him. Enough secrets have already been kept on both sides, and it ended up hurting people to some extent or another once they got out. We said we wouldn't keep anything from each other anymore...And I'm not holding up my end of that promise, and I want to change that but..."
She sniffed, and vigorously wiped away the tear streaming down her face. The old Hammer of Justice reached out his own scaly, wrinkled hand and put it atop her own to try and comfort his old idolizer.
"I...I know I don't really say this often about anything, but...I'm scared. I-I'm scared I'll screw something up and make everything worse, but...I don't know what to do."
She stifled a sob. Gerson had never expected to see her look so helpless over anything, but here she was, crying as though her whole world was falling apart at the seams.
And she feared that it very well may be.
"Come on, now, lil' guppy. Wipe those tears away and show me a smile. It'll work out somehow, a'right?"
Undyne sniffled a few more times, then looked him in the eye, a slightly crooked, but genuine grin showing through the sadness and fear.
"There we go, there's my tough lil' urchin! That's the Undyne everyone looks up to!"
"Heh..."
"Yer not afraid of a fight!"
"No."
"You ain't afraid of ANY opponent!"
"That's right..."
"You ain't even afraid o' DEATH when it STARES y'in the face like it did two years ago!"
"It's true!"
"Yer Undyne! And Captain of the Royal Guard or not, you're still the toughest, bravest, most DETERMINED-TO-WIN monster in the entire mountain!"
"I AM!"
"Who fought tooth and nail to get to the top of the Royal Guard!?"
"ME!"
"Who taught so many others down here to never lose hope!?"
"I DID!"
"Now, are you gonna give up on somethin' like this so easily!?"
"NO!"
"Are you gonna tell him what you really think of him or are you gonna back down!?"
"I'M GONNA MARCH RIGHT UP TO HIM, TELL HIM WHAT MAKES HIM SO SPECIAL AND IMPORTANT TO ME, AND THEN PLANT A BIG, WET SMOOCH AGAINST THAT SMILE I'VE COME TO LOVE SO DAMN MUCH!"
"Oh, okay, maybe don't go that far."
"Ah, yeah, you're probably right...Uh...You think I could get to that point if things go well enough?"
"Can't say for sure, but there's always a chance, y'know?"
"Yeah, I guess there is...I'm gonna go think this out a bit more. You think I should wait until tomorrow to do any of this? I already told him we'd be training here a bit later on, and I don't think the aftermath of an intense training session is...exactly gonna set the mood the way I want it to."
"I mean, you could prob'ly still set a good atmosphere somehow, but if you wanna wait till tomorrow, that oughta work just as well, y'know?"
"That's true...And, hey, if...Things don't end up going well, then...well...At least I'll still have Sans and Kidd to turn to...And I'll still have you."
"Heh...Well..."
He glanced off to the side. Undyne was too preoccupied in her own plans for tomorrow to notice the uncertain glint in his tired eye.
"...You best be headin' back home, I guess. You might as well spend some good quality time with Papyrus before you...Eh...drop the bombshell, so to speak."
"Alright, I'll do that. And I'll make sure I remember everything you said."
She got up from the table and turned to leave...
But before she took another step towards the exit, she turned back to him suddenly, then made her way around the flat-topped stone to where her old idol sat, then bent down to meet his level and brought him in for a hug goodbye.
"Thanks for all that...You really do have my back whenever I need it."
"Heh..."
The old tortoise returned the favor.
"You're welcome, there...Now go on, git outta here, you jumpy lil' guppy. He's waitin' on ya. I can sense it."
"I'll see you soon, okay? I'll tell ya how everything went!"
She let go, got up, turned and dashed out of the small cave with a final wave goodbye as she disappeared. Her rusty red boots stamped against the ground of the marshland as she ran east back to Snowdin, and Gerson listened to the sound of them until they'd faded into the distance entirely.
And once they did, he finally let out the cough he'd barely been able to hold back ever since he started cheering her on, harder and louder than ever.
"Those ain't gettin' any lighter on me..." he muttered to himself.
He looked up at the mildly shaking fist he'd coughed into, and lo and behold, just as he feared, there sat a few crimson specs on the olive green scales. He frowned at the sight of it, letting out a raspy sigh and looking back toward the cave opening.
I'll have your back for as long as I can, sweetpea, he promised silently, as though she were still there listening to him.
...But I'm not really sure how much longer that's gonna be.
.
11:
Things are looking up. The first phase of the experiment is complete. I was able to
extract the hope, love and compassion directly from the human SOUL and into viles.
With the composition of human SOULs being so dense, I didn't need much in order to
match that of a monster SOUL. Flowey was a bit nervous about the injections, but I
can understand the whole needle thing; I never liked them myself, even if I wasn't on
the receiving end. The three traits were injected through one of the vines Flowey grew.
His head and stem are a bit too delicate, so he was able to generate a thick, almost
root-like vine to inject the traits into.
It might take some time for a SOUL to form, if at all. The human SOUL is back in
containment for now, and we're awaiting any changes that Flowey might experience.
I'll keep tabs on everything.
That's all for now.