He never wanted to move. To leave his home, let alone his country. It had all happened so suddenly when his Pa returned home late one night, his eyes wide, his face bloody and bruised, mumbling gibberish. He and Ma had spoken in private, and early the next morning, they packed what they could carry and made their way out of the rocky mountains to the east coast.

They never stopped, however. Pa wasn't satisfied with staying in America. They kept moving, crossing the sea into Europe, and finally they came to a stop in Germany a year later, in a town called 'Frankfurt'.

The children here, he didn't know. This part of the town was somewhat new, but it didn't interest him. There was nobody to play with considering he didn't speak their language and they'd often mock him without him even realizing it.

His Pa remained disheveled and paranoid, constantly glancing over his shoulders, jumping when someone entered a room, wincing when someone spoke. He had no idea why his Pa was acting like this, but his Ma remained silent about it all.

Instead, she spent her time trying to teach her son the German language while also learning it herself. It was due to this that he began to pick up on certain words the other children would say. It wasn't until months later, having been living in the country for half a year now, that he became somewhat fluent in it. He still had a ways to go, but at least he could hold up a conversation.

With the language down, he tried his luck with the kids again, and managed to make some friends. He taught them some things about his previous life, particularly about Cowboys and Indians. This didn't seem to interest the kids all that much, but they listened to him nonetheless.

He was obsessed with cowboys. He'd always dreamed of becoming some gang-running outlaw on the wrong side of the law for doing the right thing, but that was looking to be less and less of a likely outcome.

Then he learned about Mt. Ebott. The mountain that ate children, as the legend went. Nobody ever returned from it. A monster there would steal kids and devour them. They pointed it out to him, a distant mountain that rose into the sky, pale in the distance. It was certainly a hike to last many days, but it intrigued him.

He learned of the people that disappeared there throughout the years. Hundreds, apparently. So he decided he'd go there and solve the mystery himself, asking his friends along. They were terrified at the prospect.

So he went alone, packing food to last a few days and snuck out in the dead of night to make the dangerous trek. He'd made sure to snag a map from the local library, and was finally on his way, traveling through the vast forests of Germany, drinking the water of rivers he found, his food dwindling down into nothing, and he realized his mistake. He hadn't packed for the return trip, yet so close now… he couldn't stop.

He'd taken his dad's revolver, something he usually kept in his nightstand, alongside his trusty cowboy hat. If there really was a monster there… he'd put an end to its tyranny and allow the people to live without fear of Mt. Ebott.

Yet there was nothing. Nothing came at him on his journey around the mountain, and he found that it had all just been a story. A legend. Now he had no food, and was struggling to read his map, beginning to panic- before falling into a seemingly bottomless pit.

By some miracle, he survived. His fall had been cushioned by a bed of golden flowers that grew where the sunlight touched down into the cave he'd dropped in. A realization struck him- he'd entered the beast's lair.

Turned out, however, the "beast" was a kind old woman, though he was put off by the horns on her head, and her fur-coated body. He demanded of her the children she'd taken from the surface, and to his surprise, grief registered on her kind face. Her name was Toriel, and she told him the tale of five other humans who had fallen before him, and were all slain by Asgore, the King of Monsters.

He demanded to be taken to the King, but Toriel refused, offering him to stay with her. He simply agreed, sneaking off as she slept, which was something he was skilled at by now.

Through the snow he trekked, disregarding the other creatures within. They left him alone for the most part, though he was tailed by an excitable young fire monster, blue in color.

She followed him right out of the snowy forests and into the damp caves where bioluminescent flowers glowed. Seeing she was still following him, he grew agitated and demanded to know why she was tailing him.

Rather than answer, she asked if he was a human. When he told her he was, she grew even more excited, before asking where he was going. Her excitement seemed to drain when he revealed his plan to kill Asgore.

Yet she told him Asgore was nice. That he was gentle. This confused him. Had Toriel lied? Perhaps he was moving too quickly without knowing the full truth. The monster offered him to stay at the inn her father owned, so he obliged, deciding to learn more about the king and this world of monsters, surprised at himself for being so… nonchalant about it all.

Her name was Maggie Fire, her father known as Burnie Fire. Burnie was of emerald flames, and somewhat a wide individual despite being made of fire. He ran the inn in Snowdin, called "Burnie's Bed & Breakfast", where Maggie ran the kitchen, as she had a love for cooking and baking.

Burnie didn't seem to mind his presence, and seemed even less caring that he was a human, so he allowed himself to remain, asking questions about Asgore. About the humans. He quickly found that Burnie was more likely to tell him the truth than Maggie's sugar-coated half-truths.

Toriel hadn't lied. Burnie confirmed that Asgore was collecting human SOULs, and that if he learned a human was staying in Snowdin, said human wouldn't be around for much longer. Maggie defended this, offering Asgore's reasoning, informing the human of the long-lost war, of their suffering underground, and of the dream Asgore gave to see the surface once again.

Only seven human SOULs could shatter the barrier that sealed them here, and the king had five.

His goal remained the same, and he let them know. Burnie wished him luck. Maggie wasn't interested in talking after that. So he moved on, making his way on until he encountered another monster, this one older than Maggie by some years. He was a teenager, with blue-green scales covering his body, golden eyes, and magenta hair pulled up into a small bun that made him look like some kind of otherworldly samurai, complete with a glowing blue katana.

His name was Jariah Dhelaron, a self-proclaimed future captain of the 'royal guard'. He announced his grandfather as the great 'Flouis Dhelaron'.

Jariah demanded a battle, recognizing the human for what he was. He rejected, stating his fight was with Asgore. Jariah didn't listen, however, and attacked.

The human left after putting a bullet in Jariah's leg. The monster cried in agony as he was left behind. While his feet ached, he pressed on to the cavern of hot, bubbling magma. A great structure sat in the center, and he started to realize that the monsters here were advanced technologically. He'd never seen anything like that on the surface.

Then he met the Doctor. Wingding Gaster, who regarded the child with patience. When asked if he would impede the human's progress, he merely chuckled, denying this. Instead, he offered to deliver the boy to the king, which was accepted.

No more words were shared between the two until their parting goodbyes as the human climbed the steps of the castle.

Walking down the hall of stone, he checked his revolver. Two bullets left. He hadn't even checked it before he'd left home, but now he wondered why his Pa only loaded it with three bullets instead of the six it could carry.

The King waited for him, standing silently in the center of his throne room, staring back at the human as he entered.

"Howdy," Asgore offered, his greeting smile strained. The human said nothing in return, so Asgore continued. "I'm sure you know what happens… now that you're here."

"I am going to avenge the kids you killed," the human finally spoke. "Take the SOULs, bring them back to their families."

Asgore's smile vanished, but rather than look angered as had been expected, he instead looked defeated. Drained. Tired.

A sigh accompanied this look, though not of exasperation. Of grief. Fear. Regret.

"You are a bold child," Asgore stated. "I admire that, but…" his voice trailed off for a moment. "Follow me, please. I would rather we don't make a mess of the garden."

So the human followed Asgore to the barrier, where there was little reaction from the boy. The entire journey, he had hardly reacted to the world of magic and monsters, and that held up here. He knew what the barrier was, now he simply knew what it looked like.

"This is the barrier," Asgore stated.

"I know," the human replied. "I also know why you've killed the other kids who fell here. That doesn't excuse your actions," with that, he raised his weapon.

Asgore closed his eyes, bowing his head. "Perhaps you're right… but this is something I must live with. Something I must do for my people. I would never force this on anyone else… so now you force me to answer for the burden of my sins. Regrettably… I must defend myself."

A bullet fired, but a blast of cyan energy is all it struck. The boy had to dive from the energy as it hurled his way, and when he looked back at Asgore, the king had conjured a crimson trident, swiping it at him.

The human leaped back this time, taking aim- and holding onto his bullet. He only had one left. He had to make it count. As walls of fire erupted to form a ring around the pair, it became clear this was going to be a difficult battle.

Something the human was unprepared for in every way.

Asgore's attacks were ruthless and relentless. Despite the human entering as the aggressor, he was playing defensive for the next five minutes, dodging and weaving through various attacks, all of which grew stronger and faster with each passing second.

He was outmatched completely, and he failed to prepare for something like this. He was always failing to prepare…

Ducking beneath a wave of crackling flames, the boy rolled forward, the spot he'd just been standing now aflame as a vortex of fire erupted from the ground. He took aim, and fired.

Asgore took a step back, glancing down at his chest to find the bullet had been stopped by the golden armor the king wore. The human's eyes widened as he realized what this meant; he had failed. Justice had not been delivered.

He would die here, just as the five children before him had.

Still, he continued to cling to life, doing his best to weave out of Asgore's attacks, which was quickly becoming a futile strategy. The King was far from exhausted, and the boy was at the end of his rope. He couldn't leave and head back either, the exit blocked by a wall of flames.

Then it ended.

He felt the trident pierce his body. Felt the ground against his face as he slipped into a state of shock, before the world disappeared.

…

…

…

Then it returned. Some monstrous creature was trying to kill a girl his age. He fought back against it, even as it tried to tear his mind apart. There were others, too. Five others. The SOULs he'd tried to save. He was one of them now, but that didn't matter.

The girl was saved.

Then she was back, and the colossal abomination was gone, replaced by a figure that looked like Toriel, but also like Asgore. This time, there was no fight for him to partake in. All he could do was watch the struggle, this being too powerful. He was under its full control.

But there was more. The SOULs were here, but so were hundreds of others. They weren't human, though. This being had trapped monsters as well, and he could recognize Toriel and Asgore among them, even a couple fire monsters, though not the ones he had met before.

The duel between this God and the girl lasted for what seemed like an eternity, but she won. Not in a way he would have expected. Instead, she appealed to the God's emotions, and soon enough, the world had faded once more.

It returned for a third time, and he found himself standing near a flower, the other SOULs close as well.

He should have been confused, but somehow he wasn't. He knew why he was here, and he knew what this flower was. Who it was.

"You will not control us again," the cyan SOUL stated.

"I don't want to this time," the flower replied earnestly. "I need your help."

"What you intend to do would kill us all… and fail," the purple SOUL made clear, shaking her head. The flower growled at this.

"We have to try."

"Why?" he found himself speaking, his body glowing a bright shade of yellow. "We owe nothing to the monsters."

"It's the only way. Please. I need your cooperation," the flower pleaded. The SOULs looked about at one another. The flower needed them to break the barrier, yet there were only six SOULs collected. The seventh was not present. The shattering of the barrier would require more power than they collectively had without that final piece.

Yet he felt compelled to try. He had been killed by a monster, but he had seen the monsters. They desperately wanted to leave, and now their home was falling apart. Threatening to wipe them out forever.

An extinction.

He couldn't allow this to happen. There was no justice to it. He gave a nod. The other SOULs looked about at each other, and one by one, gave their own nods of approval. It was decided.

Instead of their mind being invaded by the foreign presence of the flower as before, it was almost like being melded. They became one, even for a moment. He felt his body crumble beneath a power he didn't realize he possessed. The flower was using their combined strength, yet it wasn't enough. The SOULs were beginning to shatter- until a crimson presence greeted them.

The girl from before. She was putting her own SOUL on the line, and now… now the barrier was beginning to quake.

Then it shattered into a million pieces before the world faded one last time.

So that was that. His body had been destroyed, and now his SOUL. He was truly dead, waiting for eternity in a void of nothingness, surrounded by shadows.

He wondered what had happened to his family. Had they searched for him? Why had his Pa taken them to Germany? He still had so many questions with no answers, and no option to learn. He was stuck with what he had. No body. No SOUL. Nothing. Just his thoughts.

Then the same doctor appeared. Gaster. He was looking worse than he had before. His body seemed to be on the verge of simply falling apart, held together by a metaphorical thread. He wordlessly offered a hand to the boy, who took it without question, and allowed himself to be led into the light.

Finally out of the void, he found paradise on the other side.

"They're gone."

Frisk looked down at the flower. He'd been silent for a minute or so. Sans had already left after their meeting, and she'd asked the simple question 'how are you'. She didn't know what he meant, as his response had been 'they're gone'.

"The SOULs," he continued, eyes distant. When her own began to focus, she looked at him quizzically.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know," came the flower's response. "Just as they shattered I… relived all of their lives in an instant. I shared all of their experiences… emotions… thoughts… I was them…" he looked toward Frisk now, his eyes empty and searching. "I can't stop thinking about them. About how… pathetic their lives were. Empty. Short… the King killed them without regard."

She wasn't about to defend Asgore's actions, but she still often wondered about him. About his guilt regarding the matter. He never had the luxury of resetting after a kill, and now neither did she.

"Do you still… want to become Asriel?" She asked. Flowey looked away at this, appearing irritated now. "I don't know, Frisk," he replied heavily. "I can't even remember the times I did become him again, regardless of you telling me. Maybe I'm just better off like this. I don't think I'm ready to… be alive again. Really alive, I mean. With a SOUL of my own. Emotions and all that…" He shook his head. "I spend so much time trying to convey so many emotions just to seem real sometimes, you know? But I still don't feel anything. I worked so hard to shatter the barrier, and with your help, we succeeded. I don't feel happy about it, or… anything else. I'm just neutral on it. It's a thing, it happened, it's over, yada yada. Hooray."

Frisk pursed her lips, drawing her legs to her chest as she sat on the ground, overlooking Voxis City, Flowey beside her. "Being Asriel again would allow you to feel that."

"Yeah, and also pain. Regret. The useless baggage of emotions," Flowey replied. "I've done so much as a flower. As Flowey. I know he'd regret it all. Maybe even be traumatized. I don't want to deal with all that. Maybe deep down, somewhere inside me… I'm a little scared of it. Scared of facing myself for the things I've done."

He fell silent, both of them looking toward the horizon as a gentle breeze brushed over them. Moments later, Flowey shook his head once more. "I think I'll stay as a flower. I'm not ready for the other guy at all."

"It'd be a big shock to mom and dad if Asriel showed up out of nowhere," Frisk chuckled, attempting to offer levity despite Flowey not needing it.

Flowey scoffed at that. "Yeah. Mom and dad… it's weird hearing you say it."

"How?" Frisk asked, cocking her head to the side. Flowey shrugged- or rather, the awkward flower equivalent to one.

"You look a lot like her, Frisk," he stated. "But I know you're not her, and… well, it's hard, I guess. Because I still hope to see her instead of you. No offense."

"None taken," Frisk replied casually. "You once told me she wasn't a very good person."

"She wasn't, deep down" Flowey confirmed, looking to the ground now. "But she was my best friend. I decided a long time ago that life wasn't living without her, but… I don't really want to die. Whatever, enough of this sappy stuff, it's making me sick," Flowey stuck out his tongue in disgust despite his emotionless eyes. "I'll stick around here for a while longer, anyway. I'm not eager to see the city for myself. Might head out to the countryside, terrorize some kids…" seeing the look Frisk gave him, he grinned. "I won't kill anybody, don't worry. I… won't fall into old habits," he assured her.

Satisfied, Frisk gave him a nod. Without another word, Flowey sunk into the ground, disappearing from sight as Frisk returned her attention to the skyline, soaking in the scenery for just a few moments longer.

There was a lot of work to do.