A/N: The scene at the end there is for a buddy of mine on fanfiction . net, Jinx198, who wrote a chapter about my story in his Grouptale story, because I drew him a picture. XD
Jinx's story: s/12695160/1/Grouptale-An-Undertale-AU-Remake
My drawing: fav . me / dbw xx5a
~Melody~
Melody paraded around her house, quivering with excitement. Tonight was the night of the ballet concert - the one she had been practicing for. She raced up to her parents, grinning.
"You guys are gonna be there, right?" she asked. "You promise?"
"Remember your manners." Melody's dad reminded her.
"I know!" Melody chorused. "Well, will you pretty please come to my concert? I'll try my very very best for you!"
"We'll be there!" Melody's brother yelled from the kitchen.
"Matthew! No yelling!" Melody's dad told his son off.
Matthew rolled his eyes.
The time of the concert finally came. Melody stayed at school to rehearse. She was so excited she couldn't stop jumping.
"That's right," Melody whispered, cringing. "I was so childish..." The eighth human gave her a look. "Oh! You're so rude!"
Melody was wearing her favourite clothing for the performance. Not only her family, but her best friend, Percy, was attending the performance. Percy was so strange, but he was Melody's best friend. She wouldn't judge him.
"It was all such a big night," Melody sighed. "I was nervous and excited. I couldn't wait for everyone to see the show."
"Percy!" Melody found her best friend sitting in the audience.
He was with one of his babysitters. Melody had lost track of all the babysitters he had. But it didn't bother her. Percy adjusted his glasses. They were way too big for his face. As usual, he had a book tucked under his arm.
"Salutations," he greeted. "I was researching the colloquial language of performers. Saying 'good luck' is contradictory in the theatre. Apparently it's bad luck. Instead, you must say 'break a leg'."
"Thanks, Percy," Melody bounced on her toes. "I'm so happy you came! Are Mom and Dad and Matthew here yet?"
"No," Percy said. He bit his lip. "But don't lose hope. They should still come."
"I was upset, but Percy was right," Melody whispered. "There was still plenty of time."
Some time later, Melody's family still wasn't at the performance. Melody was getting worried and upset. They were coming, right? Percy still seemed hopeful. But the performance was nearing. Her family was running out of time. Melody hoped they were just late.
Melody frowned. "But nobody came." The words startled the stick kid. Their eyes almost opened. "Are you okay?"
The eighth human nodded. They gestured for her to continue. Melody nodded.
"Is my family here?" Melody asked her dance teacher. Her dance teacher frowned, creases appearing on her brow.
"Sorry, Melody," she apologized. "I haven't seen them all evening."
"But... they promised," Melody sniffled. She sounded upset. "They promised they would come."
"I'm sorry, I really haven't seen them," the dance teacher said, rubbing Melody's back. "But don't worry. Just get out there and enjoy yourself, sweetie, okay?"
"And so I tried," Melody whispered, taking a deep breath. "I danced with everything I could. I was so angry. I was almost blinded. I knew why they weren't there. They'd gone to some art show. They were always doing that. They didn't care about me. All they cared about was artwork."
Melody did a pirouette, finishing the routine everyone had been practicing. She panted. Stage lights were blaring down. Cheers filled the auditorium. She was filled with rage.
But she understood. She knew what her parents wanted. She knew what she had to do.
"I thought I was doing the right thing," Melody sighed, shaking her head. "That was one of my very few mistakes."
Melody left the theatre all by herself. She only took her ballet things. She didn't speak to Percy. He would just try to stop her. It was dark outside. Street lights and vehicles provided the most light. Melody looked around, wondering where she would go. Anywhere that wasn't here.
Melody went left, passing lots of buildings. She followed the bright street lights. She was going to get out of this place. Her family did not need her.
Melody had heard about a mountain that wasn't too far from where she lived. She thought she could go there.
"Hmm?" Melody eyed the eighth human. "Yes, I did want to climb Mt. Ebott! How irresponsible of me. And yet... here I am. But I think all of us did at one point."
"Yeah, true..." Faye commented, eyeing them. "Please keep telling the story. It's very good."
"Faye! This talk doesn't involve you!" Melody grumbled.
"I think we're all listenin', pardner," Clover whispered.
"It's so sad!" Cody sniffled.
"yeah, i wanna hear more as well..." Napstablook said. Melody almost forgot they were here.
"Fine," she sighed. "I'll continue."
Melody reached a road. There were lots of vehicles crossing it. Blinding lights and sounds almost faded Melody out of existence.
She gazed at the road. She didn't want to cross it. But she knew she had to. This was what she had to do.
"Melody." Percy appeared behind her. Melody jumped.
"Percy!" she shouted, eyeing him. "What're you doing here?"
"I followed you." Percy told her.
"Oh," Melody said, making a face. "That's not very nice, Percy. And I don't really want you to follow me. Unless it's on social media I guess."
"I was merely curious," Percy replied. His shoulder twitched. He was carrying more books than usual. "I wondered what you were doing, leaving the theatre. I decided to investigate. And my results are astonishing! Melody... are you running away?"
"Yes," Melody answered. She had tears in her eyes. She started crying. The truth was clear. "I'm sorry, Percy. This is what I must do. My family doesn't love me anymore..."
Everyone gasped.
"Oh, Melody, did you really say that?" Cody asked. He sounded sad.
"Yes," Melody sighed. "That's what I thought. And maybe I still do."
"But Melody! Lots of people love you!" Cody retorted.
He was grinning at her. Melody sighed. Cody was so nice. She was glad she was friends with him.
"Thanks, Cody," she replied. "But I think my story's a little different compared to yours."
"Everyone's got their own story," Faye commented. "I love stories."
"I prefer manga," Percy said, adjusting his glasses.
"We already knew that, Perce." Clover said, giving him a glance. His cheeks went red.
"I'll continue," Melody said, folding her arms.
"Oh," Percy commented. He sounded dead inside. But he always did.
There was a light breeze. Percy's black hair blew back in the wind.
"Your family is at the theatre," he said. "They came just after you left. They're looking for you."
"They are?" Melody asked. She sighed and took a deep breath. She put her hands on Percy's shoulders. "Percy, please... tell them I can't come back."
"Do you want to give up so easily?" Percy asked, stepping back. "Perseverance is the only way to survive this world. Giving up will not help you achieve anything. It will be your downfall. In other words... Melody, if you run away..."
He paused. He gazed at the road. He sounded deadly serious. "You will die."
Everyone gasped again. They all looked at Percy. Then at Melody.
"Yes, I did say that." Percy told them. Melody took a deep breath.
She'd been so shocked when he had said that. What had he meant? The seriousness in his tone still sent chills down her spine.
"How do you know?" Melody asked. The sound of cars almost drowned out her squeak. Percy had never sounded like that before.
"You do not know what you are doing," Percy answered. "And... somehow, something feels wrong about all this. It's more than a mere 'gut feeling'. It feels like something will genuinely happen. I have no on-paper evidence to support this theory. I am only saying what I feel. And what I feel is very... I hate to say it, strong."
"Percy..." Melody stared at him. "I..." She looked at the road.
She started crying. She just couldn't take it anymore. It was killing her. It seems what she felt was very 'strong' too.
"I'm sorry."
She turned around and hugged him. Percy stiffened up. He seemed uncomfortable as Melody cried into his sweater.
"I'm so sorry for everything," Melody sobbed. "You're right. Perseverance... what does that mean? 'Perseverance'?"
"Perseverance is persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success." Percy answered. Melody stared at him with a blank look. "It's never giving up."
"It sounds like your name," Melody laughed. "And my parents said I have something else... what was it, in... inte... integrity?"
"Integrity," Percy replied. "The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Yes, you seem to have a lot of that."
Melody smiled at Percy. They didn't hug a lot, despite being best friends. All those feelings made Percy anxious. A lot of things made him anxious. Melody didn't mind a whole lot. But sometimes, when she needed comfort, she felt alone. She did feel so lonely sometimes, despite having friends and family...
Like she was the only one who had any integrity.
"Well, let's not hang around here all day," she said, still wiping tears from her eyes. "Come, Percy Verance! I've got to go and see my family."
"The end," Melody said, waving her arms.
Everyone cheered. Even Napstablook. They said 'ooooooo'.
"What a nice ending!" Cody cheered.
"Well done, pardner." Clover told Melody, giving the ballet dancer a rub on the head.
Melody fixed her bun. The eighth human was smiling at her. It seemed they enjoyed the story. Melody was happy about that, since they were the only one who was originally supposed to listen. Faye was smiling as well. Percy looked a little flustered. Brayden was still asleep. It seemed he had been sleeping for the whole story.
Melody sighed. She still remembered when his mom asked her to be friends with him. Of course his mom asked Melody! Melody was responsible. She was class captain, the teacher's pet. So she wasn't surprised.
... But at the same time, she was. No one had asked her to be anyone's friend before. But she accepted the request. Brayden's mom had asked Melody to at least be friends with him for a little while, if it didn't bother Melody. She also said something else about some other girl who used to be Brayden's best friend but left without a trace. Melody realized later that this girl was Faye.
Melody hadn't really liked Brayden at first. She found him annoying and silly. He was loud and messy, unlike her other friend, Percy. But she eventually started to like him.
"And, well, here we are..." Melody muttered, staring at the ceiling.
The world was very tiring. Melody still felt so lonely sometimes, even after meeting Clover, Cody, Faye and the stick kid. She remembered when it was just her, Percy and a bunch of books. But no one understood her most important intentions, not even Percy. Even her family got confused. Melody realized she would've climbed up Mt. Ebott a long time ago if she didn't have her best friend there...
Percy, despite everything, really did care.
For some reason, Melody felt very tired. Sleep was finally taking over. All that story-telling had worn her out. She closed her eyes...
Melody had a very strange dream. She was in a completely black room. There was no one there. It was just... an empty black room.
"Hello?" she called out.
Then she noticed two figures in the distance. Melody walked towards them. Perhaps she could ask them a few questions. But as she approached, something felt... off about those two figures. Something... familiar, yet something strange. They were covered in shadows, so she couldn't exactly make them out. But she could hear them.
"You are a fool," one of the figures spat. They were speaking to the other figure. "This will not work. You will not only endanger yourself, but you will endanger everyone. This is incredibly selfish, cowardly, weak and something I'd expect from someone like you. If you really wish to stop the player, you will fight back."
The other figure said something.
The first figure sounded angry. "I understand that timelines with the player will not let you do this, but you don't understand. You will die. Everything and everyone you love will be gone."
"Excuse me?" Melody called out. "Can you two hear me? If you don't mind me asking, what are you talking about?"
"This is so low of you," the first figure grumbled. "Pathetic. I will not let you get away with something like this. I understand everyone suffers from their actions, but this isn't the way to deal with it. You aren't any better than them."
The second figure said something else.
"You will pay for this," the first one snapped. "Everyone will see what monster you are, with or without the player."
The first figure's voice became demonic. Their eyes were glowing red, and their figure began to melt. "AFTER ALL, SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?!"
Melody woke up. She felt... strange. What was that dream all about? She shook her head. She felt funny. She looked at her friends. It seemed she wasn't the only one who had that dream. The kids realized this quickly.
"What was that dream?" Clover asked, shaking her head. "Who were those... people?"
"Yeah, those guys were WEIRD!" Brayden yelled. He was sitting up. "And why did that angry one melt at the end? Were they made out of chocolate or something?"
"It was a little scary!" Cody admitted, looking around.
"It was very strange," Melody commented.
The stick kid had their head bowed. Faye looked like she was contemplating something.
"I think it was a memory of some sort," Percy explained. "A memory from two people. These two in question would be the figures we saw in the dream. But I don't know what their exact identities would be."
"wow... it sounds like you guys are going through a lot..." Napstablook mumbled. "i'm sorry. i should leave you be."
"No, it's fine!" Cody assured them.
"This is your house, Napstablook," Melody pointed out. "We're the ones that should be leaving. We're being so rude!" She stood up. "Come on, guys. Let's find somewhere better than here."
"WHAT! I MISSED THE STORY!" Brayden grumbled, pouting. "Can you tell me it, Melody? Pleeeaaasssee?"
"I will, sometime." Melody promised.
The group had just left Napstablook's house. They followed a path that went right. They came to a large, wooden pen holding four snails. Some were the strangest-looking things Melody had ever seen. Of course, Faye and Cody wanted to check them out. The stick kid and Clover joined them. The others went to speak to Napstablook, who was floating in front of the pen.
"awkward..." Nasptablook said. "i'm working right now..."
"How'd you get there so fast?!" Brayden asked, looking stunned.
"Ghosts are intangible," Percy explained. "This power allows them to get to different locations extremely quickly."
"Intangerine...?" Brayden asked, sounding confused.
"Intangible means Napstablook can go through walls." Melody explained. She eyed Percy, her brow raised. "That is what it means, right?"
"Yep." Percy replied. Even Melody was stunned by how much Percy knew.
"Ohhhhhh." Brayden replied, looking thoughtful.
"i mean..." Napstablook continued. "welcome to Blook Family snail farm."
"Are you the only one who works here? I haven't seen anyone else." Melody asked, raising her brow.
"... yeah," Napstablook replied. "i'm the only employee. this place used to get a lot of business... but our main customer disappeared one day... now it's just some hairy guy that shows up once a month."
"I'm sorry to hear about that." Melody commented, frowning.
"Can't you, like, hire anyone else?" Brayden asked.
"no one else wants to work here..." Napstablook said, sighing.
"I'll work here." Faye volunteered, stepping forward. She grinned at the snails. "The snails are cute."
"Faye! You can't work here! You're too young!" Melody exclaimed.
"i don't mind..." Napstablook said. "i'd like some extra help... if you wouldn't mind... but no pressure... it's okay if you change your mind... you didn't have to offer-"
"WE GET IT!" Brayden yelled.
"well then..." Napstablook looked at Faye. "your name is faye, right...?" Faye nodded. "well, faye, you can start work whenever you want... you can be the executive of blook family snail farm... if that's okay with you..."
"It's okay," Faye replied, smiling. "As long as it's okay with you..."
"oh, it is... i just wanted to know if it's okay with you..." Napstablook replied.
"It is... but if you change your mind, that's okay," Faye replied.
"oh... if you want to change your position, then i'm okay with that..." Napstablook replied. "if you want to leave, that's completely fine..."
"If you want me to leave, I can do that," Faye said. "It's not a big deal. I'm only here if you want-"
"WE. GET. IT!" Brayden yelled, waving his arms around.
"Hey, Faye, since you're the executive or whatever of this place, can you fix that snail race?" Clover asked, frowning. "It's not fair."
"Oh, you said a rhyme." Percy commented, getting in her face. He backed up, cheeks red.
"CAN WE GO NOW?!" Brayden asked, looking bored.
"I'm going to stay here to help Napstablook with the farm..." Faye told her friends. "Let me know when you get home."
"Hey! You're not staying here!" Brayden grumbled, glaring at her.
"Brayden, she has a job," Melody told him, folding her arms. "She has to."
"But we're a TEAM!" Brayden yelled.
"The whole point of a job, pardner, is to do it," Clover pointed out.
Cody gave Faye a hug. "Good luck, Faye!"
The eighth human gave her a wave. The kids left Faye to work at the snail farm. Brayden wasn't very happy about it. Neither was Melody, since it was technically child labour, but then again, Faye did volunteer for it.
The kids hung around the outside of the entry to the garbage dump. They sat down on the blue floor, surrounded by cool air.
"Why are we sitting around?" Brayden asked, looking bored.
"We're planning," Percy reminded him. His notebook was out. "And thinking. What was that dream?" He looked at the stick kid. "Out of all of us, you have the most answers. You did have the dream, didn't you?"
The kid paused for a moment. They looked... a little scared. They nodded.
Percy's pencil shook in his grip for a brief second. "Do you know who those two people were?"
The eighth human nodded. They had a funny expression on their face.
"Then who were they?" Percy asked.
Everyone was staring at the eighth human. Melody sat up. She was interested in this. The red human pulled out their stick. They began drawing images in the dirt.
"So it was Chara," Clover said, observing their drawings. "They were talking to..."
"You?" Percy finished. The kid nodded.
Brayden looked confused. "What the heck were they saying?"
"They were being really mean." Cody added.
He gave the eighth child a sympathetic glance. The eighth human continued drawing images. They hesitated every few moments. Everyone watched them with intrigue. Soon, they'd finished drawing a whole story. The kids gathered around it and observed it.
"Alright, you and Chara were argurin' 'bout something," Clover commented thoughtfully, eyeing the kid. They gave her a nod of approval.
"How childish," Melody scoffed. Everyone stared at her. "You were trying to stop Chara entering this... timeline...? But they did anyway." The kid nodded. Melody felt a little ashamed about the question she was about to ask. "Tell me, what's a timeline?"
Percy looked excited. "A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order."
"THE HECK?!" Brayden asked, looking very confused.
"I think he's saying a timeline is a lot of events happening in order," Melody said. She gazed at Percy. "Is that right?" Percy nodded.
"There are lots of different timelines," he continued. "Timelines of this world, other worlds, and so on. What happens in this timeline will be different to other timelines. But I digress. Why did you want to stop Chara entering this timeline in the first place?" He was staring at the eighth human.
"They wanted to stop Chara because..." Cody observed the story. "Chara wants to do lots of really bad things."
The kid nodded. Brayden stared at the story.
"They're... tryna destroy the world?" he asked.
The kid nodded. Everyone gasped in horror. "Why?!"
"Chara has their own... personal reasons," Percy observed the drawings. "Apparently, using the combined power of our DETERMINATION, they want to connect this timeline to every other timeline and destroy them all at once."
"In other words, Chara wants to use us to kill everything." Melody realized. Shock horror raced through her. Everyone gazed at each other with wide eyes.
They couldn't believe it. They were going to die.
"But... I thought Chara was... a hero!" Cody squeaked, shivering. "The... The Fallen Child!"
"It was all a lie, wasn't it?" Melody asked the kid. They nodded solemnly. "They only want to kill everyone."
"That's why you're here, ain't it?" Clover asked the stick child. Her fists were clenched. She was giving them a serious glance. "You're protectin' everything 'cause... you're tryna stop Chara."
The eighth human nodded.
"WELL, WE'RE GONNA HELP YOU!" Brayden yelled, standing up. He punched the air. "CHARA DOESN'T SCARE ME! THEY'RE GONNA BE THE ONE THAT WILL DIE!"
"That's right," Clover agreed, patting the eighth human's shoulder. She gritted her teeth. "They're not gonna touch any of us. We'll make 'em PAY."
"They will not get away with this!" Melody agreed, standing up. She eyed all of her friends. She suddenly felt determined. "Chara is a liar! They lack so much integrity it hurts my SOUL!" She wiped her eyes. "If we work together we can stop them! Ugh, that sounded so cheesy. But it's true."
The eighth child nodded. They gave her a smile. She returned it.
"Someone get Faye," Melody clapped. "We're going to save the world!"
~EXTRA NON-CANONICAL SCENE~
"I don't know why, but it feels like we just met a bunch of kids from an alternate timeline," Faye said, looking curious. The kid looked down.
"That's ludicrous." Percy replied.
"Yes," Melody agreed. "We're the only humans down here. What're you going on about?"
"Tibia honest, I really don't know." Faye said, winking. She made finger guns at someone. "Right, John?"
"Faye, who in tarnation are you talkin' to?" Clover asked, raising her brow.
"Yeah, who's John?!" Brayden asked defensively.
"Beats me," Faye replied. She gave Brayden a look. "But I didn't know you were so ticklish, Brayden."
"What... what're you talking about?!" Brayden asked, folding his arms. Everyone was staring at him now. "H-HEY! STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!"
"Let's get him." Clover said, folding her arms with a grin. Brayden yelped as everyone chased after him.
"Thanks Jerod." Faye sighed.