:):
Thank you all for the wonderful reviews!
Yes, LeahLovesPotter, Frisk's arrival is coming up.
To answer your question, Equimavera, things are happening a little differently here because this AU isn't following the same timeline. Everything is a little off-kilter. :)
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This is the very last chapter of the Sanctuary Arc.
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Garden of Sorrow
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Sans cringed as he tried to find the best solution to this epic mess they'd found themselves in. He could try teleporting, but with the vines currently wrapped around the kid, there was a chance things might not turn out so well. He didn't want to risk it. Not to mention, there was also the possibility that he could accidentally take the damn flower right along with them; that wouldn't solve anything. He didn't want to admit it, but this flower was annoyingly strong, even for him. Hell, it might even give Asgore a run for his money. How the hell did this kid manage to piss off the worst monster imaginable?
Feeling the vines creep up his legs once more, Sans knew he was out of options. Even with his blasters aimed right at its face, the flower didn't look fazed in the least. Still, he wasn't about to let this overpowered weed have the kid. Not a chance. Wrapping his arms more securely around the small child, Sans was surprised when he felt her push him away.
"It's okay, Sans." Fearia said quietly. "You can put me down now."
"don't be stupid, kid." The skeleton rejected the idea outright. "i'm not letting you go. papyrus would never forgive me if something bad happened to you." Even as he said that, the vines kept rising until they were now winding around his arms.
"Mh hm." Fearia shook her head. "That's not true. Pappy would never hold this against you because you mean the world to him." Turning, the little girl held back a grimace as she viewed the state of her friend. He looked awful and it was all her fault. She needed to make this right somehow. With a sad smile, the child reached up and gently placed a small hand to his cheekbone with care. "Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'm sure it will all turn out okay in the end."
Sans felt the panic rise up in his Soul as the little girl freed herself from his restrained grip. She gave him one more reassuring smile before turning to face the flower. Raising her small arms, she held them out and narrowed her amber eyes in defiance.
"Stop, Flowey!" Fearia ordered. "Leave my friends alone!"
Cocking his flowery head, Flowey's grin became sarcastic. "Or what?" He challenged. "If you haven't noticed, you're in no position to demand anything."
"Maybe." Fearia frowned slightly as she lowered her arms. "But I still have something you want, right? You can have it if you promise not to hurt them."
"kid, no." Sans pleaded as he pulled against his restraints.
Flowey smiled as he released a few of the vines from around the tiny human, allowing her to move more freely. "Sacrificing yourself for your friends, huh?" He asked, his face becoming incredulous. "You really are an idiot..."
"Do you promise?" Fearia urged, ignoring his insults.
"I promise." Flowey replied in the most insincere way possible. "Now, bring that pretty little Soul over here, princess."
Giving her friend one last look, Fearia turned and drew in a shaky breath as she tapped into that well of Courage that resided deep within her Soul. Steeling herself, she began to walk forward.
"kid, get back here!" Sans demanded desperately. She was walking right towards her own death, and the fact that she actually understood what she was doing made it so much worse for some reason. This tiny child was actually willing to give up her own life to protect them. Problem was, Sans wasn't willing to accept her sacrifice. Not now, not ever.
Eye light blazing with a surge of magic, Sans felt his skull give a sharp throb of pain as he summoned ten more blasters into existence. If two wasn't enough, then twelve might make a bit more of a difference. He hoped. Aiming at the base of the flower's large stalk, Sans ordered them to fire at will.
Fearia gasped as the concussive vibrations of the blast knocked her off her feet. Shielding her eyes from the light, she was only vaguely aware of the familiar sensation of weightlessness. It was only when she was unceremoniously plopped back on her butt, did she realize what had happened.
"don't ever do that again." Sans grumbled as he shrugged off his bulky winter jacket.
Staring up at the skeleton, Fearia's eyes widened in horror. "Sans, you're arm!" Had he pulled his own arm off trying to get free?!
"calm down, they reattach. see?" Sans said calmly as he popped his arm back into place.
Fearia squirmed in discomfort at the sound. "Are you okay?"
"no." Sans glowered down at the small child. "what were you thinking?"
The little girl's face flushed in indignation as she got back to her feet. "I didn't want you to get hurt again!" She shot back hotly.
"don't you think it would hurt me more if you were killed?" Sans replied quietly as he looked away from the tiny human and over to the vile plant that his blasters were still actively pummeling. "if you don't care what i think," the skeleton started, eye lights traveling back to the child. "then at least consider your sister's feelings. how do you think frisk would have felt is she never got to see you again? you can't save her if you're dust, kid."
Fearia pouted silently up at the skeleton for a moment as she let his words sink in. Her sulky expression finally wavered, though, as the truth of what he had said dawned on her. He was right! Amber eyes welling up with unshed tears, the little girl sniffled miserably as she reached up and tugged at a handful of fabric from her borrowed shirt "What was I supposed to do then?"
Expression softening, Sans knelt down and brushed some of the loose vines off of the child's small shoulders. "nobody's asking you to do anything dangerous." He explained calmly as he placed a bony hand to her messy hair. "all ya gotta worry about is staying safe, okay? i don't want you to get hurt anymore." He said as he glanced down at the little girl's bruised neck. "think you can do that for me?"
"Okay..." The tiny human gave a small nod as she quietly agreed to his request. Lifting her hand, she rubbed at a teary eye before looking up to her friend with stubborn determination. "But you aren't allowed to get hurt anymore either!"
Sans chuckled lightly before giving her a fond smile. "i'll do my best, squirt."
"Hey! Over here!" Undyne called out from across the room. "I've got it!"
Making their way over to the center of the blackened garden, Sans felt himself start to sweat a little as he surveyed the damage he'd done to the King's Throne Room. The skeleton held back some choice words as he lifted his gaze up towards the fresh new cracks in the overhead geodes. The ceiling looked suspiciously less stable now. Lowering his eye lights back down to the small indent in the cavern floor now barren of life except for one lone drooping flower, Sans narrowed his eye sockets into a subtle glare.
Flowey sneered up at the approaching skeleton before his eyes caught sight of the tiny human clinging to his baggy shorts. Lifting his face, the flower grinned sarcastically up at the Judge. "I bet you're pretty proud of yourself, huh?" He said humorlessly. "You beat a flower. Congratulations. You deserve some kind of award."
"yeah, i'm not buying that crap." Sans replied unimpressed as he stared down at the battered bloom. "we all know you're not just a flower."
"How were you so powerful?" Undyne demanded angrily as she jabbed at the damaged flower with the point of her spear. "We'll find out sooner or later, so you might as well spit it out now, punk."
"Spit it out?" Flowey grinned devilishly up at the Captain of the Royal Guard. "Fine. If that's what you want, weirdo."
Sans, Fearia, and Undyne watched with varying degrees of revulsion as the talking flower struggled to regurgitate something from his stem-like throat. A few seconds later, a couple of slimy gems dropped into a nauseating puddle on the ground in front of him.
"Augh, gross!" Undyne exclaimed in obvious disgust.
"wait." Sans said as he stared down at the familiar looking crystals. "did you get those from waterfall? at the garbage dump?"
"What's it to ya?" Flowey wheezed after finally coughing up a third gem.
"Those are Soul Gems..." Fearia informed quietly as she leaned closer to her friend. "They're the remains of the people who shatter."
"So there's Souls inside those crystals?" Undyne asked as she eyed the slimy gems. "Human Souls?"
"Uh huh." Fearia nodded. "But they're just bits and pieces of Souls, not complete ones."
A moment of silence past between Sans and Undyne before they looked over to the flower suspiciously. He had been that strong with only a few shards of human souls? Sure, human souls were said to be super powerful, but it was unlikely that a small amount of Soul fragments would make that much of a difference. Something didn't quite add up here.
Flowey smiled innocently up at the Captain before slowly tilting his flowery head to look over to the Judge.
What happened next, happened way too fast.
Behind them, near the exit to the Throne Room, a portion of the cavern wall suddenly collapsed in a loud crash, causing everyone to turn on impulse. That distraction was all that was needed for the tiny human to be yanked away from the skeleton by strong vines. The little girl gasped in shock before letting out an attempted scream.
"Sa- uh!"
Turning back around, Sans witnessed something that would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life.
Reaching out for her friend, Fearia's small hand trembled as she looked down. Amber eyes widened in shock as she beheld the two bloody vines piercing straight through her body. One of them had hit her left lung perfectly, while the other just narrowly missed her heart. Feeling blood rise up into her throat, the little girl gagged slightly as it leaked from the corner of her mouth. A second later, she felt the excruciating sensation of the vines retracting from her body, before the horrible feeling of something intangible being ripped away.
Then... nothing...
The light leaving her eyes, Fearia's small body fall backwards and landed with a quiet, almost inaudible thud.
"Fearia!" Sans cried out as he dropped to his knees next to the little girl. Reaching his trembling skeletal hands out towards her, he was almost too afraid to touch the tiny broken child. "no." He whispered as he stared down at the torn pale blue shirt that was quickly darkening to a sickening crimson. "no no no..." Sans chanted under his nonexistent breath as he finally put his hands underneath the tiny human and lifted her up. He was instantly horrified by how limp and lifeless she felt.
"Sans... I'm-"
Undyne's words caught in her throat when the Judge looked up at her. She'd never seen anyone look so broken before.
"Go. Get. Asgore." Sans ordered, his eye sockets leaking glowing blue trails of magic.
Giving the skeleton a stiff nod, Undyne left without another word.
Supporting the little girl's head with his arm, Sans reached over and gently cupped the side of her rounded face. Her eyes were still open and he didn't know whether he should close them or not. If he did, would that be the same as accepting she was gone? He didn't know if he was even able to do that. Not even a minute ago, she had been just fine. So, how could this have happened?
Any moment now, this tiny human who he'd grown to love was going to turn to dust and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it from happening. He'd never get to see her again... Cradling the small child close, Sans leaned down and pressed his cheekbone to the top of her head. Letting the sorrow consume him, he barely noticed the sticky warmth seeping through his shirt. She was still so warm...
After only a few minutes, Sans pulled away and stared despondently down at the little girl. With a heavy heart, he finally reached down to at least do her the courtesy of closing her eyes. It was only when his hand came close to her mouth, did he finally notice something. Halting his actions, his eye sockets widened ever so slightly. Warm, shallow breaths were escaping from the child's partially open lips.
She was breathing!
Panic and hope both flooded the skeleton's system as his hand began to tremble again. Was she actually alive!? What should he do? The star! He had to get the kid to a healing star as soon as he possibly could.
Disappearing in a flicker of blue flame, Sans reappeared at the entrance to the Judgment Hall. Holding the child close, he sprinted over to where he knew he had last seen the star. The flash of blinding light that erupted in front of him was a welcoming sight as he thrust the injured child into its radiance. Sans watched nervously as the star got to work trying to fix the broken human.
This wasn't like the last time, he noted grimly. The star's healing process was more aggressive than he'd ever seen, with its bright tendrils actually intruding deep inside the gruesome puncture wounds, and yet, the child didn't even flinch. In fact, she portrayed no signs at all of any discomfort. Trying his hardest not to think about what that meant, Sans instead forced himself to focus solely on the small child's improving conditions.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the little girl's pale skin had regained much of its color and she was now taking deep, steady breaths. The bleeding had stopped completely, and now the star was simply repairing shallow cuts and bruises from her torso and neck. Even though she was nearly fully healed, the little girl still looked like a bloody mess. Sans probably did too, though he hadn't bothered to check. He was far too preoccupied with watching the strings of light converging around the center of the small child's chest. Mindlessly feeling around, they were searching for something that was no longer there.
"Sans..."
Turning, the skeleton stared hopelessly up at the King.
"Tell me everything."
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I am so so so sorry! :0
Don't worry, I know this looks bad, but I promise I'm not writing a tragedy.
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The next chapter is the beginning of the Soul Arc in which Frisk will finally FINALLY show up!
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Thanks for reading!
(again, I'm SO sorry!)
If you are enjoying this story, why not take the time to leave me a friendly review?
Sheii Bae~
