Days passed.
Those days turned to weeks.
And those weeks became a solid month, and then some.
Nothing changed. The curse the Barrier had inflicted upon her still held fast.
She was still a human.
And with each passing day, she lost more and more hope that she would ever be her old self again. And having been waiting in the wilderness for so long, there wasn't much she could think to do except what she'd been doing inside Mount Ebott all that time; adapt.
Ginger fired one of her last remaining arrows, striking her target right through the heart. The doe fell instantly; she never knew what had hit her.
The Huntress emerged from the bushes to claim her prize. It was a decent-enough sized deer; not too big. Just enough to get her through another two weeks. She dragged her back towards her camp to clean it, and her nose wrinkled at the thought. She could never get used to the smell of half-digested browse mixed with sulfur and methane escaping. It almost wasn't worth her effort.
Nothing was worth much of anything anymore. The only reason she even bothered to keep at it was because of the stretched out hope that one day, things might finally start changing for the better. That she might wake up from this nightmare and find herself an owl again...
...No, that wasn't just it. It was her DETERMINATION. It had to be. She just had too much of a will to live to give up.
But the life she was so desperate to hold onto wasn't much to be fighting for. By now, all of the Pure Ones had to have left. And even if they hadn't, even if they did find her, they wouldn't recognize her. And the animals she could have once spoken to; the foxes, the wolves, the bears, the badgers, even the rowdy coyotes...They all posed a danger to her now, even if she hadn't had a risky encounter yet. To them, she was nothing more than an intruder in their forest home. She didn't belong.
And there was no way she was going to try to tell them she knew their big secret; that would be a death sentence.
Every so often, Ginger saw an owl fly over head while she laid down on the ground, stargazing. She was tempted to call out to it, but she knew that when it saw her, it would just fly away.
Stargazing was one of the only comforts she got out of this pathetic excuse for a life anymore, but to her, it was good enough. There was just something about looking up at the countless sparkling constellations that made her forget all of her woes. The stars had that effect on her; putting her in a state of content calm.
She sighed thinking about it, absentmindedly slitting open the deer's abdomen; the monsters would have loved seeing the stars.
And now they might never get the chance.
And even if, by some act of Glaux, they did find a way out of the mountain soon, they wouldn't be able to stargaze this time of year. December had just started; winter was fast approaching, and it was only growing colder and cloudier. Soon, not even the moon would be visible through the thick snow clouds. And it wasn't a welcoming chill like Snowdin. This was an intense and draining cold. Not even the furry folk of that little town would find it pleasant.
A town...she wished she wasn't lonely like this. She wish she at least had a place like Snowdin to stay, like where the skeleton brothers lived, and Grillby's was, and...
She stopped gutting her would-be dinner and bolted upright with an idea.
"...That's exactly what I'll do."
She would leave her camp and venture into the mysterious realm that was human society. She would just keep walking in one direction until she found a town, or at least something resembling one. Humans were all over this earth; how hard would it be to find them? It might take some time to adjust, but...
If she couldn't get things back to the way they once were, maybe she could start something new.
It was decided; tomorrow, she would start her trek into human society and establish a new life for herself. So, with that in mind, she went back to cleaning her-
"What-!?"
A red fox-that same troublesome vixen that had been stealing bits of her prized meat for over two weeks, now-was munching away at the inside of the deer's leg, ruining the cut. She rose her dagger, ready to finally teach this damned thief a lesson...but then she hesitated.
The fox looked...round in the middle. It shrank at the sight of the dagger and backed away from the deer. Suddenly, Ginger realized why this fox had been stealing her kills instead of hunting for herself. It was because she wasn't able to hunt the way she normally did.
Because she was carrying pups.
She dropped her weapon; killing the vixen would be an ultimate betrayal of the Grosnik Code.
"...You know what?" she said to the animal, her fury fading. "...Take it. Just...Let me have the other leg and you can keep that one."
The mother fox looked up at the human curiously as she took the dagger and cut out the meat of the untouched leg.
"I'm leaving tomorrow, anyway. As soon as I'm done here you can have however much you want."
She didn't bother gutting the doe; she wasn't going to be back for it, so she might as well just take what she had to and leave; just the hindquarter and backstraps were good enough. She just had to skin those parts first. Besides, the buzzards and likewise would have something to munch on.
"...You're gonna be a mama, huh?" she remarked, the vixen still standing and watching, not far from her. "How many? Four? Five? How much longer do you think it'll be?"
It was odd, trying to strike up a friendly conversation with the fox she had been cursing at for so long when she tried to sneak some of her precious meat...Toriel had taught her this to begin with, and now it threatened to become a habit.
"Who's the pop? Must be a handsome tod, I'm thinking."
She knew the fox wouldn't answer a human, but it looked like she was at least listening.
"...You know," she added. "You're just about the reddest fox I've ever seen...Maybe all the meat you got away with added to that?"
She finished with a bit of a chuckle.
"No, but really. It's a nice coat. Almost scarlet, it looks like. Take pride in it; I would. But stay away from hunters, they might think it'd be a nice wall decoration. Heh..."
How ironic that warning was, coming from the Huntress herself. Ginger finished cutting out the parts of the doe she wanted and stood back up.
"Well, that's that. It's all yours."
She went over to her pit and started up a fire with the flintstone she'd collected, the wood and leaves already in it serving as fuel. She skewered all four of the cuts onto a nearby branch and held it over the flame before turning back to the rest of the deer to see if the fox was still there.
Indeed she was, tearing at the leg of the deer she'd already started on, though she still kept her eye on the human.
"So, one time, this guy took me over to his friend's house," she said to the vixen. "And his friend, uh...She sort of has this thing she hates about...people like me. And the guy already knew that, so he wanted to see if he could fix that. Apparently, his plan was to formally introduce me to her, jump out the window and let nature take its course
...Classy, right?"
The animal cocked her head; she seemed eager to know more.
"So, get this; before I went to her house, she tried to straight-up murder me, like, what? Four times? Maybe more than that, I don't remember...But anyway, it was just me and her, and things were pretty tense. When she tried to kick me out of her house, though, the guy came back and said through the window, 'I GUESS I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE'S NOT UP FOR THE CHALLENGE OF BEING FRIENDS WITH HER.'"
She tried to keep a straight face while imitating Papyrus's ridiculous voice.
"Now THAT was when things went nuts. She was all 'Oh, can I getcha somethin' to drink?'" She wrinkled her upper lip to expose the front teeth; a mocking impression of Undyne's hideous overbite, complete with a tightly closed left eye. "But at the same time, she was throwing spears and I was handing out the comebacks. It seems the tongue is indeed mightier than the sword...or the spear. Or both, actually. In the end, things really went up in flames...No, really; we set her house on fire by accident."
The vixen looked very perplexed by the story, but nonetheless intrigued.
"But by and by, I guess you could say things turned out for the better. We still hate each other's guts, but hey; at least she's not stalking me through the shadows trying to steal my SOUL by throwing a crap-ton of spears at me anymore. From then on, the only things we threw at each other were insults. Heh heh..."
She sighed thinking about it.
"...I miss those days...Now I'm not so sure I'll ever see any of them again. I can't go back after I...Wonder what they're all up to?"
Ginger looked up at her meat; it was done, so she stored it away in the plastic container that had once held Papyrus's spaghetti; the pasta had long since been finished off.
"Well, I'm turning in," she finished, watching what was left of her fire begin to smolder. "Good night."
The young human headed over to her round bed of leaves and pine branches, the strange plush toy she'd scavenged from the dump so long ago, the odd fox-rabbit hybrid thing, sat atop it; for several weeks, this was the closest thing she could manage to a bed. She had at least succeeded in making it comfortable, and the plush served as a sort of comfort item. She cherished it as a relic from the days gone by, and was surprised with herself that she'd nearly forgotten all about it.
Besides, it was...kind of cute, anyway, whatever it was.
Ginger settled into the branches, wrapped the cloak tightly around herself to keep the cold at bay and held that stuffed animal like her life depended on it. It was strange; the scurrying sound of the fox running away did not come to her before sleep did. The last thing she was able to process before letting her mind succumb to the realm of dreams was a mental image of a familiar-looking statue.
...
She awoke to an oddly familiar sensation on her face. Ginger groaned as she opened her heavy eyes; judging by the light she could make out, it was only just dawn.
When her vision finally cleared, the human was met with the sight of the vixen pressing her wet nose against her cheek and licking it, and she sprang upright in shock. This definitely wasn't what she expected to wake up to first thing in the morning.
The red fox wagged her tail upon seeing her awake.
"Did you do that on purpose?"
The animal leapt about as best one could while carrying a litter.
"Oh, I get it; you want me to have plenty of daylight for my little trip, is that it?"
She nodded.
...She NODDED.
It was some form of communication, and that, the human could appreciate.
She didn't let the fox's intentions go to waste; she readied her messenger bag, making sure she had everything; her items, her sweater, her armor...Everything was where it should have been. Finally, she straightened her cloak and started walking southwest. She decided she would head that way and see what she came across; hopefully, she'd find a suitable town by the time winter was set in stone.
Ginger looked back one last time at her little camp; she wouldn't miss it much, but for a while, it was her home. The fox was sitting down in the nest she'd been using, her black ears perked and her big, blue eyes giving off an almost forlorn glint.
"I wish you the best of luck," she said to the scarlet vixen, and she began walking deeper into the unknown.
"And to you as well."
Ginger's eyes widened, and she turned her head just in time to see the fox's tongue retreat back into her mouth. She'd actually...
The human smiled, and gave an understanding nod. And as soon as she did, the creature turned tail and disappeared into the opposite direction of the woods.
Ginger went on her way, smiling all the while; since the start of her solitary living, she'd come to appreciate the little things in life. The warmth of the sun during the day, the delicious taste of tender venison cooked over an open flame, the beauty of the stars and the moon at night, the hauntingly beautiful song of the winter wind whistling through the pine branches...
These were all things the monsters of Mount Ebott had yet to experience. The underground air currents of Snowdin whistled very lightly through the pine trees; they did not produce an intense, otherworldly howl like the ones on the surface. One had to hear these winds for themselves to really know what it was like; it could not be described in words.
Another gust of wind cut through the trees, and Ginger wrapped her cloak tighter around herself to keep the cold, December air from breaching to her skin. The sooner she found a human civilization, the better. So she picked up her pace, turning her slow trudge into a brisk walk; it would keep her blood flowing, her mind sharp and her journey quicker.
She whistled as she went, and she decided to test her skills to give herself something to do. The call of a quail sounded somewhere in the distance, and out of curiosity, she tried to replicate its cry.
"Bob...Bob-WHITE," the bird whistled. And Ginger answered it back each and every time she heard the sound.
"Bob-WHITE," the two whistlers called out, neither seeing the other, and eventually, neither knew who was copying who.
She was an Echo Flower to that bird, repeating the last thing it said over and over again.
"Bob-WHITE. Bob...Bob...Bob-WHITE."
And then she heard a new noise; the somewhat trilling call of a thrasher. She whistled back to it, trying to imitate the swift change of tone the bird's voice made so easily.
It was harder to copy than the two-note call of a bobwhite, but she was able to make a decent enough impression.
And then came the chipper sing-song of a robin sitting somewhere in the treetops. She chippered back, and the bird stopped its singing. Ginger heard the sound of a few leaves rustling in the trees above, and upon looking up, she saw the red-breasted bird fly just underneath the leaves of the trees and into another one somewhere behind her.
She hoped she hadn't scared it off.
Ginger felt something wet on her nose; for a moment, she felt a bit of deja vu. She looked up to find that there was a small flurry of frozen flakes fluttering down from above the treetops, descending from the grey-white sky above. It was snowing. And it was likely that it would pick up soon.
She almost wished that she'd see Papyrus standing up ahead, waiting to battle her.
The human kept walking, reverting back to whistling out that tune the music box played. That song had a strange effect on people, it seemed; it had that effect of bringing back memories, no matter how distant, and making their bearers reflect on their past. That song had made her smile. It had made her laugh. It had made her cry. But most of all, it had made her remember.
And it filled her with DETERMINATION.
...
It was the thin sliver of time between late afternoon and early evening, and while the snow was still falling, the sun was trying to poke through the white sheet of clouds overhead. Above them, the light of the sky was softening, and considering the time of year, it wouldn't be log until it turned to dusk; the days were always shorter during the later parts of the year.
Ginger was about ready to fall over; her legs had never had such a demanding workout. She'd been walking almost nonstop the entire day, and not slowly, either, only stopping to take out a piece of meat to refuel herself, and even so, she kept on walking even as she ate. She needed to stop, and stop she would as soon as she found a suitable place to roost. Plus, the blanket of snow that had accumulated on the ground was making it harder to save her strength; she had to lift her legs higher and take longer strides just to keep herself at a normal pace, and the expenditure of energy was not helping.
She saw a break in the land just up ahead, and the trees thinned, allowing her to see more of what was ahead. The human found herself peering down a small cliff.
And there, staring her right in the face, was a small village, snugly nestled among the vast wilderness of the mountain forest.
"Hot DOG...!"
She slid down the slope of the cliff eagerly, and she approached the civilization. It wasn't a big town, but it was up-to-date and bustling, which was good enough for her. She caught sight of a wooden welcome sign just ahead along the right side of the path.
"EBOTT VILLAGE
Population: 143"
She stepped into the village to take everything in. There were a few rows of houses in one direction, and a stretch of stores in the other. Almost all of the buildings were finely trimmed with differently colored lights, pine wreaths, holly sprigs, and other such decorations.
Christmas decorations. It wouldn't be long now until then.
She kicked up some snow as she went on and put down the hood of her cloak to reveal an eager smile.
The other humans took notice of her as she walked by. Some just gave her a quick glance, then minded their own business again. Some stopped and gave her dark, dirty cloak an odd look, wondering where she was from and what she'd been doing with herself. A few seemed to whisper amongst themselves, knowing she was foreign to the village. Ginger noticed some of these things, and was careful not to make eye contact with any of them.
Was this how Alphys felt about people? Always afraid they would be looking down on her? Finding something about her they didn't like? Being judgmental?
Ginger had sympathized with her on this, but it was only now that she could truly EMPATHIZE.
"...Wonder what's she's doing now," she mumbled to herself; she wished they'd departed on a better note. "...Hope she's alright...Hope they're all alright..."
She looked up the path ahead, which lead into the center of the village.
And she blinked, almost certain that her eyes were deceiving her. Nestled within the snow, still lively, even in these harsh conditions, there sat...
Was that a bed of...Golden Flowers? Growing around that archaic public fountain? She quickened her gait again until she was there.
These were most DEFINITELY Golden Flowers. Just like the ones growing in the Ruins, and just outside the Trash Zone, and...in the Throne Room.
Asgore...
She felt the sensation of a tear pricking in the far corner of her eye at the thought of the fallen king. She'd nearly killed Asgore, and just when it seemed like they would be able to make things right, his last hope for his future had been stolen from him by the wretched Flowey. That evil, evil spawn...At least HE was dead now, too. He would never harm anyone ever again.
Ginger saw that there was a stone plaque positioned on the fountain, with writing inscribed beneath an image. She took a look at it.
And froze.
It was almost exactly like the illustration in Waterfall; a creature not unlike a Boss Monster, being assaulted by a gang of angry humans. She read the text beneath the image.
"TALE OF THE WHITE BEAST"
"Only a year after the founding of Ebott Village, there rose a creature from the northeast, from the direction of
the mountain our town derives its name from. Witnesses say it was a humanoid being with the head of a goat
and the eyes of a demon, and it carried the body of a small child onto the bed of Golden Flowers growing here
in the center of the village. When some drew near, the beast summoned a great glowing saber from thin air, and
threatened to attack. However, despite its malicious intent, the beast was slow and clumsy, seeming to falter
every few seconds. Many of the brave townspeople banded together and went up in arms against the demon,
and some took the opportunity to tend to the child, only to find it dead. When the attack finally ended, the beast
was wounded in every possible way; shot by bullets, sliced by blades, skewered by pitchforks and beaten by
fists. But the creature didn't die; instead, it scooped up the body of the child and limped back into the woods
from which it came. The fountain you see today was constructed in honor of the deceased child, whoever they may
have been. Several attendees claim that they even saw the beast smile before turning away; some say it was
malicious, others describe it as genuine and forgiving. Many outsiders have come to speculate the validity
of the tale, but many were there, and many know all too well what they saw and what they fought against. The
intentions and origins of the strange creature are unknown; some say that it was one of the monsters that locals
claimed were trapped underneath Mount Ebott. Others say it was a creature sent by Satan himself to wreak
havoc on the village. Whatever the case may be, one thing is certain: even before the construction of the
fountain among them, the Golden Flowers seem to have grown duller and weaker since then."
"...Ignorance..." she growled to herself.
SHE knew more than they did. The white beast was Asriel, Toriel and Asgore's only biological child; the human was the one that fell through the mountain and fell ill. All Asriel was doing was granting her last request. The saber he'd summoned...perhaps to defend himself from the attackers? They didn't interpret his means of defense very well, it seemed...In the end, the prince had stumbled back into the castle, and the reward he received from granting his sister's last request was death.
That poor, poor monster...All of them, really.
She pulled out her phone to check; she wanted to see if she could find anything that would put her mind at ease. The thing's battery was only at 6%, now, but it probably would have been long dead had she decided to use it at all within the past month and a half. It didn't matter anyway; everything on it was probably gone. She wouldn't be able to connect to Undernet from here, she couldn't call or text them from the surface, she couldn't do much of anything but look at it and wonder what...
"One Missed Call
-5 dys ago"
"...What?"
Odd...Didn't the Barrier block the signals from the outside? The phone never rang...but she'd missed a call. Strange. Very strange.
It looked like someone had left a message. She was filled with a false hope that it would be someone knew from the Underground as she tapped the icon and brought the phone up to listen to it.
"heya...is anyone there?"
And her false hope was immediately made genuine.
"S...Sans?"
"oh, well...guess i'll leave a message."
It's a message, she reminded herself, very tempted to answer him. It's a recording. He can't hear you...But you can listen.
"so...it's been a while, huh? things have gotten pretty interesting since you left. for one, the queen returned, and is now ruling over the underground again."
"Toriel..." she whispered. She'd come back to rule in Asgore's place?
"she instated a new policy upon her return: all of the humans who fall into the mountain will be treated not as enemies, but as friends...it's really for the best. the human SOULs that asgore gathered, uh...seem to have vanished. so, uh, that plan ain't happenin' anytime soon. but even though people are heartbroken over the king, and things are looking pretty grim for our freedom, the queen's doing all she can to give us hope. so, hey. if we're not giving up down here, don't give up wherever you are, okay? no one knows how long it'll be until we join you up there...but we will. promise ya."
"I'm trying...I-I'm trying, a-and I won't let you-"
"SANS! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO!?"
"oh, nobody."
"...Papyrus?"
"WHAT!? NOBODY!?...CAN I TALK TO THEM?"
"here. knock yourself out."
"HEY...WAIT A SECOND...I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER!"
The taller skeleton cleared his throat.
"ATTENTION, HUMAN! I HAVE MOST WONDERFUL NEWS FOR YOU! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"
"What!? Really!?"
"IT'S EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DREAMED OF!...EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING, WE JUST WATER FLOWERS...SO THAT EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY SUBVERGED MY EXPECTATIONS! PLUS, WE ALSO HELP DR. ALPHYS WITH HER RESEARCH! SHE'S GONNA FIND A WAY TO GET US ALL OUT OF HERE!"
"So...She's okay?" she hoped.
"UNDYNE IS HELPING HER, TOO! THOUGH, TO BE HONEST, HER METHOD OF HELPING SEEMS KIND OF...EXPLOSION-INDUCING. BUT ALPHYS SEEMS TO LIKE HAVING HER AROUND, SO I SUPPOSE THAT'S A PLUS!"
"Wait...If you're the Captain of the Royal Guard, now, then what's Undyne-"
"UH-OH...HERE SHE COMES NOW!"
"Hey! What're you up to, huh, punk!?"
"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE PHONE."
"Who's in charge here, Papyrus!?"
"ME."
"...Oh. Right...Here, is that who I think it is? I wanna give her another piece of my mind."
"YOU KNOW, YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO GRAB IT OUT OF MY HAND, UNDYNE."
"Ah, chill out. So, you...Thanks to you, I lost my job as Captain of the Royal Guard. The goody two-shoes queen came along and said that she was disbanding the guard and making a new rule that we have to be NICE to all you dirty lil' fu-"
"UNDYNE! LANGUAGE!"
"Fine...freaks. Anyways, there's only one member of the Royal Guard now."
"BUT HE'S EXTREMELY GOOD."
"Eh...Yeah, I guess you are! Come 'ere, you!"
"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON."
"It's a good thing the queen started up her new school soon enough and hired me as the gym teacher. If she hadn't, then, uh...Things down here would have been bad...For me, that is...Hey, did you know that I can bench-press SEVEN CHILDREN? Try doin' that, sticks-for-arms. Heh! Heh...Also, I'm working part-time as Alphys' lab assistant to boot. It's awesome. Especially when things catch on fire!"
"Jeez..."
"Heh...Eh...We're gonna find a way out of this dump once and for all. And the minute we do, you bet you know what I'm gonna do, because I told you, didn't I?...Why am I even telling you all this? Why am I not starting a rebellion? Don't you remember what I said!? I told you that I'd beat the LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU if you...If...If you went and decided you were gonna..."
"OH, DEAR. U-UNDYNE...ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"
There was a moment of static silence over the line, followed by a deep sigh.
"...Aw, darnit...I miss the big guy."
If only she knew it wasn't her who had dealt the finishing blow.
"URGH. Come on, Undyne, get it together!" she scolded herself. "Whatever. I guess...I guess you we're only doing what you had to do, and...I guess I should be sorry, and... I-I can't talk about that anymore. Uh, l-let's change the subject...Alphys. Yeah, Alphys. You're probably wondering how she's doing, huh? Hey, Al'! You wanna...! Uh...Alphys? Where you goin'?"
There was another long pause before anyone started speaking again.
"...She up and left...Yeah, she's, ah...been a bit more reclusive than normal. Seems like somethin's really bothering her...What it is, I don't know. I don't think anybody does. But whatever it is, she'll pull through; I, uh...know you two were pals, so I won't bash down on you as hard as I'd like. And...Just know that she's in good hands, okay punk?"
The human sighed; despite their archrivalry, the fish monster at least had the decency to show some respect.
"Wherever you are, I, uh...hope it's better than here. Because that'd make us even MORE pumped to get to the surface! So just...Try to be happy, okay! For our sakes! For everyone's sakes! For everyone's hopes and dreams! With one exception,(being me) everyone down here is with you. Even the queen!"
"...Thanks, everyone."
"...Hey...Wait a sec...! HEY! TORIEL! DO YOU WANNA...!"
Another pause, though not as long and awkward as the last.
"Heh heh...She says she's busy."
"OH, BUT IF SHE KNEW WHO WE WERE TALKING TO RIGHT NOW..."
"we wouldn't get the phone back for at least a few hours, i don't think."
"WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!"
"yeah...besides, it looks like this thing's nearly out of batteries. so, uh, hate to cut this short, kid, but...be seein' ya, 'kay?"
"FAREWELL FOR NOW, HUMAN!"
"Yeah...See ya, punk."
The message ended just as the phone screen went black; it was dead. It'd had just enough charge left to give her the message.
But with that little bit of battery went what was left of Ginger's spirit.
Ginger curled into herself, full of shame and regret. It didn't matter how encouraging the words of her monster friends we're; she'd left the Underground in a worse state than it'd been before she arrived. If she hadn't made the stupid decision to fly down the stupid hole in the first place, none of this would have ever happened. The human SOULs wouldn't have been gathered in vain, the king would still be alive, the people would still have hope, and on top of all of that, if she'd just steered clear of that mountain in the first place, she wouldn't be here. She'd be in the Beaks with her fellow owls, where she belonged.
But she did decide to venture down there. And because of her, the SOULs were gone, Asgore was dead and the Underground had lost all hope once again. All she'd done was pour salt on an already gaping wound.
And with Asgore gone, there was no way she could show her face there again. Not after so long, and not when everyone thought SHE'D been responsible.
But she deserved the blame. Really, she deserved to be stuck like this for the rest of her life. She just wished she could go back and fix things. If only she could...
"...Wait."
Go back and fix things...
"Did...I don't...Do I still have the power to Save and Reset?"
The last time she Saved was right before she fought Asgore...but after the fight, Flowey had dealt the last blow on him and absorbed the six SOULs, taking the ability back for himself before their epic battle in the void. Then again, Flowey lost his power to do so once more when the SOULs banded up against him to defeat him for good.
And that was when she killed him.
If Flowey was gone, then...Maybe...
"It's...worth a try, isn't it? Especially if it means I can...make things right."
Ginger stood back up, now filled with a new sense of vigor, and her DETERMINATION swelling inside of her stronger than ever.
"Just...will yourself there," she told herself, closing her eyes to concentrate. "Will it, and you'll go back. Just like last time. I want this to work...This HAS to work...!"
She shut her eyes tighter. Was she not concentrating hard enough? She had to focus harder; she pictured that shimmering Save Point just outside the Barrier room, hoping that when she opened her eyes, it would really be there.
This can't fail.
I can't fail.
Not in I have DETERMINATION.
She took in a frustrated breath...
Only to notice that it wasn't quite so crisp and cold anymore. Instead, it was...stuffy. And far warmer. Everything was warmer; the air was calm and dull, and the freezing nip of the snow on the ground, penetrating her shoes to get to her feet, was gone.
The human opened her eyes again.
The Save Point was right there at her feet, sparking just a bit brighter than it normally did in the dark hall.
...It worked. It actually worked...!
She looked beyond the Save Point, and then she remembered.
"Asgore..." she mouthed, rushing over to peer through the gateway.
The Barrier stood in all its pulsating glory, and there, standing before it, his back faced to her, was him.
King Asgore, in the flesh. As though his death, along with the fight against Flowey, the latter's death and her upwards of six weeks living in the wilderness had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination.
And now, that was all those things really were.
"...This is the Barrier. This is what keeps us all trapped underground...Through your seventh and final SOUL, we can finally undo the thousand-year spell...and return to the surface world."
Her eyes glossed over with tears; he didn't know the horrors yet to come from the fight.
"If...If by chance, you have any unfinished business, then...Please. Do as you must. I will wait for you."
Just like she remembered; she blinked to expel the wet sensation on her eyes, then breathed deeply. There had to be a way to convince him not to do this...Maybe give him some more time to think? Yes...That might work. And in the mean time, she could go back and see if there was anything else she might be able to improve before returning.
"I...I think I've...got a few things that need to be taken care of...before we do this thing."
"...I understand," he nodded, his tone full of understanding and sympathy. "Anything you want to do is important enough. Even if it's something as small as...taking a walk, or reading a book, or...enjoying a nice meal somewhere, maybe...Whatever it is, please take your time. I will be waiting here when you are ready."
This poor man. He'd lost everything. His hopes for the future, his children, his wife's love. Everything he held near and dear to him had vanished within a day. The only thing he had left was his kingdom to rule over.
She'd done something for everyone else down here in this mountainous prison; maybe she could...do something for him.
"Um...Your Majesty?"
The Boss Monster turned his head ever so slightly in her direction, just barely able to see her out of the corner of his eye.
"Yes?"
"If, uh...If it's not too much trouble for you...Uh...Before I go tend to what I have to do, would it be a problem if I..."
He turned his head a bit more, his gentle blue gaze somewhat curious.
"Would you mind if I take you up on that offer for tea?" she finally spat, a nervous grin spread across her sweat beaded face.
Asgore's eyes became a bit wider with the small shock. Out of all the things the human could have said to him...This was surely the one he had least expected.
"...Why...No, actually," he answered, turning around fully towards her again. A small smile found its way to his muzzle. "In fact, it...It would be my pleasure. Come. We'll take this to the royal household."
She followed behind him, trekking back through the Judgement Hall, then up across the bridge suspended over the city of New Home. Ginger peered over the stone ledge to capture the magnificent overview, having never stopped to take it in the last time she passed over it; despite its bland color scheme, the architecture of the city was archaic and intricate, and now she looked down at scores of monsters bustling about below, doing all sorts of things.
"...It's a nice view, isn't it?" Asgore remarked. He, too, was admiring the sight of it.
"How many monsters live here in New Home?"
"Oh, I'd say...pushing three hundred. The capital is beginning to get overcrowded, though; a number of citizens have considered moving further back into the caverns to fill up the likes of Snowdin and Hotland...That is..."
"Unless the Barrier gets broken before then?"
"...Yes. That's right."
Stupid, she scolded herself. Stupid, stupid, why'd you say that?
"Ah...Well, should we, uh..."
"Oh. Yes. Follow me, human. It won't be long now."
...
"So...Captain Undyne says this is your favorite stuff."
"Undyne...?"
He looked up from watching the petals boil and turned to face her again.
"Yes. Uh...She was telling me about how you...you know, trained her up to be a soldier."
"...She did?"
He wasn't at all upset by the thought of it, but he was surprised; he thought his protégé would have torn her to pieces at the mere sight of her.
"Yeah...And then she proceeded to burn her house down while trying to make spaghetti."
"Oh, dear me. I-is she alright?"
"She's fine. Hangin' out with the judge and his brother."
"Sans...You know him, too? Uh...personally, I mean?"
"Yep. And Alphys."
"AND my Royal Scientist?"
His eyes widened just a bit more, but he tried to hide his amazement by checking the tea again.
"...Golly..." he remarked, and the tiniest indication of a laugh escaped from him. He was beside himself. "You...certainly know how to get around, don't you?"
"You could say that, your Majesty. In fact, I...plan to go see her after we're done here. Things...could be going better for her."
"Oh...Is she well?"
"...Not in here."
She gestured a hand over her heart.
"Oh, dear...I-if you will, when you see her, please send her my best wishes."
"Will do," she promised, accompanied with a bow of submissive respect for the king.
"...I think it's done."
The giant, white-coated Boss Monster took the kettle off and prepared the hot beverage in both of the teacups. The sweet aroma of the Golden Flowers filled the atmosphere, and he carried the them to the table, where they sat across from each other. Ginger took a curious look at the teacup he'd given her.
As opposed to his deep royal violet one, hers was striped yellow and green.
She took a sip; at first, it seemed similar to what Undyne had whipped up, but this cup was just...SO much better-tasting. How did he do it?
"I beg your pardon, but...May I ask you something...strange, human?"
She looked up at him and nodded as her answer to his question.
"...Why exactly DID you venture into Mount Ebott?"
Ginger deflated some, then looked down at her hands.
She had almost forgotten what her wings used to look like. In fact, she had almost forgotten she used to have any at all.
"I...heard the legends," she explained to him. "About how you were all sealed underground here, and I was foolish enough to think they were nothing but a myth, so I...went and decided to see what was really down here...It was a good thing that bed of flowers was there, or...Well...You might have all been free a while ago."
The flower bed...
It was still there, after all these years? King Asgore was amazed at this. Who was tending to them? Someone had to be for them to still be around.
"I guess I was proven wrong, huh? Well..."
She drank some more of the tea; it went down faster, seeing how small the teacups were compared to the mugs that the other monsters typically used.
"This is what I get for being stupid."
"Now, now, human. You're far from stupid, I can tell you that...I mean...you MUST be fairly clever if you could convince Undyne of all monsters to lay down her guard and strike up a conversation with you. And not to mention arrive all the way here, solving countless puzzles along the way, I'm sure."
"Well, I...learned from the best," she finished, downing what was left of the Golden Flower tea. "Um...Thank you for that."
"You're quite welcome, young one. Now, you best be along if you want to go see Dr. Alphys for a while, no?"
"Yes...You're right. Erm...Let me make sure I have everything."
She slid her messenger bag off her and situated it on the floor beside the chair.
"Do you want me to wash out the-"
"Oh, no, no. Don't trouble yourself with that. You make sure you have everything you need."
He collected the cups and turned to go to the kitchen area. Once his back was turned, Ginger slipped out one of her pieces of paper and her pencil and scribbled on it before putting it on the table.
And on the corner of the note, almost as a sort of paper weight, she put something down, along with her fork. Satisfied, she turned towards the front entrance, then headed back out the door, ready to tend to her unfinished business.
Asgore finished his careful washing of the cups and gingerly put them back in the cabinet where they belonged, then returned to the table, only to find that the human had made herself scarce. Where could she have gone?
"Um...Hello? H-human?"
And that was when he spied a foreign object on the table. Intrigued, he approached it.
"...A note?"
He picked up the lightly crumpled paper and scanned over the somewhat sloppy text; it looked like it'd been written in a hurry.
"King Asgore Dreemurr,
Thank you very much for the tea and
hospitality; it's no wonder why all of
the people down here look up to you
so much. I feel as though I should do
something in return, so please take
this as a token of my gratitude.
Best regards,
Ginger Wingren(A.K.A. the human)"
"Hm...That's a...befitting name."
He looked down at the bundle of napkins she'd left on the table. Curious as ever as to what she could have possibly left for him, he sat down with it and began to unwrap the little package. It wasn't long until the object made itself plain, and a smell wafted up from it.
And when it did, his paws rose up to his mouth, in sick denial of what he was staring down at.
There, laid out before him, was a slice of butterscotch-cinnamon pie, a single bite taken out of the very tip.
"How...who..." he stammered, still not fully convinced of what he was seeing.
That was when he noticed the fork sitting next to him. He almost didn't want to, but he had to know for sure.
He dug the spikes of it into the pie and brought it to his waiting mouth.
The utensil fell right from his weak paw and back onto the table.
He had tried so many recipes for the same dish, and had sampled so many different tastes. But this was one he couldn't ever forget.
There was only one monster who could have made this.
And come to think of it, Ginger's messenger bag did look somewhat familiar...
"...Oh...No..."
THAT was where she'd fled to. The place where all of the other humans fell before they were eventually...That meant she had to have...
He didn't know what prompted him to do it, but he decided to go back to the Barrier room. He walked there at a snail's pace, and when he finally arrived, he summoned the six SOULs he'd collected, all of them contained in their respective holders. They all used to be children. Children that she wanted to save.
From him.
And what had he done to them?
...What had he done to HER?
"...Children, I...I...just wanted to tell you all that..." he choked out. "...that...I'm sorry."
And it was at that moment, King Asgore, noble ruler of the kingdom of monsters, fell to his knees and cried.