Chapter 8

After learning that bit of disturbing facts from Sans, it really did make me wonder who in the world his colleague could be and what they happened to know about Flowey... and the kicker was learning that my soul was full of purity and that it was just as tough as 7 human souls... it honestly boggled my mind at how my soul on its own would be enough to destroy the barrier... but before that would happen, I had to find some way to make friends with every monster in the Underground and, somehow, I had to find a way to befriend Flowey. But after him trying to kill me, that only made me try to think of what Flowey said.

"Hmm..." I frowned in thought as I had made it to an area of the Waterfall filled with rain and I had grabbed an umbrella to protect me from the rain drops, since I wasn't really a rain person. I tried to think of Flowey's two points he stated when I first met him. He claimed that he was the prince of the Underground, but that seemed to be debunked after I met Toriel, who happened to be a goat person, not a flower... unless Flowey was some kind of experiment gone wrong with Asriel, who Toriel mentioned by name.

And then there was also the second thing he said. That this world was 'kill or be killed'. Whenever I thought of how much of a lie that was, I had to wonder how he'd get that kind of mindset... but then I remembered what Toriel said. That Asriel and Chara, when their souls were combined into one, were killed by the humans on the surface because they thought Asriel killed Chara. It was then that I finally connected all the dots all on my own. I simply mouthed the words as I thought of them.

"Prince Asriel... is Flowey the Flower..." I mouthed, no breath coming out at all as I saw Monkid in a small alcove away from the rain.

"Oh! It's you, Mute! You got an umbrella, huh? Yo, that's so cool! Come on, let's go try to catch up with Undyne!" Monkid smiled, me smirking as I shared the umbrella with them and we went down the halls and they started to talk. "Yo, Undyne is so cool... I wish I could beat up bad guys like her one day! If I were a human, I'd wet the bed every night knowing she'd want to beat me up!" Monkid smirked.

"I dunno, I've heard some humans are braver than that," I smiled at them as we then continued to walk south and Monkid stopped by a cliff where we heard an Echo Flower speaking.

"Pitter patter," it kept saying over and over.

"You know, back in school, the king came over to teach us how to take care of flowers, giving each of us in the class one. We had to call him Mister Dreamurr and he kept talking about responsibility and stuff. But that got me thinking: how cool would it be if Undyne taught at our school?! She'd beat up all the other teachers!" Monkid smirked, me giggling at that, though it was a very quiet giggle. "Well, maybe not all the teachers. Undyne's too cool to ever hurt an innocent person," Monkid said, me stopping just out of the rain's reach and looking at Monkid with a smile.

"So that means the humans that she captured. Did they do something to warrant her anger?" I asked them, Monkid thinking hard on that and sighing and shaking their head. "Yeah, I don't understand it either... Undyne sounds like a cool person from how you describe her to be, but then why would she hunt down the humans who fall down here, even if they are kids?" I frowned.

"Some of the humans... were kids? Like me?" Monkid asked.

"Yeah, they were... I should know because... well... you know all those times that Undyne appeared whenever we were in the tall grass?" I asked, Monkid nodding at that. "Well, I hid myself during all those encounters because... Undyne's been chasing after me. I'm what she wants right now. I'm being hunted," I said, Monkid gasping at that.

"Y-You're... you're a human, then?" they asked, me nodding at that. "B-But aren't humans bad guys?... You haven't been mean to me at all, though..." Monkid said with surprise.

"Well, whatever they taught you in school, humans aren't as black and white as that. Humans have different reactions to different things depending on their upbringing. I was raised to be very kind and I have a mother waiting for me back on the surface... I told her I'd be home by dusk today, which means I have to get home by 6 in the evening. If I can't keep my promise, I'd feel terrible... but I have a plan in place, Monkid," I said, them looking at me with a smile as we got to another area with rain and I saw there was a large ledge in front of me.

"What's your plan?" they asked.

"I have a plan to destroy the barrier and prevent the king from going to war with humanity. But in order for that to happen, I need to reach the king first while befriending all the monsters I come across. Then, I'll destroy the barrier. I don't know how, but I will destroy it no matter what. But I still have to get through Undyne and past Hotland in order to get there... but I'm so far making good time. It's only 2 o clock right now, and I still have 4 hours left before dusk happens on the surface. So, promise me, Monkid. If you happen to see Undyne before I do, tell her that I'm your friend and that I want everyone to go free, but I'd like to stay alive in order to do so," I said to them.

"You got it, bro! But you're gonna have to climb up on my head to reach that ledge up there. Don't worry about me, I'm quite tough myself," Monkid smiled, me giggling at them as I then took them up on their offer, folding the umbrella and putting it on the ground before then climbing on their shoulders and onto the cliff itself. "I'm gonna find another way! If you see Undyne, tell her that her biggest fan said to let you go!" Monkid smirked, me giggling at that and nodding.

"You bet," I smirked at them as I then went forward and I saw that I was now on a long and complex bridge hanging over a big chasm. And after moving across it a bit, I then stopped in place as a blue light appeared in front of me... followed by a bunch more until they then turned into spears that sliced out of the ground! I then looked underneath me and gasped. It was Undyne! She was attacking me from below with her spears!

"Ugh! Finally, I caught up with you! Now let me capture y-" she said angrily before I then ran down the bridge as fast as my feet could carry me. "OH COME ON! I have had just about enough of this running and hiding BULL HUEY! I didn't realize I was hunting for GARBAGE!" Undyne exclaimed angrily as I rushed across the bridge, dodging many more spears until I got to something dangerous. A large drop down to the bottom, which was a large garbage dump with filthy water.

"Okay..." I sighed as I looked behind me and saw Undyne appear. I knew I only had one option. "This is gonna stink badly!" I said as I held my nose and jumped off the bridge, Undyne gasping and me looking up to see her looking over the bridge. I then looked down and smiled as I was going to land in the water. After I did this, I then splashed down hard. And I mean HARD! I could feel some bits of garbage hit me on my way down the water, me actually feeling a small slice happen across my finger, me hissing as I then surfaced from the water and swam to a shallower part of the filthy water, me feeling like I was a piece of trash among the dump. I then looked at my finger and saw it was bleeding and that it was right across the tip of the finger. Just my luck... but then I remembered what I learned from when I ate the food at Toriel's and Papyrus's. Anytime I ate food down here, my wounds got healed up! I simply got into my bag and pulled out a cinnamon bunny. I then ate all of it in one go and smiled at how my finger then immediately healed up in a snap!

"Whew... that's the good news, now the bad news... I have no idea where I am..." I frowned as I moved through the dump to the east and then to the north, finding that it was full of literal trash and absolutely nothing useful. And I saw something I knew I saw before in the Ruins. A training dummy, but this one looked like it was glaring at me.

"Uh... hi?" I said with a whimper, the dummy then came to life and looked very ticked at me.

"Too scared to attack me?! Hah! I don't blame ya! I've been waitin' for this moment since you left the Ruins, you bitch!" the dummy said, me looking at him in confusion.

"How did you know I came from the Ruins?" I asked him.

"Me and my cousin are ghosts that live inside of dummies! And you talked to my cousin in the Ruins. When ya did, they thought they were in for a nice chat. But the things you said! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE! It spooked 'em right outta their dummy!" the mad object exclaimed, me frowning at him.

"And how would you know that if your cousin lived in the Ruins and you've been here in the Waterfall? Because I talked to your cousin, sure, but it was a nice chat we had. I don't think you heard it from your cousin, so who's trying to frame me?" I asked, the angry ghost doll growling at me.

"Who asked you?! But if you HAVE to know, a little flower guy told me all about the horrid words you said!" the dummy exclaimed, me frowning and curling my fist at that.

"Flowey... that dirty, rotten, lying cheater!" I growled as my voice got raspy, that making the dummy ghost look at me in confusion for a change.

"What?! You know his name?" he asked.

"Know his name? He's tried to kill me and he's been spying on me! He wants me dead and he probably told you I was coming and lied to you about your cousin just so you could kill me," I frowned angrily.

"Peh, do you have any proof?!" the dummy asked.

"Did Flowey have any proof?" I asked back.

"I... uh... no, no he did not," the dummy frowned.

"Then there's your answer. Flowey flat out lied to you just so you'd want to kill me. Well, if you see him again, tell him that if he tries anymore tricks like that, he's not gonna be happy," I frowned angrily.

"You bet I will! I HATE being lied to! When I find that flower, I'm gonna slaughter him! NOTHING BUT BLOODSHED!" the mad dummy exclaimed.

"Uh... sure, you go ahead and do that... just curious... how?" I asked him.

"How?!... Uh... I haven't thought that far ahead yet. I think I'll just find a new body to inhabit and fuse with, one with more tough attacks and better looks!" he smiled widely as he then left the area and he simply followed after. "I'm gonna go try to find that new body right now! I'll keep you in mind, human!" the dummy smirked as he then floated off into the distance, me smiling as I then finally got out of the filthy water and I wrung out my hair soon after and... I saw a friendly face appear from the north.

"Oh... is that you, Mute?... I didn't forget your name... right?" he asked with a small smile as I simply replied to him.

"~Mute! Yes, that is my name.
You're Nap-sta-blook.
Nice to see you're still a spook!

Wish I could stay and chat away,
But I just got out of the trash today,
So if you do not mind, friend,
I need to wash this crud off my bod-ay!~" I sung, Napstablook smiling as he sung along soon after.

"~Thank you, friend Mute,
For remembering my name.
That place, is laced
with stuff that makes me feel sane...

Feel like, garbage,
that's what I do sometimes
Family tradition,
Would you like to come and try?~" Napstablook sung, me smirking at that offer.

"Well, I'm already covered in muck and grime, so might as well," I smiled at him as he then led me to the north and I saw he had two houses. One was his and on the left and the other was on the right and vacant. "Who does the other house belong to?" I asked him.

"My cousin, Hapstablook. He left for a world of fame a long time ago... I love watching his shows..." Napstablook smiled, which only made me smile as we then entered his house and he locked the door, me and him then going to the center of the room and Napstablook laying on the ground. "Okay... lay down and we'll feel like garbage together..." Napstablook said, me doing so and smiling. "You'll lay down so long as you don't move... so... move when you want to get up... I guess..." Napstablook said as I laid perfectly still and looked at the ceiling, wondering how I'd feel like garbage... and then, it happened.

I could feel it. I felt like there had been numerous choices in life that I made wrong... and that some things I wanted to do in life ended up being failures... it wasn't a very pleasant feeling, but it made me open my eyes at how much I needed to improve on some of my qualities... namely me being angry at Flowey and telling the dummy that he could attack and possibly kill him. That was the part that made me feel like garbage the most, since I did promise Sans that I'd forgive and make friends with everyone, including Flowey.

I sighed as I finally managed to feel a bit of self-loathing and I then got up, Napstablook looking at me with a small smile as he got up too. "Thanks for joining me... that was... fun..." he smiled at me.

"Yeah... I needed that, too. It got me to think about stuff," I smiled.

"See? That's why I like feeling like garbage... it helps clear my mind... so I can think of how to improve my craft... which is making music," Napstablook smiled.

"I could tell you were a music lover. You're one of the few people down here who sings with me... I can only think of one other person and... well, he's lazy, but tough," I smiled.

"How tough?" Napstablook asked.

"Tough enough to know that I'm not gonna mention him by name, because he said if I told anyone his true power, he'd give me a bad time... which translates to beating the crap outta me," I smiled.

"Heh... sounds like fun... in a morbid way," Napstablook smirked.

"I guess... anyways, thanks, Napstablook. I'm gonna get going again, now. I'm sure we'll meet up again at some point," I smiled at him.

"Alright... bye, Mute. I'll keep remembering your name... so long as you do the same... with mine..." Napstablook smiled.

"Deal," I smiled at him as I then left and proceeded to the eastern path, which led to a small split in the path. One led to a small alcove, one to a river and a dock, and one further ahead into a dimly-lit room.

"Eeeheehee! Looks like we got a newbie here!" I heard an old coot voice ask from nearby. I then looked into the alcove and saw something that made me smile. A turtle that looked like the oldest a turtle person could possibly get and wearing explorer garb. "So, ya wanna look at my junk, missy?" the turtle asked.

"Sure. Name's Mute. Your name?" I smiled at him.

"Name's Gerson, miss Mute... wait... yer a human, ain't ya?" he asked, me nodding at that. "Well, that's just dandy! I happen to have a couple wares that once belonged to a human... ah, when he was around, I had a lotta business... I kept these after he got captured. And for you, missy, I think you could have them for free," Gerson smirked, me looking at the duo of items and smirking at them. One was a pair of glasses that were missing their lenses and an old textbook.

"Sure, I'm game," I smirked at him before Gerson then smiled at me.

"Buuut... I don't know if yer a human or not. Care to prove it by chance?" Gerson smirked, me smiling and nodding at that.

"Just so you know, if you tell anyone about what I'm about to show you, no matter who they are, I'm gonna find some way to destroy every bit of business you got," I smirked at him.

"Oof, that's a hard blow. Alright, go 'head and show me this secret in ya," Gerson smirked. I then smiled and focused, trying to use the same kind of magic that Sans used on my soul. I then smirked as I managed to temporarily separate my soul from my body and Gerson looked at it with a face of pure shock.

"Oh... my... god..." he gawked, me smirking at him as I then returned the soul into my body. "Yer... the owner of a purity soul... that means ya've gotta be the angel in the prophecy, huh?" he asked, me tilting my head at that.

"Angel? Prophecy? Okay, first someone says that I'm the last hope this place has, and now you say that I'm part of some kind of ancient prophecy?" I asked.

"Yep, the prophecy of the Delta Rune. See that image back there?" Gerson asked, me noting the image he was pointing at and seeing that it looked almost exactly like the symbol I saw on Toriel's robe. "See, the prophecy goes that an angel who has seen the surface world will come down 'ere and save all the monsters, setting them free to the surface. Though, some folks have taken a darker look and say it's an angel of death. But you don't seem to be that kinda lass, missy, so I think I can trust ya," Gerson smirked at me.

"Well, I try to be nice to everyone," I said before I sighed. "Well, almost everyone. Only one person down here was one I couldn't be nice to... but I made a promise to one of my friends. I'd save everyone down here, even that bad monster," I said.

"Eh, I'm too old to care about the prophecy too much. To be honest, all I care 'bout that Delta Rune is that it looks neat! But enough about that, here, take these for yer trip ahead," Gerson smiled as he gave me the glasses and the book, me smirking and putting them on my person in different areas. I placed the book inside of my shirt and in between it and my bra while I put the glasses on my head to make me look like a total nerd. A nerd wearing a bandanna, glasses, a ribbon, gloves, a tutu, and ballet shoes.

"Thanks, Gerson. Now I think I've completed my total dork look," I smiled.

"Eh, better to be a dork than dark," Gerson smirked.

"Too true," I smiled back at him as we then bid our farewells and I proceeded out on my journey through the Underground once again.