Chapter 14
What did I mean when we entered the fire from the frying pan? Right in front of us, trying to convince Royal Guards 01 and 02 about us being dangerous, was FLOWEY!
"ACK! NOT THE-" he was about to shout before I trapped him in time and looked at the two royal guards with seriousness.
"W-Whoa... a human with magic?... Do we engage, 02?" 01 asked, me looking at them with a sigh.
"I'd suggest not doing that. We don't want to hurt anyone, and my power alone could destroy the barrier. I want to free the monsters peacefully, not with the risk of Asgore killing all humans," I said, the Royal Guard duo looking at each other and then at Flowey.
"And why was that flower telling us that you've killed monster children?" he asked.
"That's a bold-faced lie. We'd NEVER hurt a child, no matter what they look like. I mean, two of us are children ourselves," Chara said with seriousness.
"Isn't it all three, though? And why do you say that when you have a monster soul in you?"
"The former's answer is this. I'm an adult with a tiny body. And the second's answer is this. This girl right here? She is the original fallen child, given a second chance by the original Royal Scientist," I said, that making 01 gawk in shock.
"CHARA DREEMURR?! And W.D. GASTER?!" he asked in shock.
"Am I missing something?" 02 asked in confusion.
"It's basically like this," Gaster said from Chara's mind, followed by the wingding letters emerging afterwards, which confused the duo when they saw it. "I was disintegrated by the CORE when I fell into it when the layout was being changed. As a result of my unnatural death, I was lost in limbo in the Void, where mostly everyone forgot about me. And I was soon joined by the princess when she arrived after her death along with the prince. But we're only saying this so you won't kill us, I gave her a second chance by combining my soul to hers, so she could get a second chance. It's why she's black and white. A downside of being revived from the Void," Gaster spoke as the two then looked at Flowey.
"So... what do we do with the lying plant?" 02 asked.
"I'm going to leave him trapped here as we continue onward out of his way. Then I'll resume time for him. As much as I don't want to, he needs to be kept alive. And I can't tell you why, just know he needs to stay alive," I said, the duo looking at me in confusion before then nodding.
"Okay... how about we go get some ice cream?" 01 asked, 02 speaking at that happily.
"I'd... I'd love to," he said, me then simply showing them each other's thoughts. How both felt love for the other, the duo of manly men then looking at each other in silence before then holding hands.
"Thanks..." the duo said to me.
"You're welcome," I smiled back at them as we then moved forward and Tsunderplane asked me something.
"So why does he need to stay alive? He's trying to kill you, yet you want to leave him to his own devices?" she asked me with a blush, as always.
"I'll only say it this once. Azzie," I said, that making Royal Guard 01 stop in place and for Chara to look at me with a glare. After all, I'd only told her about it.
"Azzie?... You couldn't mean... the prince?" he asked in concern.
"It was basically an accident that he became who he is right now. Alphys was told to experiment with the human souls, which is how she came to the idea of trying to test it on the flowers in Asgore's garden... the very same flowers where Asriel perished. And when this happened, the very first flower became filled with determination but with the memories of Asriel. But he has no soul, meaning he has no emotions to feel. And that, in turn, made him into the dangerous creature we know as Flowey. And so long as I'm in the Underground, he has no access to his powers of Determination, which allow him to restart from scratch any time he dies," I explained.
"Y-Yeah... you mean that thing where you can rewind time? Because I have a soul like that, but... I don't really like to use it," Frisk admitted to me.
"I'm the same way," Chara admitted.
"I think it's actually outlawed on the surface to use the powers of Determination to time travel... I think it was a law that came out in 1912, shortly after the first world war. Mainly because people were upset at losing their loved ones in the bloodiest war at the time, we were given super tight restrictions. If anyone time travels with the intent to change something in time, then they'll be... well, they'll be given some kind of implant to their chest so they can't use their souls' powers, even in death. It's designed to shatter the soul upon death," Frisk explained.
"That sounds scary, but it definitely does seem like something that needed done. Butterfly effects are extremely dangerous, after all," I smiled.
"What's a... butterfly effect?" 01 asked as we then finally got to the Ice Cream station, it being outside of Muffet's home and him giving a bunch of ice cream to the spiders, him having at least 10 left by the time we arrived.
"It's a rule of time that, if something is changed in the past, even something as simple as the death of a single small butterfly, the world can change in extreme ways. The further back in time the change is made, the more drastic the changes to the future will be," I explained.
"That was another thing about the use of Determination souls. If a child is born and they have a red soul like mine, they're to have an injection to it so that the government will know when they travel backwards in time... the only time it does not apply is if you're bringing yourself back to life, as that is the only thing that is good about red souls... and also it's most useful, yet most dangerous," Frisk explained.
"I believe the dangerous part. If an evil person has a red soul, then they could probably revive themselves as much as they want unless someone gives them that device to place on them," I said.
"That's why those with red souls are always placed on the watch close list, including children. It's better to be safe than sorry, but it's not like we don't control their actions. We just watch over them while they live their lives, only taking action if they do something despicable," Frisk explained.
"The world outside sounds... very complicated..." 02 admitted as we then got some more ice cream... and sadly, Chara saw that there was no more chocolate flavor.
"Ugh... no chocolate?" she groaned in annoyance.
"Sorry, miss. That spider lady bought nearly all the ice cream I had on stock. There's only two left of vanilla, butterscotch, cinnamon, marshmallow, and birthday cake," the nice cream guy smirked at us.
"How about we get some birthday cake flavor? It was one of my favorites when I was still around. I want to see if it's better or as I remember," Gaster suggested from Chara's head.
"Okay, I'll give it a try," Chara smirked. "Not like I've ever known what a birthday cake is like. Back then, cakes were only for rich folk, not likely to happen for those living among the original natives," Chara sighed.
"Trust me, kid, you'll love it," I smirked, her looking at me in confusion before I pointed behind us and she then saw that Flowey was now outside of the time freeze and watching from afar, him gasping and hiding back under the ground after she saw him.
"How'd you know?" she asked.
"Round the clock surveillance for that weed ever since we found out he can use pollen to track our movements and thoughts," Gretel said with seriousness.
"Yeah, we don't need him to hear everything we say," Flower said in annoyance.
"Got it," Chara said as we then got our ice cream with Frisk getting some more butterscotch, Chara getting birthday cake flavor, and I got cinnamon flavor. Tsunderplane paid for the marshmallow flavor while 01 and 02 got the last of the vanilla before then sprinkling some spare food on them, me seeing that it was in the form of mini-M&Ms, specifically the pumpkin spice flavor.
"Mm... I love marshmallow flavor... the perfect treat to refuel with," Tsunderplane smirked as she then proceeded to eat the sweet treat with her mouth... I had to keep in mind she wasn't from the Cars universe, and instead from a real-life one. But I did have to ask her a specific question that I wanted an answer to, but only in private.
"Hey, Tsunderplane? Private mind question, so think the answer. What was that experiment that Alphys did to you?" I asked, Tsunderplane blushing before then thinking it to me.
"She uh... injected my monster soul with liquid metal, to see if a robot body would form afterwards... it did, but it wasn't what we expected... I didn't expect I'd turn from a ghost girl to a... plane monster that looks so weird," she admitted.
"Honestly, it isn't weird to me at all. It kind of reminds me of a movie series from my world where most vehicles look the same as you do, especially the planes," I smirked, her looking at me with a smile.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yep, it's called Cars. And it had a spin-off series called Planes," I smirked.
"I feel I remember seeing those titles on some dvds awhile ago... they looked kind of weird to me, but I can see why it makes you comfortable instead of freaked out," she giggled at me.
We then finally finished our food and went forward some more, us seeing that Muffet decided to reward us with an extra bit of recompence... with some money!
"This is the donation total we got from the spiders in the Ruins. I feel that, for rescuing them so easily, you should have it, deary. It might help you get some good food at MTT Hotel. Seriously, the stuff there is more over-priced than my sweets. Ahuhu!" Muffet smirked.
"Well... you're my sweetie, and I think you're priceless," Frisk said, Muffet giggling at her.
"You flatter me so well, Frisk. I've never been complimented like that, ahuhu!" Muffet giggled.
"Just out of curiosity, are you a teenager, Muffet? It's hard to tell," I smirked.
"Oh, deary, I'm 17. From what I heard in human history from Doctor Alphys, it's legal age of 13 all over, right?" Muffet asked, Frisk nodding as I sighed. I still had to get used to that fact, especially since I saw in the big memory flood that numerous husband/wife couples were of older men/women being with kids from 13 and up. But anything that was of the dangerous things like rape or doing stuff with anyone younger than 13 would be subject to death or life imprisonment.
"That's a relief, then," Frisk smirked at her as we then moved forward again and soon found ourselves at the entrance to MTT Hotel, where 01 and 02 stayed behind.
"We've got to report back to Undyne about what happened here, okay? But thanks for letting us know what's up and stuff," 01 said happily.
"Yeah, ditto... and letting us find love," 02 said with a smirk as he and his boyfriend then moved forward and to the right elevator, me then going ahead with Chara and Frisk, us seeing that Sans was at the entrance with a smile on his face.
"heya, heard you're going to the core, kids," he said, me smiling at that.
"Yeah, we are," I said, playing along.
"how about we have some dinner first before ya go? i'll pay," Sans smirked.
"Sure, we could have some dinner after dessert," Chara smirked, me seeing in her mind that she loved the flavor of birthday cake ice cream, it being 2nd best to her. Nothing would top chocolate, most likely.
"I think I'll wait outside, then. I can't eat too much or I'll risk going into sleep mode because I'll have too much fuel," Tsunderplane said to us, me nodding and simply patting her bunny-ears with a smile.
"We'll catch up in the lobby," I smiled to her.
"over here, i know a shortcut," Sans smirked as he led us to the alleyway before we were then teleported to a table in the hotel, us sitting at the table in four different chairs, the waiter looking at Sans in confusion before then coming with a smile. And I saw that it happened to be none other than Berdley himself!
"Heya, Sans. Who're these three? The ones I saw on Mettaton's newscast?" Berdley asked before then winking at me.
"yep. we're hopin' to fill our stomachs," Sans smirked.
"Which you don't have," I smiled at him.
"Skeleton stomachs are weird... all of the food goes down the spine and into their stomachs. But unlike most others, skeleton stomachs aren't able to be seen... it's like a pocket dimension of sorts," Gaster explained from Chara's head.
"I see your dad's back, too," Berdley smirked, me looking at him in confusion.
"You know?"
"Of course! Sans tells me everything. Especially how you three rescued my mom from whatever that Amalgamate disease was," Berdley smirked.
"Trust me, it was nasty. I'm surprised I managed to do it when not at full strength," I admitted in all honesty.
"anyways, i'll have a legendary sandwich, please," Sans said, me looking at the menu that was plastered on the table and seeing that one of the items was one that I had to try out.
"I think I'll have a Chick fillay," I said, seeing that it looked very appetizing, and it was in the form of chicken wings. Yeah, not the actual restaraunt, it was just chicken wings... on a platter of hot sauce and edible glitter.
"I'll have a Sushef Salad," Frisk said, me being surprised that she'd choose the one that looked like it was a salad made of anchovies and mushrooms... both of which being grilled.
"And I'll have a face steak," Chara smiled.
"And to-go drinks? I recommend the Starfait," Berdley asked, me smirking at that.
"I'll take it," I smirked.
"Sounds great! Same!" Frisk smiled.
"same," Sans smiled.
"Eh, I'll give it a shot," Chara smiled. Berdley then nodded and went to the chef, me looking over with my mind and seeing the chef was Burgerpants, of course. And he managed to make the food extremely fast and efficiently, all of it fresh! And only after 5 minutes, the food arrived at our tables.
"Wow! This is faster service than even McDonald's!" Frisk smirked.
"How big is McDonald's anyways?" I asked.
"At least one restaurant in each state, but we have teleportation technology on the surface so that food can be delivered to your address the moment it's made," Frisk smirked.
"Genius," I smiled. I then decided to take a bite of the chicken and smirked. It tasted EXACTLY like KFC did in my world! 11 herbs and spices, but with a slight sweetness to make it different! And the hot sauce, made with a mixture of ketchup and red peppers, tasted great!
"Oh my god... you gotta try the Starfait! It's amazing!" Chara gawked when she took a drink of her glittery drink. I then did the daring and took a sip... and the taste was indescribable! The sweetness just right, the mixture of flavors such as butterscotch, mashmallow, chocolate, and caramel! And even the small glitter food tasting like cookie dough?! It was the BEST thing I'd ever drank in my life!
"Oh my gosh... I have a new favorite drink! Sorry, cream soda, you have been defeated," I smiled widely at the taste and flavor.
"I'm glad you like it. Most people prefer the Starfait to all the other options on the menu, mainly because Mettaton says we need to make food like the humans on the surface. But anyone can tell you that humans don't eat glitter, sequins, or glue, so we had to make them with magic and smoke and mirrors so we can make them more palatable and edible," Berdley smiled at me.
"Sounds an awful lot like somebody needs to be given some cooking lessons when we go to the surface," I smiled.
"Isn't it if?" Berdley asked.
"No, it's when. Because I alone can break that barrier like it were a toothpick," I smiled at him.
"To be fair, I believe it, since your strength is making me quake just standing near you," Berdley admitted. "I gotta go to another table now. Nice catching up," he smirked at me as Sans then looked at us with a smile.
"hey, you wanna talk about some serious stuff now that that's done?" Sans asked, me smiling.
"Uh, sure, I'm willing," I smirked.
"so... your journeys are almost over, and when you meet the king, you know that something's gotta give. And all because of the talking flower," he said, me making sure Flowey was frozen in time... mainly because he was directly underneath us and I didn't need him to overhear anything we said. Sure, he couldn't get through the floor, but I knew he could hear us regardless.
"Yeah, and that's the hard thing... I do not know what to expect when we confront Flowey. Do we risk him possibly gaining his strongest form and putting our friends and family at risk? Or do we try to convince him to take a single soul instead? I don't think he'd be so willing to do the latter option," I said with seriousness.
"yeah, about that. papyrus has said he's been talking to the flower a lot recently. like, more than he would in the past. and he told me that he's only making your journey harder for one reason... he's starting to feel emotions again... and he's terrified," Sans said.
"Terrified? Of what?" I asked. But what I really wanted to ask was how he was able to feel without a soul?
"i'll answer both of those questions," Sans said, me being surprised that he saw my second question. "he's terrified of seeing the reactions of his parents at what he is... he doesn't want you to tell them. and he doesn't want you to know he can feel anything," Sans said. And I had to admit, I'd be scared too, especially after being in Flowey's roots. "and as for why he can feel now? your soul is so strong, so filled with emotion, it's starting to rub off on him. he's trying to follow you in secrecy so he can feel more and more emotion. so he can get the courage to tell them... but he doesn't want to leave the underground as a flower. he wants to be his own self, but he doesn't know how to do so without hurting people in the process," Sans said, me sighing at that and shaking my head.
"Um... I have an idea as to what we could do about that, then," I said as I looked at Chara's armor with a smile. "That armor happens to also have relatives to the fallen children in it. I need to know, voices in my head, if any of you had a brother named Hansel," I said with a smirk.
"Oh! My brother's in that armor, too?! And... you're suggesting that he go in Flowey? I thought Flower was going to do so?" Gretel asked with seriousness.
"It's okay, Gretel. I think it's a smart move. Especially since I have a feeling that I could simply find a new body... is it possible for you to use a magic trick to make a body form around a soul?" Flower asked, me smirking at that.
"It is, but it would require a LOT of energy. I'd need to make sure that your soul is outside of the barrier, and I'd need to gather a bit of essence from plants and animals all across the mountain when we do so. Just enough to make them tired. But even then, casting the spell would take a lot out of the caster. So if I do it, it's going to be a gamble if I can be able to stay awake afterwards," I smiled.
"if anyone could do it, it'd be you... but i want to let you know something, miss angel of justice," Sans said with a smile on his face. "if anything happens to the monsters on the surface, and it's because of you..." his eyes then went black and dead and he spoke without his normal tone. "You'll Be Dead... Where You Stand," he said, me gulping at how his TRUE voice sounded like it were a demon! I was just as taken aback by it as the first time I saw it in the game!
"O-O-Okay..." I said with concern, me seeing that Frisk and Chara were also unnerved.
"lighten up, girls. i'm just joking with ya. i joke, it's what i do," he smirked.
"No, not, that wasn't a joke. It sounded more like a threat or a grave warning," Chara said with a frown.
"heh. i just don't want anything bad to happen. we all know that humans on the surface can be very nasty to monsters. i expect you to become the voice and face for monster kind, give us a good rep, tell the world we're good and not dangerous, the works. and unfortunately, racism is another thing on the planet that's similar to your world. granted, not nearly as widespread, but it is there. and you can bet there will be segregation when we get there. i don't want any of the monsters to die in vain, got it?" he said, me nodding at that. I then simply released Flowey from time freeze and spoke the most sincere, truthful line ever.
"I promise you, Sans. That I will be on round-the-clock protection of EVERY monster on the planet, big or small, strong or weak. Even if I am not nearby, I'm going to make sure they won't get touched by a single human's weapons or fists. And, I mean, if I could give Chara's family's souls to three different monsters in the Underground and protect them with shields, I can easily do the same thing when we're out of this barrier," I smiled. And I could feel the emotions of Flowey right under my feet. He was feeling more than terror. He felt joy, hope, relief, annoyance, and amazement. The former three were because of me saying I saved Chara's family, the fourth because I had trapped him in time and forced him to miss the whole conversation, and the final that I was able to make him feel so many different emotions in just a single paragraph!
"so, how are you going to get in mettaton's good graces, then? because a few monsters that haven't heard the good news are wondering what will happen when you meet him again," Sans smirked.
"Simple: Performance Art. We'll do a dance of battle, all of it fake and theatrical for the views, and we'll sing the whole time, me sharing the lyrics to all four of us when we go on the stage," I smirked.
"sounds fun. i'll be sure that papyrus sees it. he'll be pumped," Sans smirked.
"Thanks, Sans. And if you hear anything from the talking Flower, just tell him to be brave, to persevere, be patient, and know that justice will be merciful to him. Because kindness is my mantra. And once he feels emotions again, I'll be sure he's integral to the plan of reintegrating to human society," I smirked, Flowey now gasping at all the different souls that I listed. And he was feeling even more hope and was actually producing tears from under my feet. I then got up, having finished my meal along with the other two and smirking.
"It's been fun, Sans. We'll give you a call when we get to Asgore's throne room," I said.
"make sure it's loud. i don't have ears," he said, me then looking at the nearby table and simply holding a tomato in my hand. "you're gonna give me what's coming to me, aren't ya?" he asked.
"Yep," I smirked as I then splatted the tomato against his face, it dealing 0 damage to him as he then simply licked all of it up afterwards... yeah, he had a tongue made of bones. It was freaky! "Okay, you win. I'm not going to throw anything at your face again if it means never seeing a skeleton tongue again," I said with a shudder.
"smart," Sans chuckled.