Sparks awoke with a jump, that nightmare again. A world burning. Humans and Monsters killing each other. And for whatever reason, it always ended with a talking yellow flower telling him that it was too late. The dreams felt so real. Determined to find out what was going on he got up from bed and got dressed.
He could hear the Television downstairs, the news anchor spoke, "Two Members of the Council of Generals were seen storming out of the Council's current hosting location right here in Arbor City. The leader of the council, General Kaiser only had this to say on today's short-cut meeting," Sparks was now standing, staring at the television, the Major had been in his nightmare.
The TV cut to footage of the Major talking into a microphone, "What is said at the Meetings is confidential, but I will tell you this; All the problems that were discussed can be easily settled, as long as people are willing to be accepting of our new neighbors."
"This leads us to believe that the Monsters are somehow responsible for whatever the current discourse in the Council, but, according to the Major, it will all blow over. Back to you John." That was the point he stopped listening. He was confident that something bad was about to happen.
"Oh," he heard his dad's voice behind him, "What are you doing up so early?" Sparks opened his mouth to speak, but he had nothing to say that his dad would understand.
Ever since the nightmares started he felt that his father was hiding something from him.
"I'll take the silence as a sign that you aren't sure, well, it's cold outside, heh…" his smile fell at his son ignoring him, "Well, make sure to bundle up. I'll have dinner done when you come home. Have fun." he gave a sad smile. Sparks didn't care, the moment his dad refused to tell him about who his mom was was when he stopped caring about what his dad had to say or how he felt.
Wrapping his long brown scarf around his head, leaving only his eyes uncovered. His thick snow pants and coat made it hard to move but he dealt with it.
The snow covered everything in a soft white blanket. His father called after him, "Don't wander too far Bud, it's too cold to stay out for too long." Sparks didn't even turn around.
Walking down the snow covered streets out of the suburbs and into the city, he thought about his nightmare again. Was it really a prediction of the future, it felt a bit too far fetched. So why was he doing this, probably just to calm his own nerves. His teacher was a Monster, they can't be as bad as some people say.
Before he knew it his was walking down main street. He saw them, Major General Finley Alan Kaiser and his assistant Captain Charles Chappy. He had learned about all the members of the council in school, rumors were that the Major wasn't human. He had been around when their grandparents were born, he chalked it up to his good luck and health, but didn't look a day over 81.
Sparks tried to listen in on their conversation.
"What do think he's gonna try to do?"
"The Sample."
"The Sample, what, the thing recovered from the caves after the Monsters were evacuated."
"It's powerful, dangerous, hostile, and we don't how it does what it does, what it thinks it is, or what its motives are. All we know is that that flower isn't the type to make peace. And that makes it a threat."
"What are we going to do about it Fin? Destroy it, the King and Queen of the Monsters vouch for it, say it's 'Misunderstood', and so does the Kid who freed them."
"We have to get it quietly then. I'm not going to let a mad, bigot and a flower ruin all my hard work."
The flower, from his dreams, he would know what was going on. Sparks started to think about all the things he would ask him, 'Who are you, what do we misunderstand, why are you a flower…' his thoughts were interrupted by a hand reaching over and grabbing him by the back of his collar. He was met, face to face with the most influential man in the world.
"I see you like to listen," the Major said, his voice dripping with venom, and fear, "How about we take a trip over to the Police station and you can listen to them next?"
Sparks pulled his scarf down out of the way of his mouth. "I keep seeing him in dreams."
"What?" the Captain asked, confusion drawn on his face.
"The flower, gold right, it keeps talking to me in my dreams. I see a world in flames and then it tells me, 'It'S tOo LaTe'," he said in as best an impression of the flower from his nightmares.
The Major slowly lowered Sparks to the ground, he was shaking slightly, "Would you mind coming with me so we could ask you a few questions."
"Yes," Sparks said.
"What do you mean 'Yes'? This could be the fate of the world, their are several accounts from monsters saying that the flower spoke to them in dreams." the Major extended a hand.
Sparks did the one thing he could remember from his dad's safety lessons. Run from scary men asking you to come with them. He ran and ran, he could hear the two set of running footsteps behind him. Rounding a corner and leaping over a homeless man, he felt he had sufficiently lost them. That was until he heard the Major speaking just around the corner.
"Darn, we lost the little weasel."
"Do you really know that he's telling the truth?"
"Better safe than sorry." He pulled a radio off his belt and spoke into it, "All Council members still wired in, I want a search warrent out for a kid, about ten years old, brown scarf, deep blue coat and black snow pants. He knows about the Sample."
Another voice rang over the radio, its french accent so thick it could be clearly heard buzzing over the radio, "I am contacting the Police at once, however my fingers are too cold to press the little buttons."
Another voice spoke, "I don't know if the Cops like Cold Callers." followed by loud laughter, a tussle, and then the radio going dead.
"Don't worry, Baron will get around to it." the Captain said, patting the Major on the back as they walked away.
"Sounds like you're in some deep trouble kid." the homeless man next to him said before taking a swig from the whiskey bottle next to him, "I got something I think could help."
He pulled out a pill bottle from his pocket, "One of these always helps me concentrate. Just one thought, on the house so to speak."
Sparks hesitated, this went against everything his dad told him not to do.
"Come on, kid. It wouldn't hurt ya, I swear." Why did he care what his dad thought, he would never even know, and the guy looked nice enough.
Spark grabbed the pill, popped it in his mouth, and swallowed. I few seconds passed and the man just watched. The world started to spin, and Sparks collapsed in a heap.
He awoke in a void. Endless white in all directions. As he looked around, his clouded, all he noticed was a small white table in the distance. As he approached it he noticed a gold flower sat in its pot upon the table.
It spoke out, seemingly to no one. "Look at how ugly you are. You're too weak to get rid of me, so you get to spend the rest of eternity hearing me say the obvious. And on top of that, you get to watch as I get the Humans to tear eachother apart."
As Sparks' vision began to clear, he noticed what the Flower was talking to. A small, goat thing was curled up into a ball next to the table. It raised its head at the sound of Sparks' foot steps.
"Who are you." the little Goat boy asked.
"I saw you in my dreams." was the only cohesive thought that could spill out of his mouth.
"Oh?," the flower said, "So you are this 'Hero' Asriel kept blabbering about. It's oh, so vile an experience to meet you. I see your dreams finally got to you."
"What?" Sparks asked.
"Those Generals aren't gonna be happy with each other." The Flower's cruel smile sent a chill down Sparks' spine. "And when they meet in my chamber in their final fight, I'll claim the soul of the loser, and use it to take the mind of the winner. It's perfect, not even the stupidity of humanity could ruin it now. And you're sure as heck not strong enough to get in my way. Go home, enjoy your last few months with your mommy and daddy before the world goes boom."
Sparks' mouth hung open in shock, why would he tell him this. He had to stop him.
He turned to Asriel with a pleading look on his face.
"I can't leave here," Asriel said, "But I can still help you. I think I still remember what my mom taught me about fighting, and while I can't teach you how to save, I can save your progress if you can come back."
"That would be great, I don't know if I want to hurt anyone though." Sparks said, still trying to take in all of what was being dropped on his head. Asriel seemed happy with his response while the Flower rolled it's eyes.
"Well," Asriel said, "The bad news is that it might be tricky to get the Humans to cooperate, no offence but your species can be very hard headed at times."
"At times?" the flower quietly chuckled to himself, "That's giving the pests too much credit. From what I heard, the General got the whole police force on your head, so you better shape up. It's kill or be killed and those Generals are weaker then they act. With the right planning they would be a cakewalk."
"Anyway," Asriel said with an apologetic look, "I don't know how you got here but if you are it means that you can save this world. I'll send you back if you don't have any questions."
"What do I need to do?" Sparks asked, his voice filled with confusion.
"You're a smart little human," Flowey said, "You'll figure out how to die in a way just funny enough to bring me to tears." And with that, Sparks woke up.
He was greeted by hard asphalt and a missing homeless man. The alley was dark, as night had fully settled in. He needed that pill bottle in order to get back to that place, and he knew it wasn't a dream. He remembered it too well. It was just like the Nightmares, they felt too real to be just dreams. As the general said, the flower communicates with people in dreams.
A scream was heard around the corner, Sparks legs carried him there faster then his brain could analyze the implications of running towards a scream in an alleyway, in the middle city, at night.
The sight that catches his eye however is one he hoped he'd never be the one to have to stumble upon it. Two men stood over someone, one armed with a baseball bat and the other a small knife.
"Hand it over freak and no one gets hurt." The bat wielding one says, lifting the bat over his head.
"Yeah," the shorter, skinnier one with the knife echoed, "No one will get hurt anymore then they are." he placed it against the victim's throat. Sparks squinted to get a closer look. The Monster didn't look so good, her dress ripped slightly and her face was bleeding, most likely from the bat.
Sparks stepped forward, into a little spot of light shining down from someone's window. The large man with the bat caught sight of him. "Hey," he said, "Looks like we got another."
"Yeah, take out the trash." the knife wielder wasn't moving, letting the bigger guy take care of the nuisance while he tried to pry the handbag out of the Cat-lady's grasp.
It's now or never, Sparks thought as the man approached. He swung the bat down with tremendous force, intent to cause harm. Sparks, being the kid at school who everyone aimed for during dodge ball, wasn't new to the concept of dodging. With just a step to the left the bat missed.
Confused as to how he missed, he swung again. Stepping to the side he dodged again. "How is this kid so fast!" the man exclaimed, tiring himself out on the effort this was proving to be.
He swung and missed.
He swung and missed.
He swung and missed.
He swung and missed.
His swings were tired and slow at this point. Sparks had proven that he wasn't going to be touched by any attempt anytime soon. That knowledge, however, didn't deter the mugger who decided to swing one last time.
Sparks was growing tired of this, not physically, just mentally. The woman needed medical help and stalling this guy till he passed out from exhaustion, while the right thing to do, was time consuming. The Mugger swung, and without missing a beat, Sparks caught the bat mid swing. The Man looked on in horror, Sparks gave a light tug, pulling the bat from the man's hands and causing the man to stumble forward and fall on his face. He looked up in horror, the kid had the bat, but instead of hitting the man in retaliation, he tossed it over his shoulder.
The Man with the knife had lifted the woman to her feet, and was standing behind her with the knife to her throat, "Stand back or this filth will have to say goodnight forever." his voice shaking in fear. Sparks merely stood there, staring the man in the eyes. He pointed the the man on the ground, lifted his thumb to his throat and dragged it across, before pointing the the other man.
The knife wielder dropped his knife like it was on fire and ran as fast as he could out of the alley. The man on the ground slowly stood, turned and walked in the same direction. He looked back over his shoulder, "What are you?" He asked and then ran.
Sparks approached the woman slowly, trying not to startle her. Her ears perked as he approached; she looked up, her eyes filled with tears.
"Are you ok?" Sparks asked, even though he already knew the answer.
"No" she said, trying to lift herself to her feet, to no avail.
Sparks helped her up and began to silently walk with her, helping to support her. She led him to an apartment building. She put in her code and then took the shoddy elevator up to the 5th floor. She unlocked the door and led him inside. The walls had been freshly painted; flowers sat in pots hung from the ceiling; the flat screen tv looked second hand as did the couch. To the left was the Kitchen and the bedroom through a door on the right of the main room. She lumbered into the bedroom. Sparks sat on the couch thinking, well, I've got nowhere else to sleep.
She came back into the main room with her head wrapped up in gaus.
"What a poor way to meet new people. What were you doing out there so late?" she asked without turning her head.
Sparks simply stared for a moment, thinking about his situation. He was sitting in a dark room, with a woman he had just saved from to muggers, being asked who he was. Why did he feel this wasn't going to be the weirdest thing he would be dragged into on this journey.
He thought for awhile. "I guess you would call it running away. I'm on a quest to get answers, and I know who can answer them, the problem is getting to him."
"Well I would never advocate running away but you look like you can take care of yourself, and others." she whispered the last part, disappointed that she was saved by a kid.
"I'd like to imagine that i'm a pretty capable for being 12, and all I did was step out of the way."
"You were like lightning, I've never seen anything like that on the surface."
"On the surface?"
"Back in the underground there was this ghost guy I knew, he was a mailman and he ran from greater dogs all day but they never caught him."
Sparks thought about it. That was cool, he had never thought about what monsters could do that people couldn't, it was a cool thought.
She quickly returned to her bedroom and Sparks slept on the couch. Sparks had made it clear that he didn't want to tell her his name.