Turns out, not many monsters knew what a human looked like. They'd heard the stories; they knew the words by upside-down heart, but it'd been so many years since they had touched the surface, too many generations come and gone, that they couldn't remember china doll-faces or soft hair. They couldn't remember two arms and two legs and a smile of white teeth. They couldn't remember humanity for what it was and what it used to be.
Frisk learned with her time on the streets of Snowdin that young monsters worried about jagged toothed beings with scales and spikes and extra long fingernails, sunken eyes and gaping mouths. Terrifying creatures that even monsters were scared of. Humans.
It made Frisk sad. But at the same time, she was deeply thankful for the misconception. When she passed through, no one recognised her for what she really was. They gave her strange looks and little frowns, but as far as they knew, she was simply a young monster whom they'd never seen before. Frisk would rather keep it that way.
She didn't have any money, but Flowey managed to scrape together enough gold for them to stay one night at the Snowed Inn. The little hotel was a worn brick building a couple stories high and windowless, fit snugly in between the few other buildings that made up Snowdin; a tiny shop, a library and a bar. The door in front was thick and wooden, and the word 'OPEN' had been scratched into it as if a sign would've been inconvenient. When Frisk went in, a distorted bell warbled.
"Welcome to the Snowed Inn." A scraggly bunny lady at the counter droned, staring at the empty wall with narrowed eyes. "One night or multiple."
"One," Flowey requested, and Frisk tightened her lips. It wasn't as though she wanted to stay in Snowdin, but she wasn't keen on leaving so soon.
Flowey pushed the money across the counter, and the bunny slid a key over in return. Frisk looked down at it. It was big and old-fashioned, and engraven with the letter 'E'. She frowned. 'E'? Why 'E'?
"Room E," The bunny gave her an expectant look. "You know, up the hall, to the left? I take it you know the alphabet?"
"Frisk…" Flowey shoved her arm. "Let's go?"
Oh. The room number. Or letter. Frisk shook her head and smiled. "Uh, yeah. Thank you."
The bunny lady looked at her strangely as she walked away, as if she wasn't used to being thanked. "Uh... yeah, you're welcome, I guess."
The room was a humble few square feet, with a twin bed in the corner, a nightstand, and a dresser. No windows.
Frisk pulled the rusty chain on the lamp and a weak glow illuminated the room. A rough carpet threatened to rub her feet raw, so she only removed her shoes once she was safely in the bed. She set Flowey on the pillow and he huffed in content.
"Wait," He said, perking up. "Lock the door."
Frisk did. The sound of the lock sent a little trim of relief through her. Instantly, all the tension of the day melted away and she sighed, feeling her exhaustion catch up to her. She settled in next to Flowey, and he curled up against her, asleep in seconds.
Something cold pressed against her neck and she reached up to feel it. It was the locket she'd picked up in the Ruins. She didn't know why, but it gave her a sense of comfort… as if a guardian angel stood nearby, keeping watch over her.
Little did she know that someone was.
Goodnight, Frisk.
As she laced her shoes the next morning, she asked Flowey about the other humans. He froze and pressed his mouth into a thin line.
"It's nothing. They're long gone by now."
"Flowey…" Frisk pleaded. "I need to know. What happened to the others?"
There was a long silence from the flower. Finally, he whispered, "...They didn't make it."
"...They died?"
"Frisk, you have to understand. People are scared. People who are desperate for freedom. Human souls are worth thousands of ours, and if seven of them can break the Barrier once and for all, well… people are going to take that chance."
"So, when you said monsters will rip out my soul… that actually happens?"
"More often than you'd think. Monsters even try to rip out and absorb the souls of other monsters. Of course, monster souls deteriorate without a body. It never works." Flowey shrugged halfheartedly.
As Frisk collected her things and unlocked the door, she stopped. Slowly, she asked, "Have you attempted that, once?"
Flowey said nothing.
It was cold outside. Monsters ran this way and that, yelling things irritably and throwing things into bushes. When Frisk looked questioningly to Flowey, he explained, "Every town has a different way of keeping night crawlers away."
Frisk remembered what Flowey had told her in the Ruins. Night crawlers were nocturnal monsters, more like animals than civilized beings.
Flowey looked amused at the Snowdin people throwing things around. "The noise scares away any night crawlers that are still lurking. Come on, let's go before something smacks you in the head."
They picked up their trek from yesterday, weaving through snow mounds and tall evergreens. Scattered along the path were little piles of gray dust and empty suits of armor. Flowey flinched like it was a gruesome scene, but Frisk could only swallow, and forge on. A snowman yelled at them when they got too close to it, and a dog sentry freaked out whether she moved. It took some time standing still in order for him to finally leave her alone. Two large dogs in cloaks attempted to decapitate her with huge axes, and Frisk narrowly managed to escape by climbing a tree.
She was still gasping high up in the branches when the dogs were long gone and instead… a new sound came.
The metallic stomps of an angry skeleton.
Frisk held her breath and Flowey kept his eyes wide open as Papyrus strode under the tree, growling and flipping through a… was that a pamphlet?
"GOOD MORNING TO YOU, UNDYNE! AS YOU CAN SEE, I'VE CAPTURED A HUMAN, AND I… NO, NO! I MUST BE MORE PROFESSIONAL!" Papyrus cleared his throat again, sounding uncannily like Sans. "UNDYNE, SIR! I BRING YOU THIS HUMAN AS PASSPORT INTO THE ROYAL GUARD! NYEH, I LIKE THAT. PASSPORT."
"Is he… rehearsing?" Flowey breathed. "And for some reason I thought he was a warrior."
"UNDYNE!" Papyrus announced extravagantly. "I HAVE CAPTURED A HUMAN AS REQUESTED! NOW, STEP ASIDE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL AT LAST TAKE MY DESERVED PLACE IN THE ROYAL GUARD!"
Frisk accidentally shifted too much and a loose twig fell through the branches, clattering down to the forest floor below. As it landed, Papyrus jumped, an embarrassing little squeal escaping him.
He whirled around, a thick femur materializing in his hands and his eyes glowing. "WHO'S THERE?!"
Frisk put a finger to her lips and Flowey gave her a look like 'I know!'. At any moment Papyrus could look up, see them, shoot them down with something sharp. Frisk hoped he'd leave quickly.
He was still peering around suspiciously. Frisk considered throwing something across the field, in hopes Papyrus would follow it, but it didn't seem likely he'd fall for it.
Then, a phone rang.
Papyrus jumped again, but he recovered rather quickly this time, sighing deeply and fishing out a blocky thing from his front pocket. He answered the phone with no grace or respect. "YES, UNDYNE?"
A loud voice came from the other end, but Frisk couldn't make out the words. Papyrus, however, enjoyed repeating whatever the recipient said, allowing Frisk to understand a good chunk of their conversation.
"SO ALPHYS DID SEE A HUMAN ON HER CAMERAS? I KNEW IT! THAT IDIOT BROTHER OF MINE REALLY MUST BE BLIND!" Papyrus listened a bit more. He scowled. "HOLD YOUR TONGUE, UNDYNE. ONLY I AM ALLOWED TO SPEAK OF HIM THAT WAY. HAVE YOU MADE ANY PROGRESS WITH THE OTHER SOULS? THE EXPERIMENTS? I SUSPECTED AS MUCH. YES… WORRY NOT, UNDYNE. I SHALL CAPTURE THE HUMAN, AS REQUESTED."
Frisk swallowed. It seemed there'd be no way around an encounter with Papyrus; he seemed extremely set on capturing a human, and no doubt he'd be searching tirelessly.
Then she perked up. Sans. He'd know what to do, wouldn't he? He didn't seem very worried about capturing Frisk, so maybe he'd help her! She pulled Flowey a bit closer, earning a weird look from him.
"YES…" Papyrus continued, grinning maliciously. "THEY"LL NEVER KNOW WHAT HIT THEM."