Snowdin Town Square
Sans, good to his word, had prepared a magnificent party for Frisk. He'd invited every monster he could find. Snowdin town was festooned with lights and decorations. The little tree in the town square was nearly buried in presents.
There was a banquet table standing in the middle of the town, draped with an orange table cloth. A temporary stove and kitchen unit had been set up, and with no regard for common sense or safety, Undyne and Papyrus had been put in charge of it.
Undyne and Monster Kid were making the sauce. Monster Kid was stirring the pot, red-faced but smiling, wielding a wooden spoon taller than he was. He looked as if all his dreams had come true. Undyne was shouting encouragement and throwing ingredients into the pot.
Papyrus was nearby, proudly tending a cauldron of spaghetti.
The Cinnabun lady set up a table too, wearing a lilac apron and a hat that allowed her ears to stick out the top. She was making bunny-shaped treats. Frisk spied an unmistakeable butterscotch-cinnamon pie ready for the oven, and also some doughnuts with Muffet's signature spiderweb icing.
Monsters mingled in the cheery town square, chatting and joking and gossiping.
Papyrus and Toriel herded everyone to the table and the monsters took their seats.
The spaghetti was delicious. Papyrus' best ever. Undyne and Monster Kid had put all their passion and energy into the sauce. It was perfect.
Toriel was bustling through the party, making sure everyone got as many helpings as they wanted.
Muffet was dangling over the table by a single thread, topping up drinks: Spider cider, for the grown-ups, and Spider Fizz for the kids. She passed over Sans, who was already drunk on a cocktail of condiments.
The dogs were invited too, although they had their own table, set lower off the ground.
Dogamy and Dogaressa were eating spaghetti from the same dish; Endogeny had one dish of pasta for each of its heads; Greater Dog and Lesser Dog were playing poker.
After the meal, Frisk wandered around, meeting her friends and enjoying the sight of everyone having fun:
Burgerpants had taken the day off from work. He was chatting amiably with Bratty and Catty.
Monster Kid was covered in tomato stains from head to toe. Woshua hosed him down with a powerful jet of water.
The Nice Cream Guy had set up shop and seemed delighted with the sales he was making.
Jerry was chilling with his friends and nobody ditched him.
A tastefully decorated Gryftrot strutted by.
Doggo and Endogeny were romping through the party, chasing each other.
Tsunderplane was pulling some crazy aerobatics in the sky. Not on purpose, or anything! And it was totally not enjoying all the attention.
Alphys was in charge of erecting a stage and dance floor, not too far away.
Mettaton's humanoid body had been repaired. His legs looked even longer than before. Someone had given him a microphone and he was parading around on the stage, even as it was being built around him. He'd recruited Napstablook as his sound mixer, and lots of monsters were nodding and bobbing to the beat.
Alphys rigged up the lights for the disco floor and gave a thumbs-up sign.
Bratty and Catty were the first monsters on the dance floor, followed by Migosp, Vegetoid and a group of Froggits.
That was the signal for every other monster to converge on the dance floor and start dancing. The music was fantastic. Shyren and Lemon Bread were both on vocals together. Lemon Bread was slightly out of tune, but nobody minded.
Mettaton had given it his all. Then his batteries ran flat. Undyne and Alphys carried him off stage to recharge.
Snowdrake and his Dad took the stage next and did a funny skit. Snowdrake's mother watched proudly from the crowd.
For the next act, a bunch of monsters – Loox, Madjick and Astigmatism - did an explosive magic show. Light and color filled the air. Fire and smoke spiralled around the performers and the audience. Lightning crackled across the sky, and then a shower of gold coins tinkled down over them.
Alphys kicked the magic show off the stage when they destroyed one of her lights with a firework. A live band came on next: Undyne on the keyboard, Sans on the trombone, and Papyrus on the drum kit.
An old turtle was dancing gracefully and very slowly in the middle of the floor.
Burgerpants started breakdancing… really well..!
Whimsun fluttered around, more cheerful than Frisk had ever seen him.
Bratty showed Frisk that Mettaton did indeed autograph her butt.
Froggits and Final Froggits were leaping around the dance floor. It was mayhem.
Temmie was dancing with the training dummy. They both looked happy.
Vulkin was wiggling its weird rump. Frisk gave it a hug and got burnt, but she didn't mind
The Yellow Bird flew in and lifted the old turtle, and carried him away.
Doggo and Ice Wolf met each other's gaze and joined Burgerpants' energetic dance. Frisk noted that Ice Wolf had, true to his word, bought some pants.
The party got a bit too rowdy for Frisk's liking. Monsters were getting drunk on spider cider and starting to throw their magic around. Frisk could see fireballs, stars and rainbows rocketing about, and had to be careful not to get hit. Worse still, some monsters were starting to throw socks. She ducked under a table, over which Aaron and Undyne were arm wrestling (Undyne won easily).
Frisk narrowly avoided being trampled by the Froggits, but in the next second, she got glomped by a herd of Temmies and Bob.
Alphys wheeled Mettaton back onto the stage, back in his rectangular form, where he started singing 'Oh! One True Love!' soulfully.
Guards 01 and 02 were slow-dancing in the corner.
Frisk caught a glimpse of.. of a Lion monster in Mettaton's dress..?
Knight Knight was napping nearby, lulled to sleep by the music.. or maybe she had passed out after too much spider cider.
The Annoying Dog stole the Temmie flakes and ran for its life, pursued by a Temmie stampede.
Undyne and Alphys were smooching passionately in the middle of the dance floor. Streams of love hearts were bursting from them. Frisk took cover.
Frisk leaned against a curled-up Greater Dog, sheltering from the magical party storm that was going on around them, but still enjoying the atmosphere. Sans sidled up and put a hand on her shoulder.
"heya.. i thought you should know.. everyone pulled together and chipped in when i said i was organizing a party for ya.. it barely made a dent in your funds. so.. toriel and i decided.. we're gonna use the rest to hold classes in the library!"
Sans pointed to the library, which now had a repainted sign reading 'LIBRARY'.
"well, toriel started off saying she would teach the younger monsters to read and write.. then she asked papyrus if he wanted to teach 'em about puzzles and stuff.. undyne said she might consider giving lessons in music and cooking.."
"What about you, Sans? I think you have a lot to teach!"
"..nope, not me. i applied to teach quantum physics but toriel wasn't impressed.. anyway, it's a full time job, trying to keep my bro outta trouble!"
NIGHT
Frisk got back very late. She and Toriel stayed to clean up after the party. Papyrus too. Luckily, Woshua helped them and it didn't take too long. The Yellow Bird gave them all a lift back to the Ruins.
Now Frisk was back in her room..
She lay awake. The excitement of the party hadn't worn off and she wasn't sleepy at all. She was so happy, to be among all of the monsters celebrating together. Seeing them enjoy themselves.. Seeing them do things they liked doing.. it was wonderful. She'd brought back the magic of the Underground. Everyone's love, hope and dreams.
And yet she couldn't stay to enjoy it any longer. It was a bittersweet feeling.
She missed Chara more than ever. She wanted someone to talk to. Someone who might understand her.
Flowey was a poor substitute, but he would have to do. She opened the Box and set Flowey's bucket under the lamp.
"Ouch! Not so much.. not too bright at once!" he hissed. He covered his face with his petals. He seemed crankier than usual.
"Sorry Flowey, I didn't know too much light would hurt you. How about if I put you down here?"
Frisk positioned Flowey away from the lamp. Then she held up her water jug.
"Is that better? How about some water?"
"Do you really enjoy this? Keeping me in a Box.. Only letting me out when you feel bored.. What do you want?!" Flowey snarled savagely. Solitary confinement in the box had eroded his fear and his composure.
Frisk felt her anger surge. Her cheeks felt hot. Being kind to Flowey was a thankless task, and right now she was sorely tempted to punish him for his ingratitude.
Maybe a little more fear would improve our relationship..
And yet he was the only one, besides herself, who saw the world for what it truly was. If she could not win his trust, she would be on her own, and that made her more afraid than she could say.
Now you know how it feels, when everything is gone and you're alone. Emptiness is very cold and painful. That's what Chara had told her when she asked him why he needed her SOUL. And now that pain was part of her.
She started to understand why Chara made such an effort to earn her trust. Monster SOULs are made of love, hope and compassion. Human SOULs do not need these things to survive, but to exist without them is very painful.
No wonder Chara wanted Frisk's full, warm SOUL to fill his empty one.
"Flowey, I'm being kind to you right now. I could REALLY hurt you if I wanted. But I need you. I want you."
Flowey started to laugh. His expression morphed into a twisted smile. "Ha ha ha, you? Kind? You think acting kind for a moment makes you a good person? You only ever do kind things to get what you want! You'll smile to my face and plant a dagger in my back! You've fooled some gullible monsters, but not me. I can see into that UGLY heart of yours. You're such a sicko."
Frisk was indignant. "You're calling ME a sicko? I know you Flowey. We're old friends. Do you remember absorbing the six human SOULs? Telling me you'd tear me to bloody pieces over and over again?"
That was the timeline that Flowey regained his power to SAVE and RESET.
"And you did, Flowey. You weren't satisfied with killing me just once. You RELOADed and RELOADed. You killed me again and again. What did you say to me, when I was at your mercy? 'Call out for help, I dare you. Cry out into the darkness.' Right?"
Flowey cackled. "Oh! So you remember? And you still want to befriend me?" He bared his teeth in a grotesque smile.
"That's right", said Frisk. "Both of us, at one time or another, have used the power to SAVE and RESET to control multiple timelines. I've tried being good.. I've tried being bad. So have you. I've decided both of us are too rotten for the Underground. I'm taking you up to the surface with me when I go."
"What makes you think I'll join you?"
"You don't have a choice. Look at you, Flowey, in that bucket.."
"You're under the impression we're the same. But you're even more depraved than I am.. I don't have a SOUL. For me, this world is just one big experiment. You DO have a SOUL. You can feel all those delicious feelings. Friendship, hope, empathy, compassion.. love. But all you do is use it to torture the people you love, don't you?"
Flowey paused to savor his next sentence. "I wonder what happed to that sweetheart of yours.. Oh yes, YOU KILLED THEM! HAHAHA!"
"What?" Frisk gasped. "No, I had no choice.. He would have destroyed everything I was trying to save!"
"Oh come on now. You killed more than one person. Across all of the timelines you've wandered.. it's more than even I can count! You thought my memory was wiped each time you RESET? What a fool. I saw it all!"
"Y-you remember.. everything…?" The weight of that realization crushed her. Her sins were truly inescapable. The pain of it was overwhelming.
Frisk staggered backwards, flinching at Flowey's venomous words. Flowey leaned in for the kill.
"Your greatest pleasure is to save some poor helpless creature, befriend them, get them to love you… AND THEN TEAR THEM DOWN! If that's not sick, I don't know what is. Oh I remember.. The first time I met you, you showed me your mercy. You forgave all of my sins and held me in your arms. On the last timeline, I begged you.. 'Please don't kill me!' and you… You dismembered me, even as I begged for your pity.. I could see how much you enjoyed it. You're the biggest sicko I know!"
Frisk could hardly breathe. She felt as if she was choking. Dying.
"..enough!" she snapped, hoarsely. She was slumped, her back against the wall. She buried her head in her hands.
Flowey loomed over her and leered. "Oh did that break your little heart? Look at me, trapped in this bucket.. You're still cowering in fear.. Isn't it interesting that you're still at MY mercy!"
Frisk couldn't take it any more. She picked up Flowey's bucket and stuffed him back into the Box.
"What? You don't like that..?" he whispered, with that creepy smile of his, as she snapped the lid shut.
Frisk threw herself into bed and clapped her pillow over her head. But she could not shut out those words.
She had terrible nightmares that night. She dreamed that Flowey was dead and she was holding his mangled corpse in her hands, and she was left all alone in a dark world. She had another dream, where her own heart shattered, and she desperately tried to hold the pieces together, even though the sharp edges cut into her fingers. She dreamed she was a skeleton, lying on a bed of flowers, and Flowey was growing up through her ribcage. She tore him out of her chest, but he spouted up again through her eye socket, and then she was vomiting black blood and crying black tears-
She woke, screaming, and the next thing she knew, Toriel was holding her, giving her a hot herbal drink that put her straight back to sleep. And another dream came.
She dreamed that her body was gone. The sum of all her being was compressed into a little plump red heart shape. Chara was holding her in his hands, caressing her tender surface, kissing her. Then, he cradled her in his arms, clutching her to his chest, comforting her as she cried.
"Frisk.. don't be sad, I'm here", he whispered. "I know what you did, and I'm still here for you. You mean the world to me. I will never leave you. We'll be together forever, I promise."
I don't want to wake up, thought Frisk. Let me stay right here, in this dream world where we are together.
Her SOUL felt warm, for the first time since Chara's murder. She could not bear the thought of waking from such a sweet dream, back to cold reality.
Writer's note:
It's the end.
Nearly.
The next chapter will be the last..