Cover Art: FairyFan94 from Deviant Art
A/N: I won't be able to hold my four-day update shedule since I won't have internet connection for a while. Sorry. Thats why I update a day earlier.
Chapter 3 – Floweys' lies, their help
"SANS! HELP!" Papyrus cry came as the taller skeleton stumbled down the stairs. Sans rushed into the living room from his room with the help of a short cut, thinking of the worst possible scenarios like Chara taking Frisk over or Undying breaking in through their roof. But when laughter was heard he relaxed again as he stuffed his hands back into his pockets.
"Kiddo…" Sans started as he watched how Papyrus was now blindly walking through their living room. "… you are doing a blinding job there."
"SANS! STOP THE JOKES AND HELP ME!" Papyrus was now yelling as more laugher ringed through the room. Frisk was holding on to the taller skeletons head covering his eyes while doing so while Papyrus unsuccessfully was trying to get the child off him.
"HUMAN! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP AND GO TO SLEEP!" The girl laughed only more as she held on tighter and Papyrus fell over the two rolling over the carpet. Sans only used a little magic to make sure the kid wasn't hitting their head on anything, his interference wasn't noticed by anyone.
"Looks like you got it rolling brother." Sans commended snickering. Frisk sprung up before the taller skeleton could grab her and run too hid behind the couch, giggling a lot and giving out her hiding place anyway.
"SANS! HELP ME PUT THE HUMAN TO BED!" Papyrus only yelled and the shorter one finally noticed that the human was wearing a small sized pj he must have found or brought somewhere.
"Mettaton!" She cried out running to hid behind the couch table as Papyrus reached behind the couch.
"Kid… I know you are addicted to his show like Pap is." Sans started lifting the girl into the air with his magic eye glowing light blue. "But it's clearly pasta your bed time."
The girl only giggled as she was dropped and landed in Sans arms where he hold onto the giggling child before she yawned. "Welp comeon I am going to read you and Pap a nice bedtime story."
"Nu-huh! Mettaton!" Sans rubbed the back of his skull with his free hand and tried to ignore the puppy-eyes look the child was giving him. Papyrus smiled as he took the girl from him and bounced her on his hip.
"FINE HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL ALLOW YOU TO WATCH ONE EPISODE WITH ME BEFORE WE BOTH GO TO BED!"
Sans chuckled when a few minutes later his brother and the human were asleep on the couch. Turning of the tv with a flick of his wrist, he placed a blanket over them before going through on of his short cuts to his lab. There were still a few unknown things he needed to find out. Especially with the weird vision he had not too long ago.
"You are an Idiot!" Flowey yelled the moment Sans appeared in his laboratory. The skeleton ignored it and was pleased to see that this time Flowey did at least not mess up the shelf he was placed on like he did last time. But Sans had then put the flower into the time-out box which was nothing more than a box filled with socks and other stuff. After that Flowey had stopped throwing everything else from the shelf he was placed on, apparently he had meet something horrifying in there that scared the petals off the flower.
"She will die and you won't be able to stop it! You never were!" Flowey continued. His face twisted into something evil as saw Sans tensed.
"She died in every timeline so far. What makes this different? She will just die a different way once again! But this time it will be final!" The flower laughed and the short skeleton had a hard time not to blast the flower right there with his gaster blaster until he realized something.
"What do you mean every timeline?" Sans turned to look at the evil being on his shelf. The flower only laughed sinister as he tilted his head to the side slightly in mild curiosity.
"What?" The flower started. "Did you think you and the kid were the only ones aware of the timelines?" He laughed once again. "I once owned the power to reset myself. So many enemies to kill over and over, so many friends to meet over and over till you finally kill them too."
The light in Sans eye-sockets vanished as he stared with his emotionless default grin at the flower. "When did you get rid of the tape?"
Flowey smiled with a little satisfaction. "That's not what you really want to ask me. Isn't it?"
"She died." He stated smugly as if it was a fact to be proud off.
"That useless little human died. Over and over and over. Either I killed her or one of her oh so precious friends she tried saving oh so often." A hollow laugh echoed in Sans lab and the skeleton tried to ignore the shudder it send down his back.
"Even your 'harmless' brother. He didn't capture her… no he killed her! He killed her over and over. What's that look supposed to mean?" The flower laughed. "Did the human not tell you about these brutal timelines. Where you killed her on sight? Where your brother killed her? Where she was tricked in believing you guys and then betrayed? Where you broke your promise?"
Sans shook, sweat forming on the back of his skull. There was a reason why he had taped the mouth of this evil being shut. Shaking his head the skeleton stared at the flower preparing to tape its mouth shut once again. He couldn't let his words get under his bones.
"Even the times you got rid of me. You all were trapped down here and sooner or later one would snap and kill the human to break the barrier. Not even the king could protect her."
Images of past timelines flashed in Sans mind, stopping him from taping the flowers mouth. A blue light awoke in his right eye as he stared wordlessly at Flowey. His bone hand clenched into a fist and he could hear his bones cracking.
"Let's not forget the time she 'saved' me. Mercy my ass! This useless human will never learn anything. There is no way to save everyone! Someone will always be left behind. Say did you know that she went back to meet me before you all left the Underground? Did you know she reset trying to find a way to save me many times?" Flowey laughed his face turning into one that looked a little like Asriels. "She came, talked to me. But I told her to go, to watch over you guys for me and she did. She left me down there all on my own just like I ask her too."
"And year over year she tried to convince me to go with her. Trying to make me go to this so called 'Aboveground'. After all I did…" The skeleton still didn't say a word, he couldn't. Sans knew the flower was trying to make him snap. So he let the flower continue to talk, not falling for its act at all. Floweys head slowly bowed down no longer facing Sans he sensed that this wasn't working the way he wanted.
"…ha… haha… hahahahahahahahaha!" Sans tensed his eyed wide when the flower looked up again a broken face with hollow eyes and an empty sinister smile. "Can you believe it? That… Idiot! To save me when Asriel no longer exists! I AM Flowey. Flowey the flower…. And in this world… it's kill or be killed! I will kill her no matter how many times I have to try."
"You wouldn't know a kind soul when it slapped you in the face." Sans muttered hands still clenched into tight fists. The skeleton didn't say anything more. He just stood there letting the flower slowly stop his laughing yet Flowey still chuckled looking at the still skeleton and noting how tense he had become and how hate filled his eye-sockets seemed.
"Just give up. What's the point of trying anymore if it will end the same way again?" Sans flinched at the familiar words, Flowey was really trying to say everything to make him snap. "You can afford to not care anymore. Just let me kill that little human and you all can happily life in Aboveground. What use does she have? All you need is her for is her soul. So just take her sou-"
Static. That was all Sans could think as it happened once again. He didn't have any other visions like this since the last once. He didn't expect any good from it.
"You need to save her soul."
The skeleton blinked. Right before him was Asriel sitting on the shelf a sad smile on his face as hold the flower pot in his hands. "Don't listen to flowey."
"Didn't plan on that buddy." Sans said shrugging yet the blue light in his right eye stayed as he eyed the young goat monster sitting there like nothing happened. He watched how Asriel reached for a pen and crossed 'floored' out on the pot writing 'grounded' over it. "There sounds better don't you think?"
The skeleton didn't answer and Asriels smile faltered. "You… probably want to know what this static visions and your reset is about…"
Sans only nodded not looking away and not moving an inch.
"I can only say what Flowey and I know about this. We don't know much either… but it's a chance for Frisk to really save everyone but her soul… she might be very determined but it's still a fragile human soul. So save everyone she needs it to be truly hers."
"Truly hers? To save everyone?" The skeleton questioned, hadn't Frisk done that already. Saving everyone? Or did Asriel mean a chance for the girl to truly save him? Also what was that about her soul? For all he knew, the little human girl possessed a soul stronger than any he ever saw.
"It's not fully hers. It never was since she entered Underground." Asriel nodded in confirmation. "She was always there too."
"With she… you mean…?" Asriel nodded once again answering Sans unfinished question.
"Frisk can safe everyone if it's hers alone." The goat monster started a small smile on his face. "Even the once that are lo-"
Sans cursed the timing of the static as it washed over him again but instead of finding himself in his laboratory facing the flower he found himself in a dark room. He tried to look around but found himself to not be able to do that. Slowly he could make out two figures in the darkness and he sucked in a breath when he recognized the two.
"Human… give… up…" A tall skeleton dressed in black with cracks in his skull over the left and under the right eye said in a static kind of voice. It was the same one Sans had seen the last time.
"… it's… pointless…" The name of the skeleton lay on the tip of Sans non existing tongue yet he couldn't bring himself to utter his name out loud. But what was he seeing there? Did this happen in any of the timelines Frisk had gone through?
"I…" A new voice said and the short skeleton eyes went wide for a second as he recognized it. It sounded like Frisk yet it wasn't, He looked at the other figure to find once again Frisk kneeling head down before the taller skeleton her soul floating once again before her only that it wasn't her. "…will never stop! Her body belongs to ME!"
Red eyes glowed in the darkness, a knife was drawn out and they rushed forward as they were faced with the blank look of the taller skeleton and Sans finally noticed that this human soul did not have Frisks warm red glow but a cold white one… also it was only half a soul… where was the other half? Did this have something to do with what Asriel had said?
Before Sans could question anymore what was happening static washed over him again and he found this time in his lab for real. Flowey was still rambling on how he was going to kill Frisk and Sans had to take a moment to realize had happened. Deciding that the flowers talking was slowly getting annoying once more he walked over lifted the flower up and placed it in his sink of his lab.
"What are you… !" Flowey was trying to protest but it was drowned by a sudden rush of water when Sans turned the faucet on.
"You looked pretty thirsty there. Hope I didn't drown your words." Light returned to Sans eyes as he watched the flower trying to avoid the sting of water but miserable failed and succumbed to its fate. Sans eyed it for a moment but then noticed a shabby writing on floweys flower pot.
'Be aware. Grounded flower knows how to bite and plants on doing so.'
Turning the faucet off, Sans placed the coughing flower back on the shelf before leaving his lab with a slight smile and a few off his worries had been turned into hope. It did no longer matter if the flower was spouting lies or the truth. Not when he was getting the help of someone who watching his back.
Entering the house again Sans sat down at the empty spot next to his brother and Frisk. He was about to close his eyes when he felt someone snuggling on his side. The short skeleton glanced down to see Frisk hugging him from the side. Sans smile softened when he patted the kids head before finally drifting off to sleep.
A crash echoed through the house and Sans eye-sockets flew open as he clutched the human girl to his side. Papyrus stood up straight bone in hand and eyes wide. The three watched how wood splitters flew through the room.
"Papyrus you are late!" Sans felt sweat forming on the back of his skull as he looked for the nearest shortcut.
"U-UNDYNE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Papyrus yelled shocked as he took a step back from the fish monster until realization drew on him. Panicked he looked over to the small human that eyed the new monster curious and Sans who was very pale for a skeleton and sweating a lot.
"You missed your cooking-lesson today!" Undyne yelled before letting a spear appear in her hands. "So you are going to have an even harder trai… wait."
"What are you looking at?" Undyne turned to look and saw the child standing there clutching Sans side. The shorter skeleton was fast to throw the blanket over the child seeing how he did not have enough time to get her through a shortcut.
"WAIT UNDYNE I CAN EXPLAIN!" Papyrus shouted panicked.
"Papyrus… Sans..." Sans hold a hand out in front of the human in an attempt shield her.
"IS THAT A HUMAN?!" Undyne suddenly yelled out pushing the skeletons to the side and throwing the blanket away. Frisk giggled as she looked up at Undyne but her giggling stopped the instant the tip of the spear was pointing at her.
"I am proud of you Papyrus you captured a human. I will over look the fact that you missed your cooking lesson! Fuhuhuhuhuhuhuhu." Undyne laughed misinterpreting the situation. "I will take over from here and bring them to Asgor for their soul!"
The skeleton was about to interfere when he saw Undyne reach out for the child. Fear and betrayal was what the short skeleton could see in Frisk eyes and only one thought crossed his mind. 'Please no, don't lose your trust in us…'