It's been so long since I've updated this story, and I've stopped putting little meaningless ANs at the start of my stories, but I feel like one is in order here. First, I think I owe a thank you to all of you who are reading this right now, and an apology for temporarily abandoning this story. Secondly, did you know if you type in 'do a barrel roll' into the google search bar it actually does a loop? It's fascinating!

It took Undyne a couple of moments to realise what had happened.

One moment Tess was standing there, her silver eyes burning with the desire to protect the two downed monsters, the next her blood was very red against the white snow.

Undyne wanted to wake up from this nightmare- she wanted to wake up on her bed and have Tess fuss over her having a bad dream. Her head began to swim, not a single thought able to be held for more than a few moments.

A tiny light blue heart emerged from Tess' body, glowing so bright it might've been a star itself. But it wasn't like that for long. An aura of orange had embraced it, and pulled it towards the human's killer.

Lionheart held the fragile, yet powerful human soul with his free hand, the blade shimmering and evaporating into nothing. The magic prevented him from absorbing the soul, despite how tempting its power was. The bright blue glow shone through Lionheart's mane, reflected in his poisonous amber eyes like two pretty blue moons. His shoulders began to shake uncontrollably, and he soon erupted into maniacal laughter.

That laugh was what snapped Undyne from her shock. Her jaws dislocated themselves so that Undyne could open it as wide as she possibly could, showing off her rows of many shark-like teeth and gilled gullet. Out came a deep-pitched alien sound of complete and utter RAGE so loud that it made the Gaster Blaster's roar sound like distant rustling of leaves. A long, white spirit of a spear emerged from her bleeding eyesocket as she tore herself from Papyrus' grasp.

"GIVE HER BACK!"

She forgot that she had only one health point, and she forgot about everything around her. Only one thought had locked itself in her numbing mind. She was going straight for Lionheart, her soul beating on the brink of unstable, her very magic leaking out of her eyes and mouth and gills like shining inner liquid.

But Lionheart just took something from his pocket and held it in the paw that previously held the bloodstained blade. It was a small device no bigger than a tv remote control, one that looked suspiciously like a bomb detonator. He flicked the protective cap up with his thumb and pressed the red button. With a blinding flash he was gone, leaving Undyne to crash into the snow where he once stood.

For that instant Undyne felt her whole world collapse onto itself, crumbling like a dying monster into nothingness. Her rage melted away like ice in Hotland, and left behind the gaping hole of realisation of what had happened.

"No... Give Tess back... Please..."

Undyne could swear that her gills had swelled up to form a massive lump in her throat, not allowing her to properly breathe, and she was convinced her heart had been torn right out of her chest.

Yet she still got up. Despite the overwhelming despair, Undyne still heaved herself up onto her hands and knees to look behind. Every muscle in her body wailed at her to stay down and curl up and die, every nerve cell in her brain screamed at her to refuse to believe that this was really real life.

Yet when she looked back, she really did see the limp body of her friend laying in the snow, chest down on the snow covering whatever horrific wound that caused her whole health to shatter. Then Undyne forced her eyes to raise above the horrible scene to look at Papyrus.

There were no sane words that were able to describe the expression that had appeared on Papyrus' face. He was beyond horrified, unable to comprehend any reality he was faced with. Undyne doubted he even felt the tears that rolled out of his dark sockets, yet somehow he too met Undyne's eye.

They had both failed.

Boat was the first to dare approach Tess, prodding her downed face with its blunt nose, licking her cheek with a splintered tongue. Why wouldn't she wake up?

It didn't take Boat long to figure out the answer. A whimper of sadness revved within it, and it turned its blunt tail and dived back into the should-be-frozen river beside the cottage.

Boat ran away.

And Flowey was gone.

Undyne was no longer aware of herself or anything around her. She was not aware of herself crawling over to the limp body, or the fact that her heroine had disappeared. All Undyne knew was that she had pressed her flat face to Tess' shoulder blade to let her own bloody tears soak into the beloved patchwork jacket. Why was Undyne expecting to find any comfort in doing so? All the warmth had already gone from her body, and her breathing had faded into an everlasting silence.

Her human was dead. Just like that.

Papyrus padded to kneel beside Undyne, lowering his head in respect while his tears melted into the snow. He was sobbing, shaking from head to toe, hardly able to believe that Tessy was no longer with them.

No way was her other friend suffering. Undyne lifted her weary head to look at Papyrus' distress with her one remaining golden eye. She bared her fangs, the gaps where some of her teeth had been torn out still bleeding.

"Come on Papyrus. We're going to tell everyone what happened."

Her sentence tore Papyrus from whatever internal daze he been in and thrust him into a rambling panic attack.

"T-t-t-tell everyone? H-h-h-how?" he stammered, his voice barely audible past his sobbing. Like Undyne, his soul had began to swerve into unstable, causing his own eye to glow a low red-orange like a dying flame. "But Tess is-" the word couldn't get past his throat. "L-Lionheart-" He couldn't speak, so instead he let out a single wordless yowl of despair. It somehow got the point through to Undyne better than if he'd spoken any decipherable words.

Time cannot tick backwards. You cannot retract words back into your throat, or reverse a lion's battle. You cannot put the breath back into a friend's breast when all the breath had gone.

"Her soul," Undyne answered eventually. "Lionheart took her soul. We show everyone what he did and- and... and..." But Papyrus must've heard the desperation in her voice, because he fell silent. "Please Papyrus. She's our sister, she'd do this same for us."

Once again Sans was back at Grillby's, after another fruitless search in the forest, as he always was. Thought it was stranger this time. This time, the forest was full of strange noises, ones that Sans did not recognise. Like the whole forest was alive and roaring in rage, echoing so the sounds came from everywhere. And, although Sans was convinced it was just his mind playing tricks on him, he thought he'd heard a Gaster Blaster shriek.

And since Alphys was terrified of the forest screaming at them, they had promptly left. Though Sans wouldn't admit it out loud, even to Alphys, he was terrified too. There was something ungodly familiar about the horrible sounds, as if he's already heard them before. Nah, it couldn't be anything important- probably two snowdogs fighting over a bone.

"You went out into the forest again?" Grillby muttered aimlessly, raising his eyebrow at Sans as he polished a glass- his favourite activity.

The skeleton knocked his skull into the desk. "You know me so well, Grill. It's the wailing forest now, y'know? Possibly dogs fighting over who the Alpha should be."

The fire monster snorted under his breath, in more amusement than Sans had ever seen in him. "The dogs don't care about the passersby, they make as much noise as they want."

A groan emerged from Sans, and he held up three fingers in a hope-deprived plea. He could hear the shuffle of the flame monster, and soon there was a full bottle of tomato jam next to him. Sans sighed heavily and took a swig. Why did it taste worse than it usually did?

But then Grillby's expression brightened. "Sans I have to tell you something important."

He lifted his head and looked at the barman. "Hmm?"

"It's about-"

"SANS!" The sudden shout made everyone in the diner jump in shock. The door busted open, nearly blown right off its hinges. Sans snapped his head backwards, and his eyesockets widened at the shape in the doorway, blocking out the snow-light from outside like a lunar eclipse.

"Alphys?" he couldn't hide the confusion in his voice. "I thought you went home? What-"

But the little yellow lizard looked terrified, her deep, dark eyes wide behind round glasses. It wasn't uncommon for Alphys to be nervous or scared... but this level of terror was alarming even for her. Her mouth was open and rambling before Sans even got a chance to finish. "You've got to come see this Sans! Something's coming towards Snowdin!"

Sans slipped off his chair at once. "A human?" It was the question all monsters in the diner were silently asking.

But Alphys was frantically shaking her head, not even aware that she was hyperventilating. "N-N-No, I-I-I don't think it is. There's two of them, and they don't look human... Everyone's saying... Sans just come see!" Her tiny minuscule claws wrapped themselves around the sleeve of Sans' hoodie and pulled him outside with surprising strength she didn't even know she had. The skeleton didn't fight back, almost stumbling after his friend outside.

Surely, there was a crowd forming outside, yet thanks to the small size of the lizard and the skeleton they managed to slip to the front with ease. Each head was turned towards the direction of the bridge, where two figures were slowly making their way towards them. There was something uneasy about them, the way they moved was uncanny, too jagged for normal walking. And although they were too far to make out properly, one colour was dominant in both figures.

Red.

"What is that?" asked the purple rabbit behind them, and Sans couldn't help but glance back at her.

He was about to answer, but her twin sister beat him to it. "Maybe some humans?"

The two were definitely not 'some humans'. They were close enough to make out now, and a ripple of murmur went through the crowd. Alphys stopped her nervous chattering in surprise, and Sans felt as if every single one of his bones was being snapped in half.

Those weren't two wounded humans. Those were two wounded monsters carrying a human corpse, holding each other up as if either one of them could collapse at any moment.

A very rare Sea Wraith the colour of sapphire, one eye shined like gold, the other was non-existent, drowned in a dark hole surrounded by drying blood. It was her who was holding up mostly, but she was on her last remaining health point, and her strength was giving out.

A tall skeleton with drying tears on his cheekbones, his too-small red hoodie torn open so it showed his ribcage, a long diagonal wound dragging across his bones which still leaked blood.

And the human they were carrying, she was breathless with dark brown hair and an open mouth, her expression still of determination, yet a horrifying wound stretching from her throat right down to her crotch, her internal organs visible through the deep cut. Even from such a distance everyone could see that the human was dead and had been torn right open.

Some townsfolk took a while to recognise these people, but some recognised them immediately- Sans was one of them.

That was Undyne the Undying and Papyrus the Skeleton... and that human they were carrying... that must be... Tess Ashby, the little human girl who had worked her way into the two monsters' hearts.

The Missing Children... now adults.

Nobody was calling out to them, it was as if the crowd had frozen solid with shock, watching silently as the two monsters limped past them, not even acknowledging them, leaving a trail of their own blood in the snow.

Sans had dreamed of the day he would see Papyrus again for so many long years, how happy this scene was in his dreams, with the little skeleton still a child, innocent and carefree. Not this. Never this.

He desperately tried to catch his brother's eye as he passed him, but Papyrus would not look at him. It was like he didn't even know he was there. It hardly even seemed like Papyrus anymore. An adult, as big as Dr. Gaster, strong and formidable yet hanging on the brink of death. One hit and he was done for.

Eventually Sans couldn't take it anymore. "Papyrus!" His voice echoed helplessly around the town, through the shell-shocked crowd and back again. It was much louder than Sans had intended it to be, but right now all he cared was getting his brother's attention.

And indeed he did. The tall skeleton turned his head slowly towards him, and the impending doom of the glare set upon Sans like a die in sun aimed directly at him.

Papyrus didn't say a word.

Instead he marched on, determined beyond what monster capacity should allow, Undyne at his side with the dead human still close to their chests.

Sans was about to fling himself towards them, but was pulled violently back by his arm. He tried to wriggle himself free, except that the yellow lizard was much stronger than anybody thought at first glance.

"I-I-I-I-I don't think this i-i-i-is the r-right time S-Sans." Her teeth began to chatter, partly because of the cold and partly because of nervousness.

But Sans was desperate. He looked to his brother once more, pushing away the thought of how much he reminded him of his mother. "Who did this to you?"

This time the crowd got a reply. Two voices, barely recognisable, yet at the same time so familiar. "Lionheart," they replied in unison.

Sans felt Alphys let his arm go, but the skeleton's bones had locked together in shock, rooted to the ground.

They were too late. The lion had found the children before he did.

Dr. Gaster's device worked just as it should, just as the doctor promised. The snowy white environment of the lower snowlands melted away into the outside of the royal castle. The entrance gaped open to any and all, but instead Lionheart stepped up to wall to prop his shredded back to the bricks. For a while he stood there, catching the breath he lost.

He had to give it to those young-uns, they were good fighters with no training, and did bring him down quite low on health. His fresh wounds stung, and his usually sleek golden fur clung together in clumps of blood and ichor. Never before had he been this busted up after a battle, though he was reassured by the fact that he still won.

He still came out on top.

But the amount of wounds he'd taken dented his confidence. Never before had he felt so... weakened. And it was only two young monsters and a sentient boat that managed to bring him down to such a terrible state. If that was enough to nearly turn him to dust, what would an army of humans be?

Weak. You're weak Lionheart. Weak.

That's exactly what he was. Would Asgore still want him as his right-hand-man if he couldn't kill humans well enough for him? Would Lionheart be able to live with the fact that he couldn't feed his desire well enough? The thought was driving him mad.

The soul.

Of course, the soul.

Patience of course was a valuable trait, the little heart shining brighter than all the other human souls the lion had seen, glowing. Really glowing, not in one direction like a flashlight, but all around like radiance from a lantern.

Would he really get another chance like this to improve himself? After Patience, that would only leave one more to collect, and Lionheart wouldn't get another chance.

Nobody knew that he had such a powerful object at his disposal, at his command, vulnerable to whatever he wanted to do with it. He could feel it beating in his pocket. Actually beating like a living heart.

Like under a trance, Lionheart reached into his pocket and took out the small blue heart, its aura shining, drawing Lionheart closer. So badly he wanted to touch it without the protective coat of orange, to feel its might against his own paw. He could see his own reflection in the soul.

"Nobody will ever know," he whispered under his breath, bringing the soul so close to his face that its light hurt his eyeballs. Yet he still stared into its endless shining blue. "Nobody will ever know if I keep you for myself, my lady starlight. You're the one that will make me stronger, the one who'll help me doom humanity." He ran the back of his paw against the protective shell that he had put up himself. Why did he? The soul was under his command, rightfully as it should.

"My lady starlight," Lionheart decided. "You are mine."

He took his hands away and allowed the soul to shatter its faintly orange shell, the casing falling apart like dust of crushed citrine. The soul shined even brighter, making Lionheart remember the bright glow of the surface-world stars, like splatters of white paint against a massive black canvas.

He reached out to touch to the little floating heart, but suddenly it was out of his reach. Panic flared as he stumbled forward, his paw flailing for it.

But it refused.

Veins and arteries started to grow out of the heart like branches out of a tree, the threads tying over themselves, reaching outwards to create a creature not seen by any eyes before.

It was the silhouette of Patience, filled in by the many of millions of shimmering blue strings reaching to every edge, the long hair nothing but mist which waved about in the wind, as if it wanted to free itself from Patience's head but couldn't. Patience had no eyes, yet Lionheart could feel her gaze, unblinking.

"Patience," Lionheart greeted her with a welcome smile. He outstretched his hand again, waiting for Patience to take it. "Join me, become my power."

Patience didn't take his outstretched paw. She didn't even move, though mist around her head wafted about as if they were underwater. Could she even move? Do anything other than stand and stare? Then Lionheart noticed the long white wound vertically along Patience's torso, leaking white fog instead of liquid, denser and thicker than the mist around her head. The wound that took her life.

"You are nothing more than a soul. You're supposed to obey your master, obey me. You can't do anything. You-"

Patience finally moved. Her left arm lifted towards Lionheart's, and the lion hero tensed with joy. She was succumbing to him! Submissive, just like she was supposed to be! Lionheart almost keened with pleasure and excitement. A human soul belonging to himself! And himself alone!

But the hand of the soul didn't fit itself into the paw of the lion. Instead her palm pressed against the back of Lionheart's hand. Cold. That was the only word that could describe the feeling of the hand. He smiled, showing his teeth at Patience. So it finally knew who its master was and-

Suddenly Lionheart tore his hand away, shaking it. Perhaps that was what touching a soul without a protective casing felt like?

When Lionheart lifted his hand to look at the place where Patience had touched him, and his eyebrow lifted.

Stone? Why was stone clinging to the ends of his fur? Lionheart's confusion only lasted an alarmingly short time.

The grey rocks turned jagged, and swallowed the individual hairs to the skin, replacing the golden back of the paw with only cold stone.

"What have you done to me?" Lionheart whispered, his pupils constricted at the sight. When he looked up, his heart leapt and he stumbled back. Her veiny hands were reached towards him, fingers outstretched and crooked as if they were claws. She staggered forward, the wound leaking cloudy substance. Patience stared, though now Lionheart could feel her eyeless gaze burning through his fur like acid.

It turned out Patience wasn't as submissive and docile as Lionheart had initially thought. She was the exact opposite.

Lionheart pulled back his teeth, and his helmet appeared over his head; the inwardly turned horns unlike that of a goat or a ram, the visor pulled down so all Lionheart could see through was a t-shape on the face. He was weak and wounded, and every piece of armour was needed. In his hand his blade reappeared, still stained with Patience's blood, bright red against the silver metal, dripping wet.

He growled loudly and raised the blade above his head, before attempting the same flick that had destroyed the human mere moments before.

Though it might've been deja vu, but the creature raised her hand just like she did when she tried to protect herself when she was still alive. Just now she had no weapon.

Yet when the blade collided with the blue vein between her middle and ring finger, the blade shattered into thousands of little pieces, falling completely apart in Lionheart's paws.

Lionheart went stiff, going cold from head to toe, eyes locked on his weapon. The same, trusted weapon that overpowered three humans, one genocidal and two pacifists, was now nothing but many sharp metal fragments on the floor. And yet Patience still stepped forwards, hands held tense and ready to reach out for him again, the wound leaking more intensely the closer she got.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" Lionheart screamed, stumbling back from the creature. He didn't feel comfortable with turning his back and running directly away. There was nowhere to run to. The creature was blocking off the castle entrance, and the pathway to escape. All Lionheart had left was the cellar. A cellar which just so happened to house all the murdered humans that had fallen... and Lionheart sure as hell wasn't going near those things.

Yet Patience was still walking forward, each step burning a footprint into the grey concrete. She started to whisper, to hum, to breathe out sounds, and Lionheart didn't have to concentrate to understand them; they were already in his head, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Undyne. Papyrus. I will never let you hurt them.

Patience took another step forward.

Undyne. Papyrus. I will never let you hurt them.

She was getting even closer.

Undyne. Papyrus. I will never let you hurt them.

"SHUT UP!" Lionheart roared, finally reminding himself that he was Captain of the Royal Guard for Asgore's sake. Sure, he may be busted up after a bone-thrilling fight but he was fully armoured and he had his helmet on! He could take this creature on with his bare fists!

He drew back his fist, a few wounds opening up slightly though he barely took any notice, before throwing it at Patience's face.

The fist did not collide with the head, but rather the palm; a feeling of shock pulsating through his entire paw as Patience's fingers clasped around it. Lionheart's courage melted away instantly, trying to tare back his fist though Patience had an iron grip. With a loud snap she broke every bone in his hand.

Undyne Papyrus. I will never let you hurt them.

She let him go, and Lionheart once more tumbled away from her. He clutched his wrist, realising with a falling stomach that he had lost all his feeling in that fist, and that he couldn't move it anymore.

His whole fist had turned to stone.

Before Lionheart could turn tail and run, or scream, or do anything at all, Patience was already close to him. A weight dropped onto his helmet, pressing it to his scalp, and Lionheart realised with horror that Patience had placed her hand atop his head.

His legs gave out, and he fell into a sitting position, his limbs loose and unable to be controlled. Yet Patience went further still, applying more force and making Lionheart bow his head to look at his feet.

All Lionheart could do was yowl.

Yet through all this Patience's voice rang out like funeral bells, loud yet whispering, the same phrase repeated over and over again.

Undyne. Papyrus. I will never let you hurt them.

Lionheart tried to drown her out, shrieking out his agony once he realised that he could no longer move, and that his armour was slowly changing from metal to stone. The plague crept up his body, immobilising him. Lionheart called for help, though knowing that his face couldn't be seen past his helmet. Now his neck was stone too, slowly covering the metal helmet and the golden fur of the lion.

Finally it did. Lionheart's eyes were looking, sightless, unable to blink. His mouth was left open in an interrupted scream. Yet none of that was visible past the visor, the horns still sharp at each side of the head.

Nothing but a sitting stone statue with a bowed head.

Patience took her hand away from the statue's head, giving him an empty glare.

I will never let you hurt them.

The screams echoed all throughout the castle, causing a certain goat king to raise his head. The plastic watering can slipped from his white furred fingers and dropped softly onto the yellow flowers.

His long ears trembled at the horrifying sound, and he blinked to make sure it wasn't real. He didn't pick up his watering can again, letting it lay forgotten. Was it just him, or did he know that voice? It was very familiar.

Asgore flinched when he recognised the voice, though it took him a while.

Captain Lionheart never screamed. Until now.

A long, three-pointed trident appeared in one hand, exactly the colour of a setting sun. He ran outside, ready for anything.

Or so he thought.

Whatever the glowing pale blue creature was, she wasn't what Asgore was expecting. She looked so surreal, as if she wasn't even there. In her centre she held the only thing that was familiar, a shining human soul. For a moment Asgore lowered his trident, completely shocked, before he realised what was happening.

He could recognise Lionheart's helmet anywhere. The creature had her hand pressed to his head, slowly turning the captain into stone.

"Stop!" Asgore shouted, moving forward as his paws flared with bright orange fire. However the creature just raised a hand, blocking the three-tipped weapon in her hand without even turning her head to the King. The jab didn't seem to hurt the creature at all.

Asgore drew back and was about attack the creature again, when she took her hand away from Lionheart's head. But the Captain of the Royal Guard had stopped screaming, his armour and fur nothing but cold stone.

The King held his breath, a beautiful feminine voice echoing in his mind suddenly.

I will never let you hurt them.

What? Asgore stumbled back, his trident winking out into thin air. His eyes widened as the creature turned to him, her face completely featureless. She stepped forward, and as if by instinct Asgore stepped away. He dared not to speak, the creature staring right into his very soul.

And then the same voice spoke again.

My apologises, your highness, said the voice, just as the creature dropped down to her knees before him, bowing. I trust you know that I did what I had to do. Your Captain was about to kill my brother and my sister. He had no intentions of handing me to you, sire. The creature looked up at Asgore, who stood dumbfounded, rooted to the ground. You have very little reason to trust me, I know. But it doesn't matter now, I am dead. But I do have one request of you, sire.

The creature stood to her feet, and only did Asgore realise the fact of how small and frail and fragile she really was.

Please, said the creature. Take my soul and use it as one of the seven you need to break this wretched barrier. Please, your highness, show your subjects the cloudless, starry sky.

With those words, the creature evaporated, leaving behind only the shining blue heart. And everything went silent again. Asgore blinked, unable to process what had just happened before him. Once he came to a suitable conclusion, Asgore hung and shook his head. Another human perished, yet it took Lionheart with her.

He hesitated greatly before he took the human soul into his hands, half-expecting the creature to emerge again and turn him to stone. But when he was absolutely sure that the soul was dormant he sighed deeply and summoned out an empty container, exactly like the ones the other souls were kept in. The King hesitated again, somehow reluctant to accept this soul that handed herself over to him so willingly, but placed the little heart inside the glass tube, before it melted back into the ground. She was with the others, she was safe.

"Guards!" he called, and in a matter of moments two bulky royal guards were at his side, standing straight at his command. They were quite new recruits, 01 and 02, just finishing off their training and graduating to official members. They obviously hadn't heard Lionheart's demise, and Asgore quickly realised that he would have to tell everyone the upsetting news.

They didn't react well to the news, Asgore didn't expect them to. He knew very well that Lionheart was every monster's hero, and he could already imagine the mourning of his subjects. The two guards wanted to avenge their mentor, though understood they couldn't when Asgore told them of Lionheart's killer.

It was when that 01 spotted something coming towards them. He pointed it out uneasily, and when Asgore saw what he was on about, he understood.

Two monsters were standing there, holding each other up, covered in blood. In their arms was a corpse, and not just any corpse. A human corpse.

A horrifying memory floated up to front of Asgore's mind. His children looked so similar when they returned from the surface world...

At first Asgore didn't understand why two monsters in such a terrible state were doing here instead of at the hospital. One look at the human corpse in their hands made him understand that it was the human the monstrous soul belonged to. Another look at the two monsters, and Asgore recognised them.

How could he not? The conspiracy of the Missing Children was known by most, if not, by everybody. And even though there were different versions of the story, each spoke of the same children; a deep-blue Sea Wraith, Dr. W.D Gaster's youngest son and human girl with a light blue patient soul. He didn't even know their names, since they varied from version to version.

The Sea Wraith spoke, her bleeding mouth open around ragged breaths, her voice weak. "Your Majesty... please, let us explain" She coughed, spitting out a dribble of blood from her gills. "Our friend... our sister... she's been-" her voice failed her, so she tried again. "She-" A coughing fit took her over, and she began to shake.

"Lionheart found us," the Skeleton finished for her, taking the Sea Wraith's entire weight onto himself, clutching the dead human closer to himself. "She was killed, and Lionheart took her soul... we don't even know where." He took in a deep breath. "Undyne needs to go to the hospital... please."

Asgore's bewilderment only lasted a short while. "02, send for Dr. Gaster, he's the underground's best healer. 01, assemble as many guards as there are here and prevent anyone else from entering the castle grounds."

The two guards saluted and picked up into a run down the corridor, disappearing from sight. The King sighed and approached the pair gently.

"I can promise we will give your friend a proper funeral," he spoke softly. "But first we need to tend to your wounds. I've never known Lionheart would stoop so low as to attack two of his own kind."

"We were just standing our ground," the Skeleton explained. "She tried to protect us, she gave her life to save us..."

He starting to sob, the weight slowly getting to much for him. So he lowered them down to the ground, his skeletal arms embraced his friend as she snuggled closer to him, also drowned in tears.

"Please, please help Undyne!" The Skeleton's motivations changed instantly. "She's going to die! I don't want her to die. She... She... I can't lose her too!"

Asgore knelt beside, though anxious of them. He did not want to touch them, not when they were in a state like this.

"Dr. Gaster is coming," Asgore whispered to them. "He'll help you two soon. Then you must tell me everything that happened."

The so-called Undyne coughed out a sarcastic laugh. "And where is that ruddy low-life Lionheart? Does he have the Patient soul? Had he absorbed it already?"

Any negative opinion about Captain Lionheart was unpopular, and even though Asgore was beginning to doubt the lion's nobleness, her hateful words still managed to shock him.

"Well, um... he didn't absorb her soul... Patience actually handed herself over to me quite willingly..."

"Where is he?" snarled the Sea Wraith. "I want to break every bone in his body. I want to feel his skin tear between my claws. I want to see him with every single wound he had given us. I want to kill him."

Asgore shuddered, her broken voice sending a nasty ripple of cold fear down his spine. Even the Skeleton seemed scared of her then.

"As for murdering Lionheart... I'm afraid somebody already beat you to it."

"Your Highness!" Gaster's voice rang out, making Asgore raise his head. "I came as soon as I heard! Is it true? Is my son here?" The tall black-cloaked skeleton was running towards him, 02 following suit.

There was a thud, and Asgore realised that the two monsters have fallen down, their eyes closed. They were so close together, clutching onto each other as well as their human friend- who ironically was the only one with her eyes open.

It was a little coffin, wooden and without much attention to detail. Atop the lid was painted a tiny blue heart, and assembled a bouquet of big, blooming echoflowers, each strangely silent. They didn't even repeat anything that was said around them, as if they knew this wasn't a time for useless babbling.

Undyne stood still, her two hands holding onto each other tightly. It was weird to see everyone all in black. She herself was wearing a tuxedo, and a black silken cloth covering her eye. She looked around.

There were Mettaton and Napstablook, both in top-hats and bow-ties, not even exchanging glances between themselves. Mettaton had his eyes closed, and Napstablook had to tap his side at a few points to prevent him from floating too far in any direction. They hadn't taken the news of Tess' death lightly, especially Mettaton, who had locked himself in his house and didn't come out until it was time to leave for the funeral, his cousin being equally as silent.

There was the King, standing there standing next to the two ghosts, also in deep thought. His ear flicked, and he noticed Undyne looking at him. He gave her a nod and a reassuring blink, before looking away, as if he couldn't bare to hold Undyne's gaze. There was an unfamiliar yellow lizard standing next to him, dressed in a long black dress, black foxgloves adorning her head. She seemed also genuinely sad, even though Undyne had never met her before. Who was she? She didn't let herself focus on the stranger for too long, and instead looked at the others.

Most of her old classmates had come, now grown up and graduated from school. Some Undyne still remembered, others she forgot the names of. Even those bullies that made her schoollife a living hell had turned up, much to Undyne's surprise. Naturally she stayed away from them, but seeing them here... it was as if their old feud had been momentarily forgotten. Even Miss. Bianca- their old teacher- had turned up. Next to them was Grillby, who looked less blazing than usual. Why he had come was a mystery to Undyne, but she wasn't complaining. The barman was looking at his feet, as if he couldn't bear to look at anyone.

Boat and the River Person were standing side by side, not looking much different than they did in everyday life. The River Person stood so still one might assume it was dead, yet Boat was the only one who was making any noise. Quiet whimpering, its wooden ears flattened against its head. If it still had a tail, it would be drumming it on the ground in distress. And laying beside the massive wooded steed was a small white dog, its head resting on its paws.

And there was a shadow on the wall, cast by nobody. A human shadow, with short-cut hair and an oversized sweater... or maybe that was just Undyne's imagination.

On a low tree branch, Flowey stayed, his roots wrapped so tightly around the branch it would snap at any moment. Though he was the only one that didn't look sad. Instead, he just looked... quiet. His yellow petals fluttered, swaying from side to side, lost in thought. His mouth was moving, silently talking to himself, though as much as Undyne tried to lip-read his words, she had no idea what he was saying. He caught her staring, and he sighed and beckoned her over with a leaf. Undyne slowly padded over to him, causing a few heads to go up.

"How are you holding up?" whispered Undyne, propping her back up against the trunk of the tree. Flowey lowered his head so he was side by side with the Sea Wraith, his eyes still locked onto the coffin.

"You know I can't feel anything," replied the yellow flower, gnashing his teeth. "A soulless creature like me can't feel, exactly."

"You told us your soppy backstory already," said Undyne. "Did your Chara have a funeral like this?"

Flowey grimaced at her. "Of course they did. History does repeat itself, it would seem. But you know I should be asking you the same question- but I'm not going to because I don't care."

This was common of the yellow flower to be so brash, Undyne didn't pay his jibe much attention. Her fin flicked.

"Wait a minute," her head perked up and she turned to face her old friend. "Flowey, you said you've lived in other timelines, didn't you?"

Flowey blinked in surprise. "Well... yes. Yes I did say that. What's that got to do with anything?"

Undyne's brow wrinkled as she lowered her tone. "Granted I don't know how you powers work or what they even are, but can't you do something that'll bring Tess back to life?"

Flowey made sure nobody was listening, before answering. "There's a problem with that my dear. I can't reset anymore- I've lost my powers for some reason."

Her golden eye widened in shock. "How can you lose your powers Flowey? That doesn't make any sense!" she shouted as quietly as she could.

"I've tried resetting, a lot actually, ever since Lionheart found your little hideout," Flowey admitted, for the first time sounding embarrassed and worried at the same time. The expression looked out of place on Flowey's face, and Undyne couldn't help but feel unsettled by it. "I tried to load my save file repeatedly when you and Papyrus were busy with that fleabag, it didn't work."

Despite not knowing what a 'save file' was, Undyne grew concerned. "Why would that happen? Have you told anyone else about this?"

Flowey shook his head. "You and Papyrus are the only ones that I've told about my power." He sighed. "But I do know why this happened. Something was born with bigger determination than I."

"Can a thing be born with an overdose of determination?"

If Flowey could shrug his shoulders, he would. "That's the only explanation. How ironic, don't you think? That something is born with an excessive amount of determination the exact day our Tess took her last breath."

Quietly saying goodbye to the flower, Undyne left him to his own thoughts. Instead she made her way over to her best friend.

The three skeletons had also shown up at the funeral, which already exceeded Undyne's expectations. Dr. Gaster still looked the same as he always did, his clothes blacker than even the River Person's entire being. And was this the first time Undyne had seen Sans wear anything other than shorts and a blue hoodie? And Papyrus...

They haven't talked since Dr. Gaster fixed them up, because Papyrus stayed at the hospital. He hadn't properly seen his family in over six years, after all.

All while Undyne got out after Dr. Gaster deemed her back at full health, returning to the northern neighbourhood in the dark marshlands of Waterfall. Returning 'home' was nostalgic, but not in the nice way Undyne had always envisioned it, especially now that she was back at square one.

"Hey," Papyrus greeted her quietly, his eyes darting sideways as Undyne settled in her place beside him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not dead yet," replied Undyne. "Well, at least I don't think I'm dead."

Papyrus clearly wanted to argue, but realised this was not the best time. "What did Flowery say to you?"

"Flowey," Undyne corrected him. "He told me he tried to make things all right, but he's lost his powers."

"He's lost his powers?" Papyrus echoed, horrified. He didn't even notice Sans obviously eavesdropping. "How are things going to be okay now?"

She forced a smile at him, though her heart wasn't in it. "Tess is getting a proper burial... She deserves at least that much after all..." Undyne thought she had no tears left to cry, but the warm stream that rolled down her cheek proved her otherwise. She gritted her teeth. "If only I had fought harder..."

"It wasn't your fault," Papyrus started, but Undyne cut him off.

"I should've died with her. I should've turned to dust at her side so we both-"

"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't've done anything," this time it was Papyrus who cut across her. His hand found its way into Undyne's, and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You didn't ask to be attacked, you didn't want Lionheart to come in and starting hurting us. It wasn't your fault."

Undyne wiped away her tears. "Okay, it wasn't my fault... got it. Might as well make sure we make it to the surface for her, and for us. She wanted us to see the night sky, whatever that is."

And the silence was scared away by the music. Tess' MP3 player had been connected to an old aux they had found in the trash dump. A quiet song was playing, its tune like a ghostly whisper, the words echoing. Of Monsters and Men, that was the band's name... Undyne knew the songs on the MP3 as well as Tess herself did. What a fitting name.

Don't listen to a word I say

The screams all sound the same

Though the truth may vary

This ship will carry our bodies safe to shore...