Undyne and Papyrus walked together along the top of the cliffs in Waterfall, revisiting their old haunts. The glowing rocks illuminated their path as small monsters poked their heads out of their hiding places to get a glimpse of them- or rather the Captain. She was a rather spectacular sight to look at, the way her hair flowed like fire, the way her single eye glazed like gold, the way her deep blue scales sparkled in the dim light. Put into simple words: The Captain of the Royal Guard was beautiful.
Many monsters had tried to get together with Undyne, though the pretty Sea Wraith had denied her heart to anyone who had tried to make a move on her. And seeing that tall skeleton- son of the late Dr. Gaster- by her side made their blood boil.
Even now as Papyrus and Undyne walked side-by-side, the monsters stared. Undyne's fin flicked, aware. She leaned over to whisper lowly to her adoptive sort-of brother. "People are staring. Let's go over to mine."
"Don't you like it when people stare?" Papyrus said. "It makes me feel sort of popular!" He smiled widely, closing his eyes. "But we'll be doing cooking again, won't we?"
"Yup!"
As they made their way back to Undyne's, they began to talk again.
The ceiling was shining brighter than most days. Undyne raised her head to look at them. What was it that Gerson had said about the shiny rocks in the ceiling? That they were there to imitate something called 'stars'. Tess had told them about stars, that the moon (whatever that was) was their caretaker and that the stars would grant wishes if they fell. Undyne loved that story, and no matter how much Alphys had insisted she didn't have a book about that, Undyne still scurried her history books for tales of the fallen stars that didn't want to grant wishes.
"Papyrus, you think we can wish upon those glowy-ceiling-rocks just as the humans wish upon stars?" Undyne suddenly asked.
Papyrus shrugged his shoulders. They were wading through calf-deep water now, which both of them were used to doing, past many echoflowers along the way. The glowing blue flowers really added a nice touch to the dark waterfall, which was lucky because the echoflowers only grew in dark, damp places. "It'd be cool if we did."
However Undyne pushed on. "What's your wish?"
Papyrus pulled his thinking face. "Hmmm... if I say my wish, you promise you won't laugh at me?"
Undyne shook her head with a smile. "Of course I won't laugh!"
He took a deep breath and said his wish, looking up at the glowing rocks above. "Someday, I'd like to climb this mountain we're all buried under. Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around... That's my wish."
Undyne snorted, and began to laugh. It was so obvious that Tess' stories had made a huge impact of the skeleton, and to be honest, they did on Undyne too. If it wasn't for Tess none of them would know how things on the surface really were.
A faint blush of embarrassment made its way onto Papyrus' face. "Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh at it!"
"Sorry, it's just funny," said Undyne. "That's my wish, too."
The lawn in front of Undyne's house had not changed even the tiniest bit from when they were children. The dummy was still there, idle yet never beaten. The house itself was still special, built like a gigantic head of a sea monster. But it was surprising that it hadn't burned down yet. A miracle one might say.
Flowey waited for the two in front of Undyne's house, patiently waiting for god even knows how long. His face brightened pleasantly upon the duo's sight, and he called their names happily.
Papyrus waved cheerfully back at him, while Undyne just smiled. Was she the only one who remembered that Flowey couldn't really feel emotions? He was really good at imitating them, like- reeeeeaaaallly good, but he didn't actually feel them. He was pretty insistent on not letting them forget. But that didn't matter- Flowey was one of Undyne's best friends. They could trust him.
"There you two are," Flowey greeted them with a comical bow of the head. "I've been waiting for you for thirty minutes! Where have you been?"
"We're back from the lab," Papyrus explained helpfully. "You know Mettaton has a new movie coming out? It's a robotic-adaptation of that famous very-real human event Full-Metal Alchemist."
That Undyne was genuinely excited about; it was one of Undyne's favourite stories and she sometimes wondered why Tess hadn't been talking more about them. They were all just so cool! Human were much cooler than monsters- Undyne knew that much. But then again the movie might come out as Mettaton's other film- which was just a four-hour unedited clip of petals falling over his metallic body.
"Ever since Alphys made Mettaton that body he's been a total buzzkill," Undyne sighed, shaking her head. "Napsta's all alone now. Hey, want to go pay him a visit?"
Papyrus nodded his head vigorously, always on board with whatever idea Undyne had in mind, but Flowey shook his head.
"Look, I came here to tell you two something very important," he said before the two could skip off and his chance to speak would be over. "I know I can trust you two."
I know I can trust you two.
Woah... Undyne's fin flicked in interest. Flowey had told them secrets before- but this time his voice rung like a wedding bell, full of hope and barely suppressed excitement.
"Woah! It's so awesome to be trusted by someone so cool!" Papyrus squeaked. "You hear that Undyne? Flowey trusts me!"
"Who would want to trust anyone else?" Undyne answered truthfully. Papyrus beamed brighter.
"I don't know in what way you'll take this," Flowey warned. "But this is really important."
"Really important?"
"Really important."
"Like; reeeeaaaallly important?"
"...Yes."
The flower shook his head, pollen falling to the ground like gold dust. "Another human has fallen down."
Undyne's heart stopped. A human... A real human being- physical body, colourful souls, everything Alphys' history books depicted. Undyne hadn't seen a real-life human being since Tess... and she wasn't she if she ever wanted to. Her fins flattened against her head in thought.
As Captain it was her duty to hunt down the human and deliver the last soul to the King, and then the monsters would be free. Free to see every single thing Tess had told them about. The sky, the fields that stretch out for miles, the ocean...
But taking a human's soul... Undyne blinked and the horrifying face of the lion appeared behind her eyelids. No... she couldn't. She shook her head.
"Where are they?" Undyne asked instead.
Flowey's petals fluttered like bird's wings. "They're in the ruins now, but I know they won't take long to walk with the rest of us monsters." He looked at Papyrus. "You know this is the chance to free all monsterkind from our prison."
Papyrus furrowed his skeletal brow. "I want to see the surface world," he said definitively.
"I don't know if I can do this," Undyne said. Suddenly her face brightened. "Papyrus, I think you're ready to take your assessment."
"Assessment?" Papyrus echoed, though his face began to flush.
Undyne smiled at him. "You know, your assessment that you need to pass to get into the Royal Guard. I have a task for you."
"Oh goodie!" Papyrus cheered, bouncing up and down. "If I succeed I'll finally be a member!?"
"...Yes. Now Papyrus, the assessment is simple. You must capture this human and deliver them to me," Undyne instructed. "You can use any method you like, and I know you like puzzles."
"I can capture them with puzzles!?" Papyrus got more and more excited. "Oh god! I'm going to be part of the Royal Guard! You can count on me Undyne!"
With that he sprinted away.
Flowey extended his stem so he was eye-level with Undyne. It was a trick he did often to talk closely to the tall monsters, so Undyne was not surprised when he did this. It was one of the least surprising things Flowey could do.
"You're never going to let him into the Royal Guard, are you?" he whispered discretely. His eyes stared; they were big, black and empty. "Undyne?"
"If King Asgore breaks the barrier, there will be war," Undyne spoke softly. "I want Papyrus as far away from the war as possible. I can't afford to lose him too."
Flowey turned so his face was now in front of her, concerned. "And what about that human? Everybody will be expecting you to do something about it. Nobody will be fooled by the anthropomorphic-furry-monster excuse anymore- it's been done before."
Undyne's gills flared. "What should I do then? I don't want to kill them, I'm not going to be like Lionheart."
The flower made sure nobody was around to overhear their conversation. "How else are you going to keep your promise to Tessy?"
Heaving a great sigh, Undyne sat on the ground. "Flowey, may I ask you question?"
"Fire away."
"Will I be as bad as Lionheart if I do my duty?"
Flowey pursed his lips in thought. "No," he said finally. "Lionheart relished in killing- he was a pure psychopath. You... you're just doing what you need to do. Your people need you to be strong, they want to be set free. You want to be free, don't you?"
Undyne bowed her head. "Yes."
"You don't even need to know them," Flowey continued. "You'll feel no remorse if you kill a person you never knew."
I'm not sure about that, Undyne thought to herself, still skeptical. But Flowey had a point. She found herself nodding her head. "Thanks for everything Flowey. I know what I have to do now."
She turned away from her flower friend and walked straight into her house.
Papyrus had been preparing his puzzles all day, making them as difficult as he could- but so that he himself could solve it. Alphys had helped with one of them, and he knew that the human couldn't possibly pass that one.
He had yelled at Sans for not recalibrating his puzzles, because this was a big day and they needed to be ready. He was so nervous it made him have butterflies in his stomach and he didn't even have one.
Thankfully Sans was where he was supposed to be, and Papyrus was thankful that Sans could at least be awake for this very important, super-secret meeting.
"Bro, is a human really that much to rallied about?" Sans pointed out. "Is this about impressing Captain Undyne?" He yawned.
Papyrus couldn't see why Sans was being so calm and collected. A human was about to come walking through the higher snowlands any moment now! How could anyone be calm for that?
Papyrus tried to imagine what the human would look like- Flowey didn't give any description. The last- and only- human Papyrus had seen had been Tess Ashby, and that was thirteen long years ago now. And Alphys had shown him that humans come in all sorts of variation and had all sorts of crazy quirks, that famous legend 'My Hero Academia' had confirmed it. What would this one look like?
He imagined the human as tall, always smaller than he was, with long, ragged dark brown hair that many people mistook for black, with eyes that gleamed the colour of polished silverware and a bright blue soul and-
The human in his mind's eye looked painfully familiar. Papyrus shook the image away, as thinking about her was painful.
"Anyways, as I was saying about Undyne..." He caught something in the corner of his eye. Another monster? But it looked different than any other monster Papyrus had seen. He turned fully to look closely at the creature that stood there among the white snow. He cocked his head to the side in confusion.
The creature was small, about the same size as his own brother Sans. It had shoulder-length hair the colour of drinking chocolate, the eyes were the same colour. The shape of face was different, though if Papyrus squinted, he could assume that the creature's hands and lower jaw were identical to Tess' and-
The creature gave him a quizzical look, and Papyrus turned to Sans for an explanation, who in turn looked at the creature. Back and forth the gazes turned, between Sans, Papyrus and whoever that was.
Eventually Papyrus turned his back and bent lower so he and Sans could whisper. "Sans, oh my God. Is that... a human?"
Sans shrugged and pointed to the rock behind the creature. "Uhhh, I think that's a rock, bro."
"Oh," said Papyrus, disappointed.
But then Sans piped up again. "Hey, what's that in front of the rock?" He pointed to the creature, who looked even more confused than before.
Now that Papyrus looked, it bore many similarities with his human sister, despite looking so different. "Oh my God!" Of course! Humans look different just like monsters! How could I have forgotten? he thought to himself, but turned to Sans. "Is that a human?" he whispered for clarification.
"Yes."
Papyrus filled his lungs (which he didn't have) with air and screamed; "OH MY GOD!" so loudly that the branches around shook. "Sans! I finally did it! Undyne will... I'm gonna... I'll be so..." he didn't even know what to say. "Popular!"
Never before had anybody looked so confused as the little human right then and there.
Papyrus cleared his throat. Now, to make a good first impression. "Human! You shall not pass this area!" He sounded so grand and powerful when he said that, at least according to himself. "I, The Great Papyrus, will stop you! I will then capture you! You will be delivered to the capital! Then... Then..." He paused for a moment. "I'm not sure what happens next." Perhaps the King could nicely ask this human to give up their soul? It was for the greater good. Yep, that would be definitely what would happen. King Asgore was nothing like Captain Lionheart.
"In any case!" continued Papyrus, pointing a long finger in the human's direction. "Continue, only if you dare!"
...
...
/::/
...
...
Papyrus hadn't expected it. This human... he loved puzzles. He was brilliant, taking time to solve every puzzle Papyrus had set for him, and he had even exchanged a few friendly words with the mysterious human.
Papyrus stood there in the middle of the snowfield between the Waterfall marshlands and Snowdin, in complete thought. The human was so nice, so intelligent, so much like Tess...
Suddenly the sound of footsteps reached him, and Papyrus looked over his shoulder. The human was there, standing in the cold in his purple-and-blue hand-knitted sweater. His eyes were very brown and very wide, staring straight at him.
The skeleton sighed and turned to face the human fully. If anybody deserved an explanation, it was him. "Human. Allow me to tell you about some complex feelings. Feelings like, the joy of finding another pasta lover, the admiration for another's puzzle-solving skills, the desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool."
Again the human just looked confused, though less so than the first time Papyrus had seen him.
"These feelings... they must be what you are feelings right now!"
The human's shoulders dropped.
"I pity you, lonely human," he said, once more pointing his finger in the human's direction. "Worry not! You shall be lonely no longer! I, The Great Papyrus, will be your-"
He caught himself mid-sentence.
As much as Papyrus now had second thoughts, this human was needed for the freedom of all monsterkind. One soul would change everything for them. Undyne was counting on him. It didn't matter what this one was like; he couldn't befriend another human. This human couldn't be his friend.
Why not? Asked a voice inside his head, once strangely familiar, though Papyrus shook it away.
"No, this is all wrong," he announced, turning away. "I can't be your friend! You are a human!" Tess was human too, though... "I must capture you! Then, I can fulfil my lifelong dream! Become the newest member of the Royal Guard!"
Terror flashed through the human's face, though only for a second. His red soul appeared before his chest, vulnerable yet strong... Papyrus pushed the memories from his mind.
"Papyrus," the human called out. His voice was pure tenor, and very pleasant to listen to, perhaps even more than Flowey's. But wait... the human knew his name... "I don't want to fight you!"
Papyrus hesitated but outstretched his arm. The human's soul was covered with a thick sheet of navy, and bones burst from the ground. He was forced to run and dodge his attacks. He was much harder to hit than Lionheart...
-Papyrus' right eye fared a deep red-orange colour, so brightly it looked as if it was on fire. A creature behind him appeared out of nowhere, just like his bone attacks. However it wasn't just a mere cartoon-ish bone, but a long, slender animal skull, eyes burning the same colour as Papyrus' was. The dragon skull opened its jaws to give one mighty roar that caused the sounds of battle to sound like the faint giggle of a baby by comparison. Lionheart's eyes widened as the floating skull fired a bright white beam of light towards him. He didn't have time to react; Lionheart was swallowed by the light.
He shook his head, trying his hardest to push away the bitter memories. Why was he suddenly remembering things? Was it this human's influence? He threw his hand and threw more attacks.
"Papyrus!" the human tried again. "Please.. I don't want to fight you!"
Human is sparing you.
...
...
/::/
...
...
Oh dear.
Papyrus couldn't even beat someone as pathetic and as weak as this human. He was a pacifist, even Papyrus could sense that, and a young child at that.
Bones retracted into the ground, and the blue aura released its grip on the human's soul, allowing him to relax.
Then suddenly- "Let's be friends."
Papyrus gave the human a bewildered look, then smiled. "Friends? Oh goodie, we're going to need to hang out sometime! Just like I do with my friends!"
To his absolutely-not surprise, the human nodded their head. "Okay. Let's hang out."
And so Papyrus took the human to his house. It seemed fitting, since he always invited his friends over (he only got to say 'friends' because Undyne and Alphys counted as two people, therefore making it plural. Flowey always refused to enter his house for some reason).
"This is such a cool house!" said the human, and happiness exploded in Papyrus' chest.
"It is!" he agreed.
The human boy walked around, looking at each detail. He suddenly furrowed his brow. "Aren't you going to ask me what humans live like?"
Papyrus swatted his hand. "Oh, I already know what you guys live like. You guys live like us."
The boy gave him a questioning glare. "How do you know that?"
Papyrus caught himself right before he blurted out; Tess told me. He hesitated, and stared off deep into his mind.
"How old are you?" he asked instead.
"Thirteen," replied the human boy. "I was born on the nineteenth of December."
That date...
A nasty jolt of horrified memory went down Papyrus' spinal chord. That date held a special place deep in his soul. The last day he ever saw Tess alive. He didn't want to think about it. What a horrible question.
"Do you... want to up to my room?" He asked quickly, changing the subject swiftly. "And begin hanging out?"
To his great relief, the human boy nodded his head.
It was very dark. The cloaked River Person stroked its steed's head, thought it did not purr like it used to do. It was this way for thirteen years now, that its steed did not make any noise at all. It did not run across the currents anymore, just swam slowly like a tired duck. And with its tail thoroughly amputated, there was no going back.
If the River Person could get its bony fingers on Lionheart when he was still alive, it would've torn him apart.
"Hello?"
The tiny voice caused the River Person to raise its head to look where the voice had come from. A crooked smile stretched on its face (though no-one would ever see it) and its bony hand reached out towards the tiny creature. Some people said that it were a skeleton- but those ignorant people didn't see the thin black layer of skin with no fat or muscle beneath.
"Tra-la-la~" it sung cheerfully, greeting the newcomer with a bow of the head. "I am the River-Man. Or am I the River-Woman? It doesn't really matter..."
It stepped away from its precious steed and exaggerated looking down at the small boy that had come. "A human...? So another had fallen down? How... exciting..."
The human boy gulped audibly. "Hello..." he said again nervously. It caused the River Person to chuckle.
"Hello indeed," the River Person agreed. "It is a beautiful day to say hello."
It was fortunate to see the human relax, though it wasn't a lot, just a little bit. The River Person's smile widened. Thank goodness this human was polite- arrogant people got on its nerves. But then it caught the human staring over its shoulder at Boat. The River Person spun its head around to look back at it.
It seemed content in pretending to be a regular, non-living boat. It stared into the depths of the river through half-closed eyes, though its Rider knew that it did not see anything worth remembering.
"Yesss... Boat has been sad for the past thirteen years..." the River Person answered the human's question before he even asked.
"Your boat's sad?" the human echoed innocently.
The River Person nodded its head. "It loved a human thirteen years ago," it explained. "And the human died. Now it is sad."
Empathy and pity flowed over the human's face. The River Person stepped aside. "By all means, human, go pet it. It loves humans."
The human boy skeptically approached the sad Boat. He reached out his hands, and Boat growled in warning. "Shh, I don't want to hurt you. I'm human, see?" Boat continued to growl. The human looked behind for comfort, and the River Person egged him on.
"It won't cry for monsters," it explained quietly. "And Boat needs to cry to feel better. Everyone needs to cry once in a while."
It stood back and watched the human approach the steed again, speaking softly and quietly. No matter how much Boat had snarled and growled, the human was determined.
Determination, last time the River Person had seen one of those was on the surface. Soul traits ran in family, that only a few monsters still remembered. It was so long since they had contact with humans.
Eventually Boat calmed down, and pressed its wooden head against the human's chest, and began to cry precious salt tears as it did over Patience at her funeral. Yet now it had a new human to cry for, one that comforted it just like Patience used to do.
Suddenly the River Person raised its head. The echo of their signature call drifted through the tunnel.
"We'll be going on our way now," River Person announced, throwing itself onto Boat's back. Boat roared in triumph, before they both dived below the surface and left the human on the riverbank.
Undyne stood silently on the most western cliff in Waterfall. It was not far from the snowlands- easily accessible to those who knew the marshlands like the backs of their own hands. Her helmet was pulled over her head, as she always wore it with the rest of her gigantic black-metalled armour.
She stood so still anyone who was passing below would never know she was even there- waiting, listening.
Papyrus' voice came from the darkness, and Undyne turned her head to look at him. Shadows danced across his bones, yet his eyes seemed to glow. Was that nervousness on his face? Why should he be nervous?
"H... Hi Undyne, I'm here with my daily report..." he began.
Undyne cut him off straight away. "You know you don't have to say 'I'm here with my daily report' every time you see me. You're too good to talk to me that formal way."
However Papyrus didn't seem to be comforted much. He was shaking in his boots, and Undyne began to get worried.
"Regarding that human," Papyrus began, but once again Undyne cut him off.
"They didn't hurt you, did they?" she asked at once. "They're not genocidal are they?" Her eyes scanned her best friend for any sign of wounds or hp loss, however found none, and Papyrus was shaking his head. "Did you fight them?"
"Yes! Of course I did! I fought them valiantly!" He stuck his fist over where his heart should be. His voice cracked in nervousness again, and Undyne began to wonder what this human was like if it left Papyrus this shaken.
"Did you capture them?" she asked calmly, remembering suddenly why Papyrus got to see this human before she did. In hindsight it was a dangerous and horrible idea, to send Papyrus out to face a human alone. He could've been killed!
And now Papyrus was stuttering. He nodded, then shook, then nodded his head again until he finally admitted. "No. I tried very hard-" he added desperately "But in the end, I failed."
Undyne sighed. She should've known Papyrus wouldn't be able to capture a human by himself. She knew him better than anyone ever could- she'd seen him fight to his full potential. But why had that been? He had fought because someone had threatened his two self-adopted sisters. Nothing threatening was happening now, was it?
"I'm going to take the human's soul myself," she announced.
At that Papyrus started to fidget with his scarf again, taking steps towards her. "But Undyne, you don't have to destroy them, you see..."
Undyne clenched her fist, and Papyrus backed off instantly.
"Don't you see?" she said painfully. "I have to take the human's soul. It is the only way us monsters can be free! Think of it Papyrus! We can see the sky, the ocean, everything that's on the wonderful surface! Besides, I've got a promise to keep." Her mind wandered back to the patchwork jacket hung in her closet at home.
Papyrus sighed. "I understand. I'll help you in any way I can." And with that he turned and walked away.
Out of the corner of her eye Undyne detected movement, below the cliff in the long grass. She stepped up to the edge, kneeling on one knee. There, between the grass, she saw a small living thing, staring back up at her. He looked terrified and... humanoid. A glowing blue spear appeared in her hand, and she aimed it like a javelin at the boy. However standing right behind him there was another child, a yellow monster about the same age. Huh, must be two monster children sneaking out of Snowdin to explore the Waterfall.
Less monster children did that nowadays, instead choosing to stay home and do whatever- Undyne didn't know. Back in her day children from the snowlands would explore the Waterfall, and the children of Waterfall would sneak out into Snowdin. It made her feel incredibly old.
But at least those kids had some decency. The spear shimmered out of existence, and Undyne backed away into the darkness.
...
...
/::/
...
...
Undyne crept silently behind the clueless human. That kid from before- it was a human after all. She knew a human when she saw one. It was heading straight for her trap.
Finally the human reached it, and her own voice sang out of the single echoflower.
Behind you.
The human spun round, and froze when his eyes set upon Undyne.
She took harsh steps towards him, and began to speak.
"Seven. Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier and set us all free from this prison we have lived so long inside. Understand, human?"
The little human gave a subtle, scared nod.
"This is your only chance at redemption. Give up your soul... or I'll tare it from your body."
You'll feel no remorse if you kill a person you never knew.
Flowey was right. Now all Undyne could feel was rage. Rage that this measly weakling was all that was standing between her and the surface. Between her and her birthright. The surface would be beautiful, she and Papyrus and Alphys would be the first to see it. A glowing blue spear appeared between her hands, and she pointed it at the human.
"UNDYNE!" Suddenly the yellow armless child burst free from the bushes. It was the same kid she'd seen standing behind the human the first time she saw him. "I'll help you fight!"
A fanboy? Seriously... kids these days. Though it made perfect sense- back when Lionheart was Captain children in school were obsessed over him, wanting to be just like him when they grew up- but that was before the horrible truth came out.
But she couldn't have a kid watch her fight this human.
The yellow Monster Kid looked to the human and said, in a bright an cheery tone; "Yo! You did it! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you! You've got front row seats to her fight!"
He then looked around, confused. "Wait, who's she fighting?"
At that point Undyne had enough. She took the monster child in one hand and pulled him away from the human, who stood still and shell-shocked. She needed to have a little talk with this monster kid.
"H-Hey! You aren't going to tell me parents about this, are you?"
...
...
/::/
...
...
The monster kid did not listen to her order, to stay away from the human. Now look at what had happened. The monster kid was hanging off the bridge, gripping the side of the wood desperately with his teeth.
Yet what Undyne did not expect was the human to dart forward and help the little monster kid back up.
She backed off slightly, still silent. The monster kid faced her, then crouched protectively in front of the human, who still looked terrified. "Y... Yo... dude..." he stammered. "If... If y-you wanna hurt my friend, you're gonna have to get through me, first!"
And suddenly the dark abyss around was gone, as were the bridge and rocks around, replaced by a sullen snowland. Suddenly the yellow armless dinosaur transformed into a deep blue Sea Wraith, baring the same expression of courage and protectiveness, and the human behind had long dark brown hair and silver eyes.
Undyne backed off instantly, the vision vanishing from her eyes as she turned and speed-walked away.
...
...
/::/
...
...
Undyne stood on the highest rock, overlooking the underground. In the distance she could see Hotland and the structures of the CORE. She could hear the human below, so she once again began to speak.
"Seven. Seven human souls, and King Asgore will become a god. Six-" she grimaced, knowing full well the human could not see her face behind her helmet. "That's how many we have collected thus far. Don't you understand? Through your seventh and final soul, we will be free from out prison. First however, as is customary for those who make it this far I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people. It all started, long ago..."
Undyne paused, thinking about what she should say. Tess was a storyteller, not she, and she didn't like how her own voice sounded. And besides, why should she?
"No, you know what? SCREW IT!" She shouted. "WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU THAT STORY WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!?"
Her helmet winked out of existence, exposing her face to the cool underground air. Her single golden eye twinkled with rage as she stared the human down. Her red hair flowed in the wind like scarlet smoke, and she pointed a finger at her target.
"YOU! You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Alphys' history books made me think humans were cool. But you? You're just a coward!" You're nothing like Tess! "Hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again! You know what would be more valuable to everyone? IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right human! You'r continued existence is a crime! Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom!" She struck her fist over her heart. "Right now, I can feel everyone's heart pounding together! Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all! When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose! Now, human! Let's end this, right here, right now!"
...
...
/::/
...
...
The rage that Undyne felt when she saw the human in her doorway at Papyrus' side was indescribable. It was partly for Papyrus, but most of it was for the small human standing awkwardly next to him. She gnashed her teeth, screaming internally. How dare you stand where she stood!?
"Whoopsy doopsy! I just remembered! I've got to go to the bathroom! Have fun you two!" With that he busted out of the window.
Undyne's attention shifted onto the human. "So, why are YOU here?" She pulled back her lips to show her sharp teeth, her claws unsheathing from her fingers. This was a sight she never wanted to see. A human standing in her house, just like Tess had done. Hatred for this human welled up in her throat, her fins flattening against her head.
"I... I want to be friends with you..." the child mumbled.
"BY GOLLY! I ACCEPT!" Undyne yowled at him sarcastically. "Let's all frolic around in the fields of friendship! NOT!" Her fingertips crackled with power, barely being held back. "Why would I ever be friends with you? GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
The human boy shook his head. "Listen Undyne, I-"
"You use my name now?" snapped the fish, taking a harsh step towards him. "Only a few people are allowed to address me by my name, and you're not one of them!"
The boy flinched. "Sorry. No hard feelings, but I really need to get home. My family's probably very worried about me."
Undyne didn't want to hear it. It was too familiar and it felt so wrong coming out of this human's mouth. "I said; get. Out. Of. My. House!"
The human flinched again. "Please! Listen to me! I never want to hurt anyone! I just need to get home to my mum and dad!"
I need to get back to my older brother.
Undyne stopped growling, but it was only for a moment. Stop trying to replace her, she cursed him in her mind. "And what," she spat "am I to do about that? The only way the barrier could ever be broken was by your soul's help. And now what? You expect us to kill some other human? Or are you going to take a monster soul and cross the barrier yourself?"
"I would never hurt anything!" the human cried. "I don't want to hurt anybody! I don't want to hurt you."
"Hurt me?" Undyne hissed lowly. "You can't hurt me, human, no matter how much you try. Now tell me, why did you come back here?"
"I want to start over with you," said the human. "I know we haven't gotten off to a good start, but Papyrus and everyone else always speak so highly of you, how good you are a person, how heroic and brave. I... never knew a person like that."
Heroic? Brave? Undyne's claws slid back into their sheathes. She began to straighten.
"I'm sorry if I ever offended you or anything," the human apologised quickly. "I want to be friends with you."
"I will never be your friend." Undyne barked. "Get out!"
"Oh dear," Papyrus said, poking his head through the broken window. "Looks like I overestimated Undyne. I thought she could be your friend. It seems she just isn't up to the challenge." He darted away before Undyne could even roar at him.
Challenge? So this human's friendship was a challenge? Undyne looked back at the confused human, and he shrugged his shoulders. "What a challenge. I can make friends with a wimpy human like you any day. Why don't you take a seat?" she asked with a shark's smile.
And before long, the human and the Sea Wraith were talking. "It's weird how you chose that tea," Undyne pointed out. "It's her favourite." She looked at the human with pity. "You know, you remind me a lot of her." She shook her head. "Is the surface still a very nice place?"
The human nodded his head, though he clearly did not know who 'she' was. "Of course! There's two towns around the mountain, and then there's the Onett city which is only a few minutes drive from where I live! And then there's the ocean, which I love to visit all the time."
"I've heard a lot about the ocean," Undyne mused. "Apparently it's so big it never runs out, and it's full of salt too."
"That's true!" the human agreed, nodding his head vigorously. "Have you ever seen the ocean Undyne?"
Undyne shook her head. "I've only heard things about it. How does the night sky look? My best friend loves the night sky."
The human's eyes brightened upon the mention. "There's a story about the stars my dad once told me. The moon's the star's caretaker, and whenever someone was distressed on earth it would send down a star to grant a wish, but the stars didn't want to grant wishes so they stay on earth disguised as different animals."
"I love that story!" Undyne exclaimed happily. "Are there mangas of it?"
The human stopped. "What do you mean 'mangas'? It's just a story passed down through generations." He shook his head. "I never knew you liked manga. Which one's your favourite?"
Undyne's heart had opened once more. This human would never replace Tess, never, but who said that she needed a replacement? Another friend, that was what the human boy was. He had gotten onto Alphys' and Papyrus' good sides, that only gave him bonus points.
One moment they were all there, convincing the boy to stay down with them- the next they were all lifted up into the air by a huge thorny and familiar vine.
The sight of Flowey made Undyne's stomach drop straight to her feet. What a double-faced, slimy, traitorous asshole! She struggled against his vines, though the flower seemed to have learned his lesson and made them so tight they seemed to suck the breath out of her lungs. It was lucky she had her gills as a back-up, but what about the others? The king and his long-lost queen- which Undyne genuinely did not know existed (since she had fled before Undyne was old enough to remember things). What about Alphys? She wasn't going to be alright! Panic was beginning overflow her rational thought.
But nothing hurt more than the realisation that her long-time flower friend- the same plant that had tried to protect them from Lionheart and chose to share all his secrets with- was such a murderous psychopath himself. She had been friends with this creature- this soulless, moral-less beast.
And he had the human boy trapped, and that was the most terrified Undyne had ever seen him. And suddenly he looked like Tess all over again.
And Flowey was about to kill him.
His attack whipped out towards the human- yet it was burned to a crisp. The Queen had protected the human. Again Flowey made to attack the human- yet this time Undyne was ready. Her magic flared, and her biggest spear lodged itself into the ground at the human's left, parrying the bullets, while a huge bone protected his right. Papyrus...
"That's right human!" Papyrus called out, his voice loud like it always was. "Just do what I would do! Believe in you!"
Undyne began to shout too. "Hey! You got past me! That means you'll beat anyone! So don't worry! We're with you all the way!"
Suddenly the whole room seemed alive with voices. More and more monsters flooded in, shouting in unison.
"We're all with you!"
"Come on, you got this human!"
"Keep trying!"
"I know that you can do it!"
"This guy has nothing!"
"We are all here!"
"Don't worry, we've got your back!"
"Just stay determined!"
"Don't give up!"
And everything went white.
The Barrier was destroyed. News spread across the underground like wildfire, and it was like a ember of hope had lightened inside each monster soul.
Everyone's hearts were beating as one, hoping together, now that the Barrier was gone that everything would be alright.
She had returned home- one that would not be her home any longer, to pick up her essentials. It was just the very few things that she needed for the great return of monsterkind to the surface.
She couldn't believe it, finally they could see the surface, after all this time. It was so surreal, and Undyne was convinced that she was living in a dream.
Never before had she thought that she would ever miss the crappy Northern Neighbourhood, though it made sense to her. She had rather stay here than go live with her mother in New Home.
"Undyne darling!" Mettaton called her name upon her return. She never thought she would get used to his metallic android body- though the pink was totally his style. "You're finally here. Are you here to make sure you look extra-great for our big day?"
Undyne dipper head. "How's Blook?"
The robot pointed behind him with a thumb. "He's fine. I'm gonna be helping him become the No. 1 DJ in the human charts."
"For such a self-centred prick, that's some sound character development," Undyne jabbed, and ducked to avoid the swing of the metallic fist. "Okay, I'll see myself out."
As she stepped into the house, she realised how much she was going to miss this place. Of course she was still going to come back here for her furniture so she could move to the surface- but this place would always hold a place very dear to her heart.
What should she take? Important things... Undyne opened her closet and stared. She should wear something nice... shouldn't she? She reached out towards the clean blouse she usually wore for nice occasions, however her eyes darted towards the patchwork jacket.
Tess should've been by her side for this moment. It seemed wrong that she wasn't here. The human boy couldn't fill the void she left behind- nobody ever could. Sighing, Undyne threw the jacket on, stuffing the hands into her pockets. The MP3 was still safe in the pocket, and Undyne breathed a sigh of relief.
The surface world was better than Undyne had ever imagined it. She stood there, Alphys' hands cradled in hers. Land stretched out as far as eye could see, and the wind was so fresh, tugging at her scarlet hair so it blew sideways. The sun was rising, its reflection shimmering across a massive body of water that went on for miles...
That must be the ocean!
"You look so happy," Alphys mentioned, looking up at her. Undyne looked down, and smiled sincerely.
"I wanted to see this for so long," she replied, looking back at the view. There were so much here, and not even Tess' stories could've prepared her for this. This is what she had been missing. This is where Tess had come from.
Here was paradise- the trees greener, the air fresher, the space bigger. She inhaled through her mouth, and then through her gills, and through her mouth again- unable to decide which one tasted better.
"What's that!?" Papyrus questioned loudly, pointing at horizon, where the light was getting brighter and brighter until it was painful to look at. The sky around turned red, and it was perhaps the most colourful sky Undyne had ever seen- it was much better than the regular black, rocky sky.
"We call that the sun, my friend," Sans replied helpfully.
It was the happiest Undyne had seen Papyrus in a while, which was actually saying something. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting the sun!" he exclaimed, his eyes full of emotion. Looked like he had caught tears in his eyes again.
Undyne breathed in again. It was so nice.
"It seems that everyone is quite eager to set off," the Queen spoke at last. She turned to the small human child. "You came from this world, right my child?"
He nodded his head proudly. Undyne could feel his pride glowing from him- who wouldn't be proud of a place like this?
The Queen continued. "So you must have a place to return to, do you not?"
Once again the boy nodded his head. "My dad and my mum are going to be so worried sick about me. Especially my dad, he always worries that I'll go missing. But that's not the point, I'm going to have a younger sibling in a few months time!"
"Congratulations to your mother!" said the Queen, though her eyes flickered towards her old ex. Geez, that was a bitty harsh- the hurt could be easily seen on the King's face. "Do you know if it'll be a boy or a girl?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "To early to tell. I didn't want to miss having a sibling. You should all come over to mine some time, since you let me come round to yours."
"Give and take, that's what a healthy relationship is!" Papyrus announced proudly.
Yet the Queen still had more questions. "But I must ask; what is your name?"
"Oh! I totally forgot about that!" exclaimed the human. "My name is Frisk. Frisk Ashby."
"What did you just say!?"
Undyne was suddenly in front of the human, her fists curled against the front of his sweater, staring right into his face.
"Undyne!" Alphys gasped in shock, and the Queen got ready to defend her newfound baby. There was only one person that did not take action- Papyrus.
"Tell me human," Undyne demanded, her pupil widening into convex. "Who is your father?"
"M-My father?" Frisk stammered, but he realised that Undyne was desperate.
She tightened her hold on him. "What's your father's name!?"
"B-Ben Ashby..." answered Frisk.
Undyne let him go instantly, her webbed hand covering her mouth in disbelief. She looked desperately towards Papyrus. He met her eyes, and they shared a short unspeakable connection before they both stared back at Frisk.
"What's going on?" the Queen demanded, speaking for all the other monsters. "Have you got something you want to tell us?"
Her tone reminded Undyne of her old teachers', and she did not like it at all. However yes, she did have something she wanted to tell everyone.
"I have a promise to keep," she explained simply. "When can Papyrus and I meet your father?"
Frisk turned to out live on the outskirts of one of the towns at the base of Mt. Ebbot. The neighbourhood was like nothing Undyne had ever seen, yet resembled strikingly the Northern Neighbourhood down in the underground. Every house was different, each surrounded completely by massive fenced gardens. Dogs barked, cats walked on fences, humans turned their heads to see the small group of monsters walk through the village.
It had been a week since the Barrier had been broken, of faithful hoping as the King spoke with the human leader. And now, finally, it had been decreed that the monsters would resume their life on the surface along humanity.
Frisk offered them a place to stay before anybody properly settled, he assured them all that his house would definitely be able to hold them all. Undyne, Alphys, Sans and the two Boss Monsters. The rest of the monsters had began to roam all over the surface, finding their own places in this new world.
Frisk lead them to a painted-yellow house, numbered 52, and opened the gate. It shined in the light like gold, welcoming and hopeful, and in Undyne's eyes; perfect. He opened the door and yelled loudly; "I'm home!"
A woman came running from the depths of the corridor, and threw herself onto Frisk, trapping him in a tight embrace. She had the same colour of hair as he did, except it spilled over her shoulders and dragged across the ground. Her clothes reminded Undyne of the stereotypical stay-at-home mother, not that it was a bad thing, and the woman had a small bump on her belly. Right... expecting.
It did not take a genius to realise that Frisk took his looks from his mother. All except one thing. The woman had a shining pink soul, which Undyne's monster instinct distinguished as the Laughter trait.
"Frisk I've been so worried! Where have you been!?"
"It's a long story mum," Frisk explained briefly. "But I've brought home some friends, I've already told them they can stay over for the night. They're really like to meet you."
The woman raised her head, and her eyes fell upon the monsters. Her expression said it all.
"You must be Frisk's mother," the Queen addressed her friendlily and with a bright (yet somehow sour) smile. "I must say m- your child has done many great things."
The woman was speechless, though only for a moment. She stood up to her feet, and just then did Undyne realise that she could look straight on into her eyes. They were the same height. "So Frisk set free an entire civilisation," she mused out loud, though returned the Queen's warm greeting. "I'm sure my son has quite a story to tell, but of course you're all welcome to stay as long as you wish."
"We'll talk about this later young man," she added quietly to her son.
A weird clucking sound made the monsters jump. Eight birds were pecking at the ground, ruffling their feathers and crowing softly to each other. What were those things!? Nobody seemed to know, except Alphys. She squealed suddenly in excitement, smiling stupidly at the creatures.
"I remember these!" she gasped. "My family used to have them when they still lived on the surface! What are they called again?"
"Those are chickens," Frisk's mum offered helpfully. "They're really friendly."
At hearing the word 'friendly', Papyrus ran at the chickens, announcing loudly that he wanted to be their friend- except the chickens took flight in a flutter of wings and faster, louder clucking. This caused everyone to laugh.
The inside of Frisk's house was huge, yet not much different to what monsters were used to. The walls were pale, making the rooms seem bigger than they actually were, wallpaper were patterned with designs that made Undyne instantly think of the walls in the hermit's house. Home...
The kitchen was unlike her own, with a low ceiling and table in the centre. There was everything Undyne recognised from her own kitchen; the cookers, the fridge, the cabinets. So it was all true- humans weren't that different from monsters after all. The table was one of those fancy-new ones that flipped open to allow more people to dine at once. The King and Queen sat reluctantly next to each other, without so much as sharing a glance at one another. Oh dear- Undyne hoped they would work it out. Asgore deserved love- more than anybody she ever knew.
Sans took his place next to his brother, who sat next to Alphys and Undyne. And Frisk sat beside the King. It would be fitting, since Frisk had indadvertedly become the ambassador for monsterkind towards humans. And there were two free seats. One for the mother, one for the father.
While Frisk began to tell them all about how chickens and how their eggs were the best (Alphys took the most part in the conversation, suddenly very determined to have her own chickens when she got a house on the surface. Undyne would have to learn to cope with the birds, since it looked like they were going to be living together from now on), Toriel had began to speak with Celine- as Frisk's mother turned out to be named, asking her all sorts of questions about children on the surface, how her pregnancy was going along. It was the start of a brilliant friendship, and Undyne couldn't help but smile.
Then suddenly-
"Celine! I'm home!"
Undyne's head shot up to attention. She felt as if she'd heard that voice a million times- even though she knew she hadn't. It was so familiar though.
Celine broke off her conversation with Toriel to call back; "In here dear! We have some guests!" Her voice was so bright, so cheerful to hear of her significant other, just like Alphys' was when she talked to Undyne.
Heads turned towards the doorway, and Frisk's face lit up. "Dad!"
Undyne never felt as if she knew a stranger so well as this man. Her eyes locked onto him, unable to look away.
He was taller than Undyne was, very well built and dressed in comfy, muddy clothes and huge boots. He had the same face, same silver eyes as Tess did. His dark brown hair was ragged and spiky like a lot of Undyne's favourite anime characters.
He did not even seemed surprised to see the many monsters sitting around the table in his house. All he did was shrug his shoulders with a quick; "Hey" and he went over to his wife to give her a peck on the cheek. "Hey dear," he greeted. "What's for lunch?"
"Oh! I'm preparing onion soup," Celine replied with a giggle and a slight blush. It caused Frisk to sigh loudly and roll his eyes.
Undyne thought it was wonderful. She could so imagine Asgore and Toriel being like this, or perhaps her and Alphys...?
"Frisk, am I right to assume that you're behind the monsters' freedom?" Ben asked calmly.
Frisk began fidgeting with his hands. "...Yes. You aren't mad at me are you?"
"Why would I be?" Ben sat down beside his son. "And these are your new friends? Go on! Introduce yourselves!"
Welcoming, bright, happy...
Toriel and Asgore were of course the first to speak. Maybe it was a parent thing? Undyne's finned ear flicked in confusion, though she found that she couldn't draw her eye away from Ben.
She only came back to reality when Papyrus loudly announced- "Oh yeah! Undyne wanted to speak with you."
All heads turned, and Undyne found herself in the spotlight. Her golden eye met silver eyes once more, and a shiver went through her.
"You must be Undyne then," said Ben with a smile. "You want to speak with me?"
The words wouldn't come. For the first time in her life, nervousness took over her mind. So instead she slipped a hand into her pocket, taking out the busted MP3 player and offered it to him. Ben's smile dropped instantly.
"Where did you get that?" he whispered, looking from the MP3 to Undyne and back again. "And you're wearing her jacket..." He put two-and-two together. "You know Tess!?" His face lit up in hope. "You know my sister?"
Undyne could only nod her head, retracting her hand. She was secretly glad that Ben didn't take the MP3; she didn't think she was ready to part with it.
"That's great!" Celine cheered as she placed a plate in front of each character. "That means she got away from your terrible father, doesn't it? Poor dear."
Undyne flinched.
"Do you know where she is?" Ben demanded. "I have to apologise! Geez-" he pressed his palm to his forehead. "I left her behind in that hell with that devil!" He looked up at Undyne desperately. "Please, tell me she's somewhere here."
Undyne shook her head sadly. "Tess is dead. I'm sorry."
The whole house went deathly silent.
After a while, Ben spoke again. "Can you tell me how she died?"
Undyne took a deep breath. "I want to tell the whole story," she said. "I want to get everything off my chest."
"I want to tell the whole story," said Undyne. "I want to get everything off my chest."
The creature staring through the window smiled. She drew her glowing blue hand across the glass pale separating her from her old friends. Finally... the best ending.
She could stay here and stare for hours, smiling like an idiot. Yet she couldn't. So she turned her head away from the window to look at the group behind her.
Six figures stood there before her, all in varying heights and shapes, yet each was human; or at least used to be. Five of those figures were silhouettes, filled in with glowing arteries that held a colourful beating heart in the very centre. Each had some sort of fatal wound, which leaked white mist that evaporated shortly after it touched the outside air. Cuts at the side of the head, slit throats and other horrifying scars that still bled.
The sixth figure was a short child unlike the others, with more colour than any of the spirits present. They were transparent, not like the soul-creatures, that anyone could see right through them. Yet their scarlet eyes were more alive than ever. They seemed so out of place next to the soul-creatures, yet they were more at home there than anywhere.
And it was that ghastly spirit that spoke first. "They're happy, all of them," they said, taking a few steps forward. The chickens took off in a flurry.
Patience willingly took Chara's hand, finally able to touch it physically. They were so much smaller than her now.
Kindness pointed up towards the sky. "It's getting dark," she announced. True, there it was. The sun had set below the horizon, lighting up the clouds with a bright magenta light against the darkening blue sky. If anyone had ever painted a sky with this beauty, nobody would believe it was real. Yet here it was, the heavens in all their magnificence and glory. The stars were coming out, beginning to shine like dozens of nightlights.
"Well done, it's not like we didn't notice this ourselves," Bravery mumbled furiously.
Justice proceeded to hit him in the back of his head with an open-handed slap. "Learn some respect, rat! Or do I need to remind you that you were the only one of us that was genocidal!?"
And Justice was not wrong. Out of the seven spirits present, Bravery was the only one that deserved to die. The first soul after Chara to fall down into the Underground and set the violence of humanity fresh into the monsters' minds and caused every monster to be hostile to a known human from there on out. And even now Bravery was met with a set of dirty glares every time he spoke. Even Kindness and Patience narrowed their eyes at the orange soul-creature, and Bravery fell silent.
"Anyways," Integrity changed the subject swiftly. She looked to the little purple boy next to her fondly. "I think we ought to go. Don't you think?" Perseverance pressed his head into her palm in agreement, squealing in excitement. Little Perseverance was the youngest when he died, and it was difficult not to grown to love with him.
Patience offered her other free hand to little Perseverance, who filled the holes between her fingers. It almost hurt to see the leaking wound directly over his heart. And Perseverance took Integrity's hand while Chara offered theirs to Justice, the eldest and the other adult besides Patience.
The spirits all linked hands, and their feet left the ground. Higher and higher they floated, so high that the people walking around in the streets of the town looked like ants and the houses became building blocks. And still they all floated higher, through the clouds and out of the atmosphere.
If anyone had been watching from the surface, they would've noticed seven new stars that had began to shine in the sky, significantly brighter than the rest.
The End
Woo! What a ride! Another finished fanfiction. And before its one year old! Time flies by, doesn't it? It was a wild ride, and I'll miss writing this story. All good things must come to an end, eh? And now I'd like to personally give out my thanks.
To Toby Fox, the wonderful creator of Undertale. I think he deserves a thanks from all of us for creating our beloved game.
To Thedyingjokepastaway. I know I've thanked you before man, but I can't thank you enough.
To dream1990, katmar1994, Greta the Troll, JaedDragon777, Potato, Anon, undyingrage98489, Owo, ponystoriesandothers and HamiltonFan99999 for taking their time to review this story, to point out my mistakes and to encourage me to keep writing.
And to you, reading this right now. You made it to the very end of this story, when you didn't have to. The biggest thanks goes to you.
May the winds that blow in your sails be strong
-Phouka Dragon11-