✱ Chapter 2
The musky air of the Underground wasn't so apparent the last time Flowey came down from the entrance, even without a real nose he could feel the humid air and tell that it was without maintenance, falling into a state of decay soon to be consumed by nature. It will just be another large desolate cave, just as it had been before monsters were exiled down here by humans.
And I'll still be here… waiting.
The thought of this purgatory filled him with a special dread that he could never quite get rid of, he recalled briefly again, the human who he had offered his choices to. What if they had returned? Flowey long contemplated this, they had come more than once but seemed satisfied at the turn of events last time.
He longed to see them once more, the human, but had no impetus for visiting the world out there. As impossibly large and endless as it seemed to him, filled with strange people unlike monsterkind.
Gah, I need to stop thinking about it! I'm such a loser!
He broke from his endless daydreaming to the current events, he was being carried within a box by a monster, as the two made it down a long carved out hall.
Sariel had taken the opportunity to stuff many more possessions and trinkets she deemed as 'garbage' in the box, making Flowey's already small space within the container much more uncomfortable.
In his own self-deprecating thoughts, he felt there was some sort of poetry about being carried amongst garbage in this moment.
Curious, the flora glances about, casting an idle gaze to the contents of the box. How strange it was, there were a number of other items within the box that caught his attention, namely a set of small books and what appeared to be a few framed photos, several of which contained multiple figures but despite being so close he could not see from this angle as the picture hid itself folded over within the ruined frame.
"So I must ask-" Sariel's talking breaking the flower's thoughts as is standard now "-Do you prefer the Underground or the surface? Just curious." The two began to pass through more familiar surroundings, the quarters of the King was just ahead.
"W-well, I've never been to the surface, but I can probably say it's better up there. Especially for a flower like me with all that sunlight which is hard to come by here save for a few areas…"
This was a bold face lie, and he knew it, he had been to the surface once but that excursion led to his current undesirable circumstances.
"Interesting, I thought I was the only one who didn't really leave."
Flowey could hear her nearly jump with excitement slightly, still feeling positive about his host, he was still uncertain what to make of her. A monster who didn't bother to go to the surface?
Sariel started to walk slower, more expectant of what was ahead. She walked into a large room covered in vines and flowers not unlike the one in the box she was carrying.
The two were now passed the antechamber and were in the main throne room, in from the glass within the room peaked light which managed to come down from the surface beyond. The ordinarily regimented and ornate structure of the royal abode gave way to a huge room of flora which decorated the floor and even some of the walls. The pillars, which decorated the chamber walls were crumbling albeit not as badly as those beyond near the old barrier exit or even those within the Ruins but overtaken with a soft dirty rot which came from the vines of the plants themselves. In the centre of the large chamber sat the King's throne, half sunken into the dirt at a rather awkward angle, perhaps speaking to its tilt the last time someone managed to sit on it.
Flowey eyed up Sariel, whose expression went totally blank, as if in a brief trance. "Passing through here makes me wonder how the King is doing on the surface. I wonder if he misses any of his Kingdom down here in New Home."
"Maybe, maybe… I heard a lot of the other monsters wanted to stay around him though. Being used to his rule and all." He sighs. By all means, he very well COULD escape to the surface with the Barrier gone, and yet…
What good would I be? Empty, broken, SOULless... I'd cause nothing but misery for those I helped free.
Especially for the one he'd protected…
Sariel broke her brief daze and turned her head downward to Flowey,
"Relatives of yours?" referring to the golden flowers that littered the room of course.
If only she knew…
"...Ha! A-aren't you funny?" The flower musters a dry, forced laugh. Perhaps they could be, in a sense? Either way, he doesn't seem to find it very humourous.
"You're the only one so far I've got to talk to, not like I can share my jokes with them. A-at least I don't think I can. Can I?" She forces a curiosity through her sarcastic tone, invocative of someone who is uncertain whether or not they're offending. Flowey hated this kind of talk from anyone, "No… you can't. It's just me."
He spun himself around, glancing about as the two of them were in motion, fully taking in the room's scenery for perhaps the first time. How peculiar. It has been so long since he's seen it from a more 'regular' height and not from the ground being just another one of the flowers spectating it with only a partial view.
One thing started to come to his mind, and he finally felt comfortable enough with this monster to ask, "Why ARE you staying down here, anyway? Wouldn't you rather be up there, now that everyone is free and all?"
She remained silent for a short while her eyes scanning into the next room as she continued to walk into another hallway
"I have made many mistakes with many monsters, I feel like If I tried to live on the surface someone who might know me could cause trouble for me. Or even, the other way around." She tilted her head back up as she spoke, shyly avoiding Flowey's gaze but still comfortable enough to answer him.
"I just… have no place with monsters, and no business with the humans." she whimpered out.
"Oh," Flowey paused, astonished by how adequately someone else summarized his own feelings, "You too, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I feel exactly the same way, I did the same as you cause I think that way too" unable to think of much else to say, he stopped there.
Best to keep my mouth shut before giving too much away, not that it matters.
Walking out of the chamber and into a hall the two crossed a long staircase down, which Sariel effortlessly carried the box through save for a bump on the final step which rattled the little flower as the box hopped up slightly but as Sariel hadn't said anything he maintained a silence instead of uttering anything. The entire time Flowey's last words hung in the air, he wondered what Sariel thought. The silence she managed after what he said drove him mad, but he dare not break it first, totally unsure if he crossed some sort of boundary.
Dispelling his immediate anxiety he recalled their surroundings here, high above New Home, in the Castle of the King. Knowing well where they were exactly he quickly looked down a hall and caught a glimpse of where the various rooms were, including among other things, the room containing the coffins of the humans.
Privately he wondered if they were still there, but was too scared to check.
In moments like this he was once again reminded of his immature nature, as, deep down, he was still a child and partially stuck as one forever. He did his best usually not to focus on those thoughts concerning his own nature and his death, as those memories were strong. Despite his lack of emotions, those memories in particular elicited a reaction in him unlike anything else, like it was happening all over again. He thought it best to do anything to avoid thinking about it.
Sariel slowed her walking down as the two passed the hall into the walkway and before them stood a set of metal doors. The walkway itself, while unable to glimpse it entirely seems to have collapsed.
Sariel stared at the metal doors, and then back down at the box and at flowey, she began to groan slightly and set the box down.
"That's our way down…" she finally spoke after such a long silence.
Flowey shook himself slightly, "Down? Remind me where we're going again?"
"The Ruins... to toss this stuff, this elevator is a short cut down to the Core. From there we can take a shortcut to the Ruins directly."
She got down on her knees and grunted while pushing the box before the metal doors, she then snapped back up right positioning herself in front of it.
"The thing usually doesn't work as the core has been deactivated for some time since the last of the monsters left, and it seems like someone trashed the inside of it. But, it isn't much of a problem for me." she turned briefly to Flowey and smiled giving him a degree of comfort after such an awkward end to their previous conversation.
Sariel pushes herself up to the doors and slides her fingers into the creased opening separating them down the middle. With great force she pulls it open, she turns uncomfortably to stick her rear in the door to hold it slightly ajar as she leans over to pick up the box. Managing to just barely pull it over with her finger tips toward herself, she grips it full and pulls it into the elevator quickly so as not to harm the box or its floral inhabitant.
"There we go… You ever been to the core before?" she quickly utters before letting out a loud groan As once pulled inside she falls back and huffs, shaking the elevator greatly but after a few moments its swaying ceases.
"Oh Golly! Be Careful! Isn't this a bit dangerous?" Flowey shouts, "and for your information I've been around here quite a bit. I kiiiinda have to bury myself in the ground whenever I move, so elevators... aren't really things I seek out."
For a moment, he looked upon the interior of the elevator as he hadn't seen it before. Its ruined walls and scrapped tile floor, and then he recalled the perpetrator of its demise: Oh, yeah, me. I did this.
Focusing carefully Sariel averts her gaze from the flower for a moment, pausing conspicuously and pointing her index finger at the console. She breathes in a deep breath and after a moment some sparks shoot from the tips of her fingers. In an instant the lights flicker on with a loud shock sound, followed by their typical hum. The doors open slightly before clicking close and shaking slightly.
The flower once craned over, jumps his head back slightly in his pot at the sudden burst of light energy willing the console to life, magic no doubt, Boss Monster magic. Not something he had seen in a long time.
The whole thing gives a slight sway, no worse than before, and begins to squeak as it begins its motion downwards. Both Sariel and Flowey are visually unnerved by the downward momentum and sway slightly of their own accord.
"AAH-!"
Startled, squeaky yelp echoes from the flower at the sudden lurch- though he's quick to regain his composure, the expression he wears more than pegs this as... not one of his finer moments.
Sariel, clinging to the supports within the elevator, slowly descends herself downward and sits beside the box, although obviously not as comfortable as she had been with Flowey in the cave above she looked upon him with a weary smile.
"The whole place is dark now... No power flowing to the core, the lava cooled at some point and it left the place looking dark and rather blue... Like Snowdin. Like the ruins."
"W-well yeah! That makes sense. It's just so cold down here now. I hate it." He felt the need to say it again,
"I hate it I hate it I hate it, even if I wasn't a flower!" Smooth one, little does she know you're more than just a flower.
"You and me both buddy." she replied.
The elevator's movement began to slow and its mechanism beyond the slight of both of them ticked and squeaked as it had above when it began its initial descent. Sariel's momentary sitting seemed pointless, she stood up right with some difficulty and grabbed the box and readied herself for the doors to open at their destination.
As it arrived, there was a final, slightly unexpected shake of the elevator. Sariel seemed to have expected it, but Flowey jumped and then attempted to dip his head into a non-existent space below as he had with the ground countless times. Unable to do so, he slightly uprooted himself in the process, casting dirt up from the pot and hurting his petals on the rim of the container.
"Ow!" He uttered, while shifting upright.
Sariel picked up the box and giggled, probably beginning to realize this was a fear response. "You alright there?" she managed between a few exasperated laughs.
Through clenched teeth Flowey managed a "N… Never better!", and Sariel's giggling ceased.
As the metal doors clanged open with an annoying screech, the two bore witness to the mess that was once the hotel lobby, its ceiling collapsed under some weight, rubble covering its corners, and paint peeling from its walls. One light dimly illuminated part of the front door whose glass panes were smashed. The carpet on the floor under them was torn and even burned, the fountain which one decorated the centre of the room had long since collapsed into a small pit where a puddle protruded out from, a layer of scum surrounded it.
"This must be the MTT…" Sariel is careful to hold out the box then turning it to one side allowing Flowey to crane his head out while she tucked it under an arm. She held out her other hand outstretching it, her digits spaced apart and a small ball of light began to appear. The light grew and grew, illuminating the area ever so slightly, Flowey noticed Sariel taking big breaths as it grew in size. Finally it took shape - fire. Typical Boss Monster magic.
"Oh, THIS place." Flowey filled with glee seeing it. The whole idea of this place rubbed him the wrong way, already finding the concept of a hotel utterly stupid but one dedicated to such a vain subject matter beyond worthy of anyone's time. "Just glorified ruins now. It suits it." He snarkily remarked.
Sariel stared at the remains of the statue in the centre while passing by it. Long having fallen off and broken apart into various pieces, delimbed and dethroned by the decay. "That is the Mettaton fellow, I never watched any of his broadcasts, not a fan. I know from my own time here it wasn't always him there."
Flowey wasn't sure what to make of that remark, or even his own personal connection to it, but indulged if ever so slightly to speak about his utter disdain for that pompous metal monstrosity.
"Yeah, funny how that works? He just took this place over huh? Not that any of it MATTERS anymore!" Flowey rolls his eyes. A statue modeled in his likeness that does nothing but flaunt his ego and spew water endlessly onto the floor, what an investment!
Making their way across the room, Sariel pushes open the broken doors which creak and cradle, about to come off their hinges, taking them out into the space beyond. An almost wistful silence overtakes the bloom as he examines these familiar and yet so very alien surroundings. Even completely hollow, empty inside, he'd at least see the Underground's other inhabitants which were a certain life that gave the old caves their own spark.
Alone and dark it all was now as they walked through the deep dank wet caves. That's all they are now, caves.
At least... he wasn't entirely alone, for the time being.
Though he wasn't certain if he entirely liked this or not.
Continuing to walk down and out, Flowey realized exactly where they were. These were the remains of Hotland. Having come here the least frequently out of all the places to visit in the Underground, as the lava makes poor company for flowers. It seemed as though it was no more however: The Hotland was now a wasteland stretching into the far beyond (beyond what the little light of Sariel's hand could offer them of sight anyway) into a great unknown void. Where the lava once flowed was now a cool hue of blacks and blues, a slight breeze persisted past them with a whistling through the ruins that could be heard echoing in the distance.
Unprompted Sariel spoke up,
"This place seems so empty now. Even though I didn't really get along well with the others, they gave this place a certain life I think, that is lost now." Flowey couldn't agree to that statement more, "Yeah. I mean… trust me, I wasn't fond of them either. But having nobody around anymore is just… wrong." He sighs. As though he'd had a choice in the matter even regarding his former family and loved ones.
The "perks" of being SOULless.
Although it seemed the two partook equally in enjoying the breeze for a moment, the breeze flicked and pushed the fire, sending sparks down unto its caster. After a few awkward positional shifts, Sariel outstretched her arm further in frustration to avoid the down embers.
She walked the two rather comfortably away from the big open space having seemingly navigated there before, she turned down to a small path which narrowed slightly and then suddenly before opening into an antechamber of sorts. This dug out had a small ledge which itself faced a large water stream which continually flowed in and out of the space through a set of equally large openings.
In the water curiously floated a small elongated oblong wooden disc, a few feet away from the embankment.
Sariel took quickly to outstretching her leg from the ground onto the disc causing it to tilt ever so slightly but not worryingly so, and continued until her other foot managed to follow the same movement.
Now on the disc she slowly discarded the box with Flowey onto it.
She paused for a moment staring ahead, which caught Flowey's attention. What is she doing?
Her face held an expression of deep contemplation but her actions did not change, she looked back and forth at both openings before laying herself down against the floor of the would-be gondola.
"Do you need… help?" he lurched forward slightly, as he asked she had crawled to the edge of one side and nearly fell into the stream. Rather than fall in she reached for something… a large pole. With it she picked herself up off the disc and stood, pushing at the water below them causing a few unpleasant splashes onto the flower.
"No…" she seemed uncertain, but Flowey chose not to pursue the matter.
"I used to spend my days here fairing people across the stream, hidden as best I could. In my robe like this." with her free hand she folded her hood up past her ears and horns. She smiled and turned back to the flora, seeing his amused expression. He had recalled seeing this monster once previously and never again: The Riverperson.
What an idiot he thought he was, it was so obvious! he seldom had any interaction with them previously as being a flower rendered them useless to him, he thought.
It still didn't explain why they didn't leave with the other monsters, but Flowey felt a sense more comfortable with Sariel now that he had an idea of who this was.
"I used to spend my days here fairing people up and down stream, hidden as best I could while accepting paid fare, and eventually just doing it for free so long as I could get the trip over with quickly." she giggled, "What can I say? I'm not a people-person, I'm a river person."
"That's... cool, I guess. At least you had SOMETHING to do." He shifted back more into the pot, "I got nothing, being a flower and all."
Sariel started grunted, polling them in the opposite direction to slow down the boat before turning back to Flowey.
"Yeah it was, I miss it, this is really bringing back some memories for me…" she took in a breath,
"don't you have any aspirations? Didn't go to school or nothing?" A rather pointed question drew Flowey's ire but he couldn't entirely feel faultless for it, it's not as if he was testing the boundaries of this new 'friendship' with some questions of his own.
"It's something I'd rather not talk about… if that's okay with you."
Sariel nodded and smiled, and turned back around.
Just like that? Wow. Flowey felt mildly satisfied and even a little disappointed she didn't push back, she didn't poke or prod, she just accepted it. He was beginning to think over his initial dismissal of her, she seemed to be a genuine friend. A small bit of regret at the chance to talk about himself entered his mind. Perhaps later after this little escapade he would give an answer to those questions.
If nothing else this day thus far proved to be one of discovery, maybe having a friend isn't so bad…
Flowey blinked a few times, realizing that they had arrived was lost in his thoughts, Sariel's movement off of the gondola partial to the breaking of his trance. The disc bore unevenly against the embankment which, unlike the cave of Hotland, was one of snow and sleet.
He knew where they were near, Just passed Snowdin.
Sariel outstretched her arms over and grabbed onto the box that held Flowey again, this time she grabbed it with both arms as the the area had cast a far more favourable light down upon them then in Hotland (Funnily Flowey thought.). The fluffy monster clutched Flowey close and took her time walking slowly at first to walk up a steep hill path, and then once at the top returned more comfortably to a solid pace having got her footing in the snow.
"What part of the Underground did you say you were from again?" she spoke up a bit, sounding more cheerful, likely now that their task was nearly complete.
"The Ruins, actually. Well, before... before they were so "Ruined"."
"Goodness, you must be an old old flower, and you haven't fallen down? You're very lucky!" He smiled at hearing that, little did she know.
Heh. If only she knew!
Despite the momentarily confidence boost, he sighed, a dull shiver rippling through his fragile stem, ick! the frigid air of Snowdin. He'd never particularly fancied this place, and now that the Core was finally dead, the cold from here only seemed to be even worse than he remembered..
"I am interested though, did you ever go back or did you ever meet the supposed curator of the ruins?"
"...Yeah, I did. A few times."
Oh, if she only knew…
Sariel opened her mouth as though to speak up again on that matter, but stopped mid sentence. Flowey's gaze was directly at her and he did not realize until he shifted back around that they were at their location. Sariel crossed over some fallen branches and passed a few ruined stones that demarcated some old structures.
"Here we are!" she exclaimed, Flowey turning forward again to see that old familiar door which closed off the Ruins from the Underground,
or was it the other way around?
The door that led down the corridor into the interior of the Ruins was covered in piles of trash and scum which wasn't unlike the dump which covered the area between the Waterfall and Hotland. The exception being that this pile of trash wasn't of Human composition, rather it was made with items familiar to the Flower, namely a stacked pile of Ice-E sheets interspersed with a pile of rotten food and pink name tags, a nicecream cart, and several other worthless items like books and trinkets. In that moment he deduced quickly that this must have been made by monsters leaving the Underground. How disrespectful.
With his sight locked on the trash, Sariel carefully took Flowey out of the box, and set him aside into the snow. She gripped the box by the bottom and tipped it over into the piles, shards and a number of items falling through to the trash below. The small picture frames fell out and crashed into each other, a small shattering sound echoed out into the wilderness with each frame falling on another. The sound startled Flowey slightly.
Even in the state he'd been left in, the sight of his former "home" even further run into the ground… made something inside him ache.
Sariel discarded the box, tossing it aside into some trees that surrounded the area and walked over to frames. She bent down on one knee and picked up one picture frame, dusting the dirt and snow from it and slipping out the picture from within the frame and tucking it neatly into her robe. Even after it firmly disappeared within the folds of her clothes, she continued to clutch at its place in there curiously as if to tuck it in safely. Flowey arches a brow in curiosity, he never had the chance earlier to gaze on the picture. "What is that?" he called out, she faced him with an uncertain look strewn across her face.
"It's uh… Old family portrait." her eyes darted from him down to her feet, as if she was a child in shame.
Flowey's mind wondered with that information,"Why did you bring it with you and set it among the trash if you were going to keep it?"
"Well, on the way back I need to drop it off somewhere. Unless you wish to do more sightseeing?" He could tell she was trying to brighten the mood and shift his attention, not very convincing.
Like I really want to go see anything in this messy dark place again? As if!
He squints at the spot near her chest where she tucked the picture in, before darting his eyes back up at her with a slight tilt.
"Sure. whatever. I'm seriously not busy." The lack of direct answers really rustled him, it reminded him of why he had despised interactions. Am I not good enough to see that stupid thing?
She paced off the path from Flowey and around him, for a moment, he squinted at her, distressed at what was happening. He couldn't for the life of him understand what her problem was.
It's just a lousy picture! What's the big deal?!
"Look," she said softly "If you want to see if you can, but promise not to make a big deal about it." She set herself before him but still looked down like a child that had broken something, her feet nervously crowded over the same space on the ground with one foot anxiously scraping against the other.
"Why would I do THAT?" Flowey was practically at breaking point with this. "Am I not good enough to see your stupid picture?"
Her head tilted up fast, "No! No. Not at all!"
"It's Because of how weird my life is, you wouldn't get it!"
Before she could utter another word Flowey interjected.
"Try me pal." He raised a brow and starkly stared back at her, he could tell he was being rather intimidating. Using expressive skills he hadn't in ages… but rather to scare someone they were real.
"Fine, fine, but I don't want to hear it." She stuck her hand into her cloak and slipped the picture out, holding it down low for a moment before deciding to simply set it on the ground before the Flower.
He craned his stem towards the matted old picture intently, drawing his gaze to it. For a moment he didn't realize what he was looking at as the edges of the thing had smeared with age and the contrast was greatly off. His eyes eventually focused on what it was.
The picture was really a photograph, an old one, which depicted the Royal family. Two familiar Boss Monster parents stood on either end of a child, each clutching a shoulder of theirs while all three stared at the camera. A typical sight which the Flower hadn't seen in years, the Royal family had taken many portraits in the time of his youth as he recalled, they were regimented with that specific pose in mind. The last time he had taken this type of portrait with his family it had been with his former sibling.
Though it seemed at first he thought this one predated that by quite a bit, he began to realize this isn't one taken of him with his family… The familiar positioning of the three threw him off for a moment before realizing what this actually was.
In the middle of the picture was a taller, slightly more slender figure, holding flowers yes but…
This wasn't his picture.
That was his parents, yes, but that wasn't him.
The child nestled between the two was a younger Sariel.
Flowey blinked a few times finally understanding what he was looking at, recoiling from the photo as though he'd been hit by a tonne of bricks. Eyes wide, he immediately looks to the other, a downtrodden sort of disbelief in his gaze.
"I'm sorry… I'm, what." He tried desperately to get words out but was unable to. "What…" He can't even form coherent thoughts at this point. This was probably the last thing he'd expected, even given the familiar species of monster she seemed to be.
"You don't… you don't UNDERSTAND, I…"
The image is practically burned into his mind, the flower swayed, a feeling of nausea bubbling up inside him.
How was this even POSSIBLE?
A somber expression drew across her face and she clutched the picture back into her hand and tucked it within her cloak.
"I told you not to make a fuss about it!" she turned her head away from the Flower, who was still recoiling in surprise and confusion.
"and before you ask," she closed her eyes, "no, I'm not the prince."