The Valley - Part 2
The shadowy grass swayed by a gentle wind as if they were on the surface during a cold autumn night. The crystals far above shone even greater here and lit up the valley like light from the moon.
The group felt so exposed out here, and not without reason as they could be seen from miles and miles away from any spot in the valley. There were no houses, ruins, or any civilization except for a distant farmstead placed just outside the white patch of the valley. Thin smoke blew out of the chimney.
"Do you know who lives there?" Frisk asked.
"No clue," Flowey answered. "Looks recent. Guessing it was built during my coma."
"So… why do you not like this place?" Frisk wondered.
"Y… you haven't heard?" MK asked her with surprise. "You've never heard about this place?"
Their reptilian body shivered very noticeably.
"Not a thing," Frisk answered. "It seems pretty enough. Do ghosts live here or something?"
"That's what many think," Flowey answered.
"Everyone knows this place," MK answered. "I have known about this place for as long as I remember."
"It's called The Valley of Dust nowadays," Flowey continued. "It wasn't always called that. Used to be called… The Valley."
"I can see why they changed it," Frisk asked. "It admittedly sounded like a very boring name, to begin with."
"That's Asgore for ya," Flowey said.
"Why Valley of Dust?" Frisk asked. "Is it because of that large patch of snow in the distance? How did that happen?"
"That's not snow," Flowey answered.
"What is it then? Cotton or…?"
"You know what happens to monster bodies as they die?" Flowey answered.
"Oh…" Frisk said with realization. "Oh… shit…"
A small hill was on their path, and once they climbed, the trio could see a sorrowful sight.
As far as their eyes could see, white dust that sparkled in the light coated a large part of the valley. But there wasn't just empty life out there. Some flag poles were scattered around, flags still dangling on top of some and shifting from the wind. Some scattered pieces of medieval-style armour and weaponry lay bare with the dust laying on them.
And this area spread, far and far across the valley like a white desert. And in front of that patch of white were several stone slabs, standing over ominously like warnings.
"Jesus…" Frisk said. "What the hell happened?"
"The war happened," Flowey spoke somberly. "This is where it ended. The first war of the underground."
Frisk stared over the battleground with a saddened sensation. MK slowly walked up to her, looking over as well with a swiftly renewed vigour.
"Yo…" they said. "It really is The Valley."
"Sure is," Flowey said.
"I often wanted to come here," MK added.
"Why in the world would you ever wanna come to this godforsaken place?" Flowey asked.
MK said nothing in response and so the three of them continued moving in silence. The stone slabs were numerous and incredibly massive up close. They towered over the old battlefield like stone guardians.
"What's up with those slabs?" Frisk asked.
"They're… signposts, for lack of a better word," Flowey said. "They were erected shortly after the war officially ended. Once you're past them, you have entered "the land of the dead", or so to speak."
"There's stuff written on them," Frisk added.
"Oh, that? You'll see."
The group walked closer to one of the slabs until the text became legible. They stood in front of it, gazing up as if in awe.
Covering the majority of the text was what looked like sets of random words. Some contained more letters than others.
It took Frisk only a moment to notice that these were names. So many of them, each carved individually. There were maybe tens of them on each slab. Perhaps even a hundred if she could bother to count.
There was also a strange and familiar emblem. The emblem resembled a shield with three triangle shapes at the bottom and two angelic wings at the top protruding from out of a circle resembling a sun.
The symbol that The Royal Hunt uses, Frisk thought.
Underneath the rune was a large written text split into two sections, one written in the same unfamiliar writing Frisk had seen dozens of times before. The other, strangely enough, was written in English, or "human-speak". Frisk figured it was there in case humanity would ever come down here, so they would understand for themselves.
In English, it said:
In Memoriam:
In the year 2102 on the human calendar, a great war ravaged this kingdom. The First War of The Underground, we called it.
It all concluded beyond this point where a great final battle raged. On one side, the rebellion known as The Deltawarriors led by Gerson Boom, The Hammer of Justice, and on the other side, The Royal Army of King Asgore Dreemurr, championed by Undyne, The Spear of Justice. In the end, Undyne and The Royal Army defeated the rebellion, but not until after a most terrible battle.
Over a thousand brave monsters, parents, siblings, heirs and friends, lost their lives. Their bodies and essence turned to dust. Most still lay here, lost amidst the dust of countless others, for the losses were so numerous that it is impossible to identify each of them.
This war was the greatest tragedy that monsterkind has ever known since the sealing of the barrier. And no greater loss of life has ever occurred in this kingdom.
Here on these slabs are the names of each known individual who perished in this battle. We must remember these brave souls and work to make sure such a tragedy of this scale should never occur again.
Frisk didn't notice until after reading that there was a lump in her throat. She looked past the slab and towards the field. Even with all the text said, the truth of that sight appeared impossible. Only when she thought of the human equivalent without all the dust did she slowly comprehend.
"My god…" she muttered.
"And this was the worst monsterkind thought it could get down here," Flowey said. "Honestly, I thought so too. Ugh. If only."
Frisk snorted lightly. Then the gloom came over her before she had a chance to notice it. So did the questions. Were these monsters still there? Their essence trapped forever among untold hundreds?
"A sad thing, isn't it?" Flowey asked. "Looking at it again, the battle doesn't feel so old or distant. It's almost like it just happened yesterday. What about you, kid? Kid?"
MK looked frozen as if in disbelief, only moving their eyes, darting them from slab to slab as if quickly reading all of the carvings in seconds.
After a moment, without even a heads-up, they began to run. Run across the slabs.
"MK?!" Frisk cried out.
She and Flowey hastily went after them. MK looked at each slab as they ran past them, not stopping or looking back. Frisk and Flowey called after them, but they ignored them all as if their companions never existed. After a while, they began to slow down and tread more carefully, so Frisk and Flowey finally managed to catch up.
"There's something about this place, isn't it?" Flowey inquired. "You knew someone?"
MK said nothing but kept looking over the slabs with immense concentration.
Then they suddenly stopped as they stared at a single slab, a single one amid dozens.
"Hey, what are you-" Flowey began.
"Shh," Frisk hushed, certain of what was going on.
MK remained silent, even as Flowey and Frisk walked up to them.
They two followed their gaze, now concentrated on a singular set of two names side by side. Frisk couldn't read them as they were written in the monster language, so Flowey did so out loud for her sake. The names were:
Veloshi Joseph "Joe" Khaan
And just beside it:
Phachyca Murhpy Richards
"Who are those names?" Flowey asked.
MK suddenly looked away and proceeded to try but fail to conceal their face. What looked like a small glittery tear ran down their cheek.
"Hey, hey…" Frisk said sympathetically.
She kneeled and lay a palm on their shoulder. MK shivered mildly on contact, but then slowly leaned in her arm.
"They're my parents…" MK said sadly. "My birth parents, I mean."
It took a moment for them to regain the energy to resume. Despite the dreadful loom of The Hunt, they all took a break to ponder and grief. However, it was only a matter of time before the need to continue arriving.
The group, uneasy and uncertain, followed behind Flowey and his flawed memories.
A soft, misty fog was beginning to settle over the valley, over the looming farmstead. The only hint of life in the entire area so far.
"You feeling better, kid?" Frisk asked MK.
It took a while for the kid to answer, but Frisk waited patiently.
"Guess so…" they said, not looking at her.
"Good to hear," Flowey added.
Frisk walked right beside them, almost to the point of their steps forming in unison. MK leaned their head to her waist, and Frisk placed a palm on their scaly head.
"Anything you wanna say, kid?" she asked calmly. "You were pretty silent."
MK seemed to think for a moment.
"Not really…" they answered. "Never got a chance to meet them, it's… it's not a big deal. I still have my moms. And my sis. My birth parents might as well be strangers to me. I don't know why I made it such a big deal."
"A family is what you make of it," Flowey replied. "Blood-related or not, you at least have someone to look out for you. Someone who cares for you. Or at least that's what I believe."
"Uh-huh," MK said.
"Did you get some closure?" Frisk inquired. "At the very least?"
"I guess so," they muttered. "Still, I wonder if they're still there. Watching us. Watching me. Right now."
"I think that's a nice thought," Frisk said, not sure if she could believe it herself.
"Wonder what they think of me," MK pondered.
"Well, if you ever feel you wanna talk to someone about something," Flowey began. "You have Frisk for that. I suck at these emotional things."
"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Frisk replied. "Remember the woods? After that old reindeer monster died?"
"Yeah, where I royally messed it up," Flowey said.
"But you did good at the start," Frisk pointed out. "And frankly, I'm no therapist either."
"Sure you're no therapist, but I'm a freaking bungler," Flowey said. "Honestly, maybe you're the one who shouldn't be so hard on herself."
"I'm not being hard on myself," Frisk said. "I'm being honest with myself. Big diff."
"Yeah, honest," Flowey said, smiling smugly. "Honest with how… with how much of… erm… with… with how… hard you are on yourself."
The entire group turned silent while Frisk simply stared down at him with utter aloofness, almost looking like she was insulted. But then, without control, she proceeded to chuckle. She smiled and chuckled, and Flowey's smile returned as he followed suit. MK remained silent but found themselves smiling without intent. Despite everything, there was a clear spark within them lingering.
"Fair enough," Frisk said jokingly. "Couldn't understand a word, but there's some truth in whatever inhumanly gibberish I'm supposed to decipher there."
"I mean, I was going somewhere," Flowey added. "I was in the ballpark of my point."
"Yeah, a ballpark, maybe," Frisk said. "A ballpark in another country or something, I don't know."
MK seemed slightly confused. It was a specific kind of confusion like they wanted to ask something but muster the energy to. Looking at them, her smile waned.
"Sorry, kid," Frisk apologized. "If you wanna say something that's on your mind, anything related to your parents or family, just do it. We may not be experts at this. I may not be an expert on this. But it's better than keeping it in. We're here for you, kid, trust me."
"I'm… I'm fine," MK replied without looking. "For now."
Frisk didn't know what to make of that. She looked ahead on their path, and scratched the back of her neck, still feeling some wet marks of sweat. She turned to Flowey and saw he had a peculiar look. Flowey was looking clearly somewhat annoyed but appeared to be trying to concealing it.
"Speaking of hiding things," Frisk said to him. "Something bothering you, Flowey?"
"There's nothing," Flowey said dismissively. "End of story."
The dismissal only increased her hunch.
"If this whole place is bothering you, you don't need to hide it," Frisk said. "We were literally just talking about this."
Flowey remained silent, but it was clear that his look of joy was quickly fading.
"Alright," Frisk said. "If that's how-"
"I know you're still upset with me," Flowey suddenly said. "With the thing on the bridge. That you both are."
They all stopped in their tracks as MK and Frisk looked at him.
"Sorry?" Frisk asked.
Flowey sighed but didn't say another word.
"Is that what this is about?" Frisk asked. "You think we're still angry at you?"
"You are," Flowey stated as if it was an irrefutable fact.
"Ugh, you wanna bring this up now?" Frisk asked.
"You said it was bad to hide our thoughts," Flowey said, not looking at her. "So why not start with you, eh. From where I'm standing, it sounds like you are hiding a lot of demons yourself."
"Jesus, where did this come from?!"
"Just admit it. You say you don't want to talk about that moment, yet you're trying to force me to talk about what's bothering me."
"I'm not forcing… look, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"Then don't!"
Flowey sighed as he stared at the ground.
"Apologies," he said. "Let's keep going."
As they continued, Frisk realized that a part of her found itself agreeing with him. That part gnawed at her and made it all worse.
Frisk put on her hood as if that would completely conceal her from the world. She remained quiet and stern but felt as if she were hurting inwardly. She wished she could leave instantly, to somehow call that creepy skeleton, Sans, to transport her away to some remote location far from any life, and then keep her there until everyone forgot she existed. She was almost tempted to pick up her knife and start this whole ordeal over.
No matter how overwhelming the other parts of her were telling her, she messed up. Again. She messed it up by opening her mouth open in the first place and she would keep doing so unless she kept her mouth shut for good from here on out. The growing silence of the zone made it that much worse, as usual.
God, why do I always have to overthink everything? Frisk asked herself with frustration.
To keep the temptation of death and reset at bay, she hastily gathered something to say.
"Whew, I'm hungry," she muttered.
"I'm not," Flowey added. "I don't think I can get hungry."
"You ate a lot at Grillby's," Frisk pointed out.
"I can still enjoy the taste, I just don't need any nourishing," Flowey replied. "Frankly, I've done so much crawling and digging in my years that I'm ninety per cent the soil is feeding me."
"Yo, what about that farmhouse over there?" MK asked. "Maybe they have something?"
"Yeah… that might not be such a good idea," Flowey said. "Since we're wanted and all."
"But not everyone likes The Royal Hunt," MK added. "My parents loathe them. Everyone I know does."
"Alright, kid, look at it this way," Flowey began in a stern voice. "Frisk and I are a duo of wanted targets, for reasons I don't wanna get into just yet, and thus anyone who does as little as feeding us becomes guilty by association. Trust me. It is not a smart thing to get anyone involved."
"But… but you let me come along," MK said. "You're saying that was not a good thing?"
Flowey seemed to absolutely refuse to talk about that. MK proceeded to look away from him, staring on the ground instead without expression.
"I'm tired…" they muttered.
"So am I, kid," Flowey said sadly. "We're all tired. But it's safer to move on right now. Until we know just how safe we are for sure."
"W-when will that be?" MK asked.
Flowey did not answer that, and MK, recognising the unsure look, did not pry much further.
"What do you think, Frisk?" Flowey asked. "Eh. Knowing you, I'm sure you're probably willing to risk your life again."
"You're really putting me on the spot today, huh?" Frisk said.
"What do you mean?" Flowey asked with genuine confusion.
"I don't know," Frisk said. "Just thinking."
"Well, what are you thinking?" Flowey inquired. "Concerning my question, I mean."
"I'm thinking it's a bit… I don't know. Complicated?"
"It's really not. At the very best, it's a choice between putting some stranger or strangers in serious danger or not. Not exactly the hardest ethical dilemma, to be honest. Look, the farmhouse is closing up the further we're discussing it."
"Then let's stop," Frisk said. "For like one second to decide."
And so they did. Flowey, reluctantly, did so while MK did without hesitation.
Frisk looked at the both of them, thinking her hardest.
"Just a heads-up," she began. "I did not sign up to become the main voice of reason or arbiter for our little adventure group."
"Yes, true?" Flowey said. "But this is a vote and we need a tiebreaker. So what is it?"
Frisk sighed, mostly directing it at herself. Was this what everyone else always felt whenever she tried to pry something?
"Ok… so one hand, MK has a point," Frisk began, thinking. "We're tired and hungry. Plus, I still don't think I've emotionally recovered from the chase."
"Of course not," Flowey said.
"But Flowey… you have some great points as well," Frisk began. "You know this world and its rules better than me, then maybe both of us. That's not up to debate."
"Why thank you," Flowey said and smiled cheekily.
"So yeah, first off," Frisk continued. "We don't know enough about that place. We don't know who lives there or even if they're shady or not. Second, if they are friendly, then we'll be putting them at risk. There could be families in there."
She sighed for the umpteenth time.
"I guess Flowey's right," MK said in a low voice. "It's a stupid idea."
They spoke without even looking up from the ground. Flowey, on the other hand, didn't look ready to celebrate his victory just yet.
"Frisk, is there a but?" he inquired. "I feel like there's a but in your sentence."
Frisk looked over at the farmstead in the distance, pondering about her decisions.
"You can still sense him, can't you?" Frisk asked in a soft voice.
"Sure of it," Flowey replied. "But he doesn't always come on hunts. Sometimes he just sends his lackeys instead. So it's not really a foolproof heads-up."
"Wait, who?" MK asked. "Yo, you're not talking about him are you?"
Their eyes widened in shock.
"Mickey?!" MK exclaimed.
"Keep your voice down," Flowey said.
"Sorry, but… yo, you can sense him?" MK asked. "Why? How? And when?"
"I… I don't know," Flowey said. "Sorry to disappoint you. I just can, it seems. Anyway, Frisk, what's your opinion?"
Frisk looked down at him, then at MK, and lastly, her gaze focused on the distant farmstead. She had no clue what to say. Just a few hours ago, Frisk would have found it easy to side with MK. Make a mistake, just restart over and over till you get it right. Risks didn't feel like a big thing when you can undo time with a slit of your throat.
But after the attack, after seeing The Royal Hunt in person, and meeting Mickey, and especially after that horrifying time anomaly, she felt like everything changed. Like she now knew better.
No matter how hard she tried to shackle that piece to the present, her mind was still partially stuck on the bottom of that pit. It repeated in her mind, over and over, replaying the pain, the gunshot, the blood, and the threats.
"…anyone else who tries to stand in our way to protect you will suffer tenfold in comparison!"
Even after death, even in another timeline, those words seemed to ring true.
"Let's just see what's up ahead first," Frisk eventually said.
The farmstead was just on top of a small hill in the road. Up close, they could see that it was a single-storied building with an attic and a large barn. There were no farming animals, no pigs, chickens or horses, or anything that could be construed as this realms version of such. Instead, there was a garden with wheat, small and strange fruit trees, and vegetables growing from the ground. It wasn't a noticeable large garden, but neither did it look particularly short. Its size was average at best and worst.
The home itself was noticeably small with wooden walls and roof painted red and black, constructed together decently. The windows were small and square, with you just barely being able to squeeze a rabbit through half of them. The barn was almost twice the size of the house itself, yet appeared to have twice less effort put in, with wooden foundations and walls having torn paint, and seemingly no door or gate. The roof of the barn didn't seem to have any paint or texture to it.
It was like whoever built it lost interest halfway through after discovering there was no livestock.
The trio walked close to the house itself, admiring it with curiosity and intrigue.
"Looks cosy," Frisk said.
"How… how do we know someone's even home?" MK asked.
"There is a thing called knocking, not sure if you've heard of it," Flowey snarkily said.
MK stared at him, silently unamused.
"Oh right, no arms, my apologies," Flowey quickly added.
"I have a head…" MK muttered.
Frisk knocked on the front door. There came no answer. She knocked again, and this time they all waited a bit. Still nothing. No sounds of any living thing from the inside.
"No one's home," Frisk said.
"Does it mean we can stay here?" MK asked.
"Let's not be so hasty yet, kid," Flowey replied.
They walked up to the windows and peeked inside. Even though it was pretty foggy, there were no visible traces of any being inside. No lights were turned on, and no movements.
"Can't see any signs of life," Frisk pointed out. "Maybe this place is abandoned?"
"What difference would that make?" Flowey replied.
"Well if it is, then there's nothing stopping us from staying," Frisk answered. "No one for us to put in danger."
"You seem to assume that The Hunt wouldn't search here," Flowey said. "Sorry to break it, but if they come here, they will search through anything."
"At this point," Frisk began. "It's starting to sound like you just don't wanna be in this house."
"No, no, I'm just being cautious," Flowey said. "Hmm. Eh, whatever. On second thought, this is actually a good place. There's nothing around for miles and miles. No trees, nothing. I can even pinpoint our exact route through the valley from the entrance at this spot looking back. So yeah. If The Hunt ever sets foot in the valley, we'll know with about an hour of a head start."
"Awesome. So it's settled?"
"Wait, wait, wait. Let's look around first. Make sure we're not missing any traps or, I dunno, any other vile nonsense."
"Alright. You're the boss."
"I'm not. Not really. But thank you kindly for assuming, I'll take it as a compliment."
"Yeah, yeah, don't let it get to your head."
"Come on. You know it will."
Frisk grinned a bit.
He's getting to me, she thought.
"Let's check the back first," Flowey said.
"Alright, you do that, I'll check out the barn," Frisk said.
"Good idea, always check the barns," Flowey said. "Might be hidden bags of dust or something hidden there. Not the sanest monsters build habitats in these locations. Alright, MK. MK? Max? I'm talking to you."
"Oh?" MK replied, looking up from the ground.
"You're with Frisk," Flowey said. "She can defend you better than I can."
"It's alright," MK said. "I'll stay here. Erm… keep watch."
"Ok, we'll call each other if something comes up," Frisk said.
"Good you pointed that out," Flowey said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have even thought of it."
"Haha…" Frisk said sarcastically with a blank face.
She put her hands into her hoodie pockets and headed towards the barn.
"What is this?" Frisk overheard Flowey say. "Hey, kid?! Over here. This ought to be something for you, eh?"
Since he didn't seem to be calling for her as well, she decided to check whatever seemed to excite him once she was done checking the barn. She didn't expect to find much either way.
Does this world even have livestock? Frisk pondered. They have goat people, cow people, and even chicken people. Then there was that donkey guy so it's not far-reaching that they have horse people too. So what would they even have as livestock, if any? Or maybe it's like humans and monkeys? Or perhaps they brought other animals besides dogs down here.
Once she stood in front of it and looked inside did an answer arrive for her ponderings.
"A storage…" Frisk said to herself. "Had to be."
Bags containing grain and fertilizer and old fruit lay in piles on the floor. There were also some work tools and workbenches. Other than that, nothing more of interest.
"Huh," Frisk muttered. "Didn't know what to expect."
But just as she was about to turn around, she spotted something, something strange from the corner of her eyes.
There was bustling under the bags. Something moving subtly among them. Then one bag on top fell with a thump revealing a small, white fluffy pillow-like thing behind.
What the hell? Frisk thought.
It was a big, white Samoyed dog much like The Annoying Dog from Snowdin. Very much like The Annoying Dog from Snowdin. It turned to look at her with its mouth open like it was smiling.
"Oh?" Frisk said. "Well, hey there, buddy."
The dog closed its mouth and turned its head sideways as if to examine her. Other than that, it seemed little interested in her.
Frisk could see no leash or collar on it. Perhaps having your pets be loose was just a thing in this kingdom.
"Come here buddy," Frisk said in a friendly voice. "Over here."
When the dog still did nothing she came to the thought that this was a dumb move. She didn't know it. As far as she knew, it could as well be trained for guarding. Or a stray, which could make it worse.
So Frisk shrugged and left the barn, returning to her companions.
"Flowey, MK?" she said as she entered the garden. "You guys are not gonna believe this-"
She paused immediately as she saw a peculiar sight. Flowey had torn some of the fruits from the trees and was now dining like a glutton on them. Flowey held several of them in individual vines while holding one fruit dangling in front of MK so they could bite, which they did wordlessly.
"Howdy," Flowey said. "Don't worry. There's plenty enough for you."
He took another bite.
Frisk furrowed her brow and crossed her arms.
"Really now?" she asked with audible disapproval.
"What?" Flowey asked, mouth full. "They're not poisonous or anything, I already checked."
Frisk kept watching him gulp the food with a disapproving look, seeing a huge chunk form in the vine holding the stem before it quickly shrunk away.
"What if the owners arrive?" Frisk asked. "We still don't know whether this place's been deserted or not."
"You think this is stealing or something?" he asked and took another bite.
"What else would you call it?"
"Come on, Frisk. We're not in the state to just waltz into a grocery store anytime we like. Cause in case you've forgotten, we're wanted and penniless. Beggars can't be choosers. Literally, in this case."
Frisk said nothing and looked at the ground.
"They'll probably understand," Flowey said. "If not, we'll book it."
Frisk stared at her companions having a snack. Juice ran down MK's chin. It was probably alright, Frisk thought. Maybe no one would find out.
"Suit yourself," Flowey said and took another bite.
At that moment, hearing the crunch, Frisk felt a grumble in her stomach.
"Ehh fuck it, why not?" Frisk said.
"That's the spirit," Flowey said, grinning with a stuffed mouth.
She walked up to the trees and picked fruit. All the fruits on this tree resembled an orange apple with some strange crab-like pinchers protruding from it.
Very Star Wars-y, Frisk thought.
She took a small bite of the fruit to start. The outer skin was like biting into dry jerky and took a little bit of effort to tear off. Other than that, the interior was soft and tasted very close to an apple with a strange alien quality. Frisk could only describe it as if the fruit was partly made of solid water. Not as in ice since it was warm, not particularly hard and didn't melt in her mouth. But rather like the essence of water made solid and then inserted into the fruit.
Frisk took a larger bite to check if she would feel this strangeness again, and she did. Other than that, the fruit tasted pretty much like a moist apple.
"It's good," Frisk said, mouth full. "If a bit soft."
"So what is it you were going to say earlier?" Flowey inquired.
"Oh, right," Frisk replied. "There's a dog in the barn."
"For real?" MK asked.
"Yeah," Frisk answered. "As I said, I don't think this place is as abandoned as we think."
"Why didn't you point it out beforehand?" MK asked.
"Dunno," Frisk said and shrugged. "Guess I was just hungry.
"Ehh, could be a stray," Flowey pointed out.
"Maybe. Does the underground have many strays?"
"Not too many. But enough."
"Enough for what?"
"To be noticeable? Geez, you're slow today. That one was pretty much a given."
"Yeah, don't rub it in, I suck at getting context sometimes."
"That explains a lot."
He smirked and the trio walked back to the front of the house. Frisk took another bite into the fruit. It wasn't as fresh this time, but still pretty good.
She placed her arm on the door handle of the house and pulled. It didn't budge.
"Figures," she said.
She sighed.
"What now?" she asked.
"It's no biggy," Flowey pointed out. "You know I can pick locks."
"Wouldn't that be burgling?" MK asked.
"What do you think we should do then?" Flowey inquired. "Wait for the owner."
"Maybe," MK said. "It's not too cold here either way."
"Oh, your politeness will be the death of me," Flowey said. "Frisk?"
"Yeah, I'm abstaining from voting this time," she said before taking another bite.
Flowey placed a vine under his "chin" and looked around inquisitively.
"Over here," Flowey said, spying a small precipice on the hill they stood on. "You guys wanted some rest, eh? Just for your sake, this place is as good as any."
He sat, or rather what could be described best as sitting for a sentient flower, on the edge of the small rock face.
Frisk nodded and sat down to the left of him with MK squeezing themselves in-between. Flowey dangled one fruit in front of them like fish bait, and MK took small bites of it here and there.
The rockface faced the battlefield, giving a pretty good birds-eye view of the entire dust-covered field.
Frisk looked at Flowey, noting how he seemed to stuff as much of the fruit into his mouth. One of the fruits was nothing more than a core at this point.
"I thought you said you couldn't get hungry?" she inquired, mouth full of fruit.
"Mmm, this is a nice view," Flowey said without acknowledging her.
Frisk shrugged and looked back.
"Agreed," she said. "In a morbid kind of way."
"Hmm," Flowyey simply said. "What about you, kiddo? Erm, no offence. Cause of your-"
"It's nice," MK said.
The three kept looking and biting into the fruits. The only noise around outside of the crunching was the soft flowing wind which made the flowing grass look like ocean waves.
"So… you said this valley was haunted?" Frisk asked.
"That's what many believe," Flowey said. "Why wouldn't they? So much essence in one place, it's not too far of a reach."
"I've not seen any ghosts so far," Frisk replied. "Do you think one lives in the house?"
"Perhaps," Flowey replied. "You know, believe it or not, there was once a big town here."
"Really?" Frisk asked.
"Yeah, Valleytown," Flowey answered. "Not the most original name, of course. The king is infamous for that. Now you can, in fact, see some remnants of the town if you look hard enough."
"What happened to it?" Frisk inquired.
"The entire town was torn down after the war," Flowey explained.
"That sounds a bit overkill, but I guess I can understand."
"What do you mean "overkill"?" MK inquired.
"Oh, nothing," Frisk answered. "Just seems your culture has a lot of stigma around death. Not that mine doesn't, but it doesn't go as far as tearing down entire homes. Probably just bad choice of words on my part, sorry."
"Well, you got to factor in the abundance of all the dust," Flowey replied. "Not once since maybe the war between humans and monsters has there been so much in one location. The entire area became a graveyard overnight. Besides, considering many monster types long lifespans, it's not hard to have stronger feelings when it's cut short."
"That makes sense," Frisk said. "Sorry about that."
"And once again, you're welcome," Flowey said.
"You think they're still out there?" MK suddenly asked.
Flowey sighed and looked on as if he didn't want to indulge in that thought. After a few seconds, he finally answered.
"I don't know," was all he said.
There came a bit of silence between them as they chewed and sightsaw.
"What if they are?" MK pondered. "Why else would everyone be saying it's haunted? I've been to a couple of funerals. My parents always told me that a monster's essence lives on wherever its dust lies. So… would that mean they are all trapped there?"
Flowey didn't seem to know how to answer that, even though Frisk was now waiting for one.
"I wouldn't want that," MK continued. "Trapped forever in the one place you died, unable to move away. Not as ghosts, but as minds. Maybe that's what ghosts are? Minds without a body. Tied to a place. Forever. No way… to leave."
To say that the entire atmosphere turned sombre would be an understatement. Flowey had never looked as uneasy before, Frisk could tell, to the point he completely stopped eating even though he was stuffing himself a second ago. She didn't know why but decided it was better not to pry.
Maybe he's thinking about his lack of soul? Frisk wondered. That his mind will be trapped here forever? God, this is a dour mood swing, isn't it?
Now that she was thinking of ghosts and memories, she thought back to her experience in the old city, when she died for the first time. Then she thought of the events leading to that when she met a certain entity of sorts.
"I actually met a ghost a while back," Frisk said. "Back in the ruins, I mean. He wasn't that bad. Pretty nice, in fact. I think he was called something like… err, Napster? Naptstablue?"
"Napstablook?" Flowey said. "Yeah, we're not talking about that kind of ghost. His race isn't a "ghost" in the literal sense."
"The hell does that mean?" Frisk asked.
Flowey sighed tiredly.
"It means that the person you met is more of a non-solid entity that works like a ghost," Flowey explained. "Rather than someone who died and came back. I mean, I get your confusion. But trust me, Napsta is nothing like an actual ghost. Got that?"
"Sorry?" Frisk inquired, taken back by the hostility.
"Oh, was that not clear enough for you either?" Flowey asked and sighed tiredly.
"That's not-" Frisk began.
"I like you and all," Flowey explained. "But to be honest, Frisk, it's kinda hard to get through your head sometimes."
"No, geez, I understood what you were saying," Frisk said. "I think. Or, rather, I hope at least. It's just that I feel like you are-"
"Who goes there?!" a deep, unknown voice said in the distance.
Frisk, Flowey and MK immediately froze in their spots.
A lone figure stood by the edge of the border of the old battlefield, his boots visibly covered in white powdered dust. He was dressed from head to toe in dark clothing, alongside a long hood and a covering over his mouth.
He held a flashlight in one hand and held clumsily in his other an overwhelming pile of papers, maps and charting instruments. A beige coloured open purse hung dangling on his elbow holding multicoloured chalks and strange instruments.
Already, the worst was on the minds of the trio, and they all were preparing to book it.
"Oh… it's just a bunch of kids," the voice quickly said in a calmer demeanour. "Erm, howdy? How are you doing?"
Frisk and Flowey gave out a simultaneous breath of relief.
"Scared you, did I?" the figure asked. "Oh, my sincerest sorries. I never intended to."
"Uh, hi mister?" Flowey called out.
"Sorry, we… we didn't mean to disturb you," Frisk said.
"Eh, it's, ugh, fine," the man said.
The figure walked closer to them, up the small hill, clumsily attempting to hold all the material. Then he slowly put down all the stuff he carried on the grass next to a small boulder.
He brushed himself and took off his face protection, revealing a head that made Frisk almost freeze in an immediate rush of excitement.
The monster had a long reptilian snout covered in blue scales, alongside two short horns that protruded from his short blonde hair, and his gentle and tired-looking eyes were yellow and reptilian.
Frisk had to fight from making a noise. Something she wanted to see ever since she heard their existence, yet even now she could scarcely believe that one of these awesome beings was visible in front of her. A dragon. A full-blown dragon, like she loved in her childhood, and one she later accepted as myths. But here was one dressed up, standing and smiling like an ordinary man on the street. He wasn't inhumanly large and neither did he crawl, and no signs of any large wings to fly. But Frisk didn't care, for humanoid or not, she was looking at a dragon.
"Heh, see you found my garden," the dragon said. "No, no, it's fine, it's fine. I have plenty of more crabapples to farm. More than enough, eh? Sorry, I don't get many visitors out here. Not many have come to this valley for years outside of giving a quick tribute to the poor souls back there. But I don't think I've seen any of you before, though you look sort of familiar, flower. What brought you here? Are you here to pay your respects? If it's anyone special I can help guide you to the correct mural. I know most of these names and their spots like the back of my hand. Err, maybe more than the back of my hands, see? I don't look at the back of my hand that often."
It took the group a few seconds of silence to realize he had done speaking his mind for now.
"Oh, you're done?" Flowey asked. "Is it my turn?"
"Your turn with what?" the dragon asked. "Is it some sort of game? Oh, I oh so rarely have anyone else to play with. You see-"
"Can you please-!" Flowey quickly interrupted. "Ugh. Frisk, you wanna tell him what's going on? Frisk?"
"Holy shit…" Frisk exclaimed uncontrollably. "You're… you're a dragon."
The old monster stared at her with a brow raised.
"Uhh… yes?" he said. "Why? Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Erm, excuse my friend, Frisk, here," Flowey said. "She's sort of a tourist in these parts, so most things are new to her."
Fuck me in the everything, Frisk thought. All my years, I've… god damn, I can't believe this is honest to god happening!
"As I was saying," Flowey said. "Is it my turn to speak? And what I meant to say was… why are you here?"
"I live here," the dragon simply answered
"What? All the way. Out here?"
"Yeah, this is my farm. Built it myself, you see. And the garden. I grow it all myself. You may have noticed I also grow vegetables and… some wheat I guess. Now you might be wondering why anyone would build a farm out here-"
"Well I'm not," Flowey said. "God, are you like fueled by your own words or something?"
The dragon looked slightly down and less full of energy.
"Flowey, I don't think that was nice," Frisk whispered.
"Ugh, sorry about that," Flowey replied. "Still learning the whole "politeness" thing."
"It's alright," the dragon continued. "I did kind of lose myself a bit. It's been a while, you see? I was so caught up I even forgot to introduce myself. Well, the name's Vladi."
"I'm Francisca," Frisk said. "Or Frisk for short."
"No worries, I did catch your name," Vladi said.
"Flowey," Flowey said. "Flowey for short."
MK, meanwhile, remained silent, having backed away a bit in a close distance.
"What about the other kid with you?" Vladi asked. "Doesn't talk a lot, does he? Err, she?"
"MK, you wanna say hi?" Frisk asked calmly.
MK looked up at her, at her reassuring expression. MK rose and took a few steps forward, slowly and uneasily, with their head bowed down.
"Erm… hi…" they said. "My name's Max, but most call me MK."
"Alright, nice to meet-" Vladi began.
"I'm an enby," MK quickly added.
Vladi eyed them with perplexion.
"Pardon?" he asked.
"I'm an enby," MK reiterated. "Just putting it out there."
"What's that? Some kind of job?"
"It means… I don't identify with either gender. Or at least not mentally. Something like that. Still figuring it out."
The dragon looked at them inquisitively for a moment before shrugging.
"Alrighty then," he said. "That's neat. You do you. Oh, my apologies, kids. I piled up all my tools wrongly on top of each other. Give me a moment."
With that said, Vladi kneeled and attempted to organize his items in some fashion.
Frisk smiled in satisfaction as he watched the dragon awkwardly stuffing everything into the bag.
Guess I can die happy now, Frisk joked to herself.
"Hey, kid?" Flowey spoke to MK. "So it's neat you're all happy about your identity and everything, kid. But I don't think there's a need to announce it every time you meet someone."
"Wait, why not?" MK asked back. "How else would they know that I'm… different?"
"No, you're not different, kid," Frisk said. "But for real, Flowey, I honestly don't see the big deal."
"Yeah, none of us is saying you're different," Flowey added.
"Ok… then how would they know that I'm not a boy or a girl?" MK inquired.
"Well…" Flowey said, clearly sounding unsure. "Maybe, erm… maybe if someone misgenders you, then you'll just correct them. Look, I'm just trying to say that you don't need to be defined by it. You're more than just your gender or lack thereof in this case."
"Doesn't sound like they're trying to be defined by it," Frisk pointed out.
"I, literally, have no clue what you kids are yapping about," the dragon said, still gathering his belongings. "Shows how out of touch I am, heh. So I'm just not gonna involve myself. Just do your things kids, I can wait."
"It's nothing," Frisk said. "We're just helping MK. They're still just discovering themself."
"I'm… pretty new to this…" MK explained shily. "Pretty much just learned about it yesterday."
With that, Frisk had finished her fruit and stood up
"Erm, anyway, it was nice meeting you, erm, Vladi?" she said. "Really nice, in fact. I know it sounds weird to you, but you have no idea how much it makes my day to see a dragon in person. But we better keep going now. We have a long road ahead of us."
"Whoa, whoa, this late?" Vladi asked, confused. "Do any of you have any idea what time it is out here?"
"Erm, not really," Flowey said.
"I have a phone," Frisk pointed out. "But I very much doubt it counts whatever timezone this place has."
"It's pretty darn late here in the valley zone," Vladi said. "Most kids your age would be in bed by this point. And nights in the valley are, well, not kind. You can maybe guess why. So why not stay here for the night? I have plenty of room to spare."
Frisk stood silent, thinking. The dragon eyes seemed to have a hint of hope in them for some odd reason.
"Uhh, can we talk about it first?" Frisk said. "As a group?"
"Of course," Vladi replied. "It's just an offer."
"Thank you," Frisk said.
She sat down on the grass and Flowey and MK huddled up closer to her.
"We talked about this, didn't we?" Flowey whispered. "This is a bad idea."
"He seems nice enough," MK said.
"Agreed, which is why we shouldn't put him in danger," Flowey said. "Seriously, we may have already put him near the top of the kingdom's wanted registry just by talking with him."
Frisk looked at the dragon in the distance. Perhaps there was only one easy choice.
"I'm just… ok," MK said, defeated.
"Sorry, kid," Flowey replied. "We can find somewhere else to hole up."
With that, she rose from the group and stood up.
"Hey, Vladi?!" Frisk exclaimed.
"Yes?" the dragon asked back with wide-open eyes.
"Sorry," Frisk began. "We appreciate it, but-"
"No, no, no, it's not a big deal," Vladi said. "It's not a bother for me, at all. I'm sure I can find some space for you. I'll gladly even sleep outside on the grass if need be."
"It's not that," Frisk said. "Look, I really wish we could stay, but… it's complicated."
The old dragon looked at the kids with an analytical look.
"On the run, are ya?" he asked.
Neither Frisk, MK, or even Flowey expected him to say that. At most, they expected him to say some polite farewells, or at the most desperate, bargain with them.
"What made you come to that conclusion?" Flowey asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Not many come through this valley without a good reason," the dragon said. "Especially not kids. You must've heard. They say this valley is haunted. Haunted by the horrors of war."
"Yeah, we know about that," Flowey said. "Frankly, there are always stories about these types of places."
"In this case, I wouldn't say it's all just stories," the dragon continued. "So what brought you here? It's not The Hunt, is it?"
Frisk, Flowey and MK silently looked at each other for a moment.
"And what if it was?" Flowey inquired.
Vladi shrugged.
"Frankly, I'm not a huge fan of them," he said. "Nor the kingdom. I mean, I do pay my taxes like a good citizen, and I sell a fair share of my crops to The Capital, but with how things are in general? Eh. Plus, I've never really seen them in this area that much. Won't be surprised if they are too scared to come here."
"That's convenient for us," Flowey pointed out.
"Ah, so it is The Hunt?" Vladi pried.
"What- gods dammit!" Flowey cursed. "Erm, darn it."
"Eh, don't worry, you don't need to tell me what you did to get on their list," Vladi said. "Pretty much anything riles them up these days. I heard one of the warriors broke a poor girl's face because she added pickles to her burgers."
Word travels fast, Frisk thought. Even somewhere as isolated as this.
"Err, that's just what the merchants who arrived a few hours ago said," Vladi added. "Never get a chance to talk to them. It's considered rude or something to interact with customers but I overheard some of them talking about it so maybe it's simply hearsay. Either way, my offer still stands. Even if it involves The Hunt."
Frisk stood by and thought about it for a bit.
"Look man," Frisk said to the dragon. "Your offer, it's very tempting. And kind. But sorry, we just can't risk it. Won't risk it, rather. Not because we don't fully trust you or anything. But we are wanted people, and so even if we can trust you 100 per cent, we would be putting you in danger by staying with you."
"I… I can hide you," Vladi continued. "If The Hunt comes here. I have some good hiding spots in this place. Trust me, I am fully aware of the dangers but I'm willing to take the risks. Please?"
"I'm sorry…" Frisk simply said.
Vladi opened his jaws as if to say another word, but then stopped. He closed it and looked at the group with sad disappointment.
"I understand…" he said glumly. "It was idiotic suggested on my part, I… I shouldn't. None of us can see the future after all."
At that moment, MK's eyes lit up.
"Yo, Frisk?" they said. "What about your "foresight" ability? Can you do that? See if it's safe?"
"MK, it-" Frisk began.
She stopped her words as she thought about it. The suggestion brought fragments of an idea to the forefront of her mind.
"We told you before, kid," Flowey said. "It doesn't-"
"No, no, they have a point," Frisk said, her index finger in the air. "We found a pattern, didn't we Flowey? Determination, that's the key. Well, maybe I can like brute force it somehow. Force me to feel determined."
"And how in the world are you going to brute force it?" Flowey asked.
He looked up at her as if she were spewing the dumbest drivels he had ever heard.
"I could… think hard?" Frisk suggested. "It's just an idea, but it sounds like it could work, right?"
"In theory, maybe," Flowey replied.
"Erm," Vladi inquired, frowning like the most confused crocodile in the world. "Are you all talking some teen lingo I've not heard about?"
"Sorry, I'm thinking," Frisk said.
"Wait, didn't you say your power was broken?" Flowey inquired. "That's how you worded it."
"I know," Frisk said. "But still, it functioned, even though it was painful and my memory was late. Look, somewhere in me, I can feel it. I feel that it works again."
"Oh, gods," Flowey muttered.
He placed one of his vines over his face to mimic a facepalm.
"Here we go again," he said. "Big brave Francisca running wildly into the woods towards noises dragging her friends along, yet again. Eh, if it works then fine. Just remember, if something goes wrong, don't forget I told you so."
Frisk nodded at him, closed her eyes and began thinking. Hard. Her mind went through everything, everything she could think of that could possibly relate to her sense of determination. She instinctively closed her fists. It was only a second yet it felt like minutes.
What in the world keeps a person going?! Frisk thought.
Then it came to her. It arrived just as she sensed it. Her determination, a blinding light within her psyche, within her soul. The fuel of her powers. Of humanities power.
With that, she opened her eyes.
She felt the surge of determination within her. The idea of being here, in a momentary sanctuary with strange friends away from the horrors that followed them, before venturing back into the dangers ahead, filled her with determination.
She opened her eyes and they quickly blinked a yellow light. She looked down at Flowey, who his eyes and gave a reluctant nod of approval.
Frisk looked back at Vladi and gave a friendly smirk.
"Alright," she said confidently. "Just one night."
A large joyful smile formed on the blue dragon's snout.
"Oh, splendid!" Vladi said excitedly. "Anyway, wait just a moment."
The dragon searched all his pockets before pulling out a small key. He gave the trio a friendly grin and unlocked the door to his house.
"Ah, now wait here a moment, children," Vladi said as he opened the door. "Just wanna tidy things up a bit for you. Don't wanna be rude to my guests, now do I? Heh, anyway…"
With his backside turned to them, as he entered the house, Frisk could now see the small and blue reptilian tail poking from under his trouser. Her eyes widened at the sight and her joy returned.
"Happy to see a dragon?" MK inquired.
"So happy to see a dragon," Frisk said.
"Err, ok?" MK muttered, looking at her like she was turning crazy. "I don't get it."
"You know Eldur was a dragon?" Flowey pointed out. "Or at least dragon related, yet you never fangirled over that guy as much."
"I thought he was a drake?" MK asked.
"Potato, potahto," Flowey said.
"Right, you said something about that," Frisk replied. "About Eldur. Guess I just never got a chance to take it in since I was so busy shitting my pants whenever he was around. Also, he was always in his armour, so he could as well have been a humanoid gopher to me or something. Guess seeing is believing."
"And Vladi is also not trying to kill us," Flowey added. "Yet. That seems like a more important distinction."
"Oh right, you weren't around for that thing," Frisk said.
"What thing?" Flowey asked.
"Eh, let's get inside," Frisk said. "MK and I will tell you all about it."
"Wait, what happened?" Flowey inquired. "Seriously, what did I miss?!"
Author's note:
Sorry for the delay. Just been a very busy May for me and my life.And by that, I mean it was a VERY busy May.
So yeah. Sorry for the delay. And speaking of delays here's a very belated author's note.
I guess I can start by saying that I, just to be clear, have NOT lost interest. That's the thing with my long delays. Whenever they happen, I get nervous and start thinking that all of you, my readers, or specifically, the readers who have stuck with this fic for a long time, I start to worry that you'll all get the wrong impression and assume that I've simply lost interest. No, that is not at all the case.
But I also have a tendency of having writer's block. Truth be told, I never expected myself to get this far. Almost half of this chapter in particular was pretty much made up on the spot.
Speaking of, I'd say this is a mostly relaxing chapter so far. In fact, the whole Valley chapter will be slower and calmer for the most part, more focused on world-building and character building. Maybe better compared to The Forest chapter in terms of pace and progression.
That's not to say this is an entirely easy chapter to write, oh no. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been over 2 months in the making.
The whole segment with the old battlefield and the murals took me a while, but strangely enough, the part with the farmhouse was even longer for me to complete.
But that is a part I was looking forward to writing. Here we meet a character I've been kind of looking forward to, the dragon monster Vladi, even though I hadn't fully conceived his name beforehand. I was originally going to name him Francis, as in based on Francis Drake, cause he's a dragon(get it?). I changed my mind for obvious reasons, least of all that I don't want to get my readers confused with Frisk's real name, Francisca. So instead, I named him after Vlad Tepes AKA Dracula AKA the son of Dracul or Dragon. It may be surprising to hear, but it took me a while to come up with the name.
We also meet a dog. Isn't that strange? Have we met this dog before? Who knows, I certainly won't tell? But either way, there's a dog in the barn.
Also, one more thing. I've just started work on another spin-off story for this AU, one involving the backstory of a specific mysterious individual with hands. That's all I will say so far. Unfortunately, I am only human so that means this story will have to go on a short little hiatus for a few weeks. But stay tuned for the spin-off story. I am really looking forward to it, and I hope you are too. Oh, and to make it more interesting, it will delve deep into some of the cosmic horror stuff I've hinted at so far in this fic. That ought to be a big clue.