Now delays are what we are more used to, hm? Apologies, I got distracted with the holidays. But now I present to you, the final part of UNVOIDED, the true ending to Leaving the Void! I hope you enjoy :)
~Emily Believes xoxo
They journeyed through the castle at a slow pace. For everyone else, the Underground was nostalgic, despite it being a prison of sorts for all of them. But they became a family in these walls — it was hard not to reminisce.
Besides, Gaster felt a little weak, emotionally and physically. He wasn't about to say "no" to taking it easy, even if it meant staying in this prison a little longer.
At least this time, he had his sons, his friends. As they traversed the endless halls, Papyrus held one of his hands, his other arm around Gaster's shoulder to keep his father upright. Sans lagged behind, outwardly stating laziness, but his darting eyes betrayed him.
The group's chatter was mundane at first, mostly about various memories from the castle and immediate stories about the past few years they thought Gaster needed to know: Sans worked at the same scientific nonprofit that Alphys did, though in a different department. Toriel's school was slowly but surely getting more human students. Frisk, when not in school, worked as ambassador to various human governments with varying success, and Asgore and Papyrus jointly took up the role when Frisk was busy with their education. Alphys and Undyne were engaged and getting married soon.
A burst of laughter that erupted between the group began to die down, echoing through the halls. What a joyous sound, Gaster thought.
As it rang, Alphys hazarded a glance at the undead skeleton. "D-Dr. Gaster?" she called.
"Yes, Dr. Alphys?"
"Uhm, it's been a-almost a decade since we've made it to the surface." She nervously rang her hands together. "Wh-Where were you?"
Gaster faltered slightly. The others slowed, turning to face the old Royal Scientist.
He supposed he should have expected the question sooner or later.
If he let his mind wander too long, it was like he could feel his body melting back into that amalgamated mess from just moments ago. (And how strange that it was just moments ago. His new reality still felt like a dream.)
"You don't have to answer!" Alphys quickly backtracked.
Gaster gave a somber chuckle at that. "Dr. Alphys, for ages, I've wanted nothing more than to talk to you all. Of course I will tell you."
He took a deep breath, turning his gaze to the many glorious windows lining the walls. Wanting to talk about it and actually talking about it were two different things, unfortunately. Maybe it was his son's hand in his own, maybe it was the fact they could actually hear his voice, maybe it was the miraculous human ahead of him, but Gaster told his story.
"I've been here," he said, "in the Underground."
He tried to stay strong, neutral, but his voice still warbled. Papyrus squeezed his hand.
"The universe was seconds away from collapsing when I confronted Chara in the Void. I, well… I merged two previous timelines, ones with better endings, and combined that with the unstable, existing timeline. In essence, I reset the universe, but in doing so, I was essentially erased from existence. I remained a figment of sorts, unable to interact with others or even inanimate objects if others could see me using them."
The atmosphere readily grew uneasy. "So as we continued with our second chance…?" Alphys interjected.
"I was trapped," Gaster finished. He disliked the silence that followed, and opted to fill it with his own footfalls. Papyrus shuffled alongside him.
"I spent most of my time in a small grey room in Waterfall. I could leave, but it… hurt," he said, taking a measured breath. "I can only assume the universe conjured it because it did not quite know what to do with me, someone who clearly existed but had no evidence to prove it besides some inventions and a job title.
"But I left, despite the pain, when Frisk embarked on their journey one last time." Gaster gave the human a small smile. "I witnessed them reset a few times after difficult battles, but they went through with kindness, as always. After they achieved their happy ending, they did not reset again." His smile soon faltered. "And then… everyone left the Underground, but I remained."
His mouth suddenly felt all too dry. "For eight years, I have been alone."
They came upon the Throne Room. It was as it was left — covered in buttercups. They were in full bloom, overtaking every inch of floor. The golden hour light reflected off their dew.
Gaster let go of Papyrus's hand, leaning down to gently cup the yellow petals. "I spent most of it tending to the flowers."
"What a lonely experience," said Asgore from some yards ahead.
Gaster kept his gaze fixed on the buttercups. "It was."
He felt someone kneel beside him. A purple sleeve crossed his eyeline, and soon, Toriel squeezed his knee in reassurance. "But… Sans could see you," she offered.
A small laugh escaped his mouth before he could stop it. "Well, Sans's trans-timeline abilities elude even me," Gaster said. He smiled softly, peering up at his eldest. "I owe a lot to you, my son."
Sans smiled at the praise, but like most other things, he shrugged it off. "Eh, you're a smart guy. Bet you coulda figured it out. I just gave you a hand." His smile broke into a grin as he stuck his hand out towards his father.
Gaster's smile faded into a dubious expression. He quirked his brow, unimpressed. "I know there is a whoopie cushion, Sans."
"See? Can't get anything past you."
Toriel chuckled, and the thick atmosphere became slightly more breathable. Papyrus took to dramatically grabbing and inspecting Sans's outstretched hand.
"Sans! You brought a whoopie cushion underground to save Father?!"
"Woah, no need to blow up, bro. I always have an emergency whoopie cushion on me. Never know when you need to clear the air, you know?"
Gaster shook his head, turning his gaze back to the flowers as playful bickering filled his ears. Something caught his eye — a rustling further in the buttercups. Gaster searched in the sea of yellow, and though he tried to hide, Gaster locked eyes with a strangely sentient plant.
Gaster was hoping they would stumble upon him.
Flowey the Flower froze. His stem shook as his face contorted to show a storm of emotions. Angry. Sad. Hopeful? It was odd. Soulless beings couldn't feel emotions, after all. Perhaps it was soul remembrance. Chara felt it too, in her final moments.
Then again, if everyone else remembered the universe before it reset, then Flowey likely did too, and that meant he wasn't actually Flowey.
Gaster chuckled to himself. It always came down to variables, didn't it?
"Don't laugh at me," the trapped prince spat.
Gaster recognized a different emotion in Flowey's eyes: fear.
"I would never laugh at your misfortune, my boy," he said, ignoring Toriel's startled gasp from beside him and the sudden lack of conversation from behind.
The conversation was off to a rough start, so Gaster shifted where he was sitting cross-legged. Hopefully it would feel more level than Gaster looming over him. "You did a brave thing, all that time ago. Breaking the barrier, even though it meant you would return like this," he said gently. "Monsterkind owes you a great deal."
"But not as much as they owe you, huh, old man?" Flowey snapped back. "What is this all really for, huh? You come back so they can, what? Chant your name, give you riches? Do everything you ask because you saaaved them?"
Gaster gave a somber smile. Both of them knew the harsh words weren't true, just a feeble attempt to bat away unwanted soul remembrance.
"All I want, Prince Asriel," Gaster said, "is peace. For me. For my family and friends. For monsters. For you. Eight years is quite a long time to be alone. I unfortunately know the feeling."
"You know NOTHING!" Flowey screamed. He burrowed away, and briefly, Gaster thought the boy had run away for good, but he quickly shot up closer to the scientist. "Oh boo-hoo, the old man can't be seen by anyone! SO WHAT!? At least he gets to somehow, IMPOSSIBLY keep his soul! He doesn't have to deal with feeling nothing! He doesn't have to deal with not being able to grieve his family, his life! And worst of all," Flowey painfully chuckled, "he doesn't know what it's like to deal with the reality that determination can't give him an out, that all that's left for him is rotting in a soulless husk. You may have been stuck, old man, but you aren't empty like me!"
"I've given you a soul once before, Prince Asriel," Gaster asserted. "I can do it again."
"It doesn't erase everything I've done!" Flowey barked, sounding halfway to tears. "How I've hurt people. Even if they don't remember, I DO! I remember every horrible thing I've ever done! I will always be Flowey, no matter what science bullshit you use!"
Gaster frowned and firmly responded, "You forget that I, too, have done irredeemable things." He squeezed his eye sockets closed, and he was met with the faces of those he killed for research. They were innocent monsters with their whole lives ahead of them, slain mercilessly for data. "These terrible things we've done, the terrible things we've been through… They leave us with a heavy burden of guilt. And that is quite frightening. Where do we put all this grief, for us, for those we've hurt?"
Gaster breathed out, and the phantom faces disappeared. "We disperse the load, Prince Asriel. The ones who love us help us heal, help us move forward." He looked over to Toriel, who still held a shaky hand to her mouth.
"Asriel," she mumbled. She shuffled closer, and Flowey cowered.
Asgore, who had taken a few steps closer himself, stopped in his tracks. He swallowed thickly, instead kneeling close to the buttercup garden he nurtured for so long.
"Let us help you, son," he said, his low baritone trembling.
"You don't want a son like me," Flowey retorted.
Toriel gave a soft, maternal smile. "My sweet child, who wouldn't want a brave, selfless, wise boy such as yourself as a son?"
Flowey's bite all but dissipated. "I-I'm not…"
"You are, Asriel," Asgore assured. He, too, smiled. "That is how we know you will survive whatever the future has in store."
Toriel dared to inch closer, and this time, Flowey did not run. "Dr. Gaster will give you a soul. It will not solve everything, but it will take away the emptiness," she assured. "Will you let him do this for you?"
Gaster, too, gave a soft smile. "It would be an honor. A gift to a friend."
Flowey didn't answer. Instead, he silently shook, his petaled face slowly morphing to mirror his goat one. It was an admission in and of itself, a willingness to be vulnerable enough to accept his past self.
There was ruffling in the flowers. A few feet away, Frisk set down a pot. It was an offer, Gaster knew, to accompany them back to the surface.
Flowey seemed to surmise this, too. The boy, regaining a measured expression, turned to the scientist. "You can do what you need to do on the surface?" he asked, voice somewhere between hopeful and skeptical.
"We will have to come back for the Artificial Soul Machine, but after I have recovered, I will personally retrieve the needed materials. You will not have to wait long," Gaster promised.
Flowey's goat snout scrunched in thought, prompting Toriel to remind him, "Dr. Gaster needs to rest, son. He just came back himself."
The prince gave a relenting huff. "Fine."
The Dreemurrs brightened, and Gaster couldn't help but smile with them. They were one step closer to a true happy ending.
From another room, Undyne shouted, "Hey losers! We're burning sunlight!"
Gaster looked around, and sure enough, both Undyne and Alphys had left for the barrier. Papyrus bounced up, practically running towards the bright room.
Sans lagged behind. He stepped away from the buttercups, but his eyes darted between Flowey and his father, calculating something. He seemed to reach a favorable conclusion, because he simply said, "Don't wanna miss the sun on your first day back," before following his brother.
Gaster smiled at this, turning to the floral prince himself, who now sat in the pot Frisk held. "Do you remember when I recommended you see the sun, Prince Asriel?" he asked.
Flowey turned to the scientist with narrowed eyes. "...Yes."
"What a privilege it is to witness it with all these wonderful people, hm?"
Gaster winked, and he followed his sons through the barrier.
His eyes adjusted, and… wow.
The sun was larger than he remembered. It seemed brighter than it was when Gaster was here last, all those years ago. He could actually feel the sunlight now — it was pleasantly warm, unlike the heat of Hotland. The warmth was accompanied by a wonderful wind that gently blew his clothes, coolly traversing through his bones.
His eyes trailed to the mountains that stretched into the distance, bounding westward. Greenery, free from snow or swamps or scaffolding, engulfed the cliffside. The city lights glimmered, dancing with the natural sunlight.
What a gorgeous picture; he couldn't take his eyes off it. There was inextricable beauty in the world around him, his new reality. He was so excited to experience it with the ones he loved.
They stayed there for a while, standing in peaceful silence as Gaster took it all in. The sun continued to sink below the horizon. It was a sign from the universe, an apology maybe.
He gave one final look at Mt. Ebbott, and then decidedly looked forward.
"Well," said Dr. W. D. Gaster, brilliant scientist, savior of the universe, father and friend, "lead me home."
Every step meant he was further away from his past, the suffocating isolation.
At last, he could leave the Void behind.
A/N: Thank you for reading this, especially if you read the original when I was writing it. I'm glad our digital paths crossed again, even if just for a moment. :) Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts! Have a wonderful day and a very happy new year!