Darkzdragon: *Comes in wearing bunny ears* Happy belated Easter, everyone! Hope you had a fun day! Kinda funny that Easter happened on the same day as 'weed day'.

DarkFoxKit: Ooh, do you have any colorful candy eggs with you?

Darkzdragon: I do in fact *Holds out a basket full of colorful candy eggs*

DarkFoxKit: Hooray! *Dives into the basket of eggs*

Darkzdragon: Anyways, chapter 2… it's honestly still so weird-feeling to being posting again. It's nice.

DarkFoxKit: Yeah. I mean I've still updated a story or two from time to time, but it definitely had been years since I updated with Dark here. We're gonna have to get back into the swing of things. Oh, I should mention that the character being called 'Frizk' is intentional, it's not a misspelling of Frisk. We have a reason for changing the 's' to a 'z'.

Darkzdragon: Also, while we are getting back into the swing of things, as a reminder, we are not saying we will be posting anything related to Child of Mew or We Are Phantoms. And we might not go as hard with multi-posting like we were before. That was another big contributor to my burnout, having to juggle stories to post every week/every other week.

DarkFoxKit: So we'll try to take it easy with the updating. We've pretty much-

Darkzdragon: Ah buh buh *I held your lips* We have enough chapters as it stands to currently comfortably update weekly.

DarkFoxKit: *Pulls away from Dark's claw* Right, well, we'll let you guys get to the chapter. Have fun everyone!

Chapter 2: Conviction

"Rise and shine, kid! Wake up already!"

I snorted a little as I was shaken out of my sleep. I blinked open my eyes, feeling that groggy feeling. I… think I had a dream, it felt like it was pretty important.

I shook my head. "Uh… morning…?"

"Jeez, if you weren't human, I'd wonder if you were part Rock monster…" Flowey remarked.

"Heh… guessing I slept like a rock?" I chuckled. "I must've been more exhausted than I thought."

"Yeah, you did," Flowey confirmed. "I have some food in the kitchen if you're hungry."

As if on cue, my stomach growled. It had been a while since I had a decent meal. I mostly just had those donuts earlier.

"Oh, good, I am actually pretty hungry." I smiled as I got out of bed, until a faded memory popped into my mind. "Oh, uh, Flowey… is there a place called 'City'?"

Flowey blinked a bit before nodding. "Yeah, there is. I was gonna tell you about it later."

"Huh…"

"How did you know about it? You can't read monster writing, right?" Flowey asked.

"Not sure… I think I heard it in a dream or something," I replied. "Maybe I have a little bit of a foreshadowing power? That'd be a pretty cool power."

"Never heard of a power like that," Flowey remarked. "Oh, by the way, your clean clothes are over on the dresser."

"Oh, thanks for that! I never had a flower do my laundry before," I noted with interest. "Nobody would believe me if I ever told them that."

"I'm sure it'd be amusing to say the least," Flowey replied.

I walked over to the dresser and opened it up. I was surprised at how neatly folded my shirt and pants were. They looked a lot cleaner than they had in a long time too. I also saw the faded ribbon I had been wearing earlier. It was still faded, but it looked much cleaner now. I didn't have to worry about the dust getting into my hair anymore at least.

I picked up my clothes and noticed something was… different, aside from the fact they were clean. I decided to change out of the pajamas I was wearing to put my clothes back on. When I did, I decided to check my stat real quick. Flowey mentioned that washing clothes could cause their stats to rise, I wanted to see if that was true. I pulled up the menu and saw the clothes I was currently wearing raised my defense by 1. That was interesting. I looked at the faded ribbon I had in my hands, and decided to check that next.

"Washed Faded Ribbon. =5 DEF. If you're cuter, monsters won't attack you as hard. Recently washed and smells of flowers."

"Oh wow… you weren't kidding when you said washing clothes made them better," I remarked, impressed before realizing that Flowey left the room when I started changing. Huh… right, I guess it would've been kinda awkward if he saw me change. I guess I didn't think about it since he's… well, a flower, not a human. I used to change in front of animals at least. Then again, maybe all monsters are on the level of humans when it comes to intelligence? I mean… that rock could talk.

I shook my head and decided not to think about that right now. I tied the Washed Faded Ribbon back on my head. With that done, I left the room to head to the kitchen. I could use a good meal.

When I went into the kitchen, I was surprised to see an assortment of donuts, jugs of what would likely be cider, some kind of bowl of oatmeal, and a chocolate bar. These wouldn't I would call a healthy diet, aside from maybe the oatmeal.

"I apologize about the lack of variety," Flowey spoke up as he popped up from the kitchen floor. "But there aren't a lot of ingredients growing in Ruins. City just has the same stuff, like onions. Spider Donuts and Ciders are actually the best things around here."

"I know the donuts and ciders are good, but isn't it bad to just eat sweets all the time?" I asked. Though I guess it's better than soil and manure.

"Eh… it's not that bad," Flowey shrugged, or as much as a flower could shrug. "You're the first human to come here in a long time, so I hadn't thought about stocking up on other types of food much before you fell here."

I was still hungry, so I took some of the donuts and began eating them. They tasted just as good and fresh as when I bought the other two.

"So you wanted to know about City, right?" Flowey asked.

"Mm-hmm." I nodded as I continued chewing on the donut.

"City used to be the capital of the Underground," Flowey began to explain. "There's still stores there where you can do some shopping. There are monsters living there as well, those who refused to move again. If you want a comfy, cozy life, I'd recommend staying in this section of the Underground. Though, of course, there is a tradeoff to that comfy, cozy lifestyle."

"And that would be?" I wondered aloud.

"You'd only ever see the same people over and over for the rest of your life," Flowey answered. "The majority of monsters down here lives past Ruins. So if you stay here, there will be a limited variety to who you can see."

I frowned a little before I picked up a small glass cup and poured some cider into it. "I… actually don't know that much about this place… I mean the Underground in general. I thought it was a new world, because it… well, definitely feels a lot more different than the world I came from. I couldn't open menus, check my HP or levels, or stats, or anything like that until I came here."

"We're underneath Mt. Ebott," Flowey informed. "The Underground is the place where monsters were forced back by humans after the humans decided that we were much too dangerous to live side by side with them, despite us never showing any hostility towards them."

"That also sounds like some lore in a light novel I would read," I remarked. "So you'll have to forgive me for being skeptical about this not being a different world entirely. I certainly don't remember hearing about a race of monsters living in the same world as I did a long time ago in my history class." Then again I had trouble paying attention in history, the teachers just make it so… boring and dull. Still, I think I'd remember if they mentioned a magical race of people living with humanity a long time ago.

"I mean why would you have?" Flowey questioned with a small scoff. "It's no surprise that, after massacring a majority of our combined species and sealing us under the earth, the humans would also go on to erase any mention of us monsters. There's still probably some ruins of ours on the surface though. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the humans took over structures that were made by monsters just because we built structures way better than them."

I frowned. "I couldn't tell you either way. I never knew about monsters existing before, assuming we really are still in my world, just underneath it. But what about the whole menus and stats?"

"That's something that happens with humans when they're around a lot of magic," Flowey explained. "C- a… human friend of mine from long ago was just as surprised as you were about it when he first saw the menus too."

I raised an eyebrow, I wondered who Flowey's human friend was. He was about to say a name, but he stopped himself.

"Where do you think those video games you play get the idea from? Humans can't really check their Souls as easily as monsters can by just feeling them," Flowey went on. "Human minds create these 'menus' to give them an idea where they are in their strength and power. It helps them keep track of it all. Though if a human became skilled and attuned with their Soul enough, they wouldn't need the menu anymore. They'd also likely be able to use magic."

The more I listened, the more intrigued I was about this, assuming it was all true.

"I've heard stories about how back then, only human children needed the menus to understand it all, and when they got older, they didn't need the menus anymore. Of course, I guess since humans started doing magic differently these days, the menus are either lost or exclusive to those who are able to train in magic. Which is probably why you don't know about it," Flowey sighed.

Flowey wasn't wrong. I was never able to train in magic due to not being a part of royalty or nobility, nor was I a royal guard. My Soul hadn't awakened, and I was deemed to not have potential to learn magic by many.

"Though thinking about it, it could be humanity's fault that the menu system was lost," Flowey muttered. "I mean with them exiling us from the surface, our magic came with us. It's possible our passive magic as monsters is what gave humans access to the menu system in the first place."

"That… all sounds pretty fascinating," I admitted as I sipped the cup of cider. "In a way, it's like I jumped into a video game due to this menu system."

"Do you still believe you're in another world?" Flowey asked.

"Well… it's difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that this menu system is apparently supposed to be normal for humans if they were around magical monsters," I replied. "But I suppose… well… I don't think it really matters that much. It's a different world for me, and I've gotten away from the old one. But… there is one major issue if this really is the same world, just underground…"

"And that would be?" Flowey questioned.

"The reason why I ran to Mt. Ebott was because I heard it was going to get demolished," I answered. "And the government plans to build something over it. I don't know what would happen to the Underground if the mountain gets destroyed."

Flowey's expression darkened at that. "Great… so human greed is going to screw over us monsters again… No wonder so many monsters want nothing more than to break the barrier and wage war on humanity…"

"Sorry… I guess I didn't help with that…" I apologized. "Mt. Ebott had a legend that if you climb to the top and bear your soul, wishing for a new life, the mountain would grant it. I figured that would be my last chance to get a better life than the one I had."

"Ehh, don't apologize," Flowey dismissively replied. "If you hadn't, we wouldn't have known until it was too late. Now we can send word to the King and Queen that we have to find a way to break the barrier before then."

"About this barrier… what is it? I don't remember smashing into a barrier when I fell down here. Couldn't you guys just climb out or something?" I asked.

"Believe it or not, it's a one-way barrier," Flowey sighed. "You can fall in, but getting out is the issue. The royal nerds discovered that certain things can pass through the barrier going out, but no monster can leave. Humans could theoretically leave though, if their Soul was strong enough. That's mainly because humans were the ones who made the barrier in the first place. Seven human mages, each of a different color, came together to create a barrier to seal us 'vile beasts' away."

I raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess… the only way to break the barrier is with seven human Souls, right?"

"Was it that obvious?" Flowey asked.

"It just sounds like one of those 'collect the seven mcguffins to win' tropes," I answered. "... And you said 'theoretically' there about humans being able to leave. Has it not been proven?"

"Nope," Flowey answered before bringing a vine up to his 'chin'. "Thinking back, at least a few dozen humans have fallen since the barrier was put in place. Only a handful of them have had strong Souls, and those humans chose not to leave the Underground despite having the choice. I remember one of them saying that they'd rather live their lives out down here than go back up and serve the whims of the rich and influential who see anyone below them as mere tools."

I guess all the humans who fell down here had a reason to escape from the world above…. I sighed. Honestly, if given the choice, I'd do the same. That is if I find a reason to stay. I like Flowey enough, but like he said, Ruins is pretty small. There isn't a lot of variety of food here, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of monsters either. Do I really want to spend the rest of my life here? Besides, I don't think there's any wi-fi down here… As shameful as it is for me to admit, I gotta have some wi-fi if I wanna be able to keep watching more anime…

"Well… regardless, it sounds like the Underground is in danger if the government goes through with it," I noted. "You say there's a king and queen, right? Would they be able to do anything about it? I mean if monsters hadn't been able to leave the Underground by now, would they be able to leave when… the time comes? Even with the warning?"

"According to a belief, if we gather 7 strong human Souls, no matter the color, we could break the barrier," Flowey explained. "Most monsters believe that the royal nerds will find an alternative to this. Though secretly, the King and Queen do have 6 of the 7 required Souls. Those 6 were given to them by humans who fell in the past. Those humans, at the ends of their lives, chose to give up their Souls to hopefully give monsters a chance in the future."

Royal nerds? I blinked as I tried to piece together on what he meant. Does he mean royal scientists? What a funny way to call them. Was it the king who named them that or just Flowey? Wait…

"You guys already have 6 of the 7 human Souls?" I asked, surprised.

"Yep," Flowey confirmed. "6 strong Souls specifically. The rest of the human Souls, those that chose to give their Souls at the end, were unfortunately not strong enough to be useful. So those Souls were laid to rest with the humans."

"So they have to be strong Souls or they won't cut it…" I frowned. I guess that means my weak little Soul is out of the question. Not unless another human falls down here that has a strong Soul within the next week or two… Maybe if I get access to wifi of some kind I could try to contact Kris.

"I do have to warn you though, normally the best way to use a human Soul is extracting it from their bodies. So chances are, you may have to die if you wish to give your Soul up to the cause," Flowey warned. "Though the King and Queen, if they have their way, will ask you to wait till the natural end of your life."

"Well…" I hesitated. "No offense to the king or queen, but I don't have a good history with royalty… I don't know if I can face them myself. And besides, my Soul is weak, it wouldn't be able to help break the barrier unfortunately."

"Maybe, but there are ways to make your Soul strong. You're not stuck with the Soul you're born with you know," Flowey chuckled.

"Really? How can I make my Soul stronger then?" I asked.

"Well… there are several different ways, it also depends on the individual," Flowey answered. "But I suppose… The easiest and most general way to make your Soul strong is if you gain enough LOVE. It not only raises your stats, it definitely makes your Soul stronger, but…"

Flowey hesitated.

"But… I'm guessing a high LOVE comes with a price?" I asked.

"Well LOVE is an acronym," Flowey explained. "It relates to a specific way of dealing with monsters… Though… If you want to know, then you'll have to fight me."

I nearly choked on the cider I was drinking when he said that. "What? Fight you? Why would I do that?"

"Because I will only tell you if I am confident you can act on the knowledge," Flowey explained. "And the only way to know is to fight you. I need to see what kind of person you truly are, and if you would be willing to raise your LOVE before knowing the truth behind it, in order to make your Soul stronger to help break the barrier… or how willing you are to stick with your morals."

I frowned.

"But hey, I won't force you to fight me," Flowey said. "If you plan to leave Ruins though… it would be best to see how far you've come since you fell down here. Monsters may attack you more fiercely outside of Ruins, so you also need to prepare yourself."

"But if I stay here… won't everyone be in danger?" I asked in a worried tone.

"Perhaps, but you never know, another human could fall before then. They could have the Soul we would need to break the barrier. You don't have to do anything, kid. If you want to leave, and make your Soul stronger, that should be your choice," Flowey answered.

I didn't say anything for a while. I wasn't sure what to say. I… was never really allowed to make my own choice back home. So I didn't know what to say.

"I'll give you some time to think it over. When you're ready though… if you choose to leave Ruins, then go downstairs," Flowey instructed. "I'll meet you there for our fight."

"O-okay…" I replied.

Flowey went underground, leaving me to my thoughts.

I looked down at the table, sighing. "What should I do? I don't want to fight Flowey, but… staying in Ruins isn't going to help anyone. It'd get boring here for me, even if it is probably the safest place for me to be. I don't know how long I'd be able to live in a place like this. And there's no guarantee another human with a strong Soul will even fall down here before the government destroys the mountain. I… I need to make my Soul stronger… I have to help break the barrier if I want to save these people who had been wronged by humanity so long ago… This isn't fair to them… What would Kris do?"

I began to imagine what my sister would say if she was here with me.

"Why are you asking what I would do? I've told you time and again, you don't have to think like me or do what I do, no matter how many times Mom and Dad tell you that you have to."

"I know you would try to help break the barrier right away," I said to the Kris in my head. "But you have a strong Soul. It'd be easy for you. But what about me? I don't have the strong Soul to break the barrier… I can't just condemn everyone to death."

"Didn't that talking flower say that the royal scientists were researching other ways to break the barrier?"

"Yeah, but there's no guarantee they'll be able to find an alternative way before it's too late…" I frowned.

"Do you feel you really need to get involved though? I mean you said you can't condemn everyone to death, but like you also said you can't do much as you are."

"That's how it usually is with me though… I can't do anything because there isn't much I could do," I sighed. "It's true, my Soul is weak. If I tried to go to this barrier now, I wouldn't be able to do anything to break it. But… I'm sick of it. I'm sick of not being able to do anything. Surely there's a way I can help. If I must make my Soul stronger, then so be it. I don't want to be useless anymore. If I can save monsterkind, then… I can at least die happy knowing I did something with my life."

"But what if to save monsterkind, you have to become a monster? And I don't mean one of the denizens of this Underground."

"You mean…" I frowned at the implication.

"Think of the options when you get brought into a battle. Think of the one you haven't used yet. I think that may have something to do with what that flower was talking about."

The Fight option, the ability to damage, hurt, and maybe even kill a monster. Probably the only way to gain EXP to get LOVE.

"You also have to think of just how much hatred and emotion the mages of old put into making the barrier. To break it, it might not be as simple as gathering the Souls. It might take someone who has a strong enough conviction and willpower."

"I… I understand…" I said. "The best, easiest, and quickest way to get a strong Soul to break the barrier… might be to gain a lot of LOVE. But…"

"Does the end justify the means? Only you can answer that, little sis."

I nodded before standing up. I knew what I had to do. If… if I could fight Flowey, and gain some LOVE, I may be able to help free all of monsterkind from this place.

I packed some donuts away into my pocket, just in case. I went back to the room I had been staying in to pick up the toy knife I had found. Then I walked towards the stairs, heading down into the basement.

I had a goal in mind, but my heart was pounding. I didn't feel good about this. I wasn't sure if I would have enough conviction when the time came. But… I needed to do this, not just for myself, but for monsterkind. My grip on the toy knife tightened.

As I walked down the dark corridor, Flowey popped up in front of me. He looked somber himself.

"I can see that look in your eyes. You look like you've finally come to a decision," Flowey noted. "You aren't the first human to leave Ruins though. The others had similar convictions to help monsterkind, but they couldn't do much other than live among the monsters until their life expired."

Flowey went back underground. I kept going.

When I got further down the corridor, Flowey popped back up again. "The King and Queen are very kind people. They would never want to hurt you. But monsters outside Ruins have gotten restless, knowing they need only one more Soul. Many may not even realize they need a strong Soul for it to work, they just know they need a human Soul. That could be dangerous for you."

Flowey went underground again, and I walked forward.

Once again, Flowey popped up. "I don't know what you're thinking, but you have to be careful of your choice. Consequences can be quite nasty, you know. Still, if you have the conviction, it's important to see it through. Don't be like me… don't be a coward who couldn't go through with his convictions…"

I wondered just what was Flowey's story, but he went underground once more. I kept walking until I reached a door. The door was pretty big, it was a double door, with that symbol at the top. Flowey came up in front of the door.

"Well, I guess we're here then," Flowey said somberly. "It's time to see what you plan to do. Prove yourself that you're strong enough to survive."

The entire room went dark, and I found myself in the battle screen, something I was starting to become familiar with. Flowey was in front of me, waiting for me to do something.

I hovered over the Fight option for a moment, before I went over to Act. I… should at least check his stats first.

"Not attacking me from the start? At least you aren't rushing into this headlong," Flowey remarked.

"Flowey the Flower. ATK 80 DEF 80. A gold petal 'flower'."

I nearly sputtered at the stats. "What's with these crazy high stats!?"

Most of the monsters I checked before weren't even in the double digits, or if they were, they were in the early teens at most.

"If I was going to kill you, I would've already done it," Flowey pointed out. "My stats aren't everything."

Because it was now Flowey's turn, my Soul was in the attackfield. Flowey gave me a look.

"Sorry, but now it's my turn. Show me how well you can dodge," Flowey said.

White pellets came out from him, and they began raining down on me. I moved my Soul around to try to dodge the pellets. I got hit by one, though instead of losing all of my health, I saw I only took 3 damage. I was at 17 HP.

"Like I said, stats aren't everything," Flowey pointed out.

I didn't quite understand how I only took 3 damage there when his attack was at 80, but it was likely he was holding back so he wouldn't kill me.

Now it was my turn again. I hovered over the Fight option once more. I… I needed to do it… It was the best thing for everyone… surely.

I stopped and moved back to Act. I saw I only had one option, besides the Check one. There was the Talk option. I chose the Talk option.

I opened my mouth for a moment, but nothing came out. I couldn't think of anything to say. Talking apparently wasn't going to do anything. Unlike every time before, there was no guiding force making me speak. No words came out automatically. Am I going to have to do this manually?

"Are you confident? Or are you hesitating?" Flowey asked as his turn came around again.

Flowey, instead of throwing flower pellets at me this time, created vines from the walls of the attack field. The vines lashed out at me. I moved to dodge them. Some of the vines went all the way to the other side of the wall of the attack field. I got hit a couple of times. My HP went down to 11.

I stared down at the Fight option. I had a weapon, even if it was just a toy knife, I could strike at him. I wasn't sure if I would be able to kill him, but I should at least try to attack him. Kris wouldn't have hesitated at all. My hand shook over the Fight option though.

Come on, just do it! I snapped at myself.

I finally hit the Fight option. I saw Flowey's name and his HP bar next to it. I selected it.

A bar showed up in front of me, and a white vertical line was moving towards the center of the bar. The bar had three different colors on it. Red on the edges, yellow closer to the center, and double green at the very center of the bar. It was easy for me to figure out what I needed to do. I had to attack in the center of the bar. Which was what I did.

When I did, a red line struck down in front of Flowey, doing about… 55 damage. Wait…

"55 damage? Isn't that a bit much?" I asked.

"Nope," Flowey answered. "In fact, there was no willpower behind that strike."

"But you have 80 DEF," I pointed out. "What does willpower have to do with anything?"

"Like I said before, you'd be surprised what a human is capable of with enough intent and willpower," Flowey replied. "Come on, you gotta try harder than that if you want to fight for victory."

Flowey fired pellets at me again. I got hit. I was having trouble staying focused on the fight. I was down to 8 HP.

I went over to Items to eat a Spider Donut, I regained 12 HP, which put me back up to my maximum. But even so, I got hit by some of Flowey's vines, and that put me back down to 11 HP.

"It's like you're not even trying," Flowey said. "Kid, you need to fight if you want to get past me. Stop hesitating so much."

I frowned, but I pressed the Fight option and struck Flowey again. This time doing 60 damage.

"Better," Flowey remarked.

This went on for a little while. I began getting Flowey's attacks down, and started dodging them better. I was still at 11 HP. I strike Flowey again and again, and… I noticed something was wrong.

My attacks were doing more and more damage the more I attacked. His HP was down to half now. I went from 55, to 60, to 80, to 100 damage. The damage was jumping the more I attacked Flowey. I had a feeling that if I attacked him again, I…

Flowey kept standing his ground, however.

"Why are you hesitating? Aren't you confident that what you're doing is best for all monsters? That you're helping those in the Underground?" Flowey questioned.

But am I? I questioned myself. Is… helping monsterkind by killing them the best way to help them?

When it was my turn, instead of choosing the Fight option, I went over to Act and chose the 'Talk' option. This time I had something in mind to say.

"Flowey… if your HP goes down to zero… what will happen to you?" I asked.

"What do you think will happen?" Flowey asked in return with a small smile. "What happens in video games when enemies, or even your character, drops to zero HP?"

I lowered my head, hiding my eyes with the bangs of my hair. "Is there… really no other way to gain EXP for LOVE unless I kill you?"

"EXP. Execution Points," Flowey stated. "LOVE. Level of Violence. Those are the acronyms."

"Execution Points?" I frowned. "Level of Violence?"

I would say more, but it looked like that was the end of my turn. Flowey fired more pellets at me, though they seemed to have slowed down, making them easier to dodge.

I chose the Talk option again. "What do you mean?"

"Heh… exactly that. You kill a monster, you gain points alright, just not the nicer version called 'experience' points," Flowey answered. "Level of Violence shows how much violence you had when you killed the monster. The stronger the monster, the higher the execution points, and the higher your Level of Violence becomes. It's almost synonymous to experience points and levels in video games. But remember, kid, this isn't a game. This is real life."

For some reason, that reminder hit me very hard. I had… been treating most of this like a game, because of the menus and stats. It felt like I was in another world, a world like a game.

"When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases," Flowey informed. "LOVE is a way of measuring someone's capacity to hurt. The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The less you hurt, the more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others. The max LV you can get is 20. But by that point you wouldn't really be human anymore."

Flowey threw more pellets at me, but I was able to dodge them. When it was my turn again, once again, I chose Talk.

I frowned upon hearing that. "Why didn't you tell me that at the beginning? I could've actually killed someone to raise my LOVE, not knowing what it actually was."

"Because I didn't know what kind of person you were," Flowey explained. "If you were someone who would only ever see this world as a game. If you were someone who secretly harbored hatred and would gladly slaughter everyone if unleashed. Ironically, humans think that adults are the inherently violent ones… but it's actually the opposite. Adults are usually the more logical ones, less prone to outbursts of anger and violence. Kids however… they don't really have anything stopping them but themselves. Adults have laws to follow and expectations to meet. But… as adults say… kids are just kids, right?"

I looked down at the toy knife, seeing some of Flowey's golden petals on it. I had… hurt him pretty bad.

"But that's enough talking for now," Flowey spoke up. "We need to finish this fight. I'm not going to let you just flee and take the easy way out. You need to see this through to the end… one way or another."

I looked up at Flowey, he used his vines to attack me. I didn't really try dodging. So I got hit. I kept getting hit until I was down to 3 HP.

"Kid, what are you doing? You didn't even try dodging that time." Flowey frowned.

"I hurt you… this is the least I could do…" I answered back.

"So because you hurt me, you're just gonna let me hurt you in return?" Flowey questioned. "Who's that gonna help?"

"I guess just my conscience," I sighed.

"Whatever, it's your turn," Flowey replied.

I looked at my options. I dropped the toy knife I was holding. I didn't care anymore, I wasn't going to kill Flowey just to get stronger. There were other options, I didn't have to take the quickest and easiest one, especially if it turned me into a killer.

I went towards the Mercy option and chose to Spare Flowey, giving up my turn.

Flowey stared at me. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think? I'm done fighting," I replied.

"So that's it?" Flowey questioned. "Now that it's gotten tough, you're just going to surrender?"

"No… I'm not surrendering, I'm just not fighting," I replied.

Flowey glared at me. But when it was his turn, instead of aiming his pellets at my Soul, I saw his pellets were falling off to the side.

"You're sure about this?!" Flowey angrily demanded as I hit Spare again.

"Yup," I answered. "I had never been more sure in my life. Except maybe climbing Mt. Ebott."

"Are you sure?!" Flowey snapped as his face became obscured and suddenly dozens then hundreds of pellets began to circle around my Soul. "Are you really going to make it that easy for me to take your pathetic, weak, human Soul?!"

Flowey's face became visible again, but this time he had a horrifying expression, that of a bloodthirsty beast who had just cornered its prey.

For a moment, I got scared. It really looked like Flowey was going to kill me.

The Fight option appeared again.

"LAST CHANCE!" Flowey screamed.

I looked at Flowey.

"E-even if you are trying to kill me…" I said softly. "I can't bring myself to kill you, or anyone."

I moved away from the Fight button and chose to Spare Flowey again.

"..." Flowey stared at me, still using that creepy face.

Again, the Fight option came in front of me. I moved away from it and chose to Spare him once more.

Flowey's face turned back to his normal one, looking mad but also troubled. "..."

It was my turn again, he still had the pellets around my Soul. I chose to Spare him again.

"Very well…" Flowey said with a sigh. "You aren't lacking conviction."

At that, the pellets suddenly all turned green and swarmed towards my Soul. I watched as my HP suddenly went back up to 20, and any soreness or injuries I felt were gone.

Suddenly, my Soul went back into my body. The Fight was over.

"So… I didn't fail the test?" I asked.

Flowey shook his head. "No, you didn't fail. You didn't lack conviction but you also didn't show a thirst for blood. You have a conscience and the will to live. You don't want to give up your life, even if that's what would give us monsters the chance to be free."

I couldn't help but feel a bit of pride when Flowey said these things.

"Admittedly, you did hesitate quite a lot at first. But I suppose it was because you were coming with the wrong goal in mind. But when you figured out what you wanted to do, you showed conviction, and your determination to end the battle peacefully," Flowey added.

"Yeah…" I answered. "I thought if I wanted to save monsterkind, I'd have to kill some monsters to get stronger, strong enough to be able to break the barrier. But… even though I should've known, you telling me this wasn't a game, and explaining what LOVE and EXP really meant, it made me realize something. I'd have to give up my humanity and become a killer if I did that. I don't think it would be worth it. How could I truly say I want to save monsterkind if I go around killing them?"

"Because sometimes that's the mindset of humans…" Flowey sighed. "The mindset of 'What's a few deaths if it gets a better result for the rest in the end?'. The ends don't justify the means… that's a lesson that humans were struggling with even thousands of years ago. And a lesson that monsters have started struggling with in recent decades."

I gave a frown. "My parents have a similar mindset… And my sister has a strong conviction when she makes up her mind about something, but it isn't always… good."

"Sometimes even the best people have no choice but to do an awful thing," Flowey stated. "That sentiment is unfortunately going to be true for many in the Underground. They will see you as a chance to break the barrier, a chance to save all of monsterkind."

"I understand… I want to help break the barrier too if possible," I said. "Just not through killing anyone. After all… I want to also help you to be free too, you're my friend too. I… I honestly had a bad feeling if I kept fighting you, I would've killed you. So I stopped. I'm not killing you, not for anything."

"Some monsters in the future… might not be so forgiving, Frizk. You know that, right?" Flowey questioned. "That's one of the reasons staying in Ruins is the safest for you."

"Hey… you said my name again. You've been calling me 'kid' for a while," I noted with a small smile.

"You've managed to gain my respect," Flowey admitted. "But don't let that go to your head."

I gave a small sigh. "Well… I'll admit, I don't like the idea that a monster will try to kill me no matter what I do… but if I don't take that risk, there's a good chance I'll die anyway when the government destroys Mt. Ebott. And so will everyone else. I took a chance when I climbed Mt. Ebott, so… there's no reason not to take a chance trying to save monsterkind."

"If you want to reduce your risk of getting killed… we could always disguise you," Flowey offered.

"A disguise?" I asked. "Would that really work? Couldn't a monster just check my Soul and see I'm human?"

"Monsters don't just go around checking each others' Souls all the time," Flowey chuckled. "But with a realistic enough disguise and enough confidence, you could probably even fool the King and Queen."

"Well… I guess there's no harm in trying," I replied. "If it'll get me to the King and Queen a lot more easily without violence, I'm willing to try anything."

"Additionally, there is always the option of convincing a monster to share its essence with you," Flowey pointed out. "Transforming you into one of their own."

"Yeah… uh… no offense, Flowey, but I don't really wanna be a flower," I said sheepishly.

"I was talking about other monsters, kid," Flowey replied in a deadpan tone. "I'm a unique monster, as I can't share my essence."

"Oh…" I blinked for a moment. "Well… uh, maybe I'll think about that later. A disguise works for now."

In truth I wasn't sure if I wanted to have a monster share their essence with me. I didn't know what exactly that would entail, if it would mess up my Soul, and changing one's species always sounded very painful.

"Okay… well uh… you go back upstairs for now," Flowey instructed. "I'm gonna go around and get different disguise parts for you."

"Okay," I replied. "Thank you, Flowey."

I was in the living room part of Home while I was waiting for Flowey. I started to pick out books out of boredom, and noticed I was able to read the words. Huh... I wasn't expecting to be able to read a book from another world.

I blinked, now interested. I walked over to the unused armchair and sat down on it. It was pretty dusty, but comfortable. I opened up the book and began to read it. The book talked about how monsters were sealed Underground by 7 human mages, and how the monsters fled deeper into the Underground out of fear of the humans giving chase. They eventually came to this spot and built buildings here. The king called it 'Home'. The book's author even made a comment about how the king was a kind and mighty ruler, but he was terrible with names. I gave a chuckle at that.

But…

"Wow… I can't believe that humans screwed monsters over like that…" I frowned. "Actually, I guess I could… but surely there were some who were against it…"

I then remembered something Flowey had said earlier before. 'The ends don't justify the means… that's a lesson that humans were struggling with even thousands of years ago.'. Were… monsters sealed underground thousands of years ago? How long ago was this book written?

There didn't seem to be a year written on this book. I gave a sigh. "Well… I can't fault the monsters for hating humans after this. Though I can't help but wonder what caused the humans to seal the monsters away in the first place."

The only monsters I ever heard about were in bedtime stories, meant to scare children if they misbehaved. And of course, the generic monsters in video games. They were always depicted as scary, violent creatures that kill anyone they come across. Some were mindless beasts, others were manipulative, or just evil. But reading this old book, it felt like it was the other way around, that humans were the scary ones.

The saddest part was that it wasn't wrong. Humans were capable of doing many evil things, things that one would think only monsters would be capable of doing. I almost went down that dark road if I hadn't stopped myself when I did when I was fighting Flowey. That was a scary thought.

"If you're looking for picture books, they're on the lower shelf," Flowey informed as he popped up from the ground. "Unfortunately, when I checked last night, the language books weren't there. So I'm guessing the previous people who lived here took it with them."

"Actually, I seem to have gained the ability to read monster writing," I informed. "I'm not sure how or why though."

"Really?" Flowey blinked. "That's… How is that possible?"

"I assumed it might have something to do with being exposed to monster magic, like with the whole menu thing," I shrugged. "You know this stuff better than me."

"Nope." Flowey shook his head. "That's never worked."

I frowned. "Then…?"

"Let's not focus on that. It's obviously a mystery we don't know, and we're not really here to solve it. Since you can read monster writing though, that makes things a lot easier," Flowey said. "For now, I have some disguises that could help you blend in with the monsters."

Flowey pulled up a box with his vines and moved it over to me. The box was pretty big. When Flowey put the box down, I opened it up. I saw a lot of ears, tails, fur suits, paw gloves, and the like.

"There's rabbit, dog, cat, sheep, and fox options," Flowey explained. "Don't mix and match cause… it would look weird."

"A lot of cute options," I noted before grinning teasingly. "What, no Froggit costume? Or Loox?"

"There are, but those are full body costumes that you'd be stuck in until you found somewhere safe to take them off," Flowey nonchalantly answered.

"I think I'll go with the options you gave me," I said.

"Looking at you… I'd say… fox or dog would work well for you," Flowey remarked. "Rabbit might be a little bit cute."

"Why fox and dog?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"They're both the most detailed costumes, making it so it would be easier for you to blend in," Flowey explained. "They also have a nice bit of warmth to them, which will help with what lays outside Ruins. Fox has a nice fluffy tail, which could be used as a pillow if you needed to camp. Dog might be good because there are some dog monsters in the next region. And who wouldn't like a lovable little puppy monster?"

I gave a smile at the idea. I rarely felt loved back at home unless I did something to earn it. If I pretended to be a dog, I could be as affectionate as a dog without being judged. "Then I'll take the dog costume."

I began picking out the ears and white fur suit. I noticed a purple hat with cat ears poking out of it. For some reason I stared at it for a moment, feeling a strange sense of familiarity. I shrugged as I finished picking out what I needed from the box.

"Can I wear these over my clothes?" I asked.

"You'll have to go and try them on to see," Flowey answered. "Want me to put the rest of the way or are you unsure about the dog disguise right now?"

"Let me try it on first," I suggested. "I'll use the mirror in the hallway."

I took a moment to put the white furry suit on over my clothes. I zipped it up to my neck, and was relieved when the fur covered up the zipper. I put on the paw gloves over my hands and felt them click into place with the suit. Thankfully, despite it looking like a paw, it still allowed me enough dexterity to use my fingers. I put a headband on my head that had a couple of cute, white pointy dog ears sticking out. I had a little tail behind me.

"Looks like I'm gonna have to follow you to help you out," Flowey remarked suddenly.

"Hmm? Why's that?" I asked as I walked to the end of the hallway to look at myself in the mirror.

I looked pretty cute in the outfit. Even though my face was exposed, it could be easy to mistake me for a dog monster, I hoped, just with brown hair instead of a furry face. Luckily my hair did cover my real ears, so that would help keep others from asking why I had double sets of ears.

"Cause the zipper is on the back and I don't think you can grab it with those paws locked into place," Flowey explained. "I remember the previous occupants of this house once used that outfit on their unruly son to put her in time out. While there is dexterity, it's not enough to grab the zipper or small things. They actually once put mittens over the paws to make sure she couldn't grab anything."

"... O-oh… wish I knew that sooner…" I sheepishly said.

"You should be fine," Flowey assured. "Just be glad that I couldn't find the head, cause that would've affected your field of view and, if it's still set up how it was last set up, it wouldn't have let you talk normally. It would've turned all words into barks."

"I… don't think I would want to wear that," I sweatdropped.

"Yeah, he didn't like wearing it either~" Flowey snickered. "But that's what he got for mouthing off to his parents."

"Sounds like he misbehaved quite a lot," I chuckled. "But… uh… are you alright with coming with me? It sounds like you haven't left Ruins in a long time. Are you comfortable going out to the rest of the Underground?"

"Just so long as you don't ask me to come up to the surface too frequently," Flowey answered. "I'd rather not freeze my petals off."

"Freeze?" I blinked.

"You'll see when you leave through the door," Flowey chuckled. "I'll come up every once in a while to see how you're doing, but for the most part, you'll be on your own. I will also come up whenever its time to take you out of your suit."

"Okay, thanks, Flowey." I smiled. "I'll do my best out there."

I had my food packed away in a backpack Flowey gave me. I was able to carry more stuff now. Hopefully I would be good for a while. I walked downstairs and headed for the door. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see a small patch of grass, and an archway just ahead of me.

Flowey came up from the patch of grass. "Past here is the exit of Ruins. Be careful, once the doors shut, it'll be difficult to get them open again. The monsters in Ruins don't want to be bothered by monsters from outside. I can open it again, but it's a lot of effort and takes time. So make sure you have everything you want and need before you leave this place."

"Thanks for the advice," I replied. "But I've already packed up everything I think I'll need. I'm ready to get going."

"Good luck out there, I'll see you in the next area then, that is, if you don't die." Flowey grinned before he went underground.

"Was that a challenge?" I remarked before I headed to the archway.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves, then I slowly pushed open the doors. The doors were heavy, so it took some effort to push them open.

When I finally got it open, I was surprised at how cold it was. It was bright too, it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. I started to see why it was bright. There was snow all over the place. I was thankful for the fursuit I was wearing. I stepped out, crunching on the snow. As soon as I did, the doors to Ruins closed behind me. I guess there was no turning back now.

Elsewhere in the Underground

"Just… need to… record these results…"

I grabbed a notepad and started jotting some things down.

"So… like I thought, the concentration was way too high… We need to figure out a way to reduce the concentration…"

I walked over to another area and began to look at some ongoing projects, writing down some progress notes.

I need to go check on Garden later. It might be time for harvest on a few of them. I thought to myself. I… also kinda wanna pass through Snowdin so I can go ask a favor of Sans. Though I'd need to bribe him for him to actually accept my favor. Maybe I could offer him a pass for three days paid vacation? It would be worth it… especially since he always comes through on finding new anime, manga, comics, and other sources of human history. Alphys and I could also use some extra… research supplies.

I then went over to yet another area of my lab and pulled up a camera feed on my computer. It looks like construction of New City expansion is progressing smoothly. It looks like the King approved my recommendation of working their way towards City instead of expanding out towards New Home. Thankfully with them cutting through the rock, they can easily carve structures out of the rocks while creating the tunnel.

I sighed to myself a little and pulled up another window. Right now there are many monsters wanting to expand their families but we only have so much room. They're saying they're okay with waiting, but I can tell that many monsters are getting worried they're going to Fall Down before they can produce any offspring.

"Um…"

I perked up when I heard a familiar timid voice speaking up from behind me.

"I hope I'm not interrupting something, but…"

"Alphys, you're fine," I assured the voice as I turned around with a smile, looking at the nervous yellow lizard monster. "While this is my lab, I've told you time and again that you can treat it as a second home."

"O-of course, Prin-" She began to say when I interrupted her.

"Like I've also told you time and time again, I prefer Royal Researcher if you're going to use a title, Alphys," I scolded the lizard. "Though you don't need to use titles with me when there's nobody around."

"S-sorry, I sometimes accidentally slip into that when something makes me anxious," The lizard I called 'Alphys', replied apologetically.

I frowned. "So what's got you anxious? Is Mettaton up to his shenanigans again?"

"Yes, but that's not it… I w-was looking at one of o-our camera feeds…" Alphys began.

"As you often do," I noted with a chuckle, knowing that Alphys was such an introvert that she preferred viewing other people's lives instead of having one of her own.

"Erm… well a-anyway…" Alphys remarked, blushing a bit. "I was looking at the one we put at the door to Ruins, j-just in case any humans were to come out of it…"

"The one that Sans likes to take a nap by from time to time?" I questioned. "The one in the bush?"

"Y-yes, that one," Alphys answered.

"So did a human come out?" I asked, feeling a little excited but also a bit nervous myself.

"U-uh… well… I'm… not entirely sure?" Alphys nervously answered, sweating a little.

"What'd you see?" I furrowed my brow.

"H-here, it'll be easier if I just showed it to you," Alphys suggested before she walked over to my computer. Just before she was about to put her hands on the keyboard, she stopped and looked at me. "C-can I use your computer for a moment?"

"Yeah, of course," I assured her. "I was just looking at the progress on the work being done at the edge of New City."

Alphys began typing on the keyboard, and she brought up the camera feed from near the door to Ruins. She selected a time period and I saw what looked like a small dog monster coming out of Ruins, but the head looked off from the rest of its body.

"Huh…" I remarked as I leaned in towards my monitor, putting on a pair of glasses I kept on hand to make sure my eyes didn't get strained. "That's definitely a new one. Looking at it… it doesn't look like a human. Besides the skin on its face. Could it be a member of one of the Undocumented species?"

Undocumented were monsters that were sealed away underground at the same time as all the other monsters, but for one reason or another, they hid themselves from the rest of monsterkind. Rumors had it that these monsters lived in sections of Ruins and Dark Ruins where nobody really passed.

"M-maybe. I'm surprised myself. Their face almost looks human," Alphys admitted. "It's possible they changed since they were last seen by your parents too."

"Maybe," I acknowledged. "Or they could've hid themselves even back then. Who knows, maybe their ancestors were some kind of monster-human hybrid."

"It looks like this might be a child though. Maybe they got lost?" Alphys wondered.

I furrowed my brow. "If they got lost, they likely wouldn't have left Ruins. Perhaps they're leaving behind their species? They could be the last of their kind and were told they needed to leave Ruins, or Dark Ruins, and find a species they could eventually mate with in order to continue their lineage."

I then snickered a little. "Or who knows, maybe a human was isekaied from another world and became a dog monster, but not fully~"

"C-come on, that only happens in mangas, light novels, and anime… w-we both know they're not actually human history." Alphys rolled her eyes.

"I mean… we don't know for sure, considering humans had magic powerful enough to seal us away," I countered. "Besides, neither monsters nor humans, at least before we were sealed underground, ever discovered if there were gods. If there are gods, maybe one of them isekaied a being from another world or gave a human a second chance… or maybe a punishment."

"W-well, either way, if they're n-not human, then we don't need to do the protocol for a human sighting. But… is there anything we should do for this unusual monster child?" Alphys questioned.

I gave a thoughtful look before shaking my head. "Nah, either the skeleton brothers or a native of Snowdin will find them and take care of them. I mean there's the whole dog monster family that might take the child in."

Alphys then gave a small chuckle. "Were you disappointed that they weren't a human? You seemed pretty excited at the prospect it might've been a human."

"A little," I admitted. "But it's been… what, 200ish years since the last human fell? The chances of it happening so soon aren't that high."

"Oh yeah, you were still a dream for your parents back then," Alphys chuckled. "So you never got to meet with any of the humans that fell down here."

I shook my head. "I was told stories, but never met them personally. Which is a shame since the last human could've been alive when I was born, but… he had that heart condition that… took his life just a year before I was born."

"Y-yeah… that's unfortunate. We don't have medicine to help humans when they fall ill…" Alphys frowned.

"At least we didn't." I smiled warmly. "Since then, the former Royal Scientist worked diligently to ensure we had ample medical supplies that could be used for any humans that fell. And you took up his legacy after his disappearance."

"Y-yeah, well…" Alphys gave a sigh. "I'll admit, if it weren't for you, Asria, I probably would've locked myself away… especially after the DT experiments…"

"The King and Queen understood that, while… it was quite horrific, you were trying to save so many monsters," I pointed out before gently putting my hand on Alphys's shoulder. "And I do as well. Additionally… locking yourself away wouldn't have helped anyone. Continuing to be a scientist is a great way to atone and make sure the same mistakes don't happen again. Besides, without your help, we wouldn't be making progress in figuring out a treatment for the volunteers."

Alphys gave a small smile. "You've definitely become my voice of reason."

"Hey, it was the least I could do, considering you ceded the role of Royal Scientist to me~" I giggled softly. "Even though on paper you're my assistant, I definitely consider you my colleague and my equal."

"Speaking of which, maybe you should take a break," Alphys said. "You've been working all morning, it's about time for a lunch break."

"Hm?" I blinked before glancing at the time and blushing a bit. "Oh… It seems I forgot to sleep… and eat breakfast…"

"Yes, yes you have," Alphys sighed. "You really need to take better care of yourself… a-and that's coming from me."

I sighed before nodding and taking off my glances. "I was actually thinking of heading to Snowdin earlier. Maybe I can stop by Grillby's for breakfast… er lunch."

"R-really? You want to eat there again?" Alphys asked, surprised.

"Well the only reason I was thinking of going today was because I was going to talk to Sans about… well it's not really important what we're gonna talk about, but I was gonna talk to him," I explained. "And I figured treating him to some Grillby's might be a good way to kill two birds with one stone. I get lunch and I get Sans in one place for long enough that I can talk to him."

"W-well, good luck. I'll… um, continue working on that human security system… j-just in case a bad human comes," Alphys replied.

"Just make sure not to activate on accident again," I warned. "I'd rather not have to climb on the exterior of the Core again to reach my balcony."

"H-hey, I told you-" Alphys began to respond.

"Yeah, that it was an accident~" I teasingly giggled. "That happened while trying to impress a certain aquatic monster~ Seriously, though, what made you think it was a good idea to show off the system before you installed an off button in your lab?"

Alphys muttered something, but thanks to my ears, I heard what she said, but I wanted to make her say it louder.

"Huh, what was that?" I leaned in and held a hand up to my ear, just to make Alphys repeat herself.

"I-I said that I thought I already had a failsafe system installed… and an off button… a-and besides… she liked it…" Alphys spoke louder sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes teasingly. "I'm glad she liked seeing me scrambling on the exterior of the Core."

"N-not that part!" Alphys huffed. "A-anyways, you s-should get going! M-maybe you can meet with that strange dog monster kid."

"Ehh, I'd rather not freak her out by showing up to greet her," I replied. "And I'd rather not change out of my work attire, especially now that I got the heated lining operational for use in Snowdin. I don't think any newcomer to the rest of the Underground would be all that comfortable around someone in a lab coat."

"I-I guess so… a-anyways, good luck with your talk with Sans. A-and maybe bring me back a bag of fries if it's not too much trouble," Alphys sheepishly requested.

"The regular fries or special fries?" I asked with a small smirk.

"You know what I'm going to say, right? Give me the special bits~" Alphys grinned.

"As long as you're prepared~" I giggled in response before I began to move around my lab, grabbing my wallet, keys, and Core ID.

"M-maybe sure you have your cell phone, a-and call your parents," Alphys reminded.

"Right, thanks," I acknowledged before I went back to my desk and grabbed my cell phone from the charging stand. "I'll call them on the boat ride over. Momma is probably gonna chew my ear off if she finds out I stayed up all night and missed breakfast."

"Again," Alphys added.

"Oh hush!" I lightly snapped. "At least I didn't pull a three-day again…"

"I-I really need to keep a better eye on you," Alphys sighed.

"Like I offered before, I would happily have another lab prepared for you in the Core if you wanted," I reminded Alphys. "That way you could have a secondary workplace. Besides, we have better air conditioning here, so your gal pal might like it more~"

"T-that's okay, I like w-where I am now… b-but I'll think about the offer more," Alphys replied sheepishly.

I made my way through the Core, heading out to Hotland. Normally the Core would be tedious to go through due to all the puzzles, and the royal guards stationed everywhere. But thankfully, Alphys and I came up with a way to bypass all of that using Core IDs. Core IDs were something that allowed us to use a straight path to the lab and the MTT Hotel. Core IDs also had different ranks that allowed for different levels of access throughout the area. The one Alphys and I had were admin rank, allowing access to the vital systems of the Core.

I tried to get through the hotel as quickly as possible though. It was a tourist hotspot, and I didn't like to be around crowds. I also try to hide my face so monsters wouldn't start to crowd me.

I really need to see if there's any progress on the bypass tunnel I requested for a while back… I thought to myself as I managed to get out of the hotel and made my way towards the elevators. If I could get a straight route from the Core to the elevators, I would be so much happier.

After a while of walking, I made it to the first floor of Hotland. I walked past Alphys's lab, which doubled as her home, and headed down to the river, where the Riverperson was. Nobody knew who or what this Riverperson was, they always kept themselves cloaked, and hid their face in a hood. We just called them the Riverperson. Though for ease, I often just called her 'River'.

"Hey there, River, could you take me to Snowdin?" I requested as I stepped into the boat.

"Hello there, Asria," River replied to me. "Of course, I live to take those who seek travel to where they wish to arrive."

"I'll probably have you take me to Garden later," I chuckled. "Though I might also enjoy the walk."

I noticed the boat itself didn't have a certain doggie head, which was a relief. River sometimes changed her boat, the one with the doggie head tended to make me a wee bit motion sick. While the boat began to move, I pulled out my phone and called up my Mom's phone number.

"Heyyyy, Mommy…" I greeted as I heard the call connect.

"Hello, my sweetie! How've you been? We hadn't heard from you for a few weeks now. You did get some sleep, right?" A gentle yet firm feminine voice spoke from the phone.

"I've been doing my best to take care of myself as always, Mommy," I replied, hoping I could successfully dodge the question.

"Uh-huh… you didn't get any sleep last night, did you?" Mommy replied in a knowing tone.

I let out a small sigh. "No… I got absorbed in my work again."

"Asria, if you're going to keep losing track of time, I'm going to have to send someone over there to keep an eye on you. Alphys can't keep going over there to make sure you get enough to eat and sleep," Mommy sighed.

"I know, Mommy," I acknowledged. "I'm trying to do my best. I'd rather not have a maid or something keep an eye on me… Have you and Daddy been okay since the last time I saw you?"

I then heard a familiar deep yet gentle voice. "Is that Asria on the phone?"

"Yes, dear, she finally called back," Mommy replied.

I put her on speaker for a moment to check my phone and felt a pang of guilt when I saw nearly a dozen missed calls from both Mommy and Daddy.

"Asria, I missed you. Alphys said you've been working yourself too hard," I heard Daddy say in a worried tone. "Maybe we should come visit you to make sure you have everything you need."

I chuckled. "I'd love to have you over for dinner one night, but I don't think you or Mommy would have the time to come over every day."

"We may be ruling an entire kingdom, but we still make time to make sure we take care of ourselves," Mommy replied. "Hmm, maybe you should start going out more, take a break from the lab, maybe even find yourself that special someone~"

"MOMMY!" I whined. "Please don't!"

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Asria. I'm sure any monster would be happy to take your hand-" Daddy began when I interrupted him.

"Yes, but I wouldn't be…" I pouted. "I love my research and the work I'm doing to help the Underground. Taking time away from that… even for someone else… it's almost unthinkable."

"You say that now, but wait until you actually have someone else you're willing to spend your time with," Daddy chuckled lightly. "I used to think the same way until I met your mother."

I looked around, hoping we were getting close to Snowdin so I could be freed from this conversation. If there was one conversation I wished I could never have, it was the relationship conversation.

"But, Asria, you know that we just worry about you, right? You've been buried in work since you got that lab. I can't help but miss those times you would visit us, and enjoy my pie and your father's tea. You used to help me catch snails for the Snail Pie, and help your father water the flowers in the throne room," Mommy sighed.

"Yes, I know you've been worried," I acknowledged with a warm smile. "I just… feel like Alphys and I are close to a breakthrough on treatment for the…"

I paused and turned the speaker off before leaning in towards my phone and whispering. "DT patients."

"Even so, it wouldn't do them any good if you started melting from the pressure alone, Asria," Mommy scolded me. "Or getting sick from exhausting your body."

"I know…" I sighed. "Maybe I can come up with something to make sure I sleep. Maybe invent some kind of… device I can wear to buzz whenever it's time to sleep. It could be like one of those watches humans wear."

"Oh no," Daddy chuckled. "Sounds like our little Asria has entered inspiration mode again."

I stopped at this, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"I'll make sure to have Alphys help you with that just to ensure you actually make something like that," Mommy stated firmly. "But for now… where are you?"

I glanced around. "I'm passing by Waterfall on my way to Snowdin right now. I was planning on getting some lunch at Grillby's while also talking to Sans. Oh, speaking of which, would it be alright if I offered him a few days of paid vacation in return for his help?"

"Well… sure. I mean he tends to slack off anyways, but I'm sure he'd appreciate the paid vacation time," Daddy replied.

"Maybe you can help him with that sock that's been in his living room for the past decade," Mommy chuckled. "He still hadn't moved it the last time I went to one of his comedy nights."

"That's Sans for you," Daddy chuckled. "Oh, Asria, has there been any human sightings?"

"No humans, but Alphys may have spotted an Undocumented emerging from Ruins earlier," I answered. "They looked similar to a dog monster but had a furless face."

"An Undocumented monster left Ruins? How… unusual," Mommy remarked.

"Alphys and I were thinking they could be the last of their species…" I said with a small frown. "Considering it was a child that emerged from Ruins."

"Well, just be careful. We don't know what this new monster's intentions are," Mommy warned.

"Considering they emerged from Ruins, I'm sure Sans and Papyrus will at least check them out," I responded. "If Sans doesn't consider them an immediate threat, then maybe I can task the dog squad to check in on the child."

"I'm sure they'd be thrilled to have another puppy among their ranks," Daddy chuckled.

"Tra la la la, we are almost at Snowdin, Asria," River spoke up.

"Sorry, Mommy and Daddy, I've gotta hang up now," I informed my parents. "River says we're just about at Snowdin. And before you ask, no I'm not wearing snow gear, but I'm wearing my special lab coat that I installed heating elements into. So I'll stay nice and toasty. And yes, I am wearing shoes… even though I still think they're dreadfully uncomfortable."

"Just make sure you take care of yourself. Though I'm sure Sans and Papyrus will see to that. Oh, and try not to… get too much attention on you. Snowdin isn't used to having you over after all, the princess of monsters," Mommy warned.

"I'm not wearing a bright red suit and carrying a big bag of presents, Mommy, so I should be able to move around without drawing too much attention~" I giggled, making a jab at Daddy.

"T-that's just a side job to make sure monsters can enjoy the Holidays!" Daddy huffed.

I felt the boat slowing down. I could already feel the cold air of Snowdin.

"Be sure to call back soon, okay, Asria?" Mommy said. "Or so help me I will go into your lab myself."

"I promise I will, Mommy," I assured her. "I love you both, but I gotta go."

"We love you too, sweetie." Mommy replied.

"Good luck, and I love you too!" Daddy said quickly before I hung up.

After hanging up, I reached into my lab coat and activated the heating elements so I would be warm when I got off the boat. Hopefully with my white coat and fur, I can blend into the snow enough that not many people will notice me.

"Here we are," River said as she brought the boat to the river bank, arriving at a snow covered dock that I had built.

"Thanks, River," I gratefully said as I got out of the boat. "I'll see you later."

After getting out of the boat I began to take the path towards Grillby's. As I got close, I texted Sans that I was about to go to Grillby's and would treat him to lunch if he could arrive before me.

I walked towards the restaurant's door, and as soon as I walked in, I saw the familiar short skeleton monster wearing his favorite blue hoodie. He was standing just inside the doorway, even though I know that before I opened the door, I hadn't seen him inside through the door's window.

"Hiya, Asria," The skeleton greeted. "Didn't think you'd come to Snowdin today."

"I needed a break from work," I explained. "And some lunch. And I have a trade offer for you."

"Well, that sounds interesting, almost as interesting as that kid I spoke with earlier," Sans remarked.

"How'd that go?" I asked, figuring that either he or his brother would be the first people to meet the child. "Alphys and I saw the Undocumented child emerge from Ruins."

Sans gestured for me to follow him. I followed him to one of the stools near the counter. Grillby was a humanoid fire monster, a monster made out of entirely of flame. He wore a neat bartender outfit, and glasses. I sat down next to Sans, only to hear a tooting sound.

"I swear, no matter how many whoopie cushions of yours I confiscate, you always have more," I chuckled as I sat up a bit and pulled out the whoopie cushion that hadn't been on the stool a moment before..

"Or maybe a weirdo just decided to prank ya," Sans winked.

"You definitely are a weirdo~" I retorted.

"Can't argue with that," Sans chuckled. "Now, to answer your question, it went well. My brother was a little… annoyed that he has to deal with another dog, but they seemed to hit it off alright. The kid seems to be nice enough."

"No malice in their eyes?" I questioned.

"They're about as sweet as one could get, I almost had a toothache," Sans replied. "That much is obvious anyways. Though I'll probably watch and see what they'll do before they get here."

"That's good to hear," I said with a tone of relief. "Knowing you'll keep an eye on them makes me a bit less worried. Now then, onto other business. I'm treating you to lunch, so order up to 100 gold. Grillby, I'll have a light-grease burger and a side of fries."

"I'll have an order of double burgs and fries, Grillbz, and don't hold back on the ketchup," Sans ordered.

"Only if you actually eat the burgers and fries this time," Grillby replied in a language that only a few understood.

"No problem, I'll make sure to eat it~" Sans winked. "After all, it'd be rude to let my dear friend's money go to waste."

Grillby gave off a questioning aura before he began to move towards the kitchen door. "Very well. I will be back soon."

Grillby's body went through the door's cracks rather than opening the door.

"So, what is this about? You usually only treat me to Grillby when you want to request something," Sans asked.

"Well, I need you to use whatever skills of yours to get me some new anime, manga, light novels, and movies," I explained. "As well as a fresh stock of the special research supplies for myself and Alphys."

"You can just call them my 'shortcuts', it's easier and faster to say," Sans shrugged.

"Yes, but scientifically I can't tell whether you're bending space or time," I responded. "For all I know, you're travelling to parallel dimensions where events have occurred differently in order to get what I ask for."

Sans gave a bit of a chuckle. "Now that's a bit much, wouldn't you say?"

"Knowing you, I'd say it's not far off, Mr. Former-Royal-Scientist's child," I softly retorted. "I still have yet to get to half the amazing projects he was working on during his time."

"Perhaps we should move back to the topic at hand," Sans said. "What do you need my shortcuts for?"

I nodded at that. "Like I said, I need some new sources of 'human history' and the special supplies for myself and Alphys. In exchange, I'm willing to offer you three days of paid vacation and I'll take care of that sock that Papyrus has been bugging you to take to your room for who knows how long."

"Oh, I could also use some new crop seeds," I added. "So far we have wheat, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, soybeans, and rice. But there's still many more surfacer crops that we could still grow in Garden."

"Hmm…" I saw Sans closing his eyes, looking to be giving it some thought. "You got a big project going on?"

"A few," I answered honestly. "Afterwards, Alphys and I are going to need those 'human history' articles to relax. The special research materials are for one of our ongoing research projects."

"Ah, well, do be sure to let me know if I could throw another bone for ya," Sans chuckled. "Of course, when you leave to head back to your lab, I'm going to be quite bonely."

I softly chuckled at that. "I'm sure you'll manage, Sans, after all, you've got a strong skeleton."

"True. But how about you throw me one more bone before I do this request?" Sans asked.

"More than three days paid vacation and taking care of that sock?" I questioned with a soft chuckle. "Want me to get you some milk to help you grow up strong?"

"Nah, I already emptied and replaced your milk carton," Sans replied. "With the exact same amount that you had. What I want is simple. Just be sure to talk to my bro, he'd like to actually meet you, and more than just 5 seconds when you pass us by and say 'hi'."

"Just as long as he doesn't ask for my autograph on his forehead again…" I nervously chuckled. "I'm not someone famous like Mettaton, so I don't really feel comfortable giving out autographs. Especially when someone asks for an autograph on their forehead so they can see it every time they look in the mirror. He does know that mirrors don't work like that, right? Or was he expecting me to sign it mirrored so it would be the right way around when he looked in a mirror?"

"Papyrus can be quite eccentric," Sans chuckled. "But he means no harm. He just wanted to show you respect, or at least his version of respect."

"Well… considering I've never actually properly met him, I guess it's about time I did so." I smiled. "Maybe you can have him meet me at your place after I take care of your sock?"

"Sure, though he's currently on patrol, I'll be sure to let him know once he gets back to Snowdin," Sans stated. "Though you don't need to trouble yourself with the sock. After all, even if you put it away, who's to say another won't take its place?"

"I mean I could always set that section of the carpet on fire~" I teasingly joked. "That way the sock will always be warm and taken care of."

"At least it will be nice and toasty~" Sans grinned back.

Grillby came over, holding our food. He put my tray down in front of me. Then he placed Sans's tray in front of him.

I glanced at Sans. "I'll take a small amount of ketchup with my fries, Sans. Please don't dump out the whole bottle."

"That was only one time," Sans replied. "And it was a complete and innocent accident."

"Suuuure it was~" I rolled my eyes before looking at Grillby. "Before I leave, Alphys would like an extra large of the special fries to go."

"Just call me up when you're about to leave for home," Grillby instructed. "I'll have it ready."

"Thanks, Grillby." I smiled before I took a bite of my burger. This food always makes me feel warm inside. Wonder if it has any cold-resistance effects…? No! Stop, Asria! It's meal time! Not science time!

After Sans poured a reasonable amount of ketchup next to my fries, I began to eat some of the fries as well. Then I heard barking noises.

I turned back to see some of the Dog soldiers coming into the restaurant. I saw the two lover dogs, which I believe were Dogamy and Dogerassa. They were still in their armor, holding their huge axes. They were nuzzling each other's noses the whole time. Not too far behind them was the old dog monster who had trouble seeing things that weren't moving… if I remembered right, his name was Doggo. I soon saw Lesser Dog behind him, and Greater Dog behind him. Both of them looked a lot closer to regular dogs than the others, but in armor. Neither of them spoke Monster, they only barked. But somehow that made them cuter.

Y'know… Mom and Dad said they'd have a sword made for me at some point. Perhaps it's about time I follow up on that. I thought as I looked at the weapons and armor of the dog squad. Oh, crap! I also need to talk to Doggo about the procedure Alphys and I created to help with his eyesight!

I was about to get up when Sans placed a boney hand on my arm.

"Hey, now's the time to relax, not work," Sans reminded me.

"Right… Thanks…" I blushed before I took out a phone and wrote myself a reminder to talk to Doggo before I left Snowdin. "I really have a bad habit of keeping myself out of work mode. Momma got a bit angry at me early when she found out I didn't sleep last night."

"I don't blame her. You and Papyrus have a bad habit of never sleeping," Sans sighed.

"I did make progress though…" I softly said with a small frown. "The work that both your father and Alphys did… I may have figured out what went wrong… And have a hypothesis on a potential treatment plan."

I didn't say more and continued to eat my food. While Sans didn't show it, I knew that somewhere inside him he was happy that some progress was being made on helping the DT subjects. There was one time, not long after I became the Royal Scientist, that Sans told me about what his father did and how he feels that its wrong that his dad disappeared before he could undo the damage. It was one of the few times I had seen Sans drop his usual lazy mindset and nonchalant attitude.

Sans didn't say anything, instead he was eating his burgers, and gulping down his bottle of ketchup.

I heard some noises outside, but I ignored them as I focused on just the flavor of my food. Then I heard the door open.

"Wow… so this is Grillby…" An unfamiliar voice said.

"Grillby's," Someone by the door corrected. "That over there is Grillby, the flaming hot guy at the bar."

"Ah, I see… he really is hot, isn't he?" The new voice chuckled in a teasing tone.

"I love this kid's humor~" Sans grinned.

Kid? I questioned before glancing at Sans. "This someone you met recently? Or have you been hiding another jokester for a while?"

"There's an easy way for you to find out. It's called looking behind you," Sans replied.

"Y-yeah… but I promised Mom and Dad I would try not to get spotted by anyone…" I sighed before turning back to my burger. "Besides… just like Alphys, I'm not that great with new faces…"

"Hey, Sans, I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd be here," The new voice was very close. "Papyrus did say you liked coming here."

"I'm here because my friend here offered to treat me to lunch," Sans chuckled.

I could feel eyes on my back, studying eyes looking me up and down.

"Ah… okay, is it a lunch date?~" The new voice teasingly asked.

"Nah, she's waaaay out of my league," Sans snickered. "It'd be like a rock dating a diamond, it would be way too tough."

"Aww, don't sell yourself short," The new voice replied. "Though I would like to know more about this diamond. Is she shy?"

Yes! I inwardly yelled while not turning around.

"Yeah, she's definitely a bit of a shy flower," Sans confirmed.

"A shy flower, huh? I know the type," The new voice joked.

"She's usually on her own, locked away in her lab," Sans informed.

"Y-you don't need to call me out like that…" I whined. "I'm just… passionate about my work…"

"Oh, so she speaks!" The new voice spoke up. "Ah, sorry, I'm just excited seeing all these new faces. I hope I don't make you too uncomfortable."

"J-just so long as you don't start poking me, I'll be fine," I replied before taking another bite of my burger.

"Would you like anything to eat?" Sans asked. "My friend here said I could order anything up to 100 Gold, so I've still got plenty I could order for you."

Sans! I wanted to shout. That wasn't meant for you to invite someone else to spend the money!

The new voice didn't say anything for a moment. I was too nervous to keep eating, so I was anxiously waiting for their answer.

"Ah… no thanks. I'm not hungry right now," The new voice answered. "Besides, I have to meet up with your brother soon. Don't want to keep him waiting."

"Just make sure he doesn't talk your ear off about Undyne," Sans replied. "No-ears isn't really a fashion you wanna follow in the Underground. I'm sure even Mettaton would love a pair if he had the choice."

"I'll be sure to keep my ears safe," The new voice chuckled. "Well, enjoy your platonic lunch date."

I heard the soft footsteps walking away.

I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. "I… feel bad… but… I just… feel awkward around new people…"

"Don't let it get ya down. But that's why I want you to talk to my brother. It will help you open up around others more, and Papyrus has a knack for cheering you up even when you feel down," Sans said. "Besides, you've seen him before, so he wouldn't be a new face."

"I guess you have a point," I acknowledged.

"If it helps, I've recorded the kid's adventure all the way to here. Maybe watching them on screen can help you feel a little more comfortable with them," Sans suggested, holding up his cell phone. "Just think of it as one of your 'human history' episodes, but it's happening… in a much more recent time."

I took his phone and sent the files to my phone. "I'll take a look at it later when I'm back at the lab. For now I should focus on my food before it gets cold."

"Sure, sure, enjoy yourself~" Sans grinned… though he was always grinning.

ZAFT Convoy: Darkzdragon: It's nice to post again, though I fear I'll have burnout again.

DarkFoxKit: We're hoping that Dark won't burn out as quickly this time. So we're trying to take things slow.

dream1990: Darkzdragon: Don't you worry, there's plenty more to come.

DarkFoxKit: We do plan to post more chapters, we're just gauging people's interest in the story for now. We don't expect a lot of reviews for the early chapters. But thank you for reviewing, it means a lot to see at least someone is enjoying it.