Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

He woke up laying on his back in a patch of flowers.

Everything hurt.

Opening his eyes, he recoiled and covered his eyes as he was met by a ray of sunlight directly to the face.

He took a deep breath. In. And out.

In… And out.

The aching in his body subsided a bit. Enough for him to get his thoughts in order and recount the events that led him here.

He’d been working his shift at the Market Mart when he got yet another call from the school, to once again tell him that his kid sibling Clover had gotten themself in trouble again. Only this time, instead of telling him to come pick them up for the day, they informed him that Clover hadn't even shown up.

Frustrated, he left work early (and was once again warned that this was the last time he could ditch before being fired) and drove home, telling himself he'd scold the kid for sleeping in after the day was over. Imagine his surprise when he couldn't find any sign of them at home.

It wasn't his first assumption that the kid played hooky, for as much trouble as they got themself into they weren't a troublemaker. He’d actually started to think they’d been kidnapped or something on the walk to school before he found their school supplies still in their room. Even better, the little cowboy Halloween costume they liked so much was gone. Wherever they went, they dressed before they left.

Wherever they went, they chose to go there instead of school. While he could understand the desire to escape that place at all costs, he really needed them to not do that.

The problem was he had no idea where they would even go. They wouldn’t be at a friend’s place (the kid didn’t have any friends), and they didn't have any places they liked to hang around other than school and home.

Calling the police got him nowhere. Apparently, ‘My kid sibling skipped school and I don’t know where they are, could you maybe help look for them?’ wasn't good enough for them to do anything. ‘ He’ll probably turn up on his own. ’ the guy said, ‘ Call back if he’s still missing by tonight. ’ Jackass.

With the authorities being useless and his frustration growing, he did the only thing he could think of. He walked around aimlessly, asking random strangers on the street if they’d seen a kid in a cowboy costume.

Thankfully, the costume made them stand out enough for people to remember seeing them. It made a kind of breadcrumb trail of witnesses that led him further and further out of the city, until , much to his dismay, finally bringing him to the forest surrounding Mt. Ebott.

He wasn't surprised Clover took the time to put on that costume before wandering into the woods. It was very them.

In a last ditch attempt to get some help, he called some of his friends to ask if they would help search the woods with him. No one picked up.

Sighing, he trekked into the forest. Up and down, he wandered the hiking trails that littered the forest, occasionally calling their name, keeping himself occupied by thinking about how he would punish the kid for pulling this stunt. No cowboy movies for a week. No, two weeks!

It was a stroke of dumb luck that he found a set of child sized footprints, leading off the premade path and into the wilderness. Oh. They would, wouldn’t they? Those footprints could’ve belonged to any other kid, but Clover would.

No cowboy movies for a month. And no toy guns either.

With nothing to go off of but a vague direction, into the woods he went. He walked in as straight on a line as he could until he found a natural looking trail going further in. It even had more tracks to follow.

It wasn't until the ground started getting steeper and he started climbing more than walking that he realized where he was being led to.

Mount Ebott.

The mountain that everyone avoids like the plague. The mountain where children kept disappearing.

Fuck .

Sure enough, there were more tiny tracks climbing upward.

Ascending the mountain, his slow panic over Clover’s wellbeing took precedence over the exhaustion of climbing the mountain. Over and over, he told himself that Clover was fine. That he’d reach the next peak and they'd be there and he'd tell them off for being there and that would be that. He tried very hard not to imagine that the last time he would ever see them was that morning.

(Now that he thought about it, he didn't actually see them that morning. He made breakfast for two, ate his share, packed them a lunch bag, put it all in the fridge and left for work before they were even up. As was his routine.)

Finally, he came to the end of the tracks. A cavern. And in that cavern was a giant hole into the mountain itself.

Calling out Clover's name to no response, he approached the hole. As he got closer, he squinted his eyes, afraid he was about to look down this pit to see his kid sibling’s mangled corpse. As he took the final steps towards the hole, his eyes were practically shut.

If his eyes had been open, maybe he wouldn't have tripped on a root and fallen head first into the hole.

Like an idiot. 

He vaguely remembered flipping a few times midair before landing flat on his back and passing out. At least he didn't land on his head. How long had he been unconscious?

Wincing as he sat himself up to look around, he saw cave walls and a hallway (was it still called a hallway if it was a cave?) going deeper in. Looking up, he saw where he fell from. He'd never been good at measuring distance, but… it was a long, long drop. It was a miracle he didn't break any bones.

Who knew flowers made such good cushions. He might’ve even died if it weren't for them.

He swallowed. He could have died.

Breath in. And out.

He pushed himself up off the ground, wincing as his feet and legs and back screamed at him. He needed to get out of here, and staying here wasn't going to do him any good. He wasn't going back the way came any time soon, so the only option was the cave-hallway thing.

He forced one foot in front of the other, slowly making his way forward. He'd just have to walk it off. 

The last thing he expected at the end of the hallway was a stone doorway.

People treated Ebott like it was radioactive, so he’d figured that no one else had been here for a very, very long time. Maybe ever. But if there was a manmade structure, then someone had to build it. Maybe there was someone here who could help him get out.

Through the stone doorway was an empty tunnel, with sunlight shining through a crevice in the ceiling onto a patch of grass. He didn’t pay it much mind, as he was much more interested in the doorway at the other side of the tunnel.

It was purple, for some reason.

What he saw through that door left him baffled.

A grand hall stood before him. Tall brick walls stretched at least three stories high. A wide, smooth stone floor covered the ground. A neat pile of beautiful red leaves sat between two staircases, each leading to the same doorway with a plaque hanging above it and leafy vines around it. And for some reason, the walls and floor were purple. Looking closer at the bricks, they didn't seem to be painted or anything. They were just purple. On their own.

It was nothing like the cave before.

What the hell was this doing under Ebott?

Walking further in, he noticed a simple design on the floor. A purple circle in a light purple square. But around the edges of the square was a line of red leaves someone must have put there.

Someone was living down here.

He ascended the stairs, groaning a little at his sore legs, and craned his neck to read the plaque.

Home

Who’s home? And where was this? What was this?

He moved to the next room hoping for answers, only to be even more confused. There were six giant buttons on the floor, four of which were pressed down, and a lever and sign on the wall. He went to the sign first, hoping for any kind of information.

Only the fearless may proceed. 

Brave ones, foolish ones.

Both walk not the middle road.

Okay? That told him nothing. What was even the point of putting up a sign if it wasn't going to say anything useful? He tried pressing the remaining buttons, and then pulling the lever. Nothing happened. What was even the point of this stuff?!

The more he saw of this place the less it made sense. He'd probably have more patience for this if his legs and back weren’t still aching from the fall, but as it stood he felt like he was losing it.

Whatever. He moved onto the next room.

This one was long. It had two moats with flowing water and little wooden bridges going over them. Between the moats were wall levers with some writing beside them, though rather than an actual sign it looked to be drawn onto the wall itself. Some of the walls were overgrown with vines and there was a hole in the floor in front of one of the levers. The place somehow looked both well maintained and falling apart at the same time. Just like with the other rooms he passed there was an exit at the far end.

Concerningly, there was a person sized hole under one of the levers. Like the floor just collapsed into a bottomless pit. If the place was falling apart like that, was he gonna have to worry about where he's stepping or something?

There was another sign, a wooden one this time, standing just ahead of the entrance. This one was clearly placed to be noticeable, so it had to be important.

Look at signs to read them!

Impulsively, he reeled back and kicked the sign as hard as he could, splintering it into chunks. He would have taken satisfaction in breaking the thing to pieces if it weren't for the sudden shock of pain it sent to his already injured leg. He collapsed to the ground, groaning and holding his aching leg to his chest.

He was actually thankful to be completely alone. This would be embarrassing, but no one was around to judge him for once.

Sighing, he figured it was gonna be a while before he went anywh-

*Ribbit*

Leg pain forgotten, he jumped to his feet by an incredibly loud croak. Looking to the source of the noise, he saw a massive white frog, the thing the size of a damn pit bull! He didn't know shit about frogs, but he knew for sure that they didn't come that big!

Then his eyes found the floating heart shaped thing in front of his chest, its yellow glow standing in stark contrast to the darkened environm- why was everything so dark?! The bright purples of the walls and floors were pitch black, only visible from the neon purple outlines at their edges. Looking around, the various objects in the room were similarly highlighted with bright neon colored lines.

He was so distracted by the sudden shift that he completely missed the massive frog leaping closer, only refocusing on it as its tongue shot out towards the heart. And when it made contact-

Pain.

A quick jolt of pain shook through him. It didn't seem to be coming from any specific part of his body, but he could feel the damage.

Now knowing he was actually in danger, his instincts told him to run, and he listened.

He ran past the frog towards the exit, because the way he came in was a dead end and he did not want to be cornered by that thing. He only noticed the fucking floor spikes guarding the way out after he’d already tripped over them, only barely catching himself with his hands before landing on his face. His legs however made full contact with the floor.

Before he could ask questions like ‘ Why were there spikes?!’ or ‘ Oh god my legs hurt should I be sitting down?’, he was on his feet and running again. Body pain was the least of his problems, and he wanted to put as much distance between himself and that thing as possible.

It would have been a good plan if this place weren't filled to the brim with other creatures. 

The world's color and detail came and went as he encountered and fled from the various things that approached him as he ran from room to room. Giant frogs, fairy looking things, gremlin cyclops things giant eyes and even a giant carrot with a face. Every time the yellow heart appeared he ran off before it could be hit again. As far as he knew the heart meant danger, so if he saw it then it was time to run again.

As he ran from room to room, he saw more and more bizarre oddities. A dummy in an empty room, an incredibly long hallway with nothing in it but a lone pillar that wasn’t even holding anything up, marked floor tiles that crumble when touched, rocks and buttons and spikes and more rocks and more buttons more spikes why were there so many spikes . One room was entirely made of those collapsing floors and he had to slowly tap each tile before stepping forward. Another had nothing in it but a table with a single wedge of cheese on it.

Nothing in this damn place made any damn sense!

His least favorite so far had been the one that was all floor spikes. When there was just a couple he could just step over them easily enough, but when there was a whole room of them and only some of them would retract harmlessly when stepped on he had to trial and error his way through figuring ones were safe. He walked away from that one with a collage of new scrapes and scratches.

He’d just finished escaping four rooms that were exact copies of each other when his legs stopped being ignorable. The aching turned into burning and the scratches were mounting and every step sent stung. This couldn't go on forever, but those things were everywhere so staying still wasn't an option. Sooner or later this place would run out of rooms or he’d run out of steam or-

He was so caught up in his thoughts that he ran face-first into what felt like a brick wall. A very fuzzy brick wall.

He fell backwards, landing on his ass with a thud.

“Oh my! I am so sorry, I was not looking where I was going, are you - Oh! A human?”

Towering over him was a goat? woman? in a simple purple dress with some kind of symbol on the front. Even if he wasn't on the ground she would still stand a head above him.

He stood up and sprinted past her.

“No! Wait! Come back!”

Nope! No way! She could break him over her knee, he could tell. He had no doubts that she could very, very easily destroy him if she wanted to.

He was limping now. He didn't think he hit the ground that hard, but he was definitely running slower now and every step hurt. That was fine though. It had to be fine. He'd be screwed if it wasn't fine so it was fine. 

He'd just keep going till he found a good place to lose the giant goat woman, this place was built like a maze after all so it couldn't be too hard. After that he'd find some place to hide till he gathered his strength and figure it out from there.

Through the next doorway he saw a wide open space, and for a moment he thought he might have found a way outdoors. Instead, he found himself on a balcony in a massive open area. From here he could see rows upon rows of buildings reminiscent of castles, stretching out into the darkness of the cave until they were nothing but silhouettes. There must’ve been thousands of them. Below was a network of paths and bridges and tunnels going every which way, above was nothing but pitch black darkness.

It was a city. An entire, abandoned city, directly below Mount Ebott.

He could admit he rarely ever paid attention in school, but he should have heard about something like this. There's no way there could be an entire underground city that absolutely nobody talks about.

A voice came from behind, “Please do not be afraid!”

He spun around on high alert.

The goat woman was standing in the doorway to the balcony. “I mean you no harm.” She had her hands out in a placating manner. “There is no need to fight.” He sure hoped not, he was cornered. “My name is Toriel, I am the caretaker of the Ruins. I know this must all be very frightening, but I promise you have nothing to fear.”

It was only now dawning on him that she wasn’t like the other things he’d encountered so far. She could talk, for one. Maybe she could be reasoned with? The heart wasn’t showing up like with the others, so maybe that meant she was safe?

Then again, she could lie. Or cheat. Or try to outsmart him.

He looked around to see if there was anything he could use. The only thing on the balcony was a tiny toy knife. He’d be better off fighting bare fisted if that was his only option.

“You are injured. I can heal you.” She must have seen him limping. “Please.” She looked almost pleading.

He couldn't run, she was blocking the exit. He couldn't fight, and even if he could his only weapon was a toy. 

Not seeing any other option, he nodded. 

She breathed a sigh as she stepped closer, hands outstretched. She wasn't blocking the exit anymore, so he could maybe made a break for it if-

He blinked, and all at once the pain in his body vanished. The ache in his back was gone and his legs felt great!

“There, all done. Feeling better?” He caught a glimpse of green light fading from her hands as she pulled them back, placing them at her sides. She looked much more relaxed.

When she said she could heal him he was thinking, like, a bandage or something. But instead she just, uh… Huh.

Absent-mindedly, he nodded again.

Now that he was still his adrenaline was wearing off, so he was feeling all that running. His injuries may have been gone, but he would really like to sit down for while. Maybe take a nap too.

“Good. Now, you look exhausted. If you need a safe place to rest, my home is just around the corner. And I would be happy to answer any questions you have over a fresh meal.” Was she… trying to bribe him with food?

He weighed his options. He was spent, physically and mentally. He was completely out of his depth. He knew nothing, understood nothing and felt like he was about to crumble into nothing. Food and answers sounded like heaven right now. On the other hand, she could be trying to make him drop his guard. But, if she wanted to hurt him, healing him would have done nothing for her. Seemed unlikely.

And, well, he did miss lunch…

“Okay.”

Her face lit up with a smile. “Excellent. Now that things have calmed down, allow me to introduce myself. I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.” Finally, he had a name for this place.

Oh, right. He should probably introduce himself as well.

“My name's Garrett.”

Something felt different. 

Flowey watched Clover run back into the first part of the Dark Ruins, checking every nook and cranny for number shaped cracks in the walls. Just as they had many, many, times before.

It was looking like another goodie two shoes run. The most boring option, when he already knew how it ends. He was half tempted to reset right there.

But he wouldn't. If he reset every time he got bored he'd never get anywhere. He would never know if Clover truly was a lost cause if he didn't keep trying.

Even if it meant doing the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over-

Clover came back holding a golden pear and looking very accomplished. It took them longer than usual to get it this time. Annoying. Clover usually got faster at these things the more he reset.

Flowey put on a winning smile as they approached. “Hey bud, looking good! Want me to Save?” They tipped their hat and nodded.

File saved

With that, Clover set off towards the hermit’s hovel. Soon they’ll be at the moron’s sentry station, then they'll be riding the raft into the Dunes to play cowboy, then Steamworks, etc. Same as always.

And yet, despite being exactly the same as always, something felt different. Whatever it was, he couldn't put his finger on it. Vine. Leaf. Whatever. The point was he couldn't figure out what it was and that bothered him.

Whatever. Being bothered was better than being bored anyway.

Whatever. It probably wasn't even important.

Chapter Text

Lunch with the goat woman who lived in a cozy home in the secret dead city under the forbidden mountain went surprisingly normal.

The goat woman, Toriel, had said he was free to look around as he pleased while she made lunch. Garrett opted to just sit at the dining table instead. Besides, poking around someone's house while they cooked for him felt… weird.

Lunch itself was great though, best sandwich he ever had. Though, that might have been the exorcise hunger and recent near death experience talking. And while they ate Toriel filled him in on the many things he didn't know and answered any questions he had as best she could.

Monsters, magic, souls, encounters, the human monster war, the Underground, the Barrier, the king, Home and New Home, the new war on humanity, fallen humans, the Royal Guard, the Ruins, puzzles, yes the puzzles are necessary, no she didn't build them, yes she also finds the spikes overly dangerous, no she didn't put the cheese there and no she didn't know where it came from.

That last one bothered him. A lot. 

His head felt like it was underwater by the end of it. He only half understood what she said most of the time, and what he did understand made him feel like he was going insane. Monsters, magic, souls… Things he thought Impossible were in front of him, and things he never could have imagined in the first place were proven real.

Honestly, if he wasn't already in desperate need of a nap he'd probably be having some kind of mental breakdown by now. As it was though, he was happy to let those revelations pass him over.

But aside from all that, the lunch itself was normal. He'd just about run out of questions, so Toriel started asking some herself. “What was it that had you tearing through the Ruins like that? If it was a monster, I'd like to have a word with them.” The way she said it reminded him of his mother when she was about to yell at a cashier.

“Well, uh, one of those frogs, you said they're called Froggits?” She nodded, happy that he paid attention, “Yeah, so one of those got close and hit my, uh, soul. It, uh…” He didn't want to say it scared the shit out of him, “Startled me.” 

She blinked, a little disbelieving, “Oh. Are you sure? I did not think a mere Froggit could leave wounds like that.”

He shook his head, “The frog didn't do that. I kinda… bumped into some stuff… when I was running.” Saying it out loud made him feel like an idiot.

Toriel tried, and failed, to stop herself from chuckling. Then she failed to stop herself from laughing. He didn't know a word for laughing so hard you couldn't breathe, but that's what she did after that. Were those tears in her eyes?

“I apologize, my child, I just-” She tried to speak in between gasps for breath, desperately trying to regain composure, “I had imagined that some terrible creature had made an attempt on your life! I did not think that Froggits could be the cause of such terror!”

Garret threw his arms up, annoyed. “Well I didn't know what it was! For all I knew it was poisonous or something! And it was huge! And I'm not a child, I'm nineteen!”

Toriel’s cheeks blew out like a balloon before exploding with another round of laughter.

He sighed, folded his arms and slouched in his chair. He’d just have to wait it out.

He hadn't really thought he was at risk of dying. Maybe he would have if he'd thought about it, but he wasn't thinking. At all. He knew he was in danger and that's all he needed to know. Determining exactly how much danger he was in came second to not being in danger. Personally he felt it was a normal, rational response for a person to have. If you're in danger, get out of danger. Duh.

Sure, knowing what he did now, he was a little embarrassed by his reaction to the frog monster. But he wasn't gonna show it if he could help it.

Although, it seemed like his attempts to mask his shame only added fuel to Toriel’s giggle fit. 

Eventually, he gathered herself together. Again . “Okay, okay, I think it has passed. I-” She let out what he hoped was the last chuckle, “I apologize, I understand you must have been very confused. It is just, not much happens in the Ruins. It's been a long time since I have seen such antics. That and, today has been… rough.”

Well… alright, he could respect that. He uncrossed his arms and sat up. “So, how do I leave?” He wasn't sure what time it was or how long he'd been down here, but he had to get back home before the end of the day.

She frowned, “Er, sorry, was I not clear? There is no leaving the Underground, not while the barrier still stands.”

“No, no, I got that. But I just- I have responsibilities to get to. Working the morning, bills to pay, feeding Clover. I can't just-” His eyes went wide as he shot out of his seat, “OH SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT CLOVER!!”

“Oh my! L-language, please!”

“No no no no no, you don't understand! My sibling, Clover, they're the whole reason I was on Ebott in the first place! They were climbing the mountain and I went to bring them back!” He was up and pacing back and forth now, arms gesturing wildly. He'd gotten completely sidetracked by the frog and the running and- goddammit!

Toriel placed a hand on his shoulder, having crossed the room while he was in his head, “This child, Clover was it?” He nodded, “They would not have happened to be dressed like a cowboy, would they?” She asked gently.

How did she- Oh. Oh no. Oh God oh shit oh fuck. 

“Yeah! You saw them?! Where?!”

“Er, well…”

“So this is where they fell?” They were back in the room where he first met the froggit, in front of the hole in the floor. The trip back was smoother than his first. This time, Toriel was there to glare away the meandering monsters that approached. 

Since he wasn't freaking out this time, he actually took the time to read some of the signs he sped past. Each puzzle room had one hinting towards the solution. If the puzzles were to stop intruders, why hint at the solution at all? When asked, Toriel said it was so monsters wouldn't get stuck.

He'd argue that it makes the puzzles useless, but they did technically work on him, so he wasn't in a place to judge.

Anyway…

Apparently, Toriel had found Clover shortly after they fell. She was going to show them through the Ruins when one of the puzzles malfunctioned, breaking the floor beneath them and dropping them into the ‘Dark Ruins’. She told them to stay put while she got a rope to pull them up, but by the time she got back Clover was gone. She assumed the worst. 

“Yes. This is the place.” Toriel said uncomfortably. 

They stood in silence for a while. Neither of them seemed to know what to say or how to proceed. 

Eventually the silence was broken by a loud *Ribbit* .

The two turned to see a froggit, presumably the same froggit that Garrett first met, that let out a long string of ribbits and croaks that seemed directed at Toriel. As this went on, her eyes flicked from the Froggit, to the broken sign at the far end of the room, and finally to him. Her eyes showed disapproval.

He didn't need to speak frog to know he was getting snitched on.

“My child.” He suddenly felt very small. “Why did you attack the sign?”

Forcing himself to not be intimidated, he looked her in the eyes. “It frustrated me with its uselessness.” It was too late to lie. 

Her disapproval increased. 

He swallowed, “Okay, look. I just fell down here and I didn't know what the hell was going on and every sign I saw was more pointless than the last. Maybe if they weren't so useless I would’ve thought to read the ones that explain the puzzles. Those things are a hazard! Kinda… if you think about it…” His efforts to resist her glare faltered as he started to ramble. 

Still, Toriel seemed to at least consider what he was saying. 

“Anyway… the Dark Ruins. What are they like?” He changed the subject. Partly because he needed to know, but also out of embarrassment.

Toriel blinked, refocusing on the situation. “W-well, I have not been down there in quite some time. Last I saw it, it was… less than livable. Most everything was falling apart, and vital structures like walkways and bridges were barely standing making traversal difficult.  I would be surprised if there was still much left of it.”

Okay, that didn't sound great. But then again, “If it's that hard to get around down there, then Clover couldn't have gone far, right?”

“I… suppose that is true…” She said slowly.

He took a breath. Looking down into the hole, the bottom was only barely visible from the light shining from above. He really didn't want to go down there. But…

If Clover was down there, then he didn't really have a choice did he?

“Do you still have that rope? I could go down there and-”

“No.” She said sternly. “I have already lost one child today. I will not lose another.” 

He bristled at being called a kid again, but paused.  Something about the way she said that told him she was speaking from experience. And her expression… 

Clearly this situation was touching a nerve. But that didn't change what he had to do. 

“Well I have to do something . I- Look, we're wasting time. If Clover is alive,” He wasn’t going to entertain the possibility they weren't, “Then the longer we wait up here, the harder it will be to bring them back. They could be hurt, or getting farther away.”

The corners of her mouth turned further downward, but she didn’t argue.

“Hey, I don't want to go down there, at all, ” Putting himself in more danger was the absolute last thing he wanted to do, “But how am I supposed to live with myself if I don't at least try?”

Her stern expression softened just a bit.

“I don’t plan to be down there for long. Just five- ten- twenty minutes max. Please.”

Toriel stared at him for a moment, like she was looking for something. The moment stretched on and on and he started to anticipate her refusal.

She took a slow, deep breath, like she already regretted what she was about to do, “Alright. Twenty minutes. Just promise me you'll come straight back if you don't find them.”

He smiled. “Sure, I don't want to spend any more time down there then I have to. Now, where's that rope you mentioned.”

“It’s at my house, I will retrieve it. Oh, and Garrett? If- when you return, you and Clover are welcome to stay with me as long as you like. If you would like to, of course.”

He blinked. “Really? I mean, uh, thank you! That’s… very kind of you, Toriel. We’ll, probably take you up on that.” 

She smiled.

Pouring the warm coffee onto the pole, you watched as the thin layer of ice disappeared and sizzled into steam. After a moment the bunny monster’s tongue broke free.

“At last! I am liberated! I cannot thank you enough!” He thanked you, with a more robust vocabulary than you expected, “You are a wonderful samaritan! Here, a token of my gratitude.” 

He handed you a Silver Scarf. Just holding it made you feel warm. 

“Knitted by my auntie with abundant passion! May it warm your skin, and your SOUL good fellow! Now, I must get home post-haste! Mother is bound to be perturbed already! Farewell!” 

You waved goodbye as he disappeared into the woods.

Donning the Silver Scarf, you feel the chill of the snowy forest leave your body almost immediately. It made the walk back to the Honeydew Resort very cozy.

Stepping through the archway to the resort, you made a beeline to the save star. Flowey emerged a moment after touching it, “Well, looks like you've done all there is to do here. Better get a move on.”

Flowey was a friend, but it rubbed you the wrong way when he tried to rush you along. You had a mission, and you wanted it completed more than anyone, but you still wanted to look around.

After all, if you'd just passed through like Flowey wanted, you wouldn't have helped the bunny guy and been given the scarf you're wearing, or found the hidden micro hot spring and obtained the Golden Coffee. You wouldn't have listened to all of the band’s songs or made conversation with every single person at the resort. Multiple times.

You're glad you took your time, even if it annoyed Flowey.

…

…

…

Something was off with Flowey.

You didn't distrust him. Far from it. He’s been nothing but amicable, if a little snarky, and has given you no reason to question his authenticity. He said he can Save your progress and Load of something happened to you. Despite having not yet needed this service, you knew he's good for it.

Even without needing to Load he'd been very helpful. Just knowing you could heal for free by Saving made your journey so far that much easier, and you always feel relieved when you find one of his Save Points. His presence didn't make you feel threatened or uncomfortable in any way.

And yet…

…

Still, you knew he was right. With the Silver Scarf around your neck, the Golden Coffee in the box and no one left to talk too, there was nothing left to do but move on.

You asked him to Save.

“Of course. Here you go!”

File saved

“Now, let's get moving, shall we?”

You shall.

Despite the unknowns you face by moving forward, you aren't worried. In fact, you're looking forward to it!

With your head held high and a pep in your step, you left the Honeydew Resort.

Chapter Text

Garrett shouldn’t have been surprised by how dark the Dark Ruins were. It was right there in the name. And yet, as he had to squint to see his own feet he couldn’t help but think ‘wow it’s dark down here’.

Once his eyes adjusted a little, he could see Toriel was right about the place crumbling to pieces. It made the normal Ruins look brand new by comparison. 

“Are you okay, my child?” Toriel called from above, her shadow making the room even darker.

“All good!” He didn't bother telling her he wasn't a kid.

She gave a breath of relief, “Oh good. What do you see? Is the child there?” She asked hopefully.

Even while being practically blind, he could tell there wasn't much here. There was a sign covered in leafy vines, a doorway, a broken stone bridge and a solid stone cliff face opposite the doorway. He guessed that's why the Ruins were so much less decrepit. The Ruins proper were built on the solid ground of the cliff itself, whereas the Dark Ruins were built off of the side of the cliff and stood on tall brick pillars.

“No, they're not here!” He called back to her. “I'm gonna look around a little!”

“Okay. Please be careful.”

“I will!”

He checked the sign. He could barely make out anything through the leaves.

Caution… Walk…

If the rest of this place was this dilapidated, then he should probably watch his step and move slowly. Okay, so that was kinda helpful, but he still wanted to know what it said under those leaves. He brushed them aside to see- Oh.

It just said Caution Walk.

Were all signs in the Underground like this? So far they'd been a mixed bag. A very aggravating mixed bag.

Then there was the broken stone bridge, whatever it led to having fallen into the endless black abyss below. He kicked a piece of rubble over the edge to test how far down it went. He didn't hear it hit the bottom.

Stepping away, Garrett ignored the possibility that Clover fell down there. He also ignored the possibility he could fall down there. It wasn't a problem if he didn't think about it. 

All that was left was the doorway. It was too dark to see through.

He called through it, “Clover?! You over there?!”

The only response he got was his own voice echoing back at him.

…

Fuck!

He went back to the rope Toriel was dangling, “They aren't here, but there's a doorway they must've gone through! I'm gonna go check it out!”

“I… Okay. But if it's dangerous come back right away, okay?”

“I will!”

With that, he stepped through the doorway slowly, carefully making sure each foot was on solid ground. His eyes finally adjusted enough tosee what was on the other side, and his heart sank into his stomach. His only path forward was a long, narrow bridge over the abyss. With no guard rails of any kind.

He should have let Toriel talk him out of this.

Across the way was another doorway to another room. At least, that’s what he thought it was. The dark paired with the fog made it difficult to tell. If Clover was still alive, and they were, cause they had to be, then they’d have to be over there.

And if Clover could get over this stupid bridge, then so could he! Just, very slowly. Very. Slowly. He inched one foot in front of the other, tiny step by tiny step, until he was over the bridge.

The doorway led to a hall not unlike the first one he saw in the Ruins, only this one was in a clear state of disrepair. Collapsed pillars and walls filled with holes and ominous cracks in everything. The only good news was this place was slightly better lit. Slightly. And still no Clover.

The next room didn’t excite him any more than the last. Just some block things and leavers meant for a puzzle. There was a sign too but he could see the giant letters spelling EXPOSITION without even getting close. Useless.

Wait. The floor spikes were already down, so the puzzle was solved. Clover was here! They had to be ahead!

He picked up the pace, quickly (but not too quickly, he still wasn’t convinced the floor wouldn’t just crumble and drop him into the abyss) moving to the next room.

While the Dark Ruins were proving to be as run down as Toriel said they'd be, it wasn’t all like that. Though he hadn't yet found a surface that didn't have some kind of damage, Garrett was finding a plethora of evidence that someone was not only living here, as was expected, but also taking care of the place. Flower beds, semi clean floors… the signs.

The first was a warning that this was private property, which he supposed made enough sense; but after that he kept finding what seemed like personal messages written to someone specific. They actually felt more like journal entries than messages sometimes, with the way they referred to the person they were directed to like they'd never read them.

Garrett tried not to pay it much mind. He had better things to think about than incomprehensible signs. Namely Clover. Another solved puzzle in the form of a corn maze (another thing he chose not to think about) made him think he was close to finding them. Any minute now he was gonna turn a corner and they'd be there, he was sure of it.

He hadn't seen any monsters yet, thankfully. Toriel made clear there were some who lived down here, but none had shown themselves. He chose to take that as a good sign.

Eventually, he came to yet another long, narrow bridge over the abyss. This time with clearly visible damage along the edges. Fucking joy . Sure, he crossed without issue, but he wasn't happy about it. He’d be happy if he never had to do that again.

…

He groaned as he realized he'd have to do it again on the way back.

Sighing, Garrett reassured himself that he'd find Clover any minute now. And then he'd be one step closer to being out of this mess .

For once, the area ahead seemed decently well lit. He didn't even have to squint to see anymore. Though the only thing to see in the hall he was in was some kind of colorful, paper and ribbon, chandelier, thing, swaying in place. Whatever it was, he didn't care.

He walked past it, eager to-

“Woah! You're way bigger than you were last time I saw you!” An incredibly loud and enthusiastic voice rang out from the ribbon thing, scaring the shit out of him.

“Gah!! What the-”

“Could it be?” The ribbons said as it stared him down with its eyes that it had, “Have you unlocked the secret to transformation?” Its ribbons were vibrating with excitement. 

Garrett stood there blinking like an idiot for a  few moments before his brain finally put the pieces together that that's a monster you idiot!! “Woah, hey! Uh-”

“Yes! It must be! You’ve evolved from a tiny cowboy to some kind of lanky grocery store clerk!”

“Wha- hey! I’m not lank- wait, what was that about a cowb-”

“Show me the power of your new form!”

The Dark Ruins got darker and his soul became visible.

Goddammit.

“Woah! Hold on-”

“HIYAH!”

“C'mon, can’t we-”

“RAAAAAA!”

“Would you just-”

“KAME-HAME-HA!”

This was going nowhere fast.

Any attempt on Garrett’s part to communicate with the ribbon monster was met with unintelligible phrases like ‘Show me your power!’ and ‘Let out your fighting spirit!’ and ‘Prove to the world the truth in your heart!’ Garrett was pretty sure it wanted him to fight back? Maybe?

He'd thrown exactly one punch in his life and it hurt like hell, so the idea didn't appeal to him. He really just wanted to ask about Clover and leave, but any time he tried-

“Thousand Blades: Cutting Thunder!!” It shouted as it started swiping at him with its toy ninja sword. Plastic or not it still stung when it smacked him. Which it did. A lot. It was still better than the other attack it'd thrown at him, the one it shot fucking laser beams at him!! Toriel really downplayed the kinds of things monsters were capable of.

And it wanted him to fight it?! Hell. No. He'd never been a fighter to begin with but even if he was, how was anyone supposed to fight something that can shoot lasers?! Far he'd spent the ‘encounter’ running around like a headless chicken trying not to get hit, trying to talk to the monster in the small pauses between attacks. So far, he'd failed to do either.

Toriel said monsters could be talked down with acting, whatever that actually meant was unclear (he probably should've asked now that he thought about it), but this one wanted him to fight back. So what the hell was he supposed to do?!

The longer this went on the more it felt like a losing proposition. He kept getting hit and his everything was sore again and if he wasn't gonna learn anything useful then what the hell was he still doing here?!

A moment passed where it seemed like nothing was happening. No slashes. No lasers. Nothing.

He took a breath and tried one more time to talk to the thing. “H-”

*Bang!*

A metal pan looking thing smashed into his head from above. Then, the thing had the audacity to bounce off the floor and hit him directly in the soul. He'd just processed what had happened when it fell back down on his head. Again.

Rubbing his head and looking up, he saw that more were falling.

Okay, no, fuck this.

“Don’t go tsundere on me- hey! Wait! Where are you going?!” The monster called out as he booked it out of the room.

Taking the first exit he saw, Garrett checked if the ribbon monster followed him. It didn’t seem like it did, so he stopped to take a breath.

“Woah, another one?”

Garrett startled, spinning around to face the speaker. Said a small, lizard-y, yellow dinosaur, thing holding an oversized pencil as big as her body. “Sorry, didn't mean to scare you.”

He blinked before letting out a relieved breath. She wasn’t attacking him. “It's fine, just a little frazzled is all.” 

“I figured. Did you run into Crispy Scroll? I thought I heard him shouting louder than usual.”

Crispy Scroll… “Is that his name? I would have asked, but I couldn't get a word in past the screaming.”

“Yeah, he can get a little… overexcited at times.”

Overexcited. Yeah, that's one word you could call it. Apparently his thoughts showed on his face because the small monster added, “He's really not so bad once you get used to him. He mostly just talks about anime and practices his ‘super fighting moves’.”

“I'll take your word for it.” Once he and Clover were back in the Ruins with Toriel he was never coming back down here. Ever.

“Anyway, what brings you to the Dark Ruins? We don't usually get so many visitors.”

“My kid sibling fell down here a bit ago. They, uh,” Was it okay to say they were human? Toriel told him most monsters didn't really know what humans look like, so they might not know. Better safe than sorry. “They look like me but smaller, and are wearing a cowboy costume. Have you seen them? I really need to bring them back sooner rather than later.”

“A Cowboy? Yeah, they came through here a little while ago!” She said happily. “I think they went to Dalv’s place. It's right up ahead, up the stairs.” She pointed to the far side of the hall with her pencil.

“Yes! Thank you! Thank you so much!” Finally having a solid lead on Clover, he took off in the direction she pointed.

He was so close to having Clover back and leaving this dark, dangerous place and going back to Toriel and her nice clean warm home with good food.

Journals? Check. 

Clothes? Check.

Art supplies? It was a tight fit, but check.

Record player? That… was going to be difficult.

Dalv's suitcase was already bursting at the seams, but he couldn't just leave his beloved record player! Then there was the issue of the rest of his furniture. How was he supposed to get any of it out of the Dark Ruins?

Though the whole ordeal was rather stressful, it was a good problem to have, he supposed. He'd spent far too long hiding away from the world, waiting for his mysterious friend to come back and give him the courage to face the world again.

In a way, that's what ended up happening anyway. Though the kind stranger he'd been waiting to return, a human of all things was the one to asway his fears 

He finally felt like he could start living again.

That's not to say he wasn't scared. Far from it. He was terrified. He felt like he just woke from a nightmare and the terror hadn't yet worn off.

But he wasn't going to let that stop him. He owed it to both himself and Clover to follow through on leaving.

*Knock-Knock-Knock!*

Brought out of his thoughts by the noise, he assumed one of the other Dark Ruins denizens was here to see about leaving now that he'd opened the door out.

* Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang!*

“Yes yes, I'm coming.” Goodness they were impatient.

Making his way to the door, Dalv expected to see Crispy Scroll, it only made sense with how enthusiastic the knocking was.

Instead, when he opened the door he was confronted by… another human? 

He looked an awful lot like Clover, but much taller, and wearing a white T-shirt and sleeveless blue vest instead of anything cowboy related. Though, that didn't necessarily imply they were related. If the last two were anything to go by, humans tended to look very similar to each other. At least relative to monsters.

The unfamiliar human looked him up and down before asking, “Are you Dalv?”

Blinking a moment before sputtering out, “I- uh, y-yes  t-that’s me. W-who are you? What do you w-want?” His anxiety came back with a vengeance in the presence of a much larger human.

“I'm Garrett, I was told my sibling came here.” He said quickly, slightly out of breath, “They're wearing a cowboy costume and look like me but smaller, have you seen them?”

Sibling? Oh, so he was right to think they looked alike. “Well yes, b-but-”

“Great!! Where are they?”

“W-well, they um, they left. Just a bit ago.” 

The human's expression instantly turned to one of suspicion, “Left to where?”

“S-Snowdin!!” He said quickly to dispel any misunderstandings, “I let them out through the back door to my house, it leads to lower Snowdin.”

The human, Garrett, blinked. “You just… let them out.”

“Y-yes?” He said meekly. It seemed reasonable at the time, the Dark Ruins are no place for a child. Or anyone, really.

He opened his mouth as if to shout, before forcing himself to take a breath. “Okay. Okay. They just left, right? So I should be able to catch up to them pretty quick, right?” He asked after gathering himself.

“I… suppose? As far as I know the only place they could go is the Honeydew Resort. Would… would you like me to show you the door?”

“Yeah, that'd be great.” The way he said it made it sound like he hated the idea.

Holy FUCK was it cold!

Snowdin! The place was called Snowdin! How did he not-

A harsh wind pushed the freezing cold into him, making his whole body shiver.

He was really wishing he'd changed out of his work uniform before coming here. These clothes were meant for stocking shelves and bagging groceries, not trekking through a snowy forest.

An underground snowy forest. A forest, underground, where it snowed. Was currently snowing. How-

Another breeze made his arms feel numb. Think about it later. Just find Clover.

Forcing one foot in front of the other, he made his way down the only path forward.

Chapter Text

Clover triumphantly emerged from beneath the bench, pancake in hand, before going to the nearby box to reorganize their inventory. 

Looking proud that their curiosity was rewarded, Clover touched the save star, and Flowey popped out of the snow, a friendly smile on his face.

“Howdy! We're almost out of here. I’m surprised that guard never saw you nearby, ya know? Their puzzles sure weren't impressive, that's for certain. Knowing that, I wouldn't worry if you run into them.” He said, knowing full well Clover couldn't progress without meeting the birdbrain.

“Whatever happens, I wish you luck!”

File saved

With that, Clover pressed ahead.

Flowey wasn't even going to bother watching the fight. Clover rarely ever changes course when they're this far into one of these ‘no killing’ runs; and even if they did, birdbrain would just fly away before she bit the dust.

Every time Flowey reset, the next run would be just a tiny bit smoother, with more skillful dodging and faster puzzle solving and the like. Now, Clover had grown to a point that they never died to the blue moron anymore. At least, not in a run like this. All that to say, he was disappointed that he wouldn't even get the pleasure of watching them die.

He resisted the urge to Reset just to do something about the boredom.

Maybe he was being too passive? But he'd already tried taking a more active role in some runs; whether he was killing important monsters before Clover could meet them, or intervening in fights to change their outcome, or taking a more subtle approach to manipulate circumstances behind the scenes, the results were always the same. It always led to a dead end. Often with Clover refusing to go any farther.

He even tried stealing birdbrain’s super serum syringe for himself. It didn't work on him, unfortunately. It probably had something to do with him having a flower for a body. Or maybe not having a soul?

Whatever, it didn't really matter. The point was, trying to do anything himself or directly interacting with anyone but Clover either killed the run instantly, or made progress impossible later down the line. Whereas playing ‘keeper of the save file’ has consistently gotten him as far as Hotland.

So, obviously, the best course of action was to keep doing what he was doing. If only it wasn't so predicta-

“Are- are you okay? I didn't hit you too hard did I?” The sound of the moron saying something off script grabbed his attention. Flowey looked towards the sentry station to see-

What?

“Oh. Oh no! Please say something!” Clover laying face down in the snow, the bird monster slowly approaching their body.

Clover… died? To Martlet? While wearing the Silver Scarf?

“No-no-no-no-no this can't be happening, this can't be happening!”

What the hell?! That never happens! Clover hasn't died to that idiot in forever , they moved past this ages ago!

Maybe he should reset, since this Clover was clearly defective.

“I'm so sorry I didn't mean for this to happen I'm so sorry I'm so sorry -” She begged to the soul hovering above their body.

He sighed. “Well, I did want something different. Might as well stick with it.”

File loaded

Following the path from the Dark Ruins, Garrett stomped his way through the snow until he came to a clearing with a giant boulder in the middle. He could barely feel his hands and his shoes were already soaked through and he was gonna kick Clover's tiny ass for putting him through this.

There were two paths forward, one straight ahead and one to the right. While there were footprints in the snow leading from Dalv's place to here, presumably left by Clover, there were too many tracks around the boulder to tell which were left by them or which way they went.

Goddamn it.

He picked a path at random and went straight. Better than just standing around failing to get a lead.

After a bit more trudging through the snow the path led him to… an even more massive boulder, this time blocking off the entrance to a cave. A dead end, and no Clover. Goddamn it!

There were two people, monsters, there. They were dressed in rags or something but they were so thoroughly covered that he couldn't tell what they actually looked like. Maybe they knew something?

“Hey!” He called out as he approached them, “Scuse me, have either of you seen a kid dressed like a cowboy?”

“Oh yes,” The one on the right said with a feminine voice, “Such a kind child, they drew us a map so my husband and I wouldn't be lost anymore.”

“Did you see where they went?”

“Yes, they went back the way you came. I think they went east after that.” The one on the left replied in a more masculine voice.

Fucking duh. Of course Clover went that way! It's the only other way they could have gone! Why did he even ask?! He turned around and ran the other way.

… “Hmph. Rude.” The feminine one huffed as he left.

The other path took him past a frozen pond. He was going fine and even started picking up speed, until one of his feet landed on the ice and slipped out from under him, dropping him on his ass before sliding into the snow. Idiot.

Grumbling and shivering, he got up and got going again. Slower this time, thanks to all the slosh soaking into his clothes. Were his hands turning blue?

Thick foliage shaded the path before coming to another clearing, this time containing a puzzle… thing. This one looked a lot less well put together than the ones before. Wood planks attached at odd angles by too many nails and frayed rope holding things together. It was so shoddy looking that it took him a bit to realize it was already solved and the gate it controlled was open. Clover had been here.

He forced himself to move forward, breathing on his hands to try and restore some feeling back to them. He’d severely underestimated how hard moving through the snow was going to be, with his feet sinking into the snow and getting stuck and somehow being slippery and sticky at the same time.

After running past a random light post in the middle of nowhere-

File loaded

Following the path from the Dark Ruins, Garrett stomped his way through the snow until he came to a clearing with a giant boulder in the middle. He could barely feel his hands and his shoes were already soaked through and he was gonna kick Clover's tiny ass for putting him through this.

There were two paths forward, one straight ahead and one to the right. There were tracks going every which way so those weren’t going to be any help.

Goddamn it.

He picked a path at random and went straight. Better than just standing around failing to get a lead.

The path led to a dead end, a cave blocked by a giant boulder. There were two monsters standing there. But no Clover. Goddamn it!

He turned around and went down the other path.

This one took him past a frozen pond. Being careful not to step on the ice, he was going fine and even started picking up speed. If he kept moving fast, maybe the frostbite would take a bit longer to set in?

Thick foliage shaded the path before coming to another clearing, this time containing a puzzle… thing. This one looked shoddily put together, and took him a bit to realize it was already solved and the gate it controlled was open. Clover had been here.

He forced himself to move forward, breathing on his hands to try to keep them warm. He’d severely underestimated how hard moving through the snow was going to be, with every other step sinking into the snow and getting stuck.

After running past a random light post in the middle of nowhere, he passed what looked like the remains of a shack that had been stripped for parts, its wood planks and logs collected in bundles and put in a pile.

There was another fork in the path, left or straight. With nothing to go off of, Garrett went straight.

The path ended at another clearing, with a big dead looking black tree and a thin, pale monster wearing a santa hat. And no Clover. Fuck.

Monster looked at him and said, “What's the rush? Y’know, I read something in a book once. It said ‘If life comes at you too fast-”

File loaded

Following the path from the Dark Ruins, Garrett made his way through the snow until he came to a clearing with a boulder in the middle. His hands were numb and his shoes were already soaking through and he was gonna ground Clover for a year for putting him through this.

There were two paths forward, and the tracks in the snow weren’t any help. Groaning, he picked a path at random and went right.

He ran past a frozen pond and under some overhanging foliage while trying to keep the snow out of his shoes as best he could, slowly picking up speed. He came to a clearing with a shoddy looking puzzle, thankfully already solved. Clover had been here!

Moving forward and breathing on his hands to try to keep them warm, he was starting to get the hang of running on snow. He was still losing his footing sometimes but he didn’t feel like he was gonna trip and faceplant in the snow anymore. He kinda wished he could feel his feet though.

After running past a random light post in the middle of nowhere and a dilapidated shack, he came to another fork in the road. Left or straight. With nothing to go off of, Garrett went left.

A winding path led to a clearing with a snow castle the size of a small house, complete with grand wooden doors. The path split again, straight and right, and he had no clue which way was right. He was getting tired or running around blindly without directions. Well, someone living in there wouldn’t be the strangest thing he’s seen. Maybe they could give directions? It was worth a shot.

He knocked on the double doors, only for them to swing open, revealing a smaller door within. Knocking on that door, they swung open, revealing… another door. Knocking on that one made it lower like a drawbridge, revealing another normal sized snow castle.

Garrett came to a new clearing, with another split path and a giant snow castle on the side of the road. The thing was as large as the shack he’d just passed, and easily as tall as the boulder from before! Maybe… someone lived there? Maybe he could ask for directions? 

Fucking… ugh, whatever. He picked another path at random.

This time there was a river at the end of the path. Another dead end, great. The only other thing there was a pile of giant ice cubes, and-

“Huumpf! 428… Huumpf! 429…” Between the river and the pile was a large wolf-like monster chucking the cubes into the flowing water. He could only guess that all that fur was how the guy wasn’t freezing. Lucky.

Well, he wanted directions. “H-hey,” He called through clattering teeth, “D-do you know h-how to get to the, uh,” God, what did Dalv say the place was called? “Uh, Honeydew Resort f-from here?”

“Hmm? Yes, Ice Wolf knows.” He said without stopping his workout, “Go back way you came and go right, that take you straight there. Huumpf! 433…”

“Alright! Yes! Thank you-”

File loaded

Garrett made his way through the snow until he came to a clearing with a boulder in the middle. His hands were numbing and his shoes were starting to soak and he was gonna give Clover a hell of a talking to for putting him through this.

He took the first path he saw until he came to a clearing with a shoddy looking puzzle, already solved. Clover had been here. Picking up the pace, he breathed on his hands to try to keep them warm. Running through the snow was rough, but he was managing. As long as he kept his strides small he shouldn't have to worry about slipping.

After coming to another fork in the road, he went with his gut and ran left, bringing him to a snow castle the size of a small house. Just one of many odd things he’d passed on the way, but he didn’t let himself be distracted and continued straight ahead.

He passed a sign advertising an underground postal service and an unfinished snowman before he saw it, an arch sign that read in big honey colored letters, HONEYDEW RESORT .

Finally. This was where Dalv said Clover'd most likely be. He was almost done.

But as he approached the resort he was stopped by… giant coffee cups? Three giant coffee cups slid out from behind a fence, blocking the way through. Then they turned around, revealing that they had faces.

One of them even had sunglasses. “Wouldya look at this. Swig! Toast! Another chump wants through.”

“Another one?” The one on the right said.

“Lotta punks today.” The left one added.

“Looks like it’s up to us to show you what’s what around here. The name’s Rephil, leader of the world renowned gang, The Shufflers. We rule this town. If you wanna pass, you’re gonna have to go through us!”

“I- Look, I really don’t want to f-fight you. Can’t you j-just let me through?” Garrett wasn't actually intimidated by these guys. At all. He just didn't want to waste any more time. Also, he was really fucking cold.

“Why does everyone think we wanna fight? Nah, we don't do fights, we Shufflers prefer to settle things in a more dignified manner. We would like to propose a challenge. A game of sorts.” A ball rolled in front of him from behind the fence. He could only stare at it in disbelief. No way they were going to… “We'll take this ball 'ere, and hide it under one of us. Next, we'll shuffle around. When we finish, you'll have to guess who has the ball.” Yes, they were going to.  “We'll do this three times in a row. You win? You can pass. You lose? We'll sit here blockin' ya for all eternity. Ya pickin' up what I'm putin' down?”

“Look. I really n-need to get going. I’m trying to c-catch up to-”

“No can do, schmuck. You wanna pass, you gotta play the game.” The sunglasses one whose name he already forgot replied coolly.

He growled, “Alright, fine! Let’s j-just do it quickly.” He could feel the cold seeping into his skin now that he was standing still.

"That makes things easy, then. Here we go!" One by one, they flipped over. The one hiding the ball was easy enough to track. Too easy even. Wasn't this, like, a classic scam? It starts easy to make you cocky, but gets harder and harder until you fail. The main one did say they were doing three rounds, no way it would stay this easy. He didn't have time to deal with that.

The Shufflers were all upside down and facing away… soooo.

Garrett sprinted between the Shufflers and into the resort.

…

“... Hey boss?”

“Yeah?”

“He ran past us when we wasn't looking.”

“Yeah, I noticed.”

…

Welcome to the Honeydew Resort!

North: The Honeydew Lodge

Northwest: The Honeydew Hotspring

East: Exit to Snowdin

The Honeydew Resort was practically glowing with warmth. It was like a bastion of safety and comfort against the harsh cold of the wilderness.

Or maybe the numbness in his arms and legs was making it look more impressive than it was. Either way, Garrett was happy to be here. Soon he’d be warm again and he’d have Clover back and they’d make their way back to the Ruins and that’d be that. Okay he wasn’t looking forward to the trek back but he’d cross that bridge when he got there.

Making his way to the front door, he thought about how he’d never actually been to a resort before. Or anything like one. The more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of just hanging around for a bit. At least long enough to thaw a little. After all, when would he have a chance to go to a place like this again? Never, probably. Besides, despite not actually taking all that long to get here, he was wiped out. He felt like he'd been running for ages!

Yeah, once he met with Clover, he’d spend some time de-stressing before heading back to the Ruins. After he chewed them out for putting him through all this, of course.

Opening the door and stepping through he was hit by warm air and a pleasant atmosphere. There was an employee serving up what smelled like pancakes and coffee, a band playing music, some cute honeycomb themed tables and even some comfortable looking couches. In the center of it all was the most beautiful space heater he’d ever seen.

One thing he didn't see was Clover.

Okay. Deep breaths. No need to panic. He'd just ask the employee if she's seen them. No problem.

As he approached the counter, the monster working it straightened up, “W-welcome to the Honeydew Resort! Please, feel free to relax.” She murmured something else under her breath that he didn’t hear.

Seeing how nervous she was and being intimately aware of the horrors of working with customers, Garrett planned to make this chat quick. “Hello, yes, hi. I was told my little sibling may have come here, have you seen them? They're wearing a cowboy costume and look like me but smaller.”

“Oh yeah, they were here just a bit ago.” He was getting really sick of hearing that. “They bought some coffee and pancakes, and asked… a lot of questions.” 

Where did they get the money too- no, never mind, “Do you know where they are now?” His voice sounded more desperate than he meant it too.

“Um! Well… no. Sorry. They didn't say where they were going, sorry. But maybe try the hotspring? Sorry.” Poor thing.

“Alright, thanks.” Dejectedly, Garrett walked away from the counter and to the front door.

To no one's surprise, least of all Garrett's, Clover wasn't at the hotspring. There was a vegetable monster and a ball monster and an iguana looking monster, but no Clover.

The sign from earlier made it clear, there was only one way they could've gone from here.

Deep breath in. Slow breath out.

God he wished he could just lay down on those comfy couches in the lodge.

Putting one foot in front of the other, breaking into a full sprint once he was out of the resort. Past another sign welcoming people to the resort was a bridge going over a river.

He ignored the couple of monsters he passed on the way, not even reading the sign next to the bridge. He was done with this shit. He was tired and cold and he needed this to be over. He was going to find Clover, drag them back to the Ruins and never be forced to do anything like this ever again . He would not stop, would not slow down, and he absolutely would not be distracted.

The bridge itself didn't have any snow on it for some reason, so once he was on it he felt safe running even faster; only for his feet to slide out from under him half way across, sending him face first into the bridge.

“ Fuck! ” Pain exploded on his face and he suddenly couldn't breathe through his nose. Was it broken? He felt a lot of warm liquid pouring into the back of his throat, and touching his hand to his face revealed blood. “Fuck.” He tried to roll onto his back to reorient himself, only to find himself in a free fall as he rolled himself right off the bridge.

In the second he had to process what was happening he saw that he was falling towards a dock going halfway across the river, with a pillow at the end and some rope guardrail held up by- waitnono nonoNONONONO NONONO

Falling directly on one of the posts holding up the rope rails, the thin pole lodged itself into his torso before breaking off the dock. Blindly flailing, Garrett slid off the edge and into the freezing water below. The flowing river began dragging him away before he came to a halt, the post stuck in his body still attached to the others and keeping him in place. But at the angle it was holding him he couldn't get his head above water.

As his lungs filled with freezing riv-

File loaded

Garrett ran down the path and through a cleaning with a boulder and went east. His hands and feet were cold and he really just wanted to find Clover and go back to the Ruins.

Frozen pond, solved puzzle, lamp post, ruined shack. He sped past them all, if he moved fast he knew he’d be able to keep warm and catch up to Clover that much sooner.

Fork in the road, he followed his gut and went north. Snow sucked to run on and his everything was cold but he was doing fine. Snow castle, UGPS sign, unfinished snowman, and finally a grand sign reading HONEYDEW RESORT in big honey gold letters.

As he approached, a trio of mug shaped monsters tried to block him.

“Wouldya look at this. Swig! Toast! Another chump wan- WOAH, HEY!” 

Garrett just ran between them and into the resort, not caring who they were or what they wanted.

Not seeing Clover outside, he started his search with the lodge.

Inside there was cute furniture and a band playing music and an employee selling breakfast food. No Clover.

He left the lodge and went to the hot spring. No Clover.

Somehow, he wasn’t surprised.

Frustrated, he left the resort and ran east. It was the only direction they could’ve gone.

When he came to a bridge, he stopped to read a sign posted next to it.

Bridge slippery during snowfall - NO RUNNING.

Okay, good to know! That’s why we read signs. If anyone still slipped and fell on the bridge, it was their own fault.

He carefully stepped across the bridge, breaking back into a sprint when he reached the other side. 

Thick foliage made the path dark, but he could still read the direction signs as he passed them.

10 steps to the East - 2nd Sign 

And the one after that.

10 steps to the East - 3rd Sign

10 steps to the West - 1st Sign

… And the one after that.

10 steps to the West - 2nd Sign

Any goodwill the bridge sign earned had evaporated. What was the point of these?!? Who the fuck took the time to put them up in the first place?!?

Turning a corner into another clearing, he saw another finished puzzle. Good god, where was Clover even trying to go?!

Going through the puzzle's gate, he found himself in a little rest area with benches. He was just about ready to take a break, before he noticed a single set of tracks. Clover sized tracks. 

Clover was near. For sure this time. 

“Behold! The UG Aviator!” Martlet said proudly, stepping aside so the human could see their ride in all her glory, “Isn't she a beauty? Boats are shes, ya know. I call her Ava for short! Isn't that cute?” She was especially proud of the plank displaying the name. Who knew not all paints were waterproof? She sure didn’t! It took a while to find one that was.

“If my map and memory serves, this river should lead directly to Hotland. From there, it's a hop, skip, and a leap to Asgore's castle! I'm not sure how we're getting in but... We cross that bridge when we come to it, right?” The human gave her a smile and a nod.

If there was one thing the human had impressed on her, it was their ability to keep their cool. Even when they were fighting they barely batted an eye at her best attacks, which, not gonna lie, was kind of a hit to the ego. Even when she actually landed a hit they looked more annoyed than anything. It wasn't like she was going easy on them either, she really was trying her best! Well, okay. Maybe not her best , best. They were just a kid after all, she didn't really want to hurt them…

Though she did. Multiple times. They didn't seem upset with her, but still…

“... I also wanted to apologize about, well, you know... attacking you... I meant no harm, honest! I just have to do my job, is all!” It wasn't much of an excuse, “And, well… Oftentimes I don't know what the ‘right’ action is until it's too late.” She always follows her gut, even though it often leads her to make a mess of things. Still, she always tried her best to make things right afterward.

“So... I know we just met and all... But will you trust me on this?” She asked, trying her best to hide her nerves.

Lucky for her, the little human answered quickly, “Yeah, I trust you.”

She couldn't help but flap her wings a little in excitement, “Yay! Don't worry, your trust is in good hands! Or wings, as the case may be! I'll guard it with my SOUL!” 

“And this means we get to have an adventure! This is so exciting! I mean, nothing this exciting ever happens around here. At least, while I've been here it hasn't.” She’d heard plenty about the Snowdin Incident from the locals. And Chujin. She doubted this adventure would have any of… that . This human was nothing like the ones her mentor warned her about, what with their adorable insults and tiny cute face!

“Think of all the fun we'll have! I mean, there's a chance I might be fired for this, and lose all of my life's work and belongings, but hey, what's life without a little risk?” Besides, there was still so much of the Underground she hadn't seen yet! Mostly because the titular heat of Hotland didn't agree with her, so she’d only gone there for work. And she never had any reason to explore Waterfall. What better way to broaden your horizons than with a new friend?

She was all hyped up now! “So shall we be off then?” Her new friend nodded again and climbed aboard her mighty vessel.

Quickly undoing the rope keeping the boat in place, Ava was set free! Now the adventure could begin!

…

Wait a minute…

“Wait, hold on! I-” “CLOVER!?”

An ear-piercing shriek cut her off. She looked towards the source of the noise to see- “Another human?!” This one was taller, and wasn’t wearing a hat like her new friend, but he was definitely human! He was running at the river bank, waving his arms in the air and screaming at the top of his lungs.

“CLOVER WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING ON A RAFT?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!”

Ava and the smaller human (Clover? Was that their name?) were getting further away by the second. They were looking at the new human with an expression of pure disbelief.

Martlet looked at the tall human, “Um, excuse me?” He turned to her, irate, “I'm sorry but, who are you? What do you want with them?”

“I’m their brother ,” Oh, “I need to bring them back to the Ruins!” Uh oh. “Where's that raft going!?”

“Um… Hotland?” 

“Can we stop it before it gets there?!”

“Well, not really. But-”

“I- goddamn it! ”

She was about to say she could fly over, grab them and fly back before he interrupted her and 

jumped into the freezing cold river and started paddling towards Ava.

“Wh- wait! That's dangerous!” Everyone knew that the waters in Snowdin were potentially lethal to anyone who wasn't an ice monster! “Hold on!” She flapped her wings and took to the air.

Clover's brother was gaining on Ava for a bit, but by the time Martlet caught up to him he was stalling. She wasn't sure she was strong enough to carry him normally, let alone when he was soaking wet. What could she do what could she do what could - Oh!

Carefully, she positioned herself to hover above him, something made harder by all his thrashing (part of her wondered if he knew how to swim in the first place), and tried to wrap her legs around his torso. Her legs got submerged in ice water and he panic thrashed around a bit, but she still managed to get a grip on him. Then she started flapping as hard as she could, dragging him towards Ava. Once he felt himself moving forward, he stopped resisting.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity of flapping he was finally close enough to grab onto Ava and pull himself aboard.

After giving her legs a shake to get at least some of the icy river water out, Martlet landed on Ava with the two humans. It was a tight fit, Ava wasn't meant for more than two people (or more than just Martlet and some cargo really), but they made it work with a little scooching around and a lot of leg tucking.

The brother wasn't looking too good, shivering and curled up with his knees to his chest. “Are you okay? You're really not supposed to let yourself get drenched in freezing water.” At least, not while wearing clothes. Right? Wait, you're supposed to take the wet clothes off as soon as possible, right? Cause of heat absorption, or something?

Being a Royal Guard member who worked in Snowdin she should probably know this stuff. Stuff like how to not freeze to death.

It could have been worse, she supposed. They were partway into Waterfall before he got out of the water, so it wasn't as dangerously cold as it could have been. It wasn't exactly safe though.

The brother opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Clover pushing something into his hands. It was the cozy scarf they'd been wearing earlier. “Put it on. It'll keep you warm.” They said.

Apparently not willing to argue with warmth, he did as told. Once he wrapped it around his neck the shivering stopped almost immediately. 

“Holy shit, that really works. Thanks kid… but don't think you're off the hook yet! You have a lot of explaining to do!” A shiver shook through him, “Once we're out of this mess.” Clover looked downtrodden at his words, and the brother sighed, “Oh, don't look like that. I'm not mad, it's just… been a long day.”

A few moments passed without anyone saying anything. Clover was quiet as usual, the brother was taking in the sights of Waterfall, just happy to be warm. Martlet kinda expected the two siblings to, y'know, hug each other or talk or… something. Instead they seemed content to just sit next to each other in silence. Maybe that's just how human siblings were? 

A few more moments passed, no one saying anything. Just watching the little waterfalls and echo flowers pass them by.

Just as she couldn't take the silence anymore, the brother spoke up. “Hey, uh…”

“Martlet.” She supplied.

“Martlet. Thanks for dragging me out of the water. Really. I, uh, think I would've been screwed if you hadn't. I'm Garrett by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Garrett! And really, it was no problem!” Inside, she was squealing! It wasn't very often she was thanked for her hard work! 

She turned to the smaller human, “So, your name's Clover?” They nodded happily, kicking their feet. Cute! “I love it! So unique!”

She wanted to ask more questions, but Garrett beat her to it, “Hey, Clover. What the hell were you doing on this raft in the first place?”

Martlet coughed, “Actually, that's my fault. We were planning to take this stream to Hotland, and from there go to Asgore’s castle.”

“... Okay? Why were you going to Asgore's castle? Isn't he the one that made humans illegal down here in the first place.”

“Er, well, yes. But that's also where the Barrier is. So going there is the only way to send Clover home.”

Garrett blinked. “I… thought the whole point of the Barrier was that nothing passes through it. What good would going to the Barrier do?”

“Oh! You don't know? Humans can pass through no problem!” Garrett blinked, stuck in his thoughts for a moment. “And, well, if no one knows I didn't do my job as a Royal Guard then I won't get fired.”

That snapped him out of his thoughts. “Wait. You're a Royal Guard?!”

“It's okay, I trust her.” Clover said quietly. She was happy they trusted her enough to stand up for her.

He gave Clover a look before sighing and slouching back. “Alright. If you say so. So uh, your plan to go to the Barrier sounds, um, suicidal, frankly. I have a better one. There's a nice lady in the Ruins who offered to let us stay with her until we can get our own place there. Or maybe indefinitely? We didn't really have time to talk about it. Point is, there's no Royal Guard in the Ruins to hunt us, and she seemed more than happy to feed, house and protect us. Sounds like a winning option to me! If we could just find a place to dock we can start walking-”

“No.” Clover cut him off.

Garrett blinked at them, “Uhh, what? What do you mean no? Did you miss the part about the Royal Guards who are tasked specifically with killing us? And how those Royal Guards aren't in the Ruins? C'mon, Clover, this is an easy-”

“No. I have a mission.” Clover pulled their hat down a bit.

“Wha- mission? The hell are you talking about?”

Clover was silent for a moment, “The missing kids…”

“Wh- wait! That's why you went to Ebott?! To find the missing kids?!” He shot to his feet, rocking Ava as he started shouting.

Martlet had been silent during this, feeling it wasn't her place to intervene. Now she definitely didn't want to butt in, but… “Is it just me or is the river getting faster?”

The humans didn't notice her. “No one was looking for them… someone had to do something.”

“Kid, that is not your problem to deal with! I- I'm not arguing with you on this! We. Are. Humans! There's an entire fucking country’s worth of people down here that would very much like us dead . We are going back to the Ruins where it's safe, and that's final!”

The water was really moving now and- wait, “Um, I might not have been down this route before!” Martlet said, panicking a little now.

Again they didn't hear her. “No! I'm not going until I find them!” Clover was standing and shouting too now.

“We already know what happened to them! They're dead ! Killed for their souls so the king can break the Barrier! There! Mystery solved, case closed, mission completed! And that's exactly what's gonna happen to us if we don't go back to the- What the-!”

Everything suddenly went dark as the now rushing water took them into the mouth of a tunnel. An opening gave them a distant view of Hotland and its structures.

“Hold on to something!”

The view was behind them as quickly as it came. Cavern walls turned to glass and metal tubing, below them was a sea of magma.

“H-hey look, it’s Hotland! We can stop here!”

She looked to her fellow passengers. Clover was unfazed and seemed more upset about the argument, while Garrett was- “Oh God we're gonna die we're gonna die we're gonna die who would even build- ” doing his best.

Martlet looked ahead to see, to her horror, there wasn't any place to dock! Or even slow down!

Suddenly, Hotland was behind them. Now they were speeding faster than ever through a river tunnel that was leading straight to-

“OHNO OHNO OHNO OHNO OHNO”

Ava collided directly into some rocks, sending the humans flying out and over the edge of a cliff face, while she used her wings to hover midair above the drop.

“Hello? Clover? Garrett? Are you okay?”

No response.

“Ohno ohno ohno!” She didn’t see where they went and didn’t know if they were even okay what could she do what could she do - She didn’t know what to do! Maybe someone else would? 

“You stay right there! I’ll go get help!”

Chapter Text

You woke up in a puddle of muddy water, in a dark, unknown cave.

Around you were the remains of Martlet's raft, reduced splinters and a few recognizable chunks of wood. Your brother was a few feet away, unconscious in the puddle like you were a moment ago.

You went to try to wake him up by shaking his shoulder, to no response. You tried again. Nothing. Just as you begin to worry, he starts murmuring.

“Nnngg. I'm… my break… I'll spend… how… I want…”

He swatted at your hand before rolling over onto his stomach in an attempt to escape consciousness. He was now laying face down in the puddle. He stayed like this for a few seconds before pulling his head out of the water, gasping for air and coughing up mud water.

“PLTTROOO PLTOOO EHHHAUEEGH”

After a moment of hacking and spitting, he finally took notice of you.

“C-Clover? What?” He sat up and took in his surroundings, “Where… augh!” He winced and grabbed his legs. “Man c'mon! I just got those fixed!”

He sighed and dragged himself out of the water and onto a dry spot against the wall. The action seemed to exhaust him more than it should have. You ask if he's okay. 

“Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Just bruised is all. What about you kid? Are you hurt anywhere?” You told him are unharmed. “Well, that's something at least… Hey, where's, eh, what's her face? Martlet? Yeah, that's her name.” You said you don't know. He groaned. “So we have no idea where we are, no idea where to go, and no one who does know. Great.”

Garrett tried to stand up, only to fall back down on his butt. “Ow! Ah. Alright, I'm just gonna sit down for a bit… ow.”

You would have offered him some healing items, but you used all of yours during your fight with Martlet and didn't think to restock before boarding her raft.

Spotting a chest from the raft, you looked inside and found a baggie of Trail Mix! You returned to Garrett and offered him the bag. He took it, confused, “Uh, kid, I appreciate the thought, but I don't think raisins are gonna help me out here.” You explained that it's not raisins, it’s Trail Mix with everything but the raisins picked out, and that monster food can heal you. He gave you a look , but decided that questioning it wasn't worth the effort to argue and jammed the Trail Mix into his mouth.

Immediately after eating the Trail Mix, Garrett perked up. “Ah, salty. Okay, yeah that's much better. Still sore though. Just… give me a minute. I'll be up soon.” He closed his eyes and rested his head on the wall, breathing slowly. 

It seemed like he was going to be fine, though you wish you had a better idea of what his HP was at. Maybe…

You start an encounter with your brother, both of your yellow souls presenting themselves as the irrelevant parts of the world faded away.

“Wha- Woah! Who's there!” He looked around frantically, trying to spot the attacker, before his eyes settled on you, “Uhhh, kid? What are you doing?”

You tell him that you're just checking something.

You Check Garrett.

Garrett   - -   LV1   HP 27/50   ATK 3(0)   DEF 15(6)

Your older brother, legal guardian, and only remaining family. You still can't believe he's here. Neither can he for that matter.

Huh. There's more information than usual. Maybe it's because he’s human? You're somewhat alarmed by how low his HP was. How low was he before eating the Trail Mix?

It takes you a second to note how much higher his stats are than yours. Well, his HP and Defense, anyway. Was it because he was older than you?

A little green light flashed on him for a moment after your Check ended, startling him. “W-what was that?!”

You Check Garrett again.

Garrett   - -   LV1   HP 29/50   ATK 3(0)   DEF 15(6)

Your older brother, legal guardian, and only remaining family. You still can't believe he's here. Neither can he for that matter.

Huh. His HP went up a bit. You noticed he was still wearing the Silver Scarf, and explained to your brother that the scarf heals the wearer while they’re in an encounter.

The light flashed again.

“I- uh. Huh.” He said with great wisdom. “Okay, sure… Can we put our souls away now?” Garrett was Sparing you, and you Spared him in turn, ending the encounter. 

Souls back in their places, you noticed light coming from the exit and went to investigate.

Garrett calls out from behind you. “W- hey! Where do you think you're going?”

You told your brother that you're just going to look around.

“Okay, well, don't wander off too far! Seriously!”

You rolled your eyes and told him you won't, and walked away.

Beams of light were coming through some holes in the ceiling, shining down into a small alcove in the cave wall. Opposite that was another alcove with an upside down mine cart and some wood boxes that had been there for a long time; if the way they were sunk into the dirt was any indication. At the far end of the tunnel was, presumably, the exit. There was so much light pouring through that you couldn't see what was out there.

The mine cart caught your attention. You couldn't imagine how it got this way, or even how it even got here in the first place. It had wheels, so maybe someone rolled it here? But you thought mine carts could only roll on rails, and that still didn't explain how it ended up upside down.

“Psst. Clover! Over here!” A whisper gets your attention. You turn around and Flowey pops his face up through the dirt beneath the beams of light.

“Howdy, Clover!” He said, quietly, “What a day this has been. Thanks to that guard, we’re totally off course! It looks like she ditched you as well. I guess it can't be helped now. There’s gotta be another route to ASGORE’s Castle here.” You quietly asked why he’s whispering, “Oh, I’m just staying out of sight of your brother. It's nothing against him or anything, I just don't know him very well, y'know? Of course, if anything bad ever happens to him, I’ll reload the save file just like I do for you. Speaking of.” 

File saved

“I’ve gotta say, your brother showing up out of nowhere was a real surprise! What do you- ah” Flowey cut himself off and went back into the ground.

“Okay, I'm up. This the only way out?” Your brother emerged from the other room, walking slowly. Guess Flowey will introduce himself when he's ready. You confirmed Garrett’s assessment. “Alright, guess we have no choice… let's get going, the sooner we get out of here the sooner we can get back to Toriel.” 

You frown. Though you now know what happened to the missing children, you couldn't just leave it at that. Their killers walked free, and the king who ordered their deaths still reigned.

You wanted to know who those humans were. You wanted to know why they came here. You wanted to know their stories.

You wanted to know why they died. 

You understood that human souls were necessary for breaking the Barrier, but… they were kids. Did they really have to die? Martlet seemed to think humans could just pass through the Barrier. Flowey didn't actually mention the Barrier, but he did say you'd have to kill the king to leave. 

This all seemed to point to the king choosing to kill the children for their souls, when he could've sent them home. But… monsters needed those souls to get their freedom, would it be right for him to pass up the chance to free his people?

Was he a mercy-less child killer lashing out, or a desperate leader fighting for his people’s freedom? Did he make these choices out of hatred for humanity or out of love for monsters?

Neither option justified the killing of children. He had to face justice for his actions. But what does that mean for a man like him?

You needed to know his reasoning. And you didn't want to hear it from anyone but him. Once you had an understanding of the King of All Monsters, then you could make your judgement.

And none of that was going to happen by hiding in the Ruins. Maybe when all's said and done you would go there with your brother, but until then…

You knew you'd never be able to convince your brother to go along with your plan. He was always telling you not to get involved in things that had nothing to do with you. “Just keep your head down.” this and “We have our own problems to deal with.” that and “Clover for fucks sake you can't keep doing this I can only bail on work so many times before they fire me. No I don't care that he was a bully you can't just-” . He just didn't get it. You never understood how he could turn a blind eye to injustice, and always hated it when he asked you to do the same.

You wanted to ask him how he can hear about what happened to the other fallen humans and not want to do something about it, but you already know what he'd say. “That's not our problem.”

You walked alongside Garrett towards the exit, unsure of how you're going to complete your mission in spite of his protests. You'd have to think of something.

Your thoughts were cut off when the light from the cave exit blinded you as you walked through. But when your eyes adjusted and the light became bearable, you almost couldn't believe what you were seeing.

A vast landscape of sandy hills and sandstone cliffs, dotted with cactuses and blotches of dead grass. A breeze kicked up, almost knocking your hat off.

Save for the cave ceiling where the open blue sky should be, it looked just like something out of your old West movies!

You were exactly where you belonged.

You can't help but dash ahead, eager to explore!

“Wh- Clover! Wait up!”

Were Flowey capable of emotion, he would be furious. As he was the best he could manage was impatience and frustration.

This should have been huge! A whole nother human! This had never, EVER , happened before! 

This should have been a game changer! After run after run after run after run after run of the same thing over and over and over, he was finally rewarded for his persistence with something truly different! A whole new human to manipulate! One that was older, stronger, more capable than Clover! This should have been his chance to finally take the human souls and become GOD ! And yet…

He couldn't do anything.

Well, he could do something. Flowey could do whatever he wanted. But there was one factor that made things… unworkable.

Every time he reset, a couple things… changed. Little things. Some graffiti here, a rubber duck in the river there, maybe some guy being renamed Dave, but never anything that actually mattered. Until now! It had to be random chance, it had to be! Neither he nor Clover had done anything different to cause this, and how could they? How could their actions have possibly caused a second human to fall into the underground.

And that was the problem. Out of all of the many, many , times Flowey has reset by this point, this had never happened before. Ever. Out of the countless times he’d brought Clover through the Underground, this was the only time Clover's brother followed them in. So what the hell were the chances of this happening?!  One in a thousand? One in a million?! A billion?! Was he unlucky it took this long for this event to happen, or lucky it happened at all? For all he knew this was a one time thing, and would never happen again!

If he reset now, or at any point in the future, he might never see Garrett again. And even if it wasn't as astronomically unlikely as it appeared to be, it would likely be a very long time before he fell again.

This completely changed the ways he could approach the situation. For the worse, if that wasn't clear.

His first thought was to just kill the new guy and take his soul. The power he would get from it would make it impossible for Clover’s soul to resist absorption like usual. But… that was assuming Garrett wouldn't be able to resist him as well. And if he was wrong, well, he would have blown his only chance. And even if the soul absorption worked, it would just help him kill Asgore. Which was nice, sure, but that alone wouldn't get him the souls.

If killing Asgore was all it took, he would have been done ages ago. No. He needed to kill Asgore while the souls were exposed. And no matter how he acted, no matter how kind or cruel, the old man never showed them too him. Even using his old name wasn't enough. The only time the souls were ever exposed was when a human, namely Clover, confronted him at the Barrier. So there was no guarantee that taking Garrett’s or Clover’s souls would do anything for him.

His second idea was to try to manipulate Garrett into killing Asgore. But that plan had a problem, and that problem was Clover. From the little he'd seen of Garrett, he could determine that he couldn't retain his memory through loading his save file. Flowey loaded a bunch of times in Snowdin and Garrett hadn't said anything about it, and he highly doubted the guy wouldn't say something about it if he remembered. He could try and fail to sweet talk the guy into doing his bidding, and just reload any time he failed. But Clover remembered. And constantly reloading would quickly destroy any trust the cowboy had in him, especially if they discovered one of his less subtle attempts at manipulation. Then it would be his word against Clover’s, and he didn't like his odds.

Okay, so if Clover was the problem, then why not kill them? He didn't need them if he had Garrett, right? He could kill Clover, blame Asgore, and help Garrett get some hot-blooded revenge. But that depended on Garrett being much more capable than Clover. In the odd run where Clover actually made it to Asgore, they didn't even stand a chance. Admittedly, the only time that ever happened (that he around to witness) was when they were sitting at a measly LV1, so they weren't exactly a power house in those runs. So maybe if Garrett could get some LV, he’d maybe stand a chance. If, maybe, possibly. There was an awful lot of uncertainty in this plan, and if it was yet another dead end he couldn't even just load back to when Clover was alive, because they’ed remember what he did. 

Every possibility carried massive amounts of risk. Risk he couldn't afford if this was his only shot.

Another thing on his mind was how, historically, any direct action or interaction with anyone but Clover would ruin any chance of taking the souls. Maybe Garrett was exempt from this trend, maybe not. He wouldn't know until it was too late to go back.

So… So so so. When all his options were laid out, pros and cons measured and weighed, he was left with one… infuriating … conclusion. 

His best option… out of an entire world of possibilities… was…

To do absolutely nothing different. To just save when Clover asks and load when they die.

The Underground should consider itself lucky he had no emotion. Cause if he did? The kingdom of monsters would be on the receiving end of a world class tantrum right now. Even without emotions it was taking a great deal of concentration to keep himself from doing something he'd regret.

But this was the safest option. All his other ideas were either based on assumptions he had no evidence for or were practically guaranteed to fail.

What stung the most was not being able to do anything with Garrett directly, not with Clover there.

…

Unless…

Unless he waited for Clover to get killed by something else, and just… didn’t load. Then he’d get some alone time with Garrett. And if it didn't work? He’d just load and Clover would be none the wiser.

This… had promise. There was no telling how much promise until he tried it, but it was something. Of course, he could only try this once per time Clover died, otherwise they’ed catch onto him. This was also assuming it was possible for Garrett to beat Asgore. Unlikely, but, it was all he could try.

The worst part was knowing how he could have gotten around this. If he'd known Garrett was here before he showed up at the raft, he could have done any number of things to shift things in his favor. He could have slowed Garrett down so he'd miss the raft, giving him time to get in his head without Clover to interfere. Hell, he could have sent him through Toriel's exit out of the Ruins and forgotten about all this alternate route nonsense. 

Speaking of Toriel. He'd heard the argument on the raft, of course. He was never not listening. And he couldn't be less happy to hear Garrett’s plan for him and Clover to go back to live with her. He'd seen enough of that, thank you very much!

If this run was going anywhere, that would need to be dealt with. He just… had to do it in a way that couldn't possibly come back to bite him. It would have to wait too, he couldn't take his eyes off of Clover while they were at risk of dying to Dunebuds or whatever. Once they reached the Wild East though…

Yes. He'd have some time to act once they got to cowboy town, nothing could kill them until the end. Until then, he’ll be watching, thinking, and waiting for an opportunity.

Chapter Text

“Wh- Clover! Wait up!” Clover dashed ahead before he could stop them. 

Thankfully, his legs were much longer than theirs, and he caught up to them quickly. “Gotcha!” His hand grabbed their shoulder before they could get any farther, and lifted them up by their armpits to eye level.

“Okay, new rule. You are to stay by my side at all times. Got it?” No way in hell was he losing them again. Tracking them down the first time put him through enough grief as it was.

Clover frowned and crossed their arms defiantly. Apparently not thinking too highly of his new rule.

“Oh don’t give me that. This place is dangerous, I mean, have you seen what these monsters can do? They can kill you without even meaning too!” They just rolled their eyes at him.

“Hey! I’m serious! Besides, what if we get separated? I might not be able to find you again!” They actually perked up a little, like they were plotting something. Oh hell no! “Kid, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t even try it. I will pick you up and carry you the whole way back if I have to.” It was a bluff, no way could he carry them for that long. Still, it seemed to work, Clover no longer looked to be scheming. They still weren't happy, though.

With a sigh, he relented. “Alright, fine. You don’t have to stay right next to me. Just… try to stay within eyesight. Please?” Clover thought for a moment before nodding, and he relaxed a little. They still didn't look happy, but he doubted they would try anything while he could still outrun them.

Compromise reached, he set them down. “Thank you.” Relaxing a little, he took in his surroundings. A tall cliff loomed over the siblings, there was a walkable area with a box beneath them and a natural bridge going over that area that seemed to be the only way to go. Clover was urging him to start moving, “Alright, let’s get going.” Finally, they agreed on something.

They only made it halfway across the bridge before being interrupted.

Two yellow souls blinked into existence, signaling an encounter. 

Garrett scanned the area, seeing nothing. He tried looking up, thinking that some monsters could fly, like Martlet and that ribbon guy, so maybe they were in the air? Nope, nothing. Then where-?

Focused on searching, when Clover poked his side to get his attention he practically jumped out of his skin. They were pointing at…

“Awa~”

Dirt. They were being assaulted by dirt. 

Dirt with a face.

Could monsters just… be anything? Were there any limits to what forms their bodies could take?

Now that he knew where the threat was, he moved his sibling behind him. Clover, for their part, was unfazed. Wait, no, they weren't just unfazed. They actually looked… Excited? Happy? Curious? The kid was hard to read.

Didn't matter, they had to get out of here! “Okay, I'm gonna count to three. On three, we run for it. It's small so we can probably go right past it! Ready?”

Rather than nod their head like he’d hoped, Clover looked at him like he was stupid before shaking their head, moving out from behind him and- why are they walking towards the dirt monster? “What are you doing?!” Garrett panic whispered.

Clover approached the dirt pile with a face, calm as could be, placed their hands on the monster and… shook it back and forth?

“Awawa~”

If the noise it made was any indication, it liked that. A lot.

Suddenly, the wind started blowing harder, carrying with it a bunch of tumbleweeds, all completely white like all the magic attacks he'd seen so far. He was dreading this. So far, all his experiences with magic attacks had been… bad, to say the least.

They were pretty sparse, so he figured they wouldn't be too hard to dodge. Unfortunately, he did not account for how they would bounce off the ground, or how unpredictable the wind would be.

He saw the tumbleweed rolling towards him and moved to the left, out of its way, only for it to suddenly bounce right into his soul. The impact and resulting pain sent him into a slight panic, causing him to run straight into another tumbleweed panicking him farther. This cycle repeated itself three more times.

When the attack was over and the weeds stopped coming, Garrett finally had the wherewithal to check in on Clover.

They seemed, fine actually. He wasn't exactly paying attention to them during the attack, but he was pretty sure that they hadn't gotten hit at all. They were motioning for him to come closer to the dirt monster. 

“Just be nice to them and they'll stop.” They said, “Trust me.”

Fine, sure, whatever. If it meant not being barraged by tumbleweeds again, he’d do whatever. Anything to avoid having to do that again. His soul was sore, he didn't even know that was possible!

He walked up to the happy dirt blob and crouched down, Clover nodding encouraging. They said to ‘just be nice', so.

“Heyyy there, buddy… who a good, dirt, pile…” That… wasn't quite as friendly as he was going for. The monster didn't seem all too impressed either.

A loud ‘Psst’ sound drew his eye back to Clover, who was pantomiming a petting motion. He looked back to the shifting dirt mound, which was made of dirty, dirty, dirt.

He held back a sigh, and hesitantly put his hand on the top of its head, body, and gave it a few slow pats. Very slowly, and away from its face, just in case it tried to bite him.

It made a series of happy gurgling sounds, nuzzling itself into his hand in a way that crammed dirt under his nails. Clover gave him a thumbs up. His hand felt dirtier than it ever had before.

Great, now everyones having a great time. “So what happens now?”

Just as soon as he said that, the human’s souls disappeared and the world came back into normal view. 

The little dirt monster gurgled what could be assumed to be a fair well and sunk into the ground, leaving him alone with his sibling once again.

“See?” Clover quipped, “We don't have to run, they don't mean no harm.”

“That’s not the issue here.” He pushed himself off the ground, not noticing the thick layer of sand and dirt that had attached itself to his pants. Great. “I just don’t see any point in sticking around if they're gonna shoot us with magic bullets and lasers and… tumbleweeds. And yeah, I know they don’t mean it. But it doesn’t make them any less dangerous. Besides, I don't think most monsters know what humans look like. But if they did, well… I doubt they'd just stop fighting like that.”

Clover crossed their arms and frowned. “Well, Martlet knew and she was nice. Dalv too.” They argued.

“Yeah, well, they're just two out of god knows how many. Besides, didn't Dalv try to fight you at some point?”

They faltered a little. “That… was a misunderstanding. He really didn't mean it.”

“Uh huh. Look, I'm not saying hes a bad guy, but no matter how nice he is he's still dangerous! And, like, what about Martlet? She’s a Royal Guard! What if she had actually tried to do her job, huh?”

He didn't miss how Clover swallowed nervously and looked away. He sighed and gave them a serious look. “Alright Clover, out with it. Did the bird try to kill you?”

“... She was just doing her job.” They gave weakly.

“Uh huh.”

“And she wasn't trying to kill me! Just… capture me.”

“Right, cause that's so much better. And there are presumably plenty more Royal Guards down here who's job it is to capture and or kill us. And there's no way they're all going to let us walk like she did. And… ugh, we got off track. Look, the point is, running from encounters makes a hell of a lot more sense than trying to make friends with them while they pelt us with magic.”

“But, um.” They grasped for an argument, “We don't get any money if we run from them.”

…

… What? “What?”

They dug in their pockets and pulled out some coins. “Look, this is what we got from that Dunebud!”

He was too baffled to ask how they knew its name. “... Do monsters normally give you money when you're nice to them?” They nodded. “Why?” They shrugged.

He sighed. “You're not gonna budge on this, are you?” They shook their head no, and he believed them. Well, if they couldn't be persuaded, then there had to be a way to swing this in his favor. Maybe… “Alright, how bout this. We can make friends with any and all monsters we meet, as long as you don't drag your feet on getting back to the Ruins. Deal?”

Clover thought for a moment, before nodding and putting out their hand for a handshake, which he accepted.

Now that he wasn't trying to dodge magic or arguing with Clover, he suddenly became aware of his environment.

It was hot. Hot and dry. And it was being made worse by the super warm scarf Clover gave him on the raft. He took it off from around his neck and tied it around his waist, so he wouldn't have to hold it in his hands.

He wasn't exactly happy about all the encounters he was roping himself into with his deal with Clover, but he couldn't be more pleased that Clover wouldn't be fighting him on the way back to safety. He just had to rough it out until then.

No biggie.

You were having the time of your life! You’d never been anywhere that even remotely resembled the wild west before. You'd never been anywhere with an arid climate, or an old-timey town, or even a place with sand like a beach!

But now you were in your element. All your days fantasizing of living out the stories of your favorite cowboy flicks couldn't compare. It was just like you imagined!

Well, okay. There were some discrepancies from your imagined adventure. The fact this was all happening underground for one. Your brother tagging along was also a surprise. Oh, and the monsters! Yeah, the monsters weren't ever part of your fantasy. Though they weren't an unwelcome addition, far from it. They added some real excitement! 

You were enjoying everything the Dunes had to offer, from the authentic desert like heat and the sand and tumbleweeds being carried by the wind, to the monsters themselves.

Your brother, on the other hand…

It was a good thing, you thought, that his HP and Defense were so high. He was REALLY bad at dodging. It was almost impressive how many bullets he ran into. If it weren't for the fact his Defense was so high he was only losing a single HP per hit, and he had the passive healing from the Silver Scarf, he would definitely be dead. Thankfully, it didn't seem to matter where on his body he wore it.

After accepting his deal to go peacefully to the Ruins (you didn’t have any plans to go to the Ruins with him, you just wanted him to cooperate), you went to restock on healing items from a nearby box. Thankfully, you’d bought plenty of pancakes and coffee at the Honeydew Resort when you had the chance. While Garrett inspected the Box, mumbling about how it doesn't make any sense and is completely impossible and why does nothing make sense down here , you snuck off to look around, and found a UGPS box full of healing Packing Peanuts! (You were keeping those to yourself. You didn't think you could convince your brother they were a healing item.)

Your healing item stockpile was holding steady, though you did have to sacrifice a pancake or coffee or your brother every once in a while. To keep him from dying.

Your brother was so egregiously bad at dodging magic projectiles that there were barely any bullets left to hit you. You’ve barely had to dodge at all since he joined you, and you haven't gotten hit once! You’re pretty sure he hasn't actually noticed he’s helping you. Strangely, you were probably using less healing items than you would have if he wasn't tanking for you, despite his near constant HP drain during battles.

Speaking of battles, those had been going very smoothly. With Garrett clearing out bullets for you and having an extra Act every turn, encounters were streamlined. Most battles ended in one or two turns, either with both of you Acting or one Acting and the other Sparing. You had a knack for knowing what to do to pacify monsters, and when your brother noticed this he started waiting for you to give directions.

Working together, all who stood in your way of your Acts. Dunebuds were jiggled and patted at the same time, Cactony was touched and Spared in one fell swoop, and Sir Slither was no match for the fabled Double Doubt! It was great!

Garrett didn't think it was great, but that was because he was being a big baby about getting hit. It couldn't possibly be that bad, he was only taking 1 measly damage per hit. You told him as much,

Of course it wasn't just monster encounters you two, er, encountered, on your journey. Along the way, you found a UGPS station and got Garrett acquainted with Mail Whale ( “It’s so nice to meet you, we apologize for the delay, now you’re in our system, we’ll bring you mail all day!” … “what?” ), you braved an actual sandstorm together, even if it was all coming from a giant fan ( “Okay, I guess that makes sense, there wouldn't be much natural wind down here. This doesn't fase me as much as it should”) , introduced him to Mo and bought some refreshing drinks from him ( You loudly say to yourself how fortunate it was that you had all this money from those encounters to buy these life-saving drinks wi- “Okay, okay, I get it.” ), navigated through a rolling tumbleweed puzzle ( “Who the hell’s idea was this!? It's not even a puzzle! It’s, like, an obstacle course or something!” You think he's just mad he had to retry it three times ), there was so much to see!

Though, you were a little worried for your brother during the lead up to the sandstorm. ( You watch in concerned silence as your brother finishes frantically tearing out two of the three alert/warning/danger signs. “Look, look at this! See how much better this is, Clover?! See how much clearer it is without the useless signs that add nothing out of the way!? ) You’re not sure what was up with that.

Eventually, you came to a giant boulder sitting on the road forward, blocking you from going further.

Not all paths were blocked through, there was the entrance to a mine shaft.

As the two of you approached the massive stone, your brother overheard a passing miner say he was heading to Snowdin, and went to ask for directions. 

While they talked, you spotted a cool looking black rock and walked off to inspect it, making sure to abide by your brother's ‘line of sight' rule.

You were glad he was with you. Not just because he was useful, though he was, even if it was mostly unintentionally.

You and Garrett, well, you lived together and he took care of you, kept you fed and clothed and housed and all that, but you didn't really… talk, very often. Usually not unless something was wrong, like when you got in trouble at school and he had to pick you up. Most days you would barely see each other, only interacting when he was picking you up from school, calling you for dinner or telling you to go to bed. You didn't even see each other in the mornings, as he left you breakfast and went to work before you woke up. And for the couple hours each day you were both home at the same time, you were doing your own things, separate from each other.

You didn't mind it, most of the time. You just…

You got the sense that your brother didn't like you very much.

That's not to say he was mean to you or anything! When you wanted something, be it a specific meal or a new toy, he usually gave it to you. As long as it wasn't something totally unreasonable, of course (it took some real convincing to get him to buy a Toy Gun that could fire actual projectiles). He didn't give you any chores, even when you asked to help out. He barely even punished you when you got in trouble.

And that’s not mentioning the work he puts into feeding you, buying you clothes and school supplies, picking you up from school and, of course, always working to afford all that food and clothes and cowboy stuff.

He was very good to you, better than your parents ever were. He just… didn't want to be around you. Ever.

…

You haven't spent this much time with your brother in a long time. Maybe ever. Certainly not since you were very little.

Even if he clearly wasn't happy he was here, you were.

Maybe you were selfish to want more from him, you didn't want to be ungrateful for him, but now that you were working together on something you felt something fall into place. Like you’d finally gotten a taste of something you didn't know you needed.

You and your brother had found a rhythm. From using teamwork to spare monsters, to navigating puzzles, to bantering back and forth, you and Garrett were interacting in ways you just hadn't before.

You were just… happy to do something with your brother.

…

Your brother, done talking with the miner, approached with a grim expression. “Bad news kid, that miner said the only way to walk from here to Snowdin is through a Royal Guard checkpoint. So we're not going that way.” You did your best to hide your relief, to pretend to hold up your end of the deal. “But he did say that we could go around the boulder by going through the mines. Now, I don't really want to go in there, but, I don't have any better ideas. You?” You shake your head no. “Alright, guess that's that then.” He let out a long sigh and started towards the mine, “Let's just get this over with.”

You followed your brother towards the mine’s entrance.

You were still dedicated to your mission, of course. You weren't going to stop pursuing justice for anything. But that didn't mean you couldn't enjoy having a little more time with your big brother thanks to a little detour.

Maybe when your mission in done, living in the Ruins with him wouldn’t be so bad. If it was going to be more like this, with banter and teasing, and less like it was before, where you merely co-existed.

You wouldn’t mind at all.

Chapter Text

Stepping into the mine, the first thing Garrett noticed was how dark it was. He was so used to the bright light outside that he couldn't see a thing.

While his eyes were adjusting, the second thing he noticed was the air. It felt like there was as much dirt and dust as there was breathable oxygen. 

After a brief coughing fit, his eyes finally let him see the room he’d entered. Tight, dirty stone walls gave the place a claustrophobic feel. Directly ahead from the entrance was a couple of those cubby shelf things full of stuff, and next to that was another one of those boxes. The boxes that could, apparently, transfer items between all similar boxes. Somehow. On the wall next to the box were a bunch of empty racks, likely meant for mining equipment.

To the left and right were hallways leading to more rooms, in which he could see more monsters wearing the same uniform as the miner he talked to outside.

Garrett didn't know shit about mines, or mining, so he couldn't say what constitutes a safe mine shaft. But he didn't need a degree in mining to know a tunnel collapse would be really, really , bad. The stuff of nightmares honestly. The fact that the mine workers were milling about, perfectly relaxed, told him it was probably fine. Probably. Monsters seemingly had a wildly different kind of logic that he couldn’t grasp, so really who could say.

At least the air wasn’t swelteringly hot like it was outside.

Clover brushed past him towards the box. 

Looking over their shoulder as they dug around in it, yup, there was the same stuff he saw in the last box.

Magic. That was it. No more explanation needed. Just say it's magic and don't think about it again.

His time in the Underground had become so much less headache inducing once he stopped questioning the logic of this place.

Done with moving stuff around, Clover went to look at the cubbies. Specifically, at a shiny belt buckle laying in a dirty, unlabeled compartment.

“Guess whoever's cubby this used to be is gone.” Clover nodded, but was still hesitant to take it. Their hand was fidgeting, itching to grab it. “Must've not cared too much about it if they left it behind.” He subtly encouraged. Their inner conflict grew more visible on their face, but they remained still.

He dropped the subtly. “Kid, I don't think anyone's gonna care if you take it. I mean, can you even call it stealing if it's abandoned?” That seemed to convince them. Quickly grabbing the buckle, 

They put the buckle on their pants. They didn't actually have a belt, so it was just kinda, stuck on there. Despite not actually doing anything, it looked pretty good.

“Damn, alright. It really brings the whole outfit together. I'll admit, you got the cowboy look down.” 

They put their chin up and their hand on their hips. “Course I do!” They said proudly. “I'm the real deal!”

Garrett held back a laugh. “Sure you are. You're the most authentic miniature cowboy I've ever seen.”

They crossed their arms and pouted. 

“Oh, don't look like that. How are ya gonna scare off tiny bandits with a face like that?” He teased.

Clover started pelting him with tiny punches.

“Oh! Such mighty strikes! How can I hope to withstand such a deadly assault!”

They feigned anger, but the creeping smile on their face told another story.

“Alright, alright, alright. That's enough of that. The guy said there's an elevator in the room to the right. Hopefully it can take us where we need to go. Come on.” He gestured his head towards the room to the right and started towards it, Clover following at his heels.

The elevator was, somehow, jammed shut by a stick in its door. The two mine workers next to the elevator were just as lost as he was when it came to unjamming the door, with one only declaring how outraged they were, and the other…

"How-How-How- am I gonna get to my station now? The elevator is jammed, man! JAMMED!!!"

“Yeah, I noticed. If you could just calm down for a sec and te-”

"I'm calm! I'm calm, okay?? ... That was a LIE I am FREAKING OUT!!!" 

“Alri-”

"You gotta help me!!”

“Okay! Yes! We’ll help you, just tell us how to unjam the thing!!” He was going to blow a gasket if he had to deal with this guy much longer.

“I, uh, well… FIRE! Fire should do it!! Just burn the problem away! You got any fire magic of you, man?! Or-or-or-or a FLAMETHROWER or something?!?”

“... Ah… darn, bad timing. I just used up the last of my… fire magic… this morning.” He said, voice dripping with sarcasm, “How about we just break the stick? It doesn't look too strong.”

“No way man! No WAY we could break that! We'd need some kinda super strong GIANT to do that! Well, that, or something to break it with! Like a sword! Or an ax! Or a shovel! Or-”

“A pickaxe?”

“Oh! Yeah! That'd work!”

“... But… don't you work here? As a miner? Aren't you, like, supposed to have a-” Wait a minute.

He went and got a closer look at the stick jamming the elevator door.

“The stick isn't a stick, is it.” It wasn't a question, “It's your pickaxe.”

The guy started sweating bullets.

The look on the outraged slime told him he was right on the money.

With a big sigh, Garrett started back towards the other room to ask the other miners he saw for help.

But not before eyeing a placard next to the elevator.

In case of fire, use stairs.

There were no stairs.

…

Garrett was proud of himself, actually. A weaker man might have made a scene. A weaker man might have done something regrettable. Might have tried to pry the wretched thing off the wall it was stuck to. Pried it off and taken it outside and thrown it off a cliff.

But he remained steadfast in the face of the illogical. Unyielding.

He did not let it’s pointlessness, it's total lack of information, goad him into doing something he'd regret.

Having won in his battle of wills against the sign, he and Clover went to talk to the mine workers in the room to the left.

There were two miners there, both with pickaxes. One was on his belly, picking away at a spot on the wall, and the other was just standing around.

He approached the one picking the wall, cause he was closer.

"What do you want?" He said impatiently.

“There's a stick stuck in the elevator door. We were-”

 "It's jammed again?” The guy cut him off, “I swear, nothing ever works here.”

“Yeah, tha-”

“I'm busy, kid. Bother someone else.”

“Wha- hey! I'm not a kid! And we-”

“I said beat it!”

Alright, Garrett knew a losing battle when he saw one. Hopefully the other one would be more cooperative.

He wasn't as surprised as he should have been to see Clover was already talking to them.

The monster perked up as he approached. “Hey there! Your buddy here already told me about your predicament.”

Did they now? He gave them a look that they did not meet.

“Tell you what, I'll give you my trusty pickaxe here,” he felt hope in his heart, “if you... Win a monster trivia game!!” And it was gone as quickly as it came.

“Oooh boy, this will be fun! All you have to do is answer these three questions correctly! You only get one try so do your best!”

“Can’t we work something else out?”

“Nope! Question one! Who is the current Royal Scientist?" 

…

Crap.

He figured that something called ‘Monster Trivia Game’ would involve trivia common for monsters. He really wished they would've just let them buy the pick off them or something.

He and Clover looked at each other, and for once, they looked as clueless as he did.

He didn't even know Royal Scientists were a thing, no way did he know who the current one was.

“Um…” Clover looked like they wanted to say something.

Garrett leaned down and whispered, “Kid, if you've got a guess, go for it, cause I've got nothing.”

They nodded, and addressed the trivia giver, “Is it… Alphys?”

"Correct!” They exclaimed chipperly.

Well hot damn! “Nice! Where'd you learn that tidbit?”

Clover looked uncomfortable for some reason. “I must have… overheard it somewhere. Yeah.”

Weird response… Before he could think about that-

“Question two! What is most monster food made out of?"

What kind of question was that? Wouldn't it just be made of other foods? Or did they mean, like, that most of their food came from a specific kind of crop. The only crops he remembered seeing was that corn maze way back when. So, maybe corn?

Clover answered before he could think any further.

“Magic!”

Again, the monster congratulated them, "Good job!”

Okay, wow, he was way off. Good thing he kept his mouth shut. 

…

How does eating magic work?

“Final question!”

He took a deep breath and prepared himself. Just one more and they'll be on their way.

“How many souls does ASGORE need to shatter the Barrier?"

Ah.

Both human’s body's stiffened at the question. The fun, silly energy they had before was gone in an instant.

“Two.” Clover answered.

"Congratulations! You really know your stuff! Here's my pick as promised!”

“Great!” He gritted out through the best fake smile he could muster. Leaving quickly would be good, he decided. Before the topic of humans and human souls could be thought of any farther. 

Toriel had told him they needed seven to break the Barrier, but did not mention that they already had five! Maybe she didn't know? She did make it clear she hadn't left the Ruins in a long time. 

Whatever, it didn't matter, what mattered was that the two souls they needed to take back their freedom were right in here and things were gonna get real bad if they realized that.

Garrett grabbed the offered pickaxe with his suddenly sweaty hands and walked away quickly, nudging Clover away with him.

These people, he reminded himself, would not be so happy to make small talk or give trivia games if they knew. If they knew, they'd be doing everything in their power to get their souls to the king. They'd be calling the Royal Guard. They'd be restraining them so they couldn't escape. They might even try to kill them themselves.

The only reason all these monsters weren't trying to kill them was because they didn't know he and Clover were human.

They'd have to make more of an effort to avoid getting found out. Both him and Clover.

Next time they were out of earshot of any monsters, he’d have a talk with Clover about keeping to themselves going forward. 

Their deal might have meant he couldn't flake out on the fights, but that didn't mean they had to talk to literally everyone they saw.

After breaking the stick jamming the door shut, he and Clover boarded the elevator, along with the panicking miner.

And what an elevator it was. Gold flooring, a plush carpet, fine wood panels. It was completely out of place in the mine, where the walls were literally made of dirt and grime. He kinda felt nervous about stepping into it, like he was walking on something worth more than everything he owned put together. 

Clover and the panicky guy didn't mind walking on it with their dirty, dirty shoes. So it was probably fine. He probably wouldn't be asked to pay for it.

If they didn't want it getting dirty they probably shouldn't have put it in a mine shaft.

Though, one could still see the rope and pulley system that operated the whole thing by looking up, completely destroying the illusion of wealth.

After an incredibly awkward elevator ride, they arrived at the bottom of the shaft.

The elevator brought them to a tunnel going further into the mine. The miner sped off the moment the doors opened, presumably to his post, leaving him alone with his sibling.

There was another placard.

In case of water, swim.

Garrett poked at it to see if there was anything he could do about it, but without a crowbar or something, there wasn't a way for him to remove it.

Clover, meanwhile, busied themself with poking at

File saved

an empty patch of dirt.

Now seemed as good a time as any to have that talk. “So, I've been thinking. I-”

“That's new.” Clover cut him off.

He narrowed his eyes at them, “Watch it, smart ass.” He said with as much authority as he could, which wasn't much thanks to the smile on his face.

As much as he hated the position he was in, running for his life through a giant cave full of monsters that kept almost killing him without even knowing it, getting dragged into fights to keep his sibling happy, praying that no one figured out they were human and called the Royal Cops, sentencing them to what he imagined would be a very painful death…

… Where was he going with this again?

Right, yes. The silver lining to all this. Clover.

He’d never known the kid could be such a smart ass. Once the two found a rhythm to fighting monsters and exploring and what not, the kid started showing a side of themselves he didn't know they had. A witty, talkative side that was all too happy to quip at him when he misstepped. Which, admittedly, was often.

Mostly because of his inability to stop catching magic with his soul. (He was getting better at it. Just, very, very slowly. It was hard to keep track of all the bullets at once, and when he got hit he’d start panicking. A normal response to being assaulted by magic , he thought. A shame it usually led to getting hit more.)

Garrett was seeing a side of his little sibling he hadn't been aware of. The kid could be pretty funny. And talkative too.

Even back when they were kids, Clover had always been quiet. Preferring head and hand gestures over speaking, rarely asking for anything or making a fuss. So the quipping and ribbing really took him by surprise. It was nothing he'd expect from the Clover he knew.

Maybe he didn't know them as well as he thought.

It was weird. People always said you never really knew someone, even if you lived with them, but Garrett had never thought about how that applied to him and Clover.

Sure, they grew up together. Kind of. But they had never been terribly close. The two rarely spent much time together, even in their childhood. Most of their interactions were just Clover asking Garrett to play with them, and him declining, saying he had too many chores to do to be horsing around. Cleaning, dish washing, laundry, more cleaning, taking out the trash, lawn mowing, even more cleaning , the works. He had so much to do back then that even when he had free time, he was too exhausted to explore the woods or play cowboy or whatever Clover asked from him.

They stopped asking him to play, eventually…

…

He got off track again.

The point was, it was nice to get to know more about the kid he was responsible for.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a finger poking his stomach.

Garrett looked at the offending belly poker with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“You were saying something?” Oh.

“Yeah, right. As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” he gave them a look, they didn't look sorry in the slightest, “We need to be more careful about who we talk to, and what we say. If anyone finds out we aren't monsters, these friendly faces are gonna get a lot less friendly.”

Clover frowned. “We had a deal…”

“Our deal was to not run from encounters. There was nothing about talking to the monsters who don't attack us.”

They didn't look pleased.

“Look, the more monsters we talk to, the more likely we are to get found out.”

“We already went over this.”

“Yeah, well, that was before I knew that we are the last two souls that the king needs to break the Barrier. I figured monsters were unlikely to let us walk when they were just one step towards freedom, but there's no chance in hell they'd let us walk when we're the last step.”

“You're assuming the worst of them. Just cause they're monsters doesn't mean they’re monsters .” They were starting to raise their voice now.

Garrett sighed. “Yeah, okay, I get that these monsters are people. But people tend to look out for themselves. I get that you made some friends, but-”

“They’re not like that. At least… not all of them. There are good people down here.”

Garrett took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. “There's no such thing as ‘good people', Clover. Everyone does what's best for themselves, and sometimes what's best for them just so happens to be good for someone else. Yes, even Martlet. I mean, isn't she throwing all the other monsters under the bus by helping us out? Sounds pretty selfish to me.”

Clover went quiet, tilting their hat down so he couldn't see their eyes.

He didn't like shooting them down like this, but it had to be done. This was a life or death situation, and he couldn't be taking any risks.

They both stood in silence for a moment, long enough for it to start to get uncomfortable.

Eventually, Clover broke the silence.

“Are we selfish for not helping free monsters?”

He wasn't expecting the question, but he had the answer regardless.

“It doesn't matter. It's not our problem.”

Silence again.

…

This sucked.

There was a reason he didn't talk to Clover much. Well, a couple reasons. And this was one of them.

He always hated doing this. Crushing their grand ideas of justice with a harsh dose of reality. But the kid was far too nice for their own good. Too giving. Trying to uphold their optimistic and childish idea of justice had already gotten the kid into plenty of trouble, usually by putting themself between other kids and their bullies.

Anytime they involved themself in yet another altercation, the same story played out. Garrett would get a call from the school, get yelled at for leaving work, drive to the school to get yelled at by the teachers, drive Clover home and go back to work praying he didn't lose his job. Eventually, his boss would get sick of his flakiness and give him the boot. He’s been fired for this four times in the last year alone.

He could appreciate the kid’s sense of right and wrong, he really could. The world would be a better place if everyone were like them. But it wasn't like that. Crappy people got away with doing awful things all the time, and any attempt to do anything about it was always met with harsh retaliation.

Clover’s actions always had consequences, and Garrett was always the one who had to deal with them.

He let out a long sigh. Even with their face covered, Clover looked miserable. He… should probably do something about that. Right? Aren't big brothers supposed to, like, make their younger siblings feel better about… stuff? But how?

This messy talk all started because he wanted them to stop talking to monsters they didn't have too. So maybe letting it go would help smooth things over.

Maybe he was being a bit overly paranoid. Out of all the things that had gone wrong so far, from the Ruins to the raft, being recognized as a human wasn't one of them. The only monsters that knew were Toriel, Dalv and Martlet, none of which were, currently , trying to kill them. So there was a president for it not being an issue.

He still wasn't a fan of taking unnecessary risks, though. Just the thought of all of monster kind suddenly turning on them made him panic a little.

He took another glance at Clover. Hat tilted down, arms crossed, leaning against the wall, thinking. They didn't have the angry feel they did before. Actually, the way their arms were held to their body, it looked more like they were holding themself than trying to hold their ground. Like they were trying to comfort themself.

Alright. He may have gone too far. He could see that now.

He had to do something to make it better.

“Alright, look. I'm not saying you can't talk to anyone, just… our lives are on the line here. I don't want us to die because of something that could’ve been easily avoided.” He took a breath. God, he hoped he wouldn't regret this later, “I don't know why this matters to you so much, but. If you promise to be careful and watch what you say, I won't stop you from talking to whoever you want.”

Clover tilted their head up, showing him their eyes. They weren't red or puffy, so they weren't silently crying that whole time. So that was good. They walked up to him and put out their hand. Garrett grabbed it and shook.

He didn't know how to read the expression they were making now, nor the emotion behind it. It was mostly the same as it was before, but more… reigned in? They definitely weren't happy.

Garrett figured it'd be best to move on. Clover seemed happiest when they were exploring new areas anyway.

“Alright, good talk. Let's get moving.” He said quickly. The faster they go moving, the less they'd have to dwell on his failed pep talk.

Unfortunately for Garrett, was about to step into an encounter with a bull shaped monster made of ceramic. His next several minutes would be spent failing to dodge a stampede of magic bulls, while trying to help Clover clean the thing.

By the end of the battle, he'd be hit about 21 times. Clover would poke fun at him, and he'd groan about how hard it was to move in such a narrow corridor.

At least Clover was smiling again.

Chapter Text

Having dealt with the porcelain bull monster, Garrett licked his lips after downing another one of Clover’s healing pancakes, and thought about how he wasn't getting full despite having eaten far more than his stomach should be able to handle. Guess those are the benefits of eating food that’s ‘made of magic’, whatever that means.

He didn't want to think about how being made of magic affected the food’s caloric values and nutritional values and, other food related values.

He and Clover came to a room with some mine carts full of colorful gems and some similarly color coded stations, all connected via tracks. 

A puzzle. Much to his chagrin. At least it didn't involve dodging tumbleweeds or bullets or whatever.

There was also a mine worker by some boxes. He tried asking for help, but…

“Come on, man, we don't even work here. Can't you just do your job for like two minutes so we can leave?”

The lazy miner responded by taking a long drag of his cigarette, and blew out the smoke in the clear shape of the word NO. While he wouldn't admit it out loud, Garrett thought that was the coolest thing anyone had ever done and wished he could do it too. There were many, many times in his life when he could've used such a bold maneuver.

Apparently puzzle solving was mandatory, or the doors wouldn't open and let the workers forward. Hilariously, that wasn't even the most absurd thing he’d heard a company demand of its workers. The fast food place that made its servers do aerobic exercises while cooking and carrying food held that honor.

Even without help, the mine cart puzzle was simple enough. Clover had moved two of the three carts to their spots by the time he was done talking to the lazy miner, so it was easy enough for Garrett to push the last one into place. It was so easy, it made him wonder why the guy was so adamant on not doing it himself.

It got him thinking. If the puzzle was to keep the workers sharp, and solving it was required to open the door, then that would require the solution to change every so often, right? If they always had the same solution then they wouldn't help the workers “exercise the ol' noggin”, as the guy put it. So… how did that happen? Was there a person, or maybe a team of people, whose job was to come in and rearrange the puzzles when no one was around?

The gate swung open, and Garrett shelved that topic for later.

The newly opened path led the pair to an incredibly sad looking monster. Despite Garrett's hushed protest, Clover went to try to comfort the guy.

But before Clover could actually do anything, the sad guy started talking.

"I lost all of my TNT... I have to tell the Foreman. He'll fire me, I'm sure, but it's my fault. I would go tell him right now, but I lost my hard hat as well. I can't protect my dome from the hazardous rocks outside. Today isn't my day..." 

Well, alright. Garrett had been in that position before. Many, many times. He knew all too well the dread of knowing you're going to be fired the moment your boss sees you again. Especially when it was for a job you actually kinda liked, or at least tolerated. It always happens on days that were already shitty too.

“I have a brother, you see.” The monster went on, “I work at the Mines to provide for us. He doesn't have a job. Mostly just gets into mischief.”

Never in Garrett’s life had he found himself relating to someone so quickly. His heart went out to the dude.

“But... he's happy, so I'm happy. How will I be able to look him in the face after I get fired?”

Alright, this guy needed a pep talk. And while normally Garrett wouldn't have any interest in being the one to give it, the guy’s situation being so similar to his own compelled him.

Besides, it couldn't possibly be worse than the one he gave Clover.

“Hey, don't think of it like that.” Starting off strong, “Sure, getting fired sucks,” That was, less optimistic than he was going for. “But instead, try thinking of it like an opportunity.” Better, keep it going. “I mean, this isn't the only job out there. Surely there's bigger and better prospects out there for you! Without this job weighing you down, you're free to go find a place where your talents shine!” He didn't believe a word he was saying. He didn't know this guy and he didn't know what the job market was like down here. But hey, fake hope was better than no hope. Right?

Lies or not, the guy perked up. “I- yeah, you're right. It's not the end of the world if I lose my job. We got some savings, and my brother will understand if we have to watch our spending for a little while. Thank you, stranger.”

A knocking sound echoed through the cave room, drawing both their attentions to Clover, who was kicking a mining helmet across the floor towards the soon-to-be unemployed worker.

When the helmet was within arm's reach, he picked it up, astonished.

"You... you found my hat! You are kind souls, both of you! I don't have anything to give you... but I am eternally grateful."

“Uh, yeah, sure thing dude. Anytime.” He doubted he’d ever see this guy again.

The guy smiled, and went back to doing his own thing, now in a much better mood.

“You’re smiling.” Clover commented out of the blue.

They were right. He was smiling. He knew what a blow to the ego being laid off could be, and it felt good to help someone who’s about to go through it cope with the humiliation of it all.

But admitting that felt like conceding a point in a greater argument. 

“Yeah, only cause you're a goober.” Garrett deflected, “Why were you kicking that helmet around? Why not just carry it?”

“It was too slippery to hold.”

“Yeah, that checks out for this place.”

“You liked helping him.” Clover accused.

“I don't know what you’re talking about. Oh hey look an exit!” He said, walking a little faster.

As they approached the exit, blinding light pouring in from outside, Garrett noticed something. “Hey, is it just me, or is the ground shaking?” Clover nodded yes as they stepped through.

Just like when they entered the mine, he was temporarily blinded by the change in light. The ground was definitely shaking, and there was a loud and constant rumbling noise now.

He spoke a little louder. “Oh god, what is that? It'd better not be an earthquake. Those would be pretty bad down here. Well, probably. I don't know much about-” his eyes cleared, and he saw them. The things responsible for the shaking.

Massive boulders hurled down the cliff side, smashing into the path as they passed. Each collision sending shards of rock into the air. They came in a steady, constant stream, never pausing.

That was the path they needed to cross to move forward.

The voice of the sad guy echoed though his head.

“but I lost my hard hat as well. I can't protect my dome from the hazardous rocks outside.”

“hazardous rocks”

He felt something inside him break.

“THERE IS NO CONCEIVABLE REASON FOR THIS!” Your brother raved. 

Your brother had been at this for a while now. Screaming like a lunatic about how unreasonable this was and how he was the “only sane person in this whole damned cave!”

“EVERYONE WORKING HERE HAS TO PASS THROUGH HERE!”

Any time he showed signs of slowing down, he'd seemingly remember something else that made no sense and start ranting about that. From giant frogs to table cheese to dangerous bridges with no rails to an exceedingly vitriolic rant about signs. One that was half composed of swear words. And not just any swears, they were the kind of swear words you hadn't heard since your parents lived together.

“IT WOULD TAKE SO MUCH EFFORT, DELIBERATE EFFORT , TO SET THIS UP!”

Any attempt you made to interrupt or calm him was ignored. He was too wrapped up in his own indignant rage to notice anything outside his rant.

You could admit, the waterfall of boulders (a boulderfall, if you will) was maybe a little overkill. It wasn't that much stranger than any of the other obstacles you'd come across. Then again, the sand storm, tumbleweed puzzle and even Martlet’s bridge puzzle hadn't been dangerous in any way. They all just moved you around if you failed. This one definitely stood out by how… dangerous, it was.

Still, as Garrett’s tirade looped back to the pointlessness of the boulders for a second time, you couldn't help but feel that he was overreacting. You still had plenty of healing items, you both had good armor and your brother's massive health pool made him very, very unlikely to die. And even if one of you did die, Flowey would make it like it never happened.

Garrett didn’t know about Flowey, of course. Maybe if he did he would relax a little and start enjoying the adventure of it all. Dodging was a lot of fun when you weren't afraid of dying!

While the idea of revealing Flowey to Garrett carried a lot of benefits, it didn't appeal to you. You had a feeling it wouldn't end well.

You just… felt it.

Garrett finally stopped to catch his breath, hunching over with his hands on his knees and panting. “I- uh. Woah, woah… I think, uh. I think it's passed. Oh, I gotta sit down.” He said breathlessly, plopping himself on the ground.

*CRACK*

Eyes blown wide, Garrett palmed his pockets to find the source of the noise. When he got to his back pocket, he pulled out his phone. His broken phone.

It was completely destroyed. The screen was shattered, there was dried mud in and around the cracks (from the puddle you both fell in, you assume), and the whole thing had been snapped into two halves. That last one must've been what made the snapping noise just now.

Garrett looked at the phone in his hand, the top half held while the bottom dangled from a few wires. “I… I forgot I had this… I… had my phone this whole time… I… could have called for help when I first fell down here! Why didn't I do that!?” He was raising his voice again, but in more of an ‘about to cry' kind of way. He looked like he was about to cry, too. 

You ask if he landed on his back.

“I- What?”

You ask if he landed on his back when he first fell into the Underground.

“Yeah… it really hurt. Why?”

You point out that the dried mud was soaked into the cracked screen, so that damage must have come before it snapped in two, and the initial fall likely broke it long before now. And even if it wasn’t broken, you doubted he’d get a signal out thought the Barrier. (You didn't mention that if it was still usable, drenching it in puddle water definitely killed it.)

Unfortunately, your stellar deductive skills did nothing to cheer him up.

He stayed there for a bit, just staring at the phone before speaking again. “Okay… okay okay okay. There's no way in hell we're going through all that.” He gestured to the boulderfall, “I'm gonna sit for a sec, then, let's head back and look for another way. Maybe there's another route through the mines? If not, then there has to be another way around this… mountain… range.”

While your brother mumbled under his breath about underground mountains, you, well…

You wanted to see this through. The Mine was pretty cool so far, and you wanted to see what else it has to offer. Besides, this was definitely the fastest way forward.

Sure, the boulders were dangerous. But if Flowey was going to bring you back, then there really wasn't any harm in just going for it, was there?

You took a deep breath, backed up a little for a running start, waited for the closest rock to hit the ground to give yourself the largest window possible, and… took off into the boulderfall!

“CLOVER HOLY SHIT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Sounds like your brother noticed.

Whatever he said after that was drowned out by the crashing rocks around you.

Your good timing paid off, giving you a straight shot forward without having to slow down at all, easily bringing you to the bridge that hung halfway to the next part of the mine. You were watching the next set of boulders, ready to time your next sprint when Garrett tackled you from behind, apparently having made it past the first layer of rocks, completely taking you by surprise.

“WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?! WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?!” Oh. He was really freaking out this time. Really, really freaking out. This would be the second time he'd ever shouted directly at you. The first time being on the raft. “I- You- Wh- You were THIS FUCKING CLOSE TO GETTING CRUSHED, THIS FUCKING CLOSE!!” Maybe you should rethink your policy on revealing Flowey’s powers. “Do-do-do-do you fucking, run through TRAFFIC?! Is that what you do?!” Maybe you should have thought this through a little more.

“Really, Clover. Really , tell me what the FUCK you were thinking!” The panic was starting to leave him, but that just made room for actual anger.

You told Garrett, raising your voice over the sound of crashing rocks, that you wanted to see the rest of the mine, and that going backwards made less sense than pushing forward. That, if there were another way, they wouldn't be up here in the first place.

“That- I- ugh.” Though he seemed to concede the point, it was more likely he was too tired to argue after all the raving and panicking.

You pointed out that whether they went forwards or back, there were more boulders to dodge both ways. So they may as well go forward.

He heard your words, looked at the gauntlet ahead, looked back at the behind him, put on a face like he was thinking hard, and then…

He let out a long, agonizing groan. The kind he usually reserved for when he got called into work to fill in for someone, or got fired, or when the neighbors came and complained at him. It dragged on, sounding more pain filled and whiney with every second it went on. The sound somehow reminded you of the sound your soul made when it took damage.

You haven't seen him this frazzled in a long time. At least non since you started living with him again.

Eventually, he runs out of breath, and the groan comes to an end. “Okay, fine! Fine! What fucking choice do I have anyway!?”

You say it's easy, just watch the shadows on the ground. If the place you're moving has a shadow, stop moving. If the place you're standing has a shadow, move somewhere that doesn't. Simple.

“Oh, simple they say. Like we won't get crushed into paste with one wrong move.”

You tell Garrett he's being a big baby.

“About death? I'm being a baby about not wanting to die?! Why are you making me out to be the unreasonable one here?! How are you so nonchalant about this?!”

You avoid the question of why death wasn't an issue by saying that he'll be fine as long as he follows your lead. You got through the first one just fine, and pretty much have the timing down.

He looked at the boulderfall, despair on his face.

You tell him not to think about it too hard. To just focus on what he needs to do in the moment.

Your brother was still hesitant, the threat of death keeping him from moving. It didn't bother you, of course, you knew Flowey would bring you and your brother back if you died. Garrett had no such reassurance. You couldn't tell him about Flowey, but maybe there was something else you could say to get him moving.

You tell Garrett that the rocks are magic attacks, and wouldn't kill him like a normal boulder.

“Wait, what? Really?”

You confirm that they hit just as hard as any other magic attack, so they still hurt, but they won't crush them to death.

“How do you know that? I didn't see you get hit earlier.” You didn't actually know that, because it was a lie. But he didn't have to know that. So…

You say that… you… encountered a similar puzzle earlier. Before he found you.

Thankfully, he buys your obvious lie. “Alright, that's not as bad as I thought. I guess monsters aren't completely insane enough to make actually lethal puzzles in a work zone.”

You let out a nervous little laugh that he doesn't hear.

“So. Watch the shadows, stay out of the shadows, follow your lead. Is that it?” You nod, and he sighs, “Alright, let's get this over with. It’ll hurt, but at least we won't die instantly.” You were starting to feel guilty about lying to him.

You walk with your brother to the edge of the bridge, and watch for an opening.

Your brother stands next to you, ready to start running. “On your mark, kid.”

The boulders fall without much of a pattern, at least not one you could recognize. Though, there were never more than about five or six at a time, and came in loose groups of three. There was also a delay between a rock landing and a new shadow appearing, so that was going to be your chance.

Eventually, three fell around the same spot, at the same time, right near the starting line. That was it!

You call out, and you both start running.

Chapter Text

Well… you survived. And much to your surprise, you were right about the boulders being magic. Getting hit by one just sent you into an encounter, giving you a chance to dodge the rocks even after you got hit. The one time this happened to you, you only took damage once due to being taken by surprise.

Next to you, your brother took a drink of Honeydew Resort coffee, rubbing at the many bruises he received from being pelted by rocks. He actually did pretty well on the dodging front, by his standards anyway. Sure, he failed to avoid the boulders a great many times, but he did manage to dodge the majority of the falling rocks during the mini encounters. The rock fragments that flew off the breaking boulders, however…

You were starting to worry about your food supplies. Hopefully there was another Box nearby, or even better, a shop. Though, it was pretty unlikely you'd find a shop in a mine shaft. Maybe Mo could find his way in here?

The doorway after the boulderfall led to some kind of office, with an office desk covered with stacks of paperwork at the far end. By it were two monsters wearing distinctive red jackets and fat less dirt than any of the workers they'd seen. Assuming that those monsters were in charge of the mine, Garrett went to ask about the boulders. 

While he was doing that, you took the opportunity to look around and talk to anyone you could.

First checking out the room to the side, you found a conveyor belt covered in rocks and crystals and a nice monster. They gave you some well wishes, told you about their job, and recommended you check out a fortune teller in a nearby town, which you were definitely looking forward to visiting.

Next you talked to an overly enthusiastic miner who kept repeating how much he loved mining. Though, after some pestering, he dropped the facade and revealed that he was on his fourteenth warning of sixteen, and needed to look good for his boss.

When you made your way to the front desk, your brother was still talking to the foreman.

“I-I-I assure you, sir, I’m- we are doing everything we can to investigate issue as quickly as possible.”

“I really cannot emphasize enough that they are falling right outside this room. You can take, like, ten steps and be there. Why are you dragging your feet on this.”

While they talked in circles, you entertained yourself with a book about the various types of gemstones found in the Underground. Ignoring the typos, it was a good read, and it answered a lot of questions you hadn't given much thought.

Having finished with that, you tuned back into your brother's conversation. “Okay, but, why the elevator? Of everything you could have improved, you chose to blow your entire budget on that one elevator.”

“Oh, you didn't see it before the refurbishing, but it was a real mess. Mold on the walls, buttons you have to put your whole weight in before they would click in, it didn't even have a floor! Really, the upgrade was a critical necessity.”

“I- uh- Y'know what, I’ll take your word for it. Just, please tell me there aren't any more roadblocks on the way out of here.”

“Oh yeah! It's pretty much a straight shot from here. Just take the mine cart over the bottomless pit, ride the elevator to the top of the ridge and go until find another elevator, and that'll take you to straight to town.”

“Well, that a reli- wait, take the what over the what now?”

A mine cart. Held up by wood scaffolding reaching up from the darkness, a mine cart sat on rails that stretched out across the chasm and onto parts unknown.

Garrett walked forward and gave it a gentle shake. Neither the cart nor the structure supporting it moved. The apparent sturdiness of the thing didn't seem to make him any more enthusiastic about riding it.

You, however, had no such qualms. You hopped into the cart.

Your brother tried to protest, his mouth gaping like a fish, but nothing came out. He just didn't have the words, or the energy.

So… with a deep, exhausted sigh, “Alright, scooch over.” He climbed in with you, taking a seat in the back of the cart.

It was a tight squeeze, with both of you holding your knees to your chests to make just a little bit more breathing room. Once you were settled in, the mine cart started moving, much to Garrett's displeasure.

As they moved further away from the light of the office, the glowing crystals embedded in the vast, dark cavern became visible. The way they pulsed and shined in the darkness reminded you of stars lighting up the night sky.

Your brother would probably agree, if he wasn't so busy maintaining his death grip on the sides of the cart. He kept making whimpering noises whenever their ride even slightly shook.

The rails you were riding on made a groaning noise, causing Garrett to panic and lurch forward, wrapping his arms around you protectively. At least, you think it was meant to be protective. Really, it felt more like he was latching onto you to comfort himself.

With a sigh, you patted his hand as the miner cart came to the end of the rails.

You informed your brother that he could open his eyes now, they'd reached the end of the track.

“Huh? Oh.”

After he detached himself, you hopped out of the cart. Garrett took slightly longer to get out, carefully maneuvering like he was afraid the mine cart would start dragging him back over the chasm.

He looked, really worn out.

You suggested that you should maybe take a break soon and rest soon.

“Yeah, that sounds- wait a minute. Shouldn't we have rested at the office?”

You said that you could just go back. He looked back at the mine cart, it being the only way back.

“Ugh, I don't wanna do that again. Wanna keep going till we find a good spot to stop?” You nodded. “Alright, good, cause I'm not sure how much of this I can take.”

As you moved, you spotted a trash can with some kind of something in it. Going over to investigate, you pulled out a Fruitcake!

“Whatcha got there, kid?” Garrett asked from behind you.

You showed him your prize.

“Did- did you pull that out of the trash?”

You nodded.

“… Is it good to eat?”

You held it out for him to inspect.

He took it into his hands and gave it a look over. “Well I don't see any mold, and it passes the sniff test. Seems pretty edible to- wait a minute. Is this fruitcake?! Gross!” And promptly dropped it back into the trash. “Back where you belong. Eugh!”

The next room was mostly empty, save for a lone mine worker and another exit to the outside. You went to talk to the monster, of course.

“Hello, visitors. Did you venture through the whole mine?” You nod yes. “What a journey. For your troubles, I’ll let you in on a little secret. You see, we aren’t mining for gemstones at all. Those things are practically worthless. We’re actually mining for minerals like this one in front of me.” They gestured to the rock in front of them. “They're used for building materials around the Underground, you see. They're also… very…”

They bent down, put their face to the rock, made direct eye contact with you, and you brother, and then…

Stretched their mouth over the rock, sucking it in before throwing their head back and swallowing the whole thing in one mighty gulp!

“You saw nothing :)”

“Hah HA, WOW! That's really cool! Clover, it’s time to go.” Your brother grabbed you by the shoulder and speed walked you out through the exit.

The “elevator” to the ridge turned out to be a wooden platform tethered to a helicopter propeller via rope. It was, perhaps, the single most unsafe thing Garrett had ever laid eyes on. This made it all the more surprising what a smooth ride it was.

The ridge was much darker than the area below. And cooler too, a far cry from the sweltering heat before, this place had a pleasant chill to it, helped by a brisk breeze.

Clover walked ahead to the cliff, to take

File saved

in the view.

And what a view it was. Sand and cliffs as far as the eye could see.

He’d never been a “beauty of nature” kind of guy, but he couldn't deny it was pretty cool looking. Kinda gloomy though. He wasn’t sure why it got so dark once they got up there.

It was definitely a prettier sight than the one to the left. To the left, there was a row of machines. Machines, that were dropping rocks off the cliff. Big rocks.

Desperate, and seeing a chance for answers, Garrett went to get a closer look at the machines.

Each one had a label on it that said “Rock-Dropper 900”. All but the last one, which Clover pointed out had a piece of paper stapled to it, which read “Built to order by Hotland Mechanics. Signature of Ownership: North Star.”

It was one thing to know they were deliberately put there, it was another to know that somewhere out there, there was a factory or shop of some kind, and at that place was someone who designed a machine that dropped rocks, and that machine was then built by people, or by machines that were made to build those machines, and then this “North Star” found out about those rock dropping machines and decided they wanted not just one of those machines, but three of them, and then they put those rock dropping machines over a cliff above a walkway where miners have to cross to do their jobs.

If he ever met this North Star person, he’d have just one word for them.

…

Ugh. He was lightheaded now. Well, they did plan on taking a break up here. Might as well sit down for a while.

Now back at the scenic overlook, Garrett picked out a spot on the ground that looked slightly less gravely than the rest and sat down. His feet ached, his legs ached, his back was pissed , he may have given himself a slight headache thinking about rock machines and god did sitting feel good! He’d been so focused on how stressed he was that he didn't notice how much pain he was in.

It was such a relief to get off his feet, even if it was the dirty, rocky ground. He sat there, breathing, letting his heart rate lower and looking out over the vast sandy wasteland. 

He hadn't really taken the time to just… appreciate, the where he was. His entire time down here had been spent chasing down Clover, freaking out or just trying to survive. Of his head didn't already hurt he’d probably be straining himself about how all this space existed underground and no one knew about it.

(Only, people did know about it, didn't they? The people in question just weren't human was all.)

But right now he had nothing else going on. From this vantage point he could even see into that volcano-y place they sped through on the way here, with structures and lights and machinery and an ominous red glow. 

Clover, meanwhile, elected to keep standing. “Kid, where the hell do you get the energy to stay on your feet? Don't you ever get tired?”

They just shrugged.

Ugh. It was so unfair that he had to deal with back pain and body aches when the kid could just, keep going.

Garrett laid back with a groan, preferring the feeling of the rough gravel to the threats his spine was making.

He just needed to rest his eyes for a second.

Your brother was out like a light. The moment his head hit the ground he was gone. 

Of course, now that he was unconscious there was nothing stopping you from going off on your own. Without Garrett by your side you could continue on without the threat of being forced back into the Ruins at the next opportunity. You could refocus on your mission. You’d enjoyed this little outing with him. For the most part. But…

If you were going to lose him, now was the time.

You looked back at Garrett sleeping peacefully. You didn't think it had been that long since you last took a break, so you were surprised by how quickly he was getting worn out. Maybe it was an adult thing? You suppose all the hits he'd been taking could be contributing to his fatigue.

…

Yeah, he was going to die without you.

There was no way around it. Without you to guide him through battles and keep his HP topped off, he would definitely, inevitably , die.

Flowey did say he'd help you out if your brother died, but if you were separated he couldn't watch both of you at once and would have no way of knowing when he needed to load, so it was a moot point.

So you were stuck waiting for him. And if you were going to be stuck, you might as well be comfortable. You went over to your sleeping brother, laid down sideways to him and rested your head on his stomach like it was a pillow. He didn't even twitch.

Now you just had nothing to do but wait.

You settled in further, finding an angle that better supported your neck. 

You let out a yawn, but that didn't mean anything. You weren't tired, you were just comfy. Might as well put your hat over your face.

You didn't even notice you'd fallen asleep.

Chapter Text

Even though you were still weeks away from summer vacation, the summer heat was in full effect. The sun was boring down on the city, and everyone was feeling it. Personally, you didn't mind it so much. It was the perfect weather for hanging out with friends and going out for ice cream. 

Which was why you saw fit to convince (force) your mopey brother to come with you to the Good Buy for some ice cream cones. They recently opened an ice cream stand to try and trick people into going into their horrible store, which is good for you cause it’s way closer to your house than any of the malls or fast food places closer to the center of town. One of the many quirks of living on the outskirts of town. Plus they're super cheap compared to the other ice cream places.

It tasted cheap too, but anything was good in this heat, so it was whatever. And hey! Any excuse to get out of the house was a good one!

Now you were coming up on the Good Buy (which you thought was an awful name, an opinion everyone seemed to agree with, given the “Good Buy? More like goodbye!” joke had been circulating since before you were born), so you asked your brother what flavor he wanted. 

“Anything's fine.” He'd said sadly. You told him if he truly had no preference, then you'd order a weird flavor like trout.

“Eww! Gross! Fine, fine, vanilla!”

Satisfied, you told him to wait outside while you got the goods.

Your brother had been really unhappy lately. Even more than usual. And whenever you asked what was wrong you'd get the usual ”It's fine”s and “It's nothing”s you'd expect. 

So you figured, what better way to poke his buttons than over ice cream?

Now armed with the cones you walked out the doors of the Good Buy (despite being a convenience store and not a gas station, it somehow managed to smell like a gas station) and walked around the small building to find your brother under the shade of the overhanging roof, looking into a trash can.

You asked if there was anything good. He just shook his head no. Ah well, better luck next time. 

You handed him his non trout flavored ice cream and you both started eating.

Yup. It tasted as cheap as it was. Like it had been melted and refrozen many, many times. At least it was cold.

After a moment of peace, you ask why he's been such a sad sack recently. 

“It's nothing.”

You say you've heard that before.

He looks away.

You tell him that he could either tell you what was wrong, or you were going to bother him until he coughed it up. It was his choice.

“... It's stupid. You're gonna make fun of me…”

You ask when you've ever made fun of him.

He shoots you a dirty look.

You can't stop yourself from letting out a laugh, you can't remember the last time he looked that offended. It was fair though, you rarely missed an opportunity to poke fun at him.

After you calm down, you promise not to tease. Even if whatever it was did turn out to be silly.

…

…

…

He still wasn't talking.

Now you were starting to get worried this really was serious. It wasn't like him to be so reserved.

Taking on a gentler tone, you put a reassuring arm around his shoulder and told him that you won't be mean. That he can trust you.

…

“... I don't think I'm a boy.”

You, uh, don't know what that means. You asked for clarification.

“I- don't like being a boy, and I heard that I don't have to be if I don't wanna. But when I told my teacher, she yelled at me in front of everyone, and now everyone’s mean to me.” He (he?) said with a sniffle.

You think you've heard about this before. Transbenders or something. Someone who changed whether they were a boy or a girl. Adults were always drowning on and on about how dangerous those people were and how wrong it was for kids to be around them, or worse, like them.

You looked at your brother(?). He, not he, looked smaller than normal. Like… they, were waiting for you to start berating hi- them. To start trying to talk them out of it.

Adults had made it clear that kids shouldn't be messing around with this trans stuff. But then again, adults were always freaking out about everything! TV, tv screens, phones, trading card games, video games, sweets, even cigarettes! It was like they thought anything fun was lethal!

Your gut said this trans thing wasn't actually all that harmful. And if it was, well, it couldn't be worse than a cigarette. So, if not being a boy brought as much happiness as cigarettes brought you, then you weren't going to stand in their way.

You tell him (no, not him) that teacher is a jackass and anyone being mean is stupid.

You receive a punch to the arm, though it feels more like a pat. “No swears!”

You say that you're only forbidden from swearing when adults are around. And that it's totally unfair, cause adults can swear as much as they want, even around kids!

That earned you a laugh and a smile, and you're glad to see the dower mood from earlier was broken.

So, now that the barrier between you two was broken, you awkwardly ask if, she(?) was a girl now.

“I… don't think that’s right either. I don't feel like I'm a boy or a girl.”

Uh, alright, you asked if that's a thing.

Your br- sist-

Your sibling shrugged. “I don't know, it's just how I feel.”

You offered to help look it up once you got your phone back. (You got caught one too many times slacking off in class and your teacher confiscated it, which was also super unfair. It wasn't your fault class was boring!)

“Thanks, that sounds great. Oh, and one more thing. I wanna new name!”

You look over, expectantly, and ask to hear what he (they, that was gonna take some getting used to) had in mind.

“I wanna be Clover! What do you think?”

You said that sounds awesome.

Well, you were out of ice cream. And money. You say you two should probably start heading home. 

Clover grimaced, and you couldn't help but feel the same. Sure, you had things you had to do there, but… you didn't necessarily need to go back just yet.

You tell Clover that, if they want, you two could go wander around in the woods, or city or something for a few hours.

They enthusiastically agreed, rapidly nodding their head. With that settled, you-

Clover poked your cheek.

You asked why they did that, but as you did, you shivered. 

Clover poked your cheek again, and you told them to quit it. A breeze made you shiver again, and you looked around to see it was getting dark. 

Already? You didn't think you'd been talking for so long.

Clover poked your cheek again, and this ti me he swatted their hand away with a groan.

“Ugh. Kid if you're hungry there's leftovers in the fridge. Now let me sleep, I have work in the morning.”

Garrett tried to roll over on his side, only to feel the pokes of hundreds of tiny pebbles in his sleeveless arm. That got his attention.

Eyes now open, he sat up and saw where he was. Underground, in the dark and on a mountain. A gust of wind blew past and made him shiver at the chill air.

Using his hands to try to cover up his poor unsleeved arms, he looked at his assailant. Clover was sitting next to him, rubbing their eyes like they just woke up too. Guess their bottomless well of energy wasn't as bottomless as he thought.

“How- *yawn* How long was I out?”

They shrugged.

“Alright, I guess it doesn't really matter.”

A breeze kicked up, making them both curl in on themselves for warmth. Clover even started leaning on his side for better cover. Garrett put an arm around them and they leaned in farther. 

He still wasn't at 100%, still needing at least a couple more hours of sleep, but he definitely felt a lot better than he did before. His back still hurt, but now it had more to do with sleeping on the rocky dirt instead of a comfy mattress.

And speaking of sleep, that dream…

He hadn't thought about that day since… well, since he started living on his own.

It was weird thinking about back then. It was so long ago that the memories almost felt foreign. 

That Garrett didn't match up with the Garrett he was now, and the difference felt… massive. There was just so much he hadn't known back then, lessons he hadn't learned. So many things he hadn't experienced that made him into who he was today.

That Garrett was young and dumb and didn't know how the world worked. That Garrett thought it would be enough to just survive through school and once he was an adult people would stop treating him like trash. That Garrett was naive enough to think that someone could make the world a better place by just trying hard enough -

He forced out a breath he didn't notice he was holding. There was no point in thinking about that. It was behind him.

Clover let out a yawn next to him.

He'd kinda… forgotten, how much closer they used to be. Not all that surprising, all things considered. That was back before they could take care of themselves like they could now. Nowadays they were just about as independent as he was at that age.

Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember the last time he and Clover had an outing like that.

No, wait, he could remember. That day at the Good Buy was the last time they went out together.

… Huh.

Something about that… felt…

…

Well, guess that's growing up for you.

Thinking of Clover, he had a thought. “Hey, kid, how you holding up?”

“Mmn. Cold, kinda hungry.”

“No, I meant like, how are you holding up after all of this. This whole underground thing.” He was too tired to be articulate.

Clover seemed to get the point though. “I'm good. It's been fun. Its been fun talking to so many people, and there's always places to explore!” They said, perking up.

Garrett could understand how exploring could be fun. Kinda. If you ignored the constant monster attacks, the Underground had tons of stuff hidden away in every corner! But, talking to people? Really? How much joy could you possibly get from talking to random strangers? Didn't they have, like, anyone else to talk to?

…Oh, right. Clover didn't have any friends. At least none they he knew of. Apparently being a mostly non-verbal, non-binary with a cowboy obsession made you too weird to hang out with.

Today probably had more conversation than most months for them. Maybe that explained why they were so defensive over Martlet and Dalv.

But that wasn't the only thing that bothered him. “Really? That's it? All of this, the Underground, the monsters, the magic, the crazy environments, the raft crash, the craziness of the, all of it ! It doesn't faze you at all? Not even a little bit?”

They gave him a shrug. “We were always told not to climb Ebott or the monsters would get us, so it's not that surprising they're here.”

“We were also told that we’d get torn apart by bears and mountain lions if we went up there. Bears and mountain lions don't even live in this part of the country, I- wait, what would you have done if there was nothing down here?”

They shrugged again and he was really starting to dislike that move.

They fell into silence again, both preferring to gather their energy and enjoy the scenery. And without anything to focus on, Garrett found his mind wandering back to his dream.

Funnily enough, the convenience store they’d gone to that day, the Good Buy, was actually where he was currently working. Of course, it wasn't called the Good Buy anymore, not after getting sued by Best Buy a few years ago. They rebranded to the “Market Mart Grocery and Convenience Store”, which he thought was an even stupider name. 

Market Mart . It didn’t even sound real. The amount of times he'd told someone he worked at the Market Mart and they didn’t believe him was, well, not that many actually. But that was only because he didn’t exactly go around telling everyone he knew that he was stuck working at a grocery/convenience store. But of the people he did tell, most of them didn’t believe the place was real.

It was far from his first choice of work place, but... It was the only place he’d found that was so desperate for employees that they couldn’t fire him for always bailing to deal with Clover. It’d take something huge for them to actually get rid of him. Something like-

Something like never showing up again. Never clocking in because he tripped and fell into a cave and couldn’t ever leave.

Garrett… hadn't… processed that. This whole time he only had one true priority. Get to safety. Escape danger. To get himself (and Clover) out of mortal danger.

Every monster in the Underground had a very good reason to want him and his sibling dead, so staying in the Underground wasn't an option. Going home meant getting past the monster king, so that was certain death. Not an option. 

And then there was Toriel, in the Ruins. Toriel, with her offer of safety from the smaller monsters that sparsely populated the area around her cozy home.

There was no choice here. Two options lead to death and one did not. Obviously. It was the correct answer. 

It was so correct that he hadn't even thought about it. He just… took it as fact that going back to the Ruins to live with Toriel was the right and only choice. He never weighed his options against each other or even considered what would happen after he committed to one. Why would he? There was only one real option, and whatever what right in front of him took priority over anything else.

So he never processed that… his life was… over. In a way.

If he wasn't going home, ever, then the life he'd built for himself was… gone. The last decade or so of constant work, of breaking himself working multiple jobs at a time, ignoring the few friends he still had, all to build up savings so that maybe, maybe , someday he could live comfortably and maybe even have a retirement, amounted to nothing. Worthless. Wasted!

God fucking DAMMIT! FUCK!! What the fuck was even the point of any of that then?! Did he really half his life- no, his entire life working towards nothing ?!

And for what? Just for him to throw it all away because Clover decided to-

No! No no no. He-

He forced himself to take a deep breath.

He wasn't going to put this on Clover. Even if they were the reason he was he-

Deep breath. In. Then out.

He would not put this on Clover. They didn't deserve that.

Silver lining. There had to be a silver lining to all this. C'mon, think damnit!

Okay, so everything he'd done in his life had been thrown out and he was forced to start over completely, but… uh…

Maybe… once they had a place in the Ruins, well, he’d have his own place, right? So it’d be kinda like, he was buying a house. Yeah. He didn't have enough to buy his own house, even if he sold everything he owned. So if he thought about it like that, it was almost like he was getting a good deal.

Hey, fake hope is better than no hope.

…

Yeah, no. It doesn't work when you know the hope is fake.

He stood up. “Alright, I've had enough sitting around. Let's get moving!” Garrett said with all the false chipperness he could muster.

Clover stood up with him, and gave him a look that clearly communicated a question. Are you okay? He didn't know exactly how his near mental breakdown manifested physically, but however it did, Clover noticed something was off.

“C’mon! Let's go! We're not gonna get to the Ruins by staying here!” The fake upbeat attitude was probably making it worse. 

Clover tried to say something, but Garrett turned and started walking away before they could.

Yeah, that's it. Just walk off the mental breakdown. Easy.

File saved

The little pitter patter of feet told him Clover was following close behind him. He didn't look at them, instead focusing on putting one foot in front of the other.

As they walked, a massive shining ball in the distance came into perspective from behind a mountain. It’s ominous glow reminded him of a lightbulb with too much power going through it. Clover was talking about it being a giant heat stone or something, and that it was probably what kept the Dunes so hot, dry and bright. How it could be that this ridge was so cold and dark, despite being the only place they'd been that had a direct line of sight to the thing was beyond him. 

Just this once, he’d trust that it made perfect sense. His mood was already bad enough as it was and he the last thing he needed was to make it wor-

*Ker-chunk!*

A spotlight shined down in front of them from the… cave ceiling. He couldn't see whatever was actually casting the light.

His attempt to see the light source was cut off by-

By…

By a shirtless monster wearing a luchador mask, long yellow gloves and boots, shorts, and a damn cape! He leaped up onto the ridge with a mighty leap, landing in a superhero landing!

Garrett was in such disbelief at what he was seeing that he didn't even react when the dance music started blasting from nowhere.

“Halt!” Came his powerful voice through a thick Mexican accent. Wait, can monsters be Mexican?! “I, El Bailador, have tasked myself with confrontation! The air is much too quiet! Much too dreary!” It was too soon after waking to be dealing with this.

“You” the luchador pointed at Clover, “make no noise when you move! You lack RHYTHM! FEELING! FERVOR! If I did not know any better, I might have mistaken you for a Sentinel of Silence!”

“And you!” he pointed at Garrett, “You move with such urgency! Such worry in your heart! It's as if you would fall down if you stopped!” He wanted to say something, but-

“No no… this will not do! You must prove to me that you have what it takes! What it takes to live a life or richness! I challenge you… to DANCE!” what.

What.

Two more spotlights shined on the humans.

And then-

No.

-a dance pad-

This can't be happening!

-lit up on the ground- 

This can't be real life!!

-beneath everyone’s feet.

“To truly find oneself, they must ignite a passion within! Let us duel!”

The human’s souls appeared.

NOOOOOO!!

Chapter Text

“I want to see your spirit of fire! One and two and-” 

Slowly, three red bars moved towards the red dance pad panel at your feet. You stepped on the panel as they touched it, incidentally stepping to the rhythm of the music, and they disappeared harmlessly.

To the side, you saw your brother do the same. He looked very unhappy, and you knew it wasn't just because of the surprise dance party. You didn't know why he was so upset right now, but whatever it was made him want to avoid you. Again.

You Check El Bailador.

EL BAILADOR   - -   ATK 9   DEF 7

The definition of passion!

“Hey man,” Garrett started, “this is, um, a really cool dance setup, thing, and I'm sure whatever you've got in store for us is really impressive, but we've kinda got places we need to get to as soon as possible so if you could just let us get a move on we'd super appreciate it.” You actually wanted to see what El Bailador had in store for you, and did not want to just move on. 

Thankfully, El Bailador ignored him.

“Ah, but you will not feel the passion, the energy of the movements! Hmph, that was much too simple! Let us try this!”

Again, three slow moving bars approached the dance pad. This time though, a blue bar on the right was moving towards the blue panel, also on the right. It wasn't much harder than the last attack.

In the corner of your eye, you see your brother tapping the panels with one foot, keeping the other planted firmly on the ground. If this guy's attacks were so simple that even your brother could clear them with ease, then this was gonna be a cakewalk!

Still, you felt the need to remind Garrett that you made a deal not to skip past battles.

“Hey, I agreed to not running away, which isn’t even what I’m doing! Our deal said nothing about politely asking to end things peacefully, which is basically what you do anyway. And that falls in line wi-”

“Heating up!” El Bailador cut in, striking a pose as his attack began.

The bars came in pairs this time, requiring you to use both legs to hit them in time. You hopped forward, quickly dispelling the bars before hopping back to do the same with the second pair, which had a green bar on the left. Finally, an attack that demanded some effort!

“AHH!! Dammit!”

Apparently, your brother’s strategy of using only one foot wasn't panning out as well as he’d thought. Even though you hadn't seen what happened, you were confident that the issue was he couldn't hit the panels fast enough with only one leg. You told him as such.

His eye twitched. “I shouldn't have to do this in the first place!” He said through gritted teeth. “Forgive me for not being a damn DDR master like five minutes after waking up!”

You told him that the bars are too close together to hit with one leg, and he needs to give more than half effort. And maybe loosen up a little.

“Alright smartass. If you're so clever, why don't you tell me how we can get this guy to stop attacking us so we can move on.”

Well, it seemed like El Bailador just really wanted you to dance. And if he wanted you to dance, then you didn't think he’d be satisfied until he was certain you’d put all of your effort into it. So no shortcuts.

You told your brother to just keep dancing, and to have some fun. He made a face and grumbled some words you’re not allowed to say under his breath, but complied.

“The passion! IT GROWS!” 

This attack started with a group of thr- was the music playing faster than before?

*dmph* HP 18/20

The faster beat caught you off guard, and you miss timed the third beat. You tried to recover and-

*dmph* HP 16/20

get caught by the odd spacing of the following notes. 

You found your footing after that, and dodged the rest of the attack without issue.

You were only slightly embarrassed, and thankful your brother was too busy taking damage to see your mistake. Now that you knew that the music would be speeding up, you wouldn't be caught unawares again.

In spite of the damage, you weren't worried. You could easily just heal it up! You checked your inventory and- oh. You only had two Hndw Pancakes and the Packing Peanuts. That was, a lot less than you thought you had.

The Hndw Pancakes healed 14 HP, and the Packing Peanuts healed 10. Healing now would waste a good bit of HP that was suddenly in very short supply.

Were you going to have enough to heal both yourself and your brother?

You were suddenly a lot more worried.

With nothing better to do, you spent your turn Checking your brother.

Garrett   - -   LV1   HP 45/50   ATK 3(0)   DEF 15(6)

Your older brother, legal guardian, and only remaining family. 

5 Missing HP was pretty low for how much he was being hit, but his defense was still blocking all but 1 damage, and the Silver Scarf was healing him every turn. So he'd probably be fine without you feeding him health items, for this battle at least. Hopefully.

Now though, the main concern was you. You only had 20 HP and were taking 2 damage per hit. And unlike before, these attacks weren't being tanked by your brother's horrible dodging.

Garrett gave an angry groan. “Okay, fine! You wanna see some passion?! I'll show you some fucking passion !!”

That was, concerning. The only thing you can remember your brother being passionate about was signs, and that wasn't something you wanted to witness again. Ever.

“Aha! Yes! This is what I live for!” Well, El Bailador seemed into it at least. 

The next attack started, and you focused. You couldn't afford to be careless now. You were prepared.

*dmph* HP 12/20

*dmph* HP 10/20

*dmph* HP 8/20

*dmph* HP 6/20

*dmph* HP 4/20

You were not prepared. 

You hadn't been as used to the faster speed as you thought. Between that and being distracted by your brother's pained grunting and, movements (you weren't sure what he was doing could be considered dancing), you quickly lost the beat and couldn't refocus to recover.

As quick as you could, you scarfed down a Hndw Pancake, bringing you back to 18/20 HP. You only had two healing items left.

Alright, now you were panicking. Things had gotten bad enough that you were considering just dying and starting again.

If you were going to make it through this, you’d have to give it your all. That meant no more distractions. From here on out you wouldn't be giving your brother any mind, he was just gonna have to tough it out without your help.

“A life without dance is empty, I say!”

The music was even faster now, and the bars sped up to match. 

*dmph* HP 16/20

*dmph* HP 14/20

The patterns had become complex enough that you couldn't recall what order the bars came in, even though you just saw them.

You still weren't in enough danger to justify healing. You passed your turn by Sparing, not wanting to lose any focus by Acting.

“Others say that dance can also take life away! I do not see what they mean!”

Your brother made some remark in response, something snarky sounding, but you didn't hear it. You refused to let anything break your focus.

The attack began.

Left, right, center, right, center, right, cent-

*dmph* wrong direction.

-center, center, left, center, rig-

*dmph* bad timing.

-center, left. The attack ended. HP 10/20

Your stubborn refusal to get flustered by the damage you were taking stopped things from spiraling out of control. But you still got hit.

It was your turn. You ate the Packing Peanuts, bringing you to exactly full without wasting any HP.

You had one healing item left. If you maintained this level of focus, you could probably make it through. The fight couldn't go on much longer.

Right?

“A world of solitude and silence? That is not for me! The Underground is much too depressing, you see!” El Bailador said before his next attack.

It had another new pattern, and though there were some close calls, it ended without you taking any damage.

A perfect dodge.

Usually, monsters would throw out the same attack a couple times. It gave you a chance to learn them and dodge them better next time you saw them. But El Bailador was using a different pattern each time, so you never knew what to expect.

You were really missing the times when your brother just took all the hits for you. You did not fully appreciate how much easier he’d made battles you.

With too much HP you use your last Hndw Pancake on yourself, you Checked on your brother. You hoped he wasn't too low, you weren't sure you'd be able to make it you both needed healing.

Garrett   - -   LV1   HP 50/50   ATK 3(0)   DEF - Wait, what!? Full? How was he full?! Was- was he actually dodging well enough that the Silver Scarf was keeping him healthy?! But he's terrible an dodging, how was he- Wait-

Was he smiling?!

“We are trapped within a barrier with no hope for freedom! A sad, sad situation! But it is not sad for I!”

Your concentration was broken. You weren't prepared at all! You-

*dmph* *dmph* *dmph* *dmph* *dmph* 

You promised to never make fun of Garrett’s dodging ever again. Or his frequent need for breaks. Your shirt was drenched with sweat and your legs kept shaking and you really wished you could just sit down for a minute or two or five-

Focus. Focus! You only had 10 HP! 

It was too much to use the last Hndw Pancake. You could hold out just a little longer.

You took a moment to gather yourself, and Spared.

“We must make do with what we have! Find time for activities that make us happy! I am outgoing because happiness is not a quiet virtue! I often encourage monsters in hope that it is contagious!” You were barely listening to his speech, only caring that it signaled the start of his next onslaught. 

*dmph* Right at the start-

*dmph* Too fast, you were overwhe-

*dmph*  

You ate the Hndw Pancake. HP 18/20

You were out of healing.

This has to end. 

“Even if monsterkind is cursed to this grim state, we must stick it out to the end! All the way to the FINALE!”

Finale. Finale! This was it! This was the last one! 

The knowledge that you were so close to the finish line gave you the boost you needed.

Breathing heavily and drenched in sweat, you gave it your all. Your aching legs flew across the dance pad, tapping in time with the music and-

*dmph*

You hit the beat a little too late. That was fine. You kept your cool and kept dancing until…

Until the attacks stopped coming. El Bailador stood still, the music reached its climax and came to an end.

And that was it. It was over.

You let out a breath, and relaxed. That was… a lot. 

It was the first time since Martlet you actually felt threatened! You felt a little silly for worrying about saving HP so-

Without warning, the music started again, even faster than before!

A wave of-

*dmph*

It-

* dmph*

You-

*dmph*

As-

*dmph* 

Before you could-

*dmph*

No-

*dmph*

Please-

*dmph*

HP 2/20

El Bailador posed as the final note played, and the encounter ended.

“Huff… puff… You have proven your passion! I apologize if the dance was strenuous on your health! Sometimes having fun means a few doctor’s visits! However, it seems you, little one” he looked at you, “do not love dance as much as I. Perhaps you find happiness through other means? I have never considered that for quiet monsters such as you.”

“But you!” He turned to your brother, “You have felt the cleansing power of motion, and and for a moment, forgotten your troubles. Should you be in need of another dance, you can find me at my club in Hot Land, in front of the Underground Apartments.”

“I, uh. Y'know what? Yeah, if we're in the area we’ll drop by.” Garrett said through labored breaths and a genuine smile.

Wha- who was this person and what did he do with your brother? And what did he mean by ‘we’?

“Well, I at least hope your day has been brightened! I wish you a fulfilling journey! Farewell!”

As quickly as he arrived, El Bailador jumped off the cliff from which he came. The spotlights switched off and you were left in silence.

Silence that lasted for all of two seconds.

“WOOOOOO!! YEAH!” Your brother whooped, arms in the air. He gave a few more victory cheers before hunching over with his hands on his knees.

Well, he was certainly in a better mood.

In spite of your exhaustion and soreness, you found it in you to give him your smug-est ‘I told you so’ look.

“Uh, Clover? What's with the face?”

You told him that he had fun fighting a monster.

“What?! No! I- uh-” He stammered.

You told him he had fun being attacked by a monster and dodging their attacks.

“That's not-”

You told him He. Had. Fun.

“Okay, fine! Yes, I had fun. There, ya happy now?”

Yes, you were happy. You were also sore and tired and only had 2 HP and no healing items, so you suggested you get moving.

He agreed, and so you went.

You were both moving a good deal slower than before El Bailador, and you… had a suspicion. One that could only be answered by asking.

You asked if he actually perfectly dodged the final attack.

“Yeah! Honestly, it looked a lot more intimidating that it really was. The timing for when you have to hit it was, uh, generous to say the least. Maybe too generous.”

He wanted it to be harder!?

He kept talking. “Yknow, once you start thinking about dodging instead of, uh, how much it's gonna hurt if you don't dodge, it's a lot easier.”

You ask if that's what he's been doing all this time.

“I mean, yeah? I think so? I… might have been psyching myself out a little.”

You supposed that focusing too much about pain can make it worse than it is. Like when you get a shot, and all you can think about is the needle. Now that your brother was past this mental hurdle, he'd be free to improve his dodging, which meant you would same on healing items!

It seemed like in the end, El Bailador did you a huge favor. Both getting your brother out of his bad mood and giving him a new perspective on dodging. You weren't exactly thrilled by how the fight went, but you could appreciate what he'd done for your brother.

…Wait.

If Garrett gets better at dodging, then you're gonna have to start dodging for yourself again.

Uh oh.

Chapter Text

After your thorough humbling from El Bailador, there were only three things on your mind. Healing, rest, and restocking on healing items. And for a moment you thought you'd be able to do just that. 

Healing was simple enough. A save star was just a few steps off the helivator (helicopter elevator), and using it 

File saved

fully healed you as usual.

Flowey didn't come up so say anything, of course. Not with your brother so close. You really hoped he'd introduce himself soon so Garrett wouldn't have to worry so much.

The second item on your docket was rest, and that didn't come as easily as the healing.

The little playground you found yourself in after stepping off the helivator had a swing set that looked just perfect for just sitting down and enjoying the scenery. Or it would, if it weren't for the heat.

Now, normally, you didn't mind the heat. Especially in the Dunes. It really made you feel like a real cowboy in the real wild west! But El Bailador’s trial by dance left you overheating and sweaty, and the arid heat made you feel like you were being steamed in an oven.

Maybe if you started actually swinging on the swing you'd cool down in the breeze, but the last thing you wanted to do was move your poor, sore legs. You didn't even bother asking your brother to push you. Even if he enjoyed the deadly DDR session, he was just as worn out as you were, possibly even more so. He seemed as content to lean against the swing set and bake in the heat as you were to sit in it.

Still, even if your rest period wasn't as restful as it could have been, you enjoyed your time on the swing. There was a lonely monster kid on the other swing who was happy to have some quiet company. Apparently her friend she usually played with stopped showing up a while back, and your sitting with her made her feel better. 

When you were done and walking away, you knew it wasn't the rest you’d hoped it would be. But still, you still enjoyed the downtime, so you wouldn't complain.

That's what your brother was for.

“Ohhh god this heat! How could I forget about the heat! Uhhhhg.” He groaned. His good mood from the dance session had slowly evaporated as he boiled. “Do we have any of those drinks from Mo? I might actually be dying of thirst.”

Which brought you to the third item on your docket. Restocking.

On the way here you found a Dimensional Satchel, which shared the same storage as the box. The joy you felt knowing that you could access the box from anywhere was tempered by the fact it was clean out of healing items (save for the Golden Coffee and Golden Pear). What you needed was a shop.

So when your brother let out a loud groan at the sight of an ATTENTION sign warning about a gift shop, you got your hopes up.

Said hopes were quickly dashed when you saw the items they had for sale. Well, item. Singular. The only thing they were selling was a single white mug, which according to the unwell looking shopkeep, had been sitting there for thirteen years.

“DEMAND IS DEPRESSINGLY LOW SO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OFFER NOW!! ONLY 40G BUCKO!!” Said the desperate seller.

You had to have it, obviously. 

“What? No, Clover… why are you buying a mug, we don't need that.” Came the voice of the naysayer, who couldn't stop you from handing over the 40G.

Your brother sighed. “Ugh, fine. If you insist.” As you suspected, he was unwilling to argue now that the money had been handed over.

“Wait… seriously? I MEAN, YES OF COURSE!! AHA!! AHAHAHA!!! GO FETCH IT OFF THE SHELF AND I’LL RING YOU UP!”

It was only when you got close that you realized you were just a little too short to see the mug on the shelf. After a moment of watching you blindly grasp at it, your brother grabbed it and handed it to you.

You obtained the Old Mug!

“SOLD!! ENJOY YOUR MUG!!”

It was… weird. For some reason. There was nothing strange about the mug. In fact, it was the most average, run of the mill, generic mug you'd ever seen. But somehow, it felt strange in your hands. Like it wasn’t meant to be held.

“Hope it was worth it, kid. 40G was, what, two drinks from Mo? Geez.”

You rolled your eyes at his statement. You still had plenty of G for supplies. Your diligence in Sparing every monster you encountered gave you a surplus of 67G. Buying the Old Mug brought you down to 27G, and Hndw Pancakes cost 18 per pancake, so assuming other food items would be priced similarly and you had enough for-

oh.

Only two.

Which was, far less than a full inventory. And that was assuming would cost the same as a pancake.

You looked at the Old Mug in your hands, completely indistinct in all ways. In hindsight, this may have been a poor financial decision. 

With no immediate use for it, you dropped it in your Dimensional Satchel and took your leave.

So, healing items were a total bust. That was two of the three things you set out to do unaccomplished.

It wasn't the biggest deal. You could deal with the soreness from the subpar rest break, and if you died to a lack of healing you always had Flowey to fall back on.

Just past the gift shop, you found your selves at the entrance to the Mines. The giant boulder that once blocked your way and forced you to take that whole detour was gone. And not just gone, but completely disappeared! There was no rubble or other signs it had been destroyed, or marks in the sand to indicate it was dragged away (you doubted it could be dragged anyway), or anything! It was as if it was never there at all.

You were just happy to see a shortcut back to the previous areas, you were almost certain there were some places yet unexplored back there. Your brother on the other hand…

His reaction was actually pretty subdued this time. No shouting or ranting or anything. Just long sighs and quietly questioning his sanity.

You expected him to get grumpy about having gone through the Mines when you (presumably) could have just waited for, whatever happened to the boulder to happen. You had fun in the Mines, so you didn't mind (mostly).

Instead he just looked… bothered.

He snapped out of it on his own. Maybe he was finally getting used to how things worked down here?

“Uuhhhg.” He rubbed his head like he was nursing a headache. “You think Mo would have any more drinks to sell us if we went back to him?”

You reminded your brother that Mo left after you bought him out.

Before he could give yet another one of his signature groans, you also told him that one of the miners told you that there was a town close to the Mines exit.

“How close?”

You turned in the only other direction you could go and pointed towards some buildings, only slightly obscured by some cliffs. They were maybe a 40 second walk away.

“...oh.”

Amazingly, even that short distance couldn't be covered without interruption.

As you were passing over a patch of grass dotted with colorful flowers, something that stood in stark contrast with the surrounding sand, you encountered a flower monster.

Violetta had approached shyly, cradling a colorful pile of flowers in her arms. She didn't seem very confident, so you figured your Act should do something to ease her. The problem was, you weren't sure if Flattery or Encouragement would be more effective. Going with your gut, you told your brother to Flatter her while you Spared.

Garrett shot you a look that said, ‘you want me to do what? I don’t know how to do that!’ before sighing and doing his best to Flatter her. 

It was very awkward.

“I- uh- Are those, poppy? Orchids? I heard those are, uh, hard to grow?” You knew for a fact that he knew absolutely nothing about flowers, and was just pulling out whatever flower names he knew and throwing them out there, “You must have done, really well…” He finished lamely.

“Oh, it's okay.” She said with a kind of sad acceptance, “You don't have to pretend. I know they're not very good.”

It was almost painful to watch. You might have to refrain from asking him to give pep talks in the fu-

“I- no, I'm sorry. I don't know much about plants.” Garrett said apologetically, “They're very pretty, really! I'm honestly kinda shocked you were able to grow anything in this climate.”

"I… th- thank you." She said, hiding her face behind her hair and flowers.

… huh.

Unfortunately, even though your brother’s flattery was effective, her name didn't turn yellow and your Spare did nothing. Before you could think too hard on it, her attack began. 

Large water droplets fell from above, crashing onto the ground and splitting into multiple drops, which flew into the air to fall again. It was a simple enough pattern, and you dodged it well enough by staying low to avoid the drop fragments.

At least, until vines started sprouting up from where the big drops landed. You quickly found yourself trapped between two vines without room to dodge and got hit. A couple times. 

You found yourself a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff there was to avoid. It almost felt like there were more bullets than there should be. And you knew exactly why.

It was your brother. His dodging had improved. He was watching the incoming bullets, seeing where they were heading, and moving to a place they weren’t going. Or, he was trying to do that, at least. He’d often move out of the way of one bullet, only to crash into one he wasn’t watching. Though, to his credit, when he did take damage, he didn’t panic and start running around in random directions like he usually did. While he was still consistently taking hits, he was taking maybe half as much damage as he was before.

But his better dodging meant that he wasn’t absorbing nearly as many bullets, which meant there were that many more bullets that you had to dodge.

You reassured yourself that your subpar performance thus far had less to do with you being too used to your brother’s horrible movements doing most of the work for and more to do with heat and dehydration making you sloppy. Certainly.

The attack ended, and it was your turn-

“Honestly, I don't see why you're so worried about what other people think. You clearly worked hard on those, you should be proud of your work! I mean, look at them! They're beautiful!” Garrett Encouraged, without your input.

“Y-you really think so?”

“I do.” He said confidently.

"Alright, I’ll g-give it a try." And just like that her attack began.

Before you took your turn.

The attack itself was simple enough, flowers were thrown in from the side and stayed as hazards on the ground. Even so, you took damage. Four times, actually. 

When your turn rolled back around Violetta’s name was yellow, and you Spared her, ending the battle.

You were, at a loss. The lost HP wasn’t a huge deal. At one point she’d tossed a bright green flower that healed you back to full (before you got hit one last time). That wasn’t what had you stumped.

You’d never had your turn just, taken away from you before. Assuming that was what happened. No, wait, what actually did happen?

The turns had been pretty simple to understand, or so you thought. You took a turn, then they took a turn, then it was your turn again. Simple. Until it wasn’t.

Garrett hadn’t made things all that much more complicated. When he was with you, it went you, him, then the monsters, then you again. Except, sometimes he went before you, and other times he went after. You hadn’t thought about it until now, and now that you were thinking about it did you realize that you had no explanation for it.

Maybe you were thinking about this all wrong. When monsters fought in a group, they didn’t attack you one at a time, one after another. They attacked you all at once, joining their attacks together. It was almost like instead of having individual turns, they all had one big collective turn, the monster’s turn, and they chose how to take part in said turn. Maybe that's how it worked? It wasn’t going you, Garrett, monsters, but humans, monsters, humans? But if that was true, then… then…

Then you’d had no idea how turns actually worked the whole time. And even if it didn’t work like that, it didn’t change the fact you had no idea how turns actually worked.

“Uh… kid? You doin alright there?” Your brother asked, concerned that you’d just been standing still since the battle with Violetta ended.

Your brother. Of course! You’d just ask him about the turn order and that’d clear things right up!

You asked your brother about his place in the turn order.

He blinked. “My what in the what order?”

You… asked your brother to clarify about when he can or can’t take his turn.

“My… turn? My turn in what? What are we turning?” 

You… He… The…

Did… Did Garrett not… adhere to the turn order… at all?

Were turns just... a you thing?

Did you know anything?

Was this what it was like to be Garrett? To have everything you thought to be true proven false? To see the very foundation of your world crumble before your very eyes, like it was nothing? 

No wonder he was so miserable all the time. This was awful!

“Alright,” he said, grabbing your shoulder, “I think you’ve been in the heat for too long. Let’s hurry up and find some shade or something.”

For once, you couldn’t agree more.

You’d only taken maybe ten steps before-

“Clover? Garrett? You’re alive!”

Chapter Text

“Clover? Garrett? You're alive!”

Both humans startled at the sound of someone calling their names. But when they realized who was calling them, Clover perked up, probably happy to see their friend. Garrett however…

Garrett was none too enthused by the sight of the blue bird woman approaching them.

“You're here! You're... here…” Martlet's happy expression changed to one of shock and panic, “I CAN’T BELIEVE MYSELF! I LEFT YOU ALL ALONE IN THAT CAVE! YOU HAD TO BRAVE THE DUNES BY YOURSELVES!! I'M A HORRIBLE FRIEND!” 

Garrett was pretty sure they'd spent all of, like, two minutes with her. Was that really enough to call someone a friend?

“They trust me to be a Royal Guard and I left a child for dead!! Like, what is wrong with me?????”

Honestly, Garrett was inclined to agree with the sentiment.

“It's OK”

Garrett’s head snapped to Clover, because he absolutely did not think it was ‘OK’.

“I... yes. Thank you.” Martlet said, either unaware or ignoring Garrett's clear disagreement. “You're clearly able to take care of yourself. The crash just happened so fast. When I saw what had happened to you, I panicked! I flew over the sandy landscape and found this town. I soon realized that I couldn't risk getting other monsters involved. They might've questioned me and I cannot keep secrets!”

That, made enough sense. Even if Martlet's blabbermouth wasn't an issue, he wasn't sure he trusted the monster's general inability to recognize humans to keep them from being outed. Bringing more people in was just asking for trouble.

“They could've turned us in to the more sinister Royal Guards!”

Yeah, what she sa- wait, what did she mean ‘more sinister Royal Guards’? Why were there sinister Royal Guards to begin with?!

And more importantly, “So, wait. That was way back when we crashed, right?” She nodded, “But, then, what have you been doing since then?”

“Oh, well, I uh... Sat by a cactus for an hour, thinking of what a piece of garbage I am.” She said sheepishly.

Garrett thought the look he gave her spoke for itself. 

“But when I woke up, I got the courage to travel back to you and apologize, but... here you were. So... I'm deeply sorry!” She apologized, looking like a kicked puppy.

Clover didn’t hesitate. “I forgive you.” And Garrett rolled his eyes, because of course they did.

“Thank you, Clover. You're very kind.”

They didn't say anything for a couple moments, and it wasn't until Clover elbowed him in the stomach that Garrett realized that they were both looking at him, waiting for him to forgive her too.

So, with a sigh, “Alright, fine, apology accepted, or whatever.” He said with a little more heat than he intended. Honestly, he was more annoyed at the kid's pushing than Martlet herself.

“Thanks… Anyway,” Martlet continued awkwardly, “I- um, I'd like to stay by your side. At least, until you're back to the Ruins. I-if it's okay with you, of course. If you don't want me here, I'd understand completely.”

Watching her stand there, fidgeting nervously waiting for a reply, he felt a little guilty. Just a teeny tiny bit.

He didn't have anything against her, really. Maybe she was a little absent minded, sure. And yeah, it was technically her job to watch out for/kill humans. And she did put Clover on a makeshift raft in an attempt to bring them to the king, even if she did have the best of intentions, and then took the wrong river, and then crashed the raft and left them behind, but…

But all that wasn't enough for him to have an outright negative opinion of her. She was just… unreliable. And frustrating.

She might have had good intentions, but what good were those if the end result of her actions was putting them far from safety, crashing, and then failing to get help? Sure, it was probably for the best that she didn’t tell anyone about them, but if they had actually needed help then they would have been screwed!

It was a really good thing they didn’t need her help in the end.

And none of that’s to say anything about her plan to bring Clover to the king and hope he just let them go. Garrett wasn’t even sure the king could do that, even if he wanted to!

So yeah, frustrating.

But the most frustrating thing about her of all? She didn’t make any damn sense!

There's no such thing as a good person . Some people may do good things, but they always did it for something. Money, social standing, ease of guilt, there was always something to gain.

People who did the good, kind thing, always and without reward? Just because it's the ‘right thing to do’? Those didn't exist.

Martlet was no exception. She couldn't be. He just, didn't get her angle. She didn’t want to kill Clover, he could get that, but why go this far? She was already taking a huge riskmoreletting them go the first time, what she was doing now was probably treason or something. 

So… why?

What was her motive? What could possibly motivate her to not only spare them, but to then try to help them escape into the Ruins (or the Barrier)? Because by helping him and Clover live, she was screwing over literally all of monster kind. They needed seven human souls to break the Barrier, they had five, and he and Clover had two. If she succeeds in helping them, she'd be condemning not just herself but her entire species to being trapped down here for god knows how long. 

So the question was, why? What did she gain from this? What could be so enticing that she'd be willing to betray her own people for?

But then he looked at her, and she just seemed… nice, sweet, genuine. Nothing like the kind of person who'd sacrifice the future of an entire people. It didn't make sense.

She didn't make sense.

Of course, all this conjecture didn't mean all that much in the end. There was no way he was ever going to tell her she couldn't come with, not with the way Clover looked at him. Like they would actually try to fight him if he sent her away.

“Sure, you can tag along if you want.” He said, much to his own annoyance. 

“W- really? Oh, yes! Thank you! I promise you won't regret this!” He somehow doubted that.

Still, having a monster on their side while traversing through the kingdom of monsters would have its benefits. Like, for example, “Hey uh, you wouldn't happen to know any routes from here back to the Ruins, would you? Cause so far the only way back I've heard of goes through a Royal Guard station.”

“Sure, that's easy! There's- oh, no guard stations. That complicates things. Um. Hmm… Hmmmm…” Garrett resisted the urge to sigh, barely, “Oh, I know! The Steamworks! It's an old power plant that's accessible from the Dunes, and it's connected to Hotland! From Hotland you can take an elevator to the river and take a boat ride back to Snowdin! And that boat is operated by a professional River Person, so you don't have to worry about crashing like last time.”

Hey now, that actually sounded pretty promising! Really promising! “That's great! Where’s the Steamworks? How long will it take to get there?” Even if it was a ways away, having a clear destination would help immensely.

“Well, I don't know exactly where it is, but it's definitely nearby!”

Fuck!

“But don't worry! I'm sure it's just down the road from town, I'm sure! Although, I'd understand if you need to rest for a bit. You just endured some crazy Underground shenanigans, after all. If you wanna hang around, that's great! I didn't get to sightsee at all on the way here.”

“I… don't know about sightseeing, but I think we could both use a break.” He looked to Clover and they nodded.

“Well then, friends. Shall we be off?” Martlet said with a bright smile.

Upon entering the town, the group was greeted by a sign. A blessedly normal sign.

Welcome to Oasis Valley! 

Home to the largest body of water in the Dunes!

Sure enough, in the center of the plaza was a large pool of water. It even had a couple palm trees to complete the oasis look.

And just past the oasis, Garrett saw Salvation .

A café stood in stark contrast with the more rustic look of its surroundings, with modern walls and modern windows and the promise of modern comforts like air conditioning and ice cold bottled water.

He all but dragged the rest of the party to the building, eager to sit down and cool off with some drinks somewhere with AC and no dirt!

As was becoming a pattern, things did not go according to plan.

“What do you mean you're on strike!?”

“The owner needs to better themself. That’s me. I’m the owner.” The monster behind the counter said with a pleasant smile.

“I- that’s- but you-” Garrett stammered.

“Run along now. I don’t see myself improving anytime soon.” Even her dismissal was pleasant.

Your brother seemed torn between letting his frustrations loose and tearing into her, and his desire to not be that guy . In the end, his disgust at the kind of people who yell at service workers won out, and he slunk away from the counter back to you and Martlet.

He sat down at the one unoccupied table, sighed deeply, and tried to rub his headache away.

You sat down next to him and tried to get comfortable, but it wasn't easy thanks to the heat. Something Martlet agreed with.

“Geez, I was hoping it’d be cool in here but nope!”

You informed them that a customer said the air hockey table, which doubled as the air conditioner, wasn't working right.

Your brother's eye twitched and he mumbled about how it was no wonder there was no one else working here but the owner. 

Welp, you'd had about enough of that. Sure it was hot, and you were thirsty, and you had no healing items, but there was a whole new town to explore and a bunch of new monsters to talk to!

You told your brother you were ready to go.

“Well I'm not. Can you just, find a way to entertain yourself for a bit?"

You pouted, but didn't argue. You supposed a few more minutes in the slightly less hot café wouldn't be the worst thing. 

Entertain yourself, huh? The Mew Mew Love Blaster game in the corner caught your eye. 

As you started walking towards the game cabinet, Martlet spoke up. “Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on them for you, Garrett.”

He just shrugged and said, “Sure.” barely sparing her a glance.

Martlet frowned, but carried on after you to the Game Corner.

The game itself was simple enough. A pretty basic shoot-em-up game where you shoot enemies with either basic or charged shots and dodge bullets with a dash that made you invincible for a bit. 

The game's cutesy aesthetic wasn't really your thing, but you had fun regardless. Despite having not played this game before, the flow of dash dodging and firing precise charge shots felt familiar, and came naturally.

Eventually, after a couple attempts, you beat the final boss with a score of 1520.

“Nice! You're pretty good at this!” Martlet praised.

You preened a little at the praise, before looking at your brother at his table, still looking miserable.

“Boy, Garrett sure is grumpy, huh?”

You nodded and told her he's just like that, and not to take it personally.

“Y-yeah.” 

With the game conquered, you returned to your brother and said you were ready to go. Again.

He sighed. “Yeah, okay. I guess it's not getting any cooler.” He gave you a long suffering look, “Can we just, just move on? And not talk to anyone?”

Your expression made your feelings clear on that.

“And there’s nothing I can say to convince you?”

You shook your head no.

“And if I picked you up and carried you?”

You told him you’d make problems.

“... Alright… Well, then, can you at least try not to draw too much attention on us? We really do not need anyone looking too closely at us.” He said, practically pleading.

You smiled and said you would do just that.

Your brother didn't believe you for a second.

Chapter Text

“I got a question for ya actually; Do you develop some sorta spectrum of hot ‘round here? See, like, not just hot but blazin’ hot versus swelterin’ hot- Ya know what, you look busy. We’ll talk, later or somethin’.”

Garrett was immensely happy that the conversation ended so quickly. The last thing he wanted to hear about was how hot it- why was Clover talking to her again?

“I’d call today blisterin’ hot I think. Or is that too unoriginal, maybe something more interestin’ like… Pcklen’ hot! That makes no sense actually, so maybe not, then. I’ll have to thnk about this some more.”

“Haha, yeah, you do that. Well we’ll be heading-”

“Wait, do you know my nephew? Adorable, wears pink gloves….” She looked at Clover, “You look just like this nice little buddy boo who he talked about comin’ ‘round.”

“We don’t know any-” Clover stepped in front and nodded emphatically.

“So, tell me, how is my little wubby dubby doin’? He never writes me anymore!”

And just like that, he was trapped in conversation. He had to physically hold his mouth shut so he didn’t groan in this woman's face.

Maybe it’d be quick?

It wasn’t quick.

“See, I’m a fortune teller in training, so I’m selling tiny fortunes! Practice, you see. So, can I interest you in a bite-sized fortune?”

You agr-

“Kid, are you sure about this? I mean, first the mug and now this, can we really be spending our cash like this? And, well,” He bent down and whispered so only you could hear, “You know fortunes are a scam, right? They just say something vague and let you be amazed when something kinda like what they said happens.” 

You scowled, made direct eye contact with him, and handed over the 5G.

He sighed.

“Let us see what the world has in store for you…” The teller's eyes opened with a sound like shattering glass, “Hmmmm-Oh dear! The future seems to indicate you’re in for a tumble! Oh nonono, it looks like a big one too! It will happen very soon!”

Well that wasn't good. But at least now you knew it was coming. And more importantly, when it did happen, you'd get to rub it in Garrett's face that he was wro-

“Hang on… Oh… tumbleWEED. I guess I got a little excited and missed that second part. Sorry for the scare, looks like everything is fine after all.”

You didn't need to look at his face to know he had a massive smug grin on his face.

“Ooo! I bet I can tell your fortune, Clover!” Said Martlet, scrunching up her face in mock concentration, “Yeess… Hmm… I see you with a brand new hat… One that just SCREAMS “I’m a human.” 

Garrett snorted. “Doubt it! They've had that thing since I was a kid, and they've refused to wear anything else since they got it!.”

“I can see why, their hat’s plenty cool as is!” Martlet chimed.

In an effort to take the attention off of yourself, and to hide your blush, you volunteered your brother for a fortune telling. 

“Ummm… no?”

Yes.

You pushed him in front of the table and paid the 5G.

“Let us see what the world has in store for you…” Again, the teller's eyes opened with a shattering sound, “Hmmmm… ah yes, here we go! Oh my, this one’s a twofer! Very rare!”

“I’m sure it is.”

“Yes, I see in your future… Bars, a cell, A prison! You will be in prison!”

Martlet gasped! “What! Om my gosh!”

“That doesn’t surprise me, I always figured it’d happen eventually.” Your brother deadpanned. “And the other one?”

“Hmmm, yes… I see… you leaving a snowy place! You seem to be in quite a hurry!”

“I… already did that. Are you sure it’s the future you’re seeing?”

“Yes! Well, maybe not completely sure. That’s why I'm in training, after all! Anyway, I hope that knowledge is helpful!”

“I seriously doubt it will.”

You pointed at a monster quenching their thirst in the oasis.

“Kid, I'm not drinking from a pond.” He deadpanned.

You pointed at the high-tech filter at the bottom of the oasis.

“I don't care how fancy the filter looks, I'm not drinking pond water.”

…

You start moving your head towards the water.

“I'm not letting you drink it either!”

Apparently, it was socially acceptable in monster culture to just walk into people’s homes and start conversations with them. Because that’s exactly what Clover did, and the monster didn’t seem to mine in the slightest.

In fact, they were happy to tell them all about their hobby of growing grass. Something Garrett was trying his very best to not look bored by, but he could only care about grass so much and was struggling to not tune out the conversation.

“The Dunes didn’t used to be like this. Rivers, trees, and plenty of grass painted the area; lush and beautiful. This was years ago, of course. The memories often escape me. It’s hard to blame anyone for the loss of those things. Poor miners had no idea such a large stone could kill an ecosystem. No one did. It was a new discovery at the time.”

Well damn. It sounded like they had their own version of climate change down here.

…

That sucked.

It wasn't until he saw a painting of the giant glowing rock they saw from the ridge that he put it together that that was the ‘large stone’ that the monster was referring to.

In a dark kind of way, it was almost reassuring to know that humans weren't the only ones to screw themselves by screwing with the environment.

The cynical thought was interrupted by Clover asking Martlet a question. They didn't actually ask anything out loud, instead just poking her arm with a questioning look on their face. Whether their feathered companion knew what they were asking or was just guessing was anyone's guess.

“I apologize for not talking with the residents more. With my bird brain, who knows what might slip out!”

Now, Garrett didn't think of himself as a mean person. In fact, he had a personal policy specifically about  not being a dick if he could help it. It was just… Martlet made it hard sometimes. She just left so many openings for snide remarks and it was getting harder and harder to keep his mouth shut.

After a moment of searching the clothes line, you found some G in one of the pants’ pockets! 

“ Clover! ” Your brother whispered harshly, “ What are you doing!? ”

You put your head down in shame, and pulled your hand out the the pocket, but-

“ You didn't even check to see if anyone was watching, anyone could have seen you! Here, I'll stand in front and block the sight lines so you can do your thing. ” And just like that, he walked to the edge of the roof and looked out like he was searching for something, making you unseen to anyone walking by.

…

…

…

You got 30G!

…

Martlet's expression was somewhere between disapproval and total bafflement.

A path to the north brought you to a large, ornate gate. Unfortunately, it was locked, blocking you from exploring the equally ornate mansion it was guarding.

“Good god, look at that thing. Whoever lives there must be loaded. Like, loaded loaded.” Your brother gawked.

Martlet, however, looked… worried. “Hey… I think I know who lives here. Guess she doesn’t want visitors. Makes sense, poor thing.”

You gave her a curious look, silently asking her to elaborate.

“Oh! Don't worry about it. C’mon, there's more interesting sights to see than some dusty old mansion!”

“Pinch-Pinch~ hehe. Beware of my pincers, traveler!” Said one pyramid-hermit-crab-thing.

“I do not have any treasure hidden within my shell. Why do monsters keep asking that?” Said an other.

“We are not caged within these fences, traveler. It is a choice. It is nice to live in a familiar place with the pack. It is also nice to be fed and taken pictures of.” Said the third crab-thing.

Garrett couldn't imagine what, exactly, his sibling was hoping to accomplish here. Sure, these little crab guys were cute, but…

“Clover… You're not gonna talk to literally every single monster in this town , are you?”

They gave him a smile.

Clover talked to the cactus.

“Hey, dude. I know you’ll say no, but I’m selling free hugs. Darn it, you already read my sign, didn’t you? I hate myself.”

Clover talked to the cactus again. After that they talked to the cactus again. And after that, they talked to the cactus again. And after that?

You’re not gonna believe this.

No really, make sure you’re sitting cause you’re never gonna see this coming.

Are you sitting? Are you secure?

Alright, here we go.

They talked to the cactus, again .

Flowey, who was observing the party from a few feet beneath the ground, was using every ounce of self control he had to not just reset from how bored he was.

In a small dome like building, a pair of saplings sat within the ground, one new to life and and unsure of itself, the other tall, frail, and far too weathered for its age.

They were full of potential, but had yet to reach it. One day, if they work together, they just might.

“Kid? They're just plants, why are you looking at them like they gave an inspirational speech?”

*Knock-knock-knock*

“Sorry! I’m not home!”

You went to knock again, but your brother all but started dragging you away.

“They said they're not home, so they're not home! We're moving on!”

Garrett didn't mean to be rude, he really didn't.

He'd just… been through a lot in the last couple hours and was taking any opportunity he could to just, check out. Mentally.

Right now, Martlet was talking to someone who just now, in this very conversation, decided her name was Red. Apparently, she'd accidentally mistaken ‘Red’ for a human and arrested her. It sounded like a common occurrence.

Given how little monsters seemed to know about what humans look like, he wasn't surprised by this. Honestly, if he'd seen her walking around before he knew monsters were a thing, he'd have thought she was one of those people who dressed up as cartoon characters. Or she was just funny looking.

The unfortunate part of tuning out the conversion was being forced to focus on other things. Like the heat. And how thirsty he was. And how sweaty he was. And how dry the-

“I don't mean to alarm you, but your friend there looks like he's dying.”

“Oh right! We've got to get going, but I should be free next week!”

“S-sounds like a plan!! See you then!!”

“Mail time! Mail time!”

You received two letters! Surprising, your brother also got one.

“I truly hope you like your mail! As for me, I must set sail!”

The first was a letter from… The Shufflers, of all people. You gave it a quick skim through. Something something scruffy fella with a blue hat, something something don’t interact with him or support his endeavors, blah blah blah, guy who looked like you disrespected us we won’t stand for this. Alright, moving on.

The second letter was from the bunny monster you helped unstick his tongue from a lamp post, the one who gave you the Silver Scarf your brother had tied around his waist. Apparently he felt the need to give further thanks for helping him out, and to inform you that the meal his mother for him was ‘exquisite’. It was only when he signed the letter as ‘Slurpy’ did you realize you didn't know his name before. 

Your brother sighed. “It's only been, like, an hour, and I'm already getting spam.” He whined, holding a recruitment flier for the Royal Guard.

Chapter Text

“That's it. That's everyone. Every single person you could talk to has been talked to. Are you satisfied? ” 

You thought you'd be funny and make a so and so motion with your hand. Like you were thinking about going back to check.

Garrett decided that now was a good time to follow through on his earlier threats. He picked you up without warning and started carrying you away from town, Martlet following close behind.

He'd gotten as far as halfway through the hallway out of town before your struggling became too much to keep a grip on.

He put you down before and you looked at him with an offended expression.

He wasn't impressed. “Our deal was that I don't make us run from monsters, and you don't drag your feet. And frankly, I think I've been very lenient on your part of this deal. We've spent enough time here. We. Are. Moving. On.” He said with finality.

You had, actually forgotten about that. You, uh, did agree to that.

When you agreed to the deal, you… didn’t actually intend to follow through on it. 

Your plan at the time was to ditch your brother before it became relevant. This was before you knew how hopeless he was without you. Now you did know. Even with the improvements to his dodging, he was still absolutely going to die without you. He still relied on you for healing and making monsters Spare-able.

You couldn't leave him on his own. So you had to stick with him. So you had to keep your word.

Your shoulders dropped in defeat, much to your brother's relief.

“Look, I don't like being rough with you, but, ugh. It's hot, we don't have clean water, and everyone would try to kill us if they knew what we are. This place is not safe for us. Can you just hold off on the, uh, whatever it is you're doing? At least until we're somewhere safe, or a little less hot?”

You nodded in agreement, knowing you had no real way out of it.

“Thank you. Once we're somewhere safe and climate controlled, you can do your thing to your heart's content.”

Exiting the hallway out of town, you could see a save star next to a well up ahead, just past a giant cactus monster blocking a path.

Just this once, you stowed your adventurous curiosity and didn’t engage in conversation. For your brother’s sake.

He seemed to appreciate it.

With only one way to go, you-

Uh.

Well, the well was there, but the save star was gone. But you could have sworn it was there just a moment ago.

But you looked at the spot it was at and it definitely wasn't there.

…

Maybe it was just a weird reflection or something.

As for the well, well…

“Well well well, what do we have here?” Martlet said, wearing a big goofy grin at her own joke. She patted at her pockets, “Aw, I left all my G at home. Would you lend me one?”

Clover gave her a smile and handed her one G.

“Thank you!!” G in wing, she approached the well, “Hmmm… I wish… I wish……” She probably should have thought about this before she got here.

Her first thought was to wish for Clover and Garrett’s safe return home. But they weren't going home. 

Martlet didn’t want to undermine Garrett's authority or anything. He was Clover’s big brother, so he had the final word on how they were taken care of. So if he thought it was best that they went to the Ruins to live with some woman, then she didn't think it was her place to tell him otherwise.

But…

She thought he was being a little over pessimistic. Sure ASGORE declared war on humanity, but he had always been an overwhelmingly compassionate and understanding man. If they went to him and explained things, she knew he'd see Clover for the kind, sweet kid they were. And he'd see that Garrett, under all his negativity, just wanted what was best for Clover.

She could understand being hesitant. Big fluffy pushover or not, he was still a king, she'd be nervous about talking to him too. And getting them to the castle wouldn't be the easiest thing to do, thanks to all the Royal Guards.

And what did Clover think? They'd been happy enough with her plan to see ASGORE when they got on Ava. Would they even be happy living in the Ruins?

It just didn't feel right, to make them live in the Underground if they didn't want to. No one should have to.

Every monster has dreamt of the Surface. Every single one has wondered what the sky looked like, what it was like to have a day and night that wasn't determined by how many lights were on. What it's like to be in a place so open and so vast that you could go in any direction and go and go and go and never be faced with an impassable wall.

(When she was a child, the first time she’d learned about the surface, of the sky and sun and clouds, she'd been so excited by the idea of flying through it that she didn't sleep that night. When she realized that the Barrier might not break in her lifetime and she'd likely never see it for herself, she broke down into tears)

It wouldn't be right to keep them down here. Not right at all.

*cough* Garrett brought her out of her head.

Oh! Right! Her wish!

But what to wish for? If she was going to talk Garrett out of the Ruins, then she couldn't wish for them to get there safely, could she? But it didn't feel right, wishing for their safe return to the Ruins when herself she was so against it. But a wish for them to get home safe wasn't any good if that wasn't what they're doing. Ah!

“I wish that Clover and Garrett will safely make it to where they're going.” There! Now it could mean whatever it had to. “Now you have me, AND a wish on your side!”

Clover smiled, seeming to appreciate the gesture. Garrett maintained his usual displeased expression, unmoved.

Garrett… she wasn't sure what to do with him.

Much to some people's surprise, she could take a hint. She knew he didn't like her, and was only tolerating her presence for Clover's sake.

And she didn't know how to fix it.

She just… she already felt bad about, pretty much everything she's done. Fighting Clover, putting them on Ava, the crash. The time she spent sitting by that cactus. 

It was a horrible first impression. Her performance thus far had been disappointing, most of all to herself. She could understand why he would be mad at her. She'd be upset too, if she had to hang around someone she didn't trust because her companion pressured her into it.

She didn't blame him for being mad at her. She was mad at her too.

But that didn't make it hurt any less.

… Wait. That's it! That's what she needed to do!

All of his issues with her stemmed from her screw ups, right? So of she stopped screwing up, and proved that she could be trusted with Clover, then they'd have no issue!

Then it was settled! No more missus bird brain! No more messing up from here on out!

She'd bring her A-game, and prove that she could be trusted with Clover, both to Garrett and herself!

Resolve set, she walked with a little more pep on her step.

The rest of the was without note. Save for a wagon they walked past that she actually wanted to take a look at, too see how it was put together. She’d ask to stop for a sec, but she didn't want to get another look from Garrett. She'd just have to come back on her own time.

(She’d think back on this later and realize she completely forgot)

Eventually, the path led them to another town. And when they got close…

“Huh? Hang on, I think someone’s coming this way.” Martlet alerted her friends.

A fish monster, reminiscent of her boss, took notice of them and called back into the town. “Guys! Looky here! Someone new has stumbled into our humble town.”

A second monster walked out, looking well-dressed in a suite, scarf and top hat. “This better not be another joke…”

“For once, don’t look like it is.” Came a third, a large, red and muscular monster.

“Hiya, strangers!” Said a small squirrel like monster and oh boy there’s a lot of them now .

Normally, a couple of towns folk coming out to greet a visitor wouldn’t bother her in the slightest. Why would it? But she was traveling with two humans and if they were discovered-

She was starting to understand why Garrett was the way he was. This was stressful.

Clover gave a little wave. Garrett put a hand on their shoulder, subtly trying to make them stop.

Martlet tried her best not to look like she was hiding anything, or keeping any secrets. “Oh, hello! We’re just passing through. We mean no harm, I promise.”

“That’s what the last guy said.” The large red one started, “Let’s just say he’s one with the wind now…”

“O-oh my gosh… You…” They had to get out of here! Now! She could carry Clover and fly away, but how would Garrett-

“BWAHAHA!” He burst out. “I’m just kiddin’ around. You were shakin’ in your boots for a second!”

Oh. It was just a joke. “Heheh… heh… you sure got me!” Not a very funny one if you asked her.

Garrett leaned in and whispered, “I don’t get it.”

What? How could he not- Oh! Right! Human. So he wouldn’t be aware that, “Monsters turn to dust when we die.”

“oh… OH!” He said, finally getting it. He moved Clover behind him.

“That wasn’t very funny, Edward.” The fish monster said to the big one, whose name was probably Edward, “I can assure you we are a delight to be around. Nothing you can’t handle I’m sure. I…”

“Ugh… Why do you two insist on scaring away every monster you meet?” The one in the top hat interrupted. “At least Mooch never oversteps her bounds.”

“Never!” So the small one was Mooch then.

She sensed an opportunity to leave. “Um, well, it was a pleasure to meet you four but… We’ll be-”

“Hold it right there, missy.”

From behind all of the monsters, a fifth one approached. This one dressed like a proper cowboy, complete with a poncho, sheriff’s badge, and little jangley things on his boots. He walked with confidence and authority, the others moving aside to make way for him. 

“Are my pals given’ you trouble? Come now. That ain’t a way to treat guests, now is it?”

He came to a stop, lined up with the others.

“The name’s North Star. I run this town. Not alone, of course. These fine mo-”

“ WOAH WOAH Woah woah woah!” Garrett cut in, “ You’re North Star?!”

“Ah, so you’ve heard of me.”

“ The North Star?!”

“Yup! That’s me!”

“The only North Star?”

“I, uh, yeah? As far as I know.” He was confused now.

“So you’re the same North Star that owns the Rock Droppers ”

“Uh-”

“The Rock Droppers that are sitting directly above the Mines? That have been and are still dropping rocks on a path that miners have to take to get from place to place?!”

“Ummm. Yes?”

“WHHHHYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!”

“...”

“...”

…

…

“These fine monsters are my posse.” He continued like nothing happened. “Together, we are… THE FEISTY FIVE!” He said with a flair and finger guns.

“Do not ignore the question!”

“Our name stands for:”

“Fearlessness!”

“I need answers!”

“Excellence!”

“There has to be a reason!”

“Intuition!”

“A story, an explanation, an excuse, anything PLEASE!! ”

“Sneakiness!”

“Ohhhhh…” He groaned, finally giving up.

“Toughness!”

“Youthfulness!”

“Justice!” North Star finished.

… 

Wait that wasn’t-

Garrett coughed, “That uh…”

“The J is silent. “Anyway, now that we’re introduced… I’d be glad to give you and yer buddies a tour- Hold on… Yer buddies… Are they… HUMAN? “ Oh no.

She couldn’t say yes, so she had to say no! Oh, but, she can’t do that! She was a horrible liar! She’d be caught for sure! So, uhh-

“Um… Well… I won’t say no?”

Oh, she could feel the heat of Garrett’s glare burning a hole in the back of her head.

“I knew it! The ain’t no doubt in my mind! That these two are real, living, authentic humans! And one of em’s even dressed for the part! Sorry ‘bout this. I gotta seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Nope!” Garrett cut in, “Not human! We… just… happen to look kinda human.”

What?

“What?” Top hat echoed her thought.

“Yeah, we’ve been arrested for ‘ being human ’ so many times, the Royal Guards all know us by name!”

“But what about your friend there?” The fish monster asked, “She all but confirmed it.”

“O-oh, her? Yeah, she’s just, y’know, a… big jerk!?”

“What! No I'm not!” Martlet protested.

“Yeah! She’s been pulling the old ‘ I think they might be human ’ prank since we were kids! It’s not any funnier the hundredth time than it was the fifth! She’s half the reason the Royal Guard knows us so well!”

“That’s way too far for a prank.” Top Hat admonished.

“Not cool dude. Not cool.” Mooch chided.

They were all looking at her like she did something wrong, and even though she knew it was a lie she still felt a little ashamed.

“Well.” North Star tipped his hat, “Sounds like I owe you an apology. Tell ya what, let me give you folks a tour of-”

“Wait, Star!” Edward cut in, pointing a giant finger at Garrett, “This guy can’t be a monster! Just a minute ago he didn’t even know about monster dust!”

“... That so?” 

All eyes narrowed on Garrett.

“... Fuck.”

“Heh. You really thought you could pull a fast one on the Feisty Five, huh? Well-”

“O-oh, that?” Garrett interrupted very loudly to talk over everyone, “There’s a reason for that! The whole not knowing about monster dust thing! It's really pretty simple, actually! I.. am…” He paused, clearly desperate to buy time to think of something. But Martlet couldn't imagine there was anything he could say to-  “ Stupid .”

“...”

“...”

“You’re stupid?”

“Yep! Dumb as a rock! I mean, look at me, look at this face! Stupid, see?!”

No one said anything.

“Really, ask me anything! I won’t be able to answer you!”

This time, Mooch responded, “Uh, what’s 2 + 3?”

“I don’t know! See? Stupid!”

“...”

“...”

“Ed, capture the humans.”

“Sure thing.”

“ Fuck! ”

Edward (or was it just Ed) moved in, pushing him Martlet aside with ease, and went to grab-

“WhoaWhoaWaitWaitWait!” Garrett shouted while throwing up his hands in a stopping motion, “Okay okay, you got us, we're human. But that's exactly why you shouldn't mess with us!” He got down on one knee and put a hand on Clover's shoulder, “See, this kid has something very special about them.”

“And what would that be?” North Star drawled, unimpressed.

“Alright, listen very carefully… You see-” He suddenly reached down, grabbed a handful of sand, threw it in Ed's face, picked up Clover and took off in an instant!

“ Run! ”

It all happened so fast that by the time she realized she was supposed to be running with them he'd already put some distance between them.

Not that it mattered, as a lasso was wrapped around him and Clover and was dragging them back in seconds, courtesy of North Star. With the pair tied up like that, it was all too easy for Edward to grab the siblings and throw them over his shoulder with one hand. The other hand was trying in vain to wipe the sand out of his eyes.

Clover didn't put up much of a fight, just laying limp in the large monster's massive grasp. Garrett, on the other hand, was thrashing around wildly in all directions.

“Dammit! Fucking let us go assholes!”

“Hey now! We don't take kindly to that kinda language ‘round these parts!” 

“Oh you don't like my language do you?! Fuck! Shit! Asshole! Cunt! Crap, what else is there? Oh! Crap!”

“... Y'know, on second thought, I'll just take the kid.”

“Ah ha! Wait, what?! No! Clover, say every swear you know, now! It’s the only way!”

Clover rapidly shook their head no.

“Why not?!”

“Ah, Clover, is it? That’s a mighty fine name!” The Sheriff said while carefully removing Clover from the confines of the lasso. “Well then Clover, you and I got a town to run!”

Okay, this had gone far enough! She didn't want to do this, but… 

Martlet put as much authority in her voice as she could, “Hey, that's enough! I’m Martlet of the Royal Guard, and I can and will report you to King ASGORE for this abrasive behavior!” She absolutely could not report to ASGORE, or the Royal Guard for that matter. Not if she wanted to keep her human friends safe. But they had no way of knowing that.

“Ye’re Royal Guard?” The sheriff looked surprised, much to her satisfaction. “That’s funny, ‘cuz I don’t see anythin’ to indicate that. No armor? Weapon? Badge?”

What? But she did have those! They-

Oh no! “I… left it all at my post in Snowdin!”

“Of course you did.” Groaned Garrett, who was still tied up and been handed over to

“Please, don’t bother trying to fool us.” Top Hat droned.

“He’s right. I am truly sorry ‘bout this, I really am.”

“Ya sure don't look sorry!” Garrett shouted from his place on the ground, still tied up.

He continued, unbothered, “But business is business. Together, we’ll be the Feisty SIX!”

“The alliteration…” Edward protested, but was quickly shushed.

“I can’t go up against these guys. Don’t worry! I’ll figure this out!” Martlet tried to reassure. She couldn't see Clover's reaction, but she could see Garrett's. He wasn't moved.

The fish monster spoke up. “Star, should we be doing this? Poor Martlet is upset.” Yes! Someone was on her side! Maybe-

“Don’t be a buzzkill, Moray. When’s the last time something exciting happened around here?”

“You’ve got a point.” Apparently ‘Moray’ didn’t have a backbone.

“Ahem!” North Star drew their attention, “This town’s FULL of excitement. Especially now. Let’s go, bud!” He turned and started walking away, Edward with Clover in tow.

“Oh, and Feathers…” He turned back just enough to show off his smug grin, “Welcome to The Wild East.”

And with that, he and Clover disappeared into the town.

He always knew it would happen. He just knew he would end up in jail at some point in his life. It just seemed like the kind of thing that would happen to him.

The heat and dehydration weren't expected, though. He'd always assumed prison would be cold and damp, for some reason. But in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't all that different from what he imagined.

Except for the bird. He never imagined there being a bird. 

“Look on the bright side,” Martlet said from the other side of the cell, “At least we’re not alone! While we're waiting for Clover to break us out, we can take some time to get to know each other!”

Great. Just great.

The situation could not possibly get any worse.

“Um, is it a bad time to mention that the Royal Guard will get suspicious if I don't clock in soon?”

…

Okay. Now it couldn't possibly get worse.

*Ping!*

She felt something smack the back of her helmet.

Undyne whipped around, her good eye scanning the area for the punk who had the gall to actually throw something at her.

Only to find nothing. Nothing but cave walls, luminescent blue water and the typical flora of Waterfall.

“Alright punk, very funny. Now get out here so I can kick your ass!!” She called out into the open.

She wasn't actually gonna kick their ass. Probably. It was most likely some punk kid trying to impress their friends, or just prove themselves. She’d know, she did plenty of similarly stupid stuff at that age. She’d just give them a talking to and a warning.

Honestly, she had half a mind to praise them, whoever they were. There were very few people who could sneak up on her, especially on her usual patrol route.

Unless of course they weren't a kid, then she'd just suplex them.

…

But no one showed themselves. 

“I'll go easy on you if you come out now! You’re only making this harder on yourself!!”

Again, nothing.

She quieted down, focusing on her surroundings, until…

…

*creak*

There! 

Quietly, oh so very quietly, she crept towards the sound.

The punk had the chance to make things easy, but if it's an ass kicking they want, then that’s what they're gonna get!

She approached the foliage the noise came from silently, inching closer and closer, until she was just, close, enough, to STRIKE!

She sprung up, ready to-

Behind the leaves were some crushed plants, but no punk.

*splish*

Another noise drew her attention to some disturbed water.

And so the game began. 

They'd make a noise, she'd follow, and they'd hide again. Rinse and repeat.

They were good. Real good. But she was better. Every time they hid, she got a little closer. There was just a little less time for them to hide.

Was this a valuable use of her time? No, not really. She definitely had better things to do. Captain of the Royal Guard things. But she's come too far to admit defeat now!

Eventually, the game of chase led her to one of the rivers coming out of Snowdin. They wer running out of space.

And she was so close.

Creeping along the river back, she focused as she passed an echo flower.

“Kid, that is not your problem to deal with!”

She tried to ignore the chatter of some long since past argument. She couldn’t let it distract her.

“I- I'm not arguing with you on this!”

Dammit! She couldn’t hear anything over-

“We. Are. Humans!”

She stopped dead in her tracks.

“There's an entire fucking country’s worth of people down here that would very much like us dead. We are going back to the Ruins where it's safe, and that's final!”

Game of chase forgotten, she stood to full height, carefully, silently, walked to the flower, and tapped it. To make sure she heard that right.

“Kid, that is not your problem to deal with! I- I'm not arguing with you on this! We. Are. Humans! There's an entire fucking country’s worth of people down here that would very much like us dead. We are going back to the Ruins where it's safe, and that's final!”

Undyne tapped the echo flower one more time, to make sure that what she was hearing was absolutely, positively, and undeniably correct.

“Kid, that is not your problem to deal with! I- I'm not arguing with you on this! We. Are. Humans! There's an entire fucking country’s worth of people down here that would very much like us dead. We are going back to the Ruins where it's safe, and that's final!”

The words echoed in her head.

We. Are. Humans!

We are going back to the Ruins.

Humans. Plural. At least two of them. Loose in the Underground.

She didn’t know how long it had been since this conversation. They could be anywhere by now. 

But she knew where they were going.

Chapter Text

“So uh, nice weather we're having.”

Garrett just kept looking at the wall with a far away look in his eyes.

“Well, I don't know how the weather is usually around here, so I can't say if it's actually nice. But the weathers been good in Snowdin!”

No response.

“R-read any good books lately?”

Nothing.

“I… I… I'm… sorry. I'm so sorry. If I hadn't been so eager to send Clover home, you'd be safe in the Ruins already. This is all my fault.”

“... Yeah…”

Okay, he was talking now! A sign of progress!

…

…

Or not.

Nothing had gone right today. Her plans to help her new friend backfired, she stranded her friends in a desert by crashing Ava, and she gave up on getting help after the crash. She promised herself that she'd prove she could be reliable, and blew it the first chance she got!

All of this culminating in her and Garrett being locked in a jail cell. She couldn't even do anything to fix it! They had to wait on Clover to do something!

But that was just like her, wasn’t it? Rushing ahead without thinking and making a mess of things. You’d think she’d have learned her lesson by now but NOPE! That’s typical Martlet for you. Typical stupid Martlet always messing things up for everyone, as always. Stu-

“If you're going to feel bad for yourself, could you at least try to direct it towards something a little more useful?” Garrett droned, snapping her out of her spiral. “Like thinking up ways to escape, or figuring out what Lone Star and his gang want, for example.”

Martlet blinked, “I think his name is North Star.”

“Isn't that what I said?”

“No, you said Lone Star.”

“Whatever. It doesn't matter what his name is, what matters is what he wants. Why the hell does he want Clover to join his gang?!” He said, gesturing with his hands more and more as he got worked up.

Martlet put her head back in thought, “Well, humans are a pretty big deal down here. Being able to say he recruited a human would give him tons of notoriety.”

“But if it's notoriety he wants, why recruit them? Wouldn't it make more sense to just kill us and take our souls to the king?”

“Er, well, hmmm. Maybe… he wants power for himself? Yeah, if he took your SOULS to ASGORE, then all that power would go to the king!”

“But then why not take our souls for himself?! Like, alright, I agree with you that he could get fame or power or whatever from keeping Clover around. But it can't be as much as he'd get from just killing us. So, I guess what I'm really asking is, what does he gain from not killing us?”

That, ummm…

Yeah, that stumped her. Why would a monster choose to not take a human's soul? Other than herself, the only monsters she knew of who did that were the Royal Family, but that was- oh!

“Oh! Oh! What if they like humans?”

He blinked, “... Come again?”

“What if they like humans? It solves all the logic issues! If this town is full of humans sympathizers, then they wouldn't want to kill any humans for their souls!”

“I mean, yeah. Alright, I can't say it's not possible , but… is that a thing? Entire towns of ‘human sympathizers’?”

“Eh, maybe? I mean, you did notice how they’re dressed, right? Like cowboys?”

“Yeah… Kinda hard not to notice.”

“Well, cowboys are a human thing, aren't they? Monster certainly don't have any history of being cowboys,” He raised a hand to object, but decided against it after a moment, conceding the point, “so dressing up and acting like cowboys is really just emulating human culture.”

“And if they’re going this far to mimic humans, then it's not much of a stretch to say they’re sympathetic to us. Huh.”

She couldn't help but take some pride in convincing him, “Mmhm. And it's not like there isn't a precedent for-”

*cough*

The sound of someone clearing their throat drew both their eyes to-

“ Clover?! ” Martlet and Garrett said at the same time.

Garrett tried to check them over through the bars. “You okay?” They gave a thumbs up, “Okay, good. So, what happened? What do they want?”

Neither of them expected what they'd say.

“Roleplayers?! They're fucking roleplayers ?!”

“At least they aren't violent criminals?” Martlet tried.

“They threw us in jail and kidnapped my sibling for better roleplay !! I respected them more when I thought they were opportunistic thugs!! Ugh!” Garrett had never been a violent person, but he'd never wanted to kick someone in the stomach as much as he did North Star right now. Well, except for that one time. When he got out of this cell- “Wait a minute…”

He grabbed the cell bars and shook, and they wiggled a lot more than expected. “Of course a bunch of pretenders wouldn't have actual jail cells. Everything here is probably homemade! Martlet, can't you just use, like, magic or whatever to break down these bars something?”

“Yeah, I could. But what about after? There's too many of them to fight our way out, and last time you tried running you got lassoed.”

“And one of the Feisty Five is standing right outside.” Clover added.

“Well… what about flying? You could fly away, and… and…” And then what? “Fuck. Okay, uh. What about night time? They have to sleep eventually!”

“We can't wait that long. If I don't do my daily check in with the Guard, they're going to start asking questions.”

And if she broke out now and checked in with the Guard, then she might not be able to break them out when everyone was asleep.

“Fuck.”

“Well,” Martlet started, “North Star seems pretty enthusiastic about all of this. Maybe by playing along, Clover can gain his favor and set us free! I don’t know… just play it cool for now.” Garrett severely doubted that would do anything. But he didn't have any better ideas, so…

“Yeah, try to get on his good side. Maybe if he likes you enough, you could snag a set of keys or something. 

Clover nodded and exited the jail, leaving Garrett and Martlet alone again.

“Ugh. What a day.”

“Agreed. That ‘sheriff’ North Star? Was it? What a jerk!” Martlet grumbled, and it was kind of nice to hear her say something that wasn't over optimistic or an apology for once.

“So much for all that theorizing, huh? Wasn't worth much in the end. Never could have guessed it was damn role-players all along.”

“We might not have gotten it exactly right, but we got pretty close! Kinda. We make a pretty good team when we put our heads together!” She said with a smile.

“Eh.” He shrugged.

“Oh, don't give me that! Admit it! We made a great team!

“I admit nothing.” He was losing a battle with the smile forming on his face. He had to change the subject. “Hey, what were you gonna say before Clover showed up?”

“Hmm? Oh, it's not important anymore. Just an old story about the time the King and Queen adopted a human child.”

“Oh, okay… Wait What?”

“The story of the royal children. It's the reason ASGORE waged war on humanity in the first place.”

“... What? Okay, hold on, back up. The king of monsters, the guy currently trying to wage war on humanity, had a human kid? And that's what led him to waging his war in the first place? Now this I gotta hear.”

“Well, it's kind of a long story…”

“I mean, it's not like we don't have time.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

She took a breath and tried to remember how it went. It had been a long time since she’d heard the whole thing, and she wanted to get it right.

“A long time ago, a human fell into the RUINS…”

“The humans had once again taken everything from us.

The king decided it was time to end our suffering.

Every human who falls down here must die.

With enough souls, we can shatter the barrier forever.”

Martlet finished, proud that she’d done the story justice, and relieved that it was over.

Garrett didn't know what he was expecting, but it wasn't that .

Those poor kids.

They didn't deserve that. That… that wasn't right.

And after the first war and getting locked up in a cave? Yeah, he could see why the king declared war.

Though, there was an odd feeling of… completeness. 

Everyone had heard the stories. He'd lived near Ebott his entire life, and he'd heard just about every rumor and tall tale there was. Most of what people said about the mountain was blatantly fake, absurd tales made for attention and spooky stories to keep kids scared.

But it wasn't all fake. Kids did disappear up there. Not nearly as many as the legends would have you believe, but at least four. No, five actually. There was another one a couple years ago.

… Six if you include Clover.

…

But now he knew the other side of the story. The truth. He had the answer to the mystery. Some people would kill to be in his position.

One thing did strike him as odd, though. 

“There's just, one thing I don't understand. The prince, Asriel, he went through the Barrier with the human’s soul, right?” Martlet nodded, “But Asgore has a bunch of souls now. Why doesn't he just… go through and get the rest of the souls he needs?”

“I… can't say for sure. You'd have to ask him yourself if you want a direct answer. But personally? I think he doesn't want to leave his people. His leadership has been holding the Underground together for a long time, so he's probably worried what would happen if he left.”

He sat back, turning the facts over in his head.

Asgore needed at least one human soul to go to the surface. Absorbing a human soul would turn him into a ‘ being with incredible power’ , capable of destroying anything in his way, as if he couldn’t already. There were lots of humans on the surface. Asgore definitely had five human souls in his possession. He only needed two more.

Something wasn’t right here.

Martlet’s explanation was… weak. If he was really concerned about his people, then he wouldn’t let them stay locked up down here for god knows how many years.

…

He… wouldn’t think about it too much. He was never going to meet the guy, so it would be wasted effort. There were more important things to worry about.

Even if the oddness of it made an itch in the back of his brain.

“I've been wondering about this for a while. Like, what's the deal with encounters? Why do monsters keep coming up and shooting magic at us?”

“There's lots of reasons. One is self expression. Making custom bullet patterns that are unique to you is a lot of fun! It's kind of like having a signature outfit. For another, it's common courtesy to greet unfamiliar monsters with a bullet pattern. Not all monsters can see or hear properly, so magic attacks are a reliable way to communicate, regardless of sensory issues.”

“Huh. But, isn't it a little counterintuitive to ‘attack’ people as a greeting?”

“While they might technically be ‘attacks’, as long as we don't intend to do harm, the bullets just pass through harmlessly. Still, not everyone enjoys getting swarmed with bullets, so we're not supposed to send attacks at someone who doesn't reciprocate. Or in towns.”

“But they do harm us. And when we try to dodge out of the way, they still try to aim directly at us.”

“What! That shouldn't be happening. Why would- oh yeah, your human, so your not made of magic like us! And they probably think your soul is part of your bullet pattern, and they're trying to interact with it!”

“... Great.”

Souls.

He'd never given the notion much thought. He honestly didn't even think they were real, physical things, let alone that he had one.

He couldn't feel it, exactly. He just had a kind of had a, sense that it was there. But only if he stopped and focused on it.

It was familiar, like it had always been there, but he'd just never noticed it. It sat there, in his chest. Floating freely from the rest of his body, yet somehow connected to all of him.

He kind of hated it.

It bothered him that he'd supposedly always had it, it bothered him that he didn’t know about it till now, and it bothered him that it felt so familiar, yet so alien.

And why the hell was it yellow?! Clover's soul was yellow too, so maybe that's just the color of human souls. Or maybe it was a genetic thing.

He decided to stop thinking about this, and ask about another bizarre reoccurrence.

“Okay, but what about when the encounters end, and the monsters give us money. Why do they do that?”

“Oh, that? That's simple, you see-”

“Huh. When you lay it out like that, I guess it does make sense.”

Martlet was glad he was satisfied with her explanation. She’d be embarrassed if she couldn’t even explain that simple and obvious facet of monster society.

“Well, guess that topic has been exhausted…” Something in his eyes shifted, “... Hey, I just thought of something. If monsters turn to dust when they die, what about all the blood and stuff? Does that dustify too?”

Death… wasn’t exactly her favorite topic of conversation. But if that’s what got him talking, “Actually, monsters don't have blood. Though if we did, it probably would.”

“You… don't have blood. At all?”

“Nope! None.”

“Weird. Really weird. Okay then, what about a heart?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course we do!  Monsters have got plenty of heart, we're not heartless!”

“What? No, I meant- I mean like a literal heart. Like the organ.”

“I’m… not following.”

You entered the jail to check in on your brother and Martlet, only to find they were already in conversation. You chose not to interrupt.

You also chose to eavesdrop.

“So breathing fills the lungs with air, the lungs put that air in the blood, and the heart pumps the blood around the body so it can deliver the air so everything keeps working. Am I getting that right?”

“Yup, pretty much.”

“Weird. Really weird. Well in any case, no, we do not have hearts.”

“Huh. But wait, if you don't have blood or hearts or any of that, then what does breathing do for you?”

“Well, it lets us talk for one, and we do need to breathe to live of course.”

“Okay but why do you need to breathe? Like what is it doing for your body that's so important you'll die without it?”

“I… don't know? I just assumed… D-does… do monsters not have to breathe after all? Have I been breathing my whole life when I don't have to?!”

“Try holding your breath and see what happens!”

“Right, good idea!”

You could hear her inhaling, and then silence.

Well, seems like they're getting along just fine.

All according to plan.

(You didn't plan this)

You stepped out of the jail and into the town plaza, and spotted something you hadn't seen in a little while. Good thing too, it'd been a while since you saved.

You touched the save star under the bell.

To your pleasant surprise, Flowey was wearing a little cowboy hat when he came up.

“Howdy! Gee, seems like my greeting has found its home. It’s been ages since we got to talk, huh? I was starting to miss you!”

You said you were glad to talk to him again, before asking what he’s been up to since you last spoke. You hadn’t seen a save star since right after El Bailador, and were starting to wonder where he was.

“Oh, you noticed that, huh? Well… This area is pretty populated, so I picked up this hat as a disguise! But finding a hat that fit took longer than expected. Sorry for taking so long. It must have been worrying, not being able to save!”

You tell him he had nothing to be sorry for, everything turned out fine.

“Thanks friend. Anyway, you being separated from Martlet is pretty lucky but… your brother being captured is troublesome. I hope this Star guy doesn’t hold you here for long.”

File saved

You asked Flowey if you could ask another question.

“Of course! Your good friend Flowey is always happy to answer any questions to have!”

You asked Flowey if he had lungs.

“... What?”

You asked Flowey if he had lungs.

“Wh- of course I don't! I'm a flower! Look at me! Where would I even keep them?”

Underground, you answered.

“...”

You asked if he had roots, and if those served as his lungs.

“Clover, buddy, you're putting too much thought into it.”

No, wait! You asserted that he had to have lungs because he was talking! 

“I uhh…” Okay, now Flowey looked confused.

You said you could feel the air coming out of his mouth when he spoke, and that air had to be being pushed by something!

“... Let's just say it's magic and leave it at that, okay? Please?”

You relented. If you were going to free Martlet and your brother, you had work to do. 

After you finished talking to everyone in town, of course.

Martlet gasped for air, unable to hold her breath any longer. 

After taking a moment to catch her breath, “Well, I guess it's safe to say that monsters probably do need to breathe.”

“Doesn't solve the mystery of why, though. Man, monsters are weird.”

“Pfft. Weirder than humans? Your body's basically a giant water balloon! But with blood instead of water!!”

“Oh, you think that's weird? You ain't seen nothin’ yet! Ask me about the appendix.”

“Okay, what's the appendix?” She asked with a smile.

“It's an organ that lives somewhere in the abdomen, I think. Now ask me what it does.”

“Alright, what does it do?” He was really building this up! But what could possibly-

“It has a random chance to explode and kill us!!”

“WHAT?! That can't be true!!”

“It is!!”

“But… why?!”

“Uh… fluid buildup or something. I probably should have paid attention in biology class, huh?”

“Ugh. Me too. School starts easy, but they don't tell you that it gets super hard towards the end.”

“The end? Try halfway through! But that's how it goes, isn't it? You're really good at math in like, second grade, and everyone expects you to keep being good at math for the rest of your life. It's like, just cause I always finished my multiplication tables first doesn't mean I'm gonna be any good at long division years later!”

She nodded along, feeling the sentiment deep in her soul. “I know what you mean. I held the highest reading level for my grade for a long time. I was so proud that I could tear through books faster than my classmates. Then suddenly, all the reading material got impossible and the deadlines start coming way too fast and you just-”

“And then you feel like a moron for the rest of your life?” Garrett finished for her.

“Yeah…”

Okay, fine, he was starting to get what Clover saw in Martlet.

Her tendency to ramble was actually a great distraction from the heat and the jail and… everything. It made passing the time actually bearable. She was optimistic, too. Normally that would get on his nerves, and it still did, a little. But at least someone had faith things would turn out alright. She was easy to talk to. She wasn't judgmental either.

It was refreshing, he supposed.

The point was, she was good company. Definitely one of the better people to be jailed with. And the more time he spent with her, the more he picked up on stuff he hadn't before. One thing more than others.

Martlet wasn’t stupid. 

He'd never thought she was, honestly. Clumsy, maybe. Scatterbrained for sure. But stupid?

Garrett knew stupid. He'd known stupid his entire life. He'd borne witness to stupidity in its purest forms. The kinds of stupid that would break weaker men. He was shaped by it, molded by it.

To be truly stupid you couldn't just lack knowledge or make poor decisions, as Martlet had done. True stupidity took a level of willful ignorance and self assured certainty that was borderline malicious.

Garrett knew stupid.

And Martlet was not stupid.

She just… didn't think things through before she acted. That, and she was maybe a little over optimistic.

… And she talked a lot. 

He could see how someone not as familiar with stupid might interpret that poorly. It was an easy assumption to make. 

Again, he never thought she was stupid. He just… didn't think much of her.

She still didn't make total sense to him, her exact motive for helping them remained elusive. But he definitely had a better idea of who she was.

So yes. Fine. He could appreciate Martlet.

He could only pray that Clover's I told you so’ s would be brief.

…

There was a point to this train of thought. What was it again?

Oh. Right. 

Humble pie.

Ugh.

“Uh… hey, Martlet?”

She perked up from her side of the cell.

He took a deep breath. He didn't do this often, and was very much not used to it. 

“I uhh…I, well…” His voice got caught in his throat.

“Garrett? You okay over there?”

“Yeah I just… I'm…”

C'mon asshole, spit it out!

“I'm… sorry. For being so… prickly, with you.”

“O-oh, it's alright. I can't imagine the pressure you've been under today.”

He turned towards the wall. Looking at her and saying this at the same time was too much. “No, actually, it's not alright. I… look, I'll level with you. You've- I've been really frustrated with you. You've done nothing but try to help us out, and even if you haven't actually helped all that much, I don't- it doesn't make it okay for me to be a dick to you. I… I want you to know that, I appreciate the effort. And, I'm sorry. Really.” He really hoped it sounded as genuine as he meant it to. “A-and while we're here, this isn't ‘all your fault’. At least not this whole ‘jail’ situation. We probably would have wandered over here, with or without you, and gotten caught anyway. So uh, don't put all that blame on yourself, okay?” 

The room was quiet, and his anxiety that he'd fucked up somehow grew.

The quiet was starting to get uncomfortable.

Slowly, he looked back at Martlet.

She was looking at him with astonishment. 

“Wow… That sounded really painful for you.” And with brutal efficiency, her words killed the tension he felt in his soul.

“It was.” He said it like he was annoyed, but really, he was very, very thankful. If she’d gone straight into a heart to heart talk, he would… just not have it in him to reciprocate.

He got the sense it was intentional on her part, and he very much appreciated it.

“I just feel so useless. I really wanted to help you guys out, but all I’ve done is make things worse. Some friend I turned out to be.”

He had plenty of reasons to be frustrated or even angry with her, yes. He felt he'd be plenty justified in being just a little bit mean. But…

What would being mean to Martlet actually get him? Really? A little ego boost from making jabs at her? 

She was far more valuable as an ally. Especially if they were communicating like they'd been over the last, however long they'd been in here. Scatterbrained or not, she was willing to and able to help him and Clover out.

Besides, he had better people to be angry at. North Star, for instance.

“I wanted so badly to make it up to you.” Martlet continued, “And to prove I could be responsible enough to be trusted. 

This was… really important to her. Even after all he forgave her, she- oh wait, he never actually said that, did he? Maybe…

“Let's make a deal. From now on, I'll stop being so prickly with you, and you stop feeling bad about your mistakes. I forgive you, you forgive me, and we both forgive ourselves.” He scootched over to her side of the cell and offered a handshake, “Deal?”

She looked at his outstretched hand for a moment. Then, she smiled and took the handshake, “Deal!”

As he went back to his side, he couldn't help but think about how weird it was to hold feathers.

“Thanks Garrett. This… this means a lot to me.”

Begrudgingly, and within the privacy of his own head, he'd admit that she’d been right when she said they made a good team. She thought fast and was knowledgeable about monsters and the Underground, but she didn't always take everything into account, and got stuck when she couldn't find a solution (ie, the cactus time). Garrett had spent most of his time down here pointing out when, how and why things didn't make sense. By going back and forth, they could work through tons of stuff.

And once he'd got to (was forced to) spend some time with her, and got to know her, she wasn't so bad.

And while he might not have a full grasp of exactly why she was helping them…

“I wanted so badly to make it up to you, and to prove I could be responsible enough to be trusted.”

Guilt, desire to prove one's self…

He was starting to get an idea. And from what he'd gleaned, he didn't think she'd be betraying them any time soon.

…

He also really, really hoped he'd never have to do a heartfelt apology again.

Ugh.

Her mother always said the way to a man's heart was through his stomach. Turns out, she was wrong. 

The real way to a man's heart was through his curiosity!

Garrett was absolutely stuffed full of questions. It was just one after another after another! For all his annoyance with Clover's extremely diligent exploration, he was just as curious. It just showed in different ways.

And the more questions she answered, the more comfortable he got. And now that the ice was broken and they were on better terms, it was starting to feel like they really were friends.

Clover was right, when they said Garrett was ‘just like that’. Even when he was relaxed he was still plenty snarky and grouchy.

Though, after answering questions for a while, there was something she wanted to ask him.

If he was okay with it, of course.

“Hey, Garrett, there's something I've been wanting to ask. And you don't have to answer if you don't want to! If it's too personal you I would totally unders-” 

“Just ask the question.”

“R-right. So, um. What's up with you and Clover?”

He quirked an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“Well, it's just, you don't really… you aren't what I'd expect from siblings is all. I guess I'm just wondering if there's a story to that.”

He shrugged, “There’s not much to say. We were never close to begin with, so that’s probably why. There’s really not much of a story to us.”

She seriously doubted that, “Oh come on! Do you really expect me to believe that?”

“I don't know what to tell you. We had a normal childhood, we grew up, and now Clover lives with me. Really not much to tell.”

“Hey, there's a place to start! How long have you been taking care of Clover for? And why?”

“I think about… a year and a half now? Yeah, that sound about right.”

“Cool! But why don't they live with your parents? And- Oh gosh, your parents! They must be worried sick!! Do they know you're here? I can't imagine what it must be like to lose a child, let alone two! And poor Clover would probably mis-”

She was interrupted by the sound of Garrett bursting out laughing, like he'd just heard the funniest joke of his life. The laughter eventually turned to coughing as he ran out of air, and he had to catch his breath.

“Sorry, sorry, it's uhh… it a long story. But as for why our parents aren't parenting them. They uhh, aren't around anymore.”

“Oh, my gosh I'm so sorry.”

“Huh? Oh! No no, they aren't dead or anything! Probably.”

“P-probably?” What was that supposed to mean?

“W-well, it's kinda complicat- Y'know what? It doesn't matter. I said there’s no story and I meant it. We grew up together, didn't see each other for a while, and now I take care of them. That's all there is to it.” As he finished, his face fell as he realized his mistake. “Don't-!”

“Why didn't you see each other? And how long is a while ?”

“Just a couple years, like four. I moved out and we didn’t have a chance to talk is all.”

“F-four years! Why!? That's a really long time to not see your family! Wait a minute… How old are you?”

“Nineteen. Why?”

Something about this math wasn't adding up, “You've been taking care of them for a year and a half, you didn't see them for four years cause you moved out, and you're nineteen now, so that would have made you…” Her eyes went wide.

No. No way.

“You moved out when you were THIRTEEN!? Why would your parents let you do that!? ”

“Okay, for one I was fourteen and they didn't exactly let me -”

“ You ran away from home when you were FOURTEEN!?! ”

“No! Well, yes. But not like- The way you say it makes it sound more dramatic than it was! My life is really normal, okay!?”

Martlet was brimming with curiosity and concern, and it apparently showed on her face.

Garrett gave a long sigh. “You're not gonna stop until I tell you the whole story, are you?”

“I mean, it's not like we don't have time?” She said with a shrug.

He sighed, as she had come to understand he did often, “God, where do I even start… Alright, so, if you want the full story,” She nodded, “Then this is gonna need some context. And for that, we're gonna have to go to the beginning. The real beginning. And that's gonna mean starting back before I was even born. Are you absolutely sure you want the whole story ?” 

Martlet nodded again, and honestly, what did he expect? The more he warned against it the more mysterious it sounded!

Besides, she wanted to know more about her new friends.

“... Alright… here's uh, my entire life story, I guess.”

Chapter Text

Okay, I think the best place to start would be with my grandparents. 

See, my grandparents, on my mother's side, are rich. Like, Rich rich. No one in our family will have to work for many, many generations kind of rich.

Hell, they were rich before they even met eachother. Grandma was the daughter of a CEO of one of those obscure companies that owns everything but no one’s heard of. Grandpa made his fortune through gambling and dumb luck.

They met, got married, and grandpa got hired by his father in law and was promoted to a high position in his company, where he would be paid to do basically nothing for decades to come.

That's all to say, they have a lot of money.

Eventually, they had a kid. My mother. And they treated her like an actual, real life princess. If she wanted something, she got it in minutes. If she didn't get it in minutes, she screamed. and if that didn't get her what she wanted, she cried until someone felt bad enough to do anything to make her stop.

But hey! She’s a little girl, that's just how they are, right? She'll grow out of it.

Yeah, no. She didn't grow out of it.

Right up into high school she did the same routine anytime something so much as inconvenienced her. Scream, stomp her feet, guilt trip.

And that's when she met my father.

Now, my father was your typical tough-guy bad-boy. Big guy, big attitude, black leather jacket, rides a motorcycle, smokes, drinks, even wears shades indoors. Whatever you're imagining, that's exactly what he looks like.

So of course, when he saw the most popular, prettiest and richest girl in school, he went for her. And unfortunately for everyone, for some reason she was taken in by his bad boy charm.

Well, that's what he told me, anyway. Personally, I think she saw an opportunity to disappoint her parents and took it. 

And Boy were they Disappointed!

They were not interested in having this greasy loser in their family. And his family was broke, too. So if their daughter married him, they'd be family with a bunch of poor people, and they couldn't have that now could they?

You probably already guessed what happened when they told my parents not to see each other anymore, so I'm not gonna bury the lead. They eloped. Within a week. At the age of 16.

It went about as well as you'd expect. They had no skills, no life experience, and no interest in getting jobs. Well, okay, mom wanted to be a movie star. But other than that, they would rather sit around than actual jobs.

So they're living in a motel for like, a week, before mom goes home to scream at her parents to give them money. And cause they don't want their daughter to live in poverty, they start sending the couple checks every month.

And with their new found renewable fortune, they bought this Big Beautiful house at the edge of town, complete with an absolutely massive yard and backyard. The thing was placed relatively close to Ebott, so there wasn't much in the way of neighbors.

Mom tried her hand at getting him into film, and dad smoked and drank and watched TV.

Mom's movie career was going nowhere fast. Agents dropped her as soon as they got her, and her inability to convincingly act out anything other than crying or screaming wasn't doing her any favors. That, and no one she worked with ever wanted to see her again.

And that's how things stayed for about three years. Things deteriorated a lot in that time. It wasn't caused by anything, really. Just time making them realize how much they hated each other, I guess.

Eventually, things escalated to a breaking point, and they had two options. One, admit that mom's parents were right and get a divorce. Or two, double down and have a kid. Cause kids fix marriages.

So yeah. That's me.

I think I was about four or five when they told me it was my job to keep the family together. They made it pretty clear that was the reason for my existence. And I took that to heart! I made it my duty to keep them happy. 

Dad was simple enough. He'd yell at me to bring him something, usually the TV remote or a beer, and I'd bring it to him. He was easy to please.

Mom was more complicated. At home, I just had to let her do whatever she wanted. Mom wants to dress me in a tiny tuxedo? Let her. She wants me to do a little dance? Do it. Outside of the house was where things got messy. Anytime anything didn't go her way, she'd have a full blown meltdown. Grocery store worker won't carry her bags to her car? Meltdown. Shirt in a store is a little too small on her? Meltdown. Make-up too expensive? Wind messes up her hair? Sun too hot? Meltdown. Meltdown. Meltdown!

My solution? Anytime she was having a meltdown, I'd get her attention, hug her and tell things like ‘it’s okay’ and ‘your a good mom’ and ‘I love you’ over and over again, and eventually, shed calm down, and we would move on.

I had it down to a damn science! If my job was to keep my idiot parents happy, I was very good at my job.

At least, that's how I felt. Until they said they were having another kid.

Skipping ahead a little to when I was twelve and Clover was four, things had changed.

By this point, my position as ‘the adult’ of the family had cemented.

Mom had already gotten bored of Clover by then. And since she didn't want to take care of them anymore, and dad wasn't gonna do it, it came down to me to make sure they were fed and bathed and all that.

It was frustrating, of course. I was already the one who cooked, cause I was the only one who bothered to learn how. I was also the only one who cleaned, cause the others figured out that if they just left their messes around long enough, I'd get fed up and clean it myself. I also did the dishes, dealt with the yard, washed the cars, cleaned the toilets, vacuumed, window wiped, took out the trash-

The point is, Clover was one of the few things that wasn't my problem.

And then, they were. 

And I hated it. But I still did it. Why? Because there was something I understood very well at this point. 

If I didn't do something, it wouldn't get done.

It wasn't necessarily my job to do all this stuff, per se. Our parents didn't, like, assign these tasks to me. I wouldn't be punished for not doing them or anything. 

One of the few things that both mom and dad agreed on was a ‘hands off’ parenting strategy. Giving us the freedoms they never had when they were kids, as they'd say.

So it wasn't a rule that I ‘had’ to do these things. But I still did them. Why?

Cause they needed to get done.

And if I didn't do it, it wouldn't get done.

“That's a lotta pressure to put on yourself as a kid.”

Garrett and Martlet both jumped as a new voice piped up.

Garrett looked out through the bars. “What the-?! Is someone there?”

“Over here, in the other cell.” A green scaled hand waved from the jail cell next to theirs, “Name’s Vengeful Virgil, nice to meet ya.”

“... How long have you been here?”

“I was here when they hauled you in."

“And you didn't… say anything? Have you just been listening in this whole time? What the hell man?!”

“I didn't want to interrupt your bondin. That, and there wasn't a good place to make myself known.”

“And you chose now to jump in?!”

“Look man, I'm just say'n that this all sounds very traumatic. Put'n that much stress on a mind that young could only have left mental and emotional scars, the likes of which don't just disappear with time.”

“Fuck you dude I turned out fine!!”

“Alright, I know when Vengeful Virgil isn't wanted. I'll see myself out.”

*Snap!*

“... What the- Did he just break out?! Wait! Come back! Show me how you did that!!”

The sound of footsteps growing quieter could be heard from the window.

“... I think he's gone.” Martlet informed morosely.

Garrett slumped back against the wall, defeated.

… Martlet was looking at him with an expression that was just a little bit too close to pity.

“Will you quit looking at me like that!”

“O-oh, sorry.” She hadn't realized she was staring. “Don't worry. I'm sure Clover is doing everything in their power to get up out of here.”

“Let’s see what you got! Take this trusty six-shooter as a gift from me.”

(You got a Wild Revolver!)

This may be the greatest moment of your life.

“... I'm sure they are.”

*sigh*

Alright, where was I?

Right. So, I was in charge of Clover, and I thought it would be easy. I mean, if mom could manage it, how hard could it be?

Pretty fucking hard, it turns out.

Something I hadn't taken into account was that mom didn't do much outside of Clover. When she wasn't taking care of Clover, shopping, yelling at her newest agent over the phone, or “working” from home (which really meant trying out outfits and makeup), she was relaxing. 

I, on the other hand, already had my plate full with playing house keeper. Now, on top of all that I have to manage Clover's meals and bathing and bedtimes and homework and- Oh! And mom decided that she didn't want to drive us to school anymore, so we have to walk there ourselves. And I'll remind you, we're surrounded by forest, so we have to walk miles to even get into town.

And then, fucking, get this. She asks ME to start doing the grocery shopping from now on. And when I ask her why she can't do it anymore, you wanna know what she said? 

Fucking… you're never gonna believe this.

She tells me that she's been BANNED from EVERY GROCERY STORE!! EVERY SINGLE ONE!! 

Apparently, once she’d had enough meltdowns in any given store, she'd get banned for life! And when that happened, she'd start going to a new one. And now shed managed to get her picture and the ‘do not serve’ sign of every. Single. Grocery Store. In town. And in the city. And in the cities within driving distance.

So guess who's doing the grocery shopping now!

This guy! The thirteen year old!

Keep in mind, I was thirteen, I couldn't drive, and we lived a good few miles from town. 

This is about the point when I started to realize how much I actually hated my family. I finally, FINALLY got it through my thick skull that it didn't matter how much I did or how hard I worked, nothing I did was going to fix these people.

I needed a way out.

So, my new plan was to just stick it out until I was 18, grab Clover, and move the fuck out.

I started hoarding money. Allowance, leftovers from grocery shopping, anything I could get my hands on. I figured that by the time I was 18 I'd have enough to get an apartment or something. 

Time passed… and then…

And then shit REALLY hit the fan.

Cause grandma and grandpa stopped sending checks.

We had no income.

I-

…

I'll spare you the details, but things got bad. Really bad.

We weren't completely out of cash. Mom's acting career was even bringing in small checks from time to time, and when that wasn't enough my stockpile helped make ends meet. It was enough to survive, but not enough to actually stay afloat. 

In an effort to keep our ship from sinking, I started taking odd jobs wherever I could find them. I was still too young to get a real job with a real paycheck, so I was stuck with kid jobs like mowing old people's lawns and stuff like that. It paid like crap, and I had to compete with the kids who actually lived in those neighborhoods, but a full day's work would at least net me enough to buy the bare necessities.

I was also doing everything I could to reduce costs. Namely by reducing energy costs, keeping the heater off and stuff like that. And I always got a ton of push back for it, and that started a lot of arguments. I'd say ‘turn the heater off’, they'd say ‘no it's cold’, ‘then close the windows’, ‘no, the house will stink’, ‘well maybe if you'd put trash in the trash can instead of the fucking floor, the house wouldn't smell so bad’. And so on.

Things came to a head when summer was ending, and all the kid friendly jobs were drying up. Suddenly, our one and only source of income were mom's acting gigs, and she was sure to remind me of that fact every, single, time I asked for food money.

About a month into this, when I asked for grocery cash, she said she couldn't give me any.

I asked why not.

She said she spent all of it.

I asked what, exactly, was so important that she spent ALL of our food money.

She pulls out a dress.

And I look at this thing. And it's expensive. Really fucking expensive. Way more than she could have made from a background extra role in some c-list drama.

I asked how she paid for this.

She looked me in the eye, and with a big sweet smile like she didn't know she'd done anything wrong, told me that she took the rest of my cash stockpile from my room to pay for it. That it was only fair, given how many times I'd borrowed money from her.

And then, she looked me in the eye, and told me that if I wanted to buy something, I'd have to go and earn my own money.

I fucking lost it.

Instantly, things devolved into a screaming match. Back and forth, back and forth until our throats were raw. 

Once she started bemoaning about how I wasn't her sweet little boy anymore, and that I'd become a monster and a bully, I decided I'd had enough. I told her I was going to go upstairs, grab one of her jewelry boxes, and pawn off everything in it to buy food so we could live.

She starts crying, saying in between hacks and sobs that I'm ‘attacking her’ and being ‘so mean to her’ and that it was ‘so unfair’ and blah blah blah blah blah.

And just when I'm at my limit for how much bullshit I can handle, fucking DAD get involved. It's the first time in his life he's actually doing something and he chooses to start yelling at ME for ‘disrespecting my mother’.

And I-

I…

“I… decided I'd had enough. I told them I was leaving and I wouldn't be coming back until they were ready to act like adults, and when that happened, they could call me. After that I grabbed my stuff, and left.”

…

“And uhh. They didn't ever call me back, so I didn't go back. And… that's why Clover and I didn't see each other for a few years. So, uhh… yeah. That's the story. See? I told you it wasn’t dramatic.”

…

So uh, after that, I kinda needed a place to stay.

I struck a deal with some friends to let me crash at their places under the guise of sleepovers. In exchange, I would do their chores for them. I'd stay in one kids place for a couple days, doing dishes and taking out the trash or whatever, and then move on to another guy’s place for a few days. Word spread that I was doing this, and suddenly I was getting offers to do this from kids I didn't even know!

So no, I wasn't homeless. If you think about it, I actually had lots of homes! If anything, I was homeMORE!

…

*cough* Anyway.

So I was getting food and shelter, but it couldn't last forever. Some of the parents were starting to catch on to my little sleepover scheme, and I had to find some more permanent housing.

The first place I tried was my grandparents place. Went to the front gate of their mansion and happened to catch them as they were going in. They uhh, made pretty clear I wasn’t welcome. Even said they’d call the cops if I stuck around. But hey, at least I found out why they stopped sending cash. Turns out they’d been trying for another kid for years, and once the kid was born they didn't have to rely on mom to keep the family going, they didn't want anything to do with her or anyone connected to her.

So I wasn’t gonna be living with them, and I was running out of places to couch surf.

But I got lucky. Real lucky. One of my temporary roommates got me in touch with his college dropout cousin, who was looking for a roommate to either split rent with, or keep the place clean. One of these I was very good at doing.

The neighborhood was bad, the building was run down, the apartment itself was a mess and my new roommate did nothing but get high all day.

And you know what? I was perfectly happy with that.

I was basically a master of cleaning by that point, so the place was spotless by the end of the first day. I hate cleaning, truly. But there’s one thing I hate more than cleaning, and that's a dirty living space. I had my own room, my own space, my roommate was rarely there and when he was he just got high and watched TV, so I had the run of the place most of the time. Hell, I was even closer to school! Travel time was a fraction of what it was before!

It wasn't easy, I still had to do everything myself. But all things considered, I had it pretty good.

Food was still a problem though.

I figured it out though. Got a job at a fast food place, and- well okay, it wasn't actually a job exactly. It was really more of an unofficial ‘arrangement that legally speaking no one can know about’ kind of deal (Long story, don't want to get into it). Point is, I was getting paid, and I was being fed (stealing scraps of food no one wanted).

Life wasn't easy by any means, but hey! I survived! I was living! 

Over the next four years, I built a life for myself. I worked hard, saved up, and when I turned eighteen I bought and moved into my own apartment. Yes, bought! No more paying rent for me! 

And my family was nothing more than a bad memory.

So imagine my surprise when, just a few days later, my mother showed up at my front door, with Clover, saying that they had to live with me cause her new boyfriend didn't want kids. She throws a bag of stuff in my arms and runs off before I could get a word out.

I still don't know how she tracked me down.

So. That's why Clover lives with me.

Found out around this time that dad was gone. Supposedly, after I left he started going into town to go to a bar. One night, he drove out to go drinking, as usual, and when got in his old motorcycle to ride back home he just… didn't show up. He just disappeared, and was never seen again.

We don't know he's dead, but uh, yeah, he's probably dead. My bet is he got lost, drove into the wilderness and drove off a cliff and into a lake or something.

Now, in the bag mom gave me was a lot of stuff, mostly Clover's belongings, but there was also some crumpled up paperwork. Papers for taking custody of Clover, and papers for taking ownership of the old house.

And since mom was living with her new boyfriend, no one was living at the old house. We could have lived there, of course. But… I didn't want anything to do with that godforsaken place. I emptied it out, sold everything I could and sold the place, which was a whole ordeal that I don't want to get into.

And.. Uh.

Yeah. That’s just about it.

“That's the story behind me and Clover.” Garrett finished.

Martlet sat slack jawed, staring at him from across the room.

She didn't know how to respond. Didn't even know where to start. 

There was… a lot to unpack.

Angel… no wonder he was so stressed out all the time.

“Your mother just… left them there? With you? Just like that?”

“Yup. Just like that. That was, uh… that was something, even by her standards. “

“That's…” There were a lot of things Martlet could say about that, none of them kind.

Whatever she was going to say was cut off as someone entered the jail.

“Heyy~” The fish monster Moray appeared around the corner, holding a wrapped burger. “I brought you guys some- Oh. Were you in the middle of something?”

Yes, they very much were in the middle of something! Martlet had about a million questions and-

“Nah, we're pretty much done anyway. Please tell me you're here to let us out.” Garrett answered for them.

“No, but I did bring you some food! Here.” They offered Martlet the burger they were holding. 

She gave them a glare. She had a lot to talk about with Garrett and she didn't think he'd be very open with Moray listening in.

“M-my treat, honest.” They said nervously.

Well, she was hungry. She took the burger and took a bite, but she wouldn't be happy about it!

…

Dang it! It was fantastic!

“Hey, you got any water or something?”

“No, just food. And I only brought enough for Martlet. Sorry.”

“Cool. Guess I'll go fuck myself.” He said, crossing his arms and slumping against the wall.

Martlet took pity on him and offered the half eaten burger.

“Nah, it’s fine. I ate enough today anyway.”

Alrighty then.

Well, if they couldn’t talk openly then all that could do was wait, she supposed.

Garrett sighed from across the cell.

Yeah. She felt that.

The sight of a full inventory of healing items filled you with a sense of security you hadn't had in a while.

After selling a Necklace and a bunch of other stuff, namely old armors and unused ammo types, you were absolutely flush with cash! And unlike the last place, Dina was happy to sell you plenty of high quality foods! You even had enough to buy some spares for your brother.

Speaking of…

You asked for two additional Ice Waters, for Martlet and your brother.

Dina blinked, “Your… brother? You mean, another human?”

You nodded, and explained that he was locked up and hadn’t had any water in a while.

Ceroba, who was listening in with North Star, turned to the sheriff, “Star… Why didn’t you mention a second human?”

“It didn’t come up.”

“Okay… why is he locked up?”

“Well, I had to lock him up! He’s dangerous!”

“Dangerous? What’d he do?”

“Well… he threw sand in Ed’s face, for one!”

“And what was Ed doing when he threw the sand?”

“... Grabbing Clover…” He wilted like a flower, like he’d already lost an argument that hadn’t started yet.

“A huh.”

“B-but that's not the only reason! He’s a no good dirty liar! He lied straight to our faces that he ‘n Clover wern’t human!”

“Was this before or after the sand?”

“... Before.”

“A huh…”

“A-and, and! He had some of the foulest language you ever heard! He was constantly spewin vile words the whole time we were with ‘im!”

“... So let me get this straight. First, you identified them as human, and he lied to convince you he wasn’t. Then, when you discovered his lie, you tried to kidnap his sibling, who is a child, and he threw sand at Ed. And then, when you successfully kidnapped his sibling, and captured him, he swore at you. Am I getting that right?”

“You’re uhh… missing a few steps.”

“Star… I’m sure you could imagine what I’d do if I were in that position, with my child.”

“Y-yeah… I could.” He seemed to be shrinking into himself.

“So you can imagine why I might feel strongly about this.”

…

…

“… I’ll go let em out…”

“You do that.”

Huh. Guess freeing your brother was easier than expected.

You slammed the door behind you and started sprinting, the cold evening air harsh against your flush face.

Down the path, through the gate, up the road to town. You've walked this path a thousand times before. You knew every step, bend and turn by heart.

One foot in front of the other, you carried yourself away from your home.

Your-

Your home.

You-

You couldn't go back.

If you had to spend one more fucking day in that fucking house with those goddamn people, you would burn it to the ground.

You couldn't go back.

You kept running.

You couldn't go back.

You kept running.

You kept running.

You kept running.

You-

You-

You couldn't breathe.

You kept running.

Your legs felt like they were on fire and you couldn't breathe.

You kept running.

Your vision was blurring and you couldn't breathe.

You kept running.

Your head was pounding and your heart was beating out of your chest and you-

You-

Something gave. You had to stop.

You found something solid and leaned against it.

A sob tore through you.

And another. And another after that.

You couldn't stop, you couldn't do anything. You were helpless to do anything to stop your breakdown.

It went on, and on, and on, and-

You came back to your senses with a gasp.

You were sitting against a rock you'd sat on many times before. It was halfway to town, so it was a good place to rest.

It was miles from home.

You took a deep breath.

In. 

It hurt.

Then out.

That hurt more.

Your stomach grumbled.

It was getting dark.

How long had you been here? Just… sitting here, against the rock.

You weren't sleeping, you’d been awake the whole time. Just not… present.

You… you didn't know what that was. It had never happened to you before. It was like you just, shut off for a while.

You shivered as a cold breeze passed by, sending a chill through your whole body.

You hadn't noticed your body was numb until you started to feel sensations again. 

You were cold.

You were really cold.

Your hands were shaking.

No wait, your everything was shaking. Shivering.

Another breeze passed, and you really wished you were wearing more than just a t-shirt and jeans.

You wish you'd grabbed anything before you left.

It was getting late, and dark, and cold, and you couldn't stay out here.  

But you couldn't go home.

You couldn't.

You couldn't keep up.

You couldn't keep spending Every. Single. Day. Constantly cleaning up after helpless idiots. Managing mom's mood and dad's beer supplies and Clover's everything cause they can't do anything for themself and keeping everyone fed and doing the laundry and dishes and every night going to bed absolutely exhausted and waking up sore every morning and dragging yourself out of bed just to do it all again Every. Single. Day.

If you had to go back and live in that house, with those people, you would die.

You would rather die.

Just the thought of going back made your stomach twist and squeeze.

Hands shaking, you pulled your phone out of your pocket. The time read two hours till midnight.

You looked up from your phone. Where could you go? Where do kids go when they can’t go anywhere?

You looked back in the direction of your home. You couldn’t see it anymore. All you could see were the trees and Mt. Ebott peeking over them.

You-

The-

…

The mountain.

You looked at the mountain.

It… wasn’t that far. Not close either, but you could probably before midnight.

It-

Kids disappeared up there. They went up and never came back down.

You didn't have anything to come back to. And, well, you always wondered what was up there.

You looked at your phone.

And you looked back to the mountain.

You opened you phone, went to your contacts and started scrolling. If you couldn’t think of anything better-

There. A friend from school who didn't mind hanging out with the ‘crying lady's’ kid. He lived closer than any of your other friends.

Before you could think about what you were doing, you pressed the call button.

It only rang once before he picked up.

“Hello?”

You only got halfway through your greeting before you broke down into hacks and coughs. Your throat was still sore.

“Woah dude. You okay?”

You reassured him you were fine.

“Alright. So why the call?”

You… hadn't thought that far ahead.

There was a lot you could say.

‘I don't think I can live at my place anymore’

‘I need a place to stay for a while’

‘I don't know what to do’

“Hello? You still there?”

‘I'm scared’

‘I'm freezing to death and I need help’

‘I need help’

‘I need help’

‘Help me’

‘Please help me’

You asked if he was up for a surprise sleepover.

“Uh, what?”

You repeated yourself, a surprise sleepover, cause it had been a while since you two hung out.

“Uhh, I don't know dude. It's already pretty late. I don’t think my parents would be too happy about it.”

Another breeze-

You- You couldn't- You had to- You needed-

Desperately, you offered a deal. You’d do the dishes or rake the leaves or whatever his chores were if he could make this happen.

“Oh shit, really? Damn, alright. I'll take a little heat if it means I don't gotta clean the cat box. Get over here! Oh and uh, hope you don't mind leftovers.”

You were used to scavenging for food. If you could already stomach garbage burgers, you would happily take leftovers.

You said you'd be there soon, and hung up.

You forced yourself to stand up on wobbling legs that felt like jelly. Your head went fuzzy and your vision blurred for a moment.

When it passed, you looked to the road.

You put one foot forward. It hurt.

You put the other foot ahead of it. That one hurt too.

The pain was drowned out by the feeling of sheer relief. It was over, you weren't going back. It wasn't ever going to be that bad again.

One foot in front of the other. Just a little more distance between you and that house. Those people.

For the first time in your life, you weren't responsible for anyone or anything but yourself. 

One foot in front of the other. It hurt just a little less with each step.

No more working yourself to exhaustion for people who couldn't even be bothered to even say thanks. From now on, you wouldn’t work for anything but actual, tangible rewards for your effort.

One foot in front of the other. You almost couldn't believe it. You were going to be okay.

You were going to be okay.

You. 

Were going to be. 

Okay.

It had been a week since the argument happened, and your brother left.

Wrappers and cans and bottles and boxes had started to fill every corner of every floor.

Everyone was running out of clean clothes to wear.

Your brother showed you how to make some basic meals, boiled eggs and noodles and grilled cheese, so you'd been feeding yourself for a while. But you ran out of ingredients for stuff you knew how to make, and you ran out of clean dishes that morning.

It was awful, and it was only going to get worse and everyone knew it. You and mommy and daddy all knew that your brother was the only one who would make it better. He always did.

But you weren't sure things would go back to normal, even if he came back. They were all really, REALLY mad this time.

You'd been in the other room when your brother and mommy were yelling, as you'd been told to do, so you didn't see what happened, when the fight ended.

One second they were all yelling at each other, your parents teaming up on your brother, and then suddenly everyone went quiet. Next thing you knew, your brother was running out the door and mommy ran upstairs crying and covering her face and daddy was yelling and saying he couldn't ever come back and -

Mommy had mostly stayed in her room since it happened, so you were surprised to see her in the living room as she left for another acting audition. She was wearing more makeup than usual, but it wasn't enough to hide the big purple bruise under her eye.

Daddy was drinking a lot more adult sodas and smoking more cigs then he usually did. You were running out of those, and he always got really mad when your brother didn't bring him more fast enough. 

You were scared. Really scared. But you didn't cry. If there was one thing your brother made absolutely clear that you could not do in this house, it was cry. Because crying upset mommy and an upset mommy was everyone's problem, and whatever you wanted to get from crying she'd get it first. So you didn't cry.

You knew what your brother would do. He would be doing something. Cleaning or cooking or… something. He never stood still, always working on something.

You eyed the pile of dirty dishes. It seemed simple enough.

You got a stool to stand on, and grabbed a sponge, and started washing as best you could.

It was like your brother always said.

Someone had to do it. And if you didn't do it, it wouldn't get done.

So you'd do your best to fill his shoes. To keep the house from falling apart while he was gone. At least until he came back.

And he would come back. No matter how angry he was, he wouldn't leave you behind.

He wouldn't.

He wouldn't do that to you.

Chapter Text

‘Dear Garet,

Being a mother has been the most wonderful experience in my life. But it’s time for me to move on. To go out and experience more of what the world has to offer.

You were always trying to argue with me, telling me what to do and how to do it. No matter what I did it wasn’t good enough for you. My love was never enough for you. I’ve given you so much over the years, and now I’m giving you what you always wanted. The chance to do things your way.

This bag has everything you need to take ownership of the family homestead and your brother, along with a some spare sets of clothes. You can grab the rest of his stuff from the house, there's a key somewhere in the bag. 

BTW, he’s still doing his “I’m not a boy” routine. If he gets upset at you over it just leave him alone for a while and he’ll get over it.

If you really think you can do better than I me, here’s your chance to prove it.’

No matter how many times he read it, and reread it, and reread it again, it never failed to make his blood boil. He still couldn’t decide which part made him the angriest. The fact it was so short, the fact it was the first thing she'd said to him in years, the self aggrandizing, the blaming. She even spelled his name wrong!! Come on!!

God, he’d forgotten how fucking gross she is. Every single sentence made him want to scream. Or break something.

He wouldn't, of course. Not with Clover sleeping on his couch in the other room, sleeping like the dead.

If it weren't for the worn old cowboy hat they’d been wearing since forever, he might not have even recognized them. They’d grown so much from when he’d last seen them, they even finally grew into the hat. Hell, it was like looking into a mirror of the past, the way they looked like him.

They also looked like shit. Thinner and paler than he remembered, and beyond that they just looked worn out.

God, if that didn’t bring back memories.

Rather than focus on that, he set them up with the TV remote and set his sights on sorting through the paperwork their mother had so kindly left with him. They weren’t happy about being ignored, but after they found some old westerns to watch they were happy to leave him to his busy work.

He’d sorted the documents into four piles. Useless (there was a lot that wasn’t relevant to him at all), useful but not important (banking information and the like), important (not having his birth certificate had caused a lot of grief), and garbage (so. many. receipts). That last one had grown so much it was taking over the table, and he to drag a trashcan over for easier disposal.

He was almost done when Clover stopped their western marathon to ask if he had anything to eat. The way they tore into the leftovers he gave them reminded him far too much of himself, when he first left. After the meal, they went back to the couch and were out like a light.

He didn't know what happened since he last saw them, and he didn't want to know. He had enough horror stories from that house and those people and he didn't need or want to hear more about it. He'd had enough of those people and their problems, and he'd definitely had enough of cleaning up their masses.

It was just so fitting that the first time he saw his mother in years she just dumps a mess in his lap, leaves, and expects him to clean it up. As usual.

Now there were only two documents left to sort. One was for ownership of the house, and it would either end up going in the ‘useful but not important’ or ‘important’, depending on if he thought it was worth the effort of being sold.

He’d shrugged and dropped it in between the two piles. He’d deal with it later. As for the other one…

With his mother’s signature in all the appropriate places, a stack of stapled together papers sat in front of him. He’d been staring at it for nearly an hour, stuck trying to decide what to do about it.

Just put his name and information on a few dotted lines and turn it in, and he’d have full guardianship and partial custody of Clover.

Or, he calls child services and gives them over to the system. Let them go wherever unwanted children get sent to.

…

God fucking dammit!!

He just got his own place! He just finished figuring out how to take care of himself! He’d achieved independent financial stability! The last thing he needed was someone else to take care of, let alone a kid. Especially a kid! He couldn't take care of a kid!! What the hell was she thinking bringing them here?! Did she think he’d just, what, take them in no questions asked? He didn’t even have a place for them to sleep!

Sure, he did have an extra room he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with. But he didn’t have a bed frame to put in there. Or even a mattress, so until he got those sorted out the kid would have to camp out on the couch. It couldn’t be too hard to get them, right? There was a furniture place a half hour away, and it couldn’t cost too much to-

No. Nope! No way! Stop it!

He'd already sacrificed far too much of his life for other people. He couldn't do this to himself. Not again.

He picked up the paper stack and threw it in the trash with the receipts and food grime. Tomorrow, he'd make the call for whatever authorities to come pick them up.

He didn't want a kid, he didn't need a kid, and the kid didn't need him. They needed someone who could properly take care of them. Someone they could rely on.

Someone else.

This was best for everyone.

He sighed, turned off the kitchen light, and went to his room. He smoked his nightly cigarette and went to bed.  Hell, after the day he'd had, he felt no guilt in smoking three more after that. The kid complained about a headache when he started one earlier, so he hadn't had any all day.

Blowing smoke out of his window and throwing the cigarette bud away, he went to bed.

Tomorrow, he'd send them on their way and get back to living his life.

…

…

…

He'd lay in bed for a few sleepless hours before clambering out to fish the paper out of the garbage. He'd wipe the grime off it, bring it back to his room, and put it in a drawer by his bed.

Tomorrow. 

He’d figure it out tomorrow.

There was a reason Garrett made an effort to not think about his childhood home or the people who lived there. Once he started he couldn't stop himself from thinking about it more. And more. And more after that. Slowly pissing himself off. And sitting in a swelteringly hot jail cell with nothing to distract himself from Martlet’s concerned staring wasn’t helping, either. 

He was starting to worry that he might have said too much and freaked her out. He really hoped he didn't make things weird, it’d actually been having an alright time.

He was almost thankful when North Star walked in. 

Almost.

Seeing Clover walk in behind him gave him hope, though. They were smiling, so that was probably a good sign.

“Alright, time's up. Yer free to go.” The pretend sheriff huffed while sorting through a bunch of keys.

“Wait-” “Really?!” Garrett and Martlet said at the same time.

“Star, and you sure about this?” Moray asked, troubled.

“To be truthful, no. But it's out of my hands.”

“... Ceroba?”