Bury the Hatchet

All of the monsters have moved to the Surface now, and now the Underground really looks like an underground.

When the monsters were all living down here, it didn’t look like a bunch of caves and tunnels and stuff. At least, not to me. When I fell down there, I thought there would be a bunch of things with creepy arms and a million teeth. But I found friendly goats and skeletons and bunnies instead; the whole place felt like home – like the Surface, but smaller.

Mom’s place was the best out of the whole Underground. There were so many friendly things in the Ruins; Froggit, Loox, Moldsmal, and so many other monsters! And it was so clean too – all the puzzles were really clean, even though she said she hadn’t cleaned in a while. Her house was so cozy; she kept a room ready for anyone that fell down like me, she had water sausages, she made pies! She still won’t tell me where she got all the things to make it, but I guess it doesn’t really matter. Magic food always tastes great. I miss it down there sometimes; it’s nice to live in a small place with people you love, even if it is…small.

And the Underground just got friendlier. Snowdin is such a cool place (literally), and so much like the Surface it was hard to tell the difference. It had Christmas (er, Gyftrot), politics, a store, a restaurant, a hotel, the best newspaper ever. They had the eeeevil Snowball Tax, the monsters were worried about people moving in, Grillby’s had regulars, and everyone knew everyone. Like the Surface, but with a lot more wacky skeletons. 

Waterfall was the prettiest place; the place was always glowing and it had so many shiny rocks! Even the garbage dump was prettier than some places on the Surface. And even though I never won a game of Thundersnail, it was still fun trying. Lying on the ground feeling like garbage was a lot more fun than I thought it would be! Temmie Village was...something, I guess. The CORE’s science was really freaking cool, and all of Hotland’s puzzles were so fun! Alphys’ amalgamates were a little scary, but they’re all super friendly when you get to know them.

The name “underground,” is just sounds like it would be the name of a secret gang, or something really dangerous, when it wasn’t. The whole entire Underground just felt like a really tiny Surface, but with more monsters.

But now that I’m down here when there’s nobody…yeesh, this place really does look like an “underground.” It’s so empty and quiet, like the inside of a house at nighttime. It’s quiet, but it really shouldn’t be. It’s like the first time I fell down, and I didn’t have any idea what would happen.

I have to go through Asgore’s old castle first. All I have with me is a flower pot and a trowel, and I hug it tightly when I get to the throne room. It’s just a flower garden now; both thrones are up against the wall, covered by white sheets. I remember Asgore being so surprised to find me in the throne room. He told me it was because he didn’t think I would get there so fast. A lot of the other humans took a bit longer to reach him, he said. I’ve always wondered why.

The pretty golden hallway is exactly the same. There isn’t much to change about it.  Well, maybe it’s missing a skeleton. I have a lot of memories from this hallway.

I walk as fast as I can to the exit.

There’s a lot of hallways in New Home, especially on the way to the castle. My legs hurt when I get to Asgore’s house, and I have to take a rest in his big, poofy armchair, the pot and trowel sitting in my lap. I always thought it was funny that a king has a castle and a house. I always thought they lived in their castles. Maybe that’s only humans?

I sit in Asgore’s chair for a little while, but then I decide it’s time to get moving again. I have a long way to go. I pick up my tools again, and hop off the chair, ready to continue my adventure.

When I get to the CORE, everything is still quiet. I mean, after the pose-battle with Mettaton, everything was sort of quiet, but that quiet was like…quiet with noise. I used to be able to hear the CORE working and doing whatever science it did, but now, it doesn’t sound like it’s doing anything. Which was weird, because it’s supposed to be powering the Underground. But I guess it didn’t need to power anything anymore. And Jimmy Hotpants wasn’t around to float ice blocks down to cool it off, so maybe it’s better that the CORE isn’t working. Alphys told me that machines that got too hot would break or explode.

Yeah, I think, I’m really glad the CORE isn’t working.

The elevators don’t work because there’s no power, so I have to walk through the entire CORE to get back to MTT Resort. I’m really glad the science monsters turned off the puzzle floors when everyone was leaving and it stayed the same as when I had my adventure, or I probably would never find my way out! And I’m also really glad they turned off all the lasers.

I finally make it down to the apartment-building-turned-hotel, and I don’t really know why I thought everyone would still be waiting at the elevator. I thought the dragon would still be on the phone with their family, the slime would still be overjoyed, the dog with the awesome shoes would still be standing there. I thought the poor goopy janitor would still be trying to do their job, I thought Burgerpants would still be there to give me advice, I thought that Bratty and Catty would be up the creepy alley. I thought everyone would still be here, even though I know they’re all on the Surface now. I don’t know why. And now I’m just standing in an empty lobby. Well, not all empty, I guess. The fountain with Mettaton’s box body is still there. It isn’t spraying water anymore, but I think that carpet is going to be wet forever.

I step over the wet patch as I walk to the exit. The folded, papery monster isn’t standing by the door to tell me that “MTT Resort prides itself on being passed through.” They have a good job at another hotel on the Surface, and I know that, but I still think that they’re supposed to be here. That someone is supposed to be here. I don’t like it. It reminds me too much of another time when no one was here.

A voice in my head giggles and whispers, * But nobody came.

I ignore them.

The River Person isn’t here to give me a ride, so I have to walk all the way through the rest of the Underground by myself to get to where I need to be. I don’t mind, though. It won’t be that hard – I’ve made it by myself through the Underground before! And that was when there were other monsters to encounter! I’m glad they’re all on the Surface now.

Well, almost all of them.

The elevators in Hotland still work for some reason and that’s why I can get back to Alphys’ lab and to Waterfall. Maybe the elevators run on their own magic? Maybe it’s leftover magic from the CORE? But the Underground has been empty for months. Can magic power last that long?

I’ll ask Alphys when I get back up to the Surface, I decide.

Waterfall is really quiet too. When I walk out from underneath the giant rock that Undyne battled me on, there isn’t even any wind howling. The Elder Puzzler isn’t there either – it took a lot of talking to get them to leave the Underground, but once they were promised they’d get to keep their box puzzle, they went along with everyone else (they complained the whole way about how the monsters pushing their boxes were doing it wrong). And my SAVE point is gone, too. I keep walking.

That isn’t a big surprise to me. My SAVE points had been missing through New Home, Hotland, and now I guess Waterfall. I hadn’t been able to SAVE since everyone had moved to the Surface, either. SAVE points don’t appear anymore, I can’t RESET or RELOAD. All of the time powers I got from Determination are just gone.

Guess who’s going to be happy to hear that? I think, smiling a little.

I get to the bridge where I helped Monster Kid up from falling. I shiver. Sometimes I didn’t catch them. Sometimes they never fell. Sometimes I didn’t fight Undyne at the big rock. I walk faster. I don’t like this bridge.

The Echo Flowers at the end of the bridge and down the hallway are still talking to each other, repeating what the monsters were saying when everyone was leaving the Underground:

“I can’t believe it!”

“We’re gonna be free!”

“Ouch! You stepped on my tail!”

“C’mon, hurry up! I want to see a human for real!”

I love remembering the day that the monsters were allowed to come up to the Surface. After me and Mom and Asgore and all of my other friends went into the city and told everyone that the monsters were free again, not everyone was very excited about it. A lot of the people in charge were angry about it. They were complaining about where the monsters would live, how many there were, if we all expected this to be easy and everyone would understand.

Since I’m the ambassador, I had to go to all of the meetings and listen to the arguments, but Mom and Asgore talked a lot more than I did, probably because they didn’t have anyone to tell them what my signing meant, and they wouldn’t let Mom do it. I asked her about it later and she said it was because people wouldn’t trust her to tell the truth. I still don’t understand why no one would trust someone as nice as Mom. But they did get someone to tell everyone else what I was saying, and I got to do a lot more speaking.

During a very important meeting about where to put the monsters, I got to have the first speech. I told everyone that monsters were good, kind, and hardworking people that could even help decide where they should live, because they all want to live on the Surface with humans again after living under a mountain for so many years. I said that if we all work together, it’ll be easy! At the end of that meeting, everyone decided to build an extra section onto the city for the monsters to live in. And that monsters could help build it, too.

It took a long time, but with monsters using their magic and the humans giving directions, there was a whole new part of the city, just for monsters. Once it was all finished, all of the monsters who worked on the build went down to tell everyone left in the Underground that there was a place on the Surface for them to live now. Everyone was so excited! I got to help people choose their houses, and show them around. Not very many other humans came to help, though.

I make it through the dark lantern cave and through the mushroom paths (I don’t even have to turn on the lights anymore!), but I don’t bother visiting Temmie Village. I know what that place looks like empty. The Temmies got upset when they got to the Surface and found out there was still a Tem underground – the Temmie stuck in the wall. Me and Asgore went down to get her, but...well...she was really, really stuck. We went back up to the Surface that day and went back down again with an extra four monsters – Papyrus, Bird Monster, Gerson, and Aaron. The Tem almost wouldn’t come out when she saw Aaron, but I told her that Aaron was only here to get her unstuck and then he’d leave, which she was fine with. It took four hours to finally get her out of the wall, but she did come unstuck. We took her back up to the Surface and brought her back to all of the other Tems. All of the Temmies were happy to see her, and they thanked everyone except Aaron.

The Echo Flowers down the hallway still whisper things echoed back from each other from years of listening, and it’s all still gibberish to me. It isn’t that creepy, but that might be because I’ve been through here so many times.

I pass where Gerson’s shop used to be and the path that lead down to one of the places that the River Person used to sit in their boat. Gerson’s on the Surface now with a little “antique shop.” Mom tells me it’s a store that sells old things or collector’s items. I don’t get why anyone would want to buy old things, but if it makes people happy, then it can’t be that weird. And I picked up a lot of old things during my trip in the Underground. Maybe people buy them to feel safe, like I did. The River Person runs a very successful taxi service now, because they always seem to be exactly where people need them. It’s really cool how they just know everything! I wish I knew their name. Every time I ask, they tell me it’s not important.

I get to the Waterfall neighborhood and then I start to get a little weirded out by how quiet everything is. Waterfall’s emptiness doesn’t feel very empty because of the Echo Flowers talking all the time and the sound of the water but in a place with quiet water and no Echo Flowers it feels very empty.

Naptsablook’s house is empty too, and so is the red house. The doors are locked, but I can see through the windows that everything has been taken out. Napstablook travels with Mettaton and Shyren when they all go on tour – they’re the sound mixer, I think – and when they’re not doing concerts or being beautiful and famous, Napstablook and Mettaton are recording songs in the robot’s studio. They say they’re having a great time with their corporeal cousin, and I believe them. But sometimes they can get a little overwhelmed by all the fame and has to miss a concert or two. I always go over to comfort them when that happens – I don’t want them to feel lonely when their cousin is off performing. But now their house feels lonely. It’s not right, it doesn’t feel right.

The snail farm is empty (Napstablook insisted on taking them all up to the Surface), and the Thundersnail track is gone, too, up on the Surface where monsters race the snails for festivals and holidays. Or will, one day. Maybe humans will join in, too.

I go and visit Undyne’s house, which isn’t on fire anymore (we put the fire out after the Barrier was broken so Undyne could get her stuff), but it feels so wrong. It wasn’t very safe when it was on fire, but it was a fire full of memories. Memories of the time Undyne and I became best friends and we set fire to the house making spaghetti. Good times. But now there’s no evidence that ever happened.

Mad Dummy isn’t in the front yard anymore, either. They sometimes go on tour with Napstablook, Shyren, and Mettaton, but usually they’re taking anger management classes. Mettaton signed them up. They’re working at it, but it’s going to take a little while for them to stop throwing a knife at things that irritate them.

I head away from Undyne’s house and go down to the Garbage Dump, where the endless cycle of worthless garbage continues. Alphys made sure to collect everything she needed before moving up to the Surface and Bratty and Catty came to search with her for things to sell. They all worked together to find what they wanted, and Alphys apologized for not speaking to them for so long. All three of them get along great now! It’s really awesome to see the three of them friends again, even if I never got to see them as friends when they were younger.

I walk about four trash piles down before I remember that there’s no way for me to get back up. When Undyne chased me to a dead end, she cut the bridge so I would fall, and that’s how I landed in the Garbage Dump. The River Person is on the Surface and so is the Bird Monster that carried me across to the other side of the gap. There’s no way I can get back up, and there’s no way for me to get to the rest of the Underground.

Dang it! I think, stomping my way back up through the garbage, hugging the flower pot and trowel close to me.

I slump down next to the water and pout. I’ve come so far already, I don’t want to go back to the Surface! Not without doing what I came here to do. There has to be another way, there’s got to be some other way.

I stare at the gap and think. I could try jumping over it? No, I can’t swim. If I miss, I’ll be washed away. Or worse. Nope. What if I tried climbing up to the bridge? But I don’t know how long I fell, or how high up I’d have to climb. What if I fell and got hurt? No, that’s no good either. I could go back up to the Surface and ask someone to help me. Maybe Sans could teleport me? No, no way he’d do it, especially not for what I want to do. Mom didn’t even like it, so why would he?

But there has to be another way!

“Tra la la,” sings a familiar voice.

I stand up very, very slowly. No way.

I run all the way down to the river again, and there they are: the River Person sitting in their old boat.

“Care to ride in my boat?” they ask, turning their hood to me.

‘What are you doing here?’ I sign. ‘I thought you had a job on the Surface!’

“Tra la la,” they answer. “If it’s hot or cold, you can count on me.”

I smile really big and jump into the boat. It rocks back and forth but the River Person doesn’t mind.

“Where shall we go today?” the River Person asks me, facing forward again.

‘Snowdin, please!’ I sign. They can’t see me, but, no matter what, they seem to know where I want to go. They always do.

The boat rockets off down the river, making waves in the water behind us. I love magic!

While we’re sailing, I think about all the places I didn’t get to visit. Like the piano room or where Shyren used to live or Onionsan’s hallway. I think I hear music in the distance, but it’s gone too quickly for me to be sure.

In almost no time at all, the drop me off in the snowy town. They tell me to come again some time, and I promise I will. Just like I used to. They wait in their boat as I walk away.

One day, I’ll find out what their name is.

The Underground has been creepily quiet this whole time, but for some reason, I feel like Snowdin shouldn’t be quiet at all.

All the lights in the houses are off, and everything it’s like everything’s frozen in time. The ice machine isn’t working anymore, and the slime family that played Monsters and Humans is gone. I go up to the house that liked my knock and hit the door a few times. Nothing.

I look to my left to see the Librarby with all of the books cleared out of the shelves. There’s a new Library on the Surface (the sign is spelled right this time) for the monster part of the city, but humans are allowed inside, too, for everyone to learn about monsters. I love that! I want humans to not be afraid of monsters anymore. But Snowdin looks so dark and sad.

I don’t want to walk to the skeleton brothers’ house. I was there to help them carry up their stuff to the Surface and I’ve already seen the house empty. It looks like no one’s ever lived in it. The walls and floors are cleaner than they’ve ever been, and even Sans cleared out his room. He didn’t have much in it, but Papyrus wouldn’t let him leave without bringing all his stuff. I’m not sure what he did with the secret room, but it’s probably empty too.

Everything in the kitchen was on the Surface too – even the really large sink. I’m still not sure how either Sans or Papyrus use it. But Papyrus insisted on taking everything out of the kitchen. He said he couldn’t cook his famous spaghetti in an unfamiliar kitchen, but later he said he’d just miss it too much to leave it behind. I could tell he was going to miss the Underground, even as excited as he was to get to the Surface. I understand why. He’s leaving his home, and even if the monsters were trapped there for hundreds of years, it was still his home.

After we brought everything outside, the house didn’t really look all that friendly anymore. The colored lights were gone and all the light inside were off. It was like the house stopped smiling. It was like a completely different place. I don’t like thinking about it very much.

I started walking out of Snowdin, passing Grillby’s and the Snowed Inn and the Shop. All of the lights turned off. The Gyftrot Tree is gone, and there’s no more presents either. Everything looks so sad, like the whole town is upset about being empty. Everything is still here, every single house and shop and restaurant, but it’s so different without the monsters.

There’s no one to talk to, there’s no one making Snowdin smile. The town doesn’t feel alive anymore, it just feels...empty. Dead.

The voice giggles again. * But nobody came.  

I politely tell them to shut the heck up, and march my way through the rest of the Underground.

The closer I get to the Ruins, the closer I get to wanting to turn around and go home.

This is a horrible idea, I keep telling myself. He isn’t going to want to come with me. He’s going to shoot me with friendliness pellets and then what? I can’t RESET anymore, and I haven’t been able to SAVE for months. I should go home, this isn’t going to turn out well.

But even though I keep saying all those things, I know I have to stay determined. I have to stay determined for myself and for all the monsters I set free. It’s what my SOUL is made of – I know I’ll always have my determination.

I clutch the flower pot tighter when I see the doors of the Ruins. I stare up at them and it feels like they’re staring back at me. I take a deep breath and push them open.

I’ve had worse ideas than this.

I walk down the long purple hallway and up the stairs to Mom’s old house. I smile when I get to the top and see that almost nothing has changed.

Mom didn’t really want to take much up to the Surface, mostly just stuff from her room, like her journal and clothes, and the things she used for baking. She took all the plants, too. She didn’t want them all to die underground, so she took them with her. She donated most of her books to the new library, but she kept all the ones about snails.

I look inside my old room just because. Everything in there is the same. Mom couldn’t bring herself to take anything out, and I couldn’t either. The toys aren’t that cool, anyway. I think the bed got even smaller since I came down here.

I come out of my room and stand at the front door for a bit. I chew on my lip as I open the door. I’m nervous, but I know I have to do this.

* You’re filled with determination.

I know they’re being sarcastic, but they’re not wrong at all.

I still remember how Flowey looked after I beat him in his weird machine form. After all of the attacks and threats and death he just looked really sad and broken. Maybe even a little guilty. He didn’t understand why I spared him at all. And he even cried...I didn’t think I could ever see him look worse.

Until now.

He’s rooted in place I fell. Me and all of the other humans. He’s just sitting there, probably right where Asriel turned back into him. He doesn’t look good at all.

His petals were supposed to be golden and bright, at least, that’s how I expected them to look. Now, they’re a gross yellow-brown color and they almost look like they’re going to fall off, like leaves in the fall. His stem is slouched weirdly, dusty and white-ish instead of green. I can’t see his face because he’s staring at the ground. He looks like a wilted flower. Maybe he is. I didn’t know that could happen to Flowey. He has determination, right? He’s alive. So how is he wilted?

I’m not sure if he heard me come in, so I take slow, careful steps toward him. He still doesn’t move. Maybe he can’t hear me?

I keep walking, and he keeps not moving. I walk until I’m right next to him, and he still doesn’t move. I sit down next to him and put down the pot and trowel behind me. He can hear me now for sure! Right? My throat gets tight.

Oh no. He’s not dead, right? Is that even possible?

I wave my hand in front of his face. I clear my throat. I clear my throat again. I tap the back of his stem. I snap my fingers. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

I start chewing on my lip again, just sitting there. What do I do? I can’t go home now – he’s right here! But he’s not moving, he’s not attacking, and he’s not talking to me. But I can’t leave now, not yet. I don’t want to leave without knowing he’s completely dead. I’m not even sure if he can die. At least not without...help.

But I have no idea how to get his attention. I already tried tapping him and making noise and he won’t be able to see my signs unless I sign right under his face. I look at him. He hasn’t moved.

I could try...talking?

I hate talking. I really don’t like talking. It’s scary and people make fun of me. Signing is so much easier, even if I have to have someone tell other people what I’m saying. I don’t mind writing things down if they don’t understand signing, but I won’t talk, especially around strangers. I don’t even talk to Mom. I don’t like talking unless I have to. But this is an emergency. I need to get his attention somehow, and I’m not leaving without talking to him. Unless he’s dead.

So I open my mouth. And close it again. I take a deep breath and squeeze my hands into fists. My stomach feels like it’s being tied into a knot.

It’s okay, I tell myself. There’s no one else here except me and Flowey. He’s not going to care, he’s not going to make fun. It’s going to be fine.

It’s not very reassuring, but it’s all I can do. I squeeze my hands again and let out my breath. I have to stay determined. I’m doing this for Flowey. So I open my mouth and shut my eyes.

“Hey, Flowey,” I say, but it sounds like a whisper. My voice sounds like I have a cold, raspy and gross. I hate my voice.

I don’t hear anything, nobody making fun of me, nothing. I open my eyes slowly. Flowey hasn’t moved.

I guess that’s it then, I think. There’s nothing else I can do if he’s...gone.

I start to stand up, but –

“Wow, Frisk,” says the flower. His voice sounds like mine. “I didn’t even know you had a voice.”

He would have hurt my feelings more if he didn’t raise his head to look at me. His petals shake as he turns, like they’re going to fall off. I try not to stare at his face. His smile is trying to look mean, but it looks more like he’s in pain. I remember center used to be cream colored, but now it’s light brown and dried out. Flowey’s entire...everything looks like paper in water – like if I touch him, he’ll fall apart. I’m not sure what I thought he’d look like after all this time, but I never thought he’d look like this.

“Well?” he says, frowning. “What are you doing here? I told you to forget about me.”

‘I came to bring you to the Surface,’ I answer, reaching behind me and lifting up the flower pot to show him. I smile a little, but he doesn’t smile back.

He tries to laugh, but it sounds like a cough. “Why even bother?” He gives me an angry look. “You feel bad for the poor flower, down here all alone? Please. I don’t need your MERCY, or your pity.” He looks away from me again, and I can see him shaking. “Just leave me alone if that’s why you came back,” he mumbles.

I frown at him. Now I know I have to do this.

I scoot around so that he has to read my signs. I’m not talking to him again.

‘I didn’t come here because I pity you, Flowey,’ I tell him, because it’s the truth. ‘I came back because I know you don’t deserve to be down here by yourself, and I know you deserve a second chance.’ When he sees that, he looks surprised and confused, but I keep signing before he can say anything. ‘I know you’re going to say something about all the bad things you did or can still do to me and my friends, but you deserve to be on the Surface, too.’ I shift where I’m sitting before signing again. ‘The power to RESET is...’ I can’t think of the right word and let my hands fall.

“Tempting,” Flowey finishes.

‘Yeah,’ I agree.

“But what does that have to do with –.”

‘You’re not the only one who did...bad things...with RESETS.’ If he had eyebrows, he looks like he would have raised them both. I really hope he doesn’t ask me about it, not yet. ‘I understand why you did what you did.’ Flowey looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn’t. So I keep signing. ‘Anyway, doing bad things sometimes doesn’t mean you don’t deserve good things. I’ve done bad things, too. Should I not be allowed on the Surface?’

“You can’t change me, Frisk,” he says, ignoring my question. “I still don’t have a SOUL and I can still kill you, or anyone else, without regret. I’m not Asriel anymore.”

‘I don’t want to change you,’ I tell him. ‘I want to bring you home.’

“Home,” Flowey rolls his eyes. It makes his whole body shudder. “Yeah, right, whatever you say, Frisk. I’m not going anywhere the Smiley Trash Bag can see me.”

I smile and shake my head. ‘I don’t live with Sans. I live with Mom.’

“’Mom?’” Flowey asks, squinting. “Who the heck is –?” He stops and makes a face, his eyes getting big again. I can’t tell what he’s feeling – sad? Angry? Jealous?

“I don’t care about her,” he mumbles.

‘Okay,’ I say.

“I don’t care about anyone.”

‘That’s alright.’

“You’re going to regret this.”

I shrug. ‘Then I guess I’ll regret it.’

“I’ll kill everyone!”

‘No you won’t.’

“Why do you trust me so much?” He sounds frustrated, like I’m not doing something he wants.

‘You’re not evil, Flowey. You were just bored and lost and alone. I forgive you.’

He glares at me. “How many times have you had this conversation, Frisk?”

‘What?’

“How many times have you RESET this?”

‘Never.’

“What?”

I take a breath. Time to tell him and hope he doesn’t do what he always does. ‘I can’t RESET anymore, Flowey. Not since we moved up to the Surface.’

“Why not?” He looks like he’s putting a puzzle together.

I shrug and shift where I sit. ‘Not sure.’

He doesn’t say anything for a minute. I let him think it over, and try not to look afraid. I really hope it doesn’t come down to what I hope it won’t.

“So if I kill you now,” Flowey says slowly, “you die for good?”

Dang it, I think. I probably look pretty afraid. ‘As far as I know, yeah,’ I answer. But I’m not that excited to find out!

Flowey sits up on his stem a little straighter. He looks like he might fall apart, but I’m still afraid when he says, “Interesting.”

Just like old times.

‘I’m not going to fight back if you attack,’ I sign slowly. ‘I’m done with FIGHTing.’

For a half-wilted flower, the fact that he can conjure up a slowly spinning pellet is pretty cool.

“You never learn, do you, Frisk?” His smile does not look friendly.

‘It’s sort of my thing,’ I agree.

I tense up, close my eyes, and wait for pain. I wait for the pellet, for vines, something. But...

“Oh, come on, Frisk,” Flowey groans. “Open your eyes already. If I wanted to kill you, I could have done it when you walked in the room.”

I open one of my eyes slowly. The pellet is gone and Flowey is slouched over on his crusty stem again. He doesn’t look at me when he mumbles, “You’re not worth it, anyway.”

I open both eyes and grin. I wave my hand at his face to get his attention. When he looks back at me, I sign, ‘This is exactly what I’m talking about!’

He groans, “What now?”

‘You didn’t kill me!’

“Yeah? So?”

‘You didn’t kill me even though you had every chance to do it. You didn’t kill me when I got here, when I was talking, and you didn’t do it right now, even though you know I can’t RESET. You could have done it at any time. You could have attacked me without warning. You could have attacked me so I wouldn’t bring you up to the Surface. But you didn’t.’

“And?” He looked embarrassed.

‘You’re not bad, Flowey,’ I explain. ‘You just made a few bad choices. Just like me, just like everyone else.’

Flowey stares at me for a while. Then: “You’re really not going to give up on this, are you?”

‘Nope!’ I smile at him.

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes and looks at the ground. “Take me to the Surface, already.”

I smile so big Undyne would be proud. I stand up and rush over to where I left the pot and trowel. I dig at the ground and fill half the pot with dirt, then I carry it somewhere it won’t be in my way, and I take the trowel in my hand as I start to clear away the space around Flowey. I pick the weeds and other golden flowers and lay them off to the side.  The whole time, Flowey doesn’t look at me. Even when I have to shift places around him, he turns so he doesn’t have to see me. He still isn’t looking at me when I’m finished.

When the space is cleared away, I have to wave at him again. He picks up his head slowly to stare at my hands.

‘Tell me if anything hurts, okay?’ I tell him, holding up the trowel. He nods and looks at the ground again. I bit my lip; I wonder why he’s so upset.

I grab the trowel and dig it into the dirt, making sure it’s about one hand away from Flowey. I asked Asgore how to put a flower in a pot before I came down here, even though I wasn’t sure if Flowey would want to come – I was just hoping. He was so excited to show me, I felt bad telling him it was because I wanted to start a garden, and not for Flowey.

I’m not sure if Flowey works like normal flowers, but Asgore told me to dig around the flower a bit so I don’t cut off the roots when I dig. If that happens, the plant “goes into shock,” and it can die. But I’m not sure if that can happen to Flowey. During my adventure, he would travel through the ground to get places. Did he need roots? Did he have roots? I have a feeling he won’t answer me if I ask him. Just to be safe, I dig around him.

It takes a minute, but eventually, I’ve dug a circle around Flowey. Great! Now the hard part.

I go around the circle again with my trowel to deepen the circle a little more, and then I stand up. Flowey isn’t looking at me still, so...should I just go for it? I put my hands on the sides of the circle, and almost pull on it, but it feels weird without letting him know first. I almost let go, then –

“Just put me in the freaking pot already,” Flowey grumbles.

I roll my eyes, but I’m smiling.

I grab the dirt circle again and pull! with all the determination I have. It takes a few tries, but soon, I’m holding a very annoyed flower and a pile of dirt. He does have roots, and I see them as I carry them over to the pot. They’re as long as my arm and glow with magic. I wonder if they’re how he used to go places.

I put Flowey in the pot, making a hole in the dirt that’s already there. I dig up some more to pack him in really tight – Asgore taught me that, too. Flowey turns all around in the pot, frowning and stretching his stem over the edges.

“That is all?” he asks. I pat the last of the dirt around him to make sure it’s full and shrug.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘Mom would only let you stay with us if you couldn’t move by yourself.’

He makes a sound that sounds like “whatever.”

We both stay quiet for a bit. I go and get my trowel from the hole that Flowey used to be in.

It’s a lot bigger than I thought it’d be. Right where I fell, right in the middle of the patch of golden flowers, there’s a big hole in the ground. It looks like the big hole at the top of the mountain, or like a big mouth, waiting to swallow something up and keep it in the Underground forever.

I look over at Flowey. He used to be my worst enemy. I used to hate him. Now we’re going to live together. Like siblings, or something. He’s going to be my brother.

I think of all the bad stuff he did. He stole the SOULs, he hurt me, he hurt my friends, over and over and over. But...I can’t be angry at him. It wouldn’t be fair.

What’s that thing adults say when they aren’t going to fight anymore? I wonder, picking up my trowel.

I drop it in the hole. I sweep some extra dirt over it, until it’s mostly covered. I smile at it, and then I walk back to my new brother.

‘Ready?’ I ask him.

“What’d you do that for?” Flowey asked, looking back at the hole.

I smile big. ‘Think of it like burying the hatchet!’ I scoop up the Flowey-pot in my arms and start walking back through the Underground.

“What?” Flowey say as we leave. “What does that even mean? What’s a hatchet? Frisk?”

I just laugh.

This time, the voice doesn’t say anything when we leave.

The River Person is nice enough to take us all the way back to the Surface, but when I turn around to thank them, they’re already gone.

I asked them about their name again. They said it didn’t matter.

Now, I’m holding Flowey at the place the Barrier used to be. He tried to hide it, but I can see him sit up on his stem when he sees the sunset. He looks a little less dried up already, but that’s probably because I made a stop for him in Waterfall. He needs the water, and Waterfall’s water isn’t as cold as Snowdin’s, and in Hotland, everything is on fire (I didn’t see the water cooler. It evaporated, I guess).

I walk to the edge of the cliff I’ve stood on for so many RESETS. Somehow, I’m pretty sure this is the last time. I’m not too sad about it.

I’ve got one journey done, I think, sitting on the ledge and setting Flowey next to me. Now onto the next one.

We sit there for a while, watching the sun go down. There’s a whole rainbow of colors – pink, orange, yellow, purple, blue, even a little green. It’s a perfect first sunset, just for Flowey.

“Do you really think they’re all going to like having me around?” He isn’t being mean this time. He almost sounds scared.

I pick him up again and put him in my lap, picking my signs carefully. ‘Maybe not at first –,’ he snorts, but I ignore it, ‘– but they’ll get used to you. You’ll be a part of the family in no time!’

He doesn’t look like he believes me. I’m not sure I believe me either, but I have to try. And I have enough determination left for both of us.

“Are we going now, or are we just going to sit here all night?” Flowey mumbles.

‘Yeah,’ I agree. ‘Let’s go home!’

I pick up his pot and wrap my arms around it – like a hug. I carry him like that all the way home.