Protoanemonin

‘Welcome to Snowdin!’

Flowey swore that the sign used to read that. Some of the LED lights that powered the sign’s letters had blown out. Now the sign read, ‘ e c  e t  S  w in!’. Someone had also written all over the sign with red spray paint. The inscription read, ‘Jerry was here! Try to ditch this, smartass!’

“Goddamn it, Jerry,” Flowey sighed as his head slumped. “Whatever, let’s keep going.”

The snow was trampled on by several different sized feet. Some trails weren’t even left by feet. You decided that it might be best to proceed with your eyes up. Your mouth dropped open a fraction when you saw the state that Snowdin was in. Windows were boarded up, bundles of glass were hidden in the snow piles underneath them, monsters stood outside in tattered jackets huddled around burn barrels that blazed brightly in the dark, lights were flickering from inside buildings, and children were throwing bricks at each other in the middle of the town square.

“There’s an abandoned house further in the town,” Flowey said, ducking down as if to avoid the flying bricks. “Those little urchins must have gotten those bricks from there.”

“Where are their parents?” You asked as he huffed a laugh.

“They don’t care.”

“Let them knock each other unconscious then! As long as we don’t get hit, it doesn’t affect me.”

Flowey made a sound of acknowledgement but still remained hunched in his boot. You stared at two buildings that were bridged together. “That’s the Inn and the Shop. They’re both owned by the Rabbit sisters. They don’t sell their services to humans though.”

You felt your spirits drop slightly but you wouldn’t let it get to you. You stood in front of both buildings and winked at Flowey. “Is there some way I can sneak in?”

“Sneak in? Are you crazy?” Flowey rushed, his eyes wide.

“We need to find a place to stay and we need to be well-stocked to continue our journey. Resetting can only work so much, Flowey.” Plus, our impromptu meetings were getting on your nerves.

Flowey inhaled deeply. “I know.”

Suddenly, a brick was chucked. It whizzed by your face. You stepped backwards with a startled sound as Flowey hissed at the children.

“Hey! Stop that, you little idiots!”

The children laughed menacingly. One, a little yellow creature with horns and a tail, lifted his chin high in the air as he spoke. “Humans aren’t allowed in these parts. Don’t you know that Papyrus will get you?”

Flowey snickered, “The oh-so-great Captain of the Royal Guard? I’m shaking in my boot!”

Flowey had been shaking in his boot when Papyrus attacked at random noises earlier in the forest so you wondered how he would take actually being shot at. The flower was all talk and no bite. You smacked one of his leaves and he yelped before quieting down.

“You better watch what you say!” The kid bellowed as the other monsters, a Chilldrake, a Snowdrake, and an Ice Cap, tutted. “We should teach these smartasses a lesson!”

They knelt down and picked up some of the other bricks at their disposal. Flowey saw this as a sign of a threat and became hostile. His roots emerged from where they were hidden in his boot and he pointed them like daggers at the children. The children laughed at this reaction and whipped their bricks towards you. You flinched and stepped to the side, preparing to make the effort to dodge, but were pleasantly surprised when the bricks were sent back in the opposite direction. The children shrieked and ducked down as the bricks were chucked into the inn’s window.

“What the—! Hooligans! I’ll teach you better than to toss bricks into other people’s windows!” A woman’s voice yelled as a young female rabbit bounded out with a kit attached to her hip. She cocked her shotgun and fired off a few warning rounds, causing the kids to run off. She swore angrily and stalked back inside.

“Smiley Trashbag!” Flowey groaned, looking over your shoulder. “We had it handled!”

“you have no defensive power.”

“What do you mean? The kid is pretty well rounded!” Flowey clucked sounding like an offended rooster.

“aren’t being a little ranunculus? the kid is impaired since they have to carry you around. having only one hand to block or attack isn’t the easiest thing to overcome when under serious threat. you’re probably heavy enough to lower their speed and evasiveness.”

Flowey sputtered out a few incoherent responses as you snorted at the pure ridiculousness of the pun. He had a point though and Flowey seemed to realize that as he slumped further into the boot.

“That wasn’t your best pun, Sans.” You replied, a lazy smile taking place as you turned around. “Now, we have no choice but to find somewhere else to stay tonight. I’m pretty sure that lady won’t want us hanging around here much longer.”

Sans averted your eyes, finding the top of your head much more interesting. “hey, i can always get ‘er to come around. plus, if she lets you sleep in the inn, her sister will let you use the shop.”

Intrigued, you cocked your head, “Really?”

He chuckled, “yeah, really. the innkeeper is the easier one to manipulate. she has kids. being a mother makes you sensitive to children, monster or otherwise. i could probably get a good word in with the shopkeep too, but i doubt she’ll let you in with just that. i’m not the highest person on her list right now.”

“Let me guess,” you teased. “Did you have sex with her and drop her? That’s not very nice at all, Sans. You should have called her at least!”

Flowey squawked and Sans flushed in embarrassment and grumbled, “geez kid, what makes you think i’m such a heartbreaker?”

You smirked and turned back towards the inn. “Can you get me in there or not?”

Sans clicked his tongue against his teeth. His one gold tooth stood out like a sore thumb. You wondered if he had gotten it to remember something significant. He shuffled over to the front door to the inn and pulled on his collar as he did so. “don’t get on my bad side, kid. else, i might just find myself having a very good time.”

You fastened your scarf further around your neck and followed after him. Flowey, on the other hand, remained perfectly still as he whispered, “I still don’t see why you’re allowing this clown to help us. He could easily kill you like last time.”

“Humans have many sayings. One of my favorite ones is to keep your friends close and your enemies closer.”

“Why would you want to do that?” Said the flower dryly.

“You learn about them. Isn’t that why you keep me around?” You responded coldly.

The door chimed as the three of you entered. Sans held the door open for you as you passed. The innkeeper paused as you entered and scowled once she saw Sans.

“Sans, you’d better not be coming by to sleep with my sister and dump her ass again! I got dragged into a lot of emotional shit I didn’t need to deal with!”

“eh, it’s in the past, lady. i don’t even remember your sister’s name.” The skeleton growled. “i just need a room for my buddy over there.”

“A human, Sans?” The woman sneered. “Really?”

“boss wants the human to remain comfortable during their last days. you aren’t going to go against the word of the esteemed captain of the royal guard, are ya?”

The woman ran her tongue against her front teeth but opened her log books all the same. She licked her finger and thumbed through the pages almost absentmindedly. “How long are they staying?”

“indefinitely if i have anything to say about it.”

The woman gritted her teeth and wrote an entry under Sans’ name. You appreciated the help that the skeleton’s name will generate. She handed you a coupon. You looked up at her with a quirked eyebrow.

“That’s a coupon for my sister’s shop.” She clarified. “Buy one Cinnamon Bunny get the second one free?”

“pretty sweet deal.”

The rabbit woman handed you a key with a piece of paper taped onto it. Marked on the paper was the number three. “That’s your room number. Don’t lose the key.”

You nodded and proceeded to leave the inn. You made your way to the shop only to notice Sans lagging behind. “Not coming?”

“like i said, i ain’t on her good list. go ahead, dollface. i need to get rid of a couple of things anyhow.” He walked over to you and placed a leather pouch in your hands. The pouch was filled with something heavy and when you shook it, it jingled. “it’s gold, sweetheart.”

“I hope you know that I won’t be paying you back,” you began to say but Sans was already on his way. He was headed further into town. Flowey stared at the bag incredulously.

“He wants something,” the flower gaped. “He fucking wants something! You can’t use that gold!”

“Why not? I’ll use a bit and give it back.”

“I can’t help but think that this is a bad idea.” Flowey murmured as you opened the door to the shop. “But you’re gonna do it anyway.”

While walking into the shop, you noticed that the shopkeeper wasn’t present and that the shop smelled of pastry filling and cigarette smoke. You assumed that the second Rabbit Sister was upstairs judging by the staircase half hidden by a curtain. You looked over the products on the shelves. There were some bottles filled with mysterious glowing liquids, pieces of armor, snack foods, weapons, and souvenir knickknacks and snow globes.

In the weapons section, you found a spray bottle. You snatched it from the shelf and went to the snack foods. You easily located the Cinnamon Bunnies and plucked two of them as well. Then, you went to up to the cash register and placed your items on the countertop. You tapped the tips of your fingers on the glass and sighed. You lifted Flowey up onto the counter.

“Don’t forget me in this putrid place,” he remarked and you rolled your eyes.

There was a little bell located close to the register so you rung it and waited again. You saw the woman coming down the stairs not a moment later.

“You got everything you need? I don’t feel like staying down here too long.” You flashed her a thumbs up and she froze. “You’re a human.”

“We have cash so it shouldn’t be too much of a bother!” Flowey answered instead, taking the attention away from you.

“That doesn’t matter. We don’t serve humans here!” She hissed. You held up the coupon and she appeared surprised for a second. “My sister must have given you that. You’re staying at the inn?”

“That’s right. We’re staying there indefinitely. So we will be buying these items if you don’t mind!” Flowey exclaimed, a giant smile on his smug little face. You thought his head was getting bigger by the second.

The woman scowled but looked over your items and snatched the coupon away from you. “That’ll be 50 gold.”

You counted out fifty of Sans’ coins and gave them to the woman who recounted them— for safe measure of course! It wasn’t because she didn’t trust you or anything. Afterwards, she placed your items into a plastic bag and watched you put both the plastic bag and Sans’ pouch of money into your knapsack. You quickly grabbed Flowey and hightailed it out of there.

“Let’s go back to the inn. We can unload some of our stuff there and you’re smelling a little ripe.”

You lifted your brow at the daring flower before blowing a steady stream of air into his face. Flowey grimaced. You walked into the inn and past the innkeeper. You headed up the stairs and proceeded down the hall to room number three. Once there, you inserted the key into the door and wrenched the thing open. It was a little harder than expected.

The room was mediocre at best but the bed was large and there was a window that had enough room for Flowey to soak up the natural light. However, there was not much sunlight in the Underground so you wondered how the flower could photosynthesize regularly. You voiced this concern to the three-foot-tall flower as he rested on the desk near the window.

“It’s…a difficult process,” he coughed and refused to talk about it in any more detail.

 There was a bathroom with a small shower as well. You eagerly found yourself in there since Flowey decided to take the first look-out shift. You saw his body rotating every so often from the window to the room’s entrance. Both the front door and the window were locked tightly as well. The door to the bathroom was left slightly ajar so that Flowey could yell if any intruders were spotted without seeing your nether regions.

You stripped down and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed as you did so. Once you were in and covered, you turned the dial for the hot water. It came out cold and you yelped, stepping out of the spray for a few seconds before returning as it warmed. Once it was scalding hot, you turned the dial for the cold water until it was at a manageable heat. You admired the fair assortment of hotel shampoos and shower gels and chose some that smelt nice.

“Hey, kid, Smiley Trashbag is outside.”

“How did he earn your distrust?” You yelled as you washed yourself. Over the spray, you could hear the flower scoff.

“He attacked Chara,” he replied simply.

“Is that it?” You were mildly surprised but you understood long before that the flower easily held a grudge.

He didn’t answer you though. Not that you expected him to. Once you finished, you turned the water off and reached for a towel on the towel rack. You dried yourself off thoroughly. You had brought your bag in. Inside was your blue sweater with purple stripes as well as your jean shorts. Once you were dressed, you towel dried your hair and brushed it out.

“Are you decent?” The flower called out uncertainly. “I think Smiley Trashbag is awaiting your presence.”

“Do you want to come down with me?”

“Hell no. I’ll stay up here, thank you very much. If you get killed, it was nice knowing you see you after the next Reset!”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

You unloaded your pack and were completely surprised at how much it carried. Seriously, it was basically a black hole. You left the horrible drawings in the drawer of the bedside table, the pie on the same table (after telling Flowey not to eat it, of course), the spray bottle on the desk beside the flower, and the map was left for Flowey to examine because he doubted the legitimacy of the document. He took the wax crayons himself so that he could plot the ideal route through the Underground. The crossbow and arrows were left in the confines of the bag for safekeeping. You wrapped the gray scarf around your neck before pondering if you should take one or both Cinnamon Bunnies with you. You decided to take one and put it in the left pocket of your shorts so you didn’t waste them too quickly. You also hid Sans’ money in the right pocket.

The flower looked up from the map. “Keep yourself busy for half an hour. I should be done by then.”

You nodded and snatched the key. You unlocked the door and left the room. You locked it behind you and noticed one of the innkeeper’s children playing in the halls. You avoided the child since your last confrontation with other children went badly. You stopped by the counter when you noticed that a Save Point had magically appeared. The grabbed hold of it and Saved at the first opportunity. This is only because the innkeeper was looking at you funny. (The relaxing atmosphere of the hotel…it fills you with Determination.)

You went outside and shivered when a cold gust of wind passed.

Sans caught your eye, “’sup? do i give you the chills?”

You rolled your eyes and his smile widened. “c’mon. don’t give me the cold shoulder.”

“I see that you still have those horrible jokes.” You froze and went over the words that you just said. I see…I-cy…goddamn it.

Sans snorted, “that was pretty good.”

“It was unintentional.”

“we need to talk. so you’re coming with me to grillby’s.”

“Grillby’s? Is that the name of that bar over there?”

“it’s more like a dive but yeah.”

You passed him the bag of money. “You’re paying.”

He took the money and stuffed it into the lining of his jacket. “i have a tab over there and even though grillby threatens me when i don’t pay it, he hasn’t killed me yet.”

You furrowed your brow but walked beside him down the path. You saw that same group of kids from earlier and they stopped what they were doing to look at you. When Sans met their stare, their eyes fell. Sans’ sneakers squeaked as they landed in the snow.

“Are those shoes actually waterproof?” You asked casually.

“hon, i’m a skeleton. i don’t really feel the cold as much as you do.”

You chuckled lightly. As you headed towards the dive, you saw someone being thrown out into the snow. He was yelling drunkenly from the snow pile at Greater Dog who just panted and marched back in.

“aw, that guy.” Sans snickered. “he’s a pissy drunk but grillby keeps giving him drinks.”

“Isn’t that just fueling the problem?”

“that doesn’t matter for grillby. he likes making a profit, sweetheart, he isn’t going to be too worried about fueling some guy’s alcoholic tendencies.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t done one of your disappearing acts,” you remarked as he turned his head sharply. “You teleport in and out of places right? Why didn’t you just teleport us both to the dive?”

“my powers are a little tricky. let’s just say that.”

“You don’t trust me, Sans?” You whispered, a devilish smile flooding your features. You knew enough about him to understand that he wouldn’t open up to you very easily. You’d just have to crack him open then.

“you give me no reason to. besides, you’re a human. not really a reliable race, you know?”

You noted that a bead of sweat had started slowly rolling down his skull. Once you reached Grillby’s, Sans led you in. This time, he didn’t hold the door open for you. With a quick gesture of his head, he motioned you towards a booth. You sat on the upholstery.

“burgers or fries?” He asked. It was late and you weren’t too hungry so you went with the fries. Sans left without another word to go tell the purple fire elemental at the bar. You guessed that he was Grillby. A crow was nestled on his shoulder and you wondered how it didn’t burn to death. The elemental’s scowl was clear and the flames even implied teeth, although you were fairly certain Grillby didn’t have any actual pointed fangs.

Sans returned and settled down in front of you. “now, where should i start? around a week ago, i woke up to  a fairly normal day. boss started his rounds early, i got up too late to make it to my sentry shift, when I did make it, I decided to take a nap. after my nap, i went here for lunch. then, i’d make it back, get yelled at by boss. watch him get mad about something undyne did. soon, i’d come back here for dinner. it usually goes that way.”

You furrowed your brow. Why was he telling you this? Regardless, he continued.

“around a week ago, i noticed something peculiar. the day started repeating itself. same dialogues, same actions, same options, everything was exactly the same. at first, i thought it was some weird form of déjà vu. some odd thing that caused my imagination to recreate past experiences. then, there was a huge gap. five days, i believe. then, it happened yesterday night. you were still in toriel’s care.”

You nodded. This sounded oddly familiar to you. You had an epiphany. Sans remembered the last Reset. He must have put two and two together to find out that you were the one changing the outcomes all along. You had no idea that this ability could spread to such a wide spectrum. You thought it only affected your memories but it seemed that Sans was also being victimized.

“all day today, frisk. all day, i have been forced to relive every single moment. do you know how tiring that is? i think you know what i’m getting at. you’re a smart kid. i figured it out after i killed you. you came back and you remembered. you’re the anomaly. you’re the selfish little prick that keeps manipulating space and time to your advantage. i’m already sick of it, dollface, and if i hadn’t made a certain promise to someone earlier today, i would’ve killed you again and again until you couldn’t change your fate anymore.”

“I don’t think you know how this works!” You laughed. “I can’t exactly stop it. I die, I Reset automatically. I can only choose not to Reset time until my last Save Point when I’m alive. As you must know, I die quite a bit.”

“but it wasn’t just you was it? earlier, before you fell, there were certain points in time where i felt that exact same feeling of déjà vu.”

“That was Flowey. He probably used that power a lot more than I did.”

“i thought so,” he murmured as a young waitress approached. She placed a tray of fries in front of you both. “since i’m paying, i ordered one tray instead of two.”

“I have no problem with that.”

“reset, that’s what that ability is called?” Another bead of sweat rolled down lazily.

“That’s what we call it.”

“did you have it before you fell?” More sweat was starting to accumulate on his skull.

“I didn’t,” you replied coolly.

“is there any way we can stop it?”

“Not that I know of.”

His fist slammed against the table top and all eyes turned to you both. Sans’ eye sockets were black, save for the red magic that flared brightly. “you’re playing with lives, kid. what give you the right to play god?”

“If you were in my place, you would do that same thing.”

“you don’t know anything!” He shouted as he snared your soul. He drove your head into the table top, causing you to cry out in pain. “you don’t fucking understand anything about me! don’t you dare assume that i’m anything like you, you little bitch!”

Your head was throbbing, your nose was bleeding, but still you needed more from him. “Calm down. I was just kidding.”

“do you think this is a game?!” He cried, raising you up and hitting you against the ceiling with one straight movement of his arm. He slammed you against the walls a couple of times before hitting you against the table top. You felt some bones break on impact. “if this is some twisted joke to you, you’re not funny.”

With that, he drove five femurs into your skull.

Your head was still pounding when you found yourself in the Void. You got to your feet and brushed yourself off. In front of you, the Reset button was glowing. You lifted your hand and paused for a moment before letting it fall back to your side. Presently, in the face of death, you were indifferent. Indifferent to the gift given to you by your inordinate amount of Determination. Your nonchalance towards the Void; towards this temporary haven between timelines was becoming unforgivable.

“Chara!” You called out. “Do you have any pieces of advice for me this time?”

You were met with silence. “The silent treatment? Are you kidding me?”

You were talking to yourself. How the mighty have fallen.  You spun on your heel and waited for a reply. When none was given and all you could hear were the echoes of your previous comments, you ran further into the Void.

“Two can play at that game!”

The further you got, the colder it seemed to get. It came to the point that you were breathing on your frozen palms and rubbing them together for warmth. A numbness had settled in your lower body from your toes to about mid-calf. Stubbornly, you kept inching further into the abyss that settled before you. The Reset button hovered uncertainly around your person. The numbness became more prevalent with every step forward.

Suddenly, a ripple passed over the Void. It was like watching static on a television set. There one moment, gone the next. You halted any movement. The numbness had started to take on a whole new pressure. It was as if someone was adding weights onto your shoulders, making your body heavier and heavier until you dropped down on one knee. It was so oppressive that your breathing felt forced and laboured.

The paper-thin Void was starting to [ERROR.] The Resets were becoming too numerous [EXTRACTING FILE FAILED. MOST LIKELY CAUSED BY LOW MEMORY (LOW DISK SPACE FOR SWAPPING FILE) OR CORRUPTED CABINET FILE.]

Dark Darker

[THE PROGRAM HAS ENCOUNTERED AN UNRECOVERABLE ERROR.

PRESS OK_

*EXCEPTION CODE: EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VALIDATION

*EXCEPTION ADDRESS: 0x3345a4af

*EXCEPTION MODULE: UNDERFELL]

The Shadows only get thicker

[YOU CAN REQUEST SUPPORT.]

Come

[TO COLLECT DATA TO SUBMIT TO UNDERFELL TECHNICAL SUPPORT, RUN “uf-support”.]

Closer

[AN ERROR HAS OCCURRED.]

Frisk! What’s going on? [ERROR]! Get a hold of yourself! The Void is collapsing! You have to get out of here! You summoned up your [FILE COULD NOT BE FOUND] but your efforts were wasted. The Reset button glitched, half of it disappearing for an instant when you tried to press it.

Become lost for all eternity

[THE CURRENT APPLICATION WILL BE TERMINATED.

PRESS ANY KEY TO TERMINATE THE CURRENT APPLICATION.

PRESS CTRL+ALT+DEL AGAIN TO RESET. YOU WILL LOSE ANY UNSAVED INFORMATION IN ALL APPLICATIONS.

PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE_]

“Kid! Wake up!” Flowey screeched, shaking you with his outstretched roots. You gasped and sat up quickly. Sweat and tears were running down your face as Flowey grabbed you and forced you to lie down again. “Calm down! It’s okay! What the hell happened?”

“Where am I? What Reset is this?” You rasped. Your voice sounded strained. Had you been screaming?

“You just went out with Sans, remember? You must have Saved before going! We’re in the lobby of the inn!”

“Where’s the innkeeper?”

“She ran off with her kid. She didn’t want the kid seeing you spasm like that.”

“Spasm?”

Flowey’s face fell. “It was like you were having a seizure or something. You couldn’t control yourself. The innkeeper came to get me to try and get you to stop. Should I call someone with medical expertise? We don’t have many around here.”

“Stop freaking out, I’m fine.” You assured him, wiping the bodily liquids off your face with the sleeve of your sweater. “We need to start preparing for the journey ahead. How did the map go?”

“Are you sure you’re in a good enough state? We can wait it out for a couple of days; keep Saving at regular intervals.” You were getting to your feet and Flowey sighed. “This is the curse of Determination. Those who have it seem to forget that they are still human. Shit! I forgot about that! I have to redraw the route because you had to go and get yourself killed by Smiley fucking Trashbag!”

The flower grumbled as he pulled himself up the stairs and you stalked him quietly. What happened to the Void? Was it still going to be there when you Reset? Had it been destroyed? There were so many questions and so few answers. There was also this issue of timelines that Sans had briefly highlighted. How far did your influence cross? You had never thought of each Reset as its own separate timeline. Each one was just a trial run until you found the best option to get out of a certain situation. You hadn’t expected Sans to be so affected by the repetition.

“Flowey? Have you ever been to the Void?”

Flowey stiffened. “Yes.”

“Do you know what it is?”

Flowey hushed you and pulled you into your room without a second word. “Don’t talk about that place so liberally! Someone could hear you.”

“I could always Reset and have them not remember.”

“We can’t Reset so much for insignificant things! You never know what could happen if we abuse this power. Determination isn’t necessarily limitless.”

“So what is the Void?”

Flowey sighed and returned to his boot, “The Void is a space where time has stopped. Where forgotten things go. The Void is unaffected by the regular stream of the timelines. I’m not really sure what it is but I can be certain that it has existed far longer than we have.”

“Have you ever met anything in the Void?”

“Can’t say I have.” He shook his head. “Have you?”

You ignored the question completely. He seemed unfazed. Flowey glanced out the window and gasped. “Hey, kid. Come look at this, will you?”

You shuffled over and glanced out the window. Surprisingly, outside was Sans. He was speaking to Papyrus. “He’s snitching.”

“Oh fuck. We’re so screwed!” Flowey yelped, glancing back and forth from the window to you.

“Stop freaking out. You’re going to give me a migraine!”

Suddenly, a giant bone pierced the building. It came in straight through the floorboards. You hoped that the rabbit woman died. An entire ribcage burst from the ceiling acting almost like the arm of a claw machine. It reached out and tried to grab you but you ran out from its reach. Flowey yowled at you angrily and you returned for him. You picked his boot up and ran out of the room. You were glad Flowey had forgotten to get you to lock it.

“HUMAN! COME OUT OF HIDING! IT’LL BE SO MUCH EASIER TO KILL YOU—I MEAN, ‘HELP’ YOU IF YOU DO SO!”

“uh, boss, i thought that you meant the first part—”

“SANS. HUMANS ARE ATTRACTED TO NOT DYING A HORRIBLE DEATH. DON’T DISTRACT ME.”

“gotcha boss. i’m just here to enjoy the show.”

You saw Papyrus look at hiss brother condescendingly from a crack in the window. Then, his sockets locked onto your person. “AHA! HUMAN!”

You sprinted down the stairs as another series of smaller bones sailed through the walls. Once you reached the lobby, you heard the ceiling groan above you.

“Kid! Find cover now!” Flowey cried as you dove underneath the counter. You knelt down and bent over Flowey so that he was hidden in your chest. Then, you covered your head with your arms. The rafters crashed to the ground. One rafter split the counter but you and Flowey were left unharmed because the countertop took most of the damage. You needed a weapon and you needed one fast. You took Flowey in your arms and shimmied out from underneath the counter. Looking around the wreckage, you saw your backpack on top of some broken pieces of wood. You made your way, climbing over pieces of the destroyed building and underneath others. Papyrus and Sans were quiet; perhaps they were trying to hunt you down and finish you off humanly. You highly doubted that theory. You reached your backpack, left Flowey on the floor, pulled out the cross bow with one hand, and picked up as many arrows as you could hold with the other.

You cocked the crossbow by pulling the string back very slowly. You tried your best to place an even amount of pressure on both sides of the barrel but you guessed that your dominant hand had an unfair advantage. You would be slightly off-center. You placed an arrow in the barrel anyhow. You lifted the crossbow and eyed the scope, breathing evenly. You could only hear Flowey’s whimpers and the increasing tempo of your heart.

Your hands were getting clammy but you couldn’t let yourself release the crossbow. So you waited, locked and loaded. A bone made its way into your scope and you shot it. You didn’t anticipate the backlash and hissed when the crossbow hit your collarbone. The bone was then wrapped in a blue coat of magic. The arrow was destroyed upon impact.

“Light blue magic! If you stay still, it’ll go right through you!” Flowey gasped.

“I’m made of physical matter,” you growled to the flower. “I’m not sure monster magic works the same way on me.”

“Your soul will allow it to go through you without damaging you.” Flowey replied as he drew out your soul for the dawning battle.

You heard a triumphant cry from Papyrus as he practically galloped through the broken wood. “HUMAN! THERE’S NO WHERE TO RUN! SURRENDER YOUR SOUL. SANS!”

“alrighty.” Sans muttered as he picked your soul up with his red magic. Your whole body was lifted high into the air. “sorry kid.”

He tossed you out of the building and you landed face first into the snow. You moaned in pain as you sat up. Your soul was still wrapped in red magic.

“END OF THE LINE HUMAN.”

You turned your head to see Papyrus. Sans was behind the taller skeleton, pulling at Flowey while the flower smacked him with his roots. You could see how hard Papyrus would be. He was a true Boss Monster. With his brother by his side, he was even worse. It seemed that they both specialized in one type of magic. You would have to ask Flowey if they could use more in the next timeline. You couldn’t even try to run. You had broken your ankle upon impact with the ground.

Sans lifted your body with a flick of his wrist and Papyrus proceeded to skewer you on a long, thin fibula.

You must change this world

The world rewound and you woke up to the inn’s lobby. The rabbit woman was staring at you crossly. “Are you just going to keep staring?”

You shook your head and rushed out the door. You needed to intervene before Sans got any quick ideas. The skeleton was leaning against a pine tree. The pinpricks of light present in his sockets widened exceptionally when he saw you but they vanished just as quickly.

“you really are an idiot you know that?” He murmured quietly. You pulled out the pouch of money that was, once again, in your pocket.

“Dinner at Grillby’s. My treat.”

“well, you’re using my money so technically, it’s my treat.” He said as he took the money.

You walked to Grillby’s in a tense bout of silence. You could feel him analyzing you every now and then. He was probably trying to hypothesize what your intent was. A cold gust of wind caused you to wrap your arms around your body. Sans didn’t try to crack a joke this time.

You entered Grillby’s and Sans motioned you towards the booth again. You shook your head and pointed to two available stools at the bar. If Sans had eyebrows, they would’ve risen to his non-existent hairline but he didn’t deny your request. You both walked up to the bar and pulled yourselves up onto the stools. Grillby sizzled angrily at Sans but Sans dropped the pouch of money onto the table. He looked up and winked audaciously at the fire elemental. Grillby grinned and took the bag.

“hey, you think you gonna, uh, reset any time soon? i’d like that money back.”

“So you’ll make an exception to the Resets as long as it benefits you?” You chuckled and he cleared his throat.

“let’s just say that i’ll make an exception when that time comes.”

You smirked and hummed as a confirmation. “Get me a burger this time.”

He barked a laugh, “changing up the menu? i’ll get in on that. grillbz! two burgz!”

Grillby sighed but disappeared into the kitchen. It seemed that Sans was in more of an amicable mood. His good mood could easily change back into a guarded one if you weren’t careful. You needed to tread lightly. One way to do so was to try and avoid mentioning the Resets.

“so, what brings you to the underground, kiddo?”  

You pointed upwards with an extended index finger. Sans followed your finger and sighed after a moment of thought.

“that’s what i thought. most of the kids that fell down here wanted to get back up again too. what’s the appeal though? the surface seems kinda dull.”

You nodded mutely.

 “do you have anyone waiting for you up there?”

You shook your head. Sans seemed even more befuddled.

“why the hell are you trying so hard then?”

You shrugged and then chose to speak. “There’s no other option, really. I just have to keep moving forward. Maybe if I go far enough, I’ll get somewhere.”

“seems kind of silly if you ask me.” he responded as the burgers came. He quieted for a moment, thanked the waitress in a saucy tone, and continued once she was far away. “you have to make options. they don’t just appear out of thin air. you have to make it happen.”

When you didn’t respond, he changed the topic of conversation. “are you a ketchup or mustard kind of kid?”

You grinned and took the mustard from the edge of the table. You took the top bun off of your burger and wrinkled your nose in disgust when you saw the tomato resting on a single leaf of lettuce. You picked the tomato up between your forefinger and thumb and placed it on your plate before coating the top of your bun in mustard. When you finished, Sans took the condiment bottle from you and removed the cap before chugging some of it down his throat. You gaped for a second but quickly closed your mouth and rolled your eyes.

Sans hesitated for a moment before dropping the container of mustard and looking at you from the corner of his peripheral vision. “kid. i feel like I should be honest with you.”

He felt like he should be honest? How was that even possible? Your relationship seemed to get better and better each time you Reset. “do you know anything about why you’re being hunted? did that flower tell you the truth?”

You shook your head. Flowey hadn’t mentioned much besides the barrier and even then, he only mentioned it because he thought you were me. You had no idea.

“well, long time ago, monsters were sealed down in the underground by your kind. the spell sealing us down here is called the barrier. the barrier can only be destroyed when a few conditions are met. any being with the souls of both a human and a monster can pass through the barrier but the barrier can only be broken with the power of seven human souls.” He paused to clear his throat and slug down some more mustard. “at the moment, the king of the underground has had six human children killed and has collected their souls for our liberation. yours will be the last one.”

Your shoulders tensed and you gritted your teeth. You slowly glanced up at Sans who was watching your reactions studiously.

“you’re little plant friend has kept all of this from you, i guess.” He laughed and shook his head. “i have reason to believe that your little piece of vegetation wants to take your soul for himself and he’s just manipulating you in order to get you to give it to him personally.”