Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Clover couldn’t see anything.

They opened their eyes and were shocked to discover…nothing. Just a black, empty void that repelled any sunlight. They couldn’t make out anything after looking around. They tried to get up, but their head banged against something. Something…hard. And cold. But that couldn’t be right, they were outside. They had been right before they…before they…

Died.

They frantically looked around, trying to make out anything they could in the dark, but there was nothing. They felt around, but their arms were limited. They hit some sort of wall, something underneath the human, the hard and cold thing their head had banged into, anything that could be a clue as to where they are.

A coffin.

Clover was in a coffin.

They had died.

And now they were alive and trapped in a coffin.

They tried to calm themself down but it did little to help their current problem. They would run out of air soon. But they couldn’t let that happen, no. They needed to try and get out. Even if they were buried underground, they needed to try. Anything was better than slowly suffocating down here, and they needed to try.

It was useless to try and call for help. If they were in a coffin, then it was likely they’d been buried. But they needed to get out. If they were alive, then their SOUL was with them. And they needed to bring justice to monsterkind, even if it meant dying all over again. They had to.

Just then, they heard something.

Footsteps.

They weren’t muffled by grass, but clear, clicky footsteps like they were walking on pavement. They were getting closer and closer, growing in volume as they traveled to wherever they were. Clover pushed with all their might to try and break open their coffin. Their arms felt weak and tired, but that wasn’t going to stop them. They needed to get out. They called lightly as they pushed harder and harder. The footsteps faded from their ears as they pushed on the lid with all their might. They could hear a grating sound of shifting stone as they pushed. And eventually…

Light.

It wasn’t any light they’d seen in the underground. Not regularly at least. The stones illuminating the cave system were much brighter than these. No, these felt like lightbulbs, or something similar at least.

They were inside somewhere.

They kept pushing, invigorated by the taste of freedom they saw. They needed to get this lid off. They were not buried, just trapped in their stone cold prison. They kept pushing and pushing, desperate to get out. They looked forward, shocked to see something coming in from the outside.

Small fingers sneaked their way into the gap created. They could hear strained grunting from outside their coffin. Someone was down there with them, and they were trying to help them escape!

Clover and their new friend pushed and pulled with all their might until, finally, the lid was detached and slid away. They heard a loud thud as the lid hit the floor of wherever they were. Clover’s eyes scrunched up as light began pouring into the now opened up coffin. 

They never thought they could hate light so much until now.

Their eyes slowly adjusted, looking around where they were. It was gray. Very gray. Nothing but a few lights above lit up the area. They looked at their side, five identical coffins being stored in a row next to them. Their mood dampened a lot when they realized what those were.

‘ The other fallen…’

“Umm…hi there.”

Clover finally snapped back to their senses and whipped their head around to look at their partial savior. They wore a blue sweater with pink stripes on it with shorts that matched the sweater. Their worn boots went with the bandage stuck on the side of their face and messy hair that likely had leaves in it somewhere. Their skin was a fair bit darker than Clover’s own and…

Wait…

This person was…another human. Another child.

“You’re…one of the fallen, right?” the other human asked. Clover took a minute to register their question. They couldn’t believe it. There was another human. The final human. Which meant…their SOUL…and Asgore… “Umm…hello? You in there?”

“Where am I? Who are you!? WHy am I here!? Where’s Asgore!? I need to-”

“Woah woah woah, calm down! It’s alright. You’re safe now,” the human said to try and calm the cowpoke. But Clover couldn’t concentrate. They needed to get to Asgore. They needed to-

And just like that, Clover lept from their coffin and landed face-first into the floor. They groaned at the impact, trying to no effect to get themselves upright. The other human noticed and quickly set themself at Clover’s side. The fallen human tried to reorient themself but it did no good. The new human helped them sit down at the side of the coffin, resting their head against it as they took a spot next to Clover.

“Okay, that went well. Let’s start over, yeah?” the other human asked. A hand shot out in front of Clover, waving a bit to encourage them to take it. “My name is Frisk. What’s yours?”

“...Clover,” they said, unsure of themself. Clover accepted the handshake firmly, both humans looking at the hallway leading out of the room. There was a staircase that could be made out from the edge. So it was a basement. Good to know. “Where…are we?”

“Asgore’s castle. I didn’t even know there was a room down here until I came back. Asgore told me it was here, I guess I just never noticed on my way.” Frisk explained to Clover’s shock.

“Wait, he TOLD you!? W-Why didn’t he take your SOUL? Don’t they need it to shatter the…the…” Clover trailed off. Finally, they started noticing something. A faint glow was coming from the staircase. It was extremely low, but it was still light. They felt something course through their veins. They quickly got up and scrambled to the stairs. They heard Frisk shout from behind them, but they didn’t acknowledge it. They just ran.

Up and up the many flights of stairs they went. They started crawling as their legs became tired, desperate to reach the top. Asgore hadn’t fought the human. They were still alive. Which either meant they’d been spared or…

Clover stood at the top of the stairs, shining lights all around. It came heavily from one side of New Home and spread outward, bathing the entire capital city in a warm orange light. They could feel a light heat and a breeze on their skin. They fell to their knees as footsteps approached from behind. Frisk panted for breath as they caught up to the cowpoke, noticing how silent they were.

“Are you okay Clover? You ran off so fast!” Frisk said. Clover turned to them with widened eyes and a quivering voice.

“Is it…t-the b-barrier…”

Frisk’s lips formed a smile as they sat next to Clover, basking in the warm glow of the sun sliding into the underground.

“It’s gone. I still don’t exactly know how he did it, but…the barrier is destroyed. They’re free now.” Clover felt tears begin forming in their eyes. Their sacrifice had paid off. The monsters were free to roam the surface world after so long. Finally. They finally had justice. “You alright?”

“Yeah…Yeah, I’m…I-I’m fine,” Clover said as they wiped their tears on their sleeve. They were just so happy. Their friends could finally live their lives on the surface. They felt something nudge their side, looking over at Frisk who held out something to them.

It was their hat.

I found a lot of items while going through the underground. I think they belonged to the other fallen, but…something tells me these belong to you.” Frisk fished something else out of their pocket, presenting a revolver to the fallen child. It was a bit dirty, as was the hat, but otherwise they looked nearly identical to the last time they had seen their accessories.

“T-Thank you Frisk. I have no idea how you got these, but…thank you.” Clover could feel the tears slightly returning as they took the hat and gun, sliding the shooter in their makeshift holster while the hat adorned their head once more. “Right where it belongs,” they said quietly to themself. Frisk began walking to the open door nearby, turning to Clover with a smile.

“I think we’ve all been down here long enough,” Frisk said to the fallen child. Clover smiled as they shakily stood proud, tipping their hat up so they could properly see the world ahead of them. “Let’s get out of here, yeah?”

“Lead the way, pard'ner.”

Chapter Text

Clover and Frisk walked through the hallway to meet with Frisk’s friends. Clover didn’t know exactly who they were talking about as they passed the throne room. As they entered the next area, he spotted a group of seven individuals all speaking with one another. Nearly all of them seemed entirely unfamiliar to them, though one they could swear they remembered from somewhere.

“Oh Frisk, there you are. Have you don’t everything you wished to…” one of the monsters trailed off. The old monster was fairly tall with white fur covering her head to toe. She resembled a goat of some kind, and wore a long purple dress that stopped above her feet. She was staring right at Clover, who felt intense relief and anxiety at the same time. “I…I remember you. You’re…one of them, aren’t you?”

“Umm…y-yeah. If you mean the…other kids, then yeah. My name’s Clover,” the fallen human said warily. Even if they had pleasant experiences with monsters, so many eyes on them at once made them a bit nervous. “Frisk found me in the basement and helped me get over here. Have we…met before?”

“Oh, it was...quite some time ago. You had fallen into the ruins, and I came to check and see if you were hurt.” The old monster knelt down to Clover’s level. “My name is Toriel.”

Her name triggered something within Clover. Memories of her guiding them through the ruins. Memories they didn’t even know happened like them staying with her and listening to her stories, eating her food, sleeping in a warm bed for the first time in so long. They didn’t know why they were having these visions, but they kept flooding in. “Clover? Are you okay?”

Clover didn’t speak, simply pulling Toriel into as tight of a hug as their weakened frame would allow. Toriel was taken aback, but quickly reciprocated the affection. The two smiled as Clover let her go, Toriel standing back up. “S-Sorry,” Clover apologized.

“There is no need to apologize, my child. I am sorry I never found you in the ruins. I went and looked for you, but you had vanished.” Clover felt a little guilty at that. They hadn’t mean to make Toriel worry or bring her distress, yet they had anyway. But they still didn’t regret doing it. They didn’t regret any of it.

“I-It’s okay Ms. Toriel. There was someone in the ruins who helped me out. They even helped me get to Snowdin and-”

“YOU WENT TO SNOWDIN? OH THIS IS WONDERFUL! TWO HUMANS HAVE HAD THE CHANCE TO SEE MY COOL PUZZLES IN ACTION!” Clover was startled by the loud exclamation and looked to Toriel’s side. Next to her were a pair of skeletal monsters. One was short and stubby with lit up eye sockets and a grin plastered on his face. The other -the origin of the excited shout they guessed- was taller and lankier, with a huge smile on his face as he struck a dynamic pose, clearly very proud of himself. Clover couldn’t help but smile at his antics all the same. The monster reminded him of a good friend.

The shorter of the skeletons chuckled at the taller one’s antics, turning to Clover with a hand outstretched. “sup, kid. i’m sans, sans the skeleton. And that’s my brother, papyrus.” He shook his hand lightly, just like how Frisk had, which Clover easily accepted.

And immediately regretted as the muffled sound of a whoopie cushion came from the skeleton’s hand. Clover felt the energy immediately leave their body as such a lame punchline finally fizzled out. They swore they could hear Frisk giggling behind them.

“hehehehe. never fails to make me laugh,” Sans laughed as Clover looked at him, thoroughly unamused. “hey, lighten up bucko. I’m only messin’ with you.”

“SANS, YOU ARE AWFUL AT MAKING FIRST IMPRESSIONS,” Papyrus chastised. Sans just shrugged absently.

“I don’t know. I thought it was quite…’air tight,’” Toriel said. Sans and her burst into laughter, Frisk grinning from ear to ear alongside them while Papyrus groaned in misery. Clover couldn’t help but smile at their antics.

‘Well, I guess I can deal with some lame jokes.’

“So. You’re the punk I heard about all those years ago.”

‘Nevermind! More lame jokes please!’

Clover cautiously looked up at who was speaking. A muscular woman with crooked teeth and a fiery red ponytail stared down at them with her one yellow eye. Her scales slightly shined in the sunlight as they looked the human over. “Gotta say, always wondered what you looked like. And how you got past all the sentries I had out.”

“U-Uhh…I…umm…” Clover stuttered, trying to look away from the woman. This must have been Undyne. Only someone with this much of a threatening presence could be head of the Royal Guard.

“U-Undyne, come on, there’s no need for threats! They j-just woke up after all,” another voice said. It was another monster, this one around the same height as Sans. She wore glasses and a lab coat that had…a certain…symbol on it.

“Come on Alphys, I was kidding! I’d never hurt them. You know what I mean, right kid?” Undyne asked. Clover didn’t respond, however. They had gone silent. “Uhh…kid?”

Clover contemplated what to do in their mind. This was Alphys. The royal scientist. The one who had called for the fallen down monsters. The one who had caused his friend to do…all sorts of painful things in the hopes of seeing her daughter again. They didn’t know what to think. The woman in front of them seemed nice, but for all they knew, she had been conducting experiments that had either killed her or-

“Hey, Clover, it’s alright,” a voice said. Clover looked to their side and saw Frisk holding their shoulder, smiling at them. The fallen human nodded their head before turning back to Alphys, the lizard monster looking worriedly at them.

“Sorry about that. It’s just…I heard about you from…an old friend,” they explained. Applies began to shy away, but was stopped by an encouraging Undyne. She flashed a toothy smile to the doctor, who in turn smiled at the former guard. “Let’s…start over,” Clover offered.

“O-Of course,” Alphys said. The two shook hands with slight smiles on their faces. “I-I must say, I didn’t hear about you until…a-anyway! I-I like your outfit!”

“Hell yeah! Alphys showed me some of those old human history movies with the lawmen and stuff!” Undyne shouted, interrupting the two. “You must be some kinda guard yourself topside, huh kid?” Clover looked away embarrassed at the attention.

“Perhaps we should allow the child some space,” came a booming voice. Clover finally took notice of the last monster in the room. He resembled Toriel, though was a fair bit bigger with a dirty yellow beard and mane of hair. He wore a large cape and shoulder pads. Clover didn’t even need a name to know who it was. “My apologies young one, I am-”

“King Asgore Dreemurr,” Clover spat. Asgore looked worriedly at the child, unsure of what to do after the cold answer. Clover didn’t immediately retreat into their mind like they had with Alphys. They felt nothing for the ruler of monsterkind. Not after they had learned what happened to the five other children. “I know who you are. And what you did.”

“Ah, so you do,” Asgore said dejectedly. He didn’t try to deny the actions he had committed prior to Clover’s fall into the underground. The cowpoke just glared at the kind with a furious expression. They didn’t hate him. How could they when Asgore attempted to lead his people in such unjust conditions. But that didn’t make his actions right. It didn’t make what he did to those children just. “I understand your reservations, but I hope you understand that I fully intend to tell the wider world what has happened down here. All of it. It would only be fair.”

Clover didn’t speak, but they mentally had to agree with him. A light nod of their head was all that they gave Asgore before turning away. They were once more pulled away by Frisk, who was leading them to the next room. The child had apparently spoken to all of their friends and was eager to leave the underground for the surface world. Clover followed them, stopping when they saw someone else in the next room.

It was another human. One with much paler skin and the same brown hair Frisk had, though much neater. Their rosy cheeks contrasted with the dark color under their eyes. The child wore a green sweater over a white button-up given the collar that poked out, with a golden necklace in the shape of a heart hanging from their neck. Clover could tell this was the seventh person who had been waiting for Frisk, but they had disappeared as Clover spoke with the monsters.

Frisk whispered something to the other human, who did not look at all pleased with them or their new friend. Frisk turned around and grabbed the child’s hand, pulling them to where Clover now stood. They smiled as they all but forced their other friend to meet.

“Clover, this is Chara. They fell down a long time before I did, and whatever brought you back brought them back too!” Frisk said with joy. Chara looked at Clover with skepticism. They looked to be about the same age as Frisk and themself, but were a little taller than the both of them. Clover could now more clearly see their deep red eyes, windows from one soul to another that made Clover feel unwelcome.

“Greetings,” Chara said in a very monotone voice. They stuck out their hand jerkily, as if it was so unnatural for them. Clover cautiously accepted. Both of them found the situation extremely uncomfortable, but Clover didn’t want that. As far as they knew, this was another fallen human who deserves to be treated with the same openness they themself had in the underground.

“Guess today’s your lucky day, ain’t it?” they said with a wink. Chara looked blankly at them as they tried to process the joke. Frisk was beside them, violently trying hard not to laugh at the awful pun.

“I see you’re another comedian ,” Chara said absently. They suddenly turned to the third human in the room. “Are you ready, Frisk?” they asked the other human in the room. Clover felt a bit defeated as Chara continued onward, following Frisk out of the underground. Clover was a bit saddened by Chara’s sudden exit.

“you seem a bit blue.”

The human jumped back at the sudden appearance, Sans simply standing beside them with some kind of drink in his hand. “oops. sorry, didn’t mean to startle ya kid,” he apologized. “you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve just,” Clover trailed off, looking at the exit to the underground. “Got a lot on my mind.”

“WORRY NOT, NEW OLD HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE AVAILABLE WHENEVER YOU REQUIRE HELP! ANY FRIEND OF FRISK’S IS A FRIEND OF MINE,” Papyrus shouted, the taller brother popping out from behind Sans. The rest of the monsters followed suit, all somehow out of view behind the pudgy skeleton.. 

“Same here, punk! You’re all good with us!” Undyne said after Papyrus. Clover smiled at the monsters, who all looked ahead at the door to the outside.

“Are you ready, my child?” Toriel asked them. Clover hardened their resolve as they began walking forward. After so long of unjust treatment, they would make sure the monsters could finally see the sun in peace.

“You better believe it.”

Chapter Text

The view was beautiful as Clover stepped out of the underground at last. The sun was setting over the horizon, rows and rows of trees covering the land beneath them over the cliff’s edge. They couldn’t help but smile as they soaked it all in.

They couldn’t remember the last time they had been this glad to see the sun setting. Before falling down, they had seen them, but never as a very good sign. When the sun set, it meant they needed to return to their old home, and that wasn’t at all where they wanted to be. They’d rather be out here, where it was quiet. And peaceful.

Clover thought it over more as heat filled their body. They still felt fatigued, which was a given with their previous condition of being…dead. But how long had it been? They didn’t want to ask Asgore, both because of their opinion of the kind but also to not dampen whatever situation was happening with the group beside him. They walked to the side of everyone, swaying a little due to their tiredness.

How many years had they waited for this? So long trapped underground when freedom was blocked by one barrier. A barrier barely any monsters could even remember. For some it would be the return to the way it should be. For others? It’s a whole new world.

Clover smiled a little at that. The surface was to the monsters what the underground had been to Clover. It was an entirely other world the likes of which they hadn’t seen before. The child worried about them, but they knew they could break through the confines that freedom could bring.

Clover walked back over to the cliff face, noticing that the monsters were beginning to depart. Papyrus had run off quickly, Sans leaving in a completely different direction to ‘follow his brother.’ Then Undyne, followed by Alphys, with Asgore being chased away by Toriel. Clover went back to admiring the sunset as Toriel tapped them on the shoulder. The fallen human looked up at the goat woman.

“My child, I hate to put this on you so suddenly, but…do you have anywhere to go?” the old monster asked. “Chara and I are going to live with one another, and Frisk said they have places to go, but…where will you go?”

Clover thought about what she had said. Sure, they could go back to… them , if they were even still at that cramped house. Hell, if they even still cared they were gone, but Clover immediately tossed that idea aside. They never wanted to go back to that place. But then…where would they go? Frisk smiled at them from where the human stood, encouraging whatever they chose. Clover looked at Toriel and smiled.

“That’s very kind of ya Ms. Toriel, but…I’m not sure. I guess I…still got some people ta talk to before I make a decision.” Clover still wasn’t exactly sure if this was the ‘right’ decision. Toriel did seem incredibly welcoming, but Chara wasn’t. They didn’t want to cause any problems with the two of them. “But…can I keep in touch?”

“Of course, my child,” Toriel said, fishing in the pocket of her dress and pulling out a phone. “Do you have any way for me to call you?”

“I uhh…oh!” Clover exclaimed, fishing a phone out from their vest pocket. They didn’t even have a phone before now, at least not one they could remember. They questioned the device in their hand, flipping it over and spotting a sticky note on the back.

Just in case you need us!

- Dr Alphys.

The human smiled at the doctor’s gift before putting Toriel’s number in their phone. The old monster smiled at them before turning to Chara. The two shared a wordless exchange before looking back at the other humans.

“Frisk, Clover, I wish you the best. Call me if you two ever need anything, alright?” Toriel asked, the two humans nodding as the old monster and her child left down the mountain. Chara flashed Frisk a smile while trying their best to ignore the other human. Clover’s face fell once again at that.

“You okay Clover? You seem down,” Frisk questioned. Clover turned to the other child, who was filled with concern. 

“Nah, it’s nothing. I just…” Clover trailed off. “That Chara kid…doesn’t seem ta like me very much.”

“Don’t take it too personally,” Frisk said. “Chara…doesn’t have a good experience with humans. I’m sure they’ll warm up to you in time, but…maybe try and give them some space.” Clover nodded at that. If Chara was like them and had just barely come back from beyond the grave, then they could understand wanting to get adjusted to living once again.

“Wait, but they seem ta like you,” the fallen human noticed. “And ye’re a human.”

“I mean yeah, but when you share a headspace with someone for long enough, you really get to know them.”

“...what?” Clover was just more confused than ever, which Frisk simply laughed at. “Ah, nevermind. You said ya got somewhere your goin?”

“Kind of. I need to meet with some people first. I’ve been gone for…a while, so I feel like I should at least assure them I’m alright,” Frisk said. “After that, Papyrus offered to let me stay at his place for as long as I needed.”

“That’s kind of him,” Clover said. They were glad Frisk had somewhere to go after everything. If their journey was as harrowing as Clover’s, they surely needed some stability for a change. “I…still gotta figure that all out to be honest.”

“Who knows,” Frisk said. “Perhaps your answer will be closer than you think.” Clover smiled at the encouragement before a loud crash was heard from the opposite side of the cave entrance. “Or maybe right there.” The two humans looked with curiosity at the monsters who next exited the cave.

The first to emerge was a blue bird monster adorning goggles and a backpack. They seemed to be homemade, wooden tools sticking out from the bag as she adjusted her goggles. She had streaks of light blue in her hair and a wide smile on her beak as she took in the sun.

Right behind her was a monster dressed like a sheriff. Not unlike Clover, he wore a hat which ended up covering his eyes, only a pair of reflective glasses poking through along with a scruff of hair on his chin. His poncho flared in the wind, revealing a pair of dark overalls underneath the cowboy getup.

The final to exit the cave was a fox monster, taller than the other two with long orange hair. She wore a white and red kimono and had a bow and bell doing her hair up into a ponytail. The three were talking with one another as they exited.

“I’m just sayin’ Feathers, it’s gonna take a while to get all your equipment up here! I’m sure the others would be happy to help you out.” the cowboy said. The bluebird continued to try and push back.

“Thank you Star, but I’ll be okay, promise! And I’ll call you guys if I need help setting up shop,” she said. She continued forward before stopping dead in her tracks, her eyes trained on the two humans observing them.

“Martlet? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” the fox monster asked. She followed her friend’s line of sight, spotting the others who were on the cliff with them. The cowboy monster had noticed too, taking off his hat and staring at them. 

“No way…is that…”

“But…t-they gave it up…there’s no way…

“It can’t be…b-but…”

The three monsters just gawked in shock at the two humans. Frisk felt a bit uncomfortable, but Clover was different.

All they felt was pure elation.

“Hey guys. Long time no see,” Clover said with the widest smile they possibly could. They felt tears begin to surface in the corners of their eyes at being reunited with their friends. The trio of monsters agreed wholeheartedly.

“CLOVER!” the three monsters yelled, rushing over to them. Clover ran to meet in the middle, jumping up and into Martlet’s arms. They hugged her as tight as they could, and she returned the favor. They were quickly swallowed on other sides by Ceroba and Star, all of whom had tears running freely down their faces at seeing them again.

“I can’t believe it! You’re…you’re really here!” Martlet exclaimed. Clover smiled at her and hugged her again.

“Deputy! It’s so good ta see you again! I missed ya so much!” Star yelled, scooping the human up from Martlet. Clover laughed as they held onto their hat, preventing it from blowing away.

“But…how? Even after everything, how are you…” Ceroba led off. Truthfully, that didn’t matter right now. She joined Star in hugging the human. The pair let them down a moment later, all four of them crying tears of joy at being reunited. “Oh Clover. We’ve missed you so much.”

“I’m so glad…” Clover said. They couldn’t stop crying, and they had no idea why. “You’re finally free.”

“Yeah. We are,” Star said to them.

“All thanks to you Clover,” Martlet finished. She patted the child’s head with pride. “Oh! Umm…hello there. Sorry, we, uhh…didn’t see you there…other human.”

Clover looked to their side to see a very joyful Frisk standing beside them. The human had apparently snuck up on the four as they had their reunion. “You’re Clover’s friends?” they asked. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Frisk.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too Frisk,” Ceroba said in kind. “We saw you on TV when you went against Mettaton. Martlet nearly had a heart attack when they saw the hat you had on.” She and Star laughed to themselves.

“H-Hey! I wasn’t the only one!” Martlet defended, sighing in her already accepted defeat. Clover gave her a pat on the arm, which she very much appreciated.

“Oh, yeah! Uhh, Frisk, this is Martlet, Starlo, and Ceroba. They helped me out when I fell into the underground,” Clover said, introducing the three monsters. Martlet, Starlo, and Ceroba gave a wave, a tip of the hat, and a bow to Frisk respectively.

“It’s great to meet you three,” Frisk said kindly to them. They turned away for a moment to look at the setting sun. “I think it’s going to start getting late soon,” they commented, turning back to the others. “We can start bringing everything to the surface tomorrow, provided I’m able to meet with some people.”

“Oh yeah, aren’tcha, like, the ambassador for humans and monsters or somethin’ now?” Clover asked. They had heard that come up between Frisk and their friends while they had been observing the sunset.

“Wait…” Ceroba thought, looking at Frisk again. “Aren’t you a little young to be the ambassador between monsters and humans?”

“Yes. Yes I am,” Frisk said with utmost confidence. Ceroba -nor anyone else- could argue with that logic. If anybody could do a good job of making peace between the two races, it was probably Frisk.

“Clover,” Martlet said, attention going to the child. “Do you have somewhere to stay?” Clover looked at their feet in slight embarrassment. They still didn’t know exactly what to do. They didn’t want to go back to the humans just yet, but-

“We’ve got a spare room at our place,” Starlo interjected. Clover looked up in hopeful anticipation at the sheriff. “If ya want to, that is.”

Clover thought it over. They really didn’t want to be alone and really didn’t want to see their old life right now, but…was this right? They couldn’t just intrude on their friends’ loves like this. But…then again…if they were offering.”

“I think you should go with them,” Frisk said with a smile. Clover saw them walking up to them, the other child placing a hand on their shoulder. “I know how you feel right now, but I think this will be good. They really do seem to miss you and want you in their lives again. And you’ve always got Toriel’s number if you need her help with anything, remember?”

Clover couldn’t argue with the reasoning at all. Frisk had an odd way of making everything seem okay in just a few words. They wonder if that’s how they managed to make friends with everyone so easily. The fallen human smiled, reaching a hand out to the other human which Frisk took in stride. 

“You’re real persuasive Frisk. Alright.” They turned to their friends. “If…I-If it’s really alright with y’all, I’d love to stay with you.” The three monsters smiled and pulled Clover into another hug.

“Alright! I’m sure we can find some extra blankets somewhere! Or maybe you can room with me. Oh! Maybe not though, I’ve been crashing on their couch for a while,” Martlet rambled, Clover only laughing as the monster led them back into the cave. Starlo and Ceroba spoke quietly among themselves, laughing as they went back underground for the night.

“Nice going Frisk.”

As if they were entirely unfazed by the sudden arrival, Frisk just calmly looked to their side. To anyone else, it seemed a yellow flower had grown at the child’s feet. But Frisk knew all too well that it’s not that simple. “You know how hard it was to get their soul back in their body WITHOUT it fading away?!”

“I’m sure it was very difficult, Flowey, but you still did it.”

“Damn right I did!” Flowey grumbled. “And they better thank me for it.”

“Why did you bring them back anyway? I didn’t think you even could, and with how long those bodies have been down there…” Frisk went silent. They didn’t like thinking of the rotting corpses that littered the basement they’d left the other items in.

“Well…ah, who cares! It’s done, isn’t it? Now they can go do whatever they want…like they should’ve been able to before.” Flowey looked away at that, trying to hide their face in their petals.

“What was that?” Frisk asked in a teasing manner. “Did I just hear you care about someone?”

“Wha-NO! God you’re annoying,” Flowey shouted. He continued to grumble as Frisk began turning away. “Not like I can anyway. Not anymore.”

“Hey, you never know,” Frisk said as they began sliding down the side of the mountain. “Anything can happen!”

“Yeah, right.” Flowey was now alone, just looking at the setting sun. They didn’t know how long this would last. There was still the lingering idea of Frisk resetting everything back to zero. The power to RESET did things to people. He knew that better than anyone. But Clover had come back. And Chara too. Even if he didn’t know how he did it, he had gotten his sibling and friend back. The flower smiled lightly to himself.

“Anything, huh?”

Chapter Text

It took about an hour, but Clover and their friends eventually made it back to the Wild East. The place hadn’t changed much in the time that Clover had been gone. In some cases, it looked a bit better even. More houses went further into the dunes and extra fences expanded the area to outside the small few areas. It was looking more and more like a full-fledged town.

“Here we are,” Ceroba said as they stopped. It was the old Feisty Five house, though it seemed a bit nicer than before. The windows looked newer and the whole thing looked all in all less rugged.

“Sorry if it’s a bit of a mess, we didn’t think there’d be guests,” Starlo said as they group entered the house. Already Clover noticed many things that were different. The strewn about sleeping arrangements from before were replaced with a tidy living area, kitchen, and main bedroom. There was a staircase to the side leading to another level, no doubt housing another room of some sort. 

“Make yourself comfy Clover,” Ceroba encouraged. “Star was in the middle of making dinner when everything happened, so it may take a few minutes to be ready.” The human nodded as they continued to look around.

They noticed a pillow, blanket, and several feathers on the large couch, clearly showing where Martlet had been ‘crashing.’ But now...they were curious.

“Hey Martlet,” Clover asked as they sat by the side of the couch. The monster sat on it, looking down at her friend. “Why’re you hangin’ out on the couch here? Did something happen at your place?” Martlet chuckled nervously as she rubbed her head with her wing.

“Well…”

Two Days Earlier

“CEROBA HELP!”

“Martlet, it’s 5 AM. Why the sudden call? What’s wrong?”

“I was working on a project and my saw knocked over a can and now my garage is on fire send help!”

“Wha-Are you okay!?”

“I’m fine oH GOD NOW MY HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”

“I-I’m on my way.”

“Huh? ‘Roba? What’s goin on? Where are you going?”

“Martlet’s garage is apparently on fire!

“What?! Oh shi-”

“The repair crew said it would take at least a week to rebuild everything,” Martlet grumbled as she sunk into the couch. “Guess that’s out of the window now though. Gotta move all my equipment to the surface starting soon.”

“The offer still stands to help ya out,” Starlo said from his spot in the kitchen area. “We’ve got a lot of moving to do anyway if we’re gonna get to the surface.”

“Like I said Starlo, thanks but I’m alright. Besides, I’m sure I’ll be too busy to focus only on moving anyway.”

“Why’s that?” Clover asked. They had jumped up onto the couch to sit with the monster instead of the floor.

“Oh, I forgot I didn’t tell you. I umm…quit the royal guard,” she said. Clover looked at her with shock. She’d been so sure about following all of the rules and keeping her job that her quitting was quite the surprise.

“After you…left, I couldn’t keep working there. Not when I knew what would happen to any other humans that might fall. So I started doing carpentry for clients. There’s always something to build or fix around here,” she said. She was very proud of all of the work she’d been able to do. Clover, upon looking around again, started to imagine how she’d helped fix up the house.

“She helped us renovate the house once Star and the others made up,” Ceroba said, sitting on the couch with the other two. “It took a lot of work.”

“Oh nonsense. Nothing that the seven of us couldn’t accomplish with a little teamwork!” the bird encouraged. The fox laughed at that. “But yeah, I helped fix the place up. Even added a guest room upstairs.”

“But…ain’t that for one of the four? Actually…where are they?” Clover pondered.

“They moved out. After Starlo and them made up, they decided to make the whole ‘Feisty Five’ thing more of a show than anything too serious,” Ceroba explained. Clover could understand that. Starlo still wore his cowboy gear when they saw the sheriff on the surface, but he very clearly wasn’t 100% on it anymore if the overalls said anything.

“Alrighty then everyone, dinner is served!” Starlo said. The three looked behind them, spotting five bowls of corn chowder on the table. While Clover was confused as to the number, they followed Martlet and Ceroba over regardless. They sat in one of the chairs, unfortunately having little more than their head peeking over the side of the table.

“I’ve got something to help. Be right back,” Martlet said, walking up the stairs to find some kind of booster. Clover did nothing but angrily look over the side at the bowl they couldn’t reach.

“Thank you Star,” Ceroba said. The star-headed monster leaned down and gave Ceroba a quick peck on the cheek before sitting in his own spot, to Clover’s shock. “Oh, umm…” Ceroba stuttered, realizing Clover’s presence. “Right.”

“We uhh…forgot to tell ya that, didn’t we?” Starlo said. Clover was attempting to form words together. Sure, they knew Starlo had liked Ceroba, but they didn’t think they’d ever actually talk about it, much less get together!

“I suppose it’s a bad time to tell you Kanako’s here as well?” Ceroba brought up. Clover somehow grew even more surprised as a large spoon-shaped being formed out of this air. It quickly morphed into a close resemblance to a young fox girl. She smiled at the human who could only stare at her.

“Umm…hi,” Clover said with a light wave. Kanako smiled at them and waved back before melting and sliding to the spot next to Ceroba. “Alright,” Clover said, standing on their chair. “Would anyone else like to drop some bombshell news tonight?” they sarcastically asked.

“Okay so I don’t have much to go off of in terms of size. It HAS been nearly 10 years, but this should…Clover?” Martlet said, looking questionably at the human. She didn’t think she’d been talking aloud nor seen Ceroba and Starlo signaling for her to stop, but Clover had heard.

10…years?

Clover nearly fell backwards onto the floor before being caught by Starlo. “You alright Clover!?”

“I…I-I don’t…it’s been…10…years?” they asked innocently. Starlo, with a saddened frown, only nodded in response. He sat Clover back up on the chair, now with a large book set on it so they could reach the table.

“Are you alright Clover?” Martlet asked. Clover had to take a minute to take in that question.

When they gave up their soul, that was it. They didn’t need to worry about coming back. All they knew was that their sacrifice would hopefully bring the monsters justice for the crimes they hadn’t even committed. But then…they had come back. They didn’t feel any older, didn’t look any older, any of it. They were still just…them. The same 10 year old who had jumped into the underground with nothing but a toy gun and a mission.

“I…I don’t know. It’s…a lot to take in. I’m…” Afraid? Angry? Happy? “Sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Ceroba comforted. She held her hand out to the child, which Clover accepted. “Yes, it has been…quite a long time. But you still saved us. It may have taken a while, but you did something very few would be able or willing to do in your place. You helped bring the sun to us, and for that, we can never repay you.” Clover simply smiled at the fox’s words. They looked around, Kanako, Martlet, and Starlo giving them equally proud and accepting expressions.

“Thanks everyone. I’m…I-I’m alright now.” Clover took a deep breath and focused back on what was ahead of them. “Anyways…dinner?”

“Yep. Actual food this time,” Starlo said proudly. “No more snacking on grass and gunpowder for you, kid.” Clover couldn’t help but smile at that. Sure, monster food wasn’t the same as human food, but given their current situation of health, they felt like they’d need all the nutrition they could get.

“Thanks Starlo,” Clover said as they grabbed a spoon and began digging in. One bite was all it took to get them going, the child devouring the creamed corn in front of them with all the speed and ferocity of a starving adult. The adults in the room were shocked while Kanako laughed at how furiously they dug into the food. Once Clover had cleared their food they looked up, everyone trying not to stare. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, it’s just…you’re quite hungry, aren’t you?” Martlet commented. Clover looked around, seeing that nobody else was close to being done. They looked down at their feet in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry Clover, I’ll get you some more,” Ceroba offered. Clover looked away with some shame. “Is something wrong?”

“You don’t hafta do that. I…I’ll be alright,” they lied. They didn’t want to impose on their friends more than they already were.

“Nonsense. We’re happy to have you here. You don’t have to worry about that,” Ceroba comforted. Clover looked up at her hopefully. “As long as you want to stay, we’ll make sure you’re well taken care of. “

The human’s smile widened at the confirmation. Ceroba wasn’t able to turn before Clover launched into a hug, holding the fox close to them. Ceroba smiled as she reached a hand over and hugged their side.

“Thank you Ceroba,” they said. Quiet ‘awws’ could be heard from around the table.

Clover ended up finishing two more bowls of creamed corn before sleep started claiming them. They were beginning to doze off as they deposited their bowl into the sink. They offered to do the dishes but was shooed away by Starlo, not wanting them to work any more tonight. They had just come back to life, after all. Martlet offered to take them to bed, the others nodding as the child was picked up and carried to the guest room.

“Come on buddy, time for bed,” Martlet said softly to them. The bird opened the door and let herself in. The room wasn’t very decorated, given that it wasn’t finished until a week or two ago, but it was still enough for Clover to sleep soundly. She set them down on one of the beds, Kanako taking up the other one. The former guard couldn’t help but think both children were incredibly cute while they were sleeping.

“I don’t think we have any spares that will fit you Clover,” she said sadly. “I’m sure we can find something for you tomorrow morning.”

“Mmm…thanksh Marlet,” Clover sleepily said. They dug themself under the covers of the bed and snuggled in.

“Of course. Goodnight Clover. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said. The child smiled at her as she placed their hat on the bedside table. Their boots and holster had already been placed by it, one of the few things Clover was able to do as they got closer and closer to falling fast asleep.

“G’night,” they said. Martlet smiled as they ruffled the kid’s hair. She quietly exited the room, allowing Clover to finally be in silence. Kanako was snoring quietly in the other bed, already fast asleep with her form falling ever so slightly. Clover wasn’t sure why she formed into a spoon, but they supposed that they’d have plenty of time to ask people going from here. As they closed their eyes once more, they smiled to themself, finally ready for the next day ahead of them.

The next few days were going to be very interesting.

Chapter Text

“9/22/20XX

Howdy! This is Clover speakin'! Or, uhh, writin' I guess. Martlet gave me this journal the other day, said it’d be a good way to keep myself from forgettin’ stuff. I’m not sure if I really need it, but it’s still a gift, so I’ll use it when I can.

So it’s been a little over a week since everything happened. Bein’ alive again feels…real weird. Like I got drained of everythin’ that made up who I am and then it all got smashed back into my body. Not sure if that really makes sense though.

(Sorry for the writing bein’ a bit different, feels right to keep the way I talk into this)

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! Uhh…bein alive is weird. I still don’t regret what I did, but I never thought I’d miss…just livin’ like this. It’s the same, but different. I dunno if that makes sense so let me see if I can explain.

So before I fell, I…didn’t have a very good life. At least I wasn’t at all happy with it. My folks…weren’t really the 'caring’ type. Lotta nights I was on my own. Had to learn how to do lotsa things real early since they didn’t come home until real late. They weren’t real nice, either. I…don’t like talkin about it. Martlet and the others have tried to ask, but it’s…a lot. I don’t wanna upset 'em with stuff that don’t matter anymore.

Speakin’ of them, the others are great! It’s so good to see em all again. They seem happy. Especially Ceroba. She was…real upset before I gave up my SOUL (Frisk said to capitalize it for some reason) and I get why she was. Still, it hurt to see her so sad.

I think Kanako and Star are helping a lot with that. Kanako’s been real good at cheerin’ her mom up. Don’t tell either of them if ya find this, but…I kinda envy them sometimes. I got nothin’ against them! I just wish sometimes my… they gave me the same kinda love that Ceroba gives Kanako. Star says to not worry about it though. He said once she sees me as one of her kids, but…I don’t know how to feel about that. Again, don’t tell nobody about this. Don’t want Star or Ceroba to get mad at me.

Martlet said I could stay with her if I wanted. I didn’t wanna intrude, but she insisted. She said I had to help her out with her work. Might’ve been a joke but I still accepted. She worries I think but I wanna help how I can. It’s the least I can do for her takin’ me in.

I think the others worry about me too much. I slept plenty when I was ‘dead’ and gotta earn back what I’m takin’ by staying with ‘em. Sometimes I’m forced ta stay home, but…I don’t like it. I wanna keep helpin’ how I can, but they tell me to take a break. It don’t feel right, but I don’t wanna upset them.

Anyway enough of that. I don’t like talkin’ about that stuff. What else…oh yeah, right! Star!

He’s doin’ great! I think he’s really taking a liking to all this attention from humans. He’s gotten the posse together and says he’s plannin’ on doing some shows for the locals. Not sure how it’ll go with that robot entertainer that’s apparently all the rage nowadays. I think his name’s Mettaton or somethin. He’s got nothin on Axis though. Don’t tell no none, they’ll think I’m crazy, but I don’t think Mettaton’s a real robot. Somethin’ fishy with that guy.

And Star and Ceroba seem real happy together. They’ve got a place not far from where me and Martlet are stayin’. I asked Star how they got together, but he told me that was a “story for another day” whatever that means. They seem happy though. I’m glad they’re both together.

I finally met Dalv a day after the barrier broke. He’s made three whole friends since I left! Well, besides me and the others of course. Star says he plays the piano real good. I wanna see him play but he seemed nervous about doin’ it on the spot when I asked. I hear he’s workin’ with that Mettaton guy about a performance soon, so I guess that robot’s doin’ somethin’ good.

Oh yeah, and Axis seems good. I think. I only saw him once when he was dragging his ‘kids’ (I think it was a bunch of empty cans with eyes stapled on) to the surface. I can’t thank Frisk enough for all the help with everything with the monsters.

Oh right, Frisk. They’re the last fallen human, if you didn’t already know. Ah who am I kidding, everyone knows ‘em by now. Freeing an entire race of people ain’t a small task. But they seem to be doin’ well. Them and the former kind are working towards integration’ monsters into human life. Or somethin’

I’m not sure exactly what they’ve been doin’ but it seems to be workin’ pretty well. Monsters have a couple small towns established outside the city near some human ones. Some monsters even found work in the city, though I’m not sure how many of ‘em are livin’ there. Turns out G isn’t exactly the same as cash up here. Wish they could exchange it or somethin’.

Martlet’s been super busy and I’ve been helpin' where I can. Everyone has new houses, furniture, and a ton more they need built, so she’s been on call constantly the last couple days. I wish there was more I could do, but she insists I’m doin’ plenty. It still doesn’t feel like enough though.

Frisk’s been super busy, so we haven’t hung out much, but I’ve talked with their friends and learned a lot about ‘em. They’re my age apparently! I mean I knew they were a kid, but I figured they were a little older since they were taller than me when we first met. Maybe it was the boots though.

Their friends have mostly been super nice to me! Ms. Toriel offered me a spot at her new school she’s workin’ on settin’ up. Martlet and the others said they’ll help with my schoolwork. I just hope I can keep helpin’ them out when I can.

Those two skeleton guys are really nice. I don’t think my friends have met Frisk’s friends yet, but I know that Martlet would get along real well with papyrus. He’s real enthusiastic and proud, almost to a fault. He’s got a ton of energy too. Maybe that’s why he offered to take care of Frisk. I see them doin’ morning runs sometimes when i get up early. It’s weird though. I swear that his house always has snow on it even though it’s not winter.

Sans is…I dunno how to describe him other than ‘weird.’ Monsters are pretty weird already, but he’s just…really weird. He pops out of nowhere and he’s apparently already made friends with the local humans. I heard he went into a bar and ordered ‘the usual’ and somehow got chummy with the bartender in like 5 minutes. At least that's what Frisk said Papyrus said Sans said. I get the feelin’ he knows a lot more than he tells people, but I can’t say much since I haven’t really spoken to him much.

Undyne’s intense but super cool! She’s like those heroes I watched in those old movies I would scour around for. She’s not as cool as a cowboy (don’t tell her that, she’s scary!) but she’s still real cool. I hear she’s tryin’ to get a job in the police. I think it’s good for her. She seems like the type to seek out justice, even if she’s a bit…intense.

Dr. Alphys isn’t though. She seems kinda nervous a lot. I get why she is. I don’t agree with what she did, but I get that it was done with good intentions. Ceroba still doesn’t wanna speak to her more than she’s gotta for Kanako. Alphys sometimes calls the families of the ‘amalgamates’ (that’s what Frisk said they were called) and helps ‘em better adapt to the conditions. It seems to be helpin’. I do understand Ceroba though. Probably isn’t a fan of her keepin’ Kanako for so long.

Kanako’s real different from what I thought she’d be. I only heard her from word of mouth, but she seems nice. She’s been real accepting of me even if her dad didn’t like humans. I’m happy for her and Ceroba that they can be together again. She seems real young though, even if it’s been a lot of years. I don’t understand it. Maybe Frisk knows more about it.

And Asgore…I don’t like him. Not one bit. Doesn’t matter if what he did was for grief or out of anger, he still killed those kids. They didn’t have to die. I gave up my soul, but I bet I was one of the few that did. It’s hard to be civil but I’m tryin’ for the good of the politics stuff. 

And uhh…Chara. They’re Toriel’s kid. I heard their story from some of the locals around here. They seem nice enough, but they don’t like me. Frisk told me it was because of their past, but I’m still worried. I wanna let ‘em know I can be a friend to ‘em, but I don’t wanna intrude on them. They’re in the same boat I am of bein’ alive after so long. Honestly they kinda seem lonely. But maybe that’s what they prefer.

I’m not given’ up yet though! There’s gotta be somethin’ I can do to help ‘em out. I think it’ll be good for ‘em. Besides, I really wanna help ‘em out. They seem really angry at humans and I wanna see how I can help them out.

I’m goin’ a bit off here. Sorry, guess there’s been a ton on my mind lately. Maybe I’ll keep writin’ in this actually. It’s helped me get a lot out and I feel a ton better about everythin’. I’ve seen Martlet writin’ in one too sometimes so maybe it’s been helping her. 

I don’t really know how I’m supposed ta end this so…”

“Clover! Dinner’s ready!” Martlet called from the kitchen. Clover looked up from their desk with an excited smile. They shut their journal and clocked off the lamp they had nearby. Pulling their overalls back over their shoulders from where they’d slipped off slightly they excitedly came to the door.

“Comin’ Martlet!” they yelled back as they exited their room. It was quiet now, wind slightly running in through a barely opened window.

Unbeknownst to Clover, however, something began moving into their room. The still undecorated space was entered by a pair of long vines. They skinked their way through the window, searched the floor, and began tracing the desk. 

One of the vines grabbed onto Clover’s journal, a simple brown book with a yellow heart sticker on the front, with the other grabbing another end and quickly retreating.

Around an hour later, when Clover retreated to bed for the night, they thought their desk looked off. They could’ve sworn they had the front of their new journal facing upwards, not the back. They just shrugged it off though. Too tired to ponder it any further, they just put their hat on a rack in the corner of the room, placed their phone on the table, and fell fast asleep.

What Clover didn’t know was that, from a few meters away, a now more informed flower sneakily retreated back into the ground.

Chapter Text

“Alrighty then Clover, you remember where everything’s going?” Martlet asked as the two stepped out of the house’s garage. Clover nodded their head as they adjusted their satchel.

“Yep! And if I forget,” they teased, reaching under their hat. “I got the order list right here.”

“Great! Now…you’re sure you can handle everything people need? I know it’s…a lot.” Martlet was right to be skeptical of the order amount. The two had been kept plenty busy as monsters moved to the surface, so a sizable amount of commissions had come in the mail and been completed. All that was left was for their customers to receive their goods.

“I’m sure Martlet.” Clover patted the dimensional satchel handing from their shoulder. “This thing’s practically weightless no matter what I put in here.”

“If you say so. Just give me a ring if you need help with anything, alright? And don’t overwork yourself.” Clover nodded as Martlet stood back up. The monster adjusted the goggles on her head. “I’ll see you later on, alright?”

“Sounds good. See ya Martlet!” Clover called. Martlet gave a salute as she flapped her wings and took off. Clover meanwhile began walking down the way.

They were happy Martlet had allowed them to help with delivery. There was a large amount of stuff that needed to be moved around quickly, and though she was hesitant due to how much they had been working, Clover ultimately won out in determination. 

Plus it gave them plenty of time to enjoy the surface. Seeing monsters up where the sun shone was amazing of course, but being able to experience it with them made it that much better. The cowpoke checked their list just to make sure they had everything.

‘Alright, let’s see here…Dalv needed that door, Star had us make a pair of shelves, Undyne wanted a…sword holder? And Sans ordered a…dog-shaped totem pole.’ Clover could in no way comprehend Sans’ commission, but money was money and Sans was strange enough as is without them questioning the skeleton. They took off down the road, happy to start their day off right.

They passed a few monsters doing a morning run as they walked to Dalv’s house. They were wearing some sort of armor, members of the former royal guard they figured. Even though it didn’t exist anymore, it seemed Undyne did her best to instill that regiment of physical prowess in them.

From across the street, they saw a group of froggits begin crossing along the crosswalk. Come to think of it, the fallen human still had no idea where the froggits ended up after leaving the underground. They knew some stayed down below as they were accustomed to the ruins, but the ones that left were an enigma.

‘Guess I still gotta learn a lot about monsters, ’ Clover thought as they finally reached their first stop. They smiled as they walked up the path and rang the doorbell, a tune sounding like a pipe organ more than a regular doorbell responding. They supposed it fit for Dalv, however. The vampire monster pried open the door slightly, but immediately widened it once he saw his friend.

“Ah, Clover, hello. It’s good to see you. I-I hope I didn’t keep you waiting,” the monster apologized. Clover nonchalantly just waved their hand.

“No problemo Dalv, I just got here. How’s it going?” Clover asked.

“Well, moving here has been…interesting. I-It has been somewhat frightening meeting so many so soon. A-And the light is…a bit bright for me, but I’m doing what I can,” he said. Clover just smiled at the vampire. “Oh, would you like some tea? I had made some earlier.”

“Sure thing!” Clover said. They set their bag down first, however, and began pulling out the delivery. It was a bit heavy, but a hearty heave was all it took to free the door from its confine in the satchel. “Oh, here’s your door by the way.”

“Ah, thank you Clover. I’ve been meaning to have it switched out for a while now.” Dalv helped Clover move the new door to the side of the home, the monster leading his human friend to a nearby small table. “Take a seat, I will be right back.”

The human sat down and began looking around the home. It was a little bigger than Dalv’s home in the ruins, with a few spare rooms leading out of the main living area. One was sealed shut, likely his bedroom, while another was open just enough for the child to make out a piano in the corner. They smiled to themself. They were happy Dalv kept up his playing, if Star was anything to go by.

“Here we are,” Dalv said as he reentered the room, teapot and two cups in hand. He poured a cup for clover and himself before sitting down. “Thank you again for doing this for me. I know you and Martlet must be very busy.”

“Ah, it’s no trouble. Sure it’s a lot of work but we’re up for it!” they exclaimed. Dalv wasn’t so sure however. He looked Clover over, noticing that the child was a bit thin, eye bags beginning to form under their eyes. 

They knew it couldn’t have been a food problem, as Starlo’s family had begun growing food on the surface and handing it out to those moving up here, so he was worried.

“Really Clover, I would take a break every now and again if you need to. I-It’s not good to overwork yourself like this,” Dalv said with concern. Clover just smiled to hide their annoyance. They checked their phone and noticed the time, panicking slightly as they chugged the rest of their tea.

“Sorry to dash Dalv but I gotta go. Thanks for the tea! I’ll see you later,” they said, quickly walking out the door with a wave to their friend. Dalv waved absently to the child as he looked at the door.

“I wonder if purple was the wrong color for the bathroom…”

Meanwhile, Clover was already on their way to the next stop. They were right in that they wanted to keep to a schedule, but they also kind of wanted to leave the awkward situation that had come about. They didn’t want everyone to keep worrying about them like they had been.

The monsters were finally on the surface. They had everything they could ever want. Yet they kept wanting Clover to rest when so much had to be done. Working with Martlet to make monsters a little more comfortable outside of the underground was the least they could do.

They had spaced out so much they didn’t even realize they’d walked past Undyne’s house. They quickly doubled back, hopping up the stairs and knocking on the door. The house…looked like a fish? There was a saying about staying ‘on-brand’ but this seemed a little…much.

“There ya are kid! Good to see you!” Undyne said as she launched the door open. Clover chuckled slightly at the intensity, Undyne coughing into her hand. “Ah, sorry, guess I got a little loud there. Come on in!”

Clover cautiously entered, seeing that the house was actually very homely inside. There was a table in the middle of the kitchen area and a makeshift desk with a computer to the side of the living room. They dug into the satchel and brought out the commission as Undyne searched the drawers for the payment.

“Alright kid, got the cash for you. Thanks again for this,” she said kindly. Clover smiled at her as they handed the former captain her order. It was a large sheath for a sword that had a strap on the front, allowing it to be hauled over the woman’s shoulder. “Those punks at that con will be terrified of me! Fuhuhu!”

“Pleasure doin’ business with ya,” Clover said as they tipped their hat. As they turned to leave, Undyne quickly stopped them. “Somethin’ wrong?” they asked.

“Not really, Alphys just wanted you to have this. Said she wants you to stop by her lab when you’ve got the time to look you over.” Clover looked at the paper in their hand, noticing it was a card for an appointment at Alphys’ lab. They weren’t sure why they needed a paper when Alphys had set up their phone, but maybe it was a formality.

A formality Clover didn’t much appreciate. “I’ll think about it,” they said, walking back towards the door. They smiled at Undyne once again, a bit more forced than before. “Have a nice day. Give Dr. Alphys my regards!”

“Will do, kid. See ya!” she called as the door was closed. Clover let out a sigh as they started towards the Ketsukane residence.

‘I don’t get what all the fuss is about ,’ they thought to themself. ‘I’m fine. Yet everyone still wants to treat me like…like I can’t keep going. ’ The amount of doting and concern coming from the monsters was beginning to weigh on the child. They really were fine. So what if they skipped a meal here and there to get more work done? So what if they didn’t sleep a whole lot so they could make sure the place was neat and tidy? They needed to keep everything going to please them. They’d been grieved long enough.

“Howdy Clover!” a voice came that jolted the child out of their thoughts. Standing outside the rather large home was Starlo, wearing a simple farming getup instead of his cowboy gear. He was tending to some of the flowers that decorated the outside of the home. The child didn’t see Ceroba or Kanako outside with him, but they figured they were inside. Their house was one of the bigger ones in the area, so there was likely a lot to be done. “Feathers got you doin’ deliveries now?”

“Kinda. I offered to take some of the smaller stuff,” they said, patting their satchel. Starlo nodded in affirmation before ushering them closer. Once Clover was, the sheriff pulled his deputy into a hug, one that Clover graciously accepted.

“So good to see ya, Deputy. Feels like it’s been a hot minute since you stopped by. Keepin’ busy I take it?” Clover nodded their head. “Sounds good, just be sure to not overdo it, alright? My pa nearly threw out his back tryin’ to haul five boxes of corn one time.” Starlo chuckled slightly at that, but Clover was silent.

The sheriff quickly noticed. “Hey, you alright Clover?”

“I’m fine , Star. I just…” Clover trailed off, balling their hands into fists as they tried to find the right words. Starlo’s hand found their shoulder, the monster smiling at his friend.

“Hey, whatever it is, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he said to them, ditching the accent completely. “Look, I get it, you want to keep busy and work as hard as you can. But we just want to make sure you’re doing it without hurting yourself.” Clover looked their friend in the eyes, nothing but kindness looking at the child through Star’s glasses. “We’re here for you Clover.”

Clover smiled at the monster and gave him another hug. “Thanks Star,” they said. They reached into their bag, handing the pair of shelves to him. “You said you had screws and everything?”

“Yep. I think we’ve got ‘em in one of the moving boxes. Thanks again Clover,” they said ruffling their hat a little. Clover let out a small laugh as they started on their way again. “Oh, and hey, deputy! You better come visit once we’re all settled, y’hear?”

“Clover shot Starlo a wink and finger guns in confirmation, the sheriff smiling as he reciprocated the gesture. The child smiled as they continued down the road. They checked their list of orders again, crossing off who he had visited, and leaving only one delivery left.

It didn’t take very long to reach the skeleton brothers’ house. Not like it was easy to miss, anyway. The roof had snow on it despite it being the start of fall, with Christmas decorations strung about on it. If Clover didn’t know better, they would have though that the house had been pulled straight from the underground.

They stepped up to the porch to, surprisingly, find Martlet waiting at the door. The monster noticed her friend and waved at them, Clover quickly hopping up to meet her. “Hey Clover! I didn’t expect to see you again so soon!”

“Me neither. You finished up already?” they asked. Martlet nodded her head.

“Yeah. Turns out fixing up Dina’s bar was a lot easier than I’d thought. So I figured I could meet Papyrus a bit early,” she explained.

“Wait, what’re ya meetin’ Papyrus for? We only have the one order,” Clover questioned. Martlet just patted their head, a smug smile on her beak.

“Oh my young friend, even adults need to have some time to do stuff outside of work. And Papyrus and I are planning something BIG for when everyone’s all moved in. You just wait and see!” she said enthusiastically. Clover laughed a little as Martlet knocked affirmatively on the door. It took another two knocks before it finally opened, a figure in a green sweater coming out to meet them.

“Greetings. You must be Martlet,” Chara said upon seeing the two. “ Papyrus said you weren’t due for…another…” Their attention turned to Clover, their expression souring. “Come on in,” they said, quickly leading them in. Clover frowned a bit at the dismissive remark from Chara. When the two entered, the first fallen human had already retreated to a room Clover assumed was Frisk’s.

“hey you two. paps is finishing somethin’ up, so he’ll be here in a sec martlet,” Sans said from his spot at the couch. He was reading a book of some kind. What it was Clover couldn’t tell. The skeleton had a pair of reading glasses taped onto the sides of his skull, making him look that much stranger. “you got my package?”

“Yep. One…mini dog totem pole,” Clover said with skepticism. They pulled the item out of their satchel, no bigger than a wrench, and handed it to Sans. The skeleton smiled as he took it and placed it in his jacket pocket.

“thanks kid. hey, if you don’t have anything else you’re doing, you wanna hang with the other kids? they’re in frisk’s room,” Sans offered, pointing to the room. Clover nodded, leaving their boots at the door as they headed up the stairs. Cautiously, they knocked on the door, Frisk popping out a few seconds later.

“Oh hey Clover! I didn’t know you were coming over!” they said with enthusiasm. Clover nodded their head with a smirk.

“Well, all my deliveries for the day are done, so I don’t see any reason not to hang with you guys,” they said. Frisk smiled and moved, allowing Clover to see inside. Chara was glaring at them with daggers in their crimson red eyes, making the cowpoke a bit nervous. But…Frisk was there, so how bad could it be?

With caution and bravery, Clover stepped into the room.

Chapter Text

Clover was very confused. Not for any particular reason, Frisk's room wasn't exactly out of the ordinary, but confused nonetheless.

Frisk’s room wasn’t what they had expected. Well, truth be told, they didn’t know what to expect. They’d been around Frisk for a collective four hour at most prior to this, but even still, they were surprised.

The room was lined with posters for all sorts of things. There was one of Mettaton advertising one of his shows as well as one next to it of a band they hadn’t heard of. ‘Songs of Silk’ wasn’t a group they were familiar with.

There were a few knick knacks here and there, but nothing that would take up too much room. They wondered if Frisk had a sort of ‘minimalist lifestyle’ from before they fell like they did. 

Frisk had a game of cards laid out on the floor by their bedside. Chara had a set in their hands and Frisk picked up another as they sat down. They motioned for Clover to join them, another set already out and sorted. “Sans was playing with us, but he ditched a little while ago. Said he’d take a ‘rain check’ or something,” the ambassador said. Clover just shrugged. That did sound like Sans.

“You’re welcome to join, I guess,” Chara said quietly. Clover saw how Frisk was side-eyeing the other human. Clearly in an attempt to make them be nice to the guest. Clover didn’t want Frisk to force Chara to be nice to them, but…it was nicer than constantly having Chara scowl at them. Clover took a seat and picked up their cards.

“I remember this! I used ta play with some of the local kids,” Clover said. Uno was a pretty easy game to understand anyway, but Clover still appreciated at least something had stayed the same in their absence.

“Oh! I just had a fun idea,” Frisk said, intriguing Clover and forcing Chara to look up. “Since Clover’s new, how about we tell each other something about us when we put down a card?”

“Like truth or dare?” Clover asked.

“Sorta. Just follow my lead,” Frisk said. They put down a green card and looked up. “My name is Frisk, and I’m 10 years old.”

Chara’s turn came next, and they begrudgingly put a card down. “Chara. 11.”

“Come on Chara, have some fun! We’ve got someone new here, we should be welcoming,” Frisk said. Chara grumbled something to themself before looking at Clover with a smile.

Not a natural one, but it was something.

Clover looked at their cards, seeing they had one that fit, and put it on the pile. “I’m Clover, and I’m 10.”

“See, there we go!” Frisk said. They pulled a card from the deck and put it in their hand. “I don’t think we should do it when we draw, or we’ll be here forever,” they said. Clover chuckled a little and Chara rolled their eyes. Nonetheless, both kids agreed with the other child.

For a few rounds, things continued just like that. The three children went around the circle, sometimes switching directions. Frisk kept hitting their competition with +2 and +4 cards, which was annoying the others immensely. Clover and Chara, in retaliation, tried skipping Frisk as much as possible to protect their own chances. Well, Clover did anyway. Chara was a bit more unpredictable.

They also shared a lot between one another, albeit not with the same willingness.

To no surprise, the ambassador was the most forthcoming. Apparently Frisk’s surname was just ‘Surname’ which they refused to elaborate on, they had stayed past curfew more times than not exploring whatever they could, and their favorite color was red. 

Chara tried dodging giving information constantly, landing themselves more and more cards, but once in a while they did share something. Like how they were born with rosy red cheeks with no knowledge as to why and that they had lived in the underground for a year after falling in.

Clover was happy to share some things, like how they had gotten to ride a horse when they were very little and their time as deputy of the Wild East, but they also tried dodging answers, especially concerning their life on the surface before falling.

It was down to the last few. Each of them had only two cards left. Frisk eyes the other two with determination. Clover could swear they saw their eyes glow red. Chara had murder in their eyes as they anticipated the next move. Clover’s turn was up, and they needed to throw a card down. They had a 3, but they needed to be fast. Frisk wanted to win, and Chara wanted them to lose, so they needed to play this right.

“Uno!” the cowpoke said as they quickly threw down the card and retreated their hand. Frisk looked dumbfounded at Clover while Chara had a slight look of shock. It was like Clover’s hand had dashed before their eyes. Clover, meanwhile, was incredibly proud of themself. “And for my next fun fact: I’ve only died twice!”

Now the positions were changed, with Clover being the shocked one. They don’t know why that had slipped out. It was as if the entire room’s atmosphere had changed. They felt like they were being studied by the other two, Frisk with shock and Chara with intrigue. 

“Wait…but…how?” Frisk asked. Clover wanted to disappear as a finger pointed to them. “You…people only die once. You came back, but...unless…” The ambassador trailed off.

“W-Well I…n-nevermind, just….c-can we pretend that I didn’t say anything?” they asked in desperation. However, Chara wouldn’t let them.

“You’ve died twice, yeah? So you can LOAD? You can RESET?” they asked. As if those words were casual and not confusing to most. Clover felt something deep inside, however. Something…a memory…that they had nearly forgotten. It was when they had first fallen, after all. In the dark ruins, there was…

“A flower…” they said quietly, catching Frisk and Chara’s attention again. “When I fell into the ruins, I…I fell down a hole. Really early, I think. And there was a…a-a flower. He said he could ‘SAVE’ for me. I…I still don’t know what he meant. But he said that I…had died. Before I, well, before I died again.”

Frisk was absolutely shocked. At least Clover thought they were. The other child was a bit hard to read. “Did this flower…talk to you?” Frisk asked intently. Chara was now more curious than ever. “Like…not like an echo flower, but…with new words. It’s own words.”

Clover was surprised. They wondered if Frisk knew about their ‘friend.’ If Flowey could even be called that. Sure Flowey helped them during their journey. He was a safety net. The idea Clover could come back if something…went wrong, it helped them sturdy themself during the journey. When they had met Flowey in the apartment building, he had said something abut Clover dying.

But Clover couldn’t remember it.

Maybe that was a side effect of Flowey’s SAVE. They couldn’t remember what happened from saving and moving on other than that they hadn’t died. And what he said…a lot of it seemed more bitter than helpful.

“If I tell you, please…promise you won’t tell anyone,” Clover pleaded. “He might…be upset. He seemed to avoid people a lot, a-and I don’t want to betray him, but…if you guys know him, maybe it’s alright. But please. Promise,” Clover asked. Frisk immediately agreed, wanting to help the cowpoke. Chara nodded their head silently, wanting answers.

“Okay. So…I did know a flower.”

And Clover told them. They told them about Flowey. At least, what they knew about him. How he could ‘SAVE’ and ‘LOAD’ to make sure Clover lived. How he had a death count of the fallen human’s deaths before Clover had faced Ceroba. And how they had heard Flowey talking during their final moments. They didn’t specify how they died, but Clover really didn’t want to talk about it. Chara and Frisk listened intently to Clover’s retelling.

“Wow. I had no idea you had met Flowey. Or that he was so…” Frisk said quietly. “Oh, uhh…I met Flowey too. But he was a lot less…”

“He was a jackass,” Chara said casually, earning a stern look from Frisk.

“Chara!”

“What? You know it’s true.”

“I’ll tell Toriel you said a no-no word.”

“Frisk, please don’t bring my mother into this.”

“So wait…you’ve both met him?” Clover asked. The two looked at one another, Chara shrugging.

“Well, sort of. We…met him early on. At least, I did. Chara was…a ghost?” they looked at Chara who nodded with a shrug. “Or at least something like that, and they stuck with me in the underground until the barrier broke. Whatever gave you your body back, I think it gave them theirs back too,” they explained to Clover. Now a lot more was beginning to make sense to Clover. 

“Okay. I…I still have questions, but…I guess those can wait until later. Umm…where were we?” Clover asked. The other two were happy to get back to their game. Frisk looking at their cards once more with determination to win. Clover tried getting their mind off of the flower, but it was harder than they thought.

A yellow card wasn’t the best way to keep the yellow flower out of their thoughts.

A few more hours of Uno (they had decided to scrap telling facts after the Flowey debacle) Toriel came by to pick Chara up. Clover thought they heard her mention something about a big group picnic she and Ceroba had been planning, but they could’ve been mistaken. 

Clover left not long after. Martlet had finished whatever she and Papyrus had been up to and was keen on getting a good rest. It was sunset outside as Clover said goodbye to Frisk and the skeleton brothers.

The fallen human could’ve sworn Chara had genuinely smiled a couple times they’d been playing cards, but they could be wrong. The Dreemurr child still had a keen annoyance with them it seemed, but at the very least they were trying, even if it was because Frisk forced them to.

As they waved goodbye to Frisk and started down the road behind Martlet, they could’ve sworn they saw a vine poking out from behind a bush. Then again, it could just be part of the greenery surrounding the home. With a house stuck in December during the middle of September, anything was possible.

Frisk watched the pair head off before something tapping on their foot caught their attention. They told the brothers they’d be right back before heading to the shed nearby. Papyrus had refurbished his ‘human capturing station’ into an actual shed and garage where his car was parked.

As Frisk rounded the corner, they spotted a yellow flower sulking to himself. “You know, you could just come out in front of us,” they said.

“Yeah right, like I trust any of them. Papyrus would freak out, Sans would kill me, and old ‘bird brain’ would probably drag me to her place for study,” Flowey said sassily. Besides, doing this makes it easier.”

“Makes what easier?"

“Not having to deal with…all of the noise,” Flowey said to himself. However, Frisk caught it, smiling at him. “What’re you so cheery for?”

“You’re embarrassed to talk to Clover and Chara, aren’t you?” they asked. Flowey spluttered to himself, offended.

“Ha! As if! You’ve seen those two. Chara can barely stand Clover and that little twerp is gonna keep trying to win Chara’s favor. It won’t work,” he said bitterly. “And you forcing Chara to play nice won’t either, so don’t offer.”

“I know,” Frisk defeatedly said. They sank to the ground to sit by Flowey. “But I don’t know what to do. I mean…Chara hates humans. I know that. But…they grew to like me. At least I think they do. And Clover deserves the chance to meet a decent human.”

“Oh, and how do you plan on doing that?”

“I don’t know. But…I’ll think of something. Chara came back this time. And somehow, Clover did too. Whether it was you or some other force in the code, this is new. And I’m going to make it the best new they’ve ever seen.” With that, Frisk departed with a hearty goodbye and wave, leaving a very frustrated Flowey behind.

Frisk had a good heart, that Flowey knew. At least they did now. Maybe they finally decided to live their life. But their idea wouldn’t work. Hell, they didn’t even HAVE an idea. Whatever they did to get Clover and Chara to actually confront one another and be chummy, it wasn’t happening. Not unless…

Just then, as he was pondering everything he had learned the past week, Flowey got an idea.

An awful idea.

Flowey got a wonderful, awful idea.

Chapter Text

Clover tapped the microphone in front of them. They didn’t know why the Feisty Five had offered to have them sing at Dina’s that night. Probably to better introduce them to all the returning and new patrons stopping by. Clover could see Kanako, Ceroba, and Starlo at a table nearby, with Martlet at the bar talking with a human woman in a suit.

Clover and the four had gone over the routine several times beforehand to make sure everything was perfect. All that was left was a song.

And Clover knew exactly what to do as Moray started playing the piano. As everyone got seated and lights went to the five on the stage, Clover began to sing.

“Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me, I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed.

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb in the shape of an "L" on her forehead.

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming,

fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun,

Your brain gets smart, but your head gets dumb.

So much to do, so much to see,

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go,

You'll never shine if you don't go.

Hey now, you're an all star,

Get your game on, go play.

Hey now, you're a rock star,

Get the show on, get paid.

All that glitters is gold,

Only shooting stars break the mold.

It's a cool place, and they say it gets colder,

You're bundled up now, wait 'til you get older

But the media men beg to differ,

Judging by the hole in the satellite picture.

The ice we skate is getting pretty thin,

The water's getting warm so you might as well swim.

My world's on fire, how 'bout yours?

That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored.

Hey now, you're an all star,

Get your game on, go play.

Hey now, you're a rock star,

Get the show on, get paid.

All that glitters is gold,

Only shooting stars break the mold.

Hey now, you're an all star,

Get your game on, go play.

Hey now, you're a rock star,

Get the show on, get paid.

All that glitters is gold,

Only shooting stars...

Somebody once asked, could I spare some change for gas, "I need to get myself away from this place."

I said yep, 

What a concept.

I could use a little fuel myself,

And we could all use a little chaaange.

Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming,

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running.

Didn't make sense not to live for fun,

Your brain gets smart, but your head gets dumb.

So much to do, so much to see,

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go,

You'll never shine if you don't glow.

Hey now, you're an all star,

Get your game on, go play.

Hey now, you're a rock star,

Get the show on, get paid.

All that glitters is gold,

Only shooting stars break the mold.

All that glitters is gold,

Only shooting stars break the mold.”

The entire bar erupted in applause as the song ended. Some of the humans had been laughing during the song, which Clover expected, but they weren’t mad. They were aware their song choice was a bit of an oddball.

But they didn’t care. Clover got to have some fun with their friends. No need to be worried for their safety, or feelings of being trapped with no escape. No. They were finally able to be free.

They could finally be the all star they always wanted to be.

Chapter Text

‘Alright, got a tent, sleeping bag, journal, snacks, flint and steel…what else…’

Clover checked over their list again for what they needed for the trip. Ceroba would be by soon so they could go on their camping trip. The monster had offered them and Martlet to join them on a camping trip they were having with Toriel and her friends. Clover had no clue when their friend and the former queen had gotten to talking, but they were glad for her.

Of course, Martlet agreed right away, and Clover couldn’t help but join in. Learning Asgore wouldn’t be there helped convince them, they wouldn’t lie. They still didn’t want to talk to him. It seemed Ceroba and Toriel felt the same. When they had agreed, the pair had began looking for materials they would need for a camping trip.

Which is what led Clover to having a backpack ready. They offered to use the satchel, but they also wanted to do it ‘the old-fashioned way’ they had heard about online. They were very excited to go on the trip. They’d never been camping before.

“Oh! Right!” they thought, searching one of the drawers in their room. They pulled out a few packs of gunpowder and put them in the bag. “Can’t hurt to bring some extras.” When Clover checked the drawer again, they spotted something.

Their old Wild Revolver.

Clover hadn’t gotten it when Frisk gave their stuff back. The ambassador had given them their old toy gun which somehow could hold real live ammo. Or at the very least as close to real ammo as coffee beans, ice, and literal rocks could be.

But the revolver in their dresser was one they had gotten from Starlo. With Blackjack moving to the surface, he had a closing sale at his shop and offered to give Starlo Clover’s old revolver the sheriff had to return. Of course, the sheriff had agreed, and given the gun to Clover a few days into being on the surface.

Now, Clover looked at it…strangely. As if they’d…used it before.

They’d done target practice both underground and in the backyard of the house, sure, but this was a real gun , one that a child probably shouldn’t have. A real weapon that could kill someone. And they had never killed anybody. Not with any weapon, much less this one.

They had shot at some of the steamworks robots in anger, but had always spared them in the end. They didn’t know why they felt this…feeling with the revolver. As if they feared it. But…they had heard that there were dangerous animals in the woods sometimes. With slight hesitation, Clover replaced the toy gun with the revolver in their holster, making sure nothing was loaded into it.

“Clover, you ready? We’re going to head out in a few minutes here!” Martlet called from downstairs. Clover jumped a little before stealing their nerves. They grabbed their had and threw it atop their head before hopping down the stairs.

“I’m ready Martlet! Got everythin’ I need for the trip,” they said. They smiled at their caretaker as they entered the living area, spotting Martlet putting a few sticks of wood in her much larger bag. “Uhh…don’t they got firewood up there?”

“Huh? Oh, no this is for something else,” Martlet informed. “You know, if something comes to mind and I can’t wait until we get back home.”

“But we’ll only be gone a couple days,” Clover said. But they decided to roll with it as Martlet shrugged. Martlet heaved her bag onto her back as the pair heard a car pull up in front of their house. Clover and Martlet stepped out, seeing a minivan parked out front. The door opened on the side, Kanako and Dalv hopping out.

“Hi Clover! Hi auntie Martlet!” Kanako called with a smile on her monochrome face. The young amalgamate rushed up to the two and wrapped them in a gooey hug. Gross for many, but comforting to the two who hugged back.

“Good to see you Kanako,” Martlet said, helping the young monster down. She looked at Dalv, who waved at them. “Hey Dalv! Didn’t know you were coming along.”

“O-Oh, well, S-Starlo said it would be good to meet some new people. A-And it could be fun!” he said, trying to hide his nervousness.

“It took me SO LONG to make him agree to come with!” Kanako complained, the two adults laughing as Clover shook Dalv’s hand. “Are you ready for the most awesomest camping adventure ever?”

“Heck yeah, pard'ner!” Clover said, shooting the young girl a thumbs up. They could hear Ceroba giggling from the driver’s seat of the car behind them. “So…where’d you guys get a van?” they asked as they walked up to the open door.

“Got a rental a few days ago. Thankfully we were able to get one fairly quickly. No thanks to someone ,” she said, shooting a nasty glare at her passenger princess.

“Oh come on, Ceroba, it ain’t my fault that the dealer wouldn’t accept I didn’t have a last name! Besides, he had it out for me I tell ya.”

“Star, he was 19.”

“Ah, potato tomato. Point being: I hate that place.”

The others laughed as Clover and Martlet added their bags to the back. Everybody quickly piled into the van, Clover and Kanako taking the back while Dalv and Martlet snuck into the middle.

“Everybody ready?” Ceroba asked from the driver’s seat. Everybody buckled up and nodded to the kitsune. “Alright, here we go!”

Clover was startled awake as Kanako tugged on their shoulder. They had seemingly fallen asleep on the drive up to the campsite. Clover looked out the window and saw the winding road. They were near Mt. Ebott, no mistake. They knew the mountain well. But they had no idea these kinds of things were set up around the peak.

“Why’re we headin’ up the mountain? They asked, still rubbing their eyes from waking up. 

“When the barrier broke, there weren’t enough houses for everybody to move into right away. Hundreds of new faces would flood every community and not all humans were accepting of us. So the ambassador and king had campsites set up around the base for monsters who didn’t want to wait in their homes,” Ceroba explained.

“Nowadays they’re no different from any other site,” Starlo continued. “Well, they’re mostly monsters, but still.”

Clover nodded in understanding. They supposed it had made sense. Ebott did have a fair few areas that would make great spots for camping. At least it did when they had climbed the mountain.

The van turned into a wooded area, pulling to a stop within the campground. “We’re here,” Ceroba said, putting the vehicle in park as the crew began moving out of the vehicle. The middle seat was moved forward once Martlet and Dalv exited, allowing Clover to climb out Kanako had shrunk down and passed them already.

The Ketsukane child would never not surprise the fallen human.

Clover looked around the site after grabbing their backpack, spotting a few vehicles parked around. It was a pretty big spot, which made sense with their party, a big area in the center with vehicles parked around it. They saw a red sports car that, judging by the license plate, was Papyrus’. 

A kids tricycle was right next to it blocking the driver’s side door. Clover knew immediately who’s that was.

That was the only vehicle there, and without another vehicle present, Clover figured that the rest of the group would show up later on. A few people began walking out from the trees nearby, voices sounding out.

“Told you Papyrus! You can’t hold more logs than I can! Nyahaha!” Undyne cackled as she jogged back, a huge stack of wood over each of her shoulders.

“THAT MAY BE UNDYNE, BUT ONLY THE GREAT PAPYRUS COULD BRING SO MUCH FIREWOOD AND LOOK THIS AMAZING! NYEHEHE!” Papyrus boasted behind her, a smaller yet still oversized pile of wood over his shoulders.

“you got it bro, i think you win,” Sans said, strolling up between the two. Papyrus side-eyed his brother and groaned.

“Sans, you literally picked up a stick and started walking back,” Undyne said as she set the wood down in front of the firepit. Papyrus set his pile down nearby.

“ah come on undyne, you know i ‘wood’ have done more if i hadn’t taken that afternoon ‘sap,’ he retorted, earning a groan from the two monsters accompanying him.

“REALLY BROTHER, YOU DON’T NEED TO PUT SUCH LITTLE EFFORT INTO GETTING WOOD FOR TONIGHT. EVEN FRISK BROUGHT MORE THAN YOU!” Papyrus complained. Sans just shrugged as he tossed the stick into the fire pit. Frisk trundled up behind him, the child hauling a few pieces of wood in their arms.

“It’s alright Papyrus. After all, he’s ‘tree-ing’ very hard,” they said, shooting a smile the taller brother’s way. Papyrus groaned as Sans shot them a finger gun, which was returned in kind.

“OH MY GOD YOU’RE BOTH TERRIBLE!” Papyrus complained. Undyne just rolled her eye as she spotted the newcomers.

“Oh hey! Was wondering when you guys would show up,” she said, waving to the group. They all (minus Dalv) waved back, the vampire being a bit nervous in front of the former guard captain. They walked towards the other group, Starlo offering to start setting up the tents. “What took you so long?”

“Traffic,” Martlet groaned. Her former boss laughed with a smile and offered her a hand, one which Martlet accepted in kind.

“Good to see you again, Martlet. Don’t think I’ve met your friends though,” Undyne said. Martlet jumped a little surprise before gesturing to the rest of them.

“Oh, s-sorry chief-I mean Undyne! Ugh. A-Anyway, this is Ceroba, Kanako, and Dalv. And over there is Starlo,” she introduced. The monsters all waved at the former captain, who did likewise. “And I think you’ve met Clover before.”

“Sure did. Good to see you again, kid,” she said. Clover smiled at her and offered a high five. Undyne’s toothy grin showed as she gave their hand a slap. “You kids ready for the best camping trip ever?” she said to Clover and Kanako.

“You bet!”

“Heck yeah! Yeeeehaaaaw!”

“That’s what I like to hear! Nyaaaah!” she yelled as she scooped the kids up, running over to where the firewood was being stacked.

“Hey, be careful!” Martlet called. She sighed as the three ran off, Ceroba putting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“They’ll be fine Martlet. Believe me, if anybody can handle this, it’s those two,” she said. She was a little worried, but she was still confident in the two to keep out of trouble.

Clover got through the entire underground mostly on their own. A little roughhousing wouldn’t even leave a scratch.

It took a few hours (and a lot of arguing) before everything was finally set. A few tents had been set up around the campfire, with the skeleton brothers doubling up alongside Starlo and Ceroba. Martlet had offered to have Clover room with her, but Clover declined, wanting to spend some time getting to know Kanako. Ceroba said it was alright, though told the two to be careful.

As Clover finally put the last of their things in their tent, they heard a car pull into the site. They ducked out of the tent, spotting a purple van similar in model to Ceroba’s rental parking behind Papyrus. 

Toriel stepped out of it, the back door opening as Alphys and Chara stepped out. Undyne quickly swept her girlfriend up, peppering her with kisses.

“U-Undyne! T-There are children here!” the former royal scientist complained. Undyne didn’t care though, continuing the PDA to the complaint of the human.

“Yes, please, go do that in your tent or something,” Chara quipped. They quickly walked over to help their mom bring the equipment to the others.

“oh, there you are tori. was wondering when you would get here,” Sans commented. The skeleton had a lawn chair out and was reading a book of some kind. Clover swore they could see another book behind the first one.

“Apologies, Sans. Traffic was a bit of a ‘roadblock,’’ she quipped. The two laughed to one another, Chara just rolling their eyes. “Oh, I believe Frisk is putting up their tent over there. Go ahead and get set up Chara.”

“Will do,” Chara said, glad to be outside the range of their other’s terrible puns. Clover rushed up to them with a smile.

“Howdy Chara! Good to see you!” Clover said kindly. They gave a polite wave, one which Chara ignored.

“Greetings,” they bitterly snapped, continuing forward. Clover was once more downtrodden at Chara’s cold tone. Kanako seemed to have noticed as she was quickly at the cowpoke’s side.

“Are you alright Clover? What was that about?” she asked. Clover could only shrug their shoulders sadly.

“I dunno. They don’t seem ta like me very much,” Clover said. Kanako frowned and gave Clover a hug. “I’m alright, Kanako. I just…I dunno if it’s me or what.”

“Well…whatever it is, I’m sure that you can find a way to make them a friend!” Kanako said. Clover smiled as they hugged their friend. “Oh! I heard Mom was going to make…’smores.’ What are those?” she asked. 

“Well, ya take come crackers and chocolate…” Clover said, the two walking over to where the fire was being lit. Starlo kept trying to get a spark with the kit he had brought, but it wasn’t getting very far. Clover’s train of thought was cut off when Toriel quickly lit the fire with a wave of her hand.

“Dang it all,” Starlo said, sulking in his chair. Ceroba chuckled and dipped his hat in front of his face. “You’re not helping, ‘Roba.”

“Wasn’t trying to,” she teased. The group laughed at their antics as everyone got seated in their chairs. Chara and Frisk were the last to join them, all of their things put away. Frisk took a seat next to Clover while Chara sat next to Frisk on the opposite side, making sure there was a sizable space between themself and Clover.

“Who’s ready for marshmallows!” Martlet said as she bright a few bags up to the circle. Soon everybody was roasting either marshmallows or hot dogs over the open fire. Some had brought specific roasting sticks, others with makeshift sticks from the piles of wood.

And Sans, of course, had somehow gotten 12 hot dogs on a fishing rod, both to many’s bewilderment and Papyrus’ annoyance.

However, as the group continued chatting and eating, something was rummaging in the ambassador’s tent. A few things were dragged away, mainly a journal with a red heart on the front. It was quickly returned after a few minutes, right before Frisk and Chara made their way to the tent.

When Ceroba had begun to bring out the drinks, Toriel began sending the kids to bed. Even if they denied it, they were all fairly tired from the long day. Clover and Kanako retreated to their tent while Frisk and Chara went to theirs.

“Huh. That’s weird,” Frisk said as they got settled into their sleeping bag.

“What is?” Chara asked.

“I could’ve sworn I had put this in my backpack,” they said, holding their journal up to Chara. “But it was sitting behind my pillow.”

“Maybe you wrote something and forgot?” Chara asked. Frisk internally denied it, but it wasn’t out of the question. “Let’s just get some sleep. Goodnight Frisk,” Chara said. Frisk groaned to themself at their dismissiveness, but Chara’s eyebags seemed worse than usual. Maybe they were just tired. It had been a lot for them to do all of this.

And with Clover a few tents down…

Frisk shook it off. Chara probably just wanted an excuse to be with their own thoughts. They could at the very least understand that. Frisk turned out the light and put their journal by their backpack, drifting off to sleep.

It was a few hours later when Frisk saw it. A shape moving from outside the tent. They quietly reached for the small pocket knife in their backpack and snuck outside the tent. Right outside the opened flap was Flowey, a bright smile on his face.

“Howdy Frisk. Good to see ya,” he said quietly. It was a fake cheeriness, Frisk could tell right away. He was up to something.

“Flowey, what are you doing here? What’s wrong?” Frisk asked, wishing to know what was wrong with their friend.

“Oh it’s nothing. But…you know…I just thought of a fun game we could play.” Frisk looked at him quizzically for a moment. “It’s called THINK FAST!”

Within half a moment, Frisk was tied up in vines, falling to the ground in front of the tent. Before they could tell what was happening, something hit them in the back of the head, knocking them out. Flowey quickly ran off, dragging Frisk with him into the woods.

Before he left, one of his vines left a note in front of Chara and Clover, puncturing the tents and leaving a note behind. It didn’t take long for both humans to wake up in their respective tents, looking at the notes in front of them, and running outside.

Let’s play hide and seek! I’ve got Frisk, come and find me. :)

- Your Best Friend

Chapter Text

Chara and Clover scoured the campsite for any sign of where Frisk went. Given their previous experience with a ‘best friend,’ they both immediately knew who it was.

“Where’d they go?!” Clover shouted, still trying to keep their voice down. They didn’t want to cause a panic.

“Oh, like I would no. Get searching. They can’t have gone far,” Chara said. They pulled a knife out from behind them and carefully snuck around, ready to strike if need be. Clover kept a hand near their revolver in case the same happened.

“Oh. I got something!” they called to Chara. The first fallen child went to them, spotting the same thing the cowpoke had. “It looks like flower petals. Do you think it’s him?”

“Must be. I don’t see any flowers out here,” Chara said. They saw the trail leading into the forest, resolve steady as they ventured onwards. “You stay here. I’ll go after Frisk.

“No way! I can’t just sit here while you run out there,” Clover retorted. Chara grumbled to themself.

“I wasn’t asking. Go back and wait for us to return. I don’t need you.”

“Well I don’t care. Frisk is my friend too, and I’m going whether you like it or not.” Clover angrily got in the other child’s face. “I don’t care if you hate me, but we both care about our friend. So either you and I go together or go separately.” The cowpoke wouldn’t budge, backing Chara into a corner.

“ Fine. Let’s go,” Chara relented. The two began running in the direction of Flowey’s supposed path, the petals leading deeper and deeper into the woods.

The two had been going through rough terrain for roughly an hour now, loose twigs and branches littering the makeshift path. There were trails around thirsite, but this clearly wasn’t one of them. Chara held a flashlight in front of them as they moved through the rough area, avoiding anything that would impede them.

Clover had their phone on them, using its limited flashlight to illuminate behind them. There were no signs of anything else moving with them in the forest, but they still kept a hand near their gun just in case.

Even if they really didn’t want to use it.

They were scared witless when they bumped into Chara, the first fallen angrily shushing them as they came to a fork in the path. Three ways lay before them, petals ran one way while an actual hiking trail went ahead. The last was blank.

“We should go left,” Clover said, pointing to the path with the petals. “It’s led us this far, hasn’t it?”

“But what if it’s a trick,” Chara argued. “Flowey’s as unpredictable as he is clever. It could lead to one of us being taken as well.

“But he wouldn’t! Why would he change all of a sudden? We should go left,” Clover fought back.

“Typical. Just keep following where you’re strung along to.” Clover was getting tired of Chara’s arguing. “Why should we trust him? Unless you forgot, he took Frisk.”

“But why?! He must have had some reason to do it. He wouldn’t just…do that,” Clover tried defending.

“He had no SOUL. He’s not-” Chara stopped themself, retreating into themself. “Whatever. Fine. Let’s see where this goes.” Chara marched forward and began running down the petalled path. Clover yelled after them as they tried to catch up.

Chara was hard to catch, the first fallen making a run for it to try and find Frisk as soon as possible. Clover hopped around, barely making it past some obstacles as they ran after Chara. “Chara! Wait for me! Hold on!” Clover yelled, but Chara ignored them. Clover hurried up, trying to get to them.

Just then, Clover saw something. A tree branch was beginning to fall, and Chara was sprinting right towards it. “CHARA! WATCH OUT!” they yelled, going as fast as they could.

Clover wasn’t sure what happened next. One minute they were reaching out for Chara, the next the branch had fallen behind them and Chara had been tackled to the ground. Clover was breathing heavily as they hopped off, laying down on the ground and trying to get their breath back.

‘What…was that? ’ they thought, They felt something resonate within their SOUL. Something they hadn’t felt since… “Wait…did I just…use a dash? I didn’t know I could still do that.” They looked to the angered child to their side. “Chara, you alright?”

“What the hell was that? Are you trying to get us killed!? Chara yelled. Clover looked up at them in shock, not understanding what they had done wrong. “I didn’t need your help. I would have been fine.”

“No, you wouldn’t have! That tree was about to fall on you!” Clover yelled back. They were getting incredibly overwhelmed now and losing their patience. 

“So what? You rushing in would have made anything better? Just stay out of the way and stop being a burden,” Chara snapped.

That broke it for Clover.

“What is wrong with you!?” they yelled at the Dreemurr child. “I’m only trying to help you! Yet every time we meet, you throw me out like I don’t even exist. Don’t you wanna get Frisk back?!” Chara was matching their rage now, eyes glowing a furious crimson.

“Of course I do, you idiot! But I don’t need a human telling me what to do!”

“Oh, so that’s it, huh?! It’s because I’m a human that you have a problem with me?! Ya barely even know me! What gives ya the right to treat me like that!?”

“Don’t you dare talk like you know what I’ve seen! Humankind is nothing but a waste! Frisk is the only one of them that’s ever done anything worthwhile in their goddamn lives! A glitch in the system. But because of you , we can’t get to them!”

“So all humans are just evil besides Frisk, huh?! What about you then?! You think you’re all high and mighty!? Above the scorn you put on every human being!?”

“Of course not! I-”

“I went up that mountain to try and save others! I’m sure those fallen kids that went missing did nothing wrong! What were you doing, huh?! What right do you have to say stuff about humans!?

“You want to know?!” they yelled at Clover. The cowpoke, eyes shining a brilliant yellow, stared Chara down.

“Because it’s their fault my brother is dead! Because it’s their fault my parents will barely speak to one another! Because it’s their fault I haven’t seen my father smile since I woke up! Because it’s their fault monsterkind was trapped underground for over a century!  Because it’s their fault I TRIED TO FUCKING KILL MYSELF! But I guess I couldn’t even do that right, could I?! I died anyway and took everything I loved with me! You want to know why humanity is scum?! Huh?! Because THEY! MADE! ME!”

Chara was crying now. Their eyes were practically glowing red in anger as tears began to pour from their eyes. Clover could only stare at them dumbfounded. Chara tried…they did what? But…they were so young. No older than Clover was when they fell. The first fallen child sunk to the ground, crawling away from Clover to sit against a tree.

“H-Hope you’re h-happy,” Chara muffled from where they sat. Clover was still just standing there, looking at them. “Well? A-Are you?! Poor, pitiful Chara crying like a damn baby.” The child couldn’t stop the tears, all they could do is hide their head in their arms as their tears stained their jacket.

Clover finally moved, slowly trudging over to Chara’s tree. They sank down to sit next to them, Chara refusing to see them. “I…” Clover tried, but they couldn’t find the words. What could they say? That they were sorry? That it wasn’t their fault? What would that kind of thing do? The two just sat in silence for a few minutes, nothing but Chara’s sobs and the light wind blowing around them.

“I…I hated my folks,” Clover started. Chara looked up slightly from their arms, a single crimson eye looking at Clover. “Didn’t realize until I feel that…they didn’t give a rat’s ass about me. Their little ‘accident,’ that’s what they would say. Only time they seemed to care was when they fed me. When they even bothered.”

Chara was silent as Clover spoke, tears forming in their own eyes. “T-They…t-they never saw me as their child. Hell, they never saw me as their son , but I just ran away from it, however I could.” They took their cowboy hat off and went over the brim with their fingers. “This here’s the only thing I got from that world. Only nice thing they ever did for me.”

They set the hat down between the two of them. “I…I hated ‘em. But I think…I just wanted ‘em to care. That’s why I went after those kids. Maybe if I could prove myself, they’d give a damn about their kid as something that wasn’t their awful little boy .” Clover choked back a sob as they thought back. “I can’t pretend to know anythin’ about what ya went through. And I’m sorry ya had to go through all of that. But…I want ya to know…you’re not alone.”

Chara remained silent, just looking at Clover. The cowpoke forced a tiny smile on their red face, clear tear tracks running down their face. “And you ain’t like ‘em, either. Not even close. When I see you, I see someone willing to give it all for their family. Those… people ain’t family. I got a new family. One who cares about me. One I was willing to give my SOUL for, and would do it all again.”

“You…gave up y-your S-SOUL?” Chara asked, sobs still present but spacing out. Clover just nodded in affirmation.

“What humanity did to the monsters…it wasn’t right. They deserved to see the sun just as much as humans did. Them bein’ locked away, no hope of seeing the surface world…it wasn’t just.” They wiped their eyes with their jacket sleeve. “But…not all humans are bad. Ya don’t have ta like ‘em, Chara, but…it can’t hurt to try. I mean, Frisk is proof, ain’t they?” the cowpoke asked. Chara looked down at their feet.

Clover was right. And Chara hated that. They still didn’t like humanity. But…there were lights. Frisk had saved everyone through their determination. Clover gave up their soul to bring justice to monsterkind. If they could do that, maybe…maybe Chara could change, too.

“How about it, Chara?” Clover asked, bringing out a hand calmly. I know it ain’t gonna be easy, but I’m willin’ to do what I can ta help ya out. But first, we got a friend to save.” Clover hopped up, still offering their hand to Chara. “I promise ya…we’ll get through this. So, what do ya say? Truce?”

Chara smiled. It was small, but it was real . A real smile they had only given Frisk and their parents. And…Asriel. Oh god, Asriel. Their brother was…he was a flower again. Maybe…if Chara could change, Flowey could too. They reached up and accepted Clover’s hand, the cowpoke hauling the Dreemurr to their feet.

“Truce,” Chara said kindly. Clover smiled at them, a smile that Chara could finally see was genuine. “Now then…let’s go save our friend.”

“Hell yeah! Oh, uhh…lead the way, buddy,” Clover said, gesturing in front. Chara just rolled their eyes and flicked the flashlight back on. They began walking forward along the petalled path.

“Hold up there, ‘buddy,’ let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here,” Chara said smugly. “We’re acquaintances, nothing more. A human and a demon”

“You ain’t a demon, Chara. Not even close. A demon wouldn’t care about no one. You do care. At least I think ya do,” Clover said with a smile. Chara brushed them off, but smiled.

“Thanks…contact.”

“I’m gonna get ya to call me your pal eventually.”

“Or you will remain an associate.”

“Nuh uh.”

“What do you mean ‘nuh uh?’”

“Nuh uh.”

“You’re impossible.”

“Says you.”

It took another half hour before the duo came to a clearing. The petals had been getting more plentiful as they got closer and closer. Chara and Clover flashed their lights around before finally spotting their target.

“Frisk!” Chara yelled, quickly sprinting towards them. Clover ran after them, the two pulling their fellow human into a hug. Frisk simply laughed as the three hugged. “We’ve been looking all over for you!”

“Yeah! Wait, where’s-” Clover stopped as they spotted him. The cowpoke had been looking around, finally seeing their other target right in front of them. He just smiled at the fallen human with a smug grin.

“Bravo, you’ve done it! Congratulations you two!” Flowey said in his chipper but malicious voice. Clover looked angrily at Flowey, Chara glaring at him likewise. “Oh, what’s this? Aren’t you happy to see your dear old pal Flowey?”

“Maybe if you hadn’t kidnapped our friend,” Clover said, hand at their hip. Flowey eyed them suspiciously. “What, did you think that we could all be hunky-dory when ya go around takin’ people? Come on Flowey, you can’t just do that!”

“Well, you’re taking this a lot worse than I thought you would,” Flowey snipped. “And I thought we were friends.”

“Then explain,” Clover said, hand not moving from its spot. Chara was still at Frisk’s side, looking them over for any potential harm. 

“Ugh, fine. But only because I like you,” Flowey groaned. “So basically…”

One Hour Earlier

“Okay Flowey, you can let me down now.”

Frisk was being held from a tree by vines wrapped around them. They could have escaped already. They’d only woken up minutes ago, but they could still get a gauge as to their surroundings.

“Yeah yeah, hold on. Ugh, putting these petals out takes forever ,” the flower complained. He let go of his vines, Frisk falling to the ground with a thud. The child groaned as Flowey rolled his eyes. “Oh please, you fell from like 200 feet and walked away scott-free. A meter over the ground won’t kill you.”

“Says you,” Frisk said, cracking their back and fixing their sweater. “Are you going to explain why you knocked me out and dragged me to the middle of the woods?”

“I was getting to that!” Flowey complained. They reached from behind a rock and pulled out a piece of paper. Frisk sat on a nearby rock as Flowey put it in their face. “See this? A list of all the reasons those two morons needed my help.”

Frisk took a closer look. Upon realizing, they saw it was a very crudely drawn list of commonalities and conflicts.

Between Chara…and Clover.

“You kidnapped me…so that they would get along?” Frisk asked with skepticism. Flowey nodded his head. “At least that’s what I think this says. I can barely read it.”

“Oh, yeah, because it’s so easy to write with your mouth only,” Flowey retorted. “Screw you Frisk.”

“Flowey, this is ridiculous. Surely we could have just made them talk to each other.”

“Frisk, I know Chara. ‘Talking’ isn’t something they’d voluntarily do. And Clover’s too much of a ‘hero’ to leave Chara alone without helping them. This is the best way I could come up with, alright? I just…didn’t want them fighting.”

“Aww Flowey, you do care.”

“Shut up!”

“....sooooo…what’s the plan now?”

“Wait for them to follow the path here.”

“........Wanna play cards?”

“There’s no way you just keep a deck-”

“Thankfully you didn’t entirely rob me this time.”

“...Fine. but no peeking!”

“And that’s it! You may thank me now,” Flowey said, bowing his head lightly. Clover just stared at the flower blankly. “What, nothing? Dang, I thought you’d be happier.”

“Again, kidnapping,” Clover pointed out. Flowey shrugged his stem.

“Eh, seemed like the best idea I had. Right Chara?” Flowey asked, attention now towards the first fallen human. Chara was looking at Flowey alright. And they were…crying. “Wait, what? Since when did you cry? I thought big kids-” 

“Shut up,” Chara said. They walked slowly towards Flowey, Frisk meeting with Clover as they watched the two keenly. “Just…Flowey…A-Asriel. I…”

“Oh boy, here we go,” Flowey said with a hint of cynicism. “What? You gonna yell at me? Tell me I’m an idiot for doing this? Well it ain’t any different from what I’ve already heard, so do your worst.” Flowey glared at their sibling.

“I’m sorry…I-I…I’m so s-sorry Asriel!” Chara cried, falling down to the ground and pulling Flowey into a hug from where they knelt. “I was so horrible to you. To everyone. B-But…you n-never deserved that! You deserved so much better than… this ! I’m sorry, Azzy. I’m so so sorry.”

The flower just…stared forward. He had NEVER seen his sibling act like this, as Asriel or as Flowey. He felt…he felt relieved. Like…Chara was finally opening up. He had a vine wrap them in a hug, as gently as he could. He looked over Chara’s shoulder, spotting Frisk with the most smug smile he’d ever seen, while Clover just looked dumbfounded.

“Hey! Knock it off, will you!?’ Flowey yelled, breaking off the hug. Chara couldn’t stop smiling though as they turned back to other four in the clearing.

Wait, four?

“hey kids,” Sans said as he typed something on his phone. “was wondering where you all ended up. seems i got it second try.”

“Wha-how'dya even find us?! We were bein’ quiet!” Clover yelled. Everybody but Frisk seemed shocked still by his appearance.

“considering i woke up spotting you two leaving,” he said pointing to Chara and Clover, “no you weren’t. and i found you through them,” he said, now pointing at Frisk. The three others all turned to them, the ambassador just shrugging.

“Papyrus had me get ‘sibling’ parental tracking on my phone. I guess it wasn’t so bad this time,” they said. Sans just nodded while the others just looked at each other. That…made more sense than it should. “Anyways, does anyone else know we’re out here?”

“not sure. guess we’ll see when we all get back,” Sans said. The three kids looked now to their flowery friend, who was trying to sneak away before being grabbed by Sans’ magic. “hold it, you. you're not going anywhere.”

“Oh yeah? And what’re you going to do to stop me, you smiley trashbag?” Flowey snipped. Sans just shrugged, handing something to Frisk.

“nothing, seems like too much trouble to get you to come with. so imma get the kid to do it.” With that, Sans stepped to the side, letting Frisk approach Flowey.

With a soil-filled pot in their hand.

“Frisk…Frisk, come on, buddy, pal, amigo, chum, y-you don’t need to do that. I-I’m sorry about the kidnapping thing. I-It was a joke, honest!” he pleased. But Frisk’s eyes began glowing lightly, determination overflowing.

“Sorry Flowey. In this world, it’s plant…or be planted,” they said before moving to get Flowey into the pot. The flower complained endlessly, making everybody else laugh.

Including Chara.

Clover looked at the other human, tear tracks still present on their otherwise happy face. They weren’t sure if Flowey was actually trying to help, but…in a way, it worked. At least a little. Once Flowey was (begrudgingly) in his pot, Frisk and the others followed Sans through a shortcut. Clover looked at the clearing one more time before joining up with their other friends.

All four of them.

Chapter Text

“I despise all of you.”

Clover laughed a little at Flowey’s complaint. The five of them had returned to the campsite as people were beginning to wake up. Although, unfortunately, not everybody had been asleep.

“Clover!” Martlet called, running over and hugging the child. “I went to check in when I woke up and didn’t see you in the tent! Where were you?!”

“Uhh…I-I was just…exploring?” they said, trying to avoid the situation. The less Martlet knew they went gallivanting off in the middle of the night searching for Frisk, the better.

“Well at least wait until we’re all up next time! You scared the crap out of me!” Martlet backed away while Clover just looked down at their feet.

“I’m sorry Martlet. I-I really didn’t mean to make ya worry,” they apologized. Martlet sighed as she stood back up.

“You’re alright Clover, just…tell us next time, alright?” The human nodded in affirmation. “Great! Oh, by the way, we’re all going on a hike later today if you want to come with.”

“Sure! Sounds like fun!” the human enthusiastically said. Martlet laughed at their happiness before ruffling their hair under the hat. She quickly retreated to the others, leaving Clover to the others. Sans had already gone off, likely to try and avoid the hike, which left the three humans and Flowey on their own.

“So…what’re we gonna do with him?” Clover asked, gesturing to Flowey. The former prince just groaned as he looked around.

“I’m not going with Frisk,” he said right away. “I don’t think that trash bag would ‘appreciate’ my company.” Frisk nodded. 

“I can take him in,” Chara offered. The two humans looked at Chara with shock. “I…feel like I haven’t been a good sibling. At all. I know it’s not the same, but…if it’s alright with you Asr-Flowey.” They mumbled something to themself about almost saying their brother’s name. Flowey smiled, though, one that wasn’t dripping with sarcasm like usual.

“Yeah. I think…that’d be nice. Like a do-over, you know?” he asked. Chara smiled at him before Frisk handed the Dreemurr the pot. “Oh, but…maybe don’t tell Mom or Dad about ‘me’ yet. I don’t think she’d be able to handle it right now.”

“Yeah, probably.”

“Aww, aren’t you two just adorable,” Frisk teased. “My little Flower buddy and his sibling are finally reunited.”

Flowey grumbled and Chara blushed, the both of them trying to avoid Frisk’s teasing. Which left Clover…confused.

“Wait, hold on,” Clover said. “How’re you two related? And what’s Ms. Toriel gotta do with it? Did she plant Flowey?” The three cringed at their question. “What?”

“Wait, you don't know?" Frisk asked, to which Clover just shook their head. "Oh boy. Here, I'll tell them,” they said to the others. Frisk took Clover aside somewhere they could both sit. “So…a long time ago…”

Clover was still shocked as they got ready to go on their hike. Hearing about everything regarding Asriel and Chara…well it made a lot of sense now that they thought of it. Why Chara had been so against them until the night before, why Toriel and Asgore weren’t speaking, even why Flowey was so…accepting to try again with Chara.

“Hey Deputy, you ready?” Starlo asked, popping his head into the tent. Clover looked up at him in surprise. “Oops, sorry Clover. Didn’t mean to startle ya.”

“It’s alright Starlo, just gimme a sec,” they said. They finished tying up their shoes before putting their gun in it’s holster and exiting. “Alright, I’m ready.”

“Sounds good,” the former said. “But, uhh…you sure you wanna take your gun with you?” Clover looked to their side, their revolver covered yet still present in the holster.

“Yeah, I…after last night, feels like it’s better to have it than not,” they said. Starlo still wasn’t sure, but Clover tried to shake it off. “Don’t worry! I won’t use it unless absolutely necessary.”

“Well, alright then. Just be careful, alright?” he asked. Clover nodded affirmatively. “I trust ya, Clover. Just…don’t tell Ceroba, alright? If she knew I let ya take a gun she’d have my head.”

“She didn’t say anything the first time I had it.”

“Well that was also a while ago. And I’ve since learned kids don’t usually got guns.”

“Fair.”

As the two left the tent, they met with the rest of the group. Everyone was ready to go, minus Sans, Dalv and Alphys who remained at the site. Alphys was typing something on her laptop and speaking with Dalv while Sans was napped in a hammock he’d set up nearby. The doctor waved to the group as they left for the trail.

“So it seems like we need to follow the road until we get to this sign here,” Martlet said as she showed the map to Toriel. The old monster nodded as they continued onward. 

“No way you can beat me there Papyrus! I trained you, so I can beat you!” Undyne yelled, sprinting ahead while cackling maniacally. The skeleton monster wasn’t far behind.

“WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT UNDYNE! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WON’T LOSE TO ANYONE!” he yelled before chasing after her.

“Hey wait! We need to stick together!” Martlet called, giving the map to Toriel and flying after the two. The others just looked at the three former guards disappear. Clover tried to run ahead before being shot an ugly glare from both mothers. 

“Clover, you need to stay with us,” Ceroba said. “We don’t want you getting lost again.” The cowpoke was surprised, but figured Martlet’s worry had reached everyone else. Or Sans had told them all what happened. That sounded about right for him as far as Clover knew.

“Hey, don’t worry Clover. We can have fun all on our own!” Kanako said excitedly. That helped them cheer up as they made their way to the hiking trail. The children began talking amongst themselves, minus Chara, who decided to stick by Toriel. Flowey has decided to ride along with Frisk, leaving the first fallen human a little left out.

“Are you alright, my child?” Toriel asked. Chara was taken out of their thoughts by their mother’s calling. “You seem a bit tired. Are you sure you want to go with us?”

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright. Sorry Mom.” The two went a bit further, simply enjoying the nice day. Something was eating at Chara, though. But they didn’t know how to best approach it. “Hey, Mom?”

“Yes? What is it, Chara?”

“What…happened? Between you and Dad?” they asked. They cringed as it came out, waiting for her reaction. Toriel, however, just sighed sadly. She looked at her child with kindness, though.

“Oh, my child…your father and I…left on very bad terms,” she explained. “After you and Asriel…” she stopped herself, taking a deep breath. “After you two were gone, he…he declared that any human would be killed. Even children. I…I couldn’t stand to see it. So…I took your body, and I left. For the ruins. I couldn't stand to be there any longer, knowing what would happen.”

Chara looked down, letting it sink in. They had known what their father had decided to do after they had died, but…had it really gotten to that point. “I…I’m sorry.”

“Whatever for, my child?” their mother asked.

“For…everything. I was so horrible. To you, Dad, Asriel…everyone. I hated the humans so much, I didn’t even think twice about going after them. About…killing them. But…that doesn’t excuse what I did. I-I…I’m so sorry Mom.”

“Oh, my child,” Toriel said, stopping to give them a hug. “I know. I know you are so very sorry. And…we ended up finding out. About all of it. About your plan.” Chara stopped breathing for a moment before Toriel massaged their head. “It’s all okay now, my child. I know you have been through…so much. I should be the one apologizing for what happened.”

By now, the rest of the group had stopped and were watching from a distance. Clover wanted to move Closer, but was pulled back by Ceroba. “Let’s just…let them have this,” she said. Clover wanted to help, but had to agree with the kitsune.

“Chara…I wanted to bring this up later, but…I want you to begin seeing a counselor,” she said. Chara was about to object before Toriel held a hand up to her. “I know how you feel about this, but I feel you need this. Moving to the surface has been a lot for us all, so there’s no shortage of people who are still adjusting. I want you to be as happy as you possibly can, which is why I think this could be a great help for you.” Chara looked down, thinking it over.

Thinking…a lot of things over. 

They didn’t want to go and see somebody about their issues, but…maybe it would help. Talking about everything had worked a tiny bit last night. Maybe…this is what they needed to get a fresh start like they wanted. Even without knowing the full context, Frisk and Clover shot them thumbs up when the first fallen looked back. Chara smiled as they turned back to their other.

“I’ll…I-I’ll try,” Chara said. Toriel smiled and kissed them on the head. “M-Mom!”

“What? Can I not be proud of my child for accepting help?” 

“But Mom! Frisk is right there, ” Chara complained, Toriel just laughing to herself as she started forward again. The others began following, Frisk tapping Chara on the shoulder.

“You alright Chara?” they asked. The other child was a bit embarrassed, but nodded regardless. “Sounds like that was a lot.”

“Yeah, but…I think I needed it. I’m going to see how this counseling thing works out,” they said. The child gave a smile, one which the others appreciated quite a bit. The kids continued forward, following the adults as they approached the trail. 

It took another hour, but they eventually found their wayward companions. Undyne and Papyrus were passed out on the ground, Martlet sitting by the trail’s end. She waved at them, clearly tired herself after chasing the two down. “Hey guys,” she said, clearly very tired.

“What happened Feathers? We thought you guys would’ve stopped way earlier,” Starlo said. Martlet just sighed as she looked at the two sleeping monsters.”

“Yeah…turns out…they’re a lot…faster…than I thought,” she said. She shakily got to ger feet, waving her wings weekly. “Ugh, I’m going to be sore tomorrow.”

“Let’s get you all back,” Toriel said. She knelt down and brought Papyrus over her shoulder, the skeleton rustling a little bit. “Ms. Ketsukane, could you and Starlo please help Undyne back?”

“Of course, Ms. Toriel,” Ceroba said, helping Undyne up. The former captain mumbled something too quiet to make out. “Come on Star, let’s help her down.”

“Can do,” he said, taking the other side. The monsters started down, the children offering to help only to be told it wasn’t necessary. “Come on kids, let’s head back!”

“Well this has been a waste,” Flowey grumbled from where he sat in Frisk’s bag. “I mean all this effort and we have to drag them back down?”

“They’re just excited, Flowey,” Frisk said. “It has been a long time since monsters have been on the surface. Besides, they’ll be fine.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Flowey quipped back. The two continued back and forth, Martlet trudging along with Kanako shifting to help her. All that was left were Clover and Chara in the back.

“Well…this has been interesting,” Chara said. Clover laughed a little. “What’s so funny?”

“Ah, nothin’. It’s just nice to see ya actually talkin’ to me,” they said. Chara just rolled their eyes with a smile.

“Whatever, cowpoke,” they said. They looked down at their feet as they followed the others, their hands now sitting in their pockets. “My mom said I should see a counselor about everything.”

“Oh,” Clover said. “Do you…want to?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. But…maybe it will help. I’m willing to try, at least. Just…hopefully with a monster counselor.”

“Ah, yeah. That’s fair.”

The two went silent again, just enjoying the quiet around them. One of the two would occasionally yawn, but given that they’d both been up since very early in the day, that wasn’t a surprise.

The quiet made Clover think a lot. They’d said a lot of stuff the night before, and…it wouldn’t leave them alone. They didn’t want to go back to that…that place. They had people now who truly cared about them. Who would help them if needed and support them as far as they could.

They owed a lot to their new family. So much had been given for them already. They didn’t know how to properly pay it all back to them. For taking care of them, for looking out for them, for actually wanting them around. They didn’t know if what they were doing now was enough. It certainly didn’t feel like enough.

“Is something on your mind?” Chara asked them. Clover shook their head a little, realizing they had walked almost to the camp site again. “You’ve been quiet for a while now.”

“Huh? Nah, I’m fine. Just thinkin’ is all,” they said. Chara looked unconvinced, but decided not to push further as the group finally reached the site. The sun was getting ready to set, so they all decided to begin packing up. Thankfully Papyrus and Undyne had woken up about halfway, more than willing to help out after having to be carried halfway back.

“Alright, does everybody have everything?” Toriel asked once all of the vehicles had been loaded up again. Unanimous agreements were given among the others. “Alright then. I suppose that’ll be-”

*BANG*

A shot rang out from the campsite, everybody looking at the source. Clover was standing in the middle of the clearing, gun held out in front of them as they aimed into the darkness of the forest.

“What was that!?” Undyne called, looking at Clover. “Hey kid, what’s happening?! Are you okay?!”

“i-I thought I saw…s-somethin’ sneakin’ up on us,” they said, hand shaking a bit as they still held their gun. Ceroba carefully approached the human, lowering herself to their level. She too looked ahead, not seeing anything in the darkness of the woods.

“Clover, I don’t think there’s anything out here besides us,” she said. She slowly moved her hand to theirs, letting the gun go slack in their grip so she could remove it and place it on the ground. “You’re alright Clover.”

“B-But…I thought there was…y-y’all were in trouble and I…” Clover said, trying to stay sturdy. Ceroba just massaged the side of their head and pulled them into a hug.

“Oh Clover, it’s alright,” she said. “We’re alright. We can handle ourselves just fine, but I appreciate your care. How about we get you home, alright? Seems like you need some sleep.” Clover didn’t say anything, but nodded absently as they made their way to the van. They climbed inside, sitting next to Kanako.

“Clover? Are you okay?” Kanako asked. Clover didn’t respond, still shocked at what had happened. They swore they saw something moving in the darkness. They let out a small yawn as they started dozing off. “It’s alright Clover, you get some sleep.”

“Kay,” they quietly said before their head hit the back of the seat, finally falling under sleep’s spell.

“I-Is Clover alright?” Alphys asked. After Clover had left, the others that were still outside began talking. “That s-seemed…worrying.”

“There’s been…a lot of worry about them,” Martlet said. She looked down at her feet. “Ever since they came back, there’s been…something going on. But they won’t tell us what it is.”

“Does it have anything to do with them coming back?” Toriel asked. “I know Chara has had some difficulty adjusting to everything.”

“I-It could be,” Alphys theorized. “B-But this s-seems a lot more…p-personal than that.”

“i think the kid feels like they owe somethin’ to someone,” Sans said absently. The others all looked at him now.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN BROTHER? THEY DON’T OWE ANYTHING TO ANYBODY. DO THEY?”

“no, i don't think so, but do they know that?” he asked. The others all thought to themselves. “i’m not sayin’ that’s what it is, but it can’t hurt to look into.”

“Sans is right,” Ceroba said. “Regardless of what it is, Clover is our friend. We have a responsibility to help them however we can. Even if they may not want the help. Martlet, call any of us if you notice something wrong, alright?” The former guard nodded. “Alright, that settles it then.”

Everyone began splitting off to their own vehicles. Frisk handed Flowey off to Chara, who waved goodbye as they hopped into Toriel’s van. The child met with Sans, who stood beside his brother’s car.

“Hey Sans, how do you know what’s going on with Clover?” Frisk asked. Sans just shrugged.

“well if i told you, then it wouldn’t be a secret anymore,” Sans said. Frisk was unimpressed. “honestly frisk, it’s hard to explain. either way, i think it’s best we look out for them, you know? they seem to need help way more than they realize.” As Sans hopped on the tricycle and Frisk got into the back seat of Papyrus’ car, they couldn’t help but think about it. And the more they thought, the more they agreed with the older skeleton brother.

Clover needed help, whether they knew it or not.

Chapter Text

Clover wasn’t sure where they were, but it wasn’t their bed. They had just gone to sleep a little while ago, so how did they get here?

They couldn’t see anything around them. All that was surrounding them was just blackness. But…they could see themself. They were illuminated in a bright yellow light. The darkness around them, however, absorbed any light they were giving off.

It wasn’t their pajamas they had gone to bed in, or their jeans and sweater they had been wearing day to day, or their overalls, or even their cowboy outfit. They had…nothing. No features, no layers, no nothing.

Just…yellow.

Clover was starting to worry, but they needed to move. If nothing else, they could get moving. They began walking forward. Or at least what felt like forward. They were moving at the very least.

Clover started from a walk into a run, trying to escape the darkness. There was no change though. There was no path and no guide, just the unending darkness for what felt like miles upon miles upon miles.

But…eventually, something began changing. There was a path forming under Clover’s feet. It wasn’t bright, but it was something. Clover became much happier, even if their featureless yellow face couldn’t show it. 

They kept running, following the path to wherever it would lead. They eventually came to and end in it, with…something else standing before them.

A canister.

One big enough for their SOUL.

For them.

Clover backed away a little. They remembered the feeling when they had last seen it. The pushing to escape as their new home encased their soul. They could see their own SOUL from their slowly dying body, feel every muscle and system begin shutting down as Ceroba walked away with their SOUL.

Clover tried backing away, but was stopped. By another canister.

Except it was filled.

A light blue SOUL was inside of it, still and unmoving. Clover stared at it, causing the SOUL to begin humming to itself.

Another canister came into view, this one with an orange SOUL bashing against it. Clover could almost hear the pained cries coming from it as the SOUL continued to ram at the canister again and again and again.

A dark blue canister, the SOUL spinning calmly.

A purple one that simply sat, unintelligible mumbling coming from it.

A green one that shook in place trying to escape.

All six of these surrounded Clover now, their actions bringing them to their knees. The never-ending humming of Patience, the crashing of Bravery, the mumbling of Perseverance, the shaking of Kindness, the spinning of Integrity, the stillness of Justice.

And the last one, staring Clover right in their featureless face. It was open, not a SOUL in sight. Clover reached out a hand to try and touch it, to feel anything in this void besides the screeching of the SOULs.

*CRASH*

Something smashed through the container, breaking it in two and pushing Clover away. The SOULs all disappeared, including their own, as something came into view.

A figure, bathed in red.

It didn’t look human. No, this…this was something else. Something more..familiar.

“Wowie, you don’t look so good there, old buddy,” the figure said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Golly, you must be so lost right now. But don’t you worry. Ol’ ^Y*(*&*&(% is here to help you!”

Clover couldn’t move, couldn’t look away, just…stare at the entity as it sneaked closer and closer in flashes of dark. “Come on, buddy, it’s only me! Your best friend!”

Clover still wouldn’t give the being their hand, an action that it didn’t appreciate. It gave a broad smile, black ooze dripping from it’s white mouth and eyes.

“Well, have it your way!” it said before disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, tendrils broke out of the ground and latched onto Clover’s limbs. They struggled against it, but were unable to break out. They were dragged flat on their back, each of their arms and legs pulling against them. They wanted to cry, wanted to scream, wanted to do anything, but couldn’t.

They felt themself snapping as their limbs were pulled apart, ripped to shreds as the red strings unwove them. With a crack, they were pulled to pieces.

And then they were back. Right where they had been grabbed. Like it had never happened. They felt like they were breathing heavily, nerves in heightened alert as they looked around. In front of them, still the end of the path.

But now…the entity was back.

“Well well well, seems that didn’t work But don’t worry, I’m sure we can find something to get you to listen. You’ll listen to your buddy _)*(^#*)(& now, wontcha?” Clover stepped back again, the figure appearing behind them as they tried to back away. “Well alright then, if that’s how you feel. Let’s try…something more familiar to you.”

Clover felt themself be immediately thrown away from the dark space, They were underground. in what looked like the end of the dunes, where they had entered the steamworks through the old door. A figure stood in front of them, one that Clover could finally recognize.

Starlo.

“Cloverver, there you aaarere!” he said, kneeling down. He seemed to…glitch as he did so. Clover was approaching, but stopped right before reaching their friend. Starlo looked at them, eyes seeing above their head, even through the hat that should be blocking his vision. “Whats’ts’t’s wrong budyddddytysydy? It’s only mee3e. It’s only me. It’s only me. It’s me. It's me. 's me. Me. Me. Me.”

Starlo's mouth began to rot away, fizzling into dust as red tendrils snuck into his body. It cracked his body and snapped it to pieces, an empty hole which only held a single red eye.

“It’s me.” it said. “Your best friend.” Clover treed around and began running away. “Come back Clover,” it said, no less quiet than before. It was a harsh voice now, screaming into their ear. “Clover. Clover. Clover. Clover. Clover. Clover.”

“Stop! Please!” Clover tried to yell. But they couldn’t. They still had no mouth to yell. They just fell to the ground and cried, trying and trying to scream.

The lights around them started to fade, sitting them back on the grey path in the black void. Nothing around them again but their yellow form.

And the red entity.

“Wow, you seem a LOT more determined than I thought. Seems like you don’t want )&&%&^# to be with you. What a shame,” it said. Clover looked up at it. “You always seemed so promising. Kill everyone, kill nobody, it means nothing in the end, does it? You just end up right back herem with no memory of any of it.”

Clover kept trying to cry, trying to scream, but nothing came out. The entity started to take a more defined shape. One that looked like…

“Hey, don’t worry Clover,” Flowey said. “I’ll just go back! Not the first time, won’t be the last. How’s that sound, Clover?” he asked. Clover didn’t respond more than what they were doing before. “Clover? Clover? Clover?”

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

“CLOVER! WAKE UP!”

Clover jumped up from their bed, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. They clutched their chest, looking around frantically. Martlet was knelt by the side of their bed, holding their shoulder with similar panic in her eyes. 

“What…w-what’s…M-Martlet?” Clover asked, their voice weak. Martlet pulled the child into a hug, Clover still shocked at what was happening. They looked around their room, nothing seeming to have happened. So…it was a dream. It had to be.

“Oh Clover, I’m so sorry. I-I heard you crying, so I came in here, but then you were screaming. I-I tried to wake you up, but…are you alright?” she asked. Clover was starting to breathe a little more normal now, everything starting to come back to them.

“I-I…I dunno. I just…it was a dream, wasn’t it?” Martlet quietly nodded. “I’m s-sorry,” Clover said, trying not to cry because of what had happened. “I-I’ll be alright.”

“Clover, please. That…that was a really bad nightmare. I think we need to talk,” she said. Clover shrunk into themself, as if trying to avoid that without actually moving away from Martlet. “Clover, let’s go downstairs. I’ll make us some hot cocoa, alright?” Clover really didn’t want to, but…they also didn’t want to go back to sleep. With a shaky nod, they got up and took Martlet’s extended hand, following her downstairs.

Clover sat at the table as a mug of hot chocolate was put in front of them. Martlet sat beside them, her own mug in her hand. Hers had a lot less marshmallows in it, but Clover wasn’t going to complain about the extra sugar. Maybe it would help them wake up.

“Wanna talk about your dream?” Martlet asked. Clover just held their mug as the warmth spread to their hands.

“I-I…I was alone. And I…I couldn’t do anything but run. I didn’t have a mouth, or eyes, or anythin’. I…I saw the other human SOULs and…somethin’ else. It…it hurt me. Pulled my arms and…and I saw Starlo die in front of me and…a-and…” they said, tears forming in their eyes again. They wiped it with their shirt sleeve. “S-Sorry.”

“No, no Clover, there’s nothing to be sorry about. I’m just glad you’re awake. I’m so sorry.” Martlet pulled them into a side hug. “So…I-I wanted to talk with the others first, but…does this nightmare…have they been happening a lot?”

Clover didn’t want to answer. They had been having nightmares. Nightmares of horrifying monsters that looked nothing like anything they had seen. Monsters that looked like…like Flowey.

But that couldn’t be. Flowey was their friend! Sure he had been…very rude at times, but he had talked to them. He’d saved them from death at least once according to him. So…why him?

“I…y-yeah,” they squeaked out. “But…t-they’re usually fine! I just…try and not think about them. They get in the way.” Martlet’s heart broke at hearing that, turning Clover so they were looking directly at her.

“Clover, nightmares aren’t something you just…push away. You were screaming. That doesn’t just…happen. But…look, I know something’s been going on. Does this have anything to do with it?”

“What do you mean?” Clover asked, now curious. “What’s been going on?”

“Clover…you know we all love you, right?” she asked. Clover nodded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Right, good. And…you know we want to care for you, right? You don’t…owe anything to us.”

Ah. So that’s what it was about. Clover didn’t really see it as much of a surprise. Given their outburst on the camping trip a few days ago, they were bound to be talked to eventually. 

“I…but I do owe you guys,” Clover said. “Y’all took me in, even after just moving to the surface. You’re workin’ hard while I’m supposed to, what? Just sit back and accept it all? I want to make sure I’m pulling my own weight. I don’t wanna be a-” Clover stopped themself from talking. Martlet was sad, but urged them to continue. 

“I-I don’t w-wanna be a b-burden,” they finished. Tears were forming in their eyes once more. Martlet pulled them into a hug, patting their head as they started to cry again. Clover didn’t want to cry. They were so tired of crying tonight. But…this was nice. Martlet set them down on the chair a few minutes later. 

“Clover, listen to me,” Martlet said. Clover’s attention was pulled back to their friend. “You. Are. Not. A. Burden. You don’t owe us anything. Believe me, we want you to relax. You’re incredibly important to us. And…we don’t want you to feel like you need to pay us back for taking care of you.” Clover still looked unconvinced. “Did…did something happen? Before you fell into the underground.”

Now Clover really wasn’t wanting to talk. But…they had talked about their past. With Chara. And…Chara hadn’t judged them. The person that had been the harshest to them, and they didn’t say anything about it. Maybe…it would be okay. Those people weren’t around anymore. They couldn’t hurt them anymore.

So…Clover told her. Everything.

They left out some things, but they told their friend as much as they had told Chara that night in the woods. Cartlet stayed silent, but was clearly shocked and saddened by what Clover told her. When they finished, Clover just held out her wings, offering a hug to Clover. The fallen child couldn’t help but begin crying again. They hated it so much.

“Oh Clover, I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry,” Martlet said through her own tears. “I…I didn’t know.”

“I-It’s alright,” Clover said through their crying. "I-I didn’t want t-to b-bother anybody.”

“Clover, you wouldn’t have bothered any of us,” she said to them. “I’m sorry you went through all of that. But…I’m glad you told me. Are you alright?” Clover was shaking a little, but nodded their head as much as they could. “You will never owe any of us anything, alright? We love you and we care about you, and nothing's going to change that. Okay?” Clover nodded again.

“T-Thank you Martlet,” they said, smiling up at her. The monster just patted their head as Clover sat back in their chair. “I guess I should probably head back to bed, shouldn’t I?”

“Yeah probably,” their caretaker said. Clover finished the rest of their mug and put it in the sink. They motioned for the water, but noticed the glare being shot their way. “Clover.”

“I wasn’t gonna,” they said with a small smile. They were about to leave before stopping in the doorway. “Hey, Martlet. Do ya think you could…tuck me in?”

The bird monster smiled at Clover. “Of course. Come on, let’s go,” she said, leading the child to their room. Clover smiled as they made their way up the stairs, their hand held in Martlet’s wing. Knowing that she and the others cared for them…it helped a lot. It wasn’t all cheery, but for Clover, it was a start. One where they didn’t have to be a burden, or play at being some hero in order to escape. They could just be…Clover.

And if nothing else, that thought made them happier than ever.

Chapter Text

“Uhh, Ceroba, why’re you wantin’ us to watch this so bad?” Clover asked. The cowpoke had gone to stay with Ceroba for the weekend while Martlet was out on business, the fox woman delighted to have Clover over for a few days. And apparently very adamant about them watching the TV.

“Trust me Clover,” she said, “this is one I don’t think you’ll want to miss.” Clover looked at her oddly when the screen came to life, showing an image of Mettaton as they prepared to air the broadcast.

“Wait, ain’t that the entertainment robot? Why’re we watchin’ his show? I thought he did a talk show.”

“Exactly,” Ceroba told them. “Look, just trust me. I think you’ll be surprised by this.” Clover doubted it, but decided it was more fun to do this than sit in the guest room being bored all night. Kanako and Starlo joined the two soon after, the four all somehow crammed onto the couch as they watched the TV.

The lights came on as the star of the show rolled into frame. He readjusted the red suit jacket he wore over his rectangular body, rolling in behind the desk on the right side of the set. He stood at it, adjusting the microphone in front of him, as the cameras began rolling.

“Good evening, beauties and gentlebeauties! Welcome to a very special episode of out show! We’ve had a lot of incredibly impactful events these last few weeks, from the freeing of all monsters to the rediscovering of two of the lost children and establishment of monster communities all across Ebott. But don’t let the recent events turn you away from your screens, as we are just getting started!”

Mettaton pulled up a paper and scanned over it, his metal body seeming to follow the words as he read along through his screen. “Ah here it is. Welcome all to this episode of:”

INTERVIEW WITH A KILLER ROBOT!

“Now I know what you’re thinking,” he said as he leaned over the desk. “But Mettaton, I thought you were an entertainment robot! Why would you become a killer? Well my friends, for once, yours truly is not the one we shall focus on.” Mettaton eyed the camera operators, clearly directing them to still focus on him. “We have a special guest tonight, one who has come of his own free will and has agreed to answer our questions. Please welcome: Axis Model 014!”

The door to the left side of the set opened, another robot rolling in. This one was a fair bit older and more primitive than Mettaton was, having wires exposed on the top of his head next to a lit lightbulb. His hands bounced up and down from where they were connected to the torso via steam puffs. The robot went to the chair next to Mettaton’s desk, looking at it for a moment before jumping into it. 

“Welcome to our set, Model 014. It’s a pleasure to-”

“AXIS.”

“I…I’m sorry?”

“MY NAME IS AXIS. 014 IS MY MODEL NUMBER, BUT I AM AXIS,” he said in a fairly monotone artificial voice. Mettaton was a bit annoyed at being interrupted, but shook it off.

“Ah, my apologies Axis. Please, let’s start over.” Mettaton coughed into his gloved hand before putting the paper up again. “I understand you are from the underground’s old Steamworks system? Quite a place, I must say. After all, without it, who would have supplied power before the Core was constructed?”

“YES. I WAS CREATED TO PROTECT THE STEAMWORKS FROM HARM.”

“That’s very admirable, darling! I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of combat then.”

“YES. I HAVE FOUGHT…SOME PEOPLE. THE LAST ONES WERE *TALL LADY* AND *HATED HUMAN*.”

Mettaton looked at him strangely, trying to figure out who the robot was talking about. “I don’t think I know anybody by those names. Are those their names?”

“THAT IS THEIR DESIGNATIONS AFTER I FOUGHT THEM,” Axis said. Mettaton was a bit frustrated at the robot in front of him. “THEY HELPED ME DISCOVER A NEW CALLING.”

Now THAT was something! Mettaton leaned in to hear. “Oh, a new calling?” he asked. “What would that be? Please, darling, the audience is dying of anticipation!”

“AS A LOVER. NOT A FIGHTER.”

“Oh, love! How spectacular! Such drama, such romance! My beauties, it would seem love has once more triumphed! Who is this lucky individual, my dear guest?” Mettaton has hopped onto his desk now, posing dramatically as he awaited Axis’ reaction. The other machine pulled something out from behind him, showing off…

A pile of scrap.

“I…O-Oh my, how…wonderful?!” Mettaton said, clearly unsure of his words. He looked again at the metal creation now sitting beside Axis in the guest chair. It looked like a TV head had been duct-taped to a trash can, with googly eyes on the TV head. Mettaton was, to his shock, utterly speechless.

“THEY ARE MY LOVELY LOVE WHO I LOVE.” Axis said. His eyes seemed to shape themselves into hearts as he looked at his ‘lover.’ Mettaton would be lying is he wasn’t shocked. Clearly Axis’ partner was…different from both robots, but as he thought about it, his face lit up into an exclamation point.

“Oh darling, they are absolutely GORGEOUS! You are one lucky bot, I must say,” Mettaton flattered. Axis nodded his head, not even bothering to look at the host. Mettaton, surprisingly, didn’t mind, as the cameras continued to look at the set at large. He realigned the paper in his hands, Axis turning back to him. “In any case, I suppose we should continue. Thank you for showing us your lovely romantic partner!”

“THEY SAY THANK YOU.”

Mettaton just ignored that as he looked again at the questions. “So darling, you mentioned a ‘hated human’ before. Was this, by any chance, the sixth fallen human?” Axis thought for a moment.

“I DO NOT KNOW. *HATED HUMAN* HAD A HAT AND WAS VERY IRRITATING.”

“Hey! I was not irritating!”

“Clover, he was trying to capture us. Obviously he found us very annoying.”

The child only grumbled at that.

“Well, we do have an image of the sixth fallen human RIGHT HERE!”

A blank image came onto the screen, Mettaton frustrated at the seeming technical difficulty. Suddenly, a small monster fluttered onto the set, whispering something to the robotic host. Mettaton cleared his metallic throat, trying to readjust.

“SO…it would seem that the producers would rather me not show an image of the sixth fallen human on the grounds it may be ‘illegal.’ Now I don’t know how exciting television would be illegal, but we shall continue nonetheless! No news is known about if other humans have come back, but we do know that the sixth one has! And they did, indeed, wear a hat! What are your thoughts on this, Axis?”

Axis had gone quiet at the mention of Clover being the only revived human. The bot fiddled with his floating hands as he attempted to find an answer.

“I…I AM GLAD THAT THEY ARE STILL AROUND. IT IS GOOD THAT *HATED HUMAN* IS ABLE TO CONTINUE GOING.” Axis looked down at his words. Mettaton looked at him, wanting to say something, but didn’t know what. He had no knowledge of Axis until a few days ago and was entirely unaware of the bot’s past. 

“Well…I am glad you feel that way!” he said, attempting to bring up the mood once again. “My sincerest apologies if that was a sensitive topic. Would you wish to continue past it?”

“YES.”

“Splendid!” Mettaton said. The machine then, somehow, began spinning extremely fast, smoke billowing from the desk as Mettaton changed forms. To the shock of the audience, Mettaton transformed into a more human-esque form. He sat down on the chair properly now, his legs standing in the air before they dramatically hit the ground.

“HOW IN THE!?”

“Technology sure has improved a lot,” Starlo observed, completely ignoring Clover’s utter shock at the transformation.

“H-He just changed into…that!?”

“Weirder things have happened,” Ceroba pointed out, but Clover didn’t seem to hear.

“Apologies darling, but this show is just heating up!” Mettaton said. He swept his hair to the side as he looked back at Axis. “You, my friend, are an absolute marvel of machinery. Given the difference of the CORE and the Steamworks, I am absolutely floored that a piece of hardware such as yourself was created there! Tell me, who is your constructor?” he asked. Axis looked unfazed by Mettaton’s transformation.

“MY CREATOR WAS CHUJIN KETSUKANE. I HAVE SINCE BEEN TOLD HE HAS PASSED AWAY." Axis' expression soured at that revelation.

“Oh dear,” Mettaton said, his face conveying genuine concern properly now. “I am so terribly sorry to hear that, my mechanical friend. I am sure he would be incredibly proud of you for being here today.” Axis seemed to smile at that. Or at least as close to a smile as Axis could form.

“THANK YOU *SEXY ROBOT*.” Axis said. Mettaton gasped dramatically at the title.

“My my dear, such flattering words! I’m absolutely marveled at your choice of vocabulary! Truly a wondrous occasion!” Mettaton stood on top of the desk, one leg supporting him as the other pointed straight up out of frame. Axis still looked forward, as if it were as standard as a car moving forward.

“Darling, this has been a truly explosive episode of our show!” Mettaton said as he jumped back down, his legs kicked up onto the desk. “Where are you living right now, my electronic everyman? Surely you have moved out of the Steamworks.”

“NO.”

“No? Why ever not? Monsters are finally on the surface! You could explore the world all around you! Why not go out and see the world?!”

“I HAVE SEEN IT. I WISH TO STAY AND PROTECT MY MASTER’S WORK."

Mettaton was speechless once again, but now it was far more subtle and real. He understood some of what Axis was saying. Visions of a large elevated stage, wings of flashing light blaring from his back as he protected the world from a being, their gun pointed at his heart-shaped core. It was an odd dream, one he had quite a few times since coming to the surface, but it was so fascinating it would not leave him.

He wondered if Alphys still had those old designs tucked away somewhere, waiting to be fully implemented. The defenses were quite low if he remembered right.

“My friend, that is an incredibly admirable goal! I will not judge your choices, but I do hope we can see you around the surface more! You are an incredibly fascinating bot. Thank you very much for coming on tonight.” Axis nodded happily. “Unfortunately by beauties, we are all out of time tonight. We need to make time for tonight’s cooking show! SO don’t change that channel, because there’s more of me to go around! Thank you once again for coming on Axis darling, but we must end the show here.”

“OH OKAY.” Axis then got up and rolled off set, completely fine with leaving without a second thought. Mettaton just sighed as he coughed into his hand.

“Well folks it has been wonderful being with you all tonight! We will return with tonight’s dish: Pizza in a pineapple!” Mettaton called a froggit over, whispering to ‘make sure that robot robot doesn’t break anything’ before the TV cut to a commercial break. Coincidentally, also featuring Mettaton.

“Huh. Didn’t know Axis still lived down there,” Clover said, thinking to themself. “Are there a lot of monsters that’re still underground?”

“A fair few,” Ceroba said. “Some are afraid of moving to the surface, others wish to remain with the lives they’ve built down there.”

“Nothin’ wrong with that though,” Starlo said happily. “Besides, the Core’s still pumping energy down there and the barrier isn’t a problem, so at least they’re able to live comfy.” The farmer adjusted his hat, noticing the sleeping goopy form at his side. “Looks like Kanako’s all tired out.”

“Clover too,” Ceroba said, noticing the human was drifting off slightly.

“Hey, I am…*yawn* I ain’t tired…” they said, clearly nodding off. Ceroba chuckled as she scooped the human up in her arms, Starlo following behind with Kanako.

“Come on Clover, let’s get you to bed. It’s been a long night.” The child just smiled as they latched onto the fox monster.

After finally seeing what Mettaton was all about, Clover couldn’t agree more if they wanted to.

Chapter Text

“Huh. I thought it’d be…scarier,” Clover said as they and Martlet approached the Lab.

Clover had decided to visit Dr. Alphys about their resurrection. Granted it had been a few weeks since it had happened, but they still felt it was a good idea to see her. Martlet had been a big factor in encouraging them to go down into the underground to visit the former royal scientist.

The lab was still functioning the same as it ever was, though many of the more personal items seemed to have been removed when Alphys moved to the surface. Clover guessed, anyway. They’d never actually seen the lab up until now.

“Yeah, the place isn’t all that scary,” Martlet said as they followed Clover to the door. The large futuristic white building contrasted heavily with Hotland’s climate. “It’s the lower lab that’s the really scary one.”

“Wait, what?” Clover said shocked, Martlet just laughing. Clover was confused and a little worried as Martlet knocked on the door. Clover rubbed their arm nervously.

“You alright Clover? We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” their caretaker said. Clover shook their head, looking up at the monster.

“N-No, I…I’m a bit worried, but I gotta do this. If nothin’ else, I wanna see if I’m alright.”

“I’m proud of you Clover,” Martlet said, kneeling down and pulling them into a light hug. Clover smiled as they hugged her back. The door opened a few moments later, the two looking to see the doctor greeting them with a clipboard.

“H-Hello Clover,” Alphys greeted. “It’s good to see you again. A-And you too Martlet. How have you been doing?” The three talked as they walked into the cool lab, the two visitors already getting tired of the absurdly warm weather.

“Oh, nothing much. Business has been slowing a little bit, but it’s a lot more manageable now,” the bird said. “All thanks to my short little helper here.” She ruffled Clover’s hat, messing up their hair to their laughter.

“Hey! I ain’t that short!” they shouted, but it was clear they didn’t mind.

“That’s good to hear,” Alphys said with a smile. She led the two to one of the side rooms, the automatic door showing them what was behind it. 

There was a machine with a modified heart-rate monitor attached to it, the mechanism next to a medical bed. The former scientist offered Clover a spot on it, sitting in a nearby chair as Martlet took one of the guest seats. “So…I-I’m sorry if this equipment looks…a bit strange.”

“What is this stuff?” Martlet asked her old friend. “It’s not like anything I saw in the old lab. Or in this one.”

“Oh, no, this is some of my equipment when I was…n-nevermind. I-It’s a bit older, but it should let us see if Clover’s alright.” She helped Clover get set up, a patch going over their arm as a magical field began to settle around them. “N-Now this may feel a little strange. Humans don’t usually get so much magic applied directly to them all at once.”

“It’s alright Doc,” they said. Alphys choked a bit at being called ‘doc’ but let out a laugh at it. Clover smiled a little at the reaction.

“Can’t say I’ve heard that one before,” Alphys giggled. “Anyways, this will let us see your SOUL’s health. 

A diagram showed up on one of the connected monitors. It showed a yellow human SOUL, Clover’s. The SOUL was pulsing with magical energy, yellow energy coming off as Clover’s heartbeat showed up. The two were synched up. “Is that normal?” Martlet asked.

“I-I believe so,” Alphys said. “Frisk had allowed me to take a look at them a few times after we got to the surface. Their soul also gave off a lot of magic energy.” Clover looked at the monitor, feeling a sense of warmth that their SOUL seemed healthy. “Although there is something…interesting about this energy.”

“Why is that?” Martlet asked once again. Alphys made some notes on her clipboard, adjusting something on one of the monitors. It brought up Clover’s stats, more detailed than a simple SOUL image. Their HP was maxed out, so there were no issues there.

“I have an idea. Clover,” Alphys began as she turned to the human. “While you were underground, did your SOUL change at all? Like…something unexpected?” Clover thought about it for a moment, thinking over their journey in the underground. They had been restricted during their battles with Starlo and Axis, but that was more them being tied up or acquiring a shield. But…there was something.

“Well…it was before I…gave up my SOUL,” Clover said sadly. “When I was fightin’ Ceroba. I was able to…blast with my SOUL. Like I could shoot without using my gun.” Alphys noted something on her clipboard.

“I see,” the doctor said. “I haven’t told you this, a-and don’t be angry, but…Asgore allowed me to look into the SOULs. To try and break the barrier. While I was studying them a-and discovered determination, I was able to develop a program based on SOUL power. Y-Your SOUL power.”

Clover was shocked. They knew that looking into the human SOULs wasn’t anything new. They had seen Chujin’s tapes, even the one left near his shrine, and knew that Ceroba’s husband had experimented with a serum using the SOULs. But…their SOUL? Alphys looked sadly as her hands, Clover noticing quickly.

“I…I understand why you had to do it, Doc,” they said, surprising Alphys. “I…I ain’t happy about them bein’ experimented on, but I can see why it would come to that. And…I-I’m guessin’ that’s also related to Kanako?” Alphys was still surprised, but nodded once again. “Right.”

“I-I’m sorry about everything,” Alphys said. “I-If I had known what would have happened, I-” she stopped, Martlet holding her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t worry Alphys,” she said. “We understand why you had to do it. It wasn’t great, but you’re trying to move forward. That’s what’s important, isn’t it?” she asked. Clover nodded in agreement. “Plus, my friend got to see her daughter again. She’s different, but they’re together again.” Alphys smiled as she wiped her eyes at her friend’s words.

“T-Thanks Martlet. You too Clover. I-I needed to hear that.” She coughed into her hand, trying to get back on track. “A-Anyway, your SOUL does seem to have the power to blast magical bullets. I-I’m not sure why, but it may be due to magic being introduced to your system in the underground. You consumed monster food, right?” Clover nodded. “Yes, that would explain it.”

“Does that also include this?” Clover asked. Alphys and Martlet were confused before a yellow aura consumed Clover. The human dashed a few feet away off the bed, the monitor turning off as their arm escaped the patch. The two monsters looked at Clover with shock. “What?”

“You could do that!?” Martlet yelled. Clover was confused at her words. “W-Why didn’t you say anything!?”

“I-I dunno,” Clover said, worried. “I-I didn’t think I still could do that. But then when we went camping, I-I got really scared and…did it on instinct. I-I’ve actually been practicin’ a few times since then.” Clover zipped around the room a few more times, never dashing more than a few feet to avoid hitting anything. 

“T-This is quite the surprise,” Alphys said, trying to compose. “I-I’ve never seen a SOUL do that before. I-It could be related to magic, but also might be stress. You said that you first did it while we were camping?” Clover nodded. “I-I do remember Sans mentioning that he found you, Frisk, and Chara in the woods. Hmm…”

Alphys took some more notes before setting the clipboard down, asking Clover to sit in a guest chair instead. “S-So you seem pretty healthy. Nothing seems out of place. I-If anything, it seems like you’re learning to adapt to magic quite a lot. However, I do ask that you be careful .” The normally shy doctor greatly emphasized that part. “Human magic is a lot more unpredictable given the very few records I’ve been able to find outside of my own research, and that was with just the SOULs. I want to make sure you’re alright.”

“I…I understand,” Clover said, taking her words to heart. “I…I wasn’t doin’ very well when I first woke up. Had a few bad nightmares, too. But…I’m workin’ through it.” Alphys looked suspiciously at the child, but the confident reassurance from both Martlet and CLover eased her nerved a little.

“Even still, I would like to do a few more checkups on you to make sure everything is alright. You are starting school soon, after all, and we don’t want anything to happen while you’re there.” The two agreed with her, the former scientist showing them out as she finished up and had Martlet sign a few things. “I hope to see you two again soon.”

“Thanks Alphys. See you soon!” Martlet called, waving goodbye as they stepped out into Hotland. Clover looked down at their shoes sheepishly. “Clover, you okay?”

“I’m sorry for not telling you about my…dash thingy,” Clover said. “I-I didn’t want you to get mad for me practicin’ a-and maybe getting hurt.”

“Clover, you’re a kid. I’d be shocked if you didn’t try and do what you do. That’s incredible!” she said. Clover smiled at the encouragement. “Besides, you’re not the only one who’s trained in secret. Did I ever tell you how I learned to fly?”

“No!” Clover said, excited to hear. “You needed to learn?”

“Of course I did,” she laughed. “But it took some time. You see, when I was a little baby bird-”

It was getting dark by the time the two arrived back home. They had eaten on the way back and decided to turn in early. Martlet went to bed while Clover walked outside for a few minutes to enjoy the breeze.

“Seems like you’ve been busy lately,” a voice said. Clover, surprised, looked to their side, seeing a familiar flower sticking his head out of the ground. The cowpoke knelt down and sat on the porch with him. “Howdy, Clover!”

“Heya Flowey,” Clover said. “What’re you doin’ here? Won’t Chara notice you’re gone?” Flowey just rolled his eyes as he let out a little chuckle. 

“Ah, it’s fine. Chara’s not keeping me in that pot all day and every day. I just said I’ll be back later,” he explained. Clover supposed that made sense. “Lets me keep an eye on kids when they visit the underground.” Clover’s eyes went wide at that. “Oh relax, I didn’t see what went on in there with you. Just saw you go down there.”

“Why were you down there anyway?” Clover asked. “You’re not followin’ me, are ya?” Flowey just rolled his eyes.

“No of course not, you idiot. Just curious why you saw Alphys.” Clover now looked at the flower with skepticism. “Ugh, what?”

“How do you know Alphys?” Clover asked. Flowey’s eyes now went wide as he realized his slip of the tongue. “You two met when Frisk went into the underground?”

“Nah, she made me,” Flowey admitted. Clover was shocked at that again. “Oh come on, you bonehead. Surely you could figure that out. The amalgamates ‘coming back to life?’ Her experiments with the SOULs? Also, not sure if you’ve noticed, but there aren’t exactly many talking flowers around here.”

Clover supposed the flower was right. They had seen some echo flowers that were brought to the surface, but none of those could speak freely like Flowey could. Nor had they shown up in their nightmares. They couldn’t…

“Flowey,” Clover said, expression growing grim. “You said…that I had died before. And that Frisk had done it too. But they have the power to RESET now, you don’t. So…tell me.”

“Did ya ever send me back? Have I ever…been RESET?”

Flowey was stunned, unable to answer. Clover eyed him with suspicion and anger. “W-Well,” Flowey started. “Yeah. Yeah, I did. But you don’t seem to get why , do you?” he asked. Clover was now more curious. “You haven’t exactly always been such a pacifist, little buddy. That gun you carry around all the time? How do you think you learned to use it?”

Clover stepped back, horrified at that implication. “It wasn’t everyone,” Flowey continued. “That vampire guy’s always been your buddy, so had bird-brain. But the others? Hah! Self-defense is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?” Clover continued to back away from him before hitting the wall. “Now that isn’t you, you never killed anyone. But another version of you? One that I brought back because it didn’t work out? They were.”

“W-Why’re you tellin’ me this,” Clover asked, falling to the floor in fear. Flowey looked a bit sad at that, dropping the angry act and scooting closer. Clover flinched as he popped up next to them.

“Look Clover,” he said. “I’ve done a LOT of things I’m not proud of. Things that hurt a lot of people. But I didn’t care. Perks of being a SOULless being, I guess. But you?” He pointed a vine at the child, laying it on their shoulders. “You actually got better. Sure, you messed up. A LOT of times. But hey, you’re here now, aren’t you? And everyone’s okay, aren’t they?”

Clover supposed they couldn’t argue with that, but…it still felt wrong. “I’ve been inside your head Clover,” Flowey said. “You’ve been through some shit I don’t wanna remind you of. But, you’re a good kid. One of the best I’ve met. So…consider it revealing the truth to you.” Clover still remained silent, unsure of what to say. “Wasn’t exactly what I came here to say, but…you did ask.”

Clover finally spoke. “Flowey…thank you.”

“Huh? What’re you thanking me for?”

“For…RESETting me. I…I couldn’t imagine where I would be if I hadn’t done what I did. Learned what I learned. I…I don’t remember anything from before, but…I guess something did carry over after all of that. I was able to help my friends. So…thanks.”

Flowey was absolutely speechless at Clover’s words. But they weren’t done. “We’ve all done a lot of things we’re not proud of. But…we’ve been given a second chance. I think we should all be using them to change for the better, don’t you?” With that, Clover stood back off, dusting off their pajama pants as they went back inside. “Goodnight Flowey. I’ll see you later.”

As the door closed, Flowey was left stunned at Clover’s words. He hadn’t admitted that he’d killed them in the past. No, that wouldn’t fly at all. But…they were fine with him RESETting them? Well, maybe not fine , but they hadn’t shot him, so there was that. That kid saw what had happened as leading to right now. 

Flowey supposed that, to some extent, they were right. Everything that happened had led to the present, where Clover was alive. His sibling was alive. Frisk was living their life with the monsters, no want to RESET present with them at all. Monsters lived happily and strove to improve their lives on the surface.

Maybe this whole second chance thing had some merit after all.

Chapter Text

“Clover come on, you’re going to be late!”

“I’m comin’!”

Clover put their backpack on and quickly ran down the stairs, meeting Martlet at the door. It was their first day of school, which was both a good and bad thing. On the one hand, school was one of their escapes before they had fallen down and they actually did enjoy learning some things.

Unfortunately, that meant waking up super early.

“Clover, you can’t be sleeping in before school,” Martlet said to them. “Your education is important.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” they said as they let out a small yawn. “Just gettin’ used to wakin’ up so early.”

“Oh waking up early isn’t so bad. My folks always told me ‘the early bird gets the worm!’ I’m sure the same applies to humans as well!”

Clover, not wanting to correct her use of the phrase, just grabbed an apple and made their way outside. “Remember, I’m going to be late today. Gotta stop by Papyrus’ place tonight,” Martlet told them. Clover looked confused at their caretaker.

“What’re you two workin’ on? You and him have been hangin’ out a lot lately.” Martlet just shook her head as she began pushing the child out of the door.

“Now Clover, that’s a secret. You’ll see soon.” With that, Clover walked outside, hat still in their hand, as Martlet waved goodbye. “Have a good day! See you later!”

“Bye Martlet!” they said as a car pulled up to the curb. They already knew who it was, the side door opening as they hopped into the back seat. They waved out of the window as the car pulled away.

“Good morning Clover,” Ceroba greeted as they pulled onto the road. “You ready for your first day?”

“Yeah!” Clover said, spotting somebody in the passenger seat. “Hey Kanako!”

“Hi Clover!” the girl said to her friend. She waved back with her spoony hand. Clover still had no idea how she did that, but they had long since stopped asking questions related to Kanako.

Almost.

“Wait, are you at the high school?” Clover asked. Kanako just shook her head. “Oh. Why not?”

“Well, I was asleep for…a really long time after I went to see Dr. Alphys. So I get to be in your class!” she said excitedly. Clover smiled, knowing they’d have another friend in their grade, before they noticed how Ceroba had gone somberly silent. “Mom?” Kanako worried.

“I’m fine honey,” she lied, wiping her tears. “I’m just…I wish you had been able to do more. If not for…for…” she said, crying silently. Kanako morphed to give her mother a hug, Clover scooting up in the backseat to pat the kitsune on the back. She smiled at the childrens’ kindness, sniffling a little as she focused back on driving. “Thank you.” 

“No problem Ceroba,” Clover said. The old woman smiled at the child’s kindness. Said child decided to switch the topic. “So…you guys get a car?”

“Oh, yeah. We were able to get something after we returned that rental,” she said, wiping the rest of her tears away. “Star was miserable the entire time we were at the dealership.” She laughed a little, the kids joining in. “Oh, I’m never taking him to help with cars again.”

“Can I come then?!” Kanako asked excitedly. “It sounds fun!”

“Well…not exactly,” Ceroba said. “But if you want to come with, then you can. So long as you finish all of your schoolwork.” Kanako nodded her head enthusiastically. “That goes for you too, Clover.”

“I know, I know, I’ll do my homework,” they dismissed, but she kept speaking.

“That’s not what I meant,” she specified. “If you want to spend time with us, you only need to ask. We’ll always be happy to have you over.”

“Yeah! Oh, maybe we can have a sleepover! Can we, Mom? Pleeeeease?” Kanako asked, big puppy eyes forming on the spoon’s head. Ceroba laughed as she began to pull into the school parking lot.

“Alright, alright, I’ll see if we can set something up. But you better be on your best behavior.” The two saluted the woman. “Good to hear. I’ll tell Star, too.”

“About the sleepover or bein’ behaved?” Clover joked.

“Two things can be right at once,” she quipped. The three laughed as Ceroba pulled into the carpool lane, both children exiting. “You two have a good first day. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye Ceroba! Thanks for the ride!” Clover thanked. 

“Bye Mom! Love you!” Kanako called.

“Love you too sweetie,” she said as she followed the other cars out, the two turning to look at the schoolhouse before them. Clover gulped a little before following the excited Kanako inside. 

The school was pretty similar to what Clover used to go to, even if that was nearly a decade ago. The school year was starting late, being in mid October after all, but given how monsters had to move to the surface, that made sense. It had been under construction for a little over a month, so the size of it was extremely surprising. Clover remembered stuff taking way longer to build.

“Come on Clover, we’re going to be late!” Kanako said, morphing to a grayscale fox as she bolted down the hallway. Clover took off after her, moving through the groups of students forming in the halls. Most students were monsters, but a few humans had decided to start attending. Or rather, their parents had decided it.

Clover caught up to Kanako as the two walked into their classroom. There were a few monsters, all their same age alongside a couple humans. Kanako took a seat in the front row, Clover taking the seat beside her. A monster was sitting to their side, smiling at them. 

“Yo! You’re a human, right?” the monster asked. Clover turned to look at them, the child being a lizard with no visible arms and a goofy grin.

“Uhh…yeah. My name’s Clover,” they said. The monster smiled at them. They didn’t have any hands for Clover to shake, so they simply nodded their head excitedly.

“My name’s Kid! Or at least that’s what everyone calls me. Nice to meet you!” Clover smiled back. “Say, do you know Frisk?”

“Yeah, we…met a little bit after the barrier broke,” Clover lied. They didn’t want to tell anybody they were one of the fallen that didn’t already know. They didn’t want to have attention on them.

“Woah! That's so cool!” Kid said. “I met them in Waterfall! I didn’t know they were human at first, but they were pretty cool. Not as cool as Undyne though.” Kid continued talking about Undyne from there, Clover sort of listening to their infodump before the bell rang. Once it had, all of the students faced forward. 

A froggit wearing a tie and glasses hopped into the room and onto the desk, coughing into its hand as it got started. Clover could hear a couple students in the back laughing a little. While the froggit spoke in ribbits, the students could still understand what was being said.

“Good morning class,” the froggit said in a deep voice. “My name is Mr. Hops. I hope that you will enjoy your time in my class. I see there are a lot of you starting today. Welcome to Ebbot Elementary. Now…let’s get to know one another a little.”

The rest of the class was fairly basic. Clover never really liked early days of schooling, even after all this time. Every student introduced themselves, one little fun fact from all of them. Some things stood out, like one student who had grown a tree in her backyard or one of the human students who could balance a spoon on his nose. After a while of going around the room, Clover was called on to introduce themself.

“Howdy,” they started, a little nervous at all of the attention. “My name’s Clover. I-It’s nice to meet y’all.” They felt a bead of sweat drop down their brow, trying to look at everyone at once. “A-And I can do this.” They quickly dashed forward a bit, their nervousness causing them to barely move. All the same, the children were absolutely freaking out and shouting in excitement, especially the other human kids. None of them had ever seen a human do that before.

“Very impressive Clover,” Mr. Hops croaked. “You’re quite a rare one. I’ve never seen a human do magic like that.” Clover smiled a little at the praise. “You may sit down now. I need to introduce you all to the curriculum.”

Clover sat back down, Kanako whispering to them madly. “Clover, that was awesome! You can do that?!”

“Y-Yeah,” they said, still a bit anxious about it. “But don’t tell Martlet I did it at school. She doesn’t want me overdoing it.

“It’s really cool! You should do it more! Oh, and I can do stuff with you! We’ll be the coolest kids in this school!” Clover laughed a little at her comments before straightening up. Mr. Hops was eyeing the two suspiciously before going back to writing on the blackboard.

Clover and Kanako finally got out of the classroom for lunch, walking down the hall towards the cafeteria. It had been a pretty boring class so far, so the pair were happy to finally get out of there. 

As they were walking along the hallway, the two heard a passing conversation.

“Hey, move it!” a human child yelled.

“Not until you say sorry!” a floating monster yelled back.

“Why would I say sorry? You were the one who took it!”

“And I gave it back! Why did you have to hit me!”

“Because you just took it!”

“What’s going on?” another voice came. Clover and Kanako looked to their side, spotting Frisk walking up to them in a similar uniform to the pair. Chara was behind them, looking a bit more tired than usual, and with no Flowey in sight.

“Dunno,” Clover responded. “We just were walkin’ out here and saw those two arguin’ about something.” Frisk nodded before promptly walking over to the arguing students. Chara took their place, standing beside Clover as the three watched whatever Frisk was doing.

“That’s the second one today,” Chara said bitterly as Clover and Kanako listened in. “Frisk didn’t want to go to school, but my mom said it would be good to have the ambassador enrolled to be a role model.”

“Well, that’s mighty kind of them to agree to it,” Clover commented. Chara nodded their head, while Kanako just looked puzzled.

“Wait…why wouldn’t Frisk come to school? They’re a kid too, right?” she asked. Chara nodded.

“Indeed. However, Frisk was schooled at their previous accommodation, never been in public education. Sure, they tried , but it never worked out too long.” Clover was intrigued by that, but not for what they said.

“How do you know that?” the cowpoke asked. “You and Frisk talk about it?”

“Y-Yes, we…have,” Chara said, trying to deflect their small blush. Thankfully for their shame, however, Frisk returned to their side, both parties shaking hands happily rather than fighting like before. “Everything sorted?”

“Yep! Just a little misunderstanding,” Frisk informed.

“You’re really good at that Frisk,” Kanako commented as the crowd dispersed. “Maybe that's why you’re the amba…ambrassadoor?”

“Ambassador,” Chara corrected.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Kanako said, drooping a little. Clover immediately noticed, patting their friend on the back.

“Ah no need to be sad Kanako, we all make mistakes,” they said. “You ain’t the first person ta not say somethin’ right.”

“A fact you continue to prove every day,” Chara quipped.

“Just because ye’re jealous of my professional way of talkin’ don’t mean ya gotta be all rude now.”

“Psh, hardly. You can barely string a sentence together without defaulting to ‘howdy howdy gang, I'm Clover!'”

“Oh why hello there, I am Chara, and I say things professionally like ‘talkingtive’ and am very smart.”

“Oh ha ha, very funny.”

“I thought so,” Clover said with a goofy smile. The four all laughed a little as Kid ran up to them.

“Hurry up, we’re gonna be late for lunch!” they said as they ran through the hall. The others looked at a nearby clock before running after them, eager to get something to eat.

Clover yawned as they exited the car, thanking Ceroba as she and Kanako drove off. It had been a long first day, and right now Clover was ready to relax a little. They looked in their pocket and found the spare key Martlet had leant them, opening the door to the house.

Martlet was nowhere to be found, which Clover figured would happen. She did say she would be busy, after all. They looked around the house, empty except for them, and…just stopped.

Something about this house…how big it was…comforted them. They looked to the couch and saw a well-maintained home instead of one rotting away as they were yelled at from across the room. They saw the kitchen area, a place of warm meals and fun conversation instead of prays for their stomach to be quiet.

They walked up the stairs to their room and opened it, taking in the sparsely decorated room. They still didn’t know if they should put anything else in there. They…never had a room before. Not one they were allowed to use all the time anyway. Their bed felt nice, not cold. Their desk was neat, not cobbled together from scrap. Their closet was full instead of moth-infested and ragged.

The child put their backpack on the floor and sat on their bed, grabbing something that sat on their nightstand. It was one of the few things that they had to decorate the room.

A simple picture. One that they had hastily drawn a little while ago. It had a small person with a hat, a blue bird wearing a broad smile, a star-shaped cowboy,, a tall fox woman, and a vampire cloaked in a cape.

Their friends.

Their…family?

They’d said that they were Clover’s family. They told Chara so during their camping trip, and it felt almost real that night Martlet helped them through a nightmare. But…did they consider it a family? Or was it just Clover, wanting a fresh start at having a family that actually cared for them.

They looked at the picture and cried.

They didn’t feel anyone home, nobody to scold them or rip them out of bed, they were alone. For once, alone somewhere they felt safe. And Clover just cried. They were safe. They had a house to live in where there was no threat of being kicked out. They could go to school and have friends and go to their houses freely. They had a warm bed to sleep on, homework to do, books to read. All things they had wanted for so long.

So…they just cried.

Clover didn’t seem to notice the now saddened Martlet who stood outside their door. She had her wing over the door, wanting to knock, but…couldn’t. She didn’t want to interrupt them. She was still trying to learn how to best care for Clover. Sure she had gone to Ceroba and her own parents, but this was a human. One that clearly didn’t come from a happy home.

The bluebird sadly walked down the hall, careful not to tip Clover off to her presence. As she walked along to grab her things, however, she noticed something.

The calendar on the wall, with a particular date circled for that weekend.

‘Our Lucky Day’

It was as if a lightbulb went off in the former guard’s head. She began texting her friends and pulling out her journal, making several notes in it all about what Clover liked and how to best celebrate them. It hadn’t even occurred to her until now that the weekend was 10 years after Clover met them all, but with newfound determination, she started making a plan.

Clover did so much for Martlet and everyone else, it was time to properly celebrate it.

Chapter Text

Clover smiled as their eyes finally opened, yawning as they lifted their once sleeping form from the bed.

‘Ah, finally, Saturday! No school for me today! Now I can just get some work done and …’

Clover stopped themself before going further, spotting something on their nightstand. The child had slept in a little bit, but not enough to where they thought Martlet had already stepped out for the day. They picked up the note and read it to themself.

-Hey Clover! Sorry to leave so early, but I needed to run some errands early. Could you meet me around noon at Ceroba’s place? Sorry this is on such short notice, but I think you’ll like it. See you soon!

There was a little smiley face drawn on the note in the corner, Clover’s smile broadening as they noticed it. They checked their clock, noticing they still had a few hours before they needed to stop by Ceroba’s place. 

They made their way downstairs, noticing a still warm breakfast on the table. It didn’t look like monster food from what they could tell, but a large human breakfast with eggs, pancakes, and toast. Another note sat on the table with the food.

-Hopefully my cooking’s up to snuff, Deputy. Have a good one.

It was a note from Star if the small doodle of a smiling star was any indication. Clover had no idea he was over, not hearing anything from when they were in their room. But then again, they were a bit of a deep sleeper. They felt a bit nervous about eating all by themself, but if Star said the food was for them…

As Clover began eating their food, their mind wandered once more to…no, no they didn’t want to go back there. There wasn’t any meal like this when they lived at that place . Hell, it was lucky if they got fed on a given day. Every day since waking up again, a day hadn’t gone by where they were hungry. They would sit with Martlet, eating whatever kind of food the two would make together. It felt…right.

It felt like home.

Clover shook those thoughts away as they put their plate in the sink. They debated about doing the dishes right at that moment, but…they thought it could wait. They’d been thinking that more and more recently, about letting things take time. It was nice.

They quickly geared up and headed out for the day, not forgetting to put the spare key under the mat like Martlet had asked. Apparently the spare key wasn’t supposed to be with them all the time. 

The child happily walked down the way, waving to the friendly faces they saw outside their respective homes. They weren’t in any rush to get to Ceroba’s place, so a nice stroll sounded just about right today. They saw a tumbleweed rolling down the road, waving hello to it as they turned down a path.

Clover stopped at a nearby park to enjoy the nice day, sitting on a bench as they looked at the falling leaves. It was a little chilly out, the autumn weather being more and more prevalent every passing day. They were happy they’d remembered to bring a jacket today, they never did like the cold.

“Howdy Clover,” a voice came from the other side of the path. Clover looked up, spotting Flowey being carried by Frisk. The child smiled at CLover, as Flowey tried to hide his own smile.

“Oh, hey Flowey. Hey Frisk.” The other child sat down on the bench, joining Clover. The three just enjoyed the quiet for a while, the cool breeze passing through. “What’re you two doin’ out today? Thought you’d be enjoyin’ the weekend at home.”

“I just wanted to go for a walk,” Frisk said with a shrug. “Did it a lot before falling, it’s just something I’ve kept up. Plus Papyrus likes doing break days on weekends for our morning runs.”

“He does break days?” Clover asked. Frisk laughed a little at that.

“Yeah, he does. Although I think Undyne was the one to bring it up to him. Says it’s good to let things take a break once in a while. And I agree, I’m exhausted,” they laughed. Clover laughed along a little too. “And Chara’s busy today, so Flowey decided to spend the day with me out of the kindness of his heart.”

“Yeah yeah, don’t get all sappy. I was just bored,” the flower lied. He had a small smile on his face, one Clover and Frisk couldn’t help but find adorable. Flowey noticed their gawking rather soon. “Hey! Quit staring at me!”

“Sorry buddy,” Clover falsely apologized. Everyone laughed at that, though it quickly turned silent. “Hey, Frisk, can I…ask you something?” Frisk’s attention turned to the other human. “What…what do you feel when you’re living with Sans and Papyrus?”

“What do you mean?” they asked, genuinely curious. Clover rubbed their arm nervously.

“Well…i-it’s just…sometimes I feel like…like me living with Martlet is…it’s not bad! Not bad at all, but…does it feel like you living with them..is good?” Frisk knowingly frowned. They knew exactly what Clover meant, unfortunately.

“Well…when I’m living there, it feels like…home. Like they're my family, and they view me as part of their family. It’s not perfect, but we’re always there for one another. Sans reads me bedtime stories, Papyrus cooks me dinner, we all enjoy late nights watching TV when nothing needs doing. It’s…it’s the kind of home I had always dreamed of having. The kind of love I had always wanted, but never got.”

Clover was silent as they intently listened to Frisk’s words. “Clover…are you alright?” Frisk asked. “I…I can’t pretend to know everything about what you’re going through, but…you’re not the only one. When Chara and I shared a headspace in the underground, I saw a lot of their memories. And felt a lot of their feelings. They went through the same kind of thing you did when they became part of the Dreemurr family.”

“They did?”

“Oh yeah,” Flowey joined in. “Spent a lot of nights with them talking about it. They were scared that we wouldn’t like them. A human, living with monsters? Heh, they didn’t even BELIEVE in monsters before that point. But…they grew to love it. Wasn’t perfect, and we’re all still growing, but we’re working through it.” Flowey genuinely smiled as he thought about his best friend.

“Huh. Thanks you two. I guess I…I’ve just been overthinkin’ things. About whether I…actually fit with them or not.” Clover let out a relieved sigh as they watched another leaf fall from the trees, joining the rest on the ground. “It’s gonna be winter before we know it.”

“Pretty exciting, isn’t it?” Flowey sarcastically said. “The bitter cold, the frosty ground, watching Frisk fall flat on their face on the ice…actually that one may be fun.”

“I will plant you in the first snowfall and make sure to keep you there for all of January.”

“...okay maybe not very funny.”

“There we go, good boy.”

“Don’t patronize me!”

Clover laughed at their banter before checking the time on their phone, shocked at how close it was to noon. “Oh! Sorry y’all, gotta dash. Need to get to Ceroba’s place and fast! See ya later!” With that, Clover hopped off the bench and dashed away in a flash of yellow magic Frisk and Flowey were a bit stunned by the exit.

“How come you can’t do anything like that?” Flowey asked.

“I think facing God head-on is good enough for me,” Frisk said. Flowey begrudgingly agreed.

“I still think I could’ve won that.”

“Could’ve chosen a less cheesy name, too. I mean come on, ‘ God of Hyperdeath ?’”

“SHUT UP FRISK!”

Clover arrived a few minutes later, breathing heavily as they recovered from the run. Turns out dashing like that while sprinting costs a LOT of energy. They gave themself a minute to recover before knocking on the door. To their surprise, the door creaked open. Clover nervously walked in.

“Hello?” they asked as they snuck in. “Ceroba? Star? Kanako? Anyone here?” All of the lights were out, so they weren’t sure what exactly they were looking for. It was eerily quiet. The child shut the door, turning on their phone’s flashlight to find the light switch. They found it, turned it on, and-

“SURPRISE!”

Clover jumped as they turned their phone to show everyone. The living room was absolutely packed with people, all of whom were monsters they’d met while in the underground. They saw Dalv, Martlet, the feisty five, Ceroba, Kanako, even Axis was there! All of them warmly welcomed the human with broad smiles. Clover was breathing heavily from the scare, putting their phone away as Martlet walked up to them.

“So sorry about scaring you like that Clover,” she said apologetically. “We just didn’t want to spoil the surprise of your big day!” Clover was confused. Happy, but confused.

“What’s the occasion?” Clover asked. “Is there a holiday I missed or something?”

“Not exactly Clover,” Ceroba said, joining the two. “You see, every year, we all get together and host a celebration about a certain human who fell into our lives. We didn’t know them long, but they helped us all change for the better. And it just so happens that that day…was ten years ago today.”

“Wait…so…y’mean this is…”

“A celebration of you, Deputy!” Star butted in, hoisting Clover onto his shoulders. “Celebrating the day you fell into the underground and met all of us!” Clover couldn’t believe it. A celebration…for them? But…but this…it was too much, they couldn’t-

“Clover, are you alright?” Martlet asked. Starlo quickly set Clover down, noticing now that tears were beginning to form in their eyes. “Oh dear, I-I didn’t think it would be-” Martlet couldn’t finish as Clover jumped into her arms with a big hug. The monster was taken aback, but reciprocated the gesture. Everyone else joined in on the impromptu group hun, all centering around Clover.

“Thank you,” Clover quietly said while muffled under everyone. “T-Thank you s-so much. I-I-I’m honored.” Martlet and the others smiled as they hugged their friend tightly.

“Alright everyone, we’re gettin’ pretty sappy here,” Starlo said, moving everyone back. “How’s about we get this celebration started?” Everyone could get behind that, Clover most of all. They smiled and laughed as they were led further into the home.

Clover couldn’t even notice the time slipping away as they celebrated with everyone. They had raced Kanako around for what seemed like hours, seeing if her shifting or their dashing was faster. Clover had won, but started running Kanako around the yard on their back, which unfortunately ended as they slammed into a wall, laughing all the while.

Starlo had brought a boombox out back, the entire gang starting an impromptu dance battle across the yard. Clover taught them all what was unofficially called the ‘Clover Dance,’ a name Clover took in stride as they boogied with everyone. Even El Bailador had shown up somehow , Clover directing the wayward dancer afterwards to a certain entertainment robot.

They had eaten what they saw as practically a banquet, foods of all sorts on the table. There had been some commotion with Axis spilling motor oil on a bit of Ed’s ham, causing the two to get into it, but it was broken up fast enough.

Clover was still stuck with a big fat smile on their face as they noticed the sun getting lower and lower on the horizon. Martlet and them began heading out, Clover grabbing their hat before being stopped by Ceroba and Starlo.

“Hold it there, Deputy,” the sheriff said. He knelt down, offering something to Clover. “Was thinking of holding on to this until your birthday, but I figured that now was as good a time as any. Plus…I don’t actually know when your birthday is.”

Clover wasn’t hearing though. They were focused on the gift put into their hands. It was a ten-gallon hat, not unlike their own. Except it had a very prominent four-leaf Clover embroidered on the front and their name on the inside. They put it on their head with tears forming in their eyes.

It was perfect.

“Now I know you love your hat, but-oh!” Starlo wasn’t able to finish as Clover jumped into their friend’s arms for a hug, the monster giving one back in stride. “I take it you like it?”

“I love it!” they said enthusiastically. “This…this is great. Thank you Star. Thank you so much.”

“Ah, no sweat Clover. I’ll always be here for ya.” The sheriff ruffled Clover’s head a little, the child laughing all the while.

Clover then looked to Ceroba, who also had something behind her back. “Clover…you have changed my life in ways I can never say fully in words. You helped me so much, and though I was…not the kindest to you, I hope you have still been able to understand how truly impactful you have been on all of us.”

The fox pulled out a mask from behind her, smiling as they offered it to Clover. “Kanako and I worked together on this. I…hope you like it.”

Clover looked over the mask in their hands. It was a fox mask, like the one they had seen Kanako make for Ceroba in photographs. However, it had yellow markings along it. Clover smiled at the gift.

“I love it Ceroba. Thank you very much. And…y’all have changed my life too.” With that, Clover opened their arms again, Ceroba meeting them for a hug in the middle. The two smiled as they embraced, Clover backing away a minute after. “Thank you both so much. I…I didn’t know I had changed so much.”

“Of course you did, Clover,” Starlo said with kindness. “You inspired us all. And…we’re happy to call you our friend.”

Clover was stunned at that last word. The three monsters around them all meant it earnestly though, Clover could see. Their eyes started watering again, wiping the tears away with their sleeve. They waved goodbye to their friends as they and Martlet departed. However, the surprises hadn’t ended yet.

“Clover,” Martlet said, stopping the human in their tracks. She opened her bag and brought out a bit of cloth. “I know you’re probably really tired, but I wanted to give you something. Close your eyes.”

Clover obeyed their guardian, the bluebird kneeling down and attaching something around their neck. “Now…open them!” Clover’s eyes opened then, spotting a light yellow scarf wrapped around their neck. The scarf had a few deep blue stars on it decorating the ornament. They felt it with their hands, noting how soft it was. Once more, their smile was bright enough to warm even the coldest night.

“Well…do you like it?” she asked. Clover’s response was to give yet another loving hug, the monster accepting readily as they had before. Clover sniffled a little.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. I-I don’t know how to thank you Mom, but I-” they stopped. Their eyes went wide at what they had said. They backed away a little, noticing how Martlet had also gone blank. “I-I-I’m so sorry! I-I didn’t mean…I…w-we can forget it! I-I don’t want to make you-”

“Clover,” Martlet said, stopping their desperate backpedaling. “Do you…would that make you happy? Do you see me as…as a mom?”

Clover felt backed into a corner, not able to look away but wanting so desperately to escape. What hurt most was that they did. They really did. “I…I-I-I…y-yes…” they finally said, quiet enough to where only Martlet could hear them. “I don’t wanna b-be…a burden on ya though, so if you don’t feel the same way we can-”

Clover wasn’t able to finish their sentence, Martlet muffling them in the biggest hug they’d had all day. Clover couldn’t help but hug her back. They just let it all out then, and cried into her shoulder. “Clover,” Martlet said in a quiet voice. “I’d be honored if you want to call me that. And I promise you: as long as you want, I’ll make sure you never feel like a burden ever again.”

Clover nodded their head, voice too shaky to speak. They felt absolutely elated by her words.. They…had a family. In a way, they always had. A family that accepted them for who they were. A family that encourages them to succeed in whatever they wanted to do. A family that loved them unconditionally.

Wiping their tears again, Clover accepted Martlet’s outstretched wing with a weak but very real smile. The two walked in quiet, but Clover didn’t mind. It was more time that they got to spend with their mom. All the same, it had been a very long day, and Clover was very tired. They still smiled though, thinking about what the next day would bring.

They couldn’t wait to go home.

Chapter Text

Clover hummed a tune as they got their backpack ready. It had been a few days since the get-together with all of their friends, and the human was ready for the day ahead of them. Another week of school was out of the way, which meant another weekend to spend time with their friends.

At a sleepover.

They’d never been to a sleepover before, so they had asked Martlet what they actually needed. While she tried her best to help, Clover didn’t really think all of her tools were necessary considering they would just be down the road for the night.

They had their extra clothes, toothbrush, sleeping bag, and pajamas, and that seemed about right. They considered bringing their journal, but…something told them they would be better leaving it here. They didn’t want anyone to end up reading it.

They hopped down the stairs with their bag in tow, adjusting their new hat as they met Martlet at the door. She smiled at them as she led them out the door. “You ready Clover?”

“You bet!” Clover said. “Never been to one of these before, but it’ll be fun!”

“That’s great to hear,” she said as the two walked down the road. Clover could have made it on their own, but part of them had wanted Martlet to tag along for the way there. “So, how’s school been going? You don’t really talk about it much.”

“Uhh…’s alright,” they said unsurely. “Just kinda boring is all. Plus…there was an issue the other day.”

“Are you alright? I didn’t get a call or anything. Did you get into a fight?” Martlet sounded incredibly concerned, making Clover more embarrassed.

“Well…not exactly.”

“GOD DAMN MATH PROBLEM AAAAAGH!”

“Uhh…yo, you alright Clover?”

“YES KID I AM PERFECTLY FINE THANK YOU FOR ASKING.”

“You sure? Seems like you’re getting really frustrated.”

“BECAUSE MATH IS STUPID! WHAT IS X? WHY DOES THAT MATTER? MATH SHOULD JUST BE MATH AND NOT HAVE LETTERS!”

“Yo, it’s cool, you’ll get it. Besides, we can work together on the other page if you want.”

“...there’s another page?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“Math sucks.”

“Well…we still need it,” Martlet said, attempting to put a positive spin on things. “I mean math lets me do my work, getting measurements and putting it all together.”

“I guess,” they said dejectedly. “Still don’t like it.”

“Oh come on, you’re smart. I’m sure you can do it. Besides, just a few more weeks, then you’re off for break.” For once, Clover was happy about a break from school. With that, the two continued on their way. Clover noticed the slight chill in the air, the seasons shifting ever so slightly to a colder and colder environment. They nestled their face more into their scarf and shivered a little. “You alright?”

“Yeah, just a bit cold’s all. I’ll be alright.” Martlet looked at them with skepticism. Clover was dressed in their usual cowpoke getup, but they really did need some winter clothes. “I-I never really liked the cold.”

“Bad memories?” Clover just nodded their head, mumbling something to themself quietly. “Well don’t you worry Clover. I’ll make sure the cold is as bearable and comfortable for you as I can.” Martlet smiled at the child, who in turn gave her a hopeful smile.

“Thanks Mom,” they said quietly. Martlet felt pure joy at the name as they came up to the house. Clover smiled as they knocked on the door, readjusting their backpack. There was rustling from inside the decently-sized home before the door opened.

“Howdy Clover, heya Martlet,” Starlo said as he warmly greeted the two. Martlet and Clover waved as he motioned inside.

“Alright Clover, I’ll be by tomorrow morning to get you, but give me a call if you need anything, alright?” Martlet asked. Clover laughed a little.

“Okay Mom, I know. I’ll be alright. Don’t worry,” they reassured. Martlet grinned as she hugged the child, who returned it. “See ya tomorrow!”

“See you tomorrow Clover. Have fun!” With that, the monster flapped her wings and flew away, the other two watching her go before Clover moved inside.

“Okay then, so Ceroba’s out for the day, meaning it’s just you kids and me,” Starlo said. Clover looked around, spotting their friends in the living room. Chara, Frisk, Kanako, and Flowey were all knelt down around a board game set up. The flower was grumbling something to a very proud looking Kanako as Clover entered the room. 

“Hey Clover!” Kanako said, waving her hand at the child. Frisk gave an enthusiastic smile while Chara simply nodded their head. “Wanna join in? Flowey’s basically done anyway.”

“Hey! You basically claimed every property! It’s not my fault the dice hates me!” Kanako just laughed at his misfortune. “Why does luck have to be against me?”

“You don’t have hands.”

“Shut it Chara.”

“I’m just saying, vines aren’t the best for rolling a dice,” the former royal explained with an air of smugness. “Though I suppose Clover and you could team up, seeing as how you are a bit…unarmed.” Nobody laughed at that.

“I thought ya hated puns,” Clover said as they put their backpack on the ground and sat by Flowey.

“I simply hate bad puns. Wordplay is an art form not everyone has a talent in.”

“Uh huh. And ye’re an expert I take it?”

“Why yes, I do believe I am.” Frisk smirked at the declaration.

“I mean with how I remember hearing you practice in the mirror-”

“S-Shut up Frisk,” Chara said as a blush crept onto their face. That one got some laughs though. “Regardless, we should continue. I won’t allow Kanako to beat me again.”

“You didn’t have to give up your property,” Kanako quipped.

“Silence,” Chara monotony snapped back. The fox girl just laughed as the five went to their game, Starlo retreating to the kitchen as they went on. When Clover and Flowey’s time came, the cowpoke could hear the flower chanting for a high roll as Clover shook the die in their hands. They let go, the piece bouncing a few times before finally falling on a ‘5’.

“Haha! Yes! Suck it, losers, everything’s coming up Flowey!” Clover nudged his stem a little with a teasing expression. “...and Clover.”

“That’s right,” the cowpoke said. “Besides, we need to be more careful with our rolls. We just landed on a green property. Card’s gone, so someone’s already claimed it.”

“And that would be me,” Frisk said. They held out a hand, to which a baffled Flowey slid a few of his dollars to the ambassador. “Really Flowey, I wouldn’t think you would be so unlucky.”

“Yeah, well apparently my good luck charm isn’t as lucky as I thought,” he moaned. Clover’s eyes narrowed on their friend.

“Wait, Clover, you’ve played this game before?” Frisk asked. Clover nodded their head in acknowledgement. It had been a pretty common sight on store shelves when they were able to get out long enough to go to stores. “Huh. I mean I guess it has been around for a while.”

“I never actually played it much myself, but I saw other kids doing it a bit. Always seemed like they got pretty angry about it,” Clover said. Frisk agreed with the anger part. “My, uhh… former guardians never let me play it.”

“What was it like?” Flowey asked. Frisk and Chara gave the flower dirty looks at his comment. However, Clover considered it. Did they want to talk about it? They’d told Chara a little bit about what it was like, but…it was still a lot. They took off their hat, rubbing a finger over the patch sewn onto it.

No. They weren’t their parents. They never had been. Parents cared about their kids. Parents loved their kids. And those people…

“Nah, s’alright. I…I want to get it off my chest,” they said at last. The game went to a complete stop as all attention went to Clover. “My… caretakers weren’t nice. Always said I was a burden. After I could survive without ‘em, that was it. I wasn’t cared for, had to do it myself however I could. Not like they gave me much to do it with. Still had to take care of everyone else, though. Rotten people they were.”

The others were still silent. Chara had this…understanding look on their face. Kanako was shocked and sad by what Clover was saying. Frisk’s blank face didn’t show any emotion on it, the child taking it as it was. Flowey also remained neutral and, thankfully, respectfully silent. 

“But I ain’t with ‘em anymore. They’re dead to me. Always have been. I’m not some mistake they can mistreat. I don’t need to prove myself to ‘em or beg for them ta care. I’m my own person, and there’s nothin’ they can do to worm their way back into my life. They don’t deserve it.”

Clover finished, looking up to the others. Kanako had tears in her eyes, the fox quickly moving over and hugging Clover tightly. The child hugged her back, a smile on their face. They saw Chara’s blank expression, a silent understanding still clear in their features. Frisk was still hard to read, but they gave Clover a reassuring smile all the same.

“Sorry, I…I didn’t mean ta sour the mood,” Clover said. They buried their face in their hat to avoid the judgment before a hand greeted their shoulder.

From Chara.

“You…you’re very brave for saying that,” the first fallen said. “I get it. And…you should not be afraid of letting yourself be known.” Clover looked in awe at the human, someone who weeks before had been almost disgusted by them, and who now they saw in an entirely different light. 

They made their way back to their spot, Clover taking note of how Frisk’s eyes stayed on them the whole way. The ambassador’s hand found Chara’s, causing the latter of the two to blush a little.

“A-Anyways, we should probably get back to the game,” Clover motioned. The others couldn’t help but agree. They played for a little bit before Starlo called for them to enter the kitchen. When they did, they were greeted by an assortment of foods, a fair sized ham in the middle.

“Alright kids, dinner is served,” the sheriff declared. While the others dug in, he pulled Clover aside for a quick second. The children looked worriedly at their friend, but Clover assured them that it was alright.

“Everythin’ alright Star?” Clover asked. “If there’s somethin’ I can do then-” Clover was unable to finish as they were pulled into a hug by Starlo. The monster teared up a little as they let Clover go, looking them over.

“Sorry. I just…I heard what you were saying earlier. I didn’t want to intervene, but…I’m sorry Clover. You deserved so much better than…than those people .” Clover patted their friend’s hand as it sat on their shoulder, Starlo surprised as he saw Clover smile.

“Thanks, Star. I…I really appreciate that. And I know that they’re gone. They were never my family anyway. You guys are.” With that, Clover pulled Starlo into another hug. Not one of forlornness, but one of acceptance. Starlo couldn’t stop himself from smiling as the two parted. “We should probably go and eat before the others worry more.” 

The two returned to the table, the others all giving them questioning glances. “Sorry y’all,” Clover apologized as they sat down. “Star just…wanted to make sure I was alright.”

“That’s good,” Frisk said. “And…Chara’s right by the way. You’re really brave Clover, telling us that. We’re here for you if you ever need us, alright?”

“Yeah!” Kanako yelled from her spot at the table. The girl was beaming at Clover in reassurance, something the cowpoke very much appreciated.

“I suppose we’re here for you. We are your friends after all,” Chara finished. The squeal from Clover immediately tipped Chara off to their mistake. 

They’d called Clover their ‘friend.’

“Wait, no.”

“Aha! You called me your friend!”

“No! I meant a person of knowing!”

“That’s not a thing! I’m your friend!”

“Academic associate!”

“Nuh uh!”

“Frisk, please, either help me fix this or kill me to avoid this.”

“Nope. You’re on your own Chara.”

“Ugh.”

Hours later, the children had all ended up gathered on the couch under a blanket, watching a movie they had found as they talked amongst themselves. It had quieted down a lot since dinner. They had tried booting up video games, but Clover and Chara were so bad at them that they decided movies were the better way to go.

Clover couldn’t even focus on the movie really. It was some robot thing they had never seen, but they were honestly starting to doze off a little. They let out a quiet yawn, something that was noticed by their friend.

“Tired?” Frisk asked, to which Clover nodded. “It is getting kinda late. Maybe we should get to bed.”

“Too late,” Clover said, the two humans spotting their friends all fast asleep already. Kanako was drooping a little, her form not stabilized as much, while Chara and Flowey just snored peacefully to the side of Frisk. The two laughed quietly so as to not disturb their peace.

“Y’know, this is nice actually,” Frisk said as they nuzzled closer to Chara. “I…can’t remember the last time I was with friends like this. Just hanging out.”

“Just friends?” Clover asked. Frisk blushed a little as they noticed how close they and Chara had gotten.

“Yeah…b-but don’t tell Chara, alright? I…I don’t want to make them feel weird.” Clover laughed a little to themself. They really have no idea, do they?

“Ah, I won’t tell. But I think they feel the same way, y’know?”

“You think so?”

“Call it a hunch,” Clover yawned, nuzzling into their seat more. They felt so warm, so safe underneath the blanket, surrounded by friends. It felt...right. “G’night Frisk.”

“Goodnight Clover,” Frisk said before the two fell fast asleep. Starlo watched from the hall, smiling as their movie kept playing without any viewers. After everything these kids had gone through, whether he knew or not, it was nice that they could all be together like this in peace.

Starlo checked his phone, only to see a line of texts coming in from Martlet.

STAR

STARLO HELP

WE LIT A TRASHCAN ON FIRE

PLEASE GET HERE FAST OH NO

PAPYRUS IS CALLING UNDYNE MAYBE SHE CAN HELP

OH GOD SHE JUST MADE IT WORSE!!!

GET HERE SOONN!

“Ah dang it, not again,” he cursed, throwing on a jacket and his hat as he exited out the door. He took one more look at the children before stepping out, smiling as he noticed all of their peaceful expressions.

“Sweet dreams, y’all,” he said as he bolted to Papyrus’ house.

Chapter Text

“I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENED. ONE MOMENT THE CANNON WAS FIRING, THE NEXT IT WAS LIGHTING THE GARBAGE ON FIRE.”

“Or maybe it’s because we locked the wheels,” Martlet speculated as the four walked down the road. Starlo had arrived not long after the fire department ended up at the home, the fire being put out rather quickly because of it. Thankfully nobody had been hurt, but it was a very unpleasant experience. 

“Well however it happens, we know the cannon works,” Undyne said happily. Papyrus and Martlet just eyed her unimpressed. “What? Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I’d rather not have the fire department interrupting what we were doing,” Martlet commented. 

“I’M JUST GLAD NOBODY ELSE WAS HOME, IT WOULD’VE SPOILED THE SURPRISE IF FRISK HAD WOKEN UP,” Papyrus followed up.

“Oh shoot!” Starlo said, popping in from behind them. “Uhh, sorry gang, gotta go. I don’t want those kids to wake up and see I’m not there. See ya later!” With that, the sheriff took off back down the road towards his home, the other three monsters watching him leave in a hurry.

“Well…guess it’s just us now,” Undyne stated. She looked around, trying to find something to occupy the time. It was already really late, and there was no chance of getting back to bed now with her energy. “Oh! You guys hungry? I think Grillby set up his new place down the street.”

“ABSOLUTELY NOT!” Papyrus immediately interjected. “THAT PLACE IS JUST GREASE AND POOR HEALTH.”

“C’mon Papyrus,” Undyne teased. “I know you like it.”

“THAT’S JUST PREPOSTEROUS.”

“Sans told me.”

The skeleton groaned. “OF COURSE HE DID. SO BE IT! WHAT SAY YOU, MARTLET? ARE YOU COMING WITH?”

“Sure! I’ve never actually been to Grillby’s. I heard it was pretty good though.” With that, the three set off. It was pretty quiet, though that made sense. Most people were beginning to turn in for the night, so the three of them were the only ones out aside from a stray monster heading home for the night.

“Hey, actually, I’ve been wondering something,” Undyne spoke up. Papyrus and Martlet both looked at the former captain. “Papyrus, you…never actually joined the guard. And Martlet, you quit before I even met Papyrus. How’d you two get so close?”

“Well…it’s a pretty interesting story actually,” Martlet said. “So it was a few days after the barrier broke…”

Several Weeks Ago…

“Alright, another job well done!”

Martlet wiped sweat from her brow as she admired her handiwork. It was just another cabinet to anyone else, but to her, it was the final piece she needed to finish the kitchen area of her new home.

She and Clover had begun working on their new accommodations almost immediately after the barrier was destroyed. Frisk and Asgore had been very efficient in getting monsters the land needed to construct their new lives. Not everything was sunshine and rainbows, as finding the proper space took quite a while, but it was worth it in monsterkind’s eyes to finally be on the surface again.

While some monsters moved to the big city, others build their own community not far from the city limits. It didn’t have a name yet (despite Asgore’s proposition of ‘Newest Home’) but that wasn’t important at the moment.

Martlet stepped out of her workshop, admiring how well everything was coming together for her and her neighbors. She’d been around several people, helping them out with building homes and fixing up whatever need modification. Human and monster construction had both worked together to get everyone their homes.

However, one house stood out.

A few blocks down from Martlet’s home was a fully-finished home, with a pirate flag mantled on the roof and snow covering the patch of land it occupied.

In mid September.

Something wasn’t right.

“Hey Clover,” she called inside. “I’ll be right back.”

“Alright. See ya in a bit!” her friend answered. Martlet walked over to the house, now seeing the Christmas lights that adorned it as well as a pair of mailboxes out front, one stuffed to capacity and the other with the name ‘Papyrus’ on the side and sitting empty. She knocked on the door, it opening a minute later to a very jovial monster. He was about her height and wore an apron over a strange looking costume.

“OH, WHY HELLO THERE! YOU MUST BE HERE FOR OUR ‘HOUSEWARMING’ PARTY! WHICH IS WEIRD, SINCE I DIDN’T SEND ANY INVITES.” He took her hand and gave it a firm shake, a broad grin on his skeletal face. “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”

“Uhh…Martlet,” she said, a bit unsure. She was glad this monster seemed friendly at the very least, even if he was very extra. “I was wondering how you got your house up so fast. And…how you have snow on your roof when it’s bright and sunny out.”

“AH, YES THAT,” Papyrus pondered. “HONESTLY, I HAVE NO IDEA. WE SIMPLY GOT TO TOWN WITH EVERYBODY ELSE AND WALKED INTO OUR HOME. MY BROTHER SANS MAY KNOW MORE ABOUT IT, BUT HE AND THE HUMAN ARE OUT AT THE MOMENT.”

“Human? Oh! You must mean Frisk, right? The one who fell down a few days ago?”

“INDEED. THEY HAVE BEEN LIVING WITH US EVER SINCE THE BARRIER BROKE. IT HAS BEEN NICE TO HAVE ANOTHER FRIEND SO LOSE, AND I DIDN’T EVEN NEED TO BECOME A ROYAL GUARD TO DO IT!” That caught her attention more.

“Royal guard? When I was part of the guard, they never had anything about befriending humans.”

“WELL, I WAS NEVER ‘ACTUALLY’ IN THE GUARD. IT WAS IN TRUTH A FRONT CREATED BY UNDYNE, BUT-WAIT!” he stopped, looking at her in awe. “YOU WERE IN THE GUARD?!”

“I was, yeah, but I quit. I couldn’t keep working there after I learned what happened to the other humans,” she admitted. She looked down sadly, however felt a hand on her shoulder.

“MARTLET, I UNDERSTAND THAT. WHEN I MET FRISK, I ATTEMPTED TO CAPTURE THEM FOR THE GUARD. HOWEVER, I COULDN’T DO IT. THEY BECAME MY FRIEND INSTEAD! EVEN AFTER MY PUZZLES LARGELY FAILED TO STOP THEIR EFFORTS.” Papyrus looked a bit sad at that. Martlet, however, was much more happy.

“You made puzzles? Even if you weren’t ‘technically’ a guard, that’s impressive you did so much! Maybe we can work together on something. I happen to be quite the puzzle expert if I do say so myself.” Martlet took great pride in her buzzle skills, even if they were too high for anybody to fully appreciate.

“REALLY?! WOWIE! ANOTHER PERSON WHO CAN FINALLY ENJOY THE TRUE ART OF PUZZLE MAKING WITH ME! NYEHEHE!” Papyrus and Martlet chatted for a little longer before exchanging contact info, the bluebird on her way back home.

‘What a cool guy,’ she thought as she entered the house.

“And it kind of just went from there,” Martlet finished. “We’ve been cooking up something great though! I can’t wait to show it off!”

“INDEED,” her friend jumped in. “BY NEXT WEEK, ALL WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE TRUE POWER OF TWO MASTER PUZZLE CREATORS AT WORK!” The two laughed amongst themselves in triumph, Undyne just chuckling as she held the door open for the two.

“Alright, alright, let’s calm down a little,” she advised. The three took their seats at a table, a waiter coming up in short order.

“heya. late night dinner?” he asked.

“WELL NOT EXACTLY,” Papyrus said. “THERE WAS A MISHAP AT MY HOUSE AND- SANS!?” The others finally noticed who their waiter was, as Sans stood with a sticky note in his hand and decent clothes under his same jacket. “WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”

“chill pap, i’m working,” he said simply. Papyrus gave him a suspicious look. “grillby’s kid is sick with the flu, so i offered to cover for him tonight. one of my better jobs, since all the food’s on the house .”

“SANS I SWEAR IF I SEE ANOTHER PLATE OF FOOD ON THE ROOF,”

“hey, i didn’t know it would end up on your head. honest mistake,” he clearly lied. Papyrus just grumbled in his seat. “anyways, what happened at home?”

“Umm, n-nothing!” Martlet quickly said. Sans eyed her suspiciously, but just shrugged as he wrote something on his note.

“sounds good. i’ll be back in a bit with your food.” With that, he walked off, Martlet scratching her head all the while.

“But…we didn’t order anything?”

“AH, you get used to it,” Undyne said. “Sans is just…weird like that. He’s always had this thing for reading people. Maybe that’s why Asgore made him judge.”

“Wait, he was the judge?!” Martlet exclaimed. “Don’t get me wrong, he’s nice, but…I didn’t think anyone was qualified.”

“Neither did I, but apparently he fit.” The three sat with that for a moment, waiting for their meal. They went back to general conversation as Sans came back with their meals. Three plates with burgers and fries lay before them, all steaming hot. “Thanks Sans.”

“no problemo undyne. figured you needed something to warm you up after that while deal with the fire.” The three went shamefully silent at his words, but Sans made no further comment on it. Under Martlet’s plate, however, they saw a note in the skeleton’s handwriting.

tell frisk they owe me $30

“Why would Frisk owe Sans money?” Martlet asked. Papyrus groaned from where he sat as he made a note on his phone.

“SANS AND FRISK MADE A BET ABOUT SOMETHING GOING WRONG WHILE THEY WERE OUT. IT WOULD SEEM AS IF MY STUNT HAS LOST FRISK MONEY,” he sadly proclaimed.

“Ah, it’s no problem Papyrus,” Undyne encouraged. “You had no clue what would happen, neither did Martlet. Sometimes you just start a fire. Happened to me a few times during cooking lessons.”

“How in the world would cooking lessons lead to a fire!?”

“Well, y’see…”

As they continued speaking with one another, Sans retreated to the bar. He checked the time on his watch, noticing how late it was starting to be. He didn’t mind, though. He could just sleep in a little extra tomorrow instead of just his normal schedule. As he poured a drink, two monsters walked in. One he was very familiar with, the other he only knew in passing.

“evening tori,” he said as he hopped onto a box to be at eye level. “didn’t expect you to be out so late. having some fun?”

“Odd, I don’t seem to recall Grillby hiring more staff. Perhaps he’s running on fumes ,” the old monster joked. Sans chuckled at that.

“nah, couldn’t be. he gets way too fired up working to be burnt out ,” he joked back. The two howled with laughter, Toriel’s companion chuckling a little as the two women sat down.

“It is good to see you, Sans,” Toriel finally greeted. “And yes, Ms. Ketsukane and I are just out for a night out.”

Toriel, please, you can just call me Ceroba,” she said. She sighed before turning to Sans. “So you’re not the usual barkeep here?”

“nope. he’s out with his kid, so i’m doing a hostile takeover of his restaurant.” Ceroba laughed a little at that. “ketsukane, huh? neat. you’re kanako’s mom, right?” The woman looked a bit surprised at that. “frisk told me about her. nice kid.”

“She is,” Ceroba said. The other two smiled at her, the fox coughing into her hand. “A-Anyways, sorry about that.”

“No need to apologize, Ceroba,” Toriel forgave. “I understand how much our children can be on our minds. Even now I hope that Chara is alright. I know them and that other child have had…issues.”

“You mean Clover? Yeah, they seemed a bit worried too. But it’s been better recently from what Martlet has told me. I’m not sure what happened, but I think that camping trip helped them both quite a lot,” she said. The other two had to agree.

“So, i take it you want your usual,” Sans said to Toriel, who gave a polite nod. “How about you?”

“Whatever you recommend,” she said. Sans shrugged, going back to his work as the two continued talking. It didn’t take long at all for their drinks to arrive, both mothers thanking Sans.

“hey, ceroba,” Sans brought up, the fox looking at him after placing her drink down. “this is gonna seem a bit weird, but…i think i may have known your husband.”

Ceroba nearly fainted when she heard those words. Toriel gave Sans a look, but the skeleton just assured her it was alright. “we met when i was in college. real funny guy, he was. man, the stories i could tell from those days.

“I don’t suppose…you could tell me about some?” she asked. Sans looked at her with a smile on his face, which assured her a little. “Sorry, I just…it’s been a while since he passed, I know, but I still enjoy hearing about him from those that knew him.”

“in that case, i’ve got just the thing,” Sans said. “i think it was our junior year…”

Some Years Ago…

Sans plopped onto his bed as he sent one last message to Papyrus, exhausted after the long day. Classes were as boring as ever, and New Home wasn’t nearly as interesting as the other locations in the underground. It was alright, though. Papyrus was being taken care of while he studied at least, so that was a plus.

Shame his roommate couldn’t be as punctual.

Even after a year of living together, Sans still found it hard to get a proper read on Chujin Ketsukane. He could tell a few things, of course. The young man was a genius when it came to robotics, but his methods were a bit…self-destructive.

He was not a happy monster when the dorm had to be evacuated due to a fire, but took some pride in knowing Chujin’s invention actually worked.

The devil must have been listening, as not one minute after Sans laid down, Chujin burst into the door, holding a large piece of paper in his hands. Internally, the monster groaned at not being allowed to sleep more. However, his innate curiosity and permanent grin couldn’t stop him from looking at his roommate.

“whatcha got there, buddy?” he asked as he wandered over to his work desk. It was an absolute mess, but the skeleton knew better than to disturb a scientist’s workspace.

“Sans, I just got the greatest idea! I met this girl the other day, and just…wow. She was amazing. She had this long beautiful hair and the most gorgeous eyes and-”

“uhh…you alright man?”

“O-Oh, yes yes, I-I’m fine. Just…a-anyway, it gave me this idea. I had found her after she’d had a nasty injury. I was taking my afternoon hike when I found her, and so I helped her out. We got to talking and…I think I should do something for her. To make up for her having to deal with her injury for so long.”

Sans thought for a second, looking over Chujin’s drawings. They were a bit strange, looking like some kind of drone fueled by…flowers? But, it did seem interesting. Plus, Chujin seemed really interested in doing this for the lady he had met. With a shrug, Sans looked over them more.

“i’m sold,” he said, earning a smile from Chujin in the process. “so, how do you think we should build this thing?

It took a few hours (and a fair amount of runs to the dump for scrap metal and whatever circuits they could find) but eventually, the drone was finished. The magical core booted up as Chujin meddled with the controls.

It wasn’t the largest machine out there, only being a small drone that could fit in a person’s hands, but for what needed to happen, it would work.

“I have to say Sans, this might be the fastest we’ve ever made something,” Chujin said triumphantly.

“also the longest something’s gone without blowing up,” the skeleton quipped back.

“You’re not still mad about the fire, are you? I swear I have no clue why the toaster would do that.”

“and yet you still haven’t paid me back for burning my bread.”

“You sell hotdogs to the other students. Illegally , I might add. I don’t think money’s an issue for you, my friend.”

“eh, fair enough,” Sans surrendered. Chujin laughed to himself as the pair heard footsteps approaching. What came into view was a fox monster, one with a bell in her red hair and wearing a kimono. Chujin gulped at the sight of her, Sans immediately catching on to what was going on.

“Hello Chujin,” the woman greeted. “I-I heard you wanted to see me again?”

“H-Hi Ceroba!” he said quickly. “Yeah, I…OH! Uhh, t-this is my roommate!” Sans walked up to her, hand outstretched.

“heya. i’m sans, sans the skeleton. nice to meet you,” he greeted. Ceroba took his hand, however instead of a sound of clapping, there was a low farting noise. Sans chuckled to himself as the two foxes looked at him and tried to hide their laughter.

“ah, the old whoopie-cushion in the hand trick. never fails to get a kick out of me,” he said. “anyway, yeah, he wants to show you something.” Chujin gave Sans a look while the skeleton smugly grinned at him before all attention went to the Ketsukane. 

“So, what did you want to show me?” she asked. Chujin gulped down his nervousness as he stepped to the side, showing the drone to her before flipping a switch. The drone rose into the air, another button press dropping an aroma from within it. Chujin flew it around a bit, the drone dispersing the scent around the area.

“I developed a drone that allows for scents to be spread around the underground! I…had heard you liked the cherry blossoms, s-so I thought it would be nice to have something similar. What do you think?” Chujin awaited her response, the fox just staring in amazement at his creation and taking in the alluring scent it dropped.

“I think…it’s wonderful,” Ceroba said at last. She gave Chujin a warm smile as the three looked at the drone fly around.

Before it exploded into a fiery display of pink and orange.

“Wow…it even has fireworks,” Ceroba said. When she turned back, however, she noticed Chujin’s shocked and disappointed face.”

“huh. nearly beat the record,” Sans said as he checked his watch. Chujin just angrily stared at the smug skeleton before a voice was heard from inside.

“CHUJIN KETSUKANE! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING!”

“Oh god, not the dean again! Sans, we gotta go!” he said. Sans just shrugged as if it was no big deal.

“💧︎✌︎☠︎💧︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💧︎😐︎☜︎☹︎☜︎❄︎⚐︎☠︎📪︎ 🕈︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ✌︎☼︎☜︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 👎︎⚐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎✏︎✍︎ 👎︎✋︎👎︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 💧︎❄︎✌︎☼︎❄︎ ✌︎ ☞︎✋︎☼︎☜︎ ✌︎☝︎✌︎✋︎☠︎✍︎”

oh shit .

“run for it!” the skeleton yelled. He took off in a flash, Chujin running after him. Ceroba just looked on as a skeleton in a black coat and a large reptilian in a brown suit chased after the pair. She couldn’t stop looking around her though, taking in the smells the drone had left before it went up in smoke.

‘It’s beautiful ’ she thought as she began walking home, Chujin still in the back of her mind.

“Oh yes, I remember now. He was always so embarrassed by that moment,” she laughed. Sans smiled as he finished the story. “Thank you Sans. It was nice to hear about him again.”

“no prob ceroba,” he said. “and hey, i’m sorry about what happened with him. he was a good friend.”

“It’s alright Sans, thanks,” she said. Sans looked over, spotting the other patrons wishing for refills.

“sorry you two, duty calls. Don’t have too much fun without me,” he said. With that, the skeleton hopped off his makeshift stool and walked over to the tables, sticky note in hand. Ceroba smiled to herself, not noticing how Toriel was grinning at her.

“It’s good to see you so happy Ceroba,” she said. The fox blushed a little at the compliment. “I’m afraid I never met your husband, but I’m sure he was a wonderful person.”

“He was,” Ceroba said, fiddling with her drink. “Sorry about this, Toriel, I didn’t mean to make our night dreary.”

“Oh hush, it’s alright dear,” she said. “I’m just surprised you wanted to hang out with an old goat like me.”

“Oh stop that, you still look damn good for someone in their hundreds.”

“You flatter me, Ceroba.”

The two laughed with one another for a while, enjoying plenty of drinks and laughs with each other and with Sans. They exited a while later, about the same time Sans closed up and the other tables left. Finally, Ceroba noticed just who the other patrons had been.

“Wait, Martlet? What are you doing out so late?” Ceroba asked. The party of three turned to look at Ceroba and Toriel in surprise. Undyne stood at attention near immediately before being nudged by Papyrus. “I thought you were working on stuff.”

“Ah, yeah, we…ran into a road bump with that. We decided to grab dinner since we were already out,” she said. “How about you? Star said it was just him and the kids tonight, I was wondering where you went.”

“That is also a long story,” Toriel said. “It’s nice to see you all, though.”

“Indeed, Queen Tori-uhh…I-I mean MS. Toriel!” Undyne said. The old monster narrowed her eyes at Undyne, who shrinked away a little.

“Well, I guess we should be going,” Ceroba said. “It’s getting pretty late, and I already know I drank too much to be pain-free tomorrow morning.”

“i’m with ya. i need a nap,” Sans said, spawning next to Papyrus.

“SANS, I GUARANTEE YOU WOULD HAVE NAPPED ANYWAY HAD GRILLBY NOT BEEN OUT.”

“eh, can’t argue there.”

“Well, I’m ready to call it a night,” Martlet said, the rest following her out. At least, they tried to before-

*SPLAT*

“oh, so that’s where the food ended up. i knew i lost my head in the clouds somewhere along the way.”

“SAAAAAAAAANS!”

Chapter Text

“Martlet, do ya really have to blindfold me for this?”

“Just trust me Clover. This’ll be worth it.”

“Alright,” they said as Martlet led them to a park near their home. Clover was just happy to be done with school for the day, but they didn’t think Martlet would end up blindfolding them and leading them over for a surprise.

Maybe it was to do with what she and Papyrus had been working on? They had heard rumors about the fire department being called a few days ago, but they just wrote it off as being unrelated. 

“Alright, we’re here,” she said, taking the blindfold off the cowpoke. Clover rubbed their eyes, readjusting to the light, as they looked at what sat before them. Confusion was immediate, followed by intrigue.

What sat before them was a maze-like arena all across the park. While it wasn’t the largest area, it was big enough to where multiple small areas had been set up, each leading to the next. They noticed spikes, cannons, saws, and multiple large rooms. Papyrus was standing at the entrance, proud as could be, along with a very proud Frisk.

“AH, HELLO THERE CLOVER. IT’S SO GOOD OF YOU TO COME AND SEE THIS,” the skeleton exclaimed. He swept his hand across the field. “AFTER WEEKS OF HARD WORK, MARTLET AND I PRESENT TO YOU: THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLIER TERROR!”

“We, uhh…may have had trouble with the name,” Martlet noted. “But that’s besides the point! For you see, this puzzle is unlike anything you have ever experienced in your life!”

“ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN,” the skeleton introduced. “YOU AND FRISK SHALL RACE THROUGH THE MAZE, AVOIDING TRAPS AND JAPES IN ORDER TO REACH THE VERY END! ONLY ONE WILL BE ABLE TO BE DECLARED THE WINNER OF THE GAUNTLET!”

“And there’s a special reward at the end for the lucky winner!” Martlet finished. Clover looked over the maze once again. It seemed…fun. Really fun.

“Heck yeah!” Clover shouted in excitement. “So this is what you’ve been workin’ on this whole time?” Martlet and Papyrus both nodded. Frisk walked up to Clover, the two starting to the finish line. “Oh, this is gonna be fun!”

“And it’s completely safe, right Paps?” Frisk asked. The child seemed even more ready than Clover was, yet still asked.

“OF COURSE, FRISK. UNDYNE HAS BEEN GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO HELP US TEST, AND WE HAVE HAD NO INJURY AS A RESULT,” he said. Clover wasn’t sure about that. Undyne may have made it through no issue, but she was also a highly skilled warrior. However, Papyrus hadn’t led them astray thus far, so they trusted him.

“When we give the signal, you’ll go,” Martlet said. Clover now saw the targeting board above the entrance to the maze. “On your marks…Get set…GO!”

With a bang, a shot hit the target, and Frisk and Clover were off. The ambassador ran ahead, Clover right on their tail as they went through the maze. Clover looked right ahead, shoes pounding the ground as they tried to catch up.

‘ Alright, I can get past them. I just need to-WOAH!’ They skidded to a stop, right next to Frisk. A tiled room stood before the two humans, a door on the end with ten locks on it. Frisk took a stick out from behind them and hit one of the spaces. The tile glowed a light blue, one of the locks on the door unfastening. Quickly understanding what they needed to do, Frisk hopped onto the tile.

Clover hopped on another tile next to them, however this one let off a bright red color. The tile sprung up, launching Clover back onto a soft space at the start. They looked in front of them, seeing Frisk debate on which tile was next. “Alright Mom, let’s see what you’ve got,” they said as they leapt up, dashing forward with their magic and landing in the seventh row.

Onto another red tile.

“Ah nuts,” they said as it too launched them back to the start. “Really thought that’d work.

“No cheesing this one,” Frisk taunted as they stood on the second row. Clover, however, was undeterred. They wound up again, dashing to the seventh row, and landing on a light blue tile. “Wha-hey!”

“All’s fair in this game,” Clover said, maniacally laughing as they hopped to the next tile. A red tile. Their expression soured as they were once more thrown to the start. Frisk laughed as they stepped to the third row.

“Ugh, guess that’s karma,” they said as they rubbed their head. They narrowed their eyes at Frisk, who now stood halfway across the field. “Oh no you don’t!”

Once more the child dashed to the seventh row, now knowing what space to actually go on. They stopped, focusing their magic into another dash as Frisk got up to their row. “Wha-Frisk! How’d you get here so fast?”

“Careful planning, my hat-wearing friend,” they said. Clover grumbled at the other child. “The way I see it, you’re too stubborn and I’m taking too long. How about we work together on this?”

“Sounds good,” Clover said, already sick of the headaches of falling. Frisk held out their arm, Clover grabbing it. “Alright, how we doin’ this?”

“Just follow my lead,” Frisk said. They swung their arm, launching Clover to the actual tile on the eighth row. They laughed a little as they swung Frisk to the ninth row. They landed on a red space, however with Clover grounding them, Frisk was able to stay ahead and swing to the proper tile. Frisk then swung Clover to the next tile, the tenth blue light unlocking the final lock on the door. Clover and Frisk finally got to the door, looking proudly at the open door.

“Welp…see ya!” Clover yelled, dashing forward for a head start. Frisk took off after them, shouting all the way. Clover just laughed as they ran through. Logs swung down from the ceiling of the hall, Clover sliding under one before leading and rolling over the next. Frisk leaped over another log, catching up and passing Clover.

“Ah dammit!” they exclaimed as Frisk took the lead again. They pushed themself further, the two humans neck and neck. They ran across a small red laser, a loud noise sounding behind them. Both humans turned behind them, a low rumbling sounding out. “Uhh…that wasn’t good.”

“No, no it wasn’t,” Frisk agreed. A hatch came down from the hall, a large lava rock falling down off of it. “RUN!”

The two humans took off, the boulder chasing them down the hall. They were panting heavily, trying desperately to outrun it. The boulder got closer to them as they approached another room. “There! It can’t get past the door!” Clover yelled, the two pushing themselves even further.

“Jump!” Frisk yelled, the two leaping into the room. The boulder slammed against the frame of the door, stopping in its place. The two humans took a minute to catch their breath, looking at their near flattener.

“We…we made it! Haha!” Frisk yelled.

“Yeehaw!” Clover yelled, the two laughing as they celebrated. They looked around now, the room not being very big in terms of floorplan, but it was fairly tall. Lights then came on, showing large platforms floating in the room. They moved from side to side, slowly rotating around the room. “There it is! The door!”

Clover looked up, spotting the door in question high above them. They looked to Frisk, both nodding their heads. They joined hands again, Frisk swinging around so they could make it to the next platform. Clover landed on the first one, pulling Frisk up. It was only a few feet off the ground, but the two knew how useful this would be.

Plus, it was way more fun.

Clover then swung their arms, tossing Frisk up to the next platform. “We’re almost there,” Frisk said as they pulled Clover up. Clover considered for a moment. Truth be told, their arms were starting to get really tired. Their spirit, however…

“Frisk, I got an idea. Hop on my shoulders,” they said. Frisk looked at the cowpoke curiously. “Trust me, I know what I’m doing…sorta.”

“Good enough for me,” Frisk said. They quickly went around and hopped on Clover, sitting on their shoulders and trying to keep balance.

“Ya ready, Frisk?”

“Ready.”

“Alright. Hold on!” With that, Clover focused their magical energy, dashing up to the next platform. Frisk held on for dear life as Clover damn near teleported up to the platform. They wobbled a bit once they got there, “How was that?”

“That…was…awesome!” Frisk exclaimed, bringing a smile to Clover’s face. “But we’re not done yet. Come on! We’re almost there.”

“Got it,” Clover said, focusing their energy again. They leaped to the next platform, then the next, then the next. When they finally reached the top, Clover fell down, Frisk rolling off of them. While the ambassador sat up in victory, Clover could barely move. They were breathing heavily as they lay in a heap on the ground.

“Here, drink this,” Frisk said. Clover looked up, seeing a drink of some kind in Frisk’s hand. They took it happily, drinking it enthusiastically. They felt a lot better once the drink was done. “Good thing I keep a thing of spider cider on me.”

“Spider cider? Like…made of spiders?” they asked, to which Frisk just nodded their head. “Huh. Well, to each their own. Usually I end up getting soda or root beer when I get drinks.”

“Ugh, I have no idea how people can handle soda,” Frisk said as they helped the cowpoke up. “It’s way too fizzy and gross.”

“Didn’t ya eat trash on live TV?”

“I’m a hypocrite with standards, Clover.”

“Whatever ya say,” they deflected with an eye roll. 

They two walked side by side down the hall, content with getting their energy back as they entered the final room. On the other end sat a large door, conveniently labeled ‘EXIT’ above it. “We’re almost there,” Clover noted. As they ran to the end, the lights went out, a spotlight coming on in the middle. Frisk and Clover approached slowly, but their attention was taken away when something dropped behind them. The two snapped behind them to see what had happened.

“Well what do we have here?” 

Clover and Frisk turned back to the center, a figure now approaching the spotlight. As they came into view, she laughed, summoning a spear in her hand. “What would the ultimate puzzle be…without a final boss!?”

Undyne came into view, striking a pose as the spotlight dissipated and the lights flipped back on. “Seems you’ve been making good progress, but you ain’t going any further! Not until you get past me!” Clover and Frisk positioned themselves to guard as Undyne readied her spear. “En garde!”

Undyne lunged forward, Frisk rolling to the side as Clover blocked the attack. Undyne’s spear came into contact with something. The former captain looked down, a very determined Clover blocking her spear with their gun. “Heh. Nice block kid.”

“That’s nothing,” they taunted, making a bit of distance before dashing away.

“Seems you’ve got some magic prowess too! Alphys told me you had some skill, but now I know for a fact you’ve been practicing!” She summoned a barrage of spears, all aimed at Clover. “But let’s see how you fair against these!”

Clover readied their SOUL, dodging out of the way as spears came down around them. They readied their gun and fired against one, the spear fading away. They breathed heavily as their hands shook. A spear was coming right at them, one they hadn’t seen, but Clover couldn’t move in time.

The spear never made contact though, being blocked by a strike against a knife held by Frisk. They flipped the spear up, putting their knife away and catching it. They taunted at Undyne with the spear, the guard laughing at the display.

“Ha! Just like old times. Then I guess you’re ready for this!” she yelled, summoning a large volley of spears. Frisk picked up another spear, handing it to Clover as they tried to recover.

“When the spears get close, block them and they’ll fizzle out,” they said to the cowpoke. Clover nodded in affirmation, spotting Undyne move in front of the exit door. The two went running, spears in hand towards Undyne as they blocked the various spears. 

The guard laughed, and just as the two swung the spears at her, Undyne flipped over them into the middle of the room. Spears appeared all around both humans, Frisk twirling theirs to block them all. Clover tried to block as many as they could, but had to dash away to avoid being hit.

“Just one hit, and you’re home free,” she said. “Come on! Give me everything you’ve got!” Clover stared her down, summoning the power they could into their SOUL. However, they didn’t dash. Instead, they began charging their energy into their hand. They made a gun shape with their fingers, and once they felt it was right, they fired.

Undyne noticed quickly, bringing up her spear to block, but the spear ijn question couldn’t stand against it and was broken in half. “What in the…” she said quietly, but her surprise left her open. Frisk tossed the spear, summoning their knife again and swinging at Undyne.

The guard stopped, looking down at Frisk with pride. The human smiled at her at the same time. She knelt down, ruffling Frisk’s hair. “Nice swing kit. You’re getting stronger. Seems like Papyrus has been teaching you well.”

“Now that things are back to normal, I have to keep up somehow,” they said. “Just like Clover.” However, Clover didn’t respond. “Clover?”

Clover still didn’t notice their name being called, looking down at their hand. It was shaking a little, the child focusing their energy. They could feel the magic coursing through them, what was once only their dash apparently applied to their blast as well. They hadn’t used it since…they had died.

“Hey, kid,” Undyne said, walking over and kneeling in front of them. Clover looked at her, the former captain smiling. “I’ve never seen a human apply magic like that. Well, except Frisk, but they’re…weird. No offense kid.”

“None taken. I get it a lot.”

“Point is: that was seriously awesome. But…I kinda get it.” Clover looked at her curiously. “Martlet told us…some stuff when we went camping. About how you’ve had some issues with adjusting and everything. I mean, if you pulling that gun out earlier and shaking told me anything.”

“I’m sorry, I-I just,” they muttered shyly.

“Hey, no need to worry,” she said. We know you’re a good kid, and we’re here for you. Any friend of Frisk is a friend of ours.” Clover smiled at her.

“Thanks Undyne. I just…I guess I’m still getting used to fighting for real. I get real worried when I have to. I don’t…want anybody to pay because I’m jumpy.”

“Well then how about we fix that?” she offered. Clover’s attention was caught by that. “Martlet wasn’t…the best guard, but I know for a fact she’s wicked strong. I’m sure we can convince her to help train you some more. Hell, someday you might get strong enough to beat me.” She laughed at that. “Fat chance though! I’ve already lost to one kid, don’t think I’ll go easy on you.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” they said back. Frisk smiled as the two made up. “Oh, yeah, does that mean we win?”

“Yep. But, uhh…I already gave Frisk the key,” she admitted. Clover looked at the exit in horror as Frisk ran through the door, tongue sticking out all the while. “Better get after them. I’ll catch up.”

Clover saluted to Undyne, taking off after Frisk. They felt far more confident now, summoning their magic to make one last dash. Them and Frisk were neck and neck, the two bolting towards the finish line. Sans was at the end, sleeping in the middle with a finish flag taped to the front of his skull. Clover summoned all of their magic and-

“Frisk is the winner!” Martlet declared loudly, Sans not even noticing as he dozed in the sun. Clover looked in shock at Frisk, who had just barely crossed before them. They stood in the middle, proud and happy at their victory. However, they still held a hand out to Clover. The other child smiled at them, clapping their hand and giving a hearty shake.

“That was so cool!” Frisk said enthusiastically. “You really gave me a challenge. However, there could only be one winner in the end.”

“Well well well, ain’t you confident.”

“Naturally. I DID win, after all.”

“Oh you wait until next time,” the cowpoke said. The two laughed with one another though. Undyne stepped out a minute later.

“These two punks really gave me a run for my money,” she said. “And Clover, MAN I had no idea that the kid could shoot like that. Real power in them.”

“Clover?” Martlet asked, walking over to them. The cowpoke smiled and nodded at her though, pointing their finger at a sitting can and blasting it away. “Woah!”

“THE HUMAN WAS ABLE TO SHOOT WITH THEIR HAND?!” Papyrus exclaimed. “FRISK, WHY DID YOU NOT INFORM ME OF THIS?!”

“They didn’t think they could until just now,” Frisk informed. Papyrus accepted the answer, tapping his brother to wake up as he brought out a silver medal.

“CLOVER, YOU FOUGHT VALIANTLY IN THE GAUNTLET! THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AWARD YOU WITH THIS!” Clover looked at the medal in their hand. They flipped it in their hand, a #1 present on it. They looked in confusion at Papyrus. “THOUGH YOU DID NOT WIN, THE FACT YOU SOLDIERED ON IN THE FACE OF GREAT STRUGGLE PROVES YOU ARE NUMBER ONE ALL THE SAME! NYEH HEH HEH!” The cowpoke smiled at that.

“Thanks Papyrus. Means a lot, really,” they said. Papyrus beamed at the child before they all went over to Frisk.

“Frisk, for your skills in combat and puzzle solving, the Magnificent Martlet awards you with this gold medal!” the bluebird said, giving a gold medal with a similar #1 on it to the child. Clover couldn’t help but snicker though.

“The Magnificent Martlet?” the cowpoke teased.

“Well, I figured…y’know I…umm…” she trailed off. Clover meanwhile just laughed and gave her a hug.

“I think it’s great Mom,” they said, to which Martlet picked them up into their own hug.

“OH, ARE WE DOING A HUG NOW? EXCELLENT!” Papyrus yelled, leaning in to hug the two.

“Ah hell yeah, hug pile!” Undyne said, moving in and squeezing all three of them in her arms. Clover just laughed to themself as all the monsters hugged.

Frisk looked on with fondness at the display, turning to the side to see Sans admiring the affection. “gotta say kid, you and clover sure know how to make an impression. must be a human thing.”

“No, I don’t think that’s it,” Frisk said as they saw Clover’s happy face. “It’s in all of us, somewhere. Just takes a while to express it.”

“maybe,” Sans said as he reached in his jacket. He pulled out a bottle of ketchup and Frisk’s phone. “by the way, chara called ya while you were in there.”

Frisk snatched the phone out of Sans’ hand immediately, blushing lightly at the skeleton’s laughter. They shooed him away, Sans just shrugging as he walked over to a tree to sleep under.

Clover came up to them a moment later, putting their medal over their head. “How’s it going, Frisk?”

“It’s good,” they said. “Chara just called me. Reminded me that Asgore and I need to sign that document today for Monster housing in the city.’ Clover’s expression turned grim at the mention of the king. “Clover…I think you should talk to Asgore.”

Clover was about to deny the idea, but the more they thought about it…maybe it would help. After everything they’d had to deal with since the barrier was shattered and they came back to life, speaking to Asgore at the very least may change things. “I’ll think about it,” they said at last.

“That’s all I ask,” Frisk said. “Anyway, I think I heard Papyrus say they had food set up for us. Want to grab something?”

“Yeah, I could eat,” Clover said, following Frisk. They were glad for the meal in all honesty, given what they had already done today and what they still needed to do.

Clover had a lot to think about.

Chapter Text

“Thanks again for takin' me, Miss Toriel,” Clover said from the back seat of the van. The old monster just smiled at them as she drove to Asgore’s house.

“Of course Clover. It’s always a pleasure to help,” she responded.

“Yeah,” they quietly said back as they looked out the window. Clover fiddled with their hands as they tried to get their mind off the impending destination.

The king’s home.

Clover’s feelings of unease regarding Asgore hadn’t gone away since Frisk brought up the prospect of meeting with him. They’d been debating all week about whether they actually wanted to meet with him, but when Chara had mentioned they were visiting their dad this weekend…Clover took the opportunity.

“Hey, Clover, whatcha thinking about?” Flowey asked from where he sat on Chara’s lap. The first fallen human had decided to sit in the back with Clover, with Flowey in tow. The human didn’t want to make conversation with the cowpoke much, which Clover didn’t really see as a surprise, leaving the flower to pick up the slack.

“Ah, it’s nothin’ Flowey,” they lied. The flower eyed them suspiciously before a vine poked Clover in the side. “Ack! Hey!”

“You don’t wanna tell me what’s up? Then you get poked,” he threatened. He continued poking, Clover squirming in their seat and laughing lightly as the prodding.

“Okay, okay,” they let up, Flowey gaining a rather smug look as he leaned in. “I…I’m thinkin’ about Asgore. And what I’m gonna say to him.”

“I take it this is about the other humans?” Chara asked. Clover sadly nodded. “I…understand why. I’ve had…many thoughts about what he’s done. But…I can understand why he did it.”

“That’s the hard part,” Clover said as they took off their hat, running the brim of it in their hands. “I...I don’t know. I mean, yeah, he might have had a reason to do it, but…it wasn’t right.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Toriel grimly said from the front seat. Clover looked up in surprise, the only one to do so. “Clover, whatever you choose to do, I want you to know it’s best to be truthful about your feelings.”

“Okay, I…I-I will,” Clover said, earning a smile from the old monster.

“Well I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Flowey said. “Because we just got here.”

Clover looked out the window of the car, spotting a moderately-sized house before them. It sat on the top of a hill, a flower shop set up nearby. It was pretty clear that was how Asgore was able to afford the house, even though the shop was fairly small.

“Alright everyone, we’re here. Clover, I told your mother that you would be here for an hour or so. She will be coming by to get you. Chara, I will see you in a few days,” Toriel said. The kids all nodded, Toriel hugging them both as she pulled away. The two children looked forward, walking towards the flower show. Chara remained silent the whole way.

“Penny for yer thoughts?” Clover asked the other human, catching Chara off guard. They quickly regained composure, looking down at Flowey as he sat in their arms. “Ya seem…sad.”

“If you must know, it’s about my parents,” Chara admitted. “I was gone for…so many years, and when I finally wake up, I see that they barely speak to one another. But I can understand why. That’s the worst part.” Clover remained silent as Chara talked. “Apologies, I don’t mean to push my own problems.”

“It’s no worry. Sorry about everythin’ bein’ like that,” the cowpoke apologized.

“Your apology is unnecessary and meaningless. But…thanks,” they said with a small smile. Flowey just groaned from where he was held.

“Alright, quit being sappy, we’re here,” he said. The three stood outside the flower shop, walking cautiously into the building. The lights were on, but there were barely any people in the shop save for two teenagers at the counter.

“Hey there, what do you want?” One of them asked. She was a purple lizard of some kind, with large sharp teeth easy to spot when she opened her mouth. The monster was a fair bit taller than the two kids, yellow eyes looking suspiciously at them. The other teen -a human with hair shadowing their face- nudged her harshly. “Alright, alright, I’m sorry. Damn.”

“Sorry, she’s not nice with customers,” the human said. Their voice was quiet, but with an unmistakable joking edge to it.

“I am too!”

“Prove it.”

“Ugh, fine!” she yelled. “How can we help you today?” she asked with an obviously fake smile, muttering something to her human coworker.

“Howdy! I’m Clover, and this is Chara and Flowey,” the cowpoke introduced. Chara jaggedly waved their hand, keeping their head down all the way, and Flowey flashed a fake yet large smile. “Don’t suppose y’all have seen Asgore?”

“Oh, so you’re his kid,” the purple girl said to Chara. “Huh. Always kinda pictured you’d be fluffier.” Her human friend once more jabbed her in the arm with their elbow, the monster grumbling as they did so. “Yeah, he was here earlier. Went back to his house and left us in charge. Don’t suppose you wanna buy anything?”

“No thank you,” Chara said, clearly annoyed by the pair’s antics. “We’ll be going now.” With that, Chara abruptly walked out the door towards the house. Clover went to follow, but stopped right at the door.

“Hey, I didn’t catch your names,” they said. The two teens looked at each other for a moment.

“Susie,” the monster gruffly said.

“Kris,” the human calmly responded.

“Well it was nice to meet ya,” Clover said as they headed out the door. “Have a good one!” The bell sounded again as Clover left the two teens at the counter.

“Huh. Nice kids,” Susie said as Kris went to grab a box. “Also OW! You know you hit pretty damn hard Kris!”

“Then be nice and I won’t have to hit you,” they quipped with a smile.

“Oh you smug prick, just wait until tonight. My barbarian is gonna whip your wimpy bard butt.”

“Says the one with the longest critical fail streak ever.”

“I still blame Berdly for that. He did something to the dice, I know it.”

“We really shouldn’t have made him DM.”

“Next time we’re making Noelle do it.” That made Kris chuckle.

“Now THAT sounds fun.”

Clover caught up to Chara a moment later as they walked to Asgore’s house. The two stayed silent, Chara preferring it and Clover thinking over what to do. As they reached the door, Chara handed Flowey to Clover while they knocked on the door. Flowey and Clover looked at one another as they waited for Asgore.

“Just one moment,” a booming voice came from inside. “I’ll be right there.” A moment later, footsteps could be heard coming up to and opening the door. Asgore stood in the doorframe, pink button-up flower shirt replacing the royal gear Clover remembered him wearing when they first met. “Oh, Chara! It’s so good to see you!” He opened his arms, Chara smiling as they walked up and gave him a hug.

“Hi dad,” they said as they leaned into his embrace. Asgore smiled as Chara backed away. “I brought a…friend, if that’s alright.”

“Of course it is,” he said. He looked to Chara’s side, finally taking notice of Clover as they stood there, Flowey clutched tightly in their hands. “Ah. Hello again Clover. It is…”

“Yeah,” they said quietly. They felt a stinging in their throat, as if it hurt to talk.

“Why don’t you all come in,” the former king said, leading the children inside. Chara looked back at Clover with slight worry, Flowey doing the same as he sat in their hands. The three eventually followed Asgore inside.

It was a tall home, but not exactly a large one. It had a modest kitchen, a simple TV sat in front of a couch and a reading chair in the living area. Clover looked around, trying to avoid looking at Asgore as much as they could. “Chara, you could go up to your room if you would like. I’m sure you’d like to get settled in.”

“Right,” they said, leading Clover and Flowey up the stairs. They opened the door to their room, setting their backpack down and sitting on a nearby chair. 

Clover looked around the room. It was about the size as their own back home, but with various craft supplies on the desk. A chocolate bar had been placed on the desk, which Chara had been quick to scoop up. Clover brought Flowey over and set him down on the desk, joining Chara at the foot of the bed.

“So…that was something,” Flowey said from his spot on the desk. “Come on Clover, what’s the deal? You can’t just start with the quiet routine now of all times.” Clover didn’t look at Flowey though, just staring at their hands.

They felt so…trapped. It wasn’t as if they were stuck in Asgore’s house, they could leave whenever they wanted, but something about it felt like they had to be civil. When all they wanted to do was scream. But they couldn’t. It was as if their voice had completely vanished, thoughts of what they wanted to say to the king fizzling out.

“Silent, eh? Alright, fine,” he grumbled, turning away.

“It’s not…that,” Clover said quietly. Their arms hugged their sides as the other two looked at them strangely. “I don’t hate him. But…I can never forgive him. Those kids…what I did was because I wanted to. And I know for a fact not everyone was like me.”

“I understand,” Chara said, Clover and Flowey both looking at them with surprise. “I love my father, but I know that what he has done was…not good. Humanity isn’t a scourge on the earth, I’ve been slowly trying to accept that, but I’m sure you expected me to fully agree with what he did.”

“Uhh…yeah,” Flowey plainly stated. “Chara, you…you almost died because of what humans did to you. And now you’re…I just don’t get it.” Flowey’s head sank a little, looking away from the two humans in the room. “You’ve changed a lot since we got up here, I guess.”

“Seems like you’ve changed a lot too Flowey,” Clover said, smiling at their friend. “The Flowey I saw before I came back would never be nice to anyone.”

 “Hey!” he yelled, only making Clover laugh. Chara cracked a smile at the flower’s misfortune. “Ah, whatever, we’re getting off topic. What are you going to do now, Clover?”

Clover looked between the siblings, then back down at their hands. They closed their eyes, focusing. On what, they weren’t certain. But…if they really wanted to move on, if they really wanted to get better…this was something they had to do.

“I’m going to go have a chat with Asgore.”

Clover stepped down the stairs slowly, trying to calm their nerves as they went towards the king. Their little pep talk had helped a little, but they still felt their SOUL pulsing wildly and their heart beating fast.

They came down the stairs, standing in the living area. They surveyed the room, not spotting a single person there. A tea pot was set on the stove, still steaming with hot tea. The human turned to the back door by the couch, noticing a figure out in the spacious garden.

‘Alright Clover, come on, you can do this. You can’t back down now. ’ Their hand went to their side, making note of their gun. They wouldn’t kill Asgore, of course, but knowing the iron was there helped them calm down a little. They slid the glass door open, stepping out into the garden. There was a path leading to a large display of golden flowers. Asgore stood there, near motionless, as he watered them.

“It’s a beautiful day today, is it not?” he asked. He stopped watering the flowers, turning to the side. “The birds are singing, and the flowers are blooming. Perfect weather for taking in nature.” Clover didn’t make a noise. “Right, of course. That is not why you are here.” Getting to the point, Asgore stepped forward. “Human…whatever it is you wish to say to me, I will not be upset. You have a right to be angry just as many others have been. So whatever you choose to do, I will respect it.”

“I…I don’t want to hurt you,” Clover said, taking Asgore aback. “I won’t lie, I hate you. I can understand why you did what you did, but I will never forgive what you have done.” Clover took in a deep breath through their gritted teeth, trying desperately to hold back their rage. “They were just kids…they didn’t deserve what happened to ‘em. But I guess justice has a funny way of showing itself in that way.”

“They won’t be remembered as anything other than legend, will they?” they continued, tears pricking in their eyes. “I went down there to try and help them. To bring them back. But nobody remembers them. Not for who they were. It’s been…s-so long. What justice is there in that, huh?! They gave their lives to free monsters, whether they wanted to or not, and now there’s nothing to honor their memory! It’s not fair! It’s not right! They deserve to be remembered dammit! I don’t want people to forget about them like…like…l-like…” Clover couldn’t finish their thought. The tears had beaten their mouth to express the pain.

Asgore just stood there, or maybe he was leaving, it didn’t matter to Clover. Because all Clover could imagine was themself and the other humans fading into the dark, forgotten by everybody. Nobody would care for them. Nobody would remember them. It wasn’t just. The humans had given their souls to help free monsterkind, whether it was willingly or forcefully, but they still gave their life force to free them. Why had Clover been given another chance? Why not them?

“Clover,” Asgore said, keeping a distance but kneeling to their level. Clover looked at Asgore through wet eyes, the forer king’s somber expression evident. “I did not know you felt this way. But…I want to assure you, the other humans will never be forgotten. Those who have been around since the beginning will remember them. And I have made sure that everybody else will, as well.”

“What do ya mean?” Clover quietly asked, wiping the rest of their tears away. “I-I thought the humans…that the kids would stay an urban legend. Somethin’ in old ghost stories and nothin’ more.” Asgore shook his head, smiling as he looked at the child.

“They will be remembered, Clover, I assure you. When we came to the surface, Frisk and I worked to make sure they would have something to be remembered by.” He reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out a piece of paper and writing something on it. “If you wish to know, go here.” 

Clover took the piece of paper. On it was written an address, which they quickly typed into their phone. It sowed an area not far from Asgore’s house.

A small graveyard.

“I know there is nothing I can do to make up for what I have done, and if you wish to never speak to me, I completely understand. But I want to let you know: those children will always be remembered.” With that, Asgore stood, offering a hand to the cowpoke which they hesitantly took. “I believe we have some time before your mother arrives to pick you up. Would you like some tea?”

Clover, still remaining silent, nodded slightly as they followed Asgore in.

Clover spent quite a while just sitting at the table, tea set before them which they would occasionally take a sip of. Chara came down a little later, Flowey in their hands as they sat with their father. Clover didn’t speak much in the time before Martlet arrived, choosing instead to watch the others interact.

When the doorbell rang, Asgore and Clover made their way to it. That was, until Chara stopped them. Clover looked at the other child confused as they held Flowey in their arms. “I believe somebody wants to keep you company.” They smirked as Flowey grumbled. Clover laughed, taking Flowey into their arms.

“I’ll ask Frisk to bring him back next time I see ‘em,” Clover said. “I’m sure you’ll love seeing them, won't you?” Chara blushed, earning a hearty cackle from Clover.

“W-Whatever,” they stammered, stepping away into the living area. “Begone you.”

“See ya buddy!”

Clover returned to the front door, seeing Martlet and Asgore discussing something they could only speculate on. “Oh, there you are!” The former guard said upon noticing her child. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah, but…can we make a stop first before we go home? A-And I’d like to talk to Asgore again real fast.” Martlet politely nodded as she walked away a little. Clover turned to the former king, expression stern. “I…I still don’t like ya. And I’m never gonna forgive ya. But…if you’re makin’ sure the other kids are remembered, then I guess we can try and be civil. If we have to.”

“That is more than I could ask for. Goodbye, Clover,” he said, waving as the cowpoke left. “I wish you the best in your future.”

“Thanks,” they quietly said as they walked to Martlet. 

“So where is it you wanted to visit before we go home?” she asked. Clover handed her the paper Asgore gave them, immediately knowing where it was. “O-Oh…are you sure Clover?”

“I’m sure,” they said with a confidence Martlet knew was genuine. Clover led the way, flowery bouncing around as they descended the hill. “I just need ya get somethin’ first.”

“What’s that?” Martlet asked.

“I wanna give ‘em some flowers.”

Chapter Text

Martlet pulled up to the graveyard a few minutes after picking Clover up, the cowpoke in question hopping out of the back seat with Flowey in their hands once they stopped.

“Remind me never to ride with her again,” Flowey complained. He shook his stem, trying to reorient himself. There was a reason Martlet flew everywhere and only drove when she needed to transport large items and/or people. Clover laughed quietly at Flowey’s misfortune before going silent again.

“Are you going to be okay, Clover?” Martlet asked, making her way over to her child. Clover didn’t respond immediately, just staring out into the space. It wasn’t a very big yard, so it didn’t take long for Clover to spot their point of interest. They nodded their head slowly, however still reached up to grasp Martlet’s wing with their hand. They walked inside, Flowey and Martlet tagging along.

They walked slowly along, Clover taking note of all the different graves spread around. Most were of humans, given the many humans that stood by stones. Many of them seemed either distraught, apologetic, or comforted. Clover had only ever been to a person’s grave once, and it wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience.

“We’re here,” they said as they came to a stop. Martlet looked up with sadness, Flowey and Clover gasping as they saw what was actually in front of them all. Before the group stood a large stone statue composed of six pieces.

The six children who had fallen. Clover studied each of them.

The first was a young child, a ribbon in their hair as they held a toy knife close to their heart. They seemed downcast, as if waiting patiently for someone to find them.

The second seemed a bit older and was a fair bit taller, with a bandana wrapped around their forehead and gloves on their hands, standing ready in a brave fighting stance.

The third was a young ballerina, with a tutu and ballet shoes sticking out in Clover’s mind. They seemed angry, integrity clear even in their carved, stone expression.

The fourth’s face couldn’t properly be seen through the glasses. Their face was holding onto a book, persevering to finish whatever it was the text would lead them to.

The fifth looked the oldest of them all, taller than the rest and kindly holding out a frying pan. Clover could make out a heart pattern on their apron.

And the final…was a cowpoke, standing proud with a gun drawn and holding on to their hat, as if on a mission to seek justice for the others before them.

Clover stood in shock for a few minutes, mesmerized by the statue of the other fallen, haunted by their own standing right alongside them. “W-Why…” they stuttered, trying to find the right words. They looked desperately at Martlet, who just looked down sadly.

“When the king announced he wanted to make a statue for the other fallen humans,” she explained somberly. “The…idea of adding you was brought up. You weren’t dead, but…we felt it was right. To have you up there with them.” Clover was breathing heavily, trying to make sense of it in their mind. Why…why would they be up there with them? What had they done to be remembered with the others? They were still here. The others weren’t. “You gave your life for us, Clover,” Martlet continued, crouching down to see them eye to eye. “You deserve to be remembered just as much as the others.”

“B-But…I-I don’t…” they said, tears beginning to set in their eyes. “I-I-I don’t deserve-”

Their thought was cut off as Martlet dragged them into a tight, loving hug. Clover let the tears fall as they hugged back, Flowey ending up on the ground and continuing to stare at the statue. Clover couldn’t control it now, just letting it go as they hugged their mother. Martlet teared up a little too, giving her child all the affection they desperately deserved.

Clover eventually backed up, staring up at the statue. “Hey, Martlet,” they quietly said. “Can I…have a minute? To talk to them.”

“Of course,” she said, walking back towards the entrance. “Just call me if you need anything, alright? I’ll be in the car.” Clover nodded as Martlet strode away, leaving the cowpoke with nothing but their thoughts and the memorial in front of them.

And Flowey.

“Huh. Guess the old man actually went through with it,” he quipped, turning to look at Clover. Clover, likewise, stared at Flowey. “Hey, uhh…you alright?”

“Flowey…” they said silently, sitting down in front of him. “Why did you bring me back?”

“I…well, I-”

“You brought Chara back. That I understand, they were your sibling. In your…previous life. But…why me? Any of the other kids could have come back, and yet…I’m the one who’s standin’ here now. None of the others. So…why me?” Flowey let out a long sigh. Not one of contempt or boredom, but…guilt. And sadness.

“Clover, I…” he started, trying to find the right words. He looked around the area, making sure nobody was around. “Look, I still don’t even know exactly how I did what I did. All I knew was that I needed to bring all of the monsters back. You and Chara just…came along for the ride.” He took in a deep breath and looked shamefully away. “Chara shouldn’t have been able to come back. Your SOUL was still around, locked away with the others. Theirs? Nah, theirs was long gone by the time you showed up.”

“So how…h-how did you bring them back?” Clover asked shakily, a haunting thought entering their mind. “Y-You didn’t… u-use the others , did you?”

“Are you an idiot?” Flowey accused sharply. “ No , I didn’t use the others. That’s not how SOULs work, you idiot. You can’t just…make nothing into something. No, I didn’t bring them back alone.”

“So who-” they stopped, hearing somebody come to a stop behind them. Clover quickly stood up defensively, hand reaching for their thigh as they turned around and saw…”Frisk?”

“Hey Clover,” Frisk said, walking over and kneeling in front of the statue. Their hands became clasped together in a small prayer, the child inviting Clover to join. The thought hadn’t even entered Clover’s mind, but…they felt it was the least they could do. They too knelt down and prayed for the fallen humans. The ones who gave their lives to free monsters. The one who can’t be here to see the fruits of their efforts.

All but one.

“Chara called me, said that you’d probably be here,” Frisk explained, sitting down and looking at the cowpoke with a kind smile. “I…kind of figured you would see this eventually.”

“You…knew this was here?” Clover asked.

“Who do you think helped push it getting made?” they asked like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Clover blushed and coughed into their hand, earning a small laugh from their friend. “But yeah, I helped Asgore get it made. We found some old pictures in archives so we could make it.” Clover took another look, noticing just how much detail was able to be put into the stone memorial. “They’ve got all their stuff too. Buried with them. That is…except one.”

“Mine,” Clover said sadly. Their hand hovered over their chest, feeling the energy coursing through their SOUL. It was a warm buzz complementing the steady rhythm of their heartbeat. “Frisk, when Flowey said he didn’t bring Chara back alone…did you…I-I mean your SOUL, is it..?” Clover got quiet as the question was left in the air. Frisk smiled slightly and brought out their SOUL, allowing Clover to check them.

Frisk

HP: 10/10

“Your SOUL…i-its…” Clover said in shock. Frisk’s SOUL was there , but…it was missing parts. As if half of it wasn’t with them anymore.

“When Chara came back, they…couldn’t be revived without their SOUL. So when Asriel destroyed the barrier and released everyone, he…agreed to help me bring them back. And so…I gave half of my SOUL to them. So they could come back.” Frisk smiled, even though their SOUL was so different. But…the more Clover thought of it, the more that they began to realize it. This was the Frisk they had always known. The Frisk they met when they first awakened. Their SOUL being different didn’t change anything, even now that they knew.

“Wait, but…if you helped bring Chara back, then...what about me? M-My SOUL is…is whole. But the others…” Frisk and Flowey looked down sadly. Frisk nudged the flower pot, Flowey groaning at being tagged in.

“When I…Asriel destroyed the barrier, that immense power could only do so much. You were the only one I could bring back. The only one I knew when I was around. My…friend.” Flowey smiled a little at admitting that. He would have felt dirty for doing it months ago, but now…it felt right. However, Clover wasn’t saying anything. They just stood there solemnly.

“But…they deserved to live,” they said quietly. Their fist clenched and their teeth gnashed as they stood up angrily. “Why do I get to come back!? I didn’t do anything more than they did! I gave up my life to help monsters, but they got theirs taken away! So why am I standing here and not them!? Why isn’t it my body six feet under and not any of them!?” Tears were starting to gather in their eyes now. Their SOUL hurt with the knowledge out of anyone that deserved to live, somehow they were the one that got to come back. “Why did you bring me back!?” they yelled, turning to Flowey. “They deserve to stand here! They deserve to live a happy life! Not m-me!” Clover’s legs gave out from under them, falling to the ground as Frisk caught them the best they could. “I don’t d-deserve this. They deserve to be here. They deserve to live. It ain’t just.”

“Life often isn’t,” a voice came. The three looked up, spotting Chara walking to them quietly. They looked up at the statue and knelt down beside the two humans. “Maybe Asriel had a reason to do it, maybe he didn’t. But you’re here now.” they looked at Clover, a genuine smile on their face despite their constantly tired eyes. “You were given a second chance. I think you should take it.” Clover looked at Chara, deep in thought. Their eyes went back up to the statue, seeing all of the humans standing together.

“I still don’t…u-understand,” they said, tears still fresh in their eyes. “All this time, I’ve been tryin’ to find out why I’m here. Why I’m back. And now…I-I don’t know what to think. What to do.” They turned to the other three, all of them waiting patiently for them. Clover took in a deep breath, tossing over their thoughts in their head. “Why am I here?” they quietly asked.

“Who knows?” Flowey said offhandedly. “It’s one of life’s greatest mysteries. You gotta choose for yourself why you’re here. Why you’re still here. I was able to bring you back because you were my friend Clover. And no matter what I had done, it wouldn’t have mattered if you yourself didn’t want to come back. And yet…here you are. Sitting here wondering why we’re here.”

“We don’t choose why we’re here,” Frisk continued. “But what we do while we’re here…that’s what really matters. We all get to choose what we do. Our decisions matter, regardless of how we feel they affect us. And I don’t regret my decisions. They led me here…and even if I could go back, I don’t think I would. Not now.”

“You’re a good person Clover,” Chara began. “And…as much as it pains me to say it, you’re… okay for a human. You and I were given a second chance to do things right. To improve.” They stood up, getting ready to leave. “What you choose to do with it is up to you.” And with that, they left. As soon as they had arrived. Clover looked down the path, noticing Asgore’s truck parked outside and Chara hopping in.

‘Huh. That makes sense,’ they thought. Their attention was brought back to Frisk and Flowey, the two smiling at them. “So…what now?” The cowpoke asked. Frisk just shrugged their shoulders, Flowey imitating the motion as best he could with his stem.

“I dunno,” Frisk said, standing up and dusting off their shorts. “Like Chara said, it’s up to you. But know we’ll be here for you if you need us. Me, Flowey, my friends, your friends, even Chara’s there if you need it. Though…they’ll never actually admit it.” They chuckled a little at that. “Well anyway, just remember that, alright? You’re not alone. We’re here for you.” Frisk stretched a little as they stood, offering a hand and helping Clover up. “How about it, Flowey? Gonna head back with Clover?”

“Nah, I’ll go back to Chara. I’m sure they have another pot by their window or something. I’m just…going to stay here for another minute.”

“Me too,” Clover said. They waved at Frisk as the other human began to leave. “See you at school Frisk.”

“Bye you two. See ya!” Frisk left soon after, the pair seeing them run out down the street. Flowey and Clover returned back to the statue, looking sadly at it.

“Look Flowey, I-I’m sorry for yelling,” Clover apologized. “I guess I’m just…still a little shaken up by it all. I mean…for so long I wanted to avenge those kids. Apparently I went through the underground many times trying to do just that. But in the end…they still died. And they’re still here. There’s nothing I can do about it. But…” they thought, hand coming back to their heart. They could feel it thumping, their SOUL’s magic humming in tandem. “They’re always with us. In our memories…and our hearts. Right?” Flowey just looked disapprovingly at them “What? Not a fan?”

“Yeah yeah, beautiful speech, whatever,” he moaned. “But…yeah. You’re right. I can’t tell you what to do Clover, but…do what you think is best. I know you will.” And with that, Flowey retreated into the ground, leaving his empty flower pot in the process. Clover was left alone, taking one last look at the memorial to the other humans.

“Thank you,” they said quietly, head bowed. “Thank you for everything. You will never be forgotten. I’ll always remember you. You helped free monsterkind, and…maybe that’s enough. I wish you got to live your lives to the fullest, I really do. But I promise you,” they paused, looking up at them. “I will do whatever I can to make sure your sacrifices aren’t forgotten. I’ll take this second chance and make sure I live it to the fullest. For you all…and for myself.” Clover turned to their own statue, looking it over carefully. 

‘Huh. What’s this?’ they asked, kneeling down to see something. Right in the middle of the stone leading to the statue was a single four-leaved clover, growing right in front of their statue. They smiled a little to themself, petting it gently. 

They stood, placing the flowers they had gotten from Asgore’s shop at the base of the memorial and taking one more respectful second to pray for the humans before meeting Martlet at the main gate. She smiled quietly at Clover, opening the back seat of the car for them.

“Are you alright Clover?” Martlet asked. Clover smiled at her, newfound confidence shining through in their eyes.

“Yeah. I think…” they said, looking one more time at the statues in the graveyard. One more time at the people who brought them to this point all that time ago. If not for the humans, Clover wouldn’t have climbed the mountain in the first place. They wouldn’t have met their friends, or found a family in the people they grew close with. Because of them, Clover was here now. They were alive now. And they were going to start living it to the fullest.

“I think I’m going to be okay.”