On The Surface | An OCTale Sequel

11) I Promise

2nd September

Two weeks have passed, and it seems everybody has come to accept the fact I control their lives. Flowey seems a bit less scared of Impact than before, and is generally...nicer.

I've also started to realise Flowey does indeed have a soul, or at least a fraction of one. Currently, it is a very small, upside-down heart with a light pink aura.

The pink trait. Very rare, even rarer among monsters.

The soul of courage.

It's another regular day. I've decided to stay the weekend at the Aster household, with Guidea's consent of course. She seems to be warming up to Flowey recently. Perhaps she can see a glimpse of Asriel in him too? If so, then-

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"BREAKFAST IS READY!" I hear Castellar shout. I drop my diary and pen onto my sleeping bag and slip my hoodie over my PJs. Carefully grabbing my locket from the drawers, I hustle downstairs.

I...prefer sleeping in the same room as Castellar. It's better than risking my sleeping bag getting swept up by the Sharknado in Impact's room.

As I walk downstairs, I see Impact lounging on the sofa, watching a space documentary whilst stuffing his face with cereal. Specifically, that one porridge (oatmeal) with the dinosaur eggs in it.

He also seems to be teaching Webdings how to play a game on his 3DS.
"No, see, you use that joystick to move!"
"BUT THERE'S LITERALLY SOME ARROW KEYS RIGHT THERE!"

Castellar exits out of the kitchen and nearly drops the tray she's carrying in excitement as she sees me.

"OH! TYLER, YOU'RE AWAKE! GUESS WHAT I MADE!" She exclaims as she sits the tray down on the coffee table.

I sit down next to Impact and the sofa jangles. Castellar sits on the floor at the side of the table.

"Is that some cake?" I comment, looking at my bowl, which seems to be some sort of honey cake with cold custard. Castellar's cooking has gotten a lot better in the past few months, so not only is it now edible, she can make things other than spaghetti too.

"YES! I THOUGHT WE WOULD HAVE SOMETHING MORE EXCITING FOR BREAKFAST TODAY!" She smiles.

"Aw yeah! Dessert for breakfast!" I cheer, tucking into my meal. Impact glances over at us for a second and chuckles.

As we both finish, I pipe up. "Hey guys, can we go into the forest today? I wanna go on an adventure!"

Webdings closes Impact's DS carefully and passes it to him, whilst Impact himself shrugs.
"Sure, why not. It'd be a nice way to show Dad more of the area."
"UH...YEAH. I'LL...GET READY." Webdings says reluctantly, and I sympathise with him for a second. It must be hard being a single father. He then leaves the house, presumably to get to his lab.

That's another thing. Somehow, in the span of two weeks, Webdings has been able to convert the old lab into his own living space....kind of. He's repainted all the walls, replaced the floorboards, and replaced the 'Void Machine' with a hammock.

Although, most of the time he just falls asleep on the sofa.

"Well, shall we get going? I'm sure Webdings will catch up." I announce, the revenant siblings nodding in response.

Five minutes later, we have reached the entrance to Ebott Woods. Webdings comes running up to us, panting, His clothes have somewhat changed. The only difference is that he is now wearing a light blue t-shirt along with a lab coat, and glasses.

He definitely looks like the ex-Royal Scientist, to say the least.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Impact chuckles nervously.

I sigh, and grab Impact's hand.
"I'll be just a minute guys. I need to talk with Impact alone."
Impact raises an eyebrow as he follows me into the trees.

When I arrive, Impact starts to question me.
"Uh, Tyler? What do you need to say to me?"

I take a deep breath.
"Well, I was thinking about how I could help you more, and how much I was hurting you by resetting all the time and...I just want you to know that I'm done. I'm not going to reset anymore."

I look at him for a second. His face is carefully neutral, only just the smallest bit of hope showing.

"...Really?"

I don't blame him for being sceptical.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm never going to reset just for my own amusement. I can't promise that I'll never reset-"

"And I wouldn't want you to."

I stop for a moment in surprise. I thought he hated the resets...

He notices my expression and laughs a little.
"Tyler, as much as I hated being stuck in a loop, I do realise resetting is just a tool. It's not a bad thing, it's actually pretty useful at times...if used in the right way. Just because something can do bad doesn't mean it is bad." He pauses for a second to think.
"Take a knife for example. You could use it to...cut vegetables, for example. But that doesn't make that knife good. Knives don't have thoughts or feelings. Then again, you could use that knife to stab someone." I cringe a little at this, but Impact ignores me. "But that doesn't make the knife evil either. You get me? Tools can be used in both good and bad ways, and it solely depends on the user of how they want to use it."

I grin. He understands what I'm saying better than I do. "Yeah! So I promise not to reset just to go back. I promise I'll only reset if it will make a difference for the better."

He punches me playfully on the shoulder, and I giggle.
"That's a good promise, kid. How about we get back to the others now?"