The story of Underdrop ~Complete~

Chapter 15

It was the earliest of mornings. Or was it at night? I don't know... I haven't been down to the kitchen to see the clock. I've spent hours in Pap's closet just leaning against the very dresser I had tried to end it before just a short half a year ago. Asgore... he was dead. I... I don't know anymore. My sockets begged for sleep, but I wasn't ready to face that again.

Movement downstairs snaps me from my dream state. No noise arose after that except for some distant soft noise of shifting fabric. Almost as if a silken curtain were whispering across the carpet. A subtle change in the air... something was... sitting, just outside the door. A sweet scent... Sle-...sleepy now...

I awoke in my bed. I don't remember coming here? Swinging my legs off the bed proved harder than I first thought. My bones were stiff. How long have I been here? I stretch, my bones popping. I look to the side to see Undyne in a chair asleep.

"AHHH!" I leapt away, not having expected her there, and fall to the floor with a loud thud.

She wakes up instantly and looks around wildly before she catches sight of me.

"Oh... did you make that noise? Man... I must have dozed off." She scratches her head and looks at me nervously.

"Yeah... how long have you been sitting there?"

She doesn't answer for a while and just studies my face.

"Two days Sans... Someone had to stand guard. The monsters won't stop coming to your house. The... news leaked out somehow and now they all wanna see you. I hate to drop this on you, bud, but it's best to be prepared." She stands and stretches as well before offering me a hand up.

I groan loudly, remembering the "news" myself. She covers me in a cape and walks me forward with a hand on my spine. I recognize it as a shrunken version of Asgore's cape. Black with the turquoise raindrop triangle emblazoned on the back. Undyne walks at a brisk pace, keeping a hand on my back and glaring at anyone who got too close. There were many questions issued from the monsters, but Undyne just walked past them.

I look at her as we seem to head in the direction of the flower field. My skull throbs painfully as I try to remember everything Asgore had told me.

"Uhm... where are we going, Undyne?" I ask quietly.

"To see Alphys. She needs to give you a check up before the... crowning ceremony." She mutters, glaring at the cat monster who stumbled towards us.

I turn my head away and give an embarrassed and apologetic look to the cat. A check-up? Crowning ceremony? Oh dear... there's going to be a ceremony? I feel faint as the images rushed my head.

We arrive and Alphys opens the door, looking around cautiously. She lets us in and looks over her shoulder before closing the door quickly. Her and Undyne share looks and I am growing suspicious. Alphys leads me to a room that consists of little more than a silver table covered in a white sheet. The walls are a light gray and the floor a deep, burnt-looking red. She has me sit on the table and leaves, closing the heavy wood door behind her.

I sit, swinging my legs slightly. A rustling... A flicker of movement... A shiver traveling down my spine as a seeming breath whispers behind my head. The movement again as the door opens. My head hurts...

The checkup went alright. Nothing abnormal about me except for the tiny black scratch in the center of my SOUL that refused to go away. I felt numb as Undyne led me up the steps to the throne's podium. The throne room held all of the monsters left. Which was a shockingly low number. I knelt upon the podium with head bowed, feeling like a child playing knight. The silver crown was placed upon my head, the sapphire's triangle glowing brightly in the light of the room. I stand and sit on the throne as Undyne had instructed me. The scepter was placed in my hand, the translucent blue gem stammeringly familiar. Tears pricked behind my sockets as I saw those knelt before me. The strongest urge to protect those who remained overtook me.

The ceremony was over and Grillby was waiting to greet me when I reached the main hall. He hugged me, whispering useless comforts to me as I gripped him tighter. The tears finally spill over and my body shakes with sobs as we stand there. Eventually, he stands, picking me up with him. He approaches Undyne who directs him to my new room. He lays me on the bed, but pulls away when I ask him to stay. Sadness overtakes his face as he hands me a new bottle of pills and turns away.

I want to call out to him, but my tongue doesn't want to work for me. As the door snaps shut I close my eyelights sadly. Turning to the bottle in my hand, I shake out two of the small blue caplets. Tossing them down, I lay back and let the sleep overcome me at last. It's been one hell of a long day...

***Two weeks later***

It was a rare occurrence that I was allowed to walk through Snowdin alone, but today was different. I had a feeling Undyne had a guard tailing me, but they were staying out of sight at least. The familiar crunch of the ever fresh snow was comforting and saddening at the same time. I pass our house, walking the path to Grillby's. He had "Lovingly fired me" as he had called it, because Undyne wasn't letting me out of the castle. Nah, this time I was heading there for a good ol' favorite. My treasured Strawberry Liquor. The two weeks had been flooded with questions and I needed something to silence them a while.

Something was wrong... It wasn't opened and a pair of footprints was leading away through the snow. My running footsteps follow the trail until they reach the Pine Forest. I had never been in there, but the ominous darkness was frightening. I plunge onward, worry and determination overcoming the fear. I slowed, the smell of blood reaching darkly for me. A scrap of blue...

The realization of the scene hit me with the force of twenty attacks from different angles. Blood among the upturned snow, burned hand marks peppering the trees, some trees completely broken to the stump. Then there, on the trees along the edge of the clearing, the three crosses. The only remnant of my long time friend was a slightly tattered blue jacket with the grass green zipper.

My knees met the snow as the overwhelming sadness hit me again. Rolling over the clearing like waves. Sobs were wrenched from my throat as if they were unwilling to leave and I desperately grasped the jacket.

"You... you promised me... YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN'T LEAVE! DAMN YOU!!!... damn... you... liar...liar..." The words were twisted... tortured...

The silken rustling behind me grew louder and the sickly sweet scent filled the air once more. Darkness engulfed my vision as my head slipped toward the snow.