"Really? After all of that you're just gonna take his SOUL anyways? Yeesh you are one twisted fox!" Flowey rambled to himself, watching for the second time as Martlet walked up the stairs. Flowey had to wonder how she was so oblivious, there were CLEAR red flags up this whole time.
"What, just cause she was your late friends wife, you just... Say whatever to anything suspicious? Jeeze, keep on reminding me why I end up having to reset a few times a day why don'tcha? Now... How should I deal with you?" Flowey eyed Ceroba through a window, unbeknownst to her.
"I couuuld just kill you, but monsters disappearing doesn't tend to go over too well. More trouble than it's worth, I doubt anything I do could sway her into not taking Clover's SOUL... Not without less... DIRECT intervention anyways. Although... Maybe something more direct is the way to go...? Ahah! I know juuuuust what to do. You sure are lucky with how unique this scenario is chump! If you're not an idiot, you'll even get what you want!"
This time, when Ceroba entered her basement... She came face to face with a surprise as she turned to walk back up the stairs.
"Howdy! My name's Flowey! Flowey the flower!"
"What?!" She stepped back immediately, a staff appearing in her free hand.
"Aw please," he smiled knowingly, "no need to get aggressive now pal. See I've got a pretty good deal for you!"
"What the hell are you!?" Ceroba took another step back, now aiming her staff directly at Flowey.
"Hmm, I suppose you could call me your golden ticket out of the fine mess you've made for yourself? Man, to think you were really about to kill your friend's child for the sake of your own! Talk about cold blooded!"
"They... They're just treating them like their mother because they have amnesia, there's nothing real there!"
Flowey smiled, he just... Smiled. "Golly pal, if you say so! I heard a little fox also say that they're practically related! But who's to say how valid that statement was? Regardless of any of that, I'm here to offer you some advice."
Ceroba didn't say anything, she just kept pointing her staff right at the flower before her. Flowey's smile turned slightly more exasperated.
"I know a whoooole lot of things down here in the Underground pal! I've got secrets people would kill to keep, all stored safely away in my mind. And one of those secrets? Well, let's just say I know all about "Chujin's legacy"."
Ceroba's face twitched, she did not respond.
"I've gotta say! Interesting stuff, he was pretty spot on you know? Certainly a monster more fitting of the position royal scientist, rather than that hack Alphys. A real SHAME he passed so soon." Flowey spoke in a tone beyond that of simple mocking, even though he did need Ceroba to listen, he just couldn't help but play around with her. Further resets were always an option to perfect the conversation anyways. He'd likely do so even if this one worked.
"YOU..."
File 2 loaded.
"Well, I'm sure it was upsetting when he crumbled to dust in your arms."
"HOW-"
File 2 loaded.
"So when his wife decided to pick up the slack for him after he failed? Well, with how close he already was to reaching a solution, I figured you'd have been able to finish it up in no time at all! Be "saviors of the Underground"!" He left that one to sink in for a few seconds, his smile morphing to and fro in those moments. Ceroba was now shaking with rage. "Well, you almost made it! All of that work and it finally paid off! A serum that would put monsters and humans on an even playing field... A real shame you didn't realize the problem before it was just a liiiiiiittle too late."
Flowey's face shifted into a crude imitation of Kanako's. "Ahem-"Using the leftover extract from the human's SOUL I believe I have removed any corruption it held." Pff, and instead of literally any monster you test it on your daughter? You and her both deserved it, what an IDIOT.
"HOW DARE YOU!?-"
File 2 loaded.
"A real shame he passed so soon." Flowey spoke with considerably less snark this time around, he'd had his fun, now it was time to get down to business.
"...So what? How do you even know all of this?"
"That's a rather pointless question don'tcha think? Surely there's better things you could ask, like what I meant by being your ticket out of this mess?" He continued to smile innocently.
Ceroba sighed, and lowered her staff. "...Very well, what do you mean?"
"Allow me to answer your question, with another question. Have you really considered what exactly it is IN the serum that grants a monster power, hm?"
"...What's the point of this? Of course I have, monsters don't have any determination in them naturally, and humans don't have any magic in them naturally. Expose one to the other and it's strength increases greatly, but monsters aren't able to handle determination all that well..."
"And you believe that, by introducing a steady source of determination, along with the power to sustain it, to your poor, poor daughter, you'll be able to bring her back, no? So you intend to give them Clover's soul."
Ceroba hesitated, but nodded. That was about the gist of it.
"Hah! It's almost shocking how you haven't managed to think of this yet you know? Well, not really. You were stupid enough to test this all out on your daughter after all."
"YOU-"
File 2 loaded.
The opportunity was just too easy, he practically had to do it one last time.
"Have you considered that maybe they don't need the SOUL itself, hm?" Flowey paused for a moment before continuing. "You hope that introducing a new source of power with some determination will wake her right up, and for some reason despite all the work you've done, you're still tunnel visioned on the SOUL itself. Despite the fact that you already practically rammed straight into the answer just earlier today! It's almost comical you know? But lucky for you, you didn't make any... Mistakes." Flowey continued to smile knowingly, she very well did, and would've had he not done anything.
"...What are you saying?"
"Hah, do I really need to spell it out for you here lady? The blood alone should be enough. There's enough determination in that alone to act as a strong enough source of power for your daughter. Though it might be a less... Permanent solution. I'm sure it won't be a problem though, you've got a human, no? And lucky for you, little ol me might just happen to have some ties to the Royal Scientist herself! So whaddya say? Work with me and you'll hear your daughters voice again in the next thirty minutes."
That, was a very tempting offer. Flowey was sure of it, and when faced with the alternative of murdering her friends child, Ceroba knew which of the two options she preferred immediately.
"...Very well. What do I need to do?"
"Thaaat's the spirit! Go ahead then, create your little serum, as much as you can with the blood you still have! I'll be back in just a few minutes."
...
It was late, very late, but she couldn't sleep. How could she...? They'd all woken up just days ago but... Terrible signs were beginning to show. Liquid magic flowing out of the monsters, coughs resulting in their very essence flying out of their bodies. There... There had to be something she could do, something to figure out, some sort of way to save them! Alphys couldn't... She couldn't just...
"Howdy doc!"
"Whah!" Alphys's chair fell backwards, her along with it.
"Oh my, not having a great night are we now? Why, how about you let me brighten that up for you?"
"Wh-oh my god! It's you-the flower!"
"Yup! It's me pal! And I'm here to tell you something interesting. I know you've been having a few ISSUES with your patients here doc!" One of Flowey's many evil smiles synced to the word, before quickly turning back. "But lucky you! The solution will be arriving very, very soon. There's just one thing you'll need to do for it!"
"I-Wh-wha? Wh-what are you talking about?" Alphys readjusted her glasses as she slowly stumbled to her feet, glancing down at the smiling flower popping out of the stone floor
"Your phone will ring within the next few minutes, pick it up, IMMEDIATELY. If you do that, the exact thing you need to save all these monsters will drop right at your feet!"
"W-wait what!?-"
But Flowey already left.
...
Ceroba figured it would be best to just do as they had said, that flower... They were unnerving, incredibly so. Their eyes felt like they had pierced through her with every word spoken. But there was also an air of truth to it, her heart was beating a mile a minute. Would she... Would she really finally get to hear her Kanako again...? It... Months later, would she really be okay...?
The serum really was not difficult to create, all it required was a good few minutes of work and she'd have five to show for it. Given Ceroba herself was still fine, even with that feeling in her chest not having disappeared, that feeling of... Determination, it was safe to assume it didn't have much of a negative drawback, if any at all. The only limiting factor was... Clover's blood apparently. She... Really had been tunnel visioned. To think this was a solution, and she almost... She almost... Ceroba's leg's felt weak. She knew it would be better not to think about it, but she couldn't help it.
How could she have...?
"Howdy! I sure hope you're ready for this!"
"...What do I need to do now?"
A vine rose from the ground, putting a rather large hole in the floor. Though that was the last thing Ceroba cared about right now. At the end of it was a phone, they were rather new in the Underground, not many monsters had one yet...
"Just press the green button! Oh and, if the person on the other end asks you for your name, don't tell them. Make sure to stay on the call! Once you hear your daughters voice, feel free to hang up, or stay on the call. I don't care either way really." Alphys could deal with a little extra suffering in his opinion. Who cared if she wanted to get in contact with the miracle maker? She could reverse engineer it herself, probably. Despite being unworthy of the position, she wasn't exactly inept. She'd probably be able to figure out it was Ceroba who made it later either way though. Regardless of that, all Flowey cared about was the panic he'd get to see on her stupid face when faced with this situation.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Ceroba took the phone, staring at the green button. She raised a paw to it shakily, completely losing focus on the area around her, even as Flowey scooped up the serum's she'd created thus far.
With a trembling digit, she tapped the button, an odd ringing coming from it for a single moment, before a much more nervous "h-hello?!" came out from it.
Ceroba recognized that voice... "Alphys?"
"Y-yes, this is Alphys speaking, m-may I know who is calling?"
She certainly owed the flower... "No."
"O-oh...
There was an extended silence, before Alphys broke it up once again.
"The... The flower said a-as soon as I picked up the phone, t-the... "solution" would arrive. Is that... Is that true?"
"...Who knows?" Ceroba admitted, even with all of this she still couldn't be sure that it would actually work. It might just make it worse...
"I-w-what?! What do y-you mean w-who knows!?"
"It... Might work, I'm not sure." Ceroba felt weak at the thought of it failing after all of this, she had finally begun to acknowledge the gravity of what she had wanted to do... If... If the serum didn't work and she still needed to...
"Y-you..." Alphys sighed, massaging at her temples. "Well, I-I a-assume you've g-got some kind o-of idea on what's going o-on... If you're w-working with... Him. For... F-for their sakes I hope you're j-just being humble..."
"What do you mean...? Is... Is there something wrong with the patients?!"
"I-I uh-"
"Hiya doc!" Flowey's voice rung out through the phone. "Just as promised, here they are! Go ahead and give it a go! Oh and, a little birdie told me you might want to try it on the fox's kid first."
"I-I-I'll... I'll be r-right back." The line went silent, and Ceroba heard a tap.
...
Alphys set the phone down, on the ground were five syringes with a yellowish substance inside of them.
"W-what are these...?"
"Hmm, that's a good question doc! Why don't you go ahead and find out."
Alphys gulped, then picked them up, setting all but one down on the table.
"Y-you said the f-fox... That's K-Kanako, right?"
"Yup! Right on doc! Go ahead and test it out. I'm sure your supplier will be just thrilled to hear about the results!"
Flowey would be somewhat annoyed if it actually ended up not working, he wasn't quite sure how valid his advice had been, but there was a good chance of it working out in his mind. If it really did just make the kids situation worse? Well that'd be pretty funny! He'd be sure to share it with the fox before resetting again. Though, he supposed he'd need to work something else out if it didn't work. Maybe killing them really would be the only solution...?
Flowey frowned out of sight, that would be the last resort for now. He wanted this timeline to keep moving forward, and suspicion from the Royal Guard on anything even near Clover didn't bode well. The little idiots mother seemingly hadn't gotten the memo, given she'd basically invited the captain herself over for brunch! But it'd be fine, that was a bridge for future Flowey to cross, they had concerns to worry about in the now.
Alphys fumbled a little bit as she reached for the door, stepping into a room full of barely conscious monsters, the air was disturbingly free of anything at all. It didn't smell, nobody said a word. She could feel her anxiety rising just by being present.
Her eyes scanned over the familiar crowd, before finally settling on a small child shivering in bed.
"E-excuse me? Kanako?"
"...Mrs... Alphys...?" The girl's body was melting slowly, excruciatingly so. Alphys wasn't even sure if she could feel it. She certainly hoped she couldn't.
"Can y-you walk?"
...She tried.
"N-no..."
"T-then we'll j-just do it here..." Alphys muttered to herself as pulled the covers off of the girl. It had been a few days since this had all started, and with the steady rate of progress she figured they all had maybe... Four or five days left until they melted to nothing. Even if whatever this was didn't end up working, it was better than letting them all melt to death without even trying.
She grasped the syringe, then lined it up to one of the few remaining patches of Kanako's skin that had not begun to melt.
"Everything w-will be alright, everything will be alright." Alphys repeated again and again, she wasn't sure who she was reassuring, herself or Kanako.
She pressed her thumb down, and injected the substance into Kanako. She blinked very slowly for a few seconds, before her eyes closed completely.
"K-Kanako?"
No response.
"N-no, no, no, no no no no-you can't-that couldn't have just made it worse!
Flowey frowned again, guess he really would need to find another way to deal with her. Ah well off to rub it in Ceroba's face he supposed! Flowey began to burrow into t-
"H-hello...?" A weak voice came from the girl on the bed, Flowey stopped and turned, Alphys who was just about having a mental breakdown, head in her hands, looked through teary eyes at the small girl who was now awake.
"Where am I?" She slowly began to sit up, her form solidifying once more. Alphys almost couldn't believe it, she'd... Was she... Was she really better...?"
"I-uhm-you're in my lab! R-remember? You woke up for a bit but... But..." With excellent timing, Kanako glanced around the rest of the room. She saw the still forms of all the monsters around her.
"But... That?"
Alphys REALLY couldn't believe it now, she was up! Looking around, speaking! It had actually worked?!
"Y-yes, that."
"Hey, doc, I forgot to remind ya about something! How about you get our little friend here up and moving?"
Kanako looked around, but she couldn't see where that voice had come from.
"A-alright, Kanako, do you think you can walk?"
Kanako blinked once, then got out of bed with no issue. Alphys's jaw dropped.
"I think so, Mrs...?"
"Uh-Alphys, Royal Scientist."
Kanako tilted her head ever so slightly, she was thinking about something but Alphys couldn't quite pin it. She never really was much good with social cues.
"C'mon, a flower can only wait so long." Flowey's voice echoed once again.
"R-right, follow m-me, Kanako."
...
Ceroba continued to hold the phone, she'd lost strength in her legs by now, and was instead sitting on the cold floor, almost paralyzed by fear.
"H-hello?" That same nervous voice came through the phone again, and her body immediately jolted into shock.
"Yes? Did it work!?"
"I-I uh, I t-think so.
"Alrighty doc, how about you give the two of them a little privacy?" Flowey's ever chipper voice bled through the background, and Ceroba heard what would best be described as jumbling. And so he waited...
"Hello?"
Ceroba's throat caught within a sob and a gasp of relief, that voice, her voice, her Kanako...
"Is it... Is it really you?"
"M-mom...?
A trembling paw moved to cover her own mouth, it was her, it had to have been her.
"K-Kanako...?"
A hic escaped from Ceroba's lips, she couldn't help it, hearing her daughters voice on the other side of the phone... "It's really you... I thought... I..."
Tears finally began to flow, she could quell them no longer. Fear, guilt, relief, terror, all of it in an ugly outpouring. Yet she did not sob, she did not let out more then a few gasps of air faintly reminiscent of such an action.
"Kanako... Oh Kanako, my sweet, sweet Kanako, you're okay, you're alive..."
"Mom... Where am I...?"
"You're... You're in Hotland, honey, at the Royal Scientists lab." Ceroba pulled herself together a little bit, her child was afraid, away from home. Now was not the time to curl up and cry.
"Where are you...?"
"I'm at home, with... With guests. Are you well enough to walk?"
"I think so?" Kanako mumbled, then a moment later, "yup, no problem."
Ceroba smiled, then stood up. "Good, I'm coming to get you."
She looked up the stairs and resolved to have Kanako under her roof by night's end.
"But... What do I do...?" Kanako asked nervously, Ceroba could only imagine what was going on around them.
"...Speak with Alphys, tell her that your mother is coming to get you." Ceroba began to walk, before being blocked off by that same flower.
"Woah woah woah! I'll have you know that's my phone lady!"
"Thank you." Ceroba said genuinely, completely unaware of the fact that any of such a feeling was completely lost on the flower before her.
"Aw stop, you're gonna make me blush! Before you leave though, promise me one little thing will you?"
Ceroba didn't even hesitate for a moment. "Of course."
"Just don't tell anybody about little ol me giving you some help, you could say I'm a little shy... But just... Don't, capiche?" Flowey's gaze drifted for a moment as he spoke, but he returned eye contact a moment later. "Oh and, the phone back, if you will. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to speak with your daughter when you actually get there."
Ceroba hesitated for a moment, before speaking into the phone one last time. "Kanako, I'm going to have to leave you alone for now. I'll be there soon, please hang in there, for me."
She waited for a few seconds, and at last... "...Okay mom, please hurry..."
Ceroba tapped the red button, intuiting what it would do. A vine raised for the phone, and Ceroba obliged it.
She sprinted past Flowey with a sense of purpose she hadn't felt so strongly in years. Though, she turned one last time before leaving the room behind. "Thank you, truly."
She didn't see it, but Flowey rolled his eyes. He was almost tempted to reset and just rip all of this away from the fox, but well, this would all work out for him in the end. There'd always be time to "play" with her and her kid later.
At last, the room was empty.