Monster Age: A Fantasy Epic

by GR Griffin

"Fleck…" Asgore, acting a double of his wife, spoke in a small, broken voice. "Don't go…"

  The two glanced at each other for a fragment of a second before Asgore buried his head in his hands.

  Toriel clasped hers together and worked up the inner strength to nod. "It is okay, my child." As two tears fell, she smiled. "We understand."

  Asgore's paws fell. His gaze remained downcast with his blonde bangs casted a shadow.

  "All we wish is for you to be happy…" He looked up at Fleck, forced his lips into a sad smile. "So… be happy, Fleck."

  If any two people were going to hold each other, Asgore and Toriel seemed like the obvious choice. Not Papyrus to his brother. Sans remained motionless as lanky arms and oversized, red gloves grabbed at his torso.

  "Does this mean," Papyrus said to Sans while retaining an attentive eye socket on Fleck, "they're still going away, and we'll never see them again?"

  Sans, unable to respond, patted his brother and cooed softly.

  Alphys battled an urge to run up to them. She already carried the guilt of letting go once. Could she let them go again, this time with no requirement of a rescue mission?

  Undyne gave her mentor one look. Her opinion was difficult to tell on her features. Fleck was his kid. Whatever he was fine with, she felt the same way in respect.

  Fleck clenched their hands as their thoughts ran with newfound memories, every one cherishable. Bedtime stories and bring-your-kid-into-work day. Birthdays and Christmases. Holidays and parties. These recollections clashed with those of the Underground, with memories shared by a million alternate versions of themself, with the friends they fought to have and fought harder to keep.

  Their one chance for a family. A family they never knew existed, but wanted. A family they could finally have, at the cost of another. A family.

  Family.

  Their gasping fingers loosened and the blood started flowing again. The blue star, and the power it held, awaited the ultimate choice.

  Fleck raised their left hand and curled the index finger at Kanika.

  "Huh? You want me to come closer?" Kanika, reluctant at first, did so, stepping with weightless steps.

  She drew closer, still Fleck charmed with that alluring gesture. Closer still, Fleck's finger continued to bend then straighten. Bend then straighten. The two stood toe to toe. Fleck faced upwards to meet them, yet still desired Kanika to come closer. If she neared anymore, she'd walk straight through them.

  She lowered her sparkly head until she had her pointy ear to the child.

  It was time. Fleck leaned up onto their tiptoes, cupped their hands around their mouth, and spoke a few syllables in the gentlest whisper a human could make.

  At first, Kanika's face was blank as she pulled away. "Are you sure?" she asked.

  Fleck looked away and blinked. This was it. After they answered, there was no going back. A vice-like grip held them, questioning them at every turn. They gulped, feeling the entire galaxy and beyond staring at them.

  They gritted their teeth out of determination, and bowed.

  "If you insist." Kanika rose the star high. "Let the wish be fulfilled," she said out loud for all to hear. "And for this universe to be changed forever."

  The star grew, pulsating. Its alluring colour, its deep shade of azure, brightened and brightened, absorbing reality. Everyone watched for as long as they could before it was too bright to do so.

  The light reached it apex, whereupon it spread out in a fantastic field. It first consumed the Outerworld. Then the Earth. The moon. Mars. Jupiter. Mercury. The Sun. The Solar System. The Milky Way. It spread out until it covered all corners of the cosmos, unwinding the hidden calculations which held it together and altering them permanently. Pieces of a massive jigsaw puzzle pulled apart and rearranged in accordance to one wish made by one human on one small planet. Every factor of life was removed, adjusted, then put back into place, such was the power of the miniscule star.

  It spread until it covered all.

  And so… the Universe was forever changed.

  * * *

  Every eyelid was shut long after the magic had run its course. What did they expect to find upon casting open the curtains?

  Toriel did not wish to know. She was the one who desired to know the least, King Asgore second. However, neither of them could hide from the truth for all eternity. They had no choice but to wake up to the reality their child had chosen. If their child could still be called their child.

  Together, they faced the new world. The blinding white stung their retinas. There was Fleck, Kanika still before them, reaching for the stars, now emptyhanded. That bully Zeus and his father to one side, with that leather-clad bat. And… And…

  Toriel squinted. "Wait…" she murmured. "Where are Fleck's parents?"

  Among the crowd at the Obelisk's foot, they counted one human, Fleck, and no one else of their kind. The businessman and county gal were nowhere to be seen. Asgore and Toriel expected their first vision in this altered reality to be of their child in another pair of humans' arms – the sweet cuddle of their biological parents – celebrating their long lost reunion with tears in the bucketsful, and for the monsters' love to be rendered obsolete.

  "Shouldn't they be here? Are they somewhere else? Have they materialised at all?" Asgore asked question after question, trying to piece this little mystery together.

  Zeus battled a tremendous sting in the back of his skull as he wanted to know right away the fate of his father. "Dad?"

  Juhi, in view of the rest of his comrades, was as grey and crumbly as in the unaltered universe. He gazed at his hands, somehow finding consolation in the fact he was still dead, along with the rest of the Grey Ones.

  "Well, they clearly didn't wish us back," Juhi said, sounding relieved. "Frankly, dying once was bad enough. None of us are in the mood for it a second time."

  Undyne looked around. "What else could it be?" she asked before locating Lord Grill. "Oh, right."

  Without any warning, she moved with quick steps toward the still dazed lord and snatched him by the collar. Grill's sight returned to that of his worst nightmare, baring vicious, yellow teeth and winding a closed fist.

  "NOT THE FACE!" he cried before shielding his eyes. From through the black, the pain cut through in the form of a sharp flick to the tip of his snout. "Oww."

  Undyne released him, much to Lord Grill's relief. "Could've knocked your lights out if I wanted to. The reason I didn't was because I held back." Her glare narrowed. "And trust me, that took a lot of holding back. Guess world peace is out of the question."

  Professor Haze reached into his trouser pocket and flicked out his cell phone. No reason why not to keep up with the times. He checked its features, then browsed its apps.

  "Yep," he said, sounding somewhat satisfied, "interface still as clunky as ever." He put it back in the pocket he got it from. "Nobody's going to the seventh planet from the Sun anytime soon."

  General Leigh glanced over.

  "You mean Uranu—"

  Haze stopped him with, "The seventh. Planet. From. The Sun."

  Sans cleared his non-existent throat. "Hey, Pap," he started, "you heard 'bout the skeleton who didn't dance at the Halloween party?"

  Papyrus hummed in thought. "Poor guy. He wasn't invited?" he guessed.

  His brother replied, winking. "He had no body to dance with!"

  Ba-dum pish!

  "Curses!" Papyrus's brow furrowed, yet still he was smiling. "Bring back the previous world, please. This one is just like the first!"

  "That's my brother." Sans's cheery outlook shone bright. "Still as joke resilient as ever, an' I woundn't have ya any other way, man."

  All went silent. Sweat tingled on foreheads, mingling with the fear prodding on their minds. The Grey Ones remained grey. Violence was still an available option to solve problems. Fleck's parents weren't there, holding their flesh and blood.

  "Hey, kid," Sans began to ask, nervously shifting left to right, worried that whatever came of
this opportunity would be worse than a thousand reruns under Mount Ebott. "I don't mean to be a buzzkill, but… what'd ya wish for exactly?"

  Fleck didn't answer as the same dilemma repeated like a broken record inside their skull. Their heart drummed against their ribcage. An annoying itch on their elbow refused to go away no matter how much they scratched.

  The awkwardness was peppered by the tiniest trace of a giggle, which grew louder as the seconds ticked by. This particular giggle originated from the Royal Advisor himself, Flowey the flower.

  Toriel spotted the golden flower. "That flower…" she said as if spellbound. She recalled a blossom such as that in the barest scraps of her memory.

  Flowey shook his head as his laughed matured. "Of course," he said aloud, "it was so obvious, wasn't it?"

  Brute, who had yet to return the advisor to his place on the flat section of his head, was once more guided by the sway which ebbed off him, and gave him some space. Flowey, in his pot, stood alone an entire foot off the ground.

  "You wished for nothing, didn't you? You wished to be with the ones you loved the most, and that was these guys right here." He swung toward the others, which included Asgore, Undyne, and Smiley Trashbag. "It's not like you could've saved the entire world or anything. I mean, you had the best chance for the greatest happy ending, and you wasted it." His lips distorted downwards into a snarl. "If that doesn't make you the biggest idiot ever, I don't know what does."

  His golden face turned red as the anger reached its threshold. Dozens of friendliness petals appeared above him. "YOU WASTED IT!" he screeched. "You held it in your hands – you could've had everything you ever wanted and you threw it all away over some stupid sentimental victory!"

  The glowing petals, aimed at Fleck, launched across the clearing. Both Zeus and Barb leapt in front of the human and batted them away; Zeus with his punches, Barb with her kicks.

  "Advisor, stop! What's done is done," the Emperor said as Fleck's friends also came to their aid with fire magic, and spears, Asgore retrieving his trident, and that left eye flaring up.

  Flowey gritted his teeth, glaring with pure rage. Despite his opposition, he was not intimidated. "Why can't I kill you…? Why won't you just stay dead…?" his voice came out dry and grated. He huffed cool air in the mouthfuls, yet it failed to quell his ire. It built up in his stem neck before it was unleashed. "YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO—"

  He stopped, choking a gasp.

  The anger in his eyes lifted a shade. His snarled lips fell. "You… you make me f-feel so…"

  What was this? What was happening to him? "…You make me feel… so…"

  He began to shake. "I-I-I feel… I feel…"

  He began to cry. "I feel…?"

  He smiled as the tears poured like waterfalls. "I feel." He began to shout, every time louder. "I feel! I feel! I can feel!

  Flowey laughed and cried at the same time. Happiness. Sadness. Joy. Disgust. Anger. Fear. Envy. Pity. Shame. Love. All these emotions flooded into him, all at once, overpowering him. He could not stop his tears from falling. He could not stop himself from smiling, from laughing, from shaking, from loving every second of it.

  Upon seeing such a sight, the fire dispersed. The trident dropped. One burning eye turned into two dots in eye sockets.

  Flowey tasted his own tears. Sadness. "I'm so happy…" he said in a small, cracked voice. Happiness.

  A warmth enveloped his thin body. As he looked down at himself, realising what he had allowed himself to become – shame – he began to glow.

  "What… what's happening to me?" Flowey cried. Fear. He grew brighter until he was nothing but white light. "What's happening? I feel strange!"

  Flowey cried as the light reached its brightest, encapsulating him all around. This was the end for him, he feared. He did not want it to end. He wanted time, just a little more time.

  Terror eclipsed his mind, blocking all rational thought. "No, wait! I don't wanna die! I'm not ready to go yet! I'm not ready! I'M SORRY!"

  As steady as it grew, the very thing that enshrouded him faded. Everyone, those alive and those dead, stood fixated. His unsteady breath and desperate thoughts drowned out their shocked gasps.

  "I'm sorry…" Flowey sniffled, darting across the faces, one after the other. "I'm sorry…" His voice sounded different. "I'm sorry…"

  Everyone stared at him. Him alone. The informant from the shadows, who worked behind the scenes without a single word of praise, became the most noticed.

  "W-w-what are you doing?" Flowey stammered. How found Fleck, then Papyrus, Sans, Undyne, Alphys. But as he glanced at Toriel, she wore a face that would stick with him for the rest of his days. Eyes wide. Mouth covered. Trembling all over. He turned away to Asgore, and found him to be the same. "W-why are you looking at me like that?"

  No one answered. Both Asgore and Toriel took the first step closer, unable to break away. As they neared, Flowey noticed the hot streams running down their cheeks, the quiver in their lower lips.

  Flowey did not know which of them was more afraid. "S-stay back…"

  The couple continued uninterrupted and stopped before him.

  "Stay back…!" He reached out with his hands.

  Toriel struggled to speak. "…A-A-A…" A lump had lodged in her throat. "…A-A…"

  Flowey did not know what to say or what to think. He stared down at his… hands? Two palms and fingers of white fur.

  "What…?" he whispered.

  Finally, Toriel spoke.

  "…Asriel…?"

  "…Son…? Is that you?" Asgore whispered. "Is that really you…?"

  Flowey reached for his face. Instead of a flat, featureless face, he felt a snout and two big ears. Instead of petals, a tuff of hair. Instead of a stem, a torso, and legs. His striped shirt. His black jeans.

  Instead of emptiness, a soul resonated within.

  Asriel's eyes went wide. "Mom…? Dad…? …Oh no…"

  Asgore and Toriel fell to their knees. Arms ready to reach out and grab him.

  Asgore muttered, "You were that…" After everything Asriel has done. The pain and suffering he caused as a flower…

  "No," Asriel cried, trying to scramble away. "Please, don't! I…"

  His parents reached out and gripped Asriel by the shoulders. Asriel gazed for a second into his parents' watery eyes before clenching his own tight, unable to read the emotions behind them in that short space of time. He prepared for pain, anger, anguish, or all three, and felt their bodies press against his and tender hands on his back and head. Then… a mumble of sniffs and sobs.

  He opened his eyes to his parents holding him. The tears fell harder than the day he died.

  "It's you… I can't believe it's you…" Asgore spoke between sobs.

  "You have no idea… how much we have missed you, Asriel…" Toriel said between short breaths,

  Asriel lifted his arms and held them back, sniffling like a baby. A cry-baby. He could feel them again. He could love them again. "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

  Toriel quietly shushed him. "It is alright, Asriel…" she cooed. "Everything is going to be alright…"

  The pain of their loss, with such a long time to wait, rushed back. As they caressed his youthful fur, smelled his scent, and heard his voice, a piece which the mother and father had lost so long ago, which they had come to accept, found its way back.

  Everyone watched, speechless, especially Fleck. They could only watch the reunion in short bursts; one second of the family in view before facing the puddle-strewn surface under their feet. Their elbow got itchier. They sweltered under their shirt. Their mouth, which should be curved with accomplishment, drooped into a deep, depressed frown.

  Fighting everything urging the moment to last forever, Asgore found Fleck. "Fleck… Did you…? Was this what you wished for?" he struggled to ask. He, his wife, and son eyed the human child, who responded with another downcast glance. "I… I don't know what to say…" He held his son tighter. "…Thank you…"

  Slowly, regretful
ly, the encirclement had to come to an end. None of them couldn't believe this was real. Toriel stroked his cheeks and hair, fighting away the possibility that this was all but a loathsome dream. It reminded Asriel of how fussy his mother could be.

  Asriel looked over to the human he had now tried to destroy twice. "Fleck?" He escaped from his parents' clutches and walked on shaking legs. For spending so long with roots for appendages, it surprised him how that pair still felt so natural. "Why?" he asked. His hands were out, gesturing to himself. "Why did you choose this?"

  Fleck, who had been staring down since making their wish, still frowning, still rubbing away at their joint, took tiny steps forward.

  "I don't deserve this," Asriel went on, wiping his cheeks every few seconds. "I tried to hurt you again. I left you for dead. You should've wished for world peace. You should've wished to end all hate; all misery; all death. You should've wished for your parents! You deserved them more than me – one measly, stupid thing. You should've—"

  Fleck suddenly bounded over and shushed his words in an instant. A tight, loving hold, straight from the heart, made Asriel fall silent, still, dumbfounded, as Fleck held him for the second time. Then, lifting his arms around their neck, felt their warmth seep into his own.

  "You don't even know me…" he whispered, smattered with uncontrollable snivelling. "Why didn't you stop caring?"

  Fleck found themself gazing into Asriel's watery eyes as they said their next words.

  It was because he was the one who deserved to be saved the most.

  It dawned on Asriel. Fleck could have chosen anything they wanted. Absolutely anything. They didn't choose peace. They didn't choose immortality. They didn't choose godhood, or superpowers, knowledge, wealth, fun, adventure, or the entire world. They chose Asriel. They choose him over everything else.

  Their foreheads met; their skin and his furry brow, touching, connecting, craving to share thoughts and feelings. Fingers intertwined while the most important question swam around in Fleck's mind… Did they do the right thing?

  Asriel, through his heartache, forced a smile. "Heh heh, oh, Fleck…" he said in a small voice. "You really are an idiot."