Chapter Text
The sun was so bright. Clover hadn’t expected to forget about it — the monsters were down far longer, after all, and their experience as a Soul was mostly unconscious — but yet here they were. It was nice that their new home had a deck on the second floor; even the concept of having so much space was still foreign, still so strange.
It was hard not to get lost in their thoughts now, especially with their head being so… Well, empty.
I can imagine what kinda comment Chara would have to that, Clover thought with a huff, flicking one of the scattered blue feathers off the deck. Martlet had already taken off for today (not without a little goodbye smooch on the forehead, an act that always surprised them), but Starlo was probably still downstairs.
He’s so overprotective, Clover thought. Frisk would agree, I bet, I can walk down to their place just fine.
They stood with some effort, not wanting to let the tranquility of the morning leave just yet. Really, though, they didn’t want to make Starlo wait any longer, especially since he didn’t work on weekends. The monsters were still getting used to the Surface, still cautiously optimistic about the strides in which human law was being changed to accept them, but monster children were never seen without an adult nearby. In the Underground, precautions like that were probably nonexistent.
Am I a monster child, then? I sure am being treated like one.
“What’s got you so mopey, huh? You’ve been complaining about Frisk all week!”
“Have not,” Clover said, sticking their tongue out. Flowey was nice enough to give them a few minutes of cool-contemplation-time at least. Well, a few minutes more than last week. “I was complaining that they were busy. We’re ‘spose to be best buds!”
Flowey rolled his eyes. “Come on, crybaby. They’re probably just as impatient as you are.”
The door was ominous, for all that the cute yellow welcome mat didn’t made it out to be.
Flowey had scampered off their arm some minutes ago, claiming that he had things to do, but Clover knew the real reason he didn’t want to be here for this. It was much the same reason they were dreading and looking forward to today in equal measures, and part of them was glad to have a moment to breath beforehand.
The other part was anxious to get inside. There wasn’t any way out of this but through, after all. With uncharacteristic nervousness, Clover reached up and rang the doorbell.
It chimed airily, cheerful even through the door. A muffled voice came through that had the cadence of someone saying “Just a moment, please!” — but really came across as “Mmnf mmnn mmmf!”. They began to bounce on their toes; not for the first time, they wished they could just ring Frisk on their phone instead of having to go through with this.
A moment as promised, and the door was opening. “Apologies, I’m afraid we weren’t expecting any visitors.” A kindly face looked above them, before making the long journey down to make eye contact. “Oh!”
Frisk must have forgotten to tell her I was coming, Clover thought, because they really didn’t want to think about Toriel’s current expression.
It had been years since Clover fell — since before they died. They weren’t sure how long, exactly, but long enough for the Underground to have changed a touch since their time, and monsters took a long time to change noticeably. And they had only known Toriel for a little while, really. So it came as a surprise to see her eyes widen so noticeably, to see her face draw lines of grief and surprise. Toriel looked like she had seen a ghost.
Clover wrung their hands together, but luckily footsteps from behind Toriel saved them from needing to say anything.
“Clover!”
Arms wrapped around them, and Clover found themself laughing along with one of their best friends.
After a moment, Frisk pulled back with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, mom, I forgot I invited Clover over today.”
Toriel looked a touch better, more in the moment. Did Frisk distract them both on purpose? Her face was drawn, but her gaze was much more steady. “My… apologies, child. You have a — a remarkable resemblance to an acquaintance of mine from long ago. Please, come in.”
Toriel’s house, and Frisk’s by extension, was huge. It was no Ceroba-level mansion, but Clover couldn’t help but marvel at the tall ceilings, the way the sunlight filtered in through the windows and the nice curtains. The entrance opened into a spacious living room, somehow both large and cozy simultaneously. It had only been a spare few weeks since the monsters had settled, but already the room was decorated with pictures on the walls and books in the shelves. A pleasant smell wafted through from the nearby kitchen, something sweet.
Clover became hyperaware of their muddy boots. Staro and Martlet were both messy people, so this was all too nice to consider ruining. As the two others went inside, Clover quickly and quietly took their shoes off by the welcome mat.
Frisk wasted no time in pulling them up the stairs. Their room was, evidently, at the end of the long hallway, and Clover only got a glimpse of it before they and Frisk were — finally — alone once more.
“Howdy, Chara!” Clover said immediately. “Sorry for not bein’ able to say anything back there.”
There was a brief moment of silence, one Clover supposed they would have to get used to. “‘Obviously,’” Frisk said, a thoughtful look on their face, “‘I don’t expect you to start talking to the walls in public, you know.’ Um, they’re on my other shoulder, by the way.”
What! “You stole my spot!”
“‘They’re both my spots now, I’m just making use of the space.’ C’mon, guys, we just got here and you’re already arguing!”
Clover had the decency to feel abashed. “Sorry, Frisk. How’ve you been? Both of you? It’s been a really fast few weeks.”
“‘Hard to do anything as a ghost, Clover.’ It’s been a lot of working and adjusting… Monsters are getting accepted fast, but a lot of the finer details are still being worked out.” Frisk pouted. “Mom’s been making me do homeschooling for now… But I heard the school in town should be up and running soon-ish.”
Clover perked up at that, moving to sit on the twin-sized bed. “Toriel would like to teach, wouldn’t she?”
“Exactly, yes! …But she’s got a lot of important Queen-stuff to do first, I guess. ‘The future of monsterkind is hanging in the balance, Frisk.’ Yeah, I know, but it sucks that the future of monsterkind is taking so long!”
It was odd to converse with Chara like this, through Frisk. It was a little obvious when they were translating, not merely because of the very slight voice change Frisk put on intentionally, but because of Chara’s unique way of speaking. “Verbiage,” as they would put it. It was hard communicating like this; knowing that their dear friend was right there, yet wholly invisible to them.
Though, Clover was just grateful Chara had been able to exit the mountain at all.
“It’s a little awkward visiting Asgore, though.” Frisk picked at their sweater; it was blue with pink stripes, the same as always. Surely they owned something else? “I want to do it more, but he and Mom already have to interact a lot more than she wants to, and I can tell she doesn’t really like leaving me with him.”
Oh… “I think it oughta get easier soon, right? Once things get more up-and-running, and Tori doesn’t have to be acting as Queen anymore.”
Frisk hummed noncommittally. “I hope so. I never got to know Asgore as much as the other monsters. He seems really nice, though.”
Their musings were interrupted by a sudden growling sound.
“...Quit laughing!”
“Sorry, sorry,” Frisk said with a grin. “Chara was too, by the way. Want me to show you where to grab lunch? You said you were staying inside recently, right?”
They tried not to wince. It was embarrassing, being so nervous to go out after having journeyed through the Underground nearly all by themself. They’d get over it soon. “Yeah, I guess I could use some grub. There any burger places around?”
As it turned out, there was a burger place around. Grillby’s was yet another place unfamiliar to Clover outside of Frisk’s journey, and one they had kind of forgot existed. Stepping into it as a human rather than as a ghost was a stark difference; the air was warm without being stifling, the chatter was lively without being overwhelming, and though the jukebox was still broken, it was easy to imagine a cheerful tune playing to the background of the kindly bar.
I wonder if Grillby would let me get adult soda, Clover wondered between bites. Probably not. Maybe?
“How has Starlo been? And Martlet?” They’d discussed general goings-on with Ebott City, featuring subtle interjections from Chara — they were in public, which was annoying — and now were back onto the topic of their friends. Despite everything happening, things were going quite well, which made for brief conversation.
Clover made a so-so motion with the hand not reaching for another fry. “S’been a mixed bag. Martlet’s been kinda busy with the repair shop. Lotta monsters have things from the dump that they’re attached to, even though they could get new things now, but most of that needs repairin’. Starlo’s been really excited about the Post Office thing, but I can tell he doesn’t like leavin’ me alone on weekdays, even with a phone.”
“‘You are his firstborn child, technically,’” Frisk — Chara — said, lowering their voice. “‘Mom and Dad didn’t like me being by myself, either, even though Azzy and I went everywhere together.’ Monster parents can be worrywarts sometimes.”
The two visible exchanged glances. This was something all three children could agree on; monsters had weird ideas sometimes. It was usually endearing, but neither Frisk nor Chara enjoyed the overbearing treatment, even with one as a ghost. Clover was… indecisive.
“We should decide a course of action,” Frisk said suddenly. “I’ve had ambassador duties, but that’s basically just mascot stuff, and that’s Papyrus’s job anyways. We should figure out what we want to do, not what the adults tell us to do.”
Clover leaned forward. They didn’t mind following what adults said, necessarily, but what Frisk said had merit. Also, they were getting a little bored at home every day. “Like what?”
Their fingers tapped lightly against the smooth wood of the table. Like any proper secret planning, the conversations nearby floated about, obscuring their conversation from any prying ears.
“Well, obviously we need to explore. I haven’t really gone around to very many places, actually. And we gotta figure out what the monsters need, and go on sidequests, and stuff. I think we should start there, and then, an adventure will show up. Or something.”
There was no interjection from Chara, probably because they thought this was stupid but Clover was instead choosing to interpret this as complete agreement. “That’s how adventures usually start, I think. I wanna meet some more monsters from your journey, too. Like, all properly and stuff, since I’m alive and everything.”
Frisk nodded seriously. This was a Very Serious Conversation, after all. “Okay, so we should start around the Main Street area…”
Monsters were known to have very large family units. They took the known idiom involving the raising of children and villages rather seriously, and so it was rare for a monster to only have a single relative, for example, or to become estranged from their existing relations. Typically, monsters with so few connections were known as Boss Monsters — monsters who lived for so great a time that those they were close to grew old and fell down.
Very rarely, however. Very, very rarely… It was possible for a monster to be totally orphaned. This did not tend to stay so for long, as Underground, monsters knew most everyone and if a child was alone then someone would come along to remedy that. But, if there was a monster child that was very resourceful, and very sneaky, and very, very scared…
No, it was not impossible that there might exist a monster child to remain orphaned, to avoid all attempts at connection to new family, to distrust others to such great an extreme. But it was an extraordinarily uncommon occurrence; and any child like that would have to be very extraordinary indeed.
Somewhere, having taken tentative steps out of the mountain, long after the initial crowds had thinned and security measures had loosened, a lone girl was looking upward at the sky, for the very first time.