Chapter Text
Darkness
That was all Clover saw and felt for the longest time.
After they gave their soul to Ceroba for Monsterkind’s freedom, their soul was put inside a capsule, their body put inside a casket never to be opened. And for the longest time, that was all they knew. A never ending existence in pure darkness
Then, light.
The coffin’s stone lid slowly slides off as Clover’s eyes open for the first time in years. Their muscles are having trouble moving, they can’t see anything but blurs of colors.
“Clover!” A blue blur picks them up, its limbs hug them tightly as Clover feels soft feathers against their skin.
“M-Martlet…?” Clover asks. their voice is rough and worn out
“Yeah, it's me,” Martlet says as she hugs Clover tightly. She wipes away her tears with her wings
Clover’s vision is good enough to see her face, although everything else is still very blurry. Clover blinks rapidly, partially to hide their tears, and partially to try and get their vision working again.
“What happened?” Clover asks as they stares into Martlet’s face
“We…don’t know” Martlet answers as her eyes dart away “A human fell down here, made a bunch of friends, and convinced Asgore to step down” She tries her best to explain, but Martlet is clearly just paraphrasing what she’s heard from other people
“Then the barrier broke and all the human souls were gone” Martlet looks back at Clover “I came here to get you” She says with happiness in her voice “I just didn’t expect you to somehow be…”
“Alive?” Clover finishes Martlet’s sentence for her. Martlet looks away before she nods
“How is that possible?” Martlet asks, her voice is full of concern “Your soul should still be inside the capsule…” Clover listens as they try to recall what happened.
They remember being called on for help, shooting their gun for the first time in years, to help someone stop…Flowey.
Then none of it ever happened.
Their soul was back in the capsule. Then their soul was taken again and used by Flowey to become something else. Then they were here.
“Clover!” Clover snaps back to reality as Martlet shakes them “Wake up!” She yells in their face
“Martlet! I'm fine!” Clover shouts as they try to get Martlet to stop shaking them.
“Clover!!! Focus on my voice!” Martlet yells as Clover frees one of their arms and lightly and carefully slaps her
“Martlet!” Clover sighs as they finally stop being shaken. “I’m here, I’m fine.” Clover hears Martlet sigh in relief
“Sorry, Clover,” She pauses to breathe. “You just weren’t responding and I assumed that-” Martlet feels arms wrap around her, comforting her.
“I’m here, Martlet,” Clover hugs her tightly, sensing how much she and they needed a hug. “Just… Don’t shake me that much every again, please”
Martlet nods. “Yeah…” A smile is on her beak as Clover pulls out of the hug
“Well, let's go catch up with the others” She slowly lowers Clover to the ground. “Can you walk?”
“I… Think?” Clover attempts to stand, but they can barely feel their legs. And the parts they can feel, feel like jelly.
Martlet immediately pulls them back into her arms. “We can go get that checked out by a human doctor” Martlet’s clearly worried, but she's keeping it inside for the time being.
Clover nods as Martlet leads them out of the room with 6 other caskets in it.
One of the Coffins catches Clover’s eyes; The one marked with a red soul and the name “Chara” engraved on it.
——————
After Clover and their family returned to the surface, things had reached a relatively normal state.
Clover lives with Martlet now, who legally adopted them after a long and lengthy custody battle between her and Clover’s birth parents. Ceroba and Kanako who had finally been returned to her as an Amalgamate live in a new estate not too far away from Martlet’s cabin. The new “Wild South” was established by Starlo and his posse as a wild west themed neighborhood in the southernmost part of New New Home; the new permanent home of most monsters.
Clover and Kanako both attend the new Monster-Human school at New New Home. They made new friends and finally got to live the lives they never got to live before.
But Clover still feels like something is missing.
——————
BEEP BEEP BEEP
An alarm drones off as Clover wakes up. They quickly turn the alarm off and get out of bed. They threw on their usual outfit, putting their trusty Wild Revolver in its holster. They tie their bandanna before opening their door and leaving their room.
The smell of freshly cooked Pancakes and Bacon drifts through the air as Martlet hums softly.
Clover climbs down the ladder “Morning, Martlet!” Clover greets as they reached the ground with a soft tap of their feet
“Oh, Morning Clover!” Martlet chirps back happily. She stops watching the food to turn to Clover. “Did you sleep well?”
“Fine, you?” Clover walks over to the counter and climbs onto a stool.
“Great.” Martlet says, not hearing Clover ask her question back as she tries to focus on not burning the food and conversing with her adoptive child. “So, I was thinking that maybe we could head over to Ceroba's later today. You and Kanako could play” She says happily “You two could head to New Wild East and have fun with Starlo” Martlet looks away from the food to look at Clover.
“Sounds good, Martlet” Clover replies happily as they imagine the day in their head.
“Good! Then let's eat and get going” Martlet puts the bacon and pancakes onto two plates. She sets one in front of Clover and one in front of herself.
Clover wastes no time to start digging into their meal, Martlet following suit.
——————
“Clover!” Kanako immediately tackles Clover to the ground the second they enter the estate. She enwraps them into a warm hug even though she had seen them just a day ago.
Clover returns the hug almost immediately “Kanako!” they say back.
After a few seconds, Clover and Kanako get back up onto their feet.
“You don’t always have to tackle me, you know” Clover says as they push Kanako lightly,
Kanako returns the push immediately. “Wheres the fun in that?” She says as Clover pushes her again, a tiny bit rougher.
“Sooo,” Kanako says suspiciously “Wanna head to the wild east?” Kanako asks, knowing the answer
“You just want more root beer, don’t you” They say as the young Kitsune giggles
“What are you gonna do? Say no?” Kanako teases as they push Clover one last time
“Do I ever?” Clover looks at Martlet, who nods as a sign of allowance.
“Then, Let’s go!” Kanako grabs Clover's wrist as the two rush to leave the yard of the estate.
——————
After not too far of a walk, the duo reach the neighborhood. Sand lines the streets as a saloon and other old timey houses greet them.
They both walk into the saloon, old music filling their ears as they sit down at the counter
“What do you scamps want?” Dina greets them with a small smile as the two take a seat
“Root beer, please,” Kanako says without a second thought.
“Same here” Clover says as Dina gets started on the two rootbeers.
“Well if it isn't my two favorite deputies” A familiar voice approaches the two “How's it going, Partners?” Starlo says as Clover and Kanako smile
“Going great now that we’re here” Clover smiles as they turn around and greet Starlo.
“What hijinks do the feisty five have going today? Kanako says with her arms crossed and a smile on her face.
“No spoilers, ma’am.” Starlo says happily as he takes a seat next to them. “But ya don’t wanna miss it”
Dina hands the duo their rootbeers and Starlo orders an adult soda
Clover takes a big sip of their rootbeer “Can’t wait to see it” Clover says happily as Kanako nods.
——————
Clover and Kanako spend the rest of their day enjoying the Wild East. The story for today was that a wild bandit went around the wild east stealing items, and it was up to the feisty five to save the town and bring justice. A bit basic, but still a good and entertaining story.
The two make it back to the estate just in time for dinner.
“There you two are” Ceroba says as she watches them from the kitchen “I was starting to wonder if something went wrong in Starlo’s show today” She says as she sets the table.
“Clover!” Martlet quickly runs over and hugs her child, she was clearly worried
“I’m fine, Martlet” Clover says as they hug her back, smiling slightly “Me and Kanako just stayed a little longer to help clean up”
“Well you could’ve told me next time” The Scatterbrained bird says as she pulls away
Clover tries to think of a way to defend themself. “...Fair enough” He says with a defeated sigh
“You two wanna stay for dinner?” The older Kitsune calls from the kitchen.
Clover and Martlet look towards the food on the table, and they know they can’t say no.
“Sure!” Martlet chirps happily as Clover nods, both of them disregarding their prior plans for dinner as they both walk into the dining room and sit down.
——————
The Family spends the rest of the night together, eating and talking for hours. But eventually Clover and Martlet have to return home
“Can’t you stay a little longer?” Kanako pleads
“We have school tomorrow,” Clover says with a tired sigh. “And after a day like that, I kinda need some sleep”
Martlet nods in agreement. “Thank you for having us, Ceroba” She thanked Ceroba for the thousandth time.
“Don’t worry about it, Martlet” Ceroba pats the bird’s back in comfort “Have a good evening” Ceroba says calmly
“You too” Martlet and Clover say as they both leave the estate and start their journey home.
——————
Clover and Martlet return to their Cabin in the middle of the night.
“I think I’ve had enough social interactions for the day…” Martlet’s movements are slugged and slowed “I’m going to head to bed”
“Me too” Clover sighs as they both trudge to their rooms
“Night, Martlet” Clover says before they walk into their room
“Goodnight, Clover” Martlet says back as she enters into her room, shutting the door behind her
Clover quickly gets into his pajamas and falls into his bed. They get under their blankets and close their eyes as they slowly drift off to sleep
——————
Clover’s eyes shoot open. They're surrounded by darkness.
They’re in a void, the only light originating from their Soul which is glowing yellow
“Martlet!? Kanako!?” Clover calls into the void
“Don’t bother shouting…” A familiar disembodied voice calls out. The voice is quiet, but loud enough to be heard. “No one else can hear you here…” The voice sounds tired, like they’ve been here for far too long.
“...Do I know you?” Clover looks around, trying to find the voice’s body “...You sound familiar”
“I doubt it…any human who knew me should be dead” The voice says as Clover identifies where it’s coming from; a dull red light shining from far away.
“That's…strange.” Clover starts to make their way towards the red light. “Could I know your name?”
“Why?” The voice asks. “You have no way of knowing who I am. And vice versa.” They seem to have many walls built up, which makes Clover determined to try
“Well, I’m Clover. Clover says, even if the voice seems to have no care in the world.
Clover can see the rough outline of a person in the red light
“See, now you know me” Clover approaches the figure. It’s a young human, just a bit older than Clover, curled up in a ball on the floor. They're wearing a green sweater with a yellow stripe running through it. Their hair is brown and in a bob
“So, can I know your name?” Clover asks kindly, as the human starts to turn around slowly
As they turn, more of the Human’s face gets revealed. Their face is round. They have pink cheeks and their eyes are red. Clover feels as if they are looking at an angel.
“...Chara”