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The flowers were still getting used to their human bodies. After spending their whole lives as just stems, petals, and leaves, arms and legs were a bit tricky to get right. But like foals or fawns, they were able to figure it out pretty quickly. And after that, they started testing how their new bodies allowed them to transcend humanity. They were darkners, after all, and that came with sets of powers beyond what actual humans were capable of.
And of course, as a flower, Seth was among them. They figured out the ‘humaning’ part pretty easily. The fastest, in fact! They were walking a few minutes before even Blue, and took a good bit of pride in that fact. But they kept that pride to themself, it wouldn’t be right to gloat. Instead, they just helped the other flowers get their footing.
And now, it seemed it was the other’s turn to return the favour.
Of course it was Aqua who figured out how to fly first when she insisted walking was ‘too boring’. And once it was apparent all you had to do was decide to in order to fly, the other flowers picked it up quickly, rising into the air weightlessly.
All except for Seth.
“Huh? What’s wrong, buddy?” Flowery asked, floating down towards Seth, who was still down there for some reason. They were jumping up and down over and over, barely getting a few centimetres off the ground with each attempt.
“N-nothing! I’m-I’m just trying to get a good angle to jump up with is all!” they insisted.
“There would be your obstruction, dear pur-Seth.” Blue floated down to stand next to them. “One does not ‘jump’ to fly, you simply allow your body to grow lighter and lighter, until it floats into the air.”
“I… suppose that makes sense.” Seth nodded. “Alright, thanks!”
They took a deep breath, screwed their eyes shut, and thought long and hard, muttering to themself all the while. “Light as a feather, light as a feather, light as a feather…”
Aqua giggled at them, snapping them back out of their head. They were still on the ground.
“Wh-what?! What are you laughing at?!” they demanded of the little girl, who was making loops in the air to burn her ever replenishing energy.
“You don’t have to say anything or think ‘til your head goes funny, you just have to wanna fly! You look so silly, hehehe!” Aqua giggled, rudely blunt as all human children tend to be.
“I-I do want to fly! I’m trying so hard!” Seth defended themself. They weren’t being lazy, they were giving this their all!
“Not hard enough, uuu!”
“Well, I don’t know much, but maybe that’s the problem?” Yellow offered. “Like, maybe yer head’s all full and clouded, and it's weighin’ ya down?”
“A fair assessment.” Blue agreed. “Many things are made harder with a troubled mind, perhaps letting your worries go could help?”
“Okay… okay! Yeah! I’ll get it this time!” Seth nodded.
They closed their eyes lightly, and relaxed their body. They breathed slow and intentionally, and paid attention to the sound of the wind to clear their mind. And slowly, the weight on their feet lessened…
And all moved to their back as they fell over.
“Ow…” they whined, sitting up to rub the pain out of their back.
“Okay, so that one didn’t work either…” Flowery admitted. “But you’ll get it eventually, you just have to try harder! We all know you can do it!”
“Ugh, you’re all being way too soft!” Orange stuck her tongue out. “Obviously, they just need a reason to fly to make their body get the memo!”
Before Seth could even question where she was going with this, a deceptively strong mouse hand picked them up by the scruff of their coat and started flying them upwards.
“Wait! Waitwaitwaitwaitwait! Orange, please, Orange!” Seth pleaded as they were brought higher and higher. If it wasn’t for the speed and Orange’s clear intentions, they might have enjoyed the view.
“Orange, please! Don’t do what I think you’re trying to-”
Flowery couldn’t even reason with her before she let go, and Seth began falling towards the ground.
“Go on! Fly! You can do it!” Orange ‘cheered’, though here ‘advice’ fell on deaf ears. Specifically deafened by the sound of Seth screaming too loud to hear anything else over.
Alright, okay, terrifying, but they could work with this! If there was any time for their body to kick into gear, it was now!
“C’mon, c’mon! Fly, fly, fly!” they wailed as they fell. And yet, the air resistance zipping past them didn’t stop as the ground got closer and closer.
It became apparent they weren’t going to figure it out before they hit the ground.
They reached their hands out in front of them in some instinctual, desperate attempt to somehow block whatever damage was about to hit them. They scrunched their eyes closed tight.
Was this really how they were going to die? Barely an hour of being more than a flower, and they’d just smash like a pot? Or, more likely squish…
And yet, just in time, barely a foot above the ground, they were scooped up into a warm pair of arms.
Both them and Green collapsed onto the ground under the pressure of Seth’s fall, the latter acting as a cushion to protect the former. It took a few minutes of them to part, with Seth clinging onto their saviour tight as their breathing evened out.
“I-I’m so sorry!” Orange rapidly apologised once the two parted. “I thought that would work!”
“It didn’t… and it’s concerning it didn’t…” Flowery muttered.
“What-what do you mean..?” Seth asked, still rattled.
“Well, the rest of us figured out flying almost instantly.” Flowery started. “It was easy. But not even danger can make you start. So it’s not instinct for you, and it’s not intentional, which makes me think… maybe you can’t, well, fly at all?”
Seth’s eye twitched.
“What-what the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
“Well, maybe not that you can’t.” Flowery backpedalled. “But, maybe it’s like walking! Some of us got it faster than others, you know? Maybe it’s just going to take you a while!”
“But-but how am I supposed to do anything?! I can’t just wait around for it to happen, this place is huge! There’s so many cliffs, and I don’t see any stairs! How am I supposed to just-just live waiting around for something that might not even happen?!” Seth cried.
The other flowers looked around uncomfortably. They just… didn’t know how to help with that.
That was until Flowery got an idea.
“Wait one minute!” he insisted, running away for a moment, leaving the others in an uncomfortable silence.
“...sorry about the dropping you thing…” Orange squeaked.
“It’s-it’s fine.” Seth dismissed.
This-this just wasn’t fair! Why couldn’t they get this right?! Why did everyone else get to do this except them?! It felt targeted and cruel…
“Alright, I figured it out!” Flowery returned.
“R-really?!” Seth said hopefully.
“Mostly’s!” Flowery nodded.
He beckoned Seth closer, and placed something in their palm. When Seth examined it, it appeared to be a light, fluffy feather about the size of a fresh pencil.
“This… this will make me fly?” they asked.
“Well, not quite…” flowery admitted.
“What?! But you said-”
“Hey, hey, let me explain.” Flowery interrupted. “I went to my box filled with magical artifacts that do exactly what I need at the current moment, and this was all there was. It won’t make you fly, but it will give you far more air time when you jump!” he explained.
Seth looked at the feather in their hand again. It wasn’t ideal, but… it was better than nothing.
Trusting Flowery’s word, they clutched the feather tightly in their hand, and jumped.
They yelped at the unexpected amount of push their legs gave them. When they reached their highest pain, they were twice Yellow’s height. And when they fell, they landed without any pain or discomfort.
“Oh… wow!” they marvelled. “Thank you, thank you so much!”
“No problem!” Flowery smiled.
“Well, it’s not really enough…” Orange pointed out.
“Huh? What’s that mean, orange?” Flowery asked.
“Well, it’s higher, but not nearly as high as the rest of us, or even enough to get over those big cliffs!” she explained.
“H-huh?!” Seth looked up, and the daunting presence of the cliffs made themselves known, taunting them.
“You’re right…” Flowery sighed. “Sorry, Seth. But don’t worry, we’ll keep; trying!”
“Keep trying?” Seth asked.
“Of course! We’ll keep tryin’ ta make everythin’ as good for you as we can, cowboy’s honour!” Yellow exclaimed.
“Yes… I do recall a species of flower I found rather bouncy, perhaps I could cultivate them and spread them throughout the dark world?” Blue suggested.
“Oh, yeah! And I’ll, um, do this!” Orange exclaimed as she punched the wall, chipping away some rock, and making a small platform. “I can do that a lot more until there’s stairs all over the place!”
“Uuu! Uuu! What about those spinny garden decorations? We could make one that spins super fast and send Seth up, up, up!” Aqua cheered.
Green held up a sign that read “I’ll make sure all our food is on the ground where you don’t have to fly to reach.”
“Y-you’d all really do that for me?” Seth warbally asked, tears starting to well in their eyes.
“Of course! You’re family!” Flowery placed a hand on their shoulder, again. “We’ll get everything set up to make the dark world walkable, just leaf it to us.”
“Th-thank you…” oh no, they were not crying right now! It was just too embarrassing.
“It’s no problem at all.” Flowery hugged them tight. He stood up and addressed the group. “You all get everything Seth needs ready, and I’ll go find Asgore, alright?”
‘Alright!” The flowers agreed, and everyone began filling their roles.
Seth couldn’t help but feel a bit useless. There wasn’t much they could do right now, not even to construct something for them!
But… not for long. Once everything was put together, they’d be the best tactician they could be! Everyone would get all the help they needed, it’s the least they could do after all the help they got!
Yeah, they’d be just as helpful, if not more!
🪻
“Aqua… why..?” they asked as they walked back into the castle.
“They won the game fair and square, so they needed a prize!” Aqua innocently explained.
“Hmm? What’s going on in here?” Flowery asked, walking towards them.
“Aqua gave my mobility aid to the lightners, and now they can use all the architecture made to accommodate me to get right to the fountain!”
“EXCUSE ME????”