Chapter Text
Blue had expected withering to be painful. Arduously so. And cold, too, as light seeped out of his petals, out of his fingertips... but it's warm next to him. Warm and heavy, as though someone lies beside him... and as he looks above, he sees not darkness, but glowing blue stars as they pierce through a ceiling made of glass.
He blinks, confused, and he looks down at himself. His clothes are still intact, as are his hands. Beneath him, the floor is cool and solid, and on his left is a solid, warm weight.
He looks to the left, and if a flower had a heart, his would have stuttered. Yellow! His hat is pulled down over his eyes, his long arms wrapped around Blue's torso, like brambles against summer grass.
Blue looks up again. He's found himself in a greenhouse, with a tall, round ceiling and pale blue starlight glittering onto the terracotta floor. Between each plant rests a flower. Seth uses a book as a pillow as they lie beneath a cart of ivy, and not far rests Aqua, curled around a potted hydrangea. Green sleeps against the wall across from Blue and Yellow, and Orange's nose pokes out from their pocket, twitching in her sleep. The only one unaccounted for appears to be Flowery— oh, dear, Flowery! The poor creature was so dreadfully hurt, last thing Blue remembered, skewered down the middle by that dreadful mass of darkness...
It is a delicate balancing act, attempting to coax Yellow's arms off of Blue's waist without waking him, but Blue manages it. When he is finally— reluctantly— separated, he watches as Yellow mumbles blearily and, without Blue's body to keep him steady, he falls onto his side on the floor. Miraculously, he does not stir.
Blue stands and looks down at his clothes again. Apart from a thin layer of dust coating his tutu, he is unscathed. He delicately wipes away the dust with his palms and creeps out of the greenhouse.
A peculiar town awaits him as he pokes out his head. Immediately next to the greenhouse is a café, and across from it, a bakery, sweet-smelling steam pouring into the air from the chimney. He looks further, where a small street stretches out before him. Every path leads to a grand castle at the centre of it all. A town, then. A strange town, one that lacks sunlight— or much light at all, for that matter. In fact, apart from the stars that shimmer above, the only source of light in the whole town appears to be the lamps in the greenhouse.
Blue glances from the castle to the greenhouse, then back again, worrying his lip. Something urges him towards the castle. Perhaps it's grandness, or the space it takes in the centre of town. Either way, the castle is obviously the most important structure here, but... but fear still whirlpools in Blue's gut, if flowers have such a thing as a 'gut.' If he is to stray from the greenhouse— which the little voice of Mr Butterfly tells him he must, eventually— he does not wish to do so without a companion. Very well, he thinks to himself. A compromise.
He steps back into the greenhouse. Though he was gone less than a minute, he half-expected the other flowers to wake up and begin panicking, but they all continue peacefully sleeping. Blue tiptoes over to Yellow, still on his side on the cool terracotta, and gently shakes him.
"Yellow," he whispers. "Yellow, dear, wake up."
Yellow groans into the terracotta.
"Yellow," Blue repeats, his voice quiet and sing-songy. He leans down, kissing Yellow's cheek. He feels Yellow stir, feels the way he smiles against Blue's face, and he turns around to hug him. "Yes, yes, I'm right here," Blue mumbles into Yellow's hair. His hat had fallen off, lying somewhere pathetically on the floor. Yellow stays like this for a moment, perfectly content, before the knowledge that he's supposed to be dead seems to hit him like a train, and he pulls away from Blue, looking entirely bewildered.
"Wait— I— ain't we supposed to be—" Yellow swallows heavily, sitting up. "Ain't we supposed to be all withered away now? Why do I feel so... so normal, then?"
"I'm not sure," Blue says, putting his hands on Yellow's shoulders. "That's what I'm trying to figure out. I... we're in a greenhouse."
Yellow tears his gaze from Blue, looking around the greenhouse.
"I've just been outside for a moment," Blue continues. "Only a moment. We're in... we're at the edge of a town. What town, I cannot say."
"What's in the town?"
"Well... apart from the greenhouse, there's a great castle not far."
"A castle," Yellow repeats, slowly nodding. "So, then, we're in some kinda... castle town."
"I... yes, a 'castle town.'" Calling it that felt infinitely sillier than just saying 'the town,' but Yellow was confused and frightened, and Blue did not have the heart to crush his dreams of naming the town like that. "I was about to go to the castle myself, actually, but... I don't think it's wise of me to go alone."
Yellow looks at the other flowers, then back up at Blue, and he points at himself quizzically.
"Yes, Yellow, I want you to come with me."
"Well, I—" Yellow reaches behind him and grabs his hat, worrying the brim with his fingertips. "I ain't feel right, Blue, leavin' the other flowers by their lonesomes..."
"They'll be alright. Green's here to care for them," Blue says gently, putting his hand on top of Yellow's. "I would very much like you to accompany me, Yellow. We can learn about this curious place by one another's side."
That seems to sway Yellow. He puts his hat back on, smiling, holding Blue's wrist as he rose to stand. "Well, alright," he said.
"Thank you, dear."
Blue leads Yellow out of the greenhouse. Somewhere in his mind, he feels Mr Butterfly smugly flapping his wings. Yes, yes, you won.
The walk up to the castle is brief. The door is open, which tells Blue that perhaps there is a great sense of trust in this town, though that knowledge does frightfully little to ease his nerves.
The entrance is small and empty, but the first floor has a great cauldron in the centre, and several hallways that lead off of the room with the cauldron. Leaning over the cauldron is none other than Ralsei, who stirs the cauldron. It's filled with a clear liquid, though it's certainly not water—it's far too thick and smells vaguely of seaweed.
"Ralsei," Blue says softly. Ralsei jumps so violently that the large spoon he uses to stir nearly clatters to the floor. Thankfully, he manages to catch it.
"Blue! Yellow!" he says, blinking owlishly. Blue isn't entirely sure how a goat manages to do anything like an owl. "I-I'm not done with the fertiliser yet— I didn't think you'd be awake so soon!"
"Fertiliser?" Yellow repeats.
"Yes, um— for the seven of you. You'll have some sunlight in the Light World... but here, the best we could do was some heat lamps... so I've decided to make some fertiliser for you all!"
"Isn't that kind of you?" Blue says, smiling. "Wait— seven? You said seven. Then that means—"
"Flowery's alright!" Yellow laughs, grabbing Blue by the shoulders in his glee. That contagious giddiness... Blue finds himself smiling in relief. He worried he'd never hear that laughter again. "Well, darn it all, our Flowery's alright!"
"He's... alive," Ralsei confirms hesitantly. "But he's badly hurt... he may be sleeping for a long while. But, um, I-I can let you know when he—"
"Alive's good enough for us, ain't it, Blue?"
Good enough was the operative phrase. Blue nods— alive but gravely wounded wasn't the preferred outcome, but it was better than nothing, he supposed. "Do you know where we are?" he asks, quickly pivoting the subject.
"Castle Town," Ralsei says. Blue could have sworn he heard Yellow mumble I knew it under his breath. "And this is my castle!" Ralsei adds, beaming.
"Well, what a beautiful castle it is," Blue says. "Do you know how we ended up here?"
"Susie brought you," Ralsei explains. "She said that her and Kris brought you by before school. She refused to just... let you wither away without Asgore. So she promised to take care of you in the Light World, so I can do it in the Dark World, okay?"
Susie and Kris... oh, Susie and Kris, the angels descended from the light they were! Blue felt a fluttering in his chest and a sparkling in his fingertips. Butterfly's wings beat around him giddily. "Oh, how wonderful! How loving!" he preens.
"How is he doing that?" Ralsei asks quietly.
"I'unno," Yellow mumbles back.
"Do you have any inkling of when they will be done with..." It occurs to Blue then that he has no idea what 'school' is, or how long it lasts. Oh, dear, what if it takes days for Susie and Kris to return? Blue deflates, the butterflies around him dissolving into glitter. Ralsei seems to pick up on his sudden plight, as he smiles warmly.
"They'll be back before you know it, I'm sure!" Ralsei says comfortingly. "In, um, in just a few hours, maybe... in the meantime, here!"
Ralsei separates the fertiliser into bottles and pushes them into Blue and Yellow's arms, three for each of them. "For you and the other flowers," Ralsei explains, "I, um, I don't think you need a schedule... just take it as you need it, okay?"
Blue looks at Yellow, and then the two of them look back at Ralsei and nod. "Thank you, Ralsei," Blue says.
"Don't forget to bring Kris and Susie on by the greenhouse," Yellow adds.
"Of course! I'll be seeing you all!"
Blue and Yellow leave the castle, the bottles of fertiliser in tow. Blue keeps his gaze somberly on the ground as they walk back to the greenhouse. With Flowery out of commission, who'd be the flower's leader? Green, maybe, but— and this was no judgement towards Green, of course— a silent leader would have a difficult time. And as dearly as Blue cherished Yellow, he'd turn his gun on himself the moment he made even the mildest mistake as a leader. Perhaps Blue could... oh, but how he would hate to encroach upon Flowery's deserved position! What to do, what to do...
He felt eyes on him. Blue turns his head and sees Yellow gazing at him, a wide, dopey smile on his face. Blue feels the worrisome thoughts dissipate like sugar into water, and he smiles back. "Yes, Yellow?"
"I missed that beautyful face so darn bad," Yellow admits. Blue smiles bashfully. Bashful? Bashful? Since when does he get bashful? He tilts his head at Yellow, holding the fertiliser to his chest.
"I missed you as well, my dear."
"I thought I wasn't ever gonna see ya again... I'm happy as a pig in the mud, Blue."
"As am I, Yellow."
Blue easily rests his head against Yellow's shoulder as they walk back to the warm light of the greenhouse.