From the field of buttercups

An empty dark room, consisting of only darkness, with no boundaries, but at the same time very cramped. There are two silhouettes in it, two girls very similar to each other, but very different in character and some traits. One of them has brown hair cut into a bob, golden eyes like buttercups and wears a blue sweater with two pink stripes. The girl looks at her interlocutor warmly and with concern. Her name was Frisk. The second one also has brown hair cut in a bob, but she has red eyes like rubies and wears a green sweater with one yellow stripe. Her gaze is cold and hostile. She's clearly not in the mood for conversation. Her name was Chara. - So why are you here, Frisk? Another idle conversation? There's no way to get me out of here. I'm dead. Get over it! You all have happy endings, so stop clinging to me! - I'm serious this time. We got Asriel back, so why can't we get you back? - He was easier because he's a monster and he was in a flower's body. It's harder for me, I need a real soul to fully return, not an artificial one like Azriel's. - What if you had half a soul of determination? Sans said it could work, but it's never been experimented on, so it's just theory. - That's bullshit. What does a comedian even know about souls? That's right, nothing. Give it up and live a happy ending. Half of the red soul appeared in front of Chara, she looks at her interlocutor with bewilderment. And hesitating a bit, takes the soul. - I still think it's bullshit. The room lit up with a bright light and the girls found themselves in the pacifist's room, where Asriel was waiting for them. - Azriel? Did it really work? I'm alive again. - Chara! You have no idea how much I missed you! The two hugged tightly, not wanting to let go of each other, and the pacifist watched this lovely scene. A knock sounded at the door of the room, making everyone startled, followed by Toriel's gentle, concerned voice. - Asriel, Frisk, are you all right in there? - Yeah mom, everything's fine. - Then I hope you don't mind if I come in. Chara's face expressed worry, so unprepared was the girl to meet her mother. When the door opened and Toriel walked in, her face changed to one of surprise and tears involuntarily ran down her cheeks. The former queen hugged her daughter and the latter made the gesture in return. - Hi, mom. - Oh gods, Chara, I missed you so much. But how did you get here? - I missed you, too. Frisk helped me get back. Everything's gonna be okay now, and I'm not going anywhere. - Okay, well, I'm gonna go about my business. Have fun, sweethearts. - Bye, Mom! The door closed and the boys looked around at each other. They were a little confused and each had something different on their minds. - What are we gonna do? - Why don't we go to the buttercup field nearby and have a picnic? - Let's do it! But they probably won't let us go alone. - Then who's here now and can come with us? - Andain and Papyrus have practice, Alfis is in the lab, Dad's busy in the garden, Mom's away on business. That just leaves Sans. And we still have to tell him about the successful experiment. - Go, Azi, we'll catch up with you. Is something wrong, Chara? Frisk, noticing her friend's confusion and sadness asked worriedly. Asriel, unsuspecting went off to look for the comedian. - I'm just not sure, do we have to tell him? - Yeah, what's wrong? - Just, what if he doesn't forgive me for past timelines? What if he does? How many times have I killed his friends? There's nothing I can do to earn his mercy. - I'm sure he doesn't hold a grudge against you. And you weren't the one who started the genocides. So don't blame yourself. - Yeah, the little one's right. I'm sure that sack of bones doesn't hold a grudge against you, especially since you can explain it to him calmly. He'll understand, just try. - All right, whoa, whoa, comedian?! What are you doing here?! - Asriel was mumbling something about the walk and me, so I thought I'd check in with you girls. Because the prince had already run out to the courtyard. The one under discussion appeared in the room out of nowhere and decided to support the dialog in a rather unconventional way and push the former demon to talk. - Listen, I have long held no grudges against you, little one. I and Frisk after five or so genocides all discussed. And if there was some grudge, I wouldn't have helped her bring you back to life, princess. Maybe it's hard to let go of grudges, because all bad things leave scars that remind us of them. But as my brother used to say, "Anyone can change if they try. I believe in you." - So we can be friends and forget about all this? - So, Dap, what do you want? - Ah! Right! Sans, you can come with us to the buttercup field. We want to have a picnic, and you're the only adult available. - Okay, come on, I'll take you to this field of yours. - No! We'll all go together, without your shortcuts. - Wouldn't it be easier and faster to take shortcuts, baby? - I agree with Sans, it's better to take them. - Uh, no. - Guys, I think Sans is gone, too. Sans! I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been? - Well, first floor, you ran past me talking about the picnic. I thought I'd check with Frisk and Chara. - You knew about Chara? - Naturally, I'm the kid who came up with the half-soul idea. - Oh, by the way. How do you know about this? There were no such experiments before, and even if you had access to the archive, there is no such thing there! - I used to be an assistant to a royal scientist before Alfis. His name was W.D. Guster. And I was his intern. Except Doc was wiped out of this world by his own mistake. He fell into his own creation, the core. Everyone forgot about him but me. Even Papyrus doesn't remember him, which is pretty sad. He was a skeleton, too. But let's not talk about the past. I'm waiting for you downstairs.

***

The sun shines brightly in the sky, expressing beautifully a field covered with golden flowers - buttercups. They are very delicately enveloping with their fragrance, fainter than the usual roses. Four people are walking on this field, although it would be more accurate to say two people and monsters. The silence of the path is broken by lively conversations, jokes about bones, which are sometimes inappropriate, and ringing laughter after them. - I never thought that the princess would be a fan of my jokes. - She always laughed at them, even when we heard them for the thousandth time. - Frisk! Why did you tell me? - Come on, Chara. Especially for my listener, I will prepare more bones puns next time.

***

The food has long since been eaten, now the three are weaving wreaths of buttercups. Asriel's is failing, Frisk's is going rather slowly, and Chara is already finishing the fourth while the other three wreaths rest on their heads. - Who wants the fourth? - Our sleeping comedian. Chara quietly walked over and placed the finished wreath on the head of the carefree sleeping skeleton. - I certainly understand your buttercup idea, but we should be getting back by now. Toriel called and is worried about the three of you.