Chapter Text
Clover squirms in their bed as the bright sun of the surface pierces through their curtains and shines directly into their eyes.
Today marks the start of July, the second month of summer, and the second month on the surface ever since the barrier was destroyed.
This is also Clover’s second month after they were brought back to life.
Despite it all, despite how hopeful the future looks for Human and Monsterkind alike, Clover is unable to muster up any motivation to rise from their bed. Instead, they turn their head away from the window to face their dresser. To the right of it hangs a large photo. It was taken in New Home towards the tail end of Frisk’s journey through the underground. From right to left, the photo consists of Clover, Frisk, and one other human. Clover, like this human, was a ghost at the point of this picture. This other human remained that way for reasons unclear to them.
This other human was Chara, one of Frisk’s two companions during their journey, and Clover’s best friend.
Clover could stare at them in that photo for hours-
Suddenly, there is a knock at the door.
“Clover? You’re not going to sleep all day are you?”
It’s Martlet. Ever since the two reunited, Martlet has been Clover’s guardian on the surface. Luckily, she was available, as the kid would otherwise have to live with Toriel, but she already has plenty of mouths to feed.
Clover groans, “What time is it?”
They can hear Martlet’s voice grow more impatient as she states “Twelve o’clock.”
“Twelve o’clock?!” They think to themself, “What kind of sheriff sleeps in that late?!” Clover hastily jumps out of bed and shouts, “I’ll be right there!”
Clover rushes themself faster than when they had to run from Axis in the Steamworks, slipping into a t-shirt and a pair of athletic shorts. As they slide on a pair of sneakers and sprint to leave their room, they suddenly thwack into the door, forgetting to open it first. Grumbling, they eventually rise to their feet again and slowly turn the doorknob, pulling the door open with ease and plodding out of their room.
Martlet, already at the kitchen table, looks over at the young cowpoke with extreme concern in her eyes. “Are you okay? I heard a loud noise from your room!”
Clover, holding their forehead in pain, responds, “Y-yeah, it’s nothing.” and makes their way to the table. For lunch, or really brunch for Clover, Martlet prepared something special.
Clover inspects the sandwich on their plate, hesitating to ask what it is, when Martlet proudly states, “It’s a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich!”
Most of Martlet’s meals have been much like this one. Just yesterday, Clover ate chocolate-covered broccoli for lunch. They do not complain though. After all, a kid their age would love all these sweets, but they now tend to eat more at Ceroba’s house when they get the chance.
Picking up half of their sandwich, Clover sheepishly replies, “Uh, th-thanks,” taking tiny nibbles as if they were a bird.
Martlet notices their disinterest and asks “Is everything okay Clover? Is something on your mind?”
Clover, thrown off, looks up from their sandwich to face Martlet, but simply responds, “No, I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong...”
As Martlet is about to speak, the doorbell rings. Martlet, confused that anyone would come over today, skeptically creeps over to the door, swinging it open to see Starlo standing before her.
“Starlo?!”
“Howdy Martlet!” Starlo grins, “Is Clover home?”
“Yeah,” Martlet motions for Starlo to come inside, “We’re just having lunch now.”
A smile escapes Clover’s face. They didn’t expect their fellow gunslinger to show up today. As Starlo and Martlet walk towards the table, Clover notices a plastic bag in their friend’s hand.
“Deputy,” Starlo grins, placing the bag on the table, “I got ya something at the store today. Thought you might need a proper weapon!”
“Weapon?!” Martlet intervenes, “I don’t think that’s a very good idea!”
Starlo ignores Martlet's plea and eagerly shouts, “Take a look!”
Clover shrugs and peeks into the bag. Their face suddenly beams with excitement as they pull out a giant water gun. “Wow!” Clover exclaims, “I love it Star!”
“I knew ya would, partner.” Starlo pats Clover on the back, “Now you can show everyone who the sheriff of the beach really is!”
Clover almost forgot how close the beach was to their neighborhood. They have only been there a handful of times over the summer, and every time they go, their mind is too clouded to focus on anything going on.
As they inspect the water gun, they notice its foggy yet transparent shell, finished with fiery red spirals on each side. This only distracts them even further. Despite everything that has happened this summer, they cannot stop thinking about… Chara…
Martlet, noticing Clover’s expression, quickly attempts to break the silence.
“S-so Starlo,” Martlet blurts out, “What have you been up to lately?”
“Well,” Starlo starts, “I’ve been busy helping my parents with their new farm!” Starlo nervously scratches his head, “I-if ya aren’t doing anything, I can show you.”
“That sounds fun!” Martlet turns to Clover, “What do you think, Clover? Do you wanna come along?”
Clover shakes their head, “Thanks, but I’m supposed to meet a friend today-” Suddenly, they realize, “Shoot! He’s probably been waiting for me!”
Clover attempts to jump from their seat, but accidentally bangs their knee on the table. As they sprint out the door, trying to suppress the pain in their leg, they hear Martlet in the distance yell, “Clover, your shirt’s backwards!”
As they hear this from outside, they quickly drop their head into their shirt, trying to flip it around while they continue to run, when they suddenly trip on some sort of lump and fall face-first into the grass.
“O-ow...”
Pulling their head out of their shirt, Clover looks down to see that they tripped on a... vine?
“Ahem.” Clover suddenly turns to see Flowey in front of their head. “What in the world took you so long?!”
Flowey created a vine to help Clover onto their feet.
Clover sighs, “Sorry, I just lost track of time today.”
“Really now?” Flowey questions, raising an eyebrow, “That’s not like you ‘Gunhat’.”
Clover stares down at their shoes, desperately trying to muster up the courage to say something.
Flowey notices Clover’s lack of focus and rolls his yes, yelling “What? What now?!”
Clover snaps out of it and turns to look at the walkway ahead of them, suddenly asking, “C-can we walk and talk? I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
“Fine, whatever.” Flowey bluntly responds, allowing Clover to pick him up and set him on their shoulder. “Go.”
As Clover starts to walk, Flowey constantly hides his face whenever he sees another human or monster close by. Growing impatient, he finally asks, “Well? Are you gonna ask your question or what?”
Clover still hesitates, but eventually asks “Wh-why was I the only human you brought back?”
“First of all,” Flowey hisses, “Asriel brought you back, not me, and secondly, haven’t you ever wondered why you and Chara were the only two ghosts watching over Frisk?”
Clover tries to think of a reason, but their mind only draws blanks.
“It’s because you and Chara were the only two with enough determination to do so. That determination is what brought you back.”
Clover’s eyes widen, “I-I have determination?”
“Every human does, but you have much more than most,” Flowey grumbles, “Believe me, you do...”
The two continue their walk, neither speaking a word, when Flowey notices Clover’s upset expression remaining.
Flowey dramatically groans, “What now?!”
“If my determination is what brought me back...” Clover pauses, “Wh-what about Chara?”
Flowey notices Clover’s pathetic attempt to conceal the pain in their voice, so he tries to respond with an in-depth answer.
“Good point,” Flowey starts, “Chara had much more determination than you, but their situation was... well, different.”
Clover, still unsatisfied, immediately asks “Different? Like how?”
Flowey, slightly annoyed by Clover’s pushiness, scans the surrounding area, when he eventually gets an idea.
“Go over there.” Flowey nods his head towards a distant playground, to which Clover shrugs and follows his request. Once they arrive, Flowey motions for Clover to cover him from any bystanders as the flower hops from their shoulder and into the sand.
“Here,” Flowey creates a vine in the nearby dirt and uses it to draw a heart in the sand, “This is your soul. Notice anything?”
Clover shakes their head, so Flowey continues by drawing another heart next to it, “This is Chara’s soul. Now do you notice anything?”
At first, Clover still doesn’t follow, but they eventually realize the difference. Flowey colored their soul in, but left Chara’s as a hollow outline.
“Ch-Chara doesn’t have a full soul?”
Flowey nods, “All they have is that ring. Even with determination, an incomplete soul isn’t enough to live.”
Flowey, feeling proud of his explanation, looks up at Clover, but grows even more impatient as the look in their eyes still doesn’t leave.
“Are you serious?” Flowey snaps, “You got your answer, didn’t you? Why are you still making that face?!”
Clover places their finger on the drawing of Chara’s soul, “I know that’s the answer, I just don’t like it.”
Flowey watches as Clover tries to color in Chara’s heart, but grabs their hand with his vine before they can finish, “You may not like the answer, but that’s just the way it is.” To Clover’s annoyance, Flowey paints an X over the drawing, “Be grateful that you’re even alive at all, idiot!”
Before Clover can react, Flowey climbs back onto their shoulder, and the pair continue their walk, neither speaking another word.
Chara floats around the room, dying of boredom as Frisk practices their clarinet on their bed. After their battle with El Balidor, Frisk realized they may have a knack for music, so they signed up for the middle school concert band and have been practicing ever since.
“Ya know,” Chara interrupts, floating down towards them, “I thought the recorder sounded bad, but you somehow chose an instrument that sounds even worse.”
Frisk shrugs, “When I get used to it, it’ll start to sound better.”
Chara, unconvinced, floats back up towards the ceiling, “I certainly hope so...”
As Frisk continues to practice, Chara floats over to look out the window, watching as Kris runs through the sprinkler while Toriel sits on the porch.
The day everyone made it to the surface, Frisk explained to Toriel that they had a younger sibling they needed to reunite with before settling down with their new mother. Frisk and Kris had been orphans their whole lives, and luckily for them, Toriel was more than happy to welcome the two under her care. In fact, when she found out that Frisk had a sibling, she was overjoyed to know she could look after yet another child.
However, unlike with Frisk, Toriel is still very much a helicopter parent towards Kris, but luckily for her, she was able to land a teaching position at the local elementary school.
Chara watches as Kris continues to run around in the yard. “That kid’s fast,” they think, grinning, “They’re pretty damn adorable too.”
“Hey Chara,” Frisk interrupts, “How do you think Asgore’s doing? It’s been like two weeks since we last visited him.”
Chara corrects Frisk, “You mean since you last visited him, but yeah, I hope he’s not too lonely. I mean, I’m sure he misses you and Kris whenever you’re not there.”
Frisk considers this, when they start to get another thought.
“I’m sure Asgore misses you too.”
Chara scoffs, “Why would anyone miss me? They already have you.”
Frisk frowns, “Well, Toriel misses you.”
“I guess you got me there-”
Frisk suddenly teases, “I know Clover misses you too-”
“Aaaaand goodbye.”
Before Frisk can continue, Chara quickly floats through the ceiling, performing somersaults in the air along the way.
Immediately, they make it to the attic, which has acted as their secret room... with the help of Frisk, of course. There are only a couple of things in their room, but what matters most to them is displayed front and center. Thanks to Alphys, Frisk was able to print a copy of the photo taken in New Home that looks just as good as the original. According to Frisk, the quality of the copy was so good that they do not even know which one they gave to Clover.
Not that it matters. All that is important is that Chara gets to look at the photo as long as they want, whenever they want, and they spend a lot of time at night doing so.
After all, they could stare at that damn cowpoke in the photo for hours-
“Chara?” Frisk’s voice is muffled as their knocking is heard below, “Can you hear me?”
Frisk is standing on their bed, continuously knocking on the ceiling, when Chara eventually pops their face out in front of them.
“Boo.”
Frisk almost falls back from being startled, which Chara is quick to mock them for.
“Jeez,” Chara scoffs, “I didn’t realize you were so easy to scare.”
“Whatever,” Frisk grumbles, “I’m going to the park. Do you wanna come?”
Chara crosses their arms, “It’s not like I have a choice, do I? I can’t talk to anybody else.”
Frisk jumps up from their bed and walks towards the door. “Great,” they cheer as they swing the door open, “Let’s go!”
As Chara eventually follows Frisk out the door, a thought starts to invade their mind.
“What if they see Clover? What if they know Clover will be there?”
No matter what, they always end up thinking about Clover. It was irritating not being able to think about anything else, but at this point, what else could they think about?
“Chara? Are you coming?”
Chara quickly looks downstairs to see Frisk standing at the front door. “Y-yeah, sorry.” They somewhat mumble as they float towards Frisk.
As the two begin their walk, Chara starts to grow skeptical, immediately asking, “So, why exactly are we going to the park?”
Frisk, beginning to skip, responds, “It’s a nice day. Why not?”
Chara nods, but still somewhat suspicious, they ask, “You’re not planning on meeting up with anybody?”
“What’s with all the questions?”
“Sorry, I’m just curious. Am I not allowed to speak until I hear ‘TALK’?”
Frisk is thrown off by this sudden remark. “I-is everything alright?” They ask, turning to their friend.
Chara turns away, mumbling, “This just feels like a setup for me to see Clover.”
Frisk frowns, “Sorry, I honestly just thought it was a nice day for the park.” Frisk lifts their pinky finger, “I promise there was no other reason.”
Chara looks back, realizing what Frisk is trying to do, so they groan and respond, “Fine.” and the two pretend to perform a pinky promise.
As the two continue to walk, however, a question lingering in Frisk’s mind accidentally slips out.
“Wh-why wouldn’t you want to see Clover?”
Chara’s heart skips a beat as they hear Frisk’s question. Staring down at the ground, they eventually reply, “It’s complicated...” and continue to float down the walkway.
After a mostly silent walk, Frisk and Chara make it to the park, when Frisk is immediately spotted by a familiar monster.
“Yo dude!” Monster Kid yells out, rushing towards their friend. As they reach the human, they suddenly trip on a rock, but Frisk thankfully catches them this time before they plummet face-first to the ground.
“Thanks dude,” Monster Kid laughs, suddenly remembering what they wanted to see Frisk for, “Hey, I got some friends I want you to meet. Come on!”
Before they can even think, Frisk quickly follows after Monster Kid, leaving Chara alone to observe.
Now that they think about it, they don’t need to stick to Frisk like glue all the time, and they’d rather have some alone time than spectate as Frisk hangs out with their real friends.
Aimlessly, Chara begins to float around the area, observing all the life around them. Admittedly, it is nice for them to see that humans have accepted monsters into their culture, and it’s most prevalent in public places like this.
However, even then, it’s still nice to be able to escape all the noise, and after taking one last look at Frisk, who seems to be distracted enough, they decide to take a lone trip to the beach.
Chara does not travel separately like this often. However, after today, especially considering Frisk had gotten on their nerves more than usual today, they felt that today was a good day for each of them to get some space from the other.
Besides, they cannot focus on Frisk’s everyday life for too long, when a different thought is still ever so present at the forefront of their mind.
As they finally arrive at the beach, they take a deep breath, fully embracing the silence and emptiness of the surrounding area.
Closing their eyes, all they can hear is the squawking of seagulls, the rustling of the waves, and... Flowey?
“Maybe it was just another seagull?” They think to themself, but suddenly, they hear the voice again. This time, they can tell without a doubt that it’s Flowey’s voice.
Not only that, but they swear they hear Clover’s voice as well.
Frantically looking around, they eventually find where the pair of voices was coming from. In the distance, Flowey is talking to a... less than pleased-looking Clover.
“Are you serious?!” Flowey shouts to Clover as Chara floats behind the pair, “You’re mad about that?!”
Clover grumbles, “You made your point clear long before you drew an X over it.”
“Because you kept trying to change it! When are you going to realize that you don’t have the power to change anything! Especially something as ridiculously impossible as-”
Clover almost snaps, suddenly turning to face Flowey in a fit of rage, but they quickly stop themself before they can do anything they would regret.
Flowey, seemingly shocked that Clover would even think to do something to him, stares at the vigilante in disbelief and disappointment.
“Chara’s gone, Clover. You're never gonna see them again.” Flowey states bluntly, “The sooner you realize that, the better.”
Immediately after Flowey leaves, Clover breaks. Chara can’t bring themself to look away as their friend uncontrollably and audibly sobs into their ruffled shirt.
Chara, more determined and desperate than ever to comfort Clover, immediately tries to grab onto their hand, but they simply phase through. The moment the ghost realizes, their tears finally escape their eyes as they once again try to grab Clover, once again failing miserably.
This is exactly why Chara did not want to see them.
In this cruel state of separation, all they can ever feel towards each other is sorrow.
Despite this, Chara tries again and again to grab onto Clover, clawing at their arms, then their legs, then finally their face. Nothing. Out of anger, sorrow, and pure determination, they aimlessly reach out one last time, once again expecting the worst.
However, this time, the result is different. While they still phase right through, Chara thinks as if they had felt their friend for a moment, and looking up, they can tell that Clover must be thinking the same. The sudden shock on their face says it all.
Realizing where exactly they had reached out their hand, there is only one conclusion Chara can come to.
For a very brief moment, they must have touched Clover’s soul.