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You had become very familiar with the vast, serene wetland that was Waterfall.
The towering cavern, its ceiling above your head littered with artificial stars. The navy-blue grass that would bend and sway beneath your feet, illuminated by alien mushrooms and clusters of unfamiliar crystals.
The sounds of rushing water from streams that flowed endlessly, every which way. Something was always dripping, always rushing and lapping at the riverbeds, the stones that tumbled forth from the edge of the waterways.
The Echo Flowers, luminous, large and neon blue, shining like stars among the plumes of the undergrowth; plumes which served to hide you from those that wished you harm. The blossoms were constantly whispering, quiet murmurs of conversations and times that once were. Revealing to you memories that would otherwise go unheard.
As you traversed this land, you grew accustomed to most every nook and cranny within the spacious grotto.
..But this, you admitted.
You had never seen this before.
Nor had you seen anything like it.
Off the beaten path, out into the shadows untouched by monsterkind, you’d discovered a small waterfall, a pond, that you hadn't known of. Surrounding it was a thick bush sprouting with flowers, which seemed to have been neglected, slowly overtaking the clearing over time.
And as the thorny underbrush leaned over to touch its petals to the rushing water..
You could glimpse a part in the current. A passage behind it.
Curiously, you stepped forwards to pass through the veil of water, paying no mind to the way that it drenched your hair. The way your blue-and-pink sweater now clung to your skin, damp and itchy.
And on the other side, you found a tunnel.
A long, practically endless cavern, containing a shallow river which overflowed with blue seagrass and lilypads.
A cavern which should have been dark, should have been terrifying.. were it not for the glowing, iridescent crystals lining the walls and ceiling. Lighting up the passage pink, and purple, and a brilliant, bright blue.
Wait– no. The blue wasn't from the crystals, you then realized. It was from cluster upon cluster of Echo Flowers, sprouting from the grass in the water. They stretched on all the way down the tunnel, and around a corner you could barely see. You couldn't quite make out what the blossoms were saying, from here.. but you could hear faint laughter. Sighs of admiration. Voices wholly unfamiliar, but whose joy you could already feel warming your skin.
As inquisitive as ever, eager to know more, you stepped into the water and began to wade through it. It reached up to about your waist, and the vegetation seemed to tower over you. The crystals overhead glimmered and hummed as you began to make your way down the tunnel.
You passed by the first of dozens of Echo Flowers. As you walked, your pudgy fingers just barely brushed against it.. and it stirred to life, swaying slightly.
You heard a passing conversation.
“..Oh, Charlie, this is beautiful!” Came the voice of, you assumed, a young boy; likely not very much older than yourself. “How did you find it?”
His voice was dainty, and gentle, and full of awestruck whimsy.
“..Well,” a second flower brought about the voice of another boy, evidently Charlie. “You ‘member earlier, when I got all turned around n’ seperated from ya?”
“Of course I do,” responded the first boy. “I was worried sick.”
“..Right.” Charlie sounded sheepish. “W-well, I ended up here while I was on my way back t’ya. An’ I thought it was mighty purty, so I figured I'd.. bring you back here n’ letcha see it. As.. as’n a way of makin’ up for all the trouble I've caused ya.”
The flowers went silent for a moment, and all you could hear was the magical glistening of the crystals surrounding you.
“..Well, it's lovely,” the first boy then murmured, from a flower farther ahead. “But, Charlie, we've been over this. You’re no trouble at all.”
“C’mon, Elias, you're just sayin’ that..”
The first boy– seemingly Elias– hummed. “Really? Do you think I'd ever lie to you?”
..For a moment, the next flower echoed nothing but bashful breaths. Until, finally, you heard a quiet sigh.
“..No. O’course not.”
The echoes trailed off into silence. You glanced over your shoulder. That was the last of that group of flowers.
Eager to hear more (and perhaps a bit nosy,) you hurried through the water, towards another clump of flowers rising from the water in the distance. The river splashed and rippled with your every movement, and the sound reverberated against the cavern’s hollow walls, painted pink by the crystals’ glow.
You quickly approached the next group of flowers, their distorted murmurings growing clearer as you drew near.
“..even in the water,” Charlie was saying, his words intertwined with an astounded laugh. “I swear, Elias! How is it that yer so doggone elegant?”
From the next flower stirred the sound of Elias chuckling to himself; a pleasant, gentle sound.
“Thank you.” His smile was audible. “I’d.. have to guess it's from studying ballet. It gives me a sort of.. connection to the world around me, that I'm sure most other people don't have.
“When I dance,” he continued, “it's like.. everything else stops in place, and I'm nothing but an extension of the ground underneath me. Like a flower, with roots stretching as far as you can see. And with every move that I make.. I feel love, blooming in the air. And I feel like I'm a part of it.”
At his eloquent description, you felt a certain warmth come to rise in your SOUL.
“Gosh darn, Elias,” Charlie sounded wonderstruck, his voice little more than a breath. “That's beautyful.”
“It's just how I feel.” Elias said calmly.
“I ain't never felt nothin’ like that.” Charlie admitted. “..’Cept, maybe.. when I'm with you.”
Yet again, the reverberating conversation came to a slow halt, as you passed by that group of flowers. Up ahead, you caught sight of more, with their blue stems intertwined as if in an endless embrace.
You hurried forwards, towards them.
“..How'd you go about learnin’ t’do that, anyhow?” Charlie’s voice sounded curious.
“Hm?” Elias hummed.
“The bal-lay?” Charlie clarified. “‘Cause it seems mighty difficult, but you pull it off like it’s nothin’.”
“Oh, it is difficult,” Elias confirmed. “But it's.. well, it's a labor of love, you could say.”
“I s’pose it'd have to be,” said Charlie knowingly. “‘Cause I don't think I could never do it like you.”
Elias seemed to pause; the next flower wavered slightly, but did not speak. Briefly, the only noise was that of the susurration of the reeds.
But then, the floret hissed softly, as if to repeat a quiet inhale.
And a question followed, filling the tranquil air; “But you would want to?”
The cavern fell silent again. You looked around for the glow of the next flowers; they were much further down the tunnel, but that didn't sway your desire to continue onwards.
A sudden glint in the corner of your eye made you flinch. A bright reflection of something in the crystals above you.
You turned your attention onto it in an instant, only to be met with the sight of your own face. Your drenched hair, and slightly-frazzled bandanna.
..It's only you.
You hesitated briefly. For some strange reason, you had believed it was a butterfly..
You weren't exactly sure how you felt about being wrong.
Only mildly unsettled by the disruption, you continued wading through the river, which seemed to become slightly shallower. Before long, you understood why; you were approaching a small, grassy clearing, softly sloping out of the water. It, like everything else, was practically overgrown with Echo Flowers.
Gradually, you stepped out of the water, once again planting your feet upon dry ground. Your sopping-wet clothes promptly soaked the blue grass beneath you, creating a puddle that squelched under your shoes, but you weren't too inclined to care.
And as you climbed out of the stream, a nearby Echo Flower rustled fervently. From it came the resounding noise of a loud splash, and boots squeaking as they were dragged out of the water– along with a startled holler.
“..But I done told ya, Elias, I don't know the first thing about dancin’!” Charlie protested, sounding utterly embarrassed.
“You don't have to,” replied Elias, his calming words tinged with amusement and eagerness. “Just hold onto my hands.”
The rustling of grass sounded, and the dripping of wet clothes upon the earth.. and then the echoes faded into near-silence. No.. the sound had not faded out completely, not like before. The sheer abundance of Echo Flowers lining the ground here made it possible for the entire plateau to bear the sound of quiet humming.
Relaxed, melodic, beautiful humming, which only got louder, clearer, as you began to walk forwards, with every flower you stepped on.
And beneath the humming, you began to hear footsteps. The delicate movement of ballet flats sweeping across the grass. Clumsy cowboy boots stomping along behind them, trying their absolute hardest to follow the steady rhythm.
A breathy laugh, sounding as though it were in awe, followed by a quiet chuckle in between the notes of the mellifluous song.
The humming soared, as you heard the whooshing sound of grass rustling, boots squeaking along with it. The song seemed to revolve around your head, spinning towards the opposite side of the tunnel, and then back again.
A twirl.
You heard an awkward thump, a break in the melody– Charlie had stumbled forwards, evidently, and nearly fallen. He began to rush out a frantic apology for what he'd done– what he seemed to believe he'd ruined.. but then yelped as he was simply, wordlessly, pulled back into the dance.
He snickered.
Elias did, too.
Soon, both boys were laughing.
The sound of their laughter began to whirl around your head as you walked. You could hear the flowers rustling beneath their feet as they spun around in beautiful harmony with one another.
The dozens of crystals shone above your head, illuminating the plateau an astonishing, warm pink. Small, glowing white insects began to rise from the Echo Flowers and into the open air as you passed.
The boys’ laughter only intensified, growing louder and louder the further you went, their joy forming a carousel of echoes which circled the cavernous walls like a melody. Their footsteps now were not nearly as graceful– simply spinning in perfect sync, around and around in an endless pirouette.
It crescendoed, bouncing off of the walls, off of the crystals, filling the tunnel with the sounds of their jubilation.
And around and around they continued spinning, the noise circling and swooshing around you to the point that you felt as though you were spinning with them. Your head spiraled, your heart fluttered in place. A wonder rushed through your limbs. An urge to twirl and leap and dance just as they had.
Until, suddenly, all of the revolving noise concluded in a loud, final thud. Both boys collapsing onto the ground, still laughing as they tried to catch their breath.
One of them tried to speak, but you could not tell which, because he couldn’t force out a single word amid the torrent of laughter.
Beneath you, your shoe once again sank into a puddle of water. You looked down, to see that the clearing was once again sloping down into the stream. An exit to the tunnel was waiting for you in the distance, the way there still lined with a few stray clusters of flowers.
You smiled to yourself, and kept walking.
From a flower nearby, you heard Charlie sigh, finally able to regain his breath.
“..I’ll tell ya, Elias..” he started, still sounding winded, “..that.. mighta been the most fun I had since we fell down ‘ere.”
He paused.
“..But, uh.. I ain't too sure how much of it was bal-lay.”
Elias chuckled softly.
“Honestly? Almost none of it,” he admitted. “But I don't mind. There's no harm in bending the rules a little.. if only this once.”
You heard him slowly rise onto his feet again, the greenery bristling beneath him.
“After all.. the way I see it, dancing’s really nothing more than a way of expressing your passion,” he continued. “And for the two of us to do it so freely, with nothing to guide us but trust in each other’s movements..”
He sucked in a breath.
“Wouldn't that mean our passion burns the brightest of them all?” He asked, audibly smiling.
Charlie hesitated to answer. When he did, nothing more escaped his mouth than an amazed “..I.. I’unno.”
“I think so.” Elias asserted. “And I think..”
His voice trailed off for a moment.
“..I think that's beautiful.” He said. And even in the flower’s echo, you could hear the boundless admiration practically dripping from his tone.
You continued walking, now once again submerged to your waist in softly flowing water. Two flowers stood by themselves, barely an arm’s length away.
As you approached them, you heard the voice of Charlie, hardly louder than a whisper.
“..Elias,” he said, still sounding wonderstruck. “I think I really love you.”
From the next flower, you heard a barely audible, yet sharp inhale. Seemingly, Elias had been caught off-guard.
There was silence for a few heartbeats’ time.
But then, the flower swayed slightly, as to rest its petals lightly atop those of the one beside it.
Elias gently murmured, “I think I love you, too.”
You stopped to stare at those flowers for a moment. Pondering the fact that, for however long they'd been here, nobody had ever overwritten those words.
Nobody else knew about this cavern.
Nobody knew about the boys who had been here.
Who, you could only assume, had been humans. Human children. Just like you.
..Which meant..
You looked up ahead. The exit to the tunnel gleamed, not very far away now. Next to it, one last cluster of flowers barely peeked out from beneath the river.
You continued walking, pulled forwards by a force within your SOUL that you couldn't explain.
“..keep moving.” Elias’s voice, now sounding more grim, came into focus as you approached. “You won't believe how many members of the Royal Guard they have out there, looking for us.”
“Oh, don't you worry, Elias!” Charlie exclaimed suddenly, in a rather bombastic tone. “No matter what happens, y’know I'll be there t’protect ya.”
You heard the cocking of a gun.
“..After all,” he continued, “if I were ta let anything happen t’you, I'd jus’..”
His voice faltered.
“..I-I'd..”
“Let's not think about that for now.” Elias interjected, though his own words were laced with worry. “Everything will be okay, as long as we stay together. Alright?”
“..Y.. yeah. You're right.”
The flower’s echo slowly faded into silence. All that remained was the quiet rushing of the river around you.
You looked up. There were no more flowers.
All that remained up ahead was the exit to the tunnel. A small archway in a rock formation, covered by seaweed and tall reeds. Soft blue light streamed through gaps in the vegetation.
The boys’ voices still lingering in your head, you crawled out of the water, onto a layer of uneven pebbles and stones. With one last glance back at the tunnel behind you, you brushed past the plants, and through the thin veil of another small waterfall.
On the other side, you recognized the familiar blue wetland stretching out before you. A few glowing mushrooms sprouted at your feet. Analyzing your surroundings a bit more, you realized that you couldn't have been far from the entrance to Temmie Village.
..You glanced over your shoulder, at the archway you'd come through. Hidden behind the waterfall, the bountiful plants caused it to blend in near-perfectly with the grotto’s dark wall.
How long had this been here, you wondered?
How long had it been since those two boys had passed through?
Since King ASGORE had taken their SOULs..?
You pressed a hand to your chest. That thought should have scared you, but something burned within you that would not allow it to.
Just like it would not, you decided, allow the memory of Charlie and Elias to fade.
Even if they were nothing more now than two human SOULs.
And even if you were possibly the last living being to hear their laughter.