Using the Riverperson's ferrying service, Papyrus arrived in Snowdin without a hitch. Hopping off the boat, he gave his thanks to the Riverperson, who acknowledged it with a hum.

The snow crunched under his boots as Papyrus made his way to the furthest end of the region, the border between Snowdin and Waterfall. There was a warm sense of pride in his soul, that he was given an important task by Undyne.

It must be part of the training before I can become a Royal Guard!

The thought of that brought a bright grin on his face as he pranced forward eagerly. He would search every nook and canny of Snowdin, find Alphys, and make her proud. The skeleton was determined to succeed, even if it was a rather tedious task.

It was then Papyrus stopped in his tracks. Out of nowhere, a tiny speck of uncertainty crossed his mind, the same one he experienced that morning.

Why did Undyne send me to Snowdin?

He felt strangely unsatisfied with her reasoning, wondering if she had other reasons to do it. The fact that he had that thought was beginning to make him uneasy, for it seemed like the skeleton was doubting her, the Captain of the Royal Guard.

Papyrus pushed it away hastily. He had an important job to focus on and it would be irresponsible of him to spend time on unnecessary musing.

However, it was much easier said than done. Unlike the previous times, that particular thought kept clinging onto his mind, refusing to be shaken off. With that came a memory, one that he was convinced that it was forgotten a long time ago.

In the early morning after Undyne took Papyrus under her wing, Sans was on his phone, talking to someone in hushed voices.

"Are you training my brother to become part of the Royal Guard?" Sans asked. He sounded - and looked - concerned.

The loud voice blaring from his phone made it evident that it was Undyne who was on the other side of the line, though it was too muffled for Papyrus to catch her words.

Whatever she said, Sans looked relieved. That was the only thing that mattered to Papyrus then, to see his brother freed from his worries.

Now, Papyrus was not too sure. Why was he beginning to become more bothered by it? Was it like what Sans liked to say, that everything had limits? Was he reaching his?

The skeleton was not given a chance to complete his thoughts, for a howl abruptly pierced through the silence of the forest. Immediately, he knew that there was trouble. Without hesitation, he took off towards the town.

It was hectic. Monsters were running around frantically as one of the Royal Guards was rushing the townspeople into their homes in loud, urgent barks, like a dog herding sheep. Unfortunately, it created an atmosphere of anxiety, which only made it worse.

Papyrus himself was getting anxious as his eyes darted around for something or someone that could indicate what was happening. That was when he saw, beyond the mass of monsters, one of the Royal Guards limping out of the entrance and collapsing heavily near the large welcoming sign.

I have to help him!

He considered his options briefly before settling on using the tunnel that led to the other side of Snowdin Town. The moment he arrived, he rushed up to the injuried Royal Guard's side and began to focus his healing magic on him.

He felt a paw on his hand. "There's... no need for that," Dogamy coughed. "My wife will come back with help soon."

"Could you tell me what is going on?" he asked.

"There... was a weird talking flower who attacked us out of nowhere in the forest... it threatened to kill the youngsters playing in the forest and we couldn't let it go, so we fought, but... this," he gestured to himself painfully, "is what happened."

"Flowey," Papyrus muttered. The talking flower who was his friend had suddenly became the Underground's enemy. He almost could not believe it when he heard it from Frisk, then confirmed further by a Royal Guard. What happened to the bubbly, friendly flower he was used to? He had no idea what happened, but something became very clear to him.

Flowey's life was going down a dangerous path, and Papyrus had to help him.

He stood up. "There are still young monsters out there, right?"

Dogamy nodded slowly and froze abruptly, as if he had just guessed what Papyrus intended to do. "Wait, stop!"

However, he was already gone.

I'll save everyone.

Snowdin Forest's snow sprinkled pines seemed to loom over the tall skeleton as he strained to catch any signs that would indicate Flowey's location.

Papyrus continued running as the world around him began to dim. The deeper he went, the a faint sound on the wind was gradually became more audible. With it, came a prickling sense of apprehension in his soul.

He burst through the last stretch of trees, panting. "Stop!" he shouted at the scene unfolding before his eyes.

A bipedal, cream furred dog was barely on its feet, shaking violently with its tail tugged under its legs and multiple buises and cuts all over. Behind it was a quivering Snowdrake and a petrified Ice Cap, both of them wide eyed with fear. Flowey was there, with a thorny vine poised to deal the final blow. He looked very different from what Papyrus remembered; there was dark purple splotches on his petals and a pair of haunted, shadowed eyes.

At the sound of Papyrus' voice, he turned around and grinned. "You finally came."

With Flowey's attention on Papyrus, Lesser Dog ushered the monster children away, limping as fast as it could manage.

There was a spark of hope in his soul. Now that he had Flowey's attention, perhaps he had a chance to help him.

Papyrus stepped forward. "Flowey-"

"Oh, I know what you are going to say," the golden flower interrupted viciously. "You are probably thinking, 'I can help him! I can stop him from doing all this!'. Are you really that naive?"

The skeleton felt his soul sinking as he watched Flowey circling himself purposefully. "You see, you are what I came here for. Once I found out that you were in Snowdin alone, I simply did a few things to lure you here. You are too idiotic to realise why I left the Royal Guards alive. Undyne was just as a fool as you are, sending you as far as possible away from me. Look at where we are now."

Papyrus was speechless. Despite Flowey's mocking tone, he found that he could not sense any lie behind it. Was it that Undyne sent him to Snowdin, to keep him away from the flower? Did she have no faith in his abilities?

"I see that you are finally getting it," Flowey jeered. "Everyone is so afraid of you getting hurt, so much that they do whatever they can to hide the truth. That's why you are the perfect sacrifice."

Papyrus snapped to attention. "Sacrifice...?"

"Can't you tell?" His face twisted to a sadistic grin. "I am going to kill you."

The skeleton was frozen. He could not move as Flowey took it as a cue to continue.

"Just imagine it, the looks on your poor friends, their cries as they realise all the mistakes they have made as they come upon your dust in the snow," he laughed maniacally.

The image that Flowey had given him was unspeakable. He did not want to think about it. If he died here, Sans, Undyne, Frisk... they would never forgive themselves.

Papyrus felt a warm sensation in his soul as he looked at Flowey in the eye, with a renewed look of determination in his face. "No."

The golden flower ceased his laughter. "What?"

"I won't let you kill me," Papyrus said, clutching a summoned bone in his hand. "I will protect their feelings and I will save you too!"

"So are you going to attack me for once? Because if you don't, you will die."

"No. I will protect everyone by defending, because this is what I believe in," Papyrus said in conviction.

"Oh well." Flowey seemed to grow in height, looming over the skeleton with the edges of his grin stretching wider than before.

"You were always an idiot."

With those words said, he attacked with the speed of lightning. It was so sudden that Papyrus was not able to dodge, and ended up with a scratch on his shoulder pad.

A wave of panic struck him. He's fast!

Giving him barely enough time to recover, Flowey attacked once more. This time, Papyrus managed to dodge, summoning another bone at his side.

Stay focused, Papyrus.

The golden flower switched attacks, summoning multiple white pellets instead of vines and firing them all at him. In response, he rolled to the side, blocking the ones he could not avoid with the bones in his hand.

Papyrus thought of Undyne, who taught him all he knew about defending. A steady sense of calmness overcame his initial panicked thoughts as he fell into a rhythm of dodging and blocking.

As the battle dragged on, he noticed that Flowey was beginning to become frustrated. The more he avoided his attacks, the more erratic the attacks became.

"Why won't you attack?" he snarled, launching out yet another series of fury induced attacks. "Why?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you, Flowey!" Papyrus shouted, jumping backwards to avoid vines that burst from the ground. "Please, just let me help you," he begged. "You're in pain. You're only going to hurt yourself more!"

"Shut up!" Flowey spat. "I am not in pain. In fact, I have never felt better than this in my life."

He disappeared into the ground. Anticipating where he would reappear, Papyrus jumped out of the way in time, meeting him face to face.

Now!

Stretching his arm out, he poured all of his magic into turning Flowey's soul blue, in hopes of restraining him. That was when he realised, he made a fatal error.

Flowey had no soul.

Blue magic would have no effect on him.

Taking full advantage of Papyrus' slip up, Flowey summoned a vine, grabbing him by his torso and threw him savagely.

There was a sickening crack as Papyrus fell, his back crashing onto the bark of a pine tree, sending his phone flying to the other side of the battlefield. Both of them were panting hard as Flowey advanced slowly.

Ignoring the pain, Papyrus pulled himself up and held out his hand. "Just let me help you," he pleaded again.

Much to his surprise, Flowey stopped. "You can't help me," he spoke quietly. His sudden change of tone left Papyrus baffled, attempting to understand the flower's words. What shocked him more than the fact that Flowey stopped his attacks was the trace of fear and despair in his voice.

Without saying another word, Flowey brought up a single vine, aimed at Papyrus. In spite of that, he was trembling.

Before Papyrus could reach out, a dagger came out of nowhere, slicing part of his petals off. An ear piercing screech of pain shattered the cavern as Flowey reeled from the unexpected attack.

Papyrus turned and saw Lesser Dog, accompanied by the rest of the Snowdin Canine Unit, coming to rescue him.

When Flowey looked up, all Papyrus could see was all the hate in the world, built up in one simple glare. It seemed that the attack had sparked something inside of him for him to return to his frightening demeanour. Knowing that he had lost his chance, he focused his glare on Papyrus, his previous moment of fragility vanishing into thin air.

"You win... this time," he spat, and he was gone.

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I misjudged how much I could write so have this special long chapter. Lesser Dog with its tail tucked between its legs is a reference to the game, where it is the flavour text when it has low HP.

Also, I have been thinking of a prequel and a sequel to Fadedtale, but the prequel would come first because I feel that it's more important. Initially, this was going to be a stand alone book, but I got hit with ideas and this happened. I'll regret it later.

As always, votes and comments are appreciated.