The Garden

This takes place after chapter 8.

“The story of Staffverse is indeed a tragic tale, no amount of peace and happiness will ever make that false.” - Flora.

Wind whistled through an endless void that had no color, yet seemed alive as the wind blew like a calm breeze. A sea of cosmic flowers covered the landscape like an endless sea, stretching on forever.

A small eight winged butterfly fluttered past a large flower, its body glowing radiantly as it settled down onto a nearby flower. Its legs rooting into the flower as if it were a parasite like leeches to humans.

The butterfly flapped its wings as it drained the flower of its cosmic and life essence, slowly draining the flower, only for it to then be swatted onto the ground and stomped on by a large man. The man absorbed the cosmic essence that the butterfly had absorbed from the cosmic flower and had injected it back into the flower. The cosmic flower perked up as the life that was sucked out was returned.

“All better.” The man said as he stood. He smiled at the flower and gave it a gentle pat as he kneeled down to scoop up the dead butterfly. He walked a long distance but eventually he reached a small rundown shack that looked as if it had been there for a long time.

The man tossed the dead butterfly to a small hive that hung from the porch of the shack as many bees swarmed out of the hive to come and carry the dead butterfly back into which they’d eat it and lay eggs in it. The man opened the door to the shack and despite the rugged appearance, it was quite cozy.

The man glanced towards a mirror as it caught his attention. He walked over and examined his appearance. The man wore a robe with flowers replacing the fur of the hood. His right eye is replaced with a flower growing out of it as vines from said flower entangled his head. He smiled at himself as he reached into the closet and grabbed a sash made out of flowers. They glowed and dimmed, shimmering like stars in the sky.

Suddenly a knock came from the door. The man quickly spun around as he walked towards the door and opened it. “Well hello there…”

Back in the universe of Staffverse, 404 laid in his room holding Nora within his arms. “I wonder what you’ll turn out to be like when you're older.” 404 said to himself as Nora made a small snot bubble. “Hehe. We’ll see.” He said as Chara then walked into the room.

“Hey babe, what are you doing?” Chara asked as he walked up to his husband.

“Ah, nothing, just holding Nora.” 404 said as Chara came in for a kiss.

“Well, Frisk and I are heading out for some shopping. We’re going to get something for Nora too.” Chara said as suddenly Astral had busted in.

“Where’s my grandchild!” She said as she walked over to 404 who rolled his eyes.

“Right here.” He said as Astral picked up Nora and began to pinch her cheeks

“God, you're so cute! You got Chara's eyes. Yes you do oh yes you do!” Astral said.

“Hey Chara and Frisk are going shopping for her, why don’t you go with them and take Nora.” 404 said

“Hm, I don’t kn-“

“You get grandmother points”

“I’m in.” Astral said as she quickly left and came back with a baby strap carrier. She took Nora and placed her in.

“Oh by the way, can you check if we have any diapers in the kitchen?” 404 asked as Chara nodded.

“Sure” he said as he and Astral left for the kitchen.

As they entered Lisa was standing by the sink, filling a pot with water. She moved over to the stove as Sage, her child, sat on the counter gnawing on a piece of shark.

Astral and Chara walked into the kitchen with Nora still strapped to Astrals chest. Lisa looked over to the two.

“Hey look! Another whore! Ahaha!” The ghostly Infected said as no one but Astral could hear him.

“Oh it’s you.” Lisa said as Sage and Nora locked eyes. Sage then without even thinking gave Nora a full developed mind allowing for her to think freely.

Chara checked the cabinets for diapers, per Williams request, as with Nora's new found knowledge she looked around completely puzzled and was curious about so many things, using her new found knowledge she then began to rethink the meaning to the universe.

“Hey, you know where the diapers are?” Chara asked Lisa who only shrugged. “Guess we’ll just get them at the store.” He said as he and Astral left along with Nora who was still thinking.

“Frisk we’re leaving!” Chara exclaimed as Frisk came running down the stairs.

“She’s coming with?” Frisk said only to get slapped in the back of the head.

“Of course I am, boy, now let’s get going.” Astral said as they all left for the store

Back with 404, he laid within his room, staring up at the ceiling above. He sighed as he thought to himself. “(Maybe I should of went with them, would have saved me the boredom.)” he thought as Loading suddenly appeared from thin air

“You seem bored.” Loading said as 404 rolled his eyes.

“What gave that away?” 404 said sarcastically as Loading floated over to the window, staring out at the mainframe that laid within the white void in the backyard of 404’s room.

“You know there’s more to do than you think.” Loading said as his eyes glanced back to 404 who perked up.

“Like what?” 404 asked.

“Ever heard of the Gardens?” Loading said as 404 tried to remember something of the sort.

“You mean like a garden with plants and flowers? I don’t think that’s all too interesting.” 404 said as Loading groaned.

“You’re a bigger fool than I thought.” Loading said as he disappeared then reappeared with a book in his hands.

“The Gardens is the multiverse of what we call ‘Staffverse.’ This place is the main universe, as you may have already known.” Loading explained as 404 looked confused

“But then how come I can’t access it like I could in my own eden orb?” 404 asked

“Although your own Eden orb and Staffverse’s dimensions are practically the same, the creators had placed dimensional barriers between the universes and the multiverse to make sure that no destruction is caused. Average beings like you or Omni couldn’t reach there without my help.” Loading stated as 404 nodded.

“How come we never knew of this?” 404 asked only to get a small chuckle from Loading.

“Well your background with your own Eden orb doesn’t look too bright on you.” Loading replied

“That’s fair.” 404 said. “May I?” He asked as Loading handed him the book and began reading. After a few minutes he looked up from his book. “It’s all so interesting. Cosmic flowers, even insects could live here despite its environment.” Loading nodded.

“If you’re up for the task I could take you. But I won’t come to get you when you wish to leave. You’ll have to ask Flora for that.” Loading said as 404 looked to Loading confused.

“Who’s Flora?” He asked.

“Think of the ink of your original Eden orb, just less bitchy and much more of a protector.” Loading Answered

“Oh so he actually cares about the characters within the AU?”

“Only the main universe. He could care less about the others.” Loading said.

“Huh. Well let’s get going then.” 404 said.

In the Gardens, the man opened the door to allow a colorfully dressed skeleton to enter.

“Yo dawg! Wazzup, how’s it hangin’?” The skeleton asked and the man rolled his eyes

“What is it that you want, Fresh?" The man asked in an annoyed tone.

“What’s the dealio bruh? Dont’cha like it when I’m around?” Fresh said although the man’s expression said everything.

“I think you know that answer.” The man said

Fresh had a sad expression although the man could tell it was fake.

“Oh Flora, you’ve wounded me! C'mon! Da bomb to have ‘round!” Fresh exclaimed as he put his hand on his head in a dramatic pose.

“You really aren’t. Why do you think I allowed you to roam the infinite universes?” Flora asked only for Fresh to smile widely once again.

“‘Causeeeee, I’m your homeboy, Yo!" Fresh said as he finger gunned Flora.

“You are definitely not my ‘homeboy’.” Flora said as he dragged Fresh out of his shack.

“Oh c’mon! Live-a little!” Fresh exclaimed

“Unfortunately I have some important things to do so I need you gone.” Flora said as he shoved Fresh off of the porch, falling flat on his face. Fresh stood up and rubbed his cheek.

“Plantin’ a flower ain’t that important, bruh.” Fresh complained only for Flora to cross his arms and wait for Fresh to leave. “Playin’ hard to get huh? Alright I’ll play your game. I’ll cya later bro!” Fresh said as he dove into a random cosmic flower.

“Finally.” Flora huffed as he closed the shack door and walked over to a small bag that hung by the edge of his desk. He grabbed the bag and looked inside only to see the cosmic seeds that are needed to grow the flowers outside.

“Just enough for today” Flora said as he put the bag around his flower sash and grabbed the watering can as he left the shack. Flora wandered to an area within The Gardens that had few flowers. A large cosmic flower stood in the middle of the area. Flora gazed upon the flower as he then grabbed a seed from his bag and dug a small hole into the ground.

Flora put the cosmic seed into the ground and covered it back up. He then grabbed his watering can and watered the seed as he waited for it to sprout.

As Flora watched the tiny sprout grow, he heard a noise behind him along with a blinding light. He quickly shielded his eyes from the light but as it faded away, he saw 404 and Loading standing next to each other.

404 looked around the Gardens. He didn’t seem all too impressed but he thought it did look better than the universal papers that hung about the doodlesphere in his original Eden Orb.

“So this is the Gardens? Hmph, I expected more.” 404 said as he examined the flowers and the empty sky. “Looks like the anti-void but someone decided to take up agriculture.”

“Don’t be fooled by its appearance. It’s better off like this than in your own Eden Orb where practically any AU inhabitant could mess things up.” Loading said as Flora looked at the two in shock.

Loading pointed to Flora which caught 404’s attention. “That is Flora, the protector.” He said

“I didn’t expect it to be a human.” 404 said as Flora chuckled

“Oh I’m not a human at all, but I suppose you may have taken me for a sans, didn’t you?” Flora said with a small smile.

“Something like that.” 404 said as he looked at the largest flower. “So, these are the universes?” He asked as he felt the cosmic flower’s stem.

“Yup, the flowers are made of cosmic essence, sort of the same thing you’re transvoid beings are made out of.” Flora said as 404’s eyes darted to him.

“You know of the transvoid?” 404 asked, slightly surprised.

“Of course, I know of the many realities that surround our Eden orb.” Flora replied

404 raised his eyebrows. “So how much do you know of me?” He asked

“Well I only know as much as your story tells. You see, I can read these universes like scripts, like stories. Although I can only see what’s going on in the present. For example.” Flora said as he chose a random AU flower and tapped on it, a small cosmic glow came from it. “This flower’s inhabitants are going through… a tough time. A plague of sorts has broken out yet nothing tragic has happened yet.”

“Sounds interesting. I do have a question, how do these flowers, rather AU’s, become created? Is there something like the mainframe that filters them?” 404 asked as Flora looked over to him, shaking his head.

“Quite the contrary. I plant them myself, most of the time.” Flora said

“What do you mean?” 404 asked as Flora opened up a small pouch on his side

“You see, these cosmic flowers, or AU’s, can be created, or planted. These flowers can be grown like any other flower and all you’ll need is a seed like this.” Flora said as he grabbed one of the cosmic seeds from his pouch and showed it to 404.

“These seeds are planted into the ground and then over time they bloom. The bigger the flower, the longer their story has progressed.” Flora explained as he put the seed into the ground. He grabbed the watering can and watered the seed as he looked back at 404.

“And how do they create themselves?” 404 asked

“Well when the flowers get old they wither, like any normal flower would. But when they die the cosmic essence will burst through the ground, traveling to other AU’s. In a way it makes the other flowers pregnant, in which, it then creates a seed that shoots out and creates a new flower.” Flora explained once again.

“Sounds like a long and tedious life cycle.” 404 said. Flora shrugged as he walked over to his shack.

“Well since I got you both here, tea?” Flora asked

“No thanks.” Loading replied as he hovered over to 404

“I’d rather not.” 404 said.

“Suite yourself.” Flora said as he walked inside his shack. 404 turned then to Loading.

“So this is all just it?” 404 asked Loading as he nodded his head.

“Yes, it’s quite disappointing isn’t it?” Loading said as he brought up a small panel. “Although it’s much more peaceful than most of the other Multiverses in different Eden orbs. In most cases you have others just tearing each other apart.” Loading said as he swiped through many, many other stories as one specific one caught 404’s eye. Loading noticed and gave a slight grin as he put it away.

“But you get the picture.” He said.

“Peace doesn’t last forever.” 404 replied as he dug his hands into his pockets.

“True but that’s why there are measures to prevent it. You don’t see any multiversal wars, at least not anymore.” Loading said. 404 tilted his head

“What do you mean, ‘anymore’?” 404 asked interested

“Long before you came there were… a different set of you roaming around.” Loading said

“Like other 404’s?” 404 replied

“Precisely. A whole other cast. They resided in the original main universe where they had the cores too. But without the barriers that separated the Universes from the multiverse, it grew into chaos. Many humans, monsters and other species attacked and rampaged across trying to gain the powers of the cores yet the creators had put a stop to it and erased everything within the multiverse. Although legend has it that some had survived.” Loading explained as Flora opened the door.

“Although we do not speak of those times.” Flora said as he sipped his tea.

“Of course. But sometimes a history lesson is in order.” Loading said.

Flora approached the two with his tea in hand. “Sometimes history needs to be forgotten.” He said as Loading chuckled as he shook his head.

“Without history, mistakes of the past could be made again. That is why we learn from the past to make a better future.” Loading said as Flora groaned.

“You and your ideals. The past should be forgotten. Even with the knowledge of it the ‘mistakes’ could happen again.” Flora replied as Loading rolled his eyes. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me!”

“Watch me.” Loading said as he rolled them again. Flora tightened his hand into a fist but as he was about to attack, Flora got punched back. He crashed into the ground, destroying a few of the cosmic flowers in the process.

“No, NOOO! LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID!” Flora said as he charged forward and at an incredible speed only for his fist to be caught by Loading.

“You're pathetic, Flora. Holding your grudges against me isn’t helping your case.” Loading said as he flipped Flora onto his ass.

“Oh I’m pathetic? What about the time when the multiverse broke loose? Huh? Where were you? Certainly not protecting the things that you were made to protect!” Flora said with an agitated tone. Loading looked at Flora with a cold expression as just then Flora was frozen within time n space.

“I had enough of him.” Loading said as he turned his back to Flora. “So are we heading back?” He asked 404 as he side eyed him.

“What about Flora? Are you going to unfreeze him?” 404 said only for Loading to roll his eyes once again.

“When we’re out of here he’ll be free but until then he’s stuck like this.” Loading said as he opened up a portal back to the main universe.

“Hmph. So what? you just suddenly have a rivalry with him?” 404 asked as Loading stopped in his tracks and turned his head to face 404.

“…there’s a lot you don’t understand. You’ll see it soon enough.” Loading said as he suddenly grabbed 404 and threw him into the portal, into someplace unfamiliar to him.

“What the hell?! What was that… for? What is this place?” 404 said as he looked around. It seemed like a battlefield. Hundreds upon hundred of slain humans and monsters laid about what looked to be The Gardens.

“We’re in a pocket dimension within the main universe. I used a mix of the Room and Reality core to recreate exactly what had happened.” Loading said as they saw a previous version of 404 fire dark blasters towards another version of Infected who led a whole army of wisps and other insane monsters behind him.

“The battle was fierce. It was a blessing that the creators had wiped them all from the face of Eden.” Loading said as the two saw a ‘past’ Flora, who looked significantly younger, absorb the cosmic essence of an AU as he charged into the battle

“Don’t be a fool to Flora’s kindness. If you saw what was behind that ‘mask’ of his he’d be something entirely different.” Loading said as they saw Flora jump high into the air and smash right down onto the army, creating a large crater.

“He didn’t seem all too aggressive though.” 404 said as Loading turned around quickly.

“It’s a facade, similar to how you are. You delude yourself to being William when in fact you are 404, you always have been. You use that facade to lead others into thinking you're happy when you aren’t.” Loading said as 404 just looked to the side, trying to ignore loading.

“Face it. Your facade has its own facade.” Loading said as they witnessed the Infected send a haunting of wisp towards the previous version of 404 only for him to block it with a blue mastery.

“…so this happened all before we got here?” 404 asked as he witnessed the battle.

“Way before. Although before this was…something that we really don’t talk about. Moving on. Flora was never how you see him now. He thought about being king of the multiverse and using the cores to power him up. Although he doesn’t dare go near them due to me.” Loading said as they witnessed the previous version of 404 turn butterfly and slice through Infected clean only for them to go black being.

“How long did the battle go on for?” 404 asked only for Loading to sigh.

“Too long. It took almost three years until the battle was finally over. But by the end the creators had wiped out most of the inhabitants leaving me and Flora as the only survivors. Although legend has it that some did survive by hiding somewhere, where? I do not know.” Loading said as suddenly a portal opened up with Flora standing right outside of it.

“Hmph, so it seems you’ve told him everything.” Flora said as he walked through the portal.

“I tried, ya’know. To plead with the creators to spare their life. But in the end they killed them all, erased them from existence. I tried to be a good protector then, but I made my amends now.” Flora said as he looked at the ongoing battle around them.

“It felt like eons since I’ve seen this.” He continued as he stopped.

“He told me that you tried to take the cores and become king. Why?” 404 asked as Flora looked down in disappointment.

“You see, the cores were the most powerful thing within the multiverse. I thought if I could get them I could absorb them and rule over everyone where I could have endless peace. But it turns out mixing cosmic essence with the nexus isn't such a great idea.” Flora said as he watched himself fight the hordes of monsters.

“Well if you need a king then I have someone perfect for it.” 404 suggested only for Flora to shake his head.

“That part of me is gone. I no longer wish for there to be a king but if the multiverse depends upon it then I’ll consider it but until then it stays the way it is.” Flora replied as he turned to 404.

“I think it’s best if you return back to your universe.” Flora continued.

“I believe so too. We’ll be on our way then.” Loading said as he created a portal out of the pocket dimension.

“Wait.” 404 said as he turned to Flora. “Could you allow me to come back to the Gardens?” He asked

Flora thought for a bit as he then nodded. “I don’t see why not.” He said as he put two of his fingers on 404’s forehead. A small glow came from them as he then stopped. “You should be able to access the Gardens whenever you wish.”

“Neat. Anyways I’ll be going.” 404 said as he walked into the portal. Loading looked back at Flora who lowered his eyes at the sight of Loading as he then walked off. Loading entered the portal back to the main universe as it then closed.

Flora grumbled as he entered the Gardens. He felt aggravated by Loading as he slammed open the door to his shack as he put his flower sash onto a chair. Flora then laid down in a bed as he fell right to sleep.

Suddenly a light came out from Flora’s sash as a being appeared within his room. The being looked at Flora with a malicious smile. “Well, 404 is back huh? Heheh.” The being laughed.

The black and red entity exited the shack as he took a deep breath. “Ahh, it’s good to be back out.” He said as he looked around. “Still the same dump, it seems.” The entity approached the biggest flower, the main universe, with a wide grin.

“William, William, William. You naïve fool. If you thought you could get rid of me well then you were wrong.” The being said as he reached out to the flower as just then he was suddenly sucked in.

Meanwhile back with 404 and Loading, the portal had closed behind them. “Quite the adventure.” Loading said as 404 rolled his eyes

“Much less of an adventure, more of just a history class.”  404 said as Chara, Frisk, and Astral entered the room

“We’re back!” Chara announced as they brought in a few bags of baby supplies.

“Nora was quite the helpful one!” Astral said proudly as she put Nora down from the baby carrier.

“Oh good your back” 404 said as he pulled Chara in for a kiss. “How was it?” He asked as he smiled

“It was really fun, Nora picked some of it too.” Chara said as 404 looked at Nora.

“Well glad to hear that you had fun.” 404 said as he picked up Nora and put her in a crib. “Hey Chara…how about a date?” He asked as Chara’s eyes lit up.

“YES!” Chara shouted in excitement as Astral stepped forward.

“I guess I could babysit Nora while you’re gone.” She said.

“Of course” 404 said as he took Chara’s hands. “We’ll be back in like an hour or so” he said as they both left the mansion for their date.

“Hm, well if you excuse me.” Loading said as he phased to the ‘backyard’ of the room and sank down into the Mainframe.

Astral and Frisk were left standing in 404’s room as Astral began to play with Nora. Frisk was leaning against the door as suddenly it had swung open. The outside appeared dark yet it only caught Nora and Frisks attention. Frisk looked outside the room only for the black and red entity to grab frisk and take him into the darkness.

Nora pointed to the door only for Astral to see nothing. “Hm? What is it Nora?” Astral said as Nora kept pointing to the door. “Maybe you’re hungry. Let’s get you something to eat.” She said as she looked for Frisk. “Where did that boy go?” Astral questioned as she walked out of the room.