#one tale

Luffy blinked, slowly, trying to get his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and the pain in the back of his head. Someone was talking right next to him, but the throbbing of his brain and the ridiculously heady scent of flowers distracted him. It wasn’t as though he were made of rubber and could simply bounce back; seven year old bodies were fragile and small, and Luffy’s was no exception.

“Hey, kid. Hey.” Something soft poked his cheek, and Luffy raised a slow hand to swat it, rolling over with a groan. His eyes finally focused, but when they did he couldn’t help but yelp, scrambling backwards. A wide, sharp-toothed grin and narrowed eyes peered from a bright yellow flower, and it inclined its petals in an almost nod. “Yeah, I’m the one talking. Now, kid, what’s your name? C’mon, don’t be shy now.”

Luffy paused for another moment, but then offered a hesitant grin. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy!”

“Not Chara? Or Frisk?” Luffy shook his head slowly, and the flower looked perturbed for a moment, before returning Luffy’s grin. Luffy couldn’t help the shiver that raced down his spine, his instincts, for some reason, warning him of something. “I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower!”

“Where am I?” Luffy asked quietly, deciding – for the first time since he opened his eyes – to actually look around and found himself stunned into almost silence at the large cavern he found himself in. The sunlight was so far away!

“This is the Underground, kiddo. You must’ve fallen down the mountain.”

A mountain? Luffy thought, and for a brief second could recall a breath harsh in fear and adrenaline, rocks beneath his bare feet, and then a head-forwards trip down a deep, deep hole…

He shook it off, banishing the strange memory from his head, and patted the soft flowers he’d apparently landed on. Flowey’s grin stretched almost creepily wide, and Luffy frowned again, instincts once again blaring a warning. “Lucky you, you know! You could’ve landed anywhere else…”

Flowey swayed, and Luffy blinked in confusion, before noticing that the patch of flowers he had landed on was the only one; the rest of the cavern was rough black rock. “I suppose,” he said cautiously, before getting to his feet. He clutched at his head as the ground rocked beneath his feet, but it settled soon after.

“You won’t be so lucky all the time, though!” Flowey said, looking dismayed as he stood up. “There are some really dangerous types down here.”

“Alright then,” Luffy said, brushing off his pants and squarely setting his feet. “I hope I don’t run into them!”

Flowey stared at him.  

Luffy decided he was going to set off on an adventure, and firmly began to march further into the cavern. If there were things like talking flowers just at the start of the cave, who knew what else he would find further inside?

Further inside the cave happened to be about twenty steps before Flowey tried to kill him and a big fluffy thing had swooped in and kicked it. Luffy found himself bundled into soft arms, and though he complained he had been carefully coddled by the giant thing that introduced herself as Makino.

She seemed nice enough, anyway, and she smelt like flowers and fresh air, so Luffy merely huffed and settled down as she traipsed through towering ruins and a large door, finally bringing him through snow to a warm, wooden bar.

A- Luffy paused, squinting at the blue flamey creature that currently tended the bar, and turned his confused expression on Makino.

Makino gave an airy laugh, cuddling him closer but releasing her grip when Luffy began to wriggled and demanded to be put down.“This is Marco,” Makino said, and the flamey creature nodded their head in greeting soundlessly. “Marco, this is the- well, the human child I told you I went to find.”

Marco nodded slowly again, and Luffy squinted at him, trying to figure out how Marco could see the two of them. Maybe he was blind?

Cold air suddenly wafted through the bar, and Luffy shivered, rubbing at the sudden onslaught of goosebumps that made their way across his arms. Loud voices followed the cold air in, and then the door slammed shut and silence fell on the bar.

“Makino,” one of the voices said coldly, and Luffy turned around, his mouth dropping open when he saw two skeletons standing in the doorway. “What is that?”

Makino’s paw rested against his shoulder and squeezed softly and Luffy turned his gaze to her. “Ace,” she said, voice as soft as the rest of her, and the lankier skeleton who’d been talking shifted, their body language hostile. “This is Luffy.”

“That,” the skeleton – Ace? Luffy wondered absently – said angrily, “is a human. Makino, why the hell is a human-!”

Makino shot Ace a glare that made him be quite, but his glare didn’t abate, and he took a step forwards so he could loom over Luffy. Even without flesh Luffy could tell that he was glaring; the aura of anger he emitted was more than enough to alert him. Ace’s mouth opened, and Luffy was presented with a clear view of the bottom hollow of their jaw.

“Can you poop?” he interrupted, and Ace’s jaw snapped closed with a click.

“I- what?” Ace said, threatening aura gone and body language completely confused.

“Can you poop?” Luffy repeated patiently, rocking back on his heels, and Ace’s mouth opened and closed uselessly before he finally snapped,  

“Listen, you annoying human child-”

The other skeleton lay his hand across Ace’s shoulder (Luffy wondered if they were friends. They certainly seemed like it. Though, then again, maybe they were siblings. Maybe they were enemies. Maybe they were begrudging comrades-). He shook his head, turning his attention back to the scarred skeleton and refusing to let himself be sidetracked by curiosity as to how they’d gotten so many scars.

“Child, what are you doing under-?”

“Can you poop?” Luffy asked, interrupting the skeleton mid-sentence.

This skeleton looked just as taken back as Ace had been, but then shrugged, shoulders rattling. “Monsters have special food that almost immediately turns to energy, thus replacing the need for a human digestive track, and on top of that, some monsters don’t even-”

Luffy looked at them patiently, and the skeleton stopped, and then seemed to grin. “Yes, we can poop.”